Bracebridge and The Muskoka River That Runs Through It!

THE RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT - HAS INFLUENCED RESIDENTS FROM THE BEGINNING - BUT HAS ANYONE NOTICED

THE MUSKOKA RIVER HAS BEEN PART OF OUR PYSCHE, OUR HISTORY, AND THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE COMMUNITY

     I nearly drowned in the Muskoka River, once upon a time. I saw my wee life pass before me, and it was a short review. A rather pathetic replay, truth be known, to show for all my many exciting adventures to that point. I was fifteen years old, and I came within a hair's breadth of being on display, in all my lost youth, at the local funeral home. So when I write or talk about the Muskoka River, I do so with the greatest reverence. I survived a frightening encounter with its undertow; and what had appeared so gentle and soothing, in casual recreation, possessed, in stark contrast, a serpent's constriction of invisible current.
     It was the first warning I was given, less than twenty-four hours, after we arrived as new permanent residents, of the Town of Bracebridge.     "Stay away from the river," my mother warned me, as I put on my winter boots, with the failing sole, and my coat that had been repaired at least twenty times, to the point you could see all of Merle's scattering, of less than proficient stitches, on the shoulders and arms. She was more concerned that I would drown, in the black water of the Muskoka River, than die of wet feet or from the chill-wind, cutting through my old parka.
     When we lived in Burlington, up on Harris Crescent, a block off Lakeshore Road, Merle warned me to "Stay away from the lake," instead, which meant that while I could play in the ravine of Ramble Creek, I was forbidden to cross through the conduit under the road, which would have put me on the slippery rocks of the lakeshore. So in Burlington Merle worried I might be swept away by a wave on Lake Ontario, and in Bracebridge, she figured my curiosity, the lure of adventure, would pull me to the bank of the Muskoka River. She was right, you know. I frequently arrived on the rocks of the lake, in Burlington, after a short, wet hike, and I spent a good portion of my youth, sitting with mates, and swimming off the embankment of Bass Rock, southeast of the rapids, and Wilson's Falls, on the North Branch of the Muskoka River.
     I've been indebted to water for enhancing my life, in so many ways. At the same time, I have to admit, that despite my mother's most emphatic warnings, I nearly drowned on four occasions. First of all, I fell through the thin ice over a chest-deep pool on Ramble Creek, one spring afternoon, wearing a bulky snowsuit. Which by the way, immediately acted like a bladder, trapping gallons of creek water. My mother always warned me to stay away from the creek as well, in the spring of the year. I just didn't listen. I almost drowned in Lake Muskoka, at Kirby's Beach, after Al "Weasel" Hillman, jumped off a dock onto my head, knocking me out temporarily. I came to in the knick of time, because no one knew I'd been injured as a result. Then I almost succumbed to exhaustion, while trying to swim across Bass Rock, and once again, Al was with me. We had been on the opposite side of the river, and our mates were on the west, or downtown side. As they wanted to head downtown for an ice cream cone, after swimming, and Al and I were too lazy to go all the way around, and down Hunt's Hill, we decided to swim across, like we had done about ten thousand times. The only difference, is that we had to bring our dry clothes across, meaning we had to keep one arm in the air, while we dog-paddled with the other. Al was wearing diving flippers, so he was across the narrows of Bass Rock, in less than a minute. I wasn't a great swimmer to begin with, and I got caught by the current, and pulled down toward the larger bay, south of the same narrows.
     The danger of this, was that entering the bay, as the current pulled me downstream, was the reality the distance to shore doubled and tripled the further along I was pulled, because of the shape of the bay. Add to this, the fact I dropped my arm and the clothes I had elevated, thusly submerged, quadrupling in weight. None of my mates had any idea what had happened, and were getting ready to head downtown. I dropped some of the clothing, worrying less at that moment, about my mother being mad, at lost attire, than if I had become a casualty of her greatest fear; the river. I could have drowned and my chums, who were all good lads, wouldn't have thought it odd, until halfway uptown. "Where's Ted?" "Oh, he'll catch up." By that point, I would probably have been cast over the falls, to add insult to a drowning victim. It was my fault on several counts. When I got home that night, Merle seemed to know that her son had come within a whisker of drowning, just by the look of me coming through the door. I was also wet, which kind of gave the swimming part away, but she never said a word about my missing shirt, socks and dress pants. I'd thrown my shoes across the river before I got into the water that evening. So the Muskoka River spared me. There are hundreds of former residents who weren't as fortunate. From pioneer times to the present, a lot of lives have been lost in the deep running currents of that black snaking river, that looks so picturesque on post cards, and in tourism videos.
     As I've written about many times previously, in these blogs, I was nearly drowned, as was my wife Suzanne, as well, during a canoe mishap, on the South Branch of the Muskoka River, during the annual Muskoka Shield Canoe Race. We toppled out of the canoe in a small rapids, and we weren't wearing life jackets. After some precarious moments trying to balance, in the middle of the rapids, we were rescued by Dan Lacroix and his daughter, Angie, a father-daughter team entered into the event.  A few moments longer, and I would have lost my balance, and fallen right into the area of the rapids, where the undertow would have been strongest. Suzanne had an injured hand, and couldn't use it to swim free of the rapids. So we survived because of the proximity of our rescuers.
