Unique Muskoka Issue 51 - July 2025 : simplebooklet.com

2 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 202519Wendy Truscott — Captivated by Muskoka Article by Meghan Taylor Photography by Tomasz SzumskiWriting comes naturally to author Wendy Truscott, drawing on the settings around her in her Lake of Bays area home to inspire her varied works. Her own history with the area intertwines with how she brings Muskoka into her stories.Features13Person of Note — Levi FraserArticle by J. Patrick BoyerSteamboat captain and municipal leader Levi Rightmere Fraser experienced the bustle of Muskoka as it changed from a quiet wilderness to a hive of activity. Fraser was engaged in the settlement of the region, operating supply boats on the lakes, as well as becoming an instrumental force in bringing the small towns and townships together to become the District of Muskoka. 25Marking a Milestone— Brad RobinsonArticle by Meghan Taylor Photography by Tomasz Szumski At the age of 20, Brad Robinson took on the operation of the family business – Robinson’s General Store. Now, for this 90th birthday, Robinson chose to mark the occasion with an event for family, friends and community members at the space that has played such a signiﬁcant role in his life.32Lady of the Lake — The Incomparable RMS SegwunArticle and Photography by Tim Du Vernetis summer represents the 100th anniversary of the RMS Segwun – the oldest operating commercial steamship in North America. She was refurbished from the side paddle wheeler Nipissing II and relaunched as our present day Segwun on July 9, 1925.[13]...telling the Muskoka story[32][19][58]

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 540Bright Colours, Bold Landscapes and Community PrideArticle by Bronwyn Boyer Photography by Josianne MasseauArtist Steph Schoﬁeld is inspired by colour as well as the mood of places and scenes. She uses monochrome palettes to expose the unseen stories in everyday spaces, creating a version of a space that you can feel, not just see. DepartmentsOpinion9Muskoka InsightsBy Meghan Taylor11From an Artist'sPerspectiveBy Lori Knowles64Muskoka MomentsBy Kim DickinsonOur CoverPhotograph by Tim Du Vernet RMS Segwun celebrates 100 years on the water this July. While her history is impressive, Segwun lives in the hearts of those who encounter her. JULY 2025Bright PalettesCreate EmotionsSTEAMSHIP CENTENARYSegwun celebrates 100 years on Muskoka’s LakesTHE STORY BEHIND OUR CANINE CONNECTIONS48It's a Dog's Life — Muskoka StyleArticle by J. Patrick BoyerDogs play a major role in the lives of those who love them, train them and work with them. Historically in Muskoka, the roles of dogs may have been more about working and while some still do, the dogs of today get to enjoy a much more comfortable life. 58Cottage Country CuisineArticle by K.M. Wehrstein Photography by Tomasz Szumski Summer means berries and this month, strawberries are on the menu! From a fresh and simple spinach salad with two dressing options to a savoury goat cheese croquette with strawberry compote to a sublime strawberry cheesecake, the sweetness and versatility of fresh, summer strawberries are here for you to enjoy. [48][40]54What’s HappenedArticle by Matt DriscollGravenhurst sees a signiﬁcant development proposal for the Muskoka Centre Property and the Health Hub gains community support. Muskoka Chautauqua events for 2025 have been announced, Lakeland expands their EV charging program and Dorset resident holds Guinness World record. e District of Muskoka creates a new airport governing body and earmarks $5 million to repair the Silver Bridge in Bracebridge. Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare selects the site for the new Bracebridge hospital and Huntsville council approves a new short-term rental accommodations limit.[58]

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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 BoyerKim DickinsonMatt DriscollTim Du VernetLori KnowlesJosianne MasseauTomasz SzumskiK.M. WehrsteinContributorsAnnual 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 July 2025• Black Angus AAA beef, Ontario lamb, pork, chicken and sustainable ﬁ sh• Assorted selection of house-made sausages• Variety of cheeses, dips, sauces and exclusive pantry items• Chef-inspired ready-to-eat meals and salads• Fine Artisan Breads Daily• Assorted Baked Goods• Made in House DessertsFOUR UNIQUE BUSINESSES UNDER ONE ROOFBUY CANADIAN, SUPPORT LOCALServing Fresh Goods DailySpecial Orders Available on RequestOPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY8 a.m. to 4 p.m.FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @bigriverbakingcofor updates, daily bread lists and our weekly cheesecake special!OPEN TUESDAY TO SATURDAY11A TAYLOR ROADbigriverbakingco.comBIG RIVER BAKING COMPANY705-394-4499HIRAM ST MARKET 705-204-0857@hiramstmarket

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Muskoka InsightsJuly 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 9Summer is ﬁlled with traditions – some from generations back in a family, others more recent and some that are quintessential experiences for everyone. Traditions come from history, from repeating experiences time and time again, over years and even generations. We don’t always remember every time we do something, but usually we remember the ﬁrst time. e ﬁrst trip to the beach, the ﬁrst boat ride, the ﬁrst patio lunch or dinner, or the ﬁrst time visiting the cottage for the season – all hold their own sort of ceremony or demarcation for the season. As a young child, I have wonderful memories of summer visits to my great-grandmother’s (Nan, as I knew her) home in Port Carling – swimming at Hanna Park, hanging towels and bathing suits on clothesline to dry, reading on the covered porch and barbecue dinners at the picnic table with family. We lived not far away in Bracebridge at the time, but the visits to the Nan's were special and meant it was truly summertime. ese memories and traditions can seem simple. More often than not, it is the simple things that stick with us over time. But maintaining traditions gives us a chance to look back, remembering where we came from, experiences that changed us and activities that moulded us into who we are today.While we enjoy keeping traditions alive, we can also remember that traditions can be revisited. We can honour past experiences while also bringing new or current information into the picture. We can change, grow and revise our outlook with information, doing better than we have in the past. Our history needs to be remembered and preserved but not necessarily repeated. Our environment, the beauty and wildness of Muskoka, needs to be protected for future generations the same way we need to preserve the historic information of the region. For 100 years, Segwun has graced the waters of the Muskoka lakes. While her hull has been in the water longer than that, celebrating the oldest commercial steamship in North America means gathering stories. Contributor Tim Du Vernet has compiled stories and quotes that showcase the signiﬁcant and the special place Segwun has in the hearts of so many. In this issue of Unique Muskoka, regular contributor Bronwyn Boyer showcases the bold, vibrant paintings of artist Steph Schoﬁeld that capture one’s attention immediately. Schoﬁeld works most often in single colour palettes, using shades and layers to develop a feeling about the subject matter – usually landscapes or “townscapes,” as she calls them. ose feelings evoked by a piece of art can transport someone, creating an experience or drawing someone into a memory of another place, much like a tradition can draw us back to a ﬁrst time experiencing something. is June, Dorset resident and patriarch of Robinson’s General Store, Brad Robinson, celebrated his 90th birthday, surrounded by family, friends and community members. In this issue, we celebrate Brad as well as celebrating the long history of Robinson’s General Store and its interconnectedness with the Dorset community. Looking back, as well as forward, the relationships developed and maintained are a special piece of the success and longevity of the store. is issue marks my third summer as publisher of Unique Muskoka, and with each issue I continue to be surprised and humbled by the volume of stories we have to share. To everyone who picks up a copy and reads them, thank you. And to everyone who shares their stories, thank you for imparting your personal tales for us. Whichever summer tradition you’re looking forward to, I hope you enjoy it like it’s the ﬁrst time again. 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 Mattress

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 11Close your eyes and imagine your favourite book. Where is it set? Sydney? Spain? Stratford? Africa?Mine is set on a lake. It isn’t Muskoka and it isn’t real – author Ann Patchett imagined the place for her 2023 novel, Tom Lake. Yet I can see it now: the blue of the water, the dance of the light, the sway of the grass along the shore as Patchett’s characters walk beside it, combing their pasts for meaning and light. For you as a reader, that favourite setting may be diﬀerent. Possibilities are endless –seaside, village, city, island. But there’s one tell-tale that’s bound to be the same: the setting has resonance – that ‘feeling of place’ you just can’t shake long after the book is ﬁnished.As a writer I’m in awe of how authors make settings resonate. Louise Penny’s moody ree Pines. Delia Owens’ murky North Carolina marshlands. Agatha Christie’s prim St. Mary Mead. eir words paint images, and not just for readers to see, but also to hear, smell and feel. Such talent, such creativity – how is it done? What’s their secret?And so, I did a little tally. I checked-in with members of the Muskoka Authors Association (MAA), all of whom have a novel, poem, story, or memoir in progress, and who use Muskoka either for setting or inspiration, or both. I asked my question: ‘‘How do you make settings resonate?’’Unexpectedly I got a uniform response. Muskoka writers use Muskoka itself as inspiration. eir story’s setting, wherever that might be, is inspired by the setting in which they write.Here’s an example: Author Bruce Hanson’s latest thriller, Double Cross, is set in Manitoba, not Muskoka. But he wrote it while sitting in one of those classic screened-in porches in a cottage on a lake near Gravenhurst, and he wrote it in early mornings, just as the sun was waking up. “I watched the lake and shorelines slowly appear out of the dark,” he says, a tactic that helped his characters wake up, too. e strategy paid oﬀ. Hanson was named a Whistler Independent Book Awards Finalist in 2024 – his tale resonating with judges. “I guess you can take the story out of Muskoka,” he says. “But in a way, you can’t take Muskoka’s inﬂuence out of the story.”And while she doesn’t name Muskoka in her ﬁction or non-ﬁction, author Cindy Watson (Women on Purpose) uses cottage country as a constant source. “Every small town I write about reﬂects the rich tapestry that is Muskoka,” she says. Writing from a converted garage with windows overlooking ree Mile Lake, Watson calls it “a full-on sensory smorgasbord” with 24/7 access to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. “e natural raw beauty of Muskoka,” she says, “never ceases to inspire me to write.”Author Sue Kelly (Still Sexy After Sixty) says Muskoka inspired the ﬁctional setting of Inﬁnity, her middle-grade novel. Writing from her home on Lake Muskoka, she was especially inspired by the beauty of Muskoka Bay, the little bridge that leads to Tondern Island, and the Beaumaris golf course, where the summer breezes “bathe my story in outdoorsy delight.”Local poet (Views from the Edge of the Earth) and mystery writer Wendie Donabie can hear “the roaring rush of water over Bracebridge Falls” from her writing perch, a place on high she calls Heron’s Nest. Donabie speculates that it’s the water and the air and the energy from the land drawing writers to Muskoka, giving them endless fodder. “I can’t name that force, but it can be felt,” she insists. “It compels us to put words on paper.”Ah, I’m thinking now. So that’s how they do it. How masters like Delia Owens help us see sparkles on a bayou, and how Louise Penny makes ree Pines feel real, not ﬁctional. Writers put themselves there – right there. And while they’re there, they see and touch and feel and listen. Dawn breaks. Waves lap. Loons call. Woodsmoke curls. And then… words ﬂow, words that paint a setting that resonates long after the book is ﬁnished.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 KnowlesA Place That ResonatesSue Kelly, author of Still Sexy at Sixty and Innity, was inspired by Muskoka to create the ctional setting of Innity. Places near her home on Lake Muskoka served as the backdrop for an entirely dierent world.Photograph: Sue KellyPhotograph: Andy Zeltkalns

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12 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Norstar Exteriors has been providing industry leading exterior products in Muskoka since 1976. Engineered to withstand the harshest Canadian weather, James Hardie cement siding offers exceptional resistance to moisture, rot, and pests, while ensuring your property remains beautiful and protected for years to come.Make your house or cottage the talk of the town or the lake with a variety of colours and styles. James Hardie siding enhances your properties curb or dock appeal while providing superior ﬁ re resistance and minimal maintenance, all the while being backed by a 30 year warranty.Get in touch with us today at Norstarexteriors.com for a free quote or come into our showroom in Bracebridge to touch and see the industry leading James Hardie cement siding line of products.WHY JAMES HARDIE?#1 RETURN ON INVESTMENTRe-siding with ﬁ ber cement is the smartest investment you can make in your house. Even smarter: Choosing ﬁ ber cement from the industry leader. That’s why those in the know choose James Hardie® siding and trim.Year after year, Remodeling magazine has ranked re-siding with ﬁ ber cement the #1 return on investment when compared to other mid-size remodeling projects.PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY EVERYWHERE ELSESiding is exposed to Mother Nature all day, every day, for years.Weather, water, time, ﬁ re and pests — all can lead to trouble. That’s why James Hardie’s hardworking products are engineered to stand up beautifully, whatever the elements. BE READY FOR ANYTHINGBad weather can strike at any time. So we test our products to better withstand worst-case scenarios: hurricanes, UV rays, snowstorms, and more. But it’s not only extremes that break down siding — the change of seasons does a number on materials such as vinyl (which may crack in the cold) and wood products (which expand and contract with changes in moisture and humidity). Only ﬁ ber cement products by James Hardie are Engineered for Climate®.A HARDIEZONE® FOR EVERYONEAfter studying the long-term effects that different climates have on siding, we created the HardieZone® system, to ensure that you get the right product for your region. HZ5® products are made to resist wet, freezing conditions. HZ10® products protect homes from heat, humidity, blistering sun and more.HARDIE® FIBER CEMENT SIDING VS. VINYL SIDINGThere are many reasons to choose Hardie® ﬁ ber cement siding over vinyl, the ﬁ rst of which is appearance. Hardie® siding is more than ﬁ ve times thicker than vinyl, allowing for deeper grooves and a more authentic wood-grain effect. The result is more elegant than vinyl (which is plastic), particularly on a historic home. Then comes function. Vinyl melts easily in a ﬁ re (or even from the reﬂ ection of the sun off Low-E glass windows); James Hardie brand products are noncombustible. Vinyl may crack and warp from the elements; ﬁ ber cement exteriors by James Hardie are more durable and resist warping, sagging and melting.HARDIE® FIBER CEMENT SIDING VS. WOOD SIDINGJames Hardie siding is not only less expensive than wood, it won’t be eaten by animals or insects. It also resists water absorption better than wood even where the manufacturer’s recommended protections are followed, helping protect against mold. When there’s a ﬁ re, H ardie® siding is much better at withstanding damage, while wood goes up in ﬂ ames. Wood may split, crack and deteriorate over time, while Hardie® siding resists weather damage and keeps its shape for a much longer time, which means less maintenance to worry about year after year.EXPERIENCE COUNTSAt Norstar we understand the Muskoka climate and we are siding experts. You can rest assured that when you consult with one of our experts, you will receive the real-world knowledge to help direct you with your siding needs. Stop in and see us today!Siding | Rooﬁ ng | Sofﬁ t | Fascia | Lifetime Decking | Eavestrough | Gutter ProtectionSupply & Install | Cash & Carry800.732.0158 • 705.645.8404norstarexteriors.comBROUGHT TO YOU BY:Give them something to talk aboutIt’sJames HardieMONTH

