Unique Muskoka Issue 50 - June 2025 : simplebooklet.com

2 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 202519Finding the Magic in Muskoka – Gabriele WillsArticle by Meghan TaylorMuskoka calls to the soul of author Gabriele Wills. Her ﬁve books, which she calls e Muskoka Novels, have Muskoka’s beautiful landscape as the common thread while each book covers continents and decades. With the backdrop of international historic events, such as the First and Second World Wars, Wills’ characters have Muskoka as a sanctuary.Features13Person of Note – Wanda MillerArticle by J. Patrick Boyer In 1953, energetic Wanda Miller of Gravenhurst was involved in civic pursuits, active in the United Church Women, president of the Gravenhurst Business & Professional Women’s Club, chair of the school board, columnist for the Gravenhurst Banner, member of the local Liberal Party Association, and she knew just about every last person in town. e following year, she was elected the town’s ﬁrst female mayor.25Behind the Wheel of a Race BoatArticle and Photography by Tim Du VernetAlmost a century ago, stunning race boats graced Muskoka lakes, providing thrills for those driving and watching the magic. Today, the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame pays tribute to the legacy of these famous watercraft and even gives the opportunity to race them – virtually. Developed locally, the race boat simulator provides anyone with a need for speed the chance to get behind the wheel.32Muskoka by PostcardArticle by J. Patrick BoyerPostcard culture arose when human desire to keep in touch with others and peoples’ fascination with images attended the marriage of new technologies in photography and printing during the season that mail services came of age. Because Muskoka’s holidaying economy took oﬀ at the very same time, the district oﬀers a unique microcosm of this phenomenon.[13][19][32][25]...telling the Muskoka story

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Wildlife sanctuaries raise concerns about the rising number of orphaned animals, Santa’s Village makes signiﬁcant expansion for the upcoming season and citizen scientists provide critical data for Muskoka’s road salt problem. Summer events are launching, including Huntsville Festival of the Arts Summer Season, Gravenhurst Triathlon/Duathlon, Muskoka Yarn and Fibrefest and Bracebridge’s sesquicentennial anniversary celebration. Muskoka Lakes makes changes to short-term rental accommodation licensing and local tourism anticipates an increase related to tariﬀs.40The Stones Have SoulsArticle by Bronwyn Boyer Photography by Andy ZeltkalnsIn Huntsville, there lives the legend of “e Muskoka Chuck Norris” – artisan Rudi Stade. For Stade, stone isn't just a medium – it’s a collaborator. He sees how their potential can be achieved with minimal intervention. A bench here, a table there. Each creation holds the spirit of its environment and a history millions of years old.Departments54What’s HappenedArticle by Matt DriscollOpinion9Muskoka InsightsBy Meghan Taylor11From an Artist'sPerspectiveBy Lori Knowles64Muskoka MomentsBy Jacquie GodardOur CoverPhotograph by Josianne Masseau Bracebridge resident Todd McDonald is a member of the Keepers of the Quaich, nominated to the society for his work in contributing signiﬁcantly to the Scotch whisky industry.JUNE 2025Postcards - a window to Muskoka’s pastTechnology putsrace boat loversin driver’s seatTHE SPIRIT OF WHISKYHonouring devotionto Scotland’s bestROCK SOLID FURNITURE[40]48Todd McDonald – Keeper of the QuaichArticle by Don Smith Photography by Josianne Masseau For most Muskokans who are connoisseurs of ﬁne single-malt whiskys from Scotland, they might not know there is a Keeper of the Quaich in their midst. Bracebridge resident Todd McDonald is a member of the exclusive, international society that recognizes, rewards and celebrates those who have shown an outstanding commitment to Scotland’s whisky industry.[48]58Cottage Country CuisineArticle by K.M. Wehrstein Photography by Tomasz Szumski Muskoka cuisine is second to none in the world. But what did people eat and how did they cook here in the pioneer days – the time of logging, steamships and woodstoves, before the inventions we rely on today? Jillian Jordan of Muskoka Heritage Place and Pamela Harris and Alison McKinnon of the Blue Willow Tea Shop give a glimpse of Muskoka fare during settlement while Lena Patten of Hilltop Interiors provides ways to bring tradition back into your dining space.[58]June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 5

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…telling the Muskoka story Unique Muskoka is published six times per year by Unique Publishing Inc.Meghan TaylorPublisher/EditorDonna AnsleySalesLisa BrazierMarianne DawsonDesignSusan SmithAdministrationBronwyn BoyerJ. Patrick BoyerMatt DriscollJacqui GodardTim Du VernetLori KnowlesJosianne MasseauDon SmithTomasz SzumskiK.M. WehrsteinAndy ZeltkalnsContributorsAnnual Subscription Rates: (including HST where applicable)In Ontario $30.00 All Other Provinces $36.00HST: 773172721Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement Number: 43268016Copyright © 2025Unique Publishing Inc.No content published in Unique Muskoka can be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.Mailing AddressBox 616, Bracebridge ON P1L 1T9www.uniquemuskoka.cominfo@uniquemuskoka.com 705-637-0204 6 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025bigriverbakingco.com• Black Angus AAA beef, Ontario lamb, pork, chicken and sustainable sh• Assorted selection of house-made sausages• Variety of cheeses, dips, sauces and exclusive pantry items• Chef-inspired ready-to-eat meals and salads• Catering for staff luncheons, private parties and everyday needs• Fine Artisan Breads Daily• Assorted Baked Goods• Made in House DessertsHIRAM ST MARKET 705-204-0857SULLYS MUSKOKA705-204-0857BIG RIVER BAKING COMPANY705-394-4499OPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY11A TAYLOR ROADFOUR UNIQUE BUSINESSES UNDER ONE ROOFBUY CANADIAN, SUPPORT LOCALServing Fresh Goods DailySpecial Orders Available on RequestOPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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8 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025OUR CODE OF ETHICS ARE:• Members shall comply with the Ontario Building Code and the National Building Code of Canada and/or all additional recognized standards applicable to the individual member as a minimum standard for that Member’s services and shall work towards industry improvement in the interests of sufficiency, safety and health.• Members shall perform their services to conform to the principles of good community development.• Members shall be fair and honest with their customers, employees, sub-contractors and suppliers in the interests of sufficiency, safety and health.• Members shall co-operate, interchange information and experience, and encourage research on materials and techniques in order to provide the best value for their customers.• Members shall uphold the principle of reasonable and adequate compensation for the services which they render.• Members shall avoid advertising which tends to mislead customers, deprecate competitors, or generally bring the reputation of the industry into disrepute.• Members shall display and encourage a sense of pride in belonging to the Muskoka Builders’ Association.• Members shall perform and co-operate in the completion of their services in a manner which demonstrates the utmost competence.• Members shall actively encourage fellow members to uphold the professional image and reputation of the Muskoka Builders’ Association.• Members shall avoid all conduct or practice detrimental to the house building industry, to the Association, to the good name or reputation of any of its Members, or to customers.Looking for help with your next project? Put your conﬁ dence in an MBA MemberFind an MBA Member to help with Your Project TODAY by scanning the QR codeCONTRACTINGVISIONESTD.2007.Thank you to our Premium SponsorsVISIT US ONLINE TODAY: WWW.MUSKOKABUILDERS.COMExperience you can trust — Knowledge you can rely onOver the past 38 years, our esteemed Association has expanded to include over 150 Member companies, representing Muskoka’s foremost builders, renovators, service professionals, suppliers, and specialty trade contractors. No matter what your next project is, our Members are fully equipped and committed to providing you with the highest level of professionalism and dedication.All of our Members must abide by or exceed our Code of Ethics. When you hire one of our members, you can be at ease knowing they agree to this code when they apply and renew their membership.Photo provided by: Tamarack North Ltd.

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Muskoka InsightsOﬃcially, summer arrives on June 20 this year… but in Muskoka, the kick-oﬀ for summer always seems to be Victoria Day in May. A long weekend for cottagers to open their summer homes, businesses to work through the inevitable changes or kinks of a new season and tourists to visit Muskoka in bloom. Summers represent a mixture of relaxation and busyness. ere are always reasons to keep working on something and there are just as many reasons to sit back and enjoy a more leisurely pace. Schedules and seizing the moment are equally important in a satisfying Muskoka summer. When the ﬁrst edition of Unique Muskoka was released in July 2016, it was the ﬁrst time my name appeared in a byline. While, yes, my father was the publisher and gave me the opportunity, I relished the chance to write. Having grown up surrounded by publishing and remaining an avid reader for as long as I can recall, writing (and reading) has always played a big role in my life. Writing for the magazine gave me a chance to ﬂex a creative muscle I hadn’t been using as much in adult life. Now, with this issue, the roles are reversed. It’s my pleasure to have a feature in this issue of Unique Muskoka written by Don. He shared with me, as he often does, a person of interest for a potential feature a few months ago. is time, I asked if he wanted to write it. He said he’d think about it and here we are. Don’s suggestion stemmed from his own keen interest in whisky from Scotland and a chance meeting at the Bracebridge LCBO with Todd McDonald. e feature in this issue of Unique Muskoka explores McDonald’s career in wine and spirits, his family connection to Scotland and his life’s work leading to a signiﬁcant honour – his nomination and installation as a Keeper of the Quaich. Our regular contributor and local historian Patrick Boyer takes us through Muskoka’s history by postcard. ough exemplifying eras back to the 1800s, postcards are still being printed and sold to send to family and friends or to keep as souvenirs of places visited. A culture that arose as a method of communication is now one that helps to show the rich and vibrant history of the region. It focuses on the many changes and iterations to its landscapes and industries. In this edition’s Cottage Country Cuisine feature, we look at returning to traditions. Much like postcards, traditional recipes and family heirlooms as part of table settings connect to our past. K.M. Wehrstein shares several ways, and places, we can take a step back in time to our settler roots. Muskoka’s stone has been a source of wonder and frustration, depending on the viewer. Contributor Bronwyn Boyer shares how local artisan Rudi Stade creates furniture and game boards from ancient stones in the region. While brute strength is one element of hauling the materials for his works, Stade is also an expert and intuitive craftsman, chiseling and drilling with his self-developed techniques. His ﬁnished products are functional sculptures with exceptional longevity. It would not be the start of summer without the mention of boating. But is there a way to experience the thrill of a race boat without having one? In this edition of Unique Muskoka, Tim Du Vernet explores the new addition to the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame – a race boat simulator. Using Xbox technology and a refurbished boat, among other things, a race boat simulator is an attraction and an opportunity to experience the legacy of Canadian race boats. While it may not be summer oﬃcially just yet, there is undoubtedly time to sit on the porch, dock, veranda or picnic table and enjoy one or all of the people-driven stories in this issue of Unique Muskoka. Happy reading!Photograph: MacKenzie TaylorYour Home and Cottage Mattress CentreTHE LARGEST SELECTION OF IN-STOCKMATTRESSES IN MUSKOKA705.646.2557www.mattressesofmuskoka.comOUR SHOWROOM HAS MOVEDVISIT US AT #7-195 WELLINGTON ST., BRACEBRIDGEMUSKOKACURATED COLLECTION by Marshall MattressJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 9