     If you were to conduct a modern day survey, to ask permanent residents, especially in the urban area of town, most exposed to the river, whether or not they think of the waterway frequently, some times, seldom, or not at all, the results would be predictable. If you were to ask, regardless of the answer to the first question, whether or not they considered the Muskoka River part of their psyche, living in Bracebridge, I doubt there would be anyone who would answer affirmatively. It's not something we think about, as such, unless we are boating on it, or swimming in its chill water. From an historical perspective, the Muskoka River, being the north and south branches, has been part of the characteristic of this community, dating back to the first explorers and surveyors. The river has provided a canoe route, a navigation link, a power source, a water resource, and the means of transporting logs to mill sites. The first settlers selected this location because of the cataract, of the present Bracebridge Falls, which in the very early 1860's, was known as "North Falls." The larger of the cataracts, but located on the South Branch, was known as "The Great Falls." The falls and the navigable waters, represented economic potential, and a connectedness with the wider Lake Muskoka, and Gravenhurst, where the first steamship was launched. In those early years of town history, the river was all important to economic development, and future prosperity. From a toppled pine tree, that served as an inaugural bridge across the rapids, above the falls, to the construction of several major iron linkages, across the waterway, this permanent relationship with the river became part of the culture of the hamlet, village and then town. It became so ingrained in fact, that most residents probably would have answered the questions above, roughly the same as they would today; denying that they spend much time at all, thinking about the "river that runs through it!" I know differently. It is a quality and quantity of living in Bracebridge. It is just a deeply imbedded reality. We know it's there, and we see it numerous times each day and week, but it never seems a rite of passage, or necessity, to analyze its social / cultural or spiritual connotation. It is what it is! Or maybe there's more to it!
     Quite a number of years ago, a group of citizens, with the backing of town council, launched a spring-time event, known as the "Festival of the Falls." It was a good idea, and I joined as a volunteer historian, to help write promotional material. I sensed a political vein to the event, I didn't care for, infiltrating what had been a largely successful citizen initiative. The problem with the event was a simple one. It shouldn't have been a spring event. The best time to have run such a weekend festival, to maximize attendance, would have been during the autumn season, as a sort of rejuvenation of the former Cavalcade of Colors event that used to bring in visitors by the bus-load. This was once a district-wide celebration and recognized throughout the province. Tourists even arrived here via special-event passenger train to participate. I believe the Festival of the Falls would have had much greater success, in the fall of the year instead, and I truly believe, with focus on the Muskoka River as an historic resource, a much more compact, central, and easy-to-manage event would have manifested over time. My focus, would have been on river-lore, and on the economic realities of having established the town along its banks in the first place.
     The dark ribbon of the Muskoka River is part of every Bracebridge resident's day to day existence, whether they know it or not. If they live in the urban area, and walk or drive to and from work, they will cross over the river at some point in the day, and again on their return home. I'm willing to bet, the last few coins in my pocket, there are some folks who cross one of our bridges upwards of ten times each day; and who drive regularly alongs its basin, on the River Road, Beaumont Drive, or Santa's Village Road. Travellers on foot, on bicycles and in motor vehicles, who view it, fully or out of the corners of their eyes, during all times of day and night, and through the influences of the four seasons. They may not think about the river specifically, yet will ponder or remark to a passenger, or someone at home or work, how beautiful it was, on a such a spring morning as this, to drive along and see the rolling mist in the first light of a Muskoka morning; or having just watched a beaver rippling the water, while traversing its width; or seeing a deer standing along the shore, its image reflecting in the silver on black, of the deep river flow. I've taken many photographs like this, in my years living in Bracebridge and area, especially during the several years we resided just beyond the Beaumont Farm. I often walked to and from town, in all kinds of weather, and all hours of the day. There is a vibration made by this river, that at times, can sounds like a deep, mournful voice coming from the middle, bracketed by the constant wash and ripple over the shoreline rocks; and gently against the summer vegetation, growing in its shallows. I have seen the moon reflecting on its surface, so distinctly, such that the voyeur can get mesmerized, momentarily about which way is up. The poet takes over from here, and plays with the images in verse.
     In the autumn of the year, the reflections of the hardwood colors are exceptional, and the Muskoka River becomes the centre of attention for romantics, the sentimental of heart, hikers, dawdlers, sightseers, artists and photographers. In the winter, the steam rises from the cataract of Bracebridge Falls, into an ice-crystal plume, that you can see rising from a half mile away. I could watch it, as a youngster, from the top of Hunt's Hill, on my way to Bracebridge Public School, on those frigid January mornings with a sting in the air. There was the so-called (and very convenient) "magic spell," you see, we all knew about, cast upon us weak mortals by that black unfrozen river. This was the story, in our defense, that we told our guardians, whenever we got into trouble, that inevitably had something or other to do with exposure to the river. I suppose now, reflecting back, how magical it was, had a lot to do with the winter season enhancements; the sparkling snowscape of the shoreline, the twinkling sunlight, and mirrored clouds in the water, which, in our words, must have enchanted the spirit of a school chum, on one of those mornings, to defy the laws of nature and climate; being commanded by forces unknown and undetected, to place his big wet tongue on the iron railing, right at the middle of the bridge, and river. His view from there, for the better part of an hour, was looking directly down (now other choice) at the fast moving water, and he may have even been able to see his reflection; a toque, eyes wide open, and the upper part of his mouth wide open; tears of pain dripping down from his cheeks, into the steaming water below. After that, his chums, who abandoned him there, to fend for himself, could truthfully admit, the Muskoka River had now officially entered their consciousness, of what it meant to be a home-towner, in a place where the river does run through it!
