Unique Muskoka Issue 31 - September 2021 : simplebooklet.com

...telling the Muskoka storyFeatures 11Natural Shoreline – Building a Better BuerArticle by Matt DriscollHabitat loss and degradation, water quality impairments and increasing pressures from shoreline development make environmental stewardship and restoration a priority. e more natural the shoreline is, the more healthy it is. at’s why for the past three years the Muskoka Watershed Council has been administering the Natural Edge program. 18Historic Baysville – 150 Years of Pioneering Spirit Article by Judy Vanclieaf Baysville celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and it is because of the pioneering spirit and the legacy of early settlers the community continues to thrive. Baysville founder W.H. Brown ﬁrst came to the area in 1869 to scope out the perfect piece of land to claim under the Free Land Grant Act. A sawyer by trade, he knew as soon as he saw the falls that this would be “the spot” to set up a sawmill and create a little village. 2 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 202130The Smithy – a Tradition of CreatingArticle by Meghan SmithPhotography by Josianne Masseau For over 75 years, the Church family has owned and operated e Smithy in Glen Orchard, forging handmade wrought iron products. With sparks dancing, ﬂying from the edges of the metal while smoke curls and ﬁlls the air, the local blacksmith employs techniques steeped in a trade and tradition that dates back into the early days of civilization.36Elene Freer – Encouraging Artists for Three DecadesArticle by Matt Driscoll No one knows Muskoka Arts and Crafts better than Elene Freer, and few people have been more heavily involved in the local arts scene over the past three decades. Following her arrival in Muskoka, Freer worked with countless artists, helping to provide venues to expand and grow their work. Now that’s she’s preparing to retire, Freer looks back on MAC’s successes during her tenure.[36][30][18]

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Departments50What’s HappenedArticle by Matt DriscollMuskoka groups are working together to create awareness of the damage caused by wake surﬁng, a Bracebridge long-haul trucker tells his story of 50 years on the road while a Bracebridge author brings maritime adventures to life, a new reserve protects the headwaters of ree Mile Lake and algae research oﬀers insights for the future.54Cottage Country CuisineArticle by Karen WehrsteinPhotography by Tomasz SzumskiSome of the best ﬂavours on your plate come from plants rooted in Muskoka’s earth. ree Muskoka chefs share their recipes for preparing root vegetables from Mexican main courses to hearty vegetable soups.42Muskoka Mapmaking – From Explorer David Thompson to Muskoka’s GeoHubArticle by J. Patrick BoyerFamed explorer and mapmaker David ompson created detailed maps and reports of Muskoka, beginning in 1837 and ﬁnishing his work in the spring of 1838. ompson recorded detailed ﬁeld notes about geography, geology, weather, trees, soils, and plants. Today, using modern techniques, Muskoka’s GeoHub oﬀers incredible map-based information to the general population.Our CoverPhotography by Josianne MasseauMarking 75 years in operation, 2020 was a landmark for e Smithy, a family business based in the west Muskoka community of Glen Orchard.SEPTEMBER 2021Mapmaking:Early Explorersto High TechHAMMERAND HEATForging a creativenew future from metalNATURALSHORELINES,BETTER BUFFERSHISTORIC BAYSVILLECELEBRATES 150 YEARSOF PIONEERING SPIRITElene Freer and MAC,devoted to the artsOpinion9 Muskoka InsightsBy Don Smith60 Muskoka MomentsBy Lori KnowlesAll About KitchensCREATE YOUR DREAM SPACE e possibilities are endlessBRACEBRIDGE 3 Gray Road 705.646.0347HUNTSVILLE 4 Centre St. N. 705.789.6161www.allaboutkitchens.ca[54][42][42]September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 5

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…telling the Muskoka story Unique Muskoka is published six times per year by Unique Publishing Inc.Donald SmithPublisher and EditorCurtis ArmstrongDirector of Salesand Digital MarketingDonna AnsleySalesLisa BrazierDesignSusan SmithAdministrationJ. Patrick BoyerMatt DriscollLori KnowlesJosianne MasseauMeghan SmithTomasz SzumskiJudy VanclieafKaren WehrsteinContributorsAnnual Subscription Rates: (including HST where applicable)In Ontario $30.00 All Other Provinces $36.00 U.S. $60.00 All Other Countries $72.00HST: 773172721Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement Number: 43268016Copyright © 2021 Unique Publishing Inc.No content published in Unique Muskoka can be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.Mailing AddressBox 616, Bracebridge ON P1L 1T9Street Address28 Manitoba St., Bracebridge ON P1L 1S1www.uniquemuskoka.cominfo@uniquemuskoka.com 705-637-0204 6 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021stoneway marble & granite inc.Les and Renata Partyka1295 Muskoka Rd. 118 West, Bracebridge | 705.645.3380 | stoneway.inc@gmail.com705-764-0765 | muskokabarging.com | 1163 Milford Bay Rd, Milford Bay ONBARGING STEEL & CRIB DOCKS SEPTIC SYSTEMS LANDSCAPING ● ●Muskoka Barging●Family run construction company with over 35 years experience operating in the Muskoka Lakes area. No job is too small or too big.

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46 Ann Street, Bracebridge705-646-9995 | 877-877-3929www.LesBell.caTRUST • INTEGRITY • SERVICEOur local team is here to provide you with personalized insurance solutions. For the coverage your family deserves, call us today.Photograph: Susan SmithYour Home and Cottage Mattress CentreTHE LARGEST SELECTION OF IN-STOCKMATTRESSES IN MUSKOKAMUSKOKACURATED COLLECTION by Marshall Mattress6 Monica Lane, Bracebridge705.646.2557www.mattressesofmuskoka.comMuskoka InsightsWow!!!What an incredible adventure the past 50 years have been.Yes, it was 50 years ago, this September, a young high school graduate walked into the oﬃces of e Herald-Gazette, Bracebridge’s long-established weekly newspaper of the day, and applied for the recently-opened position of reporter-photographer. He had decided to work for a year before starting his university education and, somewhat naively, he believed his stint as editor of the school yearbook qualiﬁed him for the assigned duties.Bob Boyer, longtime MPP for Muskoka, had recently announced his intention to retire from political life and return full-time to his duties at the family newspaper. He wanted a reporter-photographer to extend the publication’s coverage into the Muskoka Lakes area of the District and by residency, the young, eager applicant – a resident of Glen Orchard – ﬁt at least part of the necessary requirements.Well, I remember being ushered into Bob’s front oﬃce. He sat behind a massive desk stacked high with newspapers, press releases, magazines, copies of Hansard and an ever-present ashtray for his favourite cigars. While he was always friendly, welcoming and insistent upon me referring to him as “Bob” from the very outset of our meeting, the interview was nevertheless daunting.Somehow, Bob looked beyond my lack of training, sensed my eagerness and, against the advice of others, put his faith in my desire to fulﬁll the requirements of the job. “And the rest,” as is often said, “is history.”While there were mundane duties for the new recruit, such as preparing the weekly press run for mailing, they were oﬀset by headier experiences. Interviewing leaders of the community, photographing the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, attending beauty pageants and meeting with Cabinet ministers during their Muskoka stopovers were but some of the assignments on my weekly docket.Bob’s desire to better serve the communities of west Muskoka resulted in the launch of e Georgian Bay Beacon and with two years of his mentoring under my belt, I was its ﬁrst editor. A scant three years later, Bob decided to retire from the day-to-day duties of publishing, and with the announcement came the opportunity for me to become publisher of the ﬂedgling publication.For the following 45 years, I’ve had the honour of running publications throughout Muskoka, Parry Sound, Haliburton, Renfrew, Hastings, North Bay and Simcoe. ere was even a provincial publication added to the mix and one national magazine. While there were certainly many publishing successes, that’s not to say I didn’t trip on more than one occasion; one of which was a very costly but important life lesson. Always, my experience has been about much more than the publications. It’s been about the people who have embraced them, provided their support and shared in this journey – the stories they have told, the connections with people and community.In this column, I regularly provide an overview of the issue being released. I’ll keep it short this time but I’d like to bring your attention to two articles. Almost 50 years ago, one of my ﬁrst assignments was about e Smithy in Glen Orchard. It’s with a sense of pride that ﬁve decades later, our daughter, Meghan has written about the legacy of this Muskoka business. Likewise, I am pleased to direct your attention to the feature on mapmaker David ompson – written by regular contributor Patrick Boyer, Bob Boyer’s son.So, 50 years later, to all who have shared in this adventure and been a part of my life, I oﬀer two simple words that are very heartfelt – ank You!September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 9

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Article by Matt DriscollStretching some 210 km from the western slopes of Algonquin Park to Georgian Bay, the Muskoka River watershed is the largest of its kind in the region and provides habitat shelter and food for roughly 90 per cent of the area’s aquatic wildlife.Much of the viability of the Muskoka watershed, which also includes 19 sub-watersheds and 2,000 plus lakes are contingent on the health of thousands of kilometres of shoreline.“e more natural the shoreline is, the more healthy it is,” says Rebecca Willison, watershed planning technician at District Municipality of Muskoka. at’s why for the past three years the Muskoka Watershed Council has been administering the Natural Edge program locally. Although shorelines are one of the richest environments on earth, they are also among the most threatened. Habitat loss and degradation, water quality impairments and increasing pressures from shoreline development deteriorate lakes and rivers, making them a priority for environmental Photograph: Muskoka Watershed CouncilSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 11

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CUSTOM HOMES & COTTAGES FOR OVER 45 YEARSFor over 45 years, Tech Home has helpedclients realize their vision of a beautiful &uniquely personal custom home.We build to the highest standards of quality atthe most aﬀ ordable pricing in cottage country.Visit our Gravenhurst Model Home or Toronto Design Centre, & we’ll bring your dream to life.GRAVENHURST MODEL HOME2278 Hwy 11N.| Gravenhurst, ON | P1P 1R11.888.417.8761GREATER TORONTO AREA DESIGN CENTRE130 Konrad Cres, Unit #18 | Markham, ON | L3R 0G5905.479.9013SERVING MUSKOKA / GEORGIAN BAY / HALIBURTON1-888-417-8761 www.techhomeltd.comIT’S YOUR DREAM. WE BRING IT TO LIFE.THANK YOU Frontline Workers...we appreciate all that you do!The number of property owners purchasing shoreline naturalization kits, like the one pictured above, have increased year over year. stewardship and restoration.As part of the Natural Edge program, the Muskoka Watershed Council provides free site visits to anyone requesting it in the Muskoka area. at visit includes recommendations on how to improve the health of your shoreline, suggestions on appropriate vegetation and the opportunity to purchase a shoreline re-naturalization starter kit.“We’ve seen huge growth in the program over the past three years,” says Willison.In 2019, the watershed council conducted 17 site visits and distributed ﬁve starter kits. e following year, it was 24 site visits and 16 starter kits, and by the end of July this year that number had risen to 25 site visits and 10 starter kits, with many more site visits planned and a waiting list on top of that.“A large part of that growth has been word of mouth and more promotion coming from lake associations,” says Willison. “For example, the Loon and Turtle Lake Association began promoting the program and we quickly had 15 landowners contact us for site visits and information.”Willison says the same was true for the Lake of Bays area, where they saw a major push in participants following promotion from the Lake of Bays Association.“A lot of people simply don’t know how to get rid of their lawn or which plants to use for naturalization,” she says. “We teach them which plants to use and then provide them with the resources to help get started. Once they’re established, they’re usually good to go but getting them established properly is essential.”Photograph: Muskoka Watershed CouncilSite visits help property owners determine what to plant on their property.Photograph: Muskoka Watershed CouncilSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 13

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Re-naturalization of the shoreline along Lake Vernon in Huntsville is just one of the recent re-naturalization projects. 705.645.4294 TF: 866.645.4294STORE: 228 TAYLOR RD., BRACEBRIDGEOFFICE: 1646 WINHARA RD., GRAVENHURSTSales & Service of MajorPropane Appliances(refrigerators, ranges, fireplaces, furnaces & more)Safe & reliableNo electricity requiredBulk propane deliveryto your home or cottageAppliancesEach shoreline re-naturalization starter kit costs $250 and includes a customized re-naturalization planting plan, 50 native plants including trees, shrubs and wildﬂowers, coconut ﬁbre pads to deter grass from growing around new plantings, tree guards for deciduous trees, mulch for wildﬂowers and various guides and resources.“Each visit typically takes between one and one and half hours and they’re all free, conﬁdential and voluntary,” says Willison. “We also help them develop a planting plan which they can take right to the nursery. We ﬁnd more and more nurseries in Muskoka are now carrying native plants and we can point people in the direction of those that do.”Willison says she also likes to point out the native species that are already thriving on the shoreline. “I think there is a bit of a misconception out there that natural plants are a bit blah but there are many beautiful native species like black-eyed susans, serviceberry shrubs and cardinal ﬂowers, just to name a few,” says Willison. Willison says in addition to increasing the health of the watershed, naturalized shorelines can also provide a number Photograph: Muskoka Watershed CouncilStrengthening the existing shoreline helps to ght against erosion. Photograph: Muskoka Watershed CouncilSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 15

