FALL/WINTER 2019
GRABBING
ON TO WINTER Challenging Muskoka’s frozen towers of ice
Taking a train back into history
Muskoka from the Air – A Different Viewpoint
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...telling the Muskoka story
Features
Departments
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Article by J. Patrick Boyer In the stubborn dawning of women’s freedom, the war years of 1914 to 1918 became the sunrise. Venturing into a male universe that had long corseted them in diminished roles, women developed increasing self-confidence by taking up their new mandate. They joined production lines in factories and drove motorized vehicles, took to farm fields and marked ballots in elections.
The fall and early winter calendar in Muskoka offers a plethora of activities from paddling races to mushroom walks for those who want to explore the outdoors. Or, for those looking for indoor pursuits, you might like the thought of toe-tapping music or Muskoka Arts and Crafts Annual Christmas Show and Sale. And, of course, a must is the Bala Cranberry Festival.
Muskoka Women Seized a New Mandate During World War I
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Article by Meghan Smith / Photography by Tomasz Szumski Muskoka is beautiful in every season. Rugged rocks, plentiful trees and a vast number of rivers and lakes create a stunning showcase of nature. A different vantage point – a flight over Muskoka in the winter – can offer a new perspective.
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Article by Dawn Huddlestone Photography by Tomasz Szumski Take the tenacity of The Little Engine That Could, toss in some of the magic of the Polar Express, and place it along a picturesque bend in the Muskoka River and you’ve got the makings of a “supermagicated” Christmas celebration like no other.
2 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
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What’s Happened
Muskoka from the Air – A Different Viewpoint
Experiencing History on the Portage Flyer Christmas Train
Muskoka Calendar
Hydro One will invest $16 million in upgrades in Muskoka in an effort to address the issue of power outages. The Town of Huntsville is taking action to curb complaints about noise, garbage and parking that arise from short-term accommodations. The task force studying hospital care has recommended the building of two new facilities in Bracebridge and Huntsville.
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Cottage Country Cuisine
One of Canada’s greatest pastimes is winter survival: finding ways to alleviate the chill in the air, our bones and our hearts. One of the best ways to fight off winter is to enjoy the warmth of comfort food. Chefs Ken Bol and Richard Bynoe share their stories and recipes.
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FALL/WINTER 2019
Opinion
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By Don Smith
By Phil Harding
Muskoka Insights
Muskoka Moments
GRABBING
ON TO WINTER Challenging Muskoka’s frozen towers of ice
Taking a train back into history
Muskoka from the Air – A Different Viewpoint
Our Cover
Photograph by Tomasz Szumski Unknown to most but not far off the beaten trail in Muskoka, towers of frozen ice beckon adventurous souls. Climber Keith Labonte explores one of these locations.
Features 41
Ice Climbers Grab on to Winter
Article by Matt Driscoll / Photography by Tomasz Szumski For decades, climbers have sought the beauty, solitude and the challenge of Muskoka’s ice walls. The region has gained the reputation of being “the best for ice climbing in the entire southern part of Ontario.” There are dozens of routes in Muskoka with some of the best on Skeleton Lake and Lake Rosseau.
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Historic Wanda III and a New Era of Sustainable Heritage
Article by J. Patrick Boyer The classy steam-era yacht Wanda III has become a vehicle of unprecedented transformation. Indeed, it’s unclear whether Wanda III or the surroundings she now dominates are undergoing the greater change as they now mutually remake each other. Together this legendary vessel and her owner, Muskoka Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst, are sailing into transportation and tourism’s new era of sustainable heritage.
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Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 5
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…telling the Muskoka story Unique Muskoka is published six times per year by Unique Publishing Inc. Donald Smith Publisher and Editor Donna Ansley Sales Lisa Brazier Design Susan Smith Administration
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Muskoka Insights historian Patrick Boyer tells the timely story of the women of Muskoka who provided leadership during World War I and also the history of the Wanda III and its predecessor vessels. In the case of the World War I article, it was the efforts of the women of that period that shaped many of the changes that have contributed to the tide of feminism that has changed the world and opened the doors to long overdue equality. While the goal of the Wanda series of vessels was speed, they represent a period when thoughtful, sober second thought was expected. Understanding our roots through tangible and real-life exhibits such as those planned at the Muskoka Discovery Centre are meaningful pauses in a very fast-paced time. For another opportunity to enjoy our past, we encourage our readers to grab a ride on the Portage Flyer Christmas Train. Understanding our world is all about perspective and the photographs of Muskoka from the air during the winter, taken by Tomasz Szumski, provide a whole different look at the district. “Muskoka looks fantastic from the air in any season,” enthuses Szumski, and we’d have to agree. So, enjoy this issue of Unique Muskoka. Take a moment to step back and pause in your daily routine – a little time to appreciate the world around you. Photograph: Susan Smith
Like the transition from fall to winter, there’s a lot of change that is happening – both here, in Muskoka, and in the world around us. And, that’s not a bad thing. However, as we search for answers, we must remember the importance of respecting those with perspectives that are different than ours. In our fast changing world, it is often easy to criticize and condemn. The tools of communication make it much too easy to jump to conclusions, to twist opinion and fact into an unnatural weave and to do irreparable harm, not only to an adversary but also to the community as a whole. While I am certain to date myself with a reference to using a fax machine, I often like to share the exchange I had a number of years ago with a respected local lawyer. I was in the midst of a transaction to sell a business and as we negotiated the final terms of the deal, I was in my lawyer’s office and the purchaser was likewise with his legal counsellor. As the deal came closer to a conclusion, the pace of faxes being exchanged quickened. With each agreeable fax, there were several initials and a return fax. My lawyer, who was nearing retirement, rocked back in his chair as we awaited the concluding fax and proclaimed, “You know, Don, there is something to be said about sober second thought.” My esteemed legal counsellor passed away many years ago but I am certain he’d be astonished at the pace of communication, today, and the downward spiral of the messages that are too often delivered out of haste. His admonishment regularly comes to mind when I consider some of the ill-thought-out posts on social media or the messages that are shared by text and email. In each issue of Unique Muskoka, we like to look back – not simply to tell the story of those who have come before us but to provide perspective on the issues of today. In his two contributions to this issue,
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Muskoka Calendar Fall fashions on display in downtown Gravenhurst
Muskoka Lakes Museum throws open its doors for Thanksgiving
Photograph: Brian Simpson
The 2019 Fresh Fall Fashion Show takes place at the Gravenhurst Opera House 7 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 10, and there will be food, services and entertainment as well as models strutting their stuff attired in the works of local designers. The event is hosted by the Gravenhurst Business Improvement Area, and all proceeds go to further beautification of historic downtown Gravenhurst. facebook.com/events/gravenhurst-business-improvementarea/fresh-fall-fashion-show/2442239826038154/
Every Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, thousands of Chinese and ChineseCanadian visitors flock to Gravenhurst to pay their respects to their beloved hero, Dr. Norman Bethune, at Bethune Memorial House’s Thanksgiving Open House. Hours are extended on Oct. 12, 13 and 14 to allow everyone to visit the famed doctor’s birthplace during its busiest time. Book accommodation early to avoid disappointment. pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/bethune/ activ/calendrier-even-calendar
This Muskoka paddling experience isn’t just good, it’s great Think the paddling season is over? Think again – and check out the Great Muskoka Paddling Experience, a race on canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards happening Oct. 12 on the Muskoka River, with its base at Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge. Distances include 5, 8.6, 10 and 20 km and all proceeds go to the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed and the Muskoka Watershed Council. muskokapaddlingexperience.com
mlmuseum.com/special-events
Spotting and identifying mushrooms will be part of a walk on Oct. 12 in Dwight.
Mushroom Walk explores the fascination of forest fungi
The Bala Cranberry Festival: best annual Muskoka event ever?
On this guided walk through the property around Marsh’s Falls, near Dwight, your teacher is naturalist Laura Gilmour of Wild Muskoka Botanicals, a forager and herbalist. Starting at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12, you’re invited to stroll around the land, spot mushrooms and learn what kinds they are. Bring a camera and notebook to record your findings. Admission is free but registration is required.
It’s definitely one of the province’s most popular events as tens of thousands descend on Bala to celebrate the deliciously tangy red berry. Happening on Oct. 18 to 20, this year, the festival has hit the top 100 festivals in Ontario and the top 15 harvest festivals on the planet. Look for exceptional shopping, a bang-up line-up of entertainment, culinary delights, buskers, midway rides and everything else imaginable. Details on the website.
lakeofbaysheritage.ca/events/mushroomwalk
balacranberryfestival.on.ca
Photograph: Great Muskoka Paddling Experience
Bethune Memorial House welcomes you to its Thanksgiving Festival
A great time will be had by the entire family at the Muskoka Lakes Museum Annual Thanksgiving Open House, happening Oct. 13 at the museum in Port Carling. There’ll be complimentary pumpkin muffins and hot mulled cider as well as pioneer-life demonstrations including spinning, apple pressing, butter churning and making dolls from corn husks. A book signing with author Andrew Hind, postponed from Aug. 24, will also take place.
Proceeds from the Great Muskoka Paddling Experience support the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed and the Muskoka Watershed Council. Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 11
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Kids of all ages are invited to a spooky cruise and party The Muskoka Steamships Halloween Party and Cruise will be held on Oct. 19: Party runs 12:30 to 2 p.m., cruise 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Bring the entire family for a Halloweenstyle adventure for which costumes are permitted – nay, encouraged. realmuskoka.com/muskoka-steamships/kids-cruises
Orillia Silver Band returns to flip on the Light Fantastic The silver-instrument-bearing band visits Gravenhurst on Oct. 20 to perform a concert entitled “The Light Fantastic” as it opens with Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s composition of that name, an ode to the 2008 Olympics and its host city, Beijing. Look also for selections by John Williams, Chris Wilcox, Steven Verhelst, Alan Fernie, Grieg and, as the grand finale, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with cannons and other effects. orilliasilverband.com/upcoming-events.html
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Toe tappin’ good time supports Andy’s House/Hospice Muskoka St. James the Apostle Anglican Church at 94 Joseph St. in Port Carling is hosting a concert featuring Muskoka’s Menfolk on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. Come and enjoy a great mix of folk, country and oldies favourites. Admission is by free will offering with all proceeds from this event being in support of Andy’s House/Hospice Muskoka. It’ll be a toe tappin’ good time!
