Environmental Stewardship, Garbage Limits

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO LIVE AND WORK IN MUSKOKA

STEWARDSHIP OF OUR AMAZING TOWN AND REGION - KEEPING TOURISM THRIVING - DEPENDS ON HOW SERIOUSLY WE TAKE OUR STEWARDSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

     EVERY SQUIRREL HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW IS CALLED "SEYMOUR." SINCE WE ARRIVED AT BIRCH HOLLOW, I STARTED CALLING ONE, THEN TWO, THEN GENERATIONS OF SQUIRRELS RESIDING HERE, "SEYMOUR" AS WELL. JUST A SILLY HABIT AND WE ALL DO THE SAME THING, AND NOW THAT WE HAVE ABOUT SIX SQUIRRELS, WE CALL OUT THEIR NAMES VERY OFTEN. WE HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH NEIGHBORS IN THE PAST, WHO HAD A PROFOUND DISLIKE FOR THE LITTLE CRITTERS. I'VE ALWAYS TAKEN ASSAULTS ON OUR SQUIRRELS RATHER PERSONALLY, AS WE PROVIDE THEM WITH SANCTUARY. WE'VE NEVER BEEN OVER-TAKEN HERE, BECAUSE OF THE POPULATION OF SQUIRRELS, AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST YEAR IN TWENTY-TWO YEARS THAT I'VE COUNTED SIX THAT LIVE IN AND AROUND OUR HOMESTEAD. THE BOG IS THEIR SANCTUARY, FOR SURE. YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE AND HEALTHY "SEYMOURS," DROPPED BY ONE, AS A LITTLE FELLOW WAS STRUCK BY A CAR AT THE END OF THE DRIVEWAY. I'VE NEVER RUN OVER A SQUIRREL BEFORE, BUT I HAVE HIT CHIPMUNKS, WHICH ALWAYS MAKES FEEL CRAPPY. I UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE SQUIRRELS. TO ME, THIS IS THEIR ENVIRONS, AND I'M JUST A GUEST. SO UNLESS ONE DAY, I AWAKEN, TO FIND THREE OR FOUR SQUIRRELS IN MY CHAIR IN THE LIVINGROOM, I'M JUST GOING TO LIVE WITH THEM, AS THEY HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH US. I CALL THEM SEYMOUR, AND THEY PROBABLY, IN A SQUIRREL DIALECT, REFER TO ME AS THE OLD FART. I'M GOOD WITH THAT. I'M JUST SORRY WE LOST A SEYMOUR YESTERDAY. POOR LITTLE BUGGER. HE WAS FAST BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH TO BEAT THE SPEEDING AUTOS ON OUR ROAD.

     AS I WAS WAITING TO DRIVE SUZANNE TO WORK, I STOOD OUT ON THE NARROW FRONT LAWN, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, AND WAS REGALED BY BIRD CALLS FROM ALL AROUND ME. OVER IN THE BOG, IN THE FLOURISHING MAPLES IN OUR SIDEYARD, IN THE UPPER BRANCHES OF THE VENERABLE BIRCH TREE IN THE BACK, JOINED BY THE CAWING OF OVERSEEING CROWS IN TWO TOWERING PINES. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF MY NEIGHBORS WOULD STOP AND LISTEN TO THIS INCREDIBLE CHORUS, AND LOOK UPON THE BOG AS A SANCTUARY. I KNOW A FEW DO, AND STANDING OUTSIDE, LISTENING TO IT ALL, ISN'T AS RARE AN OCCASION AROUND THE CALYDOR BALLYWICK…….WHERE WE REALIZE HOW HARD IT WAS TO KEEP OUR WETLAND SAFE FROM DEVELOPMENT BULLDOZERS. I WORRY MOST, I GUESS, ABOUT THE FACT SO MANY YOUNGSTERS WALK BY THESE SAME WOODLANDS, AND IGNORE ALL THE GRANDEUR WITHIN. I SEE THEM USING THEIR CELL PHONES, TEXTING, OR LISTENING TO MUSIC WITH HEADPHONES ON, WHICH OF COURSE, MUTES WHATEVER MESSAGE NATURE IS SENDING. I'M NOT SURE, THAT EVEN IF A MOOSE PRESENTED ITSELF (AS IT HAS, AND ON MY LAWN), WHETHER OR NOT THESE SAME YOUNGSTERS WOULD REACT AT ALL, OR FIND THE INTRUSION VERY ANNOYING, TO THE ENJOYMENT OF EITHER COMMUNICATION, OR THEIR CHOICE OF MUSIC. I'VE WATCHED THESE SAME SCHOOL KIDS WALKING IN STORM CONDITIONS, NOT HEARING THE THUNDER. THE LIGHTNING STRIKE DOESN'T TAP YOU ON THE SHOULDER AS A WARNING, BEFORE IT WARMS THE COCKLES OF YOUR HEART.

    THIS IS THE GENERATION I'M MOST WORRIED ABOUT, BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE THEY ARE GETTING THE OUTDOOR EDUCATION THEY NEED, AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE. IF YOU LIVE IN MUSKOKA, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN RECREATION HINTERLANDS IN ONTARIO, HOW CAN IT POSSIBLY BE THE CASE, NATURE MEANS SO LITTLE IN THE DAY TO DAY LIVES OF THESE PUBLIC SCHOOL YOUNGSTERS? IN MY VINTAGE, RECREATION CAME WITH A BASEBALL GLOVE, BALL AND BAT, IN THE SPRING, A FOOTBALL IN THE SUMMER AND FALL, AND A HOCKEY STICK AND BALL (PUCK), WHEN HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA COVERAGE BEGAN IN LATE OCTOBER EACH YEAR. WE NEEDED A LITTLE PATCH OF OPEN FIELD, AND A LIGHTLY TRAVELED LENGTH OF ASPHALT TO ENJOY INEXPENSIVE RECREATION. NONE OF US HAD MUCH MONEY TO GET EXTRAVAGANT. ALL OUR EQUIPMENT WAS CHEAPLY ACQUIRED, AND USED OVER MANY SEASONS. MOST OF OUR HOCKEY STICKS WERE SCAVENGED FROM THE ARENA, WHEN PLAYERS DISCARDED SLIGHTLY BROKEN ONES OVER THE BOARDS, DURING SENIOR HOCKEY GAMES. WE CALLED THEM "SLIVER" STICKS, BECAUSE THAT WAS WHAT THE BLADE LOOKED LIKE. THEY WERE FINE FOR ROAD HOCKEY. I DIGRESS, AS USUAL. POINT IS, THE MONEY IS FAR MORE AVAILABLE TODAY, AND THE TECHNOLOGY TO PLAY WITH, IS APPARENTLY SO MUCH BETTER THAN BASEBALL, FOOTBALL OR HOCKEY OUT OF DOORS.

     THE BIG ISSUE, THAT OVER-RIDES A LOT OF OTHER COMMUNITY CONCERNS I HAVE, IS THAT THIS APATHY FOR NATURE WILL HURT US DOWN THE ROAD. FOR A REGION THAT HAS THE YEARLY OUTDOOR CENTRE, IN HUNTSVILLE, A HUGE AND DYNAMIC EDUCATION FACILITY, WE SHOULD HAVE EAGER-BEAVER KIDS, HIKING ALL OVER THIS BOGLAND ON THEIR FREE TIME. AS A KID, I HAD MUCH SMALLER GREEN BELTS TO PURSUE OUTDOOR ADVENTURES, AS COMPARED TO THIS DIVERSE AND INTERESTING WETLAND HABITAT. WHEN WE HAD TO SAVE THE PROPERTY FROM DEVELOPMENT, A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, OF COURSE THE PROPERTY OWNERS WENT TO BAT TO CONSERVE THE WILD AREA. IT IS AN IMPORTANT FILTERING BED FOR A HUGE AMOUNT OF TOWN RUN-OFF, BEFORE IT DRAINS INTO MUSKOKA BAY, OF THE WIDER LAKE MUSKOKA. WE WORKED HARD TO PROTECT THIS AREA, BECAUSE FOR MANY OF US, IT'S WHY WE BUILT AND PURCHASED HOMES HERE. WE WANTED TO RISE EACH MORNING, OVER THE FOUR SEASONS, AND BE ABLE TO STAND OUT ON OUR YARDS, AND HEAR THIS LIFE-ENHANCING BIRDSONG IN THE TREE TOPS. IT WAS TO STEP OUT IN THE LATE EVENING, AND SEE THE DEER AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, AS IF A ROBERT FROST POEM HAD SUDDENLY COME TO LIFE. WE WERE THRILLED TO SEE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CRITTERS, FROM RABBITS TO RACCOONS; SEVERAL BEAR, THE OCCASIONAL MOOSE, GROUNDHOGS, PORCUPINES, CHIPMUNKS, SQUIRRELS AND A FEW MUSKRATS LIVING NEAR THE CULVERT ACROSS THE ROAD. MOST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO LOOK OUT ONE MORNING, LIKE THE SOJOURN TODAY, AND SEE A COUPLE OF OUR LOCAL KIDS, STANDING STILL, FOR JUST A MOMENT, LISTENING TO THE BIRDS IN THE TREE TOPS, AND THE SOUND OF ALL KINDS OF CREATURES, BRUSHING THE SPRING GRASSES, ON THEIR JOURNEY FROM HERE TO THERE AND BACK. WHAT A DELIGHT IT WOULD BE, IF THEY WOULD STOP TEXTING LONG ENOUGH, TO BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH THE CALL OF A CROW FROM A BLUE JAY….OR FIND A WOODPECKER A NOVEL CREATURE, WORTH A FEW SECONDS OF TIME TO OBSERVE.

     I REMEMBER ONE FALL MORNING, LOOKING OUT OVER THE BOG AND SEEING SEVERAL OF THE LOCAL KIDS PLAYING IN THE WOODS. WE HAVE A GOOD VANTAGE POINT, WITH A LITTLE ELEVATION, THAT ALLOWS US A PICTURESQUE VIEW ACROSS THE EXPANSE OF THE WETLAND. THE TWO LADS WERE WORKING FEVERISHLY, MOVING OLD LOGS AND CLEARING A PATH WHICH I ASSUMED WAS TO FACILITATE SOME GAME OR MAYBE EVEN A CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING RACE. IT WAS JUST NICE TO SEE THEM OVER IN THE UPPER WOODED STRIP, ABOVE THE BOG, WHERE OUR KIDS USED TO PLAY, MANY YEARS AGO NOW. BOY OH BOY, THE ADVENTURES THEY USED TO HAVE IN THOSE MISTY WOODLANDS.

     LATER I WAS OUT AT THE CAR, PREPARING FOR ONE OF OUR ANTIQUE ROAD TRIPS, AND I HAPPENED TO LOOK OVER AT A NEIGHBOR'S DRIVEWAY, AND THE SMALL ENGINE THAT WAS SNAP, CRACKING AND POPPING. DIDN'T SOUND QUITE RIGHT, AND THAT EXPLAINED THE HUDDLE OF INTERESTED PARTIES, TRYING TO TWEAK THE ENGINE'S OPERATION, I ASSUMED, DOWN TO A DULL ROAR. IT WAS AN ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. A SMALL ONE. THEN I LOOKED BACK OVER TO THE WOODS, AND THE CLEARED PATHS NOW MADE SENSE. IT WAS AN ATV COURSE FOR THE YOUNG FOLK. SUZANNE WAS WATCHING THE SAME ACTIVITY, AND EVEN BEFORE I COULD SAY A WORD, SHE SAID, "WELL, TED, YOU WANT THE KIDS TO PLAY IN THE WOODS!" I JUST NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT A MOTORIZED VEHICLE CRUNCHING DOWN ALL THE PLEASANT LITTLE FERNS AND ADAPTED BOGLAND VEGETATION. THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND I HAD, ON THAT DAY, AND FOR MANY DAYS LATER, WAS THAT IT WAS OCCURRING IN THE AUTUMN BEFORE THE SNOW, AND NO NEW GROWTH WAS AT RISK. THERE IS A MAGNIFICENT AREA OF FERNS ONE OTHER LOCAL GENTLEMAN NEARLY DESTROYED, DRIVING HIS ATV OVER IT, IN ORDER TO DUMP THE REMAINDERS OF A FELLED-TREE FROM HIS YARD. UNTIL THAT IS, HE MET ME FACE TO FACE. THE OPERATION OF DUMPING INTO THE BOG WAS UNCEREMONIOUSLY HALTED. ALTHOUGH HE POINTED OUT TO ME, WITH A DIRECTIONAL FINGER, THAT ALL THE DEBRIS WAS NATURAL, I HAPPENED TO BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE REFUSE, TO BE ABLE TO PICK OUT TWO PLASTIC CONTAINERS THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN FIFTY YEARS TO REDUCE TO PARTICLES. "I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE IN THERE," HE SAID. SO I BENT OVER, AND GOT HIM THE OTHER HALF DOZEN PIECES OF HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE, HE HAD ALSO MISTAKENLY INCLUDED WITH THE WOOD PIECES. IT WAS THE LAST TIME WE CROSSED PATHS IN THIS ENCHANTED FOREST.

     THERE IS A LACK OF RESPECT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL PLACES, AND CONSERVATION, AND IT IS THE FAULT OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM. THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, AND THIS WILL BE COMPOUNDED IN THE FUTURE, BECAUSE OF THE GROWING INDIFFERENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WE SEE HAPPENING NOW, WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. IT BECOMES AN EVEN GREATER RESPONSIBILITY FOR MUNICIPALITIES, TO PROTECT THE RESOURCES THEY DO POSSESS, BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT'S INHERENT WORTH, TO OUR COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO JOINED US, TO CHALLENGE A TOWN INITIATIVE TO SELL AND DEVELOP THE WETLAND, REPRESENTED NOT ONLY RATEPAYERS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT FROM THE GREATER GRAVENHURST RATEPAYER'S ASSOCIATION ITSELF, THE MUSKOKA BAY ASSOCIATION, AND INTERESTED FOLKS ALL AROUND THE COMMUNITY, WHO FELT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. LOOK AFTER THE WILD, GREEN PLACES WE STILL POSSESS. THIS IS WHAT AMAZED US. HOW MANY RESIDENTS FROM MANY NEIGHBORHOODS AWAY, WHO BANDED TOGETHER AND OFFERED TO HELP WHERE THEY COULD, INCLUDING GIVING US FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR A POTENTIAL COURT CHALLENGE. WHEN I WROTE THEN, ABOUT THE SUPPORT WE HAD RECEIVED, AND CONVEYED THIS TO THE TOWN, THEY REALLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA, HOW BADLY IT COULD HAVE TURNED OUT FOR THEM, IF WE WERE FORCED TO TAKE THE MATTER TO COURT. FORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TRYING TO PROVE THE WORTH OF ALL THAT I SEE TODAY, OUT THIS WINDOW OF MY OFFICE. COUNCILLORS CHANGED THEIR MINDS. A FEW WHO HADN'T SEEN THE WETLAND BEFORE, CAME TO VISIT, AT THE PEAK OF THE SUMMER GROWTH, AND EACH SAW SOMETHING SPECTACULAR FOR AN URBAN WETLAND, THEY HAD ASSUMED PREVIOUSLY WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A WASTELAND. SOME COUNCILLORS DIDN'T VISIT, YET THEY WERE WILLING TO VOTE FOR ITS EXTINCTION.

