Country Roads Spring 2012

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Hastings County General Stores Umfraville Pioneer Cemetery Quinte-Tweed Master Gardeners Oak Lake Memories C O V E R I N G T H E A R T S , O U T D O O R S , H I S T O R Y, P E O P L E A N D P L A C E S

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Country Roads

discovering hastings county

Country Roads

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1, SPRING 2012

Contents

discovering hastings county

CR Country CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR Nancy Hopkins 613 395-0499 CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR John Hopkins 613 395-0499

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SALES DEPARTMENT Jennifer Richardson jennifer@countryroadshastings.ca 613 922-2135

Roads

discovering hastings county

ART DIRECTOR Jozef VanVeenen

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Angela Hawn Gary Magwood Lindi Pierce Michelle Tremblay Shelley Wildgen HOW TO CONTACT US Telephone: 613 395-0499 Facsimile: 613 395-0903 E-mail: info@countryroadshastings.ca Website: www.countryroadshastings.ca For written enquiries you can reach us at: PenWord Communications Inc. P.O. Box 423, Stirling, ON K0K 3E0 COUNTRY ROADS, Discovering Hasting County is published four times a year by PenWord Communications Inc. Copies are distributed to select locations throughout Hastings County including the ­communities of Bancroft, Belleville, Madoc, Marmora, Stirling and Tweed.

Copies are also delivered to select homes within southern Ontario.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year: $14.69 2 years: $27.13 3 years: $35.03 All prices include H.S.T. The contents of this publication are ­protected by copyright. Reproduction of this ­publication in whole or in part without prior written permission of PenWord ­Communications Inc. is prohibited.

The advertising deadline for the Summer 2012 issue is Friday, May 11, 2012.

COVER PHOTO: Photo by Jozef VanVeenen Made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

6 - A TASTE OF THE PAST

4 - EDITORIAL

The straight goods on general stores

12 - ECHOES The Pioneer Cemetery of ­Umfraville

16 - HOW DOES YOUR

GARDEN GROW Quinte-Tweed Master Gardeners here to help

20 - THE LURE OF OAK LAKE Vacation spot provides timeless memories

26 - ACTING UP

New beginnings

4 - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 25 - GOING GREEN Start tripping through seed ­catalogues

28 - COUNTRY CALENDAR Things to see and do in Hastings County

29 - MARKETPLACE 30 - BACK ROADS Belleville and Hastings ­Highlands Travel Guide

Belleville Theatre Guild turns 60

Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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discovering hastings county

e d i t o r i a l

letters

New beginnings

Photo: Haley Ashford

We’re thrilled this issue of COUNTRY ROADS includes a new writer from the Hastings Highlands. Michelle Tremblay has contributed a story that will touch your heart. We believe it touched hers as she ventured out on a wintery February day to walk the land where the Umfraville pioneer Cemetery lies and learn the stories of the community and its residents, past and present.

If ever there was a place with stories to tell it’s the old general store.

Before malls and big box outlets, the general store was the place to go for necessities beyond what you could produce yourself or find locally. And more than a store, it was the hub of the community. You purchased what you needed, socialized and caught up on news and all things important. A few Hastings County general stores still exist, some have reinvented themselves and many more have turned over the closed sign for the last time but their importance as a commercial and social part of lives was and is their legacy.

We are a county full of waterways and one such venue, Oak Lake sits atop a hill south of Stirling. It may be a small lake but it’s big on stories and memories. There are families that can boast a century-long connection to its waters. More than a place for aquatic fun Oak Lake has hosted a happening dance hall, a casino, and has been home to farm families. Luckily for the rest of us, there’s still a public beach where we can experience a bit of the lake magic.

Many of us long for spring, when the gardens come out of their long winter sleep. If you have dreams of gardening glory and your green thumb isn’t working as it should don’t worry, there are people who can help. Any member of the public can get in touch with the local Master Gardeners Quinte-Tweed chapter to ask gardening questions or visit them in person on weekends in May and June at Smylie’s in Trenton.

Our back to the land theme continues with our Going Green piece on community gardens.

The Belleville Theatre Guild may have turned 60 this year but she’s not about to settle into retirement; quite the opposite. This live theatre troupe is very much alive with five shows on tap for their 2011/12 season. The theatre has become a part of one young woman’s life. Read about what it’s like to be 12 years old and bit by the acting bug. And how does mom feel about this new passion? Be prepared to be turned onto the enchantment of live theatre!

Four times a year we set about creating an issue of Country Roads that fulfills our goal of telling stories about the arts, outdoors, history, people and places of Hastings County. We believe these are elements that speak of the uniqueness of this community. And we do it for those with a connection to Hastings County. For some it’s life-long, others seasonal and some their get-away place with memories etched firmly in their lives.

Hastings County is undiscovered by many but if you’re reading this magazine, we know you get it. My, what smart readers we have!

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Nancy & John Hopkins 4

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

to

the

editor

Dear Country Roads A fan of local magazines, I’ve enjoyed watching Country Roads grow, and flourish. Your recent Winter Issue is a wonderful example of locally grounded, good news stories.

Lindi Pierce’s informative article provided an enjoyable tour of Hastings County architecture. ‘Classic Rock’ included cobblestone landmarks I’ve not yet visited, and many that I have – like Roblin House, and the pretty church I passed each morning when I worked at Sidney Township.

Reading of piper pilot, Kevin Farrell’s adventures, accompanied by Anna Sherlock’s stunning photographs, I drew my husband’s attention to the marvelous meandering Moira image. Near the bridge on which he toiled, it was a summertime’s savoured lunch spot.

But when I reached Angela Hawn’s article, ‘Going Once, Going Twice’ I was notably impressed. Having attended a few Sullivan auctions, as spectator and bidder, the article achieved an authentic immersion in sensational Sullivan showmanship. Hawn deftly describes the Boyd Sullivan auction experience, and captures its enthusiastic essence through her vivid writing.

Country Roads has come of age. Employing talented neighbours’ insights, and creative eyes, you’ve created a marvelous publication. Keep it coming!

Anne Elspeth Rector Belleville, Ontario Dear Country Roads A friend of mine gave me a copy of the Winter 2011/12 issue of Country Roads, a very attractive and interesting publication. I was delighted to discover an article about the Sullivan auctioneers, and an aerial photograph of Chisholm’s Lumber in the article Getting High.

They reminded me of my first pastorate at the Plainfield Pastoral Charge from 1960-63. Bob Sullivan was a member of the Plainfield United Church and the Chisholm families were members of the Roslin congregation, two of the four congregations I served at the time.

Thanks for stirring up some memories!

Rev. R.G. (Bob) Nicholls Mississauga, Ontario Dear Country Roads I had the pleasure of living for a year - 2009 - in the Stirling area and would read Country Roads publication as a great source of information about Ontario and places to explore. Upon returning to Australia I continue to read articles on the web with great interest. I particularly enjoyed ‘After the Applause’ in the Fall edition. Everybody has a story to tell!

Jillian Schneider Australia

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A TASTE OF THE PAST The straight goods on general stores

BY LINDI PIERCE

S

hopping patterns are changing, says Jason Ro, returning to the conversation after another lotto sale. “We’re not a general store anymore; we’re a convenience store”. Ro’s General Store in Cannifton occupies the limestone structure built by Joseph Canniff in the 1840’s. Archival photographs reveal a proud Georgian building set back into the hillside, with deep Greek Revival cornices and eaves returns, large display windows, a recessed store entrance, and a Regency-inspired trellised gallery on the second floor living quarters. The building has been modernized: the delicate gallery railing is gone, the elegant upstairs doorcase has been replaced, the massive end-wall chimneys are capped, the windows changed, but the store is still dignified – and operating.

The general store was once the commercial and social hub of a community: town, village or lonely forest cross-roads. It was the first structure built after the mill, stocked most of the neces-

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sities of life, housed the post office and provided the meeting place -- for news, for help, for human contact. The story of the general store throughout its over 150-year history echoes the changes in its community.

Before the 1920’s most people lived outside cities and towns, but improvements in automobiles and roads, and an increasing desire for goods and services changed shopping habits.

Today folks think nothing of driving to another city to a big-box store; we want the wide range of goods and services available at malls, or the prices of a large retailer.

Ro looks out ruefully at the traffic speeding by his Cannifton location. We’re both aware of the massive Wal-Mart store just across the river out of sight around the bend. He recounts that when his family arrived from Korea in 1988, there were few big stores. Villages were more self-sufficient. People didn’t routinely travel all the way to Belleville for necessities.

Lynne and Nancy Shorey, long-time Cannifton residents, “grew up in the store”; Lynne has the history at her fingertips. Great-great-grandfather George Washington Palmer ran the store with his mother Nancy Palmer (nee Gunsolus) from 1897.

Great-grandfather J. Ed Shorey married the storekeeper’s daughter Lena; he took title in 1913.

Lynne, an avid genealogist, can list the owners right back to Joseph Canniff in 1848 and his son John in 1858. ‘The store’ as it was called in the family, had undergone many changes of ownership over the years when the Ro family purchased it in 1989.

Jason took over the store after his father’s death; his children have worked in the store but will not become storekeepers. So much change, in the family, in the community, in the store. Yet even today the store is a community fixture; customers call him Jay (“I’ve known many of them for 20 years”) and seem to appreciate the convenience of a stop close to home for garbage bag tags, snacks and stamps, and those lottery tickets.