Algonquin Park is different when it’s… Haunted Halloween Weekend Nature’s splendour turns into natural creepiness for families who visit for the Haunted Halloween Weekend, taking place this year Oct. 25 to 26. After a Creepy Campfire with scary tales on Friday night, learn about animal skeletons from a park naturalist, enjoy pumpkin carving, trick-or-
Photograph: Muskoka Heritage Place
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The Great Pumpkin Trail wends its way through Muskoka Heritage Place’s Pioneer Village every Oct. 31, providing a safe location to trick-or-treat. treating and a late-night wolf howl on Saturday. Prizes for spookiest campsite and best costume. explorersedge.ca/events/ haunted-halloween-weekend-in-algonquin-park
Prepare for major creepy cuteness in Huntsville It’s the Tiny Tots Halloween Parade to which local parents bring their littlest and most adorable ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and superheroes. Starting at the Huntsville Town Hall steps at 10 a.m. on Oct. 26, they parade through downtown, visiting the stores for early trick-or-treating. downtownhuntsvilleadventures.ca/new-page-1
Gravenhurst lets its spirits rise in preparation for Halloween Also happening on Oct. 26 but this time in Downtown Gravenhurst is Let the Spirits Rise, an annual pre-Halloween street bash.
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Come in costume, trick-or-treat at downtown merchants whose premises are decked with black and orange balloons, enjoy live entertainment, spooky games and activities, kids’ crafts, face-painting and possibly the carving of giant pumpkins, some as big as half a ton.
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A much-loved Huntsville tradition, the Great Pumpkin Trail wends its way through Muskoka Heritage Place’s Pioneer Village every Oct. 31, providing parents a trick-ortreating ground for their young ones that’s safe from vehicles. Local businesses and families decorate the spooky old pioneer buildings and hand out candy, and a prize for the best one is awarded by Huntsville’s mayor. Carved pumpkins are everywhere.
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It’s all cuteness at the Tiny Tots Halloween Parade in downtown Huntsville, Oct. 26.
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Tis the season to start Christmas shopping in Muskoka Lakes
Photograph: Larry Carroll
Get a head start on making your loved ones happy on Christmas morn by visiting the Muskoka Lakes Christmas Market in Bala on Nov. 2. So many artisans will be offering one-of-a-kind artworks and crafts that the show has overflowed into a second building – the Port Carling Legion as well as the Port Carling Community Centre. Runs 10 to 4. muskokalakeschamber.ca /event/muskoka-lakes-christmas-market/
Look out, the Girlfriends are back to get away in Huntsville It’s become a cherished tradition for Ontario women to meet with a few hundred of their most intimate girlfriends for a fun collective weekend at Deerhurst
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Bala, Port Carling, Gravenhurst, Huntsville, Bracebridge and Baysville will all celebrate the arrival of Santa with a parade. Resort and the town of Huntsville. Happening this year on Nov. 8 to10, the Huntsville Girlfriends’ Getaway Weekend also features feminine favourites like shopping, dining, cooking, parties, concerts, yoga, archery and axe-throwing. Huntsvillegirlfriendsgetaway.ca
And keep on Christmas shopping with Muskoka Arts and Crafts Muskoka Arts and Crafts is arguably Muskoka’s premier artists and artisans’ society, and offers shows that tend to be spectacular. This year’s Christmas Show
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and Sale takes place at the Bracebridge Sportsplex Nov. 15 to17 and includes: paintings, jewelry, pottery, clothing, photography, sculpture in various materials, fibre arts and a lot more. muskokaartsandcrafts.com/ Christmas_Show/christmas_show.htm
Ho Ho Ho! The Big Man of the Season parades into Muskoka You can’t really believe in Santa until you’ve seen his parade, and every Muskoka town joins in the tradition! Here’s the run-down: Bala: Nov. 16, 1 p.m. Port Carling: Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m. (Yup, two parades in one day, can you beat that?) Gravenhurst: Nov. 23, 11 a.m. Huntsville: Nov. 23, 7 p.m. Bracebridge: Dec. 1 p.m. Baysville: Dec. 8 p.m.
Burton Cummings to make rare Centre, and join in Christmas song. Muskoka appearance at Deerhurst Crawl into Huntsville for more The Huntsville Festival of the Arts presents the legendary Canadian singergreat Christmas shopping
discovermuskoka.ca/events/bala-tree-lighting-carol-sing
songwriter Burton Cummings, former front man for The Guess Who, in a solo performance entitled “Up Close and Alone.” This opportunity for an intimate musical evening with a rock superstar and his unforgettable songs is offered at Deerhurst Resort on Nov. 20. Not to be missed! deerhurstresort.com/events/burton-cummings
Tree Lighting and Carol Sing kicks off Christmas in Bala Think it’s quaint and old-fashioned to light a communal Christmas tree and belt out carols in a crowd? Think again: singing together is good for your soul, and so is lighting a sacred tree. On the night of Nov. 23, the people of Bala and anyone else who wants to participate will flip the switch on the tree outside the Bala Community
On Nov. 28 from 5 to 9 p.m., some of your favourite downtown Huntsville stores will open their doors for the 2019 Huntsville Customer Appreciation Crawl, a special evening of deep discounts and special offers. What you do is collect a stamp from each merchant, then enter them to win a gift basket put together by all of them. Stay tuned to find out who’s participating. downtownhuntsvilleadventures.ca /customer-appreciation-crawl
Gravenhurst’s Annual Tree Lighting is another nice Muskoka Christmas start A great Christmassy evening awaits outside the Gravenhurst Opera House on Nov. 29, with some cherished Gravenhurst
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traditions: the official Tree Lighting, live Christmas music from local talent, and businesses staying open late for early Christmas shopping.
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Spark your holiday spirit at Light Up Dwight Night
Canvas Brewery in Huntsville will be hosting The XMUS Festival on Dec. 7, featuring a market and samplings.
Photograph: Paradigm Events
downtownhuntsvilleadventures.ca
christmas-craft-show
Craft beers, gourmet nibbles and artsy gifts make a merry XMUS
At the start of Christmas season in Dwight, local folks and anyone else who wants to join in gather The XMUS Festival is back on Dec. 7 at the Dwight Library for tree lighting, at a new location: Canvas Brewery in photos with Santa, Christmas crafts for the Huntsville. This event has two components: THE RIOBEL MOMENTI™ COLLECTION kids, baked goodies, music by The from 12 noon to 6 p.m. it’s the XMUS AVAILABLE AT KNOWLES PLUMBING! Christmas Cookies, and refreshments. market, featuring crafts from Muskoka and Saw something at the Gravenhurst Admission: one non-perishable food beyond, artisanal culinary products and Farmers’ Market in summer that would be donation. Gather at 5:30, tree lighting other gifts; admission is free. the perfect gift for a certain someone, and happens at 6. From 7 to 11 p.m., people 19 or older may think it’s too late? Not to worry: the discovermuskoka.ca/events/light-dwight-night try samples of craft beers, wine and spirits, Farmers’ Market Christmas Craft Show BAT H & KI TC H E N SH OW R O O M
Gravenhurst Farmers’ Market re-opens for its special Christmas show
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plus delicious foods such as oysters, cheese plates and desserts. http://www.eventsinmuskoka.com/xmus-festival.html
Bala lets you be part of the Christmas story, live Bala’s Trek to Bethlehem went from an idea to one of Muskoka’s most celebrated experiences due to the work and dedication of many volunteers. As part of a group trekking to the village’s recreation of Bethlehem, you get to meet shepherds, travelling Wise Men, Roman soldiers, lepers, a cranky Roman tax
collector and, of course, some other very special people. It’s on Dec. 7, starting at the Bala Community Centre. discovermuskoka.ca/events/balas-trek-bethlehem Photograph: Szumski Media
Bala’s Trek to Bethlehem has become a pre-Christmas tradition for many Muskokans.
All aboard to Santa’s Portage Flyer hideaway in Huntsville A few days before the big day Muskoka Heritage Place’s Portage Flyer train is festooned with a thousand Christmas lights for one night only, Dec. 21 this year. Kids of all ages are invited aboard to visit Santa’s temporary home at the other end of the line. Come early as it’s very popular, and dress warmly as the train cars are open. muskokaheritageplace.ca/en/visit-and-play/portage-flyerchristmas-train-ride.aspx?_mid_=47806
Highlands Ski Area, or from the chalet while enjoying hot chocolate, cookies and live music by Tobin Spring, you can watch the club’s snow school instructors and ski patrollers glide down the run carrying torches to create a magical procession of lights. Even Santa takes part. skihiddenvalley.ca /events
Great Late Fall and Winter Shows and Concerts Around Muskoka As usual, there are too many to list, so visit the venue websites for acts, artists and dates: Algonquin Theatre (Huntsville): algonquintheatre.ca/en
Rene Caisse Theatre (Bracebridge): thecaisse.com
There’s nothing like the Torchlight Gravenhurst Opera House: Ski Parade on Christmas Eve Peter’s Players (Gravenhurst): gravenhurst.ca/en/opera/opera.asp
It happens every year on Dec. 24 but never gets old: from the bottom of the Flying Dutchman ski run at Hidden Valley
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Huntsville Festival of the Arts (Huntsville): huntsvillefestival.ca
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For this 1916 patriotic parade through downtown Bracebridge, women made the most of the floats, rode on them and lined streets with their children to cheer them.
Amidst the First World War’s Upheavals Article by J. Patrick Boyer
W
hen a 1914 war began, many smugly opined “the fighting will all be over before Christmas.” But eight global empires enmeshed in deadly modern warfare vaporized that glib notion soon enough. The war stretched to almost five Christmases. And, like all wars, it grew. The 25,000 soldiers Canada initially pledged became 500,000 in the marathon slaughtering of 16 million humans. It was not called “the Great War” because it was wonderful, but vast.
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In the stubborn dawning of women’s freedom, the years 1914 to 1918 became the sunrise. Caught up in the emotions of war, and subject to the propaganda and censorship mind-control of their societies, women did whatever was required for survival. For Muskokans, that meant serving the British Empire’s “noble cause.” As army recruitment kept thinning the district’s workforce, tasks of the missing men became women’s work. Even their “traditional” roles – baking, sewing, knitting,
performing music, staging concerts, raising children, gardening and tending the needy – acquired a decidedly different hue in this altered context. Successfully “doing their bit” to win the war, venturing into a male universe which had long corseted them in diminished roles, women developed increasing selfconfidence by taking up their new mandate. In 1908, for instance, Carrie Bowerman Thompson and music teachers Eva Bastedo, Violet Kirk and Wilma Warne had formed the women’s musical group “Clef Club.” At
Photograph: Canadian Field Comforts Commission
These women responded to the war’s endless cases of millions of soldiers, who were wounded, by serving as the drivers of Red Cross ambulances.
