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Report Impaired Driving Call 9-1-1 Help keep Muskoka roads safe! If you think you have seen someone driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs or even fatigue - CALL 911 and report them! An impaired driver could be: and stop signs Be prepared to: make model and licence number JOHN CLEATOR, CFP Agent/Owner JOHN CLEATOR INSURANCE SERVICES LTD. 3B-295 Wellington Street Bracebridge ON P1L 1P3 Bus: (705) 645-8766 Fax: (705) 645-7655 Home l Auto l Life Investments l Group l Business AUTO • HOME • BUSINESS SEASONAL • RECREATIONAL Johnston & Assoc. Insurance Brokers Ltd. Your Insurance Broker Understands 690 Muskoka Road South, Gravenhurst, ON P1P 1K2 Tel. 705-687-3451 Fax 705-687-7985 Remembering Terry Fox in Bala Around Muskoka Lakes By Jack Hutton Thirty years ago this past July, Terry Fox ran through Bala. The 21-year-old cancer survivor was attempting to run across Canada on an artificial leg. I saw him that day, an exhausted young man who showed the strain of hip-hopping 40 kilometres a day since his start in Newfoundland on April 12. Last month, 86 people remembered Terry through Bala’s ninth annual Terry Fox Run, raising $6,300 for cancer research. The oldest participant on Sept. 17 was Tom Fisher, 82, from Walker’s Point, raising $1,210, the day’s highest pledge. Granddaughter Brooke Asolfi, 18 months old, followed in a baby carriage, raising $230. Meanwhile, Windermere attracted 235 participants, raising more than $18,000 with the help of a silent auction. During his Bala stop in 1980, Fox was offered overnight accommodation at the home of Edna Templeton and then continued running north to a driveway almost opposite the old Hacienda Restaurant. He left a stone to mark where he would start the next morning and was driven back to Bala. The next day, Tom and Isabel Edwards, nearby cottagers, wrote Fox’s name and the date on the stone and kept it as a family heirloom before passing it on son Paul for one of his children’s school projects. Days after Fox left Bala,, Templeton found one of Fox’s socks in her dryer. She kept it as a memento before passing it on to a favourite granddaughter. What an election we are having! There are 24 municipal candidates running in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, including four for mayor. We met all candidates but one on Sept. 25 at a meeting superbly run by the Muskoka Ratepayers’ Association. On Sept. 28, the Muskoka Lakes Chamber of Commerce presented an excellent forum in Torrance for Ward A candidates. As expected, the proposed hydroelectric plant at the North Bala Falls highlighted both meetings. An issue that also will not go away is a District proposal to base garbage collection fees on the assessed value of ratepayers’ property. The proposal would add more than $1.6 million to the township’s taxes while reducing taxes in Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville by about $600,000 each. The District proposal is to combine the garbage collection costs of all six municipalities and allocate them to the municipalities on the basis of the per cent of assessed value. Up until now, the township has been paying on the basis of garbage it generates (17.5 per cent). The new scheme would boost that to 37.9 per cent, which is our share of the District’s total assessment. District councillors voted to defer the proposal early last month after hearing objections from Susan Daglish, president of the Muskoka Ratepayers’ Association. Elsewhere, the Muskoka branch of the Architectural Conservancy voted unanimously at its annual general meeting on Sept. 18 to ask the Township of Muskoka Lakes to investigate the possibility of a Heritage Conservation District around the Bala Falls. The ACO has also nominated the Bala Save the Falls community group for a prestigious advocacy award. Finally, what a wonderful mixture of chili, apple pressings, hot dogs and turkey dinners in the fall air! The Bala United Church UCW will be selling hot chili Saturday and Sunday noon hours during the Bala Cranberry Festival. There was an Open House on Oct. 9, at the Muskoka Lakes Museum, with pioneer demonstrations of spinning, butter churning and apple pressing, followed that evening by a Port Carling Lions’ Club turkey dinner at the town community centre. Have fun at the Bala Cranberry Festival this weekend and don’t forget to mark Saturday, Dec. 4, on your calendar for the Bala Trek to Bethlehem. It has become an annual “must-do” family event ever since the first one in 1993. Tom Fisher, 82, enjoyed the ninth annual Bala Terry Fox run with his granddaughter Brooke Asolfi. Photograph: Anne Young 10 October 2010 www.whatsupmuskoka.com
Gravenhurst officially opens new town hall By Nancy Beal It’s been years in the making, but Gravenhurst finally celebrated the official opening of its new town hall on Oct. 2. “This is something that previous administrations have been looking at since 1985,” Mayor John Klinck explains. “The two-storey addition to the west side (of the Harvie Street town hall) was opened around 1992. At that time they determined it would be a five-year fix and they could look at other alternatives in the mid-90s.” Although discussed over the years since, Klinck says it was at the beginning of the last term of office when the strategic plan called for a consolidated medical presence. “As our term progressed, the issue of a medical presence issue forced our hand and we purchased a $6 million building for $3.2 million,” he says. That building on Pineridge Gate was formerly occupied by the Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit, prior to their restructuring. The new town offices are almost double the square footage of the old facility, all on one level and will address the town’s needs for the next 30 to 40 years. An agreement was reached with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to share facilities and to construct an addition to the building, for use by the Cottage Country Family