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| Enjoy The Christmas Season With Your Favourite Seasonal Movies
It’s a wonderful time of the year with Christmas Music in the air, beautiful decorations, snow gently falling and busy shoppers looking for that special gift before the major rush hits the stores. It’s also a good time to sit down and relax with your favourite seasonal movie or TV classic. Whether you invite some friends over for a movie or just enjoy some reminiscing of a Christmas past when life was a little simpler, take some time and enjoy a Christmas movie or TV show.
I’ve selected four of my Christmas favourites that I’ll be watching during this season.
A Christmas Carol Starring Alastair Sim – The 1951 Version – Black and White
Christmas Vacation – A holiday classic staring Chevy Chase & Beverly D’Angelo,
The Ultimate Christmas Collection – The Beverly Hillbillies & Petticoat Junction
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas staring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye – Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Fred Schulz Photo |
To Connect With Today's Bracebridge Blog, Part of the Christmas Series Click Here-The Polar Express
http://thenatureofmuskoka.blogspot.ca/
LEARNING FROM THE PAST - WHERE DID OUR HOMETOWN CHARITY COME FROM?
SHARING THE GOOD HARVEST BETWEEN NEIGHBORS
THERE'S AN EARLY MUSOKA FOLK STORY ABOUT THE SHOOTING OF A LARGE MOOSE OUT OF SEASON, ACCORDING TO WILD GAME REGULATIONS, OF THE TIME, AND IT DETAILS HOW MANY PEOPLE BENEFITTED FROM THE OFFENSE. ONE OF THOSE WHO HAD A SUBSTANTIAL ROAST, FROM THE HUNT, WAS A WELL KNOWN PREACHER, AND SEVERAL LOCAL FOLKS WHO KNEW IT HAD BEEN ILL-GOTTEN. IT HAD BEEN IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF THE LARGEST OF THE CREATURES, EVER SEEN IN THE MUSKOKA WOODS. MANY MEALS WERE ENJOYED FROM THAT ILLEGAL BUT HAPPENSTANCE MOOSE HUNT. THE ONLY REDEEMING ASPECT OF THE STORY, BECAUSE I'M CERTAINLY NOT CONDONING HUNTING OUT OF SEASON, IS THAT SO MANY OTHERS BENEFITTED WHO NEEDED IT. THE SHARING OF BOUNTY AMONGST EARLY HOMESTEADERS WAS REGULARLY PRACTICED, WHETHER IT WAS A QUANTITY OF FISH TO SHARE, MEAT FROM GAME OR THE KILL OF LIVESTOCK, OR JUST THE HARVEST FROM THE FIELDS AND THE PRESERVES, MADE IN THE HOMESTEAD KITCHEN. IN SOME WAYS, IT WAS EASIER THEN, TO IDENTIFY THOSE WHO WERE DISADVANTAGED AND SUFFERING FROM LACK OF PROVISIONS. MUSKOKA WAS A SHARING PLACE, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. WE STILL ARE. BUT IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE INVISIBLE IF THIS IS WHAT A RESIDENT CHOOSES. THIS WAS A PROBLEM SUZANNE AND I SAW UP CLOSE, YET STILL MISSED BY A COUNTRY MILE. WE HAD A CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WE WERE TOO BUSY WITH OUR OWN PROBLEMS AT THE TIME, TO PAY ATTENTION TO ANY ONE ELSE. I HATE RETROSPECTIVES LIKE THIS. WE KNOW ALL ABOUT PIONEER CHARITY, AS HISTORIANS, BUT WE MISSED ALL THE SIGNS OF NEED..... SIMPLY BECAUSE WE WEREN'T LOOKING FOR THEM.