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 13By the 1940s, Muskoka steamboat captain and municipal leader Levi Rightmere Fraser was uniquely poised to record the district’s settler history. In 1872 his parents Donald and Georgina left Scotland’s hardships for Kincardine, Ontario, where Don worked in Levi Rightmere’s salt plant and gave their ﬁrst Canadian-born son the wealthy employer’s name. Seven years later, the Frasers reached Muskoka.Enticed by free land, Donald claimed a lot in Draper Township’s Doe Lake settlement but refused to relocate his family until the township built a school. Levi got the education his illiterate father vowed his own children would have, as he himself advanced from labourer to landowner. Working on their quiet farm, Levi heard steam whistles carrying from the lakes and was hooked. With schooling done, he landed a job on a Lake Muskoka steamer. Steamboats and steam-engine trains were opening up the northern lakeland to thousands of people and creating hundreds of opportunities. Levi piloted vessels up and down rivers and across lakes, in and out of bays and harbours, eyes and ears registering Muskoka’s unfolding saga. Muskoka vessels and their crews busily transported passengers, distributed vacationers to lakeside resorts, carried mail, PERSON OF NOTEPhotograph: Richard Tatley CollectionPhotograph: Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre ArchivesLevi Rightmere Fraser was captain of the passenger steamer Ahmic when photographed in Port Carling (top photo) near the end of his boating career. Although mostly sailing the central lakes, he was fully aware of water and land route shipping in north Muskoka. Operating on most Muskoka lakes, in 1917 Captain Fraser connects his steam tug Ada Alice to a Bala scow load of tanbark bound for Bracebridge’s Muskoka Leather Company tannery.Article by J. Patrick BoyerNorstar Exteriors has been providing industry leading exterior products in Muskoka since 1976. Engineered to withstand the harshest Canadian weather, James Hardie cement siding offers exceptional resistance to moisture, rot, and pests, while ensuring your property remains beautiful and protected for years to come.Make your house or cottage the talk of the town or the lake with a variety of colours and styles. James Hardie siding enhances your properties curb or dock appeal while providing superior ﬁ re resistance and minimal maintenance, all the while being backed by a 30 year warranty.Get in touch with us today at Norstarexteriors.com for a free quote or come into our showroom in Bracebridge to touch and see the industry leading James Hardie cement siding line of products.WHY JAMES HARDIE?#1 RETURN ON INVESTMENTRe-siding with ﬁ ber cement is the smartest investment you can make in your house. Even smarter: Choosing ﬁ ber cement from the industry leader. That’s why those in the know choose James Hardie® siding and trim.Year after year, Remodeling magazine has ranked re-siding with ﬁ ber cement the #1 return on investment when compared to other mid-size remodeling projects.PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY EVERYWHERE ELSESiding is exposed to Mother Nature all day, every day, for years.Weather, water, time, ﬁ re and pests — all can lead to trouble. That’s why James Hardie’s hardworking products are engineered to stand up beautifully, whatever the elements. BE READY FOR ANYTHINGBad weather can strike at any time. So we test our products to better withstand worst-case scenarios: hurricanes, UV rays, snowstorms, and more. But it’s not only extremes that break down siding — the change of seasons does a number on materials such as vinyl (which may crack in the cold) and wood products (which expand and contract with changes in moisture and humidity). Only ﬁ ber cement products by James Hardie are Engineered for Climate®.A HARDIEZONE® FOR EVERYONEAfter studying the long-term effects that different climates have on siding, we created the HardieZone® system, to ensure that you get the right product for your region. HZ5® products are made to resist wet, freezing conditions. HZ10® products protect homes from heat, humidity, blistering sun and more.HARDIE® FIBER CEMENT SIDING VS. VINYL SIDINGThere are many reasons to choose Hardie® ﬁ ber cement siding over vinyl, the ﬁ rst of which is appearance. Hardie® siding is more than ﬁ ve times thicker than vinyl, allowing for deeper grooves and a more authentic wood-grain effect. The result is more elegant than vinyl (which is plastic), particularly on a historic home. Then comes function. Vinyl melts easily in a ﬁ re (or even from the reﬂ ection of the sun off Low-E glass windows); James Hardie brand products are noncombustible. Vinyl may crack and warp from the elements; ﬁ ber cement exteriors by James Hardie are more durable and resist warping, sagging and melting.HARDIE® FIBER CEMENT SIDING VS. WOOD SIDINGJames Hardie siding is not only less expensive than wood, it won’t be eaten by animals or insects. It also resists water absorption better than wood even where the manufacturer’s recommended protections are followed, helping protect against mold. When there’s a ﬁ re, H ardie® siding is much better at withstanding damage, while wood goes up in ﬂ ames. Wood may split, crack and deteriorate over time, while Hardie® siding resists weather damage and keeps its shape for a much longer time, which means less maintenance to worry about year after year.EXPERIENCE COUNTSAt Norstar we understand the Muskoka climate and we are siding experts. You can rest assured that when you consult with one of our experts, you will receive the real-world knowledge to help direct you with your siding needs. Stop in and see us today!Siding | Rooﬁ ng | Sofﬁ t | Fascia | Lifetime Decking | Eavestrough | Gutter ProtectionSupply & Install | Cash & Carry800.732.0158 • 705.645.8404norstarexteriors.comBROUGHT TO YOU BY:Give them something to talk aboutIt’sJames HardieMONTH

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14 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Levi Fraser’s engaging and informative 152-page History of Muskoka was printed by the Bracebridge Gazette in an economical edition during the Second World War. Soon out-of-print, decades passed before an expanded and updated edition edited by Richard Tatley appeared in print in 2014.Photograph: Muskoka BooksPhotograph: Boyer Muskoka ArchivesPhotograph: Richard Tatley Collectionpulled log booms to Gravenhurst’s and Huntsville’s many sawmills and other smaller ones, tugged barge-loads of tanbark to riverside tanneries in Huntsville and Bracebridge, delivered groceries and clean laundry. In the 1870s and 1880s, steam locomotives pulled passenger trains loaded with southern vacationers to the district’s large ﬂeet of steamships while double-engine freight trains hauled lumber, cuts of Muskoka lamb, and leather out of the district to wider markets, ﬂipping Muskoka from quiet wilderness to hive of activity in shorter time than any other part of Ontario. Levi Fraser experienced this unfolding drama ﬁrst-hand, beginning with the Land Grants program for homesteaders and construction of public schools for children. In 1906 he bought a small steamboat, the Linden, and went into business delivering building materials around the lakes for J.D. Shier Lumber Company of Bracebridge. He became a boatbuilder, too, and over time owned other steamers, including the Allena May and Ada Alice.Ashore, Levi emerged as a municipal leader with a driving spirit for Muskoka’s development and by the early twentieth century won election as reeve of Monck, one of central Muskoka’s go-ahead townships with good farms. He quickly saw that better co-ordination of the many township and village governments would help their common cause. On September 10, 1919, Reeve Fraser joined nine other township reeves in Bracebridge at a meeting called by George Jestin of Medora and Wood to discuss Ontario’s Municipal Assessment Act and other provincial laws impacting local government. ey reassembled on At Bigwin Inn, Bracebridge Captain Bill Tinkiss and Monck Township Captain Levi Fraser stand beside Wanda III when she was owned and operated by the Lake of Bays resort. Fully restored and converted from steam to electric power, she again sails the Muskoka Lakes from Gravenhurst’s Muskoka Steamship & Discovery Centre.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 15September 14, 1920 with four more reeves present, voting into existence “a permanent organization to be known as the District Municipal Association of Muskoka” and electing Levi president of this inaugural form of district government. Two decades later, the body renamed itself Muskoka District Council, with representatives from all municipalities. District Council remained an informal system of mayors, reeves, and clerks meeting annually. Lacking statutory authority only Queen’s Park could give, but would not, District Council remained a clearing house rather than a body exercising municipal powers of government. Only in 1970, a half-century after visionary Levi Fraser had been one of its pioneers, would district government become a constitutional reality for Muskoka.In 1928, Reeve Fraser led his township council to build a controversial highway through its ﬁne farmland between Bracebridge and Port Carling. As a leading Muskoka steamboat captain, the reeve championed this cause because he saw ﬁrst-hand that Muskoka’s progress could no longer rely on trains and boats alone. In a referendum, Monck electors narrowly approved $45,000 to pay a hundred men with 20 teams of horses and six trucks to work all summer. In 1930, a further vote approved enough to ﬁnish the road over to 100% Canadian Artists• Large Original Paintings• Turned Wood Bowls• Sculptures & Carvings3181 Highway 169, Bala, Muskoka, Ontario705-765-7474www.redcanoegallery.com(open year round)CELEBRATING 32 YEARS IN MUSKOKAPainting: P. Garbett, “Bear” 72x42, encausticNOW LOCATED IN BALAPhotograph: Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre ArchivesLevi Fraser with Queen of the Isles, which he owned and operated for several years. No one knew better than the district’s savvy steamboat captains how Muskoka’s essence and the district’s lakes were uniquely linked. The Government of Ontario proclaims our vast province with its diverse communities as “Yours to discover.” Muskoka, as a renowned district within the province, is a place National Geographic designates one of the world’s top destinations. Yet had it not been for the stages of evolution described and recorded by Levi Fraser, including the district’s unrivaled steamboat era, Muskoka could not have evolved into the prized place it is today.

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16 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Watt Township and Port Carling.“is,” Levi Fraser would say in the 1940s, “was the largest road-building job ever carried out by a single municipality in Muskoka up to that date, and marked the beginning of an era of highway improvements that was to continue for a period of years, with the result that Muskoka today will compare favourably with any district in Ontario.” In time, the province would take over this route, assigning it highway number 118, only to later turn it back to municipal control. From 1934 to 1938, Captain Fraser owned and operated the Constance, a supply INTRODUCING KIATHE21 Robert Dollar Dr, Bracebridge, ON P1L 1P9705-645-6575muskokakia.caMUSKOKA KIAEV9GENERATORSSMART HOME SYSTEMSNEW CONSTRUCTIONLIGHTINGECRA/ESA #7010474RESIDENTIAL / COMMERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL519.805.3200ARKLTD.CAinfo@arkltd.caIn 1938, Captain Fraser, also chair of Bracebridge’s all-powerful board of trade, noted 1939 would be an anniversary year and put in motion, with widespread community support, plans for a Home-Coming Jubilee. With dierent parades every day of the ve day event, this one celebrated evolution of Muskoka transportation, from yoked oxen pulling a cart to a spanking new 1939 De Sotto.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 17boat he used as a tug, the second-last of a succession of small steamers he put to hard use over several decades in his Muskoka Lakes towing business. In 1938, as chair of Bracebridge’s Board of Trade, Levi pointed out that 1939 would mark 50 years since the village became a town and soon a public meeting elected him chair of the Home-Coming Jubilee which in August 1939 was a runaway success.ough a strong Liberal, Fraser’s frequent writings on the Muskoka scene in the Bracebridge Gazette were as even keeled as his boats on the lakes. In the 1940s, the Gazette published his collected articles as a book entitled History of Muskoka. e initial print run was depleted by the decade’s end, and Levi’s book, an ideal chronicle of Muskoka’s opening century, languished in the twilight zone of out-of-print books for 70 years. However, in 2014 Richard S. Tatley of Gravenhurst, one of Muskoka’s ﬁne historians and authority on steamboats, edited the book for republication as A Steamboat Captain’s History of Muskoka so that Levi Rightmere Fraser’s unique guide to district history can help new generations of permanent and part-time Muskokans understand how we became the people we are today.Photograph: Boyer Muskoka ArchivesEXPERIENCEYOU CAN TRUSTExperienced drilling & blasting for roads, ditches, foundations and septic systems. Exceptional service and top-quality results.FREE ESTIMATES

