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! 

Should I Tell You?

In order to save on the cost of going to festivals and events and to eat healthier meals, Judi has been making and packing picnic lunches for us to take to the festivals and events we visit! We’ve been doing this since the beginning of August and it’s been going very well, until now! Each time Judi carefully thinks through what we are going to eat and what she needs to pack. She includes such things as forks, knives, spoons, salt, napkins, etc., all of this along with our food and beverages. To preserve the food in the hot weather and to keep our drinks cool, we have a thermal lined picnic bag. As I said, all was well until last week! Judi prepared and packed the food as usual. Our recyclable water bottles were freshly filled and also packed. We loaded everything into our car and then headed for our destination! We were going to visit the event in the morning and then head to Wellington to visit my brother Chuck and his wife, Flo. After the festival visit, we went back to the car, ready to have our picnic lunch. We wanted to eat before we headed out to Chuck and Flo’s. Judi opened the thermal bag and let out a loud scream and then a low moan! This was followed by a few well-chosen words! I can’t repeat them here! The bottom of the bag was completely filled with WATER! We had just purchased new water bottles and had not tested them out! The contents of the water bottles had leaked! Everything was soaked and the water bottles were empty! Even though the sandwiches had been carefully wrapped, the water had managed to seep in! They were just nicely soggy! I was hungry and needed eat, so I suck in a big breath and bit into the soggy sandwich! Needless to say, the lunch was not quite what we had in mind when we started out that morning! So, here is my FESTIVAL NOMAD advice for the day… “Check out your new water bottles for leaks BEFORE you pack them with your lunch!” Also, take your mother’s advice, “Never eat a soggy sandwich!” 

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Perth)

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 fourteenth article is about Perth which is located about an hour southwest of Ottawa and is considered one of the prettiest towns in Ontario.

PERTH - I can’t count the number of times we have passed through the northern portion of Perth and have never taken the time to stop and visit this beautiful historic town and its rich architecture.  Located in Eastern Ontario at the Tray River flowing through it, Perth is considered to be the “Prettiest Town in Ontario” … “Eastern Ontario’s exciting get-away destination”.  When we finally took the time to actually divert from Hwy. #7 into the downtown area, we were amazed at what was to be found.  The plain buildings and open roads turned into tree lined streets with charming century old homes.  The downtown business area was even more amazing.  Quaint shops housed in historic stone quarried buildings all bring to life the history of the town.  In researching Perth’s past, we found that Perth will turn 200 on April 18^th, 2016.  It was April 18^th, 1816 when Perth was established as a military settlement with lands obtained from the Algonkians.  Throughout its 200 years, Perth has grown and prospered.  It claims a number of interesting historic fact of events such as Eastern Ontario’s first newspaper (Bathurst Independent Newspaper), producing the World’s Biggest Cheese, Canada’s “last fatal duel”.  Now Perth is known as “The Big Town of Festivals”.  Perth boasts of such festivals as the Festival of Maples, Stewart Park MusicFest, Perth Fair to name a few.  There are also a number of wonderful attractions in Perth including the Conlon Farm (an amazing recreational facility), a busy farmers market, a cheese factory, the Perth Wildlife Reserve, the Perth Museum and much more.  So, if you are driving one day along Hwy. #7 near Perth and are looking for a memorable adventure, take the to find out more about Perth.  You may want to visit their website which is full of interesting facts, and details of things to do and see at. 

The Great Ontario Communities Series (Picton)

 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 thirteenth article is about Picton located along the Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County.

PICTON - One of Eastern Ontario’s most scenic drives is taking the Loyalist Parkway from Trenton and following it to the “end-of-the-rainbow” town of Picton.  Picton is one of those towns that you want to visit many times because there is so much to discover.  Picton is located about halfway along the scenic Loyalist Parkway.  To reach it from the west you start at Trenton and drive through the picturesque villages of Carrying Place, Wellington and Bloomfield.  Approaching it from the east, you start at Kingston and then drive along one of the most beautiful stretches of Lake Ontario until you come to the Glenora Ferry.  Here you embark on a free 15-minute ferry ride across the Bay of Quinte. 

Picton “a town proud of its past and excited about its future”.  This is proven by its many historic buildings and quaint shops.  One of the reasons Judi & I love to visit Picton and its surrounding areas is because of all its fun and interesting things to do.

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.