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16 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Pssst...Do you love knowing what’s going on in your community?Since 2015, Doppler has been North Muskoka’s go-to source for local news.SOUTH MUSKOKA DOPPLER IS UP AND RUNNING and will bring the same dedicaon to the communies of Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, and Muskoka Lakes.Head to southmuskoka.doppleronline.caand sign up for FREE to get the scoop. READ LOCALOur mantra is local: from features on local people doing extraordinary things, to local business spotlights, news and sports coverage, all supplemented by provocave opinion pieces on topics near and far.For more informaon contact MATT DRISCOLLEditor – South Muskoka DopplerMa.driscoll@doppleronline.caAs the number of people looking to revitalize their shorelines has increased in recent years, the future of the Muskoka watershed is looking ever brighter. of beneﬁts, including the ability to make your property more resistant to ﬂooding.“Fifty per cent of water evaporates via trees and shrubs, so having those on your property will help you get back to normal more quickly after ﬂooding,” she says. “ey also help bind the soil together which helps prevent erosion.”Canada geese are a common problem in the region and Willison says the wider open a waterfront property is the more likely it is to become home to ﬂocks of geese.“Geese are prey animals and they want to be able to see clearly in every direction,” she says. “Even a few boulders or shrubs will help keep them away from your property.”e importance of pollinators to the ecosystem is widely known and another important aspect of naturalization.During site visits Willison says she’s also keen to point out invasive species on the property. Many times the owners have no knowledge of what is considered invasive.“ings like lily of the valley, goat weed and periwinkle are all invasive and will spread out into the forest,” says Willison. “I can’t tell you how many properties I’ve gone to where the entire understory has been taken over by invasive species. We already have the good stuﬀ here we just need to be able to keep it.”Although there is a lot of work to do Willison says more and more she sees property owners, both new and established, showing more enthusiasm and interest for re-naturalizing the shoreline. e biggest key is education, she says, but if word continues to spread on the importance of a healthy shoreline there is no reason to believe Muskoka won’t continue to make inroads in preserving and protecting one of the region’s most abundant and important ecosystems.Photograph: Muskoka Watershed Council

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Nature conservation is necessary for Muskoka to remain Muskoka.To those who made that statement loud and clear by raising over$140,000 through Muskoka on the Edge 2021, thank you!Conserving Nature in Muskoka. Join us today.A registered charity.Photo by Christine AndrewsDon & Karen Lang FamilyRob& Elizabeth Jennings FamilyHope Thomson & Phil Haynes FamilyColin Glassco FamilySelby Martin and Kathy VarleyTheresa and Seth MerskySuzanne and Dan Cook FamilyRichard Boxer FamilyGuy & Margaret Carr-HarrisLulu HamlinFrancis Carmichael, Jack Cashman & FamilyNancy Cohen and Stephen Goldhar and FamilyLiz Lundell and Guy BurryJim Christie & Sarah Pepall FamilyAnne Surdam FamilyAnonymousLaurie Thomson & Andy Chisholm FamilyLinc & Melissa Caylor FamilySilvercrest Foundation (Caleb Hayhoe)Kim & Stuart Lang FamilyBrian McComb & Harriet Thomas FamilyRichard & Donna Ivey FamilyPresenting Families • $5,000+Chris and Bev Cape FamilyMichael & Martha Robinette FamilyDavid & Susan Willmot FamilyJohn & Pam Rennie FamilyDonna and Bob PoileJohn and Pattie Cleghorn FamilySponsor Family • $3,500+Susie McClelland Drinkwater FamilyJim Leech and Deb Barrett FamilyGeorge Boddington FamilyIan & Gail Brooker FamilyBill & Judy Benson FamilyGretchen Ross FamilySupporter Family • $2,000+

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18 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Article by Judy VanclieafOne can still be witness to the traditional, small-town charm of Baysville every time they go through the dated doors of the historic building that houses Miss Nelle’s. From the suspended canoe that hangs above the cash to the original Langmaid’s sign proudly displayed in the dining area, everywhere you look, there is a reminder of the past.Across the street sits the ﬁrst brick home built by Baysville founder W.H. Brown and the building next door, which has the painted mural depicting Baysville’s ﬁrst dam and the old Lincoln Lodge, was once the third post oﬃce built in 1896. Around every corner there is an historical building with a story to be told...150 years of stories to be exact.In becoming Baysville’s founding father, Brown ﬁrst came to the area in 1869 to scope out the perfect piece of land to claim under the Free Land Grant Act. A sawyer by trade, he knew as soon as he saw the falls that this would be “the spot” to set up a

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The sawmill, adjacent to the dam in Baysville, was part of community founder W.H. Brown’s vision for growth.Baysville’s founder W.H. Brown rst came to the area in 1869, settling in Baysville in 1871. Photograph: Bill Kellysawmill and create a little village. He headed back to Burford, his home town, and told the government his plans to build a sawmill. For that, he was given an additional 400 acres of land including water rights. Brown would return in June of 1872 with his family to clear a small parcel of land beside the river and erect the frame for the mill. But before he could set up his machinery, he had to wait an entire year before the promised and long-awaited road would be cut through from Bracebridge. Even after it was built, it was an onerous trip, hauling the equipment by oxen over the rough wagon track from Bracebridge to Baysville.at ﬁrst year, a municipal council was formed and taxes of $301.98 were collected to build the log schoolhouse. A church had not been built yet, so the schoolhouse would serve a dual purpose and be used for Sunday services. Today, both the ﬁrst church (Bethune United) and the schoolhouse, which now serves as Parish Hall at the Anglican Church, are still actively used.Brown had the village surveyed naming each of the streets after family members and early settlers, though the origin of the name University Street remains unknown. However, a survey map from 1879 shows that part of Baysville had not been developed yet. According to this survey map, Baysville was home to Brown’s Sawmill and Gammage Grist Mill which was located directly across the river from the sawmill. ere was also a shingle mill on the west side of the river above the dam, three stores and a school. In 1873, the ﬁrst bridge was built crossing over just above the dam from Baysville Terrace to Heney Lake Road. is bridge was very narrow with only enough room for a horse and buggy to cross. If one were to look in the river today, the cribs can still be seen on a clear day.Before the ﬁrst bridge was built, the only means of crossing the river was by a small cedar raft. e ﬁrst death in Baysville occurred in 1872 when a father and son team drowned. Mr. Spong and his young son were crossing the river, making their way to their land claim, when the fast waters swept them over the rapids. Brown donated land for a graveyard making the Spongs, father and son, the ﬁrst burials in Baysville. A wooden cross once marked the grave but has since been replaced by a cement gravestone paid for by the former Baysville Photograph: Judy Vanclieaf from Marie Vanclieaf lesPhotograph: Shirley BurtonSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 19

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Women’s Institute.e second bridge which was made of steel was built in 1904, just north of the old bridge and dam. e steel structure was much more durable but it made a lot of noise every time a vehicle went over it.Joy Seymour, who grew up on the east side of Baysville, remembers having to cross the bridge every day for school. “I would run across that bridge as fast as I could, to be sure to get to the other side before a car would come,” says Seymour. “e clanky rattling noise of the bridge would scare me as a child.” e steel structure would last another 55 years until 1960 when the provincial government put the new highway through complete with the present bridge. W.H. Brown played many major roles in the village. He served as Justice of the Peace in 1872, was Reeve of McLean from1876 to 1885 and was also Baysville’s ﬁrst postmaster from 1874 to 1920. His daughter, Helena (Lena) Campbell was the ﬁrst telegraph operator and followed in her father’s footsteps serving as Baysville’s second postmaster for 11 years until her passing in 1931. e family tradition would continue with Lena’s son, Carl “Scotty” Campbell. Before becoming postmaster, Scotty would drive the stagecoach led by a team of horses to and from Bracebridge to get the mail. Scotty called it “the good ole days” when it used to take ﬁve hours to get to Bracebridge, then about seven hours back, as coming back was mostly uphill. Not only would the passengers have to walk up the steep hills, especially the one at Devils Gap on Stoneleigh, but often they would have to help the horses by pushing the coach to reach the top. When Scotty retired as postmaster in 1960, there was a 24-year break of the Brown family running the post oﬃce with Jack ompson as postmaster. In 1984, Scotty’s daughter Bette Campbell became acting postmistress until her retirement in 1998. is put the tradition of Brown family members in the Baysville Post oﬃce collectively at 103 years. In 1872, W.H. Brown built the ﬁrst brick house in Baysville. e bricks were brought in by oxen from Washago to Bracebridge and then to Baysville. Other materials for the house would come down by canoe across Trading Lake from Dorset. For almost 150 years, this brick house sitting at 3 Bay Street, has had four generations of the Brown family living in it. Currently, Shirley (our founder’s great granddaughter) and her husband Bob Burton now reside in this lovely old Gothic Revival home and each generation before that has kept much of its originality.Looking at the front of the building, you will notice the original wavy pebble glass windows. e front door is also original and was made by Shirley’s great grandfather in The mural, painted by Baysville artist Chantelle Poisson in 2005, is featured on a building built in 1890 and used as a post oce from 1896 until 1931.Town Crier Bruce Kruger and his wife Lynn Kruger announce the history of Miss Nelle’s Antiques and Café during a recent event in Baysville.Photograph: Tomasz SzumskiPhotograph: Tomasz SzumskiSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 21

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22 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021his mill. Even the wooden trim, baseboards and the door frames are all original and came from Brown’s sawmill, 150 years ago. Lanterns from Scotty’s stagecoach are now modernized to serve as outdoor lights to illuminate the Burton home entrance.Although W.H. Brown was the founder and had a major role in building this little community, the trailblazers were Mark Langford and three other young men. e Langford story is the most illustrative story in all the publications in Baysville’s history. e Baysville Tweedsmuir recites Mark Langford’s journey that began in September of 1870, as they trudged across the rugged lands to their property in McLean Township. “We came here with the intention of taking possession of the promised land, the land ﬂowing with riches.” At least, that is what they were led to believe. “We had our blankets and axes and purchased supplies in Bracebridge – 50 lb. of ﬂour, bacon, tea, sugar, tin cups, tin pails, plates, knives and forks.” Although the young men were accustomed to very hard work, they found that their load on their backs was very heavy and cumbersome. e ﬁrst day they made it seven miles and stayed with the Bruces on what is now oxtonguecraf tcabin.com Fine Canadian CraftStudio JewelleryOriginal ArtOpen six days a week Labour Day to Thanksgiving (then weekends only thru Dec.) 1073 Fox Point Rd, Dwight 705.635.1602Joy Annett Luxuriously hand-crafted jewelleryHAPPY 150TH BIRTHDAYBAYSVILLEWishing you all the best in your celebrations!From Mayor, Council & StaffCAPTURE THE SCENTS OF MUSKOKA28 Manitoba Street, BracebridgeINTRODUCING KIATHE21 Robert Dollar Dr, Bracebridge, ON P1L 1P9705-645-6575The rst brick house built in Baysville was constructed by the community's founder, W.H. Brown.

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Top: Baysville’s rst bridge, built in 1874, is seen in this photograph taken in approximately 1890. Baysville House is in the background and two doors to the right is the home of W.H. Brown. Above: Devils Gap hill going from Bracebridge to Baysville. Travellers would oen get o the coach and walk, sometimes helping the horse by pushing the coach up the hill. Right: An early layout of the community of Baysville.Photographs: Judy Vanclieaf from Marie Vanclieaf lesStoneleigh Road. e second day, they found themselves walking on a very poor footpath that led to two other dwellings, the last being the Hussey home. Between the Hussey home and their destination would be four miles of dense unbroke forest in which they trudged on with all their heavy gear on their backs. Not quite making it to their “promised land,” they got discouraged and turned around the next morning, heading back to Bracebridge, leaving everything behind. When Mark’s father, omas Langford, learned they had returned to Bracebridge, the father of 10 insisted that they go back and get the property ready for he was bringing the entire family to live there the following spring.Young Langford (he was 17 at the time) and William Gammage headed back in October to clear the land and build the ﬁrst rough hut. Together they cut and split trees to build two shanties. e fronts of the shanties were built facing a rock and were left open where a ﬁre would be built at night, heating the rock which would deﬂect back into the house. ey had one building almost ﬁnished and the walls were up and the roof on another by that Christmas. By then, the snow was three feet deep, but they had a good footpath that had been cut through. Several trips were made to Bracebridge to get supplies and on one trip, Mark carried a grindstone of 60 pounds on his back all the way back. e Langford family had no idea of the challenges they would face. In March of 1871, omas Langford, who was in a wheelchair due to an accident, decided that it was time to move in. He packed up his other nine children and their worldly belongings on an oxen and cart, trudging through four feet of snow. It would take them two weeks to get all their belongings moved. One cannot imagine the hardships they went through.Less than a decade later, the lumbering industry began and the population in Baysville spiked. All the timber cut in the Lake of Bays district would pass through Baysville, making its way to other sawmills further down the river. Baysville became the headquarters for the lumbermen which saw a series of tents set up on the property of what is now Baysville Marina.With the inﬂux of lumbermen in Baysville, September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 23