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Long ago, when portable laptops ﬁrst came on the scene, a friend sniﬀed at the idea of me taking mine outside to write. “You’re going to work?” he asked. “In nature – why? Can’t you just enjoy the day? Can’t you just be?”It was long ago yet still, each time I ﬂip up my laptop’s screen and begin tippity-tapping on the keyboard while out-of-doors – by a lake, in a boat, in a backyard – I hear his voice. You’re going to work? In nature? Why?And then the struggle begins: the brightness of the sun, the darkness of the screen, those distracting deerﬂies buzzing by. My mind goes awhirl with a thousand negative yet reasonable reasons why I should pack up and move inside. You’re on deadline, says e Voice. e bugs are bad. And think of the sacrilege! You’re missing the beauty that’s right in front of you. Close the screen. Stop the tippity-tapping. Just be! Recently I discovered these struggles aren’t exclusive to me. Artists of many kinds – painters, sculptors, writers – battle with whether or not to take their art outside. Insects in Muskoka are listed as top deterrents, followed by rain, wind, lack of toilets, lack of power, nosey neighbours (Whatcha workin’ on?) and… oh, here’s a good one: rogue dogs. Imagine setting an easel down in a public park, your paints wet on a palette, when along comes Rufus, an unrestrained bernedoodle with a bushy, swirly, swinging tail…And yet painting en plein air has been popular since the paint tube and the box easel – a painter’s laptop – arrived on the scene. A little Googling reveals this occurred around the mid-1800s when an insigniﬁcant movement called “impressionism” also became a thing. Renoir. Degas. Monet, who painted approximately 250 versions of water lilies in his Giverny backyard. Did Claude slap at mosquitoes while creating some of the world’s most-recognized art? Does France even have mosquitoes? Not that I’m comparing myself to Monet, but hey, if Claude could work outside in the elements pre-Gore-Tex and bug spray then surely so can I.For encouragement – to dispel those deterrent voices – I turned to Muskoka painter Marilyn Gargarella. She is a spokesperson for the Muskoka Group of Artists – a 45-member collection of local painters who regularly venture en plein air. Woods. Waterfalls. Famous rockcuts. Once a week they sally forth to someplace deep in Muskoka that’s calling their names. Often, they have no clue where they’re going until they get there. “It’s the moment,” says Gargarella, “when we say: ‘Ahhh! Look at that! Stop the car!’ that we know we’ve arrived.” e group sets up easels, palettes and portable chairs, perhaps in front of a fast-ﬂowing river or a vibrant blue lake. Green islands, grey rocks, windswept trees of Muskoka – all of it comes into focus and they begin to work. “I’m usually overly excited,” says Gargarella. “It takes me awhile to settle down.” But once she manages to focus, really focus: “Wow,” she’ll say, “it’s good to be here.”Deeper Googling makes me realize how easy people like me and Marilyn have it now. Tom omson – now there’s an artist who actually had it hard. Paddling unpopulated lakes, scrabbling over rugged Algonquin terrain, this Group of Seven painter of the early 1900s could have told us a thing or three about perils of plein air. No motorboats, no insulated water bottles, no ice cream shops nearby. Just rattlesnakes and raw elements to contend with. omson died violently and mysteriously on Canoe Lake, for heaven’s sake!Art experts, including the Audain Art Museum’s Curtis Collins, lay plenty of praise on the fortitude of the Group of Seven. “By representing the Canadian landscape in this very bold fashion, it was about establishing the Canadian identity,” he says. Yes! I think in response. Bring on more plein air artists! Right here, right now, a bold Canadian identity is exactly what we need.Which brings me back to my struggles dispelling e Voice, the one telling me that while I’m in nature I should stay in nature – don’t work, don’t write, just be. Probably I should ignore it from now on. Probably I should sally forth into plein air, as Marilyn Gargarella and the Muskoka Group of Artists do every week guilt-free. “Ahhh, look at that! Stop the car!” I’ll say. “Wow, I’m glad I’m here.”Lori Knowles is a journalist and author of Summers with Miss Elizabeth, a Muskoka novel. In this column Lori explores what it’s like to live and work as an artist in Muskoka. www.loriknowles.com @loriknowles_authorFrom an Artist’s PerspectiveArticle by Lori KnowlesInto Plein AirThe Muskoka Group of Artists enjoying painting en plein air.Photograph: Muskoka Group of ArtistsPhotograph: Andy ZeltkalnsJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 11

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In 1951 Charlotte Whitton became mayor of Ottawa, a ﬁrst. In 1954, as evening fell in Gravenhurst, the ballot boxes from the north and south ends of town were brought to the Opera House and opened together with the third box there all day. When all ballot papers were counted, trailblazing 44-year old Wanda Miller was declared Muskoka’s ﬁrst woman mayor, one of the few in Canada. ree years later, in 1957, Ellen Fairclough became Canada’s ﬁrst female cabinet minister. In 1958, Agnes Wing won election as Parry Sound’s ﬁrst woman mayor. In 1959, Flora Tabobondung became chief of Wasauksing First Nation in Parry Sound District. Remarkable women were writing a new chapter in Canadian public life.Wanda Miller’s no-nonsense presence, accompanied by an easy smile, accounted for her strong appearance and wide appeal. So did being an ardent promoter of civic causes and sparking with good ideas. Stamina is important in elected roles, and her good supply of that also powered constant activity with the United Church Women, the local Liberal Party Association, Gravenhurst Council, and other community organizations. Miller outﬂanked candidates who only campaigned on the main street when elections rolled around. PERSON OF NOTEPhotograph: Henry Fry Photo, Gravenhurst ArchivesIncredibly active in her Gravenhurst community throughout her life, Wanda Miller was elected as the town’s rst female mayor in 1954.The initial performance on the Barge was Barrie Collegiate Band with conductor Dr. Leslie Bell performing the nal movement of Handel’s Water Music. Article by J. Patrick BoyerNorStarMuskoka’s Premier Stocking SmartSide®DealerVisit Our New Showroom Today and Discover Exceptional Savings!SERVING MUSKOKA, PARRY SOUND & HALIBURTON REGIONS SINCE 1976Embrace Your Exterior! Supply • Install • Cash & Carry800.732.0158 • 705.645.8404 • www.norstarexteriors.comSiding • Roong • Soft • Fascia • Decking • Eavestrough • Gutter ProtectionNorStar is proud to now be stocking LP SmartSide®Trim & Siding products.Get inspired to create a look that sets your home or cottage apart withtimeless style—crafted from 100% sustainably sourced wood ber products.THAT’SSMART.WOOD WITH A DEGREE IN ENGINEERINGLabor Finish SubstratePhotograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 13

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14 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025Enjoying the inaugural concert on Saturday aernoon, July 4, 1959, her worship the mayor, Her Majesty the Queen, and His Highness Prince Philip, are joined on stage by a battery of district notables and thousands more surrounding them on the grounds of Gull Lake Park.In July 1959 when Queen Elizabeth II came to Gravenhurst and ocially opened the newly built “barge” for Gull Lake Park concerts, Mounties joined hands to provide her majesty, the mayor, and Prince Philip an open passageway through the throng of some 3,000 people who turned out for the royal visit.One of Wanda’s great inspirations was to have an o-shore stage for musical concerts at Gull Lake Park, the lovely spectacle of natural Muskoka in the heart of town. With the name “Music on the Barge,” the Sunday evening community gathering remains popular to this day. Here she is seen on the immense dock-like “barge” with band leader Raphael Mendes.Photograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesPhotograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesPhotograph: Henry Fry Photo, Gravenhurst Archives She was in constant circulation in the community. For St. Patrick’s Day in March 1953, Miller directed a colourful display of green gal power on stage at the Opera House. e Irish Ladies Minstrel Show, a chorus 52 voices strong, worked their charm with the Irish songbook, each woman’s face painted green and her lips white. e spectacle was so popular Miller ensured they also performed in Port Carling and at the tuberculosis sanitarium. In October that year, she backed the board of trade’s decision to participate in the district’s ﬁrst “Cavalcade of Colour” to promote tourist sightseeing of Muskoka’s glorious autumn leaves. By December 1953, with the town’s Business and Professional

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Women’s Club, she launched Gravenhurst’s ﬁrst Santa Claus Parade, drawing more than 3,000 to see the 20-ﬂoat procession through the central streets, climaxing with Santa on the Opera House stage handing out sweets to children.Being successful and well-liked, and now mayor of Muskoka’s senior town, Wanda decided to contest Muskoka constituency in 1955’s provincial election, though her party was not strong. Ontario Liberal leader Farquhar Oliver was ineﬀectual against astute incumbent Premier Leslie Frost. When that election’s ballots were tallied on June 9, she had lost to Bracebridge newspaper editor Robert Boyer of the PCs as the Tories swept the province, 83 seats to 11. Miller carried on, enjoying repeated re-election as mayor. at was an era of civility in politics. Mayor Wanda Miller and MPP Bob Boyer worked cooperatively on many projects, most impactfully landing the new Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst in 1958.“My grandma was in Toast Mistresses,” recalls granddaughter Kim Brown. “Her delivery was always fantastic.”As a human dynamo, Miller continued to juggle many roles. She was on-air morning host at CFOR radio in Orillia, broadcasting into Muskoka as part of the station’s coverage area but also keeping her in touch with Orillians. In the mix, she also ran her highly popular annual “Wanda Miller Talent Show,” discovering amateur musicians to 100% Canadian Artists• Large Original Paintings• Turned Wood Bowls• Sculptures & Carvings3181 Highway 169, Bala, Muskoka, Ontario705-765-7474www.redcanoegallery.comCELEBRATING 32 YEARS IN MUSKOKANOW LOCATED IN BALA‘Reaching The Sky’ 72x36, oil on canvas, N. YanakyPhotograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesWhether on stage, in the council chamber, or posing for a group shot, the most obvious thing in 1950s Canada was how a woman stood out. Wanda is anked by two distinguished and mustachioed visitors, district reeves, and MPP Robert Boyer (second to her right.)June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 15

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16 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025705.645.4294 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 cottageAppliancesSERVING MUSKOKA &PARRY SOUND FOROVER 70 YEARSHighly popular in Gravenhurst and South Muskoka was “Wanda Miller’s Talent Show,” an annual autumn event of promising amateurs she had a knack for discovering and hosting in the Opera House. One of the acts was a guitar-playing duo from Orillia’s high school, Terry Whelan and “Gord” Lightfoot.Photograph: Two-Timers Publicity Photoplay the Opera House to packed audiences of enthusiastic supporters and news reporters. In Orillia, hearing about a couple high school students performing as a duo who were quite good, she booked the guitar-playing Two-Timers who presented themselves as polished and upbeat nattily dressed young men with brush-cuts, epitomizing the stage-glitz image of the prosperous late 1950s. When their gig ended, Terry Whelan of Washago and Gord Lightfoot of Orillia got a standing ovation from the full hall, intensifying Lightfoot’s resolve to be a performing musician.One of her greatest ideas was holding Sunday evening summer concerts in Gull Lake Park with the musicians performing just oﬀshore on a barge. With support of the town, the board of trade, and the Lions and Rotary clubs, the ﬁberglass “barge” – a ﬁxed stage with a runway to the land – was completed in July 1959. Miller ran the Music on the Barge program, as an unpaid volunteer, from 1959 to the early 1980s. Mayor Miller did not set the monarch’s agenda, but when she learned that another female oﬃce holder, Queen Elizabeth II, might come to town on her 1959 royal tour of Canada, she outperformed herself to ensure the visit happened and was

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memorable in every good way. A viewing stage was constructed in the park for performances on e Barge. Flags adorned the streets of town and special displays appeared in store windows. Top talent was booked, messages of greeting written and revised, special invitations dispatched, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides ironed their uniforms, and the best reason for buying new dresses was exercised to the full.On the afternoon of July 4, 1959, the mayor and monarch oﬃciated at the dedication of the “barge.” It was an exceptionally happy Saturday in Muskoka yet somehow seemed normal because Miller was central to it all. In 1960, Miller stepped down as mayor, the same year Flora Tobabandung retired as chief of Wasauksing First Nation. However, Miller continued to remain active in civic matters. A keen curler, in 1962 she opened the town’s inaugural Muskoka International Mixed Bonspiel. In 1967 she enjoyed wearing period costume for Canada’s Centennial at the many public functions. In 1972, Miller opened Gravenhurst’s ﬁrst Winter Carnival, an action-packed 10-day event. Wanda Miller’s 75-year life ended July 17, 1985, but her leadership and examples remain an enduring legacy.Wanda Miller’s high energy and easy smile accompanied her through 75 action-packed years of life (1910 to 1985) in a variety of community roles and public service activities that invariably included many “rsts” which remain part of her legacy and Muskoka’s heritage.Photograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesINTRODUCING KIATHE21 Robert Dollar Dr, Bracebridge, ON P1L 1P9705-645-6575muskokakia.caMUSKOKA KIAEV9GENERATORSSMART HOME SYSTEMSNEW CONSTRUCTIONLIGHTINGECRA/ESA #7010474RESIDENTIAL / COMMERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL519.805.3200ARKLTD.CAinfo@arkltd.caJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 17

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Like many drawn to Muskoka, author Gabriele Wills had a ﬁrst visit to the region as a teenager that burrowed into her heart and has stuck with her for the rest of her life. “Growing up in the Kawarthas fostered my love of cottage country,” shares Wills. “But the rugged beauty of Muskoka added a new dimension and I was captivated the ﬁrst time I visited my friend Fay Patterson's cottage on Mazengah Island on Lake Rosseau when I was 12.”e cottage she visited as a teen was built in 1879 and had slowly grown into a family compound over the decades. e setting gave her inspiration and a certainty that she wanted to include Muskoka in her writing one day. Wills may not have grown up in Muskoka, but the area holds a piece of her soul. “I was enchanted by the sublime setting and the cottage Author Gabriele Wills has written ve historic ction novels – some connected in storyline, and all connected by Muskoka.Article by Meghan TaylorFinding the Magic in MuskokaPhotograph: Melanie WillsPhotograph: Gabriele WillsJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 19