     I have stood on the concrete brakewall, just below the falls, in Bracebridge Bay, when the former freight shed was still standing, in order to get a better view of police, in an array of boats, dragging the river bottom for a swimmer, who drowned the day before. He wasn't found that day, but a lot of old logging tools, were pulled up in the grappling hooks instead, and I remember them being lined-up, as if they were corpses as well, beneath the canopy of the wharf building. There were quite a few pike poles and related implements, pulled from an area of river, that at times in history, had been shore to shore logs, during the spring drive. The body of the deceased swimmer, was spotted floating on the opposite side of the bay, a few days later, by someone walking over the silver bridge. To my knowledge, the river has always given up its dead, sooner or later. There have been others claimed by the heavy undertow in the bay, and more than a few, have perished initially, from a crash onto the rocks of the falls themselves, having been carried by the rapids over the brink. Many settlers and their family members, were claimed by misadventure, in much the same fashion, having taken the river for granted, losing their lives in the gamble.
     I told historian, Gary Long, a long time ago, that his book, "This River, The Muskoka," was one of my favorite regional histories, because it is how I have always felt about this mysterious, yet predictable length of watershed, dissecting the rugged topography of our region. Personally, I have always treated the river more intimately, because there weren't many days in my youth, after having moved to the town, that I wasn't at some point, staring into its blackness, pondering what was swimming and thriving in its depths. On the way to school, each morning, I respected it as a living, breathing entity, with a personality reflective of the time of day, and prevailing weather. One day, it would seem the perfect companion waterscape, for music from Bach to Mozart, bright and cheerful, yet with the approach of a late spring thunder storm, its mood quickly became as dark as the sky overhead; and it seemed, that its slow motion caress against shore, and dull roar of the distant falls, was instead, more of a funeral dirge, with its vapor veil of melancholy. On sunny spring mornings, it would mirror the overhead leaves of venerable shoreline maples, and hardy evergreens, leaning out over the water. Later in the hot afternoon, the river seemed as if it was painted in place, much as an artist's rendering shelved upon an easel. The local youth, heading home from school, would toss it leftover sandwiches and uneaten fruit, as if to feed it; truthfully though, just getting rid of the evidence, before someone at home investigated what was supposed to be an empty lunch box. Others of us, with a bottle of pop in hand, purchased from the machine in front of the Muskoka Trading grocery store, would just cross our arms, rest our chins, and ponder what life, and girls were all about. The girls we knew, from our part of town, never stopped to ponder anything; that's how self assured they were back then. Later in the evening, the river would appear more green than black, and then silver in the midst of a slowly setting sun, and soon, it would mirror the evening's moon and twinkling stars; becoming fabled and legendary, by those daydreamers and young poets, who thrived on strange fictions, and grand curiosities, that could never be solved in this life or the next.
     This dark band of ribbon water, has inspired joy and promise, speculation and realization; brought about success and prosperity, while supplying the needs of commerce and industry. It has been an important regional attraction, in its natural grandeur, and a boon to tourism. It has been a source of pleasure, joy, entertainment, recreation, and a vision of solitude ever-enhancing "the picturesque," forwarded by hundreds of artists over the centuries, who believed they had exploited its soul. It has, at the same time, inspired fear during spring floods, when it bleeds over its banks, and generated fear and loathing, when we learn that another life has been claimed by its undertow. It is both beauty and beast, a blessing and a curse, and it is our heritage, being in its company.
     Through history, the Muskoka River has been in our pysche. We just haven't appreciated how deeply imbedded it has become. I have been using the image, illusion, romanticism and danger of the Muskoka River, in my writing, from my first attempts at short story composition; and yes, as far back as grade six, at Bracebridge Public School. While at the same time, an hour later, in history class, learning about its natural heritage. Even though my mother has been gone for quite some time now, I can still hear the echo of her time-honored warning, "Teddy Currie, don't you dare go near that river, do you hear?" It has always begged the question, why not? Even when I know the answer, the river compels me to disobey. When it had me in its grasp, and could have absorbed me into itself, in a mortal heartbeat, I was shown its mercy. It spit me out, like a pit from a cherry. I can never dismiss its presence, as being, just "a river." There's something more. Something fantastic. A life force that defines us in so many ways, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not; that runs its course all the live long day. Fiction and Non-fiction at the same time.