     WE HAVE SUCH URGENCY TO GET THIS NEW GENERATION UP-TO-SPEED, ABOUT THE CRISIS WE HAVE CREATED FOR THEM. IF THIS BEAUTIFUL OPEN SPACE, IN AN URBAN ENVIRONS, GETS SO LITTLE NOTICE, ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS, EVEN FROM MANY OF THE ADULTS WHO THINK OF IT AS "PRETTY" AND NOT MUCH MORE, THEN HOW ON EARTH WILL IT BE SPARED THE NEXT TIME A DEVELOPER, GETS THE IDEA TO STICK CONDOS ONTO THE "HABITAT" WE STILL LUCKILY POSSESS? YOU'D THINK WITH ALL THE CRISIS ISSUES WE'RE FACING WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES OF POLUTION, THERE WOULD BE AN EDUCATION SYSTEM RESPONDING WITH VIGOR, TO MEET THE NEW REALITIES. WILL THERE BE A SENSIBLE REFLEX OF EDUCATION, INSTRUCTING THE YOUNG GENERATION IN THE ART OF SURVIVING WITH LESS OF NATURE, AND MORE EXCESSES OF MANKIND? GREEN ZONES LIKE THE ONE ACROSS THE ROAD, MAY STILL BE A SUITABLE HABITAT FOR THE CREATURES OF THE EARTH, IN THE FUTURE, IF IT HAS ITS ARDENT PROTECTORS. IF THOSE WHO PASS THIS PLACE TODAY, WITHOUT MUCH CARE ABOUT TREES AND BULLRUSHES, DON'T EXERT THEMSELVES IN ITS DEFENSE, IT WILL BE BUILT-UPON IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. WHERE WILL ALL THE "SEYMOURS" GO? WHO CARES, RIGHT? THEN I VERY MUCH BELIEVE WE WILL SUFFER THROUGH THE NIGHTMARE SCENARIO, OF A SLOW, PROGRESSIVE DECLINE, OF ALL QUALITY OF LIFE. IT'S SO DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE THIS, WHILE STANDING IN THE MIDST OF SUCH AMAZING LIFE-FORCE, THAT SHOULD MAKE EVERY VOYEUR FEEL EMPOWERED AND VIBRANT IN SOUL. TO THE DEVELOPMENT INTEREST, IT IS PROPERTY FOR EXPLOITATION, AND SOONER OR LATER, ITS OLD GUARD WILL FALTER, AND LEAVE IT VULNERABLE FOR THE CITY-BUILDERS TO DESTROY.

     I MADE THIS THE SUBJECT OF A PRESENTATION I GAVE, DURING THE PLANNING STAGES FOR A MAJOR MUSKOKA RESORT. I WAS THERE TO TALK ABOUT MUSKOKA HISTORY. I CHEATED. I DEVIATED TO CREATE A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE HERITAGE OF THE HINTERLAND INSTEAD. I WAS STARING OUT AT AN AUDIENCE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS YOUNG PLANNERS AND ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS AND PUBLICISTS, WHO WOULD BE DRIVING THIS PROJECT FROM THE PLANNING STAGE, TO THE SPRAWLING, LUXURIOUS, LAKESIDE END-RESULT. WITHOUT SHAME, I BATTERED THEM ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CONSERVATION MINDED FROM THE GET-GO, SUGGESTING THAT BEING THE LEAST-INTRUSIVE, TO THE NATURE OF THE ACREAGE, WITH THE MASSIVE ENTERPRISE, WOULD BE VIEWED KINDLY BY THE WORRIED LOCAL POPULATION…..WHO HAPPEN, LIKE ME, TO ENJOY THE CREATURE COMFORTS OF A LUSH WOODLAND, AND THRIVING WETLAND. THE FOLKS I HAD BEEN TALKING TO, HAD JUST COME FROM URBAN AREAS ALL OVER CANADA. THEY HAD BEEN IN BUSY AIRPORTS, VIBRATED FOR HOURS ON HUGE AIRCRAFT, SHUTTLED FROM OFFICE TO WORK SITE IN A FLEET OF AUTOMOBILES, AND BEFORE MY LECTURE, HAD ONLY TIME FOR A BATHROOM VISIT, AND A CUP OF COFFEE. HERE I WAS TELLING THEM, ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSERVING AS MUCH GREEN SPACE AS POSSIBLE, TO FIT INTO THE CHARACTER OF OUR HINTERLAND REGION. WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE COULD I IMPOSE UPON THESE JET-SETTING DEVELOPMENT-PLAYERS, ON CONTRACT TO BUILD A LUXURY RESORT? AT THE CONCLUSION, I DID HAVE A SENIOR MUSKOKA PLANNER COME TO TALK WITH ME, WITH COOKIE IN MOUTH, AND COFFEE SLURPING IN MY EAR, TO OFFER THANKS FOR SUCH AN UPLIFTING PRESENTATION. BUT I KNEW THAT WHAT SHE WAS SAYING, IN A FEW AUDIBLE WORDS, WAS THAT "WE COULD USE A WORDSMITH LIKE YOU TO SELL THIS PROJECT TO THE PUBLIC."

     NO ONE, THAT I KNOW OF, SAW ME SLIP OUT OF THE BUILDING, GET INTO MY CAR, AND BEAT A HASTY RETREAT. THEY WERE KIND AND HOSPITABLE HOSTS, DURING THAT MORNING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT, AND THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO, WAS TO APPEAR RUDE, SAYING SOMETHING NASTY ABOUT DEVELOPERS INTENDING TO MOW DOWN FORESTS LIKE FRONT-LAWN GRASS. THE GOOD NEWS, FOR ME, WAS THAT THE RESORT WENT AHEAD, AND HAS BECOME QUITE SUCCESSFUL, AND HAD, TO MY DELIGHT, INCORPORATE THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS INTO THE TOTAL LUXURY OFFERED BY THE LAKESIDE ATTRACTION. I DON'T SUSPECT I HAD MUCH INFLUENCE THAT DAY. THEY NEVER CALLED UPON ME AGAIN, SO I ASSUMED THEY'D HAD ENOUGH OF MY SERMON ABOUT CONSERVATION. I'D LIKE TO THINK THEY DID FEEL IT INCUMBENT, AS NEW STAKE-HOLDERS IN OUR REGION, TO LOOK AFTER OUR NATURAL RESOURCES, AND FROM EVERYTHING I'VE HEARD SINCE IT WAS OPENED, THIS IS VERY MUCH THE CASE. I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE I HAVEN'T FOLLOWED-IT UP, BUT I THINK THE NEIGHBORS FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT TRANSPIRED ON THE PROPERTY. THIS HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE IN MUSKOKA.

     THESE KIDS IN OUR NEIGHBORBOOD, MAY EVENTUALLY GO ON TO BECOME ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS AND RESORT DEVELOPERS THEMSELVES, AND CONSIDERING I PROBABLY WON'T GET THE SAME CHANCE TO LECTURE THEM, BEFORE THE SOD IS TURNED, HOW CONCERNED ARE THEY GOING TO BE, ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT STANDING IN THEIR WAY? WHAT IF SEVERAL BECOME POLITICIANS, OR LOCAL COUNCILLORS, AND THEY ARE FACED WITH THE ISSUE OF CONSERVATION VERSUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? THE SAFEGUARDS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL WELL BEING, AND FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR NATURAL RESOURCES, PROBABLY WON'T BE THEIR PRIORITIES EITHER. SO WHO IS GOING TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES?

     

NATURE FROM THE BEGINNING OF MUSKOKA SETTLEMENT WAS SEEN WITH GREAT AWE WITH THE ALLURE OF ADVENTURE

     As I have had the privilege of reading most, if not all, of the earliest Muskoka related history books, and chapters in travel guides of the period, I can tell you that the descriptions of our home region, are more than just compelling and alluring to the adventurous. It's most certainly the case, much of the written material, was part of the new vested interest, that had set about to brazenly exploit our district of the best settlement land, being offered to brave souls by the federal and provincial governance. But there are descriptions of Muskoka that are still identifiable with places we knew in our youth, or amazingly, can still find conserved after all these years. They are descriptions that border on the poetic, and some observations are written as poems, to reflect just how hauntingly stirring our region presented itself, on their forays of immersion and discovery. I could write a thousand blogs containing these early references, to the magnificent natural surroundings, and wonders of all nature thriving within the lakeland. Most regional historians ignore these descriptions, to concentrate on more intimate matters of settlement construction, and the civilizing of the wilds. What use are these descriptions of the "picturesque," and the "haunting beauty," when the real history was the making-inroads, making-money issues of hamlet building…..village aspirations, and town realizations. I find very few of my colleagues willing to spend much time at all, in the fanciful domain of poets and artists, who felt that paradise incorporated those beautiful God given creations, of leaning birches and stately pines, and the rhythmic lapping of waves against a rocky shoreline, below an azure sky. And that a passing canoe, is only romantic and worth mentioning, if its background is wild and mysterious. A house or hotel is enchanted because of the company it keeps, of forest and the mists that waft over its pine-needle floor, on cool autumn mornings. The poem recited to a lover, becomes entrancingly significant, when there is a trickling brook, and a foaming cataract wrapped around its mortal interlopers. Nature is the theatre we have used, and unfortunately abused.

     I come upon so many people in my travels, who have no idea just how important the natural qualities and quantities of Muskoka's environment, have been to its development and economy since the first settlers hacked away homesteads, from the late 1850's. If they knew what I did, about this history of our early civilization here, they might give somewhat more regard to how this backdrop of nature is still working on our behalf, to enhance our tourist and recreational economy; just as it did when tourism got its start with those sportsmen of the 1850's onward, who said and wrote such encouraging observations about the nature of Muskoka. By the 1890's Muskoka's natural assets were known to travelers around the world, as a healthful retreat, with clean water, good air and favorable climate for what ailed you. It was the reason so many sanatoriums set up, especially in South Muskoka, to take advantage of the healing climate, and solitude that was good for the soul. The poets and artists found Muskoka favorable, and the photographers made lots of money, taking images of sportsmen and women with their catch of fish, strung as trophies behind their group celebrations, against the pinery forest and sparkling waterways. Muskoka was the perfect staging for a trillion images, of the good life in the Canadian wilds.

     Muskoka has been exploited since the beginning. Recklessly at times. There are many shameful examples, where creatures here were slaughtered in large quantity, to satisfy the egos of Victorian hunters  and anglers. There have been abuses that would make most of us today wretch, at what was dumped unceremoniously in our lakes, from raw sewage and chemicals, to every type and style of appliance. There are some lakes, where the bottom looks like a submerged appliance warehouse. Rowboats and scows were loaded full of refuse of every level of contamination, and tossed overboard. In the woods, and adjacent to thriving pastures, and cultivated fields, were homestead dumpsites, where additionally, every kind of contaminate known to man, at the time, was dumped into the soil, so that the ground water would carry the pollutants in liquid form, down into nearby wells, and into the same soil that was producing food for the old harvest table. I used to dig for old bottles in these long grown-over dump sites, and I found a lot of items that should never have been disposed of, so casually, and near to the farm house. Batteries come to mind. I can remember being at an old boat house, on Lake Rosseau, on afternoon, and asking the owner what the debris was on the bottom, just below the swimming dock. "They're just old boat engine batteries," she said, obviously from the many watercraft the family had owned over the past century. "But the kids are swimming here," I answered. "Aren't you concerned about the quality of water?" "There's nothing left of them now," she replied with some confidence (yet no proof), the batteries couldn't hurt the present water quality. The cottage water intake was only about thirty feet away. But this is what was done in the past, and the offending items are still, in some cases, continuing to erode nasty chemicals into the lakes and rivers.

     I remember a story our newspaper office was working on, during the Wharf Road re-construction, in Bracebridge, back in the early 1980's, and the new sewer installations to service a few homes and businesses, one being the rock-side power house below the falls. One of the employees at the time, made a comment to one of our reporters, that the sewer installation was a good thing for the water quality in the bay. When the reporter carried on the questioning, sensing there was more to the story, the chap said something like, "Now we won't see the turds flipping end over end in the rapids." When he pressed the issue, believing it to mean the toilets in the vicinity, including the power house, had been dumping sewage right into the river, the interview ended abruptly, the employee sensing he had said too much. We didn't run with the story because we couldn't get confirmation if this was true or not. It is true in other parts of our country, as hard as this is to believe. From toilet to lake or river.

     We were on another story, and had an opportunity to accompany an employee of the Ministry of the Environment, checking out the quality of local waterfront sewage systems. The subject property was a major business operation, with a lot of history attached. A tablet with dye (not sure whether it may have been in liquid form) was flushed down the toilet, and within a short span of time, the color released by the tablet was in considerable evidence out in the lake. This was quite a while ago, and I know a tremendous number of improvements have been made to septic systems since, but you always suspect regardless, that there are a few still malfunctioning out there, putting raw sewage in the waterways of Muskoka.

     The latest debate at the District level of government, is one of the more interesting situations I've watched manifest in this region, since I was editor of The Herald-Gazette, in Bracebridge, back in the 1980's. I've always wondered when this day would come, that District staff and our local regional politicians, would try to help the environment by restricting the number of allowable garbage bags each week. With no regard for everything I have written in the paragraphs above. These ill-informed folks, make their plans, and impose their restrictions, as if they can, by the snap of a finger, reduce the output of garbage from our residents…..participating in this consumer-driven society that has as collateral damage……the creation of vast amounts of eventual garbage. So these staff and councillors forget that they are not in another part of Ontario. They forget that they are representing us in a region, that by its nature, is our economy. While it is nasty looking to find garbage dumped in parkland and vacant lots in the cities of Southern Ontario, if the same was to occur in this tourist mecca, it would be the same as pissing into a strong wind! Our leadership, in attempting to do the right thing, to reduce garbage at our landfill sites, thinks its the correct plan to simply restrict how much garbage gets put out for collection. Not stopping-up the over indulgences of consumers…..because that would hurt the economy, right? Here's an example where a history lesson would be appropriate. If nature is our meal ticket, and tourism is our number one industry……and for the foreseeable future, what is the inherent risk of, in this case, peeing with regularity, in the proverbial wind. There is already a huge off-site dumping problem in this region, to avoid tipping fees at the landfill locations. Private property owners especially, in the rural areas, of the respective towns and townships, have to haul the garbage away at their own expense. Does this factor into the decision making process? Have you ever seen the door-fronts of the local Salvation Army Thrift Shops at the end of a weekend. A large quantity of these refuse donations, have to be hauled away at the Thrift Shop's expense, because the items are strictly speaking, too damaged and soiled to sell. These items would likely have been dumped somewhere else, if not for the convenience of these shops. If you won't donate during store hours, and you defy the warning signs posted on the buildings, then you're just trying to avoid the disposal charges, or beat the bag limit at curbside. It's a crappy type of benevolence.