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20 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025culture – women and children staying for the entire summer, as they had for generations,” she says. “And I felt privileged to spend unforgettable weeks there during the summers of my youth. Hearing wonderful tales of the ‘old days’ from aged aunts who had witnessed them, I knew then that one day I would write about that genteel ‘Age of Elegance’ in legendary Muskoka.”Wills recalls making up stories to entertain herself when she was a child and dreaming of becoming an author. Her fascination with stories and people led her to education and work that connected with writing but never focused solely on her own ﬁction writing. She studied psychology and sociology at the University of Toronto before completing her bachelor of education there as well. In her career she spent time as a literacy coordinator, educator, website designer and even writing articles for newspapers as well as short stories. Her ﬁrst short story appeared in the Canadian Authors Association Winners' Circle 5 Anthology.“After graduating from university, I taught history and English for a few years and soon realized that we all learn more easily when we can relate to events on a personal and visceral level,” says Wills. “I really enjoyed historical ﬁction, so when my husband and I moved to Ottawa in 1977 and there were no teaching jobs, I decided I would ﬁnally try writing one.”Writing historical ﬁction takes time to research periods and places for accuracy, as well as building characters who are believable for the period. For Wills, she enjoys the challenge of recreating an era “to enlighten and entertain” her readers while “weaving compelling stories around meticulously researched and often quirky facts.”e historic subjects of her novels are also close to her own story. Wills was born in a former army barracks in Germany post-Second World War. She is the oldest child of “displaced persons” from the war and her family emigrated to Canada, settling in Lindsay, when she was just three years old. Her connections to the decades she has written about give a reality to her work. From that ﬁrst visit as a teenager, Wills has been inspired by Muskoka. Her ﬁrst iteration of her Muskoka series was a love story that took place on an island in Muskoka, starting in 1914 and spanning over 50 years. “It took me about a year to write, during which time I read everything I could to hone my skills,” shares Wills. “But after it was turned down by a few Canadian publishers, I felt it wasn’t quite the book I had envisioned. So, I put it into a box and there it has stayed.”With that idea on the shelf, Wills began writing what became A Place to Call Home – a historical ﬁction novel based on her childhood stomping grounds of Lindsay and the Kawarthas. Once she’d completed that ﬁrst novel and her second, Moon Hall, set this time in Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley in the 1870s and 1980, her attention was drawn back to Muskoka. “I decided it was time to tackle my much expanded and richer ‘Muskoka Novel,’ which turned into four books,” explains Wills. “I was delighted and honoured when Muskoka Chautauqua selected both the ﬁrst book in the series – e Summer Before the Storm – and the last – Lighting the Stars – for their esteemed Reading Circle.”In her most recent novel, Once Upon a Summer, Wills takes a slightly diﬀerent approach. Still historical ﬁction, this novel In August 2024, Gabriele Wills launched her h Muskoka novel, Once Upon a Summer. Dierent from her previous Muskoka novels, her newest book still connects to Muskoka as the setting but includes a haunted inn.Photograph: Melanie Wills

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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 CentreGabriele Wills’ enchantment with Muskoka began on Lake Rosseau at the age of 12 and she has continued to frequent Muskoka to draw further inspiration. Each of her novels feature notable places in the region, such as Ungerman Park in Gravenhurst where Lighting the Stars begins.looks more closely at Muskoka resorts as they grew from small farm settlements into booming summer escapes and a mentality about summer vacation that rarely exists in the present day. “I love being on, in, and beside the water any time,” she says. “I also like exploring new places and visiting old ‘friends,’ like Cleveland’s House, which inspired my latest novel, Once Upon a Summer, and Windermere House, where a delightful scene is set in that book.”Getting outside ﬁrst thing in the morning to experience the quiet lake, before it's disturbed by the traﬃc of the day, helps Wills start her days in Muskoka grounded. Her connection to the wind, the water, the trees and even the sand at her feet gives a full sensory experience to awaken her mind and her body. “Muskoka nourishes my senses and my soul,” she shares. e ﬁve books set in Muskoka include e Summer Before the Storm, Elusive Dawn, Under the Moon, Lighting the Stars and Once Upon a Summer. While the ﬁrst two – e Summer Before the Storm and Elusive Dawn Photograph: Melanie WillsJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 21

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– are best read in sequence, as they are directly connected as one story, the others can all be read as standalones or in whatever order you choose. ose looking to delve into historical ﬁction about Muskoka while they enjoy their dock can ﬁnd Wills’ novels at Lake Livin’ in Port Sandﬁeld, Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst, e Rosseau General Store in Rosseau, Dwight Trading Post in Dwight, Simply Cottage and Vernada in Bracebridge or in her online bookshop. Wills continues to enjoy her summer visits to Muskoka and is writing something new – a “cozy murder mystery set in my hometown of Lindsay in 1994. It’s nostalgic fun!”EXPERIENCEYOU CAN TRUSTExperienced drilling & blasting for roads, ditches, foundations and septic systems. Exceptional service and top-quality results.FREE ESTIMATESShe may not have grown up in Muskoka full time, but Muskoka is deeply important to Gabriele Wills. She continues to cottage in the area and enjoys spending quiet mornings at the lake to ground herself before starting her day.Photograph: Melanie WillsJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 23

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Who wouldn’t ﬁnd it exciting to be behind the wheel of a racing boat with no limits in speed or power? Unlimited death-defying thrills! Nearly a century ago, Harry Greening tore around lake Rosseau for 24 hours in Rainbow III, setting a period record for distance. His achievements have been followed by a legacy of famous Canadian race boats. e history of these magniﬁcent boats and the people who captained them are on display at the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame (CRHF) just outside of Bracebridge.Before the age of simulators, testing any advances in design required building prototypes and putting them through trials to determine the results. is was a time consuming, expensive and Chris Taylor, one of the founders of the Muskoka Seaea, tests the simulator he worked to develop for the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame. Using Xbox technology, future race boat drivers of any age can test their skills against other drivers around the world.Article and Photography by Tim Du VernetJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 25

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potentially very dangerous process. e driver of a prototype or new design was risking life and limb to be the ﬁrst to push limits a bit further than before.With computer technology to the rescue, simulators today play a crucial role in many forms of racing, by providing a controlled environment for testing, training and development. Simulations allow teams to analyze situational data, vehicle data and to familiarize drivers with circuits, all without the risk of a live race or test. Race drivers of all ages have taken up the simulator challenge for some 50 years, since the Xbox was created and the “Sims” race series developed. Now, the Canadian Race Boat Hall of Fame has its very own simulator. Leveraging the Xbox technology, future race boat drivers of any age can test their skills against other drivers around the world.The Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame is lled with famous Canadian race boats, including Miss Supertest III, the only three-time Harmsworth Cup winner (1959, 1960 and 1961) and winner of the 1959 Detriot Memorial Regatta.The resurrected Fritti III, a Glen-L TNT model sea ea that was built in 1992, was transformed to be the physical space for the race boat simulator. The hull was brightly painted and ts into the museum beautifully with a “92”, the year of her birth, and the museum’s logo on display.June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 27

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...telling the Muskoka storyww w.uniquemuskoka.com 28 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025www.mikeslandscaping.ca info@mikeslandscaping.caYour Landscape, Our PassionAnn Curley, museum director at the CRHF and Harry Wilson, son of Miss Canada IV racer Harold Wilson, came up with the suggestion of adding the simulator to the museum. ey looked to the Muskoka Seaﬂea group to develop the solution of a simulator in its current form. Chris Taylor, Andrew Taylor and Robert Renton, founders of Muskoka Seaﬂea, were encouraged to create something that would be engaging and entertaining for youngsters to play. Sea ﬂeas are one of the most accessible ways for a child of any age to experience the thrills of a speeding watercraft safely. Of course, these little boats are, in some ways, miniatures of the huge monsters that reach velocities tenfold or more of the speeds the sea ﬂeas may go. e passion Taylor, Taylor and Renton have for the little boats runs deep and wide. ey organize a Sea Flea Fest every other year on Kahshe Lake to celebrate these vessels. At CRHF, over in the sea ﬂea corner, where horsepower is modest, kids have a

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Adding a race boat simulator to the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame, among the sleek, historic race boats on display was the idea of Ann Curley, museum director at the CRHF and Harry Wilson, son of Miss Canada IV racer Harold Wilson.chance to taste some of this thrill of speed, without the danger and mess. Harry Wilson oﬀered a fun suggestion that some spray from a spray bottle could be included to make the experience even more authentic!e CRHF simulator is a modest approach to the concept, which can become very expensive at the professional level. In developing the simulator for the museum, Chris Taylor, whose background was teaching media arts, noted there are not a lot of boat simulators out there. “I looked at a variety of platforms, keeping in mind that the target audience would be kids from about ﬁve to 15 years old,” Chris Taylor explains. “is simulator was never meant to replicate actual race boat experiences like TORC (e Open Racing Car Simulator) or APBA races. I believe there are racing sims out there, but they aren’t as speciﬁc to the museum’s context. In the consumer world there are more sailboat computer sim games than power boat.”Speciﬁc simulator consoles, such as “Hydro under” referenced by Taylor, are available but they are also beyond reach of the museum’s current budget. As the concept progresses, he sees potential for two boats to run simulators side by side for exciting competitive play.With budget and space limitations in mind, Taylor added that “we wanted to create an experience that was ‘plug and play’ where someone at the CRHF would not have to be hovering over the users all the time. Bottom line is that the simulator is simply meant as an entertainment piece – a photo op and an interactive addition to the kid’s zone. It could easily evolve into something more but that entirely depends on the resources available.”Taylor used the boat Fritti III, a Glen-L TNT model sea ﬂea that was built in 1992, as the foundation for the project. Fritti III had been specially resurrected from well-worn previous display and storage for the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame. After assessing her wear and tear, Taylor transformed the worn varnished wood into a brightly coloured, painted hull that ﬁts perfectly with the colour theme of the museum.With white as her background colour, “92”, the year of her birth, was reborn sporting the museum’s logo and variations. e care to detail in the painting, including hull serial number, is not to be taken for granted. She is ﬁtted with a bench seat and an Xbox steering wheel. Taylor linked a traditional outboard throttle system to foot pedals, which were relocated to behind the seats. A “driver” sits behind the wheel and presses steering wheel buttons to navigate through the game menu system to choose June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 29

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30 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025the course and the choice of race boat. Gamers should quickly get the hang of the steering and throttle. e game, presented on a large screen, gives ample feedback and there is haptic feedback in the steering wheel too. e simulator had its ﬁrst serious test with the public on April 26, the day of the ACBS Spring Tour. Chris and Andrew Taylor were on hand to see how their creation was being received. A gentleman, in his mid 80s was followed by a 13-year-old. As would be expected, the 13-year-old adapted very quickly and set scores good enough to open new challenges. Harry Wilson even gave the simulation a try, enjoying spray in the face to add the “4D eﬀect.”Wilson believes the CRHF has a “hit” on its hands. “We had eight- to 80-year-olds testing their skills and some, like me, requested a second try,” he said. He even noted that he cut his elapsed time in half on the second attempt. “I absolutely love the idea of clambering aboard #92 Glen-L TNT Chris has rebuilt for young and old,” shares Wilson. When reﬂecting on strategies that can make you go faster in the simulation, Wilson explained that a driver tries to pick up nitrous oxide bottles along the route. ese give a boost in speed. “If only I had that option 40 years ago!” says Wilson. Professional Canadian Hall of Fame race boat driver Norm Woods was encouraged to give the simulator a try while assisting with moving boats around at the museum in advance of the season. Woods was told he did great for the ﬁrst run and rapidly improved his score on a second run. “Finishing in fourth place until I hit the wall,” remarks Woods. “It was quite a thrill.”Fans of outboard racing are also very positive about the concept. Andrew Fralick, an avid outboard racer, is hopeful about the simulator bringing greater interest to the sport. Home to the only three-time Harmsworth Cup winner (1959, 1960 and 1961) and winner of the 1959 Detriot Memorial Regatta, Miss Supertest III, the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame is ﬁlled with famous Canadian race boats. Huge hydroplanes and similar designs that ﬂy over the water, powered by specially designed engines developing hundreds and thousands of horsepower that propelled the Unlimited Class well over 200 miles per hour. While marvelling at the history and beauty of these incredible boats, the race boat simulator can take you back in time too. Whether you’re a fan of the sea ea, outboard boats or classic race boats, the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame’s simulator gives young and old the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a racing boat – safely.

