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| A flock of Canada Geese come in for a landing to enjoy a grassy spot and early morning breakfast along the Jones Road in Gravenhurst this morning. (Photo By Fred Schulz) |
JOHN RUTHERFORD GAVE ME A CHANCE TO EXPLORE CULTURE AND HISTORY
BAND TRIP TO ENGLAND MADE ME AN HISTORIAN FOR LIFE
I REMEMBER MEETING MY FORMER HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER, MR. PETERSON, IN THE OLD DOMINION STORE, ON BRACEBRIDGE'S MANITOBA STREET, WHERE I WAS STOCKING SHELVES, AND HIM LAUGHING OUT LOUD, IN THE AISLE, WHEN I TOLD HIM I WAS MAJORING IN HISTORY AT UNIVERSITY. I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT HE SAID AFTER A ROBUST CHORTLE, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE, "YOU'RE PUTTING ME ON." IN REALITY, I WASN'T A GOOD STUDENT IN HIGH SCHOOL GENERALLY. I WANTED TO BE OUTDOORS....EXPLORING, PADDLING A CANOE, HIKING, ANYTHING BUT WEDGED INTO A DESK STARING AT A BLACKBOARD. IN RETROSPECT, I COULDN'T BLAME THE MAN FOR LAUGHING, BECAUSE I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT ONTO THE TOP TWENTY, OF STUDENTS FROM HIS CLASS, THAT HE WOULD HAVE BET WOULD VENTURE ON IN HISTORY. I DIDN'T TELL HIM I WANTED TO BECOME AN HISTORIAN, IN CASE I GAVE THE MAN A CORONARY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE THOUGHT I'D BECOME. POSSIBLY A HOBO, I DON'T KNOW. I PASSED THE CLASS BUT WITH ONE FOOT ON A BANANA PEEL.
I SAT UP AFTER EVERYONE HAD RETIRED TO BEDLAM, LAST EVENING, REMINISCING ABOUT THE TRIP TO ENGLAND, THE BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL BAND, ENJOYED BACK IN THE SPRING OF 1974; COURTESY THE ORGANIZING WORK OF CONDUCTOR JOHN RUTHERFORD, AND SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, KEN BLACK. AFTER GETTING THE NEWS THAT JOHN RUTHERFORD HAD PASSED AWAY EARLIER IN THE WEEK, AND PUBLISHING A SMALL EDITORIAL TRIBUTE, ON THIS SITE, LAST EVENING, I SPENT SOME TIME, HUDDLED IN MY OFFICE, SORTING THROUGH THE BOX OF NOTES I KEPT, WHILE ENROUTE TO ENGLAND; AND ENTRIES PENNED OFTEN DURING OUR TOUR NORTH FROM LONDON; STAYING IN NOTTINGHAM WITH HOST FAMILIES, AND GOING ON TO YORK, WHERE WE CLIMBED THE FAMOUS HEIGHTS OF YORKMINSTER ABBEY. AND OF COURSE WE HAD A NUMBER OF PLAYING GIGS WHICH WAS ALSO A LOT OF FUN.
IN BETWEEN THE PLAYING AND HISTORICAL STUFF, I ACCOMPANIED FRIENDS TO THE OPENING OF THE MOVIE "THE EXORCIST," ON ONE BLOCK, AND THE NEXT NIGHT, THE STAGE PERFORMANCE OF "JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR." AT BOTH VENUES, THERE WERE PEOPLE HANDING OUT PAMPHLETS EXPLAINING WHY WE SHOULDN'T GO TO THE RESPECTIVE SHOWS. ONE BECAUSE IT PROFILED THE DEVIL, AND THE OTHER, BECAUSE IT IRREVERENTLY PORTRAYED JESUS. I THINK THOSE PEOPLE WERE WORKING FOR THE THEATERS, BECAUSE THEIR PROTESTS OVER LOUDSPEAKERS WERE ACTUALLY ATTRACTING PEOPLE TO TICKET BOOTH....TO SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS WAS ABOUT. LONDON AT NIGHT IN THE 1970'S. FANTASTIC.