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20 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025visit made a huge impression on my dad especially, as soon after that visit my parents began a search for either a cottage or property to build on. My younger sister and I were dragged along on those excursions and were constantly carsick. e roads left much to be desired in those days!”While searching for their own property and after an unsuccessful visit to a potential spot on Ril Lake, they stopped at a farmhouse on Echo Lake as they made their way out of the community. “ey asked if the people there knew of anything for sale in the area,” says Truscott. “e farmer said, ‘Well, yes! I have some I could sell you!’. In 1953, mom and dad bought a point of land with about 25 acres; no road, no hydro, no anything. I remember when dad chopped the ﬁrst tree down.”Her own family’s experience building their cottage was its own sort of pioneer adventure, taking place on weekends and holidays when they ventured to Echo Lake. e land, in a relatively isolated location, had to be cleared, felling trees before they could build. Her father had to raft building materials across the lake in a small motorboat when they ﬁrst got started. When they arrived on Fridays, they had to hike along the trail they had blazed with axes through the bush, by ﬂashlight, until a few years later when they cleared a road into the cottage themselves. “My father had sought peace and isolation, and he found it,” she says. “However, later on, because of friends' interest in renting our place, my dad built a second small cottage to rent. is eventually led to six cottages and a nice summer rental business he and my mom enjoyed, because so many families returned every year.”With their small cottage business that lasted for over 30 years, the road became known locally as Lawson’s Cottages Road. When roads around Echo Lake were later being oﬃcially named by the township, the road became Lawson Road. A former teacher, Truscott and her husband became permanent residents in 2007, living on the same property her parents bought in 1953 on Echo Lake near Lake of Bays.“Later, my husband and I extended the road, and that new part was named for us, Truscott Place,” she shares. “I think my parents would be ﬂabbergasted at all this but pleased nonetheless.”During her childhood times in Muskoka, Truscott loved to hear stories from local “old timers,” ﬁnding the history fascinating. She still remembers many of those stories from her youth and has blended them into her own works of ﬁction. “e woman who owned the land my parents bought told me of her grandmother walking alone from Baysville to Bracebridge to get married,” she explains. “So, I tried to emphasize how much people went everywhere on foot, sometimes even at night. I once heard the moon referred to as ‘the poor man’s lantern’ and I loved that term, so I used it.” For Truscott, writing was not originally part of her plans. After teaching in Toronto, she was quite happy in the role of “domestic Wendy Truscott lives on the same property her family purchased in the 1950s, having their own pioneer experience with clearing the land to build their original cottage. She recalls breaking a trail through the bush with ashlights and her father ferrying lumber across the lake to build their own place on Echo Lake.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 21Wendy Truscott recalls the rst tree her father cut down on their property as they embarked on the adventure of building their own cottage. Despite building to have their own private space, they eventually built several smaller cottages that became a small cottage business, with customers returning each year.goddess” or stay-at-home mom, looking after the household. “is writing business all happened accidentally,” shares Truscott. “My husband was interested in a memoir writing course at the Baysville Library and wanted me to come along, so I did. We did both write several pieces of memoir. After about a year, our leader, the late Melody Richardson, a former reporter, encouraged us to try a bit of ﬁction. We were both intimidated, and that's when my husband decided he'd rather golf! However, I decided to give it a try, and I enjoyed it very much.” Richardson was a constant source of support and encouragement for Truscott, providing feedback on her stories and inspiration to pursue transitioning her stories into a young adult novel. “I wrote a story about a pioneer woman meeting a bear,” says Truscott. “She was alone with three children, a teenage boy, and two younger sisters. Melody loved it and about a year later I read it at an Authors’ Night. Both times she said, ‘at's the beginning of a young adult novel. I want you to think about expanding it.’”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.

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22 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025One day, Truscott came back to the story, made a few changes, like switching the main character to one of the younger characters, and wrote another chapter. Despite the updates, Truscott still didn’t see the longer arc for a full novel. “A while later, I sat at the computer to try again and the strangest thing happened,” explains Truscott. “I felt as if someone was dictating a storyline to me and I just kept typing. is went on for a couple of days, each time I sat down to write. At times, it felt so bizarre that I laughed as I was typing! I wrote at least four chapters that way. It never happened again.” She continued writing, although the remaining 60 or more chapters did not come as easily. e ﬁnal result was Haunted Journey, which released in 2016. According to the industry and book sellers, Haunted Journey and MacGregor’s Curse, are both classiﬁed as young adult. e books are connected, with similar characters and settings, but the main characters are diﬀerent. “I feel the young adult classiﬁcation limits my audience in some ways,” says Truscott. “Indeed, I’ve heard from children who’ve loved them, but the majority of my readers have been adults, and some of those who’ve enjoyed them most are those who were here 50 or more years ago and remember a diﬀerent Muskoka – people who worked in lumber camps or in Algonquin Park.”Her ﬁrst two novels appeal to a wide audience, regardless of age, and are historical ﬁction. Truscott’s third novel is a departure from that genre and her previous work. Dead Serious, published in 2023, is a psychological thriller/romance set in Toronto, where she grew up. However, drawing inspiration from her surroundings Truscott included scenes that were set in Muskoka amongst those set in the beach district of Toronto. “I just had to add scenes set in Muskoka, which describe its allure and what it means to cottagers,” Truscott shares. Truscott’s connections to both Muskoka and Toronto remain intermingled throughout her life. She met her husband at a mutual friend’s cottage in Baysville and then discovered they had attended the same high school in Toronto. “Muskoka has certainly played a major role in my life,” says Truscott. “When given a challenge at the beginning, I thought of that old adage, ‘Write what you know.’ So, I thought, ‘Well, I know Muskoka and I’ve always been fascinated by those early settlers, who fought their way through the bush and the bogs and the blackﬂies.’”Weaving history, stories heard from locals and the Muskoka landscape together, Truscott’s writing pulls the reader into the events and places on the page. Currently, Truscott has a fourth novel based on a family mystery is in the works. For years, Truscott believed her maternal grandfather had died during the First World War. At 30, she learned the truth – he had returned home, likely with PTSD, and had then disappeared. Truscott went on her own search to ﬁnd out what happened to him and never found an answer. “I feel this is not just an interesting mystery; it’s a love story, but it’s also a story of generational trauma brought on by war,” she says. “e eﬀects of his disappearance and the big secret were felt in our family for decades. If I hadn’t stumbled on something that made me ask questions, it would still be a secret.”Truscott will be participating in the annual Tall Pine Tales events this summer, with readers from all over Muskoka, as she continues work on her next novel.

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28 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025www.mikeslandscaping.ca info@mikeslandscaping.caYour Landscape, Our Passionhave cars to go places, so they came to the store.”Over the last 100 years, four generations of Robinsons have worked at the store, starting with Harry and Marguerite Robinson, Brad’s parents, when they opened the store in 1921. e site had also hosted a hotel and store previously, but those had been destroyed by ﬁre, as many wood buildings of the time were. e original store was 25 feet wide by 50 feet long. After the Second World War, the business began to change as cars improved, lakefront land was made available for purchase and cottagers began staying for the whole summer. “e Ontario government owned the lands on the east part of Dorset and opened the sales of lots for $250,” remembers Robinson. In 1955, as he was ﬁnishing high school and preparing to go to university, Robinson was oﬀered a job with e Hudson’s Bay Fast 180kWReliableZero DowntimeLocalBracebridgeLakeland Electric VehicleCharging Networkacross Muskoka/Parry SoundThe Robinsons still live across the road from the store in Dorset and Brad goes in for several hours a day to assist the new owners and speak with customers. While he is retired, he enjoys staying involved.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 29Company. Robinson’s father believed Dorset was on the verge of a boom with the property sales and suggested he stay and manage the family store instead. So, he did. What began as a 1,250 square foot general store serving the local logging industry has grown and evolved throughout the years. Today, with 14 additions to accommodate the growth of the business, the store is now 15,000 square feet selling everything from clothing to home and cottage décor to hardware supplies and groceries. Original elements of the store, like some tin rooﬁng, can still be seen by those taking their time to enjoy the shopping experience and peruse the whole space. “I’d say 25 per cent of our business comes from the lake on a good day,” he shares. “e Dorset Tower brings so many people to the community too. It’s known as the best place to view the leaves in the fall.”With parking for 150 cars and slips for over 50 boats at the marina, Robinson’s General Store is well-equipped for the summer residents and tourists. For many, a stop at the store is a non-negotiable during their time in the region. For those who haven’t visited before, the now-sprawling store is a must-see to add to the list. Anything you may want, or need can be found at Robinson’s.e summer traﬃc to the store at one time warranted having a staﬀ of over 100 people. With additions of technology, that was reduced to 80 people and then about 60, but Robinson knows the store would not have seen the same level of success, or have even been able to operate, without the staﬀ. “e best compliment I ever had was from an ex-employee,” he says. “He introduced me to some friends and said, ‘this is the gentleman that put me through university.’ He said there were three kids in his family and if he hadn’t had the extra money, he wouldn’t have been able to go. I told him that I helped him but without him, without the students, we wouldn’t have been in business.”In 1991, Brad’s daughter Joanne and her husband, Willie Hatton took over the business and operated it until 2021 when they retired and sold the store to the Hinbests. After encountering some ﬁnancial challenges, the store came back to the Robinsons. In 2023, new owners Venkata Kommina and Satya Jyesta reopened the store. “People appreciate the store being there,” says Robinson. “It was closed for a few months in between owners and that’s when people really realized they missed it. Whatever you need, you can come get it at the store.”Today, Brad continues to support the Over 200 people attended the drop-in celebration for Brad Robinson’s 90th birthday and more continue to send their apologies for being unable to attend. The family ordered 200 cookies for the event and ran out well before the celebration ended.

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30 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025What began as a 1,250 square foot general store serving the local logging industry has grown to a 15,000 square foot store with everything someone could need. Robinson’s General Store remains a pillar of the community, just like it’s former owner Brad Robinson.new owners and their operating partners, Alekhya Kommina and Ravi Maddipati, visiting the store daily and answering questions as needed. “I’m retired but I go over pretty well every day to help any place I can,” says Robinson. “e new owners appreciate it, and I like doing it. It’s getting busier and busier. I think the whole region is going to be super busy this year.”Brad’s community connection is crystal clear, evidenced by the crowd that attended his birthday celebration, serenading him with “Happy Birthday.” He always has enjoyed building relationships with customers, and still does. “My favourite thing is the customers,” shares Robinson. “I know so many people, I don’t even know how many people I know. It’s wonderful. ey come back year after year, sometimes generation after generation. I had a woman the other day tell me she remembered my father selling her ﬁshing tackle.”So, what’s next for Brad Robinson?“I hope I stay healthy so I can keep doing what I’m doing,” he shares. “It’s been a great life for me.”

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 31OUR 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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Was there a divine power at work, a form of destiny in play? Richard Tatley, Segwun and steamship historian, author and commentator, believes it might have been the case. In the spring of 1952, at the age of 10, Tatley ﬁrst saw the ships, and it was “love at ﬁrst sight.” He was enthralled with steam and the character of the ships. His summer routine at the cottage his parents had purchased on Lake Muskoka was to see and hear one or another of the steamships coming up the lake and then to jump in the family boat, attempting to follow the ships on their route. At the peak of its operation, the Muskoka Lakes Navigation and Hotel Company ran 10 steamships between 1907 to 1912, many which were operated with Indigenous names, explains Tatley. From his summer routine following the ships on their journeys, Tatley would turn his passion into a life-long career that included several books, documentaries and a college thesis.In 1958, when the steamships stopped running, “we missed them very much,” explains Tatley. Sadly, it looked as though there was to be no future for the steamships when the Sagamo burned and then the Segwun was put up for sale as scrap in 1961. Some residents were horriﬁed at the idea of losing another steamship. In 1969, Segwun was preserved as a ﬂoating museum. But the real question for Tatley and the steamship enthusiasts was “could we possibly give people a second chance to enjoy a cruise that can’t be found anywhere else in the world?”“e restorationists were laughing at us,” shares Tatley. “We were told emphatically ‘You cannot operate a 19th century passenger ship in the 20th century successfully!’ Initially our ﬂedging company was losing money, but each year she crept closer to making a proﬁt and by 1985 she sailed into the black and we never looked back.”Tatley’s pride in the achievements of Segwun is clear, and with good reason. is summer represents the 100th anniversary of the Segwun. She was refurbished from the side paddle wheeler Nipissing II and relaunched as our present day Segwun on July 9, 1925. Muskoka Steamships have signiﬁcant plans in the works to celebrate Segwun’s centenary. Her hull dates to 1887 and she is the oldest commercially operating steamship in North America. Her cruising season is expected to start in July. In the meantime, she is being “ﬁt out,” according to Captain Dave Sutherland. is is the process where she is made shipshape for the season, including painting, assembling the interior and inspections. Chief engineer, Chris Wiley, reports Segwun's engines are raring to go this season and the crew can't wait to pull anchor! With an engine that is more than a century old, it generally is not possible to order ready made parts. Steam engines need a ready supply of water to replenish their boilers. Steamships can draw water directly from the lake, but this requires pumps, which required replacement in the Segwun before this season begins. Remarkably, explains Captain Sutherland, pumps used in oil rigs are very similar to what the Segwun requires and it was possible to order a pump similar to the original as a replacements. For many years, Segwun was a static display, the Segwun Steamboat Museum, docked in Gravenhurst. Article and Photography by Tim Du VernetThe carving of the phoenix on Segwun’s wheelhouse is a replica of the one carried on Segwun in 1925. The current version was hand carved by Bill Hunnisett.