FROM THE ARCHIVES PART TWO

THE EARLY NEWSPAPERS IN MUSKOKA - AND THE PUBLISHERS WHO STIRRED THINGS UP - PART TWO

NEWSPAPERS THAT WERE INGRAINED IN COMMUNITY CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

NOTE: WOULD THE PRESENT SENATE CRISIS IN CANADA, HAVE OCCURRED, (AND THEN BE MADE PUBLIC), WITHOUT THE INVESTIGATIVE WORK OF THE MEDIA? WHAT ABOUT THE SPENDING SCANDAL, IN THIS PROVINCE, REGARDING THE GAS FIRED GENERATING PLANTS? SOMETIMES WE TAKE THE MEDIA FOR GRANTED.....AND EVEN GET MAD AT THEM, ON OCCASION, FOR GOING TOO FAR.  DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THESE GOVERNMENTAL SITUATIONS OR NOT? FOR ME, I WANT TO KNOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. I DEPEND ON THE OLD AND DEAR RULES OF "FREEDOM OF THE PRESS."

     (IF YOU MISSED PART ONE, YOU CAN ARCHIVE BACK TO YESTERDAY'S BLOG)

     YES, IT'S TRUE. IF I HAD A COUPLE OF MILLION BUCKS TO INVEST, I'D OPEN UP A LOCAL NEWSPAPER, AND IT WOULD BE RUN AS I REMEMBER THE PROFESSION, BACK IN THE 1980'S, WHEN I WAS EMPLOYED BY THE BRACEBRIDGE HERALD-GAZETTE. AND BY GOLLY, I'D MAKE A PLAY TO SCOOP UP SOME OF THE OLD GANG, TO GIVE IT ANOTHER SHOT IN THIS NEW CENTURY. WHAT DO YOU THINK CHRIS? VAL? LILLIAN? (THREE EXCEPTIONALLY TALENTED FOLKS IN NEWPAPER LAYOUT AND GRAPHIC ARTS). PITTY A GOODLY NUMBER OF MY NEWS CRONIES ARE NOW DECEASED, BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW WRITERS OUT THERE, WHO I WORKED WITH, WHO COULD BE BRIBED WITH BIG PAY CHEQUES. A FEW OF US MAY NEED HEARING HORNS, AND CANES, BUT MAKE UP FOR LOSS OF BODILY FUNCTION, WITH OLD FASHIONED SPUNK. JUST LIKE WHAT THE HANSON BROTHERS, IN THE MOVIE "SLAPSHOT", TALKED ABOUT, WITH THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS, NEEDING TO GO BACK TO PLAY "THAT OLD TIME HOCKEY." WELL SIR, I THINK THERE'S AN APPETITE IN MUSKOKA FOR AN "OLD TIME NEWSPAPER." NOW ABOUT THAT BURNING ISSUE OF "SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS"......WHICH BY THE WAY, WOULD STILL MAKE IT A SHOESTRING BUDGET, AND A BIG GAMBLE, FACING OFF AGAINST MEDIA POWERHOUSES.