Photograph: Boyer Family Archives
first, they played music for their private England, some with the Mediterranean included Olga Bushfield, Margaret Duncan, enjoyment. Then, with other female Expeditionary Force, many aboard hospital J. Kehoe, Zoe Loy, C. Milton, Jean Moir, Maude Pym and Rena White. Huntsville’s musicians, they began annual public concerts ships. May Bird, youngest daughter of Mary and Norma Fisher, in a class by herself, served in in Bracebridge. Now they stepped that up with many patriotic fund-raising concerts, in Henry, owner of Bracebridge’s prospering a foreign country without going overseas. 1916 earning enough to buy an ambulance woollen mill, was keen to nurse soldiers and When America joined the war, the U.S. Navy for Muskoka’s Overseas Battalion. left at the outbreak of war. Nurse Grace cast a wide net and Norma fetched up at Transitioning from private to public roles, Mahaffy, daughter of judge Arthur and Alice Brooklyn Harbour Hospital in New York, from personal satisfaction to home front Mahaffy, departed Bracebridge to tend with military rank in the navy’s nursing leadership, by this stage of the war was not wounded soldiers in England, remaining for service. the entire war. Mabel McGibbon, a In their closeness to battle, nurses danced exceptional but expected. The home front felt at one with Muskokans descendent of Muskoka’s lumbering Boyd with war’s risks and rigours. A number died fighting along Europe’s western front. That’s family, went with her physician husband, when Canadian military hospitals were what “world war” really meant. In these Peter, to Britain. She assisted with casualties bombed; fifteen of Canada’s nurses died from reciprocating spaces of civilian and soldier, In London while he performed surgeries at disease; another fourteen perished, with their patients, when Germans torpedoed hospital Muskoka’s increasingly self-assured women the front. North Muskoka’s nurses serving abroad ship Llandovery Castle. discovered factory work and driving motorized May Bird, active at the vehicles, hands-on farming and frontlines, tended wounded men marking ballots in elections at military hospitals in England, Young women of wealthier Russia and Egypt. In January families, drawn by the euphoria 1916, writing home from of war, sought adventure in Alexandria, she thanked the dangerous places. Many went Bracebridge Women’s Institute overseas as Red Cross nurses or for a Christmas package. volunteer nursing sisters with the “What big things you are Canadian Expeditionary Force. doing at home,” she enthused Some 20 Muskoka nurses were among the 2,333 serving overseas, from Egypt. “Here we are into another winter and still this a quarter of all Canada’s registered awful war goes on with little nurses. They cared for the dying change. As soon as one convoy and wounded, administering departs, another arrives and our anaesthetics and morphine in daily hospital tasks continue.” stationary hospitals, field hospitals Women of Bracebridge’s musical Clef Club raised money to buy this Muskokans focused on their and casualty clearing stations. motorized ambulance for Muskoka’s Overseas Battalion, parked here on daily tasks, too, filling warMost worked in France, others in Dominion Street in front of Muskoka District Courthouse.
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 21
THE STANLEY MEEK STEAM ERA EXHIBIT
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Field Comforts Commission
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quilting bees maintained morale, while raising war effort funds. Needlework, certainly a customary activity, was a relaxing yet productive use of spare moments between chores. Just as Muskoka’s sheep farmers and Bird’s woollen mill were in overdrive producing blankets for armies overseas, the district was alive with thousands of clicking hand-held needles. Muskoka’s women used traditional work to advantage, supporting war, helping advance their position in society. Each week knitting clubs produced socks and scarves while sewing circles made pyjamas, handkerchiefs and wound dressings. A specialty dressing produced by Huntsville’s patriotic women was of white cotton, knitted 13 centimetres wide and a metre long, then wound tight for nurses overseas binding badly damaged arms, legs, heads and torsos. In Raymond, women organized a Women’s Institute branch and knitted socks for the soldiers. Their first parcel, consisting of 10 pairs, was mailed to the Red Cross in Toronto and forwarded across the Atlantic.
Eleanor Bell / Photograph: Colin and iety Soc cal tori His seau Ros
Photograph: Canadian
orders at the three tanneries and Bird’s woollen mill. Henry Bird even extended Muskoka’s home front closer to the soldiers by opening “Muskoka Rooms” at 20 Craven Street in London. Officers, privates, nurses and “everyone hailing from Muskoka serving overseas” could meet up, get news and relax. The other Bird daughters, Margaret and Catherine, moved to London and took charge. The rooms, “furnished as home-like and comfortable as possible” with writing tables and stationery, offered “light refreshment and smokes, always available free of charge.” District newspapers were on hand. Their register of all visitors, including temporary London addresses, helped dropins find friends from Muskoka. Most Muskoka women had no opportunity for overseas service. Channeling their patriotic energies into the war effort entailed raising crops, making blankets, filling vacated store and office positions, raising money, knitting socks and sending care packages. From their kitchens came extensive compilations of recipes, such as The Bracebridge Ladies Cook Book, published “in aid of the Women’s Patriotic League” and sold to raise home front funds. They baked durable fruit cakes and mailed them to soldiers. Muskoka newspapers carried recipes for baked goods that could be made from “available ingredients.” Whether baking for soldiers or cooking for families, women had to contend with wartime shortages. Huntsville’s Forester, Bracebridge’s Gazette, Gravenhurst’s Banner and the Muskoka Herald listed “alternatives” to flour, coffee, butter, meats and other foodstuffs rationed or no longer available. To stretch resources, Ottawa also declared “meatless” days. By the winter of 1917, “heatless” days were added, to save wood and coal. Believing further savings could be made using “daylight saving,” Ottawa also used its War Measures power to impose the time switch as a Canada-wide measure. Having no choice, Muskoka families complied. The hour difference played havoc, most of all, with essential cycles followed by farmers – an increasing number of them women. Women constantly organized community events. Their concerts, dances, picnics, and
Top: Women’s groups galvanized home front efforts with Muskokans gathering in many centres from the Opera House in Gravenhurst to community halls around the district, packaging comforts for the troops. Middle: Rosseau Red Cross nurses Christabel Ditchburn, May Coate, Gertie Wilkinson and Adele Ashdown were among the 2,333 who went overseas – a quarter of all Canada’s registered nurses. Bottom: Nurses were known for being generally high-spirited, a helpful quality for counteracting the strain of endless work with badly wounded soldiers.
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 23
Photograph: Library and Archives Canada
Gravenhurst council opened its chambers to Red Cross volunteers for war work. Where at other times resolutions were debated and bylaws passed, women knitted thousands of wool socks and packed hundreds of packets for soldiers containing cigarettes, chocolate, combs, soap, tooth powder and handkerchiefs. Rosseau’s 18-member Red Cross chapter knitted hundreds of skeins of wool into socks, sweaters, gloves and mitts for “the boys of the village.” The women included toiletries and cakes with their parcels, but adamantly refused to add cigarettes. What was the point of fighting for noble British principles only to then tempt, even encourage, the boys to sin? However, five of Rosseau’s volunteers, less high-minded, considered cigarette smoke incidental to chlorine gas and artillery bombardment, perhaps even a small comfort in such trying conditions. Their breakaway group included smokes in every parcel sent. Women quilt makers turned the era’s popular “signature quilts” into their war effort, getting people to pay for sewing on their names, then selling raffle tickets for the unique keepsake. Huntsville’s Benevolent Society made a quilt of red-and-white squares,
24 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
Photograph: Canadian Field Comforts Commission
Above: Canadian nurses vote in France. During the Great War, Ontario women gained the right to vote in provincial elections, and for the federal wartime election of 1917, women related to soldiers, as well as those serving in military roles and nurses, got the franchise as well. Overseas voting was conducted by the army. Below: Happiness was getting a letter from home and having a buddy to share the information. Muskoka women unleashed a barrage of mail, as well as care packages.
using red-thread on the white ones to stitch the signatures of dozens who’d paid ten cents per name. In Gravenhurst, the Women’s Patriotic Committee sewed names of 287 south Muskokans into their signature quilt. In its centre they fashioned GRAVENHURST and 1915 CANADA, adding names of town councillors, light and water commission members and themselves: Mrs. Abbey (president), Mrs. Brennan, Mrs. Browne, Mrs. Fournier, Miss Grant, Mrs. Mickle and Miss Mowry. After it was raffled off, nobody expected to see it again. Today, miraculously returned from war-torn Europe, it is displayed in the lobby of Gravenhurst’s town hall.
With letter-writing the only way to communicate between home and war fronts, Great War corresponding was incessant. Copies of Muskoka’s newspapers or clippings from them were a staple postal feature. Mothers, wives, sisters, fiancées and daughters penned letters to their soldiers. Mail service was exceptionally good, yet with wartime disruptions soldiers could go weeks without anything, sometimes getting a bunch of letters at once, other times, nothing. German submarines sank many merchant ships, delivering mail to oblivion. Battles at the western front slowed or prevented delivery. Censors’ intrusive work caused additional delays and complications. Cherished letters from overseas were re-read, shared, bundled in ribbon, saved and carefully treasured, often alongside a family bible. In 1917, Bracebridge citizens gave each of the town’s soldiers in the 122nd Battalion departing for Europe handsome tan-leather writing kits – a classy version of every mother’s final farewell, “Don’t forget to write!” When war ended, Muskoka’s women had changed. The momentum was forward. There’d be no going back.
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26 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
Gravenhurst
Article by Meghan Smith / Photography by Tomasz Szumski
M
uskoka is beautiful in every season. Rugged rocks, plentiful trees and the vast number of rivers and lakes create a stunning showcase of nature. Visitors flock to see the natural wonders of the area as readily as locals appreciate their home, year-round. A different vantage point can offer a new perspective of Muskoka. Bracebridge pilot Earle Robinson enjoys flying over Muskoka to truly appreciate its beauty. For over 35 years, Robinson has been flying for fun. “My wife didn’t know I was interested in flying until after we were married,” explains Robinson. “As a gift one year, she gave me a flying kit and lessons at Toronto’s Buttonville airport. Now, we joke that it’s the gift that keeps on giving.” After spending years living in Toronto and commuting to their cottage on Six Mile Lake, Robinson and his wife retired and relocated to Bracebridge in 2002. Robinson discovered he was unable to rent a plane from the Muskoka Airport and purchased a convertible Cessna. After a number of seasons of switching between floats and wheels, Robinson sold the Cessna for a Lake Buccaneer. The amphibious plane has a central float and retractable wheels, meaning it can land on water or on land at any time. “It’s a bit like landing in a canoe at 80 miles an hour,” laughs Robinson. “In Muskoka, flying with an amphibian means all of the lakes are runways, so it’s quite safe.”
