OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS, BRANDING, AND A COUNCIL DISCONNECT - BRACEBRIDGE BEING MANIPULATED BY THE FEW, TO IMPACT ON THE MANY
BRACEBRIDGE DOESN'T SUFFER FROM AN IDENTITY CRISIS - OR A LACK OF MARKETABLE CHARACTER
I remember waking up one hot but sunny summer morning, after spending the night sleeping on the front, second story balcony, of the former McGibbon house; and hearing a lot of voices and clanging noises, of what I could only imagine was the metal piping, used to build temporary shelters. I knew it was the day for the annual Business and Professional Women's annual sale, in the park, but for gosh sakes, it wasn't long after sunrise. It was probably later than this, but it was definitely too early, for a man who had enjoyed too much wine with friends, the evening before. I had a blanket draped over the railing, to disguise my outdoor bedroom, but I pulled it open just a crack at the bottom, at this moment, to reveal what was happening below, and over in Memorial Park, so early on this bright new day. Well, it was a town on the move. The organizers and vendors of the popular sale, were busy setting up their tents, and the women were getting the bandshell ready, for their barbecue, and loading-in food provisions for the day. The coffee by this time, was already brewing. I could smell it from across the road. It was, in the freeze-frame of photography, like a folk art painting, in full life and color; naive at first glance, storied, and a study in rural traditions, as the day progressed. Especially when viewed as a panorama, the old houses of the neighborhood, creating a picturesque, historic backdrop. I pulled myself up into a chair, and sat for about an hour, watching it all unfold. I even took some news photos for The Herald-Gazette, from that elevated perspective, and it was just fascinating to watch how well the sale came together, and looked, and acted like a party, on an otherwise hot summer morning; in the middle of what was usually a quiet park for strolling and bench sitting. I watched a lot of contemporary Bracebridge history, unfold in this manner. I liked to immerse myself in the festivities. How better to understand it all, than to be imbedded in the party unfolding.
Call it what it is! A first in Bracebridge history! A solution to some of the identity issues, burdening the community right now, crafted right here in South Muskoka. Here's a low budget offer to the citizens of Bracebridge. It's an offer I extend to Town Council, the Chamber of Commerce, and the local BIA. I offer it particularly to the downtown business community, that seems to be having some problems these days, keeping the storefronts rented. Give me a cubby-hole, with a window offering a nice, and pleasant view, (the old federal building with the magnificent clock tower, works for me) in one of Bracebridge's wonderful old downtown, main street buildings, from which to work, and I will write oodles of promotional, editorial copy, about the provenance of character, my former hometown possesses; that most these days, have either forgotten, or cared not to expose, let alone exploit.
Whether the town becomes a Christmas themed community, (as some desire and are pushing for) from its present "Learning is Us" status, as deemed a necessary branding by town council, two years ago, I have no desire to petition the municipality, the business community, or the residents themselves, in any bid to turf one "branding" theme for another. I didn't agree with the branding proposal to begin with, and when opinions were asked for, by the consultants, my only response was that heritage is the saving grace. And without shame, and regard for the shunning of the past, I pitched the idea of capitalizing on what history gave us as preamble provenance; being the rightful heirs to the literary biography, of internationally recognized author, Washington Irving. The town was named after Irving's book, "Bracebridge Hall," which if you know, even a few of the author's accomplishments, you will then appreciate, that it should be considered an historically significant honor to share such a literary name.
I didn't get a call back on this one, but then I knew I wouldn't; so I wasn't disappointed. The full recognition of this provenance of name and author, has been downplayed routinely by folks at town hall, and significant others, for reasons unknown. I have my suspicions. So I feel no obligation then, having at least tried to honor protocols, and respect channels of government, to let them know when I'm about to tear off, on my very next Washington Irving editorial jag, (of which there have been dozens since 1999); which I exploited again this year to the fullest, in blogs (which you can archive back to read) about Bracebridge and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," at Hallowe'en. And then at Bracebridge Hall, at Christmas, which is right out of the pages of Irving's two "Bracebridge" connected books: first, of course, "The Sketch Book," circa 1819, and then "Bracebridge Hall," circa 1822. Point is, when the "learning" choice for community branding, was imposed upon the community, that largely couldn't have cared less, I felt that once again, council was looking everywhere else to find an identity, and a marketable one, apparently having given up on what they had been sowing and growing, in their own garden, since the late 1850's. Don't you just hate when you hear or read about consultants having to study who we are, and what we're all about, and what we should become? I have always found it offensive, but there are those citizens, who believe we need someone from out of the area, to define us for our own good.
