Heather Coupland, Exceptional Bracebridge and Muskoka Historian

BRACEBRIDGE HISTORIAN, HEATHER COUPLAND, PASSED AWAY ON TUESDAY

A TRIBUTE TO A STALWART FLAG BEARER WHO WORKED BEHIND THE SCENES TO PRESERVE HERITAGE

     On the Saturday before Christmas, on the cusp of this new century, Suzanne and I hosted a special heritage exhibition, at the Bracebridge United Church, to mark the release of a new book I had written, highlighting the connection of Bracebridge, Ontario, to the books composed by American Author, Washington Irving, well know creator of the story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The town's post office, was named "Bracebridge" in August of 1864, by postal authority, William Dawson LeSueur, after the title of the book, written by Irving, known as "Bracebridge Hall." We invited all of the local town council, the Chamber of Commerce, and the public generally, to come and see the collection of archive materials on Irving, and detailing the naming of the post office, we had gathered over two years of research and story development. There were ten citizens who attended, and only one representative of the town. It was Heather Coupland, and she made a point of informing me, that she wasn't representing the town, as she hadn't been sent by the mayor, but rather, she was in attendance to congratulate us on a job well done. She hit me on the elbow, to remind me, to never get discouraged by public apathy, because the job of the historian doesn't involve limelight; rather, it's what end result assists historians in perpetuity, allowing them to represent the town more effectively, and of course, accurately. She visited, chatted, and enjoyed some of Suzanne's fresh baking, that she had prepared for the event; and of course, purchased one of our books hot off the press. Heather felt it was of vital importance, to support the work of fellow historians, who she believed, were the last line of defense, against revisionists, trying to flank tradition for their own vested interests.
     Muskoka Falls, Bracebridge, and all of Muskoka, lost one of its most ardent, tireless, and dedicated historians this week. Regretfully, and it will always reflect badly on us, I'm afraid, especially those in the history profession, we didn't tell Heather Coupland how much we appreciated her efforts, to preserve our chronology. Heather Coupland passed away on Tuesday, and with some irony she might have found amusing, I had been working on a Bracebridge Historical Society / Woodchester Villa feature article at the time, profiling how the museum began, and how much work it was to be a volunteer, helping to keep the facility operational, when the chips were down. Back in the late 1980's, the chips were down more than they were up! Heather was one of our stalwart directors, and cheerful volunteers for long and long, and I can't remember a single occasion of a board meeting, when she wasn't the first person to arrive, other than the key-holders of the museum, and settle into her chair for the start of the meeting. She was next to the last person out the door at the end of the meeting, just ahead of me, turning on the alarm. She took being a director very seriously, and I could always count on her to keep us on track at meetings, and efficient when it came to handling the business of the evening. I was not the most dutiful president, following in the footsteps of previous directors such as Wayland Drew and Eileen Sugg, both having been terrific leaders through difficult times. Heather always believed I could cut it, if that is, I'd drop the stuborness, one of my adverse character traits.
     Heather Coupland never once, in all the years I knew the tireless researcher, let me down, on any heritage project, that I happened to be working on, or thinking about initiating. All I had to do was put out a few feelers, in the local press, to see if I could find any secret stash of information, as regards community or regional history; and the first call, or package delivered right to my door, would have come from Heather, who was about as passionate as any historian could be, without turning inside out, and spinning into dust like a whirling dervish. She firmly, and without compromise in standards, believed in the process of due diligence, and as far as never leaving any stone unturned, gosh, all historians to come down the pike, in the future, will have their research tasks made easier, because Heather was the model of a thorough investigator. A hobby sleuth who caught the attention of my good friend, Hugh MacMillan, freelance archivist for the Province of Ontario, who knew her as somewhat of a local legend, as far as her hunting and gathering of historical information. Heather's name came up a lot, when Hugh and I talked about regional history, and I was always delighted to tell my historian-friend, she was one of the pillars, who kept guys like me, from falling on my face, lecturing on heritage matters in the public domain. Heather never seemed particularly interested in the limelight herself, and always seemed quite content, to have her work used, and highlighted, for a simple credit, either spoken at a meeting, or written onto the bottom of a feature article.
     Heather Coupland handled me, the most arrogant historian of the lot, like she was fencing, and with sword in hand, jabbing at me constantly, to pay attention. She wasn't a big person, and I never heard her raise her voice, even when I probably deserved a scolding. Heather could never have been accused of being overly pushy, (other than being determined to make her point known with a soft voice) or self-serving in any way, and often times, the only way I knew she was at my side, during a heritage program, is when she'd tug at my elbow, to let me know I either screwed-up some information, in an oral presentation, (and should fix it immediately), or to hand me some additional information, she knew I would want to edge-in to the lecture, before the seats emptied. She was right about this. There are many other historians out there, who had their capabilities enhanced, by the small-framed woman, with the gumption of ten, who it's true, never seemed to know when to quit. What makes this all the more significant, is that Heather never asked for a cent of remuneration, for helping me do my job better. That's what it came down to, in reality. She wanted those she assisted with research material, to present it with the same passion it was gathered in the first place. I suppose she did live vicariously through the work of others, but honestly, she could have been the best known historian in Muskoka, if she had used her skills for personal gain. Heather, like the successful songwriter, who composed for others, got considerable satisfaction, knowing that she had been a major contributor, to all of us, wishing to know Muskoka better.