A taste of the past

(Clockwise from top left): A historical photo of Owner James Quinn with a group of female shoppers inside his Quinn’s of Tweed fine store. (Photo courtesy Tweed & Area Heritage Centre); Owner/curator Paul Dederer kept the name Quinn’s of Tweed when he opened the building as a fine art gallery last summer. (Photo Lindi Pierce); The Park family ran the Ormsby General Store from 1915-1975. (Photo courtesy The Old Hastings Mercantile & Gallery); Lillian Oakley and Gary Pattison inside their Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery in Ormsby. (Photo Lindi Pierce)

Hastings County has far too many general stores, living and dead, to tell all their stories. As we look back, three kinds of narrative emerge. ‘Gone but Not Forgotten’ recalls oncevibrant community institutions like McMurray’s of Gilmour, Hall’s Store at Latta, Halloway General Store and Sager’s in Queensborough. ‘Takes a Licking but Keeps on Ticking’ tells the story of the general store, plain but functional, persisting as a convenient spot in a small community for a litre of milk, a DVD for the kids, a lottery ticket – and a bit of local news. Life in Marlbank, Cannifton and Ivanhoe is richer for these stores.

Finally, ‘The Phoenixes’ celebrates repurposed general stores, which have suffered decline and then rebirth due to the vision of creative and energetic individuals bringing new vitality and new forms of community to former general stores.

The Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery in Ormsby is an example of the latter. Lillian Oakley and Gary Pattison have transformed a derelict

frame Ontario Gothic farmhouse style general store in a virtual ghost town into a much-loved history, nostalgia and shopping destination. The Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery resides in the former Park family general store (1915-1975) on the Old Hastings Road near Ormsby (formerly Rathbun) in Limerick township. Today’s community of 20 was once a self-sufficient farming and lumbering boom town on the Central Ontario railway; its decline began in 1850 with the closure of the link. Life returned to Ormsby with the arrival of the Pattisons.

“The Pattison family has a thing for old buildings,” explains Oakley. She and her husband, professional French horn player Pattison, his twin brother Ernie and Ernie’s wife Debbie (also musicians) are the hub of the Ormsby community. Among their restorations are the Old Ormsby Schoolhouse Tearoom and the nearby family farmhouse. The family has also been active in restoring a former Presbyterian Church, “The Old

Ormsby Heritage Church,” which hosts magical candlelight Christmas services, and a pioneer service with filled to capacity buggy and team parking.

Oakley has been store-keeping most of her life; she operated the Wilno Craft Gallery for 16 years. She was performing in the Ormsby area with her angelic-voiced trio “Close Enough” when she met Gary (who grew up in the area and spent happy times at a family farm on Ridge Road nearby), and they bought the old Park store in 1997 as a retreat from their separate busy lives in Toronto and Wilno. Six years of weekends and summer breaks were spent on restoration (the old store was a nightmare of rotted floors and walls).

They rebuilt a wall with recycled church bricks, reused tin ceilings, sourced restored doors, built additions and created….magic.

Interest in the restoration was high throughout the summer of 2003. On opening day July 19, 2003, after several all-nighters to finish decorating Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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A taste of the past

The Maynooth General Store, originally named Wootens, was built in 1907.

Photo courtesy Vivian Bloom

and stocking, the public descended. An instant hit! And interest has grown since. “I thought I’d have more time to paint,” Lillian reflects. Photos of vintage auto club visits and a party of young women dressed in period clothing adorn the walls. Local cottagers and day-trippers from all over Ontario, tourists from a great distance and area residents all respond emotionally to the voyage back in time created here at the Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery.

Lillian attributes her desire to recreate scenes from our past, and to create memories for the future, to childhood visits to Black Creek Pioneer Village. The couple’s vision is “to keep the romance of the general store alive,” she says.

“We do it out of love…to make memories. I give the kids penny candy. I want them to grow up remembering the old country store; I want to be the little old lady behind the counter in the store they tell their kids about.”

Any attempt to describe the mercantile adequately is bound to end in failure. The store is an Ali Baba’s cave of fine Canadian arts and crafts, vintage toys, antiques, homemade treats, country-themed merchandise, nostalgia books… and the penny candy. Six rooms -- a Christmas room, a tiny magical miniature children’s room under the stairs, a husbands’ lounge with comfy old couches and black and white movies, and rooms full of kitchen and garden items, books and music, and Lillian’s beautiful design touches like the hand-painted floors – recreate the overflowing general store of past days.

Plans for an art gallery upstairs are progressing.

All of the findings – shelves, showcases, the wide counter, vintage Coca Cola cooler, butcher block, the ancient cash register – were rescued locally.

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

Irishman James Quinn built the store that bears his name in 1880, offering for sale dry goods, ready-made clothes and other supplies. Photo Lindi Pierce

During our February visit three wood stoves kept the rambling store comfy. “I wonder why I don’t get as much done in the winter”, laughs Lillian, on her way outside for another armload of wood.

The Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery is open weekends during the winter, and daily from May to January. Combined with tea, lunch or dinner at the Old School House Tearoom next door it makes a trip to Limerick township a perfect getaway.

Quinn’s of Tweed advertised itself as “The Busy Store” and busy it certainly appears in

You can find almost anything you need at the Maynooth General Store. If they don’t have it, you probably don’t need it!

Photo Lindi Pierce

an archival photograph featuring owner James Quinn, a group of women, and a cornucopia of items from table linens to boots. James Quinn of Armagh, Ireland, built the fine stone store in 1880 and offered for sale dry goods, ready-made clothes, boots and shoes, hardware, salt, general merchandise, coal and wood. Quinn’s of Tweed carried on, changing over the years, adding a liquor store, then a men’s haberdashery.

Nephew Michael J. Quinn took over upon James’ death. Michael’s son Tracey and Anthony Quinn partnered to form Quinn and Quinn until 1960.

Tracey continued the business at Quinn’s Store, T.J. Quinn proprietor, offering meat and groceries, dry goods, ladies and children’s wear. The grocery store department closed in 1971. The name and the historic character of the building were retained although it evolved from a general store. Jim and Gale Stafford owned the store from 1975-1992, and Pieter and Sabine Bechtold took ownership in 1995.

Quinn’s of Tweed was transformed in the summer of 2011 through the vision of Paul Dederer who re-opened the building as a fine art gallery.

Quinn’s past is honoured: assistant curator/framer Bev Caswell’s display of vintage hats and accessories above the original leaded glass shop windows pays homage to the days when Quinn’s of Tweed was the place to go for ladies’ fashions and special occasion wear.

Based in Kingston, owner/curator Dederer had been looking for “the perfect building” for his gallery, which has quickly become a “destination gallery” because of the extensive collection of Canadian art, featuring many celebrated local artists, as well as fine artisan work and Dederer’s

A taste of the past

own award-winning photographs. The gallery extends to the bright spacious second floor (once the lady shoppers’ exclusive domain, with frosted windows ensuring discretion for that important foundation fitting). The space and the people are warm and welcoming; conversation about art and life flows easily.

Deep windows, tall ceilings of tongue and groove pine, a graceful and imposing maple and ash staircase and shining wood floors add to the serenity of the perfect gallery space. The ornate book-keeper’s office, with its special desk and original receipts still displayed, sits behind the varnished wood partition with its frosted glass wicket, attesting to the serious work of settling monthly accounts in the old store’s heyday.

Quinn’s was one of two general stores of long standing in the town. Barnett’s, at the corner of Victoria North and Jamieson Street West closed in 1968; the building burned 10 years ago.

Wilson’s is an eclectic gift and decorating store, in the old Weiss furniture store building on Durham Street in Madoc. Owner Ellen Wilson is a local history buff who knows her general stores, and economic development. Her parents started married life in their own general store at Anderson’s Corners, ON, with its “bottles of pickles

The Cannifton limestone structure built by Joseph Caniff in the 1840’s has been a general store for over 100 years, and today is known as Ro’s General Store. Photo courtesy Lynne and Nancy Shorey.

next to the penny nails”. She explained the absence of general store history in Madoc. Founder Donald MacKenzie (his 1830 mills lent the community its first name) ran a general store. The

growth of mining and smelting and its location on the Hastings Road led to early prosperity for Madoc, which emerged as a regional centre by 1855. Early towns like Madoc quickly developed

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A taste of the past

(Clockwise from top left): A long time staple for cottagers, Stan’s General Store, just off Highway 62 on the road to Gilmour only recently closed. (Photo Lindi Pierce); Known as The Village Store, in the community of Halloway this building is now a private home. (Photo Lindi Pierce); The Madawaska Valley Art Shop is housed in Maynooth’s first general store. (Photo Lindi Pierce); Dean’s Emporium of the North was one of the big stores in Madoc after the 1860’s. (Photo courtesy Ellen Wilson)

specialized stores; Stirling and Marmora were also larger communities which could successfully support specialty stores. “There was a time when retail was a gentleman’s profession, well respected,” Ellen Wilson recounts. Some of Madoc’s fine homes were built on that pride.

Wilson muses about the general stores’ disappearance. “Even 50 years ago, a trip to Belleville was a major expedition…people didn’t travel to shop,” she explains. “Shop-keeping is not for the faint of heart anymore. We can’t compete with the wholesale division of a No-Frills…it’s not fair but it’s the way of the world now…the price is king…comparison shopping is drilled into us.” She credits people who have moved into the area and their appreciation of small-town life with boosting the ranks of those shopping locally. They also enjoy dropping by to chat, an old tradition. “General stores were social centres,” she points out. “The town was bustling on Friday and Saturday nights. Shopkeepers talked to one customer until the next one arrived…we still perform that function to a degree”.

But today, it’s the hamlets and villages that keep the general store alive.

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

The village of Maynooth illustrates the point.

