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 […]
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 […]
FISHING IN ALGONQUIN PARK In 1892, one year before the birth of Algonquin Park, the Province of Ontario initiated a creel limit that would continue until 1971 when fishing licences for men were discontinued because the government maintained that it was too costly to administer. Women had been exempted from purchasing a fishing licence in […]
HUNTING IN ALGONQUIN PARK Hunting pre-dates the birth of Algonquin National Park although wild game may not have been as abundant as it is to-day. The explorer David Thompson complained of a lack of wildlife in what we now regard as Algonquin Provincial Park. In 1893 when Peter Thompson assumed command he immediately recommended that […]
EARLY LIFE IN ALGONQUIN PARK by B.M. Trapping, hunting and fishing played an important historic role in the evolution of Algonquin Provincial Park as we know it to-day. Like a path from the past these passions have woven a common thread through the forests of time. It was the trapper who valued the raw wilderness […]
THE HERSCHEL TOWER 1967 With notes from John Robinson, Northwood Review, July 1999 The year of 1967 was a special national anniversary which celebrated 100 years of Canadian Confederation. Herschel Township applied for and received a federal government grant in early spring of ’67 for its proposed Centennial Tower project. It was constructed two miles […]
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 […]
ABOUT CORONATIONS To date – May 8, 2023 – I have seen two Royal Coronations; in 1953 Queen Elizabeth11 and 2023 her son Charles 111. Charles the 1st was a victim of English civil war (not very civil) and he lost his head – literally, he was beheaded for treason by the axeman. Charles 1 […]
