SEABREEZE A HISTORY

compiled by Margaret Emerson McLean CONTRIBUTERS, ORGANIZERS AND ASSISTANTS: This booklet has been written and compiled with the help of the following people: Daphne Curtis, Sandra Emerson, Jean Francis, Frances Dillon Galvin, Ann McKenzie, Roderick McLean, Timothy McLean, Sarah Lake, Harriet Muirhead, Florence Newman, Richard Newman, Catherine Nystrom, Margaret Quayle, John Quayle, Judy Snodden, Alistair Thompson, Betty Thompson, Douglas Vallery and family, Gloria Woodside (apologies for any omissions) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Margaret (Emerson) McLean has been a cottager on Seabreeze since 1945 when her parents purchased their cottage property there. In 2005, Margaret and her husband Rod moved their cabin on the family property to make way for the construction of their permanent, year- round home. Although both Margaret and Rod were born and raised in Toronto, fresh out of university they headed north to Kirkland Lake, Ontario where they both taught English in the Kirkland Lake Collegiate and Vocational Institute from 1964 to 1997, until retirement. They built their home on the banks of the Blanche River in Swastika where they raised their three children, Timothy, Sarah and Anne, and remained until moving in 2005. Their ties to the north never have diminished and have only been reinforced with their continued love of Seabreeze. SEABREEZE The pioneer settling of this area has been detailed in many documents and books and deserves close scrutiny by readers of history. Suffice to say, this area first attracted various Indian bands that traded in furs and fished and hunted for survival. They knew well the challenges of the terrain and season. Before long the explorers, surveyors, lumbermen and developers braved the elements and carved out a livelihood and set down their roots in this northern part of Muskoka during the 1800s. For this anecdotal history of Seabreeze Beach, this account will outline the story of some of the cottagers and the activities of the community as it grew through the 1990s to the present with the hopes that further histories of families may come to be recorded. Seabreeze Beach lies on the east shore of Ten Mile Bay of Lake of Bays. The stretch of sandy shoreline extends, almost continually for four miles, interrupted occasionally by creeks and imposing cliffs or bluffs near the south end of the road. The story of Seabreeze begins in the late 1880s when pioneer families such as the Burks, Chevaliers, Dales, Dillons, and Irwins settled as permanent residents on large tracts of land and attempted to farm, lumber and hunt, as they established the community. By today’s measure, the physical demands of survival would seem almost insurmountable, but the early settlers knew how to use the land and water to their advantage. Many of the settlers were skilled craftsmen who had learned their skills in the old country or from their fathers. The women showed equal tenacity in the raising of the children and feeding and clothing their families. Before long, they had developed roads, built a school and church, constructed sizeable and sound homes and established market gardens and lumber mills. It was though, with the advent of the tourist trade and summer cottages in the 1900s that Seabreeze, as a community really developed. Before long, 30 to 40 summer residences were built along this desirable sandy shoreline with the added advantage of natural springs giving unlimited pure drinking water. The springs are still the source of excellent drinking water today. From the highway 35 entrance to Chevalier’s farm, Seabreeze Road has been one of the most sought after locations on Lake of Bays. Now, over 100 years later, the appeal of locale has become the permanent address for more residents as retirees seek the escape from the cities and what was once only seasonal dwellings are now replaced with year-round homes. SEABREEZE AS A COMMUNITY As a location for both permanent and seasonal residents, Seabreeze has established itself for well over 100 years as a community. Although not designated by Canada Post, as such, Seabreeze is called “home, work, the cottage” for the many who have bonded with each other and create the feeling that Seabreeze is just that, a community. As far back as 1921, records show that there was an active beach association. The minutes from that time outline the activities of the people, telling their story as an invaluable record of the life and times of the beach. Besides being an organization which has functioned in one form or another for 88 years or longer, the association has dealt with major local issues starting with the building of the Seabreeze wharf at which the steamer, The Iroquois, would dock bringing supplies and visitors.

Iroquois Steamer at Seabreeze Wharf

It was established at a meeting of August 1, 1921 that a cribbed dock would be built12 feet wide by 190 feet long providing a 9-foot depth of water at the outer end. It was “to be built of first class material”. Milton Burk said, “that the best and only place for the wharf was at the foot of the Government Road (so) it would then be free to everybody”. This wharf required upkeep at an assessment of $5.00 per cottage and these funds would allow for $15.00 be paid to Mrs. Burk for meeting the Iroquois steamer, and for Mr. Burk to be paid, “ to cut the ice for protection of the dock if he finds it necessary”. Minutes from Seabreeze Association August 1921, 1922 With ongoing issues of a shelter to be constructed on the wharf and tenders to be called for a new top to the dock by 1930, the Association was a busy and duly constituted group representing the beach owners’ interests. The handwritten minutes revealed an active community but the minutes also showed an organizational structure following Roberts Rules of Order and even calling for an audit of the financial statements, the coffers of which could not have amounted to very much. The formality of the minutes reflect the times in wording: August 10, 1932, “ After considerable discussion as to the advisability of putting a new top on the wharf and considering the uncertainty of continued steamer service, Rev. Roberts moved that the matter be left in abeyance for another year and a notice be placed on the wharf saying that it’s unsafe”. By 1933, Seabreeze was experiencing the influx of the automobile. Not only had the car become the chosen mode of transportation, but also the speed at which the cars were traveling over the dirt road in front of the cottages had become problematic. Hence in the minutes of August 9, 1933,“several complaints of fast driving by motorists (was noted) along the shore road. Mrs. Chisholm moved that three signs be erected warning motorists to “Drive Carefully: Children Ahead”. The community of Seabreeze has dealt with many ongoing matters besides the Seabreeze wharf. Early in the 1930s, re location of the beach road to behind the cottage lots, the improvement in the postal service, the lack of phone service, the need to restock the lake for improved fishing, and a road speed of 20 mph, became issues for motions. Whether or not the time of the depression affected the scale of “dues payment” or not, it seemed that “with a balance of $87.63 showing in August 1934 after paying $225.00 to Alfred Chevalier for a new top for the Seabreeze wharf”, the association must have felt benevolent or flush as a motion was made and carried the as of August 26, 1935 “the annual dues would be $1.00 until further notice”. Of particular interest was the fact that after the wharf top was added in 1934, ten years later “the dock was taken over and rebuilt by Bigwin Inn (as the new owners) and no longer a cost or concern for the Seabreeze Association”. The 1940s brought the end of World War II and better times. As a result the association reinstated the annual fee of $3.00 per cottage and looked to better times and modern changes. New community ideas surfaced with suggestions in the minutes for “a community recreation centre at the old Hunt Club site at the south end of the beach near the creek. Could we make a badminton court for the young people and possibly a sand bowling ‘green’ for the old boys and girls? Would the young people wish a regatta on the Civic Holiday?” The former requests never got majority approval, but proposals for regattas, field days, picnics, and even a springboard for diving from the Seabreeze wharf, with the new owner, Bigwin Inn, granting their permission became the focal points for the community. By 1948, Mr. Cryderman of the Red and White store in Dwight (now Dwight Coffee Shop) was making deliveries of milk, bread and groceries, and it would seem that the beach was moving into the modern age. But until all the cottages had electric refrigeration, Alfred Chevalier and his son Jack provided the needed ice for the cottage iceboxes. Each week they would deliver ice to each cottage and place the chiseled-to-fit blocks in the icebox with the help of the famous ice tongs. What fun the young children had riding in the back of Chev’s truck amidst the freezing cold ice blocks and moist sawdust. Chev had cut the ice from the lake the previous winter in sufficient supply for all the summer cottages. He kept it frozen through the warmth of spring to fall in his log ice hut with the insulation of sawdust wood chips and straw.

