WINTER CARNIVAL REVIVAL IN GRAVENHURST A GOOD EVENT FOR US!

First of all, I want to begin this blog by somewhat contradicting just about everything written below. While it is true I have a jaded opinion of some winter carnivals of the past, this was largely the result of being forced to work the venues as a reporter, not attending as a fun-seeking patron. As a job, during that traditionally “bitter-weather-week,” I did indeed wish away time. Of our group, despite the shots of whisky to keep us warm, we all hoped for that final Skokie buzzer to sound. Then we’d have to face the publisher’s cronies, demanding to see all the great promotional flicks that were going to sell papers. “Get lots of group shots,” they’d bark, believing with their misguided business-minds that a good paper depends on sucking-up, shameless pandering to advertisers, promotion and nothing else. I never had upper management congratulate me on a great fire photograph but by golly, they’d have given me the president’s cup for getting a front-pager of business glad-handers, with a sundry host of media darlings, politicians and service club executives, who would huskily jockey for photo prominence.

Burdened under the weight of a mountain of camera gear, for inside and outside assignments, and fettered by the work expectation from management, that we would kiss the arse of every business that threw in a couple of bucks.....showing lots of grip and grin photos by the end of the week-long freeze-fest, it was unfortunate that most of us media types wanted to book vacation time well away from Skokie. But I have been closely watching the organizers of the latest revival of the Winter Carnival, in Gravenhurst (in February this year), and I find myself feeling good about this positive turn. This despite my trepidation for orange and brown critters, nuzzling up to me and mates in the winter clime of South Muskoka. Our boys are eager to assist as music venue volunteers, as they did for last year’s carnival revival. What I like about it most of all, is that it seems to be targeting hometown folks first.....an event by hometowners for hometowners yet all are welcome to attend. This wasn’t always the core feeling of the larger carnivals, so our family is very much in support of these kind folks who have decided to revitalize a long-standing tradition that isn’t shy about having a modest economy and limited venues. But here’s a little clip about how a few of us reporter-kind got off on the wrong foot, with Skokie and promoters, back in the events golden years.

As for Gravenhurst, by golly, Skokie has never looked more trim and determined!

When I became a reporter for the Muskoka Lakes / Georgian Bay Beacon, based in MacTier, back in the late 1970's, early 80's, and then writer / editor of The Herald-Gazette, in Bracebridge, a few years later, I dreaded the Winter Carnival and the arrival of its mascot, which the reporting staff referred to as Skokie, that “Damn Winter Weasel.” Of course we knew it was supposed to be an otter but it was a weasel to us. Here’s why.

It was a week long period of grip and grin photographs. Standing out in the cold for hours on end to cover a plethora of events. Thrust into the midst of beerfests, log sawing, arm wrestling donut eating venues that meant all reporting staff had to be raring to go. We weren’t excited to go. We just had to go. Advertising management at the papers wanted all the happy-go-lucky photographs to replace the editorial copy for two weeks. A lot of the events were sponsored by businesses that also advertised in our publications. For weeks ahead of time, we would be writing promotional material by the bucket-load, and for this entire period Skokie and worker bees drove us nuts. It wasn’t that the Winter Carnival was a bad thing, or uninteresting to attend, except for the fact reporters, used to covering accidents, fires, court cases and the police beat, didn’t find the coverage all that exciting. We dreaded the outdoor venues because it was always the time of the coldest weather of the year, and standing out on that bit of ice, awaiting the polar bear dip contestants to mount the courage to enter the open water, was enough to dull Skokie’s trademark orange to a winter bland. The only respite was when some kind soul would buy us a beer at one of the local watering holes.....which we weren’t supposed to accept, but didn’t have the willpower to say no.

What I didn’t like about the Winter Carnival was, the fact that my employment depended on sucking up to the big wheels and corporate / business sponsors, and in our eyes, this wasn’t the cause of journalism we signed up for by joining the local press. I liked the fact there was a Carnival but I didn’t have the opportunity, in those days, to enjoy it as a civilian. It wasn’t easy to manage reporters and photographers during this period, who would do anything, and I mean anything to dodge covering an outdoor event particularly. Instead of pulling rank, which frankly wouldn’t have worked anyway, we had a sort of lottery to match event and lucky or unlucky staffer. If I got to cover an indoors event, sponsored by one of the service clubs, I was quite pleased. On the other hand, getting the events for kids always got us front page photographs, and most of us were, without shame, photo-credit hogs. The mainstreet events had a Rockwellian quality to them, and we took enough flicks to last over about three or four editions for white-space fill-ins. Those who got the short straws found themselves at log sawing, snowmobile runs, the polar bear dip or the bed race. While the bed race was one of the more exciting events of the entire carnival, because there were many spills to capture on film, the time between races was a killer to the camera equipment and the photographer’s feet. One of the real problems was that our management wanted trophy presentations, to show the sponsors we cared about their involvement, and they also believed that the more named faces in a photo, meant more papers sold. So we would have to stand around for hours at some events.....and our upper management used to test us regularly, by making spot checks, and then going over the hundreds of negatives later on. If we didn’t have their “money” photos, we were screwed. It was more of a pandering exercise to the advertisers, than truly covering the fun aspects of the Winter Carnival and Skokie.

My other dislike for the earlier years of the Muskoka Winter Carnival, was that it was primarily aimed at visitors.....the tourists, and marketing had more of a regional / provincial scope than a local, hometown emphasis. It was part of this region’s necessary obsession with the promotion of tourism, which actually began, curiously enough, in the 1850's, when the earliest sportsmen began to arrive (tourists), at around the same time as the first settlers commenced erecting their homestead shanties throughout the Muskoka wilds. I always thought that the failure of the Winter Carnival, had more to do with this determination to make it a winter attraction for the rest of the world, and that volunteers got sick and tired of all the fuss to please the business community, at the expense of the folks who call Muskoka home. I have watched how other small winter carnivals have thrived because they have always been for the people, by the people, as a source of community entertainment and recreation. While open to all comers, from points all over God’s snowy and green earth, the events that have been most enduring and successful, have been clearly “hometown” venues, that show pride for the accomplishments of the locale. They’re not simply money-making events and promotional opportunities for the business community. And while it is understood by everyone involved, and armchair critics like me, that most of these events could not operate without business and corporate sponsorships, they don’t overshadow the fact that it is a community conceived and operated event. A “mom and pop” winter carnival, where hometowners can get together and celebrate the whole history of the town or village, the present and future, without tripping over advertising protocols and media aspirations to sell papers or electronic spots. It’s about that homegrown Skokie feeling and well-being, a true reflection of all the good and hard working folks who, with no other gain than personal enjoyment, volunteer their time to instill celebration and recognition into their ballywick.

Despite my years of Skokie dislike, and disapproval for my media role in the Winter Carnival, I am very pleased to offer my, and our family’s support, to the newly minted, much improved, Gravenhurst Winter Carnival......which will be a homegrown success if it’s anything at all. It will take time to convince many hometowners to come back out, and support Skokie and friends.... but it will happen if the core values remain as they are now. A wonderful and warm rekindling of old time values in an icy environs.

Watch this blog for more on the upcoming February Winter Carnival.