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Challenge promotes area trails
Muskoka Trails Council board member Amy McLeish takes some time to
enjoy the Wilson Falls trails with her son Isaac McLeish Lafleur.
Photograph: Sandy Lockhart
By Chris Occhiuzzi
The Muskoka Trails Council wants
people to get their hiking boots on
and explore Muskoka.
At the beginning of May, the council
launched its Passport to the Trails
Challenge to promote the use and
enjoyment of Muskoka’s many trails.
“This challenge is free for everyone.
Anyone can participate, it can be done
individually or with others and no
special equipment is needed,” says
Sandra Beausoleil, Muskoka’s regional
trails coordinator. “There are a variety
of unique features to watch out for on
the trails, such as floating bridges.”
The Muskoka Trails Council wants
people taking the challenge to have
fun, get exercise and explore the beauty
of Muskoka’s natural environment.
“The idea is for everyone to have
fun, enjoy the natural playground that
is in our backyards, and appreciate
some of the benefits of being physically
active,” says Beausoleil. “Muskoka
is such a beautiful place, full of important
wildlife species, life-giving trees,
fresh-water lakes and rivers, rocks and
granite outcroppings. This Trail Challenge
is all about getting outside to
experience all that Muskoka has to
offer, while being physically active.”
The challenge is to visit six different
trails marked on the passport: Gravenhurst’s
Kahshe Barrens, Georgian
Bay’s McCrae Lake Conservation
Trail, the Huckleberry Rock Lookout
Trail in the Township of Muskoka
Lakes, Bracebridge’s Wilson Falls
Trail, Huntsville’s Hunter’s Bay Trail
and Lake of Bays’ Dwight Beach Trail.
A Trail Passport Code will be clearly
marked on a sign at each of these
trails.
While there are no prizes, other
than good health, after completing the
trail challenge participants can have
their name added to the website by e-
mailing Beausoleil at
info@muskokatrails council.com with
the codes.
Plus, the Muskoka Trails Council
encourages people to take pictures and
submit them for display on their website.
“This brilliant program was developed
by my predecessor, the past
regional trails coordinator, Katie Pellerin,”
says Beausoleil. “She put
together this idea based on the
Muskoka Trails Council’s vision and
mission, and utilized Muskoka’s fantastic
venue of the trails to promote
health benefits of healthy active living.
The program is flexible – there is no
end date, and you can take part at any
time, any day of the year, and for as
long as you like.”
Passports are available at local
libraries, chambers of commerce,
Muskoka Tourism offices or local
parks and recreations departments.
They are also available online at
www.muskokatrailscouncil.com.
For Beausoleil, hiking is a family
affair enjoyed through all seasons.
“For me, any trail I can take my
kids on is a great trail. Our family
often takes in a trail or two on the
weekends all year round,” she says.
The sun’s shining, the birds are
singing and there’s no time like the
present to get up, get out and get on
the trails.
Frost Centre Institute closed due to significant loss
By Jenn Watt
Two months shy of its third anniversary,
the Frost Centre Institute north of
Halls Lake near Dorset will close down
permanently because of overdue rent.
Run by Al Aubry, a former IBM businessman,
the institute took over the
Frost Centre in June 2007 with the
intention of capitalizing on the environment
and arts to create a vibrant
summer camp, education system and
year-round conference centre.
But despite all efforts, Aubry couldn’t
stop the institute from losing money.
“Like any new business . . . it was
tough,” Aubry says. “It was brutally difficult
to find capital investments.”
Over the past three years, the institute
bled money through the winter
months, unable to get the numbers
needed to stay afloat. In a public report
released in November, Aubry wrote:
“The one goal that continues to elude
us is the all-important goal of making
the Frost Centre Institute economically
self-sufficient. Like many businesses
6 May 2010 www.whatsupmuskoka.com
and governments these days, we are
operating at a deficit and we are accumulating
some debt. The reason is that
our activity levels drop off dramatically
in the period from November to April,
just at the time when the operating
costs are at their highest levels.”
The provincial government, which
owns the Frost Centre, was at first
lenient with the institute, says Rick
Johnson, MPP for Haliburton-
Kawartha Lakes-Brock, but eventually
it had to make a decision.
“The bottom line is they’re facing
some incredible financial challenges.
The province has gone above and
beyond trying to assist them with this
through not collecting rent I think
since the first payment and it just got to
a point where he’s not going to get out
of that,” he says.
The Frost Centre Institute hasn’t paid
rent on the building since its first
installment nearly three years ago, he
says.
Johnson wouldn’t disclose how much
money was lost on the venture, but
called it “significant.”
“We’ve really gone above and beyond
to help them out and make it work. If
it had been viable, if we could see a
point at some point where they’d have a
chance to repay the money that hadn’t
been collected, but it got to the point
where it didn’t seem that it was an
option,” he says.
Aubry had proposed a few scenarios
to the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure
hoping to break even, but by
that point they weren’t biting, he says.
“We reduced the loss by 60 per cent .
. . and were to break even in 18
months,” he says.
He asked that the centre close down
in the winter months, but found the
government unwilling to take over the
building in the downtime.
Finally, he developed an idea to
launch the Frost Environmental College
to keep the place sustainable year
round, but needed large capital investment,
which couldn’t be found.
The government’s plan now is to take
over the building, keep it up to standard
and look for a new tenant or
owner.
“It’s unfortunate. I think [Aubry] had
some good ideas,” Johnson says.
“Whether the economy or just whatever
undercut his operation is unfortunate,
but it’s a great facility and I know
the government, we believe it’s got a lot
of history in the area. So the intent is to
find someone else to come in and operate
it.”
The government will be requesting
proposals for the Frost Centre in the
coming months.
Aubry, meanwhile, is planning to
spend time with his six grandkids and
do some woodworking.
“I feel extremely privileged to have
the opportunity to work on a project
that gave thousands of kids a learning
experience they wouldn’t have had otherwise,”
he says.
The Frost Centre Institute will close
at the end of the month.