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The simple little postcard is, as it has always been, a vault of social, cultural, and technological information. ough exemplifying eras back to the 1800s, they are still being printed, retailed, and purchased to send to others or keep as souvenir images of places visited. Professional photography is better than one’s phone camera generally captures, but there’s far more to Muskoka’s postcard culture than that. A series of five postcards from William Anderson’s Muskoka Series, reproductions of his famous picture postcards that retailed two-for-a-nickel a century ago, are available at the Muskoka Lakes Library in Port Carling for $1.50 each. “ey are selling well,” reports head librarian Andrew Whitﬁeld, a clue about Muskoka’s enduring postcard culture. Across the district contemporary postcards in display racks at marinas, gift shops, summer resorts, cultural centres and heritage attractions remain popular because they meet an authentic demand. Selﬁes have displaced postcards but cannot replace them.Postcard culture arose when human desire to keep in touch with others and peoples’ fascination with images attended the marriage of new technologies in photography and printing during the season that mail services came of Article by J. Patrick BoyerHundreds of books about Muskoka are richly illustrated with postcards on the proven principle that a picture is worth a thousand words. Muskoka’s postcard culture inspired three authors to write books about the postcard phenomenon, including Allan Anderson’s Postcard Memories of Muskoka.Photograph: Author’s CollectionPhotograph: Author’s CollectionPhotograph: Muskoka Lakes Museum, Port CarlingPhotograph: Muskoka Discovery Centre Archives, GravenhurstMuskoka by Postcard 32 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025

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age. Because Muskoka’s holidaying economy took oﬀ at the very same time, the district oﬀers a unique microcosm of this phenomenon. Postcards made an outsized contribution to Muskoka’s fame, fueled the district’s tourist business, and shaped Muskokans’ own identiﬁable sense of place.ough most forms of personal communication have now migrated from paper into cyberspace, the linear progression through time should not be overlooked because postcards evolved with applied science and continuity. For instance, the concept of a postcard traces back before photography to its precursors, small cards printed with wood cuts and delivered by hand, and envelopes lithographed with pictures on them. Fast forward to digital messages restricted to 160 characters, eﬀectively continuing the brevity imposed on postcard writers to conﬁne their message to the allotted space at the left side on the back.Mailed cards with printed images began in continental Europe because Germans were the world’s best printers and the French were ever advancing photography. In a separate play, Britain helpfully overhauled its antiquated postal system. e sender, not the recipient, would now pay the mailing cost. Variable postage rates based on multiple factors were changed to flat fees: 1¢ in country, 2¢ for overseas. ese changes mattered because Britain’s system applied in colonial Canada. In 1840, eﬃciency accelerated when England printed the world’s ﬁrst adhesive Frank Micklethwaite established a rustic yet elegant image of Muskoka in his countless black-and-white photos. Some were colourized and made into postcards, like this shot of school children parading to Bracebridge’s fall fair down main street.The earliest picture postcard in Gravenhurst Archives features this 600-foot-long oating bridge at Leg (now Muldrew) Lake. The description misstated the bridge to be one and a-half miles from Utterson. It was rather more than that – some 38 miles.Captured by postcard, a devastating re destroyed 15 buildings in the centre of Port Carling on October 27, 1931, including the agship structure, Hanna’s Store.The image of steamships became, and remains, intrinsic to Muskoka’s identity. A tting representative of the district’s steam-propelled watercra is S.S. Sagamo, largest of them all, seen in this postcard locking through at Port Carling.Photograph: Muskoka Discovery Centre Archives, GravenhurstPhotograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesPhotograph: Muskoka Lakes Museum, Port CarlingMuskoka by PostcardPhotograph: Muskoka Lakes Museum, Port Carling

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34 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025stamps in sheets to sell at post oﬃces. A postcard’s stamp (like a letter’s) was “cancelled” by an inked handstamp imprinting over the postage stamp the place of mailing and date, proof of prepaid delivery and bar to saving a cent or two by reuse of the same stamp. Rules governing the card’s verso for recipient’s address and sender’s message evolved through many permutations into what we know today.Why Muskoka best exemplifies postcard culture at its zenith are the same reasons the district sprouted a vacation economy: southernmost exposure of the most scenic parts of the ancient Canadian Shield, close proximity to large urban populations, and speedy convenience of Steam Age travel by train and ship. e added ingredient was early presence of the district’s paparazzi, freelance professional photographers pursuing a celebrity to get stunning photographs. e celebrity was Muskoka’s mystique, which they largely created through photography.Muskoka enjoyed considerable bench strength for postcard production. e district’s frontline cameramen owned and operated stores selling cameras, ﬁlm, picture frames, developing and printing customer’s ﬁlms. ey supplemented income by photographing babies, weddings and graduations for families, public events for the weeklies and scenic or memorable places around the district to publish their own lines of postcards. To create postcards on a par with those elsewhere in Canada, nothing more was needed.However, Muskoka being Muskoka, full time dedicated professional photographers of great artistic skill at the cutting edge of camerawork techniques also felt challenged by the opportunity to make money by capturing scenes, places, people, and especially the district’s elusive appeal. In the tournament of postcard production, Muskoka had an extra line of players.In 1907 William Anderson, who’d taken up photography in England, was 27 when he arrived in Muskoka, became mesmerized, and stayed to take pictures. Finding Lake Muskoka’s Beaumaris community and its twin pillars, brothers-in-law Edward Prouse and John Willmott who owned and operated the hotel and general store, Anderson set up his photography business in Prouse’s hotel and married Willmott’s daughter Frances. ese career moves, combined with Beaumaris being ground zero of Millionaires’ Row where American plutocrats summered and were always doing picture-worthy things, would have put a lazy man on Easy Street. Anderson, not lazy in any way, travelled the district’s waterways, scouting dramatic scenery and, like a stage director, arranging people and props to add the all-important human dimension to nature’s panorama. The result was the “Anderson Series” of sepia toned and colourized picture postcards that During the Second World War, Henry Fry was commissioned to take group photographs of the 500 German ocers and orderlies in the town’s prisoner-of-war camp for postcards they could mail home to Germany.First Nation peoples in Muskoka encountered a transition phase that included earning money selling hand-craed artifacts to summer tourists.Postcard imagery ran the gamut in showcasing the many faces of the region. From Muskoka sheep farming to aerial images of entire communities and expansive summer resorts, postcards could show the full range of Muskoka’s development.Photograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesPhotograph: Muskoka Discovery Centre Archives, GravenhurstPhotograph: Muskoka Discovery Centre Archives, GravenhurstPhotograph: Muskoka Lakes Museum, Port CarlingPhotograph: Henry Fry/Gravenhurwst Archives

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became the rage to mail and keep. In the Roaring Twenties, Anderson upped his game in this competitive field where legendary Frank Micklethwaite, oﬃcial photographer for the city of Toronto was just as busily operating, as were other prominent photographers, each publishing their own series of Muskoka postcards. Numerous Canadian and American postcard companies were simultaneously printing and distributing Muskoka postcards using whatever photos they could get, from train wrecks to burned out settlements, sprawling leather tanneries that turned waterways pink or brown, and log-jammed rivers barring navigation to settlers and vacationers.Major players like Anderson and Micklethwaite paid the best printers overseas in Germany or Britain to produce postcards using the costly but durable Toronto-made copper engravings of their photographs, mounted on teakwood blocks, which they shipped to the printers. Back came thousands of cards printed on quality lightweight card with the best of inks. General stores, gift shops, gas stations, post oﬃces, resorts and hotels throughout Muskoka bought “Anderson’s Lake of Bays Series” and “Anderson’s MODERN HOME CARPET ONE350 Ecclestone Drive • Bracebridgemodernhomecarpetonebracebridge.comTAYLOR CARPET ONE30 Cairns Crescent • Huntsvilletaylorcarpetonehuntsville.com705.645.2443705.789.9259HARDWOOD • LAMINATE • VINYL PLANK & TILE • VINYL ROLLS CARPET • CERAMIC • NATURAL STONE & MOREFloors for Home & CottageHenry Fry captured a placid sense of the Muskoka River’s north falls and bay in Bracebridge that others did not.Ever mindful of artful presentation, William Anderson also used inherent props, such as Bigwin Inn’s dining room veranda, to frame this picture postcard scene at Lake of Bays.Photograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesPhotograph: Henry Fry/Gravenhurwst ArchivesJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 35

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36 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025Muskoka Series” because sales boomed with his stellar images of the district’s inland waters. Each spring, as his son Everritt Anderson described, William made sales trips by boat to lakeside communities, scooping big orders the Anderson children helped assemble and ship to customers aboard steamships with mail contracts calling in at Beaumaris. Over his lifetime, Anderson created 250 distinctive Muskoka postcards. In the 1920s, he went aloft with Billy Bishop, World War I ﬂying ace who began Canada’s first civil aviation company with scheduled ﬂights, to capture novel aerial photographs of Muskoka. Decades before Photoshop, Anderson also gained a commercial edge by inserting boats into lake scenes when a postcard photograph needed them, understanding that people beneﬁt from human presence in images to grasp the scale of the scene and identify with it.e hard-work adventure was the same for Frank Micklethwaite lugging heavy glass plates, cameras and tripod through Muskoka’s harsh and lovely terrain to capture memorable photographs. Railway companies with ownership interests in major summer resorts like the Royal Muskoka on Lake Rosseau and the WaWa on Lake of Bays used Micklethwaite images to promote vacationing. They also boosted fares aboard their passenger trains and with paying guests in the resorts by producing large posters and ﬂooding their stations with their own postcards, effectively acting as Muskoka’s public relations department. Micklethwaite’s dramatically appealing images, extensively reproduced in magazines and books at the time and ever since, established the face of Muskoka to the world, in tandem with the photographs of others such as William Anderson with his series and professional photographer O.F. Adams, who called his series of postcards “Muskoka Views.” Others with extensive postcard series included Henry Fry of Gravenhurst and business partners Ed atcher and Barry Wenger who expanded their busy studio from Bracebridge to Utterson.Postcard culture includes interpreting these remarkable artifacts, which three Muskokans have done in book form. The 1980s book Postcard Memories of Muskoka, showing 119 images of the district’s inland lakes with steamboats and summer resorts in various combinations celebrates Muskoka steamers in their grand era. “Canadians are getting much pleasure these days looking back at their past,” wrote Allan Anderson. “is book is a glimpse of a small segment of that past, yet oﬀers a most comprehensive social history of Canada in the early 20th century.”A decade later, Bruce McCraw’s 1998 book, Postcard Memories of Sparrow Lake, presented 144 cards to illustrate his narrative. Its publisher Barry Penhale, head of Natural Heritage Books and respected authority on Ontario history, used a large trim size (8 by 10 inches) for McCraw’s 138-page book, reproducing two or even three postcards per page. Postcard Memories has a map of Skeleton Lake identifying its many resorts and locales, is indexed, and includes his specific notes on the postcards. McGraw received great encouragement from Penhale to publicly share his “postcard memories” and illuminate postcard culture.“They document how resorts evolved from tent or simple cabin with no heat or running water to today’s modern unit, how holiday travel by train gave way to the automobile, how transport to the lodge from Port Stanton by motor launch replaced the steamer, and how recreation on water evolved from skiﬀ and canoe to the outboard motor.” McCraw also observed “postcards were the only inexpensive and fast way for tourists to keep in touch with family and friends, for years costing no more than one or two cents to mail. Usually a short note to the recipient told of a safe arrival or some other event.”Postcards travelled quickly from the local post oﬃce, often received the same day and if traveling long distances, in less than three days. “e quick dispatch of mail was assisted by railway mail cars on passenger trains and sometimes on separate mail-trains between major centers,” noted McCraw. “The mail baggage cars frequently had letter slots so the sender in a village or small town could deposit mail directly when a train made a station stop. e extensive rail network and frequent train service combined for rapid mail transport, well suited to the simple format of the postcard.”e postcards McCraw collected had been printed for resorts just when lithography and colouring entered a more elegant stage. “Frequently tinted with Art Nouveau ornamentation, some were bordered with a frame to make them look like a photograph of a picture. It wasn’t long before the novelty card appeared, showing oversized ﬁsh caught in Sparrow Lake.”As to postcard culture, McCraw observed “Some showed clear evidence of being removed Photograph: Gravenhurst ArchivesWilliam Anderson touched up some of his photographs by adding a ship or boat for a more pleasing postcard. Working pre-Photoshop, the size and angle of his vessel implants could be as obvious as misplaced lipstick.

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from albums. By no means were they only sent to Ontario or Canadian addresses. So many were mailed to friends and relatives as far away as California, England, and Belgium, all to end up back in Ontario in the hands of postcard dealers.”Bruce MacLellan’s two books on Lake of Bay’s postcards continue this genre of district historiography entwining an extensive array of images with stories about the places and people shown. Savvy about presentation and marketing and about Lake of Bays as a long-serving leader of Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation, MacLellan shares more than 300 postcards in these artfully produced small books. Nodding to the reality that most show a scene horizontally rather than vertically, they are arranged, one per page, on coated stock of ﬁve by nine inches, simulating holding the very postcard itself, with space enough for him to identify the scene, add background information, and provide helpful interpretation. MacLellan researched the context of postcards for the ﬁrst book, published in 2007 as Post Cards from Lake of Bays. “Even in 1915,” he found, with a world war underway, tourism slumping, and Canada’s population less than eight million, “people mailed over 65 million post cards.” Particularly adept at reading clues and connecting dots, MacLellan described period details in the postcard scenes. “The images on the cards and the accompanying messages people wrote,” he added about postcard culture, “offer historic insights into local development, transportation, tourism, fashion, commerce, technology, war, and human emotions.” So popular was his ﬁrst book he followed up three years later with a sequel, more postcards from his extensive collection, in Back Again at Lake of Bays.Current interest in postcards, a vital component in postcard culture, includes hobbyists collecting and trading them; researchers discovering them as an exceptional heritage resource for high quality images of times and places not otherwise available; and, for most anyone, the mildly prurient enjoyment of reading other people’s mail. Devotees of this artform have clubs and associations to share information and provide a marketplace to buy and sell. Postcard collectors (deltiologists) have a more portable and easily handled trove of assets than numismatists with their coin collections or philatelists with their stamps, so are more comparable to baseball and hockey trading-card enthusiasts. Of course, the internet provides a global 705-764-0765 | 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.Photographs: Muskoka Discovery Centre Archives, GravenhurstSteamboat captain Ron Sclater likely holds the record for most Muskoka postcards of steamships, motorized watercra, and lakeside facilities collected. These images hail from one page in just one of the two dozen large binders he donated to Muskoka Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst.June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 37