Chevalier’s Ice House Today

Although the beach newspaper was short lived, it is of historical interest to know that a group of young people on the beach put forth the effort to create “The Seabreeze Blow” in 1949. After the editing of the typed copy, the young publishers had mimeographed copies for sale. This three page newspaper gave weekly outlines of beach news from gossip to news worthy editorials and included advertising for local merchants such as Mrs. Theo Dillon, Beawalkenor Cottage Store, Capitol Theatre in Huntsville, Lacrosse League, Crydermans Groceries and Robinson’s General Store in Dorset. The Seabreeze Blow July 1949

During the 1950’s, the Seabreeze Association raised concerns about the taxation being levied; made a request to Frank S. Leslie, president, to join the Lake of Bays Association; addressed the black fly control program by treating the streams within a 5 mile radius with DDT Black Flag @ $ 2.40 a gallon – Ten Mile Creek got 3 gallons each season – a recommended government program; and requested the Township Reeve to have “no camping” signs posted at the church and school beach. Frank S. Leslie’s Reply

Water safety – use of life jackets, water skiing rules and boat speed limits came to the front of the agenda for the community in the 1960s. Imagine a garbage dump for public use at Chev’s swamp property, upstream and only 1 mile south of the creek. That was considered an improvement over burying garbage on your own cottage property or in the lake as was done in the early1990s especially for large objects such as stoves and boats. For a seasonal fee of $10.00 per cottage the weekly trips to the dump to watch for bears was a summer treat. Until the provincial and municipal governments took charge of regulating waste disposal and sites at the municipal dumps, Chev’s was the place. SEABREEZE SOCIALS

The Seabreeze community was not only organized to deal with matters of municipal business or beach concerns, but also for weaving a social bond. The first reference to social gatherings appeared as the “niceties” of the association meetings. Never did a meeting take place at one of the member’s cottages without the pleasantries of refreshments and never did the association fail to acknowledge this aspect of the meetings without recording the like in the minutes. A proper thank you was always recorded. Hence typically on August 14, 1928 the minutes read, “It was moved by Mrs. Roberts and seconded by Mrs. Green that a note of thanks be given Mrs. Pentelow for the use of her cottage and the delightful refreshments offered. Carried.” Before long the beach community decided to organize less formal and more inclusive socials. Regattas and picnics were annual affairs, often taking place at Captain Cluxton’s large beachfront next to the Seabreeze wharf, and by the 1970’s, if not earlier, the Pentelow’s property became the location for years of corn roasts. By the 1980s and 1990s successful regattas convened at the Surerus’s dock with children and adults decked out in T-shirts denoting their nick names and baring a stenciled Seabreeze Beach logo spray painted on the front, thanks to the Quayles. What a contrast the list of games for the 1952 regatta is to today’s: “walking race, shoe race, cracker race, birthday prize, nail driving, paper plate race and bean guessing”. The present owners of the “old Hunt Club” property, the Conways and Radtkes, would be amused to know that their kind offer to provide a location for the present day regatta, was considered a possible location, over sixty years ago, for a community centre. Some things stay the same,the more they change. As is true with all occasions expected to last forever, these regattas and corn roasts faded for years at a time while generations grew up or families moved on. Yet with the change of the century came a resurgence of interest in things past, a new generation willing to organize, and a reinstatement of a desire for a community spirit. Over the last thirty years the beach has congratulated the successful organizers including John and Greer Carter, Bruce, John and Donna Winters, Margaret and John Quayle, Catherine Newman, and lately the Emerson clan including Sarah Lake who have kept the regatta alive and active. Perhaps the relocation of the road was the impetus to bring the cottagers back together, but whatever the reason, the result has been outstanding and has even expanded to include an annual spring wine and cheese for getting reacquainted. Thus by the 2000s, the Seabreeze Beach community was back to enjoying the fraternity of these social occasions from one end of the beach expanse to the other.

Annual Seabreeze Corn Roast

Seabreeze Regatta SEABREEZE COMMUNITY CHURCH

Birkendale United Church c. 1929 One hundred and twelve years ago, in 1897, a small frame church was erected on the east shore of Ten Mile Bay. James Gideon Burk and his wife Harriet contributed land for the building and adjoining graveyard and hence parcel # 903 became the church lot as transferred to the Methodist Church of Canada. Local families donated lumber and supplies together with their labour over the two years of construction from 1896 to 1897. Many of the pioneer families of Ten Mile Bay, the Irwins, Robsons, Burk, Hamilton, Dales, Chevalier, Boothbys, Dillons played pivotal roles in the earlysupport, administration and operation of the church. With church union in 1925, the United Church of Canada assumed ownership of the property and the church’s name went through another revision, as it would again in 1963. 1897 Lakeside Methodist Church 1925 Birkendale United Church 1963 Seabreeze Community Church No doubt, the biggest change in the church’s appearance came about in 1963 when the interior was extensively renovated by a willing group of cottagers. Using the Gothic-style hand-carved oak woodwork, which had been removed from Toronto’s Deer Park United Church during its major renovation, a new chancel wall, rail, pulpit, and window trims were installed. Donations of materials and money helped furnish the flooring, wall curtains, embroidered pulpit cloth, bible book mark, wooden cross and collection trays. A new coat of paint, a signboard at the road, planter barrels, a new porch and roof, and the question of closing the church was put to rest.

