A KNOWN BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL PHOTOGRAPH - BUT NOW I OWN ONE
AT THE MUSKOKA LAKES ANTIQUE SHOW, IN PORT CARLING, ON THE WEEKEND, SUZANNE AND I PURCHASED A 1925 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE STAFF OF THE FORMER BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL, IN BRACEBRIDGE. I WORKED ON THE BOOK, ABOUT WOODCHESTER VILLA, AND THE WOOLLEN MILL, BACK IN THE EARLY 1980'S, WITH MUSKOKA HISTORIAN, ROBERT J. BOYER, BUT WE FOR SOME REASON, DIDN'T HAVE THE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE TO USE. WE DID HAVE A GROUP PHOTOGRAPH, IN FRONT OF THE MILL BUILDINGS, BUT NOT THIS PARTICULAR, UP-CLOSE, INTIMATE SHOT, SHOWING HENRY BIRD WITH CIGAR, AND THE FAMILY DOG AT HIS SIDE.....WITH HIS STAFF AT THE TIME. WHEN THE MUSEUM (BIRD HOUSE) WASN'T BUSY, I USED TO SIT IN HENRY'S OFFICE, OVERLOOKING THE MILL, AND WRITE AT HIS DESK. NOW I REALLY ENJOYED THAT HONOR.
SUZANNE AND I OPERATED WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM, BACK IN THE LATE 1980'S, AND I WAS ONE OF ITS FOUNDERS, DATING BACK TO 1977, WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. EVER SINCE, SUZANNE HAS HAD AN AFFECTION FOR BIRD'S BLANKETS, AND OVER THE DECADES, SHE'S RESTORED, AND SOLD HUNDREDS, INCLUDING A RATHER RARE "BIRD'S TRAPPER'S POINT" BLANKET, A TAKE-OFF ON THE POPULAR HUDSON'S BAY BLANKETS. A LOT OF COMPANIES AND DEPARTMENT STORES HAD THEIR OWN TRAPPER'S POINT COPIES. THEY'RE OKAY BUT NOT AS VALUABLE AS A HUDSON BAY ORIGINAL.
A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, AT AN ESTATE SALE, WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE A SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY OF BIRD'S WOOL, WHICH SHE USED TO RE-BIND DAMAGED BLANKETS. NOW SHE SITS HERE IN OUR NEWLY EXPANDED ANTIQUE SHOP, AT THE FORMER MUSKOKA THEATRE, (WHERE THE BOYS HAVE THEIR VINTAGE MUSIC SHOP), USING THE HISTORIC, ORIGINAL WOOL TO FIX THE ORIGINAL BIRD'S BLANKETS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHE GETS A LOT OF COMMENTS. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY ARTISANS IN THE WORLD REPAIR OLD WOOLEN BLANKETS, BY GEEZ, I'M MARRIED TO ONE OF THEM.
SO THIS WONDERFUL OLD PHOTOGRAPH, WILL HANG BEHIND THE COUNTER AS SUZANNE WORKS ON BLANKET RESTORATION......NOW HOW AUTHENTIC IS THIS?
I WILL ENDEAVOR TO RE-RUN THE PHOTOGRAPH WITH A SOMEWHAT COMPLETE LIST OF NAMES IN THE FUTURE.
WE LOVED RUNNING THE MUSUEM, AND OUR BOYS WERE USED TO THEIR OWN "RUNNING" ALL OVER THOSE WELL MAINTAINED LAWNS. I'M SORRY THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE ALLOWED IT TO FALL INTO SUCH DISREPAIR. I HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO HELP SORT OUT ITS FUTURE, BUT I'M NOT SURPRISED ONE BIT TO BE IGNORED. I JUST ABOUT CHOKED WHEN I HEARD SOME TALK ABOUT TURNING THE PRESENT POST OFFICE INTO A MAIN STREET MUSEUM.....WHILE WOODCHESTER BECOMES A NOTATION IN THE HISTORY BOOK.
Town of Gravenhurst
Music on the Barge
Gull Lake Rotary Park – Gravenhurst
In Recognition of the Substantial Contribution
to the Restoration of the “Barge”
at
Gull Lake Rotary Park.
Presented to
Correctional Services Canada Beaver Creek Institution
Charles Stickel - Warden
Community Services Coordinator Stuart Barnes
&
The Community Services Work Crew
July 2012
SO HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN YOU PUT INTO ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK?
MAYBE WE'LL FIND OUT AS MUSIC ON THE BARGE SETS WEEKLY RECORDS
IF YOU SAW A "PAID-FOR" PROMOTIONAL (ADVERTISING) VIDEO, ABOUT THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST, YOU'D EXPECT IT TO HAVE A VARIED COLLECTION OF SCENES AND EVENTS CAPTURED OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS AND EVEN WEEKS, TO ARRIVE AT A FINISHED PRODUCT. THE VIDEOGRAPHER WOULD HAVE VISITED MANY DIFFERENT VENUES TO GIVE AN OVERALL IMPRESSION, OF CULTURE AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES IN OUR TOWN.
SO IF YOU SAW A VIDEO OF ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK, THIS PAST SUNDAY NIGHT, FOR THE REGULAR CONCERT ON THE BARGE, YOU WOULD PROBABLY THINK THE SAME......THAT THE VIDEO WAS THE RESULT OF NUMEROUS WEEKS' COVERAGE, AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY, AND EACH TIME IN NICE, SUNNY WEATHER, WITH A SPARKLING LAKE IN THE BACKGROUND. BUT BY GOLLY, IT WAS ALL IN ONE NIGHT. YOU COULD HAVE MADE A FIRST CLASS, GRADE "A" VIDEO IN JUST ONE PERFECT NIGHT, OVER SEVERAL HOURS. THAT'S HOW MUCH CULTURAL, RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY WAS GOING ON IN ONE BEAUTIFUL LAKESIDE PARK.....ON ONE PRECIOUS SUMMER NIGHT.