I have never felt it incumbent to follow blindly, those who lead based on assumed power, that really doesn't exist except in their own minds. I will voluntarily fall in behind those who I believe can show the way, based on knowledge, experience and the character dynamic, to boldly admit, when need arises, they don't know it all! I find very few politicians these days, who will admit that the direction they have taken is the wrong one, and instead, opt for silence when the going gets rough. Then, to solve a problem they've had a hand in creating, opt for yet another consultant, to repair and restore what wasn't broken in the first place.
I began writing about my home town, in earnest, when I arrived back in Bracebridge, after my university years in Toronto, circa the autumn of 1977. Our family moved into the beautiful old brick house, that had once been owned by Dr. Peter McGibbon, a former Member of Parliament for our region, situated on upper Manitoba Street, opposite the elegantly treed triangle of Memorial Park. The house was torn down quite a few years ago now, but I had the privilege of some wonderful years of residency, including my early period as the new editor of The Herald-Gazette. It was the first meeting place of the fledgling Bracebridge Historical Society. It was the house that afforded me an inspirational vantage point, to view a goodly portion of the main street, north and south, especially Memorial Park, which I studied over the four seasons, from the attic window, where I had positioned my writing desk. With exceptions of months here and there, ever since, I have been writing about my former home town with great enthusiasm. The fact that I no longer live in town, and in fact, live ten miles south, in Gravenhurst, hasn't changed my opinion, that Bracebridge history is a fascinating pursuit I won't abandon.
In all the years I've been writing about, and promoting the Town of Bracebridge, in publications ranging from the former Herald-Gazette, the Muskoka Advance, The Muskoka Sun, Muskoka Today, The Bracebridge Examiner, The Muskokan, plus others, including a former advertising magazine, known as "The Bracebridge Downtowner," it has seemed more of a pleasure than work; and those forays have given me a pretty fair archives, of previously published work from which to work, when writing more contemporary editorials. I pause every time I read about issues with "branding" and unfulfilled promises, and especially when the town is referred to as "having been great, so what happened?" I can understand why some people think this way, and continue to make such unfounded, historically weak statements, believing that they have the most insightful overview, and solutions, regarding what's wrong with the old home town. What should be armchair critiques only, somehow make it into print via the local press, without any meaningful counterpoint from, well, those who know the history of the town, and realize how ridiculous the off-hand statements are, in the grand scheme. Some historians are bashful at all the wrong times, and I don't count myself part of this number. My reputation is the exact opposite, and I've never once avoided a dust-up, because someone might kick dirt at my pants. I do consider myself a defender of local history, and I've never believed that the historian's only resource, was to write a book, when public demonstration is the best way to kick back in the opposite direction.
I have written about Bracebridge for long enough now, to have gotten used to the critics, who feel I am too outspoken and politically irreverent for my own good. If I had worried about such adversity, I would have quit writing local material a long time ago, so you might say, I've kind of blown right through it, and continue to pursue what I believe is most relevant; for example, looking at the town's history in the contemporary sense. Bringing history, with a little zing, back to public attention, so that it doesn't wind-up being forever lodged on a book shelf, awaiting the curious amongst us to get frisky some lonely night. It's too important to our identity, to be shelved and archived. It's why I continue to re-visit the town I knew, and all that I have learned about it since, and harp on that trusted, but tired old saying, about what is "old being new again." I don't see town history the way my contemporaries do, and that has always been our dividing line. I am about "living" history, and the restoration of heritage to suit the modernists, who have never been sold on the idea that history can be anything more than a textbook, school desk and a teacher's drone, about the milestones of once. History is a our culture; our art, and something to be heralded, whenever we talk, or write about identity and character. We don't need consultants to inform us, what kind of community we are, or should be, or town councillors to intrude where they have no place. They are stewards of our community resources, and are not elected to mess with a social / cultural legacy. It's fine to exploit what we have to exploit. There is no need for facade building, when Bracebridge has such a significant historical record, that has been, for all intents and purposes, largely undeveloped, and under-utilized as a resource. The reason? We look to town hall for solutions and directions in these matters, and they look elsewhere for rescue; or at least they find a comfortable consensus, that will only rock the boat for a short while.