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38 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025marketplace and forum for postcard research. Vintage Muskoka, an online community with 15,000 members, continuously posts images and info, including at Easter this year a 1909 Bala postcard printed in Britain and published by J.W. Burgess, the community’s mainstay. Its July 9 message to a Toronto recipient on Bay Street was a news digest of family ailments and movements here and there, like a phone call in the pre-telephone era. Seasonal Muskokan John Gall, whose family’s deep district roots run back to the Grunwald Lodge on Mary Lake, has more than 300 postcards in his collection. Active in the Toronto Postcard Club (the nearest club for Muskokans), he is skilled at evaluating cards and adept at ﬁnding an ideal postcard image online to illustrate some feature of times past, such as a blacksmith’s shop. e research component of postcard culture engages heritage curators at Muskoka’s museums and public libraries having postcards holdings. Mary Storey of Gravenhurst, voluntarily headed up development of the Muskoka Discovery Centre’s archives for the past two decades. She is closely familiar with the museum’s postcard collection that grew from a worthy handful in the original museum beside the Muskoka Steamships ticket office, to more than 600 postcards today. e expansion of the collection is the result of successive donations, most recently in some 20 organized and labelled binders contributed by retired steamboat captain Ron Sclater.Sara White, curator of Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville, constantly ﬁelding requests for pictures of people, places, or events, is adept at tapping the museum’s photograph and postcard holdings for such images. At Muskoka Lakes Museum in Port Carling the collection runs upwards of 300 postcards, some with correspondence, some without, a variety of black-and-white, tinted, colourized and full-colour chrome postcards. General manager Rachael iessen is spearheading a digital catalogue upgrade of these postcards to improve research capacity for museum staﬀ and internet accessibility for the general public. e Gravenhurst Archives currently have 2,062 postcards, the earliest dating from 1904. Archivist and historian Judy Humphries conducts the town’s archival operations with volunteers, including Jack Cline, digitizing images since 2003. In addition to researching images for authors to illustrate their books and articles, Humphries shares her own knowledge through popular history talks illustrated on-screen with postcards, press clippings and photos. District libraries with Muskoka Collections have various postcard holdings. At Bracebridge, information services librarian Cindy Buhne reports some 300 postcards in the collection, most of them donated and in binders with an index, awaiting further organization and cataloging. In Port Carling, chief librarian Andrew Whitﬁeld is currently undertaking a major evaluation of archival holdings, including photos and postcards. ey, too, are retained as the collections were donated, including the extensive Applegath records on the Muskoka Chautauqua Assembly. In addition to digitizing records to make them more accessible to staﬀ and the public alike, he is also focused on developing clearer rules for archival retention.rough the 20th century postcards by the millions ﬂew out of Muskoka to friends and family across North America and overseas. e scale of this self-reinforcing publicity bore testament to the district’s postcard culture and spreading fame. In the mid-1950s Santa’s Village at Bracebridge began selling coloured postcards as souvenirs. Muskoka resorts and gift shops sold countless scenic cards as mementoes of their vacation or that guests keenly mailed to others showing the glorious place they were staying, boosting Muskoka tourism by hastily writing, “Having a great time. Wish you were here!”Photographs: Author’s CollectionBruce MacLellan published a postcard book of rare beauty in 2007 whose subject was not in doubt: Post Cards from Lake of Bays. By popular demand, he published a sequel three years later, with more stellar postcard images and enriching commentary. Professor Bruce McCraw was poking through an antique store when he discovered vintage postcards that awakened boyhood memories of his summers at Sparrow Lake. Encouraged by Natural Heritage Books publisher Barry Penhale, his book See You Next Summer appeared in 1998.Muskoka Conservancy is making a dierence locally and ispart of a movement to protect nature globally. Join us!Photo by Tammy NashTogether we are making a dierence!Learn more at: muskokaconservancy.org/become-a-memberank you for helping us conserve over 5,100 acres and 65,000 feet of natural shorelinein Muskoka!

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Known locally as “The Muskoka Chuck Norris,” Rudi Stade forges furniture and chessboards from ancient stone, hauling hundred-pound boulders through the woods to cra his works.In Huntsville, there lives the legend of “e Muskoka Chuck Norris." e title belongs, without contest, to Rudi Stade. His name conjures the image of a Nordic “He-Man” who wears shorts in the dead of winter and hauls hundred-pound boulders through the woods. But more than that, he’s an artisan, forging furniture and chessboards from ancient stone with nothing but muscle, mindfulness and a pinch of stubborn joy.Born in Montreal, Stade’s path was carved by adventure. As a young man, he hitchhiked across the country, learning how to survive – and how to connect. “It helped me overcome my shyness,” he recalls. “You meet all kinds of people when you’ve got your thumb out.”ose early years etched into him a love for challenge and nature, the two forces that now deﬁne him. Working as a contractor in British Columbia each summer gave him an understanding of carpentry, which he took to with ease. He settled in Toronto for a while, where he became a husband and father. While he continued doing renovation work during this chapter, he also framed large prints in a photo lab. ere he befriended well-known photographers and developed (pun intended) a taste for more creative pursuits. But one day fate intervened, he found himself selling his home and moving his family to Muskoka in 2003. After a weekend escape from the concrete jungle, the eﬀect of the clean air and lake water was hard to shake. Article by Bronwyn Boyer/Photography by Andy ZeltkalnsJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 41

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42 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025One of Rudi Stade’s proudest works is a table and bench installation for The Table Food Bank. This was a collaboration with late artist Brenda Wainman Goulet, featuring her bronze statue of a man oering food to passersby. His stone table presents the gure and adds warmth and dignity, a gesture of shared humanity made permanent.Being in Muskoka rekindled Stade’s child-hood fascination with rocks. “When I was a kid I loved reading about the diﬀerent types of minerals,” he recalls. “My favourite spot on the school yard was where there was a really round boulder, a couple rocks the size of skulls and a really interesting pebble. We put the pebble on the big rock and dropped the larger rocks on top of it to crack it in half. We brought magnifying glasses from science room to observe the crystals. ey were gorgeous – completely clean and sparkling in the sunlight. It was very exciting.”At ﬁrst, Stade was reluctant to leave his carefully cultivated business connections and friendships in Toronto behind. But when he saw those perfectly shaped rocks on his forest hikes, carpentry and creativity were united. He founded his new company, Rudinian Rockworks, and dove headﬁrst into a new life shaped by granite and grit. For Stade, stone isn’t just a medium – it’s a collaborator. “e rocks tell me what they want to be,” he says. He doesn’t force them into submission but sees how their potential can be achieved with minimal intervention. A bench here, a table there. Each creation holds the spirit of its environment and a history millions of years old. “When I make furniture from these rocks, I’m reminded how ancient they are,” he explains. “ere’s a kind of awe in that.”e ﬁrst spark of inspiration for Stade was one stone in particular. “I still have it, actually,” he says. “I made it into a TV table. It’s about 14 inches wide, maybe 16 at the most, and about 35 inches long. It was quite thick. When I lifted it up, the bottom half of it fell away. It turned out that it was already split into two almost-equal sizes. I split the thicker one and I split it into two thin ones and carried both of them out of the forest. e ﬁrst one weighed 125 pounds. at was tough enough to do but the thicker one was 145 pounds.” e larger one was used to make a bench. “It took a while to ﬁnd a matching seat for it,” Stade recalls. “It was the same length, sort of rectangular. at was my second bench. Before that, I found a stone that was almost rectangular, but it was way wider on one side and narrower on the other side. I found another piece that was almost a perfect rectangle. It was a seat to go with the backrest. The wider one was the backrest, and the narrower one would be the seat. en the backrest would sit in the notch that I cut into the two back legs that were quite a bit longer, about 36 inches or so. I had plenty of room to support the backrest as it leaned back against those bars. It just worked out. It was my ﬁrst bench, so I don’t think I’ll ever sell it.” From there, Stade began hauling stone after stone out of the woods, designing around their natural forms. His benches look as though they grew from the ground – organic, raw, unpretentious. “Each one was an exercise in overcoming my impatience,” Stade says. “Grinding at a rock until it ﬁts exactly the way I want – that’s where the art is.”The life experiences that gave Stade the strength his art requires could be written into a book of wilderness fables. A lucid memory of nearly drowning in a fast river with a survival pack tied around his chest, gave him a taste for adrenaline. He credits that craving for his ability to pull 160-pound rocks out of the woods while

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44 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025In spite of the toll this work has taken on his body, Rudi Stade isn’t slowing down yet. He hopes to continue taking on new clients and custom pieces and projects. He views each new installation as an opportunity to rene his technique.being devoured by mosquitoes. “I felt something had changed in me after that experience,” he says. “I think I became a man in that moment, and ever since I’ve wanted to push my limits.”But there is also a more practical method behind the myth. Stade’s stone furniture is wildly inventive – constructing custom sleeve anchors to aﬃx stone to wood, chiseling 45-degree angles into 600-pound slabs, and drilling blind with surgical precision, are intuitive techniques that are completely his own.“It’s just like wood,” he says, “but harder.” Stade uses metal hardware to attach granite slabs to each other, or to multi-branch tree stands. His understanding of the mechanics behind this comes from a combination of construction experience, intuition, and experimentation. “I’d sneak a hatchet into the stone and give the rock a few whacks,” recalls Stade. “If it didn’t fall apart, I ﬁgured it was good to go.”While Stade’s pieces are sculptural and timeless, they’re also deeply utilitarian. His benches grace public parks and private patios and his stone chessboards provide a perfect way to pass the time. Stade’s adornment of River Mill Park creates the eﬀect of being in an ancient mythical fairytale; a place where giants and kings assemble to discuss political strategies as they play chess. One of his proudest works is a table and bench installation for The Table Food Bank. This was a collaboration with late artist Brenda Wainman Goulet, featuring her bronze statue of a man oﬀering food to passersby. Stade’s stone table presents the ﬁgure and adds warmth and dignity, a gesture of shared humanity made permanent.

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What sets Stade’s pieces apart are the rocks themselves – different colors, textures, and weights, each selected and placed with intention. “You can’t mass-produce this kind of thing,” he says. “It’s always one of a kind.”Stone is unforgiving, and there is no mortar or glue used in his pieces. One misstep and a priceless slab can be ruined. Stade drills slowly, deliberately, often testing vibrations with his bare hands. If the drill begins to chatter, he knows he's close to a breakthrough and adjusts accordingly.“Sometimes it takes ﬁfty tries to get it right,” he admits. “But I don’t give up. e rock teaches me to treat it with patience and respect.”In one particularly diﬃcult piece, a triple-angled backrest for a square bench, Stade spent hours adjusting cuts to get the geometry just right. e result? A seamless joint, held together with the stainless-steel hardware method he developed.“It’s all about engineering,” he explains. “You can make the impossible work if you understand the physics.” Understanding the physics seems to be something Stade can channel from the ether, as it’s not something he studied at school. Books are good references but it takes an extraordinary mind to be able to apply diagrams to massive stone slabs that could crush a person in an instant. Leave a Legacy CRUI SESaturday, July 13th3:30-6:30pmAboard the Wenonah IIAn afternoon of philanthropy, community, and entertainment. Plus special guests! Tickets and information: tinyurl.com/HMCruise25While Rudi Stade’s pieces are sculptural and timeless, they’re also deeply utilitarian. His benches grace public parks and private patios, and his stone chessboards provide a perfect way to pass the time.June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 45

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46 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025Stade’s ingenuity is demonstrated in the chessboards he made for River Mill Park and Deerhurst Resort. With the right tools and some common sense, he made it happen. “First, I cut the square,” he says. “en I made 16-inch-long parallel cuts. e standard chessboard is 16 by 16 inches, with each square being two by two inches. So, I cut each one for the eight columns and then cut it perpendicular, making eight squares. And I chiselled out every second square very carefully to avoid breaking the intact pieces that were part of the original stone surface.”Once Stade chiselled and drilled those out, he cut squares out of a darker stone he found in the woods that had gold Pyrex on the surface. ere were enough of those to make 16 squares, which he cut down to two inches, minus about one eighth of an inch to account for the size of the saw blade. “I made them the exact same size as the remaining squares so that they would line up on both sides,” he continues. “en I just put a whole lot of glue into it. I used a super strong PL Premium glue and pushed the stone tiles into place. But because the glue was so thick, it was expanding as it hardened, so I had to go back every few hours and push the stones down again. I did this by whacking them gently with a rubber mallet until they were ﬂush with the original surface. I had to be very careful about it, or the squares would break, and I’d have to drill them out and start over again.” Stade likes knowing that his work will outlive him. “ese pieces will still be here long after I’m gone,” he says. “You can’t say that about a lot of things.”Despite the longevity and resilience of benches that weigh over a ton, Stade’s construction design allows them to be more portable than one would think. e lack of mortar or glue allows them to be disassembled for relocation. Once, an attempt was made to move a bench in one piece, and it collapsed under the strain, demonstrating why this method is not recommended. Stade repaired it, no hard feelings, only care. “It’s like they’re my kids,” he says fondly. “I want them to be okay out there.”In spite of the toll this work has taken on his body, Stade isn’t slowing down yet. He hopes to continue taking on new clients and custom pieces and projects. Each new installation is an opportunity to refine his technique. But he also admits that even Chuck Norris is not immortal. “I’m getting too old for this,” he says with a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll retire at 80, make a rocking chair and then just live in it. at’s not really my style, though.”Stade has endless ideas for new creations. And even though he has been sourcing his stones from a granite quarry instead of the woods, that magic hasn’t left them. is magic is honoured by bringing them into human spaces. Sitting on a bench, elbowing up to a bar, or admiring the artistic designs in a patio or walkway, one can’t help but feel the secret ancient history they hold. In a world rushing toward the digital and the disposable, Rudi Stade stands grounded –literally and philosophically. He lifts from the land, crafts with the soul and returns beauty to the world in its most elemental form. And in every curve of granite and grain of ancient stone, there is a whisper of his story, embedded in time.Rudi Stade’s ingenuity is demonstrated in the chessboards he made for River Mill Park and Deerhurst Resort. His talent and ability to work with the stone is evident in his benches and tables. He likes knowing that his work will outlive him.Generation HomesGravenhurst 2025 Affordable housing. We’ve got a plan. environmentally friendly, energy-efficient,affordable rentals for small families or singles find out howyou can be apart of theplan6info@habitatgatewaynorth.com