WHILE I NEVER REALLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK WITH JOHN ABOUT HIS INFLUENCES, AND ENGLAND'S, REGARDING MY CHANGE OF HEART FOR THAT SAME YEAR'S UNIVERSITY STUDIES, THE TRIP OVERSEAS, AND EXPOSURE TO HISTORY, AS I HAD NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE, MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO ME. STANDING THERE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, IN DOWNTOWN LONDON, WAS SO MIND-BLOWING FOR THIS COUNTRY KID, WITH AN EAGERNESS TO EXPLORE HISTORICAL PLACES, THAT WHEN IT CAME TIME TO SET MY COURSE PROGRESSION, AT YORK UNIVERSITY, A FEW MONTHS LATER, THERE WASN'T A DOUBT IN MY MIND WHICH DIRECTION TO FOLLOW. I ENDED MY STUDIES WITH A DEGREE IN CANADIAN HISTORY, AND WHEN I ARRIVED HOME TO BRACEBRIDGE, GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS RIGHT AWAY.....AS A FOUNDER OF THE LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ANOTHER PARTNER FROM THAT ENGLAND TOUR, KEN BLACK. I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN LOCAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE CONSERVATION, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, SINCE THAT MIND-EXPANDING OVERSEAS ADVENTURE.
SUZANNE AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT THE TRIP A FEW WEEKS AGO, PARTICULARLY ABOUT THE FASHIONS OF THE MID 1970'S. BEING IN ENGLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE WERE EAGER TO DRESS THE PART OF LONDONERS.....ALL WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF LANDING AT HEATHROW AIRPORT. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT, BECAUSE SUZANNE HAS A COMPONENT OF OUR GRAVENHURST ANTIQUE BUSINESS, DEVOTED TO VINTAGE CLOTHING, AND WE HAVE SOLD A LOT OF HATS, COATS, SHAWLS DRESSES AND SUITS, TO OUR OUT OF GUESTS....ESPECIALLY MUSICAL PERFORMERS, WHO VISIT OUR SONS RESPECTIVE MUSIC BUSINESSES, AT THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. I CAN REMEMBER IN ENGLAND, THE RUSH FOR THE GENTS, AT LEAST, TO GET INTO THE CLOTHING SHOPS, TO PURCHASE PEAK CAPS, SCARVES, LONDON FOG OVERCOATS, AND TRADITIONAL BLACK UMBRELLAS. WE LOOKED PRETTY DAPPER AND INHERENTLY BRITISH, BY TIME WE FINISHED OUTFITTING OURSELVES, TO LOOK AS IF WE BELONGED IN ENGLAND. THE GIRLS DID SOMEWHAT THE SAME THING, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT ALL ENTAILED. I STILL HAVE THE UMBRELLA BUT HAVE MISPLACED IT SOMEWHERE IN MY ARCHIVES COLLECTION. SHOULD BE EASY TO FIND, BUT MY ARCHIVES IS A LITTLE NON-CONVENTIONAL. SO SUZANNE AND I HAVE BORROWED A LITTLE OF THAT EXPERIENCE, FROM ABROAD, TO KEEP OURSELVES IN THE KIND OF VINTAGE APPAREL, A VISITOR TO OUR REGION MIGHT LIKE TO DON, TO FEEL A LITTLE MORE MUSKOKAN, TO SUIT THE ENVIRONS.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE VERY REAL POSSIBIITY, I MIGHT HAVE MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN THE BAND THAT YEAR, IT REALLY MAKES ME PONDER ALL THE REALITIES THAT WOULD HAVE CHANGED AS A RESULT. JOHN INFLUENCED ME IN STAGES. THE FIRST MAJOR IMPACT, WAS WHEN HE INVITED ME TO JOIN THE BAND IN THE FALL OF 1973, AND GAVE ME A CHANCE TO IMPROVE MY BARITONE PROWESS, BEFORE THE SPRING TOUR, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS IN MARCH OF 1974. MY NOTES ARE PRETTY CRUMPLED AND STAINED, AND I CAN ONLY READ SMALL PORTIONS. AS I POINTED OUT IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG, I WAS A LONGSHOT TO MAKE THE BAND, AND THERE WERE YOUNGER PLAYERS, IN THE GRADES BELOW, WHO COULD PLAY BETTER. BUT JOHN WANTED TO GIVE ME A CHANCE TO PROVE MYSELF, AFTER FOUR YEARS ON THE SIDELINES. I DECIDED THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A LIFE-ALTERING ADVENTURE, AND I WASN'T WRONG. WHEN WE GOT TO ENGLAND, AND I SAW HISTORIC LONDON, GETTING TO THE REGENT PALACE HOTEL, I BECAME SO ENAMORED WITH THE WHOLE PICTURE, I COULDN'T SLEEP. I SURVIVED ON CAT NAPS FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP. I DIDN'T WANT TO MISS A THING. I WAS IMMERSED IN WORLD HISTORY IN THIS WONDERFUL PLACE, AND THE ONLY PROBLEM, WAS HOW TO SEE IT ALL INSIDE OF TWO WEEKS.