Maynooth is today - and always has been – isolated, and as a result self-reliant. A developing artistic and tourism centre, Maynooth continues to be the hub of township life. Deputy Mayor and local historian Vivian Bloom, in her promotion “Maynooth Quick Facts” recounts that as recently as the 1960’s, the forest industry and local mines kept the economy buoyant, supporting “three general stores, a hardware store, three restaurants…four gas stations and a car dealership.” Maynooth General Store still fulfills that mandate. Storekeeper Carla van Balen Walter (husband Bob runs the gas bar next door) explains, “I have a bit of everything – they say if I don’t have it, they don’t need it.” A mounted black bear head (faux) above the door illustrates the store’s motto ‘The Bear Necessities.’ A walk down the three long well-stocked aisles suggests there is little that Maynooth General Store does not have. Unique camp-themed giftware jockeys for position with quality outdoor wear, fabric, pet supplies, kitchenware, fresh produce, groceries, greeting cards, pharmacy items, hardware and a rack of red and black checked

shirts. With its inviting front entrance, tongue and groove walls and ceiling, wooden floors and original shelving, the place has not only the feel but the function of a general store. The store, originally Wootens, was built in 1907 after a fire destroyed much of the village. At one time, a Master Feeds farm store operated in the addition.

Joe Shulman, another Maynooth booster, joins the conversation. The old general store provided a meeting place, a hub…and still does, he says.

Here people “get all the news and intrigue, pick up flyers, locate lost dogs and good plumbers.”

A visit to the store is part of the rural routine. “If you’re not seen at the store for a few days, someone checks up on you,” reassures Joe. Carla and Bob know what he means. Newlyweds from Amsterdam, they planned on staying for four years; 26 years later they’re still here.

Carla admits, “this town sort of adopted us, we put roots down here…deep.” Amy, behind the counter six months and already part of the community, agrees.

Vivian and Carla recount the old days before the bank arrived, when the store would borrow

A taste of the past

These 1916 advertisements show the range of items available from Quinn’s of Tweed.

Courtesy Tweed & Area Heritage Centre The shelves at the Maynooth General Store are always stocked to overflowing. Photo Lindi Pierce

$10,000 for the weekend so it could cash paychecks for the mine and lumber-camp workers arriving in town on Friday nights. Today many customers are cottagers and campers at nearby Algonquin Park. The well-organized shelves meet every need from practical to sartorial. International visitors “are looking for Canadiana and I’m happy to oblige,” Carla says. Regulars include trusted old-timer Norman, still running a tab at the store, who regales visitors with dubious tales blending Maynooth events and TV drama.

Those summer residents also visit another early general store, one of the repurposed stores, which has housed the Madawaska Art Gallery since the 1960’s. After his arrival in 1858, Mr. Doyle started the village’s first general store and ran the first Post Office and the stage service.

The store then operated as the Buckley General Store under several generations of the Buckley family. The 1960’s art gallery/shop began in the 1860’s era Merchant bank next door and expanded into the Buckley store. Current owners Bob and Janet Ferguson have been here since 2004, when they bought and renovated the building after a tragic fire. A link connects the former bank and the store buildings; a wealth of quality artisan work, jewelry, gifts and rustic furniture in 17 rooms attracts large numbers of visitors.

Bob regales his many return customers with tales about the fire, the ghost, the gun port in the floor above the bank.

Evan Morton of Tweed and Area Heritage Centre calls it “the plight of being in a small rural community,” that familiar pattern of changing population,

transportation and buying patterns. These forces have been at play for as long as the general store has existed. They brought the stores into being, to meet local needs. These same forces supported, then gradually abandoned the general store. The history of the general store is the story of settlement, its growth and decline. The story explains the changes felt by general stores like the stone store in Cannifton. It recounts the early specialization in larger towns. It tells why corner convenience stores still operate in spots like Marlbank and Ivanhoe, and why Stan’s in Gilmour and Sager’s in Queensborough have recently closed their doors. The story celebrates how communities like Ormsby recreate themselves and how centres like Maynooth prevail.

So many stores and stories; far too many to honour them all, the original entrepreneurs and those who survive, storekeepers whose confidence in their communities and in the future makes Hastings County great.

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d i s c o v e r i n g

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echoes The Pioneer Cemetery of Umfraville PHOTOS & STORY BY MICHELLE TREMBLAY

A

lone in the wilds of a foreign country, walking mile after mile on weary legs, Anastasia Kelly must have been terrified as night fell. Already she had faced a long arduous journey, and what would come next was still a mystery to her.

Leaving the only life she’d ever known behind in Ireland, Kelly boarded a sailing vessel bound for Montreal. But according to one historian, she instead ended up in Bermuda after strong winds blew the vessel off course. She boarded another ship, finally arriving in Canada, and made her way via primitive transit systems to Hastings County. She was 16 years old, traveling without companion.

It was the mid 1800’s and the Canadian government, in an attempt to open up the interior of Ontario, was giving land grants to settlers who could prove themselves worthy by achieving ‘three in three’: clearing and cultivating three acres of land within three years.

The settlers were also required to establish a viable home and work the land for another two years before being granted a deed to the property. Kelly was joining her uncle at Kavanagh Settlement - later renamed Umfraville - a day’s ride north of Madoc. But the trip took her two days because instead of traveling by horse, she walked.

Today if you turn off Highway 62 onto Old Hastings Road you don’t have to travel very far

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

before you reach Umfraville Road. The post office and school are long gone, as are the store and way station. All that remains is a small secluded cemetery.

“It was a shock. We saw it through the leaves,” says Irene St. Rose. She and her husband Jem bought property in Dungannon Township in the early 1970’s. They had no idea that their acreage included a pioneer cemetery.

Dense foliage had obscured it during the summer when they took ownership, but as the leaves changed colour and fell, it came into view.

“We said, look we have a cemetery on our

property,” recounts Jem, of his address to Dungannon council.

Dungannon had not yet amalgamated with the town of Bancroft.

“They said, ‘No you don’t’. The town had no record of it. Then they came out and said, ‘Oh yes, you have all these tombstones here’,” remembers Jem, with a chuckle. Hundred-acre farms

were granted to settlers in the early 1850’s, but many were abandoned because the living conditions, particularly during the long cold winters, were too harsh. Without roads, electricity, or running water, the families that stayed - including the Kellys, Doyles, O’Neills, Finnigans, McCabes, Gaffeneys, Murphys, and Kavanaghs - successfully homesteaded through sheer determination and hard labour.

Dermot ‘Darby’ Kavanagh ran the general store and way station where travelers could stay overnight and board their horses. In 1864 the federal government established an official Post Office, renaming the settlement Umfraville.

Darby Kavanagh was named

Post Master. He married Anastasia Kelly that same year, and together they raised seven children.

The St. Roses, along with descendents of the Umfraville pioneers and the town of Bancroft, are now in the process of having the cemetery designated a historical site. “Throughout its history the cemetery has remained on private

Echoes

Umfraville Cemetery tombstones include pioneer family names like Kelly and Kavanagh.

property. Because of this, there is always a danger of the property being sold to someone who would not respect the graves of the people buried there,” says Mary Kavanagh. She is the great granddaughter of Anastasia Kelly and Darby Kavanagh, and the family historian.

Earlier this year, while there was still snow on the ground, I visited Umfraville. I was interviewing neighbours, one of whom agreed to take me out to the cemetery in her four-wheeldrive truck. I knew my vehicle wouldn’t make the trip because Umfraville Road is not maintained by the municipality. Descendents of the Kellys and Kavanaghs maintain it, but even so, when the snow is deep traveling it can be treacherous.

We drove down Old Hastings Road, a beautiful winding account of the region, and turned onto Umfraville Road. A wall of tall leafless trees on either side of the narrowing trail reached up and over us like bony fingers. After a kilometer or so of slow careful driving with branches scraping the truck’s windows, followed by a 10-minute hike uphill, we arrived at the graveyard.

The stones are weathered; hard to read. In the snow, especially, they emanate stillness, silence, timelessness. There are only 11 tombstones, but sources say this is only the tip of the iceberg - that others were buried, some with wooden markers that nature reclaimed, some with no markers at all.

“I remember one little baby’s crib that I took care of,” remembers Jack Kelly, an Umfraville descendent who has lived in a house just down the road from the cemetery since 1951. “There was no stone, just a little picket fence.” That marker is gone now.

Many of the graves belong to infants. Some of the pioneer families lost multiple children to whooping cough or scarlet fever over a matter of weeks or months. Standing in front of one stone I am overwhelmed: how heartbreaking to go through the hardships and sacrifices of carving a life out of the wilderness, only to helplessly watch as your children take ill and die, one after another.

While I take photos, my guide heads back to the truck to turn it around. But it gets stuck in the snow. After failed attempts to get it free we start walking. The sun is setting and the temperature is dropping, it seems, by the second.

I dig my hands deep into my pockets, and try not to think about bears or coyotes.

Instead I find myself thinking of Anastasia Kelly. Not just of the children she buried in Umfraville Cemetery, but of her long walk to the settlement years before her marriage to Darby Kavanagh. No guide, no map, no flashlight, no food. According to one source, her long trek was the result of a cruel prank: when she arrived in Madoc and asked how to reach Kavanagh Settlement, someone told her it was just a

Umfraville residents Jean and Jack Kelly have been among those to care for the cemetery.

short jaunt down the trail. She walked, expecting to see her uncle’s farm appear around each corner, for two days.

Mary Kavanagh says although the cemetery was not previously included on municipal maps or records, it “should never be referred to as an Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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Echoes

At one point in the 1970’s the stones were removed from the cemetery. But after local appeals they were returned within a year.

