Celebrating 4 Years of Sharing
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Around Hotel Lake we enjoy seeing Arbutus trees with their waxy green leaves, reddish-orange peeling bark and curved, twisted shapes. On the north shore near the eastern end of the Lake is a rope swing that has allowed generations of local swimmers to fly away from the branch of a large Arbutus and plunge into the Lake.
The species of Arbutus growing in our area, menziesii, can grow to one metre across at its base and thirty metres in height making it the tallest and most tree-like of Arbutus species. The species, menziesii, is named after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish botanist who sailed with Captain Vancouver and described the tree during an expedition to the Pacific coast in 1792. Keeping its green leaves through the winter, Arbutus menziesii is recognized as the only evergreen broadleaf tree native to Canada.
Introducing:
Arbutus (menziesii)
Here is a link to our new page:
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Lakeview!
There’s something personal about a lake.
Oceans offer their vast expanse, beckoning the heart outward and reminding the viewer that they are but a small piece of something much, much bigger. Rivers are nice but doubtless have their own agenda, a self-determination lurking just upstream that mere mortals are powerless against.
But lakes - and particularly Hotel Lake in Pender Harbour, British Columbia; lakes free the heart to look inward to seek answers from the soul to questions from the heart. You can learn who you are by sitting by a lake… and who you want to be there with. Brad McCannell
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New In Our Library
Our Library has been growing for some time and can be accessed via the main menu. We continue to add documents and here is just one recent addition that we are very proud of: Hotel Lake 2024 Year One Report published by BC Lake Stewardship Society; just go to our library to take a look.​​​ This is what local volunteers have been gathering data for and in a few years a final report will be published that will describe our lake in greater detail.
Plankton in Hotel Lake - February 2026
ALERT - March 2026
Bat-Killing Fungus Detected Near the Sunshine Coast:
About Us
We are committed to gathering and sharing information. We hope that information will help us all to slow the process of eutrophication, to protect Hotel Lake's water quality, the surrounding watershed, the underlying aquifer and the wildlife and plant life that live here.
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We acknowledge with gratitude the time and effort of volunteers and the outstanding results achieved by our lapsed predecessor, Area ‘A’ Quality Water Association (AAQWA). Realizing the benefits of that organization, we have established a new association to carry on.
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Our association is presently comprised of a small group of volunteers. This website has been developed by our webmaster Brian Croft and contributors include Bob and Carole Stickley, Brian and Sharon Croft, Ron Knight, Tarren McKay, Tony & Kelly Pownall, Dr. Bob Vroom, Dr. Sharon Johnson, Jenn Blancard, Brad McCannell, Joe Harrison, Dr. John Field, Trevor Andrews, Chris Hegele, Theresa McNicholl, Rod Brown, Jim Little, Debra Huffaker, Reni Ducich, Frank Jensen, Peter Boyer, and Twyla Dawn Disney.
Our hope is that anyone who comes to this website will leave it knowing a little more about the Hotel Lake environment and the wildlife and plant life that, live here. We are confident that, in the long term, greater knowledge and understanding will enable better decision making.
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​This website is available to all and we have enjoyed very positive responses. Anyone may ask to be on our mailing list and will recieve our monthly newsletter.
This association is fuelled by volunteerism and our modest operating costs are less than $400 per year. We hope that those who find value in this work will consider becoming contributing supporters. An annual contribution of $20 per family is suggested. All contributions will be used to offset the modest annual costs of administering this website.
If you would like to recieve our monthly newsletter,
please Email Us Here and we will add you to our mailing list
We gather information and share it.