I KNEW A DEAR, SOULFUL ELDERLY WOMAN, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO, WHO BELONGED TO ONE OF MUSKOKA'S WELL KNOWN RESORT FAMILIES, THAT DATED WELL BACK INTO THE TOURISM HISTORY OF OUR LAKELAND COMMUNITY. THEY OWNED A LARGE TOURIST RESORT ON LAKE ROSSEAU, WHERE STEAMSHIPS STOPPED REGULARLY WITH CITY GUESTS AND SUPPLIES....IN ITS MULIT-DECADE HEYDAY. IT IS WELL DOCUMENTED IN LOCAL HISTORIES, AND IS A NAME THAT HAS SURVIVED TO THE PRESENT, OUT OF HIGH REGARD FOR THE FAMILY THAT OPERATED IT. I WON'T GIVE HER NAME, EVEN THOUGH SHE IS NOW DECEASED, BECAUSE SHE WOULD BE MAD AT ME IF I DID.....AND I'M PRETTY SURE SHE COULD GIVE ME A WHACK ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD, REACHING DOWN FROM THE GREAT BEYOND TO DO SO! SHE AND I HAD MANY HISTORY-CHATS, WHEN WE HAD OUR PREVIOUS ANTIQUE SHOP IN BRACEBRIDGE. SHE PROVIDED ME WITH HISTORICAL INFORMATION THAT NO OTHER AUTHOR HAS UNCOVERED, ABOUT THOSE EARLY RESORT YEARS, AND THE NEIGHBORLINESS OF PROPRIETORS AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITIES, WHERE THEY LIVED AND WORKED. SHE WOULDN'T LET ME TAKE NOTES. WHAT SHE WANTED ME TO DO WAS SIMPLE. PAY ATTENTION. ASK QUESTIONS, BUT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT IT WAS KEPT CASUAL, AS SHE HAD BEEN MISQUOTED BY OTHER HISTORIANS, WHO I WON'T MENTION; FEELING DISPLEASED WITH HOW HER COMMENTS WERE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT. IF SHE SUSPECTED I WAS WRITING SOMETHING, BELOW THE COUNTER, SHE WOULD STOP AND LOOK OVER THE EDGE, WHERE I HAD A LITTLE SHELF, PERFECT FOR CONCEALING A NOTEPAD. SHE WAS ELDERLY, AND WHAT I WAS BEING TOLD, COULD HAVE MADE THE GUTS OF A GOOD BOOK ABOUT RUNNING A MUSKOKA RESORT IN THE LATE 1800'S. BUT IT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HEAR THESE STORIES, THAT I DECIDED TO MAKE NOTES FOR MY OWN GOOD, AFTER SHE HAD LEFT THE SHOP. THEN, SOMEHOW I LOST THEM, IN THE MOVE WE MADE BACK TO GRAVENHURST. BUT THIS ISN'T ABOUT RESORT HISTORY IN PARTICULAR. IT'S WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR REGION VIA MODERNIZATION AND PROGRESS. MOSTLY, THE DE-CENTRALIZATION OF THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, AS SHE WOULD HAVE KNOWN IT, IN THE SO CALLED, GOOD-OLD-DAYS.
FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS, WE'D ENGAGE IN THIS CASUAL COUNTER-TALK, ABOUT MUSKOKA HISTORY, AND HER FAMILY CHRONICLE. SHE KNEW MY WORK IN THE FIELD OF LOCAL HISTORY, AND SHE WOULD OFTEN COME IN TO MAKE COMMENT, ON THAT WEEK'S "MUSKOKA SKETCHES" COLUMN, I USED TO WRITE FOR THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, "THE MUSKOKA ADVANCE." I LIKED TO TALK WITH HER, AND SHE WAS ALSO VERY CONTEMPORARY, AND COULD DISCUSS CURRENT EVENTS, POLITICS AND PROBLEMS OF THE ECONOMY. TOWARD THE END OF OUR IN-STORE RELATIONSHIP, SHE WAS STARTING TO DRIFT IN CONVERSATION, AND THE TALK BECAME MORE INTIMATE ABOUT FAMILY RELATIONS, AND HER LIFE GROWING UP IN A RESORT ENVIRONMENT.....SO REMOVED FROM THE PRESENT, IT SEEMED AS IF SHE WAS RELIVING THE PAST IN A VERY VIVID DREAM-SCAPE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. IT WAS AS IF I BECAME ONE OF THE FAMILIAR HOTEL GUESTS, AND WE WERE BOTH BACK AT THE RESORT, LOOKING THR0UGH A WINDOW ONTO THE LAKE. HER CLARITY WAS AS SHARP AS EVER, BUT IT WAS EVIDENT THE LONGER WE CHATTED, SHE WAS RETREATING FURTHER THAN BEFORE; AND REALITY WAS BECOMING MORE DELUDED EACH WEEK WHEN SHE'D COME FOR A VISIT. ALL OF US CURRIES, INCLUDING THE BOYS, LIKED HER VERY MUCH, BECAUSE SHE TALKED WITH SUCH ENTHUSIASM AND AFFECTION, AND WAS VERY GENEROUS.....OFTEN GIVING SUZANNE REMNANTS OF OLD LACE WORK, AND EVEN DOLLS SHE HAD AS A CHILD.
THE POINT OF THIS SHORT EDITORIAL, IS THE FACT, THIS WOMAN, LIVING IN BRACEBRIDGE, HAD WALKED TO THE GROCERY STORE EVERY DAY FOR HER FOOD NEEDS. SHE CHOSE HER APARTMENT, BASED ON ITS CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ONE OF THE MAJOR FOOD STORES. WHEN IT CLOSED, GETTING THE SAME PROVISIONS, REQUIRED HER WALKING DOWN AND BACK UP THE LONG AND STEEP MONCK HILL, TO THE PLAZA WHERE THERE WERE TWO FOOD STORES. THE CLOSING OF THE A&P STORE ON MANITOBA STREET, MEANT SUBSTANTIAL HARDSHIP FOR HER, AND BEING EXTREMELY PROUD AND INDEPENDENT, SHE ALSO REFUSED HELP. WHAT WE FOUND OUT MUCH LATER, UNFORTUNATELY, WAS THAT A CONTRIBUTOR TO HER INCREASING DIMENTIA, WAS THE FACT SHE WAS STARVING TO DEATH IN FRONT OF OUR EYES. SHE WAS SHOPPING INSTEAD, AT A NEIGHBORHOOD CONVENIENCE STORE, AND IT WAS EXHAUSTING HER MONTHLY INCOME. EVEN THOUGH HER FAMILY HAD OWNED A MAJOR LAKE ROSSEAU RESORT, SHE WASN'T LEFT WITH A HUGE QUANTITY OF CASH TO LIVE ON MONTHLY. HERE WAS THIS CHARMING LADY, VISITING WITH US SEVERAL TIMES EACH WEEK, WHO WAS MALNOURISHED TO THE POINT OF DELUSION, AND WE JUST WROTE IT OFF TO HER AGE. TO THAT POINT HOWEVER, SHE HAD BEEN OUT AND ABOUT, EVEN IN THE MOST ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. SHE WASN'T FIT TO COVER THE DISTANCE OF THE MONCK HILLSIDE, AND DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO PAY FOR CABS. ONE UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE LED TO ANOTHER, AND THEN SHE BECAME SO WEAK AND DELUDED, SHE WAS FINALLY TAKEN TO HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT. WHEN HER NEPHEW CAME IN TO TALK WITH US, ABOUT HIS AUNT, SUZANNE AND I BOTH STOOD THERE WITH MOUTHS WIDE OPEN, COMPLETELY STUNNED BY THE CLEAR REALITY, WE HAD BEEN A WITNESS TO A SOCIAL / WELFARE INJUSTICE, AND DID NOTHING TO HELP HER....OTHER THAN ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION. WE DON'T FEEL MUCH CONSOLATION THAT SHE DIDN'T TELL US OF HER SITUATION....BECAUSE FRIENDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE AWARE OF THINGS LIKE THIS. I FELT REALLY BAD SAYING, "WE DIDN'T KNOW," AND "SHE NEVER SAID A THING." EVEN WORSE THAN THIS, WAS THE FACT WE HADN'T NOTIFIED ANYONE, OR GONE TO CHECK HER APARTMENT, WHEN WE HADN'T SEEN HER FOR THREE WEEKS. THAT WAS OUR FAULT. AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN A SMALL MUSKOKA TOWN, WHEN WE WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION.
