On The Bay Fall 2021 Issue

FALL 2021

Going

Coastal Driving the Georgian Bay Coastal Route

Planning for Growth

Can we keep up?

All the Rage Contemporary design trends

onthebaymagazine.com

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Bay Street experience.

Small town values.

Having spent 20 years on Bay Street working closely with many of the world’s leading fund managers, we know that the next 20 years won’t look like the last 20 – and your portfolio shouldn’t either.

Paul Chapman, CIM, MBA, B.Sc. (Eng) Investment & Wealth Advisor RBC Dominion Securities

I was born and raised in the Collingwood area, and I have put my decades of expertise to work in the community that I love, serving clients locally and across the country.

With vast resources, a wide-ranging network of specialists and knowledge of alternative investments, I can help you secure the financial future you’ve envisioned.

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Portfolio Management

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Will & Estate Planning

Tax Mitigation Strategies

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. is a member company of RBC Wealth Management, a business segment of Royal Bank of Canada. ® Registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. © RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 2021. All rights reserved. 21_90544_FX1_001

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HALF THE ALCOHOL ALL THE TASTE AND ONLY 100 CALORIES PER CAN

AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL LCBO GEORGIANBAYSPIRITCO Please drink responsibly. © Georgian Bay Spirit Co.™ 2021

Georgian Bay Half Smashes deliver a smashing taste experience without compromise; low on alcohol, but big on flavour. Crafted in Collingwood with Georgian Bay gin.

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES 29 Growing Pains Why was Collingwood forced to turn off the tap on new

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development? Why isn’t water treatment keeping pace with growth? How do we ensure we’re not growing too fast for infrastructure to keep up?

BY MARC HUMINILOWYCZ

42 Homes in Transition Minimalist contemporary design is taking over, both indoors and out.

BY JUDY ROSS

64 Going Coastal Driving the Georgian Bay Coastal Route presents plenty of eyecatching scenery plus opportunities to stop along the way and enjoy the sights, tastes and activities of our coastal communities.

BY LAURIE STEPHENS

79 Running Wild Whether in the wilds or in your back yard, our area is home to all manner of critters.

BY ANTHONY JENKINS

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COLUMNS Perspective

19 Walk a Mile With Me

BY JILLIAN MORRIS Fenceposts

24 Road Rage Comes to Town

BY DAN NEEDLES Artist Spotlight

61 Untamed Nature

DEPARTMENTS 10 12 14 94 96 101 102

From Our Publisher From Our Editor From Our Readers Introductions Gallery of Realtors Reader Buying Guide Looking Back

Bruce Peninsula artist Margarethe Vanderpas transforms wind, water, rocks and trees into

FALL 2021

unique and vibrant vistas on canvas.

Photo Essay

91 Living Images On The Bay photographer Doug Burlock shares the stories behind some of his favourite shots.

Going

Coastal Driving the Georgian Bay Coastal Route

Planning for Growth

Can we keep up?

onthebaymagazine.com

ON THE COVER: The sun sets over the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment near Tobermory, just one of the stops along the Georgian Bay Coastal Route.

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PHOTO BY DOUG BURLOCK

All the Rage Contemporary design trends

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TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

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VOLUME 18, ISSUE 3 P U B L I SHE R

David Loopstra dloopstra@onthebaymagazine.com E D I T OR

Janet Lees janet.lees@me.com A R T D I R E CT OR

Holger Meiche OP E RAT I ON S M A N AGE R

Cindy Caines A D V E R T I SI N G D E SI GN

Tara McLellan P R OOFR E A D E R

Anita Hunter L I ST I N GS COOR D I N ATOR

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D I ST R I B U T I ON COOR D I N ATOR

Peter Gibson CON T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R S

Marc Huminilowycz, Anthony Jenkins, Janet Lees, Jillian Morris, Dan Needles, Judy Ross, Laurie Stephens CON T R I B U T I N G PH OT OGR A P HE R S & I L L U ST R A T OR S

Shelagh Armstrong-Hodgson, Doug Burlock, Jessica Crandlemire, Anthony Jenkins, Derek Trask, Margarethe Vanderpas

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s.holden@classical1029fm.com M E D I A A DV I SOR S Ri ck G o rd o n

rgordon@onthebaymagazine.com J ul i e Bri l l i ng er

j.brillinger@classical1029fm.com

Published by On The Bay Magazine Inc. A subsidiary of ZoomerMedia Limited President & CEO Moses Znaimer

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On The Bay publishes 4 issues per year and is available, free, at 55+ locations in the following communities; Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Nottawa, Craigleith, Thornbury, Clarksburg, Ravenna, Kimberley, Markdale, Meaford, Creemore, Stayner, Glen Huron, Singhampton, Flesherton and Eugenia. The magazine is also distributed to hotels, resorts, developer showrooms, realtor offices, and to members of private ski and golf clubs in the area. For a complete list of the exact locations within each of the communities go to onthebaymagazine.com Subscriptions outside the distribution area are $29.95 per year for 4 issues (including HST), payable by cheque or credit card. No part of On The Bay may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written consent of On The Bay Magazine Inc. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, editor or staff of On The Bay Magazine.

Letters to the editor are welcome: readermail@onthebaymagazine.com On The Bay Magazine 115 Hurontario St., Suite 200, Collingwood, Ontario, L9Y 2L9 Tel: 705-444-9192 Toll-free: 1-888-282-2014 Printed in Canada by RBW Graphics, Owen Sound

Jane Moysey Broker (705) 888-1982 jane@janemoysey.com

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ON THE BAY

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Lorraine McDonald Sales Representative (705) 444-4216 lorrainemcdonald@rogers.com

onthebaymagazine.com

FR O M

O UR

P UB L ISHE R

PHOTO BY JESSICA CRANDLEMIRE

below), and I love helping small businesses market themselves. I love creating advertising proposals that are custom-made to be hugely effective, and I love watching small businesses flourish as a result of the marketing campaigns I help create.

I also love competition. I spent 10 years competing hard (really hard) against On The Bay, and it wasn’t always easy. On The Bay has an exceptional following, unparalleled brand recognition, a ton of respect in the community and a reputation for solid, factual journalism. So, for me to now join the team and continue the legacy – well, it’s an honour.

Will there be changes? Yes. This magazine belongs to Moses, and he has a strong vision; it’s congruent with mine, and we will balance them together. We will build on the foundation created by Editor Janet Lees and former Publisher Jeff Shearer by continuing to be the journalistic authority on meaningful subject matter.

A premium media company with a very bright future.

Building on a

STRONG FOUNDATION

I was just over six years into retirement – after selling my interest in one of the other local magazines – and true to my regular routine, was practising my banjo for an upcoming gig with my band when my iPhone rang with a caller ID of “Unknown.”

For some reason, I’ve been a daily target of scammers disguised as Canada Revenue agents. Their numbers are always displayed as “Unknown,” and lately I’ve been getting tired of them. So I clicked “Accept” but laid my phone on the table and played one smokin’ banjo riff to a person I thought was a scammer calling from a foreign country.

This went on for a minute or two until I noticed the caller had not hung up, and instead was patiently calling out, “David? David?”

“Hello?”

“David, this is Moses Znaimer. Was that you playing the banjo?”

I later learned that since Moses (yes, that CityTV/MuchMusic Moses, who is now the Founder, President and CEO of ZoomerMedia) uses an old BlackBerry in security mode, his calls come through as “Unknown” – which means I now have to answer all calls from future CRA scammers in the event they might actually be Moses.

It was a comical start to an excellent relationship that ultimately resulted in me accepting the job offer from Zoomer, and this publisher’s letter. I will tell you: at first I wasn’t sure I wanted to jump back into publishing. I’ve enjoyed my quiet life over the past six years. I have two kids, a rock band, a mountain bike that requires daily attention, and lots of hobbies. But I love publishing. I love magazines (more on this

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We will also continue to champion causes. Growth in our area continues to create change and challenges, and I’m a big believer that if we don’t work together to preserve, and grant access to, large natural green spaces, we will lose the quality of life we all enjoy – the reason many of us live here. There are always many issues to tackle.

I’ve never been a fan of the term NIMBY – to me it’s a derogatory term (like “tree-hugger”) to dismiss valid and reasonable concerns that residents have about outside forces impacting their way of life. If the people who populate a region can’t have an influence on what affects their region, then who does?

I’m excited to be back in the magazine business. In today’s age of distraction, discord, constant notifications, and the dearth of credible, balanced, independent journalism, magazines offer a quiet minivacation into curated content that is meaningful, entertaining and enlightening. The magazine reader is a captivated reader, savouring content at their own pace, enjoying a unique relationship with each individual published issue.

On a local level, we are blessed in this region to have an abundance of quality magazines. I’m personal friends with the publishers and editors of most of them. I have tremendous respect for the work they do; they publish excellent magazines. Will we compete? Absolutely.

I’m a fierce competitor. But I’m fair and honest as well.

We have a redesign planned for On The Bay for the near future, so expect fresh content, more culture, more home and décor, more local heroes, more value for advertisers, and more to devour in each and every issue. We are also launching a new website to feature local personalities, events, vistas and timely news. This, in addition to the huge reach of our classical music station, 102.9 FM, will complete our position and standing as a premium media company with a very bright future.

Stay tuned. ❧

David Loopstra, Publisher

NOW DEPARTING Start your journey with us.

Door-to-door passenger service between Simcoe County and Pearson International Airport.

We’ll get you there safely, on time and without the anxiety of navigating highway traffic or the lengthy walk from long-term parking.

on

Reserve online at simcoecountyairportservice.ca or call 1-800-461-7529 Simcoe County Airport Service is a member of the Ground Transportation Association of Ontario, and are licensed by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority.

FR O M

O U R

E D IT OR

Wake-up

CALL As a daily newspaper reporter back in the day, covering local council meetings was always a challenge when the subject of infrastructure came up. Infrastructure was cumbersome. It wasn’t interesting. It wasn’t “sexy.”

Now all these years later, it’s still a challenge to convince readers – and even some politicians – that infrastructure is important. After all, it’s made up of elements largely unseen – or seen but unnoticed – such as water and sewer, roads and transit, etc. But as “boring” as infrastructure may seem, it’s crucial to the health and sustainability of any community – as we recently discovered when the Town of Collingwood announced it was halting new development because the local water treatment plant was nearing capacity.

Since we launched On The Bay more than 17 years ago, we’ve been publishing stories about growth and development. We’ve made it clear that our community is growing at ever-faster rates, with no end in sight. So, what happened to our infrastructure? Why didn’t Collingwood council and staff ensure that something as basic as water treatment capability was keeping pace with the growth they were well aware was happening and likely to continue? They were happy to collect development fees on housing project after housing project, but where was that money going if not to ensure that town services could accommodate the growth?

Writer Marc Huminilowycz tries to answer those and other tough questions in our feature article in this issue, holding a magnifying glass up to all of our local municipalities to explain what went wrong, what else could go wrong, and how to ensure that blueprints like Official Plans don’t just sit on a shelf while engineers are ignored and infrastructure crumbles.

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Why didn’t Collingwood staff and council ensure that something as basic as water treatment capability was keeping pace with the growth they were well aware was happening and likely to continue?

The very definition of sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” If we can’t even meet our current needs, what does that say about the future?

When the next municipal election rolls around, we must elect local politicians who don’t just make flashy promises, but can actually do the dull work of adopting rational, well-thought-out plans – and ensuring they’re acted upon – so we don’t end up with a community that is the equivalent of a huge, showy mansion sitting atop a collapsing foundation.

Speaking of the future, we’re looking into our own future here at On The Bay after saying farewell to Jeff Shearer. We wish him all the best in his retirement, which no doubt will include lots of community involvement. And we are pleased to welcome Dave Loopstra as the new Publisher of On The Bay. Dave is an inspired choice to take the reins, and I look forward to working with him to take our magazine to the next level while maintaining the editorial quality and integrity upon which we’ve built our own solid foundation. ❧

Janet Lees, Editor

LIVE OUTSIDE. Do you need a breath of fresh air? When life gets hectic, professionals like you turn to the Georgian Bay for refuge. Out here, the serenity of nature surrounds you — leaving you feeling relaxed. And with a meticulously crafted landscape from the Landmark Group, you’ll never want to go back.

Next time you need a break…live outside.

Bring your vision to life at thelandmarkgroup.ca AWA R D -W I N N I N G L A N D S C A P E S & P R O P E RT Y C A R E

R E A D E R

M A I L

FROM OUR

READERS RE: A WATERSHED MOMENT, SUMMER 2021 I am writing to thank you for your recent coverage of wetlands and their critical importance to the environmental health of communities in the South Georgian Bay region.

Wetlands are “dangerously undervalued” in today’s world, per the Global Wetland Outlook, and are losing ground around the world three times faster than forests. Yet, wetland habitats benefit everyone, from the smallest pond critters to the largest cities.

Wetlands are special natural places that can help us

find solutions to the most important environmental issues of the day.

Without clean and plentiful water, communities experience declining health and opportunity. The solution is available to us in strategic, largescale restoration of nature’s infrastructure for water quality: wetlands.

We have long advocated that wetlands are critical natural infrastructure and their importance for water quantity and quality management is now well recognized. Today, landowner demand for wetland restoration is at historic levels in southern Ontario as municipalities, businesses and individual landowners make the connection between clean water and healthy landscapes.

We see local governments stepping up to protect their water sources and waterways. We see the farming community embracing wetland restoration for its many benefits, including pollinator health, carbon storage and on-farm biodiversity. These supporters make large-scale wetland restoration possible in southern Ontario.

Since 1974, Ducks Unlimited Canada has conserved and restored nearly one million acres of habitat across Ontario. Our stewardship program builds on four decades of collaborative conservation with rural and near-urban landowners to support local conservation goals for communities. Thank you for the opportunity to share our passion for restoring natural infrastructure on Ontario’s beautiful landscapes.

I would also like to mention the professionalism of writer Mark Wessel and photographer Doug Burlock. We are grateful to Mr. Burlock, who generously shared his photographs from Minesing Wetland with us at no cost.

Lynette Mader Manager of Provincial Operations Ducks Unlimited Canada-Ontario

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Too many features to list.

LOT 44 DOROTHY DR, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS - $739,000 Camperdown - building Lot in Peaks Meadows, between Georgian Peaks Ski Club & The Georgian Bay Golf Club.

Stunning setting w/Escarpment & possible Bay views, full Town services at the lot line.

10-102 WENSLEY DR, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS - $1,799,000 5 bed, 3 bath chalet at Georgian Peaks Ski Club and neighbouring lot. High end finishes throughout. Back deck overlooks small creek, over the bridge is a pool oasis on its own 1.46 acre lot.

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TOP

212 - 1 HUME ST, COLLINGWOOD - $879,400 Monaco - One of the few remainingsuites. The Henry Suite features 2 bed, 2 bath south west exposure on the second floor. Approx.

1,182 sq.ft. with large wrap around balcony.

LOT 42 LAKESHORE RD S, MEAFORD - $1,299,000 Georgian Bay view lot.

Approx. 4 acres with unobstructed Georgian Bay and Escarpment views.

Property is located across from a private road on Georgian Bay.

HIGHWAY 26, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS - $3,495,000 97 ft of sandy Georgian Bay waterfront. Stunning 5 bed, 4.5 bath home with gorgeous views and tons of natural light.

Extensively landscaped and large stone patio space make this a waterfront dream.

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joshdolan.com 153 GRAND CYPRESS LANE, BLUE MOUNTAINS - $1,649,000 Gorgeous 4 bed, 3.5 bath, home backing onto the 8th hole at Monterra Golf. Bright open concept kitch/liv/dining, attached double car garage, fully finished lower level with sauna. Private estate lot with large deck.

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I am a member of the Save Beachwood Action Committee (savebeachwood.ca). We have gathered as a group to fight a rezoning proposal. We are currently in battle with the Town of Wasaga Beach and a local developer who wants to develop a property, Lot 82, in the west end of Wasaga Beach known as Brock’s Beach. The developer’s plan is to change the zoning to R3x/R4x and R1x and build high-density condo buildings on the property. This will result in the complete destruction of 5.5 hectares of wooded area that contains 3.3 hectares of coastal wetlands.

A friend on Facebook sent me a link to the article, “A Watershed Moment,” that was published in your magazine on July 7, 2021. I found the article to be tremendously informative and important.

In Wasaga Beach, new housing developments are being built on land that was protected by the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA). One proposed development is known as Part of Lot 34, Concession 3 and is located on the north side of Beachwood Road, west of 74th Street. Recently three applications were submitted by the developer to the Town of Wasaga Beach (TOWB): an Official Plan Amendment, a Zoning By-law Amendment, and a Draft Plan of Vacant Land Condominium. If approved by the TOWB, these would allow for high-density development and the complete destruction of Lot 34.

The coastal wetlands on Lot 34 are regulated and protected by the NVCA, due to the presence of a wetland feature, erosion hazards, floodplain and associated hazards. The wetlands account for 56 per cent of the property, or 3.3 hectares of a total of 5.8 hectares. The NVCA have written, “Given the negative impact that complete removal of wetlands on the property would pose

to inherent ecological and hydrologic functions, NVCA staff will not be in a position to support the residential development concept, as proposed”.