Seabreeze Church Before Deer Park United Church Chancel Renovations 1961 From Which Oak Woodwork Was Taken

Renovated Seabreeze Church Church Maintenance Community Chancel 1963 Effort By 1997, the centennial of the church, the Lake of Bays Heritage Award was presented to this 100-year-old church. To add to the celebration, a bell tower was constructed and the gifted “tanker” bell was installed. Former Seabreeze resident, Captain Smeltzer of Imperial Oil Marine Division, gave the bell from a decommissioned freighter. The Seabreeze Community Church remains as a centrepiece for the beach, supported by an active church committee devoted to supplying its programs and cottagers who attend. Although the cemetery is inactive, it speaks for the past through the markers and gravestones which the history of the early church. S.S. No. 4 BIRKENDALE SCHOOL

One of the historical buildings that graced the banks of Ten Mile Bay from 1905 to 1955 was the S.S. No. 4 Birkendale School. As noted in earlier histories, “in this school section, school was first held in a home on Ten Mile Bay near the bluffs at Dale’s Mill east of Ten Mile Creek. In 1895 a frame schoolhouse was built on the Dorset Road (called The Bull’s Run), about one-half mile north of Goose Lake. After a decade at this location, the building was literally moved to the picturesque site, lot 8, concession 4, beside the Lakeside Methodist on Old Schoolhouse In Winter mid 1950s Seabreeze Beach, because it was more convenient for the students and closer to a source of water in case of fire. “The Birkendale School closed from 1940 to 1949, but reopened from 1950 to 1955 with Muriel Boothby as principal”. The school was permanently closed, sold, and replaced by the Irwin Public School in Dwight in 1956. A former student, Frances(Dillon) Galvin recounts how the Chevalier boys, Jack and Harold, walked four miles to school each day and readied the fire to warm up the building in the winter before the teacher and students arrived. Francis, together with her brother Tom rowed across the bay from their Birkendale homestead or walked across the ice in the winter on their father’s well-marked path in order to attend the one room school. Her fond memories of school days at the little building tell of noon hour swimming at the waterfront in what the students nicknamed “Sea Serpent Lake” because of the big logs that floated along the shore. Of course the bountiful fresh wild berries were an equal delight for the students. The closing of the one room schoolhouse gave Sid Avery, well-known citizen and former mayor of Huntsville, the opportunity to purchase the property and building in 1956. The former schoolhouse would make an ideal location for his family’s cottage and thus began the process of renovations and expansions.

Sid Avery Cottage c. 1956 Sid Avery Cottage “DUNLERNIN” 1960s

Today, Lois (Avery) Lind, Sid Avery’s daughter, is the present owner and has enjoyed decades of peaceful summer life at the “much expanded school house” together with annual visits from her children and grandchildren. One hundred and four years later, the old Birkendale School still holds the stories of past times for the few students and teachers still available to recall the history.

Lois (Avery) Lind Cottage POSTAL SERVICE

Former Robson/Dillon Farmhouse Post Office 1896-1964 K.Collins Cottage 1997

Birkendale Post Office served the area from 1896 to 19964 and was located in the Robson/Dillon farmhouse at the north- westerly end of Ten Mile Bay. Winnie Dillon served as the postmistress for many of those years and was well known to the Seabreeze residents. Mail could be posted and collected there after a short row or paddle across the lake, but by 1935, the Seabreeze Association made a motion to request “better service” on the beach. One can only assume that what followed in 1936 became the result of this motion. Hence, for the next 29 years, until rural delivery to individual boxes occurred, “ 4 homemade locked boxes were erected at convenient places” along the beach road, and “the association would pay a $5.00 monthly fee for the collection of beach mail”, delivery of outgoing mail to the post office and, in turn, delivery of incoming mail to the individual cottages. By 1937 the young carrier, usually a summer resident, would earn $5.00 per month as well as 35 cents per week per cottage and an extra 50 cents per parcel. The “improvement” in the postal pickup and delivery served the beach residents well for many years and provided a summer job for the young teenagers on the beach. Mindful of the fact that the mail had to be collected from the boxes and delivered to the post office by a specific time, the job was considered very important and required the greatest responsibility. The young mail carriers, as often there were two per month, had to be punctual and trustworthy, to say nothing of their ability to either paddle, row or use a motor boat to cross the lake, rain or shine, and not capsize. No bonded carriers, no unions, no criminal checks, no age restrictions. All that was required was a willingness to arise by 7:00 a.m. and be sure that the mail was at the post office in time for Winnie to hand stamp each out going letter or card, sort, bag and be ready for the incoming mail truck at 8:00 a.m.

In some of the Association’s year-end financial reports of disbursements of $5.00 per month for mail service, the carriers were listed and their ages were noted as 13 or 14 years old. 1947: July: John Emerson August: Murray Archer 1949: July: Arthur Atkinson: August: Florence Emerson, Jacqueline Mahn 1950: July: Joanne Gibson August: Jacqueline Mahn 1951: July: Bobby Grace August: Bobby Metcalf 1953: July: Gordy Emerson, August: Lea Montgomery Margaret Emerson This postal service continued successfully for the community until the mid 1960s and, like all things of the past, with improved communication, faster transportation, increased demands and, most significantly, government rules and regulations, it was replaced. PHONE SERVICE Communication for the early settlers and cottagers of the area was limited to overland mail either at the post office at Birkendale or in Huntsville, or by means of the telegraph service offered by the Great North West Telegraph Co. in Dwight. In 1914, a phone service for the township of Franklin was established by the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Telephone Co. Ltd., but this was not available to the cottages and homes along the beach. In 1947, the Bell Telephone Company bought the local company and renewed the equipment. As reported in the minutes of 1947, “now that the B.T.Co. (Bell Telephone Company) has taken over Muskoka Service, it may be possible to have a telephone booth on the beach. By the following year, it was recorded in the minutes, “with the completion of the re- routing of the telephone lines to the rear of the beach frontage, a phone booth was to be placed on the roadside between the Archers’ and Emersons’ properties and to be in use for the 1950 season. Hence, by October 11, 1949, “the phone booth was delivered and found at (Emerson’s) back door” awaiting a spring installation. This phone service proved to be a great convenience for anyone in the area wishing to place an outgoing call. It has to be assumed that calls during the black fly season tended to be short in duration!

Bell Telephone Phone Booth Delivered to Emersons October 1949 SEABREEZE ROAD HAS A LONG HISTORY By Florence (Emerson) Newman The pleasure of seeing the beautiful blue water set against the contour of the hills across Ten mile Bay was the reward for all travelers along the shoreline drive know as Seabreeze Beach Road. Of course, the road was not always a standard road. It began as a wagon trail along the water’s edge, and progressed over the decades from sandy pathway, to gravel roadway, to oiled surface, and finally to pavement. All the while, the adjacent property owners’ concern for pedestrian safety and erosion of the shore bank caused the community to seek to have the road relocated.