Muskoka-based pilot Earle Robinson has been enjoying flying for over 35 years. His amphibious plane can land on water or land.
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Bala Tomasz Szumski, local photographer and Bracebridge resident, joined Robinson for a winter flight to showcase all that Muskoka is, from the air. In a one-hour trip, Robinson and Szumski viewed Muskoka from between 1,000 and 2,500 feet in the air. “There’s no land in Muskoka,” jokes Szumski. “It’s all lakes and little islands all over the place. From the air, the perspective is amazing. When you’re driving a car, you don’t see that. There are trees blocking your view but flying over, it’s just water, and in this case snow.” On a sunny winter’s day, the pair flew a round trip from Muskoka Airport in Gravenhurst along Highway 169 to Bala, through Muskoka Lakes, Huntsville, Lake of Bays and finally over Bracebridge. “You can see how Muskoka was built, sort of, from the ice age and the ice receding to create all of these pockets of water,” says Szumski. “Muskoka looks fantastic from the air in any season.” “It’s a perfect place to fly with all of the rocks, water and trees,” shares Robinson. “In the winter, its all white and hard to figure out where you are because it all looks the same. In the summer, all of the shades of green and blue are incredible. Then in fall it just bursts into colour. In any season, it’s beautiful up there.”
Port Carling
Gravenhurst
Heading west from the Muskoka Airport, the first visible landmark was the duo of ships in Gravenhurst Bay, Segwun and Wenonah. The dock slips that in the summer would be full of visiting boats are fully frozen and empty. However, the tracks of snowmobiles are a common sight across Muskoka’s waterways in the winter.
Windermere
Bala
The open, rushing water of the Moon River at the Bala Falls throws the surrounding frozen, snow-covered bays of Lake Muskoka into contrast. The iconic Kee to Bala sits undisturbed, locked in ice. Snow on both land and lake blurs the boundaries of each.
Port Carling
Port Carling, a bustle of activity during the summer months, has a nostalgic feel in the
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 29
Minett
depths of winter. The Indian River, connecting Lake Rosseau to Lake Muskoka, often stays free of ice, despite the sub-zero temperatures, due to the strong current. Lake Rosseau, accessible through the lock system at Port Carling, provides another major thoroughfare for snowmobilers once the ice has thickened to suitable thickness.
Windermere
Lake of Bays
Another recognizable landmark from the air is the red roof of the “Lady of the Lake,” Windermere House. A resort town through the summer, the winter sees local residents active on the bay with another pastime: ice fishing. Huts within proximity to the shore, or further out on the lakes, are spaces to spend weekends and evenings in search of the perfect catch.
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Lake of Bays
The natural beauty of Muskoka in winter is apparent over Lake of Bays. Bigwin Island, accessible only by boat during the summer months, almost disappears among the snowcovered surrounding water. However, those who are familiar can still identify the final fairway of the Bigwin Island Golf Club.
Baysville Bracebridge
Every green parcel of land connects at multiple points to the white, frozen bodies of water. Heading west once more, along Highway 117, the village of Baysville sits at the confluence of Lake of Bays and the south branch of the Muskoka River.
Bracebridge
As the afternoon sun sets and the flight concludes, Bracebridge Falls and the silver bridge can be seen at the centre of the town of Bracebridge, surrounded by curved roads and the winding, frozen Muskoka River. Although built on hills and valleys, from above, Bracebridge looks like a quaint, miniature village.
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RELIVING HISTORY
Portage Flyer Christmas Train The Joy of an Annual Tradition
32 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
Article by Dawn Huddlestone / Photography by Tomasz Szumski
T
ake the tenacity of The Little Engine That Could, toss in some of the magic of the Polar Express, and place it along a picturesque bend in the Muskoka River and you’ve got the makings of a “supermagicated” Christmas celebration like no other.
The Portage Flyer Christmas Train Ride, held annually on the Saturday before Christmas at Huntsville’s Muskoka Heritage Place, carries revellers young and old from the Rotary Village Station to a cosy cabin at the end of the line where Santa awaits lastminute wishes.
It’s a spectacularly festive event with carols, hot chocolate, a heritage train bedecked with more than 1,000 lights and, of course, everyone’s favourite jolly elf. “It’s our one shot at giving Disneyland a run for their money,” jokes Muskoka Heritage Place general manager Ron Gostlin.
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Riding the Christmas Train is a chance to explore the heritage of rail travel. The pre-Christmas celebration has become an annual tradition for many families, with children, parents and grandparents, alike, eagerly anticipating the cheerful atmosphere, the clanging of the Portage Flyer’s bell as it pulls out of the station, the frosty open-air ride down the track and the welcoming warmth of the cabin at the end of the line. Gostlin says he has heard the big guy himself say just how much he loves to see all those smiling faces arriving by train. The event was originally the idea of volunteer Paul Campbell and engineer Greg Smith, but staff at first weren’t sure they’d be able to pull it off, says Gostlin. It’s the only time the Portage Flyer runs outside of its regular May to October schedule, and the biggest challenge for staff is keeping the track clear of ice. It’s well worth the effort for the joy it brings, says Gostlin. “It’s a great family event that encompasses the best of winter in Muskoka and the holiday season.” It now draws more than 1,000 visitors for its single night. The Portage Flyer hasn’t always been part of the attraction of Muskoka Heritage Place. Long before it arrived in Huntsville, the train
Above: Riding the Portage Flyer Christmas Train is a magical step back into the early history of rail travel in Muskoka. Below: Also magical is the opportunity to meet with Santa Claus. was billed as the smallest commercially operated railway in the world – with a track just one-and-one-eighth mile long – carrying passengers over the steep ridge between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays to connect the steamship routes on each side. The train began operation in 1905, and shortly after was purchased by Charles Orlando (C.O.) Shaw, owner of the Anglo Canadian Leather Company.
That the train ran at all was thanks to some engineering feats that likely wouldn’t be approved today. When the train left the North Portage dock on Peninsula Lake, it climbed a steep switchback to get up the ridge. At its steepest, it had a seven per cent gradient. Today, a mere two per cent grade is considered high for a railway. Cribwork was used where the track rounded Osborne Lake to retain the
bed and at the end of a ridge adjacent to the lake, the track turned 160 degrees in just 100 feet. When it was fully loaded, the train – which ran backward from North Portage, the engine pushing its open-air cars up the ridge – sometimes didn’t have the power to make it all the way up. In those instances, it would back up to the switchback for a second try; sometimes passengers were
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Above: The Portage Flyer Christmas Train Ride, held annually on the Saturday before Christmas at Huntsville’s Muskoka Heritage Place, carries revellers young and old in seasonally decorated rail cars. Below: While dated, the controls of the Portage Flyer are kept in functioning order. asked to help push the train to get it to the summit. When the last of the steamships, the Iroquois II, stopped running in 1958, the
Portage Flyer lasted just a single year as a tourist attraction. In 1961, the track was removed and the equipment sold to become a tourist attraction
in St. Thomas, Ontario. But when the steam locomotives were again offered for sale in 1984, the newly formed Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society bought them and returned them to Huntsville. Then began a long effort by volunteers with the railway society and the Rotary Club of Huntsville to build a train station and shed, lay track and return the Portage Flyer to service. It made its first run on its new three-quarter-mile track in the summer of 2000. Today, visitors can learn about the history of steam travel – both by train and by ship – at the Steam Museum in a replica train station, and contemplate how much more difficult it was to get around 100 years ago as they take a ride on the Portage Flyer. In the spring and fall, a 1948 diesel engine pulls passengers along the track, with a 1926 steam locomotive taking over for the warmer months of July and August. The train’s destination is the Purser’s Cabin at a scenic rest-stop where the Muskoka River meets Fairy Lake. The cabin originally sat at Norway Point on Lake of Bays. Before the return trip begins, all are welcome to check out the train’s cab and have a chat with the engineer.
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 37
Above: As has been the tradition from generations past, the trainman welcomes passengers aboard the Portage Flyer Christmas Train. Volunteers are important to the function of this attraction. Below, passengers greet the festively lit Portage Flyer. The one-night event attracts over 1,000 visitors. The adventurous can even become an engineer for a day in a unique program that teaches all about the operation of the train and provides the opportunity to drive the train for an afternoon. There are a lot of would-be engineers out there, it seems – the program sells out every year before the season
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even begins. For more information about the Portage Flyer and the Christmas train ride, visit muskokaheritageplace.org. In 2019, the Portage Flyer Christmas Train Ride will be held on Saturday, December 21. Tickets are $5 per person.
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CLIMBERS GRAB ON TO WINTER
Challenging Muskoka’s frozen towers Article by Matt Driscoll / Photography by Tomasz Szumski
U
nknown to most but not far off the beaten trail, towers of frozen ice beckon adventurous souls. For decades, climbers have sought the beauty, solitude and the challenge of Muskoka’s ice walls. “It’s an incredible way to get outside and appreciate winter,” says Peter DeMos, who has hosted guided ice climbing tours with his company Liv Outside Adventures since 2000. “A lot of the routes, here, in Muskoka are well hidden but when people see them, they’re just blown away by how big some of them can be.”
DeMos got his start climbing ice walls in British Columbia and brought his love of climbing with him when he moved to Ontario. Through his research, he was able to come across guidebooks put together by the Ontario Climbing Association, detailing a variety of routes in the Muskoka area. The books typically include information, such as where the climb is located, who has done the climb before and a rating that details the difficulty of the route. DeMos says many of the routes in the region were first discovered during the 1970s and 80s. “As it turns out, this region is actually the best for ice climbing in the entire southern part of
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Muskoka offers some unique opportunities to experience the exhilaration and beauty of ice climbing.
42 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
Ontario,” says DeMos. “It has to do with the exposure that’s created here by the lakes, as well as having a slightly lower average temperature than in the more southerly parts of Ontario.” That slight variation in temperature means there is less consistency to the ice walls that emerge in the more southern parts of Ontario. “It’s always consistent around here,” he says. “Most of the climbing we do is when the temperature is around -10 or below. When you start to get closer to zero, the ice can get very wet. Once the ice starts to get wet, you need to worry a lot more about having water resistant clothing because no one wants to be cold and wet when they’re climbing.” The ice climbing routes can actually change as the season goes on, says DeMos. You can often find climbers going online to chronicle the changes as they occur. “Every year you could be encountering a slightly different climb,” he says. Climate change has also affected ice climbing routes on a large scale, he says, and Muskoka is no exception. Nonetheless, DeMos
While tied off for safety, ice climbers need upper body strength to pull themselves up the towers of ice.