These coastal wetlands provide many benefits for the local residents and, in a larger sense, the world: 1. They absorb huge volumes of water from precipitation and local watersheds. This water is released at a slower and more controlled pace to naturally occurring local creeks, streams and as ground water, which is a source for our drinking water. Storm sewers are in the developer’s plans.

2. They filter large volumes of air and water borne contaminants, prior to release into Georgian Bay.

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3. They absorb huge volumes of carbon from the atmosphere and release it as oxygen. Carbon is a major contributing factor to global warming.

So why is the TOWB entertaining this proposal?

1. Property owners and developers have the right to approach local government and request zoning changes.

2. If the TOWB approves the rezoning, they can bypass the NVCA protection and approve the development. Then they can collect huge levies per house from the developer.

3. The Official TOWB Plan identifies five Zones for ‘Intensification’. Yet Lot 34 is not zoned for “intensification.” Lot 34 is not located in any of the five. Town Council says they can change that.

4. The town is required to grow by 10,000 residents by 2031, based on Ontario’s “A Place to Grow” plan for the Golden Horseshoe. TOWB is well ahead of the requirement. How far? Currently, there are more than 7,937 new units at different stages of development (preconsultation, proposed, approved, in progress) at an average of 2.5 residents per home = 19,842+, 200 per cent of plan.

So why is TOWB building far in excess of need? In this context, the destruction of precious coastal wetlands is unconscionable. How is it possible that local government can override the decision of a government agency that was created and dedicated to the preservation of a healthy environment? It makes no sense. So, what is the motivation to build 220 more units?

Well, what is the root of all evil?

Jeff Dennis, Wasaga Beach

Now serving the luxury real estate market in Collingwood.

Adam Brind

Broker, Senior Vice President Direct Line: 416-258-6220

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Kevin McLoughlin

Sales Representative Direct Line: 705-351-1925

RE: MEAFORD PUMPED STORAGE PLANT The Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA), an organization that led the successful campaign to phase out Ontario’s five coal-fired power plants and is now working to move Ontario towards a 100 per cent renewable future, is proposing a cost-effective alternative to the proposed TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Pipeline) project for a pumped storage plant (PSP) on the shore of Georgian Bay. The OCAA proposes an alternative that would benefit the Ontario ratepayer by reducing the cost by 98 per cent of the TC Energy proposal.

TC Energy is seeking a contract from the Government of Ontario to finance the construction of its Georgian Bay PSP. The proposed PSP will pump 20 million cubic meters of water from Georgian Bay at night to a 375-acre man-made reservoir on the Niagara Escarpment, and release it back into the bay during the day to generate electricity. The plant will use 30 per cent more energy than it generates when it pumps water to the upper reservoir, generating only 1,000 megawatts of power while consuming 1,250 megawatts.

The OCAA proposes extending transmission lines to use water power from Quebec during Ontario’s peak demand instead.

Hydro One could upgrade its transmission system to allow us to import an additional 2,000 megawatts of peak Quebec water power at a cost of only approximately $80 million. Quebec could provide us with twice as much peak power as the TC Energy project at a capital cost that is 98.14 percent lower.

According to TC Energy, the PSP is the ‘most proven, economical’ way to provide us with 1,000 megawatts of peak power to help phase-out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants. This is simply not true.

Jack Gibbons Chair, Ontario Clean Air Alliance

CORRECTION RE: KEEPING US FED, SUMMER 2021 We unfortunately misspelled Nicky’s Doughnuts & Ice Cream and co-owner Sam Holwell’s last name in the article and photo captions. We apologize for the errors.

WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE ISSUES? Do you have any comments, suggestions or additional information in response to any of our stories? To submit your letter to the Editor, go to onthebaymagazine.com/write-a-letter-to-the-editor. Comments may be published in an upcoming issue of On The Bay. We reserve the right to edit for style, content and space considerations.

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PERSPECTIVE

Walk a Mile With Me

by JILLIAN MORRIS photography by JESSICA CRANDLEMIRE

Shé:kon sewakwé:kon (greetings, everyone). I’d like to invite you to walk a mile in my shoes moccasins and see the world through my eyes.

I can recount story after story of my life so far. I can share my perspective on any number of current events and issues.

I can articulate how I feel, how I have felt, and what I hope for. But I cannot offer you my lived experience.

Being Kanien’kehá:ka, seeing the world through an Indigenous lens, is an existence I feel blessed to experience.

I am inherently attached to a beautifully rich culture with

an emboldened history. Through this I am encouraged every day to learn, to connect and to remain humble.

Still, for a disturbingly large segment of society, my identity makes me a political agenda item, a fiscal burden, and a social crux.

I’ve had to work hard at living in a society where I feel resented for everything that I am. And I must take a moment here to honour those in my life whose spirits became far too broken to continue. I wish I didn’t understand the choice.

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Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen The Words Before All Else The People Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue.

Without them we would not be standing together today. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.

So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.

Now our minds are one.

The Earth Mother We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Waters We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms – waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.

Now our minds are one.

The Fish & Water Creatures We turn our minds to all the fish life and all water creatures. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Plants Now we turn toward the vast fields of plant life. As far as the eye can see, the plants grow, working their many wonders as they sustain many life forms.

With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

The Food Plants With one mind, we turn to honour and thank all the food plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the three sisters, corn, beans and squash, the grains, vegetables, and berries have helped to sustain us.

Many other living things draw strength from them, too. We gather all the plant foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Medicine Herbs

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Now we turn to all the medicine herbs of the world, especially remembering tobacco, sage, sweet grass and cedar. From the beginning, they were instructed to bring messages to Creator and take away sickness.

They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy they are still among us, and those special few, who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the medicines and to the keepers of the medicines.

Now our minds are one.

The Animals We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the animal life in the world. Of which the leader is the deer, as they still give us their bodies for sustenance and clothing. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.

The Trees

Dr Robert McCoppen DDS 20

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Cheryl HYGIENIST

Denise HYGIENIST

We now turn our thoughts to the trees. The earth has many families of

continued on page 22...

PERSPECTIVE

The Awen Gathering Place in Collingwood’s Harbourview Park recognizes the First Nations presence in Southern Georgian Bay while fostering reconciliation through education and conversation.

I am so grateful that I found my way out of the dark. I make brief visits now and again, but they are fleeting.

It is responsibility and loyalty that has me continuing to chase the light.

You see, as many Indigenous people will attest, we bring our communities with us. We bring our ancestors with us. We look seven generations ahead.

I am guided by those who came before me, the youth coming up behind me, and those who will walk on this earth after I am gone. Resilience and hope stretching across the generations.

I cannot speak to the motivations of all Indigenous peoples, but I can speak to what I have been taught. So-called “Indigenous rights issues” – residential schools, Land Back initiatives, water protection, anti-pipeline demonstrations, and Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls campaigns – are, in fact, less about rights and more about responsibilities.

When I think about my role as an Okwehon:we (original or first peoples of this land) woman, I come back to the teachings of what are considered the Creator’s original instructions.

We are not just ON this earth; we are OF this earth. We are made up of the same elements as she, our Mother Earth. She is our most precious and wise teacher. She shows her gratitude for life every day through her unconditional love.

The lesson for me is to be thankful for all of my relations each day. I have a responsibility to nurture and feed the relationships in my life. I am meant to show compassion even in the face of harm being done unto me. It is also acceptable for me to do what is needed to care for and protect myself. It’s okay for that to look like a fierce storm. Sometimes it’s necessary.

Haudenosaunee people were gifted the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen, loosely translated to mean the Words Before All Else, sometimes referred to as the Thanksgiving Address. This greeting is meant to open any gathering of people. It aligns the hearts, spirits and minds of those present to foster well-intentioned engagement. The recitation of this prayer reminds us of our duty to centre our role as stewards and protectors of Mother Earth and the life she holds.

In this patriarchal society, too much of the teachings of the matriarchy get lost. Power, control and hierarchy rule our social, political and economic landscapes. We lose countless opportunities to be inclusive, to empower, and to uplift. Relationships become a byproduct of transactional activity.

In this climate, social accountability and consciousness get diluted down to aesthetics, which bolsters the image of an individual or organization but results in extraction from marginalized people and groups, their cultures, and their traumas. The humanity of that lived experience neglected.

Teachings of the water are an integral part of how I understand the matriarch. Water is necessary for bearing and sustaining life, so it has beautiful nurturing and cleansing properties. For the water to fulfill its purpose and support all it’s meant to, the current must also be intense and relentless. For me, that translates into incessant advocation and protection of the guiding culture, values, and interests of this worldview that I carry.

The creation of the residential school system dismantled family structures.

It was an abrupt and violent disruption to the very spirit of the culture.

Mothers, aunties and grandmothers were robbed of their sacred duties. The children who did return now understood the woman’s role differently.

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trees who have their own instructions and uses, especially the Great Maple.

Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the tree life.

Now our minds are one.

The Birds We put our minds together as one and thank all the birds who move and fly about over our heads of which the Eagle is the leader. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. To all the birds – from the smallest to the largest – we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Life is better with friends!

The Four Winds

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We are all thankful for the powers we know as the four winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe.

They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the four winds.

Now our minds are one.

The Thunders Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the thunder beings, live.

With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our grandfathers, the thunders.

Now our minds are one.

The Sun

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We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest brother, the sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our brother, the sun.

Now our minds are one.

Grandmother Moon We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the moon, who lights the night time sky. She is the leader of women all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the moon who watches over the arrival of children here on earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the moon.

Now our minds are one.

The Stars We give thanks to the stars spread across the sky like the most beautiful jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the stars.

Now our minds are one.

The Enlightened Teachers We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened ones who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way of our original instructions, to live as a loving people.

With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.

Now our minds are one.

The Creator Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our most choice words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one.

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Finally, if something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way, and now our minds are one.

PERSPECTIVE

Life is better with friends!

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Jillian Morris is a Collingwood-based Indigenous writer, volunteer and guest speaker who sits on the Town of Collingwood’s Unity Collective.

I will continue to fight for the return of our sacred matriarchy, not as a takeover but as a reuniting of the teachings with those of the patriarchy. The goal is a return to balance, where relationship to all life and an understanding of our interconnectedness are held at the centre of how we travel our paths.

I do not claim that the Indigenous worldview is THE worldview.

Instead, I implore you to assess how you prioritize trust and relationship building in your daily functions.

Know also that I am aware that I am not immune to the conditioning and conveniences of modern life. Every day I need to do the work of decolonizing, reclaiming traditional ways of knowing, and seeking out truths. I know that I must walk in both worlds, and all I can do is my best to do it with care.

I don’t want you to see through my eyes or walk in my shoes. I want you to feel connection to the life around you. I want YOUR eyes to take in the beauty; I want YOUR feet to feel the earth. I want to remind you of what your spirit already knows: We exist within the circle together. ❧

Jillian Morris is a Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) woman and band member of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory who currently lives in Collingwood. With a degree in Public Administration and Indigenous Governance from Ryerson University, she served 13 years with the Department of National Defence (DND) and co-chaired the Defence Aboriginal Advisory Board for a decade. She has spent the past two years volunteering, supporting events, participating on boards, conducting research, and engaging as a guest speaker. She is a proud member of the Feather Carriers: Leadership for Life Promotion community, which is based on cultural teachings and capacity building to support those at risk of premature death.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Perspective is an op-ed column featuring a guest writer’s personal perspective on a topic of interest to our readers. If you have suggestions for future topics or writers, or to comment on this article, please email janet.lees@me.com

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F E NC E P O S T S

ROAD RAGE COMES TO TOWN True confessions from the 9th Concession

by DAN NEEDLES

❧

illustration by SHELAGH ARMSTRONG-HODGSON

Last time I picked up a prescription, the poor pharmacist put his hands to his forehead and wailed, “This used to be a quiet little town!” But progress has come to my little resort community on Georgian Bay since the pandemic hit. For generations the only people in Canada who had a good word to say about Toronto were the ones living there. Now even they have decided they don’t like it and thousands of them have left to take up residence here.

All those condos and townhouses along the Bay that were second and third homes for city people and sat empty for nine months a year have suddenly filled up with their sisters and their cousins and their aunts, and the population has doubled.

Predictably, the pace and intensity of traffic has ramped up as well. It used to be you seldom heard a car horn on the streets unless someone was tooting hello. If you made the mistake of blasting someone, it always turned out to be the minister at the church or some sweet-faced grandmother who gave piano lessons to your daughter.

Those days are gone. The lineup that snakes out of the Starbucks drivethru onto the main street and strangles traffic to one lane produces a chorus of outraged honks from 8 a.m. till noon. The last time I went into town for groceries, I drove past a line of shaking fists and extended middle fingers down to Wendy’s to join the drive-thru lane for a hamburger. As I was giving my order, a little black sports car sped up from another side of the parking lot and nipped into the line ahead of two white vans behind me carrying construction crews. More shouting and fist waving, this time with the aggrieved parties half out of their windows screaming profanities and foul slurs at the line-hopper, who sat staring straight ahead with his cell phone at the ready to record any direct threats to his person.

I got to the grocery store and the cashier said it was nice to see a friendly face.

“People are so impatient and angry,” she sighed. “You can’t do anything without someone yelling at you.”

I loaded my groceries into the truck and moved out into traffic, waiting at the stop sign for a couple with a dog to cross in front of me. As I nudged ahead,

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watching for a gap in the stream of traffic coming from my left, a burly cyclist in Spandex came zipping up the sidewalk from my right and swerved around the front of the truck. There was barely three feet between my bumper and the oncoming traffic.

He braked and whacked the hood of the truck. “You’re supposed to stop at that white line!” he shouted.

“Bicycles are not allowed on the sidewalk,” I said as mildly as I could. “If you have wheels, you are supposed to be on the road.” He barrelled on, middle finger extended skyward in reply.

Sheesh, I thought. What has happened to this place? Should we be living here anymore?

I drove back to my sideroad south of town, a beautiful patch of farmland as yet untouched by sodium lights and monster houses. For some odd reason, nothing has changed in our neighbourhood since I bought the farm in 1978, apart from two new houses out at the corner where the mailboxes stand (we call it The Subdivision). A Clearview Township construction crew was still at work replacing culverts along our road. I drove around the barriers past a sign that said, “Local Traffic Only” and shortly met a township truck parked across the road as a giant yellow excavator scratched out the ditch. A woman in a hard hat got out of the truck and came to my window.

“He’ll just be a minute, Danny,” she said. “Are you in a rush?”

Me, in a rush? My family would burst out laughing.

“Well, I do have ice cream,” I said. I meant it as a joke.

“Ice cream?” she said. Out came the radio. “He’s got ice cream!” she barked.

“Ice cream?” came a voice back on the radio. Suddenly the excavator folded up and swivelled 90 degrees, exposing a truck-sized hole for me to pass through. The flag man stepped up and waved me around like I was an emergency vehicle. As I passed, the flagman and the machine operator both grinned and gave me the index finger, a traditional sign of greeting and affection in a rural community.

It was a lovely moment. I found myself at home once again. ❧

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FEATURE

Growing Why was Collingwood forced to turn off the tap on new development? Why isn’t water treatment keeping pace with growth? How do we ensure we’re not growing too fast for infrastructure to keep up? story by MARC HUMINILOWYCZ photography by JESSICA CRANDLEMIRE

On April 26, 2021, Collingwood Town Council shocked local residents, developers and bordering municipalities alike when it passed an Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL), which essentially turned off the tap on new developments for at least one year due to a projected shortfall in its treated water capacity.

The announcement outraged local developers in the midst of various stages of project approvals. It also caused consternation among Collingwood residents and bordering municipalities, which have treated water supply agreements with the Town of Collingwood.

Over the years, On The Bay has been reporting on growth and new residential development in each Spring issue, interviewing developers and planners from the five municipalities in Southern Georgian Bay. We compared their statistics on new residential development from year to year and examined projections for our municipalities in their Official Plans and the province’s Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which is administered by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

It has been evident over the past three years that all municipalities in our region have seen a growing demand for new housing – especially during the

past year, which saw a combination of unstoppable market demand and new interest from outside of our region due to changes in living patterns associated with COVID-19. Along with this came concerns about supply, affordability, and sustainability.

In our Spring 2020 issue, On The Bay began its analysis of the development picture as follows: “As developers eagerly cash in on the growing demand for housing in Southern Georgian Bay – offering a mix of residential types to their new home palette – municipal planners scramble to keep up with development proposals, approvals and site services. Meanwhile, some local citizens are concerned about the sustainability of what they view as rampant building activity, fearing it will impact municipal infrastructures, local traffic, the environment and the character of the communities they love.”

With all the evidence of the continued growth in our region, including the projections of municipal Official Plans and the provincial Growth Plan, we have to ask, “What happened?” Is Collingwood’s water treatment crisis the “canary in the coal mine”? Should other local municipalities be concerned about their infrastructure?