THE POINT OF THIS BLOG, TODAY, IS TO CREDIT JOHN RUTHERFORD, AND OF COURSE KEN BLACK, FOR OFFERING A GUY LIKE ME, AN OPPORTUNITY (HE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD OTHERWISE)....TO NOT ONLY BE PART OF HISTORY, BUT AFFORDED THE RARE AND GENEROUS OCCASION, TO DRINK IN AS MUCH AS I COULD CONSUME.... TO REMEMBER IT ALL, IN THE STILL SHARP PANORAMA OF SNAPSHOTS, TUCKED SAFELY IN MY OLD MENTAL SCRAPBOOK. WHAT INSPIRED ME THEN, HAS GONE ON TO BE PART OF MY EVERYDAY ADVENTURES TODAY, AND THE REASON I NEVER GET TIRED OF DELVING INTO A NEW HERITAGE PROJECT, OR INITIATING A BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE, AS RELATES TO OUR REGIONAL HISTORY. I WOULD BE PRETTY COCKY IF I SAID THAT THE BAND TRIP TO ENGLAND MADE ME A BETTER HISTORIAN, BECAUSE FRANKLY, I REALLY DON'T KNOW IF I'M AS GOOD AS I THINK I AM. IT WOULDN'T BE A STRETCH HOWEVER, TO SUGGEST THAT JOHN RUTHERFORD, SPECIFICALLY, DECIDED THAT THIS TRIP FOR ME, WOULD GIVE ME A CHANCE TO PROVE MYSELF. IT WOULD BE THE KIND OF INCENTIVE, THAT JUST MIGHT DO A KID LIKE ME SOME GOOD; AS IT WAS THE CASE MY FAMILY DIDN'T HAVE THE KIND OF MONEY TO SEND ME TO ENGLAND ON A LARK. THIS TRIP WAS SUBSIDIZED AND AFFORDABLE TO A LOT OF STUDENTS, WHO WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE, TO ENJOY SUCH A GREAT, LIFE-ENHANCING OPPORTUNITY.
I DECIDED BEFORE WE LANDED BACK IN CANADA, THAT I WAS GOING TO TAKE A CRACK AT THIS HISTORIAN-THING, FIRST AT UNIVERSITY, AND THEN AS A PROFESSION.....AT LEAST AS BEST I COULD, WITHOUT ACTUALLY GETTING A TEACHING DEGREE, AND FINDING A SCHOOL THAT WOULD HAVE A WANDERLUST GUY LIKE ME ON STAFF. I DON'T THINK I WOULD HAVE MADE A VERY GOOD TEACHER, SO I MARRIED ONE INSTEAD. SO SINCE THE BAND TRIP, THAT YEAR, I HAVE BEEN WORKING IN THE FIELD OF LOCAL, PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL HERITAGE, WITH SOME WELL KNOWN HISTORICAL CRONIES, AND HONESTLY, I CAN'T ATTRIBUTE MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS, TO ANY ONE OTHER THAN JOHN RUTHERFORD. IF I HAD TOLD HIM THIS, IN ONE OF MANY CASUAL CONVERSATIONS WE HAD, IN THE YEARS AFTER, HE WOULD HAVE DISMISSED HIS CONTRIBUTION AS JUST NORMAL FARE FOR ANY TEACHER-MENTOR. NO BIG DEAL. HE NEEDED A BARITONE PLAYER AND I HAPPENED TO PLAY ONE. THE SIDE TO THIS THAT WE NEVER REALLY TALKED ABOUT, WAS THAT HIS STAR PLAYER, TIM ROWE, HAD DIED EARLIER, AND IT WAS TIM WHO HAD INSTRUCTED ME HOW TO PLAY THE GREAT BRASS BEAST. TIM GOT ME THROUGH MY PLAYING TESTS, AND IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR HIS MENTORSHIP, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE OPTED TO TAKE ANOTHER COURSE INSTEAD OF MUSIC, IN LATER YEARS. IN ENGLAND, MY MENTOR THEN, BECAME FRASER WRIGHT, AND WITHOUT HIS ELBOW NUDGES AND GRIMMACES, I MIGHT HAVE SERIOUSLY DISAPPOINTED JOHN. I WAS ONE OF THOSE MARGINAL PLAYERS THAT NEEDED DAILY UPGRADES JUST TO MAINTAIN AN AVERAGE PERFORMANCE STANDARD.
