Still Without Power At Birch Hollow; Music On The Barge Goes Ahead

Music On The Barge Will Go Ahead Despite Tree Damage

I heard a guy up town say "I want to sue God!" The lady he was talking to replied, "The devil will show up in court as a witness!"

After some serious investigation Music On The Barge manager, Fred Schulz, decided this evening that despite the rough condition of Rotary Gull Lake Park, the result of recent storm damage, the weekly concert will go ahead as scheduled with the well known Becket Family. There are a considerable number of pine trees toppled on the park grounds and some broken from the top that may pose some damage. Fred intends to markd the more dangerous areas with caution tape to keep concert goers a safe distance away. The weather for tomorrow is expected to be cool and clear and perfect for the weekly Barge concert. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and large group is expected.

We are now in our second day of power disruption and we are working by candle light. We have toured the hardest hit areas of town and have seen and heard about many acts of commuity kindness to those having suffered major property damage. This is what home towns do when crisis strikes.

What we don't understand is why there is a shortage of traffic cones in community at the disposal of public works. There were numerous situations even tonight where dangerous obstructions of low hanging wires and trees over roadways had no cautionary barricades or refective traffic cones. This seems a serious liability issue for the town, should a vehicle of a height bigger than our van was to cross below and snag on the wire connected to poles and trees nearby. This is something we noticed in many areas shortly after the storm which was excusable due to the disaster that was still being assessed. But more than 24 hours later this is unacceptable.

This was a dangerous and exhausting natural disaster at one of the busiest times of the year. The towns folk are twittering some interesting over views of the storm this week and its aftermath. It is yet to be determined if The Town of Gravenhurst lived up to the standard of its emergency planning and preparation document. The public has a right to comment on the towns performance. We were somewhat surprised that Gull Lake Park was open after the storm with so many downed trees. The towns Parks and Rec Committee hasn't shut down the park to public use, despite what some observes believe is still a dangerous situation in some areas of the lakeside park.

There is no point sueing God. The fact is the devil has had his play. We look forward to gentler days in the future. For now we just carry on cleaning up and making repairs, and hoping the next major storm hits somewhere else.

As a result of our own power outage I can't get into my Richard Karon file to continue the mulit part series. I hope the power will be restored by tomorrow as we are now only two streets removed from that glorious electric light. Drive careful out there. Get expert help with tree removal and if you are not skilled with a chain saw, leave alone. See you soon.