WHAT WAS PROGRESS TO SOME IN TOWN, BECAME A DISADVANTAGE TO OTHERS. IT'S NOT UNTIL YOU PUT A FACE ON "OTHERS" AND REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE, WAS ALL WITHIN ARM'S LENGTH. IN RETROSPECT, WE WOULD HAVE GLADLY DRIVEN HER TO GET GROCERIES, OR PICKED-UP SUPPLIES FOR HER, IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN. WELL FOLKS, AND I CAN'T HELP THAT THIS READS LIKE I'M PREACHING, THERE ARE LOTS OF SIMILAR SITUATIONS OUT THERE, THAT WE SHOULD REACT TO, AND RECTIFY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. OUR FRIEND WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR A LENGTHY PERIOD, AND WAS LATER ADMITTED TO A NURSING HOME. DID IT ALL COME DOWN TO THE MOVING OF A GROCERY STORE? NO, IT WAS THE RESULT OF US NOT RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS OF DISTRESS, WE SHOULD HAVE IDENTIFIED SOONER. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT TOOK US THREE WEEKS TO SERIOUSLY WONDER WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER. WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS ARE WE? BUT YOU KNOW, IT CAN HAPPEN THAT EASILY. WE WERE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELFARE OF OUR OWN BUSINESS, AND FAMILY, TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE WELFARE OF A GOOD AND REGULAR CUSTOMER....WHO HAD BEEN SO KIND TO US OVER OUR YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP. I NEVER GOT A CHANGE TO APOLOGISE TO HER. OFFERING IT TO HER NEPHEW WAS EMBARASSING, BECAUSE IT WAS THE ADMISSION OF OUR OWN GUILT OF INHUMANITY. IF THIS WAS AN ISOLATED CASE...., THEN WE'D BE A MUCH MORE HUMANE SOCIETY; BUT TRUTH IS, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, IN OUR COUNTRY, WHO ARE IN THE SAME DIRE STRAITS, GOING UNDETECTED IN THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF A SPINNING WORLD.
THERE IS A GENERAL ASSUMPTION, THERE ARE POOR AND DESTITUTE LIVING IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE ALL BELIEVE THAT THEIR COMMON WELFARE IS BEING LOOKED AFTER, BY SOCIAL SERVICES, AND THEIR FOOD NEEDS BEING PROVIDED BY THE FOOD BANK. BUT HERE'S THE HITCH. SO VERY MANY OF THESE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY SENIOR CITIZENS, ARE TOO EMBARASSED TO ASK FOR ASSISTANCE; TOO PROUD TO ADMIT THEY CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET. THEY'RE NOT ON THE RADAR. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE FALLEN THROUGH THE CRACKS. THEY ARE THE INVISIBLE POOR, WHO CAN BE FORGOTTEN JUST LIKE OUR FRIEND.....AND OF COURSE, WE SHOULD FEEL SOME SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. IF ONLY TO IDENTIFY THESE PROBLEMS, AND HELP INITIATE SOLUTIONS....BY MAKING A CALL TO THOSE WHO CAN BRING IMMEDIATE RELIEF. THIS IS WHEN GOOD NEIGHBORS COME THROUGH FOR THOSE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK, OR DISADVANTAGED BY PHYSICAL ISSUES.....WHO CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES.
THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON, PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO A LOCAL FOOD BANK; THE MANNA FOOD BANK IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND THE SALVATION ARMY FOOD BANK IN GRAVENHURST....OR A FOOD BANK IN YOUR OWN HOMETOWN. IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING SOME HEALTH AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, MAYBE YOU COULD FIND IT IN YOUR HEART, TO LOOK IN ON THEM NOW AND AGAIN. A CHRISTMAS GREETING FOR SOMEONE SUFFERING FROM LONELINESS, IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU MIGHT THINK...WHEN THERE IS NO OTHER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, FAMILY OR FRIENDS TO VISIT. THIS MULTI PART SERIES, ON SALVATION ARMY MISSIONARY / ARTIST, ADA FLORENCE KINTON, IS DEDICATED TO THE WORK OF THESE FOOD BANK VOLUNTEERS, WHO MAKE IT THEIR BUSINESS TO HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE.....HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS. HER JOURNAL CONTINUES TO INSPIRE ME, AND I'M A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EARLY WINTER DAY IT IS, HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA; THIS MOMENT, OUR REGION BEING SO GENTLY IMPRESSED WITH LIGHT SNOW FLURRIES WITH LOTS OF FOLKS HIKING UP AND DOWN THE STREET.....IN THE FESTIVE ESSENCE OF A ROCKWELL PAINTING; THE OLD HOMETOWN LOOKING SO HISTORIC AND NOSTALGIC TODAY, ON THE CUSP OF CHRISTMAS.
HELPING OTHERS WAS ADA FLORENCE KINTON'S THANKSGIVING
BY TED CURRIE
The brightly colored leaves of the hardwoods, that wreath the tall pines, and so nicely frame the wavering field grasses and sea of cattails down in The Bog, adjacent to our home, remind me now of Ada Florence Kinton's many vibrant paint boards, she created while staying in Muskoka, back in the late 1800's.
Although it was a scene out of Victorian times, and the locale was Huntsville, in north Muskoka, I can so easily imagine the young artist wandering these forest paths, and finding this place, at Birch Hollow, bathed in October's sunlight, a perfect place to sketch and watch sky and forest, wee creatures and the tiny crystalline waterfalls you can see tumbling down amidst the mounds of matted grasses. I can see her silhouetted against this harvest landscape, sitting on a fallen log, enamored with the diverse vista in front.
At this time of the year however, Ada would have gladly surrendered her artistic interests, to help the less fortunate, at a soup kitchen on the streets of Toronto, working on behalf of the Salvation Army. While she could have spent her life painting, selling her work, and being paid well to teach others, she opted instead to dedicate herself to helping mankind cope with distress. I think she would have approved of this year-long series of columns, being dedicated to the Salvation Army Food Bank, here in Gravenhurst, and food banks generally across the country. The pioneer artist, missionary, went on through her short life, believing in the unfaltering power of faith, and the healing capability of compassion. It was visible in her art work, and profoundly evident in her writing, both eventually being published in many issues of the Salvation Army's "War Cry," during the late 1800's.
One poignant reminiscence of Miss Kinton's dedication, comes from her longtime friend, and Canadian novelist, Agnes Maule Machar, who in 1907 wrote of sacrifice, the art career that ceased suddenly and unnecessarily. Miss Machar wrote of her friend, "The final step was not, however, taken without the sacrifice of many natural feelings and preferences. She used to say that her resolve was made during a particularly dull sermon and an uninspiring service. Her fist intimation of her decision, to the writer, was contained in a letter countermanding a request she had made about the sending of two small watercolor drawings to the Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists. After asking that they be 'not sent', she added, 'This is what I am going to do,' and in a few words stated her determination to enter into the work of the Salvation Army, relinquishing a competent salary and prestige (in the art community) for a humble niche in what she felt to be a great work, with a bare livelihood. and she had counted the cost."
