Jake Kennedy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 20/02) - Wading out into mucky water, a swarm of flies buzzing around her head, she grabs hold of a cat-tail.

Standing in her rubber boots, Vicky Johnston extols the virtues of her find.

"These are just wonderful. Dip them in some shellac, and you're ready to go."

Johnston, an Ecology North member, has brought a group of about 15 people out on this Sunday afternoon to Tin Can Hill to learn what natural materials can be used to make Christmas decorations.

"You can grab a bunch of berries or rosehips, and string them -- just like you would popcorn," she tells the small crowd huddled around her. "Don't collect things too far ahead of time. Some of them won't last more than about six weeks," Johnston warns.

So, instead of gathering materials, people are happy to just follow Johnston and learn about what they should be filling their arms with in the next few weeks.

"My favourite are the bear-berries," she says, pointing to a patch of bright red leaves spread across a small patch of grass.

"They're so bright, so red, and so easy to pick. Getting a bag of them is like being a kid in a candy store."

Other favourites of Johnston and the others on the walk are the many leaves and pine cones strewn about. "If you want to preserve the colour of the leaves, you should wax them," Johnston says. "Just get some wax paper, and an iron. If you're careful, the leaves will last forever."

Helping Johnston with the walk is Jennifer Morin. She warns everyone to be careful when they are gathering materials.

"Try not to take all your rosehips from the same bush, for example," she says. "You want to make sure you don't destroy the reproductive capabilities of that one bush."

Instead, Morin says to grab small amounts from different areas -- thereby lessening the impact on the local environment.

The workshop on how to create natural Christmas decorations with some of the items pointed out on the walk, will be put on by Ecology North.