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FEATURE

a trend analysis? I have asked the town several times for access to these reports, but have been directed to their website, where I couldn’t find them.” (On The Bay was able to access these reports from the town. The data appears to show annual treated water volume close to or below the Collingwood’s average use of 6.6 million cubic metres from 2014 through 2017, with increases above this average from 2018 through 2020.)

Vincent says he has presented these and other concerns to Collingwood council and staff. His main bone of contention with the town is that it did not consult with local developers about its water problem. “I question any municipality that comes out with a red alert one day, then passes an ICBL four days later,” he says. “They must have been meeting for months on the issue, with no public or industry consultation. I asked the town many times to collaborate with the development community, without success. Where was the planning?

There was no collaboration with our industry, and no consultation. I am totally disappointed with our town. There’s no effective leadership on council or in the planning department. If they cannot show competence, then they’re incompetent.”

Rob Voigt, President of the Georgian Tringle Development Institute (GTDI), is a professional planner who, prior to his current position as Director of Planning at Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities, also worked in the public sector, including the Town of Collingwood.

Thomas Vincent, developer of the Balmoral Place Retirement Community, has been very vocal about Collingwood council and staff ignoring population projections and engineering recommendations as far back as 2015 to replace the water treatment plant.

Thomas Vincent, developer of Collingwood’s highly successful Balmoral Place Retirement Community, is livid about Collingwood’s sudden imposition of the ICBL, calling it “draconian” and “unfair” (although two blocks of Balmoral are exempt from the ICBL).

“I have spent the past 15 years of my time and money on this project,” he says, estimating that, once complete, the development will generate $2 million in taxes annually for the town. “How did this happen? For one thing, you have to be careful with population projections. Collingwood’s population says 22,500, but this doesn’t count 4,000 to 5,000 residents who have vacation/weekend homes here. Governments set population targets that have nothing to do with reality and markets. They’re unrealistic. Actual figures are always higher.”

In Vincent’s opinion, Collingwood did several things wrong in dealing with its treated water issue. “Around 2015/2016, there was an initiative to replace the water treatment plant. It was shelved. Show me the report.

Why was this not acted upon?” demands Vincent, adding that the town had also collaborated at one point with engineering firm consultants working ‘pro bono’ to come up with solutions, which were ignored.

“Every year, each municipality in Ontario, including Collingwood, has to submit a report to the Ministry of the Environment on the status of its water treatment facilities – present and future. Does this not show

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“Where was the planning? There was no collaboration with our industry, and no consultation. I am totally disappointed with our town.

There’s no effective leadership on council or in the planning department.

If they cannot show competence, then they’re incompetent.”

Like developer Thomas Vincent, Voigt is very vocal in his criticism of Collingwood’s imposition of the ICBL on local developers, stating that, with population projections going back decades, the town should have done a better job of monitoring its infrastructure. “It’s no surprise that this happened, given the exponential growth combined with the length of time it takes – up to five years – to bring a project online in the development process. This is stuff the town has been negotiating for half a decade.”

Following the announcement of the ICBL, the GTDI immediately issued a letter to the Collingwood mayor and council, stating its strong disapproval of the decision citing, among other things, a “lack of transparency behind town staff’s formulation of this … town-wide development freeze.”

The letter pointed out that GTDI members “have been working with the town in the building of infrastructure, and the study and management of the water treatment plan for decades.” It stated that, although GTDI members have been continually involved in discussions with town staff throughout the development process, the town never indicated to them that “such an exaggerated reaction and heavy-handed measure was being contemplated.”

Responding to the town’s press release justifying the ICBL due to

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Rob Armstrong, Meaford’s Chief Administrative Officer, looks out over the Meaford Wastewater Treatment Plant, which he says poses a bigger issue to his municipality than treated drinking water.

“With more development than wastewater capacity right now, we’re monitoring the situation carefully. Because there is a four to five-year gap in construction, and we don’t allocate capacity with developers without signed agreements, some development may be delayed.” exponential growth in Collingwood over the past five years, placing greater demand on its water treatment plant, the GTDI letter stated, “the fact is, that development applications and scale of growth have long been prescribed in the province’s Places to Grow Act of 2005, and codified in the Official Plan, Zoning By-law and Draft Approval Plans for subdivisions.”

Voigt points out that GTDI members presented numerous submissions to council, offering solutions to the water issue. Key among these, dated following the town’s decision to offer exemptions to the ICBL, was a joint submission from two reputable professional engineers in Collingwood: Christopher Crozier, founder of Crozier & Associates Consulting Engineers, and Dan Hurley, President of Tatham Engineering.

The submission presented seven solutions to help the town manage its water capacity issue. These included adjustments, reviews and equipment add-ons regarding chlorine dosing in the winter to increase winter capacity, and short-term capacity reductions with The Blue Mountains and New Tecumseth (which currently have treated water supply agreements with Collingwood).

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“The GTDI has always supported an engineering solution to engineering and land use. We’re concerned that the town’s solution to this problem is a land use approach,” says Rob Voigt. “We feel that a former Director of Planning Staff Report on the topic was convoluted.

A town engineer offered several solutions, but planning felt that a policy solution was needed. As a planner myself, I believe that a policy document will not drive a solution to an infrastructure issue. It lies with the work of engineers. It’s a tap issue versus a size issue. Why is it not being done where it really belongs?”

Voigt is in strong agreement with Thomas Vincent about Collingwood’s hesitancy to involve local developers and engineers in the issue. “How can council ignore the voices of our industry?” he asks.

“Every single road, facility, park and trail has been designed and built by us. Council celebrates and rewards other businesses and professions with grants, etc. But it has failed to consult with us. We raised warning flags about the water issue, but they made a hasty decision. We need to be at the table to help focus on engineering as the solution, in order to build a better community.”

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It is apparent that the voices of Collingwood’s development community are loud and strong with respect to the town’s handling of the water issue. According to a letter to the editor published in Collingwood Today, it also appears that some citizens, prompted by the water treatment capacity shortfall, are concerned about the rapid growth of their town. The letter writer asks, “Do we want to continue to be one of the fastest-growing communities, ending up as just another characterless, sprawling mall-bound town?”

As to the treated water issue, one prominent Collingwood resident (who requested not to be named) has been keeping a watchful eye on Collingwood municipal politics, decisions and plans for many years.

While this source believes that the town’s imposition of the ICBL was the right thing to do under the circumstances, they question how the treated water shortfall could have happened in the first place.

“Every municipality in our region has experienced a boatload of staff turnover. When control switches, things fall through the cracks.

I frankly think someone messed up with all the staffing changes, but I don’t know for sure.” Referring to Collingwood’s “Vision 2020” strategic plan, created in 1999/2000, the interviewee notes that the town’s population projected at the time for 2021 was 30,357, with an additional 3,700 housing units to accommodate growth. “At our current population [approximately 25,000], we didn’t even meet that target, so the excuse of growth occurring too fast really doesn’t hold water.”

To answer these questions and concerns from the development community and concerned citizens about Collingwood’s treated water shortfall and resulting ICBL, On The Bay interviewed Collingwood Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sonya Skinner (a professional engineer, incidentally), who was hired in October of 2020.

When asked why the town only realized recently that its water treatment facility did not have sufficient capacity, and suddenly imposed an ICBL on developers in the midst of brisk building activity in the town, Skinner described the issue as “a perfect storm, in three parts.”

With regard to Collingwood’s “Vision 2020” Community-Based Strategic Plan, which projected a population of over 30,000 in 2021, Skinner says, “Two other strategic plans involving community input were created afterwards, with the latest plan approved last July. In addition, the town has, with the help of the community, undertaken several studies to ensure sustainable growth and quality of life, including Servicing, Parks, Recreation & Culture, Traffic and Transportation, Fire Protection, and Economic Development.”

The town’s Official Plan, dated January 2019, is currently in the process of being updated, with presentation to council scheduled in 2021. With regard to infrastructure and development, it states, “It is the intent … that no major forms of new development be permitted unless adequate municipal water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer facilities are available” and that “new development will be generally contiguous to existing built-up areas to avoid leap-frogging over undeveloped lands.”

“As a town with an overall budget of about $100 million, we work hard to make sure that the town’s vision is articulated, and that we further develop it through our Master Plans,” says Skinner. “Considering public input, council endorses the directions we are taking as a community, and staff work very hard to make sure that services and more are planned and delivered.”

Another factor in part one of the “perfect storm,” according to Skinner, was the occurrence of a couple of large industries moving out of Collingwood in 2013, which significantly reduced the town’s water needs. The third factor involved an error in a long-standing calculation related to water chlorination in Collingwood’s Water Treatment Plant in 2018. She explains: “In cold water, chlorine is less effective, so more of it needs to be added to achieve virus removal to provincial standards. An error was discovered with one of the parameters used in the chlorine disinfection calculation. When corrected, the result was more chlorine must be added during cold water conditions to achieve sufficient disinfection.

This limits the volume of water that can be produced during winter.

With our winter limitations, the allocation of future demand now needed to consider a lower available capacity, and the way allocation is provided for potential development needed to be reconsidered.”

According to Skinner, mounting population growth before and during COVID-19, combined with already approved but de-activated plans being re-activated, created the second part of the perfect storm, with “more development in the pipeline than before.”

“With the maximization of our chlorine option, we have water for several years of development at the expected pace,” she says. “If our efforts to enhance our winter disinfection in the next couple of years are successful, and we can reduce some of the flow that we have held as a water safety factor, then a reasonable water supply for new development should be available through to the opening of the expanded water treatment plant.”

That said, Skinner explains that, since the additional water supply is not guaranteed, Collingwood staff have advised council that water should only be allocated to developments that are ready for building permits. “With the exemptions [to the ICBL] awarded by council in 2021, we anticipate being roughly consistent with the amount of construction that occurred in 2020,” she notes.

“We could have improved things on the staff side,” Skinner adds.

“We were not as connected as we could have been in communicating the increasing speed and volume of developments. We could have done a better job in managing the release of water allocation in relation to the timing of development, to help ensure we were projecting all the developments as accurately as practical. Going forward, we are establishing a better coordination between our planning, public works and finance departments to ensure we are well connected.”

Skinner describes the third part of the perfect storm as “growing pains” regarding setting up a water allocation regime and involving developers in water discussions earlier. “The town was several years too late to do a collaborative approach,” she says. “Ideally, as any town grows, it will set up a regime for the allocation of services such as water and wastewater, preferably while there is ample servicing available, and where residents and businesses, including developers, can have thoughtful public conversations about allocation that will support their community’s growth.”

Skinner says in hindsight, collaboration with developers and engineers might have helped. “If we had sat down with them, there may have been voluntary options negotiated that would have enabled a

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Collingwood CAO Sonya Skinner at the Collingwood Water Treatment Plant, which is running dangerously low on capacity. An expansion could take until 2025 or later to complete.

“We could have improved things on the staff side. We were not as connected as we could have been in communicating the increasing speed and volume of developments. We could have done a better job in managing the release of water allocation in relation to the timing of development, to help ensure we were projecting all the developments as accurately as practical.” collaborative solution to our water challenges,” says Skinner. “However, Collingwood was planning for a water treatment plant expansion, and had started the process with the completion of a Class Environmental Assessment. The town looks forward to collaborating with these professionals in working through the next steps for water allocation.”

She adds, “I fully understand that developers were surprised by the ICBL. I was surprised. It’s a blunt but fair instrument that makes sense at this time. Its purpose is to buy time to study options. The development paperwork can continue. This is not a barrier. We set up something as quickly as we could to allow developers to continue the business end.”

Skinner admits that a 2025 target completion date for the water treatment plant expansion is aggressive, and may take longer. “The town has hired a design consultant, and we’re asking: ‘What can we do?’ ” A report from the consultant, due in early fall of this year, could result in more than 800 new development units being approved, according to Skinner. “We’re looking for go-to solutions that will allow developers to have clear expectations on when they can access water. We want to keep the taps on for new development.”

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What does Collingwood’s water issue mean for other municipalities in Southern Georgian Bay? Are their infrastructures and community services prepared for the inevitable growth in our region?

The province’s Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, recently updated from a 2017 version, projects that, between 2021 and 2051, the County of Simcoe will expand its population from 357,000 to 555,000.

This is being factored into Simcoe County’s Official Plan update.

The Growth Plan will be allocating a large portion of this projected growth to Primary Settlement Areas (PSAs), with some growth allocated to other area municipalities. Collingwood will continue to be the only PSA in Southern Georgian Bay. According to an Official Plan Update Discussion Paper dated July, 2020, Collingwood estimates that it will capture 10 per cent of Simcoe County’s total population growth by 2041, amounting to a population of 41,500 people.

The Town of Wasaga Beach hopes to be classified as a PSA in the updated Growth Plan and Simcoe Official Plan, and is currently updating its own Official Plan to accommodate for growth. The existing Growth Plan estimates that the population of Wasaga Beach will grow from the

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last census of 20,675 to 27,500 by 2031. The updated Plan forecasts 40,000 to 50,000 people by 2051. The Town already has in place growth and intensification policies for “Growth Nodes,” with existing treated water demand at only 54 per cent of its design capacity, and its wastewater plant operating at 43 per cent of capacity.

The Blue Mountains, which is not within the province’s Growth Plan, continues to be proactive in developing sustainable growth strategies with input from its citizens, with respect to infrastructure, transportation, parks, and quality of life. It even has a Fire Master Plan, according to CAO Shawn Everitt. “Our demographics are changing and, with the high cost of living here, volunteer firefighters are tough to retain.”

Collingwood’s treated water shortfall has directly impacted The Blue Mountains, with which it has a long-standing water purchase agreement.

(As mentioned earlier, Collingwood is considering reducing the amount of water it sells to The Blue Mountains.) “The ICBL caught us all by surprise, and it’s alarming,” says Everitt. “We’ve looked at our capacity, as well as all options for the future, and I think we’re farther ahead than Collingwood, with established projects from east to west under way. The water issue is timely for us, forcing us to take steps to make sure we’re prepared.”

“We are continuing to work with Collingwood to maintain our water agreement as best as possible. At the same time, we are determining our flexibility – what capacity we’re willing to give up and what we can live with – and starting to look at our own water infrastructure.”

“We are continuing to work with Collingwood to maintain our water agreement as best as possible,” Everitt adds. “At the same time, we are determining our flexibility – what capacity we’re willing to give up and what we can live with – and starting to look at our own water infrastructure. The next three to five years are critical for us, with huge developments like Castle Glen coming up. We will be conducting east and west end water studies to identify needs, and a future expansion of our wastewater facility, which is getting close to capacity, is scheduled for completion by early 2024.”

Meaford Chief Administrative Officer Rob Armstrong says that municipality is set up for future growth with respect to treated water, having completed a major update to its plant in the early 2000s, and currently at only 15 per cent of its capacity. The bigger issue for Meaford is wastewater.

“With more development than wastewater capacity right now, we’re monitoring the situation carefully,” says Armstrong. “Because there is a four to five-year gap in construction, and we don’t allocate capacity with developers without signed agreements, some development may be delayed. Right now, we’re in the environmental assessment stage for a new wastewater facility. In the meantime, we’re doing everything we can to keep development going.”

Is the growth and sustainability situation in Collingwood and other Southern Georgian Bay municipalities unique in Ontario? Not at all, according to a May 2, 2021 article in the Toronto Star reporting on Collingwood’s water issue, which stated, “Collingwood now joins other Ontario communities that are waving red flags about the scale of

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Shawn Everitt, CAO of The Blue Mountains, which gets some of its drinking water from Collingwood, calls the shortfall “alarming.”

development and problems associated with planning and management of water and infrastructure.”

A respected senior professional planner in Toronto, who asked not to be named, notes, “There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has been pushing people out of the cities into rural parts of Ontario, and there’s definitely growth pressure everywhere. Meanwhile, there’s nothing new being built in Toronto. Some [outlying] municipalities may or may not have their own planners and engineers. They need a CAO who understands this and hires the right people – like a long-range planner who determines how much land is available, and accurately predicts how many people are using water and flushing toilets, then rolls this over to engineering to determine what to build.

“Water and sewer plants are very expensive. You need to get provincial/federal funding, and studies done. And, despite funding and development charges, you may also have to charge your existing population to pay for new development.”

Of all the municipalities in Southern Georgian Bay, Clearview Township has experienced the most dramatic growth in terms of population and new residential development. In last spring’s issue of On The Bay, Clearview’s Director of Community Services, Mara Burton, was quoted as follows: “We have around 4,000 units in draft plan and a couple of hundred registered or pending registration this year. We are working through some water capacity constraints with our developers in Stayner, and sewer capacity constraints in Creemore in an effort to keep permits flowing as much as possible.”

When asked recently about the current future state of the municipality’s infrastructure, and the infrastructure challenges of accommodating growth and new development, Burton replied with the following email: “In regard to planning for servicing for developments in Clearview, we are always keeping on top of development in relation to our infrastructure. It is challenging for any municipality because the demand for sewer and water can change rapidly from year to year, but the

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Mara Burton, Director of Community Services for Clearview Township, at the Clearview Water Treatment Plant in Stayner. Burton says it can take several years before a municipality has the expanded capacity to meet rapidly increased demand.