Health Team, says Cindy Maher, the Town of Gravenhurst’s chief administrative officer. The agreement the town entered with the Ministry included a 99-year lease on the footprint of the building for $1/year and a contribution from the town for infrastructure of $1.8 million. The cost of this two-storey, 2,800-square-foot addition, says Photograph: Sandy Lockhart Town of Gravenhurst dignitaries cut the ribbon, officially opening the new town hall on Oct. 2. Klinck, was $10 million. The Gravenhurst branch of the health unit has a fiveyear lease for the 6,700 square feet comprising the east section of the original building. This leaves approximately 18,000 square feet, for the new municipal offices. Renovations were budgeted at $1.9 million to adapt the former pod structure to a layout more suitable to their needs, says Maher. There was some controversy over the fact the town hall renovations were not put through the tender process. Council made the decision to save $400,000 it would cost to tender, explains Maher, and utilize the existing on-site architectural contractor, Monteith By Sandy Lockhart Take a walk through Muskoka’s creative economy at the CreativeShift workshop and career fair, which is designed to bring more attention to Muskoka’s creative economy and create opportunities for it to expand. Creative Shift will take place on Friday, Oct. 29 at the Rene Caisse Theatre and Bracebridge Sportsplex. “It’s giving us an opportunity to bring together creative not-for-profits and creative sustainable businesses,” says Carolyne Wagland, Creative Path project coordinator who, with FedNor intern Becky Conlon, is organizing the event. Creative Paths, which is a project funded by the Ministry of Culture through the Arts Council of Muskoka, Huntsville Music Festival and the Muskoka Lakes Music Festival, is committed to empowering Muskoka’s youth by encouraging the development of creative thinking skills that translate into practical working tools for future careers. The daytime session is intended for students, but post-secondary students and the public are also welcome to attend, space permitting. High school students from across Muskoka will have an opportunity to learn about career opportunities at a hands-on creative career fair where they can meet people involved in Muskoka’s creative and innovative businesses. Open stages will be used to showcase Muskoka artists and artisans and Savour Muskoka chefs and farmers will be offering samples of their products to the students. Participants attending the fair will not receive brochures or papers but instead get a USB wrist band that includes information from all the booths. “We are trying to come at things from a different angle” she says. Wagland is very excited about the creative core in the centre of the career fair, which is designed to give students and youth an opportunity to be heard. Working with TV Cogeco, they have set up a central video camera idea area where students can have their say about Muskoka and what it would take them to remain here as adults. “It should be fun,” says Wagland, adding that some of the footage will probably be included in her final Creative Muskoka report that will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture. Dev Aujla will be the keynote speaker of the event and is a social entrepreneur and founder of dreamnow.org. He will be presenting to the students in the morning and again in the evening for all community members. “This generation has a heightened social awareness. He talks about how you can choose a career where you can do good for the world. He puts ideas that changes the world into action,” says Wagland. “It is very inspirational.” Building Group. “The new building certainly allows us to serve the public a whole lot better,” says Maher, “At the old town hall, we had one meeting room, and so we were always using the mayor’s office. It had two separate floors, so it was not accessible and the council chambers were not able to accommodate the audience. Here, each of the departments has a shared meeting room.” Large public counters to unroll plans and one large file room are some other features that help to make the new building more functional. Final touches such as displaying some of the town’s historical artifacts are still under discussion. Innovation takes centre stage at CreativeShift The evening is open to all members of the community. It begins with a Savour Muskoka reception, then keynote speaker followed by performances by local talent. The movie Downside Up will be shown at 5 p.m. and is open to all guests. It tells the story of how art can change the spirit and economy of a community. Wagland believes that creativity translates into future skills. “By fostering creativity and generating innovative thinking, you have problem solvers that are going to be able to take issues and come up with answers,” she says. Both the District of Muskoka and the Ministry of Culture are taking part in the creative fair and Wagland is thrilled that they recognize the value in creative thinking. There will be something to interest everyone at Creative Shift, says Wagland. “Creative thinking is empowering.” www.whatsupmuskoka.com October 2010 11
Page 1 and 2: WHAT’S UP October 2010 MUSKOKA’
Page 3 and 4: Discounts Available on 3 or more Al
Page 5 and 6: Taking a new look at an old system
Page 7 and 8: Muskoka paramedics, joined onstage
Page 9: South Muskoka has $5 million wish l
Page 13 and 14: Art exhibit brings history to life
Page 15 and 16: Foundation honours stewards of natu
Page 17 and 18: ADVERTISING FEATURE Ryan Miller, #1
Page 19 and 20: WHAT’S UP MUSKOKA SPORTS YOU’VE
Page 21 and 22: Be thankful for the precious things
Page 23 and 24: WINTER CAR CARE Tire care is crucia
Page 25 and 26: Aiming high to help children By Car
Page 27 and 28: Photograph: Don McCormick Lucy Wing
Page 29 and 30: WHAT’S UP MUSKOKA SOCIAL SCENE 1
Page 31 and 32: Superior Insulation. Superior Perfo

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