OPERA HOUSE ROOF UPDATE - WISH WE HAD ONE - BUT WE'LL JUST GUESS?
IS IT POSSIBLE THE WEEKLY PRESS WILL HAVE AN UPDATE, ON THE PRESENT SITUATION OF THE PARTLY FINISHED OPERA HOUSE ROOF, SOMEWHERE IN WEDNESDAY'S NEWSPAPER? OR SHALL WE JUST CONTINUE TO SPECULATE, AS CURIOUS CITIZENS, ON WHAT IS WRONG WITH TOWN HALL, AND ITS WISDOM, (OR LACK OF) LEAVING OUR HISTORIC PROPERTY TO FEND FOR ITSELF AGAINST INCLEMENT WEATHER? IT IS JUST OVER A WEEK, UNTIL THE CBC PULLS INTO TOWN, TO SET UP FOR STUART MCLEAN'S "VINYL CAFE," AT THE OPERA HOUSE, NEXT FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. TWO SOLD OUT SHOWS. THAT'S A FAIR NUMBER OF PATRONS, SOMETHING WE DON'T OFTEN SEE THESE DAYS, AND IT'S THANKS TO THE POPULARITY OF ONE OF CANADA'S WELL KNOWN STORY TELLERS. SO, MY QUESTION IS THIS? WILL THE ROOF BE DONE BY NEXT WEEK. AND IF NOT, IS THERE ANY DANGER PATRONS COULD BE RAINED-ON INSIDE THE VENUE?
ARE OUR COUNCILLORS…..THE ONES WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STEWARDSHIP OF THIS IMPORTANT BUILDING, CONCERNED WHATSOEVER, ABOUT HAVING A ROOF, THAT IS AT BEST, AND BY OBSERVATION, STILL VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS? WHAT ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF A SIGNIFICANT SNOW-LOAD, OR HEAVY RAINFALL AT AROUND THE TIME OF THE SHOW. I'M SURE THEY REALIZE WHAT THAT CONSEQUENCE WOULD MEAN……IF WHAT'S ON TOP, DOESN'T PROTECT WHAT'S BELOW. OR HAVE THEY JUST LOST TOUCH WITH REALITY? MAYBE THEY DON'T DRIVE ALONG MUSKOKA ROAD DAILY OR WEEKLY, TO CHECK UP ON THE ROOFING JOB THAT IS CERTAINLY NOT PROGRESSING WITH THE SPEED THE CLOSING FALL SEASON WARRANTS. WE ARE NOW IN THE SNOW ZONE. REMEMBER THE MAJOR SNOW WE HAD A FEW YEARS AGO, THAT BASICALLY SHUT-DOWN SOUTH MUSKOKA? JUST THE POTENTIAL OF THIS KIND OF WEATHER EVENT, SHOULD HAVE COUNCILLORS FEELING A LITTLE NERVOUS. A LOT NERVOUS IN FACT. ULTIMATELY, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELFARE OF THIS BUILDING, AS OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS. IT'S NOT JUST UP TO STAFF. SO WITHOUT TOO MUCH TIME LEFT, BEFORE THE BIG TWO-NIGHT GIG WITH THE VINYL CAFE, IT WOULD BE GREAT, TO AT LEAST KNOW OUR COUNCILLORS ARE NOT TAKING STAFF'S WORD FOR IT……BUT ACTUALLY VISITING THE CONSTRUCTION SITE, FOR A GOOD LONG LOOK AT THE SITUATION. I THINK IT REALLY DOES WARRANT AN UP-CLOSE AND PERSONAL INSPECTION. OR, AS IT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, THEY MAY JUST DECIDE TO SETTLE ON STATUS QUO, AND LET FATE DECIDE THEIRS'! THERE IS A DOWN SIDE.
JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW - INVESTING IN GRAVENHURST'S UPTOWN PAY DIVIDENDS
Before we begin, I might seem like a political animal; someone who has to dive into local politics to feel good about himself! There was a time, I was guilty of being obsessive about all levels of politics. Then I matured, and thought about making money in business instead. I'm different now. I can walk away from a spat with the local business community, and settle in the shop without feeling even the slightest animosity, or entertaining any thoughts of retribution. There were many days, let me tell you, when we truly wondered, as a business group and family, if we could stand all the prevailing business animosity. Then we learned how to ignore the nattering, and stick to running our business, before trying to understand the knotting of emotions up and down the street.
We are big believers in networking, and we partner with those who have similar views as we do, about the pursuit of better business, with a lot less in the way of politics jumbling-up the mix. So here's the story about our reasons for investing in main street retail.
