Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
It was a warm, sunny Aug. 25 morning when we departed from the public slip at Gagetown in a flat-bottomed, aluminum boat. Our guides were three Ducks Unlimited employees: outreach specialist Samantha Brewster and conservation specialist Frank Merrill, both based in Fredericton, and Adam Campbell of the Sackville area, the group's manager of Atlantic operations.