4 - Southpoint Sun
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Hope for return to glory years
Putting Jack Miner back on the world map By Mark Ribble KINGSVILLE — The Jack Miner Migratory Bird Foundation is looking toward the future and Director of Marketing and Fundraising, Tim Dobson, wants to bring back the glory years. “People can’t imagine the history that’s in this place,” he said. “Jack was known the world over.” Dobson doesn’t have to go far to show Miner’s place in history or the popularity of the bird sanctuary which he opened in 1904. Hundreds of pictures, articles and paintings adorn the property on Road 3 west of Kingsville, many tucked neatly away
for posterity. “We want to get people coming back to Jack Miner’s,” said Dobson. “If not to see the geese, to see the history here.” Dobson’s vision of the future includes a large state-of-the-art museum with interactive displays and space for all of Miner’s artifacts, books and possessions. The current museum, a small two-storey building behind the Miner home, has some displays on the lower floor, but the upper floor currently acts as a storage facility. The home, museum, feeding pond and other buildings sit on 420 total acres of land owned by
the foundation, and Dobson is eager to fill those acres with tourists. The foundation runs on an annual budget of $500,000, which is generated through donations and fundraisers. Kennedy Woods, a familiar hiking spot for many locals, contains over six kilometres of trails, with picnic tables spaced throughout the woods for hikers to stop and rest. The trails meander through the vast forest on the south side of Road 3 and it would be normal to see old abandoned farm implements with trees growing out of them.
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Farm implements have grown into the trees over the years in Kennedy Woods. SUN photo
liked it. Henry Ford was a close friend and had the iconic brick and iron fence built around the main property in 1929, paying local labourers four-times the going rate to erect the fence. That fence was recently replaced and upgraded by the foundation. Locally, Miner was known as ‘Uncle Jack’ and when he passed away suddenly in 1944, he had thousands of speaking engagements that went unfulfilled. Well over 15,000 people attended his funeral. Next week, the foundation will be holding a fundraising game din-
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ner. The dinner had been postponed once already from April. The game dinner will be held on July 17, with curbside pickup from 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 and the menu includes water buffalo, pheasant, venison, pickerel, coleslaw potatoes and more. Anyone who purchased tickets for the original event can rest assured that those tickets will be honoured for the new date. A live band will play in the gazebo, so Dobson invites diners to eat in their car and listen to the music. Call 519-733-4034 for ticket information. CONTINUED ON PG. 5
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It’s that type of display that Dobson sees as potential for tourism. After all, this was Jack Miner’s boyhood outdoor classroom. He envisions a goose-themed playground as part of the future of Kennedy Woods. Dobson is able to tell dozens of stories about Jack Miner’s close relationships with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Detroit Tigers great Ty Cobb. Cobb, in particular, shows up in many of Miner’s photographs and memorabilia. The two were hunting buddies and Miner’s affection for the baseball star is evident when you visit Ty Cobb Field, directly east of the homestead, and even when you enter the home itself. Cobb had his own room upstairs, which is still arranged the way Cobb
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