I have studied Bracebridge from many different portals, and I've never been disappointed in what I've observed. Whether from the attic room or balcony of the former McGibbon house; or the retail space we used to rent in the former home of W.W, Kinsey, further north on Manitoba Street; the restored office of Henry Bird, at Woodchester Villa and Museum, (when I was site manager), the house once owned the Marrin family, on Quebec Street, at our old home, near the bottom of Tanbark Hill (below the former Bracebridge High School), and even in early pennings, from our tiny third floor residence up on Alice Street, known then as the Weber Apartments. And then there was the ten years jag, I spent working in the former Herald-Gazette building, on Dominion Street, which was after-all, where I did the most day to day writing. In some ways, I have been observing Bracebridge since childhood, and its what I write about most these days; the town that has evolved since the winter of 1966, into an urban landscape I couldn't have predicted. Some change I agree, has been for the betterment of town, some of it not-so-much.
My offer to write promotional material for, and about the Town of Bracebridge, is nothing new for me. What is new, in fact, is my interest in re-connecting with the downtown core, that was so important to me as a youngster, and a place that continues to inspire a lot of wonderful memories. So I thought if I offered something exclusive, such as the willingness to set up shop, in the downtown preferably, to write about the town past and present, it would possibly inspire some stake-holders, to take a chance on such a home-inspired opportunity, to exploit what has been available to the town all along. No need for a consultant or yet another expensive study, to figure out what the town's all about. I would write from the clock tower, or anywhere history shines through, because it's the fabric I need to work with, in order to make this quilt historically responsive, but only in the most contemporary sense. The actuality of the present is history, one fraction of a second from now. What you just read is history. It's the failing you see, that history ceases to become contemporary and exciting, when it's not taken out to play. It doesn't have to be this way.
Bracebridge doesn't need to be branded, in order to be marketable or unique. It needs to be fully recognized as a vibrant, charming, adaptable small town, that has survived the naysayers and political intrusions for the entire period of its settlement, here in South Muskoka. Why didn't we need to be branded in the 1920's, 1940's, the 50's or 60's? In my view, it's because the town leadership was secure with what had been accomplished in the past, and that there was enough fortitude to soldier-on, and continue to develop on a reliable, trusted assurance "the best was yet to come." A way of looking at the future, based on the distance it had already travelled. An unwritten, unspoken plan, that had kept the town prospering through the feast and famine of the decades. Having survived the economic chagrin of the Great Depression, and many recessionary periods, the rigors and demands on resources of two World Wars, and the world conflicts, up to and including the present; I'm satisfied, as an historian, that Bracebridge can rest comfortably on its past accomplishments. They're pretty impressive, and deserve to be played and replayed for the modern audience, largely unaware what has been confined to the archives, and modest paragraphs in local history texts. We all need to be reminded from time to time, where we came from, and how we got from here to there. In Bracebridge, reviving history isn't the magic potion, to turn the economic tide, but it's a start.
The town has weathered economic storms many times in its history, without requiring anything other than resilience and confidence, that the old and familiar path, has never once been the wrong direction, in which to travel. Despite those modernists, who insist on prescribing what's in our best interest, without feeling it incumbent first, to fully appreciate what history has already created on our behalf, I will always trust the road I've travelled in the past, to get me home again. We're not lost, despite the claims of those, with vested interest, who feel we are.
