The North And South Struggle For A Cenotaph

THE LITTLE KNOWN FIGHT OF HONOR FOR REMEMBRANCE, AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, IN UPTOWN BRACEBRIDGE

THE MEMORIAL PARK CENOTAPH RECLAIMED ON A MOONLIT NIGHT ASSAULT

     TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THE ONLY OCCASION WHEN THE CONFLICT OVER BRACEBRIDGE'S MEMORIAL PARK CENOTAPH, AND THE CONFEDERATES OF THE CIVIL WAR, COMES UP, IS WHEN I DECIDE TO AUTHOR A LITTLE EDITORIAL PIECE, FEARING THE HISTORICAL CURIOSITY WILL ONE DAY BE FORGOTTEN. SOME WHO KNOW THE STORY SAY "BEST FORGOTTEN, YOU MEAN." WE CAN'T HAVE THAT, AND YOU'LL APPRECIATE WHY, BY THE END OF TODAY'S BLOG. IT'S ONE OF THOSE LITTLE GEMS OF LOCAL HISTORY THAT MIGHT NOT DESERVE A PLAQUE, OR GET A MENTION IN A FORMAL HISTORICAL TEXT, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS OF THE STATURE TO BE NECESSARILY RECORDED FOR FUTURE POSTERITY…..AND SEMI-HUMOROUS ANECDOTE. IT WAS A SERIOUS MATTER, DON'T GET ME WRONG. BUT WHEN THE STORY IS TOLD, WITH A FEW CHOICE EMBELLISHMENTS, AFTER A FEW DRINKS TODAY, BELIEVE ME, IT'S ALMOST ALWAYS ANECDOTAL, AND SOMETHING TO LAUGH AT….AT LEAST A WEE BIT!

     A FEW YEARS AGO, I WAS APPOINTED THE ACTING HISTORIAN FOR SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. IT WAS A TEMPORARY POSITION, TO RESEARCH THE HOSPITAL FROM ITS CONSTRUCTION IN THE EARLY 1960'S, REPLACING THE FORMER BRACEBRIDGE MEMORIAL RED CROSS HOSPITAL, WHICH OPENED IN THE LATE 1920'S. THE ORIGINAL "MEMORIAL" DESIGNATION WAS THE RESULT OF A MEATY, NEAR-NASTY CITIZEN PROTEST, YOU SEE, THAT HAD ITS ROOT IN THE PARK OF WHICH I WRITE. THE FIRST PLAN FOR A WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL, TO THE LOCAL MEN WHO HAD LOST THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY, WAS FOR A MEMORIAL BANDSTAND. THIS WAS CONSIDERED A REASONABLE IDEA AT FIRST, BUT THE CITIZENS MOUNTED A PROTEST, THAT A BANDSHELL WAS AN INADEQUATE MEMORIAL. A HOSPITAL WOULD ME MUCH BETTER, AND SERVE A GREATER PURPOSE FOR THE COMMUNITY. THE BANDSTAND WAS ERECTED AND A CENOTAPH ESTABLISHED IN A "MEMORIAL PARK." SO IN BRACEBRIDGE, TODAY, THERE IS MEMORIAL PARK, SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, AND BRACEBRIDGE MEMORIAL ARENA. ALL THE RESULT OF CITIZENS DEMANDING RECOGNITION FOR THE LOCAL SOULS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR HOME AND COUNTRY.