The Emerys on Beach Road 1928 As far back as 1934, minutes of the Seabreeze Beach Association recorded:

Beach Association Minutes of 1934 The township councils of the time resisted such action for a variety of reasons – couldn’t move the road unless a “free right-of-way” was provided, - couldn’t move the road unless 100% property owner support, - couldn’t move the road unless all costs were borne by the property owners.

Winter Road Unploughed; Emerson Dirt Road Graded, August1949 Boys Stuck, December 1948

Before many years, extensive property development began beyond the old Seabreeze Road. It meant that an increase in the number and size of vehicular traffic pounding the old road surface and traveling without regard to speed limitations was occurring. Residents feared for the safety of pedestrians, especially small children crossing to the water and seniors leisurely meandering along their frontage. Erosion of the bank supporting the road was increasing and in some places dangerously undercutting the road base. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and well into the 1970s, representation was made to the town councils; committees were formed and safety concerns remained paramount for most of the residents. Not until the amalgamation of the five townships, including Franklin, to form the Township of Lake of Bays did the real work begin on the road relocation. In 1975 the community formed a Road Committee, representing the will of the majority. The committee argued, over the next decade, in favour of such relocation. Finally, in July 1992, the LOB Township Council and Mayor Scott stated that, “we will ensure that the Seabreeze Road is moved back behind existing cottages no later than the summer of 1994”. Nothing happened! What did emerge was the expectation by Council that the residents would pay the total costs to have a bypass road built and then turn it over to the Township! So, the Road Committee of this time embarked on a mission to persuade the Council of the wisdom of relocating the road from the perspective of safety, the environment and the economy. Although there was intense resistance to the project Beach Road Hard Top Surface from the Bayview Point near Lane’s residents, in the end, through the submission of a Local Improvement Petition, a contribution of $160,000.00, and the required back land from the 38 cottagers, the new bypass road was finally built. The current waterfront stretch was closed to motorized vehicles and its paved top removed leaving a narrow walking trail for local use. In February 2002, a bylaw was passed creating the new Seabreeze Beach Road.

Beachfront Road Closing Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Cottagers, Committee Members, Councilors

It had taken seventy years to move one mile (1.8 km.) of roadway, countless meetings, binders of proposal sheets, boxes of files, untold hours of efforts from many of the residents of Seabreeze, many of whom have moved or passed away, but in the end the result was a major success, a “win- win” situation for all who use the road. New Bypass Road 2009 The Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation is proud to present Heritage Awards for 2009 to the following four cottages on Seabreeze Beach:

Thompson Cottage Emerson Cottage Nystrom Cabin Pentelow Cottage

THE THOMSON COTTAGE In 1935, Dr. D. M. Campbell of Glencairn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario hired Alfred Chevalier to construct a large log cottage, a boathouse and u-shaped crib wharf. The Campbell property was located half way along the beach road between the church and Ten Mile Creek. Dr. and Mrs. Campbell became active members of the Seabreeze Association, enjoyed the abundant wild flowers on their lot, and delighted in the opportunities to cruise the lake in their launch.

Thompson Cottage (formerly Campbell) The design of the cottage provided an open loft overlooking the living room, a large open stone fireplace and chimney at one end of the cottage and a similar, but smaller, stone chimney for the kitchen wood stove at the other end of the building. The exterior was finished with a hand set flag stone patio and steps, all of which attest to the craftsmanship of Alfred Chevalier who likewise constructed other cottages along the beach and at least one other of similar log construction for the Greens, the first owners of the A. J. Grace property. When one sees the size of the logs, perfectly notched and chinked to provide a substantial structure of both soundness and attractiveness, one realizes that the self taught carpentry skills for a person such as “Chev”, Log Construction of Cottage who virtually could neither read nor write, was amazing. How the large logs and stones were maneuvered into place must have required great strength and ingenuity as these buildings, like many others of this era, were built long before such contractors had the assistance of motorized heavy equipment to lessen the physical labour. In August 1956, Dr. Campbell passed away and after a few years, his widow sold “Wildwoods”, the name given to the property by Dr. Campbell as a reflection of his love of the natural setting. The name still stands and the wild flora still blows in the breezes. Front Stone Patio Bunkie/Storage (formerly Boat House)

By the 1960s,the original wharf became an early victim of the onshore ice damage and had to be dismantled while the boathouse was moved from the shoreline to become a Bunkie/storage behind the main cottage. The cottage, on the other hand, has stood the test of time and stands as an exceptional example of the log constructionreminiscent of the early 1900s. The present owners, Alistair and Betty Thomson of Scarborough, Ontario together with their adult children, Carole, Brian and Gordon and families have come to love their Seabreeze retreat, which they had purchased from Mr. Graham, the second owner, in 1977.The Thomsons have spent many of their summer retirement years here for the last 32 years playing supportive roles in the beach activities, socials and especially the community church. THE EMERSON COTTAGE While Captain H. O. Jackson and family of Montreal, were holidaying at Ronville Lodge across the bay in the early 1900s, they bought a parcel of land on Seabreeze Beach consisting of 26 acres and 425 feet of frontage. In a letter sent to the Emersons in 1985, Ethel Inksetter, daughter of Captain Jackson recalls that, “ We had always holidayed on the Upper Lakes as my father was convinced that the air was much better for us up there. The following spring, 1912, my father and a carpenter friend came up and got the framing done. We, (my mother, father and brother) camped in the shack on the property that summer, then tore it down and later the storage shed was built from some of the barn board lumber from the shack. Since there was no dock at Seabreeze, the lumber must have been trucked from Huntsville over the very poor road or delivered to the Birkendale dock.” The original name of the cottage and property was ‘LLYNTREF’, a Welsh name pronounced ‘LIN-TREV’ meaning Lake Town or Lake Home. The indication is that the Jacksons had purchased the property from a Welshman who had possibly been a homesteader in the late 1800s. Speaking of names, Mrs. Inksetter states in her letter that, “ the name Seabreeze for the road and community in 1912 did not officially exist, and only came a little later, “ when my father canvassed for supporters to build the dock they chose a name to be listed as a port- of-call for the Iroquois steamer”. Hence Seabreeze was chosen.