So if you know of a tiny, inspiring portal, and wish to share it with an historian, for the gain of some useable, for-free editorials, you know where to find me. If not, I will carry-on as I have been, for long and long, and maybe sit occasionally in Memorial Park, a parked car, or work from any one of the benches, that affords me a different vantage point, to look back and forward, upon the place I still consider my home town.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
HERE NOW IS SOME HISTORICAL EVIDENCE I'D LIKE TO SHARE, ABOUT THE TRUE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY PRESS, AS IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR OUR FOUNDERS, AND THEIR OFFSPRING, FROM PIONEER ROOTS THROUGH TWO WARS AND A GREAT DEPRESSION. IT'S WHAT WE DESERVE TODAY. THE CITIZENS OF MUSKOKA DESERVE A RETURN TO SOME OLD TIME VALUES.....SOME TRADITIONS THAT WERE STILL HALE AND HARDY WHEN THEY WERE SCRAPPED BY A NEW ARROGANT, INTRUSIVE PHILOSOPHY, REGARDING " WHAT (PRAY TELL) IS IN OUR BEST INTEREST," AS DETERMINED BY THE CITY SLICKERS. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THAT PERSPECTIVE......OF "TRUST US, YOU'LL LIKE IT!" WELL I DON'T LIKE IT! HOW ABOUT YOU?
LET'S LOOK AT SOME OLD TIME VALUES IN THE COMMUNITY PRESS
SO HOW IMPORTANT WERE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS DATING BACK TO THE LATE 1860'S? HOW RELEVANT WERE THESE PAPERS, TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION, SINCE THEIR NEWS PAGES BEGAN ROLLING OFF THE PRESSES? HOW ABOUT POLITICS? HOW RABID WERE THESE PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS WAY BACK.....EVEN A COUPLE OF DECADES AGO, WHENEVER THERE WAS A MUNICIPAL, PROVINCIAL OR FEDERAL ELECTION? HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO HAVE A NEWSPAPER OFFICE ON THE MAIN STREET OF OUR MAJOR TOWNS?
AS AWARE AS I CAN BE, REGARDING THE MODERN DAY ECONOMICS FACING NEWSPAPERS ACROSS THIS COUNTRY, I WOULD LOVE A RETURN TO THE OLD TIME, FAMILY OR PARTNERSHIP OWNED PUBLICATIONS, LIKE WE USED TO COUNT ON......TO KEEP US UP TO SPEED ON THE LATEST NEWS FROM HOME AND ABROAD. BACK TO A TIME WHEN JOURNALISM WAS MORE THAN JUST A REPORTER HUSTLING UP A STORY, OR A PHOTOGRAPHER GETTING A GREAT FRONT PAGER........OR THE PUBLISHER CELEBRATING A "SOLD-OUT" EDITION. IT WAS WHEN A COMMUNITY LOOKED AT ITS REPRESENTATIVE PAPERS, AND BELIEVED IT WAS AS MUCH A SIGN OF PROSPERITY AND FUTURE POTENTIAL. AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE ME....BUT POSSIBLY YOU MIGHT BELIEVE THESE HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS, FROM FOLKS WHO DID, FROM CLOSE QUARTERS, APPRECIATE THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY PRESS IN OUR REGION OF ONTARIO.
"THE FIRST NEWSPAPER IN THE SETTLEMENT (BRACEBRIDGE) WAS PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR (THOMAS MCMURRAY), ON THE 14TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 1869, BEARING THE TITLE OF THE 'NORTHERN ADVOCATE.' IT WAS FIRST PRINTED AT PARRY SOUND, BUT FROM THE FACT THAT BRACEBRIDGE WAS MORE CENTRAL IT HAS BEEN REMOVED THITHER. THE OBJECT OF THE PUBLISHER WAS TO GIVE RELIABLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FREE GRANT LANDS, AND HIS LABOURS HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. THE CIRCULATION IS 1,000 COPIES WEEKLY. A GREAT MANY COPIES GO TO ENGLAND, IRELAND AND SCOTLAND FOR INFORMATION OF INTENDING EMIGRANTS, AND THROUGH THE ADVOCACY MANY HAVE BEEN INDUCED TO SETTLE IN OUR MIDST."