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24 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021705-646-2508STYLEDESIGNINNOVATIONShoe Mount Glassexcelrailings.caLena Brown Campbell, daughter of founder W.H. Brown, was Baysville’s second postmaster. Dan Watson built his own version of an airboat which would enable him to travel over water and ice. The airboat made his job as police constable of McLean and Ridout, a lot easier.Photograph: Judy VanclieafPhotograph: Shirley Burtonhotels began to pop up. At one point, there were seven thriving hotels in the tiny settlement. When boredom set in with seven hotels to choose from, excessive alcohol consumption became a problem. W.H. Brown and his brother-in-law Judson Henderson thought drinking was getting out of hand, so they called a local option bylaw in McLean and Ridout Townships to close all bars and prohibit all sales of alcohol.So, what did people do for alcohol during this time of Temperance? Are we naïve to think everyone abstained? ere have always been rumours about secret stills in the back bush making moonshine, but even to this day, you will hear, “you didn’t hear that from me.” If moonshine wasn’t available, one could still acquire alcohol from a doctor with a prescription from the drugstore. By 1919, it was made legal to purchase alcohol in McLean and Ridout again.When the lumber industry began to taper oﬀ at the turn of the century, the population went down and most of the hotels closed their doors.McLean and Ridout Townships in the

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Photograph: Elaine Arbuckleearly 1900s quickly became a popular tourist area. Farmhouses opened their doors to tourists, some putting on additions and even building bigger to accommodate the growing industry. Many hotels began to pop up with the likes of Pulford House, later to become Robertson Inn. Baysville House, Burlmarie House and Idlywyld bringing even more tourists to the area.Steamships would service Trading Lake (now Lake of Bays), transporting guests to and from the hotels to the Portage Railway at the northeast end of the lake. Shelters were built on both sides of the river to accommodate guests waiting for the steamship to take them to their destinations. ese shelters still stand on the Baysville town docks often used by families as shelter from the sun and the occasional place for kids to climb and jump into the water.As the tourism industry grew, bigger and fancier hotels were being built around the lake – White House, Wawa and Bigwin would attract guests from all over the world.Bigwin Inn was the reason the road from Bracebridge to Baysville was paved. In the late 20s when C.O. Shaw was operating Bigwin Inn, a Good Roads Association convention was held on the island. e road from Bracebridge was still in the modiﬁed wagon track stage. So, to impress convention delegates, the Provincial Government slapped a quick coat of asphalt over the dirt. Because of the rush to pave the roads, the workers would use whatever they could get their hands on to ﬁll the holes... old tree stumps, logs and boulders. is would make the roadbed unstable causing the asphalt to The Lincoln Lodge with the slogan “Best place to eat by a dam site” was a popular dining location in Baysville. This photograph is from the late 1960s.100% Canadian Artists• Large Original Paintings• Whimsical Sculptures• Hand made wood bowls,pottery & jewelry111 Medora St. (Hwy 118 West.)Port Carling, Muskoka705 765 7474www.redcanoegallery.comCelebrating 28 years in Muskoka(parking at rear)Painting by Paul Garbett, 72” x 48”September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 25

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26 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021A quiet moment at the Baysville Town docks, looking up the Muskoka River.Photograph: Tomasz Szumskiheave and crack with the frost. Every year after, the roads crews would have to throw on more asphalt to keep the bumps manageable.e main road from Baysville to Dorset, travelled along what is now known as the scenic route via Echo and Ril Lake. is route made Bigwin inaccessible by car, so a new road from Baysville to Bigwin was also constructed that same year.Baysville, being the capital of McLean Township, had to have a town hall. Once located beside Baysville Hotel (Lincoln Lodge), it served as the centre of activity for the community. Fairs, Christmas concerts and dances were all held in the building. It was also home to the library, the council chambers and the jail, later to be sold to become the ﬁre hall. e jail was housed in the basement during the 1940s to the 1960s. It was during this time that McLean and Ridout Townships hired their own municipal police to manage things. Constable Dan Watson’s hardest job seemed to be keeping the peace at Baysville dances, held every Saturday night at the community centre. ese dances were well known for their ﬁghts and quite often someone would have to be thrown in jail to cool oﬀ for the night.Dan’s other focus was to investigate cottage break-ins. To make his job easier in the winter, this oﬃcer built his own airboat that was designed to travel on both water and ice.It is the progressive and often innovative thinking of people like Constable Dan Watson, trailblazer Mark Langford and founder W.H. Brown who have made a signiﬁcant mark in Baysville’s history. Baysville celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and it is because of people like Watson, Langford and Brown, and many others throughout the last century and a half that Baysville is still thriving to be the great little historical village it is. A plaque commemorates the founding of Baysville, located above the Baysville dam.Photograph: Tomasz Szumski

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Baysville is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. With a population of close to 400 full time residents, the last few decades have seen new developments and new businesses popping up all through the village. In 2004, the village began to see a major development shift that would change the dynamics of the once sleepy little village. Just to the east of Baysville, on the property that was once Birch Glen Resort and Random House, a major development broke ground and in 2006, Baysville became home to an elaborate four-season fractional ownership vacation spot called e Landscapes. is vast complex covering 50 per cent of the original Birch Glen property, oﬀers a sports centre complete with a spa, an outdoor saltwater pool, hot tub, splash pad and a beautiful sandy beach along the Muskoka River. It deﬁnitely has an ultra-modern WOW factor when you ﬁrst drive up. Landscapes is one of the few resort developments in Muskoka to be serviced by a water and sewer treatment plants which are located at the south-east end of the property. e seven acres of land that the treatment plants occupy was provided by Landscape developers. e Baysville (Birch Glen) Water and Waste Treatment operations, located nearby each other, are operated by the District of Muskoka. ey provide safe water and sewage treatment to approximately 348 people in the village of Baysville, as well as to the Landscapes fractional compound next door. ere are 57 ﬁre hydrants around the village and ﬁve more privately owned at Landscapes. According to the District’s website on the Baysville water treatment plant, “e treatment facility is capable of eﬀective operation during emergencies, maintenance shutdowns and power failures and was built with room for 20 years of moderate growth with up to 750 people.” In 2006, the same year the water plant was Terry Glover of Fork in the Road, Michelle MacIsaac of Humble Pie Bakery and Elaine Grioen of Yummies in a Jar pause aer a busy day. These businesses share a popular location in downtown Baysville.Article by Judy Vanclieaf / Photography Tomasz Szumski 28 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021

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up and running, ground was breaking back in Baysville for a new craft brewery. On the corner of Bay and Highway 117, across the street from what used to be a little white liquor store trailer, now sits Lake of Bays Brewing Company. What started as an idea by then 23-year-old founder Darren Smith has grown to be one of the top 10 by volume breweries in the Ontario craft beer industry. In a building with less than 4,000 square feet, which is small to craft brewery standards, is where it all happens. e building is also home to a tap room and retail store and a more recently added licensed patio and food hut.LOB Brewing Co. has continued to grow over the last 11 years and now employs over 50 people making it Lake of Bays’ largest employer. It’s a deﬁnite boost to Baysville’s economy. In 2018 and 2020, respectively, they expanded by opening a restaurant and microbrewery in both Huntsville and Bracebridge. It didn’t take long for the LCBO to keep up with Baysville’s fast growing community. e LCBO ﬁrst opened their liquor store in Baysville in 1974 in a little white trailer that had been stabilized on blocks. Typically, LCBO would only be set up in a town that had a bank and a supporting population but Baysville had neither of these. In 1983, the government decided Baysville’s population wasn’t big enough to support a year-round liquor store. e convincing eﬀorts of the township council and a successful rally of the citizens of Baysville put the little LCBO trailer back in operation. Fast forward 30 years and in 2013, the LCBO ﬁnally committed to a much larger location when it opened a 5,000 square foot cutting edge LCBO complete with a large parking lot. It was in a perfect location at the crossroads for people heading up to the top end of Lake of Bays.Baysville continues to be a growing community with dining opportunities like Cast Iron Restaurant, Fork in the Road, Miss Nelle’s and the newly resurrected e Pav, all oﬀering totally diﬀerent food experiences. Added to the mix are two food trucks, located at each end of the town.e two general stores, and the gas station have always been a staple for Baysville where the Humble Pie Bakery, Yummies in a Jar and Murden’s Art Gallery have all been here going on 30 years. Relatively new to the Baysville landscape is the Season-to-Season Garden Market and the Antique Cellar, not to mention the ice cream stand always has a line up, and on occasion, one may ﬁnd a young entrepreneur in front of their homes operating a lemonade stand. All this is normal growth for a small town like Baysville.In the last 17 years, Baysville has seen a substantial development and economic boost resulting in making it a destination spot for tourists. e once sleepy little town of Baysville, which still holds its small-town charm, now has some bigger town choices. Top: Lake of Bays Brewing Company opened its doors in 2010, making it Baysville’s largest employer. Above, le: Troy Wiebe operates the treatment plant in Baysville, an impressive asset for a small community. Above, right: Amy Kavanagh and Erica Racanelli at Lake of Bays Brewing Company enjoy some cheer with a nice cold Lake of Bays beer.The Landscapes on the outskirts of Baysville has been a leader in providing new opportunities to enjoy the Lake of Bays.September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 29

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30 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Sparks dance, ﬂying from the edges of the metal while smoke curls and ﬁlls the air. A hammer clangs, ringing out across the yard and a high-pitched whirring permeates the background. While these sights and sounds may seem reminiscent of a scene with knights and jousting from a movie or television series, in this case, the scene is a blacksmith’s shop in Glen Orchard. Blacksmithing has a long history, featuring in mythology and records across many cultures and time periods. While there are several professions that work with metals, such as farriers, who specialize in equine hoof care, or whitesmiths, who specialize in precious metals like gold or silver, blacksmiths are known for having the general knowledge of how to make or repair a wide array of items from armour to hooks and nails. In a smithy or a forge, blacksmiths work by heating pieces of metal, usually steel or wrought iron, until the metal becomes soft enough to shape. Achieving the proper temperature for the iron is indicated by colour. As iron heats, it glows ﬁrst red, then to orange, to yellow and ﬁnally, to white Article by Meghan Smith / Photography by Josianne Masseau

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Top: The colour of iron is important in a blacksmith’s shaping process. A bright yellow-orange is the best for forging and welding. Above: When the shop originally opened, The Smithy used a coal forge to heat metals, sometimes taking all day to reach the appropriate temperature. Now, it’s gas-red.when at its hottest. Blacksmithing can be classiﬁed into four general stages: forging, welding, heat-treating and ﬁnishing. e heat of the metal required may be diﬀerent, depending on each stage. In forging or welding, unlike machining, no materials are removed from the item. Even if a hole is being punched into the metal, the metal is redistributed and hammered into the shape, rather than removed. e end result of the blacksmithing process is a strong, durable item with function and form.“ere isn’t much we make that doesn’t have some function to it,” says Ryan Church, welder-ﬁtter and co-manager of e Smithy Ltd. For over 75 years, the Church family has owned and operated e Smithy, forging handmade wrought iron products. Ryan Church is the third generation of the Church family to operate the business, currently co-managing with longtime employee Christopher “Fur” Hodgkinson, although many Church relatives have been involved over the years. Ted Church opened e Smithy in 1945, having relocated to Muskoka from Hamilton. After working in the steel mills, Ted chose to practice his trade as the village blacksmith. As Muskoka continued to develop as a tourist destination and a summer escape, more decorative wrought-iron work was added to the repertoire. “I really don’t know what it was like for my grandfather back then,” shares Church. “I believe he did work on the snow ploughs. I know he used to help make some items for the roads for when they redid the highway. I do remember hearing him talk about that.”At one point, Ted and all three of his sons worked at the shop, including Ryan’s father, Tom. Tom moved to Toronto as a young man, working in welding and blacksmithing but not yet with his father at the family business. “He worked on CN Rail and things like that,” says Church. “He worked at a few diﬀerent places for a few years and then he came back to Muskoka.”As Tom Church began to take over the operation of e Smithy from his father in the late 1970s, his vision included the scaled production of goods. While not a mass September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 31

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production facility, the focus became on having in-demand handmade items in stock and available to sell, in addition to any custom commissioned work. In the 1990s, Ryan’s sister, Catherine Foreman, known as Cathy, joined their father at e Smithy, managing administration, assisting customers and, overall, putting her heart into the family business. She continued to run the operation as Ryan joined the business around 2000, after attending college and deciding to return home. In 2001, Tom Church passed away, leaving Cathy to continue running the business, with Ryan’s support. “ere was a pretty big family draw for me,” explains Church in his decision to join the family business. “My father never pushed me to do it. He deﬁnitely said, ‘do whatever you want.’ “Once you get into it, it is unique and it’s not even just the work,” says Church. “e people that you meet are so cool.”Hodgkinson was hired in 2005. He had been working for eight years in the food and beverage industry and deciding it was not a career he wanted forever. Hodgkinson joined the crew at e Smithy, knowing only what he had learned in his high school trades classes but eager to learn more. Now, 16 years later, Hodgkinson is co-managing the business with Church. “I call myself the adopted one because this job turned out really well,” laughs Hodgkinson. “When I started, I thought, ‘these people are amazing.’ Ryan turned into my best friend. Cathy was like a sister to me. Gary is sort of a father ﬁgure. As the years went on, we progressed together and learned oﬀ of each other.”Gary Church, Ryan’s cousin and a master blacksmith, has worked at e Smithy since he was a young teenager of about 13. Now 70 years old, Gary has spent over 55 years working in the family-owned and operated business. His son, Jake, also spent a number of years working at the business before moving on. “e family dynamic, it’s interesting because Cathy and Ryan worked so well together,” shares Hodgkinson. “I never met their dad but at one point all of them were working together.”The Smithy blends history, art and function in its operation, using new and old technology and tools to cra household items and building materials. 32 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021