     WHEN I JOINED THE STAFF OF MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, IT WAS MADE CLEAR TO ME, THAT ONE OF MY MOST IMPORTANT REPORTING DUTIES, NON NEGOTIABLE, WAS TO FOLLOW OUR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ON THEIR RIDING VISITATIONS. THIS BY THE WAY, COULD INVOLVE SOME SERIOUS MILEAGE CLAIMS, AS THIS IS ONE HONKING BIG REGION. IN THOSE DAYS, I SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH MUSKOKA M.P.P. FRANK MILLER, AND M.P.P. STAN DARLING. BY AND LARGE, THESE COMPANIONING WEEKENDS, WERE TO COVER SPECIAL EVENTS, WHERE THE ELECTED OFFICIALS WOULD BE EXPECTED TO ATTEND; RANGING IN NATURE FROM BUSINESS RIBBON CUTTINGS OF ALL-SORTS, TO MILESTONE ANNIVERSARIES AND BIRTHDAYS. THEY WERE IN ATTENDANCE TO PRESENT RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENT PLAQUES TO SUBJECT CONSTITUENTS. A REPORTER WAS THERE BECAUSE IT WAS A "PHOTO OP.," AS THEY CALL IT TODAY. I WOULD GET THEIR INTINEARY FOR THE RIDING, LATE IN THE WEEK, AND IF IT WAS MY WEEKEND ON-DUTY, IT WAS POTENTIAL, THAT I'D MEET UP WITH ONE OR BOTH MEMBERS, TWO OR THREE TIMES ON THE SAME WEEKEND. WE GOT TO BE PRETTY GOOD FRIENDS, AND EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, I'D GET A CHANCE TO SQUEEZE-IN A FEW POLITICAL QUESTIONS, REGARDING AN ISSUE IN THE REGION, AND THEY WERE BOTH VERY GOOD ABOUT OFFERING SOME NEWS QUOTES, FOR THE NEXT ISSUE OF EITHER "THE BEACON," SERVING WEST MUSKOKA, OR "THE HERALD-GAZETTE," A SISTER PUBLICATION IN BRACEBRIDGE.

     THE NEXT BIG COVERAGE TASK, WAS TO ATTEND MEETINGS OF MUSKOKA'S MUNICIPAL COUNCILS, IN OUR CIRCULATION AREA. THIS MEANT HAVING TO DRIVE TO PORT SEVERN TWICE A MONTH, TO COVER THE TOWNSHIP OF GEORGIAN BAY MEETINGS; AND THEN THE SAME SCENE, IN PORT CARLING, WHEN THERE WERE MONDAY MEETINGS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES. TAXES WERE THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE TO WATCH OUT FOR, AND IT WAS AT A TIME, IN THE LATE 1970'S, WHEN COTTAGERS WERE GETTING POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, AS LAKEFRONT PROPERTIES WERE BEING HIT WITH HUGE TAXATION INCREASES FOR LOT FRONTAGES, BUT STILL HAVING LIMITED MUNICIPAL SERVICES. THE REAL BULK OF NEWS IN MY NEWSPAPER YEARS, CAME FROM THESE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS, AND EVEN IN THE WEEKS WHEN MEETINGS WEREN'T HELD, REPORTERS BADGERED COUNCILLORS ABOUT UNFINISHED BUSINESS, AND SOME CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES SET TO HIT THE TABLE IN THE WEEK TO COME. IT WAS INDEED RATHER BORING COVERAGE, BUT REPORTERS HAVE A WAY OF COPING WITH CALM SPELLS IN THE ACTION. LOU SPECHT, OF THE BRACEBRIDGE EXAMINER, BILL COLE, OF THE GRAVENHURST NEWS, AND SOMETIMES, GAR LEWIS OF CKCO TELEVISION, SAT AT THE BACK TABLE, COFFEE KINDLY PROVIDED IN THE DOWNSTAIRS LOUNGE, AND WE PASSED NOTES BACK AND FORTH THROUGH THE MEETINGS, AND CARRIED ON OUR SOCIAL GET-TOGETHER WITH TELL-TALE LOOKS, BACK AND FORTH, SHOWING SURPRISE, HORROR, COMPASSION, OUTRAGE, PASSIVE INTEREST, OR SIGNS OF FALLING ASLEEP......ALL VIA FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. IT WAS OUR COPING MECHANISM, TO KEEP EACH OTHER AWAKE DURING THE ROUTINE BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. I LOVED THOSE GUYS. AND THEY WOULD EVEN CORRECT MY NOTES, IF THEY SPOTTED SOMETHING WRONG....POSSIBLY A NEWLY INTRODUCED BYLAW OR MOTION I MISUNDERSTOOD. WE WERE COMPETITORS, AND WE WERE BEING PAID TO ONE-UP THE RIVAL PAPER. BUT WE WERE ALL IN THIS REPORTING THING TOGETHER, AND THERE WAS AN UNSPOKEN TRUST BETWEEN US, TO NEVER BETRAY ONE ANOTHER.....AND THROUGH QUITE A FEW YEARS, WE NEVER DID. IT DOESN'T MEAN WE RAN THE SAME STORY, WORD FOR WORD, BECAUSE OF THIS FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP; BUT WE FOUND CREATIVE WAYS, BASED ON HONED EXPERIENCE, TO PURSUE STORIES AND RESEARCH AFTER THE MEETINGS, BY CONTACTING COUNCILLORS FOR INTERVIEWS, TO FOLLOW HUNCHES, AND TIPS FROM OUR RESPECTIVE DEEP THROATS, WHO WERE ONLY TOO HAPPY TO SNITCH ON THEIR MUNICIPAL BOSSES. THAT'S ONE THING I'VE NEVER LOST AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. MY SOURCES, AND GOD BLESS THEM.