"In the external features of the organization she entered, there were some things which were repellant to her naturally refined taste for dainty and beautiful surroundings, but where her conscience and judgement approved the general method - where her mind was fully and worthily occupied and her heart found full scope. She could dispense with adventitious advantages, and be happy in the simple life of the Army," penned her writer friend. "She was convinced that in it she found work more worthy of her highest capacities than in that of 'helping a number of young people to draw a little better than they otherwise might,' as she put it. Of this she was satisfied to the end - whether that work was found in its most self-denying form, in the humble 'Rescue Home,' for intemperate women (where she willingly submitted to much that was naturally painful and repelling), in the overflowing compassion which their hard case inspired her; or in the 'Refuge for Neglected City Waifs,' whose starved and stunted childhood was sad to see."
Miss Machar suggested candidly, "Few really appreciated either the rewards or the privations of her work; and her sensitive heart could not feel the unavoidable isolation from many former inmates (colleagues in art). From ordinary social intercourse, as well as from the gratification of some most innocent tastes, she was in a great measure, debarred, both by her engrossing occupations and by the necessity of wearing her uniform, which she would never discard except when on a country holiday. And a well-worn uniform it often was." This talented artist simply turned and walked away, feeling unworthy to belong to such a group any longer. Although we can conclude, from our vantage point, that she should have mustered the courage to participate, it was her character to concentrate on the interests so keenly felt, and that was, simply stated, the continuation of her relief work; not selfishly pursuing what, at the time, she mistakenly believed was frivolous art, that was helping no one but herself.
As an example, one of the most compelling and unfortunate circumstances in Ada Kinton's transformation, from art career to the work of a missionary, was summed up by Machar. "On one occasion, when she desired to hear a friend read a paper before a Women's Art Association meeting, in Toronto, she ventured as far as the door of the place of the meeting, but on catching sight of the fashionably attired assemblage within, her fastidious sense of the fitness of things overcame her courage, and she precipitately confessed without some natural tears. 'It seemed,' she said, 'as if I had caught a glimpse of a charming world, to which I once belonged, but in which I could no long claim a place'." Machar footnoted this quotation, by writing, "She said she felt like a 'speckled bird' when she did venture into such society."
Her eventual placement with the "War Cry," suited her very well, because she could adorn her feature articles, with art work of her own creation. It was the merging of all her talents, and her sense of humanity, and the voyeur of her life and accomplishment, feels some consolation that the talented artist, who felt she didn't belong side by side her artist peers, felt comfortable in her final years, expressing what had been for so long suppressed by her stalwart mission to help others.
"If you stood, on a summer night, somewhere among our lovely woods and lakes, in the softness and the hush of tender sundown, you would hear such melodious tumult from the throats of our countless song-birds, you might almost fancy that they had met in earnest consultation upon some question of burning interest but that their council had been broken up in confusion, with no agreement but to disagree, for each one to argue out his own ideas to himself, whilst the cat-bird, like some laughing yahoo, throws in a derisive 'mi-au.' But above all their sweet jangle, some persistent bird asserts himself, ever repeating, in accents of unutterable plaintiveness, his own clear phrase, whilst far through the echoing forest his wistful mate replies, in praise (so people say) of Canada. 'What is it that it sings?' the sun-browned children ask. 'Sweet - sweet - Canada,' thinks many a mother, with her cheek upon her baby's curls, as she listens in the doorway of her fragrant wooden cottage, on the margin of forest, where the graceful maples rest their branches on the shingled roof." "Sweet, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada." This was penned by Ada Kinton, shortly before her death, published in The War Cry.
As this series of columns on pioneer artist Ada Kinton, has been dedicated in her memory, to the Salvation Army Food Bank, here in Gravenhurst, please consider making a donation to a food bank in your own community, to help out at this festive time of the year. It will be greatly appreciated.
From our family, here at Birch Hollow, in Gravenhurst, Ontario, please accept our best wishes for a happy and contenting Christmas holiday.
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