THOMAS MCMURRAY, WAS OF COURSE, THE AUTHOR OF MUSKOKA'S OWN SETTLERS' GUIDEBOOK, SIMPLY ENTITLED "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND," IN THE EARLY 1870'S, AND HE USED THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE IN MUCH THE SAME MANNER AS THE BOOK.....TO ENCOURAGE SETTLERS TO INVEST IN OUR REGION OF THE PROVINCE. THE CONFLICT FOR MCMURRAY, THAT HE OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT, WAS THAT HIS EDITORIAL CONTENT, AND OUTRIGHT SOLICITATION FOR EMIGRANTS, WAS TIED INTO HIS BUSINESS INVOLVEMENTS, FROM NEWSPAPERS TO REAL ESTATE SPECULATION IN ITS INFANCY. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FREE GRANT LANDS, OF OUR DISTRICT, EARNED HIM MONEY, FROM THE SALE OF NEWSPAPERS, THEN HIS BOOK, AND PROPERTY SALES ON TOP OF THAT. BUT HE WAS ALSO HEAVILY INVESTED IN THE COMMERCIAL AREA OF PIONEER BRACEBRIDGE, WHICH OBVIOUSLY BENEFITTED FROM A POPULATION INCREASE. MCMURRAY DIDN'T HAVE PARTICULAR INTEREST, IN SHARING THE WHOLE STORY ABOUT PIONEERING DISADVANTAGES IN MUSKOKA, BECAUSE HIS PROFITS WERE BASED ON ATTRACTING EMIGRANTS.....NOT DISCOURAGING THEM FROM TAKING A CROSS-ATLANTIC ADVENTURE.
MCMURRAY WAS AMBITIOUS AND MADE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF BRACEBRIDGE, AND INDEED, THE SETTLEMENT OF MUSKOKA, BUT HE MADE ERRORS IN JUDGEMENT THAT COST HIM SERIOUS FINANCIAL REPERCUSIONS. IN BRACEBRIDGE, FOR EXAMPLE, HE WAS IN SUCH A HURRY TO ERECT HIS BRICK BUILDING, ON MANITOBA STREET, THAT HE FAILED TO ALLOW THEM TO CURE PROPERLY, BEFORE HAVING THEM CEMENTED IN PLACE. SO THEY BEGAN CRUMBLING EARLY IN THE HISTORY OF THIS MAIN STREET ARCHITECTURE. THE LARGE BUILDING WAS LATER HAULED DOWN, AND THE PROPERTY RE-DEVELOPED. MCMURRAY DESERVES A STREET NAMED IN HIS HONOR, IN BRACEBRIDGE (BRACEBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL IS ON THIS STREET), AND HIS NAME IS PERMANENTLY ETCHED ONTO THE PAGES OF REGIONAL HISTORY. HE WAS A BIG MUSKOKA BOOSTER, A CHAMPION OF THE PIONEERING MOVEMENT INTO THE HINTERLAND, THE FIRST MUSKOKA HISTORIAN, AND THE FIRST NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER. FOR ALL THAT HE DID ACCOMPLISH, IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE TOWN, THINGS JUST DIDN'T WORK OUT AS HE WOULD HAVE LIKED. HE THEN RETURNED NORTH TO PARRY SOUND TO RECOUP HIS LOSSES.
ACCORDING TO MCMURRAY, "IT IS SOMEWHAT SINGULAR, THAT WHEN THE WRITER FIRST CAME TO MUSKOKA, HE HAD TO ROW ACROSS MUSKOKA LAKE, AND WHEN THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE, WAS PUBLISHED, IT SO HAPPENED THAT THE STEAMER WAS UNDER REPAIRS, AND HE HAD TO ROW SIXTEEN MILES ACROSS THE SAME WATER IN ORDER TO DELIVER THE FIRST NUMBER." NO ONE SAID THAT THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS WAS GOING TO BE EASY.