“We have around 4,000 units in draft plan and a couple of hundred registered or pending registration this year. We are working through some water capacity constraints with our developers in Stayner, and sewer capacity constraints in Creemore in an effort to keep permits flowing as much as possible.” building of the services takes multiple years. For instance, if you only have one developer wanting to construct, then you may have sewer and water capacity at that rate of growth for many years. However, if suddenly a number of developers want to bring their projects on line all at the same time, then the capacity can get taken up quite quickly.”

Before any shovel goes into the ground, a number of things have to happen, notes Burton, including the undertaking of Environmental Assessments, budgeting, going to tender and constructing the project.

Existing distribution pipes under roads throughout a municipality may need to be upsized. Therefore, it can take several years before a municipality has the expanded capacity to meet that sudden and changing demand.

“Generally, municipalities do not want to overbuild their sewer and water plants for a couple of reasons,” writes Burton. “One is that they have to upfront some or all of the costs and recover it through development charges, which are generally paid once a building permit is issued. If the market changes and the developers decide not to build, then the municipality has to wait in order to be paid back that investment.

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“The municipality also has to consider that some infrastructure (pumps, drives and electronics etc. inside plants) have a limited life and require maintenance and replacement. It does not want to have to replace overbuilt infrastructure before it is needed and paid for.”

Like the rest of the world, we in Southern Georgian Bay have experienced the tragic circumstances, personal upheaval and dramatic disruptions resulting from the global pandemic, with death, illness, lockdowns, social distancing and remote work.

Although our region has experienced steady growth over the years, COVID-19 brought a sudden influx of people from Ontario’s urban centres, looking for a better way of life. Our municipalities have evolved over time to be more transparent and, with input from members of their communities, more proactive in preparing themselves and their citizens for a future of sustainable growth. Mistakes have happened along the way. Maybe they should be considered “growing pains,” from which our municipal councils and staff can learn, improve, and work together with the community to ensure that development is managed, infrastructure is planned, and the taps never go dry. ❧

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ave you noticed the trend in newly built homes – that steel and glass, flat-roof look that seems to be cropping up everywhere? Some neighbourhoods near the ski hills are riddled with these boxy houses clad in black and glass. Many new builds in the countryside appear to slope into the landscape with angled roofs and walls of windows. And in downtown Collingwood, it seems that every fixer-upper that gets torn down is replaced with something either bulky and gabled or minimal and contemporary.

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This Blue Mountains home by Rockside Campbell Design features a wall of windows looking out from an indoor pool to an outdoor pool.

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HOME DESIGN

PHOTO BY LORNE BRIDGMAN FOR ROCKSIDE CAMPBELL DESIGN

Historically, changes in architecture have created controversy. Architecture tends to reflect social trends, so when the status quo alters, outrage can follow.

This contemporary Rockside Campbell home in The Blue Mountains has a “floating” room with windows on three sides, giving the feeling of being in a treehouse.

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In traditional neighbourhoods, residents often get shaken up by ‘edgy’ homes being built around them, protesting that these contemporary houses don’t fit into the streetscape.

Duntroon-based architectural designer Jim Campbell of Rockside Campbell Design is well aware of the objections.

Campbell was responsible for the ‘copper house’ at the corner of Cedar and Third streets in Collingwood. As the house was being built, it really got people talking, often in a negative way.

From Campbell’s perspective, if a house doesn’t elicit a reaction, then he questions whether it’s worth doing. “People need to realize that we’re in the 21st century,” he says. “If all we do is recreate historical stuff, it becomes a bit of a dead end.”

He points out that both the Federal Building and Town Hall in Collingwood were cutting-edge architectural icons of their time and “we should be looking at what we can do to create future icons.”

Similarly, Corey Gannon, whose former company, Tom & Associates, built a striking white farmhouse-style residence on Second Street in Collingwood, says that “the house made the front page of the newspaper and not in a good news way. We had neighbours complain, councillors complain, the deputy mayor complain ... there was a lot of friction.”

According to realtor Ian Hawkins, there are no rules when it comes to the exterior aesthetics of a house. No matter how much the neighbours object, “if it meets the zoning criteria and the building codes, then you can build anything you want, unless it’s in the heritage district.” He also notes that, from a real estate perspective, there is increasing demand for this contemporary look with its airy open spaces and minimalist appeal.

Historically, changes in architecture have created controversy. Architecture tends to reflect social trends, so when the status quo alters, outrage can follow. Consider the Victorian era and its showy homes with ornate mouldings, ornamental pillars and excessive embellishment, not to mention dark and chopped-up interiors. Collingwood’s Third Street offers examples of these red brick mansions. It was a

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Blu, a new townhome development in Thornbury being built by Richpark Homes, will feature contemporary design with flat roofs and floor-toceiling windows.

reaction to this exuberant style that led to the rise of the 1920s modern movement in architecture.

There is some confusion about the terms ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ when used in architecture. ‘Contemporary’ essentially refers to buildings that are in fashion today. It changes as trends come and go. ‘Modern’ is a style that emerged in Europe from the 1920s to 1950 or so. It featured clean lines and stark minimalism and was born out of Bauhaus, a German School of Art and Architecture. The name Bauhaus is German for ‘building house’ and the school was famously responsible for the adage “less is more.”

There is a relation also between a contemporary look and the industrial style, which began in the 1940s when abandoned industrial buildings were turned into apartment complexes.

These loft-style apartments were, and still are, much in demand in areas like New York City’s SoHo district. In the heritage sections of our local downtowns, some of this conversion is taking place as old brick buildings are being gutted, restored, and turned into edgy apartments with rooftop terraces and industrial interiors. In the Shipyards development, the condo building and townhouses mirror aspects of the original warehouses that were in place when Collingwood’s ship building industry was in full swing.

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Nobody knows for sure how these new, trendy homes will be viewed in the future, but for now they’re pretty easy to spot.

These are some of the architectural characteristics to look for.

• Flat roofs (or dramatically angled ones) and strong geometric shapes that give the building a cubic look.

• Straight and horizontal lines. No peaked roofs, arched doorways or curved window shapes.

• Enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, often installed asymmetrically to allow tons of light into the interior.

• Clerestory windows, which are narrow and horizontal and often placed at the top of a wall near the ceiling.

• Melding of outdoor and indoor spaces, allowing plenty of natural light into the interior.

• Outdoor spaces that have been purposefully landscaped to soften the hard lines.

• A feature wall or element such as a bold stone chimney put in place as a visual anchor for the house.

• Contrasting colours – often black windows and lighter wall covering. Blocks of primary colours are sometimes used to offset the monochrome nature of the building.

• A variety of textures used for exterior surfaces: wood, stone, cement, steel, etc.

• Rooftop decks, terraces and greenery.

• Restrained palette consisting primarily of neutrals, black and, increasingly, the use of white for exterior cladding.

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Several ‘about to be built’ developments in this area feature modular design style. “It’s the flavour of the day for people purchasing homes,” says Clarence Poirier, owner of Poirier & Brightling Marketing, the firm that is promoting and selling Aquavil and Blue Vista, two upcoming residential developments being built by Royalton Homes. “People are tired of the ’80s and ’90s subdivision homes with their centre hall plans and circular staircases. They’re looking for something new and more interesting, a little less cookie-cutter.”

Phase One of Blue Vista (next to Scandinave Spa) has already sold out and will begin construction next year. “People seem to like the free form of architecture,” adds Poirier. “Each building is a little different. They have the same proportions

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and look, but there’s a little element that makes it unique. And everyone seems to want a rooftop terrace. It’s definitely the hot button right now.”

Contemporary homes with their horizontal planes, projecting overhangs and flat roofs lend themselves to rooftop decks or terraces, the newly coveted and trendy home attribute.

New and add-on construction of rooftop decks and green roofs has been on the rise in the last 10 years. When a rooftop space is thoughtfully designed and integrated it provides much added value. It’s another place to gather, be outside, and take in the views. Even without a view the space can be made convivial and private with planted shrubs and grasses.

Another advantage on a hot summer day is the breeze at roof level, and generally, a lack of flying bugs. By adding wi-fi access, the deck can become an outdoor home office; adding a wet bar will make sunset cocktails easy; and, if allowed, a firepit can extend the use of the rooftop deck into a four season retreat.

When adding a rooftop deck to an existing home, many things need to be considered, primarily the age and condition of the existing roof. Most roofs weren’t designed to have people walk on them and certainly not meant to have add-on furniture.

It can be complex and expensive to install.

You must comply with zoning and fire codes (in our climate, many people want to add a firepit or outdoor fireplace). In an emergency you need to be able to get people off the deck and outside in a hurry. Some neighbourhood bylaws require the rooftop deck to be invisible from the street.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD YOUNG

Retired architect Richard Young designed his own home on Minnesota Street in Collingwood with a rooftop garden, a burgeoning trend in “green design” that flat roofs make possible.

Green rooftops are environmentally friendly and reflect one of the most significant changes in building in the last few years; a concern for the environment.

Rooftop decks get full exposure to sun, wind and weather. In windy conditions even the strongest most expensive umbrellas won’t work. Permanent built-in pergolas or overhangs for shade provide the best solution.

Richard Young, a retired architect whose new Collingwood home has a beautiful rooftop terrace, says it is like an infinity roof or a green continuum; when you sit up there, you are in the treetops. He advises using pros for the plant installation. “There are living roof farms which grow plants specifically for rooftop gardens,” he notes. “Our terrace has mainly chives and sedums, scattered in random patterns and put down in palettes.”

Green rooftops are environmentally friendly and reflect one of the most significant changes in building in the last few years; a concern for the environment. Sustainable style involves fewer polluting materials. To be truly sustainable, the building materials should all be able to be recycled for future use.

Amongst almost all builders, there’s now a concerted effort to use environmentally friendly materials and recycled goods.

And the ultimate in recycled building materials is the use of shipping containers for building.

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HOME DESIGN

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Shipping containers may be the box home of the future.

They’re sustainable, green, and environmentally friendly.

Made from durable, stackable shipping containers that once crossed oceans on freighters or countries by train, they can be converted into a variety of building forms.

Originally, these used shipping containers were seen as a solution for affordable housing, but now they’re considered trendy. Many are being built on the rocky shores of cottage country, where they blend easily into the environment. And slowly, they are being introduced to town neighbourhoods.

Downtown Collingwood now has its first shipping container home. It was built from four 8-foot by 40-foot steel containers and brought in by crane to the site. “We’ve had a ton of interest in these container homes,” says Jason McLean of McLean Contracting, the local custom home builder responsible for this new build. “We started a company called Honomobo six years ago based in Edmonton, Alberta. We get used shipping containers, prebuild them there, finish the interiors, and then ship them all over North America. Since we began, we’ve built 90 container homes.”

Honomobo homes have a fixed layout and a set palette of interior and exterior styling options. “This form of modular

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HOME DESIGN

Retired architect Richard Young designed his new house on Minnesota Street in Collingwood with a pitched roof on one side and a flat roof on the other because he was worried a completely flat roof would stand out too much on the street of mostly Victorian-era homes.

Unlike many contemporary homes, it is white, not black and it has a pitched roof, not a flat one, because a flat roof “would be the only one on the street and would feel impolite.”

home is a great solution for building in general,” offers McLean.

“There’s great quality control, no surprises, no over-runs. The prices are all fixed. And we can build a home in three months.

It’s a predictable and transparent building process.”

“I think of ‘style’ as a fake word,” says Richard Young, an architect who designed his own home on Minnesota Street in Collingwood. “As architects, we always look for truth in our work. We design for form and function, not style.”

Young’s house, built of white stucco with colour blocks of grey, yellow and brick red, connects quietly to the lot and its surroundings. It was built, as Young says, to reflect our current lifestyles, which have changed a lot in the last few years. “It’s a house that speaks of wellness and it brings light and joy into life.”

Unlike many contemporary homes, it is white, not black (“black houses eat light,” contends Young) and it has a pitched roof, not a flat one, because a flat roof “would be the only one on the street and would feel impolite.”

When Young designs a house, his goal is to achieve the best possible use for the individuals living in it. And the best use of the site. As he says, “The site brings messages to you.” In his own house, he considered elements like sun and wind patterns,

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HOME DESIGN

relationship to the street and to the neighbouring houses, which are 40 feet away on both sides. The addition of a rooftop terrace above the garage is like “a beautiful surprise” where Young and his family can sit in the treetops and look down across the gentle treed curve of Minnesota Street.

So, it seems that contemporary architecture is having a moment. Avant garde buildings are bringing awareness and new appreciation of design in home building. In reality, a house should be designed to fit individual needs, regardless of what the neighbours think. As Redwood Homes, a local custom home builder, says on its website, “Your new home should match you, not the neighbourhood. The need for uniqueness is a human factor that simply cannot be denied.”

Maybe as this acceptance increases there will be less neighbourhood objection to new builds and more interest in what really makes a house a home. ❧

PHOTO BY LORNE BRIDGMAN FOR ROCKSIDE CAMPBELL DESIGN

In reality, a house should be designed to fit individual needs, regardless of what the neighbours think.

The floor-to-ceiling windows common in today’s contemporary design are perfect for country living, bringing sweeping views of rolling hills indoors.

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Now there’s an even bigger team in your corner We’ve got you covered, Collingwood!

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How to make the interior match the exterior Contemporary interiors, with their high ceilings, walls of glass and hard surfaces, can be stark and uninviting. “It’s not an easy style to design interiors for,” says Katherine Arcaro of Farrow Arcaro Design (F.A.D.). “It can be hard to add intimacy and texture. And some of the biggest challenges involve window treatments.”

Most houses will need some form of window covering, either for privacy, sun blocking in summer, or warmth in winter. “With these huge, oddly shaped windows, and different mechanisms for opening them, the planning for window treatments has to be done ahead of time, and it’s very costly,” she says. “Most of these homes

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This contemporary living room by Farrow Arcaro Design (F.A.D.) features clean lines, simple furnishings, geometric patterns, and a contemporary fireplace beneath a horizontal window that draws light from above.

will have roller blinds, but they have to be pre-wired for automation.”

Designer and author Jonathan Adler maintained that “everything in your house should have a raison d’etre. If you don’t know why it’s there, get rid of it.” This ideal reflects the concept that space is more important than things in a contemporary interior. The space must breathe. Most interiors feature neutral colours and fabrics (linen and cotton) with only occasional splashes of bold colour and very little use of pattern. Furniture tends to be clean-lined and made from light woods like birch or maple.

Generally, there are no moldings, but if there are, they will be simple and minimal. Large-scale art, particularly abstract paintings or arresting photographs, are commonly chosen as focal points.

While modern décor can feel cold, limiting and overtly minimal, contemporary style is calming and serene, with a focus on architectural elements, decorative details, and bold scales. It’s all about simplicity, clean lines, plays on texture, and quiet drama, with a concise colour palette to create warmth and exude easy sophistication. ❧

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THEPICOTTEAM.COM MAXIMIZE YOUR BUYING/SELLING REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE

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ARTIS T

S POTLIGH T

Untamed Nature Bruce Peninsula artist Margarethe Vanderpas transforms wind, water, rocks and trees into unique and vibrant vistas on canvas

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AR TI S T

S P OT L IG HT

Previous Page, clockwise from top: Entangled Pines, 40 x 40 inches; Brooding Sky Georgian Bay, 30 x 48; Island Fraser Bay, 24 x 24 inches. All oil on canvas.

This page, clockwise from top: Emerald Waters, Bruce Peninsula, 36 x 72; Northern Lake, 20 x 47 inches; Archipelago Georgian Bay, 36 x 48 inches; Sunset on Lichen Covered Rock, 20 x 48 inches.

All oil on canvas.

Facing page, clockwise from top: Killarney Reflections, 24 x 36 inches; Agawa Rock, Lake Superior, 30 x 70 inches; Sunset Georgian Bay Shoreline, 30 x 30 inches.

All oil on canvas.

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MARGARETHE VANDERPAS Inspired as a child by the works of such masters as Rembrandt and Van Gogh, Dutch-born artist Margarethe Vanderpas gives a passionate portrayal of the raw natural beauty of northern Ontario’s landscapes and waterscapes.

“I draw my inspiration from many sources: the waters and limestone cliffs of the Bruce Peninsula and the shores of Lake Superior and Georgian Bay,” she says.

“I particularly love the north shore of Georgian Bay near Killarney and the rugged coastline near my home on the Bruce Peninsula. I am fascinated by the powerful forces that have shaped the landscape and the effects that time and weather have had upon the earth’s surface.”

She resides in Lion’s Head, Ontario and each year explores new regions on foot and by kayak seeking new inspiration for her work.

Vanderpas has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions and her work can be found in private and corporate collections internationally. Her work is available at her Lion’s Head studio, online at margarethevanderpas.com, and at Eclipse Art Gallery in Huntsville and Muskoka Arts and Crafts in Bracebridge. ❧

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The current Lion’s Head Lighthouse is a replica built after a 2020 storm destroyed the former lighthouse, itself a replica of the original, which was damaged by fire in 1933.