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 43
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Many of the climbs in Muskoka are what are known as “top down” climbs and are less than 100 feet high. A “top down” climb requires tying a rope to something secure at the top of the route and then using that rope to scale the entire route.
says the routes they climb are extremely safe. That typically means an ice width of somewhere between two or three feet thick. “A one-inch thick column of ice can hold up to 2,000 lbs. It’s really incredible,” he says. “There’s essentially zero risk on the routes we climb.” DeMos says the routes they normally tackle are one or two pitch climbs. A pitch is a section of a route that’s climbed between two belay points, using a rope for protection. Those pitches are typically around 100 feet, DeMos says There are some routes in Muskoka that consist of two or three pitches. That entails climbing roughly 100 feet, setting up a station and climbing another pitch. Many of the climbs in Muskoka are what are known as “top down” climbs, says DeMos, and are less than 100 feet high. A “top down” climb requires tying a rope to something secure at the top of the route (typically a tree or some other secure object) and then using that rope to scale the entire route. DeMos says all of their introductory climbs are “top down” routes. There are dozens of routes in Muskoka, he says, but some of the best routes are on Skeleton Lake and Lake Rosseau. However, he says climbers need to be very cognizant of the fact they cannot climb on private land. Almost all of DeMos’s routes are situated on Crown Land but he says the Ontario Access Coalition is an excellent resource to find out which routes can be climbed and which can’t. Randy Kielbasiewicz, the co-chair of the Ontario Alliance of Climbers, agrees that Muskoka can be a spectacular location for ice climbing but getting access to those routes can be a big issue. “The biggest challenge in Muskoka is the lack of public land,” says Kielbasiewicz. “It’s a beautiful area for climbing but it’s also a very heavily developed area.” Nonetheless, Kielbasiewicz says there are at least half a dozen routes on Skeleton Lake, some of which can be quite challenging. One big plus of climbing in Muskoka is the routes typically aren’t difficult to access. Kielbasiewicz says simply getting to the climb can be a big challenge in other parts of the province where you might have to travel for up to an hour on
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 45
foot to access the climb. There are several other areas near Muskoka which also offer excellent climbing experiences, he says. Mill Lake, just outside of Parry Sound, offers more than half a dozen routes and Kushog Lake off Highway 35 south of Dorset is one of the better used climbing routes in the province. Kushog is
Ice tools (above) and crampons affixed to boots (right) are used by ice climbers, as they have for generations.
also where Kielbasiewicz ascended his first ice route. Kielbasiewicz had been rock climbing for more than two decades when he was introduced to ice climbing, seven years ago. “I had some injuries and I wanted to shift my focus to something new and exciting,” he says. “A lot of people had been telling me I needed to try ice climbing and I fell in love with it, instantly.” The ice climbing community in Ontario isn’t particularly huge, says Kielbasiewicz, but it is growing. He points to the success of the Southern Ontario Ice Festival in Maynooth, which drew more than 250 climbers to the region, this year, and also generated a significant amount of money, which was donated to the area’s children’s charities. Kielbasiewicz says it only takes one climb to understand why the sport will likely continue to grow in the coming years. “It something that needs to be experienced,” he says. “You’re surrounded by the intense beauty of the winter and you’re literally climbing on frozen water. It’s an ethereal experience.”
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Muskoka Discovery Centre Sail into a New Era of Sustainable Heritage By J. Patrick Boyer
C
lassy steam-era yacht Wanda III embodies a unique Muskoka saga. Neither the Toronto shipbuilders fashioning Muskoka’s fastest vessel back in 1915, nor the renowned Eaton family taking delivery of her, could possibly have imagined the charmer’s impact on Muskokans, today. More than a century on, this elegant steamer has become a vehicle of such unprecedented transformation it’s unclear
48 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
whether Wanda III or the surroundings she now dominates is undergoing the greater change. As the legendary vessel and her owner, Muskoka Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst, mutually remake each other, the emerging phenomenon might best be called “sustainable heritage.” Everybody’s witnessed how advanced products of one period, outpaced by newer technology, vanish along with the time-
trapped conditions that produced them. However, thanks to high calibre engineering, respect for authenticity, unstinting spending and devoted attention, Wanda III is escaping that fate. Once the technological triumph of the Steam Age, she is no less an epitome of our own times. Over many decades, a host of actors in all regions of Muskoka played roles that have cumulatively ensured Wanda III is no relic of
Photograph: Richard Tatley Collection, Gravenhurst
The Wanda, seen at the Muskoka Wharf in a photo from 1904, was the forerunner of the Wanda II and later, the Wanda III. When the Wanda was built for Timothy Eaton by Polson Iron Works in Toronto, it was the fastest vessel on the Muskoka lakes.
the past but a showcase of the future. Moreover, Muskoka Discovery Centre’s bold vision will present her to visitors not in a limited display of steam-boating alone, but as centrepiece of interactive and engaging attraction on how the Steam Age itself changed everything from farming, forestry, industry, commerce, tourism and transport to the lives and culture of Indigenous and nonIndigenous Muskokans alike. Rick McGraw, chair of Muskoka Discovery Centre’s revitalization committee, calls Wanda III a “catalyst for the ambitious project now underway.” For Muskoka’s tourism economy, this leadership in sustainable heritage will ripple far beyond Wanda III. And the forthcoming Stanley Meek Steam Era Exhibit, a unique and multi-faceted endeavour, carries district-wide importance as a major Ontario tourist attraction. Making of the Wanda Legend A third Wanda means two predecessors must be accounted for, not for mere historical curiosity, but because their fates explain why there’d even be a Wanda III. Timothy Eaton, founder of the innovative Canada-wide department store chain bearing his name, craved being number one. The pillared mansion at his Lake Rosseau Kawandag estate asserted Eaton’s primacy on land but from it, this competitor watched others go past in boats faster than his. So, in 1898, he bought the fastest vessel Polson Iron Works in Toronto could build.
The thriving shipyard had been incorporating powerhouse “triple-expansion” steam engines in a range of ships, dredges and barges since the 1880s. That ingenious compound marine engine, emblematic of the Steam Age’s ever-advancing inventions, multiplied boiler steam’s work power by expanding it in three stages through cylinders at different pressures. Such an engine made Eaton’s 12-ton yacht Wanda, as he’d craved, fastest on the Muskoka Lakes. He gladly paid the shipyard’s account. He was now number one on water, too. To nobody’s surprise, when Eaton lost that distinction in a 1904 race, the disgruntled man promptly traded in Wanda for a faster gal. As for his reject, Polson’s rebuilt Wanda for the Temagami Navigation Co. and she freshly debuted in northern Ontario as the Temagami; by 1917, she’d been sold to Haileybury’s T. J. Mullen and in 1926 was scrapped. Meanwhile, through the winter of 19041905, craftsmen at Polson’s busy Lake Ontario yard custom-built Eaton’s even sleeker and faster Wanda II. Vowing to not miss a single Muskoka season, he launched the beautiful craft right after the ice went out in 1905. At 94 feet, she was almost double the original Wanda’s 54-foot length. And heavier, her gross weight 51 tons, four times Wanda’s. Constructed of lapped steel sheets, Wanda II was also propelled by a triple-expansion engine, but this one was a Doty, enabling her to clip along at 24 knots an hour. Timothy
Eaton regained his swagger, a man whose vessel left all others on Muskoka’s central lakes in his wake. When he died from pneumonia in January 1907, he exited as Muskoka’s reining marine monarch. But speed didn’t help Wanda II escape a fate more dire than losing a race. Three days after the Great War began in August 1914, a morning boathouse fire at his widow Margaret Eaton’s summer estate Ravenscrag, near Windermere, claimed the second Wanda, and a half dozen other trapped boats in the bargain. John Eaton, who’d succeeded his father as president of the Eaton retail empire, was exuberant about luxury boats, Rolls-Royce touring cars, private railway cars, trains, and airplanes. It was simply a matter of personal indulgence and family pride for there to be another Wanda. But with Canada’s political and commercial establishment focused on winning the war against Germany and Polson’s busy building six minesweepers for the Canadian Naval Service, luxury yachts for plutocrats lacked priority. John Eaton simply responded to War Minister Sam Hughes’ urgings and gave $100,000 for the Eaton Machine Gun Battery, which earned him a uniform in 1915, a knighthood the following year, and private contract work that outflanked wartime shortages and Polson’s urgent government war orders. Through another winter, the shipyard effectively replicated the incinerated Wanda II.
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Wanda III makes its way through the main intersection in downtown Gravenhurst in 1993 on its way down Bay St. to the wharf where it would join the Segwun and Wenonah II. outrun death. Highly distraught, Florence never forgave Wanda III for the child’s death. Seeing the boat on which the suffering girl perished was a constant haunting reminder of the tragic loss. In an eerie irony, earlier that very year, Sir John had the Florence’s steam whistle transferred to Wanda III, which nonplussed Lady Eaton, the yacht’s principal user. The now-banished craft remained hidden for three years in her Lake Rosseau boathouse, unused, the Department of Transport not even bothering to make annual inspections of the mothballed yacht. Any buyer would have to remove Wanda III from these waters.
