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.