Jananas

We’ve had a stressful week between canceling our flights & delaying our trip for a few weeks and problems crossing the Canadian border. Right now things have calmed down a little bit and we have some direction for moving forward.

The two good things about making the drive between Fort Erie and Columbus four times were getting to hang out with Liam the Newf and seeing the following vending machine in a rest stop.

Yup, its a vending machine for pet treats. Just in case you run out while on the road.

No comments

I’ve mentioned it a little bit before here (like in my blog post about my new fence) and significantly more than a little bit to my friends, but I am looking to adopt a dog this winter. Because I’m a planner, I’ve been looking into Ontario-based rescue groups and senior/large breed rescues (as I adore both). I came across Newf Friends in my search and subscribed to their blog. I wasn’t sure at the time if a Newf would be the right dog for me, but I wanted to keep them in mind as I had good experiences as a child with a friend’s family dog (who was a lovely Newf).

Late last week the group posted a plea for help to Liam get to his new home. They needed drivers to take shifts driving a dog named Liam from Lindsay, ON to Zanesville, OH on Sunday. Jason and I were driving from Toronto to Columbus, OH on the Saturday so I got in contact with the rescue group to offer a drive from Toronto all the way to Zanesville (which was an hour or so out of our way, but would make the entire thing much easier). From working with Toronto Cat Rescue I have some experience with how much work can go into trying to arrange multiple volunteers and have difficult it can be to arrange drivers. This way, the group had much less worry and work. And we were a little bit selfish because we got to hang out with an awesome dog all day!

Saturday morning, Liam was dropped off at our house in Toronto by the man who had been working with him. We had a brief lesson on handling and Liam’s particular issues, and otherwise enjoyed getting to hang out with dogs. Around 11:40, we headed out on the road. Whenever we stopped (about every 1.5-2 hours, for gas/water/bathroom/walk breaks) we took turns walking Liam around a little while the other pumped gas/bought water/used the restroom. By doing this, we were able to make sure that Liam didn’t have an opportunity to practice his escape artist skills, after all the last thing you want to do is lose an animal you’ve been entrusted with!

The border crossing was easy as anything. We had everything ready – paperwork for his rabies vaccine and a letter from the rescue group saying that we were authorized to transport Liam. We also made sure that his food & treats were still sealed and met all border crossing requirements (i.e. no beef!). We didn’t want to get held up by something we could prevent with a little planning and preparation. When we got to the border, the guard was more concerned about the fact that we were leaving on a 9 week trip to Asia then the fact that we had a dog with us. All the guard asked was what we were doing with our dog while we were traveling. We responded that he was staying with friends and that was the end of that. I’m glad that it was easy (and that we didn’t volunteer more information than necessary) as I don’t think the guard we got would have really understood Liam’s situation.

The first part of the drive through the States was pretty standard. We tried a new route through eastern Ohio and got a little turned around a few times, so sadly it took us about an hour longer to get Liam to his new family than we’d expected. However, one of the roads we ended up on was a nice country road so we were able to put the windows down a little bit for some nice air flow through the car. This was one of the only times Liam actually sat up – he spent the rest of the time comfortably sleeping in the backseat (and yes, he took up our entire back seat!).

About 8pm on Saturday we arrived at the meeting point with Liam’s new family. They are awesome people who really care about animals and their well being (mental and physical). Liam was a little bummed that we left and we both felt like we got sad puppy eyes. We had joked in the car about just continuing on our drive and taking Liam home with us because he was such a nice, well behaved dog on the drive. But, we also both recognize that we’re not the right people in the right situation to provide Liam with the help that he needs and that the home he’s gone to seems perfect for him. But maybe we’ll be able to find a Newf that is right for us when we’re back.

This last picture is of Liam with his new family. We had a little trouble getting a good shot, as dogs as prone to moving right as your snap a photo. I also think that after 8 hours on the road and two hand offs, the poor guy was a little tired and stressed out.

We’re both very glad to have been able to help out and to have been a part of helping Liam start his new life.

No comments

Nothing says Caturday quite like just hangin’ around and being lazy.

No comments

Here’s an update on the paintings I’ve been working on over the last few weeks. This first picture is of the first painting that I’ve done in a long, long time (bordering on ever territory).

For some reason the cliffs have been ‘red’ in my head all summer. At least from this vantage point. Over the last few weeks the cliffs, from a different viewpoint, have been ‘yellow’. Which is why I painted this second picture. I’d say its about 95% done at this point. Since we’re leaving tomorrow for quite some time its probably nearer to being 100% done as I won’t want to revisit it when I’m back (the different experiences will make it difficult to pick it back up).

Sadly, I don’t think that this photo does the Rock’s yellow/orange justice.

2 comments

My Dad has a copy of the following article from the Land o’ Lakes Summertime Issue from 1979. It is titled “From Wilderness to Provincial Park: A Story of the Mazinaw” by W. Clyde Bell. I’m typing it up here to record it for posterity’s sake (as I couldn’t find mention of it elsewhere online). The first part of the article can be found typed up in this blog post and the second in this blog post.

“up the little hill from the landing place, passing between the two restful old arbors that overlooked the water, I found myself following a beaten path through a delightful grove of beech and maple trees. Every tree standing straight and lofty as though conscious of its own beauty.

Enough of these beauties had been sacrificed, however, to make space for a tennis court, and a croquet grounds; and a crease had been provided also – a playground that had a charming look of amateurdom.

