Category: Uncategorized
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The River
Allen Markle For eons the river has followed this same route; this jagged seam in the countryside. Patiently carved by ages of grinding ice and then modified and primped by the rivers’ seasons of raging water. It isn’t a big river by any measure, but it drains a substantial area of country to the west…
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Big Red
Linda Gabris – Story Contest Submission The first time we set eyes on “Big Red”, father, mother and I were trudging through the freshly fallen snow on our way to Hubble’s Hardware store on Main Street in Huntsville, Ontario. We planned to enter our name in the annual Christmas drawing for a chance to win…
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Two Secrets
Allen Markle Two Secrets There had been little reason for the coach to encourage this team to lay a beating on the opposition tonight. He has simply said a few words to that effect and then stepped out of the dressing room. Time to suit up, so everyone opened duffel bags and began extracting equipment.…
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Lijah’s Story
Allen Markle Lijah’s Story I’d watched as Dad sharpened the star bit and glassed the polished sheen from the handle of his double-jack. You didn’t want a polished, slippery hammer handle. I was aware of what was to be done and real unhappy that I was to be a part of it. There was a…
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Becoming a Park Warden – 3
Autobiography – Pt 3 – Louis Cotterchio LINK TO PART 1LINK TO PART 2 In the latter part of 1947, after spending a very busy, but enjoyable, summer at The Highland Inn, I inquired at the headquarters of the Department of Lands and Forests for an employment application. I filled it out, and added a…
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With Dust Dancing
Personal Memoir – Allen Markle I should have been in bed and asleep, but once Herb had come to our house last evening, I had been too excited. My uncle George was away at Tanamacoon with Grandma and Gramps. That left me without a close playmate. At least ‘til they came home after the camp…
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Becoming A Park Warden – 2
Autobiography – Pt 2 – Louis Cotterchio LINK TO PART 1 In the summer of 1946, I officially started my work in Algonquin Park at the Highland Inn as a porter responsible for two bellhops at the lodge. We had many high profile guests, and I can recall the day that Mr John Labatt came…
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Becoming a Park Warden
Autobiography – Pt 1 – Louis Cotterchio This is the biography of a young man born in 1926. He grew up on a small farm on Lot 14, Concession 13 in Franklin Township and years later, in February of 1948, joined the Department of Lands and Forests to become an Algonquin Park Forest Ranger. This…
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Main Street and Bridge
Excerpt – Pictures from the Past – Huntsville, Lake of Bays (p 33-34) The present bridge over the Muskoka River in Huntsville is the fourth one. In the 1870 Crown Lands Department of Ontario report, it states that the Muskoka Road was cut through from the boundary of Stephenson Township into Chaffey Township, south of…
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The Spring
Personal Memoir – Allen Markle There had been an argument between a couple of the guys on the lacrosse team; curiously, about the fine art of bathing. Specifically, concerning the merits of the shower or the bath-tub. The whole conversation went to hell when the tub bather had mentioned taking a face-cloth with him. “A…
Huntsville and Area Historical Society 