Emerson Cottage (formerly Jackson) 1945 The cottage that was built over the period from 1914 to 1916, with the help of all the family members, was a large, one and a half storey, hip- roofed, dormered frame structure with a large front-screened porch. The interior was finished in wallboard and batons, typical of the day for walls and ceilings, with tongue and groove three-inch pine floor. The spacious interior provided three full bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen, a pantry, and a useable upstairs attic for storage or extra sleeping. The standard back- house was not far from the cottage. To this day, the barn-boarded storage shed still stands, albeit Original Barn Shed from 1914 with a decided lean and a tarp-protected roof, but the exterior of the cottage clad in the original cedar shingles has remained in extremely good condition, perhaps due to the applications of creosote and solignum used as stain. Although the original roof of the cottage and shed were of cedar shakes, time has necessitated the replacement of the shingles twice with those of asphalt. The main building remains structurally sound and very useable. Similar to many of the older cottages of the area, some updates and additions have been made, with the central large open fireplace and kitchen brick woodstove chimney in good working order. The Jacksons were both very active participants in the Wharf Committee and the Seabreeze Association, while their children took to enjoying the activities of canoeing, sailing and swimming. The story is told how the children bartered their father for a new canoe if they agreed to help hammer on the cedar shakes. Captain Jackson, a Great Lakes Captain, thought rowing was the best of exercise and so set the children to row their large boat. But sailing was his favourite sport and as his daughter recounted in her letter, “ we had a sail boat with not just the usual sail, which my father thought lost too much wind, but a ‘sprit-sail’ which made the boat recognizable over quite an area. Being a mariner he sailed very precisely by the rules of navigation and expected others to do the same. I have known him to claim the ‘right of sail’ against the fastest cruiser. This happened one time over near Bigwin Inn and I asked him what he would have done if the cruiser had not veered out of our way. He simply replied that we could swim and he Captain H. O. Jackson and Son Chris would have got a with Sprit Sail 1920 new boat!” By 1945 the Jacksons had put the cottage up for sale with the hopes that the new owners would be a family who would enjoy it as they had. It was fortuitous that Ted Emerson recognized Mr. Jackson’s son as a colleague from U of T Engineering and hence they entered into an agreement of sale. Ted and Edna Emerson of Toronto were able to purchase the property for $4000.00 with a negotiated arrangement to sever sixty feet of frontage in favour of each of the neighbours on either side of them, the Baldwins and the Archers. How values and prices have changed! Tax Demand 1948 Ted and Edna Emerson, together with their four children, John, Florence, Gordon and Margaret have called Seabreeze home for all their summers since 1945 and although Ted and Edna have passed away as has their eldest son, John, the cottage property has remained in the family.

Emerson Family (John, Gordon, In 1971, the original frontage was Margaret, Edna, Florence, Ted) 1945 divided, giving two 150-foot parcels, when this was an acceptable size. After 1992, when the children inherited the property fro1m their parents, John and his wife Sandra and their three boys took over the main cottage and back acreage while Margaret, husband Rod and their three children assumed the other frontage on which they had built their small cottage. Florence and her husband Richard and their three children purchased the Mahn cottage further along the beach, and Gordon and his wife Barbara and three children relinquished their sleep cabin beside the main cottage in order to remain on their large property near Tottenham. Four generations of the Emerson family have loved Seabreeze, so much so that Rod and Margaret have built their permanent home here and reside year round. All of the family members have been steadfast and active supporters of the decades-old issue of road relocation, renovations and operation of the community church, organizational running of the Beach Association and the annual regatta.

Emerson Cottage Today NYSTROMS’ CABIN

Original Cabin Constructed from Two School Houses c. late 1880s

When the original Pentelow property was last severed in 1975, Cathy (Pentelow) and Bob Nystrom became the sole owners of the most southerly portion. On the lot stood an old cabin that was possibly assembled by Gideon Burk in the 1880s, but records do not attest to this so it is only an assumption that if he was the builder of the Pentelow house he may have done this cabin as well. It is believed that this building, which has remained as a sleep cabin to the home of the Nystroms, was originally constructed out oftwo old schoolhouse from Dorset. The buildings were towed to the property over the long, rough trail by horse and moved along over a repetition of laying down logs to aid in the mobility of the move. It must have taken days to complete the trek of many miles.The peak of the schoolhouses’ original structures can still be seen in the roofline.It is suggested that these two structures were hauled to the property and joined together in the centre and then enclosed on two sides by a screen porch. This building still displays much of its original wood, frames, doors, windows and flooring and was referred to as the “Fishbowl” by the local cottagers in response to the openness of its appearance. Nystrom Cabin Today Although records cannot accurately confirm the nature of the early construction, the integrity of this more than 100-year-old building has provided continual use for well over a century. The interior of the cabin displays the heritage of early Muskoka with the age-old wood stove, wooden table and chairs and the original tongue and groove slatted exterior doors. Looking back at pictures of the cabin set in the open at the top of the rise above the lake, one is reminded of the lack of dense foliage of the early 1900s, perhaps reflective of the so called farm land and logging which had taken place in this area. The Nystroms have made Seabreeze their home away from home for many decades, with strong involvements in the community church, restoration and maintenance of the pump organ, active involvement with the associations of both Lake of Bays and Seabreeze Beach and locally within the communities of Dwight and Huntsville. With Bob’s passing in January 2009, Cathy intends to continue to spend most of her time in their year round home on the property with the usual commutes to Adrian, Michigan, their American home residence. PENTELOWS The Pentelows, a family from Guelph, Ontario, together with their relatives, the McGills, came north to vacation and purchased the large tract of land and home to the direct east of the church and schoolhouse in 1907. The large stately house, or at least a portion of the present structure, was built by Gideon Burk in the late1880s, according to records of the area.