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Article by Don Smith / Photography by Josianne MasseauMuskoka is well-known as being home to individuals who have interesting life experiences, fascinating careers and recognitions for their accomplishments.For most Muskokans who are connoisseurs of ﬁne single-malt whiskys from Scotland, they might not know there is a Keeper of the Quaich in their midst – a member of the exclusive, international society that recognizes, rewards and celebrates those who have shown an outstanding commitment to Scotland’s whisky industry. Todd McDonald, who moved to Bracebridge in 2020 with his wife, Bonnie, traces his family roots to the Isle of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides, oﬀ the west coast of Scotland. Early in his career, while telling his family about a planned business trip with his employer to a distillery on the Isle of Mull, McDonald was surprised to learn from his father, “at’s where we’re from.” He was thrilled when representatives from the Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, one of the oldest in Scotland, presented him with a book on the community where his Muskoka resident Todd McDonald is a Keeper of the Quaich – a member of the exclusive, international society that recognizes, rewards and celebrates those who have shown an outstanding commitment to Scotland’s whisky industry. 48 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025

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50 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025family had lived. ey also showed him old photos of staﬀ at the distillery, many of whom were McDonalds. While not certain which ones, he suspects some of them must be relatives. Emigrating to the Beaverton-Cannington area of Ontario, his family has been in Canada since 1827.Growing up in Scarborough, McDonald started college at 17 and was, he says, “…not sure what I wanted to do in life.” While taking a marketing and administration course at Seneca College, McDonald was getting advice from a sales professor who “…told me not to go into sales. So, that’s when I decided I would go into sales.” And the rest is history.To support his extracurricular activities at college, McDonald was employed unloading trucks at Wine Rack. He couldn’t work with customers in the store until he turned 18 but Keepers of the Quaich are presented a medal among other items during their induction ceremony. With an estimated 3,000 Keepers throughout the world today, it is a distinction reserved for a very few. HUNTERS | JUMPERS LESSONS | SALES 4171 Line 11 N Coldwater, ON(705) 641-0754muskokahorseco.com...telling the Muskoka storywww.uniquemuskoka.comAll Canadian. All the Time.Representing 100+ Canadian Artists & ArtisansClara Kim PaintingJennifer Creeggan PotteryMarina Babic JewelleryOpen weekends in spring Open daily in summer 1073 Fox Point RoadDwight, 705.635.1602oxtonguecraftcabin.com

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shortly after graduating from college, he became a manager at the Newmarket location. Soon afterwards, he added the Richmond Hill outlet to his responsibilities. Timing and a willingness to take on new challenges have been hallmarks of McDonald’s career. Such was the case at Wine Rack. Working to expand the company’s outside sales, he caught the eye of management and by the time he was 24, McDonald had become a district manager with a portfolio of 55 stores. McDonald says he found it surprising that so many 50-year-olds at the time were satisﬁed to work for the wine retailer with him as their much younger supervisor. While McDonald was happy with the progress he was making during his 11-year career at Wine Rack, a change in ownership saw the company cut staﬀ and change much of its management.Again, fortune smiled on McDonald when he responded to a small advertisement that caught his eye in the Toronto Star from Peter Mielzynski Agencies Ltd. (PMA). e company, which would grow to become Canada’s leading wine and spirits agency, was looking for a wine sales representative. Interviewed by Peter Mielzynski Jr., the son of PMA’s founder, McDonald hit it oﬀ immediately. Overcoming an objection from the ﬁrm’s sales manager, he was hired to service locations throughout eastern Ontario.Getting to know about these small-town businesses and the families of the owners was very important to McDonald as he grew his accounts.“It’s always about relationships,” advises McDonald, who disagrees with more current philosophies that question this sales approach. It was a philosophy that would serve him even better, later in his career, working with European wineries and distilleries.McDonald’s style worked well, seeing him become new business development manager at PMA. His next challenge was as national director of wines, spirits and beers where he was tasked with attracting suppliers to the agency’s growing portfolio.Describing that position as an amazing on-the-job education, McDonald says his employer invested the better part of half a million dollars in travel expenses over 15 years while he gained knowledge at the same time as he signed contracts with new suppliers. “Instead of learning from books, I learned from people who did it,” says McDonald of his excursions around the world to visit wineries, distilleries and breweries where he talked with the vintners, distillers and brewers. “I got a real education,” he says.With that knowledge in his toolkit, McDonald would return to Canada where he would advise the company’s sales team and represent the growing collection of brands to liquor control boards and other buyers from coast-to-coast. Often, his work meant attention to details; some as tricky as navigating the labelling and packaging requirements that can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.Part of McDonald’s value-added sales approach included staﬀ training for large buyers, assisting with food pairings, developing wine and spirit lists, and sourcing brands that would provide unique oﬀerings for diﬀerent businesses. Introduced to Aperol Spritz during one of this many trips to Italy, McDonald tells the story of oﬀering the product to one of his Italian restaurant customers who agreed to take the minimum order of 250 cases – a fairly Working rst with Wine Rack and then Peter Mielzynski Agencies Ltd. (PMA), a company that would grow to become Canada’s leading wine and spirits agency, Todd McDonald gained incredible on-the-job education and knowledge while also having the opportunities to meet global distillers, vintners, brewers and famous people involved in the industry.Todd McDonald continues to share his knowledge and passion for quality wines and spirits as a customer service representative at the LCBO. June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 51

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Fast 180kWReliableZero DowntimeLocalBracebridgeLakeland Electric VehicleCharging Networkacross Muskoka/Parry Sound 52 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025substantial leap of faith. e product was such a hit in that ﬁrst year, says McDonald, “they didn’t do one order; they did three orders.” Among the achievements that bring a smile to McDonald’s face is selling the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) the most expensive product they had ever bought at the time – two bottles of a Balvenie single malt whisky from Scotland that had been aged for 50 years. Each bottle had a selling price of $30,000. With a bit of showmanship in his blood, McDonald made special plans for the delivery of these bottles.“I called Brink’s,” says McDonald. With lots of media attention, two armed guards from the armoured-vehicle company delivered the bottles to the LCBO’s Summerhill store in the heart of Toronto, often referred to as one of the company’s ﬂagship locations.He continues to laugh when he ﬁnishes the story by saying one of the buyers of the two bottles used the subway to transport his $30,000 purchase to his restaurant in east Toronto. With this and many other whisky-related accomplishments to his credit, McDonald came to the attention of the management committee of the Keepers of the Quaich Society who make the ﬁnal decision on whether or not a nominee is accepted to membership. It is important the nomination “…reﬂects the outstanding work that the nominee has contributed to the Scotch whisky industry,” says the society’s website.In McDonald’s case, while he had associations with a number of distilleries, it was his promotion and sales of 30-year-old Glenﬁddich single malt whisky that resulted in the distillery putting forward his nomination. While Keepers of the Quaich are most likely to be distillery executives, distillers, blenders and those who are known for promoting whisky, other notable Keepers – past and present – include King Charles, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Sir Rod Stewart and the late Sir Sean Connery. With an estimated 3,000 Keepers throughout the world, today, it is a distinction reserved for a very few and even more of a recognition for McDonald, who was inducted in 2005 when there were fewer than 1,600 Keepers.And the ceremony to install Keepers is Todd McDonald displays his personally engraved quaich – a two-handled cup which is used for sharing whisky with visitors. Quaiches (pronounced quakes) have a history in Scotland dating back as much as 500 years and possibly as far back as the Viking invasions.

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every bit as impressive as its name and Scottish heritage would suggest. Taking place in Blair Castle, the oldest part of which dates back to1269, the twice-yearly banquet and induction ceremonies are described as “the pinnacle” of the society’s activities. Blair Castle is the fortress of the Earls and Dukes of Atholl and home to the only legal private army in Europe, the Atholl Highlanders. e infantry regiment plays a pivotal role in the Ceremony of Induction.Both Todd and Bonnie McDonald will attest to the pomp and ﬂourish which is a part of the banquet. Literally receiving “the red-carpet treatment,” the McDonalds felt like royalty while staying at the nearby Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry. roughout the time they were there for the ceremonies, they received personal invitations to other castles and Scottish attractions, as well as traditional gifts, as guests of other Keepers.At the induction ceremony, each Keeper is decked out in their own, personally-ﬁtted kilt, made in the Keepers’ tartan. e Master of the Quaich reads the accomplishment of each newly inducted Keeper who is then pinned with a Keeper’s medal, a cummerbund made from an original Keepers’ tartan and their personally engraved quaich. A two-handled cup, which is used for sharing whisky with visitors, quaiches (pronounced quakes) have a history in Scotland dating back as much as 500 years and possibly as far back as the Viking invasions. After ﬁnishing his career with PMA, McDonald took almost two years oﬀ to de-stress from his constant world travels and resolving issues with his international roster of suppliers. He eventually realized he was not one to sit quietly at home. Today, McDonald continues to share his knowledge and passion for quality wines and spirits as a customer service representative at the Bracebridge outlet of the LCBO. With a sense of pride, McDonald says many of the brands on the store shelves were ones brought to Canada by him and members of his marketing team. “Whisky is a personal thing for me,” says McDonald, noting his feeling of “personal pride” in discovering his family’s connection to whisky. “It’s come full circle from generation to generation,” he concludes.June 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 53

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54 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025HFA summer lineup features Serena Ryder, Jim Cuddy and moree Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HfA) is set to return for its 33rd summer season, featuring a diverse array of concerts, art exhibitions, comedy shows, and community events. This year’s theme, “Let Yourself Glow,” encourages attendees to celebrate the light within themselves through inspiring performances and artistic experiences.“e theme of our summer season is Let Yourself Glow,” says Dan Watson, executive director of HfA. “We hope our season invites artists and audiences alike to shine a little light on themselves, on their community, and on the beauty of this place we call home.” Among the returning highlights are Jim Cuddy with two performances, Matt Andersen, and the iconic rock band Lighthouse. Additionally, singer-songwriter Serena Ryder will grace the stage, along with George Canyon at the Algonquin eatre.e festival's programming will expand to include alternative venues. Reggaddiction will perform at the Etwell Concert Series, an outdoor covered venue nestled within the forests near Huntsville, where visitors can enjoy reggae music alongside oven-baked pizza in a picturesque setting. Hillside Farm will present The Rolling Stones Show, featuring local favourite Tobin Spring, for two nights. e farm will also be hosting Juno nominee Alex Pangman and her Sweet Hots, who will perform jazz classics from the 30s and 40s.For further details about these events, the lineup of concerts and performances or to purchase tickets online visit their website at www.huntsvillefestival.ca.Citizen scientists delve into local road salt problemCitizen science is playing a pivotal role in addressing road salt pollution in Muskoka, as highlighted in Dr. Neil Hutchinson's recent report for the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FOTMW). e report draws on data from eight citizen scientists who tested chloride levels at 27 locations over two years, revealing concerning sources of pollution linked to road salt use.e ﬁndings indicate that lakes near major highways and urban areas show heightened chloride levels, primarily due to road salt runoﬀ, with speciﬁc locations in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge identified as significant contributors. Measurements taken using conductivity meters indicate some local runoﬀ has chloride concentrations comparable to seawater, posing a threat to aquatic life and local infrastructure.Dr. Hutchinson emphasizes the importance of citizen scientists, noting their ability to provide valuable insights that supplement professional research. As pollution levels continue to rise in certain areas, like Gravenhurst Bay, community involvement is crucial for monitoring and mitigating the eﬀects of road salt on the environment.The information is set to strengthen FOTMW's SALTYMuskoka education project, aimed at educating residents on reducing road salt pollution in the region.Bracebridge set to celebrate 150th anniversarye Town of Bracebridge is gearing up for a momentous celebration this year as it marks its sesquicentennial anniversary. Numerous events are being organized to commemorate this signiﬁcant milestone.“In 2025, Bracebridge proudly celebrates its 150-year anniversary as a vibrant and welcoming community,” said Rick Maloney, mayor of Bracebridge. “Rich in history, community spirit, and natural beauty, Bracebridge has come a long way. We are excited to reﬂect on our past and celebrate the progress that has shaped our town. Join me in marking this monumental occasion with special events, legacy projects around town, and community gatherings where stories can be shared and memories made.”A celebratory ﬂag has already been raised at Town Hall, and new Bracebridge-150 banners have been displayed throughout the downtown Whats HappenedPhotograph: Huntsville Festival of the ArtsPhotograph: Friends of the Muskoka WatershedLocal citizen scientists have played an important role in collecting data to help address the issue of road salt pollution in Muskoka’s lakes and waterways. Eight volunteers have been testing levels at 27 locations for over two years.Serena Ryder is one of many incredible musical acts joining the Huntsville Festival of the Arts lineup this summer.