Between 1996 and 2003, the sleek steam yacht Wanda III was in operation on Lake Muskoka for chartered cruises, bringing pleasure to passengers and crew, alike. 50 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
While she gathered dust, the world’s economy shuddered. A major economic depression continued spreading financial woes. Harry McGee at the T. Eaton Company head office wrote Charles Shaw in Huntsville on April 29, 1930 inquiring whether he’d like to buy Wanda III. McGee claimed “she carries 75 people comfortably” (three times higher than actual capacity) and “reaches speeds of 16 miles per hour” (10 mph lower than her real capability). When he suggested a purchase price of $10,000, he was also off the mark. Recipient of the offer, Charles Orlando Shaw, was a human dynamo who’d applied
Photographs: Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre
All valves and auxiliary pumps were built to rigorous naval standards. The fine workmanship of the period, right down to her Honduras mahogany joiner work, was a testament to Canada’s proud shipwrights. The phoenix-like Wanda III was also 94 feet long, 12 feet across her beam, weighed somewhat more at 60 gross tons, and her triple-expansion engine propelled her right along, too, at 24 knots per hour. Above all, she was elegant, right down to her shapely torpedo stern. For a dozen years, through the Great War and well into the Roaring Twenties, Wanda III stylishly plied the waters from Margaret Eaton’s estate near Rosseau, until a different kind of tragedy ended her pride of place with the family. Sir John’s wife Florence, Margaret’s daughter-in-law, was a woman of intense feelings and great compassion. Her empathy for others, including female workers in Eaton’s stores, revealed a “society woman” of character similar to self-willed Eleanor Roosevelt’s. In 1913 Florence and John sailed aboard his new steel-hulled 172-foot steam-powered luxury yacht, which he’d christened Florence in her honour, from Toronto to Quebec City. During this ill-fated trip, Lord and Lady Eaton’s yearold son Edgar suffered convulsions from contaminated milk and became paralyzed. Returning to Toronto, Florence carried him from her namesake ship and refused to ever again go aboard, foretaste of a future episode. In 1927, Lady Eaton pressed Wanda III into a mercy mission to speed a little girl of Rosseau village to Bracebridge’s hospital. Her appendix burst. She was in extreme agony. The fastest boat in all Muskoka could not
Photograph: Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre
caught everyone’s eye. his “good ol’ American knowShaw’s flotilla also included how” to transform central and steamship Bigwin, ferrying north Muskoka’s economy with guests between the mainland his Anglo-Canadian Leather and his Bigwin Island resort, tanneries at Bracebridge and and steamer yachts Annetta, Huntsville, cultural life with his Clarion, Kingfisher, and Rambler renowned Anglo-Canadian Band III. Big-name guests chartered so good it was featured yearly in Wanda III, charmer of this fleet, CNE grandstand shows, and for daytime scenic tours and Muskoka vacationing with romantic evening cruises. Now Bigwin Inn, his triumphal Lake began the period of Wanda III’s of Bays resort hotel which laid greatest continuous service to claim to being “Canada’s largest the largest number of Muskoka and finest Summer Resort.” vacationers. During the Second Keen to be rid of a phoenix World War, her passengers now become an albatross, the included Princess Juliana and Eatons knew Shaw was Wanda her daughter, Princess Beatrix, III’s most probable buyer. But he both future Queens of The was astute enough to know this, Netherlands, living in exile from too. Shaw understood Wanda III Nazi-occupied Holland at had become anathema to Lady Ottawa. Summering at Bigwin Eaton. He replied, telling Inn, their indispensable McGee that Wanda III “is not possession, the Dutch worth $10,000 to us, regardless Constitution, was secure in of its worth to others. We have Bigwin’s office safe. to use her at Bigwin in our boat When C.O. Shaw died in livery, and there’s nothing in it 1942, his family ran Bigwin for us to operate a vessel of this Prime Minister Jean Chretien rededicated the Wanda III in a ceremony in Inn for four more years. In cost for the comparatively small August of 1996. While a restored Wanda III for regular service, it will also be 1949, they sold Wanda III to revenue we can get out of it the centrepiece of a new steam era exhibit. Lake of Bays’ classic boat during the hotel season. It takes at least two, or probably three, licensed men before we move her to Gravenhurst where we collector Cameron Peck, who converted her to operate a boat of this kind – whereas a shall load her onto cars.” A week later, as from coal to oil fuel. In 1954, Bigwin’s new comparatively large gasoline launch can be Margaret Eaton’s bill of sale was registered owners re-acquired Wanda III for the resort’s operated by one man, no licence required.” with the Collector of Customs in Toronto, boat livery, a reinstated role lasting another By May 7, his counter-offer of $7,000 had Shaw completed the three forms required to five years. Then, the shapely and intriguing change of ship’s registry. Legalities complete, vessel was passed around, with several more been accepted. Bargaining was the easy bit; moving the flatbed rail cars moved Wanda III from owners after 1959 – the fantail yacht vessel posed the challenge. “It would be quite Muskoka Wharf to Huntsville, from whence everyone wanted, for a while. By 1970, a heavy job to move this [60-tonne] boat she was transported aboard barges to North Sandy Thomson of Rat Bay not only bought from where she is now to Bigwin Inn. We Portage on Peninsula Lake “without any Wanda III and lived aboard the vessel but first have to construct a suitable boathouse in difficulty or the slightest damage,” Shaw restored her. This devoted Lake of Bays which to keep her. At this time of year, all our proudly reported. In late May 1931, she was boater held onto his prize for a worthy men are engaged finishing up new work at moved overland, up to Lake of Bays, over the quarter-century. By the mid-1990s, William M. Gray Bigwin. Until our summer’s pressure of work Portage Flyer’s rails. Like a predecessor, another Wanda thus entered the picture. His book Lake Joseph, is over there, can we have a boathouse in readiness when the yacht reaches Lake of made a fresh debut on higher waters – but 1860-1910 vividly portrays life of Indigenous Bays.” The move had to wait until “September this time, with two crucial differences: she people, advent of the steam age in Muskoka 1 at the latest,” when Shaw “would have all was still in Muskoka, and Wanda III still bore and his affectionate respect for Muskoka her original name. The superb steamer, now Lakes steamers. Gray told a fellow champion arrangements made to take her away.” By August 23, he asked for Wanda III to sailing 89 metres higher on the Muskoka of classic boats, Stanley Meek, about Wanda be “lowered into the water so the bottom watershed, was part of Bigwin Inn’s boat III. “She’s on the Lake of Bays, and should be planks will have time to swell up a little livery for the 1931 season. She immediately
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 51
picked up,” he said. “She’d have a great future at your Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre” in Gravenhurst. Meek – a major aficionado of quality boats and for the past 25 years a board member, treasurer, chairman and Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre donor – facilitated with the Canadian Cultural Property Review Board acquisition of Wanda III – for $1. Sandy Thompson’s generosity, plus his extensive restorations of the vessel, established the standard for Wanda III by people who understand her unique importance to Canada. Through October 1993, an engineering feat returned her from Dwight Bay to Muskoka Wharf. On Highway 60, utility wires were lifted, traffic closed off, detergent applied to asphalt so the flatbed’s tires could slide, instead of burning, when rounding corners under her great weight, with sand then spread over the roadway to prevent other vehicles slipping. Highway 11 had to be closed as she was moved south in the northbound lane, required for access and egress. By October 29, she was cheered through the streets of Gravenhurst, beginning
what everyone anticipated would be a triumphal new chapter in Wanda III’s already long and changing life. When a Boathouse Does More than House a Boat Between 1996 and 2003, the steam yacht was in operation for chartered cruises, bringing pleasure to passengers and crew alike. “She has a very special feel or personality that can bring peace and calm to her passengers,” smiled Captain Ron Sclater. “It’s very elegant being out on the lake with her, regardless of the weather.” But service became intermittent. Behind the scenes hovered concerned Department of Transport regulators giving work-orders and headaches to management about the craft’s mechanical operations and safety. Wanda III’s return to the central Muskoka Lakes, it began to seem, held more promise than she could deliver. Charles Shaw had refused to move her to Lake of Bays until a suitable boathouse had been built, but Wanda III’s envisaged boathouse at Gravenhurst did not get built even in 2002 as part of the Town’s splendid
new structure for Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre. Languishing among the town’s homeless, merciless sun damaged her constantly exposed decks. Sitting out-ofservice did no favours for her interior or engine. Wanda III became a moored ornament of Muskoka Wharf rather than a gliding diva on the lake. From spring 2001, when John Millar arrived on the scene as company president, to the present, “the challenge of preserving this one-of-a-kind historic artifact,” he says, “has been daunting.” Gary Getson, Muskoka Discovery Centre’s results-oriented chair, resolved to replace fretting with constructive action. Now, bring up the stage lights on “sustainable heritage”: A striking new structure, alongside Muskoka Discovery Centre’s existing red building, will be multi-purpose – starting with a 3,000 square foot wet slip for Wanda III. She’ll be protected from weather, available for cruises, and serve as lead attraction of the new Stanley Meek Steam Era Exhibit. Rebuilding her 1915 equipment, ever since Wanda III’s return to Muskoka Wharf, required finding skilled workmen who no
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Above: The Wanda III greets the RMS Segwun while out cruising. Below: Wanda III at dock in Gravenhurst with the third vessel in the fleet, Wenonah II, in the background.
Ottawa’s Cultural Spaces program added $950,000. The Gordon Shaw Legacy Fund came through with another $300,000, the McGraw Family a further $100,000. With over 60 percent of the budget raised, Muskoka Discovery Centre is now appealing to the broad community – individuals, families, and national, regional, and local businesses – to reach the $3,850,000 required for this major new attraction to strengthening Muskoka’s vacation economy and the wide spinoff benefits that entails. With Wanda III as centrepiece, the Steam Era Exhibit highlights steamships because the throbbing engine rooms of Muskoka’s steam age vessels remains a magnetic draw for mechanical enthusiasts across North America. However, presenting the full nature of the golden age of steam goes far beyond the boats. The 5,000 squarefoot exhibit hall will contain world-standard interactive exhibits about the steam revolution’s economic, social
and cultural transformations and impacts on peoples’ lives. As with Muskoka Discovery Centre’s stunningly successful “Watershed Wonders” pavilion, these new exhibits will incorporate 3-D artifacts to engage, entertain, and educate. Especially compelling to advance Truth and Reconciliation is potential at the facility for an authentic portrayal of Indigenous culture, values and experience by First Nations to whom Muskoka is traditional territory of long standing. The sustainable concept will be applied throughout – from the new structure’s interior green wall to its 5,000 square foot “green roof ” anchoring solar panels, offering visitors a pleasing lookout across Muskoka Bay, and serving as an educational venue for school children. Together, Muskoka Discovery Centre and Wanda III are leading heritage tourism into the future.
Photographs: Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre
longer exist to replace parts no longer being made. Persistence produced miracles, with both of those ferreted out and painstaking restoration completed. For safety and environmental reason, Wanda III is now becoming a hybrid. Converted for electric propulsion, she’ll operate as a zero-emission historic yacht in prime contemporary condition, yet the steam engine can operate for cruising to maintain the cherished sounds, atmosphere, and visual pleasures of Steam Era inventions and style. On June 21, Jack and Britt McIrvine boosted this electrification component of sustainable heritage by pledging $200,000 on a matching basis. Unlocking the benefits of heritage treasures requires spending money. Meek, who for decades has been advancing Muskoka steamship tourism, and his wife Conchita, significantly fueled fundraising for the facility with $500,000 on a matching basis.
