Memories of Past Times

  As I mentioned in my Sherwood Forest Camp article, my parents had other plans. I didn’t know at that time, while I was “ camping ”, they were looking for a cottage to buy. You might remember from a previous article that we had built a “prefab” cottage on Matabanick land. I think that owning a cottage on their own land was something they dreamed of. It’s not that they hated the “ Mat ” and the Arches. In fact, they were close friends. They just wanted their own property and they wanted it to be close to the Matabanick Inn. The Archer’s actually helped my parents with their search. They suggested a new Haliburton cottage development on Kennisis Lake. They eventually found a cottage that they liked and were going to put an offer on it. To solidify their choice, they took a trip to the cottage lot. Along the way my mother spotted a “ BEAR ”! The was the “ END ” of their Haliburton/Kennisis dream. My mother didn’t want to “ scar ” bears with a “pot” like their friend with the cottage i

Now it was time to “ ente r” the park’s east gates and to start looking for “ wildlife ”. Back then the main larger wildlife were deer. We would drive along the winding park roads looking for wildlife ( deer ). Quite often we would come across a number of cars parked on the side of the road. A deer had stepped out of the forest, likely looking for food. Not “ animal ” food, but “ people ” food. Like the others, we would stop to take a look. My dad always had his camera ( Super 8 ) ready to capture the moment ( I’m not sure where the film went, a shame! ). Fortunately, the deer where quite tame and ready for food from the tourists. I’m sure that park rangers weren’t too impressed, but accepted it as a reality. Unfortunately, the deer population seems to have dwindle over the years. Now the park hosts more moose than deer, a more dangerous animal. People still stop to take photos, but not to hand out food. Another animal that frequents the park are black bears. On a very few occasions

  Traveling to and experiencing Algonquin Provincial Park was a “ must ” each year. Something that the whole family always looked forward to. Especially for me. Getting there was part of the “ fun ”! The trip took us through Dorse t, with a stop for ice cream at Robinson’s General Store ( closed now) and then onto Oxtongue Narrows . Here we would stop at another general store. This one has a “ talking ” Myna bird who always answered questions with “ Birds can’t talk! ”. From there it was on to the highway that took you to the park’s “ gates ”. Along the way there were several “ trading post ” stores. We would normally stop at one of them to check them out. These stores had lots of fun trinkets to examine. This, for a young boy who was intrigued the trading post “ souvenirs ”! I’m sure that store owners’ eyes would “ light up ”, when they saw little boys and their parents entering their store. We seemed to always leave with something. I have no idea where these precious keepsake

As part of the theme, campers could earn an “ Indian ” name. I’m don’t remember all the activities needed to earn the title. Likely the canoe trip was one of them. The other that I do remember was treading water. To complete this challenge, you had to tread water for a long period of time. I think an hour or two. I loved this challenge, completed it and even went overtime! As I have mentioned, after not drowning 2 times, I really learned how to swim, and, how to tread water for a long time! I eventually earned my name, but have since forgotten it. The “ naming ceremony ” was held at the end of the camping period. It was held at night around a large bonfire. All of us who passed the challenges were lined up and given our names. One activity that wasn’t on the challenge list was smoking “ bumwaddyens ” ( I think that’s how you spell it, or perhaps, I just made the word up !). Making “bumwaddyens ” was very simple. Take a handful of “ pine needles ” and “ toilet paper ” from the outhouse,