"THE FREE GRANT GAZETTE (THEN BY THE 1940'S, THE BRACEBRIDGE GAZETTE), IS MENTIONED FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN THE AUDITOR'S REPORT OF 1872 AND 1873, BEING PRINTED BY IT. THE FIRST AUDITOR'S REPORT FOR 1869, WAS PRINTED BY THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE, BRACEBRIDGE'S FIRST NEWSPAPER, WHICH LATER BECAME DEFUNCT. WE OFTEN HEAR IT SAID THAT PEOPLE TODAY ARE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY WERE 75 TO 100 YEARS AGO. THERE IS, OF COURSE, A VAST DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY PEOPLE LIVE TODAY, AS COMPARED WITH 75 YEARS AGO, BUT FUNDAMENTALLY HUMAN NATURE IS THE SAME." WROTE CAPTAIN LEVI FRASER, IN HIS 1940'S CHRONICLE, "HISTORY OF MUSKOKA." MCMURRAY RECOGNIZED THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER, AND WRITES ABOUT IT, IN THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES, TAKEN FROM HIS CHAPTER THREE.
"THE PRESS OF MUSKOKA HAS INDEED BEEN A GREAT STIMULUS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT; AND IN THE EARLY DAYS ALONE, BUT UP TO THE PRESENT TIME (1940'S), OUR NEWSPAPERS HAVE GIVEN SUPPORT IN FULL MEASURE TO EVERY PHASE OF LIFE IN THE DISTRICT. IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS THERE HAS BEEN, AT TIMES, BITTERNESS; BUT TO SUPPORT THE DISTRICT, COMPLETE ACCORD, AND WOE, TO THE ONE WHO WROTE ANYTHING DISPARAGING OF THE HOME FRONT. THE APPRECIATION OF THE PUBLIC IS EVIDENT IN THAT EVERY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN MUSKOKA, IN 1874, OR LATER, IS STILL GOING STRONG. THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE IS NOW ONE OF THE FEW TOWNS OF ITS SIZE IN ALL OF ONTARIO, WHERE TWO WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS ARE STILL PUBLISHED. TODAY ONE MARVELS AT THE ENTERPRISE OF SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. IN 1869 THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE WAS PUBLISHED IN PARRY SOUND BY THOMAS MCMURRAY, BUT FINDING THAT LOCATION WAS TOO FAR TO ONE SIDE OF THE TERRITORY, IT WAS MOVED TO BRACEBRIDGE ONE YEAR LATER, IN 1870."
CAPTAIN FRASER WRITES, "BRACEBRIDGE AT THAT TIME, BEING THE CENTRE AND DISTRIBUTING POINT FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY, AS FAR NORTH AS LAKE NIPISSING. MR. MCMURRAY WAS BY THIS TIME WELL KNOWN, AS HE WAS ONE OF THE VERY EARLY ARRIVALS, AND HAD BEEN ACTIVE IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS; HAD BEEN REEVE OF THE UNITED TOWNSHIPS OF DRAPER, MACAULAY, STEPHENSON AND RYDE. HE WAS ALSO A BUILDER AND REAL ESTATE MAN, OWNING CONSIDERABLE LAND IN BRACEBRIDGE. THE LAND ON WHICH THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND THE BRACEBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL STAND, WAS PART OF HIS HOLDINGS. HIS RESIDENCE, FOR A TIME, WAS THE FINE BIG HOUSE, 'THE GROVE,' LATER THE HOME OF THE LATE J. EWART LOUNT, AND WHICH WAS TORN DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE PRESENT HIGH SCHOOL (CLOSED AND RELOCATED). MR. JAMES BOYER (FATHER OF GEORGE BOYER, AT PRESENT, CUSTOMS OFFICER AT BRACEBRIDGE, WAS EDITOR. FOUR YEARS LATER, IN 1873, MR. MCMURRAY FAILED IN BUSINESS AND THE ADVOCATE WAS CONTINUED BY A MR. COURTNEY WHO, A SHORT TIME LATER, WAS DROWNED. THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE WAS THEN DISCONTINUED. LATER IN THE YEAR OF HIS FAILURE, MR. MCMURRAY BEGAN PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH STAR IN PARRY SOUND, WHERE HE HAD BEEN APPOINTED CROWN LANDS AGENT.