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Whats Happened Following two years of work, the Capital Plan Development Task Force has recommended to the Muskoka Algonquin Health Care board of directors two new hospital builds for the region. In 2018, the board, based on a task force recommendation, endorsed a two acute sites service delivery model. This proposal came forward after proposal for one site came under criticism from much of the community. The task force spent the last year evaluating building design options that included renovation and expansion or new builds. At their final meeting on September 12, the task force recommended a new hospital build on current land for the Huntsville site and a new hospital build on new land for the South Muskoka site.
Photograph: Submitted by Dan Pinckard
Task force recommends two new hospital builds
Former Lake of Bays Mayor Tom Pinckard has received word he set a football record, 53 years ago. An estimate completed in March 2019 put the construction cost of a new build at a new site for South Muskoka Memorial Hospital at $284 million (in today’s dollars). In Huntsville, a new build on the existing
hospital site is estimated at almost $296 million. A formal report with the recommendation will be presented to the MAHC board of directors at its regular meeting on October 10, 2019.
Tom Pinckard’s historic 1966 punt recognized as the longest ever It took 53 years, but former Lake of Bays mayor Tom Pinckard is finally getting the recognition he deserves. On September 24, 1966, while a student at the University of New Brunswick, he was called on to punt in a football game in place of the team’s usual kicker who was injured. Pinckard could kick, but he was usually the snapper. On that day, he gave it everything he had. The conditions were just right and after
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Photograph: Richard Francella
Hydro One chief corporate affairs and customer care officer Jason Fitzsimmons (fifth from the right) recently announced the company is investing $16 million in infrastructure upgrades in Muskoka. sailing through the air and taking some bounces before hitting the fence at the end of the field, the ball had travelled an incredible 114 yards. Since then, the only other punt known to have come close to it was a 108-yard kick by CFL player Zenon Andrusyshyn in 1977. Now, 53 years later, U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada, is recognizing Pinckard’s punt as the longest in history. Pinckard said of the accolade, “I think it’s pretty neat.”
Hydro One announces $16 million in technology improvements in Muskoka Using new devices to remotely monitor its system, Hydro One will be able to quickly identify the location of an outage – until now a sometimes difficult task in remote, heavily treed areas of Muskoka – and then take action to restore power from its central hub, the Ontario Grid Control Centre. Four hundred and fifty of these fault indicators, which simply clip over a power line, will be distributed around the region. The company is also installing 38 smart switches to limit the number of customers impacted by outages. These technological improvements will be combined with a new program for trimming hazardous trees – power corridors in Muskoka will now be trimmed every three
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years instead of the previous eight to 10 years – to help prevent outages in the first place. There are more than 2,000 km of power lines in the region. “Any outage – no matter how short – can disrupt people’s daily lives, businesses and productivity. Through these investments, Hydro One plans to provide more reliable power that the communities in Muskoka region are counting on,” said Jason Fitzsimmons, Hydro One’s chief corporate affairs and customer care officer in a media release. “This is part of our plan to modernize an aging distribution system by making prudent investments in new technology, replacing old poles and trimming hazardous trees.” Much of Hydro One’s electricity system was built in the 1950s.
Huntsville writer Kathleen May shortlisted for CBC Nonfiction Prize Out of more than 2,200 entries from across Canada, an essay written by Huntsville writer Kathleen May was selected for the five-person shortlist in the CBC Nonfiction Prize. The annual competition is open to writers across Canada who can submit a memoir, biography, humour writing, essay, travel writing or feature article. May chose to write a personal essay.
“The Long Driveway is inspired by my experiences as a survivor of child sexual abuse,” she told CBC. “Memories exist as emotion-drenched vignettes, and I wrote this with the intention of re-experiencing them as the child I was, rather than attempting to insert my more knowledgeable adult self into a child’s narrative.” Although her essay was not selected as the winner by jurors Harold R. Johnson, Elizabeth Renzetti and Mark Sakamoto, as a finalist May will receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and her essay will be published on CBC Books.
Hunters Bay Radio celebrates 10 years as Muskoka’s community radio station In 2009, trying to fill a void in local radio broadcasting, Hunters Bay Radio launched online. “We felt that there was little local focus in the media and took steps to offer a full-
service local station online to gauge interest,” says managing director Jeff Carter. The station’s first deejays included former CFBK owner and morning man Joe Duschesne, Craig Martin and Brian Thompson. The station was later approved for a community radio license and, in 2014, could be heard at 88.7 FM. It now has studios in Huntsville and Gravenhurst, and Dorset in the summer months, with plans to re-open a Bracebridge studio in the future. Solid supporters of the community, the not-for-profit has committed to a $25,000 contribution to the Huntsville Hospital Foundation’s Business Cares initiative, and has also donated $8,000 to the Legion, $6,000 to Fairvern Nursing Home, $5,000 to Hospice Huntsville, and has made more than $30,000 in food donations through The Bay Food Crew, says Carter. “We are Muskoka’s only locally-owned radio station – owned by the community and managed by a board of directors,” he adds. “Our mandate is to be local and support the local economy by re-investing revenues back in Muskoka. All of our money stays here.”
Huntsville takes action on short-term rentals The Town of Huntsville is making moves to license short-term rental accommodations, including those listed on Airbnb and VRBO as well as through local agencies, in an effort to curb complaints about noise, garbage and parking and address fire and safety concerns. In the draft bylaw, only single detached dwellings are eligible for licensing as short-term rental accommodations and owners would have to make one parking space per bedroom available to guests. There are also different licensing fees for primary and secondary dwellings – a decision designed to crack down on owners who rent their properties from afar and don’t adequately monitor them for issues. Before finalizing the licensing process and subsequent enforcement, the Town plans to host a public information session this fall to obtain input from the community. Town staff have proposed launching the program in February 2020.
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Meals to warm your heart in a cold winter Article by Karen Wehrstein / Photography by Tomasz Szumski
One of Canada’s greatest pastimes is winter survival: finding ways to alleviate the chill in the air, our bones and our hearts. Insofar as food is love, or at least something to love, there are a number of types of culinary coping mechanisms that can comfort us through to spring. To approach them professionally, we will journey first to the popular Bala restaurant Moon River Lookout, home of Chef Ken Bol, who is co-owner with his wife Tiffany. “It was built in 1944, and everyone who worked at Dunn’s Pavilion – now The Kee – had meal tickets to get their meals, here,” Bol recounts. “It was called the Sunset Restaurant, and we had all these ambitions to decorate with sunset images, but it was known as a biker bar, so we had to change the name.” That was in 1999. Bol’s personal history starts in Rexdale, and he has cuisine in his blood. “My father was a chef. But he said ‘stay out of the kitchen, if you can.’ He just didn’t want me to work so hard while the managers out front got to dress up and mingle with people. So that’s what I did.” From back-order cook at Pizza Nova, he
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got promoted to manager. School at Humber College didn’t suit him; he quit after a week and a half and found a job as a manager at Pizza Hut. “I did so well I was sent across Canada opening Pizza Hut restaurants before settling in Windsor,” Bol reminisces. “The restaurant that was there was a Casey’s, and I thought it was a cool environment.” Now working with that chain, he journeyed on to the Yorkdale Casey’s, where he met Tiffany. Together, they opened a 60-server Casey’s on the Queensway, and operated it for two years. Moving next to Hockley Valley Resort, Bol decided after 10 years of managing that it was time to cook, and took a culinary apprenticeship at $5 per hour and 80 hours a week for three years. “It was the best five bucks an hour I ever made,” he says. “I’m a
big fan of apprenticeship. You get so much more out of your trade and can be proud of it. I trained under some great chefs, and learned a lot.” By then, Tiffany’s parents had retired to Muskoka. “We had come to visit and fell in love with the area,” Bol recalls. “We were looking for a house, and everything was out of reach, down south, so we started looking up here.” In 1988, the couple made their move, and Bol’s mother-in-law, who worked at the Royal Bank, put his name out around Bracebridge. “Everyone was looking for a chef,” he says. The Old Station in Bracebridge snapped him up and he worked there for two years. But the family was growing. “I was tired of working nights and weekends and getting
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Chef Ken Bol says his braised short ribs are “…what you need on a cold day.” According to Bol, people like the recipe because it’s easy to serve and easy to store. laid off in winters. Tiffany’s father was in construction, and I started doing some and quite enjoyed it.” That led to the founding of his construction business Cedar Works of Muskoka, which operated from 1991 to 1997. It’s not just the food at Moon River Lookout that is crafted by Bol, but also a lot of the woodwork. The culinary world tempted him back when he drove past the Bala Bay Inn and saw the lights were off. “The people were taking offers to run the place. They accepted my proposal.” He did that from 1996 to 2004, during which time he and his wife were able to purchase both the Sunset Restaurant and the Bala Falls Pub. “We focused on those two restaurants, and were very successful,” Bol recalls. “We sold the Bala Falls Pub last year, so that we can focus on Moon River and gourmet catering.” Bol’s fondest culinary memory, though, goes back to his roots. “When my father was retired, he came and stayed with us in Bala and cooked some special buffets with me,” he recalls. “That was the
highlight of my cooking career.” In winter, Moon River Lookout serves more soups and stews, and “good old-school stick-to-the-ribs comfort food” like braised short ribs, an old English dish. “It’s one of the go-tos,” Bol says. “It’s what you need on a cold day.” As dishes go, it’s a forgiving one. “The only mistake you can make is to not let it braise enough. Sear the meat, lock in the flavours, then let it absorb everything that’s in the recipe. People like it, it’s easy to serve, easy to store.” The meat does indeed both fall off the bones and pick up the flavour of the vegetables and herbs, in a rich,
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Chef Richard Bynoe’s soul-warming meal, osso bucco with risotto alla Milanese, is derived from his background in Italian cuisine, being his spin on a traditional Lombard dish.
tangy, full way. You’d never know the almost undetectable soupçon of sweetness comes from local blueberry wine, but it does. Rule of thumb: fats and oils are warming, and this dish is redolent with the latter. But, Bol enthuses, “olive oil is good for you!” On Muskoka Road 118 between Glen Orchard and Port Carling sits Richwell’s Muskoka Fine Foods, owned by chef Richard Bynoe. His background is a bit different than that of most chefs. Bynoe was a North Bay base brat whose father worked for more than 32 years in a NORAD underground compound while also founding and running a martial arts school to teach unarmed combat and weapons defence to military personnel and police. Following the path taken by his father, Bynoe began martial arts, himself, at age seven. Still continuing his martial arts training, he moves around his kitchen fast and silently, blades flashing, a black-clad gourmet ninja. “I was going to go into physiotherapy or
something like that,” Bynoe recounts. “But I had a summer job at this inn in Callander, and had to make an eight-foot gingerbread sleigh. And that was it.” He was hooked on cuisine. Starting as a dishwasher at Blue Mountain Resort, he did his apprenticeship there. Bynoe then attended Algonquin College, where he scored the second highest grade point average in the hospitality department. On graduation, he returned to Blue Mountain as a sous-chef, then moved to the restaurant North 44 in uptown Toronto. “That was a culinary challenge,” he says. “It was very fast-paced, very competitive, with lots to learn.” Next, Bynoe moved around southern Ontario, working as executive chef at Italian restaurants in Pickering and Brooklin, Ontario, and a Greek one in Markham. But he wanted to move further north. “I love nature, and not so many crazy drivers,” he explains. He started in the same building he’s in now, the eatery then named Rebecca’s, until it closed in 2014. He then opened a seafood shop at Field of Greens in Port Carling. Dividing his time, he gradually shifted to Patterson-Kaye Lodge. Then came his big opportunity. “My extended family loved my food and bought the building, so I could start this restaurant.” Richwell’s opened in 2017.