Original Building c. late 1880s The expansive tract of land and later the large Victorian house have an extensive history of ownership as detailed in the documentation of deeds and transfers which Margaret and John Quayle have traced. “Parcel 456 / 1466 was possibly purchased from the crown by William George and Catherine Brown in June 1893. The Browns then sold this in May 1897 to Elmira Jane Shrigley, a family known in the Dorset area. Unfortunately, the taxes were not paid on the parcel from 1893 onward and as a result Shrigley was forced to sell it in 1903 to rectify the debt. The sale of parcel 456 in 1903 was to George Grey Robson, a family well established in the Ten Mile Bay community. In April 1905 Robson sold parcel 1466, as noted in the documents, to Susan and Walter Wager and then in the following year, 1906, Walter Wager bought the adjoining parcel 1467 from the William Henry Pugh estate. It was on May 4, 1907 that parcels 1466 and 1467 were sold by Walter Wager to William Michener and Maude Isabel Pentelow. In 1949 a transfer of some back property was made to William Cluxton, their northerly neighbour and relative.The large Pentelow property that was now in the name of Howard and Francis Pentelow, the only son of William and Maude Pentelow, was kept in tact until 1975. Although, with the death of the Howard and Francis, their two daughters, Catherine and Margaret, became the heirs to the estate in 1968, it was not until 1975 that Margaret and Catherine, the 3rd generation of Pentelow owners, severed the property into equal parcels of land for the Quayle and Nystrom families to enjoy”. View From Lake To House c. 1890s The “farmhouse” was built as a one and a half to two storey frame structure with up to ten bedrooms, gable roof, steep centre dormer, double windows, five porches and a two storey front porch overlooking the gradual long front Early 1900s Going Down To Beach slope to the lake and wide beach. This Victorian style farmhouse had hand hewn cedar shingles for both siding and roofing. The original cedar siding still remains while the shake roofing had to be replaced in the late Beach with Iroquois Steaming To Wharf 1980s with a substantial red metal roofing system. At the back of the house stands the original out-shed; a good example of the 120 years of usage such construction can give. Although some upgrades and additions have been made over the years, these are minimal and only out of necessity to meet the demands of growing families and present day life styles. Otherwise, a tour through the home is a visit to decades gone by – a time warp to the late 1880s, as the original wallpaper, floor boards and furniture grace the home in all its authenticity. The William Pentelow family members were very active supporters of the Seabreeze Association from its inception in the early 1900s. Their only son, Howard of Waukegan, Illinois, together with his wife, Francis, and their two daughters, Catherine and Margaret, continued the family tradition of summering at Seabreeze and being involved in the beach activities, a love of the water and the always present love of fishing. With the severance in 1975, Cathy and her husband, the late Bob Nystrom, proceeded to build a permanent residence on their eastern most lot. To the Nystroms, who were permanent residents of Adrian, Michigan, and their children, Steve and Diana and their families, this summer place continued their deep attachment to their family roots and a refuge from the very busy lives in which they were involved. Margaret and her husband, John Quayle, and their children Mitchell and Marcia and their families, have remained in the original cottage and have worked to keep the building unchanged but still thoroughly enjoyable. The Pentelow home and property has witnessed many aspects of the beach community from association meetings, to church luncheons, to year-end socials and always the annual corn roast. According to the publication, By Wagon and Water, in the early 1900s, the first Mrs. Pentelow, who was an opera singer, used to hold Sunday teas on the front lawn and entertain with her singing. With the later generations, The Quayles added a new dimension with their horses that they trailered up from their home in Terra Cotta, Ontario. The pony cart and the horses tethered in the back yard for the summer were a delight for the youngsters of the beach. Now the property has been a touchstone for five generations of Pentelaws and descendants, and as long as the old stately home stands, it will likely continue to enjoy the love and respect of future generations and cottagers.

Views of Pentelow House 1990 MUSKOKA MEMORIES THE SEABREEZE ERA 1927 – 1945 By Marjorie Emery Vallery

Following are some excerpts from a memoir written by Marjorie Emery Vallery whose father bought three lots on Seabreeze (presently the Lanes, the Newmans, the Pattersons) in 1928 and built all three of the original cottages, in part or in whole, there. The purchase and construction followed the family’s first experience, in 1927, of the two-day road trip from Hamilton to Seabreeze via the old Ferguson Highway in order to take up rental quarters in a rather minimal cottage on the Seabreeze Beach. Nothing better outlines the early reality of automobile travel, cottage construction, cottage life and the true excitement of owning one’s own place in the shear beauty of the north than Mrs. Vallery’s memoir. It should be pointed out that the Emery family went on to purchase twenty-five acres of land from Alfred Chevalier in 1936, about a half mile to the east of their first cottage, beyond Dale’s Bluff and just before the entrance to the narrows on the way to Dorset. This location, accessible only from Seabreeze Road, was later named “Point-of-View and referred to as Emery Bay. It remained in the family for approximately 70 years. “ June 1927, Hamilton, Ontario. Today I was very excited because school was out for the summer holidays and we”, my father, mother, older sister and two older brothers, “were traveling for the first time in my dad’s new green Model A Ford on our first trip to Muskoka. We had an awful lot of things to pack in the car, but my dad had made a large wooden trunk that he attached on the back of the car in front of the spare tire, as well as a box to go on the roof to hold blankets, pillows and clothing. Although the speed limit on the Ferguson Highway in 1927 was only 35 miles per hour, it didn’t seem long before we left the suburbs of Hamilton,” where my dad was a builder, “and after skirting the west end of Lake Ontario, set out firmly in a north-easterly direction for” Barrie, Orillia and Severn River. “As it was getting late in the day and the paved highway ended here, Dad decided it was a good place to stop for the night. My brothers set up a tent at the side of the road for dad and the boys, while Dad negotiated the rental of a bedroom in a nearby farmhouse for my mother, my sister and myself. Three in a double bed! From this point on, the highway became a narrow, gravel-covered road, which occasionally widened in places to allow vehicles to pass. In addition, we were now faced with high rock-slab granite hills up and down, on which our poor car rolled and shook as on a roller coaster ride. Eventually we reached Gravenhurst, a sleepy little town on the shore of Lake Muskoka, where a large steamship, The Seguin” was tied up. By afternoon we finally reached Huntsville and took the road from there to our rental cottage that Dad had rented sight unseen from a newspaper ad. It seemed that the road that followed was more like a rutted ‘trail’, and since the land always sloped towards the water, we found the going very awkward. At times we had to get out The Cottage “Hillcrest” Top of the Hill 1930 of the car to lighten the load and, at the end of Ten Mile Bay, the boys and Dad had to hold the car as it was teetered toward slipping into the lake on an especially badly tilted rock face which we named ‘Suicide Bend’. At last we saw an old faded sign announcing ‘Seabreeze’. The road was a deeply rutted logging trail through a long green tunnel of thick forest which turned sharply left to follow along the lakeshore. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We were intrigued to see a small white clapboard church and beyond it, a small white schoolhouse. From here we had only one mile to go. We passed four other cottages on our way, but we were rather dismayed at the sight of a rather dilapidated old unpainted cottage – our destination. Cottage Additions We explored the neighbourhood and found that next door was a “substantially better” cottage with a lovely half-moon stone look out at the shore. The cottage was the summer home for Dr. Hamilton, his wife and four daughters. They had a nursemaid and a cook. Further down the road in a large clearing there were two old abandoned farmhouses with a few ramshackle outbuildings where three or four cows were wandering in and out. Near the fast-running Ten Mile Creek, was an old abandoned sawmill with parts of machinery still lying around and a logging road going down to the creek. To our delight we caught seven large speckled trout, which Mother cooked for dinner. One day an old inboard boat pulled into our wharf. The lady running the boat asked us if we wanted any of the fresh vegetables she was selling. She told us she was Olive Chevalier and that she lived on the other side of Dale’s Bluff. She came weekly, much to Mother’s delight. By the end of summer, Dad had bought three lots to the west of our rental and the winter of 1927-1928 was spent planning the construction for our first real cottage in Muskoka.” Our second summer saw the construction of our cottage. First the boys erected a tent in which they slept with Dad, “while we girls and Mother slept in the car, Mother on the back seat, my sister on the front and me on the floor. We did this for only a few nights. The construction immediately began with trees cut down for a clearing on the top of the hill, and “posts, planks and two by fours delivered from Goose Lake Lumberyard. Dad dug post holes and then they laid the big ‘joists’ on the posts and soon began nailing the frame together”. All this along with part of the floor was done the first day. By day three, “the flooring was finished and the uprights for the walls were up. The building continued uninterrupted and the roof was completed by the fifth day, when the boys and Dad started on the siding. Dad had the three doors, windows, living room furniture, beds and dressers, daybeds and kitchen stove shipped in from Huntsville” via the steamers and the Portage Express to the “ Iroquois steamer which came each day to the SeabreezeWharf”. Along with this, Dad “bought a much needed icebox from a neighbour and also built a very comfortable ‘two-holer’ backhouse for which we were all very grateful. We called our cottage ‘Hillcrest’ because of its location”. Our travel on the water was made easier by the purchase of a “second-hand rowboat”. We used it to troll for Lake Trout and to row the Emery’s Row Boat Used to row to Dorset four miles to Dorset for supplies. Eventually, with some of the money from selling one of the lots to my mother’s brother, Alfred Mahn, Dad purchased “a lovely red canoe from a marina called ‘Langford’s’, across the channel from Bigwin Island.” With this canoe we explored the lake, “paddled to Dorset for staples and twice a week to Birkendale Post Office”.