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34 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025She sat beside the Sagamo, which operated as a restaurant. In 1973, with support from steamship enthusiasts and from the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society and the Ontario Road Builders, the RMS Segwun was officially re-launched in 1974 by Pierre Elliott Trudeau and, after further restoration, Segwun began her new career on the Muskoka lakes in 1981.“The temporary dais was festooned with bunting, Ontario ensign flying and people jostling for a view of the PM,” remembers Sheridan Rondeau, a Muskoka author. “I recall the festive atmosphere and delight expressed by everyone sharing the historic moment. Alongside the dignitaries stood a former crewmember. Maybe a stoker?”Ulrich Stegelmeier road his bike from Utterson to Gravenhurst to see the event in 1981. “Trudeau broke the Champagne bottle on the bow and was gifted a brand-new cedar strip canoe, which he promptly single-handed hoisted above his head,” says Stegelmeier.Countless weddings, family celebrations, meals and special events have taken place on Segwun’s decks. The steamship makes an appearance in the ﬁlms my grandfather took during the 1940s and ‘50s and likely appears in countless family movies, videos and stills. She made it on to the big screen as well, in the movie the Boy in Blue starting Nicholas Cage as Ned Hanlan. Segwun is described as a “national icon and a world class attraction.” Muskoka Steamships president John Miller notes that “everyone here understands the importance of Segwun and knows that we are the current stewards in charge of her preservation to remain the ﬁfth oldest operating steamship in the world. With the ongoing support of Muskoka and beyond we welcome the challenge.’’So, what is it about the Segwun that makes her so special to Muskoka Segwun’s presence at events across Muskoka, including this celebration at Bracebridge Bay, adds air and a connection to generations past, when travel by steamship was a necessity to reach destinations in the region.Steamship historian, author and commentator Richard Tatley fondly remembers his rst sighting of the steamships at age 10. His “love at rst sight” for the graceful watercra has become the cornerstone of his life-long career.

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36 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025“RMS Segwun is a wonderful throwback to a simpler time,” explains Miller. “At 138 years old she shows her age occasionally, but we have an amazing, dedicated crew of volunteers and professionals that work hard to ensure she is in her best shape.” A restoration of Segwun is planned for the fall of 2025 that will address some issues with wood on the ship’s sides and top deck, as well as some machinery items, such as steam and water piping, that need to be replaced. e restoration is the most signiﬁcant one to be undertaken since prior to her launch in 1981 and funds are currently being raised for the project. “e RMS Segwun, a not-for-proﬁt operation, can only sail with continued public and private support,” adds Gary Getson, chair of the board of Muskoka Steamships and Muskoka Discovery Centre. “Today we enjoy the eﬀorts and legacy of those who have preserved her. With the extensive repairs she will require, your support is needed more than ever.”“e Segwun means so much to so many,” says Miller. “Every year we meet folks from far corners of the globe who have a memory to share about her, whether it be a ship story about their parents or grandparents who may have got married onboard, or simply in Gravenhurst for their annual cruise. Segwun is a romance that lives within many hearts near and far.”Among those who cherish the Segwun are her captains, past and present. Glen Murley has been her senior captain for 20 years. ere are few people, besides Richard Tatley, who are more passionate about the Segwun than her captain, Dave Sutherland. “To actually be her captain is a real milestone,” says Sutherland. “She is the last steamship to be operating that opened up the near north to hunters, adventurers and the growing communities of Muskoka.” Sutherland has deep roots in Muskoka that go back several generations in the Lake of Bays area. He connected with Segwun at a young age and has devoted much of his life to steam in some way. In Sutherland’s opinion, another under-appreciated aspect of the Segwun is her RMS (Royal Mail Ship) designation. She is one of three remaining in the world and the other two are big liners.“As a captain, to be at the helm, I get to see the landscape from the same vantage point as all her previous captains from over the past nearly 140 years,” says Sutherland. “at is very signiﬁcant to me, and I will do whatever it takes to ensure she is operating as long as she can, as a coal-ﬁred steamship.”From varnishing her rails and stoking the boiler as a deck hand, then captain’s mate in 2019 and now captain, Captain Sutherland knows his charge especially well. “I have bled lots for her,” he says. He explains he has responsibility for the operation of all three ships in the ﬂeet, but steam is his main passion.Segwun is an intricate and complicated vessel to operate. Her steam is heated by coal and the engine’s operation requires sta, like chief engineer Chris Wiley, experienced in the intricacies of steam, which is a very rare skill in the 21st century.For many years, Segwun was a static display as a museum docked in Gravenhurst. She sat beside the Sagamo, which operated as a restaurant. Aer nearly 10 years of hard work and restoration by the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society and the Ontario Road Builders, RMS Segwun began her new career on the Muskoka lakes in 1981.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 37Unlike static history displays, the Segwun is very much alive, suering weather and mechanical wear and tear. She requires regular maintenance as well as preservation to remain the h oldest operating steamship in the world.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 CentreSutherland’s mother was responsible for the interior design of the Segwun during her restoration and he remembers carrying aboard dining room tables from Pioneer Handcraft Furniture into Segwun’s cabin. His mother was also involved in the interior decoration of Windermere House. It was especially meaningful for Sutherland to take the Wenonah II for the Windermere House overnight cruise at that time.Sutherland ﬁnds it rewarding and inspiring to see the response to the Segwun, whenever she sails. Shoreline residents come out shouting “ahoy,” waving ﬂags and ringing bells. She draws passengers from the farthest reaches of the globe, who have heard about her significance. The support and “buy in” for her signiﬁcance is unlike anything Sutherland has experienced.On August 18, 2012, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Segwun in her original hull formation, the Segwun and Wenonah II went on a 100-mile cruise to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. Boaters, especially wooden boats, were invited to join the two ships. e festival ﬂavour and emotion of the day kept building to the climactic moment when the two cruise boats arrived at their turn

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38 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025around point, the top end of Little Lake Joe, an area known as Natural Park today and was once a hiking destination with a spectacular view of the lake. Upwards of 200 boats were swarming around the pair. “I have been told that she is Muskoka’s greatest man-made attraction,” remarks Tatley. “While in Toronto many years ago, I overheard some people talking about Muskoka, referring to the region as the place where the steamboats run.”As commentator for the cruises, Tatley explains how he tried to emulate some of the spirited character of 1940s dance band leader, Charles Musgrave. He also recalls in 1981 “just after we had the old tub up and running again, during one of her ﬁrst cruises after 21 years, a passenger came up to me, while I was cruise commentator, and explained how much he enjoyed the cruise after learning about her special character. Initially assuming this was just another ferry boat.”rough the years the ship has had musical accompaniment during her cruises, adding to the ambiance. Jack Hutton, along with his all-star band, was a well-known performer for years. More recently, Jamie Sherman and Neil Hutchinson have performed during cruises. Sherman remembers the huge ship would go by the family cottage and he would jump into the little outboard and play in her wake. Sherman feels he has deep connections with the ship due to his life-long experiences with her. “In 1998 Stan Tait organized a group of us to create and perform an album called Songs of the Segwun on a cruise,” remembers Neil Hutchinson, Muskoka musician. “e special song I composed, Last Surviving Sister, was part of the album. e song tells the story of her rebirth, like the phoenix, and her character in the water.” Hutchinson likes the melodic noises associated with the Segwun – the thump of the pistons, the hiss of escaping steam, the gentle curl of her wake and that ghostly whistle.Segwun has been a regular participant and backdrop in boat shows, historic, cultural and community events. In front of her wheelhouse rests the phoenix. e phoenix is a mythical bird that rises from its own ashes and symbolizes empowerment through transformation and renewal. e carving of the phoenix on Segwun’s pilothouse is a replica of the one carried on Segwun in 1925. e ﬁrst phoenix statue was carved for a second version of the SS Nipissing, which was launched in 1887 to replace the original Nipissing, which had been destroyed by ﬁre the year before. e current version was hand carved by Bill Hunnisett. In all the excitement and passion for her operation, Sutherland believes the future of Segwun will depend not only on continued funding, but the availability of staﬀ and the special coal she needs. Canadian coal is used in the manufacture of steel or isn’t of the character required for the Segwun. e “Seggie,” as staﬀ affectionately call her, requires coal that is unavailable in Muskoka. In addition to having the necessary fuel, Segwun also currently needs a “stoker” and deck hand to operate. Visions of the stoker being a hot and challenging job aren’t accurate, explains Sutherland. e strong wind draft and cooling eﬀects of being below water level mean the job isn’t especially hot. However, it is hard work. Sutherland says the most eﬀective way to shovel is a little bit at a time, just enough to keep the ﬁre steady.Sutherland is also known as “Captain Windy” because windy weather and his hand at the helm frequently coincide. Sutherland feels it would be especially signiﬁcant to take the Segwun for a 100-mile cruise on her anniversary, but the fitness of the old gal will determine what’s possible. Perhaps more twists and turns of the same divine destiny that has kept the Segwun alive today, will make a special centenary cruise for the lady of the lake possible.From varnishing her rails and stoking the boiler as a deckhand, then captain’s mate in 2019 and now captain, Captain Dave Sutherland knows his charge especially well. He connected with Segwun at a young age and has devoted much of his life to steam in some way.Segwun transports her passengers back to a simpler time, with some even getting into period costume for specic events.

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40 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Article by Bronwyn Boyer / Photography by Josianne MasseauSteph Schoﬁeld’s paintings catch the eye and then hold it hostage in the best kind of way. She ﬁnds a way to give meaning and depth to ordinary scenes. Her canvases contain public parks, roadside vistas and lonely neighborhoods in a way that makes the viewer wonder at their signiﬁcance.Growing up in small towns across Ontario, Schoﬁeld was always a quiet observer. “I was shy and introspective,” she recalls. “I didn’t talk much, but I always had a paintbrush or Play-Doh in hand. Creating was my way of understanding the world.” Art has always been her sanctuary, a space where she could express, explore and ﬁnd her conﬁdence.Schoﬁeld’s early passion led her to Sheridan College for visual and creative arts, a program that laid a solid foundation in traditional techniques in painting and sculpture. But it was the journey of self-discovery and community that truly shaped her artistic voice.In 2012, love brought Schoﬁeld to Muskoka, which deepened her connection to local landscapes and communities. “My wife is from here and she introduced me to this incredible place,” she says. “And I saw the familiar with new eyes.”

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For Steph Schoeld, each step of her artistic process is a mindful act of creation and involves meticulous preparation. She works primarily from her own photos, mapping the image out on the canvas. She then builds layers or “underpaintings,” followed by mixing palettes.Living in Gravenhurst, Schoﬁeld’s artistic practice ebbed and flowed between stone sculptures and other experimental pieces. It was the closest she’d ever come to a creative “dry spell,” since she wasn’t painting or creating with a particular intentional process. “I don’t think there will ever be a time when I won’t be creating in some way or another,” she shares. “I need it, the same way many people need to work out regularly to feel normal and function properly.” ere was something about the seismic shift of the global pandemic, however, that rekindled her love of painting. “I was looking through old photos I’d taken and thought, ‘why not try painting again?’” she remembers. “It was like reconnecting with my childhood self, just making art for the joy of it.”e results of Schoﬁeld’s rejuvenated passion culminated in a show at the Auburn Gallery of Fine Art in Gravenhurst in 2022, a milestone that aﬃrmed Schoﬁeld’s unique perspective. Schoﬁeld’s paintings did well, because they captured the soft glow of sunset illuminating favourite picnic spots and beaches. Her bold use of colour paired with precision and impressionist flavour make her work exceptionally striking. Schoﬁeld is most inspired by the colour and mood of scenes she’s captured during her travels of Canadian “townscapes,” serene forests, and East Coast-inspired scenes with pastel-coloured houses. “I love playing with colour,” she shares. “I’ll use monochrome palettes like reds, blues, and violets, to evoke diﬀerent feelings. It’s powerful.”Schoﬁeld seeks to expose the unseen stories in everyday spaces. “When you walk down your street, you might see a row of houses or a park, but behind every window there’s a story,” she says. “at’s what I try to capture; those quiet, untold stories that you can’t see, but feel.”For Schoﬁeld, art should be accessible and community driven. She often paints scenes from local places anyone can visit. “Not everyone has the privilege of travelling to exotic locations,” she says. “But we all have access to our local environment. at’s where I ﬁnd my inspiration and I want my art to show others that beauty exists right here, in our everyday lives.”Schoﬁeld’s current work can be found at the Annex in Bracebridge. Her involvement with that gallery as well as Auburn Gallery of Fine Art, Muskoka Arts and Crafts, and Arts at the Albion has helped encourage her to use her creative voice. “e arts community here is so supportive,” she notes. “Artists share ideas, collaborate and lift each other up. e collective desire to create and connect feeds our creativity.” is spirit of connection and solidarity is the theme of Schoﬁeld’s ﬁrst show as curator, Monochrome Muskoka: Pride Palette. e exhibit at MAC on Main will showcase works by local queer artists and allies using a monochromatic colour scheme representing a diﬀerent part of the Pride spectrum. “e idea is to present a diversity of styles