     On our regular travels throughout South Muskoka, along the country roads, it's not hard to find the latest convenient and unofficial dump-site. Garbage bags tossed into the ditches and the fern cover without, I'm sure, the slightest reservation of perpetrators. Property owners, as retaliation, will go through the bags to find any personal information, from the person who dumped the trash. The smarter of the lot, hide their identities, so the refuse has to be hauled to the landfill site, at the property owner's expense. I have seen stoves and refrigerators dumped along Muskoka Beach Road, and at least twice a week, you can find a bag that has been tossed out of a moving car or truck. These aren't fast food restaurant cast-offs. Full bags of garbage. So now District wants to make it harder to dispose of household and cottage garbage, and apparently sees nothing particularly precarious about opening the countryside as one big dump site.

    It's the routine of regional governments, to empower themselves with the latest reports and provincially driven initiatives, and one hell of a lot of office-generated studies. They can cite them, remark about their contents, use them to shore-up an initiative, defend a policy, or straighten up a wobbly table-leg. What looks reasonable in print, and sound plausible, in a hubris-filled council chamber debate, doesn't always translate as safely and securely in real life situations. Our roadsides and open spaces are perfect for dumping, and beating a hasty retreat. It means to most of us folks, who live with eyes-wide-open, that it is a potential catastrophe to our regional way of life, and economy, to have a garbage bag limitations imposed haphazardly.  Without an enormous amount of real-life experiences to draw from. The reports don't paint an accurate picture of what strewn bags of ripped-apart garbage, look like in our forests and in the roadside ditches. What may be good policy somewhere else, isn't smart or environmentally secure business here, in an area where the number one business is tourism. It's not manufacturing. And it not industrial, and it doesn't matter how many arguments you might muster to the contrary, our economy depends on good and clean looks. We've got to much open space to stop indiscriminate garbage dumping. For every action, there is an opposite reaction. If only our law-makers and civil servants could understand the vulnerability they would be creating. For some reason, when we tell them these stories, they don't seem to understand how something like indiscriminate dumping, manifests from the evil heart. If it's not in the reports and studies, it can't possibly occur. 

     For District Councillors to screw around with this issue, they also need to be held accountable. Will they be available, to roam the countryside, in their respective modes of transportation, cleaning up the garbage thrown into ditches and on private property. Yea, like there's a chance of that happening. Sitting around a comfortable table, in nice chairs, basking in a climate controlled environment, isn't always the best place to make decisions……. like this proposed tougher restriction on garbage. You have to be down in those water and garbage-filled ditches, hauling out the chicken carcasses, bones, and a trillion other items that can make it into a green garbage bag. Then there are the automotive relics, also dumped at roadside. Appliances, certainly. The law-makers should do the rounds, in advance of making this decision, and sample the local fare. Maybe someone took a picture, of the incredible piles of garbage that made it every week, into bins at the Muskoka Beach Road, and Enis Bay intersection. There are garbage containers placed near the intersection, from the fall until the spring. The garbage isn't just from the cottage road residents. There are people who drive from the urban areas of Bracebridge and Gravenhurst to dump their household garbage. It's free. They could take it to the landfill site, but they suspect it will cost them by the pound to dispose. At the landfill sites, three bags per week are free. I visit frequently.

     Before they start making these kind of changes, that could seriously affect the environment, it would be so fundamentally responsible, to look at worse case scenarios, and how, as a region, we have so heavily, (and for so long), counted on the natural surroundings, to stimulate our economy. The folks who vote in favor of limiting the bags of garbage, or imposing a tagging system, are those who really do think we have a seriously diversified economy in Muskoka, and who would argue that tourism isn't as important as it used to be. This is their unfortunate delusion. We can't allow poorly informed councillors, to make these kinds of decisions, based on what their staff tells them will work. They have to get out into the region they represent, and see the dumping problem for what it is……not what the reports define simply as the challenges of "living in Muskoka." The disconnect with our politicians is hurting us all, and I don't know if the One Government strategy would make things better or not. I'm starting to shift my position in their favor. If they could be more insightful and connected to the real world, than those who are representing us today, I'd carry their placards in support.

     Thanks so much for joining today's blog. You're welcome to visit any time.

      Just a little sidebar. I went to go out the back door a few moments ago, and found three chickens on the walkway. No kidding. Dinner. Somebody is raising chickens in our urban neighborhood and sharing them with all of us……who I suppose, approve of this free range thing. Are they mine now? Finders keepers?  The cats are going nuts in here, so I've got to do something about this, before they break through the glass door.

Defer Memorial Gift, Work Starts On The Barge

DEFER, REMOVE, VOTE AGAINST BEQUEATH PLAN TO PAY DOWN DEBT

     THE RECENT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION, TO USE THE MILLION DOLLAR BEQUEATH, TO THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST, FROM THE ESTATE OF TERRENCE HAIGHT, SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE MINUTES, DEFERRED, OR DEFEATED, WHEN IT COMES TO COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION, APPARENTLY AT THIS WEEK'S PUBLIC MEETING. THIS IS A LAST DITCH ATTEMPT, TO REACH THE FEW UNDECIDED COUNCILLORS, WHO COULD VOTE THIS MATTER DOWN……OR AT LEAST DEFER IT FOR FUTURE PUBLIC CONSULTATION, BASED ON PUBLIC OBJECTIONS RECEIVED. THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. I WOULD TRULY LIKE TO REPORT TO MY READERS, THAT GRAVENHURST COUNCILLORS REVIEWED THE COMMITTEE DECISION, MADE SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, AND DECIDED TO REACH OUT TO THE PUBLIC, FOR ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS, AS TO WHAT THE MEMORIAL GIFT CAN BE USED FOR, TO BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY. THERE ARE COUNCILLORS WHO BELIEVE THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND IT IS INCUMBENT ON THEM TO VOICE THERE STRONG DISAPPROVAL OF THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION. WHILE THEY MIGHT NOT BELIEVE AN ARMCHAIR CRITIC LIKE ME, I HAVE NO REASON TO LIE ABOUT THE GROWING ANGER WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, ABOUT COUNCIL'S GENERAL DISREGARD FOR PUBLIC OPINION. IT IS A MISTAKE TO DISMISS THIS MOST RECENT DISSENT, AS EITHER MINOR OR FLEETING, BECAUSE THERE IS A MUCH WIDER CONSENSUS, AMONGST CONSTITUENTS, THAT COUNCIL IS EVER-DISTANCING ITSELF FROM THE DEMOCRACY WE STILL HAPPEN TO RESPECT. AS A GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH, AT THE VERY LEAST, THE MATTER CAN BE DEFERRED SIMPLY, AND WITHOUT FUSS, TO ALLOW FOR MORE CONSULTATION BEFORE A DECISION IS MADE. I'D REALLY LIKE TO BELIEVE OUR COUNCILLORS WILL AGREE, AND OPT TO INCLUDE US IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.

     I WILL NOT ATTEND. I HAVE OFFERED MY OPINION, AND I KNOW COUNCILLORS HAVE BEEN AWARE OF MY PROTEST. I THROW MY SUPPORT BEHIND THE GREATER GRAVENHURST RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION, A GROUP I TRUST TO REPRESENT THIS ISSUE WITH FAIR MINDEDNESS AND INTEGRITY.

THE ENTERTAINMENT AND COMMUNITY HISTORY THE TOWN HAS EXTENDED - COUNCILLORS MIGHT NOT HAVE CONSIDERED IN FULL

MAJOR STAGE REPAIRS BEGIN THIS WEEK ON THE BARGE

     YOU'LL HAVE TO EXCUSE ME TODAY. I MAY BE THE ONLY BLOGGER IN THE WORLD, AT THIS MOMENT, WEARING A CAT AROUND HIS OR HER NECK. I'D REMOVE THE POOR LITTLE SOUL, BUT HE'S SITUATED HIMSELF SO COMFORTABLY ON THE BACK OF MY CHAIR, TO WATCH A WOODPECKER TAPPING AT THE OLD BIRCH TREE, I HATE TO PUSH HIM OFF JUST NOW. ACTUALLY, I'M A LITTLE RELUCTANT TO ADMIT THIS, BUT THE WARMTH OF HIS LEG ON THE BACK OF MY NECK IS KIND OF NICE, EXCEPT WHEN HE STRETCHES AND THE CLAWS DIG IN TO MY SKIN. ANGUS IS ONE OF THE KITTENS BORN HERE, AT BIRCH HOLLOW, BELONGING TO A SKINNY LITTLE CAT WE CALL BEASLEY. SHE HAD THREE KITTENS AND WE KEPT THEM ALL, BECAUSE OF THE LARGE VOLUME OF CAST-OFF CATS AT THE HUMANE SOCIETY SHELTER. WE HAVE JUST ENOUGH ROOM, AND NOW THAT OUR MUCH OLDER CAT, FESTER, DIED A MONTH OR SO AGO, WE'VE GOT A LITTLE MORE ROOM FOR THE WHOLE GANG. ANGUS LIKES TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, AND MY CHAIR AFFORDS A REALLY NICE VIEW OF THE BIRD FEEDER AND THE TREES IN THE YARD. OUR CATS ARE OF THE INDOOR VARIETY, WHICH SPARES ALL THE WEE BEASTIES THAT LIVE HERE, AND FREQUENTLY VISIT OUR GRAVENHUST URBAN HOMESTEAD. I LIKE THAT ABOUT BIRCH HOLLOW. THIS TIME OF YEAR IT BECOMES VERY LUSH AND FLOWERY, AND IT'S CERTAINLY AN INSPIRATIONAL PLACE TO WRITE. HAVING ANGUS ON MY NECK WOULDN'T PLEASE MANY WRITERS, BUT ITS MY LITTLE CREATURE COMFORT, AND WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING. IF HE LETS ME GET MY WORK DONE, THERE WILL BE A LITTLE EXTRA TUNA FOR LUNCH. SO I JUST THOUGHT I'D MENTION THIS, IN CASE THE BLOG BELOW SEEMS A LITTLE DISJOINTED AT TIMES. SOMETIMES I KIND OF FALL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL (TYPEWRITER), AS THE WARM FUR OF THIS LITTLE FELLA, IS THE BEST PILLOW I'VE EVER HAD.

     "AS THE SUN PAINTED GRAVENHURST IN SUNSET RED SUNDAY EVENING, THOUSANDS CROWDED GULL LAKE PARK AWAITING THE SOUNDS OF 'YOUTH '67' TO TAKE OVER. AND IT DID," WROTE RON SMITH, IN AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE GRAVENHURST NEWS BACK IN, YOU GUESSED IT, THE SUMMER SEASON OF 1967.

     "LEADING OFF THE MUSIC ON THE BARGE PROGRAM WERE THE 'MARCATES' FROM TORONTO, WITH A 'TASTE OF HONEY,' FOLLOWED BY A DAVE CLARK NOISE MAKER, 'YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES,' AND A SOUL ROCK, 'MERCY, MERCY, MERCY," WRITES RON SMITH, OF THE WELL ATTENDED CONCERT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

     "BY THE TIME THEY FINISHED, AN ESTIMATED FOUR TO FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE, MAINLY THE UNDER 25 CROWD, HAD JAMMED THE PARK FROM THE SWIMMING DOCKS TO BEYOND THE BARGE. THE 'MARCATES' CONSISTED OF A DRUMMER, 2 ON TRUMPET AND ONE OTHER WHO PLAYED EITHER TRUMPET OR GUITAR, AS WELL AS THEIR LEAD SINGER, B. J. LAWRENCE. THE BEST TUNES THEY PLAYED AT THE OPEN AIR CONCERT HAD TO BE 'THE LONELY BULL,' THEIR OWN HIT-TO-BE, 'I REALLY THINK A LOT OF YOU,' AND B.J.'S SINGING OF ROY ORBISON'S HITS, 'CRYING,' 'WORKING FOR THE MAN,' AND 'CARAMEL.' UP TEMPO; WAY UP. 'THE STACCATOS,' CANADA'S NUMBER ONE ROCK AND ROLL BAND, ARRIVED FROM HUNTSVILLE, OUT OF THE TRAFFIC JAM, AND WERE ON STAGE," WRITES SMITH OF THE CONCERT LINE-UP. "LEADING OFF WITH THE 'BRAND NEW BABY,' A 'RAIDERS' SMASH, AND THE 'MAMAS & PAPAS' MILLION SELLER, 'DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE.' THEY FOLLOWED WITH THEIR OWN RECENT RECORDING OF 'HALF PAST MIDNIGHT.' UP TEMPO; HIGHER. THE 'HIDDEN VALLEY GO-GO DANCERS,' CANDICE BIST AND AVRIL CHOWN, PUT IN THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AND THE MUSIC WENT ON. THIS TIME A NUMBER OF GREAT 'BEACH BOYS' HITS, AND THE CURRENT 'SAN FRANCISCO,' WERE PLAYED."

     "THE STACCATOS, AN OTTAWA BASED GROUP COMPRISING OF THREE ON GUITAR AND TWO ON DRUMS, WERE RECENTLY IN HOLLYWOOD CUTTING A SONG FOR COLUMBIA (RECORDS). IN THE FALL, THE BOYS WILL BE AGAIN BE FLYING SOUTH, PROBABLY TO CUT THEIR SECOND ALBUM," WRITES SMITH, FOR THE GRAVENHURST NEWS. "AS THE LAKE CALMED ALMOST TO REFLECT THE STARS, THE CROWD LEAD BY THE GULL LAKE YACHT CLUB MEMBERS, IN THEIR PARKED BOATS, BEGAN TO GYRATE TO THE STACCATOS, 'WALK TALL.'  THROUGHOUT THE EVENING HUNDREDS OF TEENY-BOPPERS WERE MADLY SEEKING AUTOGRAPHS. SOME GIRLS WERE FINDING DISCARDED CIGARETTE PACKS, AND GETTING THEM SIGNED, AND THE GIRLS, WHO COULD NOT FIND ONE, WERE GETTING THEM TATOOED ON THEIR ARMS."

     THANK YOU MR. SMITH FOR TAKING US BACK TO THE SUMMER OF '67. YOU SEE, THE BARGE COULD ROCK AND ROLL WHEN IT HAD TO. MOST RECENTLY, THE ROLL WAS BECAUSE OF THE FAILING PIERS.

     THE STAGE WHERE THE GOOD BROTHERS HAVE WOWED CROWDS, AND THE DISTRICT AND THE BIFOCALS BANDS HAVE PERFORMED IN THE TWINKLING GLOW JUST BEFORE SUNSET, IS A SKELETON OF ITS FORMER SELF. IT WILL SOON BE DOWN TO ITS BARE BONES, OUT THERE ON THE RIPPLED WATERS OF GULL LAKE, HERE IN GRAVENHURST. WHAT WILL LOOK, TO THE VOYEUR IN THE PARK, LIKE A MISSION TO COLLAPSE THIS CENTURY-PLUS ENTERTAINMENT VENUE, IS ACTUALLY ITS NEW BEGINNING. WHAT WAS POTENTIALLY A HISTORY FOR THE TEXT BOOKS, AND THE SCRAPBOOK-FILE KEPT BY THE BARGE MANAGER, HAS BECOME A LOCAL REVITALIZATION PROJECT THAT HAS STIRRED THE INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY. WHY?  WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE BARGE ANYWAY? WHY WAS IT WORTH ALL THE RESTORATION MONEY TO KEEP IT IN OPERATION? WHY NOT JUST BUILD ANOTHER ONE IN ITS PLACE? OR MOVE IT ON SHORE, LIKE THE ORIGINAL BANDSTAND, THAT WAS TUCKED UP IN THE PARK'S PINEGROVE?

