HOME HEATING FIREWOOD COMPARING 1980 TO 2024 With some tongue-in-cheek ITEM COST in 1980 same value in 2024 Stove, pipe, installation $458.00 $1,736.02 Load of logs $500 $1875.59 Chain saw $149.95 $562.49 Gas & lubricants…for saw $44.60 $167.30 Basic 4-wheel drive pickup $8379.04 $31,431.23 Pickup maintenance $438.00 $1643.01 Replace […]
ONTARIO OTTER FOR MISSOURI by B.M. 1984 The state of Missouri needs otter and the province of Ontario wants wild turkey. No problem. Ontario has otters, Missouri wild turkey. The solution is simple. Ontario and Missouri will trade otter for turkey. Otter for Rebel’s Cove, Missouri and wild turkey for Simcoe, Ontario. The turkey didn’t […]
OPEONGO LAKE TROUT STUDY by B.M. I first met Gary Ridout at the Bancroft Retriever Club Hunt Trials. Ridout raises Chessies. In discussion I learned that Gary is a Senior Technician at the Harkness Research Lab in Algonquin Park. Each October a team of researchers head out for the spawning shoals of Lake Opeongo to […]
THE SHOE TREE by B.M. circa 1988 Plainly speaking, we are not talking about the shoe tree that granddad used to keep his leather shoes in shape. This tree is alive and thriving. If tongues could talk they would tell you that Bill Boland, of Kinmount, started it all in 1982 by nailing shoes to […]
BANCROFT SLED DOG RACING by B.M. 1988 What do the Bear Grease, the Iditarod and the Bancroft International have in common? How did diaper rash prevent a competitor from finishing his race? Read on if you care to know. On Saturday, February 21, the 5th Annual Middle Distance Bancroft sled dog race took place. The […]
MY FIRST and LAST RACE by B.M. February 1987 “Aaaar, rruuff, urrr, aauurru….” 33 dog teams yelping, howling, dare I say crying, begging to go; sounding like they were being choked to death. BUT – these were happy sounds albeit somewhat frustrated for they had come to race, not stand and wait. The veterans had […]
LAKE ST. PETER PROVINCIAL PARK 2024-01-21 During 1973-75 the Cashel Junior Rangers spent time carrying out maintenance programs at Lake St. Peter P.P. – from painting to cleaning up….I recall one day we were so very hot that after we finished painting for the day we just ran into the lake to cool off. We […]
ALLEN C. HILGENDORF Landscape Artist & Muralist 2024-01-03 Born and raised on a mixed farm in rural Ontario Allen Hilgendorf fondly recalled his upbringing remembering chore time, maple syruping and harvests. His deep appreciation of nature was reflected in his early childhood drawings. Wild animals were often the source of his inspiration. His urge to […]
RICHARD D. ROBINSON ONTARIO JUNIOR RANGER 1943 2024-01-01 In 1943 the then Lands & Forests flew a trial balloon for a youth program that led to the Ontario Junior Ranger program that officially began in 1944. Richard Robinson, “everyone calls me Dick”, spent his summer of 1943 as a Junior Ranger in Algonquin Park. The […]
ONTARIO’S JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM – dated 2024-01-01 In 2004 the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ Ontario Ranger Program was poised to celebrate its 60th anniversary “This is Ontario’s oldest youth employment program for 17-year olds,” wrote Lee-Ann Choquette, Communications Officer of the Youth Programs Office, Human Resources Branch, located on the 3rd Floor, South Tower, […]