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Currently, Steph Schoeld’s work can be found at the Annex in Bracebridge. Her involvement with that gallery as well as Auburn Gallery of Fine Art, Muskoka Arts and Cras, and Arts at the Albion has helped encourage her to use her creative voiceand mediums with a colour palette that ties everything together,” she explains. “It represents unity and celebrating differences within a shared space.”Beyond the visual, the show is also a platform for dialogue. On July 19, 2025, a drag performance and queer art history trivia night will animate the gallery, fostering community and visibility. “In a time when politics and societal issues aﬀect marginalized communities, I believe art can be a place to be seen, heard, and understood,” says Schoﬁeld. Political activism has never been a signiﬁcant aspect of Schoﬁeld’s life or artistic career, but the current climate of human disconnection and division sparked her desire to foster inclusion. “Art is inherently political,” she asserts. “Because it’s about expressing your deepest thoughts and feelings and creating space for others to do the same.” For Schoﬁeld, the act of painting is deeply therapeutic. “It’s where I ﬁnd peace amidst chaos,” she shares. “When I’m working on a painting, everything else fades away. All the worries, noise and pressures of the day just disappear. It’s a ritual that grounds me.”Schofield’s process involves meticulous preparation. She works primarily from her photos, then starts mapping it out on the canvas. She builds layers or “underpaintings,” then mixes palettes. Each step is a mindful act of creation. “When I get lost in the process, that’s when I know I’m really creating,” she shares.Schoﬁeld’s paintings remind us how the extra-ordinary often lies just beneath the surface of the ordinary, waiting to be revealed through fresh eyes and a splash of colour. “My goal is to show that beauty exists everywhere – in the mundane and in ourselves,” she shares. “And that all our stories, no matter how small, matter.”As a child, Schoﬁeld always knew she wanted to be an artist, but struggled with the fear of scrutiny that comes with the sensitivity and shyness many creative types possess. Being immersed in the natural beauty of Muskoka has helped her overcome the “imposter syndrome” artists commonly struggle with, as she’s supported and encouraged to share her talents. She also truly values the fact she can rank her local friends and compatriots among the list of famous artists she reveres. It’s no wonder curating Monochrome Muskoka: Pride Palette has been a deeply meaningful experience for Schoﬁeld. “It’s a huge honour to bring together these incredible artists and create a space where their work can be seen and celebrated,” she states. “As someone who’s still ﬁnding their voice as a curator, I feel a mix of excitement and responsibility to showcase diverse perspectives within our community and to foster a sense of belonging through art.” Schoﬁeld emphasizes how the process has deepened her connection to both the local arts scene and the broader conversations around identity and inclusion. “Being able to select work that reﬂects not just individual creativity, but also shared values of acceptance and pride, makes this project 44 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 45feel personal and powerful,” she shares. “Curating isn’t just about hanging pictures; it’s about amplifying voices that speak the universal language of art.”To that end, the concept of the show is more than just visual. It’s a chance to make a visceral statement. “I think art is a great way to express what’s diﬃcult to put into words,” Schoﬁeld explains. “My thought process was if we all stay within a particular colour scheme, the content doesn’t have to match, because the colour will unify it. I didn’t want to put anyone in a box. I wanted freedom with a hint of structure. I told the artists to make as many pieces as they want. Go big, go small. Ordinary scenes are given depth and meaning through Steph Schoeld’s use of colour. Her canvases contain public parks, roadside vistas and lonely neighborhoods in a way that makes the viewer wonder at their signicance.OPEN STUDIO WEEKENDAugust 15, 16 and 17, 2025  10 am to 5 pmmuskokanorthstudiotour.caWelcome to an exciting, new studio tour for Huntsville and the Muskoka region. Visit unique artists working in a variety of media inspired by this rugged, northern landscape.14 STUDIOS. 26 ARTISTS.Painting • Pottery • Jewellery • Metalwork • Woodwork • Sculpture

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46 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Just have fun.”And fun it will be. Monochrome Muskoka: Pride Palette promises a vibrant mix of media and styles, from traditional landscape paintings and abstract compositions to fabric art and digital work. e unifying thread is not subject matter, but spectrum, as a symbolic nod to Pride and the diverse perspectives it represents. “I think the queer community deserves a platform to feel safe and seen,” she says. “is is our way of creating that for ourselves and voicing up.”As curator and artist, Schoﬁeld is creating a space where expression is not only allowed but celebrated. In her paintings and through this exhibition, she captures the quiet power of everyday places and the unapologetic celebration of queer visibility.Monochrome Muskoka: Pride Palette takes place at MAC on Main in downtown Bracebridge from July 10 to 27. The show will feature Marianne Bouchard, Shanandoah Kidd, Katie Morton, Alix Veitch, Andrea Balmer, Christopher Nelson, and Wesley Schoﬁeld. Steph Schoeld’s bold use of colour paired with precision and impressionist avour make her work exceptionally striking. She is most inspired by the colour and mood of scenes she’s captured by photograph during her travels of Canadian towns, serene forests, and East Coast-inspired scenes with pastel-coloured houses.affordable rentals in 2025Generation Homes Gravenhurst2024: CMHC predicts Canadawill need 3.5 million additionalhousing units by 2030.2024: The District Municipality ofMuskoka partners with Habitat in supportof the construction of six long-termrental units on Muskoka Beach Road inGravenhurst.2024: The Town of Gravenhurst workswith Habitat to approve a creative siteplan, including density, demonstrating acommitment to addressing Muskoka’saffordable housing crisis.2025: Forecast delivery of sixenergy-efficient, universallyaccessible affordable rental unitsfor small families and indivduals inthe Town of Gravenhurst.find out more athabitatgatewaynorth.com/communities/Muskoka Beach Rd.3a & 3b369 MuskokaBeach Rd.

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48 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Article by J. Patrick BoyerSince the 1600s, saying a person living with boredom, misery and bad treatment was leading “a dog’s life” reﬂected the wretched state of canines in various parts of the world. However, as is often the case with things in Muskoka, “a dog’s life” generally means something altogether diﬀerent here. In 2023, when Gravenhurst artist Mara Smelters-Wier organized a Muskoka Arts & Crafts exhibit at Bracebridge’s Chapel Gallery, many district painters displayed compelling works showing what dogs contribute to peoples’ lives. Jeanne de Keyserling’s portrait of a large sleeping dog stretched out on a sofa entitled “A Dog’s Life in Muskoka” neatly encapsulated the show’s theme. Because many district families have both two- and four-legged members, Muskoka furniture retailers are closely questioned about fabric for beds and couches being suitable for dogs as well as humans. Integral to many households today, Muskoka dogs live mostly indoors with people, no longer outside in a kennel or on the loose. With this link between dogs and people fused by loyalty, companionship and even shared emotional understanding, canines and humans not only bond in unique ways but, as human society evolves, Muskoka’s 30,000 dogs change in Photograph: Jeanne de Keyserling / Courtesy Muskoka Arts & Crafts

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tandem with it, too.Statistics Canada just counts humans in its oﬃcial surveys and the Canadian Animal Health Institute provides only estimates on how many dogs live in Canadian homes, so where does that number come from? Muskoka has a year-round population of about 66,674 people and pet ownership rates in Canada indicate 35 to 40 per cent of households have at least one dog. Because Muskoka currently has some 28,571 year-round households, that would mean roughly 10,000 to 11,500 likely have dogs. However, since many households have more than one dog, the total could be closer to 15,000 to 20,000. But the ranks of year-round Muskokans swell with thousands of seasonal Muskoka households, a signiﬁcant number bringing their pets along creating a still larger population of canis familiaris and homo sapiens pushing the high-summer number of dogs well over the 30,000 range. at scientiﬁc name for dogs is a modiﬁed version of canis lupus familiaris. e name for wolves is canis lupus. “Every dog and every dog breed is just another version of a wolf,” explains Dr. Brian Hare of Duke University’s Canine Cognition Centre, “that through selection and evolution has expressed itself. Every dog breed shares 99.9 per cent of the same DNA as wolves.” at all dogs derive from wolves seems incredible when you see dozens of vastly dissimilar canines in Muskoka, ranging from chihuahua to great dane who are North America’s smallest and largest dogs, one standing six to nine inches tall and weighing in at six pounds, the other 28 to 30 inches tall and tipping the scales at 175 pounds. Dogs also display highly contrasting rates of speed, from fastest-runner-on-Earth greyhounds who can hit 45 mph (twice the speed of the world’s fastest humans and out-racing the world’s speediest hooved animals) to basset hounds lumbering along at their benchmark rate of ﬁve mph. Yet the wolf derivation is scientiﬁcally proven and part of the current dog science renaissance. Dogs and humans evolved unique patterns of relationships over the millennia as wolves and our primitive ancestors began taking an interest in each other. Because dogs emerged in Asia, Europe and the Americas over thousands of years, evolving to become human companions, we can pick up the story close to home in recent centuries. At Obajewanung, an Ojibwe settlement between Silver Lake and the Indian River ﬂowing down from Lake Rosseau to Lake Muskoka where Port Carling sits today, families had a permanent village of some 20 log cabins, grew crops of corn, squash, and beans, possessed numerous birchbark canoes, hunted, ﬁshed, picked berries and medicinal plants, and beneﬁtted from the companionable presence of many dogs in hunting and helping with transport. In the mid-1800s, white surveyors working through Muskoka encountered various Even by 1938 when the motor vehicle revolution was replacing horse-drawn and dog-pulled transport, this scene in Muskoka was still commonplace for many roles and purposes. The two men are about to cut blocks from the frozen lake for iceboxes the team will pull onto shore.Photograph: Boyer Muskoka Collection.A telling image can say it all, and that was the case with artist Jeanne de Keyserling’s painting that summed up the Muskoka Arts & Cras exhibit “For the Love of Dogs” in Bracebridge in 2023. A “dog’s life” means a miserable existence, unless of course it is lived “Muskoka style.”

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Indigenous people with dogs, in one case a boy carrying a puppy who passed their camp walking home miles through the dark forest at night. To reﬂect archeological and anthropological discoveries in the district’s northeast, a scale display at the Dorset Heritage Museum portrays a First Nation village in winter with a number of dogs present. By the late 1800s, dogs that settlers brought with them had boosted Muskoka’s canine population. A window into how that was working out can be glimpsed by some of the dog cases heard by District Magistrate James Boyer. In November 1894, Robert Irwin, a farmer in Ryde Township, brought charges against Allis Edwards for unlawfully killing his dog, to which Edwards pleaded not guilty. Irwin said his collie was valuable for farm work and running deer. Valuators testiﬁed his worth at $15. e issue was whether or not Edwards had killed the dog for biting the leg of one of his sheep while it was out on a public road. Testimony was that the dog was good for work with sheep and ideal for running deer in hunting season, one man testifying that he would have paid $20 for him. On the evidence, magistrate Boyer convicted the defendant, ﬁned him $1 and $5 for the dog, and $4.85 in costs or, in default of paying, 21 days in the Bracebridge jail. Edwards was committed to jail. In March 1896, James Barber of Watt Township prosecuted John Hall for stealing his white and tan purebred spaniel, and a great deal of testimony was given by members of the Veitch and Longhurst families, among others, as to whether there had been a trade with payment made or some other confusing back-and-forth dealings with the prized animal. e case was dismissed with $14.60 levied in fees and costs, which Barber paid rather than spend a month in jail. Two months later, Margaret Browning appeared in court prosecuting William Gleason for stealing her dog but since he had given it back, she withdrew the charge upon the defendant paying the costs. By December 1898, problems between dogs and sheep resurfaced in court when informant James E. Taverner pressed charges against John Fox, the village of Lewisham’s postmaster, alleging his dog killed one of his sheep, a purebred Southdown Ewe worth $6. e defendant’s dog was a yellowish-brown collie. A dozen witnesses testiﬁed, from the Draper Township reeve who sold Taverner sheep, to 9-year-old Frederick Fox who was too young to be sworn, various daughters and wives, and neighbours. Counsel for the defendant objected that no order could be issued to have the dog destroyed. In a rare move, proceedings were adjourned for 10 days. After another day’s testimony and rebuttals, the case was dismissed.To round out the century, James E. Miller charged William Stiles in 1899 for shooting and wounding his dog. A Monck Township farmer, Miller’s dog was a black collie with legs of a lighter colour, “a good cattle dog” he’d been oﬀered $12 to sell. It slept in the stable at Miller’s farm at night. On Sunday morning a neighbour told him his dog had been shot in the shoulder on a public roadway. Miller kept him all day, and on Monday, ﬁnding him still unable to get up, shot the dog “to put him out of his misery.” Defendant Stiles, on a neighbouring farm, testiﬁed he’d “shot the dog because it annoyed him.” After testifying he had “driven it away repeatedly and my wife also” because “the dog had been howling around the house and scratching the door,” he added “I took the gun and shot at the dog to scare him. I happened to strike him. I didn’t put the gun to my Especially fascinating, photographs taken at the earliest stages of contact preserve a strong sense of life without Europeans but one highly reliant on dogs. The infants and the four-legged companions share space and fulll communal roles in evident harmony.Photograph: Geological Survey of Canada, Boyer Muskoka Collection