     SOME TIMES, IT IS JUST NECESSARY TO ABANDON THE WAY IT WAS! THERE'S A TIME WHEN NOSTALGIA, AND HISTORY IN FIXED STRUCTURES, JUST BECOMES TOO EXPENSIVE TO RESTORE. IT'S NOT ALWAYS A BAD OR SAD SITUATION, BECAUSE CHANGE CAN BE A MARVELOUS, LIFE ENHANCING REALITY. FRED SCHULZ KNEW THAT A TOWN COUNCIL, ONE DAY, WOULD LOOK AT NECESSARY REPAIRS TO THE BARGE, BUILT IN THE LATE 1950'S, AND DEEM IT ANTIQUATED AND IN NEED OF UPGRADE. FRED PROBABLY FELT FEAR WHEN HE'D HEAR A LOCAL COUNCILLOR MENTION "UPGRADE," OR "IMPROVEMENTS" TO THE VENUE. FRED HAS ALWAYS HAD A VERY CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED OPINION ABOUT THE BARGE, AS ITS LONGEST SERVING MANAGER / CUSTODIAN. HE'S BEEN TENDING ITS BIG AND LITTLE BRUISES FOR A LONG TIME, AND WHEN YOU'RE AS INTIMATE AS HE HAS BEEN WITH THE GULL LAKE PARK STAGE, WELL SIR, YOU KNOW THINGS. YOU KNOW MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. OFTEN THIS IS A GOOD THING. OCCASIONALLY IT'S NOT SO GOOD. SUCH AS WHEN YOU START FINDING DEFICIENCIES WITH THE WOODWORK AND PIERS BELOW, AND RECOGNIZE AS ITS CARE-GIVER, COSMETIC REPAIRS WON'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM. FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, FRED HAS LIVED WITH THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY, THE BARGE WAS GOING TO REQUIRE THE KIND OF MAJOR SURGERY, WHERE LIFE EXPECTANCY WOULD BE FIFTY-FIFTY RISK. AT TIMES, IN DISCUSSIONS AS TO WHETHER TO FINANCE REPAIRS OR RIP IT DOWN, IN THE PAST YEAR, THE ODDS WERE EVEN GREATER AGAINST KEEPING THE PLATFORM THE SAME. MAYBE A NEW DESIGN WOULD BE BETTER. GET RID OF THOSE DATED FIBERGLASS PANELS. PUT UP A ROOF OVER THE STAGE. DIG A HOLE IN THE EMBANKMENT OF GULL LAKE, TO BUILD AN AMPHITHEATER, TO LOOK OUT OVER A NEW ULTRA MODERN, SPACE AGE BARGE STRUCTURE. THE RUMORS ABOUT THE BARGE'S FUTURE WERE SMOKING AND SO WAS FRED. YOU MIGHT EVEN FIND HIS PICTURE BESIDE THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF STATUS QUO, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE GULL LAKE VENUE, AND HIS TRADITIONAL DEFENSE OF ITS NOSTALGIC DESIGN. IT WORKS. IT REMINDS PEOPLE OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?

     A site inspection a couple of years ago, revealed a problem with the iron posts, keeping the highly recognizable curved platform out of the water. Over the years the ice-action rubbing against the iron-work had sheared a few of them off, and it had become a serious safety issue. The side-wing of The Barge was actually starting to tip-over, so the revelations weren't all that surprising. Fred just hadn't thought that this was the biggest problem. He was concerned about the decay of the wood deck, and the joist holding it all in place. To get the double-whammy, of having to repair the support piers, (adding new ones) and replace the planking of the large structure, and straighten the bridge to shore, was staggering. Fred didn't admit he was overly worried about the pending crisis. He didn't have to, because it showed through his show-time facade, as master of ceremonies. It was as if, at times, he was saying goodbye to the structure, sensing that Town Council was going to have a hard time, allocating the money to save a half-century old island platform, in the lake, that probably should have been replaced or removed a decade ago. Fred won't tell you, even if you asked, that he's been doing as much as possible to make the kind of repairs that ensure "one more season." He's had many helpers over the years, especially in wood working, that he couldn't have done without. They tried to stay up on all the repairs needed, but it just became to overwhelming and beyond an easy fix. There was always the danger of personal injury, if someone crashed through a rotting board. Now that would have been a show-stopper.

     If you were to watch Fred carefully, on the final concert night, when the Good Brothers gear has finally been loaded into their vehicles, and just before the lights are switched-off for the last time, for the season, you will be able to see him walk onto the stage one last time, and utter one, subtle, quiet "Thank God!" Not because it's over. But because everything held together to get the season covered, and the thousands of fans in the audience, had been well entertained. As he's taking that final exuberant walk back to his car, he may turn once or twice, to thank all the carpenters who have worked on site upgrades, and all the councillors who have, over the years, given him enough budget to pick up a few board feet, to replace one or two that had failed. Who really knows, what's going on in Fred's mind, as he leaves the plank walkway from The Barge, in August, knowing what an autumn storm or Muskoka winter might do to the structure in his absence. For the past two years, he has had to face up to the fact, the small repairs of the past, couldn't possibly save The Barge from the toll of time and weather. The real conundrum, was that he knew how much the total restoration would cost, and he was fully aware the town was entering a serious austerity period of town history. Add to this a municipal election, a few new councillors, and a different agenda which you would expect from a new council. He was competing for funds, and convincing council to save what some felt should be yanked down, and a new one constructed, would have, in his mind, been the same struggle as if he had decided, as an elder statesman, to climb Mount Everest with Sherpa guides. I'm going out on a thin limb here, but for what he's worried about, for at least two years, was likely harder on him, than if he had decided to scale Everest. Rightly, or wrongly, he felt that if The Barge was removed, it would never be rebuilt.

     The cost demands would put it out of reach for the present council, having to deal with Recreation Centre costs, and a new roof for the Opera House. He may have believed, that if The Barge was removed, his history as manager, and as an assistant to Wanda Miller before that, would be relegated to the old and yellowed news clippings, stuck into file folders in a desk drawer. Even though something would have been erected to takes its place, he wouldn't have seen this as his future, but rather for someone younger with a more contemporary concept, of what entertainment should be in this new century. The poet might look upon this story, and find that The Barge and the Manager were one in the same. He felt his future was a shaky as The Barge, on busted piers. But there was insight, and respect for tradition, that started to emerge from all the places you might have expected. His supporters rallied, and patrons offered their support with whatever he needed. The Town re-invested in The Barge, and all of a sudden, the old manager, became renewed; even feeling rather spry these days, as he works the main street, handing out Concert on the Barge brochures, promoting the coming season. He might not wish to spend much time staring out over The Barge, in the midst of this most recent surgery, but the man has his faith back. That's good for all of us, and you, if you like the Sunday concert series.

     It has been a tough couple of years for everyone involved in The Barge. There were a few personal conflicts, between volunteers and the town, that still haven't been resolved, despite the fact there are now new iron piers holding it up, and the old, rotting planks are today, being pulled off the joist in preparation for new pre-cut boards. It would of course be nice, if Fred could see it all resolved, and all the hard feelings patched up, because that's what Music on the Barge is all about. Bringing everyone together, young and old, to have an old fashion fete, where everyone can relax and recline, with a background of music and the glowing majesty of Muskoka. It's the magic of the whole concert tradition, that it brings people together, to celebrate the good life we have here in Gravenhurst and Muskoka. The performers feel that way. They tell us about it, when they introduce themselves, thanking the people of Gravenhurst for inviting them to come for a visit. And that's what it is, after all. A really nice visit. So when Fred would try to explain something like this, to some councillors, who don't even attend the regular summer concerts, he knew from the get-go, that mustering the support to save the stage was at best, no better than a snowball's chance.

    What Fred didn't count on, was the vast amount of support from his loyal followers…..the volunteers and the regular patrons, who have offered him whatever support is necessary, to keep The Barge operational.  I'm pretty sure councillors heard all about this, over the past year especially, and I am delighted they had the foresight to see what tradition means…….beyond having to sit down and flip through the piles of news clipping spanning more than fifty years. A newly designed Barge may have been desirable to some, but Fred insisted, that losing its historic integrity, would vastly change the whole aura of Music on the Barge. I couldn't have written what Fred was conveying, handshake after handshake, with concerned citizens, about the reasons it should remain a fixture of summers in Gravenhurst. It's always tough selling the concept of "tradition," with this kind of price tag, to those folks who aren't traditionalists, and are frugal at the same time.

    So it's understandable, that Fred briefly entertained the idea of retiring as manager, if in fact, The Barge was to be hauled-down, instead of being restored. You had to be as close to Fred as our family was, to know he definitely saw the proverbial writing on the wall. Frankly, so did we. We just didn't want to admit it to him, as Fred is a career worrier. We did what we could to support him, and for me it meant quite a lot of editorial writing, and approaching councillors with a most basic appeal. "Save The Barge! Please!" It would have become a huge public fundraising campaign eventually, if Council had voted against the upgrades. We always had two alternative plans to help Fred, in case of a failure to secure town funding for the restoration. We couldn't tell him, because he'd freak out, knowing we had doubts in the first place. We had confidence etched on our mugs every time we met-up. It was our protocol, even if we'd just heard a rumor, the stage was being torn down…..that afternoon. Maybe we did see it as protecting him. But at times, it seemed a little bleak. So watching the crews bring the stage back to performance-durability, this week, is all rather marvelous, and fascinating at the same time.

     There is such excitement now, having reached this stage of reconstruction, when the old woodwork, having done its service, and then some, will be removed and gradually replaced, to support the weight of the 2012 Music on the Barge Concert Series, which will begin officially, on Sunday, June 24th. It may be the case, that the first two concerts of the year, will be held in the Rotary Pavilion, instead, should the work run slightly over schedule. The two concerts that were held in the Pavilion last summer, due to work on the bridge piers, were so successful, and appreciated by the audience and the performers, that it will not be any hardship whatsoever, if they have to be relocated again this summer. The acts that follow, require a greater dedication of electrical service, that the Pavilion doesn't currently possess, so these do require The Barge facilities.

     The "Barge Debating Society," (what we call the volunteer support group), wants to extend thanks to the Town of Gravenhurst, for the thoughtful and insightful decision, to maintain an entertainment tradition in this town, and the continuance of Sunday evening fetes, that bring permanent residents together with citizens from neighboring towns, with cottagers, tourists and general passersby. It really is a show of good faith in Fred Schulz, and his band of volunteers, to keep pulling successes from his hat, and that Gull Lake shoreline full of happy, contented concert goers. I've never known Fred Schulz to disappoint his followers, and you know…….if he could stop the rain, he most certainly would. Which brings up another point, I want to stress to everyone interested in coming out to the concerts. There will be no rain re-location this year, for the first time in decades. Due to inadequate facilities to house these big events, Fred has been forced to announce that rain-outs will mean cancelled-concerts entirely. He advises, on overcast and threatening days, for patrons to bring along umbrellas and rain-wear to the park, in case of a brief shower. In the case of severe weather, he will cancel the concerts well in advance, to avoid any dangers to members of the audience. He's sorry to have to make this decision, but over the past several years, re-locations to the Opera House, have created hard feelings due to seat limitation. All the volunteers and Fred himself, received some rather harsh comments, when regular concert goers had to be turned away from the Opera House, because there was already a full-house, even an hour before show-time. The difficulties of moving equipment from The Barge to the Opera House, simply became too hard and time-consuming for the crew. Additionally, when the Terry Fox room was re-located in the present Recreation Centre, it's capacity was well beneath the minimum seating needed, for these well attended concert events. Fred has purchased a shelter for The Barge, for use by performers, in the event of a light rain. Sensitive sound equipment has to be kept moisture free. But mortals can survive getting a little wet. Look at Woodstock, for gosh sakes. Look at this past weekend's flotilla on the Thames, for the Jubilee celebration. Rain isn't so bad. England? Muskoka? Rain is rain.

     If I read Fred's mind, as I usually can, I'm pretty sure he's hoping for record crowds this season. I'm not sure he's going to break the 5,000 mark, allegedly set in the summer of 1967, (regarding the concert for young people), for one evening concert, but that won't stop him fantasizing that it's possible. I think it would be fabulous to see, and the kind of support, that would send a message to the councillors of this town, that they made the right decision, to restore this internationally known, and respected entertainment venue, on our own Gull Lake. Now wouldn't that be a fitting tribute to manager and the town.

     If you could spare some time, to help out with the donation pails, that volunteers take through the crowd to help offset costs, just let Fred know a little in advance, so he can give you a time and date he needs assistance. If you would just like to make a donation, to help out with Fred's entertainment expenses, which he covers through the kindness of patrons, you can also give him a call. He'd be glad to hear from you.

     Folks, this has been a precarious journey, for the Barge manager, since the fiftieth anniversary celebration, a few years back, when he knew the repairs were becoming harder to patch, and stay ahead of each season. So to get to this point today, when The Barge is in its final stage of restoration, is just a really good feeling, for all of us close to the project. I really hope that Town of Gravenhurst Councillors will take the time this summer, to sample the fare. We'd all like to see them, and give them the credit they deserve, for sparing an important entertainment landmark in this country……when logic may well have indicated, the stage had outlived its usefulness. I think we can show them, just how wise and intuitive they were, and what "history-repeating-itself" looks like, up close and personal.

     Several times each week, I will try to provide a timely update about the progress of the restoration, and highlight the upcoming shows which of course begin on Sunday, June 24th, with The Muskoka Concert Band; Sunday, July Ist (Canada Day), The Bifocals Concert Band (both bands conducted by Neil Barlow); Sunday, July 8th, "That's 60's Show," the ultimate tribute to the music of the 60's; Sunday, July 15th, "Walk Like A Man as The 4 Seasons," tribute to Frankie Vali and the "Four Seasons"; Sunday, July 22nd, "Johnny Cash & June Carter & Tammy Wynette Tribute, an entertaining evening for all your country favorites; Sunday, July 29th, "Freddy Vette and The Flames," step back in time to the 50's with this fabulous full stage show with endless energy, a full band, and back-up singers; Sunday, August 5th, "The Fabulous Knockouts," playing a mix of hits from the mid 50's to the early 70's; Sunday, August 12th, "The Endless Summer Beach Band," a new show with a California look and sound; and Sunday, August 19th, "The Good Brothers," celebrating over 40 years in the music business, the Good Brothers continue their annual performances at The Barge.

The concerts start at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Collections are taken during the concerts.

     Thanks so much for visiting today's blog.You all come back now, ya hear!