Looking Up At Cottage from Road 1933 Over the next few years, Dad was able to tap into the clear, pure spring water at the lakeshore to give us a water system at the cottage and eventually an indoors toilet, and by 1934 after additions and improvements to the A Good Catch... Standing on the Road cottage, “Dad and the boys completed a large boathouse down near the road with room for three boats, an aquaplane and a long workbench inside of two weeks”. With the Depression putting a slow down to the building trade, “Dad became a secondary school woodworking teacher and took a position in 1929 at Chatham Vocational School”. With the help of his students, Dad decided to build a launch from scratch, large enough for our family of six. “Hence his senior students learned how to read plans and build such a boat. They laid the keel and built Home Made Emery Launch Ready for Transporting the boat, plank by plank, and by spring it was finished.” For a motor, “Dad bought an old Chrysler car and adapted it for water transportation. It was moved to a second hand trailer in our backyard and ready to be towed to the cottage by late June. The hull was painted white and the deck was finished with a natural wood high gloss varnish. We were very proud of our graceful 24-foot launch”. Our summers at Seabreeze kept us “busy, well-fed and healthy. There were no ‘teenage’ problems with four children. We were all too busy to get into trouble or to complain about ‘being bored’. We were all very proud of the part we had played in making our summer place”. The Evolution of Francis Lane by Ann MacKenzie and Jean MacKenzie Francis (with a few detours to Livingston Lane)

Cottaging is all about family and friends. Nowhere is this as evident as when you look at the history of Francis Lane. The name Francis Lane is very recent and for most of its history it had no name.

1003 Francis Lane According to By Wagon and Water, George Birk built the first home at Seabreeze in 1886 just north of the government dock. His eldest son, William, enlarged the house and improved the grounds, including two clay tennis courts. They decided to run their place as a tourist inn for several years. It was subsequently sold around 1930 to Robert Samuel Francis and his wife Jean or Jane Warmington Francis of Toronto for their vacation use. The Francises owned the full parcel of land bounded on the east by Hwy 35 and Seabreeze to the south, exclusive of the corner lots currently owned by the Craigs and Masons. This gave them a lot of shoreline along Ten Mile Bay and the south shore of the little bay.

Seabreeze House (Francis Cottage) Mr. Francis died in the early 1930’s and Mrs. Francis opened up the old Seabreeze House as a summer tourist place, as it had previously been. The resort had two sleeping cabins with screened porches. Everyone took their meals at ‘the big house’. There were two Francis sons: George, the eldest who married Madeline Ryan, and Albert, the younger son, who married Elizabeth (Betty) Choate.

Robert Abernathy of Dorset approached the Francises proposing that he build a couple of cottages on some lots on the south shore of the little bay in order to sell them and divide the profits with them. This venture helped him set up his Dorset lumber yard on Kawagama Lake Road just off Hwy 35. Livingston Lane was created to access these lots.

During the 1950s the two Francis brothers, George and Albert, shared the use of Seabreeze House during the summer with one having one month and the other the next month. George and Madeline had three children: Pat, Karen and Robert (“Big Bob”). Albert and Betty also had three children: Robert (“Little Bob”), John and Jane. George Francis passed away in 1960 and his wife, Madeline sold her share to his younger brother, Albert.

At Seabreeze House, Betty and her three children continued to enjoy summers at the cottage after Al Francis passed on in 1979. The youngest, Jane, married David Skilling at the Seabreeze Church in its centennial year in 1997 with their reception at the Seabreeze House. Although Jane and David live in Victoria, B.C. they still own a lot in the little bay with a small log cabin on it. The oldest son, Bob, lives in Bracebridge as the owner of Rich Hill Candles with his wife Barb and their three children, Shawn, Kyle, and Nicky. He sold his lot in the little bay in 2005 and there is now a modern new house there. The middle son, John, was using Seabreeze House the most. After Betty’s death, John and his wife, Cathy, decided that they wanted a year-round cottage, which just was not possible with the old Seabreeze House. In 2007 they removed the old house and designed a lovely rustic Timber Frame home that was constructed by Portico of Dorset using all local trades. It will continue to be enjoyed by them and their two children, Diane and Bill, the 4th Francis generation at Seabreeze. 1009 Francis Lane Seabreeze House was on a large pie shaped lot abutting Seabreeze Road. To create a lot for another of Madeline’s sisters, Pearl (Eddie Belz), 100’ was carved from the north side of this wedge. The Belz built a cottage there in the 1950s using the same plans as the Gibson cottage without the fireplace. It is still standing in 2009. They had two daughters, Dode and Coreen. Dode, who had inherited the cottage, and her husband, Herb Sullivan enjoyed the cottage until Dode could no longer visit. She then sold it to her cousin, Bruce Larrington, who subsequently (2007) sold it to Steve and Andrea Cook: the only ones on Francis Lane who are not related. Bruce Larrington, the son of another of Madeline’s sisters, Marge (Dick Larrington), had previously bought one of the lots in the little bay but sold that cottage in the 1970s (1032 Livingston Lane).

formerly : Belz / Sullivan / Larrington / Cottage now : Cook

1015 Francis Lane One couple, Bryce and Florence MacKenzie were regular renters of a cabin at Seabreeze House from 1938-44. They started visiting because they were good friends of George and Madeline Francis. Bryce, a lawyer, had provided the legal work for the subdivision of the Francis lots and was paid in the form of a lot. In 1946 the MacKenzies acquired the lot where the ‘Kilbogie’ cottage still stands. In 1951 they bought the lot beside it for $750 to give them 300’ of lake frontage. The cottage was named after a town in Scotland.

