A Sentimental Journey With The Muskoka Concert Band At Gull Lake

THE WIZARD OF GRAVENHURST GAVE US A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT AT GULL LAKE

NO KIDDING! WHEN THE HEAVENS SHOULD HAVE OPENED UP….WE GOT A NICE BREEZE INSTEAD

     I WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE "MUSIC ON THE BARGE" AUDIENCE, THIS EVENING, READING A COPY OF "CHEZ NOUS," BY AUTHOR ADJUTOR RIVARD; A QUEBEC AND CANADIAN CLASSIC, ABOUT THE LIFE AND HOME OF AN OLD HABITANT FAMILY. I ALWAYS BRING A BOOK TO THE PARK, TO THESE AMAZINGLY RELAXING SUNDAY CONCERTS. I'VE EVEN READ THOREAU'S "WALDEN POND," HERE, BUT TONIGHT I WAS PLEASED TO OPEN A 1924, THIRD PRINTING, OF THIS IMPORTANT CULTURAL BOOK, THAT WAS ILLUSTRATED BY GROUP OF SEVEN ARTIST, A.Y. JACKSON. IT'S NOT A TRUE FIRST EDITION BUT IT'S AS CLOSE AS I'VE EVER COME; AND HONESTLY, THIS ONE WILL DO FINE. WHEN I'M NOT WRITING BOOKS, I'M COLLECTING THEM, SO THIS WAS A COUP FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE BOOK THING. JUST TO CLARIFY……I CAN ONLY READ WHEN I'M THOROUGHLY RELAXED AND IMBEDDED IN MY OWN PECULIAR SOLITUDE. MINE IS PROBABLY DIFFERENT THAN YOURS. I FIND MUSIC ON THE BARGE CONCERTS ARE MINI VACATIONS FOR ME, RELAXING ME TO THE POINT, I DO, SOMETIMES FALL ASLEEP, DROPPING THE BOOK ON THE GROUND. AND YES, LAST YEAR, ONE WENT INTO THE BRINE.

     BEFORE NEIL BARLOW, CONDUCTED THE MUSKOKA DISTRICT BAND INTO ITS FIRST NUMBER, TO OPEN THE 2013 SEASON OF "MUSIC ON THE BARGE," AT GRAVENHURST'S ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK, I HAD A CHANCE TO BOTH START THE FIRST FEW PAGES OF THE BOOK, AND TO ENJOY THE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT…….WHEN A PLEASANT WIND SWIRLED DOWN OVER THE LAKELAND, MAKING IT A MOST COMFORTABLE, COOL PLACE ALONG THE SHORELINE. I STOPPED AT RIVARD'S OPENING COMMENTS, DIRECTED TOWARD HIS CHILDREN, ANTOINE AND GEORGINE, ABOUT LIFE AND HISTORY. I LOOKED UP, AFTER READING THE SHORT PASSAGE, AND I COULDN'T HELP BUT FIND SOME RELEVANCE, TO THE DIVERSE ACTIVITIES IN THE PARK, AT THAT MOMENT. THE WAY THIS HOME TOWN COMES TOGETHER ON THESE SUNDAY NIGHTS; THE SWIMMERS, THE PICNIC CROWD, THE DOG WALKERS, BOATERS, CONCERT PATRONS, MUSICIANS, KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS, AND THOSE FOLKS WHO WORK ON THE BARGE, WEEK AFTER WEEK, INCLUDING MANAGER FRED SCHULZ…..WHO READILY ADMITS, IT'S WHAT HE FEELS IS ONE OF HIS BIGGEST SOURCES OF HOMETOWN PRIDE……SEEING SO MANY PEOPLE COMING TO THE PARK TO CELEBRATE SUMMER TIMES IN MUSKOKA. THE BOOK REMINDED ME OF EVERYTHING I BELIEVE IN, ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HOMETOWN RECOGNITION AND VALUES…..AND WHY WE HAVE TO WORK SO HARD TO KEEP IT RELEVANT, AND VIBRANT.

     I READ IT TO SUZANNE, AFTER I THOUGHT ABOUT IT FOR AWHILE……AND HOW IT PERTAINED TO WHAT WOULD SOON BE A FLEETING MEMORY, OF AN ENJOYABLE TIME SPENT AMONGST FRIENDS AND MUSICIANS.