Richard Karon Blog, Crozier Foundation

RICHARD KARON BLOG WILL BE UP AND RUNNING BY THE END OF THIS WEEK

IT WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE PAINTINGS AND INFORMATION BECOME AVAILABLE

     TECHNICAL WIZARD / SON ROBERT, TELLS ME THE "RICHARD KARON BLOGSITE" WILL BE READY BY THE END OF THE WEEK. WE'RE RUNNING IT AS A BLOG SO THAT UPDATES AND NEW PAINTINGS CAN BE ADDED TO THE SITE, AS A SORT OF CHRONOLOGY - ON TOP OF THE BIOGRAPHY. IT WILL START OFF WITH THE MUSIC VIDEO OF MR. KARON AND A SAMPLING OF HIS ART WORK. THE STRAIGHT-BODY OF WRITTEN BIOGRAPHY WILL FOLLOW, AND THE GALLERY OF HIS KNOWN ART WORK WILL BE ADDED AT THE END. ALL NEW MATERIAL WILL BE ATTACHED ONTO THE ART GALLERY COMPONENT, BUT IN BLOG FORMAT, IT WILL ACTUALLY APPEAR AS THE BEGINNING. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO "ARCHIVES BACK" TO READ THE BIOGRAPHY FROM THE BEGINNING. WE DO EXPECT THE BLOG WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, AS PAINTING OWNERS CONTINUE TO RESEARCH THE MUSKOKA ARTIST. WE ARE HOPING THAT IT WILL BE COMPLETED, FROM OUR MATERIAL, BY NEXT SUNDAY EVENING.

     ALTHOUGH IT'S BEEN A MONTH SINCE THE PROJECT CONCLUDED, I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT WAS FAR MORE EXHAUSTING THAN I HAD EXPECTED. I THOUGHT WE COULD DO THE BIOGRAPHY FAIRLY EFFICIENTLY AND ON A THREE MONTH SCHEDULE, BUT WE HADN'T COUNTED ON SO MANY ADDITIONS AND PAINTING SUBMISSIONS, TO ADD TO THE FEATURE STORY. IT WAS GREAT BUT IT ADDED ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT MORE TO THE WORK-LOAD. I HAVE A TRADITION OF NOT MISSING DEADLINES. IN THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS, I HAD A WHOLE COMPOSITION STAFF DEPENDING ON THE WRITERS BEING ON-THE-BALL, AND GETTING THE COPY TO LAY-OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I DREADED WHEN THE LAYOUT STAFF USED TO MAKE FORAYS INTO THE NEWSROOM, CLICKING THEIR EXACTO-KINVES, TRYING TO HURRY US UP. THEY MEANT IT! THEY HAD DATES IN THE EVENING. THE LONGER WE WERE, DELIVERING THE EDITORIAL GOODS, IT MEANT A LATE NIGHT SHIFT, AND THEN THE DREADED CALL FROM THE PRINTER, SCREAMING OVER THE PHONE, AT THE PRODUCTION MANAGER, ABOUT US MISSING OUR TIME SLOT. THAT COULD MEAN PUTTING ANOTHER PAPER AHEAD OF OURS, AND THAT WOULD HAVE AFFECTED DELIVERY TIMES IN THE MORNING…..AND IF THE POST OFFICE RUN WAS INTERRUPTED, THERE WAS "HELL TO PAY." SO WHEN I PROMISED THE KARON PROJECT WOULD RUN IN MID-APRIL, IT WAS MY EDITORIAL GUARANTEE, IT WAS GOING TO MAKE IT INTO CYBERSPACE TO "THE SECOND" I PROMISED. WE CHEATED A TAD. THE VIDEO FOR THE ARTIST, WAS PUBLISHED ON YOUTUBE THE NIGHT BEFORE. ON MONDAY AFTERNOON WE HAD SOME COMPUTER AND POWER PROBLEMS IN TOWN, AND WHEN THINGS GOT UP AND RUNNING AGAIN, I PULLED ROB FROM HIS MAIN STREET BUSINESS, TO GET THE FIRST BLOG ON RIGHT AWAY. SO WE WERE ABOUT TWO HOURS EARLY I THINK. I INHERITED THESE WORRIES AS AN EDITOR, AND I'VE KEPT THEM EVER SINCE. I'M ALWAYS FIVE TO TEN MINUTES EARLY FOR EVERYTHING THAT I'M SCHEDULED TO ATTEND. THIS INCLUDES PICKING UP FAMILY MEMBERS FOR DELIVERY SOMEWHERE. THEY HATE ME BEING EARLY, BECAUSE IT RUSHES THEM. I CARE MORE ABOUT MY OWN PUNCTUALITY MORESO THAN THERE TIMELINESS.

     THE READERSHIP FOR THE RICHARD KARON BLOG, MORE THAN DOUBLED DURING THIS NINE OR SO DAY RUN, AND WE HAD OVER ONE HUNDRED VIEWS OF THE VIDEO, ON YOU-TUBE, SHORTLY INTO THE SERIES. IN MY SITE STATS, I CAN CHECK TO SEE WHAT BLOGS WERE READ, DURING THE PAST 24 HOURS, AND THE KARON MATERIAL IS STILL GETTING VIEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. WHICH IS QUITE PLEASING, AND SHOULD BE TO THE FAMILY. IN POLAND AS WELL! WE DID THIS FOR THE LONG-TERM MORE THAN JUST A BLOG-HIGHLIGHT. AFTER YEARS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO ANSWER MORE THAN JUST THE BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MUSKOKA ARTIST, WHICH I GET SEVERAL TIMES EACH MONTH (AS SOMEONE WHO BUYS AND SELLS ART), NOW  I CAN REFER THEM TO A FRAMEWORK BIO. THE IDEA WAS TO BE ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER A BASIC BIOGRAPHY, TO CREATE A SOURCE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION, TO HELP THOSE WHO OWN HIS PANELS, OR HAVE RECENTLY ACQUIRED THEM, TO FIND OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HIS CAREER IN MUSKOKA, AND HIS BACKGROUND, DATING BACK TO HIS CHILDHOOD IN POLAND. WE HAD LOTS OF COMMENTS BACK FROM READERS, ESPECIALLY FROM THOSE WHO OFFERED US ART WORK TO PUBLISH WITH THE BIOGRAPHY, OF WHICH WE ARE PARTICULARLY GRATEFUL. WE WILL INCLUDE OTHERS THAT ARE SENT TO US IN THE FUTURE. OVERALL, IT CAME OFF WITHOUT A HITCH, EXCEPT OF COURSE THE FEW LITTLE TECHNICAL ISSUES YOU CAN NEVER REALLY PREPARE FOR IN ADVANCE. I PERSONALLY GOT A LOT OUT OF THE RESEARCH AND PREPARATION OF THE BODY-COPY, AND CONNECTING WITH THOSE WHO HAD KNOWN RICHARD KARON PERSONALLY. I HOPE THE BLOGSITE WILL GET SOME USE, AND FOLKS WILL FEEL COMFORTABLE SENDING ANY INFORMATION THEY HAVE, THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT PREVIOUSLY. HIS SON, RICHARD SAHOFF KARON, IS STILL VERY INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM ANY ONE WHO KNEW OR WORKED WITH HIS FATHER, INCLUDING HIS YEARS SPENT PAINTING IN EUROPE, UP TO THE EARLY 1950'S, BEFORE HE CAME TO CANADA. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONTACT HIM THROUGH THE NEW BLOGSITE.

     IF I DIDN'T PREVIOUSLY THANK YOU FOR JOINING MY BLOG DURING THIS PERIOD, PLEASE ACCEPT MY THANKS NOW. IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE, TO GIVE A TALENTED ARTIST THE CREDIT HE DESERVED, FOR GIVING ART OWNERS, SO MANY BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIRING SCENES, TO BRING INTO OUR RESPECTIVE HOMES.

THINKING BACK TO THE DAYS - WHEN I GOT TO HAND OUT MONEY! NOW THAT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY

     Whenever it gets to be this time of year, I habitually start to ready myself for the annual Crozier Foundation Skating Camp, that we used to fund and operate at the Bracebridge Arena. The Crozier gang would invite fifty to seventy kids, to participate in the week-long camp, complete with basic skating lessons, and a hockey camp for those who were so inclined. We ran it for more than a decade, after Roger Crozier launched the Foundation for children, back in the mid 1990's. Suzanne, Andrew, Robert and I provided food services, as part of our role as camp volunteers. Gravenhurst artist, Nancy Hunter ran the craft program for the campers, when they weren't on the ice. It was a wild week, at times, and the kids kept us on our toes. The Crozier Foundation provided everything imaginable, including skates, sticks, helmets, pads, pants, and expert  hockey and skating instruction, from well known Bracebridge Hockey Coach, Mike Thompson. Everything was provided free of cost, including an open kitchen with lots of everything. Campers helped us make desert squares, and as Suzanne did for our boys, when they were wee lads, she invited campers to assist in making the food they were going to consume. It sure was interactive, and when the camp started up again, she always had her returning chefs-in-training. The first clue, was the tug on her skirt, that her camper friend was back.

    I was always impressed by the Crozier Foundation generosity. If the kids had asked for steak, they would have got it. It was wonderful to be a part of the week long camps, and to see how much good it was doing for the kids. The youngsters you see, were from families that could not have afforded to send their sons and daughters to a similar program, and that's when Roger Crozier stepped-up. Before he passed away, after a short illness, he had created the Crozier Foundation, to help youth achieve their goals by removing financial barriers. Boy did he ever. As a kid from a family of fourteen, growing up in Bracebridge, he knew the shortfalls of having too little money and so many ambitions. The former all-star netminder, of the Detroit Red Wings, and executive manager, at the time, with MBNA (an American / Canadian banking institution), set up the Foundation to help those youngsters who, because of circumstances beyond their control, couldn't participate in a lot of recreational activities, such as minor hockey and figure skating. The idea for the camp, was created only a few months after his death, by his former staff at MBNA, and put hundreds of kids onto the ice, some for the first time, fully equipped. We always got excited when those cherubic little faces showed up at the snack-bar counter, and Suzanne and I would look down on some the familiar faces we had grown fond of, from previous camps. Then there were the big sparkling eyes of the first-time campers, who were over-joyed to be part of such an amazing summer retreat with all the bells and whistles. We fed the whole bunch for that ten year run, and it seems we should be getting our pots and pans packed-up for the coming camp. But unfortunately it no longer operates. Several years ago, MBNA, where most of the volunteers worked, was acquired by another American bank, and the staff….Roger's former employees, weren't able to get the time off, to come from Wilmington, Delaware, to help run the program. It was suspended and the Muskoka wing of the Crozier Foundation closed forever. I can't tell you how sad this made us all feel, and how disappointed the kids were, to have lost this opportunity. But we recall what good it did for all of us, including the camp workers, for the years it did run.

    I was the curator of the Bracebridge Sports Hall of Fame for 12 years, and my cherished job, was to show the kids some of Roger's hockey memorabilia, and the stick he used in the Stanley Cup final, against Montreal, in 1966, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy, as the most valuable player in the series. Even though he was on the losing club, he was awarded the trophy. We had his skates and mask also on display, and the kids got a real kick out of putting it on, and trying out the goal stick. The stick's shaft, was actually worn down, where Roger's hand had been, making those acrobatic saves he was well known. Roger kept his stick for many more games than I expect goalies do today. So he may have had the stick for an entire season. It was still in pretty good shape, considering the work he had, keeping Henri Richard and Frank Mahovolich from slipping pucks past. I really enjoyed sharing the game-articles, and it was good to keep Roger's hockey accomplishments in the present. We had all of his hockey cards on display in the massive showcases, Roger had financed for me, in the months before he died. He asked me what I wanted as a showcase, and when I asked if we could get a couple of small cabinets for the arena lobby, geez, he brought in a carpenter. Mike Thompson did the work on the five huge panels of the hall of fame showcases, and added another three for the Bracebridge Figure Skating Club some time later. Roger never thought small. He wanted the Hall of Fame to look great, and highlight the sports accomplishments of local athletes. He blew people away with his attention to detail, and we only wished he could have seen what his vision had created, at the ribbon cutting, and how many athletes were astonished by the recognition the cases afforded. I even took his story on the road, whenever I did a speaking engagement for minor or senior hockey organizations. 

     For many of those years, I was the chap who handed out the money, on other funding gifts the Crozier Foundation granted, primarily in South Muskoka, many kids benefitting from the Town of Gravenhurst. I can't even describe the thrill, of being able to present cheques, to parents with youngsters, suffering from serious illness, who required costly specialized treatment. I delivered one cheque to a mother and father who had been living in a special residence at the hospital, as their son was at that precarious point between life and death. This happened a few more times, to other families, and each occasion was the same……and how thankful we all were to Roger for having provided the financial resources to maintain the funding base. In the fall of the year, I worked with local children's services, to get our funding-needs list together. We also paid thousands of dollars to cover registrations for hockey and figure skating, and some other club registrations for those kids not interested in winter sports. These kids would not have been able to join, without the funds from the Crozier Foundation. So it was a tremendous honor, to take that annual funding cheque over to the Children's Aid office on Pine Street. I always thanked Roger immediately after the cheque was in their hands. I don't know if he was listening, but it didn't matter. It had to be said. He made such a difference in kids' lives here in South Muskoka…..and even if it concluded much sooner than we could have expected, it was a great ride while it lasted. I saw the positives of benevolence up close and personal. Kindness is magic. I hope some of the youngsters we helped back then, remember us…..because we remember them. I've had a lot of interesting and even exciting jobs in the past, but working for the community, as part of Roger's Foundation fulfilled ambitions I didn't even know I had…….and we, as a family, have been running fundraisers in the community ever since. There are hundreds of folks who get the same buzz, by helping others. It is addictive…..but if there's any good addiction, it's being of a benevolent heart. It can be honestly said, we'd be in a pretty rough spot indeed, without the many community-minded groups that operate in our community, looking after those who find themselves in crisis. This is what a hometown is all about.

     As for Roger Crozier, thanks for inviting our family to join a great adventure, that wasn't for a long time, but it was most definitely a good time.

Poverty and Seniors Amongst Us!

POVERTY AND SENIOR CITIZENS - I'VE SEEN IT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

MY PARENTS WORKED UNTIL LATE IN LIFE - COST OF LIVING, DRUGS, RETIREMENT DRAINED THEIR RESOURCES

     Ed was one of those old-school fathers, of the fighting Irish, who wouldn't admit he had feelings. If he ever cried, he certainly did so in privacy. I know as a kid he cried. Probably a lot. His father Eddie Sr., took off and left his wife Doris, with four young lads, renting a tiny house in Toronto's Cabbagetown. She suffered many emotional crashes, and would take the boys to the park, and then quietly slip away, knowing that eventually the city welfare department would come to the rescue. Ed and his three brothers spent a fair bit of time in orphanages, and living in foster homes. Eventually their mother would recover, and come back for them, and things would get better for awhile. Until the next time.

     My dad's father was a loner and a boozer, but my Ed cared for him dearly. I know that now. I remember one day, asking my mother, why Ed used to read the obituaries in the daily paper. I didn't know about obituaries until he explained it to me, while I was looking over his shoulder as he read. Merle told me he was looking for his father's notice. I had a lot of questions at the time, but Merle just told me to keep quiet about it, as my father was pretty sensitive about his own family matters. His dad, at this time, was still alive, but he wouldn't try to contact him. His last meeting was going to be after death. He didn't want to face his father in life. But felt he could do so after death. There were a lot of issues, I assumed, between Eddy Sr. and his son. A lot of questions he had, but emotionally, didn't have the courage to ask, face to face. He could have, but declined.