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Marking 75 years in operation, 2020 was a landmark year for the family business. However, it was a diﬃcult year for the Church family. Cathy was diagnosed with cancer and battled the disease, before passing away in early January 2021. “It’s been such a change since Cathy passed,” says Church. “We’re navigating a lot and it’s been an absolute learning experience. We’re shifting around and doing diﬀerent jobs and diﬀerent responsibilities.”“Since she’s been gone, I can tell you I have a new appreciation for what she was doing on a daily basis,” explains Hodgkinson. Clients often arrive with photos in hand or their own ideas of what they’d like. For Church and Hodgkinson, they have to manage expectations and often present a compromise that meets their client’s expectations and meets building code. Hodgkinson and Church both maintain certiﬁcations as welder-ﬁtters, or welder fabricators, meaning their work meets all Ontario building code requirements. “e certiﬁcation we need for the structural stuﬀ,” says Church. “For the more artistic or decorative pieces, you don’t necessarily need to be certiﬁed.”“With building code now, there seems to be a lot less people doing interior railings,” comments Hodgkinson. “Not only do you have to make sure you build the design right but you have to make sure you know the building code for spacings and all that stuﬀ.”While interior railings have deﬁnitive restrictions, having to conform to Ontario building code, landscape railings can follow the natural landscape. For many clients, they require a railing for safety and function, but they want it to ﬁt with the scenic beauty of their Muskoka property. “ere’s a certain connection to an organic feel, along with a structural feel, along with an artistic feel,” explains Church. “I like it because you get to form the railing and use the trees. You’ve got to follow the rock. I just feel my way through it, melding all of the diﬀerent elements together.”Where wood might be big and bulky, welded structures, whether railings, lighting Christopher “Fur” Hodgkinson has worked at The Smithy for over 16 years and still considers himself the “rookie.”Ryan Church, centre, grandson of the original owner Ted Church, is pleased to continue the family business, currently co-managing the operation with Chris Hodgkinson, right. Dan McPhedran is their newest team member and is assisting in building their online presence. September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 33

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34 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021or other ﬁxtures, are smaller, stronger and more durable, especially outdoors. Handmade items, custom or not, involve signiﬁcant investment of time for measuring, planning and crafting, unlike mass-produced metal products. “ese days people are used to instant gratiﬁcation,” says Hodgkinson. “ey want to order an item and they want to get it now. But when you order custom, now you have to wait for us to make it. at’s where it’s tricky.”People are often so removed from the craftmanship involved in production, small or large scale, that a lack of understanding exists around the process. While an automated system can produce volumes of the same item, it cannot necessarily provide custom details or ensure longevity. “You have to see how much work goes into it,” explains Church. “It’s very diﬃcult to justify and understand why does that cost so much but there’s a reason behind it. We have to make each individual one.”With a new online presence on Instagram, thanks to their youngest employee Dan Mcphedran, and a new website in the works, Church and Hodgkinson hope to showcase Custom goods craed at The Smithy are oen the client’s ideas melded with the function and requirements of building code. Viewing blacksmiths at work gives just a hint of the time and eort that goes into every piece of work they cra. The shop at The Smithy is open for clients and visitors.28 MANITOBA STREETBRACEBRIDGE | 705-637-0204INTRODUCINGCanadian-MadeShop Onlineuniquemuskoka.comor In-StoreAPPAREL

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the smithing process along with their ﬁnished products. ey’ll be sharing online the steps the team must go through to produce their work and can provide the clientele with a greater understanding of the craft and the techniques. “Items are made right here, with the equipment here,” shares Hodgkinson. “When we do railings, and ﬁreplace doors, and lights, everybody likes little tweaks here and there, so it’s never doing the exact same thing over again.”“e basic welding principles really are the same since the business opened,” says Church. “I don’t want to say it hasn’t changed. Welding is just heated metal fused together but it certainly has improved and evolved.”e concept may not have changed signiﬁcantly since e Smithy opened over 75 years ago but new technology and new techniques for achieving the end results more eﬃciently have been developed. A coal forge was the main source of heat in the original shop building, sometimes taking the whole day to heat to the required temperatures. Utilizing gas or propane, rather than coal, to fuel the machinery makes heating to temperature much quicker. e addition of new tools, such as plasma cutters, is balanced by maintaining the use of tried and true tools, such as the pedal hammer.“Some of the equipment we use is still from back when it ﬁrst opened,” says Hodgkinson. “e pedal hammer still works great, for both function and art. Our work is a mixture of both.”Honouring the history of the business and the family is important to Church and Hodgkinson. While several articles and honourable mentions are posted in the shop, they’re looking forward to honouring Cathy’s impact and dedication as they continue to operate. “Cathy lived for this place,” explains Church. “She loved it and she did her best to make it as successful as possible. We’d like to pay tribute as much as we can to Cathy.”“We hope, as things settle, we’ll be able to keep the business going for many more generations,” comments Hodgkinson. e Smithy has and will continue to bend and mould with the times and the people who work there. Classic HandbagsTraditional QualityContemporary StyleCrafted from one of the most desirable textiles in the world, Elle Zed handbags are made from 100% pure wool that is handwoven in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.28 Manitoba Street, Bracebridge, ON 705-637-0204Available at ElleZed CreationsHANDBAGS BYSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 35

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36 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Article by Matt Driscoll“What would you think of having an arts and crafts sale during the summer when visitors are looking for something to take home to remind them of their holiday? Properly organized, this could develop into an annual highlight of the summer season.” – Betty Reid, Bracebridge librarian, 1963.From this simple question posed in Reid’s Library Corner column in the Bracebridge Herald-Gazette, the Muskoka Arts and Crafts Summer Show was born. Over the years, MAC would grow to become Muskoka’s pre-eminent arts organization, boasting multiple seasonal shows, a student bursary, members’ guide and very signiﬁcantly, a permanent gallery and home base at the Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge. “anks to Betty Reid and that ﬁrst committee, they gave us a wonderful idea and some great bones to work with,” says Elene The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge has been home to Muskoka Arts and Cras since 1989. Photograph: Kelly Holinshead

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Muskoka Arts and Cras summer show has become one of the most popular events in Muskoka.Freer, the executive director of Muskoka Arts and Crafts.No one knows Muskoka Arts and Crafts better than Freer does, and few people have been more heavily involved in the local arts scene over the past three decades. Freer recently announced she will be stepping down from her position at Muskoka Arts and Crafts, eﬀective October 31, 2021. With the organization since June 1990, Freer has seen it grow considerably over the years. She points out that the organization was not an overnight success, and the original summer show that Betty Reid promoted in 1963 was far from an instant success. “No one actually responded to that column and it took a little while to get going,” says Freer.Despite the lack of enthusiasm from the public, meetings were held and a committee was formed to organize the first-ever summer show.e show was set for August 16 and 17, 1963 at Memorial Park in downtown Bracebridge. e entry fee was one dollar and artists were invited to enter their work. Two weeks before the show was to open, the organizers had received only one application, says Freer. None-the-less, the committee continued their work and the entries began to arrive.In the end, an estimated 3,000 people attended the show to view the work of 50 artists. e show was considered a tourism, cultural and ﬁnancial success. Ten years later, when the Summer Show outgrew Memorial Park, it relocated to Annie Williams Memorial Park in Bracebridge where it remains to this day.ese days, the show is one of the best-attended weekend events in all of The work of Muskoka's artisans draws fans from all walks of life. Photograph: Kelly HolinsheadPhotograph: Kelly HolinsheadSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 37

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38 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021MODERN HOME CARPET ONE350 Ecclestone Drive • Bracebridgecarpetonebracebridge.caTAYLOR CARPET ONE30 Cairns Crescent • Huntsvilletaylorcarpetonehuntsville.comHARDWOOD • LAMINATE • VINYL PLANK & TILE • VINYL ROLLS CARPET • CERAMIC • NATURAL STONE & MOREFloors forHome & Cottage705.645.2443705.789.9259Muskoka. Although forced to go virtual the past two years, the show saw somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000 attendees viewing the work of 200 artists. “We’ve had movie stars attend and we’ve had people make vacation plans and even wedding plans around the show,” says Freer. “So many of our exhibitors tell us it’s their favourite show of the year. It’s really our crown jewel in any given year.”In a normal year, the work of Muskoka Arts and Crafts members can be found inside the Chapel Gallery, which is located next to Woodchester Villa in Bracebridge. Originally, the site was home to the First Presbyterian Church but the building they reside in now is a slightly altered reconstruction of the original church. In 1989, Muskoka Arts and Crafts negotiated with the Town of Bracebridge to rent the chapel, and today it is used not just for exhibition space but also workshops and talks.Freer came on the scene slightly after the relocation to the Chapel Gallery. At the time, she had been working at the Rail’s End Gallery in Barrie when Muskoka Arts and The Muskoka Arts and Cras Summer Show started modestly enough at Memorial Park in downtown Bracebridge before moving to Annie Williams Park. Photographs: Muskoka Arts and Crafts

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Crafts approached her and asked if she was interested in the position. “My main motivation has always been to provide a service to whatever community I’m working in,” says Freer. “My entire family has been involved in community service in some way – doctors, teachers, ministers.”Freer was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, but mostly grew up in Toronto. She received an Honours BA in English from York University and a MA in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland before becoming involved in the management of art galleries. “I never thought I would be here this long but the work is so varied and interesting. ere’s always something diﬀerent,” she says. In the decades that followed her arrival in Muskoka, Freer worked with countless artists helping to provide venues to expand and grow their work. “My ﬁrst contact with Muskoka Arts and Crafts was attending the outdoor Summer Show at Annie Williams Park, many years ago,” says Janice Feist, a Bracebridge-based painter who has taken part in many shows The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge has played host to many exhibits over the years. BATH & KITCHEN SHOWROOMDESIGN. INSTALLATION. REPAIRSERVING ALL OF MUSKOKA279 MANITOBA ST, BRACEBRIDGE705.645.2671KNOWLESPLUMBING.COM @MUSKOKABATHTHE RIOBEL MOMENTI™ COLLECTION AVAILABLE AT KNOWLES PLUMBING!279 Manitoba Street, Bracebridge 705.645.2671 @knowlesplumbing @knowlesplumbing @knowlesplumbingBATH & KITCHEN SHOWROOMSALES•INSTALLATION•REPAIRSERVING ALL OF MUSKOKAknowlesplumbing.comMuskoka’s Bath & Plumbing CentrePhotograph: Muskoka Arts and CraftsSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 39

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40 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Book Now!Steamships • Discovery Centrewww.realmuskoka.com / 1-866-687-6667Muskoka Wharf, GravenhurstAUTHENTIC MUSKOKAHistory • Environment • SustainabilityWhile Muskoka artists are featured at Muskoka Arts and Cras Summer Show, it also draws artists and craspeople, as well as visitors, from afar.throughout the region. “e show felt very professionally run, with a cornucopia of excellent artists showcasing their work. I wanted to be part of this organization and became a member in June 2007.” Feist says Freer not only encouraged her to follow her passion in the arts but also helped provide her with the tools to conﬁdently create and promote her work. “She showed me, through her words and demeanor, that being creative is really exciting. I’ve always felt that Elene is my ﬁnest advocate,” says Feist. “When I think of art, I think about how dedicated Elene has been to expand the arts in Muskoka and beyond, through Muskoka Arts and Crafts.” As for Freer, she says she’s ready for a vacation but she will still remain involved in the local arts scene. She currently sits on the public art advisory committee, something she feels strongly is vital in creating a robust and healthy community.“I’m just really grateful that I was able to make a diﬀerence in the lives of people in Bracebridge and Muskoka and to our extended family of artists,” she says.Photograph: Kelly Holinshead

