The biggest annual fundraising event for the Osoyoos Desert Society is the popular Romancing the Desert event, where guests visit the Osoyoos Desert Centre to enjoy guided tours of the boardwalk and enjoy dinner, wine and entertainment. Denise Eastlick, the executive director of the society, made a presentation to Town of Osoyoos council on Monday detailing the organization’s great success in 2015 and plans to celebrate the society’s 25th anniversary in 2016. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The Osoyoos Desert Society is proud to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2016 and plans to be around for many more years as it continues to attract thousands of visitors annually and plans on building a new home in the coming years.
During her annual presentation to Town of Osoyoos council, longtime executive director Denise Eastlick said the popularity of the society and the Osoyoos Desert Centre, located just north of town limits, has never been greater.
“Last year, we attracted more than 7,500 people,” said Eastlick.
And those near-record numbers were achieved when visits to the desert centre decreased significantly due to the rash of wildfires and smoke that covered the region in the middle and end of August, said Eastlick.
Town council has been providing $15,000 in core funding to the Osoyoos Desert Society for each of the past several years and Eastlick said this funding is vitally important to the organization.
“The town’s funding provides funding for core expenses,” she said. “Most of the other grants and funding we receive goes towards specific projects … but the funding the town provides allows us to provide programming and cover the costs of day to day operation.
“The range of services we provide the community would not be possible without the town’s support.”
The opening day of the desert centre last spring was a historic one as close to 180 people attended, which was more than double the normal amount on the first day of business, said Eastlick.
Members of a local photography club all showed up on opening day and this accounted, in large part, for the record numbers, she said.
Of the more than 7,500 visitors to the desert centre, many of them participated in night tours, which have gained in popularity with each passing year, said Eastlick.
The 2015 Winter Program Series had outstanding support in the community with most of the events attracting full houses, she said.
The 2016 Winter Program Series will kick off on Saturday, Feb. 20 with a program about fire ecology.
As has become custom, the winter series will feature a short film about a particular environmental subject and an expert on the same subject will also be invited to share information and answer questions from the audience, said Eastlick.
The other events in the series will take place on Feb. 27 (Plant life and food forests), March 12 (bats) and April 2 (Sagebrush Sea).
All of the events feature admission by cash donation and they take place at the Watermark Beach Resort.
New entrance signs were installed in 2015 and the project to replace all of the interpretive signs along the huge boardwalk at the desert centre was completed last summer, said Eastlick.
FortisBC and the South Okanagan Community Foundation provided the funding for the signage.
A small army of volunteers showed up to sand and re-stain two large kiosks last summer and the entry plaza area was expanded for groups and events at the desert centre.
All of the equipment for this expansion was provided by local businesses, she said.
A vineyard study started several years ago to test various seed mixes between rows in regional vineyards was completed in 2015. The Real Estate Foundation of B.C. funded this project.
The project was designed as a way to help orchard owners control dust and reduce invasive pests, while also providing improved habitat for wildlife, said Eastlick.
A new butterfly habitat area, once again constructed by volunteers, was also completed in 2015 and a similar viewing deck for watch bluebirds, will be constructed in 2016.
Two smaller kiosks at the desert centre will be refinished in 2016 and a new sign erected near the town garden, she said.
The society’s mission statement to commit to promoting conservation, restoration and education hasn’t changed over the past 25 years and the goal to enhance the community and protect the environment continues, said Eastlick.
To celebrate the society’s 25th year, the board of directors is planning a public celebration, likely to be held in late spring, said Eastlick.
The antelope-brush ecosystem the society works so hard to protect continues to be one of the four most endangered in Canada and less than nine per cent remains relatively undisturbed, she said.
The region also continues to have one of the highest concentration of at-risk species in Canada, she said.
Rare species like the Pallid bat, desert night snake, Behr’s Hairstreak butterfly and Ground mantid can only survive in this environment and climate, making them unique to the South Okanagan, she said.
“Our society’s role is just as relevant and important today as it was 25 years ago,” said Eastlick. “That’s the reason we are planning for a new interpretive building.”
Without the commitment and dedication of the organization’s 50 to 60 regular volunteers, the Osoyoos Desert Society would simply not be as successful as it has become, she said.
The many funding partners, including the Town of Osoyoos, are vital to organization’s success and future, she said.
The society’s board is looking forward to revealing more details about building its new home in the coming months, she said.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said the desert society and its board of directors and volunteers continue to do an outstanding job and thanked Eastlick for doing a great job leading the organization.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