     JUST SO Y0U KNOW, WHEN WE WOULD COVER A COUNCIL MEETING, ON AN AVERAGE MONDAY, TWICE A MONTH, WE WOULD END UP AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE MEETING, WITH A MITT FULL OF NOTES AND QUOTES, ABOUT THE PROCEEDINGS. WHEN WE GOT BACK TO THE OFFICE, (I WORKED A LOT FROM HOME), WE WOULD DO THE BASIC STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MEETING, REGARDING A SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEM, AND THEN WE'D START DEVELOPING THE STORY-LINE INTO A BALANCED NEWS ARTICLE; FIRST BY GOING AFTER COUNTER-POINT WHENEVER THERE WAS ONE. WE DIDN'T LIKE RUNNING STORIES WITHOUT CONTRARY COMMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM THOSE COUNCILLORS WHO DIDN'T SUPPORT A BYLAW OR MOTION, OR THE GENERAL OPINION OF COUNCIL ON A COMMUNITY ISSUE....SUCH AS WHETHER TO SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE, A RESORT PROPOSAL OR NEW SUBDIVISION. WE WANTED TO SHOW OUR READERS THAT COUNTERPOINT WAS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE AT HAND. THE ONLY NEWS PARALLEL I READ ABOUT TODAY, IS WHAT HAS BEEN OCCURRING IN BALA WITH THE HYDRO PROJECT AT THE FALLS. THERE WERE A LOT OF CONTENTIOUS STORIES LIKE THIS, IN MY NEWSPAPER TENURE, AND IT WAS NECESSARY TO OUR PUBLISHERS, THAT THESE CONFLICTING ISSUES AND PARTIES BE IDENTIFIED, SO THAT OUR READERS WOULD FEEL SATISFIED, WE HAD COVERED ALL THE ANGLES. IT BECAME, OVER TIME, A REQUIREMENT FOR EACH OF US, TO DO BETTER AT COVERING THESE DIFFICULT AND EMOTIONAL ISSUES IN OUR REGION, SUCH THAT EVEN ON SIMPLE REPORTING ASSIGNMENTS, WE'D LOOK FOR OTHER AVENUES TO EXPLORE, TO BROADEN THE VALUE OF THE STORY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

     THE PROBLEM TODAY, AND IT'S A BIG ONE, IS THAT THE LOCAL MEDIA IS NOT COVERING OUR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL, OR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH THE SAME DUE DILLIGENCE, TO FERRET OUT NEWS STORIES. AS FAR AS TRANSPARENCY ISSUES GO....., THE COMMUNITY PRESS WAS IN PLACE, TO ENFORCE TRANSPARENCY ISSUES, AND REVEAL THE INNER ACTIVITIES OF OUR COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES. BUT WHEN COUNCILLORS KNEW THAT THE REPORTERS COVERING THEIR COUNCIL CONDUCT, AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS, WERE HIGHLY SKILLED SLEUTHS, BELIEVE ME, WE WERE AFFORDED MUCH GREATER RESPECT, AND GENERALLY, GIVEN INTERVIEW TIME WHENEVER WE MADE THE REQUEST. WHAT WE THEN PRESENTED, WERE STORIES THAT HAD TO PASS HEAVY SCRUTINY, FROM NOT ONLY THOSE INTERVIEWED AND IMMEDIATELY INVOLVED, BUT THE READERSHIP OVERALL. IF WE SCREWED UP, IT COULD MEAN LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE NEWSPAPER, AND OURSELVES, AND THE LOSS OF THE JOB WE LOVED. WE DIDN'T TAKE RISKS, AND WHEN WE HAD A CONTROVERSIAL STORY, THE PUBLISHER WAS WORRIED ABOUT, IT WAS SHIPPED OFF TO OUR LAWYER FOR APPROVAL OR SUGGESTION. MAKE NO MISTAKE, WE RAN A TOUGH NEWS DEPARTMENT, AS DID OUR COMPETITION, AT THE BRACEBRIDGE EXAMINER, AND IT WAS JUST WHAT LOCAL POLITICS REQUIRED, TO MAKE THEM APPRECIATE THE FULL MONTY OF TRANSPARENCY.....AS WE INSISTED UPON, WITH THIS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS ATTITUDE.