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42 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Article by J. Patrick Boyer / Photography by Josianne MasseauEarly in 1837, the Northland’s forestry potential prompted provincial legislators to enact a measure “to Provide for a Survey of the Ottawa River and the Country Bordering upon It, Together with the Country between that River and Lake Huron.” is sprawling tract inland from Georgian Bay was divided into three manageable sectors – the Muskoka watershed, the French River zone and land of the Magnetawan River system, with diﬀerent survey parties for each. David ompson would survey the Muskoka section. By age 14, after landing as a Hudson Bay Company apprentice at primitive Fort Churchill on Hudson Bay’s southwest shore, ompson quickly grasped fur-trade essentials and was studying navigation, astronomy and mathematics. In 1786, the HBC sent him west with fur transporters to learn about the “peltry’s” supply side, where he enhanced his bartering skills by learning the language and customs of the Plains Cree. ompson’s experiences of new places and diﬀerent peoples sparked an unquenchable ardour to explore and map the continent’s wilderness. ompson’s surveying became so exceptional that, when his seven-year apprenticeship ended, HBC made him an oﬃcial company surveyor. By 1795, he completed the survey of immense Athabasca region in today’s northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. In May 1797, his contracts duly fulﬁlled and having furnished excellent maps to further HBC’s lucrative fur trade, ompson joined the more spirited and Canadian-minded North West Company. e upstart fur-trading company handed him a daunting challenge: explore, survey and map the little-known vastness between Lake Superior and the Paciﬁc Ocean. is productive adventure fully engaged ompson for years. His aﬃnity with Indigenous peoples, skills as an explorer and exacting standards in surveying and mapmaking took him places no other Europeans had been. He worked in close harmony with native peoples of the Prairies, in the Rocky Mountains and along the Paciﬁc coast. Inseparable from his sextant, he habitually recorded bearings from the stars, logging the latitude and longitude of every place in which he found himself. e Cree dubbed him Koo Koo Sint Photographs: Archives of Ontario

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– you who looks at stars, or the Stargazer. At the North West Company’s post on Île-à-la-Crosse, in what is now Saskatchewan, he ﬁrst laid eyes on Charlotte Small, daughter of a Cree woman and Patrick Small. A partner of the NWC, Small had returned to his wife and family in Britain. e Stargazer was smitten. In June 1799, on a secluded Île-à-la-Crosse beach, adhering to ceremonial Cree bonding customs, Koo Koo Sint oﬀered gifts to Charlotte’s relatives and then declared before them that she was now his wife. David was 29. Charlotte was ﬁve-foot tall, and 13. ey would remain together, husband and wife, the rest of their days. Charlotte’s father had followed the white man’s Code in remote wilderness settings, enjoying for years an Indigenous woman’s sexual companionship and practical skills. She sewed his clothes, cooked his meals and raised his children. en he vanished. When this scion of a prominent British family left the “wilderness” and returned to “civilization” and his ﬁrst wife, the Code enabled him to simply abandon his “country wife” and their three Métis children – Charlotte, and her sister and brother.From the day they wed, David and Charlotte ompson faithfully shared their rewarding and dangerous life together, trekking into remote rugged locations, so he could survey routes and open new trading posts for the North West Company. ey travelled through daunting terrain and faced desperate hardships. Charlotte’s hunting skills staved oﬀ starvation; her language talents fostered relationships with otherwise hostile peoples; and her stamina enabled her, often pregnant, to keep up with men and horses while shepherding the couple’s ever-growing band of children across the Rockies’ icy streams and along narrow rock-ledge passes. By 1812, David ompson became the ﬁrst person to survey and map North America’s entire northwest. His Great Map astonishingly portrayed in exacting detail a quarter of the continent. It remains a mapping achievement unparalleled in human history. When he retired from the fur-trade and wilderness explorations, the hard life had taken its toll. When still young, he’d lost sight in his right eye, making his mapping eﬀorts all the more extraordinary. Deep lines cut his weather-beaten face, scars of a lifetime’s exposure to the elements. He limped, a constant reminder of a badly broken leg. Despite his physical ailments, ompson had more accomplishments beyond his Great Map. He had identiﬁed the Mississippi River’s headwaters. He was the ﬁrst white man, perhaps the ﬁrst person ever, to explore and map the Columbia River’s full length, tracing it between 1807 and 1811 from source to mouth. He tracked on which side of the new Canada-United States boundary all the NWC’s trading posts were located – many, problematically, south of the line. He found and accurately charted passageways through the Rockies. In all those years, often accompanied by Charlotte and their roster of lively, helpful children, ompson travelled 90,000 kilometres in canoes, by foot, or on horseback, mapping 4.9 million square kilometres of North America. e ompsons settled near Montreal and the St. Lawrence River. David hoped to prosper, making and selling cedar canoes of his own design, creating limited edition maps, and writing engrossing narratives of his wilderness adventures. In a Montréal church, David and Charlotte re-solemnized their “country marriage” before a Presbyterian minister. If Montréal was foreign territory to a daughter of the Plains, ompson’s appearance in the city with a Métis wife was equally alien to “civilized Christian society.” He treated his wife – a “half-breed” whom Anglo Montréalers deemed even socially lower than a full-blood Indian – as equal to Euro-Canadian women.His various business plans ﬂoundered, as mortgagees defaulted on him and the canoe business, selling copies of his maps and writing Above: David Thompson, in the vast Athabasca country with the Athabasca River and Rocky Mountain foothills framing his work, takes an astronomical reading to determine his exact location. Above, right: This national plaque at Thompson’s grave in Montreal, though most belated, honours the explorer and mapmaker’s singular contributions. Historic Sites & Monuments Board of CanadaDrawing by Charles William Jeffreys, Library and Archives CanadaSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 43

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44 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021books were stymied by his enemies in Montréal. As general headquarters for Canada’s fur trade, the city was dominated by Hudson Bay Company powerbrokers who ostracized him. ompson had served HBC at least as well as any other employee, but they deemed joining the North West Company an unforgivable act of disloyalty. His opportunities evaporated. His ventures failed. His maps were printed, with neither credit nor royalties going to him. e ompsons slipped into abject poverty. He sold oﬀ his sextant and other equipment to buy food. Publishers would not touch the memoirs of the blacklisted man. Unable to aﬀord their house, David and Charlotte moved in with one of their daughters. His outstanding work would receive almost no attention in his lifetime.By the mid-1830s, a destitute David ompson was grateful for his commission to explore and map from Georgian Bay through Muskoka east to the Ottawa River. It was a perfect match. While the 67-year-old explorer was desperate to get out from under his debts, ompson had in fact been selected as the “last best hope” for what, so far, had proven a futile search in the Huron Tract for a navigable water passage. He was, after all, the only European-born explorer to have located a route from the St. Lawrence River to the Paciﬁc Ocean. At Holland Landing Naval Depot, gearing up for the expedition, ompson’s belief that cedar or birch canoes best suited exploring rugged Canadian Shield watersheds rankled the Royal Engineers the government had included in his party. ompson was in charge, but Lieutenant F.H. Baddeley rigidly insisted on “more substantial” craft of either tin or solid wood – convinced he knew the terrain far better than ompson, having personally directed, with Lieutenant John Carthew, Muskoka’s baseline survey two years before.rough July everything was readied and ompson’s party travelled to Penetanguishene to begin. ere, on August 1, he wrote a letter to Charlotte in Montréal, then dealt with ﬁnal administrative matters. His expedition canoed from Georgian Bay through Go Home Bay, up the river to Lake Muskoka, continuing up the Muskoka River and via its south branch reached Lake of Bays which he called “Forked Lake,” thence on up the Algonquin Dome height of land and, from there, continuing down the Madawaska to the Ottawa River. ompson assiduously examined the passing landscapes, amiably observing the variety of features nature presented. When exploring Lake Muskoka, he spotted an Indian lodge on a large island near the mouth of the Muskoka River, likely Eileen Gowan although possibly Browning. Examining the terrain ashore, the crew found a well-cultivated potato patch, and cooking utensils. No person was present, only a cat. “Suppose they may have gone to Lake Huron [Penetanguishene] for presents,” omson duly recorded in his journal. When they came across several rolls of “good birch rind for canoes,” ompson again tested the men about making birch canoes, lighter for the portages, better in shallows. e military engineers had already made clear at Holland Landing they did not want such a craft. “It would not stand the rough usage which our business must have,” ompson noted, journaling their consistently intransigent response. ompson recorded detailed ﬁeld notes about geography, geology, weather, trees, soils, and plants, and made general observations about Muskoka’s limited wildlife and few Indigenous people. Exploring the south end of Lake Muskoka, he located the “carrying place” entrance to a well-established portage connecting south, via small lakes and streams, to the Severn River. He read on a weathered piece of birch bark the inscribed names of several Euro-Canadians and the year 1831 – a voyageurs’ souvenir to posterity. Elsewhere, near majestic Muskoka Falls, he located a hemlock tree whose four sides had been blazed ﬂat, a marker for the survey base line run north two years earlier, extending into Muskoka straight from the shore of Lake Ontario. One side bore the name “William Hawkins, surveyor.” Another, the date: “August 20th, 1835.” e third: “God Save the King,” who at that time was William IV.ompson had a ﬁne time recording sightings of good land: he described Lake Rosseau, though not by name, as a “ﬁne lake bordered to the water frequently with ﬁne hardwoods and the same brown subsoil.” Heading up the Muskoka River from Lake Muskoka, he observed the land on both sides to be “very ﬁne, deep alluvial soil with ﬁne hardwoods, very ﬁne for meadows.” Exploring Lake of Bays’ entire shoreline produced similar reviews: “Fine hardwoods show a prominent bold aspect to the water’s edge. e land, This map delineates Lake of Bays, which David Thompson aptly called Forked Lake. The originals of all four maps of Thompson’s Muskoka maps are now in the Ontario Archives. It has been shaded by Muskoka cartographer Gary Long to more readily dierentiate between land and water. Photograph: Ontario Archives

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crowned with these fair woods, rises everywhere boldly to 180 feet above the lake.” Not only was he ﬁnding good soil in parts of Muskoka, but dramatic scenery and heights of land oﬀering breathtaking vistas.In the Muskoka segment of his assignment, the inveterate explorer entered, surveyed, and mapped a waterbody not previously seen by a non-Indigenous person. Although he did not bother naming it – on his map all three of the “lower lakes” Muskoka, Rosseau, and Joseph appear simply as #1, #2, and #3 – ompson was the ﬁrst Euro-Canadian to disclose and accurately delineate Lake Joseph which, within a century, would be the prestigious “Lake Joe.” In this lake he also located an “Islet [island] where Indians have formerly been.”While crossing the Algonquin Dome, the shallow waters thwarted the exploration party. e humiliated British oﬃcers relented. ompson identiﬁed a stand of cedars in a sandy bay and, for several days, all hands turned to making new canoes under his instruction. is enabled completing the mission, but further stoked the enmity of the Royal Engineers who still believed themselves superior to ompson.By spring 1838 his commission was fulﬁlled, his detailed report written, his maps submitted. Yet David ompson had not personally ﬁnished his mission. He cared deeply about his work and what ﬂowed from the detailed intelligence he had compiled in his extensive written report about soil and rocks, distances, notations of latitude and longitude, wildlife and plants, composition of forests, practical recommendations for follow-on surveys, and the four ﬁnely-drawn maps he had painstakingly created. He grew alarmed that nothing was happening.Two years later, perturbed to still see nothing resulting from his eﬀorts, on April 17, 1840 he wrote to Provincial Secretary J.M. GBSContracting Inc.Photograph: Ontario Natural Resources and Forestry archivesThis map shows the approximate limit of settlement of Upper Canada’s territory by 1831 and 1841, based on population statistics from the decennial censuses in each of those years. Shown in dierent shades of grey, settlement was all at the south.September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 45

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46 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021The graves of David and Charlotte Thompson were marked, for the rst time, decades aer their deaths when recognition of their monumental accomplishments and historic importance for Canada began to become better recognized in the 1920s. Higginson making the case the work requested of him needed to be translated into action if it was to result in any public beneﬁt. e impoverished man doubtless had a glimmer of expectation that he might get some of the follow-on surveying work he had recommended, too.Examination of the Muskoka River, he told the inﬂuential minister of the Crown, “brought us acquainted with a valuable tract of country for settlement.” ompson was quite speciﬁc about this. “e Muskoka River at the height of land has 73½ miles of river and 36½ miles of small lakes of ﬁne clear water. In the 73½ miles of river there are 33 falls for mills; in all, 110 miles. From this deduct 30 miles for the sinuosities of the river, and lands that may not be good; that leaves 80 miles in depth of good land from Lake Huron. Allowing only 10 miles in depth on each side of these 80 miles of river and lake, this gives 1,600 square miles of land covered with forests of a very ﬁne growth of maples, ash, elm, bass, beech, and a few oaks, which always indicate a rich soil.” He estimated that 1,024,000 acres of land along the Muskoka River system was ﬁt for cultivation, which he then calculated would give 200 acres to each of 5,120 settler families, enough to support a population of more than 20,000 people.Describing, as ompson did, Muskoka’s excellent prospects both for farming and clear-cut logging to lakeshores and riverbanks – as in fact began just a decade later – shows exactly where Muskoka ﬁtted into the 1840s scheme of things. Nobody in the ﬁrst half of the nineteenth century envisaged any possibility whatsoever of “vacation” use of land nor, as a result, even the aesthetic desirability of preserving a pristine woodland appearance along routes of travel. ompson had not travelled north of Muskoka in 1837 because the two other survey parties had been assigned to explore and map the French River watershed and the Magnetawan River system. He reminded the minister that, as a result, an extensive section of potentially good land had not yet been examined. “Beyond Muskoka,” he wrote, “what extent of good land lies as far north as the French River is unknown.” Should this territory “be thought a ﬁt Photograph: Canada Historic Sites and Monuments BoardHospice MuskokaDONATE TODAY www.hospicemuskoka.comHospice Muskoka is pleased to be chosen as Recipient of 2021 Smile Cookie Campaign at both Bracebridge Locations: Depot Drive & Wellington Street. Yum!!SEPTEMBER 13 - 19, 2021On August 30, you can pre-order your cookies at www.hospicemukoka.com or call 705.646.1697Delivery is Available Hospice Muskoka Is Pleased to be chosen as Recipient of 2021 Smile Cookie Campaign at both Bracebridge Locations: Depot Drive & Wellington Street. Yum!!Smile Cookie Campaign runs September 13 –19,2021. On Sept. 3, you can pre-order your cookies at www.hospicemukoka.comor call705-646-1697.CAMPAIGN