The Umfraville Cemetery was blessed in a service by Father Terrence Sirosky and members of the Knights of Columbus. Jem St. Rose is to the left of Father Sirosky holding an umbrella. Photo courtesy Jack & Jean Kelly

abandoned cemetery” because her family always knew it was there, and has been caring for it for generations.

“In the summers each kid would get a lawn mower and we’d cut the grass,” Kavanagh says of her childhood, adding, “We’ve always had that commitment.”

For all these years, Umfraville’s decedents, along with the St. Roses, have been caring for

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the cemetery. It’s a part of them. A part of their story. And it keeps them connected. Ten years ago the St. Roses grieved the passing of their daughter. She rests in the Umfraville cemetery now, its first burial since 1907. Her parents plan to be laid alongside her someday.

“The only reason we have kept the land is to protect the cemetery,” confesses Jem. After retiring from his medical practice, he and Irene

Echoes

moved to Peterborough. They sold their house and cottage on Old Hastings Road, but held onto the remainder of the land.

He doesn’t want a repeat of what happened during a sabbatical he took in the 1970’s. After returning from a year abroad, the St. Roses were shocked to discover the tombstones were missing.

According to Jack Kelly, the stones were removed in an attempt to protect them. Because the cemetery was unregistered and on private land there was no guarantee it would be looked after. Kelly says notices were put in the local newspaper, and when no objections were filed, the stones were moved to the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church Cemetery on Highway 62, where other members of the pioneer families are buried.

Within a year the stones were returned to Umfraville. The St. Roses agreed to register the cemetery, which they did, and with eager help from Umfraville descendents they moved each stone back, as close to its original spot as possible.

Years later a plaque and giant cross were erected, and the cemetery was blessed in a ceremony

by Father Terrence Sirosky and members of the Knights of Columbus.

“If we have to keep the cemetery as long as we live to protect it, we will,” avows Jem. That won’t likely be necessary. The town of Bancroft and Hastings County have each responded positively to the historical application process thus far.

“Both myself and the Historical Society president are quite familiar with Umfraville Cemetery and it is worthy of all possible protection,” says Richard Hughes of the Hastings County Historical Society. “The Bancroft area has a very interesting history with some very determined people opening up the land through mining, lumbering and farming and every effort should be made not only to protect this heritage, but equally to make it known to the younger generations. It creates civic pride when the current citizens can see where they came from and how much earlier generations contributed to make the area what it is today.”

If all goes according to plan, the cemetery should be classed a historical site within the next few months. A survey of the land is being conducted, after which the town of Bancroft will prepare a statement of significance, before passing a bylaw to designate the cemetery a historical site. This will protect the land from any future development, and ensure that the graves are not disturbed. St. Rose says he will be happy to sign the cemetery over to the town once all the requirements have been met.

Officially, upkeep of the cemetery will then be the town’s responsibility, but Kavanagh says her family will continue to care for the site. And she expects it will be added to.

“I would like to explore family genealogies and find the names of [additional] people who were buried there,” she says. “An idea I have

is to create a central monument with brick-size pieces added to it containing the vital information of each individual as information is uncovered.” As family historian she has her work cut out for her, but if her heritage says anything about her, I’m sure she’s up to the task.

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Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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How does your garden grow?

A photo of Quinte-Tweed Master Gardener Steve Storms garden. Photo courtesy Steve Storms

Quinte-Tweed Master Gardeners here to help

BY ANGELA HAWN

S

hould a woman with two black thumbs be trusted to write an article on the Quinte-Tweed chapter of the Ontario Master Gardeners association? “BTW feel free to pitch story ideas of your own” were the last words my editor (and friend?) Nancy e-mailed before flipping me the Master Gardeners gig. Am I being punished for not generating enough story lines of my own, pushed into the deep end of an irrigation pool in which I cannot swim, buried alive in mulch and left to dig my own way out, abandoned to drown in a swamp full of bad gardening cliches of my own making?

A quick peek at some archived Master Gardeners newsletters lets me know I am indeed out of my league. There are references to coir (a type of mulch good for fending off slugs and

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snails) and pear trellis rust. What the heck? I am definitely up the proverbial gardening hose without a paddle.

Cathy Pogue, coordinator for Master Gardeners Quinte-Tweed Group (going as far west as Brighton, south to Prince Edward County and east to Kingston; courageously there is no welldefined northern boundary for a region based squarely next to the Canadian Shield) is remarkably reassuring. Yes, I can attend a meeting of the Master Gardeners to get a feel for what they do. And no, I won’t be regarded as a murderer, despite the many African Violets that have met their fates at my hands.

“Houseplants generally die from too much love,” Cathy says, diplomatically letting me off the hook. Guiltily, I think of the poinsettia bought for our Christmas table, with the full intention of

throwing it out once the New Year hit. No need to let on premeditation often factors into my crimes of horticulture.

My very first preconception about Master Gardeners is shot down in short order. Despite the website’s air of discipline and education, I had incorrectly presumed the group was just a casual venue for people with nice flowerbeds and tidy lawns. Founded in 1972 in Washington State, the Master Gardener program spread to Canada in the mid-80’s, incorporating as a non-profit organization in 1998 (MGOI or Master Gardeners of Ontario Inc.). One of over 40 local MG units covering the province from Thunder Bay to the 1000 Islands, the Quinte-Tweed group formed in 1987.

Quinte-Tweed’s web write-up mentions they give advice clinics. Sounds like they mean business. However, I confess, I still envisioned a

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Black eyed susans

Echinacea and daylilies are both hardy and visually stunning. Photo courtesy Sue Uddenberg

bunch of elderly ladies in big hats discussing the pros and cons of various fertilizer brands.

Not so, according to past coordinator Jeannine Berscheid. Picture instead the type of keener who visits the local hydroponics facility just to find out how it works. Hmmm, seems serious. No, laughs

Jeannine, serious isn’t a good word. It might scare people away. “How about intense?” I suggest, and she laughs again.

“We’re avid and enthusiastic,” she amends, referring to herself as a gardening addict. “This feeds my addiction.”

Gardening addicts are indeed the type of people I encounter at the group’s first monthly meeting of 2012. To my relief, they are also extremely kind and non-judgemental. Eager to learn and pass on knowledge, they frequently speak at other gardening groups and invite experts from outside the group to speak at their own meetings.

One member, Steve Airhart even runs a horticultural program out of Centre Hastings Secondary School aimed at teenagers in the Practical Learning Program.

How to Succeed in Gardening Without Really Trying!

(Please bear in mind that the following tidbits came up in casual conversation with several Master Gardeners and are, in no way, meant to represent the type of sound advice gardeners who knew a little more about gardening could glean from contacting a Master Gardener themselves!)

First, know your zone. This sounds like some kind of gardening zen to which I can never hope to aspire. But, no, Steve Storms explains, zone refers to a temperature map. The narrow band of land around our part of the north shore of Lake Ontario is Zone 5B. Go north, over the Oak Hills to Stirling and you’ve entered the slightly cooler Zone 5A. Just north of Highway 7, you’re mostly into 4B territory. A tropical zone like Florida would be about 15, according to Steve, while the Arctic scores a 0A rating. If you know your zone (google Plant Hardiness Zones of Canada to find out), you can buy plants that grow best there.

What about watering? Are there some drought resistant plants that might forge on when I forget to water them? Although all plants need water to get established, many hardy varieties need much less once they get going. Jeannine Berscheid recommends sedums, daylilies, phlox, Rudbeckia

Irises

Daisies

Goldsturm (the cultivated strain of brown-eyed Susans), Jacks in the Pulpit, daisies and irises.

Jeannine also passes on a good tip for an easy start on a flower bed. Put down a layer of newspaper, about 1/4 inch thick. Put some dirt on top.

Let everything sit for 6-8 weeks to discourage the grass underneath. Then you can plant right through the newspaper, which doubles as mulch.

OK, but what about weeds? I HATE the weeding. Is there any way to get around regular weeding? Aside from hiring someone to do it for you, probably not. When I talked to Cathy Pogue about

weeds, she worried that, without knowing the specifics about garden type, she might well send me down the garden path in the wrong direction. So best advice here: email for help at quintetweedmg@hotmail.com.

The final word of wisdom goes to Jeannine who has obviously sized me up and knows what she’s unleashing on the plant world. “If you kill something, dig it up and don’t buy that type of plant again. Try something else.” And, oh yeah, talk to a Master Gardener. They’re out there and they’re happy to help.

Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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Sue Uddenberg’s ‘checkered’ garden includes many hostas, zinnias, bright yellow evening of primrose, peonies, impatiens and a perennial geranium called ‘Roxanne’. Photo courtesy Sue Uddenberg

The more casual gardener can talk to them any weekend in May and June at Smylie’s Independent Grocers in Trenton, an event the group has been operating for several years. Each spring, Master Gardener volunteers offer up free horticultural advice to go along with that beautiful basket of pink geraniums you’ve just purchased.

“We’re here to help. Our biggest challenge is letting people know that we’re here,” observes Jeannine, adding that she has gone as far as placing ads on Kijiji to get the word out. The latest publicity plan involves handing out business cards with the local MG e-mail address on it. Any member of the public can get in touch to ask gardening questions, even those with black thumbs.

Steve Storms, former gardener with the City of Belleville Parks Board and proud owner of a beautiful Japanese-style garden in his own backyard, immediately puts that philosophy into practice, graciously imparting (at my request) some advice for the lazy gardener (see sidebar.) Postretirement employment as a landscape design artist allows him to keep his hands dirty doing something he loves. He’s not the only one. Several of the group’s members have horticultural businesses on the side, ranging from yard maintenance to plant sales.