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Driving the Georgian Bay Coastal Route presents plenty of eye-catching scenery plus opportunities to stop along the way and enjoy the sights, tastes and activities of our coastal communities story by LAURIE STEPHENS photography by DOUG BURLOCK

I

t’s autumn and the days are getting shorter, the nights cooler and the leaves are turning. It’s time for a road trip!

I’ve decided to explore two sections of the famous Georgian Bay Coastal Route, a 2,000-kilometre tour through Ontario’s heartland to some of Georgian Bay’s most

iconic destinations, including Manitoulin Island, Killarney, the 30,000 Islands, the Bruce Peninsula, and Wasaga Beach.

I love long, scenic drives, and the prospect of hopping into my car and exploring the mighty Georgian Bay coastline is exciting and evocative.

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The first stop on the Bruce Peninsula leg of the route for writer Laurie Stephens (left, at right) and her daughter, Maddie, was Inglis Falls (above), an 18-metre-high cascade created by the Sydenham River meeting the edge of the Niagara Escarpment

Inglis Falls

Part of me is waxing nostalgic for my childhood growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, when my parents would load all six of us into the Plymouth Fury and head off for two weeks to discover parts of Canada and the United States.

Dad would drive for hours, making stops at tourist attractions along the way – Santa’s Village in Bracebridge comes to mind as one highlight – and then looking for that perfect roadside motel that had the obligatory swimming pool and restaurant.

I recall one trip to Boston (I was a huge Boston Bruins fan) when we were chased up the East Coast by a hurricane to our main destination, the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. We didn’t see a whole lot of scenery that trip.

Another part of me is happy to spend some quality one-on-one time with a captive audience. This adventure involves two trips from my starting point of Meaford – one up to the top of the Bruce Peninsula with my daughter and the other with my sister rounding the southeastern tip of Georgian Bay to Waubaushene.

Along the way, I know we’re going to see spectacular scenery and learn a little Canadian history in some of the most iconic tourist destinations in Ontario’s heartland. Here we go.

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My daughter Maddie and I get an early start to the day, heading out the door at 8:30 a.m. for a 42-kilometre drive to our first stop, Inglis Falls Conservation Area.

Maddie takes the wheel, allowing me to appreciate the scenery.

We go up and down long, rolling hills on rural roads, past many cornfields interspersed with dense forests and marshland. We drive past a large Great Blue Heron that has set down in a marsh’s edge with a good-sized fish in its bill.

About 45 minutes later, we arrive at Inglis Falls and pull into a parking lot that already has a few cars. It’s clearly a popular place, even this early in the morning, and we soon see why.

The falls, carved out of the edge of the Niagara Escarpment by the Sydenham River, cascade down an 18-metre rockface in two stages. Standing on a bridge over top, we can see and feel the damp mist rising from the pools below.

Behind us is a dam that was used to power an old grist mill; to the right is a well-worn path that accesses 7.42 kilometres of trails and the Bruce Trail in the conservation area.

Better views of the falls are to be had by walking down a trail and wooden stairs to lookout platforms that are close to the cliff. I am surprised there are no guardrails, and I get butterflies in my stomach just watching my daughter stand close to the precipice.

“Can you move away from the edge a little?” I ask. She just smiles at me and continues to take in the view.

We stand for a while and watch the water – the way it flows is hypnotic – and then we make our way back up to our car for the next leg of the journey. We are off to see Wiarton Willie, the groundhog prognosticator of spring.

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Wiarton Willie Well, maybe not the real, live Wiarton Willie, but we know there is a statue of him on Wiarton’s waterfront.

So, for the next 36 kilometres we talk about Maddie’s plan to go back to school for a Masters degree while she navigates through village after village, each with the requisite Tim Horton’s coffee shop, all separated by fields of corn or cattle. There is no doubt this is farm country.

Soon we see the sign announcing we are in Wiarton, and of course, it features a likeness of Wiarton Willie. But the town is much more than a groundhog; it has long been known as the “basecamp” to the Bruce Peninsula, an isthmus that separates Georgian Bay from the rest of Lake Huron.

Once the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Wiarton saw its first white settlers in the mid-1800s, and the town features some gorgeous architecture that speaks to this past, including old but wellmaintained red brick homes with turrets and cedar shake shingles.

We head to the water’s edge where there is a charming little campground and a harbour lined with boulders like those at the harbours in Meaford and Thornbury. The sand beach area is spotless and I am struck by the crystal clear water of Georgian Bay. It practically begs us to jump in for a swim, but we’ve not brought our suits.

In the very centre of the waterfront park we find what we came for: a shrine with a very large Wiarton Willie carved out of stone. A plaque at the site pays tribute to the original Willie, who was found dead at the age of 22, just two days before Groundhog Day in 1999.

The statue is at least Maddie’s height and twice as big around.

“That’s one big groundhog,” she says, and I have to agree. As we turn around to head back to where we are parked, we spot Dockside Willie’s Bar and Grill across the road. “That name could be taken a couple of ways,” Maddie says with a wry smile.

Back at the car, we program in our next destination in our maps: Lion’s Head Marina.

Lion’s Head Marina We are now heading through North Bruce Peninsula country for the next 35 kilometres, and we’ve lost our rolling hills. We spot a few spinning windmills seemingly planted in flat farmers’ fields and lots of signs advertising the tourist attractions of Tobermory, just up the Peninsula.

A statue of Canada’s most famous groundhog, Wiarton Willie (left), takes pride of place in a waterfront park in Wiarton. Farther north along the Coastal Route, the Lion’s Head Lighthouse (above) stands sentinel on the water.

By this point, I am feeling a little peckish, and I have to giggle at a billboard of a bear with the caption, “Losing weight? Fight Back. Visit the Sweet Shop.” Just one more reason to get to our end destination.

Turning off Highway 6, Maddie drives for a few minutes and then we are in Lion’s Head, a tourist destination known for its clean, shallow beaches, clear water, hiking trails, and a picturesque marina.

We park at the marina and walk to the edge of a stone beach, gazing out at the magnificent limestone cliffs that line the edges of Isthmus Bay and are part of the Niagara Escarpment. When I look closely, I can make out the rock formation that gave the town its name and I point it out to Maddie.

Lion’s Head Provincial Park is nearby, a nature reserve notable for its glacial potholes and hiking trails that form part of the historic Bruce Trail.

Again, the Georgian Bay water at the beach is so clean and clear, the waves lapping over the smooth stones that would be perfect for skipping across calmer water. The marina itself is jam-packed with boats moored to piers or heading out into the Bay. We also check out a tiny structure on the beach billed as “the little lighthouse that could.” The original lighthouse was torn down by the Coast Guard and its replacement was destroyed by a storm.

The current lighthouse is a re-creation built by local high school students as a reminder of the site’s marine history.

As we make our way out of town, we stop at Cindy Lou’s for an ice cream cone: salty caramel for me, chocolate for Maddie. We gobble down our snack, and hunger at bay, we head to our next stop: Tobermory, home port of the Chi Cheemaun.

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ACTIVITIES

Tobermory, at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, is a picturesque town featuring beautiful views of water, harbours and cliffs. The Chi Cheemaun ferry (far right) makes daily trips between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island.

Tobermory A flat, 49-kilometre drive through farmland, marshes and forests – a stand of maples is already at peak orange and red – finds us at the Lookout Tower at Bruce Peninsula National Park.

However, it’s a busy day and there are no parking spots to be had. That’s a shame, because the viewing tower sits high above the trees, offering a spectacular panorama of the strait that joins Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.

So, we head for downtown Tobermory instead, and it too is packed with tourists. There are oodles of things to do in and around Tobermory. In town, you can shop in one of the village’s many artisan shops, visit the Sweet Shop, sit down for a cold one at the Tobermory Brewing Company or take a cruise to Fathom Five National Marine Park, home to the iconic Flowerpot Island,

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19th-century lighthouses and multiple shipwreck dive sites.

Drive a few kilometres and you can hike on the Bruce Trail or visit Cyprus Lake and the Grotto, a natural sea cave carved

by Georgian Bay waves. The crystal-clear turquoise waters and spectacular cliffs make this a popular tourist destination.

Of course, Tobermory is also home to the Chi Cheemaun ferry, which provides transportation to and from the next stop on the Georgian Bay Coastal Route tour, Manitoulin Island.

We decide to head to Little Cove Adventures, just south of the village, where we can try out a high ropes course. Owned and operated by Andrea and Zsolt Vincze, the popular attraction features a series of traverses across ropes, swinging planks, nets and tires, all 20 to 30 feet above the ground.

There are oodles of things to do in and around Tobermory.

You can shop in one of the village’s many artisan shops, visit the Sweet Shop, or take a cruise to Fathom Five National Marine Park.

I had high hopes (no pun intended) of doing the course, but find I can’t even make it up to the start platform before my vertigo kicks in.

Maddie, meanwhile, channels her inner monkey. Safely helmeted and harnessed – and coached by Andrea – she successfully scrambles across increasingly difficult traverses while I can only watch in awe. I can tell it’s an incredible workout for the core and upper body.

Once back on terra firma, she is pumped full of adrenaline from the exhilarating experience: “I discovered that the trick is to not look down. You just have to concentrate on your next step.”

Maddie was a great student, says Andrea.

“She was open to try different challenges, and completed some difficult obstacles. I was very proud of her when she crossed the ‘Hourglass’ on the top level. I saw that it gave her some fear, but she never gave up.”

The experience is a fitting end to what’s been an eventful day.

With a long drive home, I take over the wheel to give Maddie’s tired arms a break. Seven-plus hours and 312 kilometres later, Day Trip Number One is in the books.

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Day Trip Number Two begins with me swinging through Collingwood to pick up my sister, Jane, on the way to the first destination of our trip around the southeastern shores of Georgian Bay – Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and Nancy Island Historic Site.

Wasaga Beach Provincial Park & Nancy Island Historic Site As we head eastward along the shoreline, we reminisce about the many car trips and vacations with our parents when we were young.

I love driving through Wasaga because it reminds of me of the summers my parents rented a cottage in the resort town. A longdistance runner in high school, I would run a good length and back along the world’s longest freshwater beach – in total, 14 kilometres long – in my bare feet at the water’s edge. Later, when I became a reporter, Jane and I staged races on the cottage floor with fresh lobsters I brought back from an assignment on the East Coast.

All of these great memories come to the fore as we drive along Mosley Street, a route that hugs the water and all of the eight beaches that make up the park. We pass a hodgepodge of rustic cottages, cabins for rent, small hotels and, in some areas, opulent homes that have been built in more recent years.

When we can peek between structures, we see lots of activity on the water – swimmers, paddle boarders, sailboats and people on jet skis.

As a provincial park, Wasaga Beach is also a nature preserve that

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Wasaga Beach’s Nancy Island Historic Site features a museum, theatre and lighthouse marking the site of the HMS Nancy’s 1814 battle against three American schooners. Above, Discovery Team member Christina Rawn provides guided tours and demonstrations dressed in period costume.

protects wildlife habitat and shorebirds, including the endangered Piping Plover. Besides the long stretch of beach, it contains wetlands, floodplains and a unique geological formation: 40-metrehigh parabolic sand dunes.

At the eastern end of the park, we reach the Welcome Centre, and it’s exactly that. Friendly park rangers greet visitors as they enter to pay for parking permits for day camping, shop at the Treasure Chest gift store, or look at a few exhibits of the area’s history and ecological features.

The Centre is also the access point for the popular Nancy Island Historic Site, featuring a museum and theatre that tell the story of the Nancy, a two-masted cargo schooner that was used by the British Navy as a supply ship during the War of 1812. The Nancy was destroyed by three American war ships in 1814 and sunk in the Nottawasaga River. Eventually the wreck became the site of the island as silt deposits collected over the remains of the ship. The burned hull was recovered in 1927 and is now on display in the museum.

Unfortunately for us on this day, the historic site is temporarily closed for some renovations, so we head to our next stop: Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland.

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The Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland features trails, boardwalks and paddling routes through 3,000 acres of Provincially Significant Wetlands.

Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre We take the roads less travelled to Midland, going past cornfield after cornfield on narrow country roads, encountering the occasional group of cyclists.

Jane and I recall how we loved to take our mother for drives while she was battling late-stage dementia, and she would marvel at a vast expanse of corn, repeating the same words every two minutes: “There’s acres and acres of it! They must sell some of it.”

Soon, we hit rolling hills that usher us into our destination on the outskirts of Midland. Turning off Highway 12 East, we see that we have two options: to the right we can go into the famous Sainte Marie Among the Hurons Museum; to the left, into Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre.

Sainte Marie Among the Hurons Museum is a historically accurate recreation of Ontario’s first European community, the French Jesuit Mission to the Huron Wendat people. In the early 1600s, the Jesuits constructed a fenced-in community that included a church,

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ACTIVITIES

Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons near Midland is a world-renowned reconstruction of the French Jesuit mission to the Wendat People, built in 1639. Guides dressed in period costume include Madelaine MacDonald, far left, and Kyle Adams, left.

residences, workshops, and a sheltered area for Indigenous visitors.

Ten years later, the mission was forced to abandon and burn its home.

We leave this attraction for another day and go left into Wye Marsh, a wetland area on the south shores of Georgian Bay that has been designated a provincially significant wetland by the province.

The long driveway is dotted with signs alerting drivers to turtle, deer and porcupine crossings.

We pay a modest $9 fee at the indoor visitor centre before venturing back outside into hot moist air, lush vegetation, and surprisingly few mosquitoes. Jane and I walk along a well-worn

path to the Waterfowl Monitoring Station, a wooden structure that overlooks part of the marsh that is teaming with life.

A red-winged blackbird flies by while frogs of all species and sizes sit atop huge lily pads that practically cover the entire surface of the water. Between the lily pads, minnows flit here and there and dozens of tadpoles – some of them huge – dart to the top of the water to snack on an insect.

As we watch, we are joined by five youngsters from the Wye Marsh Day Camp who are enthralled by the sheer number of frogs and tadpoles. “There must be one hundred,” a five-year-old solemnly states, leaving no room for debate.

Their 21-year-old counsellor, Jessica, is happy to be back at the camp for the summer after a two-year absence: “I love working with kids and being outside all day is awesome.”

The mosquitoes seem to have found us, so we tramp back along the half-kilometre trail to our car. Next stop: lunch at Mom’s Restaurant.

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Discovery Harbour, another stop along the Georgian Bay Coastal Route, offers tours of a replica warship, schooner and cargo vessel on the site of a 19th Century British garrison.

The roots of Discovery Harbour date back to 1793, when Sir John Graves Simcoe scouted Penetanguishene Bay as a strategic site for a naval base.

The steep-sided, deep water bay would be an ideal spot to protect and maintain ships.

Mom’s Restaurant Mom’s Restaurant is an institution in Midland, an old-fashioned homestyle diner that prides itself on serving good food in generous portions. We arrive a little before noon before the lunch crowd arrives and enter into a spacious and pleasant restaurant that has taken care to respect social distancing. We are shown to our table by friendly staff and we peruse the menu, thinking we will treat ourselves to back bacon sandwiches.

Then our waitress arrives to tell us that the daily special is chicken souvlaki with a Greek salad. Immediately we both order it and have no regrets – the chicken’s marinade is marvellous and we eat every morsel on our plates while watching more patrons arrive.

The restaurant’s reputation is clearly well-deserved, and, fuelled up, we head to our final destination of the day, Waubaushene Beach.

Waubaushene Beach It’s a short drive to Waubaushene, a quaint well-kept community of fewer than 1,000 full-time residents and part-time cottagers.

Located in Tay Township, Waubaushene is named from a First

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Nations word, possibly meaning “land of the rocky marsh.”

The town’s history of exploration and trade was shaped by its location at the outlets of the Severn River and Matchedash Bay, two major water routes that connect Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. Later, it was a significant port for lumber shipments to southern and overseas markets.

We easily find the beach and it’s a bit of a disappointment compared to some we have seen– it’s tiny. But it feeds into a paved trail system, and we see some cyclists congregating at the beach about to head off on a trek.

Still, the town is charming, and as we drive to the highway, Jane and I talk about how it would appeal to those looking for a quiet cottage experience.

About an hour later, I am home from Day Trip Number Two, a six-hour, 245-kilometre round trip that explored another part of Ontario that is rich in history and geological/ecological diversity.

Both trips have hammered home a truth: that Ontario and Georgian Bay are vast treasures that promise a variety of wilderness and urban destinations that would take years to fully discover. And, yes, I am left with a yearning to discover more. ❧

A map (top left) shows the Georgian Bay Coastal Route, which follows the coastline all the way around Georgian Bay. Mom’s Restaurant in Midland (left) is one of many popular eating establishments along the route.

Above, swimmers enjoy a dip in the Bay at Waubaushene Beach in Tay Township.

About The Route The Georgian Bay Coastal Route (GBCR) was launched in 2008 to promote tourist destinations in six regions around the entire shoreline of the Bay: the Bruce Peninsula; Blue Mountains & South Georgian Bay; North Simcoe; 30,000 Islands; Killarney & Sudbury; and Manitoulin-North Channel.

Covering more than 2,000 kilometres, the route travels through diverse geological formations and two UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves – the 725-kilometre-long Niagara Escarpment and the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay, the largest concentration of freshwater islands in the world.