Bynoe’s soul-warming meal derives from his background in Italian cuisine, being his spin on a traditional Lombard dish. “osso bucco with risotto alla Milanese” was first served at Richwell’s as a Labour Day dinner special and will be a staple item on next season’s Italian-inspired menu. It is absolutely true when he says: “Everything about it is warm: the tomato, the other veggies, the colours, the richness of
the cheese.” The saffroned risotto and the copious olive oil are warm too, singing richly on the tongue. In Italian cooking, Bynoe instructs, “you pay attention to the flavours of the ingredients you’re using, and don’t mask them with something else. Make sure all the flavours you’re putting together are more like a symphony rather than a big gong.” Bon appétit and stay warm this winter.
Osso Buco with Risotto alla Milanese
batches, lightly dredge shanks in flour, shaking off excess, and add to roasting pan (be careful not to over-crowd them). • Lightly brown shanks on both sides for about 4 minutes per side. Lower heat as necessary to prevent flour from burning. • Transfer browned shanks to a platter and repeat with remaining shanks, adding more oil if pan becomes too dry. • Add butter to roasting pan, along with onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until vegetables are softened and just starting to turn a light golden colour, about six minutes. • Add wine, stock, and tomatoes to roasting pan, then place shanks on top, spaced evenly as possible. The liquid should nearly but not totally cover the shanks; if it doesn’t, add more stock or water. Add thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. • Cover roasting pan with plastic wrap then aluminum foil, and transfer to oven. • Cook for two hours, then remove plastic and foil and cook for another 20 minutes. • Remove from oven, let rest for 5-10 minutes then use tongs and a spatula to move shanks to a platter. • Strain vegetables. • Perfect the consistency of the sauce by reducing or by adding more stock. • Add salt and pepper to taste. • Use a ladle or sauce spoon to skim excess oil from the top and remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf. • Spoon over shanks, and garnish with zest and parsley.
Richard G. Bynoe, Richwell’s
Osso Buco Ingredients 6 (1 to1 1/2-inch-thick) pieces osso buco (veal shanks) (about 4 pounds total) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup all-purpose flour (5 ounces) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed [use garlic oil] 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter (1/2 ounce) 1 large yellow onion, 1/2 inch cubes (12 ounces) 2 medium carrots, 1/2 inch cubes (6 ounces) 1 celery stalk, 1/2 inch cubes (4 ounces) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced 1 cup dry white wine 3/4 cup homemade or store-bought chicken stock 1 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, seeded and drained, tomato flesh crushed by hand 3 fresh thyme sprigs 1 bay leaf Lemon zest and chopped flat leaf parsley (gremolata) for garnish
Method • Preheat oven to 325°F. Season veal shanks with salt and pepper. If you have butcher’s twine, tie it around each shank to help hold their shape. • In a large roasting pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in
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Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 61
Risotto
• Add saffron, a large pinch of salt and 1 cup stock and stir till absorbed. • Continue adding the stock and stirring until 1 cup remains. • Add that into rice with butter and stir constantly until butter has melted and rice is thick and creamy. • Add more stock or water if risotto becomes too dry. • Turn off heat, add cheese and stir rapidly to thoroughly incorporate. • Season with salt. Serve immediately, with more cheese in a grinder for diners to use as desired. Serves six.
Ingredients
14 ounces risotto rice (about 2 cups), preferably carnaroli 4 cups homemade or store-bought chicken or vegetable stock, plus more as needed 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 small yellow onion, minced (about 7 ounces) 1 cup dry white wine 2 generous pinches saffron (stamens) Kosher salt 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
Method
• Combine rice and cold stock in a large bowl. Agitate rice with a whisk to release starch. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over a 2-quart liquid cup measure or large bowl. Allow to drain well, shaking rice as dry as possible. Set stock aside.
• Heat oil in a heavy 12-inch sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently until all liquid has evaporated and rice sizzles and takes on a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. • Add onion and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until aromatic, about 1 minute. • Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pan is nearly dry, about 3 minutes.
Wine pairing: Sauvignon Blanc. Chef ’s Tip What!? Plastic wrap in the oven? “Chefs have been doing this forever,” Bynoe reassures. “I’ve done it for 20 years. Even at higher temperatures the plastic won’t melt, just go hard around the edges.” The idea, of course, is to seal in moisture, but acidic ingredients such as tomato and lemon will eat away the foil unless the plastic is there.
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62 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
Braised Short Ribs Ken Bol, Moon River Lookout
Ingredients
4 lbs. beef short ribs (ask butcher to cut into 2” pieces) 11/2 cups olive oil 4 cups beef stock 2 large cans of plum tomatoes 2 cups Johnston’s Blueberry Wine (available from Muskoka Lakes Farm and Winery near Bala) 3 Tbsp Kosher salt 3 Tbsp crushed black peppercorns 8 bay leaves 8 sprigs of thyme 8 sprigs of rosemary 1/2 cup chopped fresh garlic 1/2 bunch parsley 3 lbs. mini red potatoes 8 cups of coarsely chopped onion, celery, carrot and any other root vegetables you might like.
Method
You will need a large stock pot or roasting pan with a lid, able to hold 12 litres. • Preheat oven to 275° F. • On stove top, heat oil to very hot and sear the short ribs on all sides until golden brown. • Remove from pot and cut into two-rib portions. • Return to pot with beef stock, tomatoes, blueberry wine and all spices. Stir well, cover and put in the oven. (If you don’t have a lid, cover tightly with tin foil.) • After one hour, add in the potatoes and other vegetables. Remove after 1½ to 2 hours, checking to see that the meat is super-tender and falling off the bone. • Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if necessary, to taste. • Serve with a chunk of crusty baguette and blueberry wine. Serves eight. Chef ’s tips Other root vegetables you might like: “hardier squashes such as butternut, celeriac bulbs, parsnips, yellow beets, rutabaga…” “Blueberry wine sweetens over the years.” Sock some away now.
Fall / Winter 2019 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 63
Muskoka Moments
A lifetime of moments or Muskoka365 By Phil Harding Muskoka moments and Muskoka365, as I am known across social media, for me is made up of many, many, many moments in life. When all stitched together, they turn days into weeks, months into years and decades into lifetimes. So to back up a little, over 50 years ago now, I was introduced to Muskoka at a family cottage on Lake Rosseau where summers were spent on the dock, in the boat or canoe or more appropriately, behind the boat learning all the finer points of water skiing. Fast forward a few months when the water skiing stopped and the lake was frozen and my first “muskoka365” moment was sitting virtually on the engine of a 15 hp, 1969 Ski-Doo Olympic in front of my dad and brothers as we broke trail and often “broke down.” We were attempting to enjoy winter in our three-season, boathouse cottage, pulling water from the lake with the oven on and open to keep us warm at night. Fast forward 50 years and, thankfully, snowmobiling has changed considerably, allowing for problem free 500 km days on trails as smooth and flat as Highway 11. They reach not only every corner of Muskoka but all over Ontario for that matter with almost 40,000 km of groomed trails at our doorstep, thanks to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. But my time in Muskoka is clearly not just about snowmobiling in the winter – though last season, I think I put over 3,000 km on my snowmobile. There is also Summer Water Sports (SWS), a company I started back in 1996, offering ski schools, ski shows and waterfront management to hundreds of thousands annually from June
64 UNIQUE MUSKOKA Fall / Winter 2019
through early fall (or as long as the water is warm). Learning to water-ski at age three, and water-skiing at the Canadian National Exhibition and in the U.S. for theme parks, it seemed like a natural fit to combine a marketing career (for seven years post university) with my love of Muskoka and water sports. Thankfully, after selling the company in 2005, it is still operating today, serving up many Muskoka moments to
guests at resorts or spectators at the Tuesday night Bala Ski show. As I love all that Muskoka has to offer, many of my most challenging and memorable Muskoka moments come between May and October, as Muskoka is blessed with a dozen or more of the finest championship golf courses in Ontario or Canada for that matter. Though I have yet to shoot my age, with a little luck and a few more lessons, hopefully in the next 15 or so years, this will be one Muskoka moment to boast proudly about. And from winter to summer, back to winter, from early November through the end of March – curling with the Port Carling Curling Club has quickly become my new “Muskoka moment,” uniting both men and women who each display various skill levels and ages either for fun or competition. So my Muskoka moment cannot be defined. My Muskoka moment doesn’t have a date. It doesn’t have a specific location, nor does it have a specific activity. But moreover, my Muskoka moment is just that – Muskoka – and all the people, places and activities that make this place special. My Muskoka is Muskoka365.
Born and raised in Toronto, Phil Harding spent every summer at the family cottage on Lake Rosseau until he entered the workforce in 1986. Working for 10 years in advertising with large multinational agencies, Phil missed his true passion (water and Muskoka), so in 1995 he started what quickly became Canada’s largest watersports company, Summer Water Sports. In 2005, after selling SWS, he once again returned to the world of marketing and also joined the board of the Muskoka Lakes Association. In 2010, he was first elected to District Council in Muskoka and served two terms. In 2018, he was elected Mayor of the Township of Muskoka Lakes. Now living full time in Port Carling and on Lake Rosseau, Harding has two grown children. Today, Phil spends his time between his kids and council, trying to protect Muskoka from over development of the lakes while at the same time working for Forest Hill Real Estate in Port Carling, helping unite buyers and sellers.
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