The Great Ontario Communities Series (Fenelon Falls)

 During the past 14+ years Judi and I have visited over 300 Ontario community festivals and events. The majority have been planned and managed by dedicated community volunteers. As a salute to these wonderful communities and their hard-working residents, I will be writing a series of blogs entitled “Great Ontario Communities”. These blogs describe the communities we have visited and will tell you about some of the interesting things we have experienced and the people we have met. The nineteenth article is about Fenelon Falls which is located just north of Lindsay.

FENELON FALLS - Fenelon Falls, often referred to as “The Jewel of the Kawartha’s”, is a picturesque thriving tourist destination. Judi and I can attest to this because of our many trips to Lock 34. Lock 34 takes boats from Sturgeon Lake to Cameron Lake and is a popular lock to stop and tie up at. I can remember one memorable experience when visiting this lock. We had just taken delivery of our new boat and were “sea testing it” with a trip to Fenelon Falls. At the top of the locks, we wanted to dock and tie up. As we approached an empty docking space a gust of wind caught our boat and, much to the dismay of other boaters, we turned in the lock. To boaters, this is NOT a good thing to, especially when you are out of control! To add our humiliation, the lockmaster (over the loud PA system) actually asked us if we were going back into the lock for the return trip down! I had trouble from there, both controlling the boat and docking it!  I couldn’t understand why I was having so much trouble! That is until I found out, upon further examination, that the steering wheel fluid had leaked, thus leaving me without any power steering. Power steering was needed to properly steer this type of boat! Once the problem was solved, I became a “pro” at docking the boat and fortunately did not have this type of “spectacle” again!  My memory of Fenelon Falls goes back some time, as my Aunt Jay and Uncle Herb had a cottage not far from the town.  My own mother and father eventually purchased a cottage close to theirs.  I can remember visiting my parents and Aunt and Uncle and then taking trips to Fenelon Falls. There we toured the town and purchased mouthwatering Chelsea buns from the local bakery. They were certainly something to remember. In later years, apart from visiting Lock34 with our boat, we used to drive to Fenelon Falls to get together with artist friends Marg and Terry Andrews. Terry became one of our favorite artists and was one of Judi’s first "art" mentors.  It was always fun when we played “Pictionary” with Terry.  Terry always drew the most elaborate picture that were easy to recognize. Unfortunately, he normally ran out of time and couldn't finish the picture!

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Kincardine)

 During the past 14+ years Judi and I have visited over 300 Ontario community festivals and events. The majority have been planned and managed by dedicated community volunteers. As a salute to these wonderful communities and their hard working residents, I will be writing a series of blogs entitled “Great Ontario Communities”. These blogs describe the communities we have visited and will tell you about some of the interesting things we have experienced and the people we have met. The eighteenth article is about Kincardine, located on the shinning blues shores of Lake Huron.

KINCARDINE - A number of years ago I had the privilege of living there for a few years. My most vivid memories of Kincardine are of Lake Huron, and of how it could be angry one moment and serine and calm the next. Summer in Kincardine was like most lakeside communities, full of fun outdoor activities, walks along the beach, and visiting festivals and events in the area. One such event happens every Saturday night during the summer. It is known as the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band parade. This is were Kincardine’s Pipe Band marches down the main street to Victoria Park.  They are followed by towns people and visitors alike.  In Victoria Park the band performs for all those who have gathered. I used to live in a second floor apartment right across from the park. I can remember many Saturday nights sitting at the front window, watching the parade and listening to the music. It was always an awesome spectacle!  Other memories of Kincardine include dining at many of its fine restaurants, snowmobiling with friends in the winter, and getting together with friends for arousing games of ping-pong. Although winters in the area can be very beautiful they can also be very dangerous. I can remember on a few occasions driving from Port Elgin to Kincardine and getting caught in blinding white-out.  If you have never experienced a white-out, I can tell you that it is a most terrifying experience! White-out can occurs when strong winds blow across Lake Huron and then hits the shores and fields, blowing snow in every direction. When you are caught in a white-out storm, you have no sense of movement or direction. The snow banks along the highway can be as high as a transport truck, so there is no-where to pull off the road. You can’t stop driving and you can only pray that no large vehicles comes on your side of the road and crashes into you!  The only good part of this experience is when you finally emerge from the blinding snow and are safe! Fortunately these storms don’t occur often but when they do it’s certainly best to stay off the roads and hunker down in front of a warm fire. For all of this, Kincardine was a great place to live and it’s now a wonderful place to visit!  Kincardine is a wonderful place to visit and has some of their great festivals and events. One such event is the Kincardine Scottish Festival. It has gained province wide recognition as one of the province's best Scottish festivals. Other interesting communities near Kincardine include Goderich, Port Elgin, Southampton and Owen Sound.