Kathryn Stephenson is manager of tourism for Simcoe County and chair of the Georgian Bay Destination Development Partnership/The Georgian Bay Coastal Route. She calls the route “awe-inspiring.” “I think it really captures the Ontario experience and showcases all that Ontario has to offer. It should be the Cabot Trail of Ontario. It’s an iconic destination unlike any other.”

Multiple partners are involved in the promotion of the route, including the federal and provincial governments, regional and local tourism

organizations, municipalities, and public and private operators around the Bay. The GBCR website is a useful resource, providing 11 experiential routes for a variety of tours, whether travelling by motorcycle, car, RV or boat. It also has tour routes that focus on a single type of destination, like golf courses, beaches, lighthouses, outdoor adventures, scenic vistas or experiences in nature, like canoeing or hiking.

The site provides sample itineraries and an interactive map for each tour, along with recommended dining stops or places to stay.

To be featured on the website, operators must meet certain criteria. For example, the GBCR Motorcycle Tour is designed to be motorcycle-friendly, so the route should be paved and the attractions, accommodations and dining destinations should be owned or operated by a motorcycle enthusiast or known to host motorcycle events during the year.

You can find more information about the Georgian Bay Coastal Route at visitgeorgianbay.com

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Wild

WILDLIFE

Running

Whether in the wilds or in your back yard, our area is home to all manner of critters

T

story & illustrations by ANTHONY JENKINS

he ‘Great Outdoors’ it is called. Not The Okay Outdoors, not The Moderately Swell Outdoors, or The Passable-If-You’ve-Got-Nothing-BetterTo-Do Outdoors. No, The Great Outdoors; verdant, natural, green and maybe garnished with a babbling brook or a secluded, skinny dip-able pond.

Out in The Great Outdoors, hikers, bikers, snowmobilers and just about any variety of ambulatory

idler might find enjoyment, even come to feel at home. But the Great Outdoors is a home we share, or more correctly, a home they share with us. Critters.

Animals. Wildlife.

Being outdoors, and being observant, you never know what you might see, or what might be seeing you, unseen, from the shadows or camouflaged, hiding motionless in plain sight.

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WILDLIFE

You may not spy all God’s creatures, great and small, but herein, a small sampling of some possibilities if you are outside, on the lookout, or just plain lucky. In the case of a cougar or bear, very lucky (or very unlucky, depending on the outcome).

Some sightings will present a delightful encounter or leave you with a wildlife tale to tell. Other encounters, thankfully rarer, might become a no-sudden-moves, back-away-slowly brush with being something’s supper.

You never can tell. What is certain is, you’ll not encounter nature on the wing, hoof or paw while rooted to your sofa. So this fall, hit pause on the remote. Game of Thrones, season five, will still be there, bingeable, when you get back.

So get up, get out, and get looking.

and still, a deer will seem to merge into slanting shadows of the forest. He or she is waiting for you to make the first move.

This shared stare can last for 15 minutes or more. Then, if you have become familiar, the calmed and graceful creature may just resume eating.

More likely, erring for caution, it will ‘flag’ (raise its characteristic tail displaying white underside and buttocks) as a warning to nearby deer, often fawns or members of a small family group.

Why do hunters wear bright orange? It’s not a fashion statement. Deer are bichromatic, meaning their vision is limited to the blue/yellow side of the spectrum. They can’t see reds and oranges.

And they can’t shoot back.

EASTERN COTTONTAIL

WHITE-TAILED DEER Fall is when local deer look their very best. They are healthily rounded with reserves of fat stored for the coming privations of winter. Their thicker, lusher and slightly greyer winter coat has appeared, and the antlers of males (known as stags or bucks) are at their largest and most characteristic.

Antlers are shed each January and re-grow bigger each year, depending on health, genetics and quality and quantity of food. Females, called does or hinds, rarely grow antlers.

One of the true wonders of the woods is encountering a deer, even at a distance, and exchanging a mutual, extended, deer-in-the-headlights stare.

The staring deer is on high alert, ears pricked up for any sound, immobile and intent, trying to make out what you are. Tawny, silent, slim

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Cute. Pest. Lunch. Three descriptions of a fluffy little bunny depending on whether you’re a child, a farmer, or anything in the outdoors with fangs, claws and an appetite.

Cottontail rabbits – which differ from angular hares with larger ears, legs and solitary dispositions – are small, gregarious rodents that wear a grey-brown coat year-round, have ears that can swivel independently, and enjoy an active sex life.

Very active. Males (bucks) are sexually active at one month of age, females (does) at four months and are able to produce five litters of four to five babies (kits) a season. You do the math.

Well, you needn’t bother. Rabbit mortality is shocking. Despite being ever-alert and canny – escape routes in the open are pre-planned and multiple exits from burrows dug – cottontails are easy prey. Even with a superb sense of smell and hearing, great camouflage, and impressive zigzagging getaway speed, only 15 per cent of cottontails will survive their first year, and two is ‘old’ for a rabbit (beyond captivity, where they might reach the age of 10).

Cottontails are a staple in the diet of almost every woodland carnivore you can think of – and some you might not, such as owls and raptors, who are in fact rabbits’ principal predators.

Rabbits are killed and consumed as a diet staple in the wild. But they can get their licks in. Their first defence is to freeze, their second to flee.

Their final option is fight, and it is from that situation the term ‘rabbit punch’ (an illegal blow in prize fighting) comes. When cornered, a rabbit will leap high over a foe, delivering a swift long-legged kick to its neck or the back of its head in passing.

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FOX Half the size of a coyote and dwarfed by a wolf, sighting a dainty, three-foot-long, two-foot-tall, gorgeously coloured and bushy-tailed fox in the wild will bring a smile of aesthetic appreciation to the face of almost anything that isn’t a chicken.

Fox personalities and social life are delightful as well. Playful, mated for life, both sexes – males known as tods and females known as vixens – are attentive and loving parents. Foxes live in stable family groups in burrows dug into slopes, always marking their territory – which these highly adaptable creatures increasingly share with humans.

Sightings within towns and cities are becoming common. Foxes pose no threat to people and as the larger carnivores who prey on them are driven away by human development, foxes are moving in, adapting, co-existing, and doing great service in ridding human environments of rodent pests.

The biggest menace to foxes cohabiting with humans is domestic pets – cats and dogs – which prey on the young kits.

Foxes are shy, sly, fast and agile. They can hear the faintest mouse squeak at 100 metres. Hunting, they can leap two metres straight up, using their tail as a rudder to steer, mid-air, into a characteristic, graceful pounce.

Fox personalities and social life are delightful as well. Playful, mated for life, both sexes – males known as tods and females known as vixens – are attentive and loving parents.

WILDLIFE

On The Bay Magazine is pleased to donate this space to a deserving charity or non-profit in our community.

For more information, please contact us by emailing admin@onthebaymagazine.com.

WAYS TO GIVE Did you know that you can give gifts to an organization in multiple ways?

Pronounced as a KYE-oat out west and kye-OH-tee hereabouts, this far-fromendangered 20- to 50-pound predator is the size of a medium dog.

COYOTE The coyote suffers in comparison to the cuter, prettier fox, but it is an equally adaptive omnivore increasingly prevalent in urban areas.

Because of its often lean, scruffy appearance, nondescript brindle coat, and size that enables it to prey on domestic sheep, goats and family pets, coyotes have a reputation as a dangerous scrounger.

Pronounced as a KYE-oat out west and kye-OH-tee hereabouts, this far-from-endangered 20- to 50-pound predator is the size of a medium dog. But it can be distinguished from a dog – even a wild one – by its habit of running with its tail down, by its sharply pointed ears that never droop, and by a much wider range of vocalizations (the widest in the canine family). A coyote will huff, growl, whine, yip, yelp, howl and sing.

These calls must be pretty persuasive, as coyotes can and do breed with both wolves and dogs, producing coywolf and coydog offspring.

Quirky aside: a real life Wile E. Coyote would catch the roadrunner every time. A coyote is twice as fast as any smart-Alec, long-legged ground bird.

Donations can be made in a variety of ways and community members have been happy to hear that we not only accept cash donations we are also able to accept gifts of securities, stocks, mutual funds, and insurance. It is a great way to not only support our organization, but you also benefit in various ways too.

You can support the Busby Centre with monetary donations at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/david-busby-street-centre/.

Stay tuned and get ready for our upcoming virtual auction being held in November and Giving Tuesday on November 30. Details can be found at www.busbycentre.ca.

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CONTACT

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VIRGINIA OPOSSUM The possum and the opossum are the same thing, unless you live in Australia, where the possum is another thing altogether. The Aussie possum is tiny, cute, big-eyed and fuzzy. The North American possum is none of those things.

It is cat-sized, beady-eyed and pale, with a slim, snouty face only a mother could love. A near-sighted mother.

The possum is as odd as it is ugly. It is North America’s (excluding Mexico) only marsupial, carrying its young in a pouch, then on its back.

The female has two vaginal tracts, the male a bifurcated (forked) penis, and both sexes have a prehensile tail used like a fifth limb in climbing.

Possums love to eat carrion, eggs, frogs, seeds, grain and insects (they can consume up to 5,000 ticks a year).

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Even more unusual is the possum’s defining defensive strategy.

When faced with a predator, it plays possum; it acts dead. Very dead: falling over stiff, tongue protruding, frothing at the mouth with a glassy-eyed stare.

Even more unusual is the possum’s defining defensive strategy. When faced with a predator, it plays possum; it acts dead. Very dead: falling over stiff, tongue protruding, frothing at the mouth with a glassy-eyed stare.

There’s more! It emits a powerful stench from its anus, mimicking the smell of rotting flesh. It is said to be smart (it tops domestic cats and dogs in animal intelligence tests) but its I’m-dead-and-rotting act is involuntary, triggered by stress in the face of imminent danger.

As its name implies, the Virginia Opossum was once a denizen of deepsouth USA. Global warming has seen its range extend into Canada, to its evolutionary dismay; its hairless tail and ears are subject to frostbite over winters in The Great White North.

WILDLIFE

Bats come out at night, when insects do and predators don’t. They can eat 12,000 mosquitoes, with sides of mayflies and moths, in an hour.

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LITTLE BROWN BAT Who doesn’t like bats? Well, almost everybody, it seems.

There are eight species of bats in Ontario and by far the most common is the thumb-sized Little Brown Myosis Bat. Bats are the only flying mammal. Flying squirrels merely glide and lie about it. In the pantheon of The Ugly-But-Interesting, they rank right up there with Iggy Pop. Bats are harmless nocturnal insectivores with an undeserved reputation. Only the South American vampire bat drinks blood, and then very little and from cattle. Myosis bats eat insects. Insects in great quantities. Bats come out at night, when insects do and predators don’t. They can eat 12,000 mosquitoes, with sides of mayflies and moths, in an hour, and half their body weight in bugs over two one- to three-hour foraging flights, at dusk and dawn each day.

‘Blind as a bat’ is a misnomer. Bats aren’t blind, but they don’t see well. However, they can navigate and forage in complete darkness using a sort of sonar, making inaudible (to humans) clicks and sensing the direction of the returning echo.

Bats have day roosts in hollow trees or man-made structures such as sheds, barns, or bat boxes. They have larger communal night roosts.

Myosis bats, unusual for the species, do not migrate. They hibernate locally, from September to May, seeking out larger, deeper overwinter roosting chambers such as caves and mine shafts where the temperature does not plunge in winter.

This has proved their downfall. Bats are endangered, as an estimated 90 per cent of them have succumbed to “white nose syndrome,” a facial fungus that makes them do strange things like fly outside in the daytime in winter, burning up fat they need to survive. It’s a deadly disease for which crowded conditions in humid caves has proved a perfect – and so far unstoppable – incubator.

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PORCUPINE Porcupines are long-lived for rodents. Although slow and short sighted, they typically live about 20 years, secure in their prickly defences (porcupine translates as “thorn pig” in Latin).

They are also very misunderstood, saddled with one of the more prevalent myths in nature, alongside that of an Easter Bunny. No, porcupines CANNOT eject or shoot any of their 30,000 hollowshafted quills.

They can raise their quills menacingly, and should the barbed tips strike a predator, they will stick and detach. When threatened, porcupines can be pro-active, bristling, rattling quills, swinging a quilled tail, even charging backwards. But shooting quills? Never.

While out foraging for roots, shoots and berries day or night, few predators will trouble a porcupine. Two exceptions are martens and fishers, ferocious and fearless mammal foes that have mastered the skill of flipping a porcupine over and attacking its undefended belly.

‘How do porcupines mate?’ you are undoubtedly thinking. Very carefully ... no joke.

LOFT GALLERY INC. SAT. NOV.6TH AT 5PM

Annual Square Foot Sale S A L E R U N S N O V. 6 - D E C . 3 1 S T A L L PA I N T I N G S 1 2 ” X 1 2 ” $ 1 6 0

The Square Foot Sale is continuing online this year and it will run until Dec. 31st. Great gift ideas!

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Blessed with long claws and soft paw pads, porcupines are arboreal – meaning they’re great climbers who spend much of their lives up trees.

Clumsily it seems, as they can fall from those trees when stretching for the tenderest buds. This can see them stunned and painfully stabbed with their own quills. Nature mitigates the damage. Porcupines are adept at removing their own embedded quills, which are coated with an antiseptic grease to combat infection.

‘How do porcupines mate?’ you are undoubtedly thinking. Very carefully ... no joke. Normally solitary, males battle for a female when her pungent urine markings signal that she is ready to mate.

The victor climbs the female’s tree, stationing himself on a lower branch to keep an eye on her above and a lookout for any rival below.

Pitching woo, he sprays her with macho urine, exciting her. She then feels encouraged to climb down to the ground, where she curls her tail up over her back and passionate, if cautious, coupling occurs.

The young, called porcupettes, are born with a full set of soft, pliant quills that stiffen in the air within a few hours.

WILDLIFE

WILD TURKEY

the art shop

Wild turkeys, while large (17 pounds or more) are much scrawnier than their domestic, supermarket counterparts. They also retain the ability to fly. Butterballs, as the name implies, are bred too fat to achieve lift off.

Wild turkeys are also much more likely to be around past Thanksgiving, though they make a fine meal for predators such as foxes, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, owls, hawks and other raptors at any time of year. The very lucky ones can reach age five.

They’ll be encountered foraging hardwood forests in groups, seeking bugs, berries, snails, salamanders, roots, seeds and such. They’ll also be seen in clearings and along roadsides near woods. And at night, if you look up, you might spot them roosting in groups in the treetops. In any season. They don’t migrate.

Paintings, Pottery, Jewellery.

Woodworking & More

65 Simcoe Street

Jackie Warmelink

Barbara Simmons

learn more at bmfa.on.ca

Males are Toms, females are hens, immature birds are jakes, and chicks are known as poults. And while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they’re ugly.

Males are Toms, females are hens, immature birds are jakes, and chicks are known as poults. And while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they’re ugly.

Interestingly ugly. Both sexes have dangling, wrinkly chin flesh (wattles), a plume of scraggly feathers sprouting from their breast (chest beard), knobbly, pocked head, neck and throat flesh (caruncles) and a wormlike protuberance (a snood) dangling from above the beak.

When aroused, a dashing male’s snood engorges with blood, becoming longer and redder as his face becomes whiter. He will gobble (only males do this), drum (make a booming, burbling, sound in his throat), fan his tail, drag his wings along the ground, strut and spit. What female could resist?

SEE WHAT THE NOISE IS ABOUT! AUDIO ENGINEERING

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GREYNOISE.CA 519-372-GREY(4739)

ON THE BAY

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COUGAR Some call them cougars. They’ll answer to puma or mountain lion.

They are panthers in Florida, fire cats, catamounts and deer tigers elsewhere. In fact, the cougar has entered The Guinness Book of World Records as the creature with the most names – over 40 in English alone.

The cougar is endangered in Canada, and rare but not unheard of nor unseen around Southern Georgian Bay. They are silent and secretive creatures covering up to 50 kilometres a day over their huge range of deep woods or rocky cliffs, where they have no known enemies.

Sightings are up in our region and not all of them are misidentifications of bobcat or lynx.

The biggest sure identifier is the cougar’s long tail.

163 HURONTARIO ST COLLINGWOOD 705-445-4093 WWW.ELAINEDICKINSONSFASHIONS.COM 88

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Cougars avoid humans, and hunt large animals by stealth – deer in particular. They need to eat only once a fortnight, stashing a large kill to return for subsequent feedings, as long as the carcass isn’t poached by bear, stolen by wolves, or scavenged by smaller predators from raccoons to mice.

Sightings are up in our region and not all of them are misidentifications of bobcat or lynx. The biggest sure identifier is the cougar’s long tail.

Strangely, the cougar is more closely related to the domestic kitty cat than to those in the big cat family. It can’t roar like the big cats.

Cougars only hiss and purr, so it’s unknown whether they like their belly rubbed.

The cougar is a majestic and endangered creature. If you should spot one, consider yourself very fortunate – and let someone else settle the belly-rub question.