     GRAVENHURST COUNCIL HAS NOT HAD THE KIND OF MEDIA SCRUTINY IT REQUIRES, TO BE AT ALL RESPONSIVE TO TRANSPARENCY ISSUES THE PUBLIC RAISES.  THEY EXERCISE SELECTIVE TRANSPARENCY, BUT THE REALITY IS.....IF YOU DON'T HAVE A REPORTER FROM THE LOCAL MEDIA, IN YOUR FACE, DEMANDING ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT COUNCIL BUSINESS, THEN IT'S PERFECTLY UNDERSTANDABLE, THAT STATUS QUO REIGNS UNCHALLENGED. FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS LIKELY WHY THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A COUNTERPOINT OFFERED, ABOUT THE MAJOR CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED AT THE GRAVENHURST OPERA HOUSE, IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS....OR FINDING JUST ONE OPPOSITION POINT OF VIEW, PUBLISHED IN ANY NEWS ARTICLE REGARDING THE FUTURE BIA AREA EXPANSION, WHICH WILL BE HUGE AND CONTROVERSIAL, BECAUSE IT COMES WITH A TAXATION ATTACHMENT.....THE PRICE OF MEMBERSHIP. I DON'T INTEND TO GET POLITICAL, BECAUSE I SWORE OFF THIS FIVE TIMES IN THE PAST YEAR, BUT THE ISSUES AREN'T SOFT NEWS.....BUT THAT'S HOW THEY APPEAR IN THE LOCAL MEDIA. YET I'M PRETTY SURE, THE MEDIA KNOWS THERE IS A TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT, BUT DON'T APPEAR TO BE IN ANY HURRY TO EXPLOIT IT. WHAT ABOUT THE READERSHIP THAT WANTS TO KNOW ALL THE POOP GOING ON IN THEIR TOWN? HOW DO THEY FIND OUT THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS THESE DAYS? MAYBE A TIME IS COMING, WHEN A NEW MEDIA OUTLET WILL RISE, TO CHALLENGE THE PRESENT STATUS QUO, AND ONCE AGAIN, PUT SOME EMPHASIS ON WATCH-DOGGING FOR THE BENEFIT OF CONSTITUENTS; WITH A PUBLISHER WILLING TO TAKE A CHANCE ON A SUBSCRIPTION BASE, LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.

ANOTHER GLIMPSE AT THESE HISTORIC NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS

     "LET US GLANCE FOR A MOMENT, AT ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THESE TWO EDITORS," WRITES CAPTAIN LEVI FRASER, IN HIS BOOK, "HISTORY OF MUSKOKA," CIRCA THE 1940'S.

     "GEORGE (G.H.O.) THOMAS CAME TO BRACEBRIDGE WHEN ABOUT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE, TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE TEACHING STAFF (SCHOOL) FOR SIX MONTHS. THE COUNTRY LOOKED SO FORBIDDING TO HIM THAT HE WONDERED IF HE COULD ENDURE THAT LONG. BEFORE THE SIX MONTHS HAD EXPIRED, HE BECAME ENGAGED AS PRINCIPAL FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR, 1885, A POSITION HE HELD FOR MANY YEARS DURING WHICH TIME HE BECAME ENGAGED IN THE JEWELRY BUSINESS, MARRIED AND OF HIS THREE SONS, ONE IS AN OPTOMETRIST (PHILIP), THE OTHER TWO STUDIED LAW, AND NOW ARE PARTNERS IN A LAW PRACTICE (DOUGLAS AND REDMOND). THE OLDEST (REDMOND) IS ALSO A MAGISTRATE AND EDITOR OF THE BRACEBRIDGE GAZETTE. D.E. BASTEDO CAME FROM BAYSVILLE TO BRACEBRIDGE, ON FOOT, IN 1870, WITH HIS MEAGRE BELONGINGS TIED IN A COLORED HANDKERCHIEF, ACCEPTED THE POSITION OF 'PRINTER'S DEVIL,' ON THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE, AND LATER WAS ON THE FREE GRANT GAZETTE. HE MARRIED AND RAISED A FAMILY OF FIVE BOYS, AND SEVERAL GIRLS; OF THE BOYS THREE ARE LAWYERS, ONE A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER AND ONE A DOCTOR (DR. A.F. BASTEDO OF BRACEBRIDGE). THESE ARE NOT ONLY MUSKOKA PIONEER FAMILIES, WHO HAVE TURNED OUT PROFESSIONAL MEN. THE BACK TOWNSHIPS AS WELL AS THE TOWNS, HAVE PRODUCED THEIR QUOTA. I ONLY MENTION THESE TWO FAMILIES, BECAUSE THEY ARE CONNECTED WITH THE PRESS, OUR PRESENT SUBJECT."