It's true what you've heard. Yo don't have to read between the lines to get this message. It's a simple outcome based entirely on reality. Our family has invested heavily, with time, effort and money, to be part of the Gravenhurst uptown business community. Now as a frugal chap, with a very frugal family, who are not gamblers with our limited resources, the fact we risked anything at all, on a retail experiment, means we did our due diligence…..as every investor should. And when I write this, I'm not bragging about our successes and profitability. I am bragging about the way we had to navigate through a meteor shower of negativity to reach the six year mark of Andrew Currie's Music and Collectibles. There were times when we had doubts, and some serious issues with the BIA, that made us consider moving out of their zone of jurisdiction. But after awhile, we found others who felt the same, and you know what they say about support in numbers. We pulled out of all and any involvement with town business groups, and focused on one, and only one mission, and that was to survive at what we knew best…..without any drag of controversy or out-of-place politics. What happened along the journey, was that we found kindred spirits, and a solid network of small businesses that thought we were worth partnering with, and it has inspired many small expansions in our available retail space. The most recent expansion, working with son Robert, has meant adding two large rooms of antiques and collectibles, which according to the accountant, has been a substantial success after only four and a half months.
Suzanne and I have been overwhelmed by the support of patrons, many who remember us from our former Bracebridge shop, back in the mid 1990s. Now they're coming to Gravenhurst to see us, and we know for fact, they are visiting other local businesses while in our fine town. Suzanne and I have been in the antique trade since about 1987, in one form or another, including online sales of old and rare books, including historical documents, which we still pursue for certain items, requiring a world audience in order to sell profitably. As my dear wife is nearing the end of her teaching career, she will one day soon, be the resident "quilts, blanket and vintage linen restorer", in the antique wing of Andrew Currie's Music, in the old Muskoka Theatre Building. After twenty-five years preparing for a retirement business, we've finally arrived at a good place, in a wonderful town, having a huge amount of potential in the still budding retail sector. And not just in the summer months. We had a great summer season, but the autumn, with the exception of about a dozen quiet days, has been remarkable for the boys and us, and I wouldn't lie about this…….just in case someone opened a business based on our record of success.
I don't worry myself about long term planning for the main street. I concern myself about one month at a time. Our boys have followed the same protocol. The only business priority for us, is to make our customers happy with the service we provide, and the product we offer for sale. We don't want to discourage those who wish to long-term plan, or plan for new shrubberies, sidewalks, pretty banners and upgraded facades, but frankly, our time must be spent focused on survival marketing…..and making our combined enterprises, fun to visit, and a place you want to visit again. We're of course nervous of jinxing ourselves by declaring success, but for this time, and the past six years of progressive improvements, we'd feel it was wrong, not to bestow our confidence in what main street retail can do……when given every opportunity to move ahead unfettered by negativity. We do feel as if we have come through the eye of the storm, and at last count, we had all our relevant parts intact…..and good humor, to keep on tending shop, on a really nice, nostalgic and historic strip of diversified retail.
As I have written about previously, I will be cranking-out (what we called copy-writing as reporters) a Christmas season blog, from a neat little desk, I've outfitted in the corner of my book room, tucked deep in the back section of the antique-wing of the lads' store. I plan to begin my Christmas Sketches of Gravenhurst, on November 30th, and continue until New Year's Day. These will all be non-political, non-confrontational stories, and hopefully, a clear demonstration to my critics, that I'm grateful to this community, for being a warm and wonderful hometown……perfect for raising a family…..which is exactly what we did dating back to 1989; the year we moved here, instead of one of several other towns we had been considering. I would one day truly, love to be considered a local, but I know the regimen. I'm still new to town, with a long way to go. And I appreciate that….of any town. I have one saving grace, and it's the fact that both our boys were born in Muskoka, and Suzanne's family were pioneers dating back to the 1860's. I was a city kid until the spring of 1966. Point is, we all have great pride in being Muskokan, and belonging to this community, and we hope, by our actions and investment here, that it shows through the fog of bluster from the columnist.
If I fail, with my Christmas Sketches, to capture the essence of this community, then I wouldn't blame readers for abandoning my daily offering. I might wish to retreat generally, if the consensus is, my sketches were frivolous and frothing overviews, unworthy of regard, despite the trace, imagined scent of Christmas spices. I want to re-visit our town, and examine its subtleties…..those characteristics that we often bypass with a fleeting glance, in our harried, on-the-road again lives. It won't be a pre-occupation with history, and I don't feel it should be weighted down by only present realities. It will be a personal adventure. Maybe some self discovery along the way. At times it will remind you of the town you grew up in, or seem as if a community you knew somewhere else, in some other province or country. It is not intended to be maudlin about times past, or overly cheerful, in a dance with unrealistic circumstance. I won't offer any apology at all, if a reader feels it is biased, and a blatant promotion of Gravenhurst, above and beyond the acknowledged attributes of other communities in Muskoka. Forgive me, dear reader, for this……the author's prerogative. I hope you will join me for a non-political Christmas-time adventure, through the town we think we know……but maybe not as much as we thought.
Thanks so much for joining me for today's blog. Suzanne is busy baking special "Vinyl Cafe," cookies, with icing to make them look like records, just in case Stuart McLean ambles across the road, into a real vinyl cafe. The aroma is driving me crazy, and this is just the trial run, to get it right for next week. She's never made "record" cookies before, so there's been a lot of audible grumbling out in the kitchen. I'm going to try and sneak a few of the project cookies, without her noticing. Last night I got caught when I forgot to wipe the icing from the corner of my mouth. I would never have made a successful thief. I'm too careless for my own good.
See you soon!
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