     SO I HAD A CHANCE, AS HOSPITAL HISTORIAN, TO DELVE WAY BACK IN THE "MEMORIAL" INITIATIVE, AND I KNOW HOW SENSITIVE IT HAS, AND CAN BECOME, ESPECIALLY WHEN, FOR WHATEVER REASON, THERE IS A SHORTFALL IN PROTOCOL; FROM SOMEONE OR AN ORGANIZATION FORGETTING JUST HOW IMBEDDED "MEMORIAL" IS, BOTH IN A PHYSICAL SENSE, AND IN A TITLE. FOR EXAMPLE, A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, A CITIZEN PUT FORTH A SUGGESTING FOR A NAME CHANGE, AT THE BRACEBRIDGE MEMORIAL ARENA, TO HONOR A LOCAL LEGEND OF SPORTS. SEEMED A REASONABLE REQUEST, EXCEPT FOR THE SACRIFICE THAT HAD TO BE MADE TO FIT IT ALL IN ON A SENSIBLE MAILING ADDRESS. IT WOULD HAVE MEANT DROPPING "MEMORIAL." THE MATTER WAS QUICKLY RESOLVED WITH A CLEAR "NO." WHEN THE NEW HOSPITAL AMALGAMATION OCCURRED, SOME YEARS BACK, THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE CONCERN, THAT THE NAME SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL WAS BEING LOST, UNDER THE NEW IDENTIFICATION AS MUSKOKA / ALGONQUIN HEALTHCARE, AND IN FACT, AS CLEAR EVIDENCE, THERE ARE MANY MORE DEATH NOTICES APPEARING IN NEWSPAPERS TODAY, WHICH HAVE ELIMINATED "SMMH" ALTOGETHER, WHICH MEANS A MUCH LESSER RECOGNITION OF THE WORD "MEMORIAL." EVEN MEMORIAL PARK, ON MANITOBA STREET, SUFFERED A STRANGE OCCURRENCE, THAT JUST WASN'T ANTICIPATED BY THE CITIZENS OF BRACEBRIDGE…..WHICH CREATED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ANIMOSITY VERY QUICKLY. A MEMORIAL WAS DESECRATED IN THE OPINION OF SOME ACTIVISTS. IT WAS VIOLATED, ACCORDING TO THE ELDERS OF THE COMMUNITY. AND IT WAS A SILLY-ASS INTRUSION TO ALMOST MOST EVERYONE ELSE, WHO OFFERED A COMMENT ON THE TOPPING-OVER OF THE PARK CENOTAPH.

WHEN A MOVIE SET BECOMES DISRESPECTFUL

     I WAS SITE MANAGER OF WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM, AT THE TIME, WHICH DATES THE OCCURRENCE TO ABOUT THE FALL OF 1989. SEPTEMBER IF MEMORY SERVES. I HAD OUR LADS, ANDREW AND ROBERT THERE, AND WHILE THEY PLAYED ON THE LAWN, I DID THE RAKING AND GENERAL YARD WORK, IN PREPARATION FOR THE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND….WHICH WAS OUR OFFICIAL CLOSING FOR THE SEASON. AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WAS A PORTION OF A MOVIE, BEING SHOT IN TOWN, AND AT NORTHERN BUILDALL, SITUATED JUST ABOVE THE RAPIDS ON THE BRINK OF THE FALLS. WE COULD ACTUALLY WATCH THE CREWS WITH THEIR MASSIVE EQUIPMENT TRUCKS, AND GEAR, WORKING IN THE YARD, BECAUSE OUR ELEVATION AT WOODCHESTER AFFORDED US A GREAT VIEW OF THE LUMBER YARD. I CAN REMEMBER US SITTING ON THE EMBANKMENT HAVING OUR LUNCHES, HOPING TO SEE SOME OF THE ACTORS WANDERING THE LUMBER YARD.

     The movie was entitled "Coming Home," with Kris Kristofferson, I believe, and in essence, it was about a Vietnam veteran's return home, to the United States, with the stresses of war upon him……facing the difficult adjustments back to civilian life. I didn't see the movie, so I'm hardly able to give it any stars out of five, for quality. Maybe you saw it. Point is, Bracebridge, straddling the 45th parallel of latitude, in North America, halfway between the equator and the north pole, became a southern city in the United States…..to accommodate the movie script. Those areas of Manitoba Street, being used as a background, were given a dress-up, to provide the appearance of a southern community….which was kind of funny for the locals, watching their town transformed in this fashion…..on the verge of a Muskoka winter.,,,which can have degrees of the Arctic attached.

     I remember getting quite a laugh driving home from work, and seeing the interstate highway signs, above Manitoba Street, and particular road signage with names that were definitely of southern influence. I almost twisted my head off my shoulders, when we passed by Memorial Park, and there was a huge memorial to a Confederate Soldier….I'm not sure of rank, or who it might have been, in the centre of the maple-lined park. Now remember what I wrote earlier, about the protest by the citizens of Bracebridge, in the 1920's, about the need for more and larger recognition for World War I Remembrance? The memorial statue to the Confederate American wasn't free standing. This might have been marginally tolerated, if it had been situated somewhere else in the park, or just about anywhere else for that matter. In a pasture, or on a grassy knoll in another park, but not on top of an existing cenotaph honoring Canadian soldiers lost in battle. Unfortunately, it was in the most disrespectful place it could have been constructed…..surrounded by memorial gardens and a nice memorial iron fence.