"THE SECOND NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN THE DISTRICT, THE FREE GRANT GAZETTE, IN 1872, BY MR. E.F. STEPHENSON, APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A LIVE NEWSPAPERMAN, AS THE GAZETTE SOON BECAME VERY POPULAR THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT, AND STILL RETAINS ITS POPULARITY AFTER 73 YEARS OF PUBLICATION (CIRCA 1940'S). MR. STEPHENSON STARTED THE PUBLICATION OF "THE LIBERAL" IN HUNTSVILLE UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF DR. HOWLAND; IT WAS PRINTED IN BRACEBRIDGE BUT AFTER AWHILE, IT WAS DISCONTINUED AND IN 1877 THE HUNTSVILLE FORESTER, MADE ITS APPEARANCE AND FOR 68 YEARS IT HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT. FEW JOURNALS HAVE SHOWN MORE ENERGY AND FORESIGHT, OR HAVE GIVEN BETTER LEADERSHIP IN FURTHERING THE MANY VARIED PROBLEMS WHICH ARE OF VITAL INTEREST, TO A NEW AND GROWING TOWN AND ADJACENT COMMUNITIES (WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE TOURIST TRADE) THAN HAS THE HUNTSVILLE FORESTER. THE FORESTER MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A CONTINUATION OF THE LIBERAL, THE DIFFERENCE BEING THAT THE PAPER WAS NOW BEING PRINTED IN HUNTSVILLE, WITH MR. F.W. CLEARWATER, ASSOCIATED WITH DR. HOWLAND, WHO STILL RETAINED THE EDITORSHIP. THREE YEARS LATER MR. CLEARWATER PURCHASED DR. HOWLAND'S INTERESTS AND CONTINUED AS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER UNTIL 1899 WHEN THE BUSINESS WAS SOLD TO MR. GEORGE HUTCHESON WHO CONTINUED THE PUBLICATION UNTIL 1913 WHEN IT WAS TAKEN OVER BY MR. H.E. RICE, WHO, TOGETHER WITH HIS SON PAUL, STILL EDITS AND PUBLISHES THE FORESTER (1940'S).
"THE LUMBERMAN WAS PUBLISHED IN GRAVENHURST IN 1876 BUT AFTER SIX MONTHS CIRCULATION WAS DISCONTINUED," NOTES CAPTAIN FRASER. "IN 1878 MESSRS. GRAFFE AND OATEN BEGAN PUBLICATION OF THE MUSKOKA HERALD; THE HERALD WAS THE FIRST CONSERVATIVE NEWSPAPER TO BE PUBLISHED IN MUSKOKA, ALL OTHER JOURNALS WERE OF LIBERAL PERSUASION. SO WITH THE ADVENT OF THE HERALD, BRACEBRIDGE SOON BECAME A HOT-BED OF PERMISSIBLE POLITICAL PROPAGANDA."