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When a power outage strikes, SOMMERS RESIDENTIAL GENERATORSensure that your home or cottage automatically stays powered on.ECRA / ESA 7002295 • TSSA 000365522A full range of generators that can be custom built to suit your home or cottage’s speciﬁc needs, so you’ll always have standby power ready.705.765.0600 • www.sitelectric.com • Port CarlingMUSKOKA • PARRY SOUNDYour Source For All Your Electrical, HVAC,Backup Power And Home Automation Needs.country for immigrants, the survey necessary to have this ﬁne country settled is, ﬁrst, a survey of the east coast [of Georgian Bay] from a few miles south of the Muskoka [Musquosh] River northward to the French River, about 80 miles, to examine all the streams which ﬂow into Lake Huron and note the apparent quantity of good land on each. is survey will require a whole season of open weather, the map and report to be done in the winter. From these a tolerably correct idea may be formed of the quantity of land ﬁt for cultivation, and its location.”“In the second year,” continued ompson, “surveys of townships into lots for settlers may be made, ready for occupation. e third year, sales of land may take place and settlements formed as the Governor General may see ﬁt.” David ompson’s speciﬁc evaluations of Muskoka’s features and characteristics pinpointed the places he found barren and inappropriate for agricultural settlement, but locales elsewhere holding great farming potential. His assiduous exploration of the diverse landscape had resulted in realistic land-use recommendations to the government. His years of experience, his knowledge of land, his skills as an explorer and surveyor provided a clear and balanced plan for any government looking to “open up” Muskoka. However, his meticulous mapping, ﬁnely crafted charts, and constructive recommendations for future settlement and farming Muskoka were of no use when needed. ey had vanished. Rather than beneﬁcially directing many aspects of Muskoka history, the result was incalculable waste of human energies. Dashed hopes for so many settlers coming to farm was the collateral damage of a deliberate scheme to eliminate ompson’s name and denigrate his accomplishments – caused by a malevolent juggernaut of professional resentment, personal jealousy and vengeful punishment.Resentment unquestionably existed. Up to 1837, military personnel had directly sought to add shape and substance on their own (with Indigenous guides, of course) to the vast forested quadrant running east of Lake Huron to the Ottawa Valley, north of the Severn and south of the French and Mattawa rivers. British personnel dispatched temporarily to the colonies for tasks such as this invariably felt a cut or two above the locals. ompson was a civilian. For his assignment, Captain Baddeley provided him none of the charts the military itself had prepared. ompson was twice their age and, hobbled by a game leg and a blind eye, was disliked all the more for being a specimen in decline.To this was added professional jealousy. ompson’s fame has certainly grown in modern Canada, with historian Nina Reynolds among others calling him, “a cartographer and explorer unexcelled, who has been called the greatest land geographer the British race has produced. With the most primitive instruments he compiled maps of Canada’s Northwest which are still in use.” But in the 1830s, when ompson was in his 60s and impoverished, his exploits in the Northwest “were far in the past,” noted historian Florence Murray, “and the fame which now enshrines his name still in the future.” September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 47

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48 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021“Professional jealousy had its part,” states historian Reynolds, explaining ompson’s exceptional Muskoka maps vanishing at the behest of powerful interests who knew how to lean on government oﬃcials. “But had ompson been less honourable, he might have escaped censure. Instead of keeping an Indian mistress while fathering a brood of illegitimate children, as so many of his contemporaries did, he married Charlotte Small and treated her and their 13 children with lifelong aﬀection and respect.” Men of Euro-Canadian “civilized society” would not forgive David for legalizing his union with “a half-breed,” for having but one wife whom he loved and honoured, for defying their unwritten racist code that “What happens in the bush, stays in the bush.” Furtively and indirectly, ompson’s reputation and work were obliterated. Rather than physically destroying his 1837 work – Crown property and a punishable crime – his maps and surveyor’s report were deep-sixed in a sea of obscure oﬃcial records. On his own in Canada’s open spaces, governed by the stars and his indominable spirit, self-reliant David ompson was master – a man who overcame extreme conditions in service to others. “For him,” writes Nila Reynolds in her history of Haliburton County, “the face of the wilderness was an open book, and he translates it for us so we can share his love for nature and her ways.” Many thousands more became, by extension, victims of the schemers. David ompson’s insights about Muskoka’s terrain, and his recommendations about Muskoka and Parry Sound areas along Georgian Bay still requiring evaluation, could have guided settlement and led to speciﬁcally located prosperous farms. Instead, his maps and ideas about designating Muskoka farming and non-farming areas remained unknown throughout the decades that mattered – as recriminations against ompson refracted in harmful ways on the lives of those who faced the free-for-all land settlement chaos and punishing experiences homesteading on rockpile ﬁelds.Government authorities subsequently commissioned other explorers and cartographers to do what ompson so masterfully had already achieved with his maps, reports, and recommendations. At further cost and lost time, lesser men drew poorer maps that were used to develop rudimentary policy for Muskoka’s surveying, lumbering, colonization and farming. Sixty years after they died, grateful beneﬁciaries of their life’s work began to celebrate the accomplishments of David and Charlotte ompson. A river in British Columbia was named for him. Monuments and plaques in Canada and the United States now pay him tribute. Charlotte Small’s importance is increasingly recognized. e Canadian Historical Society has placed tombstones to mark their adjacent unmarked graves in Montréal’s Mount Royal Cemetery. Books and songs have been written about David ompson, movies and documentaries made, courses and seminars taught, a ﬁve-cent postage stamp issued with his likeness, and in 2016 a commemorative plaque erected by the local Committee for Arts and Culture at Oxtongue Lake oﬀ Highway 60. In this period of ompson’s rehabilitation, his “lost” Muskoka maps and related work resurfaced from storage amidst musty documents from the Crown Lands Commission’s oﬃces. Nobody was held accountable for “inadvertent misﬁling.” David ompson’s Muskoka maps are now “oﬃcially preserved” in the archives Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, successor to the Crown Lands Oﬃce. Fast-forwarding to the present era would be science ﬁction to David ompson. Since last November, the District of Muskoka’s new GeoHub map has been fulﬁlling a dazzling array of public purposes while showing what contemporary mapping can accomplish, including land use. e accessible website is a A commemorative postage stamp, belatedly issued by Canada’s Post Oce Department in 1957, shows the great explorer and mapmaker David Thompson against the Pacic northwest which he mapped for the rst time.Photograph: Canada Post ArchivesThrough online services provided by the District of Muskoka’s GeoHub, the general public can access detailed mapping providing information on everything from ood plain mapping to aerial views of the district.

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brilliant rendering of high-tech possibilities. With many user-friendly features, GeoHub consolidates in a comprehensive way most of what anybody would need to understand, or want to know, about Muskoka land-based activity. Organized under more than a dozen “map” categories are air photos of Muskoka, topography & Crown Land maps, ﬂood plan mapping, zoning maps for Muskoka’s six area municipalities, “story maps” such as the Muskoka Atlas of 1879, among many others. For each, there is much additional information in which to drill down. Zooming out places a locale in its wider geographic context, while scrolling in brings up the image in ever-increasing detail, right down to its street address. e aerial photographs can be cross-sectioned. Search-and-ﬁnd functions take users directly to a place of speciﬁc interest. If one needs to travel to that site, Muskoka GeoHub gives directions and travel times. As a resource for ﬁrst-responder emergency services, it displays the location of all Muskoka 911 numbers. Interactive features further increase this online resource’s versatility and utility. For instance, a simple click for a property can bring up schematic representation of its legal survey, then another click switches from the site map to its aerial photograph version in order to show the same property in its natural state. By overlaying various available transparencies with their additional content, a user can add further details to a property she or he is interested in. e ﬂood-line maps show the current low-lying areas along water courses, and the historic records of prior water levels at the same site. Also available to study are the past 10,000 years of ﬂood plane activity, showing the earlier locations across Muskoka’s landscape of rivers and creeks as they matured from endlessly winding and back-circling streams into the comparatively strait channels of today. Here again, aerial photographs of the same area can be compared with simple clicks – from a present-day image back to 1959, as captured at approximately one-decade intervals.e best way to see how extensively Muskoka has now been mapped, and beneﬁt from all that data, is by spending time on the Muskoka GeoHub website. “Use it, work with it, play with it,” recommends Graham Good, Muskoka District’s map site manager. Its URL is https://map.muskoka.on.ca. Being well aware of both the nature of mapping and ever-astonishing advances in computer technology, Good enthusiastically adds that the GeoHub project is “still a work-in-progress.”True to his word, within the ﬁrst year alone, a couple examples track GeoHub’s evolution and importance to vital dimensions of Muskoka life. First, the addition of data about self-governing Indigenous communities within Muskoka reﬂects the progress in trust and cooperation between municipal authorities and both the Mohawks of Wahta and the Moose-Deer Point First Nation. e District’s GIS team and these two bands have collaborated adding oﬃcial Indigenous road names and 911 civic address numbers to the GeoHub to guide emergency responders to the right place when precious minutes count. Signiﬁcant new work currently underway on ﬂoodplain mapping, which the Ontario government is supporting, is a second example.Speaking to the accessibility to this trove of information, Good says, “municipal taxpayers already paid for the computers, software, training, and digital services. Why wouldn’t we make it available to them?” With support from the Ontario government, his geomatics department set about greatly enhancing the quality of information available through the GeoHub website. For the province, it was like a pilot project, so far in advance of other municipalities was Muskoka. A decade ago, “well ahead of the curve as far as Ontario municipalities are concerned,” he observed, Muskoka launched its WebMap. e result of this major accomplishment has kept the District Municipality in the forefront, province-wide, with high calibre, state-of-technology “mapping.” Muskoka GeoHub symbolizes the fullest scope of what is possible for “putting Muskoka on the map.”As with other advances in applied science – such as recognizing the invention of First Nation canoes as superior in Canadian Shield wilderness to tin or solid wood boats – mapping’s prior stages remind us how each step in human progress owes much to the work of earlier pioneers. In the case of a master cartographer’s careful exploration and precise mapping of Muskoka in 1837, we also see something else – how Muskoka history could have unfolded very diﬀerently if accompanied by David ompson’s missing maps.Graham Good, manager of Muskoka GeoHub, encourages the public to access the many online services provided by the District of Muskoka. The services can be accessed through both by computers and mobile devices.September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 49

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50 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Whats HappenedCampaign aims to crack down on wake surng damagee increasingly popular activity of wake surﬁng is also increasingly causing headaches for Muskoka’s waterfront property owners.Wake surﬁng involves a rider on a modiﬁed surfboard, riding behind a boat and surﬁng the wake without being pulled by a rope. e bigger the wake typically means the better the ride. However, that can lead to problems on a number of fronts, and the Be Wake Aware campaign is hoping to educate the public on exactly what those potential issues are. In July, the Muskoka Lakes Association (MLA), in conjunction with the Federation of Ontario Cottagers Associations and Safe Quiet Lakes, launched the campaign.While the campaign is focused on the damage caused by all types of wake, they make speciﬁc notes of the ravaging eﬀects caused by wake surﬁng. According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association of Canada, sales of tow boats have risen by 13 per cent between 2019 and 2020.e MLA says many boaters in Muskoka are simply unaware of the impact their wake can have. ose impacts could include potentially capsizing smaller craft like canoes and small ﬁshing boats, causing shoreline erosion and the potential to drown young nesting birds, particularly in May and June. ey also say high wakes can damage docks and moored boats, be a nuisance to neighbours and could pose a potential risk to inexperienced swimmers.e campaign lists a number of ways that boaters can limit the amount of damage and risk caused by wakes and also has a short video on wake awareness which they are encouraging people to share. ey also remind boaters that in Ontario there is a speed limit of 10 km per hour within 30 m of shore, unless otherwise posted.e group also sells no wake signs to remind boaters to “slow down/ bow down” and to support continued eﬀorts to encourage responsible boating behavior. Trucker marks 50 years behind the wheelFew people know the open road as well as John MacKay. For the past 50 years, the trucker has been traversing the highways and byways of North America with Bracebridge-based Muskoka Transport (which was purchased by Titanium Transportation in 2015).“It’s a whole lot diﬀerent than when we started,” says MacKay, reﬂecting on ﬁve decades in the trucking industry.MacKay recalls that before getting his start as a trucker he was working in Bracebridge for a company that received regular deliveries from Paul Hammond. In the spring of 1971, Hammond asked MacKay if he would be willing to start driving for him full-time. Within a couple of weeks, Paul Hammond had formally established Muskoka Transport, while his brother Orv Hammond simultaneously formed Hammond Transportation, which has today evolved into one of Ontario’s premier family-owned school bus, charter bus and motorcoach operators.“We had two trucks – he drove one and I drove the other,” says MacKay.e company continued to expand and MacKay got his ﬁrst shot at long haul trucking in 1977. MacKay says the original plan was for him to head east to Quebec, but he wasn’t particularly excited at the prospect. “I didn’t speak French, so I said I’d rather go to the U.S.,” he says.at ﬁrst trip was to Pontiac, Michigan. Since then he’s been to all 10 provinces and 47 of the 50 states, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii for obvious reasons and Arizona due to peculiar rules surrounding permitting and regulations for truckers. Mountains, prairies, coastlines and badlands – MacKay said he doesn’t have a Photograph: Benjamin KlaverIn recent years wake surng has become a popular pastime on Muskoka’s lakes but it can also lead to unforeseen consequences and damage to shorelines. Photograph: Tomasz SzumskiJohn MacKay has spent the past 50 years in the long-haul trucking industry.