JOHN RUTHERFORD WAS A TOUGH TEACHER, AND IN LATER YEARS, AN EQUALLY TOUGH HEAD REFEREE, IN THE BRACEBRIDGE MENS RECREATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, CIRCA THE 1990'S. I WAS ONE OF JOHN'S REFS THOSE YEARS, AND BOY OH BOY, HE HAD HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL OF US, TO KEEP THE GAMES FAIR AND UNDER CONTROL. HE'D OCCASSIONALLY REMIND ME OF MY BARITONE PLAYING, AND HOW IT WAS A GOOD THING, AS HE USED TO ADMIT, THAT MY REFEREEING PROWESS WAS MORE OF A SYMPHONY.....THAN MY PERFORMANCES ON STAGE. STILL, HE TOOK AN AVERAGE LAD WITH HIGH HOPES TO ENGLAND, AND APPARENTLY, I KEPT MY PROMISES, AND ALLOWED ONLY A FEW WRONG NOTES TO SLIP OUT.....THAT WERE QUICKLY DROWNED OUT BY FRASER WRIGHT'S ANTICIPATION OF WHERE I WAS GOING TO SCREW UP......IN THE PROGRESSION OF "THE LONDON SYMPHONY," OR "THUNDERCREST." JOHN EVEN FORGAVE ME FOR KNOCKING OVER, LIKE DOMINOES, FOUR MUSIC STANDS ONCE, BECAUSE I TOPPLED MINE WITH MY HEAD, WHEN I BENT OVER TO PICK-UP MY MUSIC SHEETS, OFF THE FLOOR OF THE STAGE. JOHN JUST CLENCHED HIS JAW, LOOKED DOWN AT THE FLOOR, AND GAVE ME A TELEPATHIC MESSAGE, TO SMARTEN UP OR ELSE. GOOD TIMES.
I THINK MOST OF US, WERE PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED BY THAT HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, OF TRAVELLING OVERSEAS, AND PERFORMING OUR MUSIC AT SOME VERY SIGNIFICANT VENUES. IT WAS PRETTY NEAT WANDERING THROUGH SHERWOOD FOREST, AND MEETING THE STATUE OF ROBIN HOOD (MINUS HIS ARROW), AND THE TRULY MORTAL SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM, WHO SHOOK OUR HANDS, AND WELCOMED US TO THIS LEGENDARY CITY....WHERE OUR ODYSSEY TRULY BEGAN. ACCORDING TO PARK AUTHORITIES, TOURISTS KEPT SWIPING THE ARROW FROM ITS PLACEMENT ON ROBIN'S BOW.
HONESTLY, I DON'T THINK JOHN RUTHERFORD WOULD EVER HAVE BELIEVED, THAT HIS DECISION TO ALLOW ME INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL BAND, FOR THAT ENGLAND TOUR, WOULD HAVE LED TO A LIFETIME COMMITMENT TO HISTORY, AND HERITAGE CONSERVATION. I CAN STILL HEAR MR. PETERSON LAUGHING, AS HE CARRIED ON WITH HIS SHOPPING. "HISTORY?" BUT REGARDLESS, I KNOW HOW MUCH I CHANGED IN A MATTER OF WEEKS, GOING FROM A GENERAL MALAISE ABOUT CAREER, TO BEING STALWARTLY COMMITTED TO PERSUE WHAT HAD TURNED MY CRANK, ON OF ALL THINGS, A BAND TRIP. NOT A TRIP TO EXPLORE THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT, OR TO SEEK MAYAN ARTIFACTS.....OR RAISE THE TITANIC. IT'S WHAT I SAW ON THE WAY THAT CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER. HOW DO YOU THANK SOMEONE.....WHO WAS SO STEADFASTLY RELUCTANT TO TAKE CREDIT FOR BEING ANYTHING MORE THAN A DUTIFUL TEACHER. WELL, I SUPPOSE, LIKE THIS; THAT I MUST REINFORCE WHAT MANY OF US KNOW AS FACT...... THAT HIS CONTRIBUTION TO OUR WELFARE, AND SELF IMPROVEMENT, WAS MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN NORMAL DUE-DILIGENCE PROFESSIONALISM. HE OPENED A DOOR FOR ME THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WAS THERE, AND OTHERS IN THAT GROUP, CAN ATTEST TO THE ADVANTAGES THIS OPPORTUNITY AFFORDED US FOR THE FUTURE.
