QUEEN VICTORIA DAY by Ralph Bice

From May 25, 1977

I have seen a great many springs and enjoyed just as many Victoria Day holidays. As we all know, May 24^th was the birthday of the great Queen Victoria and that date has been a holiday for many years.

Queen Victoria was the monarch of the British Empire for a record number of years. Her son, King Edward the seventh, asked that his birthday be passed by and that May 24^th be kept as a holiday. So we do not celebrate his birthday though for some years we did recognize King George the fifth on June 3^rd.

For ever so long, May 24^th seemed like the start of summer. Some springs the weather was nice, some years it was bad. Years ago we did not get to enjoy it as there was always the garden to plant, as well as a lot of other chores to do. But we survived.

This year will have to go down, from a weather angle, the nicest May 24^th in anyone’s memory. If there would be any complaint it would be that it was just a little on the hot side, and the usual crop of flies and mosquitoes was on hand.

So many people in the woods; I believe it would be an all time record if we knew how many parties were in this portion of Algonquin Park. Some report good fishing, yet some on the lakes caught only one or two, but all agree, even with the flies and not so many fish, that it was a remarkable weekend.

The only thing so far that has taken away some of the memories of this quite old established holiday is an article on the editorial page of a daily paper suggesting quite strongly that we drop the name ‘Victoria’ and name the holiday after one of our prominent men or women. Does one have any sentiment anymore?

I was in the woods for a few days acting as guide on a fishing trip. It wasn’t too hard as we stayed at one of the camps. The party was one that I have guided many times over the last 20 years, though after I had that accident they have been taken care of by younger guides. It was so nice to be with them again.

The two men had four of their sons with them and it was odd to think that I had guided them before these boys were born. The lakes are still so nice and the trees just coming into leaf.

The fishing is not like it once was but we had fish to eat and some to bring home. It all made for a pleasant three days. By the way, the younger boys caught most of the fish.

I believe they call the old Highways Department the Ministry of Transport and Communications now. Whatever their name they are doing a very fine job of keeping the two roads going from Kearney into the Park in good condition. As usual on the road going into Rain Lake a lot of moose are being seen. It does make it nice to see animals along the way.

I talked to several people who have been further back in the woods and they tell me there are more deer tracks than usual, which is very good. They also tell me that they have seen more signs of wolves than they have of deer, which is not so good.

There were a number of blue heron around just after the snow went but I guess they are now closer to their nests. I have not seen many ducks nor have I seen an eagle or an osprey. And by all the drumming in the early part of the spring we just might have a good crop of partridge next fall.

I have been watching a nest with three young robins to see when they would be able to fly. In just 10 days after they hatched they were flying. The only thing is, some animal found the nest and this morning only the legs and heads were lying on the ground. It must have been a cat or a raccoon as if it had been a hawk or a crow the young birds would have been carried away. Always there is a killdeer nest on our point and last year we found it. Only something got the eggs just before they hatched. This year we did not look. The water is low and the woods so very dry. I hope that we will not get a rush of fires. There has not been a major fire in this area for ever so long. The long range forecast tells us we will have a hot dry summer.

I wonder when we get to some of these hot days and are trying to keep cool, will anyone remember last winter and all the snow there was to shovel?