     At this time, of the late 1960's, he would only talk to one brother, of three, and the youngest, Bill, had been institutionalized with serious emotional problems. Ed suggested to Merle, once in a whisper, Billy's problems were from the abusive foster parents, where they had been forced to stay. I never brought up the subject. Even in the last few chats before his own death, Ed refused to reminisce about his father…..other than to tell me the old man liked buttermilk, and could eat a potato or onion raw. So the only mental picture I've got of my grandfather, is of this little Irishman sitting on the steps of his Cabbagetown hovel, eating a raw onion, and wincing when his eyes started to sting. I know he was a fighter like his son, and probably had those knots and lumps on the bridge of his nose, that my dad wore proudly. They were "dukes-up" kind of guys. Knock the guy out first, and ask questions about the nature of the off-hand comment later. As a young man, if anyone had said anything off-color to my mother, Ed would have started a fight. I heard from others, that he was proficient, in the honor department, of setting a smart-ass down to the ground, with one punch to the jaw. Ed looked a little like Popeye, especially with his sailor's uniform on.

     Ed one night brushed by me on the stairs of our apartment, up on Bracebridge's Alice Street, yelling back at me, that he had to go to the city for business. I wanted to go. He said he'd take me next time. Merle had tears in her eyes when I got to the apartment door. It seems Ed had finally found his father. He was resting in a funeral home in Hamilton. No one had claimed Eddie's body. He died penniless and was going to be given a funeral courtesy the Royal Canadian Legion, I believe, as he was a veteran of the Second World War. Father and son served in the war, but my dad hadn't seen his father in many years by the time he enlisted. I know Ed was pretty upset when he got home later that night, and he wouldn't say anything about what had happened, as long as I was hovering around. I went out and gave them a chance to talk. Merle told me later, that the funeral home hadn't even cleaned his father's finger-nails before embalming him, and they didn't do much more than was necessary to move the funeral process forward. Ed paid his respects, and he may have cried then, but I have my doubts.

     Ed's nose had been broken about six times over his life, and he probably had it re-arranged twice while he served in the Royal Canadian Navy, aboard the ship Coaticook. He was a gunner and he shot down German planes, but he would never discuss how many, or how he felt about doing so. He had rescued sailors die in his arms, as they pulled victims from the North Atlantic, after U-Boat attacks on the convoys. He did tell me how awful it was, on occasions, when there were sailors overboard, from a torpedoed ship, but the Captain could not risk stopping to rescue them, as it would expose the rest of the merchant ships they were protecting from attack. "They used to try to salute us as we were going by…..their faces black with oil, and soot," he'd say. He said they would yell, "Get Hitler for us!" Ed was damaged by war, like many other soldiers, sailors and airmen, who saw so much tragedy up close. Sometimes even as close as their cradling arms. When I tell you my father was tough, it was only from a son's perspective. He was good at hiding what bothered him. It's why he drank, and sometimes too much. He told me once, that he could still see the faces, so clearly, of the lost crewman, waiting to die in the North Atlantic. He'd only bring this up if he was numb with booze. Even then, it was always a short conversation.

     When my mother had her second stroke, and a heart-attack during a bowel operation, Ed was devastated. Merle had experienced dozens of serious ailments from childhood, including a near-fatal bout with rheumatic fever, which enlarged her heart. Old Doc. Eaton, of Bracebridge and Dr. Sergeant, of Huntsville, saved her life when she was in her late forties. Dr. Eaton said to her, candidly, "I fear for your longevity." She used to kid about that, because she lasted for many more years, because of their work on her behalf. She was a fighter. Merle loved the simple things in life, and when she and Ed retired, within a year or so of each other (Merle retiring first), they lived modestly, enjoyed their daily motor trips, looking after our boys, Andrew and Robert, and loved every holiday, Christmas especially, where we'd all gather while Ed cooked up a great meal. Merle's health was managed by a fist-full of pills every day. Ed had gout, and self medicated. He did it so thoroughly once, he nearly killed himself, with over the counter pain medication and Vodka. He was working in Parry Sound at the time, and at an after-hours even for his lumber company, co-workers had to hustle him over to the hospital, as he kept collapsing. They'd pick him up, he'd dust himself off, and then hit the floor again. The problem with my father, and it did contribute to his death, was that he was stubborn beyond belief. He hated the pain of gout, and he knew what not to do, or drink, to avoid irritating it, but he loathed going to the doctor or the hospital. That's why, when he had a stroke himself, several years ago, he thought it was an inner ear problem, because he kept falling down in his apartment. He lived with the untreated stroke for three days, even turning away neighbors who tried to help him, until we finally wound up at the apartment, and by this point, he was in terrible shape, and wouldn't recover.

     After Merle was hospitalized, and it looked as if she would never come home again, Ed started to panic. I thought it was about losing his fifty-plus year partner in marriage. Well it was, but Merle was at least still alive, and would be for three more years, living at The Pines. The crushing issue, was explained to me, while having coffee with him in a local restaurant. I'd never seen panic in my dad's eyes before, and our family had been in all kinds of precarious situations, usually when Ed would unceremoniously quit his job, over a matter of principle. I'm the same. This time was different. He confessed to me that he was not only broke, but deeply in debt. I don't know if you can imagine this, but I had always assumed they had been in reasonable financial shape, and living sensibly in an affordable apartment. What Ed explained was that, since Merle had been hospitalized, he had been doing the bill paying, and found she had mistakenly, been paying credit card bills with credit-line cheques. For months. Merle had been a bank employee for much of her young working life, and Ed trusted her to keep them on the straight and narrow financially speaking. She always had, at least during the time I lived at home. She'd been slipping into dementia slowly. The first time I noticed it, was when I came by for a coffee, one day when Ed had gone to Toronto, to sort out some estate details for his own mother…..who lived to almost one hundred years of age. Merle was sitting at the dining room table, with a cup of tea and a couple of pieces of toast. She got me a coffee, and we started to chat about Ed's trip. I started watching as she kept applying peanut butter to the toast. By the point I looked at her, there was about an inch of peanut butter. I asked her why she was putting so much spread on her toast. "Oh dear, I didn't even want peanut butter." Ed admitted later, he had noticed this but wrote it off to old age, and not dementia.

     What had been happening, is that because Ed always found there to be ample funds in the personal account, after the bills were paid, he got a little reckless himself, and spent money he shouldn't have. Merle thought she was writing personal cheques, when in fact, she had been running up credit-line bills. Ed said she'd even tried to pay credit line bills with the same credit line cheques. What happened after only six or so months, was that they wound up owing about twelve thousand dollars, with very few resources, and just enough pension money to get by, month to month. Not all of Merle's medicine was covered by OHIP, at the time, so it was a drain on their fixed incomes. The real crushing reality was, that Ed knew Merle was going to need long-term care, and it would require that her pension cheques would have to diverted for accommodation fees. He wouldn't be able to survive on only his pension, even with a supplement.

     My heart was in my throat that morning. Here's this tough, hard working, former sailor, who never asked a favor in this life, now asking me for a solution to a problem that was now imminent, without any wiggle room. I don't think he wanted to tell me at all, except he needed to let me know, he was going to be moving, as soon as he found a room to rent in town. Merle and Ed had a beautiful two bedroom unit in the Bass Rock apartment, in Bracebridge, that was well maintained and close to everything my parents needed at the time. Ed's biggest concern, was that they were both going to die, and be unable to afford their own funerals. He wanted, at that moment, for me to agree to take everything of value he had, in the apartment, as my inheritance. I'm an only child, and he felt it was obligatory to leave me something of substance. Cripes, I was put into the most devastatingly difficult position I'd ever been in, and there was no quick fix. I told him I wasn't going to take anything from the apartment, and he wasn't going to be moving anywhere, as the apartment was convenient and affordable. We just had some details to work through first.

     The truly difficult situation for Ed, was that he had to apply for financial assistance for Merle, when she was admitted to The Pines. Even with acceptance, and her residency costs whittled down, Ed still had to pay money from his own pension, on top of losing all of Merle's pension money, as they had shared for years; and this put him into serious financial disadvantage. We had just put a huge amount of money into Andrew's first business venture, which would come to include Robert, and there was little money left to rescue my parents. I think my dad really did think they still operated "debtor's prison," like in the days of Charles Dickens. It took a massive change of lifestyle, for all of us, to straighten up the financial mess. It took four years and incredible patience. Ed didn't want us to see his accounting, and I did worry he wasn't being straight with us, about the progress he was making, repaying the debt to two major banks. We helped out with groceries and when Andrew was taking a federally funded "young entrepreneur's" course, in Bracebridge, he stayed with Ed, and we paid a rental fee to help offset costs. In fact, Andrew spent three years with Ed, and that was his first guitar workshop. The kitchen table at Ed's. He had no distractions, and he and Ed enjoyed each other's company. It kept Andrew focused, and Ed from getting too lonely. It also put some money into the coffers and over time, Ed was able to make some lump-sum payments, to level the old fiscal playing field.

     When we were settling Ed's estate, and Suzanne looked after all the accounting, and paperwork, she called me over to her spot at that same kitchen table, one afternoon shortly after his death, to show me something astonishing. At least we thought it was, considering the turmoil of a few years previous. Ed had been keeping an accounting book, from the point of our first conversation about debt recovery. He had narrowed his debt at two banks, down to just over three thousands dollars, and when everything was said and done, he left his family ten thousand dollars. Almost to the nickel, of what we had given him as rent during Andrew's three year stay. He had worked steadfastly, to fix his problem. This is a guy, who graduated high school in his seventies. It was on his bucket list. Due to family problems, he had only finished public school, but had never gone to secondary school. He decided in his early seventies, to correct this, and over about four years of correspondence-school studies, he was awarded his high school diploma. He only told us about this, when he could actually show us the diploma. I guess he figured it might jinx it all, if he told us before he passed all his courses.

     Ed didn't do without much, because we were there for him, at the most critical time. There are thousands, if not millions of Canadian seniors, who don't have family to fall back on, and are living in poverty and crisis, finding it hard to reach out for help. They just do without. We even helped Ed set up a balcony garden to grow some vegetables, which he adored tending, and every August he and Suzanne would start preserving (putting down fresh produce), getting ready jars and jars of salsa, chili sauce, chutney, pickled carrots and beets, to benefit from, during the winter season. He loved doing that kind of work, and he was a brilliant cook himself. We set him up with a pantry, and helped him fill it. He certainly wasn't going to starve, even if he only had enough money to make rent. He liked his weekly case of beer. We made sure the budget had some flexibility for this little pleasure. He figured he'd just spend less on clothes. He lived very frugal for the rest of his life, and after worrying, he would have to declare bankruptcy, early on, he made a fantastic recovery. Even though we had talked often about his financial progress, he would never reveal just how much improvement he'd made. So when Suzanne found out that he had pulled himself back into the black, we realized he had done what he'd been doing his whole life. He became very good at the art of "recovery." I was proud of my parents because they gave me a good life. A safe existence. I ate well and we even got some vacations. They led by example. We had what we could afford. We were always the last family to get things. It wasn't until I was a teenager that Merle insisted we buy a record player in a nice wood cabinet. She had to buy it on time. But it was out of her household money. But I certainly didn't suffer any great hardship because they were careful with their money.

     Ed, like many of us, was too proud to ask for assistance. He only told me about his problem, when he thought it was going to be necessary to move from the apartment he and Merle had shared at Bass Rock. I'm wondering if he would have commenced a bankruptcy application, if he had decided not to break the news to me that morning, he didn't have enough money to buy breakfast. He had lived a hard life and knew what it was like to be poor and homeless. Here he was at the end of his life, a veteran of the Second World War, a former manager of a major lumber company, down to his last buck in spare change, and a debt load he couldn't cover. He really did fear, at the moment, I think, that he was going to wind-up like his father, having to be buried by charity, maybe even in a pauper's grave. Merle used to tell me, it's what Ed worried about, even when I was a kid, and death seemed something that happened to other people, but not my parents. He didn't wind up in a pauper's grave, and I hope he was proud of the changes he had made in his life, in those last few years. For every one who can manage to get out of economic crisis, there are many more who mire even deeper, without any hope of rescue.

     My mother has just now done a summersault in the afterlife, knowing I'm about to share this story with you. Ed wouldn't be happy either, but he knew how many others were in a similar situation, because he visited with spouses of residents, while Merle was in care…..and they talked about each other's precarious situation on the outside. As Ed had a social conscience, he would like to know his story, and my mother's, would bring some small amount of clarity, to a growing problem in our country. One I'm pretty sure is even more precarious than it was five and ten years ago, without any major changes to turn fortunes around for those with pressing needs. The government sees this only as a statistic, and they interpret it, from the safe distance of a civil service office, and offer their political masters, interpretations based on what the manuals tell them is within bounds, and in essence, "acceptable circumstance." That acceptable circumstance for these folks, in crisis, is more of a "hell on earth." Yet so many seniors today are facing this new normal…….vaulting helplessly into a downward spiral of poverty they aren't familiar with, or know how to extricate themselves. Many, like my father, are too proud to ask for financial assistance, or to ask for help at all. There are seniors in our town right now, who are underfed, under-nourished, who can't look after themselves properly, have inadequate housing, don't have the money for certain medical supplies and equipment, and who can't afford their medication. Who are they? Someone knows. But most of us don't, until it's too late. They become another statistic, this time, the final one. There are social advocates for some, but not all.

     The amount of money wasted on the recent air ambulance debacle, in this province, makes my blood boil, because there are so many souls living without, who could have benefitted from these same squandered resources. What does out provincial leadership do? "It's not our fault." "We didn't know." "We weren't aware of that." My father and mother took the bullet for their actions, and their decisions. They only ever asked for what they were entitled. Not one dime more. Even if that meant doing without. They were both proud, and had come from an era, when you "toughed-it-out," and found a way to avert a crisis by being creative. Like the times Ed used to have to chase the milk man and his horses down the road, to gather up the poop, for his mother's garden, and indeed, gathering up any scattered coal from the delivery carts. So even if he had been offered a gift of cash, from some benevolent friend, he would never have accepted it, even when down to his last buck. He wouldn't even ask me for help. He'd work for it! Damn right. Even when his body was giving out, he'd have turned over our gardens, to earn his stipend. I'm not sure what he would say, with the life he had led, reading about the millions lost by the province, because no one apparently gave a crap. It's just money right? What galls me today, is how this provincial government can talk about austerity. If ever lightning should strike, as my mother would say, it should strike them.

     If you know a senior in crisis, whether it is a case of profound loneliness, or financial in nature, there are new resources to help out. The first issue, is to identify the crisis.

     My parents never felt hard-done-by, and didn't blame others for their misfortunes. They lived a life together for more than half a century, worked hard, saved, and by all accounts, kept their heads far enough above water, to feel modest security. The cost of living, and medical expenses changed all that. Merle when on a spending spree because of ill health, and boy oh boy, that nearly sunk the ship. Their story isn't unique or special. It is average. It is what is happening out there, and with the increasing number of senior citizens, according to latest census results, we can expect this will become the most pressing health and welfare issue for the foreseeable future. Is it a crisis? How would the politicians ever find out? Even if they did, history shows, well, "crisis" means different things to different folks. I don't put a lot of faith in both levels of government to come to the rescue. That only happens in the picture shows.

