Alvar Fundraiser Pub Night # 2 at Moose McGuire’s in Almonte
The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists and its Burnt Lands Alvar Campaign committee invite you to share a companionable evening with friends of the alvar at a Pub Night downstairs at Moose McGuire’s at 385 Ottawa St. in Almonte (former location of JR’s Restaurant) from 7 – 9 p.m. on Friday, March 6. Listen, or kick up your heels to the Celtic folk music of The Jimmy Tri-tones Band. Challenge a friend to a game of darts or engage in a game of pool. There will be a return of the popular heads-or-tails 50/50 draw, a silent auction and a lightning trivia round. If the ancient fossils of the alvar ignite in your imagination a strange sea-world of times long past, measured not in centuries, but in epochs and eras, come lift a pint or two with us. Funds raised will go towards MVFN’s campaign to preserve the Burnt Lands Alvar. Further information about the campaign and the alvar can be found by going to the Donate Now button on the MVFN website; or contact the campaign committee at mvfnblalvar@gmail.com.
The bottom of the tropical ocean that once covered our area was teeming with marine life during the Paleozoic era about 450 million years ago. The limestone bedrock of the Burnt Lands alvar contains fossils from this time, including orthocone cephalopods. The head and tentacles of this ancient marine predator extended from a straight cone-shaped shell divided internally into chambers. Exposed in this photo taken by Neil Carleton,  on an area on Pakenham Concession 9 with similar bedrock and alvar topography to Burnt Lands,  is a cross section of a small orthocone on the bedrock surface.