But here was the Inn itself, for the path was only short, and my pleasure was great to see a big, roomy, straggling, old frame building, instead of the artificial hotel of my dreams. The spacious verandahs were there, all three storeys, but they had a home-like look of weather-beaten wear and tear that no polish could match and there was no disillusion on the inside. A large room with a wide, hospitable fireplace and a homey atmosphere, that of the days of the old settlers, created by the pillars and joists of rough brick logs and the wallpapering of birch-bark, with wainscoting of rough slabs of the same, and a friendly floor of plain oak, instead of the waxed dancing surface I had apprehended. So it was throughout the whole house – the rustic, camping out idea, with freedom and comfort as the prime considerations.

I put my name in the register, but not as one of a small select party. Yet, it was select, for the quality was of the very best, but by no means small.

I was in luck to secure a room in the spacious place, and I found that the guests overflowed and filled the dozen or so of the cute little log cottages that were one of the charms of the place. The busy lady at the head of the management, indeed, declared that her greatest problem had been to find accommodation for the throng of applicants, and she had sensibly decided to stop when the limit of possibility had been reached.

Evidently, quite a few people had learned about Bon Echo, and those who had been there before, had returned very naturally and had brought their friends with them. That they had all braved the 20 miles or so of crooked road at the end of a more or less lengthy railway journey is all the commentary needed on the exceptional beauty of the spot, and the excellence of the company that gathered there to enjoy a summer holiday.”

“Everything went fine at Bon Echo until the depression got us,” Merrill Dension once told me. “Few people could afford a holiday at Bon Echo, and I had other business commitments, so I rented the property for a number of years,” Mr. Denison continued.

An item in the May 7, 1936 issue of The Tweed News reported that the Leavens Brothers of Belleville had leased Bon Echo Lodge from Merrill Denison and were putting it in shape for the coming summer.

Bon Echo, the article continued, comprised several hundred acres and was formerly one of the most popular resorts in Ontario. The hotel and cottages were to be utilized by the new proprietors. The famous Bon Echo Inn may once more spring to life under new management.

Unfortunately Bon Echo Hotel was completely destroyed, when struck by lightning in September of 1936.

The September 17 issue of The Tweed News reported that the three-storey frame structure was levelled to the ground in the devastating blaze believed to have started when lightning struck near the bakeshop. A severe storm was raging at the time. There were no serious injuries in the 2 a.m. fire, but all lost most of their belongings including Miss Marion Nicholson of Tweed, daughter of Rev. R.R. Nicholson.

The owner Merrill Denison – a well-known Canadian playwright, author and journalist, and at the time associated with the Columbia Broadcasting Company in New York City, left immediately for Bon Echo to view the damage to the property.

The famous old summer resort was reopened to the general public in the spring of 1936, after having been closed for the last five years. Business had been good during the summer, with over 50 guests occupying the hotel and cottages on Labor Day.

The hotel was not rebuilt, and the property remained dormant for a number of years.

“It was a worry to me,” Mr. Denison said during one of his periodic visits to The Tweed News. “We had no family, except the people of Ontario, so after talks with the Government of Ontario, we turned the property over to the province, to be administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources.”

The July 28, 1965 issue of The Tweed News, carries a report of the official opening of Bon Echo Provincial Park, Wednesday, July 21, 1965, when a plaque was unveiled to honor Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Denison, who denoted the original 1,200 acres that form the nucleus of this beautiful and fast-growing vacation centre.

The plaque reads as follows – “Acquired by the people of Ontario through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Denison, Bon Echo Provincial Park, dedicated to the Recreation, Conservation, and Education, in memory of Flora MacDonald Denison and Muriel Goggin Denison, Department of Lands and Forests, Hon. A. Kelso Roberts, Q.C. Minister. F.A. MacDougall, Deputy Minister. July 21, 1965.”

Addressing the audience prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony Mr. Denison traced the history of the Park area from the time he had just seen the Mazinaw Rock as a boy of eight.

At that time, he said, the damage done by careless lumbermen and forest fires that swept the district year after year, was very evident. “From that day on,” he told the gathering, “I was a conversationalist, and my dream was to see this naked land clothed in trees again.”

Times have changed, Mr. Denison concluded, and the Queen’s wasteland is now a social and economic resource, and he was pleased and happy that the Department of Lands and Forests had assumed the control and administration of the district and were converting it into a beautiful park area for the people of Ontario, and their friends.

An air of mystery surrounds the Indian history of Mazinaw Lake and the Mazinaw Rock, and an air of mystery still surrounds a part of its history.

Mr. Denison donated his papers and records to Queen’s Univeristy in Kingston, Ontario. While living in Kingston and cataloging his papers, he visited The Tweed News on a number of occasions, to read the files of back issues in a search for stories dealing with the Mazinaw area.

While having lunch together at the Tweedsmuir Hotel, I chanced to mention that a Forestry School had been held at Bon Echo Park at one time.

“It was a funny Forestry School,” Mr. Denison replied. “That is where they reportedly trained saboteurs before parachuting them into Europe.” After some moment of silent thought, he added, “If tru, there would be a hell of a great story there, if you could get the facts.”

Years later, when reading the book “A Man Called Intrepid” by William Stevenson we found reference to a “School for Danger” in the Canadian wilderness where saboteurs were prepared for a suicidal mission.

Was there a connection between this school, and Merrill Denison’s chance remark? I wish now that I had asked more questions.

A sample of puckish humor of the man who gave so much to the people of Ontario is in the much-thumbed, time-yellowed card he gave me on one of his last visits to The Tweed News. It read – two pints – one quart / two quarts – one fight / one fight – two cops / two cops – one judge / one judge – thirty days.

Since the Province first acquired Bon Echo Park, it has added additional property, and now the park covers more than 25 square miles, which makes it the largest park in Eastern Ontario.”

- end of article

No comments