     There it was, built over and on top of the town's memorial cenotaph. What crisis is this? Gads, we're going to be making international news, if the dailies got tipped off about this cross border news-maker. I could have made some money stringing this story to the Toronto Star, but I thought about the consequences of being attached to this one…..considering I was also an administrator with the local Historical Society…..supposedly on guard for heritage sites like Memorial Park. The cenotaph in particular, with the memorial fence and gardens around it! I was still with Muskoka Publications at that time, as well as the museum and Historical Society, and I sensed we had a pretty serious breach of protocol going on here, and something had to be done as soon as possible to reel in the movie folks; to explain more clearly what they could and could not do, remaking our town look American in appearance. I don't remember if town council, at the time, had given specific approval for the cenotaph re-make, although I don't believe so. They were forced into a rather awkward situation anyway, just having to give basic approval for some visual "Americanizing" changes, being imposed upon the Canadian townscape. There were a few who didn't like the idea at all. Almost everyone was excited about a movie being shot in town, because it did bring extra revenue in for local restaurants and accommodation….which in the off-season, is quite welcome here in Muskoka. But they weren't excited about what happened next.

     I made a number of phone calls, and so did many others, trying to find a speedy solution to a near-crisis. Having a movie company in town, that had just re-fashioned the memorial cenotaph with a Confederate theme. As Muskoka has for long and long, played host to many American tourists and cottagers, there was considerable desire, on the part of the town administration, to handle the affair with quiet dignity. The less said the better. No in-park protests or placards. But a few veterans had a plan to rectify the situation, without passing a motion or hitting down a gavel in a council chambers.

    In the quiet dark of early morning, or so the story goes, a number of veterans and supporters, attended Memorial Park, and began dismantling the Confederate monument, board by board, until it was no more. By time the movie crew arrived on the scene in the morning, it had been returned to its original glory…..honoring our citizens who were killed in wartime. There was some pile lumber nearby. The hush was a loud one, as if a deep, deep inhale, and although it made the press that week, it was a story that most citizens were a little embarrassed about…..because the town had been playing the perfect host up to that point, and the "locals" wished it had never happened. Many respected what the alleged veterans performed, as a sort of honorable rescue that evening, but there were others who felt it could have been handled diplomatically, by good neighbor negotiation, instead of force under the cover of dark. It was seen as a slap in the face for the veterans of our community, and it was most definitely considered a slap in the face for those working on the movie set. I can't remember the wording of the apology, by the film crew, but there was something offered as an explanation. There may have been Canadians working on the film's production crew, who should have known that any compromise to a cenotaph, in any country, would be a clear sign of disrespect; and even if they had received poorly considered municipal approval, capping a war memorial for the sake of a movie was questionable judgement at best. The concrete structure of the cenotaph just happened to be perfect for the monument they had planned to erect. The "memorial" consequence was forgotten, and that nearly started a small war between the north and the south. The veterans actions that night, actually saved the larger potential of fall-out, had a formal and lengthy debate on the issue been held. The Confederate was removed before anyone could say "not just yet," or "no!"

     I was giving an historic walking tour, of Bracebridge, back in the 1990's, and this was my big finale……"The Battle for Memorial Park"……where the veterans came out for just one more fight…..this time, against those pesky Confederates. See you in hell Johnny Reb!" You won't find much in the way of historical record of this post-midnight raid. It's local lore now. Talked about, relived, and regaled, but not too loudly. I think there were some hurt feelings on both sides, and well, the site was cleaned up respectfully, the Confederate given back his dignity somewhere else, and forgiveness asked and granted from all concerned. At least that's the way I remember it…..and as you know, I never let the truth screw up a really good story.

     Thanks for joining this little historical essay, regarding an obscure battle in our forested heartland…….that returned the honor and dignity to a war memorial, and all the names etched upon its four sides. Please take time, on Sunday, November 11th, to offer your own Remembrance to our Canadian men and women, who made the ultimate sacrifice, during world conflict, for our cherished freedom and enduring democracy.

     Please come for a visit some time soon. I always enjoy your company.