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area in collaboration with the Downtown Bracebridge BIA. These banners feature a special logo and icons that will remain up for the year.One of the highlights of the anniversary celebrations will be the Bracebridge 150 Community Celebration and Showcase, scheduled for June 7 and 8 at J.D. Lang Park (Bracebridge Fairgrounds).Muskoka Lakes makes changes to short-term rental accommodation licensingIn late 2024, the council approved a short-term rental accommodation licensing bylaw. e planning committee recommended at their March 2025 meeting that the bylaw be revised to incorporate a new implementation schedule.e updated bylaw features the following key amendments:- Existing and new operators will be allowed to advertise and manage their short-term rental accommodations without a license from the Township throughout 2025.- All operators must submit their license applications by December 31, 2025. - While the restrictions for summer rentals will remain the same, the amendments suggest delaying the enforcement of these restrictions until May 1, 2026. Bookings for the summer of 2026 must comply with the provisions of the amended bylaw.- e occupancy limit will continue to be set at two persons per bedroom. However, if an applicant can demonstrate their septic system can accommodate more, the Township may consider increasing the maximum occupancy permitted on the issued license.According to the Township, the bylaw change is meant to enhance the eﬃciency, compliance, and user-friendliness of the licensing process. e bylaw was enacted in light of unforeseen technical challenges, according to Township staﬀ.Santa’s Village makes signicant expansion for upcoming seasonSanta’s Village has announced its largest expansion to date. e expansion includes the addition of three new Muskoka-themed rides: Fly Fishin’, Falcon’s Nest, and Moose on the Loose. Bob Montgomery, the newly appointed General Manager of Santa’s Village, oversaw the expansion. Montgomery has a history in managing major global attractions, including Darien Lake, Canada’s Wonderland, Legoland Group and Herschend Family Entertainment. With years of leadership experience, he is focused on enhancing the park’s appeal to a wider age range by introducing more thrilling adventures and improving food and beverage options for visitors. “With our upcoming expansion, we aim to broaden the offerings at Santa’s Village,” commented Montgomery. “Our goal is not only to introduce new rides but to enhance the overall experience. We want to create attractions that spark imagination and foster lasting memories through engaging and immersive experiences, while also preserving the cherished traditions that many generations have loved.”Gravenhurst Triathlon scheduled for June 7 and 8 The Gravenhurst Triathlon/Duathlon, hosted at the Muskoka Wharf Sports Fields with its signature jump from the Muskoka Steamships, has been a highlight in the MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series for over a decade.e event has now shifted to June, taking place June 7 and 8 in 2025. Participants are encouraged to register early, as the event consistently sells out due to the limited capacity of the Muskoka Steamships.Following the jump into Lake Muskoka, participants tackle long, straight segments in the swim course, with the sun at their backs. As the event occurs in June, wetsuits are recommended, given expected water temperatures ranging from 19°C to 21°C Numerous celebrations are being planned for Bracebridge’s 150-year anniversary. A celebratory ag has been raised at town hall in addition to special banners throughout the downtown area. A major event June 7 and 8 will spotlight Bracebridge’s rich arts culture and history.Photograph: Santa’s VillageSanta’s Village has added three new Muskoka-themed rides in its largest expansion to date, aiming to enhance the park’s appeal to a broader demographic.Photograph: Town of BracebridgeJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 55

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56 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025(66°F to 70°F).Cyclists then leave the Muskoka Wharf, staying on Muskoka Rd 169 for an out-and-back route. is course features long, steady grades with paved shoulders of varying widths and excellent visibility for both cyclists and motorists. As this is a shared road course, safety practices are essential.The run begins on the pathways of the Muskoka Wharf Sports Park and leads to North Muldrew Lake Road, where participants will face a challenging course filled with hills. Regarded as one of the tougher runs in the series, this course requires participants to run facing traﬃc at all times, emphasizing safety on the shared road.Sixth Muskoka Yarn and Fibrefest set for June 21 On June 21 the Bracebridge Fairgrounds will transform into a woolly wonderland for the sixth annual Muskoka Yarn and Fibrefest, attracting numerous vendors from across Ontario.According to the festival organizers, the event aims to highlight the yarn and ﬁbre industry in Ontario. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the artistry of those who hand-dye yarn and rovings, expertly weave garments and rugs and produce a variety of stunning artistic creations. Moreover, visitors can engage with farmers who raise livestock for their exceptional ﬁbres. is event caters to both ﬁbre enthusiasts and those interested in discovering the skills of talented artisans and farmers. e event takes place from 10 am to 4 pm and admission costs $5 for adults, while children under 12 are free.Vendors will be both indoors and outdoors.Increase in orphaned animalsconcerns wildlife sanctuariesAspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, along with seven other Ontario wildlife centres, is highlighting the rising issue of orphaned wildlife as temperatures increase. Many animals, such as raccoons and squirrels, are seeking shelter in human homes, leading to numerous orphaned babies when homeowners remove their mothers.“If the orphaned animals are found quickly enough, they can be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation centre for care and eventual release,” said Janalene Kingshott, director of animal welfare at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. “However, wildlife rehabilitation centres throughout Ontario are reaching their maximum capacity as soon as May, and the calls keep coming for several months thereafter." is means rehabbers need to make the difficult decision to turn away hundreds of baby animals each year. Live-trapped animals often suﬀer from stress and injury while waiting for relocation, facing further hardships when released into unfamiliar environments away from their young. Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act restricts relocation beyond one kilometre, but many species return to their original territories making legal relocation ineﬀective. For humane handling, it is advised to wait until the young are old enough to leave the den on their own, around 8 to 10 weeks. To encourage nursing mothers to move their young, techniques such as playing talk radio, introducing strong smells, and reducing comfort in the den may be eﬀective. If challenges arise, homeowners are urged to consult experts in wildlife control, especially during breeding seasons. Additionally, proactive measures like securing food sources and sealing entry points can help prevent future wildlife intrusions.Trump taris boost local tourism in MuskokaRecent decisions made in the Oval Oﬃce are having a signiﬁcant impact in Muskoka. Amid the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, many consumers are choosing to spend their dollars locally. Muskoka Tourism has reported a remarkable 176 per cent year-over-year increase in website traffic from prospective U.S. visitors.“Local operators are experiencing strong early bookings, positioning us well for a busy summer season,” stated Val Hamilton, executive director of Muskoka Tourism. “While our message – Muskoka: Where Summer Feels Canadian – continues to resonate throughout Ontario, we are also enhancing our digital marketing eﬀorts in key U.S. drive markets, including Michigan, Ohio, and New York State. With this positive momentum, we’re optimistic for a successful summer ahead.”On a national scale, a recent survey by market researcher Leger revealed two-thirds of Canadians have signiﬁcantly cut back on their purchases of American products, both in physical stores (68 per cent) and online (65 per cent). Furthermore, 59 per cent of Canadians indicated they are less likely to visit the U.S. this year compared to 2024, with 36 per cent of those with travel plans to the U.S. reporting they have already cancelled their trips.Photograph: MultiSport CanadaThe Gravenhurst Triathlon/Duathlon is back June 7 and 8, featuring its signature starting jump from the Muskoka Steamships.Orphaned wild animals are on the rise at this time of year, with eight wildlife centres near their maximum capacity as soon as May.Photograph: Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary Feature by Matt Driscoll

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58 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025As we’ve shown in these pages, Muskoka cuisine is second to none in the world. But what did people eat and how did they cook here in the pioneer days – the time of logging, steamships and woodstoves, before the invention of electric stoves, cellphone timer apps and recipe websites? What recipes did they use?We will start answering these questions in the slice of living history that is Muskoka Heritage Place’s Pioneer Village in Huntsville. e Village’s narrators – Village staﬀ in period dress – describe and demonstrate for visitors how things were done back then, in genuine period buildings. Visiting the Maw House and sampling scones baked there by the narrator portraying Mrs. Maw is a time warp.Originally located oﬀ Rish Lake Road east of Novar, the log house was built by the Mills family on land ceded to them in 1890, according to Muskoka Heritage Place manager Jillian Jordan. After passing through the hands of several other owners, it was bought by Katrine sawmill owners Nawton and Minnie Maw in 1932, then donated to the Muskoka Board of Education and dismantled by Huntsville High students in 1970. In 1984 it was donated to the Village and moved there.“Settlers baked on Saturdays,” explains Jordan. “ey would bake everything for that week on one day. You can imagine how hot a small house like this would get with the cookstove going, especially in the summer months. Early settlers would have cooked in an open hearth, with the baked goods sitting in the ﬁre. If they were fortunate, they would have an oven built in or there would be a community oven. By the time there was permanent settlement by European people in Muskoka, they would have had stoves.”Maw House has an antique cookstove in operation daily from the May long weekend to anksgiving. ere isn’t a dedicated head baker; the work is shared by narrators who have a special devotion to traditional baking.Article by K.M. WehrsteinReturn to traditions:The cuisine of pioneer MuskokaMaw House, originally located o Rish Lake Road east of Novar when it was built in the 1890s, was donated to Muskoka Heritage Place in 1984 and moved to the pioneer village.The British tradition of high tea is said to have originated during the Victorian era at the latest and made its way to Muskoka with British immigrants and tourists. Photograph: Muskoka Heritage Place Collection, Huntsville, OntarioPhotograph: Tomasz Szumski

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Muskoka Heritage Place Traditional Scones- Muskoka Heritage PlaceIngredients2 cups all-purpose ﬂour3 tsp baking powder½ tsp salt3 Tbsp white sugar2 Tbsp shortening or unsalted butter 2 large eggs⅓ cup milk Method 1. Mix ﬂour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.2. Cut shortening/butter into small pieces, add to ﬂour mixture and mix until it resembles coarse sand.3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add milk to them.4. Add milk and egg mixture to ﬂour mixture and mix lightly.5. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness and cut into 2½-inch rounds.6. Bake at 425°F until golden brown. (Usually 15 minutes or so; check at eight minutes.) Yield: 24 scones.Chef ’s Tips • Non-dairy milks like soy or almond milks can be substituted for cow’s milk. e higher the milk fat content, the richer the dough.• Shortening or butter? ey both tenderize gluten (to avoid hard, dense scones) and add moisture – but have diﬀerent ﬂavours and textures and can even aﬀect the shape.• Mix lightly means don’t overmix the ﬁnal mixture, or you’ll end up with tough, dense dough. You don’t want to develop the gluten like you do with breadmaking.• Our old scone recipe doesn’t provide a baking time; judge by eyeing the dough for colour doneness. It’s important the stove is not too hot, as it will result in scorched scone bottoms and raw dough in the centre. However, you don’t want the stove to be too cold; you want a quick rise in the dough as this will result in soft, ﬂaky layers. • ermometer use with the woodstove is permitted, period-wise, because the mercury thermometer was invented in 1714, well prior to Muskoka pioneer days, by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit.Narrators at Muskoka Heritage Place who want to bake the old-fashioned way are taught period preparation of bannock – a type of bread original to the local First Nations – with students on school visits. For tourist visitors, they make scones.Photograph: Muskoka Heritage Place Collection, Huntsville, OntarioPhotograph: Muskoka Heritage Place Collection, Huntsville, OntarioJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 59