     CAPTAIN FRASER ADDS, "THE GRAVENHURST BANNER WAS THE LAST MUSKOKA PAPER, TO BEGIN PUBLICATION. IT MADE ITS APPEARANCE IN THE 1880'S. THE BANNER WAS THE FIRST NEWSPAPER THAT I EVER READ, AS AT THAT TIME, I WAS JUST LEARNING TO READ. IN MY CHILDISH IGNORANCE, I THOUGHT THAT A NEWSPAPERMAN MUST BE A WONDERFULLY WISE MAN. I WONDERED HOW HE COULD KNOW ALL THE THINGS THAT APPEARED EVERY WEEK IN THE BANNER. I ANXIOUSLY LOOKED FORWARD TO ITS ARRIVAL EVERY WEEK. IN THE EARLY DAYS THE BANNER WAS ABOUT THE ONLY PAPER THAT CAME TO OUR SETTLEMENT. LIKE ALL OTHER DISTRICT PAPERS, IT WAS A GREAT BOOSTER OF MUSKOKA. ITS WEEKLY BUDGET OF NEWS, TOLD OF NEW SETTLER ARRIVALS, OF NEW ROADS BEING BUILT AND OF THE EVER-INCREASING LAKE TRADE. SUCH NEWS HAD THE EFFECT OF MAKING OUR PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE LIVING IN A FAVORED LAND. NOTHING STIMULATES CIVIC PRIDE LIKE GOOD NEWSPAPER LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT. ALTHOUGH MANY OF OUR PEOPLE FOUND THE GOING TOUGH ENOUGH, THEY RESENTED ANYTHING THAT CAST A REFLECTION ON THE COMMUNITY. AN INCIDENT OCCURRED IN THE MID 1880'S, WHEN AN ELDERLY CLERGYMAN, WHO HAD CALLED TO ONE OF THE TOWN CHURCHES, (AND WHO EVIDENTLY HAD COME FROM A MORE ADVANCED COMMUNITY), MADE A REPORT, THAT APPEARED IN THE PRESS (NOT IN THE BANNER), DEPICTING MUSKOKA AS A POVERTY-STRICKEN DISTRICT. FEW INCIDENTS IN THOSE DAYS CAUSED SUCH WIDESPREAD INDIGNATION, AS DID THIS REPORT; THE RESULT BEING THAT THE REVEREND GENTLEMAN'S STAY IN GRAVENHURST WAS OF SHORT DURATION.

     "THE BANNER WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1882 BY W.R. TUDHOPE, LATER IT WAS TAKEN OVER IN TURN BY A. FAWCETT OF UFFINGTON, THE GRANT FAMILY, G.H.O. THOMAS, DALTON CAMPBELL, MR. REYNOLDS, AND FINALLY BY ALF AND R.T. DASS, OF WHOM ALF IS STILL THE PUBLISHER (CIRCA 1942). IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, ANOTHER GRAVENHURST PAPER, THE HERALD, FOUNDED BY DR. BEATTIE NESBITT, RAN FOR AWHILE, AND WAS THEN ABSORBED BY THE BANNER."

     CAPTAIN FRASER ASTUTELY OBSERVES, THAT, "AS AN UNBIASED OBSERVER, WITH NO AXE TO GRIND, I WOULD SAY THAT THE PRESS OF MUSKOKA DESERVES THE COMMENDATION OF THE WHOLE DISTRICT, FOR THE PART IT HAS PLAYED IN PROMOTING THE VARIED AND NUMEROUS INTERESTS OF THIS FAIR LAND OF OURS. TO THE PRESS, I WOULD SAY, 'DO NOT REST ON YOUR OARS FOR THE GOAL HAS NOT BEEN REACHED; MUSKOKA IS NOT YET FULLY DEVELOPED AND THE PRESS CAN BECOME A POWERFUL INSTRUMENT IN STIMULATING INTEREST IN SUCH PROPOSITIONS, AS RE-FORESTATION AND TREE-PLANTING ALONG OUR HIGHWAYS AND THE BANKS OF RIVERS AND STREAMS, TO PRESERVE MOISTURE AND KEEP THE LITTLE BABBLING BROOKS ALIVE AND ACTIVE TO THE DELIGHT OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM MANY LANDS. STAY OUT IN FRONT; GIVE US LEADERSHIP AND EARN THE GRATITUDE OF AN INTERESTED PUBLIC; FOR AFTER ALL MUSKOKA IS DESTINED TO BE JUST WHAT WE MAKE OF IT."

     THIS WAS THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERED IN MUSKOKA, BY A MUSKOKAN, DURING YEARS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. WHY WOULD THE MEDIA EVER BE OF LESSER CONCERN, AS A LEADERSHIP MODEL, EVEN IN THIS, OUR MODERN ERA OF DEVELOPMENT?