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Muskoka)

 During the past 14+ years Judi and I have visited over 300 Ontario community festivals and events. The majority have been planned and managed by dedicated community volunteers. As a salute to these wonderful communities and their hard-working residents, I will be writing a series of blogs entitled “Great Ontario Communities”. These blogs describe the communities we have visited and will tell you about some of the interesting things we have experienced and the people we have met. The seventeenth article is about Muskoka, land of lakes and recreation.

MUSKOKA - One of my all-time favourite places to visit is Muskoka. That's probably because this is where I spent most of my childhood summers. My first memory of Muskoka is of Lake of Bays and Baysville. For years my parents had been going to a lodge for our summer vacations, but that changed when I was about 10 years old. My mother and father decided to purchase a cottage rather than rent rooms at a lodge. The cottage search started in Haliburton, but was quickly curtailed when my mother saw a bear lumbering up a dirt road near where my parents were considering their new cottage. This took their search to Muskoka!  I don’t think, at the time, that my mother considered the fact that there were probably the same number of bears in Muskoka as there were in Haliburton! That being said, we all loved Muskoka, Lake of Bays and Baysville. After a fairly short search, they found a wonderful cottage on a small bay on the Lake of Bays. The cottage was on the west end of the lake and was located between Baysville and Huntsville. Those were halcyon years and set me for a life long love of the area. Even though we no longer have a cottage (sigh) there, I still gravitate back to the area! 

Muskoka cover a very large area with many beautiful lakes to discover and unique villages to visit.  There are four larger lakes and they include Lake Rosseau, Lake Muskoka, Lake Joseph and Lake of Bays. The major towns in the area include Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Rosseau, Huntsville and Bayside.

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Country Heritage Park)

 During the past 14+ years, Judi and I have visited over 300 Ontario community festivals and events. The majority have been planned and managed by dedicated community volunteers. As a salute to these wonderful communities and their hard-working residents, I will be writing a series of blogs entitled “Great Ontario Communities”. These blogs describe the communities we have visited and will tell you about some of the interesting things we have experienced and the people we have met. The sixteenth article is about Country Heritage Park. I am including this "Heritage Park" and others (Pioneer Villages) like it because I feel that they represent what communities and community life was and is all about.

COUNTRY HERITAGE PARK - You wouldn’t know it but hidden in the shadows of the Niagara Escarpment in Milton lies one of the best interactive heritage parks we’ve visited.  The park is called the “County Heritage Park” and if you look closely and quickly you can catch a glimpse of it from Hwy. #401, just west of Milton.  Don’t blink or you'll missed it. However, if you are looking for a really fun adventure with the whole family, the Country Heritage Park is the place to go.  The park depicts agriculture and rural life over the last 150 years.  The park is located on 80 acres and has 30 exhibit buildings and 20,000 artifacts.  Make sure, when you do go, that you take a good pair of walking shoes. Also, go early so you don’t miss anything.  Over the year the park has a number of special events, each highlighting different aspects of the park.

In addition to the historic buildings, the Country Heritage Park boasts a number of outstanding collections.  These include tractors, carriages, steam engines, cars, milking equipment and much more.  This is a special place, especially for those of us who enjoy experiencing and studying Canada's and Ontario's past!

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Kleinburg)

During the past few years Judi and I have visited almost 150 Ontario community festivals and events. The majority have been planned and managed by dedicated community volunteers. As a salute to these wonderful communities and their hard working residents, I will be writing a series of blogs entitled “Great Ontario Communities”. These blogs describe the communities we have visited and will tell you about some of the interesting things we have experienced and the people we have met. The fifteenth article is about Kleinburg which is located just north of Toronto.

KLEINBURG - Kleinburg is a beautiful village located just north of Toronto.  It’s probably best known for the home of the “Group of Seven”, McMichael Art Gallery.  The “Group of Seven” artists are one, of the best known and prestigious art groups Canada has ever known.  Original works of art include pieces by Franklin Carmichael, A.Y. Jackson, A.J. Casson, Arthur Lismer, and J.E.H. MacDonald.  Over the years Judi and I have enjoyed our visits.  I think the most memorable visit to Kleinburg was to its “Binder Twine Festival”.  The Binder Twine Festival (held the first Saturday after “Labour Day”) celebrates the fall harvest and was originally started by a local merchant (Charlie Shaw) to encourage farmers to the village and his store.  The festival was lost for a number of years but was brought back in 1967 when a committee of residents revived the concept as part of Canada's Centennial celebrations. The festival has grown ever since.  The town itself was founded in 1848 by John Kline a German/Canadian settler and is the home of several famous people including Pierre Berton over 50 years ago (although he died in 2004), former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.   Other interesting tidbits of information about Kleinburg include that it is home of Toronto International Film Studio, the popular television show “The Forest Rangers” was filmed in Kleinburg in 1963-1965, the movie “The Sentinel” was filmed in 2006 at the McMichael Art Gallery.  With the quaint shops, historic architecture, fine dinning, and beautiful lush settlings, Kleinburg is a wonderful place to visit!