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60 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025Cucumber and Dill Cream Cheese Tea Sandwich - Blue Willow Tea ShopIngredients 4 oz. cream cheese at roomtemperature2 Tbsp fresh chopped dillKosher salt and freshly groundpepper, to taste6 slices of good quality fresh bakedwhite bread ½ large English seedless cucumber,thinly slicedMethod1. In a small bowl combine the cream cheese and dill. Season with salt and pepper.2. Lay out slices of bread and spread cream cheese thinly and evenly on each slice. Arrange the cucumber slices in rows overlapping slightly until the cream cheese is covered. 3. Assemble sandwiches, carefully cut oﬀ crusts and cut into quarters. Serve immediately.Yield: 12 tea sandwichesTea pairing: English Breakfast or Queen Elizabeth“Our narrators, all of whom live in and around Huntsville, have a variety of backgrounds,” says Jordan. “But they all have one thing that sees them returning every year – passion for sharing our local history. Some have been a part of the team for close to 20 years.” Narrators who want to bake the old-fashioned way are taught period preparation of bannock – a type of bread original to the local First Nations – with students on school visits. For tourist visitor, they make scones.e scone originated in Scotland, according to Jordan. I personally have a 1927 British book, delightfully entitled Modern Cookery, with a dozen scone recipes that call for all manner of ingredients including lemon, sultanas and potatoes. Blueberry scones will be mentioned below. But the Village narrators keep it simple and Scottish. “We are fortunate in that we have a vast archival collection which includes family diaries and recipe books where we have sourced recipes such as this,” says Jordan. e precise origin of the recipe is lost to time, but it’s been used at the Village since the 1980s.“Our scones are accompanied with freshly made butter,” enthuses Jordan. “ey are tasty, buttery, slightly sweet and light. Many visitors try to sneak seconds and thirds!”e British tradition of high tea is said to have originated during the Victorian era at the latest, and of course came to Muskoka with British immigrants and tourists. It is maintained to this day in restaurants and tea houses, including at the Blue Willow Tea Shop in Gravenhurst.Established in 2006, Blue Willow was bought in early 2019 by business partners Pamela Harris and Alison McKinnon. When COVID struck the next year, the tasteful and resourceful co-owners pivoted away from restaurant service to retail, china sales on Etsy (they keep $200,000 worth of china stock) and other COVID-proof strategies to survive. Harris and McKinnon came to love selling retail enough to continue, so you can buy all manner of UK-imported food items, not to mention 36 varieties of tea plus tea accessories and other British-style goods at the front checkout.High tea is all that Blue Willow serves, with themes that change monthly and for special holidays. However, the three-tier spread always contains a cucumber sandwich – a delicacy so beloved by the English that searching online for “Queen Elizabeth’s cucumber sandwich recipe” with some discernment will lead you to the correct recipe.“We always include the cucumber cream The three-tier high tea spread at Blue Willow always contains a cucumber sandwich, “because it’s the most classic item, it’s a staple,” says Pamela Harris.Photographs: Tomasz Szumski

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cheese sandwich because it’s the most classic item, it’s a staple,” says Pamela Harris. “With the crusts cut oﬀ, it’s a dainty upper-class delicacy, with its roots in 19th century India.” Looking for relief in the sweltering Indian heat, the occupying British soldiers and oﬃcers began to make cucumber sandwiches at tea-time and tea houses, “because cucumbers have such a hydrating quality to them as a vegetable,” she explains. “Now it’s a quintessential part of British culture.”But before we get to the Blue Willow cucumber sandwich recipe with its secret ingredient, let’s savour a tour of the high tea presentation themed “British Classics,” last served at Blue Willow in March 2024. A high tea is a delectable combination of small bursts of ﬂavour, taking you through a gradual transition upwards from savoury (tier one) to semi-sweet (tier two) to very sweet (tier three), served with, of course, tea.us on the beginning tier of “British Classics” you ﬁnd the ubiquitous cucumber cream cheese sandwich, an egg salad tea sandwich, a smoked sausage roll with ﬂaky pastry, a mini herb quiche and the wee plowman’s – a small skewer with cuts of ham and two cheeses – a nod to the more hearty and meaty working-class high tea. e second tier combines blueberry and plain scones with imported British clotted cream that is delectable and a super-sweet strawberry preserve. If you dab the cream on a plain scone, it’s perfectly savoury, but you can also blast your tastebuds with double-berry sweetness in one bite if you so choose.e very decadent tier three combines a melt-in-your-mouth toﬀee pudding, a lemon curd tart with big blueberries and fresh mint, a crispy shortbread cookie, a British-style fancy brownie and a chocolate-dipped strawberry.All three tiers are delicious and accompanied with tea served in a proper china service. e steeping time for your tea selection is measured using a multiple-chambered hourglass. Key in the experience is the joy of taking the time required to savour all these bites – life doesn’t get better than this. Like many, the focus on busyness and trying to get everything done hinders our social time and connections. An afternoon high tea takes you outside of time, into another world of contemplation, ﬂavour and, if enjoyed with another, conversation. In the old days, life was more slow-paced and, in that way, arguably, more sane. A taste of this slower pace is good for your soul.“e dill is what makes our cucumber sandwich special,” says Harris. “It’s not standard, not classic, gives it a little oomph. e sandwich is a little bit artistic because you layer the cucumber in a certain way, cut oﬀ the crusts. It’s such a simple thing, but there’s so much care put into the preparation of it.”She’s absolutely right about the dill. While the warm and hence buttery cream cheese provides richness, the herb’s special zing makes this gentle, soft, moist and, yes, cooling sandwich into a ﬂavour treasure.Let’s shift now from food to décor for your return-to-traditions Muskoka feast. Eating is, after all, a total sensory experience; “You eat with your eyes ﬁrst,” pastry chef Christine Chen shared in 2021. What is the core goal for decorating? Lena Patten, owner of Hilltop Interiors in Rosseau, talks about “thoughtful décor,” “dialogue” and “intention” in decorating, Lena Patten and Jessica Harris of Hilltop Interiors understand the importance of creating a space that adds to the atmosphere and the experience of a meal. Balancing form and function as well as telling a story with seasonal décor all lend to creating a full-senses dining experience.Photograph: P Tomasz Szumski — Inset – Photograph: Paula Roberts-BanksJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 61

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62 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025and it’s all about how you want to make people in the space feel. “It means form an intention and decorate to it,’’ shares Patten. “People feel like they’re special because I’ve created this beautiful tablescape.”A Toronto native, Patten attended university in Guelph, then returned to the city to earn a ﬁne arts degree at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Always interested in interior decorating, she would prowl interiors shops with a similarly inclined friend but started her career by going into marketing. After moving with her husband Randy to Muskoka, where both had enjoyed family cottaging as youngsters, she worked for another interior design business for four years. en in 2000 when an attractive antique building in central Rosseau came up for sale, she bought it and started Hilltop Interiors, blending her passion for design with Randy’s for renovation.“We are dedicated to creating spaces as unique as our clients,” she says. “e spaces balance form and function with emotional resonance, plus they tell a story, inspired by the client’s lifestyle and grounded in quality, timeless elements I’d welcome in my own home.” Nature and tradition are reliable inspirations to this designer, as you will see.at includes dinner traditions. “While our two boys were growing up here, Sunday family dinners were very important, and everyone was welcome,” Patten reminisces. Neighbours and friends of the kids would attend. “Numbers ranged from 20 to 30 people on average.”So, what does she recommend for dinner décor returning to old Muskoka traditions in summer? “I always like to theme things around the season,” shares Patten.YOUR GUIDE TO SERVICES AND RESOURCESDIRECTORYJOHNSON LOG HOMERESTORATIONS705-738-7831 jcd.johnson@hotmail.com Staining Chinking Log Repairs Sandblasting Timber Frames Renovation Log Wash Custom BuildsLogHomeRestore.caYOUR FURNITURE, CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY & DRAPERY SPECIALISTS705.784.0906705.784.0906muskokauph@ghmail.com • MuskokaUpholstery.comCall Curt and Paula Today!&B B Sanitation Services Ltd.FORMERLY B&S SANITATION&B B Sanitation Services Ltd.FORMERLY B&S SANITATIONinfo@bbsanitation.caLena Patten likes to include heirloom or vintage pieces with modern dishes to create a visual mixture of old and new, “balancing nostalgia with sophistication.”Photograph: Tomasz Szumski

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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.“Celebrate the charm of your grandmothers’ or aunts’ heirloom pieces,” advises Patten. “Pair them with modern dishes; create a mix of new, old, and a dash of vintage, balancing nostalgia with sophistication.” Mixing vintage or heirloom pieces with new ones gives a personal touch to your settings. “Create a timeless type of dialogue – which is our motto at Hilltop – that looks curated but not cluttered. e timeless part is the important part.” at world outside of time that’s created at Blue Willow? It’s the same principles at home. “Inviting settings, décor with a soul, soft lighting with the use of dimmed lights, or candle holders or lanterns… Play with subtle contrasts: woven rattan vases, recycled bubble wine glasses, modern dishes,” says Patten. “Layers of texture with cotton placements, seagrass chargers, all to create depth, over the smooth maple tabletop. Use handwritten place cards. Evoke summer’s breezy vibe with white accents in cotton or linen, paired with wildﬂowers from your garden or the ﬁelds.” e colours are light, the atmosphere is cozy yet airy, summery and fresh, with a nod to picnics in the meadow.“Summer cottage dining,” Patten muses, “is about telling stories, clinking glasses, laughing, soft music in the background – big band era with Frank Sinatra on a Saturday evening is my go-to – against summer’s magical background.” en she adds a crucial point, take this down: “All senses covered.”Does Patten have tips for how to acquire the antique items that are necessary for true return-to-traditions dinner designs? “If I travel, I like to stop in to antique shops,” she says, sadly noting, “there aren’t as many as there used to be.” She recommends an antique shop that is her neighbour in Rosseau, especially on weekends when it hosts additional vendors, so it’s “more like a market.” It’s next to Memorial Hall on the corner of Victoria Street and Highway 141, and its sign just says “Antiques.”Out and about or at home, summer is a perfect time to return to traditions. Setting the table, using a traditional recipe or following the stages of a high tea all harken back to simpler times. Take a moment and return to traditions… and bon appetit....telling the Muskoka storywww.uniquemuskoka.comMissed an issue?Read our archives online705-806-7283 | www.netspectrum.caInternetyou cancount onFair Prices,Seasonal PlansJune 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 63

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64 UNIQUE MUSKOKA June 2025e early years of my youth were spent camping alongside the sandy shores of Lake Huron. As my father’s business was gaining success, with it came the question from both our parents to us four kids, “Should we buy a cottage or a cabin cruiser?” Feeling adventurous and being the eldest of this sibling-motley-crew, I easily persuaded all to vote for the boat. We spent some glorious summers cruising the waterways and big lakes of Ontario making new friends along the way, but sadly it soon became apparent that we were outgrowing the boat and heading in diﬀerent directions. Oh, how I missed those days on the water. Positioned on the bow watching the boat slicing through the waves, getting soaked and wind-swept, while my sister was hanging oﬀ the stern, looking rather green. From this, the question often arose, ‘How was I going to include this in my future if there was not a partner to be found that felt the same way?’ So, it went like this, the eldest of my two brothers and a truck deal had been made. Like fun-loving brothers do, he recognized a good prospect for me and therefore I apparently, was to be ‘thrown in’ with said truck as a bonus-joke. On a happy note, this soon turned into an actual date followed by a future with a like-minded partner and as my bonus, he could also build a house. e perfect husband!I was soon introduced to sailing and windsurﬁng with some paddling thrown in. is came about by taking a trip to Muskoka in our ﬁrst year of marriage. I’d never seen so much rugged, natural beauty with lakes and walls of granite surrounding every hamlet we came to. We decided to make the big move after several months of research and deliberation and made Lake of Bays our home. Our summers were spent on the water with our three sons. Together we paddled the Big East, explored lakes of Algonquin Park and sailed on Lake of Bays on our monohull. As a family, we went on a sailing adventure on Georgian Bay learning to navigate diﬃcult waters and crewing a larger sailboat. From there we agreed to purchase our ﬁrst trimaran. e grandkids were happening, so we purchased a larger one since the toddlers were clearly showing signs of becoming young sailors. Describing this kind of sailing would use words like magical, exhilarating, epic and peaceful. It takes skill and teamwork. When I watch my family crewing together it brings me much pride and joy. It’s a passion we all share.Sailing on Lake of Bays is sometimes challenging as the winds can come at you from diﬀerent directions and all of a sudden die oﬀ. A good wind oﬀers speed without the noise of a motor and the wake is mindful of our sensitive shorelines.Speaking of our shorelines, this brings me to kayaking, another passion of mine. I have a paddling buddy, Judy Vanclieaf and together we have paddled many lakes in McLean Ward and made great memories. We paddled Menominee, Tooke, Schufelt, Moot, Sage, Heney, Grandview, Dickie, Echo, Ril and Nightingale Lakes with Wildcat and Tackaberry yet to do.Kayaking oﬀers an ‘up close and personal’ front row seat of the shoreline and the water while enjoying the quiet of the paddle’s propulsion. You become aware of so many diﬀerent species of ﬁsh, turtles, water birds and even old log cabins tucked safely in the woods. Hugging the natural shorelines gives you a view of the succulent vegetation made up of luscious ferns, grasses, wildﬂowers and shrubs. While ﬂoating above the littoral zone you are provided a bird’s eye view of the dancing aquatic plants below. I never take for granted all that Muskoka has to oﬀer. Teaching my grandchildren to awaken their sensory systems and learn how to be good young stewards is of utmost importance to me. British born, proud to be Canadian, Jacquie Godard currently serves as McLean Ward Councillor, in Lake of Bays. She moved here on June 2nd, 1988 and was poorly welcomed by a local black-ﬂy envoy. Here she and her husband Richard, raised three sons, ran a small construction business, with several volunteering roles over the years for Irwin Home and School, LOBA, Table Soup Kitchen, local triathlons and currently Director for Andrew Daniels Fish Stewardship Foundation along with member of Muskoka Housing Task Force and Co-Chair of Lake of Bays Heritage Advisory Committee. Muskoka MomentsArticle by Jacquie GodardShorelines, Wind and WaterPhotograph: Shaun Godard

Unique Muskoka Issue 50 - June 2025

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