     I will always respect Heather, for her stand against the sell-off of Bracebridge's "Jubilee Park," a number of years ago, when the town decided to offer it as a university / college campus. There were only two regional historians, at that Ontario Municipal Board hearing, and as it turned out, it was our last time together. She sat in one of the front rows, and I sat behind her. She spoke about the reasons to preserve the park, and I sat silent in my own sullen protest. Heather and I often didn't agree with one another, when it came to the philosophy beyond the facts of local heritage, but on the matter of sacrificing Jubilee Park, we were kindred spirits. We lost the fight to save the park, but suffice to say, revisionists will not be able to erase our names, as having objected to the town's indifference to not only selling off parkland, but diminishing open space in the historic urban area of the old town. The town really should have listened to Heather Coupland, because she knew what she was talking about, whenever it came to heritage conservation.
     I remember one evening, getting a frantic call at home, from a friend of Heather's, to tell me she had been involved in a nasty verbal altercation with the museum curator, I had just hired, to run the two building heritage centre. Heather had made some comments to the curator, fresh from an urban centre historic site, about some ignored protocol of operation she detected on a walk-about of the property. The curator made it clear that directors should mind their own business, and "buzz off." I phoned Heather and talked for about an hour, and I assured her that directors had every right to challenge museum staff, for any apparent inefficiencies or shortfalls of operating protocols. I then contacted the curator, who then began to berate me for undermining the position, by taking the word of a director over her assessment of the situation. I knew immediately I could lose a valuable director, unless I nipped this issue in the bud. I explained very clearly, to the new curator, that Heather Coupland wasn't the kind of person to issue poorly founded directives, or suggestions, and that in the future, she would have to listen and learn, and never again chastise a person of Heather's well tutored capability, simply because of perceived undermining. If memory serves, I informed the curator, that she should consider Heather an extension of the Historical Society presidency, because that's how important she was to me, and all directors. This was the last altercation that season, and the curator seemed to appreciate the occasional intrusion thereafter, because of where and why they were offered in the first place.
     I remember working to develop a complete reference package, when I was part of the Bracebridge "Festival of the Falls" heritage committee, and thinking, that after several weeks work, I had achieved a nice, well versed, thick folder of material, to utilize for press release development. Then came a knock at the door, here at Birch Hollow, in Gravenhurst, and by time I had secured the dog, and got to the front entrance, I saw Heather's car heading back out the lane. I got hit in the foot with a large manilla envelope, she had wedged in between the storm door and the jam, and when I opened the two pound package, there it was.... a fifty page file of historic references she had uncovered doing parallel research for the Festival. She wanted me, the primary writer of press material at that point, to have the full benefit of every reference documented, by any author /historian in the past, regarding any of the falls, big or small, of the Bracebridge area, even from the earliest days of exploration and surveying. I still have it in a place of honor, in my home archives, and use it frequently, when I'm working on an article that involves the Muskoka watershed. To suggest she was thorough, as a researcher, is to state the obvious. And she always added ten percent extra effort for good measure.
     Heather Coupland had been a dedicated Bracebridge Councillor for many years, and she adored all that the job entailed. She represented the hamlet of Muskoka Falls and the respective township ward, where her heart was, with the most sincere intent to make sure local issues made it to the council table, in a timely fashion. She was a consummate professional, and she was an amazing listener, taking up constituent issues as if they were her own.
     Last evening, before finding out about Heather's passing, I was reading an old letter, sent from the Town of Bracebridge, back in the fall of 1989, thanking me for my years of service with the Bracebridge Historical Society, and Woodchester Villa and Museum. It followed our family's move that fall, to Gravenhurst; and the unfortunate reality I couldn't attend the museum as I had previously, because of the demands of our young family and work commitments. And the distance to travel for emergency runs to the site. We had faulty alarms at the museum, that often went off in the middle of the night, that required me to attend the site, with local police, to disengage. The letter was signed by Councillor Heather Coupland. Within an hour, Suzanne came from her office at Birch Hollow, to tell me she had just found out, online, that my old friend had passed away earlier in the day. Well, true to her character, somehow Heather got a message to me, once again, that I should stay informed.....and keep up on the news that would make history in the days following.
     I know that as an historian, I am far more thorough, because of having worked side by side Heather for so many years. Many of us in the field of local history, knew Heather as a kindred spirit, who never hesitated giving us little refresher course, when she felt we had dropped our standards in any way, at the compromise of historical record.
     I always made a point of thanking Heather heartily, whenever she offered assistance, whether at the museum, when we were under-staffed, or at times when I was running-on-empty, so to speak, faltering from a lack of reference resources. She seemed to know when to show up with the support material, and I'll tell you what; if I had been Mayor of Bracebridge, I would have employed Heather as my personal administrator, because she offered reliability and stability to all she assisted. I never once found her in error on anything. She liked to find fault in my work, but gosh, it's what made me a better, more thorough historian.
     If I was still editor of The Herald-Gazette, in Bracebridge, I would set a spot on the front page, above the fold, to run this tribute piece, as notice of her death, because that's how important Heather Coupland was to this community.
     Suzanne and I, and the boys (because she knew them from infancy, and always asked about them when we met), extend sincere condolences to Heather's family on their recent loss. Her footprint, as far as the integrity of local heritage, is a deep one, that will remain for many decades to come, and remind every rookie, and yes, veteran historian, about the very real consequence, of failing to perform due diligence, when it comes to establishing accurate historical record; never neglecting to dot the "i's," or cross the "t's", fostering, thusly, the responsible interpretation of the facts as presented. Thank you Heather, for all the work you dedicated, over a life time, to represent and promote, this beautiful region, our hometown, and of course, the hamlet of Muskoka Falls, where you have been buried so gently and peacefully this week. God bless!