     Thank you so much for visiting today's blog. Please join me again soon. I enjoy our time together. Readership is growing. This is pleasing.

Alan Ladd as Shane My Hero Always

CITIZENS HAVE POWER TO CHANGE DIRECTION- BUT WILL THEY USE IT?

ALL-CANDIDATES MEETING WAS THE DAY GRAVENHURST SURRENDERED DEMOCRACY - VOLUNTARILY

     IT'S JUST MY OPINION, AS AN AVID GARDNER, BUT WHAT A GREAT DAY IT IS, NOW THAT THE RAINS HAVE COME. OUR LAWN WAS GETTING BROWN, AND THE SHRUBS WE JUST PLANTED LOOKED TERRIBLE. WE DON'T USE DISTRICT WATER RESOURCES FOR OUR LAWN OR GARDENS, UNLESS IT IS BATH WATER. WE USE BATH WATER IN OUR TOILET AS WELL, AND I'M PLEASED TO SAY IT HAS KNOCKED QUITE A CHUNK OFF OUR BILLS. I HATE THE IDEA OF WASTING OUR PRECIOUS RESOURCES.

     WE ENJOYED A MORNING SHOPPING-VENTURE TO THE ANNUAL ANGLICAN CHURCH FUNDRAISING SALE, AND I GOT TWO INTERESTING BOOKS, AND THE BOYS, ANDREW AND ROBERT FOUND SOME NEAT OLD SUITCASES. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THEY USE VARIETIES OF THE OLDER CASES AS DRUMS, FOR SOME OF THEIR STUDIO RECORDING. ANDREW GOT A NICE CANADIAN MADE "LUMBERJACK" COAT, IN PREPARATION FOR THE AUTUMN SEASON CHILL, AND ROB FOUND THE SAUSAGE-ON-A-BUN TENT, OUTSIDE THE CHURCH, MORE TO HIS LIKING. I HAD A NICE CHAT WITH A FEW FOLKS I'VE BEEN MEETING AT THESE SALES FOR ABOUT TWENTY YEARS. I WAS SORRY TO FIND OUT FROM THEM, THAT ONE OF OUR FAMILY FRIENDS WAS IN HOSPITAL, AFTER A MEDICAL SCARE THURSDAY EVENING. JUST WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ALL IS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE, YOU GET THIS KIND OF UNFORTUNATE NEWS. WE ALL WISH FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY.

     IT WAS AN INCREDIBLY BUSY MORNING IN OUR LITTLE TOWN, WITH RESTAURANTS BENEFITTING FROM THE WEEKEND RUSH TO THE COTTAGE, AND THE INCLEMENT WEATHER I SUPPOSE. SEEKING REFUGE AND HAVING A SANDWICH, SEEM AN APPROPRIATE DIVERSION FROM THE MORNING'S TOIL. I CAN'T MAKE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THE DATA, BUT JUST FROM PLAIN OLD OBSERVATION AND RECOLLECTION, THE TOWN HAS LOOKED BUSIER SINCE THE MAY 24TH WEEKEND, THAN I REMEMBER FROM THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. THERE ARE A LOT OF PARCELS FLYING OUT OF OUR STORES, SO I HOPE LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS ARE SEEING SOME PROFIT, EARLY IN THE SEASON. IT IS UPLIFTING TO SEE SOME GENUINE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OUT THERE. AND I HOPE OUR VISITORS LIKE THE LOOK OF OUR NEWLY RESTORED MAINSTREET CORRIDOR, AND THE RECENT PLANTING THE TOWN HAS DONE ON MUSKOKA ROAD. DESPITE A FEW NASTY BARBS, BY SOME CRITICS OF EVERYTHING, I THINK THERE'S A LOT TO BE UPBEAT ABOUT, THIS SPRING AND SUMMER SEASON. BUSINESS NETWORKING SEEMS TO BE PAYING OFF. JUST AN OBSERVATION. MAYBE I'M DELUDED, OR LOOKING THROUGH THESE ROSE COLORED GLASSES, BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY GETTING SUBSTANTIAL TRAFFIC UPTOWN, AT LEAST, AND TODAY, IT GOT BUSY, VERY EARLY IN THE DAY. YESTERDAY WAS A RECORD-BREAKER FOR THE BOYS, IN THEIR MUSIC SHOP (OPPOSITE THE OPERA HOUSE), AND THE MONTH OF MAY WAS THE BEST ONE IN SIX YEARS OF MAIN-STREETING. SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT JUST BLOWING SMOKE HERE, ANDREW AND ROBERT NEED MORE GUITARS, AS THEIR STOCK IS GETTING LOW; AND MORE VINTAGE VINYL. FOR LARGER INSTRUMENT COLLECTIONS THEY WILL SELL ON CONSIGNMENT. WE'RE PREPARING TO OPEN TWO MORE ROOMS IN THE OLD MOVIE THEATRE BUILDING, BY THE FIRST OF JULY. IF YOU'VE GOT A GUITAR…EVEN A "BEATER" FOR CAMPFIRE SINGSONGS, BRING IT IN FOR EITHER SALE, CONSIGNMENT OR REPAIR.

THE BARGE WORK BEGINS NEXT WEEK

    I DON'T HAVE A LOT OF DETAILS AT THIS POINT, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE WOODWORK ON THE BARGE, IN ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK, WILL COMMENCE SOME TIME EARLY NEXT WEEK. WHILE IT LOOKS PRETTY ROUGH OUT THERE, WITH A HUNDRED OR MORE HOLES IN THE PLANKING, WHERE ADDITIONAL BRACING WAS ADDED TO THE IRON-WORK OF THE PLATFORM, THE PIERS HAVE ALL BEEN REINFORCED SUCCESSFULLY. AND THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY SWAY NOW WHEN THE GROUPS START ROCKING. THERE'S A LOT OF WORK YET TO DO, ON THE STAGE'S SURFACE, BUT APPARENTLY EVERYTHING IS ON SCHEDULE. WE CAN THANK THE COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST FOR PUSHING-AHEAD THIS PROJECT, EVEN DURING THIS TIME OF AUSTERITY AND BUDGET CUT-BACKS. I THINK IT WILL PROVE TO BE AN EXCELLENT INVESTMENT FOR QUITE A FEW MORE YEARS.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION, AND FINAL SUMMATION

     SUZANNE SAID TO ME LAST EVENING, AFTER I'D LABORED ON ANOTHER BLOG ABOUT THE MOST RECENT COUNCIL NEWS, REGARDING THE TERRENCE HAIGHT BEQUEATH, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST DECLARE THAT YOU WILL BE RUNNING FOR COUNCIL, IN THE NEXT MUNICIPAL ELECTION." I LOOKED AT HER WITH CHIN ON CHEST. "YOU TOLD ME I COULDN'T RUN FOR COUNCIL…..AND STAY MARRIED," I RESPONDED, WHEN I REGAINED MY COMPOSURE. SHE REPLIED WITHOUT THE BLINK OF AN EYE, OR ANY LOST CONCENTRATION ON HER KNITTING, THAT "IF YOU FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT COUNCIL, AND WHAT YOU THINK THEY'RE DOING WRONG, YOU CAN DO MORE AS A MEMBER OF COUNCIL, THAN YOU WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DO AS A BLOGGER…..OR LETTER WRITER TO THE LOCAL PRESS." HAD MY REAL WIFE BEEN ABDUCTED BY ALIENS, AND A CLONE SET IN HER CHAIR, HER KNITTING NEEDLES CLASPED IN HAND, AND WATCHING TELEVISION WHILE MAKING ANOTHER LITTLE HAT? WHO WAS THIS PERSON? I HAVE LONG BEEN FORBIDDEN TO RUN FOR ANY KIND OF OFFICE. SHE LET ME RUN FOR TWO ELECTIONS IN BRACEBRIDGE, BUT VOTERS THERE DIDN'T APPRECIATE MY BOMBASTIC APPROACH EITHER.

    FRANKLY, I WAS STUNNED, AND I THOUGHT ABOUT IT FOR THIRTY SECONDS OR SO, BEFORE I KNEW IT HAD TO BE A TRICK. SHE'S ALWAYS PULLING SUBTLE PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE ON ME, LIKE REVERSE STRATEGY. SHE KNOWS I'D GET ELECTED, SIT FOR ONE COUNCIL MEETING, (IF ELECTED), IMPLODE, AND REQUIRE NOTHING MORE THAN A BROOM AND A SMALL BAGGIE, TO SUM UP MY POLITICAL CAREER. I'M FAR TOO REACTIONARY TO MAKE A DECENT COUNCILLOR, OR MAYOR, AT LEAST IN THIS COUNTRY. IF I WAS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL IN A NATION THAT PERMITTED DONNYBROOKS, COUNCIL ON COUNCIL WRESTLING ACROSS THE TABLE, I'D FIT RIGHT IN. IT'S A CARRY OVER FROM MY HOCKEY DAYS, WHERE I MAY HAVE DROPPED MY GLOVES A FEW TIMES. I HAVE A "SHANE" VIEW OF THE WORLD, AND I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW PROFOUNDLY ALAN LADD INFLUENCED ME IN THAT MOVIE. I HAVE AN UNMOVABLE STAUNCHNESS ABOUT WHAT I PERCEIVE TO BE GOOD AND BAD, THAT AT TIMES, BECOMES TOO MUCH TO HOLD IN. SO I BLOG. WHEN FOR EXAMPLE, YOU SEE THE LETTERS IN UPPER CASE PRINT, I'M HAVING A "SHANE" MOMENT. UNLESS ROUGH-HOUSING BECOMES PART OF THE COUNCIL PROTOCOL SOMETIME SOON, I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE WISE FOR ME TO GET INVOLVED, RUNNING AS A CANDIDATE. WHEN I WORKED FOR HUGH CLAIRMONT AND HIS SON MARK, AT MUSKOKA TODAY, I WROTE ABOUT THIS IN MY REGULAR COLUMN, "HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE." IT WAS CAPTIONED, "DON'T EVER LET ME RUN FOR ELECTED OFFICE……BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE CRAZY."

     THE PIECE BELOW, WAS WRITTEN A FEW HOURS AGO NOW, WHEN I WAS FEELING A TAD ANGRY. I TRY TO AVOID THIS, BUT SOME TIMES, IT JUST ISN'T POSSIBLE TO BYPASS WITHOUT SEVERING MY OWN HEAD FROM THESE BROAD, STRESSED SHOULDERS.

     MANY TIMES I AM JUSTIFIED, AND IF, AS I'VE NOTED BEFORE, I SEEM A LITTLE HARSH WITH MY CRITICISM, WELL, THEN I AM SORRY THEY (ELECTED OFFICIALS, IN THIS CASE) FEEL THIS WAY. I DON'T WISH TO HURT ANYONE'S FEELINGS, AND I HAVE NO ENEMIES. I'M QUICK TO OFFER MY HAND IN FRIENDSHIP, AND I'VE TRIED TO RECONCILE MANY FOLKS IN THIS COMMUNITY, WHO HAVE BEEN AT ODDS WITH OTHERS, AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SOME RESOLUTION HAS BEEN ACHIEVED. THERE ARE A FEW I'M STILL WORKING ON, THAT ONE DAY, I HOPE TO ALSO RESOLVE. I'M NOT A PAID NEGOTIATOR. JUST SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHEN IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON, FOR THE BETTER OF ALL OUR COMMUNITY ASPIRATIONS.

     I AM GENUINELY WORRIED ABOUT OUR TOWN. I SOMETIMES FEEL, THAT THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE CITIZENS AND THE TOWN COUNCIL IS UNNECESSARILY STRAINED BY MISUNDERSTANDING AND POOR COMMUNICATION. I WISH IT WAS AS SIMPLE AS THIS, REGARDING THE TERRENCE HAIGHT BEQUEATH, BECAUSE I FIND MYSELF AT REAL ODDS WITH THIS COUNCIL INITIATIVE. THE FOLLOWING IS THE SUMMATION OF A RECENT LETTER I WROTE TO THE LOCAL MEDIA, AND WITHOUT APOLOGY, THIS ONE HAS A LITTLE STING ATTACHED…..MORE FOR THE ORGANIZERS OF THE LAST ALL-CANDIDATES MEETING, THAN FOR THE COUNCILLORS THEMSELVES. THE PROBLEMS FOR THIS COUNCIL, IN MY OWN OPINION, BEGAN UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES I'LL EXPLAIN BELOW. I DO THINK THAT COUNCIL HOPEFULS SHOULD HAVE OBJECTED TO THE RULES OF CONDUCT THAT NIGHT, AND SIDED WITH CONSTITUENTS WHO FELT UNFAIRLY RESTRICTED, AT NOT BEING ABLE TO FREELY QUESTION CANDIDATES. THIS ISN'T JUST A SORE POINT FOR ME. IT WAS WIDELY DISCUSSED THAT NIGHT, AND FOR MANY NIGHTS FOLLOWING. IF TOWN WATCHERS WONDER ABOUT THE DECREASING INTEREST IN VOTING THESE DAYS, IT HAS TO DO WITH EVENTS LIKE THIS ONE. IF I DON'T KEEP NATTERING ABOUT THIS NOW, IN SEVERAL YEARS WE WILL BE FACED WITH THE SAME CONTROL-MECHANISM, AS WE SAW THEN, MAKING ITS RETURN ENGAGEMENT TO WHAT MUST BE AN "ELECTION DEBATE!" NOTHING LESS. I WILL FIGHT THIS VIGOROUSLY IN THE FUTURE.

      I WILL NOT BE MAKING ANY OTHER PRESENTATION ON THIS BLOG, ABOUT THE TERRENCE HAIGHT BEQUEATH, UNTIL COUNCIL HAS MADE ITS DECISION. IT'S NOT SENSIBLE TO KEEP HARPING ON THIS, AND I'M SURE MY READERS ARE GETTING A LITTLE TIRED OF THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD. I'VE INCLUDED THIS FINAL EDITORIAL CLIP, BECAUSE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLISHED THIS WEEK, BUT IT MISSED THE CUT FOR SOME REASON. BUT IT IS RELEVANT TO THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE, I FIND THE CORE ARGUMENT OF THE CURRENT DEBATE. WHILE I'M CERTAINLY NOT TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD, ONE BLOG-READER AT A TIME, I AM DESPERATELY TRYING TO CONVINCE COUNCIL TO CHANGE ITS COLLECTIVE MIND, ON THIS ISSUE, AND VOTE UNANIMOUSLY TO DEFER THE MATTER, OR REJECT IT ENTIRELY. SO IT IS WORTH ONE LAST PITCH, AS BITCHY AS IT MIGHT READ. IT IS DONE WITH RESPONSIBLE INTENT. I'VE GROWN UP WITH THIS DEMOCRACY THING, RINGING IN MY EAR, AND NOW I NEED TO SEE HOW IT WORKS IN A REAL STRESS TEST.