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 51shoulder.” Magistrate Boyer found the defendant guilty and levied a $2 ﬁne, plus $3 in damages and $3.70 in costs, “to be paid forthwith or imprisoned in the common jail at Bracebridge for 30 days with hard labour.” Stiles paid.Jumping to the Roaring Twenties a century ago, transformative cultural and social shocks created by the murderous First World War were changing postwar life with dogs adapting to new roles. With urbanization accelerating and more Canadians moving into cities, dogs were increasingly seen as companions rather than simply working animals. Muskoka’s rural communities still relied on dogs for hunting, herding and sledding for winter transport. Town dwellers followed city dwellers in embracing dogs as household pets. As usual, because of urban folks relocating to Muskoka for summer, the district picked up this trend shift sooner than many outlying places, with breeds like the Labrador retriever becoming increasingly popular.e 1920s also saw a rise in organized dog breeding and kennel clubs. e Canadian Kennel Club, which had been established in the late 19th century, gained prominence as more people became interested in purebred dogs. e rebellious Roaring Twenties included the Flapper Movement to liberate women by challenging traditional gender roles in stylish new ways distinctively diﬀerent from the Suﬀragettes by not playing according to men’s rules. Flappers in Canada, mirroring trends in Europe and the United States, embraced small lap dogs as fashionable accessories; just one of their many initiatives emphasizing the uniqueness of females. In tandem, dogs were becoming more integrated into family life generally, reﬂecting the broader societal changes of the era. Canadians have long had things to say about dogs. Back in 1873, William Butler in It is not common to see someone with sled dogs wearing a white shirt and tie, but this assistant manager of the Hudson’s Bay Company was at a trading post in Muskoka’s vicinity during summer and the photo-op was not missed. The HBC had several small posts in Muskoka, at Lake of Bays and along the Muskoka River, satellites of its main trading post at Orillia.Serving Seasonal and Permanent ResidentsOur palliative support programs and services are here for you and your family during difcult times.Help us walk with others on their palliative journey by donating: hospicemuskoka.comAndy’s House (palliative care home)Andy’s House at Home (home-based care)Pain & Symptom ManagementShort Stay/RespiteAdvance Care PlanningCaregiver Education and ReliefGrief and Bereavement for Adults, Youth & FamiliesOur Clinical ServicesOur ProgramsEmail: intake@hospicemuskoka.comClinical Services, Programs, Donations & General Inquiries: 705-646-169724/7 Access & Referral Line: 705-204-2273Photograph: Boyer Muskoka Collection

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Wild North Land, wrote “A good dog is so much a nobler beast than an indiﬀerent man that one sometimes gladly exchanges the society of one for that of the other.” In Calgary Bob Edwards, editor of the Eye Opener newspaper, advised readers in 1910 “Never trust a man whose dog has gone back on him.” Five years later, R.D. Cumming in his Skootum Chuck Fables purported to know how a dog’s mind works, quipping, “Every dog wonders why the other dog was born.” By 1920 Canadian commentators on dogs had progressed to attributing higher intelligence to canine action. “You may depend on it,” Marshall Saunders assured readers of Beautiful Joe that year, “a four-legged creature, unlike a two-legged one, has a reason for everything he does.”Today we have entered an entirely diﬀerent universe and the past two decades have advanced canine science and understanding about how a dog’s mind works to a level far exceeding those bromides and clever sayings about dogs. Scientiﬁc learning now focuses on how dogs receive information, process it and respond. e much closer connection of people and dogs in daily life has created new insights about canine emotional intelligence. Studies suggest dogs can read human emotions, respond to facial expressions, and even comfort people in distress. As dogs and humans worked alongside each other with incredible results, new relationships emerged in the form of guide dog companions and search-and-rescue teams.e Ontario Provincial Police Canine Training Centre in Gravenhurst, where OPP K-9 teams underwent 16 weeks of training for the force’s important program, required careful selection of both dog and handler to meet this specialized police work’s demanding standards. Typically, German shepherds are trained for these duties, selected when around 18 to 24 months old. eir handlers require three years or more policing experience, self-discipline and patience, need a favourable attitude toward animals, with both handlers and dogs in top physical condition. Once trained, OPP K-9 teams are on call 24/7 for assignments across Ontario to search for lost, wanted or missing persons, detect drugs and weapons, perform community service work and contain public demonstrations. e dynamic nature of their environments means both dog and handler must constantly adapt. Training scenarios at Gravenhurst simulated these conditions, with obstacles and variable weather conditions designed to replicate real-life challenges, resulting in K-9 teams successfully locating missing individuals and tracking persons of interest, following trails other search methods might have missed. e 2,300 square-foot facility on the Ontario Fire College property was closed post-COVID and the K-9 operation moved by the Ontario Solicitor General to Orillia, leaving Gravenhurst and Muskoka with neither ﬁre college nor dog-training facility. Muskoka today is dog-friendly and canines themselves add a worthy component to the local economy. A sampler of Muskoka’s dog-related services and organizations include the Ontario SPCA’s Muskoka Animal Centre in Bracebridge with sheltering, adoption, emergency sheltering, and spay/neuter services, and Carter’s Forever Rescue & Sanctuary, also in Bracebridge, which rescues and retrains dogs to ﬁnd their “forever” homes. At Gravenhurst, Muskoka District Kennel Club oﬀers dog training and obedience classes. Muskoka Spa for Pets at Bracebridge oﬀers dog boarding, grooming, and daycare. Happy Tails Pet Resort & Camp at Huntsville – “home of the cottage dog lifestyle” – oﬀers cage-free playcations, daycare and grooming. Year by year more Muskoka places and events become increasingly “dog-friendly,” with everything from pet spas and grooming services to dog-friendly beaches and hiking trails to training, obedience and agility classes. Muskoka today has an ample roster of dog-friendly accommodations, plenty of dog activities and events, and a number of dog-friendly breweries, thri stores, cafés and boat tours.Photograph: Tomasz Szumski

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 53On the medical side of things, veterinary services operate in every town in the district with some locations providing extensive medical treatment options and emergency services. Just how integrated into Muskoka society dogs now are is seen, for example, with the district’s many scenic dog-friendly parks and trails. Some great dog-friendly spots are Wilson’s Falls Trail (Bracebridge), a short, easy trail leading to a beautiful waterfall with dogs on a leash are welcome; Hardy Lake Provincial Park (Muskoka Lakes) with stunning lake views and well-maintained trails where leashed dogs are allowed; Arrowhead Provincial Park (Huntsville) – a large park with hiking trails and lakes where dogs are welcome on leash; Hunters Bay Trail (Huntsville) – a scenic dog-walking, strolling and cycling trail along the water; and Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Preserve, Muskoka’s unique hiking area with open landscapes and great stargazing opportunities where leashed dogs are welcome.Dog-friendly beaches and oﬀ-leash parks include Six Mile Lake Provincial Park (Port Severn) with hiking trails and three sandy beaches and calm waters for swimming, including a designated pet beach. Muskoka today has an ample roster of dog-friendly accommodations, plenty of dog activities and events, and a number of dog-friendly breweries, thrift stores, cafés and boat tours. A prior phase “dog’s life” in Muskoka included the era when numerous dogs were everywhere on their own all the time, running where they pleased, bothersome to people who protested the generous donations of excrement in all sorts of places that annoyingly adhered to shoes, the wheels of baby carriages and tricycles and bicycles, digging up peoples’ gardens, prowling their yards and breaking into garbage containers. Municipalities responded to the outcry, enacting bylaws to make running at large an oﬀence and requiring owners to buy a brass dog-tag and ensure their collared dog wore it so the registered serial number could be traced for due accountability. Today, stooping and scooping has become a new norm and comporting dogs through town streets on a leash a daily routine for thousands of Muskokans. As with humans, dogs are happily at home in Muskoka. It’s quite a life.Ian Varney PaintingJohn Doherty PaddlesJan Carey Wet Felting & WeavingOpen Daily in Summer • 1073 Fox Point Road, Dwight • 705.635.1602 oxtonguecraftcabin.com All Canadian. All the Time.Representing 100+ Canadian Artists, Artisans and Studio JewellersAll Canadian. All the Time.RepresentingCanadian Artists, HUNTERS | JUMPERS LESSONS | SALES 4171 Line 11 N Coldwater, ON(705) 641-0754muskokahorseco.com...telling the Muskoka storywww.uniquemuskoka.com

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54 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare selects site of new Bracebridge hospital Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) has selected a site for a new hospital in Bracebridge, marking an important development in the region’s healthcare landscape. The organization recently announced its intention to purchase land located at 300 Pine Street, directly west of Highway 11. This site is strategically positioned adjacent to Walmart commercial lands, a residential area, and JD Lang Park.Access to the new hospital will primarily be from Pine Street, with potential additional entrances from Depot Drive and Gray Road to the south. Although MAHC has not yet received formal approvals for the project, discussions with Ontario Health, the Ministry of Health, and Infrastructure Ontario have been promising. e organization anticipates that construction could commence as early as 2029, contingent upon obtaining all necessary government approvals.Earlier this year, MAHC announced the temporary relocation of obstetric services from South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge to Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, citing labour shortages at the Bracebridge facility. e decision was initially framed as a one-year move.MAHC’s broader plan to redevelop existing hospitals in both Huntsville and Bracebridge, aiming to implement a ‘‘Made in Muskoka’’ healthcare model that distributes services between the two sites, has sparked considerable controversy. e proposal has faced signiﬁcant opposition from residents and physicians in South Muskoka, who are concerned about potential reductions in services and the impact on access to care for the community. District earmarks $5 million for Silver Bridge repairsMuskoka District Council has given the green light for up to $5 million for urgent restoration work on the Bracebridge Silver Bridge. e bridge has been closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traﬃc since January 6, 2025, following a critical failure identified during snow clearance by Town of Bracebridge operations staﬀ.According to a report presented to the council, the District’s engineering team discovered a concerning shift in the bridge that was absent during its last inspection in November 2024, prompting immediate closure measures. Staﬀ sought approval to install structural components for further investigation while also initiating restoration eﬀorts.Additionally, they requested to revise the capital budget, increasing the allocation to $4,100,275 from the original $899,725 for rehabilitation work. District commissioner of engineering and public works, James Steele, indicated these funds would facilitate further assessment and eﬀorts to restore the bridge’s functionality.Bracebridge mayor and district councillor Rick Maloney emphasized the bridge’s signiﬁcance to the community, advocating for rehabilitation over replacement. Meanwhile, councillor Guy Burry raised concerns about prioritizing functionality versus heritage, questioning if a cost analysis had been conducted about replacing versus restoring the structure. No timeline for the bridge’s reopening has been provided to date.Gravenhurst Health Hub project gains momentume Gravenhurst Health Hub initiative is making signiﬁcant strides, as highlighted in a recent town council meeting that showcased positive developments. Bruce Hemphill, chair of the Gravenhurst Health Hub, shared key updates, including the launch of a new fundraising initiative designed to bolster support for the project.Whats HappenedPhotograph: Matt DriscollBracebridge’s Silver Bridge has been closed to vehicle and pedestrian trac since January 2025 due to structural issues. The District of Muskoka council recently approved the use of up to $5 million for urgent repair work to return the bridge to usable condition.Photograph: Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare recently announced their intention to purchase land at 300 Pine Street in Bracebridge as the site for the new South Muskoka Hospital location. The new location is part of the two-site “Made in Muskoka” healthcare model that has sparked controversy among local residents.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 55e proposal aims to revamp approximately 12,000 square feet on the second ﬂoor of the medical centre located beside the Gravenhurst municipal oﬃce. Hemphill emphasized that once operational, the hub will provide adaptable oﬃce spaces for incoming primary care providers, enhance access to specialists, and introduce various programs focused on geriatrics, diabetes education and women’s health.The project is slated to roll out in three phases, with an anticipated completion date set for 2027. e ﬁrst phase will prioritize the ﬁnalization of design plans, tenant acquisition and infrastructure development for the second ﬂoor, with an estimated budget of $780,000.In a display of support, the Town council unanimously passed a resolution to allocate up to $200,000 from the Terence Haight Reserve Fund to assist in the establishment of the health hub.A recent report highlighted that over 6,000 residents in South Muskoka currently lack access to local primary care and there are no standardized after-hours services available. Mayor Lorenz reiterated the town’s commitment to the health hub project, acknowledging its potential to greatly improve health services for the community.Signicant development proposal unveiled for former Muskoka Centre PropertyA notable development proposal has emerged for the former Muskoka Centre property in Gravenhurst after prolonged inactivity. e ambitious initiative aims to completely redevelop the site, featuring multiple hotels – including one proposed to reach six stories and another ﬁve stories tall. In addition, the plan includes various restaurants, an event space, branded residences and a spa. e project is being led by Cliﬀ Bay Muskoka Corporation, a part of the KS Group of Companies.Back in 2020, Cliff Bay had initially expressed plans to transform the 70-acre Muskoka Regional Centre property into a Scandinavian spa development. At that time, the developers projected the project would unfold in three stages over a period of two to three years, with a proposed budget of up to $250 million.However, a public meeting scheduled for May 27 to announce the redevelopment plans encountered considerable obstacles. Hosted via Zoom by Cliﬀ Bay Muskoka Corp., the meeting was abruptly cancelled due to technical difficulties that caused frustration among residents. The meeting is expected to be rescheduled soon to provide further insight into the development plans.Currently, the property is owned by Infrastructure Ontario and has remained vacant for the past three decades. In May 2024, Infrastructure Ontario confirmed that a preferred proponent for the Muskoka Regional Centre had been selected but withheld details regarding the identity of that proponent.Gravenhurst Mayor Heidi Lorenz addressed the proposal during the latest council meeting. She indicated the project will likely require a unique zoning process through the Ontario government. “We envision this topic appearing before the council in the near future,” she At a recent town council meeting, the Gravenhurst Health Hub provided key updates including the launch of a new fundraising initiative to support the project. The proposal aims to convert the second oor of the building to allow for programs and specialists.Photograph: Gravenhurst Health HubThe site of the former Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium is now being proposed for redevelopment by Cli Bay Muskoka Corporation. The ambitious plan includes multiple hotels, restaurants, residences, an event space and a spa.Photograph: Cliff Bay Muskoka Corp.