IT WAS A MODERN DAY RECORD FOR ATTENDANCE, AS PATRONS WERE EVEN SITTING NEAR THEIR CARS IN THE PARKING LOT, TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS "GRAVENHURST HAPPENING." SO AS I BEGAN TODAY' BLOG......HOW MANY PATRONS CAN BE JAMMED SAFELY AND COMFORTABLY INTO GULL LAKE PARK? WITH SOME BIG CONCERTS YET TO COME IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WRAPPING UP WITH THE ANNUAL GOOD BROTHERS PERFORMANCE, WE MAY WELL SEE NEW RECORDS EACH WEEK. GADS, ISN'T THIS GREAT FOR OUR TOWN? WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE THE NEWLY REFURBISHED BARGE PLATFORM, AND THE 40TH YEAR FOR CONCERT PROMOTER, FRED SCHULZ, WHO RECEIVED AN ANNIVERSARY PLAQUE FROM THE MAYOR, IN FRONT OF MORE THAN 2,500 SPECTATORS, WHO HAD COME OUT TO SEE THE JOHNNY CASH / TAMMY WYNETTE TRIBUTE, WITH PERFORMERS, JIM YORFIDO, AND HIS WIFE, PAM YORFIDO.....WHO GAVE US A GREAT AND FULFILLING SHOWCASE OF WELL KNOWN COUNTRY SONGS.
EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT GRAVENHURST
My first sighting of the night, at Rotary Gull Lake Park? The auxiliary parking lot, at the south end of the park was open, as it should be for concert Sundays. Last week, by some strange circumstance, the parking lot was closed at concert time, inconveniencing many folks, some with disabilities, who find this a more convenient area to use, to walk down to the lake. Someone had obviously erred in closing it last week, assuming the regular Music on the Barge programs are a species of special event.......which they are not. After more than a half century, I don't think they fall under the heading, "special" unless you're talking about how "special" they are to the thousands of fans like our family, who wouldn't miss a Sunday night in the park......our park, for anything. By the way, we send our chairs in advance, to guarantee us a good spot for the show.
I was impressed by the attendance of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, to thank the Beaver Creek Correctional Institute workers, for committing the volunteer labour to help restore The Barge, which two months ago, looked as if it had been hit by a cyclone. The Mayor and at least two Councillors assisted with the collection chores, and boy oh boy, did that make the Barge Debating Society happy......especially Manager Fred Schulz, who admittedly, has wondered about the Town's commitment to the Sunday program in the past. So during one of the largest concerts in at least the past ten years, and with so much activity going on in the park at the time, it was fantastic to have town representatives in the middle of all the fun. I hope they saw the true potential of the park and the regular concerts, which have been going on since the late 1940's, starting from the first bandstand, which was situated further up the hillside.
As for the videographer, what a super night to capture fun in the sun. There was quite a show going on, and it wasn't just on the stage. There were canoeists traversing the lake, pontoon boats, kayaks, a wide variety of floatation devices, swimmers, sun bathers, shore dancers, hillside sitters, runners, walkers, the picnic gang, sing-a-long-ers, chair wigglers, foot stompers and those who sat silently, and enjoyed the panorama of so much recreation in one small acreage of lakeside park. What an incredible Muskoka promotion. What a great show of potential and actuality to all those pessimists in our midst, who claim, year after year, that our town will perish in the void of disinterest. Where were they this night? Were they sitting at home trying to think up things to grumble about, and dreaming up some ugly scenario, where all the businesses in town will fold-up come November? If they did happen to show up for the concert, maybe, just maybe, they had a treat from the snack bar, or brought along a picnic hamper, and dropped their guard for five or so minutes......which on Sunday was long enough to let the good times sink in, and leave a mark on even the most weary soul, and the hardest to please.
Our boys love working with Fred on The Barge. In fact, they'd give up paying jobs, to work for someone who appreciates them, and has as much fun as they do, entertaining an appreciative audience. I can't tell you just how much this respite helps Suzanne and I get on with the coming busy summer week.....sitting by that venerable old birch tree, and being caressed by the beautiful lakeland breeze.....and being entertained by so many fine musicians, on that nostalgic platform that has adorned the Gull Lake panorama for almost all our respective lifetimes. If ever this writer feels truly and comfortably at home, and senses that hometown feeling he's been looking for, over a lifetime, Mr. Currie has found it on these electric, absorbing and exciting Sunday nights.....only a few blocks from home. It is the celebration of the good life here in Muskoka.......the one us permanent residents get to enjoy through the four seasons.....and ain't it splendid.
A Gravenhurst Councillor friend of mine, asked last evening, if I'd been writing all night at the park. I said yes, but that wasn't quite true. I did in fact spend most of the time looking out upon this life-filled park, enjoying our special Concert Night, and my favorite picnic lunch.......and if she had looked closer, she would have seen that I was actually doodling in my notebook, because I was just too darn contented, to pen anything more than a sketch of a canoe and paddler, and the background rock of Gull Lake at its most picturesque. I didn't have to write anything down, at this time, to have an essay in waiting, when I got home to my keyboard.
I only hope everyone had as much fun as we did.
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