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problem driving anywhere at any time, although he could do without winter conditions and driving anywhere near the gridlock of New York City. Paul Hammond says having someone he could count on behind the wheel was an invaluable asset to his ﬂedgling business.“He’s been there through some hard times and some good times,” says Hammond. “I think people don’t appreciate it enough when someone has stayed with the company for as long as he has.”Hammond says Mackay was always good with his vehicles and extremely reliable.“I never had to tell him what time to leave to be in Chicago,” he says. “I really can’t say enough good things about him.”For MacKay, who says he does have plans to retire in the near future, the feeling is mutual. “I really appreciate the Hammond family for taking me on and how much I’ve enjoyed working for them over the years.” Bracebridge author brings maritime adventures to lifeWell-known Muskoka actor, newspaper columnist and business owner Paul Feist can now add the title of novelist to his lengthy resume. Feist recently released his ﬁrst novel Broken Anchor, much of which is drawn from his own life. “Broken Anchor is a ﬁctional novel based on my real-life experiences as a young man coming of age, sailing treacherous waters while being subjected to often-perilous situations aboard oil tankers,” says Feist. “I had such an extraordinary sailing life as a teenager I just knew that one day it would make a great story.”Although he’s lived in Muskoka since 1987, Feist grew up in Mississauga. It was there in his teenage years that a neighbour helped send him on the adventures that would eventually form the basis for Broken Anchor.“Growing up we had a neighbour who worked in the oil business. He helped me land a job aboard an oil tanker working the Great Lakes and the Atlantic,” says Feist. “I think I was born to be involved with the water in some way. I’m an Aquarius who sailed across the Atlantic from England when I was young. I’ve lived in Port Credit, Port Colbourne, Port Sandﬁeld...any port in a storm I suppose.”From the age of 16 to 19, Feist spent his summers on oil tankers, working his way up from peeling potatoes in the galley to a deckhand, where he helped to tie up the ship and other jobs.“Sometimes it was winging out over the water on a boom,” he says. “I had quite a few near-death experiences and I know some guys who never made it back.”It was those adventures on the water (and a few more of the romantic variety on land) that would go to form Broken Anchor many years later.Feist’s ﬁrst crack at putting the story down on paper came in co-operation with a local writing group. “ey liked the sexy bits and we had a lot of laughs but they said you need something to make it all ﬁt together,” said Feist. “In order for the narrative to have a meaningful arc, I knew I had to somehow connect all the dots. I book-ended the story with my young protagonist being 25 years older, forced to acknowledge a solemn promise he had failed to keep.”e resulting 432-page adventure-romance is fraught with danger, romance and hi-jinks, as the protagonist, a young Paul Feist recently released his debut book Broken Anchor.Photograph: Courtesy Paul FeistLARGEST SELECTION OF TILLEY HATS IN MUSKOKATHERE’S A TILLEY FOR EVERY OCCASION28 MANITOBA STREETBRACEBRIDGE | 705-637-0204SHOP ONLINEwww.uniquemuskoka.comSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 51

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52 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Danny Dawson, catapults into manhood... sometimes unwillingly. Feist’s talented artist wife, Janice Feist, provided the painting for the novel’s cover.“I’m lucky,’’ says Feist. “I have a very special First Mate to ably handle those tasks not in my wheelhouse.”Although distribution has been limited since COVID-19, it is currently available at the following outlets in Bracebridge: Martin’s Framing, Worth Repeating, Majestic Hair Design, and Proactive Rehab, in Huntsville. Copies can also be obtained by contacting Feist directly through his website www.paulfeist.com or email paulfeist@hotmail.com.Muskoka lakes under algae study, tighter restrictionsAlgal blooms have become commonplace in recent years across Muskoka and they are increasing with alarming regularity. In response the District of Muskoka recently announced it has hired Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd. and RiverStone Environmental Solutions Inc. to conduct studies of ﬁve local lakes at a cost of $213,000.Bass Lake in the Town of Gravenhurst, Echo Lake in the Township of Lake of Bays, Leonard Lake in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, ree Mile Lake in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, and Stewart Lake located in both the townships of Georgian Bay and Muskoka Lakes will all be a part of the study.Four of the ﬁve lakes selected have experienced algal blooms in the last two years and the ﬁfth, Bass Lake, has been listed as vulnerable in Muskoka’s Oﬃcial Plan due to elevated phosphorus levels.Earlier this year, a number of Muskoka Lakes were also put under higher environmental restrictions. e District uses diﬀerent sets of environmental rules and regulations under its Oﬃcial Plan when it comes to lakes and recently a number of lakes were placed under enhanced protection protocols. All of the lakes in question had experienced blue-green algae blooms in 2019 or 2020.Some of the most recent lakes to be included in the District’s heightened regulations include Bass Lake, Black Lake, Brandy Lake, Weismiller Bay (Lake Muskoka) and Silver Lake in Muskoka Lakes Township; Echo Lake, Ril Lake and Ten Mile Bay in Lake of Bays; Kahshe Lake in Gravenhurst; and Little Lake in Georgian Bay.e enhanced regulations include increased building and septic setbacks beyond the minimum requirement and site-speciﬁc soils investigation when a new or an upgraded septic system is required as part of an application. It also includes a reviewing of the type of soil – or type of system – that is being used when a new septic system is required to ensure it has an enhanced ability to bind phosphorus and reduce any risk of runoﬀ to the lake. Monitoring of the site for a minimum of 10 years is required to ensure all the stormwater management and vegetative shorelines are maintained.

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New reserve to help protect Three Mile Lakee Muskoka Conservancy now protects nearly 50 properties in Muskoka but their latest acquisition may just be one of its most important. At the end of July, the Conservancy formally took over 150 acres southwest of Huntsville which is home to the headwaters of a stream that ﬂows into ree Mile Lake. e new nature reserve will henceforth be known as the Source of ree Mile Lake Nature Reserve. About half of the new reserve is wetland feeding a series of ponds and a stream that meanders west into ree Mile Lake, the Dee Bank River, Lake Rosseau and beyond.“Protecting source water is about as fundamental as it gets when it comes to conserving our environment, but in this case, it’s even more important,” says Scott Young of Muskoka Conservancy.ree Mile Lake is known to have serious issues with water quality. e lake frequently experiences blue-green algae blooms, most recently in 2019 and 2020. Algae produces toxins that are harmful to the health of humans and animals, and public health oﬃcials have warned residents not to drink water from this lake and avoid water sport activities where an algae bloom is visible.“Straight up, that’s just not what Muskoka is about,” says Young. “It’s not what Ontario or Canada is about either.”Muskoka Conservancy now protects 46 properties featuring over 700 acres of wetlands and over 60,000 feet of natural shoreline on Muskoka’s lakes.“I would personally like to thank our members for believing in us and helping to fund this critical work,” says Young. “Special thanks go to the Kenneth M Molson Foundation for their major contribution to this project.”Young says the Conservancy will need to have a closer look at the property to determine if any part of it is suitable for a public trail.“is is a fantastic accomplishment for our volunteers and supporters but there’s so much more to be done,” says Young. “Developers are well funded and moving fast. We’ve got to pick up the pace.”Your Muskoka Specialist for Sunrooms, 3 season windows, Aluminum and Glass railing systemsAvailable through your contractor or directly through DavlinSUNROOMSBYDAVLIN.CA info@sunroomsbydavlin.ca1-705-706-4927By Matt DriscollPhotograph: Muskoka ConservancyThe source of Three Mile Lake nature reserve is the most recent addition to the Muskoka Conservancy. September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 53

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Root vegetables makefor unearthly deliciousness Article by Karen Wehrstein / Photography by Tomasz SzumskiSome of the best foods on earth don’t walk or ﬂy or even grow upon it – but hide underneath it, only revealing the treasures they are when delved up. You’d think they wouldn’t be colourful – but they are. You’d think they would taste earthy – but some ﬂy. You might even think they wouldn’t include two absolute must-ingredients in the repertoire of every decent cook – but do you really think you could manage without onions or garlic? How about ginger, eh?Or potatoes – with which we’ll start, doing something a little bit diﬀerent: Flautas de Papa (“Potato Flutes” in Spanish), a much-loved Mexican dish served at El Pueblito in Bracebridge, co-owned by Marlenne and Mike Rickard.Born in Oakville, Mike got to live in some lovely exotic spots as a child since his father was a hotel manager in the Caribbean and Malaysia, then Bracebridge, where he ran his own businesses including owning the Inn at the Falls, one of his son’s ﬁrst workplaces. Like many chefs, Mike has worked all over the world including Cancun, where, 12 years ago, he met the delightful Mexican senorita who would become his senora.ey considered opening a restaurant there but on the urging of Mike’s parents, they opened a ﬁne-dining establishment in Bracebridge instead. However, business wasn’t the best. “Fine dining in winter is pretty brutal; we were just skating by.” So, about four years ago, the prices came down, the upside-down sombreros and other exuberant Mexican-style décor went up, and the food turned to what Mike had learned in part from Marlenne’s mother and grandmother. El Pueblito, the only Mexican restaurant in Muskoka, was born – and “it just took oﬀ.” 54 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021

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e key, according to Mike: “Good-quality ingredients, and everything is homemade. We’re making everything from scratch, fresh every day. We just don’t cut corners.” He adds that he doesn’t really use recipes, at least not after the ﬁrst couple of times. “If I can taste, I can understand how it would be cooked. I cook from the heart.”ere are many diﬀerent variations of Flautas de Papa, and this one was designed, like four other dishes on the restaurant’s menu, for vegans. “Dining out has always been rough on people who are vegan,” Mike says. “ey don’t get the selection. It’s always an afterthought of the chef, and it shouldn’t be.” Not surprisingly, he adds, “We get a lot of repeat vegan customers.”Don’t even think about it if you’re on keto, though – the dish as served at the restaurant is soft potato in crispy corn on ﬂuﬀy rice, a celebration of the deliciousness of carbs, crowned with the all-in Mexican ﬂavours of two classic salsas, cilantro, red onion, avocado and more. It is super-good. Buen provecho!Our next dish is a panzanella, which, as Chef Jafe Coture of Port Cunnington Lodge explains, has certain signature features: “ere are always greens, some kind of roasted vegetable, sauce, rosemary and garlic. Sometimes you’ll see soft cheeses such blue, goat or feta, sometimes candied nuts.” At least that’s how he does it.ough he was born near Barrie and his father was “a grumpy old chef” from Northern Ireland whose start was in pastry, Coture counts his culinary style as a combination of Italian and East Coast. is is because, after working for his father from age 16 or so, he broke oﬀ on his own at 19 as the pasta boy at Boston Pizza, then went out west to get his education at Okanagan College, then moved all the way to Nova Scotia to work with more grumpy chefs.“East Coast food is all seafood,” he says. “Good-quality ingredients, and everything is homemade,” says chef Michael Rickard, who owns El Pueblito with his wife, Marlenne. “We’re making everything from scratch, fresh every day. We just don’t cut corners.”Flautas de Papa Mike Rickard, El PueblitoSalsa RojaIngredients:1 Spanish onion cut into 8 wedges5 chile guajillos3 cloves garlic2 Tsp salt3 tomatoesMethod• Boil the chilis guajillos, garlic, tomatoes and a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. Add with the onions into a blender, and puree. Yield ½ litre.Salsa VerdeIngredients1 Spanish onion cut in to 8 wedges4 tomatillos4 jalapeño peppers3 cloves garlic1 cup fresh cilantro (coarsely chopped)2 tsp saltMethod• Heat a pan over medium heat. Add onions, jalapeños and tomatillos to pan and do not move them for at least 3-4 minutes, or until they are browning where they are in contact with the pan.• Add garlic. Turn the ingredients and brown the other side. Turn one more time, add the cilantro, then turn oﬀ the heat and let the pan cool down for a few minutes. Add salt and water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool and puree with a blender. Yield ½ litre.FlautasIngredients(for one portion)1 medium-sized potato2 pinches salt5 cloves garlic, mashed½ onion, chopped2 Tbsp olive oil4 5-inch corn tortillas• Peel potato and cut into large, even chunks. Bring them to a boil in water that’s been salted with about 2 Tbsp of salt, and boil until they can easily be pierced with a fork, then drain the water. Meanwhile, fry onions and garlic on low heat until caramelized (translucent). Mash the potatoes with a potato-masher or fork and mix together with onions, garlic and salt to taste. (“It should be thick and chunky.”)• Heat your tortillas, just a few at a time on a comal (drying pan) or large cast-iron griddle. Immediately add one big spoonful of mashed potato ﬁlling and roll up the tortilla. Place it seam side down. Repeat with remaining ﬁlling and tortillas. In a small frying pan, add vegetable oil to about half an inch deep (about a half cup to 1 cup). Heat to 350° F, or when it bubbles when you place a little tortilla piece in it. Using tongs, gently grab one “ﬂute” and lay it in the hot oil, holding a few seconds to seal the seam together, then let go. Fry for just a minute or two and turn when edges start to get golden brown. Carefully lift the “ﬂute” with tongs to drain oil, tilting it on its side, and place on a plate lined with paper towel.• Place 4 Flautas on a plate, topped with salsa verde, salsa roja, shredded lettuce, radish slices, red onion slices, fresh cilantro, avocado pieces, refried beans, even a little Pico de Gallo – and enjoy!Consejos del Chef:At El Pueblito, the Flautas are placed on a bed of Mexican-style rice, so try that too.For pureeing the sauces, a food processor will work too. “I like to see the chunks,” says Marlenne. “Don’t make it baby-food.”September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 55