I'VE BEEN WORKING AS A MUSKOKA-REGION HISTORIAN SINCE 1977, ONLY THREE YEARS AFTER THE ENGLAND TOUR....SO WHEN I TELL YOU THAT IT WAS JOHN RUTHERFORD WHO OPENED THAT DOOR FOR ME.....YOU KNOW I'M NOT EMBELLISHING THE TRUTH. IT'S BEEN THE SAME EVER SINCE, AND THERE ISN'T A DAY THAT GOES BY, THAT I DON'T USE SOMETHING FROM THAT TRIP, AS A TOOL OR SUBTLE INSPIRATION, TO INCH AHEAD ON SOME RESEARCH OR CONSERVATION PROJECT, INCLUDING THIS MOST RECENT SERIES OF RELATED ARTICLES, ON THE FOLK-LORE OF THE MUSKOKA DISTRICT FROM PIONEER TIMES.
IT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A WIDE-EYED KID STANDS AT THE HEAD OF TOMBS, OCCUPIED BY SOME OF THE MOST REVERED AUTHORS, STATESMAN, AND GREAT MINDS OF OUR CIVILIZED WORLD.....AND QUESTIONS THOUGHTFULLY, "WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE?" I'VE GONE ON A LOT OF TRIPS IN MY LIFE, BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS ONE, FOR SUSTAINING IMPACT. JOHN, LIKE MY MOTHER, ONCE INFORMED ME, IN HIS CASUAL CONVERSATION, (AS I REMEMBER STANDING THERE, STARING DOWN AT ONE OF THESE TOMBS), "I THINK YOU MUST HAVE AN OLD SOUL TED." I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT, AT THE TIME, BUT I THINK I DO NOW. I TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT, AS I HAVE OFTEN BELIEVED, I MUST HAVE LIVED IN THOSE ENGLISH HAMLETS IN ANOTHER LIFE.....BECAUSE THEY ARE OH SO COMPELLING AND HAUNTING TO ME NOW.
THE FIRST STRANGE THOUGHT OF MANY, GENERATED BY THAT TRIP, WAS FEELING AS IF I HAD ARRIVED HOME AGAIN, AS SOON AS WE COULD LOOK DOWN FROM THE PLANE, AND SEE THE MOTHER OF THE COMMONWEALTH COMING INTO VIEW. FOR THE WHOLE TRIP I FELT AS IF I WAS REVISITING PLACES, MORE SO THAN SEEING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME. NOW THAT WAS WEIRD. AND WHEN WE LIFTED OFF, FOR THE TRIP HOME, I TRULY FELT I WAS LEAVING MY BIRTH-PLACE FOR ANOTHER LAND.....AS THE IMMIGRANTS MUST HAVE FELT, TRAVERSING THE OCEAN ON THE WAY TO THE NEW LAND, AND THOSE ISOLATED MUSKOKA FARMSTEADS I OFTEN WRITE ABOUT.
ALTHOUGH YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN CREDIT JOHN, IT DOESN'T ALTER THE FACT, YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE COULD HAVE, AND I HAVE BENEFITTED EVER SINCE. IF YOU WERE TO SUMMARIZE ALL THE TESTIMONIALS GIVEN, AS MEMORIALS, TO THIS HIGHLY RESPECTED TEACHER, YOU WOULD FIND MANY PARALLELS TO MY OWN BIOGRAPHY.....OF ETERNAL FLAMES OF INSPIRATION THAT HAVE NEVER ONCE, OVER ALL THESE YEARS, DIMMED OR BECOME A LESSER SOURCE OF REKINDLING, WHEN WE'VE INADVERTENTLY LOST OUR WAY. WE REMEMBER THAT TRIP, OF 1974, AS IF IT HAD ALL HAPPENED YESTERDAY. AND THIS AFTERALL, IS THE HISTORIC MAGIC OF THAT LONG AGO ODYESSY.
FARE THEE WELL, JOHN RUTHERFORD. YOU MEANT A LOT TO US. I JUST HOPE YOU KNEW THAT!
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