Steve, along with fellow Master Gardeners Airhart and Sue Uddenberg, coordinate the group’s principal fundraiser, an annual plant sale held each May at Parkdale Community Centre, Belleville. All members contribute plants from their gardens, as well as their time. The aim is to peddle about $1000 worth of plants, along with a little gardening wisdom to go with them.

Some of the funds from the plant sale, speaking engagements and various donations go towards helping Master Gardeners in Training (MGiTs)

offset education costs. To become a certified Master Gardener, volunteers must complete a specific set of on-line courses (ranging from plant identification to the art and science of gardening) within a three-year time limit. One must also meet the annual volunteer hour requirement (20 for advice and 10 for administration.) Advice hours often involve direct contact with the public at gardening clinics or writing articles for publication.

Administrative duties range from paperwork and attending local meetings to clinic set-up. Regardless of how one racks up administrative points, attendance at four meetings per year is mandatory.

The group gets together once a month at Quinte Gardens in Belleville.

Courses are accessed through either the University of Guelph or the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Master Gardener Program. Tuition per course runs from $300 to $500, but the local Master Gardener’s organization will provide a partial subsidy to help cover costs. Korrina LapierreDouglas, recent Hastings County newcomer and MGiT wannabe, greets this news with an incredulous whoop of glee. She already has two courses under her belt, paid for out of her own pocket; knowing financial assistance might be available to help finish the rest is a welcome bonus for the budding landscape design artist.

If your gardening interests have led you down the halls of horticultural academia, you might be able to skip the courses. A degree or diploma in horticulture or related studies takes you straight to the Master Gardener examination. A mark of 70% or more equals instant certification, no courses required.

To maintain Master Gardener status, one must complete six Continuing Education Units (CEU) per year. Reading a book on a horticultural subject

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

The lush garden of Quinte-Tweed Master Gardener Steve Storms.

Photo courtesy Steve Storms

and submitting both a written and oral report to your local group counts for one CEU. Keeners can fast track, earning all six CEUs in one go by attending a two-day Summer Workshop coplanned by MGOI. Ongoing education really matters to Master Gardeners. Meetings generally centre around a guest speaker. Tonight’s topic focuses on growing your own vegetables while living off the grid.

Cam Mather, author of the All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook, practises what he preaches. He and his partner Michelle eat an organic vegetable-based diet grown right in their own backyard.

Want some flowers to go with those veggies? Try planting eggplant, okra or sweet potatoes. First you get some outstandingly beautiful blossoms; then you get to eat what the flower produces.

Master Gardeners at the surrounding tables jot down notes and ask questions. Deanna Groves, potential MG trainee, sums up her reasons for wanting to join the group this way: “I want to

This tranquil pond includes an angel statue, pond lettuce and water hyacinth plants.

Photo courtesy Sue Uddenberg

learn, I want to share, I want to keep attuned to what is happening.”

Always receptive to newcomers, the QuinteTweed unit stands 15 certified members strong: 12 women and three men span an age gap of over 50 years. Youngest member, Jessica Greer, is Storm’s successor with the Belleville Parks Board. A transplant from the Durham Master Gardener group, the 28-year-old gardened part-time with the city of Toronto before moving east last year seeking full-time employment in her field.

New blood is important to the group. A flurry of retirements over the past few years has put a dent in its numbers. Why would someone leave something they love? Reasons vary. One snowbird felt her increasingly lengthy trips to Florida were unfair to the other members and resigned over the others’ protests. Another claimed he had too much gardening to do.

“You have to be committed,” declares former Master Gardener Lois Bennett. Though still

considered Emeritus members, she and husband Glenn made the reluctant decision to retire from Master Gardeners due to increasingly busy personal schedules which included the care of aging parents. “Plus, we’re getting older ourselves,” she adds with a chuckle, noting that they’ve maintained contact with the group as guest speakers.

What attracts new members? According to Cathy, “If you’re really passionate about gardening, there’s a lot of expertise within MGOI, as well as the local Master Gardeners’ group, that you can learn from.”

Hmm, food for thought. Still, as kind and knowledgeable as everyone seems, it really doesn’t feel like a suitable fit for an underachieving, poinsettia killer. But the advice clinics? A definite possibility. I scan through some old newsletters on the website one more time and find an article right up my alley: something about devoting one hour a year (!!!) to a low-maintenance garden planted in scree. Now we’re talking!

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Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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This postcard depicts Searles’ Beach on Oak Lake. Many lake scenes were used on postcards such as this.

The Lure of Oak Lake Vacation spot provides timeless memories

BY SHELLEY WILDGEN • PHOTOS COURTESY JOHN GEEN

M

y mother used to say, “Canada is beautiful, if only it weren’t so damned big.”

Our country is vast. Coast to coast it’s dotted with natural landmarks, all with their own longheld legends and lore. There’s a lot to be said about feeling the mysterious pull of the Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick, the healing properties of the Hot Springs in Alberta and the mysterious splendour of Lake On The Mountain’s unmoving water atop a hill here in Ontario. What isn’t talked about a lot is the ‘other’ hilltop lake just north of Belleville in Hastings County. Situated just off Highway 14 at the summit of the Oak Hill is Oak Lake. Once known as Oak Hill’s Pond, the name was changed to Oak Lake in the Thirties to encourage tourists. The idea of tourism isn’t something the locals care to cultivate too deeply.

They like it just the way it is…and always have.

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Without an outlet or inlet, but fed by an artesian spring of water, the lake was once noted for its healthy abundance of algae as well as two small beaches which, to the relief of many a reveler, have no walls to do any talking. Rumoured to be ‘bottomless’ but listed at 33 feet deep, the little known landmark did enjoy a brief brush with celebrity when local author, Gilaine Mitchell wrote it into her novel “Film Society”.

It didn’t have a starring role, but the lake’s shore was the site of a tense love scene and it provided a rather, uh, pivotal point in the story. For details, you should read the novel.

This nod to fame was rare for the wee basin of spring-fed water as it has never borne any illusions of grandeur – just good, clean fun.

Oak Lake has been called ‘the poor man’s playground’ for over a century and if that moniker helps to maintain the privacy its inhabitants en-

joy, well then, it’s a description most will heartily embrace.

Hidden behind small cottages and pine trees, Oak Lake provides a public beach that’s accessible for mere pocket change along with a fully populated shoreline of summer cottages and year ‘round homes. People still sit on towels, eat popsicles and race to the swimming rafts just as they have for decades and though the source of the laughter has changed over the years, many of the family names have not. On any given weekend you’re likely to run into folk with the last name of Leslie, Wells, Detlor, Cronk, Bateman, Pordham or Baragar…all descendants of the lake’s original residents…and you’re just as likely to run into regulars from the village of Stirling making the quick uphill drive for a post-suppertime swim.

John Geen is a man who knows every nook and cranny of Oak Lake. Geen’s mother was

The Lure of Oak Lake

(Clockwise from top): A historic photo of Bird’s Summer Resort, where the current canteen and public beach are located; one day’s catch! (l to r) Allan Wells, Harold Wells, Arthur Hill and Don Leslie show off their success; this overhead shot shows off a waterslide, one of many aquatic attractions that has drawn water lovers to Oak Lake.

Estella Baragar and her parents owned one of the original homes, which still sits prettily on the northwest corner of the lake. Although the farmhouse was built by the Marshall family in the mid 1800s, Geen’s grandparents, George and Mary Jane Baragar bought the house around the turn of that century. George left one day, leaving John with many questions about his grandpa. Once, when he summoned up the courage to ask about George’s sudden departure, Geen was told, “He went to town one day…just didn’t say which town.”

Oak Lake has been a big part of John Geen’s life ever since his uncle Arthur transformed a barn into the very popular dance hall in the Thirties through till now. The original family home is now owned by artist Donna Bonin, whose Oak Lake inspirations can be readily appreciated in her colourful paintings, which

cover every room of the former Baragar home, now serving as Bonin’s home studio and gallery. Bonin aptly calls her home studio “Back in Time.”

Geen has enjoyed a few Oak Lake cottages in his time, with his family able to boast a 100-year presence on the lake. Until 2007, John and his partner Elinor resided in a small, year ‘round home just off John Meyer’s Road, which is the lake’s north side access road from Highway 14. Most mornings the pair could be seen appreciating each wisp of Oak Lake air as they took their morning walk ‘round the lake, walking sticks in hand. Given the fact that the perimeter roads don’t join up, it couldn’t be a full circle walk but that never stopped John and Elinor from going the distance.

When John Geen was a boy, there were two beaches at Oak Lake – Bird’s Beach, which is

where the current canteen and public beach is located, and just around the bend at the west end of the lake was Searles’ Beach. Now home to a lively children’s camp, Searles’ Beach still sports plenty of water fun accessories that bear an updated resemblance to the horseshoe pits and diving boards of years past. Near Bird’s Beach is where Geen’s Uncle Arthur Baragar’s illustrious dance hall and canteen stood in the Thirties and Forties. For 25 cents you’d get three dances – one slow, one fast, one slow, and then the sequence would reverse.

As John Geen recalls, “The trick was to get two slows if you had two left feet like I did.”

Every week, the cars would rumble in for the midnight dances and young hearts would trip the light fantastic till early dawn, dancing to live orchestras that included world famous luminaries such as Guy Lombardo. Often with boats Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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The Lure of Oak Lake

An aerial view of Oak Lake.

parked till daytime fun could begin again, the exhausted patrons would waltz outside and watch the sun rise over the lake. Mary Geen, along with Thelma and Muriel Bell were among the regular attendees and known as the ‘Bells of the Ball’, but there were many dancers with various levels of natural talent who seldom missed a dance at the pavilion, gassing up their jalopies and travelling from Stirling, Belleville, Trenton, even Campbellford. Oak Lake Road would be lined with parked cars all the way to the highway.