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56 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Chef Jafe Coture of Port Cunnington Lodge counts his culinary style as a combination of Italian and East Coast, largely based on the experience he gained while working with other chefs.Rosemary Roasted Root Vegetable Panzanella Jafe Coture IngredientsGeneral4 cups peeled root vegetables of three types (e.g., carrots, beets, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, radishes, daikon, rutabaga, jicama…)1 large leek, halved, washed and cut into ¼-inch slices2 Tbsp olive oil3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped, woody stems removed1 healthy pinch each of salt and pepperChickpeas15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and patted dry with paper towel 2 Tbsp avocado oil6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped.1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped, woody stems removed1 pinch each salt and pepperCroutons2½ cups day-old sturdy bread, cubed2 Tsp olive oil1 healthy pinch each of salt and pepperDressing½ cup tahini (or cashew butter, or olive oil to make it more like a vinaigrette)2 tsp. whole grain mustard4 Tbsp. lemon juice2 tsp. apple cider vinegar4 tsp. maple syrupWater to thin.Greens1 large bundle of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces, large stems removedMethod• Preheat oven to 400° F and position one rack at the top of the oven and another rack in the centre. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.• Chop root vegetables into bite-sized pieces, toss in a bowl with leeks, oil, salt, pepper and rosemary until coated.• Spread in an even layer on baking sheet, place on middle rack in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, caramelized and golden brown. Flip/toss around the 15-minute mark to ensure even cooking.• Add chickpeas to a medium bowl, top with salt, pepper, rosemary and crushed garlic. Toss to combine then add to one half of the second prepared baking sheet (the croutons will go on the other half later). Place on centre rack in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.•In the meantime, prepare dressing by combining tahini, grainy mustard, maple syrup, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. Whisk to mix and add water to make pourable. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. (See Chef’s Tips.) Set aside.• To the same mixing bowl used for chickpeas add bread cubes, toss with a little oil and salt and pepper, add to empty half of baking sheet and bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until toasty and golden brown.• Add chopped kale to mixing bowl, massage for 1 - 2 minutes for texture and improved digestibility, add half the dressing and toss. Layer roasted vegetables, chickpeas and croutons over the kale and drizzle the rest of the dressing over.Serves four.Chef ’s Tipsese words were originally in the recipe but I have extracted them as, in the kitchen, they are words to live by. “More lemon for brightness/acidity, apple cider vinegar for tanginess, maple syrup for sweetness, mustard for zestiness, salt and pepper to taste.” How to massage kale: “Work it with your ﬁngers like a cat kneading. Don’t make it entirely ﬂoppy, leave it a little crisp.”For the croutons, actually, any bread will do.

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Two Tone Root Vegetable Soup with Jicama SlawRebeca PachecoRoasted Parsnip SoupIngredients:2 Tbsp olive oil2 cups chopped shallots3 cups coarsely chopped parsnip (about 1 pound)3 cups vegetable broth¼ tsp salt¼ tsp freshly ground white pepper1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme1 tsp maple syrupMethod:• Heat 1 tsp of oil in a medium-size pot, add the shallots, and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Add chopped parsnips, maple syrup and vegetable broth to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.• Place the broth in a blender and process until smooth. Pour pureed parsnip mixture into a large bowl. Repeat the procedure with remaining parsnip broth. Stir in salt and pepper. Season to taste. Set aside and proceed to the second soup.(Note: use caution when pureeing hot liquids.)Spiced Carrot SoupIngredients:1 Tbsp vegetable oil2 cups of chopped shallots1 stalk celery, chopped2 cloves garlic, chopped1 tsp chopped fresh thyme 1 tsp fresh peeled ginger5 cups chopped carrots (use heirloom for darker colour)6 cups vegetable broth½ tsp salt ground white pepper to taste• Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots, and cook it covered until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and ginger.• Add vegetable broth, bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes.• Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.Jicama Slaw• Peel 1 bulb of Jicama. Julienne-cut with mandoline or by hand. Add 1 tsp of extra-virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp of honey and one tsp of sherry vinegar. Mix in a ½ tsp of chopped fresh mint. Season with salt.Serving suggestionReheat both soups in a separate pot. Pour the same amount of soup approx. 5 oz each into a serving jugs. Pour the soups at the same time evenly from opposite sides into a soup bowl, so you get two diﬀerent colours. Garnish in the middle with a big pinch of Jicama slaw.“Guys along the roadside sell lobster for cheap, but don’t mess with their donair or their chowder or they’ll let you know.” Hopping back across the nation, he returned to Kelowna to work at a well-loved Italian restaurant, La Cuchina.In spring 2020, while Coture was in Muskoka visiting his father, the head of maintenance at Port Cunnington Lodge, and his mother, the head housekeeper, he received a career-changing phone call: La Cuchina was closing permanently, not just temporarily due to COVID. At about the same time, Port Cunnington lost its existing chef. Coture’s seizing the job seemed meant to be.His panzanella ﬁrst strikes you with a delightful earthiness created by those very grounded veggies but the sophistication of ﬂashes of garlic and rosemary quickly follows. It’s a textural symphony of a dish as well, the chickpeas and croutons adding mouth-feels you can’t get from the vegetables.Chef de Partie Rebeca Pacheco at The Antler Steakhouse hails from El Salvador and has professional cuisine in her blood. “My grandmother and mother both owned and ran restaurants,” she explains.September 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 57

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www.budgetpropaneontario.com Budget Propane Sales & Service705.687.5608 Toll Free 1.888.405.7777Serving: Muskoka • Gravenhurst • Haliburton • Barrie • Simcoe CountyWe’ll take care of your propane needs for your home, coage, or business.BRACEBRIDGE GENERATION LTD.Water Power Generating a Cleaner EnvironmentInterested in more information or a free tour? www.bracebridgegeneration.comOur last dish comes with some good news: e Antler Steakhouse at Deerhurst Resort is going to expand from seasonal service to year-round. It’s happening, chefs and spouses Gus Gulnar and Rebeca Pacheco gather, for the same reason as Muskoka’s real estate explosion: people in Toronto have, along with their employers, discovered due to COVID they can work from home, and are making Muskoka home. “We’ve been getting a lot of demand,” Gulnar says. at is what I’ve been told, actually, by every restauranteur I’ve contacted this summer.A restaurant boom in Muskoka is coming, I project, which will mean all sorts of tasty things: longer hours, more diverse menus, more new and interesting eateries. I’ll ﬁnd it in myself somehow to report.Meanwhile, the kitchen at e Antler has been redone with a totally new stove and other equipment, and our next dish was created for e Antler’s shiny new Fall 2021 menu.Chef de Partie Pacheco hails from El Salvador and has professional cuisine in her blood. “My grandmother and mother both owned and ran restaurants.” After her formal epicurean education, she worked for Hilton and other places in El Salvador, then was hired straight to Deerhurst (and Canadian winters) through a hiring program in 2007. e front of the house was ﬁne at ﬁrst but, she says, “As soon as an opportunity came up in the kitchen, I grabbed it.”“We wanted a fall colours soup, so I got the colour of the heirloom carrots,” Pacheco recalls. “We always do butternut but I wanted to combine the carrots with something lighter, switch it up a little. Parsnips gave me that nice bright colour.”e resulting gluten and dairy-free Two Tone Soup is presentation taken to a new level, but no less a tour-de-force of ﬂavour. Half is an almost russet colour, savoury and warm. e other half is silvery and sweet with a soupcon of ginger. Both tastes are extraordinary. I ate it… well, the way I go back and forth between the disparate joys of the pool and the hot tub at Deerhurst but you can mix if you like.It soars so high it’s hard to imagine that most of it came from underground.28 MANITOBA STREET, BRACEBRIDGEAvailable atSUSTAINABILITY IS WOVEN INTO EVERY FIBRE OF NOMADIX TOWELS30 Plastic Bottles = One Nomadix TowelSeptember 2021 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 59

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60 UNIQUE MUSKOKA September 2021Muskoka MomentsBy Lori KnowlesDouble Life = Local + CottagerPhotograph: Peter GilbertI live a double life. Local + Cottager. Two worlds, very diﬀerent. In winter I’m “in town.” In summer I’m “at the lake.” It’s a state I’ve occupied for more years than I like to count and still I feel suspended, like I’m neither here nor there, part of neither world. I’m never sure how to deﬁne myself. Remember the book Two Solitudes? Hugh MacLennan’s 1945 novel, once a staple in 101 Canadian Lit. e lead character struggles to reconcile his French and English roots. I didn’t get it then but now I do. My life is like that. Living as both local and cottager in Muskoka feels like living in two solitudes. Loving both, I want these two communities to respect and admire one another. I want people to play nice. And just when I think it’ll work, it’s mid-July, a sticky 31 degrees, and traﬃc on main street is as gridlocked as rush hour at King and Bay. A Tesla tailgates an F150 (or vice versa), expletives are thrown, and POOF! Any Kumbaya moments are gone. As a child, I was raised on a local street lined with maple trees and red brick. Like any close neighbourhood, we knew the owner of the Five and Dime. We knew which houses to hit on Halloween for homemade fudge. In winter, we’d slide down snowbanks higher than an elephant’s eye. And at night, after coming inside when the streetlights came on, we’d ﬂip a dial between two TV channels... that is, if the rabbit ears were adjusted just so. But in summer I’d disappear to a diﬀerent world. To a beach where a south wind made the birches sway and the lake’s waves lulled me to sleep. Hide and Seek. Fireﬂies. Bonﬁres with sparks snapping like ﬁreworks. My cottage friends came from everywhere: Toronto, New York, Pittsburgh, Tel Aviv. One family owned a Ditchburn. Another owned an entire island. One uppity friend’s father added a “III” to his name. “You mean, as in Richard III of England?” I asked. My friend rolled her eyes. “Yes, like that.”ose summers were always diﬃcult to let go of. On the last day of August I’d stand on a dirt road watching cottage families hightail it back to “the city” for ﬁrst day of school – me left behind. Tears would come. I’d look at my mum. “I know,” she’d say. “I’ve never liked Labour Day either.” Years and years later I introduced my husband to Muskoka. My husband, a city boy, who learned to drive in ‘70s Toronto on e Danforth, where people drove like Steve McQueen in a Hollywood chase. “DON’T,” I warned him, “whatever you do, DO NOT beep your horn when another driver wrongs you on a small-town street. Chances are you’ll run into that person for the next three days at the gas station, at the Mike’s Milk, or at the drug mart.” rough the years, our children have been treated to the same double life, the same odd balance between local and cottager. “Wait,” one cocky summer kid asked my 14 year old as she described Grade 9 at BMLSS, “do they even have schools in Muskoka?” Another sprite, one who lives steps from Central Park, claimed there’s no way he could live “up north.” When asked why not, he oﬀered one dirty word – “Snow” – then described his own kind of hell. His divorced parents live together in the same New York brownstone because it’s just too costly to live apart. After hearing that, I had a thought. Deﬁning myself as local or as cottager isn’t the point. I’m never going to live solidly on either side. e point is to reach out, talk, get to know one another, understand and play nice. It’s like when I spot a celebrity at the grocery store or an NHL hockey player at the local dump. We all eat, we all have garbage, and we all love Muskoka. Double life? Two solitudes? POOF! Lori Knowles is a journalist and novelist splitting her time between Bracebridge and Lake of Bays. Fingers crossed that her ﬁrst book, Summers with Miss Elizabeth, will be published soon. She blogs at www.MuskokaStyle.com.

Unique Muskoka Issue 31 - September 2021

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