WILDLIFE

AMERICAN BLACK BEAR The American black bear (that’s North American; Canada has an abundance) is an opportunistic arboreal omnivore. This means it lives in the forest and will eat almost anything it comes across; the easier the better. Stalking and hunting is usually too much work.

Described as medium-sized, black bears weigh in at about the same as people; males at around 200 pounds, females about 125. But unlike us – well, most of us – their weight varies widely with seasonal diet, often more than doubling in preparation for winter hibernation.

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On emerging from their den after winter, black bears are gaunt, having lost a third of their body mass in fat – but not muscle. Through spring they gorge on new shoots. In summer and in season, they’ll eat various berries, in vast quantities. In fall, it’s nuts. And any time at all, anything else edible they amble across – fish, fowl, or alfresco man-made buffets to be found in dumps, campgrounds, picnic areas, bird feeders.

They’re clever, curious and dexterous. A tight jar lid or a latched shed door won’t stop them. They’re also great swimmers, climbers and runners. In fact, they’d do well in an Olympic decathlon, excepting for the javelin throw.

If you encounter a black bear in the woods, it is your fault. Given a choice, black bears avoid humans. If you hike the woods alone, silent, or distracted (ear buds, cell phone) your quiet approach can take one by surprise.

“If so, stop! Don’t make eye contact. Make yourself look bigger. Make noise. Throw things. And back away. Slowly. Don’t run. Don’t play dead.”

Better still, avoid black bear encounters altogether. Hike in groups.

Noisy groups. One website recommended singing. The Hills Are A-liiiiiive With The Sound of Muuuuu-sic! Good luck. ❧

Bring on sweater season!

21 Hurontario St, Downtown Collingwood • 705.467.0006

SHOPVAIYA.CA ON THE BAY

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Automotive SERVICES DISCOVERER SNOW CLAW

in Southern Georgian Bay

®

TM

truck and SUV

The Cooper Discoverer Snow Claw truck and SUV tire from Cooper is designed to put some extra “Grrr” in grip, staying flexible when the weather turns bitter, to give you the grip you need in the cold. ®

®

TM

• Stops on average 8 feet (2.4 meters) shorter on snowy roads.* • Stops on average 12 feet (3.6 meters) shorter on icy roads.** • A truck and SUV tire specially designed to handle extreme winter conditions.

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We put the Discoverer Snow ClawTM tire to the test in snow all around the globe. It went. It clawed. It conquered. ®

EXTREME ICE TRACTION Compatible with the extra confidence of studs. It's like putting claws on claws.

SNOW GROOVE TECHNOLOGY TM

The Discoverer® Snow ClawTM tire features our patented Snow GrooveTM Technology, which adds some teeth to the claws.

Trapping snow and using that trapped snow for greater traction, handling and stopping power.

SEVERE WEATHER RATED *Stopping distance on snow based on the results Discoverer® Snow Claw™ LT275/65R18 tires in comparative snow braking testing against three select competitor tires and the previous generation product, 2019. Individual on-road results may vary. **Stopping distance on ice based on the results Discoverer® Snow Claw™ LT275/65R18 tires in comparative ice braking testing against three select competitor tires and the previous generation product, 2019. Individual on-road results may vary.

For complete warranty details, please visit www.coopertire.com or coopertire.ca. ©2020 Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. All Rights Reserved.

705-429-4488 1227 Mosley Street, Wasaga Beach

autotechntire.ca

• AUTO AND MARINE DETAILING SERVICES • DENT REPAIR • PAINT CORRECTION • PAINT PROTECTION FILM CERAMIC COATINGS • 360 Raglan St., Collingwood 705-888-3050 | info@buffitdetailing.ca

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County Rd 124, Nottawa (705) 445-2782

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Come visit us or book your appointment at speedyglass.ca Service Centre Name

295 Pretty River Parkway

Street address number along with street name Unit C, Collingwood City and town or district name Province, Postal Code 705-444-6877 speedycollingwood@gmail.com (123) 456-7890 *Lifetime warranty applies as long as your vehicle is registered under your name, subject to the applicable conditions. Details in service centres or on speedyglass.ca. Speedy Glass® is a registered trademark of Belron S.A. and its affiliates, and is used by Belron Canada Inc. under license.

P HOTO

ESSAY

TOP: Vintage vehicles always catch my eye, and this brilliant red beauty parked on Collingwood’s main street during a classic car exhibition was no exception. It literally drew me in; hence the interior shot that resulted.

ABOVE: All photography takes a measure of patience (and sometimes the good luck of being in the right place at the right time), and this is especially true when photographing wildlife. I was sitting on a rock beside a pond early one spring morning photographing wild swans and geese when out of the blue a beautiful robin landed right beside me. The robin’s breast was aglow with the soft early morning light as I quietly turned my camera for this shot.

Living

IMAGES

ABOVE: Wandering downtown during one of Collingwood’s Frozen in Time winter festivals, this artistic ice carver at work captured my attention as he transformed a huge block of ice into a beautifully sculpted piece of art.

On The Bay photographer Doug Burlock shares the stories behind some of his favourite shots

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ABOVE: She was looking in the direction of the late afternoon sun, her one blue eye facing in my direction, the soft light setting her face aglow, and I couldn’t resist pointing my camera in her direction and capturing this image. She is a fiveyear-old Paint named Ceremony Sunrise, and as is fairly common in Paints, Pintos and Appaloosas, she has one blue eye and one brown eye.

ABOVE: These siblings, Hunter (left), Holden and Harper Pugliese-Lisi, struck a classic pose for me with two of their ponies looking on during an indoor photo shoot in their barn. I love the timeless feel of this shot in black-and-white.

LEFT: The sun was setting and it was quickly getting dark outside when the last bit of daylight touching this yellow Gerbera daisy caught my eye as I was out photographing some local wildlife. I knew that in a few minutes the flower would be shrouded in darkness, so I quickly snapped this photo before the sun completely set.

Visit dougburlockphotography.com to view Doug’s portfolio of work, and follow him on Instagram @dburlock777.

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P HOTO

ESSAY

ABOVE: I was helping out with an Admiral Public School fundraiser in Collingwood and during the photo shoot for their annual “Sail into Summer Festival” fundraiser, I captured this image of a group of younger students in the playground with their legs dangling. This image and a series of others were printed on canvas and auctioned off at the fundraiser to help raise money for playground equipment, etc.

BELOW: Most of us think of the moon lighting up the night skies along with a myriad of stars, but on some days if we look up we may spot her in the blue skies of broad daylight; such was the case here. What really caught my eye on this day were the swirling white clouds, which created the illusion of the moon rising up out of the clouds. In reality, the moon, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 238,000 miles above the earth, was nowhere near the clouds, but the image created by cloud and moon from down here on earth was pretty amazing and I called it Moon Rise.

ABOVE: The water had just a slight ripple and the sky was painted with cloud formations as this 112-year-old tug boat, the Glen G, made its way into Collingwood Harbour where she docks for the summer.

Built in Ohio in 1909, she is 62 feet long and weighs 42 tonnes.

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SPECIAL INFORMATION SECTION

Business openings, transformations & businesses new to On The Bay BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS, INDEPENDENT LIVING RESOURCE CENTRE Since 1985, Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) has been providing programs, services, resources and supports for individuals with diverse disabilities and their support networks. Based in Collingwood, the registered Client Stephanie works in the charity serves Simcoe, Grey Breaking Down Barriers garden. and Bruce counties.

“Our consumers/members have visible and invisible disabilities,” said Executive Director Teresa Gal. “Our independent living programs provide life skills training, building on their capabilities and decision-making, so they can live independently in communities they call home. The basis of our peer support program is the sharing of knowledge from life experiences, development of leadership skills and elimination of social isolation through activities like music, crafts, sports, and field trips.”

BDB is also a resource hub for those seeking services by connecting them to the specialized services they require, through collaboration with local healthcare partners and agencies.

This premier custom home design/build firm in Southern Georgian Bay has been in business for more than 50 years. The company offers full client consultation from land purchase to occupancy.

“Unique by the depth of our experience, the core management team has been Patrick Coulter, left, and Jason Dawe, together for over 30 years, owners of Coulter Dawe with vast experience at unique and Associates. site locations and difficult build sites,” said President Patrick Coulter, who owns the company with Jason Dawe.

“Our firm is always client first. We are always respectful of schedule and budget and will not authorize additional spending without client authorization. Every past client would refer us to friends and relatives.”

Coulter has been in business since 1968 and has worked with Dawe for the past 15 years. The two became partners in 2020 after Coulter decided to step back and enjoy his retirement and his grandchildren, trusting that Dawe would continue the company’s legacy.

234 Ste. Marie Street, Collingwood, 705-445-1543, ext. 301, breakingdownbarriers.ca

115 Hurontario St., Suite 104, Collingwood 705-444-6000

GREY NOISE ENTERTAINMENT

94

COULTER DAWE AND ASSOCIATES

VACASA

This professional music recording and production studio in Meaford began in November 2018 as a contestant in a Meaford Dragons event and opened in October 2019.

“Grey Noise Entertainment is unique to the area as a full service, professional recording studio,” said owner and audio engineer Devin Devin Hannam, owner and audio engineer at Grey Noise Entertainment.

Hannam. “We offer full music recording and production services, including rehearsal space, recording, mixing and mastering, as well as photography and video editing services.

Our business philosophy is to provide professional recording services and promote the music industry in Georgian Bay and surrounding area.”

Hannam has been a musician since age 11 and has had experience with audio engineering/producing for 10 years.

He graduated from Fanshawe College’s prestigious Music Industry Arts Program in 2017, followed by the Coalition Music Entrepreneur Program in 2018. He is also a Canadian recording musician under the name Hantiks.

Vacasa began in 2009 with one home and one idea: to create a seamless rental experience for vacation homeowners and guests through innovative technology and dedicated local staff.

“At Vacasa, we provide elevated vacation rental management by taking exceptional care of your home and providing you with the best return on your investment,” said Lisa Franklin, Sales Executive. “Our Vacasa property and rental management service goes above and beyond, providing owners with a simpler setup, common sense convenience, dedicated local presence and outstanding earnings.”

Vacasa’s team of expert vacation rental marketers will help you to reach revenue goals. “We’ll take professional photos, list your home on major booking sites, and automatically adjust your nightly rent to get you the best returns possible,” said Franklin. “We also help with the permit process and filling your calendar, provide hotelquality cleans and take care of the work involved in maintaining a vacation property.”

Vacasa provides homeowners ease of signing up with no unreasonable fees, flexible owner use and a team of marketing professionals dedicated to delivering good returns for homeowners.

519-372-4739 greynoise.ca

1-888-813-8781 vacasa.com

ON THE BAY

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It’s Your Move… Make A Smart Move…

Move To A Whole New Level

Are you currently pursuing a career as a real estate agent? Are you an experienced real estate agent moving to the Collingwood area?

Then you will want to know that we offer a comprehensive support program that will make you stand out in a competitive field. Attractive commission structure, no desk fees, no transaction fees, only $75/ month & affordable advertising opportunities.

CLEARLY IT’S CLAIRWOOD! Let’s meet to talk about how we can be the next step in your real estate career! Give us a call at 705.445.7085 or email marketing@clairwoodrealestate.com. * Sales Representative

** Broker

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ºAdministration

MEMBER OF THE SOUTHERN GEORGIAN BAY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS* AND THE TORONTO REAL ESTATE BOARD

Visit us at ClairwoodRealEstate.com

SOLD

Underground Parking

2 bdrm., 2 bath, 1,019 sq. ft. $660,000 Emma Baker** 705-444-3989

117’ on Georgian Bay

4+1 bdrm., 5.5 bath, 5,446 sq. ft. fin. $4,500,000 Sherry Rioux** 705-443-2793

Building Lot for Sale

Lighthouse Pt. Townhome

3+ Acres in Markdale

$549,900 Mikki Belliveau* 705-446-6103

4 bdrm., 3 bath, 1,179 sq. ft. $1,199,000 Jacki Binnie* 705-441-1071

SOLD

Ski Season Rental

3 bdrm., 2 bath, 2,350 sq. ft. $30,000/season Emma Baker** 705-444-3989

Historic School House

3 bdrm., 1 bath, 2,300 sq ft. $589,900 Liliana Grovu* 647-980-3609

Turnkey in Lighthouse Pt.

Annual Rental

2 bdrm., 1.5 bath, 1,042 sq. ft. $699,000 Sherry Rioux** 705-443-2793

2 bdrm., 2 bath, 852 sq. ft. $2,800/month Cristina Corti* 647-393-3962

Ski Rental

View Acreage

3+1 bdrm., 2.5 bath, 2,050 sq. ft. fin. $3,500/month David Holman* 416-930-2558

52 Acres $974,900 Michael Maish* 706-606-5814

Silver Glen Preserve

3 bdrm., 3.5 bath, 1,705 sq. ft. $930,000 Craig Davies* 289-685-8513

Windfall Rental

3 bdrm., 3.5 bath, 1,717 sq. ft. $3,800/month Chris Moffat-Lynch* 705-606-0850

LEASED

Fall/Winter Rental

4 bdrm., 2 bath, 1,500 sq. ft. $3,200/month Jordanna Raffoul* 226-200-0227

Fall Rental

October/November Rental $2,400/month Rhonda Ronson* 705-888-8700

COLLINGWOOD 705.445.7085

Living Stone Resort

2 bdrm., 2 bath, 1160 sq. ft. $589,900 Stephanie Rumford* 705-606-4982

TOLL FREE 8 7 7. 4 4 5 . 7 0 8 5

Executive Winter Rental

4 bdrm., 2.5 bath, 2,605 sq. ft. $25,000/season Jacqui Viaene* 416-919-5400

TORONTO 8 7 7. 4 4 5 . 7 0 8 5

INVEST IN ( life) STYLE

Visit investinstyle.ca to check out our new issue of INVEST IN STYLE magazine and our featured properties.

CHESTNUT PARK REAL ESTATE LIMITED, BROKERAGE | CHESTNUTPARK.COM COLLINGWOOD/BARRIE/CRAIGHURST 705.445.5454 $3,000,000

COMMERCIAL - SAUBLE BEACH

3.22 acres of landscaped property with 75 paved parking spaces and a 13,000 sq.ft well-maintained building. Excellent opportunity to invest in the growing community of Sauble Beach and Grey Bruce Counties.

MLS®40141211 Maria Elensky** 647.963.0456 Vince Artuso* 519.270.7080

$2,125,000

BLUE MOUNTAIN CHALET

Prestigious Georgian Woodlands in Craigleith!!

Room for the whole family in this 7 Bedroom, 4 Bath chalet. Over 4,300 sq. ft. with In-Law Suite and finished basement. A great location in a quiet neighbourhood of high-end homes! MLS®40154610.

Barb Picot* 705.444.3452 Ron Picot* 705.446.8580

$899,000

ISTHMUS BAY / GEORGIAN BAY

3 bedrooms 1.5 bath open concept bungalow close to Lions Head Nature Reserve. Breathtaking scenery. Shoreline access with waterfront below the cliff. Lg 100’ x 201’ lot. Come and see why the Bruce Peninsula is where you want to be! MLS® 40110118.

Gary Taylor** 519.378.4663 Jodi Ward*519.373.4650

$795,000

WWW.READHILTON.COM

Centrally located in downtown Collingwood. Solid 3 bedrooms, 2 bath home with main floor laundry and finished basement. Concrete drive, parking for 3 vehicles, fenced backyard. Lots of potential, great family home or investment property. MLS®40157882.

Gail Crawford* 705.445.3751

WIARTON 519.534.5757

OWEN SOUND/ TOBERMORY 519.371.5455 $2,849,000

$2,900,000

LUXURY IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Exquisite Post and Beam residence located between the Georgian Bay Club & Georgian Peaks Ski Club. Over 5,000 sq. ft. of finished living space with Escarpment views. 4 Bedrooms and 3 ½ Baths including a finished Recreation Room and Gym. This home has recently been lovingly updated. The deep 300 ft. back yard (.8 acre) can provide plenty of room for a pool, hot tub and outdoor kitchen to add to your lifestyle enjoyment. MLS®40154664 Barb Picot* 705.444.3452 Ron Picot* 705.446.8580

$1,949,000

CRAIGLEITH - BLUE MOUNTAINS

Immaculately maintained home in the heart of Blue Mountains. Almost 4000 sq.ft.- 6 bedrooms 4 baths, main floor open concept living, hot tub, multi tiered back deck for entertaining. Walk to Georgian Bay, 5 mins to Blue Mtn Village & Skiing MLS®40163409 Barb Picot* 705.444.3452 Ron Picot* 705.446.8580

$859,000

WYLDEWOOD COVE-GEORGIAN BAY

This 3rd floor end unit condo features 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths and walk-out to a private deck overlooking the pristine waters of Georgian Bay! Private beach, year-round heated pool and beautiful grounds.

Perfect get-a-way or cozy home. MLS®40151838 Barb Picot* 705.444.3452 Ron Picot* 705.446.8580

$749,900

UPSCALE BRICK BUNGALOW

Beautfully landscaped and backing onto the escarpment. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths custom kitchen, large breakfast island, hardwood floors throughout. finished lower level, concrete drive and insulated garage. All within walking distance of downtown Owen Sound.