HE WRITES, "ALTHOUGH THE LIBERALS WERE STRONGLY ENTRENCHED AT QUEEN'S PARK, MUSKOKA HAD ALWAYS BEEN GOOD FIGHTING GROUND, BUT WITH THE ADVENT OF THE HERALD, THE POLITICAL PENDULUM BEGAN A DECISIVE SWING TOWARD TORYISM. FROM THE TIME AWAY BACK IN 1886, WHEN G.F. MARTER WRESTED MUSKOKA FROM THE LIBERALS, UNTIL 1934, ONLY ONE LIBERAL, THE LATE DR. BRIDGLAND, MANAGED TO CRASH THE CONSERVATIVE STONEWALL DEFENSES, BUT IT WAS DR. BRIDGLAND'S OWN POPULARITY THAT CARRIED HIM THROUGH, AS HE WAS BELOVED BY THE RANK AND FILE OF THE MUSKOKA PEOPLE. IN 1884 MR. D.E. BASTEDO PURCHASED MR. GRAFFE'S INTERESTS AND FOR A TIME THE HERALD WAS PUBLISHED BY OATEN AND BASTEDO. IN 1886 MR. BASTEDO SOLD HIS INTEREST IN THE HERALD, AND WENT TO GEORGETOWN AND PURCHASED THE GEORGETOWN HERALD, THAT WAS IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AT THE TIME; MR. BASTEDO SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN FROM THE BEGINNING A SUCCESSFUL NEWSPAPERMAN AND IN A SHORT TIME HE HAD THE GEORGETOWN HERALD ON ITS FEET, BUT HIS HEART WAS IN MUSKOKA AND WHEN AN OPPORTUNITY OFFERED FOR SALE OF THE GEORGETOWN PAPER, AT A SUBSTANTIAL PROFIT, HE SOLD IT, RETURNED TO BRACEBRIDGE AND PURCHASED THE MUSKOKA HERALD; THIS WAS IN THE 1880'S. HE CONTINUED AS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1919, WHEN THE HERALD WAS TAKEN OVER BY THE MUSKOKA PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED, AND IS STILL BEING CIRCULATED BY THAT FIRM, WITH MRS. R.J. BOYER AS EDITOR. MR. E.F. STEPHENSON CONTINUED PUBLICATION OF THE FREE GRANT GAZETTE UNTIL ABOUT 1903, WHEN HE SOLD IT TO MR. DUNCAN MARSHALL, WHO AT THAT TIME WAS THE FEDERAL LIBERAL CANDIDATE IN MUSKOKA.
"MR. STEPHENSON WENT TO NEW ONTARIO WHERE HE FOUNDED THE NEW LISKEARD SPEAKER. MR. MARSHALL'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AND A SHORT TIME LATER, THE GAZETTE WAS SOLD TO MR. ALF MCISAAC. WHILE OWNED BY MARSHALL THE NAME WAS CHANGED TO BRACEBRIDGE GAZETTE. IN 1906 THE GAZETTE WAS SOLD TO MESSRS. G.H.O. THOMAS AND HARRY LINNEY. A SHORT TIME LATER, MR. THOMAS MR. LINNEY'S INTERESTS AND CONTINUED AS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF THE GAZETTE, WHICH SOON BECAME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS IN THE PROVINCE. DURING ELECTION PERIODS THE PEOPLE OF MUSKKOA LOOKED FORWARD WITH ZEST TO THE WEEKLY DUELS BETWEEN THE GAZETTE AND THE HERALD. FEW MEN IN ONTARIO HAD THE PLATFORM ABILITY OF MR. THOMAS, BUT FOR POLITICAL ORGANIZING ABILITY, THERE WERE NONE IN MUSKOKA AT THAT TIME, THE EQUAL OF MR. BASTEDO. I HAVE OFTEN THOUGH THAT MUSKOKA AND SCOTLAND PRESENTED A SIMILARITY, NOT IN SCENIC GRANDEUR ALONE, BUT IN THE FACT THAT EACH HAD PRODUCED A SURPLUS OF PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS MEN. WHERE A CONDITION OF THIS KIND OBTAINS THERE MUST BE A DEFINITE INCENTIVE, AND IN MUSKOKA THE INCENTIVE WAS THAT MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS WERE PREPARED TO LABOR AND SACRIFICE IN ORDER THAT THEIR CHILDREN MIGHT RECEIVE AND EDUCATION."
IN TOMORROW'S BLOG, I WILL CONTINUE THE STUDY OF CAPTAIN FRASER'S OVERVIEW, OF THE EARLY YEARS OF THE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING ENTERPRISE IN MUSKOKA....AND SOME IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE PUBLISHERS WHO RAN THEM.
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