       

    I WROTE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, MORE THAN A WEEK AGO, REGARDING THE USE OF THE TERRENCE HAIGHT BEQUEATH. I AM JUST ONE OF THE LOCAL CITIZENRY OBJECTING TO THE MILLION DOLLAR MEMORIAL BEQUEATH, BEING USED TO PAY DOWN THE MUNICIPAL DEBT-LOAD. THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE FOR HANDLING THIS ISSUE, HAS VOTED IN FAVOR OF THIS PLAN, AND IT WILL APPARENTLY, COME BEFORE FULL COUNCIL THIS COMING TUESDAY, AT GRAVENHURST TOWN HALL.

     MY LETTER WASN'T PUBLISHED, IN TIME FOR THE MEETING, FOR WHATEVER REASON, AND IF IT IS PUBLISHED FOLLOWING THE DECISION BY COUNCIL, IT KIND OF MISSES THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF TIMING. MAYBE IT WAS TOO AGGRESSIVE AND SNARLY? MAYBE IT WASN'T SNARLY ENOUGH. TOO LONG? TOO SHORT? POINT IS, IT DIDN'T MAKE IT TO PRINT IN THE TIMELY FASHION I HAD HOPED. WITH OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS, THEY WERE WRITTEN AS AN AMALGAMATED EFFORT, TO AT LEAST, DEFER, DELAY OR DISMISS THIS DEFICIT-REDUCING STRATEGY. WE THINK IT'S INAPPROPRIATE. WE'RE SORRY IT DIDN'T WARRANT MORE PRESS, AND THIS UNFORTUNATELY, IS A PROBLEM IN OUR COMMUNITY. SOFT FRONT-PAGE NEWS IS DENYING READERS WHAT THEY NEED FROM A NEWSPAPER. IT'S WHAT WE EXPECT? OTHER THAN THIS, ME THINKS IT'S JUST A FEATURE PUBLICATION, DRESSED UP AS A NEWSPAPER.

     I WON'T REPEAT THE LETTER AS WRITTEN, BUT I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHAT MY POINT IS, WITH A LOT FEWER WORDS.

    THE RECENT VOTE BY A TOWN OF GRAVENHURST COMMITTEE, HANDLING THE BEQUEATH ISSUE, HAS MADE A MISTAKE IN JUDGEMENT, BY DENYING FULL PUBLIC CONSULTATION. BUT THE PREAMBLE TO THIS, IN MY OPINION, BEGAN WELL BEFORE THE PRESENT COUNCIL WAS ELECTED. WHEN AN ALL-CANDIDATES MEETING, AT THE OPERA HOUSE, PRIOR TO THE LAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION, REFUSED TO ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR, DEMOCRACY WAS SURRENDERED. THE CONSTITUENTS OF THIS MUNICIPALITY (THERE WAS A RARE FULL HOUSE IN THE THEATRE) WERE INVITED TO SEND IN THEIR QUESTIONS FOR SCRUTINY AND SELECTION. ONLY SO MANY WERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE. ORGANIZERS, TO BE FAIR, DID TELL US ABOUT THE "QUESTION CULL" BEFORE HAND, SO THAT WASN'T A SURPRISE. I DON'T KNOW IF QUESTIONS WERE CENSORED OR TOSSED OUT, IF THEY WERE THOUGHT TO BE TOO AGGRESSIVE. AT LEAST, I DON'T BELIEVE ALL THE QUESTIONS THEY RECEIVED, MADE THE CUT. I'M ONLY SURMISING ABOUT THIS. JUST THE FACT THEY WERE VETTED FOR CONTENT, BOTHERS THE HELL OUT OF ME. THE FACT THERE WERE NO OPEN MICROPHONES IN THE HOUSE, NOW THAT WAS ANGER-RAISING IF NOTHING ELSE.

     WHEN OUR COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES GO ON AND ON ABOUT TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND ALL THE GOOD PROTOCOLS THEY'RE CREATING, WITHIN TOWN ADMINISTRATION, YOU'D ALMOST THINK WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY AND FINALLY IMPRINTED OUR DESIRES, ON THE SOULS OF ELECTED OFFICIALS. THEN IN THE MIDST OF THEIR PROPAGANDA, ABOUT HOW OPEN THEY ARE, AS A GOVERNMENT, THEY DECIDE, AS A COMMITTEE, THAT THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION PART OF THE HAIGHT BEQUEATH, SIMPLY STATED, IS IRRELEVANT. WITHOUT A MENTION IN THE PRESS, THAT IT WAS EVEN COMING UP FOR THIS IMPORTANT DEBATE, THE COMMITTEE HAD OPTED FOR THE LESS THAN TRANSPARENT, LESS THAN DEMOCRATIC APPROACH…..OR DEMOCRACY THAT SUITED THEM, AT THAT MOMENT. FORTUNATELY A MEMBER OF THE GREATER GRAVENHURST RATEPAYER'S ASSOCIATION CAUGHT IT ON THE AGENDA, AND MADE MEMBERS AWARE WHAT HAD BEEN INITIATED BY THE COMMITTEE, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BEQUEATH. IF SHE HADN'T SPOTTED THIS, THE NEXT NEWS WOULD HAVE UNDOUBTEDLY BEEN A TINY NEWS BRIEF, HEARD OR READ IN THE LOCAL MEDIA. DAMN, TALK ABOUT CLOSING THE BARN DOOR AFTER THE HORSES ARE LONG GONE.

     WHY SHOULDN'T COUNCILLORS FEEL THIS WAS A WISE MOVE? THE PUBLIC DIDN'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO QUESTION THEM, OPENLY, AT THE ALL CANDIDATES-MEETING, BECAUSE IT WAS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED, AS IF IN ANOTHER COUNTRY…..THAT DOESN'T SUBSCRIBE TO THE FULL MEASURE OF DEMOCRACY, AS WE CANADIANS KNOW IT.  WHAT DID THEY LEARN FROM THAT MEETING? WELL, THEY CERTAINLY HAVE LEARNED THE PUBLIC CAN BE A BLOODY NUISANCE. IT WAS A CLEAR BETRAYAL OF DEMOCRACY, ON THAT NIGHT, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF VOTERS ANGRY ABOUT HAVING THEIR RIGHTS DENIED. IT WASN'T ABOUT TIME FRAME. THE ALL-CANDIDATES MEETINGS COULD HAVE BEEN DIVIDED OVER THREE NIGHTS. ONE NIGHT FOR THE MAYORAL CANDIDATES, ONE FOR DISTRICT COUNCILLORS, AND A THIRD FOR WARD REPRESENTATIVES. IT'S NOT LIKE THE OPERA HOUSE WAS BOOKED FOR ANY OTHER KIND OF ENTERTAINMENT. THE FORMAT WAS AWKWARD AND THE QUESTIONS FOR SOME COUNCILLORS, DIDN'T FIT THEIR WARD RESPONSIBILITIES ANYWAY. BUT IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO THE FACT, THE NEAT AND TIDY, OVERLY ORGANIZED MEETING, HAD AN AGENDA OF STATUS QUO. LET'S NOT UPSET THE CANDIDATES. GOD FORBID SOMEONE SHOULD ASK A QUESTION REQUIRING A LITTLE SOUL SEARCHING, OR TAPPING INTO EXPERIENCE AND INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY TO PROCESS. WHY WERE ORGANIZERS SO PROTECTIVE OF THE CANDIDATES? WHAT DID THIS RESTRICTION OF DEMOCRACY DO FOR OUR PRESENT COUNCIL? IT DID ONE THING FOR SURE. IT LET THEM OFF THE HOOK THEN, AND IT'S LETTING THEM OFF THE HOOK ONCE MORE. ACCOUNTABILITY? COME ON. THIS SHOULD HAVE PLAYED OUT WITH RIGOROUS QUESTIONING FROM CONSTITUENTS AT THE ALL CANDIDATES MEETING. MAYBE INTENSE SCRUTINY WOULD HAVE FORCED COUNCIL-HOPEFULS TO FESS-UP TO THEIR AGENDAS, POLICIES AND VIEWPOINTS……WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING MORE THAN THE "NOTHING-SIGNIFICANT" WE RECEIVED AS AN AUDIENCE.

     I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS BEFORE, AND I'M SORRY TO REPEAT IT ONCE MORE. WHAT QUALIFICATIONS WOULD YOU REQUIRE TO BECOME THE HEAD OF A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION? HOW MANY INTERVIEWS, AND WHAT FORMAT WOULD THEY TAKE, IN ORDER TO SELECT THE RIGHT CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB? WOULD THE PROCESS TAKE MINUTES OR MONTHS? OBVIOUSLY THE SITUATION VARIES, DEPENDING ON THE STRENGTHS AND REPUTATION OF THE CANDIDATES. GENERALLY, IT WOULD TAKE A WHILE TO GET THE KIND OF INDIVIDUAL WHO FITS INTO THE COMPANY PLAN, AND VISION OF FUTURE GROWTH. WE EMPLOYED OUR PRESENT TOWN COUNCIL, IN PART, FROM THE GENTLE CARESS OF PRE-ELECTION PRESS AND MEETINGS. WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN ELECTION BASED ON COMPETENCE AND ADVOCACY, FOR CONSTITUENTS, BECAME AN OUTRIGHT POPULARITY CONTEST. THE PUBLIC MEETING, WITH A FULL HOUSE, AND OPEN MICROPHONES IN THE AUDIENCE, WOULD HAVE INSPIRED THE KINDS OF ELECTION EVENTS THAT ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING……A FULFILLMENT OF THE HISTORICAL, TRADITIONAL EXERCISE OF DEMOCRATIC PRIVILEGE. WE WERE DENIED THIS, AND I HAVE MADE MY PROTESTS KNOWN EVER SINCE. SO WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED?

     COUNCIL HOPEFULS, SHOULD HAVE REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE AS A GROUP. IF THEY REALLY FELT STRONGLY ABOUT THE DEMOCRACY THEY WERE PREPARING TO SERVE, WHY DIDN'T THEY SEE HOW IT WAS BEING STRANGLED BY THE IMPOSITION OF RIDICULOUS OVER-ADMINISTRATION? WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED THAT NIGHT, IF THE INTERESTED PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE, HAD BEEN AFFORDED THE RIGHT TO QUESTION THOSE RUNNING FOR ELECTION. SO LET'S FAST FORWARD TO THIS COMING WEEK, WHEN COUNCIL MAY PUT THE HAIGHT BEQUEATH ISSUE TO A VOTE. THE PRESS HAS OFFERED VERY MEAGRE COVERAGE OF THIS SITUATION, DESPITE THE FACT THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE UNREST AMONGST THOSE AWARE OF THE DEBT REDUCTION PLAN. IT WILL GET SOME PRESS IN THE FUTURE UNDOUBTEDLY. THE NEWS HOWEVER, AND I HATE TO BE THE ONE WHO BREAKS THIS TO THEM, IS THIS……. THE MULTIPLE ISSUES BEING RAISED BEFORE THE VOTE, AS A CHALLENGE TO DUMPING THE MILLION DOLLAR BEQUEATH ONTO THE TOWN DEBT; INSTEAD OF BEING USED BY THE COMMUNITY AS AN INTEREST-RAISING ENDOWMENT FUND. AS A FORMER NEWS-GUY, I'M SORRY, BUT THIS LACK OF COVERAGE IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND. GRAVENHURST CITIZENS NEED TO KEEP UP ON THESE TOWN FOLLIES, AND THE MEDIA DOESN'T SEEM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED.

THIS IS IMPORTANT IN SO MANY WAYS - BEYOND THE BEQUEATH

     In my humble but boisterous opinion, the Town of Gravenhurst will do irreparable damage to its reputation, if they pursue their plan to use the inheritance, given to the community, to dump on the debt-load they have in substantial part, added to since the last municipal election. I am worried they don't understand how this looks to those of us, who are active and informed government watchers. What they see as "good for the community," is about as narrow-focused as you can get, especially when you realize that it was seen as time-consuming and irrelevant, to seek the opinions of interested residents of Gravenhurst. Not just ratepayers. The fact however, that they got into office in the first place, without ever once being grilled by the electorate as a group, means they've missed that fundamental reality of democratic election. Yes, indeed, I have a great concern about those who interpret what democracy represents, because these are the same folks who, with eyes wide-open, participated in an all-candidate's meeting, that was so encumbered with protocol, that democracy was replaced by dictatorial privilege. The privilege, for organizers, is that we, the voters of Gravenhurst, allowed the format to be restricted to suit an agenda. I would have loved to see just one council-hopeful stand up on that stage and say, "Bloody Hell, I'm not going to part of this event……because……" What a wild coup that would have been. What excitement. Back to that old-time political day when a debate was a good thing. Ruffled feathers is what the voters wanted to see. To read about. To watch unfolding on the evening news. We had the constrained, polite event, which folks, believe me, has led to this continuing dismissal of democratic privilege. It's wrong in so many ways. But I want councillors to recognize this, because it's important to them, as much as to us. The convoluted view of all things democratic, in this country today, is troubling to many constituents, and it will lead to something soon. Who knows.

     I will make this final plea to those Gravenhurst councillors who may occasionally visit this blogsite. Please re-consider the committee decision, to use the Haight bequeath, to pay down the town debt. Change your vote. It is allowable, and justified under the circumstances. Council can turn this around, and prove that they are genuinely concerned about accountability, and are willing to work with the public, dissenters included, to make everything work better, and more progressively. If they choose to ignore public input, and what I feel is common sense, they should expect a long period of mistrust by the public, on many other issues, they may also feel don't belong in the public domain for scrutiny. It is, in this case, most definitely a slippery slope. Something tells me, it is a salvageable issue, that could be resolved, in the best interests of everyone involved.

     If you yourself wish to attend the meeting, you should contact the municipal office, to get the times of the open council meeting. A public show of solidarity on this issue, would definitely send a message. As a final notation to today's blog, I want to point out, that all of us who are objecting to the committee's recent decision, are also advocates of paying down the debt. We're not irresponsible about the issue, just the fact, that this kind bequeath, by Mr. Haight, should be used differently, for benevolent purposes…….as it was with benevolent intent, that we received it in the first place. We know there are many other ways, in the normal course of running this municipality, to steadily pay down the debt. The million dollar gift is not just for ratepayers to decide. If you live in Gravenhurst, you have a right to make comment, about how this money is used. And whether there are 10,000 different responses or not, the inconvenience to some, is precious democracy to others. A committee of citizens should be formed to work with council on this decision.

     The citizens of Gravenhurst need to make a fuss. Many of us allowed our rights to be restricted during the all-candidates meeting. We can make up for it now, by letting those councillors who did win the election, know that it was a one night surrender……not a forever thing.

     Thank you so much for reading this blog. Please visit again soon. I appreciate the time we spend together.

      I will be back to some antique and collectible writing soon. I just purchased a wonderful old cupboard with glass doors, and very thin shelves, apparently from a former Gravenhurst hotel…..but this was unnamed. We bought it from an antique shop in Orillia, and it will be used as a display piece, when our boys expand their main street music and collectible shop on July Ist. Hope you will come and visit.