     "THESE FAITHFUL PAGES, UNADORNED, SAVE BY THE WORDS OF OUR OLD SPEECH, WERE WRITTEN THAT YOU MIGHT BETTER HOLD IN MIND AND CHERISH THE ANCIENT MEMORIES," WROTE ADJUTOR RIVARD. "MAY THEY DEEPEN IN YOUR HEARTS THE LOVE YOU ALREADY FEEL TOWARDS THE PEOPLE AND THE THINGS OF OUR HOME."

     I'VE BEEN WRITING PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL ABOUT MUSKOKA, AND ITS COMMUNITIES, FOR MUCH OF THE PAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. IT'S NEVER RESULTED IN A PULITZER WITH MY NAME ON IT, OR MUCH IN THE WAY OF INCOME EITHER. I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT THE GOOD GRACES OF OUR DISTRICT, BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD…..AND I'VE BEEN TOLD, BY SOME ICELANDERS (IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT), THAT WHAT I WROTE FOR THEIR HOMELAND PUBLICATION, ABOUT PIONEER TIMES IN MUSKOKA, WAS PRETTY COMPELLING……LEADING SOME TO VISIT THEMSELVES, TO SEE WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS HAD BROKEN GROUND FOR HOMESTEAD FARMS. IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO KNOW, THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN PROMOTING, ACTUALLY GETS SOMEONE'S ATTENTION, SUCH THAT ONE DAY, THEY MIGHT VISIT……AND HELP OUR TOURIST INDUSTRY. I'M HAPPIEST, OF COURSE, WHEN I CAN RE-INTRODUCE MUSKOKANS, TO THEIR OWN DISTRICT. THE SAD REALITY IS, MANY CITIZENS HAVE BECOME A LITTLE COMPLACENT, ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER IN THIS REGION OF ONTARIO…….AND IT REALLY TROUBLES ME, WHEN THEY DON'T SEE ANY REASON, TO CARRY ON TRADITIONS, LIKE "MUSIC ON THE BARGE." I KNOW, BECAUSE THEY'VE TOLD ME, THAT SOME OF MY PROMOTIONS, HAVE BROUGHT THEM OUT TO CONCERTS…..AND THE NICEST PART……..THEY LIKED WHAT THEY EXPERIENCED. I KNEW THEY WOULD.

     I'M BIG ON THIS FOR ONE REASON. WE CAN'T PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR SOCIAL / CULTURAL HERITAGE, AS IT RELATES TO MUSKOKA, IF THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION BECOMES APATHETIC. WE HAVE SEEN THIS TREND GROWING, AND IN SOME WAYS, YES, IT INCREASES MY SENSE OF URGENCY, TO KEEP REMINDING FOLKS, JUST HOW MAGNIFICENT OUR TOWN AND REGION IS, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS FORGIVING LAKELAND. TONIGHT, WAS ONE OF THOSE FULL-APPRECIATION MOMENTS, WHEN HONESTLY, I COULDN'T EVEN READ MORE THAN A FEW CHAPTERS, OF THIS COVETED BOOK, BECAUSE THE SCENE AT GULL LAKE WAS SO EMOTIONALLY MOVING, IN SO MANY WAYS. I AM DIFFERENT THIS WAY, MEANING I CAN'T STOP WORDSMITH IN MY MIND……WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO BE RELAXING, OR YES, READING A BOOK. I HAVE CHASED AFTER THE WORDS, FOR OVER THREE DECADES, TO PROVIDE THE MODERN READER, WITH THE MOST COMPELLING, ALL INCLUSIVE DESCRIPTION OF MUSKOKA, AS IF A PAINTER AT THE EASLE, TRYING DESPERATELY TO DEPICT THE MOST MEANINGFUL MOMENT OF STUDY…..WHEN EVERYTHING IS PART OF THE PICTURE, FOR POSTERITY, YET IT MAY ALL APPEAR AS AN ABSTRACT……AS THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS INTERPRETED. I HAD ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS THIS EVENING. IT WAS ALL AN ABSTRACT, BUT IT MADE SENSE.