The Thirties and Forties were different times…war times…and church times. On Sundays, the thought of dancing was sinful so the dancing would cease and give way to amateur talent nights. There was something for everyone, every day of the week. After The Casino dance hall collapsed in 1942, Searles’ Beach had a small dance hall attached to the canteen and a Wurlitzer played as customers danced all week long.

One of the unique features of Oak Lake is its incongruous blend of tiny cottages and stately homes. This uncommon mix came about because long before the lake ever took a notion of laying itself out for summer fun it was all business – farm business. A stately reminder of those farm years is ‘Honey Oak Farms’. Once owned by Annie and Burton Searles, the picture postcard Victorian brick farmhouse overlooks the former Searles’ Beach, at the west end. With a demean-

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(l to r) Mary Geen, Thelma Bell and Muriel Bell were known as the ‘Bells of the Ball’ at Arthur Baragar’s dance hall.

our that’s somehow both friendly and imposing, the Searles’ home is not the only sentry continuing to keep watch. Perched atop a knoll at the south entrance to Oak Lake on Highway 14

is Somerset House, which continues to preside over the lake and the 100-year-old, still operating, Detlor farm.

The war years saw most farms owning a herd of cattle and life was arranged around the cows -- milk before 6am and again before 6pm with plenty of hard work endured by each family throughout the day. It was then that the welcome respite of a Sunday picnic at Oak Lake was most appreciated. During the week, however, the farms were busy and the Oak Lake youth were…well….not.

John Geen remembers when he and some visiting friends snuck into a farmer’s field, stole corn and tomatoes – “stuff kids would never eat unless they were stealing.” The looters loaded their cargo into all available pockets and headed to the canteen to invest their savings in something to wash down the new harvest. Selecting Wishing Well lime drinks, which were two for five cents, the boys got ready to pay for their drinks. It was then that the canteen owner at the time, Milton Bird, leaned over the counter after pushing a stick of butter their way and said, “You’ll need this.” Mr. Bird’s wife had watched the entire vegetable heist.

With most of the farmland devoured by valuable real estate, the pastures have given way to country abodes and one slow drive down Oak Lake Road will have you wondering just what era is most prominent. That blend

The Lure of Oak Lake

(Clockwise from top left): John Geen with sister Mary in front of the Back in Time studio and home of Donna Bonin, formerly the Baragar house; built in 1929 the McNabb home is a wonderful wood and stone structure on the south shore of the lake; the Honey Oak Farms Victorian brick farmhouse overlooks the former Searles’ Beach at the west end; John Geen’s family has had a presence at Oak Lake for some 100 years (Photo Shelley Wildgen).

of Cape Cod, Victoriana, Swiss Chalet, new builds and bunkhouses is exactly what helps create the magic of Oak Lake. Any visitor will be hard pressed to define its style in one sentence. Hugging the south shoreline, and clearly not a farm house, is a breathtakingly beautiful log home constructed so perfectly on its lot that it looks to be part of the natural landscape. The log home stands strong and venerable – solidly holding its ground amongst the myriad of neighbouring structures. Built in 1929 by the McNabb family, it’s still owned by descendants of the same clan. This is not unusual. Family after family will own a home or cottage, with only the first names changing upon new ownership. Since Oak Lake has long held a building freeze, and many homesteads like the log cabin never make their way into the MLS listings, ‘wannabe’ Oak Lakers must remain vigilant and patient.

Oak Lake has hosted countless family picnics and first dates. It also held still while a couple of inquisitive young men unsuccessfully attempted to find out if a Volkswagen could, indeed, float.

The lake has mirrored thousands of gorgeous sunsets and sunrises while the growing number of homeowners resolved land, well and sewage disputes, and autumn after autumn the pond that would become a lake majestically transforms into a quilt of fall colours, which easily find their way onto the paintbrush of Bonin.

An artist who has travelled the world, Bonin gets a lot of her spark from the “daily visuals” in her own backyard. As we spoke she was looking at “snow-covered trees in a forest” – and yes, there’s a painting for that. The never-ending, natural beauty of Oak Lake always graces Bonin with “the inner contentment to begin the creative pro-

cess.” Back in Time Gallery, in the old Baragar house, is open to the public and holds a spot on the Hastings County Art Route. Bonin teaches art classes from the Baragar home, now hers, and welcomes people to tour her gallery by appointment or by chance. Since moving to the humble yet gracious home in the late Nineties, the retired gym

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Spring 2012 • Country Roads

I 23

The Lure of Oak Lake

A day of fun at Searles’ Beach, 1949.

teacher’s artistic career has skyrocketed. Once a hobby artist, Bonin is now preparing for her group showing, running April 5-20 at Agora Gallery in the Chelsea Arts District, mid-town Manhattan, New York.

In the case of Bonin’s home, the walls actually did talk. Peeking through the ceiling boards, her daughter once found the journal of a Roman Catholic priest written during the Civil War. The

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

priest was asking God what role he should take during the abolition of slavery and the underground railroad of the time. Clearly, Oak Lake has been a source of contemplation as well as one of fun and creative fulfillment.

Today, John Geen will occasionally take a drive to walk around Oak Lake, continuing to love his lake while living in Belleville. And the happy dance hall days still whisper in the ears of

those who remember a time; a time when music had words and tweets came from birds. Almost a century later, Oak Lake remains a semi-well kept secret, sacred to those who love the sound of a bottle cap opening while falling asleep to the distant melody of unapologetic laughter and water splashing – the only noise this lake cares to make. Oak Lake will always leave a big impression on those who love it most.

•

G r e e n

Start tripping through seed catalogues!

By Gary Magwood History has a tendency to table, fuel is used; as fuel repeat itself. This applies prices rise, food costs to the current revival of rise. urban or community garCitizens of a certain dens, stories about which age will recall that durappear almost daily in ing the Second World newspapers and feature War and for a few years in virtually every alternathereafter, a common tive magazine, even stosight in many urban areas ries about citizens being was the ‘Victory Garden,’ harassed for ignoring which the government of local by-laws by digCanada encouraged civilging up lawns and back ians to plant. These were gardens to turn into vegalso called ‘War Gardens’ etable growing plots or or ‘Food Gardens for Defighting to keep a half fense.’ However, this was dozen chickens in the not a new concept develbackyard. oped during the 1940s.

Within Hastings CounIts roots go somewhat ty in the past couple of further back. years several attempts As long ago as March, have been made to gather 1917, the concept of a up the inertia and com‘War Garden’ had been Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1981-32-22 Source: Harry Mayerovitch, Montréal, Québec. munity energy to approposed in the United proach local councils States by Charles Lathwith requests to determine available and approprirop Pack, who had organized the National War Garate land owned or managed by the city or town that den Commission. His idea was that if civilians culticould become community gardens. vated small gardens on their own land, on rooftops, The issue rose to the top of Belleville’s Green or in public parks, it would increase the availability Task Force 2012 agenda as the result of a poll takof foodstuffs without placing additional stress on the en among the Task Force’s members. Several sites land and manpower already engaged in agricultural in and around Belleville have been identified and production. will be subjected to criteria such as access, available These gardens were also promoted as morale parking, water sources, soil type and even proximboosters, since each household could take pride in ity to concentrations of citizens, such as high rise the knowledge that they had contributed to the war apartment blocks. effort through their labour on the home front. MoreGreen Task Force’s citizen member, an avid garover, the food produced in backyard gardens ensured dener and professional landscaper, Judy Bell echoed a constant supply of fresh and nutritious fruits, vegthe sentiments of many in the community when she etables and herbs for the table and for canning. As said, “Organic gardening and promoting local food a result, families would have less reliance on items has been a passion for me for a very long time. I such as canned goods which were often rationed. think there are significant cultural and social benSome home gardeners were also encouraged to raise efits to be derived from participating in community chickens in backyard coops, which provided fresh gardening, of digging in the dirt.” eggs. This made victory gardens a part of daily life Community groups such as Harvest Hastings have on the home front. indicated their willingness to offer technical experFast forward to 2012, and here we are discussing tise and guidance for the “new farmers.” Agencies how to initiate urban or community gardens all over like the Community Development Council of Quinte again. A new generation has realized that growing are most interested in getting their members and clitheir own veggies is one way to reduce the length of ent base involved. It has been estimated that some of the supply chain and provide organic produce and our food travels as much as 1500 miles from farm reducing the impact of transportation on climate to table. The process of planting, fertilizing, prochange. So, the political process has to keep up. cessing, packaging, and transporting our food uses So, all you closet gardeners reading this, get ora great deal of energy and contributes to the causes ganized. Gather the troops, talk to your councils, of global warming. start looking through the tool displays at your nearOur current economic situation is another good est hardware store, check out types of wheelbarrows, reason to start a ‘Victory Garden.’ Every time that create your own compost generator and, the best part, food is shipped from the farm to the store and your start tripping through seed catalogues.

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d i s c o v e r i n g

h a s t i n g s

c o u n t y

Acting up Belleville Theatre Guild turns 60

John O’Connor, Regan Girard, Maddie Budding and Sherrie Tipper in the Belleville Theatre Guild production of South Pacific. Photo Greg Pinchin

BY ANGELA HAWN

T

he houselights dim, the music starts and the audience settles back in their seats.