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56 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025added.e property was originally opened as the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium in 1897. In 1960 the Province of Ontario transitioned the site to a housing and care facility for developmentally challenged individuals before it ultimately closed in 1994. It has stood vacant ever since.Muskoka Chautauqua unveils 2025 lineupBrass bands, literary lectures, morning meditations and much more. Muskoka Chautauqua has unveiled its summer lineup, which includes dozens of events packed into a 10-day festival, overlooking the shores of Lake Rosseau in the historic village of Windermere.Springing from a tradition that started 100 years ago, when the village of Windermere attracted North America’s leading thinkers to its shores, Muskoka Chautauqua is one of the longest-running and most iconic cultural institutions in the region. is year’s lineup includes a variety of acts and workshops running the gamut of genres and experiences. e festivities kick oﬀ with a festival welcome and opening on August 1 at Muskoka Chautauqua eatre in the Woods at 1039 Golf Avenue in Windermere Village.An art gallery will be open from August 2 to 9 from 10 to 4 p.m., ﬁlled with art from workshop leaders. is year’s theme is Rocks & Roots. Visit the Gallery in the Woods throughout the event to view beautiful works from artists like Miranda Britton, Toller Cranston, Gayle Dempsey and more.Historic walking tours of the area will also take place throughout the event, oﬀering guests a chance to uncover the unique charm of Windermere village. August 2 features an evening with Caroline Marie Brooks of Canadian band the Good Lovelies, while Po Cholly, Beverly Robertson and friends will perform August 4. You can learn to play your own music with the ukulele workshop and jam session on August 7. For a full list of events, please visit muskokachautauqua.com.Huntsville council approves new short-term rental accommodations limitIn a recent meeting held on May 28, the General Committee of Huntsville councillors voted to implement a new cap on short-term rental accommodations (STRAs) within the town, setting the limit at 250 licenses per year. is decision reﬂects a slight increase of just 10 licenses compared to previous years, as noted by Chris Nagy, the Town’s chief building oﬃcial.Starting November 1, individuals interested in applying for STRA licenses will be able to submit their requests. To ensure a smooth application process, applicants must complete all necessary forms, including payment, and, if required, arrange for a site inspection. Notably, ﬂoating accommodations – such as boats, tents, yurts, mobile homes, and speciﬁc lodging types – are now classiﬁed as non-dwelling units under the updated STRA guidelines.e newly adopted bylaw also brings several important clariﬁcations. It speciﬁcally outlines what constitutes a “complete” application, prohibits the advertisement of occupant numbers, and establishes a requirement that properties must be owned for at least 12 months before operating as an STRA. Furthermore, any infractions will be monitored over a two-year period, with licenses at risk of revocation after three violations.Mayor Nancy Alcock and councillor Dione Schumacher voiced their support for these amendments, highlighting the importance of eﬀective communication with the community about these changes. To keep STRA providers informed, the Town will reach out via email and update its website, while also recommending that real estate brokerages be made aware of the new regulations. Lakeland expands EV chargers across central OntarioLakeland EV Charging is planning to expand its public charging network by adding 17 new sites in central Ontario, bringing the total number of stations to 33 by fall 2026. is expansion will include 50 new chargers, with 26 dual-port direct current fast chargers (DCFC) that have a capacity of 180kW. Drivers can expect to gain around 100 kilometres of range with 10 minutes of charging.e funding for this initiative comes from Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) and Ontario’s EV ChargeON program.Lakeland EV Charging has also partnered with ChargeHub Passport Hub, which is Canada’s largest EV charging network. is partnership allows users to access Lakeland EV chargers through the ChargeHub app, connecting them to thousands of charging stations across the country.“Increasing access to EV chargers outside major urban centres addresses gaps in local charging infrastructure and alleviates range anxiety,” remarked Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation. “rough the EV ChargeON Community Sites Stream Program, our government has approved 270 projects to date, including Lakeland EV Charging’s initiative, highlighting our commitment to transforming Ontario into a global leader in clean energy.”District of Muskoka appoints airport governing body The District of Muskoka Council has approved the establishment of Muskoka Airport Inc. (MAI), a new municipal service corporation, along with its advisory board. is transition involves the transfer of all buildings and most equipment to MAI, while the District retains ownership of the airport lands, leasing them to MAI long-term.Most airport employees will remain with the District, with MAI funding their salaries and Photograph: Muskoka ChautauquaMuskoka Chautauqua’s 10-day festival in Windermere kicks o on August 1. The activities throughout the festival include historic walking tours, musical events, workshops and an art gallery.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 57beneﬁts. e airport’s CEO will be directly appointed by MAI. e oﬃcial transfer of the airport is targeted for July 1, 2025. Until then, the District Municipality of Muskoka will oversee airport operations, transitioning responsibilities to MAI on the target date.District commissioner of finance and corporate services, Suzanne Olimer, stated the District will still need to allocate around $1.3 million to support airport operations. Unﬁnished capital projects will be closed under the District and reacquired as new initiatives under MAI, with reserves also being transferred.Consultant Mike Murray addressed the council, noting the benefits of creating a municipal service corporation for the airport. He emphasized the competitive nature of municipal airports and the challenges they face within municipal regulations from his nearly 30 years of experience in municipal government.Dorset resident recognized as Guinness World Record holder What started out as a fun in-store competition for members of the staﬀ at Pizza on Earth in Dorset has seen 20-year-old pizzamaker Broen ompson recognized as a Guinness World Record holder. Now in his second year studying genetics and biotechnology at the University of Toronto, ompson says the challenge of being the fastest person to fold 50 pizza boxes in the local business led to a friendly competition with Graham Johnson, son of the owners of Pizza on Earth. Starting at eight minutes, the timing kept dropping. As his time improved, ompson, in due course, researched the Guinness record and found it was held by, of course, an Italian at three minutes, 54.2 seconds. Last year, ompson, ﬁlmed by a crew to verify his feat, folded the requisite 50 boxes in three minutes, 47.82 seconds.The lengthy procedure for Thompson to submit his claim, have it veriﬁed and receive his world record certiﬁcate took until earlier this year.ompson, who has been a longtime cottager on Kawagama Lake, is returning this summer to Pizza on Earth where a photograph of his record-attesting certiﬁcate is on display.Photograph: District Municipality of MuskokaMuskoka Airport Inc. (MAI), a new municipal service corporation, along with the airport advisory board will take on the operation of the Muskoka Airport, eective July 1, 2025. The District of Muskoka will continue to own the airport lands and lease them to MAI.Graham Johnson of Pizza on Earth helps Guinness World Record holder Broen Thompson hold of photo of him with his certicate.Photograph: Don SmithFeature by Matt Driscoll

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58 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025It’s almost Canada Day, and that means strawberry socials and pick-your-own gorging until you’re caught red-lipped. So, let’s tuck into some strawberry yumminess, both sweet and – yes! – savoury, and ﬁnd out why strawberry season isn’t just June anymore, but all summer long.Taylor Farms of Muskoka, near Windermere, grows 20 acres worth of strawberries (along with another 20 acres of various other crops) and oﬀers them as a pick-your-own excursion in June and July as well as wholesale to some customers including the Ontario Food Terminal in Etobicoke, at farmers’ markets throughout Muskoka and in their on-site store.e business is owned by Graham Shaw and co-managed by him and his children, Sarah Shaw and Aaron Shaw. Graham’s stepfather, Murray Taylor, acquired the property in the ‘80s, and Graham and his wife Carla began growing strawberries on it in 1993.“Because we’re in such a valley here, the soil was better than most of Muskoka,” Sarah says. “At ﬁrst, we did just pick-your-own, farmers’ markets and an end-of-the-road farmstand. We were only open for three weeks a year.”en at a berry growers’ conference in 2011, the family learned about a specially bred type of strawberry called “day-neutral.”“Normal strawberries can tell how long the day is,” Sarah explains. “Day-neutrals can’t tell, so they’ll produce when the plant is big enough and keep producing until frost. In California they can grow them all year and that’s how we have strawberries all year.” Ignoring cues from the sun, the Taylor Farms’ day-neutral berries get planted in two phases starting on the May long weekend and provide fruit until the farm closes on anksgiving weekend. e growing season expansion allowed for a major business expansion. e store was built in 2015. e staﬀ, which phases in and out over the year, maxes at eight in the ﬁelds and 12 in the store. Taylor Farms has become a leader in the ﬁeld (so to speak) with innovations such as the “low tunnel,” a plastic-wrap covering placed over the plants like a miniature greenhouse, which Taylor is the ﬁrst and only strawberry farm in Ontario to implement. “We can’t call ourselves organic, but we try to be chemical-free,” says Aaron. “We use Article by K.M. Wehrstein / Photography by Tomasz SzumskiStrawberry elds forever:The quintessential summer berryFreshly picked strawberries are a summer staple. Taylor Farms oers “pick-your-own” berry excursions in June and July for those who want to nd their own sweet, summer haul.

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Strawberry Spinach Salad- Taylor FamilyIngredients2 cups halved strawberries10 oz fresh spinach1 red onion (optional)Dressing 1 (sweet and sour)2 Tbsp sesame seeds1 Tbsp poppy seeds¼ cup cider vinegar¼ cup white sugar½ olive oil1 tsp Worcestershiresauce½ tsp paprika4 tsp minced onion (optional)Dressing 2 (creamy, sweet)2 Tbsp poppy seeds½ mayonnaise2 Tbsp cider vinegar⅓ cup sugar¼ cup milkThe Taylor family’s spinach salad recipe may seem simple, but the dressing choice can make a big avour dierence.organic pesticides.” Farming is always a risky business, though. e worst dangers to the luscious red crop, says Sarah, are deer (“they eat the plants”), seagulls (“they take one bite out of each berry”) and bad weather. A late frost can kill all 20 acres of ﬂowers, and even though the family has improved its weather defenses over the years, in one recent season enough plants were lost that they had to make a crop insurance claim. e business prevailed, however, and continues to be successful.e recipe for Spinach Strawberry Salad came from Sarah and Aaron’s maternal grandmother Carol Taylor, and its interesting combination probably relates to the fact that Carol’s family grew spinach. Do spinach and strawberries go together? Absolutely, in the way two highly distinctive savoury and sweet ﬂavours can complement each other juicily; there’s a liquidity about this pairing.You’ve got two dressing options here, one sweet and sour, the other purely sweet, and they both work very well. For those who enjoy them, count the onions as mandatory (but you do you!) and even so the whole eﬀect is rather delicate. Arguably the seeds make the salad here.Possibly the biggest fan of Taylor Farms’ strawberries is Warren Dix of the Big River Baking Company in Bracebridge. “ey’re the best strawberries you’ve ever had in your life,” he avows. “We carry Taylor Farms strawberries because so many people come in who’ve lived with Taylor Farms berries all their lives – but also because they’re Taylor Farms berries. ey’re the only fruit we carry.”Dix and his business partner Sean Sullivan opened Big River Baking Co. in 2021, specializing in sourdough-based artisan breads. When people come in seeking cake, pastries and the like he turns to Janette MacNaughtan, owner of Bumble Pastry Company, who you might recall from her collaboration with Baristah Coﬀee, which is next door to Big River, from a previous issue. “Janette is a master scratch baker,” says Dix. “I would do anything in the world to use her services.”Originally an arts major who made cakes for friends, MacNaughtan began baking buttertarts for Baristah over the holiday break of 2023/2024 and then began baking non-bread items for Big River. “It’s a symbiotic relationship,” she says. “Warren provides the audience and that lets me do some things that otherwise I wouldn’t be able to.”is opportunity for creativity has generated a plethora of cheesecake ﬂavours including – are you sitting down? Here we go: Pistachio, coconut lime, Biscoﬀ speculoos cookie, blueberry, apple crumble, white chocolate raspberry, gingerbread, cinnamon roll, tiramisu, cherry, Boston cream pie, lemon meringue, orange Method 1. Chop onion into rings. 2. Combine all ingredients.3. Whisk together all dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved (whichever dressing you choose).4. Toss ingredients with dressing and serve.