     NEIL BARLOW DIDN'T PURPOSELY POSE HIS MUSKOKA DISTRICT BAND FOR MY CONVENIENT INTERPRETATION, AS THE ARTIST MIGHT SELECT AND POSITION A MODEL. FRED SCHULZ, DIDN'T EXPECT THAT WHAT HE WAS DOING, AS A MATTER OF ROUTINE AND TRADITION, WOULD MAKE MY JOB EASIER, AS A WRITER, TO FEEL SO MUCH CLOSER, TO APPRECIATING THE TRUE SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURAL CONTENTMENT, IN A REGION SO ALLURING AND HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL. BUT IT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, MAKING ME CLOSE UP THE BOOK, SET IT ON MY KNEE, AND WATCH ALL THAT WAS GOING ON AROUND ME….AS I HAVE ALWAYS DONE, WHEN ATTENDING THESE GULL LAKE CONCERTS. THERE WAS SOMETHING PROFOUND ABOUT IT ALL TONIGHT, ALMOST AS IF I FEAR MY OWN TIME, IS DRAWING DOWN, LIKE THE CLICHE OF SANDS THROUGH AN HOUR GLASS…….WORRIED I MIGHT FAIL MY LIFETIME MISSION, OF WRITING SOMETHING INCLUSIVELY LANDMARK, ABOUT THIS REMARKABLE PARADISE; WHICH WE ALSO CALL HOME. I NEEDED TO BE AWARE OF THIS NIGHT OF STRANGE SOLITUDES, WITH ITS ENTRAPMENT OF FINE MUSIC, PASSING OVER THE WATER LIKE A FINE SUMMER MIST. IT WAS A SOCIAL-CULTURAL-RECREATIONAL MOSAIC, AS COMPELLING AS A RAINBOW SPANNING OVER THE LAKE, OR A SUNSET THAT BOILS RED INTO THE BLACK WATER.

     SUZANNE AND I SAT IN THE SAME PLACE, ON THE EMBANKMENT OF THIS URBAN PARK, BEHIND THE BIRCH THAT HANGS PRECARIOUSLY OVER THE BARGE-WALKWAY, LIKE WE HAVE DONE, YEAR AFTER YEAR, DURING OUR MARRIED LIFE; SHE READS OR KNITS, AND I READ, PONDER OR SLUMBER. I LOOKED AT HER SILHOUETTE AGAINST THE SHIMMERING SILVER LAKE, FEELING CONTENTED WE HAVE INVESTED OUR TIME WISELY THESE MANY YEARS, ENJOYING SMALL, IMPORTANT TRADITIONS LIKE THIS……WITH OUR FRIENDS, AND FAMILY. MAYBE I'M JUST MIRING IN SENTIMENTALITY AND THAT SEPIA TONED MELANCHOLY; PERCOLATED BY REGRET, WHEN YOU START FEELING SORRY ABOUT GETTING TOO OLD,……. AND REFUSE TO TURN THE NEXT PAGE OF HISTORY, THEN, JUST FRESHLY WRITTEN. TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THIS HISTORIC LAKESIDE EVENT, SO IMPORTANT TO THE CULTURAL IDENTITY OF OUR TOWN, MANAGED BY ONE OF OUR FAMILY'S DEAREST FRIENDS, FRED SCHULZ, MAKES MR. RIVARD'S WORDS SO POIGNANT AND MEMORABLE: AS FOR THESE WEEKLY GET-TOGETHERS….."MAY THEY DEEPEN IN YOUR HEARTS, THE LOVE YOU ALREADY FEEL TOWARDS THE PEOPLE AND THE THINGS OF OUR HOME." I COULDN'T WRITE A BETTER, MORE INCLUSIVE AND HONEST OVERVIEW, TO DESCRIBE EXACTLY HOW I FELT, LOUNGING LAZILY AT LAKESIDE, AND BEING SOOTHED EVER SO GENTLY, BY THE LAPPING WAVES, AND THE SWEET, ENDEARING SOUNDS, OF A GROUP OF MUSICIANS, REPRESENTING THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA…..OUR BEAUTIFUL HOME.

     THANK YOU, NEIL BARLOW, AND ALL THE PERFORMERS OF THE MUSKOKA CONCERT BAND, FOR GIVING US A NIGHT TO REMEMBER…..IN TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES ON EARTH. THIS IS WHAT BRINGS ME BACK TO THIS PARK, WEEK AFTER WEEK…….THIS AND THE FACT, OUR TWO SONS WORK WITH FRED, AS TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS. WHEN SOMEONE ASKS US ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE YEAR-ROUND IN GRAVENHURST, AND MUSKOKA……WE'VE GOT SO MUCH TO TELL THEM.

     THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME TODAY. WE HAVE JUST COME HOME FROM THE CONCERT, AND IT'S AWFULLY HOT AND LATE HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW; BUT THIS IS A REVIEW THAT HAD TO MAKE IT TO PRESS ON TIME. PLEASE VISIT AGAIN SOON.