No popcorn though - this is live theatre and snacks are a definite no-no. Bottled water only please, and ladies and gents, as the taped voice at Belleville’s Pinnacle Playhouse warns before the show, if you’ve got a candy that needs unwrapping, now’s the time to unwrap it.

My 12-year-old daughter Maddie reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. I’ve told her there might be scary moments, although I’ve never seen this particular piece of theatre performed on a live stage. As the Henry Mancini theme, complete with eerie minor keyboard fills the theatre the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Is this how the audience felt back in 1966 when the show first appeared on Broadway? The play is Wait Until Dark, and when I saw the movie version as a teenager on late night TV it scared the living daylights out of me. It was a long time before I could see Alan Arkin in any other production and not feel chilled.

We’re out late on a school night to see Maddie’s friend, and coincidentally her competition for the play’s only kid-sized role: the neighbour girl, Gloria. Maddie didn’t get the part, but

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Country Roads • Spring 2012

begged to see the play anyway, partly to support a friend but also because her interest is firmly tweaked; what story has made such an impression on her mother?

We are there to be scared silly and we soon get our money’s worth. By intermission, we’re both ready for the lights to come back on. The fact there are two faces we know on stage (Gloria, as well as one of the criminals - in real life, a family friend and law-abiding kind of guy) negates the fear factor not one iota. Such is the way with community theatre; the players might look a little familiar, but with good theatre, you soon forget that.

I feel for Maddie’s hand and squeeze back.

When Alan Arkin (a.k.a. Roat) came on stage partway through Act 1, he bore a strong resemblance to our mechanic. Is it time to switch garages?

The Belleville Theatre Guild (BTG) first came to life in the Rednersville Road living room of Gladys and Bert Simpson. The couple invited some friends over to read a play. Everyone enjoyed it so much they decided to create a drama club. That was in the early 1950’s and the community theatre group has staged over 350 plays

and musicals since, including original productions written by some of the BTG’s own members.

One of the group’s first productions, Robertson Davies’ The Voice of the People went on to win the Eastern Ontario Drama League Festival and was invited to the Dominion Drama Festival in Saint John the following spring. Along the way, the actors even got a little drama coaching from Davies himself. The BTG was hot. Remember, this was before television and convincing an audience to get out of their armchairs and into a theatre seat was far easier back then.

How have things changed since? According to Debra Tosh, BTG’s Public Relations Director, the heads in the audience are getting greyer.

While auditions continue to attract a range of age groups, the spectators are generally of an older vintage. Debra jokes she and her husband are often the youngest members in the audience and “we’re no spring chickens!”

Sixty years and several stages later, the BTG approaches an older vintage itself as it celebrates its Diamond Anniversary. The group has called the D. L. Storey building on Pinnacle St. home for the past 43 years. Rebranded the Pinnacle

Acting up

end, she began to wish for her old hair back. It must have been a minor sacrifice, though, because each season, Maddie scans the BTG website for potential acting opportunities.

There has been much talk about theatre ever since South Pacific, as well as three more auditions. One resulted in a ‘call-back.’ None led to roles on stage. So why does she keep trying out?

It seems once the theatre gets its hooks into you, you’re caught.

“I really love acting,” declares Maddie. “I audition so that if I get a role, I can put it down on my resume. I want to be an actress when I grow up.” Gulp. Really? But what about a nice steady day job, with acting as a hobby?

“Relax, mom, I have a back-up plan,” Maddie says when she sees my ill-concealed alarm.

Oh yeah, and what’s that?

“Hmm,” says Maddie, “My second choice is being a playwright.”

Good grief. There’s a twinkle in her eye, but I can’t tell if that’s youth or pure mischief. No matter. Whatever she chooses a decade or so down the road, community theatre will always be there, just in case acting ends up the fun in her life versus the way she makes a living. And who knows?

Maybe the Belleville Theatre Guild will be one of the groups she mentions in some acceptance speech someday.

In the meantime, we’ll enjoy being audience members. We snuggle into our seats for the final act. The theatre goes dark, the patrons hush, and the players take their places. Maddie and I hold our collective breath. A guy who acts an awful lot like Alan Arkin and looks like our mechanic just entered stage left. •

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Playhouse, the theatre has numerous renovations under its belt. So where do they get the cash?

At $18 a ticket ($22 for musicals), this can’t be easy. According to Tosh, it’s not.

“We have to watch our budget. As the Public Relations Director, I want to spend more and they have to hold me back,” Debra laughs, adding that you learn your limits quickly and how to work around them. “If you want a costume, you don’t rent it from Stratford; you make it!”

Funding comes from subscribers, community groups and businesses, and very occasionally, hard-won grants from organizations such as the Ontario Trillium Foundation. But the BTG depends heavily on its volunteer base and it’s not that big a base. They’re always looking for new members.

Of course, in community theatre, one can count on at least a few members of the community to show up. The Playhouse put five new bottoms in seats merely by casting Maddie in the musical South Pacific two years ago. Maddie’s dad, mom, little sister and both grandmas were there to see her performance. And after a single show, we wondered what had taken us so long to discover the Pinnacle Playhouse.

Maddie first learned about the musical through a supply teacher who just happened to be South Pacific’s director. Word spread quickly among French Immersion students: the BTG was looking for someone who could pull off an authentic French accent. Ambition outweighed trepidation and Maddie entered the audition process with some limited experience in a couple of elementary school plays and some public speaking. Trying out alongside a dozen other would-be actors, she sang and read her way to a small role as one of the lead character’s children. Three other girls were cast as well; that way the kids could spell each other off. The play’s combined rehearsal and performance run lasted three months, which made for a lot of late nights during the school week for everyone, chauffeur/parents included.

What was the greatest challenge, besides sleep deprivation? Maddie had to dye her dark blonde hair chestnut brown to help convince the audience of her “Polynesian heritage.” For a while, the novelty of being a brunette was fun. But when the colour still hadn’t faded by summer’s

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Cast members of the recent production of Wait Until Dark. Photo Debra Tosh

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6

C o u n t r y

C a l e n d a r

Things to see and do in Hastings County

To submit your event listing email info@countryroadshastings.ca or call us at 613 395-0499.

ART GALLERIES/EXHIBITIONS Art Gallery of Bancroft, 10 Flint Avenue, Bancroft, 613-332-1542 www.agb.weebly.com April 4 - 29 - A Retrospective; The late Karin Lapins presented by friend Janice Martin.

May 2 – 27 - Invitation 2012 Annual Juried Exhibition. Reception/Awards May 4@7:30pm.

May 30 - June 30 – By the Way; a collection of oil paintings; Susan Dunlop painter.

Belleville Art Association Gallery, 392 Front Street, Belleville March 12 - April 7 - History in Brushstrokes. Local artists have supplied about 35 artistic interpretations of historic scenes which the Hastings County Historical Society and Community Archives have matched with heritage photos and appropriate descriptions.

John M. Parrott Art Gallery, Belleville Public Library, 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, 613-968-6731, ext. 2240, www.bellevillelibrary.com April 5- 25 - Gallery 1 & 2 – Transitions; The 24th annual Secondary School Student’s Exhibition.

May 3 – 31 - Gallery’s 9th Juried Exhibition “Zeitgeist” Entry Form Juried Exhibition

THEATRE/LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Bancroft Village Playhouse, 613-332-5918 www.bancroftvillageplayhouse.ca Apr 25-27, 8pm, Apr 28 – 2 & 8 pm, Random Acts. Tickets: $15 (Matinee $10) at Harvest Moon, Posies, & Box Office (1 hr before show) Ken or Kathryn 613.332.6138 Belleville Theatre Guild, 613-967-1442 www.bellevilletheatreguild.ca March 29 - April 15 - Play It Again Sam

by Woody Allen. After a messy divorce, a neurotic San Francisco movie critic spirals into a deep depression and looks for solace

in classic movies, particularly the romantic saga Casablanca.

May 31 - June 16 – Anne of Green Gables – The Musical, based on the story by Lucy Maude Montgomery. Anne Shirley, from PEI, is the world’s most beloved redhead. Follow the humorous adventures of the poor spunky orphan as she charms Matthew Cuthbert and thaws Marilla’s frosty heart with her genuine originality and wit.

Quinte Film Alternative, The Empire Theatre, 321 Front Street, Belleville, 613 969-0099 www.quintefilmalternative. ca QFA Hotline 613 480-6407 April 11 - A Separation April 25 – Albert Nobbs May 9 - Cafe De Flore May 23 – Salmon Fishing on the Yemen The Stirling Festival Theatre, West Front St., Stirling 613-395-2100 1-877-312-1162 www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com tickets@stirlingfestivaltheatre.com April 14 - Michael Bourada - This show is a complete “magic experience”! You won’t see any “linking rings” or the standard magic tricks that most other magicians perform. It’s a hilarious, edge of your seat magic show that will capture your imagination and dazzle your mind! Adults $25 Youth $15 April 22 - Young Singers Choir – These award winning choral ambassadors, from the Durham Region, have sung at the Grand Ole Opry, for the Queen at her Golden Jubilee, and with Donny Osmond in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”! Adults $25 Youth $15

EVENTS April 3 - New Yoga Program each Tuesday morning from 9:30 - 10:30 am at Queensborough Community Centre. The focus will be on breathing, stretching and general flexibility.

Your individual needs and goals will direct your own programme.

