The Great Ontario Communities Series (The Kawarthas)

 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 twelfth article is about the Kawarthas and all it has to offer.

THE KAWARTHAS - For the last 25 plus years Judi and I have, at some time or other, worked, lived and played in the Kawarthas!  Our first real venture into the Kawarthas was to visit the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival (then known as the Buckhorn Wildlife Art Festival).  This began a long love affair with the region!  A few years after our first visit, we had the opportunity to move to the area to live and work.  We found and purchased a small waterfront home on Upper Chemong Lake (aka Mud Lake) which is located between Lakefield to the south and Buckhorn to the north.  While we lived there, we had a wonderful time.  Our neighbours were great and we had many good times with them.  We purchased a run-a-bout and began to explore the Kawartha Lakes.  From Upper Chemong Lake we were able to easily travel to various small Kawartha towns and villages.  Buckhorn, Curve Lake Reserve and Bobcaygeon to name a few.  Unfortunately, times and jobs changed and we moved away from the area.  However, our love affair didn’t stop.  We eventually purchased another, larger boat and moored it in a marine on Upper Buckhorn Lake.  During all this time we visited many wonderful restaurants and events, and, or course, we continued to visit the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival.  The number of friends and acquaintances made over the years remain vividly in our memory today.  In recent years we have continued our close relationship with the Kawarthas, visiting many of their numerous festivals and events.  One of our favorite places to visit is the Lang Pioneer Village in Keene.  I have written about the village and its staff many times and look forward to continuing visiting and writing in the years to come!  The Kawarthas, with its lakes, towns and attractions is a wonderful place to live, let alone visit.