Mark McDade* 519.387.7650

$1,650,000

Exceptional 130’ of waterfront. Take in the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets from your massive deck with glass railings and wall of windows from the open concept living room. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and newly constructed rock breakwall with steps to sandy beach.

Ellen Jarman* 705.441.2630

$1,295,000

WWW.READHILTON.COM

The warmth and charm of a dovetail log home in the Beaver Valley awaits! Perfectly located, only minutes to Markdale for restaurants/shopping & 2 minute drive to the top of the Beaver Valley Private Ski Club.

Secluded but not isolated on a 3.4 acre private treed lot.

Read Hilton* 705.351.8100

COBBLE BEACH GOLF RESORT HOME

Spacious 4 bedrooms, 4 bath fully finished custom home. Open concept, airy design, 600 sq.ft master suite, water views from walk-out deck on the upper level. Full golf initial fee ($40,000 value) inc. Enjoy all of the onsite Club amenities. MLS®40160612. Gary Taylor** 519.378.4663 Blane Johnson* 519.379.1785

$795,000

$799,900

CLOSE TO GEORGIAN BAY

Walk to the waterfront & trail system, and a short drive to downtown Collingwood and Blue Mountain from this 5 bedroom home. Insulated detached garage with it’s own furnace & electrical service.

Great opportunity to live the Collingwood lifestyle.

Fran Webster* 705.444.9081

DEEDED ACCESS TO A SANDY BEACH

Design and build your Dream Home. Shore Acres - where you can relax by the water’s edge with 400 ft of private deeded beach access. (80’ x 195’) building lot offers an impressive opportunity for a full time home or weekend getaway! MLS®40088136.

Barb Picot* 705.444.3452 Ron Picot* 705.446.8580

$269,000

$749,900

EXPERIENCE WATERFRONT LIVING Architecturally stunning, with finest fit this sunlit, luxurious 2 bed 2 bath suite extends to 48’ balcony. Idyllic escarpment views overlook the Scenic heart of Southern Georgian Bay. Yours Cynthia Razum** 519.377.9134

PANORAMIC GEORGIAN BAY VIEWS

and finish, loft-inspired river and City at the to explore!

BLUE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE CONDO

Fabulous fully furnished bachelor unit is ready to enjoy and rented successfully on the managed rental program. Wonderful resort amenities. Great opportunity to own this turn-key resort condominium and enjoy the Village vibes and ski hills this winter.

Michelle Kingsbury* 705.888.8177

FOR ALL OF OUR LISTINGS PLEASE VISIT CHESTNUTPARK.COM

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Office Manager

Rob Holroyd**

Keith Hull**

Ellen Jarman*

Blane Johnson*

Rob McAleer*

Melanie McBride*

Morgan Ornstein*

Barbara Picot*

Diana Berdini**

Maria Elensky**

Michelle Exner*

Debra Gibbon*

Sophia Giancola*

Adair Guerin*

Read Hilton*

Kate Hobson*

Kim Johnson*

Alyson Jones*

John M. Kacmar**

Stefanie Kilby*

Michelle Kingsbury*

Cheryl MacLaurin*

Joan Malbeuf*

Linda McClean*

Mark McDade*

Taylor McFadyen*

Gerry McIntyre*

Lane McMeekin**

Cheryl J Morrison**

Dave Moyer*

Ron Picot*

Cynthia Razum**

Mike Taylor*

Jennifer Ridsdale**

Neil Thain**

David Rowlands**

Brendan Thomson*

Mike Kris McAleer* Masongsong*

Cathie Mustard*

June Russell** Deb SaundersLori Schwengers** Chatwin**

Jodi Ward*

Fran Webster*

Rick Wiles**

Jennifer O’Brien*

Ralph Schwengers*

Leah Wilkins*

Karie Steinberg*

Gary Taylor**

Paige Young* Larisa Yurkiw*

CHESTNUT PARK REAL ESTATE LIMITED, BROKERAGE TORONTO (YONGE ST) TORONTO (FOREST HILL) SOUTHERN GEORGIAN BAY / COLLINGWOOD GREY BRUCE / OWEN SOUND GREY BRUCE / WIARTON GREY BRUCE / TOBERMORY

SIMCOE COUNTY / BARRIE / INNISFIL

LAKE SIMCOE / NORTH OF MARKHAM

HUNTSVILLE / LAKE OF BAYS / ALMAGUIN (MAIN ST.)

SIMCOE COUNTY / BARRIE / CRAIGHURST / ORILLIA

AURORA

BAYSVILLE / LAKE OF BAYS

MUSKOKA / PORT CARLING

GRAVENHURST

MUSKOKA / FOOT’S BAY

PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY / PICTON

HUNTSVILLE / LAKE OF BAYS (FLORENCE ST.)

KINGSTON

KITCHENER/WATERLOO*** ***Affiliate Office

ERIN / CALEDON / MONO / KING

*Sales Representative **Broker

HALIBURTON PETERBOROUGH & THE KAWARTHAS HURON-PERTH / STRATFORD

1000 ISLANDS NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY UXBRIDGE UNIONVILLE / NORTH OF MARKHAM

LET OUR EXPERIENCE BE YOUR GUIDE PANORAMIC SUNSET POINT VIEWS

Enjoy breathtaking views of Georgian Bay from this newly renovated and updated home. From the chef’s dream kitchen and custom floor to ceiling fireplace, to the coffered/cathedral ceilings and iconic location, you will be proud to call this luxury home your own. MLS# 40125555

5 |

4 |

ATTENTION OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS

This cozy ski chalet or perfect summer retreat is set amongst the trees on a large lot, just minutes to Beaver Valley Ski Club. Impeccably kept Viceroy home features large windows, cathedral ceilings, a woodburning fireplace, and plenty of outdoor entertainment space. MLS# 40141841

4 |

4,295 ft2 tol.fin.

2 |

2,592 ft2 tol.fin.

Light-filled ground floor, corner condo features crown moulding, premium finishes, a private terrace overlooking greenspace and underground parking.

Ideally located at amenity rich “Far Hills”. Close to Thornbury’s shops, restaurants, community centre and parks. MLS# 40159312

2 |

2 |

1,397 ft2 tol.fin.

$2,890,000

$949,000

$625,000

Kelly Caldwell* 705-994-3378

Lorraine Champion* 705-441-3642

Dennis Klinsky** 705-443-9794 Karen Kalosza* 705-607-6595

CENTRAL COLLINGWOOD

PRIVATE 20 ACRE PROPERTY

Looking for a weekend retreat? View this custom stone 4 + 1 bed, 4 bath home. 3800 sq ft including fully finished lower level. Double heated garage/ workshop with loft. MLS#40156810

Private 20-acre property with a classic 7-bedroom, 2-bathroom great family Chalet with wood burning pizza oven and 20’X30’ workshop/garage for all of your toys! MLS#40163127

5 |

FAR HILLS, THORNBURY CONDO

4 |

3,800 ft2 tol.fin.

7 |

2 |

25 ACRE RURAL PROPERTY

4 km south of Thornbury, 14-acre orchard with 5-acre building envelope, view and small pond.

Building lot with income generation.

MLS# 40159460

1,963 ft2 tol.fin.

$1,798,000

$1,290,000

$2,300,000

Judith Traynor** 705-446-8977

Mark Veer** 705-443-7911 Mary Riopelle* 705-446-5466

Todd Brooker** 705-888-1818

Four Seasons Realty Limited, Brokerage 67 First St., Collingwood 705-445-8500 47 Bruce St., Thornbury 519-599-2600 202 Montreal St., Stayner 705-428-4500

www.remaxcollingwood.com

*sales representative **broker ***broker of record

– Each Office Independently Owned and Operated

A FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER COULD WIN

$100,000 TOWARDS THEIR FIRST HOME! CONTEST ENDS SEPT. 23/21

remax.ca/firsthomecontest

READER BUYING GUIDE For more information, link directly to advertisers at onthebaymagazine.com

ACCOMMODATIONS Jayne’s Luxury Rentals Vacasa Vacation Rentals

Culford Family Hearing

FLOORING PAGE 25

Area Rug Shops

PAGE 73

Dean’s Carpet One

PAGE 52, 53 PAGE 57

FOOD/DRINK

ARTS/MUSEUMS/ PHOTOGRAPHY

Georgian Bay Spirit Co.

PAGE 87

FURNITURE

Craig Gallery

PAGE 87

Orangeville Furniture

Jessica Crandlemire Photography

PAGE 81

Loft Gallery Inc.

PAGE 86

Margarethe Vanderpas Studio

PAGE 86

Family Dentistry

PAGE 20

Erie Street Dental

PAGE 38

Georgian Bay Dental Hygiene

PAGE 85

BlueRock Wealth Management Inc.

PAGE 54

HEALTH/BEAUTY/FITNESS Scandinave Spa

PAGE 81

Royal LePage Locations North Realty Inc., Brokerage Jane Moysey & Lorraine McDonald

PAGE 8

Locations North Realty Inc., Brokerage Josh Dolan

PAGE 14

Royal LePage Locations North Realty Inc., Brokerage

Brian Renken Professional Corporation,

Good Health Mart Collingwood

Christine Smith

Royal LePage

PROFESSIONAL/FINANCIAL/ LEGAL PAGE 104

Royal LePage Locations North Realty Inc., Brokerage

Dr. Robert McCoppen

PAGE 6

Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts

PAGE 59

PAGE 39 PAGE 68

Barristers & Solicitors

The Chris Keleher Team

PAGE 3

PAGE 20

Royal LePage RCR Realty, Brokerage Cathie Hunt, CPA Professional Corporation

Suzanne Lawrence

PAGE 58

PAGE 38

Sea & Ski Realty Ltd. Brokerage

PAGE 37

Grant Thornton LLP,

AUTO/ATV/SMALL ENGINE Auto Tech ‘N Tire

PAGE 90

Blue Mountain Chrysler

PAGE 67

Buff-It Detailing

PAGE 90

Jaguar/Landrover Brampton

PAGE 9

Larry’s Small Engines

PAGE 69

McKee Muffler

PAGE 90

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING Georgian Home Comfort

Area Rug Shops

PAGE 90

Walker’s Small Motors Ltd.

PAGE 34

BUILDERS/CONTRACTORS Coulter Dawe and Associates JDC Custom Homes Inc.

PAGE 59 PAGE 35

L. Patten & Sons Ltd.

PAGE 48

Yanch Homes

PAGE 45

PAGE 57

Elizabeth de Groot

PAGE 18

FAD Farrow Arcaro Design

PAGE 48

JDC Janssen Design

PAGE 46 PAGE 103

Brind Group

Paul Martinek

PAGE 46

Court Contractors

PAGE 47

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENTS PAGE 95

Huronia Steel, Container Rentals, Recycling

PAGE 85

Northern Stable Supply Trans Canada Wood Products Ltd.

PAGE 51

REAL ESTATE

Ailsa Craig at the Village of Arbour Trails

Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage

PAGE 98, 99

Chestnut Park The Picot Team PAGE 39

mycollingwood.ca

PAGE 82

LANDSCAPE/GARDEN & SUPPLIES

The Busby Centre

PAGE 83

Environmental Pest Control

PAGE 51

Mulch-It

PAGE 50

The Landmark Group

PAGE 13

PAGE 88

Elaine Dickinson’s Fashions

PAGE 88

Glerups

PAGE 89

Jamie Hibbard

Vaiya

PAGE 89

Collingwood Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre

PAGE 60

Residence

PAGE 22

Waterford Barrie PAGE 96, 97

PAGE 85

Re/Max By the Bay Brokerage Michelle Seip

PAGE 41

Retirement Residence

PAGE 23

Brokerage

PAGE 100

Darice Lush

PAGE 11

Travel Insurance Office Inc.

PAGE 39

Draperies & Shutters

PAGE 58

Salnek’s Custom

Royal LePage Brokerage

WINDOW FASHIONS

PAGE 50

Window Treatments

Locations North Realty Inc., PAGE 68

Simcoe Country Airport Service

Ashton’s Blinds,

Brokerage PAGE 58

TRAVEL

Re/Max Four Seasons Realty Ltd.,

Re/Max Four Seasons Realty Ltd.,

MEDICAL/DENTAL PROFESSIONALS Collingwood Optometry

PAGE 84

Re/Max at Blue Realty Inc., Brokerage

PAGE 35

Brabary Fine Lingerie

CARP

PAGE 34

Kingsmere Retirement

Clairwood Real Estate Corporation Brokerage

PAGE 78

Blundstone

PAGE 31

PAGE 87

PAGE 49

Breaking Down Barriers

FASHION/JEWELRY

PAGE 33

SENIOR LIVING

INSURANCE Travel Insurance Office Inc.

(Parkbridge)

(Georgian Communities)

Real Estate Limited, Brokerage

COMMUNITY/BUSINESS SERVICES

Craigleith Ridge

Windfall Blue Mountain

RECORDING STUDIO Grey Noise Entertainment

PAGE 73

PAGE 28

HOME IMPROVEMENT & SUPPLY Aeon Kitchens & Design

PAGE 16

Sutton Group – Incentive Realty

RADIO The New Classical 102.9 FM

Sotheby’s International

PAGE 2

TD Wealth Management, Darryn Stroud

PAGE 4, 5

Realty Canada

Paul Chapman PAGE 52, 53

Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.,

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.,

HOME DÉCOR/DESIGN

LFI Design Speedy Glass

PAGE 17

Chartered Accountants

PAGE 26, 27

Shades & Shutters

PAGE 15 PAGE 51

ON THE BAY

FA L L 2 0 2 1

101

B A C K

PHOTO COURTESY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

L O O K I N G

Village with a

BIG HEART T

his photo from about 1910 shows the main street in Creemore as an already bustling downtown. Settlement had begun in 1842 and by the turn of the century, Creemore was a thriving village of about 800 people with a vibrant business community. While sidewalks were in place by the time this photo was taken, Mill Street itself wouldn’t be paved until 1928 – an advancement that was cause for a parade and celebration.

Creemore’s name and town origins have strong Irish roots. The village’s founder, Irish entrepreneur Edward Webster, coined the name in 1845 from the Gaelic croí mór, which means

102

ON THE BAY

FA L L 2 0 2 1

“big heart.” Webster paid tribute to his family by naming the original streets after them: Elizabeth and Caroline for his daughters, Francis and Wellington for his sons, Alice and William for his parents.

Edward built mills and streets, opened stores, sat on the first school board, established the first church, and served as postmaster as well as Justice of the Peace. Meanwhile, his brother, George Webster, ran the mills and built three taverns, two stores and some houses. When the railway came to the area, George bought up some land nearby and established the village of Websterville.

Descendants of the Webster founders still live in the area today. ❧

DETAILS MATTER DETAILS MATTER

| Gene Sofa | brentwoodclassics.com

Our showroom is your Home Improvement Decor Centre.

LFI Design offers full service renovation, design and space planning services.

Our showroom is your Home We’ll help you achieve the homeImprovement of your dreams with your budget in mind.

Decor Centre.

DETAILS MATTER

| Gene Sofa | brentwoodclassics.com

LFI Design offers full service renovation, design and • HOME FURNISHINGS + DECORspace • WINDOW COVERINGS FLOORING • achieve the planning services. •We’ll help you Our showroom is your Home Improvement Decor Centre.

• RENOVATION • KITCHENhome + BATHofDESIGN • SPACE PLANNING • your dreams with your budget in mind.

| Gene Sofa | brentwoodclassics.com LFI •Design ers full service renovation, design and space planning services.

HOMEoffSTAGING • INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION • We’ll help you achieve the home of your dreams with your budget in mind.

SHOP ONLINE:

Our showroom your Home Improvement Decor Centre.

HOME FURNISHINGS + DECOR is • WINDOW COVERINGS • FLOORING • RENOVATION

LFI Design offers full service renovation, design and space planning services.

• KITCHEN + BATH DESIGN • SPACE PLANNING • HOME STAGING • INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION We’ll help

• HOME FURNISHINGS + DECOR • WINDOW COVERINGS • FLOORING • • RENOVATION • KITCHEN + BATH DESIGN • SPACE PLANNING • you achieve the home of yourDESIGN dreams with your • HOME STAGING • INTERIOR CONSULTATION • budget

in mind.

416-910-2313 | 705-322-9646 | 31 King St., Unit #1, Barrie | www.LFIdesign.com SHOP ONLINE:

• HOME FURNISHINGS + DECOR • WINDOW COVERINGS • FLOORING • • RENOVATION • KITCHEN + BATH DESIGN • SPACE PLANNING • 416-910-2313 | 705-322-9646 | 31 King St., Unit #1, Barrie | www.LFIdesign.com • HOME STAGING • INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION •

Lina Iantorno | Interior Designer ARIDO, NCIDQ

SHOP ONLINE: 416-910-2313

| 705-322-9646 | 31 King St., Unit #1, Barrie | www.LFIdesign.com 416-910-2313 | 705-322-9646 | 31 King St., Unit #1, Barrie | www.LFIdesign.com