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60 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Strawberry Cheesecake - Big River Baking Co. / Bumble Pastry Co.Ingredients Crust1½ cups graham cracker crumbs ¼ cup white sugar ⅓ cup melted butter Cheesecake BatterFour 8 oz. packages premium cream cheese, at room temperature 1 cup brown sugar ¼ cup granulated sugar ½ cup sour cream 4 large eggs, at room temperature 1 Tbsp real vanilla extract ½ tsp saltStrawberry Sauce 2 cups of Taylor Farms strawberries; washed, cut and hulled ⅓ cup granulated sugar ½ tsp real vanilla extract Pinch of salt 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 Tbsp cornstarch 2 Tbsp waterMethodCrust1. Prepare a nine-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper and spray well with cooking oil.2. Preheat the oven to 300° F.3. In a large bowl, mix crumbs and sugar, then add melted butter, mixing well until all crumbs are saturated.4. Press mixture ﬁrmly into the bottom of the pan.5. Bake for 10 minutes, remove and cool. Cheesecake Batter1. Fill a baking pan with water and place on the bottom rack of 300° F oven. 2. Set up mixer with paddle attachment and set to low.3. In a large mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese until smooth, work up to high speed. 4. Once smoothed, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.5. Add both white and brown sugar, mix until smooth, scraping down the bowl and making sure to reach the bottom.6. Add sour cream and mix again until smooth, scraping bowl again (this helps prevent and remove lumps).7. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.8. Scrape down the bowl, then add vanilla salt and mix again on low speed. 9. Top graham crust in its pan with cheesecake mixture.10. Place cheesecake in the oven on the middle rack above the water-ﬁlled baking pan.11. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the middle of the cake is set but still slightly jiggly.12. Turn oﬀ the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door cracked for another 45 minutes, roughly.13. Remove from oven and cool. 14. Once cooled, refrigerate cheesecake for a minimum of two hours or overnight. Strawberry Sauce1. Place strawberries in pot over medium heat and add sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon juice, stirring frequently.2. In the meantime, mix cornstarch and water together to create a slurry and set aside. 3. Once strawberry mixture is boiling, add cornstarch slurry and stir constantly until thickened.4. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, transfer to a sealable container and refrigerate. Once cheesecake and strawberry sauce have both cooled, top cheesecake with strawberry sauce, garnish with some whipped cream if desired, and enjoy! Baker's TipTo make it extra special, try adding sparkling wine to the strawberries when making the sauce! Strawberry cheesecake, made using Taylor Farms’ berries, is just one avour of many that Janette MacNaughtan of Bumble Pastry Co. has created for Big River Baking Co.

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 61creamsicle, maple whisky, orange chocolate with pomegranate, hot chocolate, pumpkin (akin to pumpkin pie) and strawberry champagne (to which MacNaughtan added edible glitter for a recent gala). Future plans include maple bacon, strawberry rhubarb and peach bourbon. It almost goes without saying that Big River customers wonder each week what the cheesecake ﬂavour will be.How to make great cheesecake? “Good quality ingredients, ultimately,” MacNaughtan recommends. “Premium cream cheese and sour cream with real ingredients; we use one that’s just milk and culture. And lots of love.”“Janette puts lots of love into everything,” Dix enthuses.e result is the unapologetic and addictive ﬂavour-wrestle of sweet versus sour on a backdrop of creamy richness and nutty crunchiness that really good cheesecake has. row on this lemon-zinged sauce with some day-neutrals and you have a winner.Bartlett Lodge sous-chef Matt Mayo was born in Mississauga, and like many GTA denizens, visited Muskoka as a youngster. After a high-school co-op placement at age 17 with e Crooked Cue in Port Credit, he decided he loved cooking – “the atmosphere, the people” – and studied it at George Brown College, then went on to work at various restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. How did such a city boy end up in a kitchen in the vast silence of Goat Cheese Croquette with Strawberry Compote- Matt MayoIngredientsCompote1 pint fresh strawberries 2 Tbsp white sugar1 Tbsp kosher salt1 tsp neutral-ﬂavoured oil such asvegetable or canola¼ cup balsamic vinegar½ tsp smoked paprika1 small shallot, brunoise (choppedvery ﬁnely; not so small that thereisn’t any crunch)2 or 3 dashes Tabasco sauce (to taste)Goat Cheese Croquette250 grams goatcheese,crumbled1 egg, beaten, for croquette mix1 egg, beaten, for breadingAll purpose ﬂour for breadingFine breadcrumbs for breadingMethodCompote 1. Cut strawberries into bite-sized pieces, cover them in salt and sugar and allow to macerate for two hours. 2. In a pan, add small amount of oil and sweat the shallots on low-medium heat until translucent (about two minutes). 3. Add all other ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes (until a little syrupy). 4. Adjust salt and sugar to taste. Let the compote sit overnight.Goat Cheese Croquette1. Preheat at least 2 inches of neutral oil to 375° F (use a thermometer).2. Carefully fold egg into cheese. Form the cheese mixture into a half-inch diameter log or roulade and cut into one-inch pieces. 3. Coat them in all-purpose ﬂour, then wash them in beaten egg, then coat them in ﬁne breadcrumbs.4. Deep-fry for 2-3 minutes until they are ﬂoating and golden brown.Presentation Tear up one sprig of basil or other fresh herb. Place croquettes on warm compote and garnish with sprinkled herb leaves.Sous-Chef ’s Tips• Letting the compote sit overnight lets all the ﬂavours marry.• e recipe would work with basil goat cheese.• In the deep-fry process, the croquettes “will go down then come back up again.”Wine Pairing Per executive chef Huﬀ: "A Riesling. White wine."Matt Mayo’s savoury strawberry recipe craed just for Unique Muskoka blends the sweetness of strawberries with savoury goat cheese and herbs.

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62 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Algonquin Park? COVID-19, of course.“I was trying to work,” Mayo recounts. “On my third try at getting a job, my ﬁrst shift was when Doug Ford announced the new restrictions, in 2021. I threw in the towel and ﬁgured I had to get out of there.” A friend who worked at another eatery in Algonquin told him that because Algonquin was in a “bubble,” the restrictions were lighter and he’d have some job security. A dinner in Bartlett’s rariﬁed, rustic, away-from-the-world atmosphere impressed him and he has now worked there for three summers, wintering in the city.“Cooking is an intersection between artisanship and craftsman, because food is art and you can do a lot of beautiful things, to express yourself, but you also have to be able to make things every day,” says Mayo. “It’s not like ﬁne art, because everyone has an opinion – Was it good? Was it tasty? Did you enjoy it?”Challenged to create a savoury strawberry dish, he turned ﬁrst to a book that no chef has mentioned before but which every reader of this column should be aware of: YOUR GUIDE TO SERVICES AND RESOURCESDIRECTORY“Day-neutral” strawberries allow Taylor Farms of Muskoka to grow berries well into the year. These berries cannot distinguish the time of day, so they produce fruit once the plant is large enough and continue to produce until the frost comes in the fall.YOUR FURNITURE, CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY & DRAPERY SPECIALISTS705.784.0906705.784.0906muskokauph@ghmail.com • MuskokaUpholstery.comCall Curt and Paula Today!JOHNSON LOG HOMERESTORATIONS705-738-7831 jcd.johnson@hotmail.com Staining Chinking Log Repairs Sandblasting Timber Frames Renovation Log Wash Custom BuildsLogHomeRestore.ca...telling the Muskoka storywww.uniquemuskoka.com

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July 2025 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 63www.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.e Flavour Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. It’s basically a directory of what ﬂavours are and aren’t compatible.“e book says that with strawberries there’s just one incompatible ingredient,” says Mayo. “Salt.” So how to do a savoury dish? It took him a week to ﬁgure it out. His thought process was as follows.“All cheese is good with strawberries,” he explains. “Goat cheese was obvious as it’s more of a savoury cheese than others. I looked through and found some ﬂavours I thought would be nice with it, landed on balsamic. For a little heat… just a bit of Tabasco.” Which, Mayo says, isn’t in the book as a ﬂavour compatible with strawberries. Smoked paprika probably isn’t either. “Strawberries are very soft, so you want something crunchy for balance in textures. I thought of fried cheese, goat cheese croquette and that gave me an idea of where I was going to go. inking of colours: a little basil. It plays nicely with strawberries and plays nicely with cheese.” And then he did put salt in it, contrary to e Flavour Bible. is dish is harder to describe than most. e croquette is creamy and delicate and slightly tangy inside its crunchy coating, that has a soupçon of breadiness. A forkful combined with a basil leaf is out of this world. e compote is a complex ﬂavour cocktail, and just as your tastebuds have decided savoury, they’ll hit a strawberry and wham – sweetness! e heat is variable and relatively mild; you could increase the Tabasco if you want more heat. e overall eﬀect is awesome.Mayo suggests diﬀerent herbs and each one would give this dish an entirely diﬀerent character. Mint would accentuate its sweetness, dill would highlight its tanginess, parsley would emphasize tanginess, too, but also the forbidden saltiness. What would it be like with rosemary? Oregano? Sage? Tarragon? Only one way to ﬁnd out!Created especially for Unique Muskoka, this dish will debut this summer on the Bartlett Lodge menu, executive chef Rob Huﬀ shares, as an appetizer. e Lodge menu is changed daily. If you’re lucky, it’ll be there when you are....telling the Muskoka storywww.uniquemuskoka.comMissed an issue?Read our archives onlineWho sayscottagingmeans goingoffline?Stream, scroll, andstay in touchSeasonal Packages Available

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64 UNIQUE MUSKOKA July 2025Muskoka is stitched into the fabric of my being. My story begins here, long before I ever arrived. My parents moved to Bracebridge in 1969 to begin their teaching careers at BMLSS. Muskoka was their chosen home, and it quickly became the backdrop of everything that mattered to our family. My father would go on to head the science department and my mother specialized in science, physical education and student services. In 1973, my dad built our family home on a quiet street where neighbours knew your name and kids roamed unsupervised, having true “wild-hoods” – learning to ride bikes before our feet fully touched the pedals and disappearing into the forest until the streetlights ﬂickered on.Our imaginations ﬂourished in the natural world. e woods at our ﬁngertips became magical kingdoms. We skated on backyard ponds, cross-country skied out our back doors under falling snow and laid in ﬁelds watching the stars blink on one by one. is was more than a childhood – it was an awakening to beauty, stillness and wonder.After high school, I left, as many of us did – for school, for work, for adventure in the wide, wonderful world. I stood on mountaintops, swam in foreign seas, wandered cities that never slept. But no matter how far I roamed, Muskoka always felt like home. It holds a kind of belonging you can feel in your bones.Today, I live just a few doors down from my family home, raising my daughter on the same soil that held my childhood dreams. ere’s something sacred about growing up here – the way winter wraps the world in silence and summer wakes it with loon calls and lake breezes. e forest is never far and neither is a friend.My father was a scientist, a builder and an environmentalist. I remember tagging monarch butterﬂies together in our backyard, tracking their journey to Mexico. I spent my summers exploring provincial parks on family backcountry camping trips. My parents taught me that to love a place is to protect it. at ethos lives on in me. Muskoka’s landscape is iconic – rolling granite, towering pines and over 1,600 lakes. Within minutes, we can hike, paddle, ski, or simply sit by the water and breathe. is is a lifestyle people dream about – and we are lucky enough to live it.Muskoka is also a place of resilience and creativity. Many of my lifelong friends now live here too – raising families, running businesses, ﬁguring out how to carve meaningful lives in a place that speaks to the soul. We’re self-employed, resourceful and rooted. As an adult, I’ve come to appreciate Muskoka even more. It inspires a kind of entrepreneurial spirit – a quiet determination born from nature and necessity. Living here isn’t always easy. Jobs can be seasonal, winters long. But the rewards are real: safety, beauty, community and space to grow. We’re close enough to the city to stay connected, yet far enough to truly exhale.Living here also allows me to give back – to contribute to the place that gave me so much. Whether it’s volunteering, supporting grassroots programs or simply raising my family in the same landscape that shaped me, staying in Muskoka feels like both a privilege and a promise.Muskoka has grown – new infrastructure, new families planting roots – but its heart remains unchanged. e forests still breathe, the lakes still mirror the sky and community still means something. You feel it in a wave from a passing truck, in a neighbour who stops to help, in the quiet way people show up for each other.Muskoka teaches you how to be still and how to play. It gives you space to become who you are. Here, nature isn’t a backdrop – it’s a central character in your story.ere’s a quiet strength in choosing to stay rooted while the world rushes by. For me, Muskoka isn’t just where I live – it’s who I am. It shaped me, steadied me and welcomed me home with open arms. It’s where my past and present live side by side, where my daughter runs barefoot on the same earth that once knew me as a child.is is my place. And I love it with every season of my life.Kim Dickinson is a licensed realtor and accredited appraiser serving Muskoka. A member of OREA, CREA, and AIC, she oﬀers expert guidance in property valuation and sales. Her international experience broadens her perspective, while her deep connection to Muskoka ensures a dedicated, locally informed approach.Muskoka MomentsArticle by Kim Dickinson The Landscape That Shaped MePhotograph: Scott Turnbull

Unique Muskoka Issue 51 - July 2025

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