Call Wybeka 613 473- 5111

April 11 – 14 -- Prince Edward County Authors Festival - Enjoy readings by established and newly-published authors, panel discussions, the launch of Bernie Finkelstein’s new memoir True North, workshops, and more, all in Picton. www.pecauthorfest.com; Contact Books & Co 613-476-3037 April 13 – 15 – Visit the Trenton Horticultural Society and Garden Club at the Chamber of Commerce Home Show at the Community Garden in Trenton. The Trenton Horticultural Society and Garden Club hold meetings at Grace United Church, Trenton on the third Thursday of the month beginning at 7pm. Open to new members. trentonhorticulture@yahoo.ca April 14 & 15, -- Marmora’s kayak festival, M.A.C.Kfest & Queensborough’s Treats On The Black River join together for a fantastic kayaking weekend! High water on the Black River signals the beginning of Whitewater Kayaking and the beginning of great treats for sale at the river’s edge in Queensborough each weekend.

April 17 - Hastings County Historical Society’s General Meeting. The Archives Angels present more Treasures from the Hastings County Archives. 7:30 pm, at the Quinte Living Centre, 370 Front Street, (northeast corner door), downtown Belleville. www.hastingshistory.ca April 19; Canadian Author Francis Itani at the Tweed Public Library, 230 Metcalf Street starting at 7pm. Donations accepted.

Hosted by the Friends of the Tweed Public Library and funded by Canada Council for the Arts. 613-478-1066.

April 21 - 2pm & 7pm - Moments to Remember; great songs of the 20th century. Featuring the cast from “For the Love of a Song” and the Commodores’ Orchestra.

Maranatha Auditorium 100 College St. W. Belleville. Tickets $20 - avail at Maranatha Office Tues. – Fri. or at the door. Proceeds for the Belleville General Hospital Auxiliary Endowment Fund.

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April 25 - The PEC Horticultural Society presents our annual Plant Auction Fund Raiser.

Doors open at 6pm at the Picton Town Hall, above the Fire Hall. Refreshments served.

April 28 - Queensborough’s Annual Black Fly Shuffle – An adult dance with live music, get your tickets early! Queensborough Community Centre.

April 28 & 29 – The Healthy Living Expo, Wally Dever Arena, Belleville. Seminars, fitness demos, cooking demos, wine tasting, shopping, & prizes. www.thehealthylivingexpo.ca May 6 – Queensborough Community Centre Annual Pancake Breakfast, from 8:00 am to noon.

May 12 – 21 – The Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory 2012 Spring Birding Festival, Daily guided bird walks and banding demonstrations. Additional birding walks include “Birding the County” on May 20, and two special Mother’s Day walks at Sandbanks Provincial Park on May 13. Saturday, May 12 & 19, two-hour workshops for all levels of birder and naturalist. www.peptbo.ca rosemary.kent@sympatico.ca 613-476-0065 May 12 - Walk A Mile in Her Shoes® combines big hearts with big feet as men walk down Front Street in women’s shoes, raising funds to support violence prevention and programs for women and their children. Also the National Garage Sale for Shelter, Donate your used treasures. We will be accepting donations on Friday May 11, 2012 ONLY in our parking lot at 357 Front Street, Empire Square, Belleville. www. walkamilequinte.ca for details, to make a donation, or register to walk.

May 15 - Hastings County Historical Society’s General Meeting – Major John Grodzinski CD, PhD, assistant professor at the Royal Military College of Canada (Kingston), presents on the War of 1812. Major Grodzinski will focus on events near Quinte, but also discuss wartime action along Lake Ontario.

Town Crier, Bruce Bedell, will also attend.

7:30 pm at the Quinte Living Centre, 370 Front Street (northeast corner door), downtown Belleville. www.hastingshistory.ca May 19 - Trenton Horticultural Society and Garden Club Annual Plant Sale, 455

Dundas Street West, Trenton. 9am until sold out. trentonhorticulture@yahoo.ca.

May 25 - June 2 - The Warkworth Lilac Festival - The festival takes place throughout Warkworth with the free lilac trail entered off of Main Street or the Fairgrounds.

You may purchase lilacs at the festival, plus numerous free and gated events. Over 300 lilacs representing 75 lilac varieties. www.warkworthlilacfestival.ca @warkworthlilacfestival.ca 416-873-1912 May 26 – Queensborough Community Centre Spring Fling Dance for Young Teens, from 7:30 – 9:30 pm May 30 - The PEC Horticultural Society presents Kim Katanik Kuris, “Building a Pond”. Refreshments served, mini flower show. Doors open at 7pm at the Picton Town Hall, above the Fire Station June 6 – Hastings County Historical Society: Luxury bus trip to Cobourg. Discover where pioneer authors Suzanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Trail first landed in Upper Canada, the hotel they bunked in, and the dangers and hardships they endured.

Guided tour of Victoria Hall, visit the home of actress Marie Dressler, tour the Church of the dictatorial Family Compact, and see where Egerton Ryerson began his hated reforms. Also, Upper Canada’s greatest stage coach operation plus the Cobourg train station. Commentary by Peter Brotherhood and lunch catered by the Church Women’s Association. Tickets $65.00 (available April 1) at Greenley’s Bookstore, 258 Front St. Belleville, or from Society directors.

June 9 - Quinte Grannies for Africa 3rd Annual ‘Stride to Turn the Tide of HIV/ AIDS in Africa’. All proceeds to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Registration $ 20.00 (tax receipted) at 8.30 AM at St Thomas Anglican Church, Belleville. Refreshments. Dianne 613- 968-6110.

June 9 The PEC Horticultural Society presents The Gardeners Gala at the historic Crystal Palace in the Picton Fair Grounds.

Events include a judged flower show, Victorian tea room, guest speaker Terry Sprague, displays and local vendors. www.pechort.tripod.com and www.gardenontario.org

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TO BOOK YOUR MARKETPLACE ADVERTISEMENT PLEASE CALL 613-395-0499

48 Belleville Rd., P.O. Box 160 Stirling, Ontario K0K 3E0

> ProfessionAl services

Rattan Barn

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• CD with press quality PDF files

HOME • COTTAGE • PATIO

Body Shop: 613-395-3378 Wells Ford: 613-395-3375 Toll Free: 1-800-637-5944 Service: 613-395-3377 Cell: 613-849-7661 email: coach-wells@hotmail.com

> bAkeries

Indoor and Outdoor Furniture Artwork, Garden & Home Decor, Spring Savings in our Expanded Showroom Visit our website www.rattanbarn.com 933 hwy 37, 4km n of 401, 613 968 5252 > ProfessionAl services

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For more information visit www.tikit.ca or request quote at info@tikit.ca

> restAurAnts

Boat insurance.

Boat insurance.

Boat insurance.

It’s what we do!

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• Creative Cakes • Pies & Tarts • French Pastries • French Bread Speak to a Northstar broker today.

• Specialty Candy Speak to a Northstar broker today.

TOLL FREE AT: TOLL1.866.717.9295 FREE AT: 1.866.717.9295 Homemade Baking brought to you by Guselle & Jodi

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TOLL FREE AT: 1.866.717.9295> woodworking info@sweettemptationsbakery.ca www.northstarinsurance.ca www.northstarinsurance.ca 329 Victoria St. N., Box 508, Tweed, ON K0K 3J0 info@northstarinsurance.ca info@northstarinsurance.ca 613.478.2212 www.northstarinsurance.ca info@northstarinsurance.ca

> devotionAl

McCracken Woodwork ~ Hand Crafted Quality Produ Cts s in Ce 1979 ~

fine Cabinetry & furniture residential & Commercial specialty Work

r.r. #4, tweed, ontario • 613.478.6390 email:mccrackenwoodwork@gmail.com

2011

2011

Country Roads d i s c o v e r i n g h a s t i n g s c o un t y

> flowers & gArden centres

Residents - Cottagers/Weekenders - Fans of Hastings County

Country HAVE COUNTRY ROADS DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR YEAR ROUND Roads

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Subscriptions (4 issues per year): Country year $14.69 R12oads year $27.13

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3 year $35.03 (prices include HST)

CR Country

Mail cheque or money order to: COUNTRY ROADS, Box 423, Stirling, ON K0K 3E0

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Spring 2012 • Country Roads

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Back Roads

d i s c o v e r i n g

h a s t i n g s

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Belleville and the Hastings Highlands have been an exceptional Ontario holiday area for many years. The cover of this early 1960’s booklet portrays the area’s many attractions and abundance of natural playgrounds for outdoor adventure and making memories. Besides the traditional activities the booklet also highlighted the International Plowing Match.

Booklet produced by the Belleville Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Councils of the City of Belleville and County of Hastings. Printed by The Ontario Intelligencer Ltd., Belleville, Ontario

30 I

Country Roads • Spring 2012

Bancroft Theatre District Spring

Wear JOSEPH RIBKOFF LINEA ADAM JACOBS RAVEL • RED CORAL EZZE WEAR JEWELLERY PURSES & ACCESSORIES

Posies Flowers & GiFts

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A week? Need ideas? We can help! information and information and For what’s happening in and around Bancroft, check out out ForStop what’s in andcentre around Bancroft, check byhappening orhappening call into the visitor on Flint Avenue for For what’s and Bancroft, check outout For in around and around Bancroft, check ourwhat’s on-linehappening eventsinlisting - everything from Arts to Zumba! our on-line events listing everything from Arts to Zumba! information and suggestions. our on-line events listing - everything fromfrom ArtsArts to Zumba! our events listing - everything toinfo, Zumba!

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Mon-Fri 9-5 Sat 9-2 Extended hours June to September Mon-Fri 9-5 Sat 9-2 Mon-Fri 9-5 Sat 9-2 613-332-1513 888-443-9999 Mon-Frihours 9-5 June Sat 9-2 Extended to September September Mon-Fri 9-5 to Sat 9-2 Extended hours September Extended hours June June to www.bancroftdistrict.com

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Alive with entertainment, first class shopping, and dining.