MacKenzie Cottage “Kilbogie”

The MacKenzies also acquired the two guest cabins that had been part of the resort. To construct ‘Kilbogie’ they moved the two cabins closer together and put in a living room joining the two. The porches were enclosed and one cabin-end became the sleeping area and the other end became the kitchen and dining room. They had two daughters, Jean and Ann. Since Bryce MacKenzie, a corporate lawyer by profession, was not a handy man, Paul Tapley from ‘Bondi’ was a regular visitor to ‘Kilbogie’, helping to keep it functioning and selling fresh produce from his garden as well. Jean inherited ‘Kilbogie’ from her parents. 1060-1 Seabreeze Road In 1936, one of Madeline Francis’s sisters, Lillian (Bob Gibson) acquired a lot to the north. Bob Gibson, with help from some of his Masonic Lodge friends, built a cottage over the Victoria Day weekend. The lovely stone fireplace, designed by Northern Vacation, was then added. Their daughter, Joanne (Don Thompson), was a good friend of many along Seabreeze such as Florence Newman (Emerson), a schoolmate from St. Clements School in Toronto. Joan and Don continued to use this cottage together with their two sons, until 1967 when it was sold to the MacKenzies after Don’s death. They then put a trailer on an adjoining piece of land for a few years and then this lot was sold to Ann MacKenzie in 1974. Joan continued to spend summers on Francis Lane at her cousin’s cottage, Dode Sullivan.

1945 Gibson Cottage, now site of Ann MacKenzie’s place

Ann MacKenzie acquired the Gibson cottage from her parents. Despite its rustic charm and delightful fireplace the cottage was too small to be functional except for the mice that could not be kept out. In 1985/86 Ann built a new year-round cottage (by Goose Lake Custom Builders: Mike and George Lupton) and the old cottage was removed. Some of the B.C. cedar in the old cottage was kept to line the side porch of the new cottage. Although this property is at the end of Francis Lane, the road numbering gives it a Seabreeze Road address. It has been the site of some of the Seabreeze Beach Wine and Cheese parties on wet May weekends. Linkages to Livingston Lane The Francises had kept lots in the ‘little bay’ to ensure that all their children would have property on the lake. In 1965, Big Bob built himself a cabin on his lot in the little bay. He subsequently inherited the lot next door from the settlement of Madeline’s estate.

In 1970, “Big Bob” Francis and Jean MacKenzie were married bringing the two main families of Francis Lane together. In 1972 they built their current cottage next to Bob’s initial cabin, which is still used by them today in the little bay off Livingston Lane (1028 Livingston Lane). In 1998 Jean inherited ‘Kilbogie’ on Francis Lane. Their two children, Julie (Andrew Mitchell) and Bradley (Heather Leblanc) now have children of their own making for a 5th generation to enjoy cottaging on Livingston Lane and Francis Lane.

In 2006 Brad and Heather were married in the Seabreeze Community Church with their BBQ reception held at ‘Kilbogie’.

Brad’s grandparents, George and Madeline Francis and Bryce and Florence MacKenzie, would have been delighted. Joan (Gibson) Thompson was in attendance to lend even more historical family continuity as well as other Seabreeze Road natives such as Rob (Lynne) Livingstone and Lynn (Mike) Hagan.

1039 Livingston Lane Originally Francis Lane had continued all the way through to the Craig’s place at the corner of the Little Bay. The road went in front of the Gibson cottage and the Mason cottage. John Craig, an accountant in Toronto, acquired his property in 1954 from the Browns who had bought it in 1950 from the Jamiesons. The Jamiesons built the cottage in the 1930s. The Craigs began using Livingston Lane as soon as it opened up. It enabled them to park next to the door of the cottage rather than down the hill as they had done with Francis Lane. The Craigs also benefited from the demolition of the Seabreeze government dock because all the sand drifted down the shore and was caught by their dock, considerably enlarging their beach. The eldest Craig daughter, Sheila, now lives in New Zealand with her husband David Ward and daughter Liz. The cottage is owned by the youngest daughter, Jane. Along with her partner, Garry Neil and their children, Amy Craig-Neil and Christopher Craig-Neil they continue to use and enjoy the original cottage.

1037 Livingston Lane The Mason family has several adjoining lots purchased from the Robson and Trent families. Thomas William Mason was a teacher in Hamilton and many people from Hamilton were vacationing in the Dwight area. He bought the north lot with a house on it first and then the second lot. The house on the second lot was built in 1910 and it was a grand structure with upper decks. It is still standing but has since been reduced in size. Masons used Francis Lane until Joan and Don Thompson’s trailer stopped their access and they had to configure access from Livingston Lane. The property continues to be owned by the two Mason brothers, Bill and Jim, however, Jim is the only one to use it.

Hence this section of the Seabreeze Community has remained a family enclave but with strong ties to rest of the Seabreeze. ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

PHOTOGRAPHS: Credit is owing to many families and groups: The L.O.B. Heritage Committee, Emerson, Francis, Lind, MacKenzie, McLean, Newman, Nystrom, Quayle, Vallery, Woodside

ARCHIVAL MATERIAL, MANUSCRIPTS, AND PUBLICATIONS: A special acknowledgement credits my late brother, John Emerson, from whose meticulous and extensive clippings and records I was able to source materials. John would have had such passion for this project and would have given willingly of his academic expertise to this undertaking. By Wagon and Water – Haystack Bay Women’s Institute Dorset – Ruth McEachern, Kerry Greenway, Susan McKay Early Footsteps in Muskoka – Joe Cookson History of Lake of Bays (an excerpt) – Robert J. Boyes Lures and Legends of Lake of Bays – Mary Lynn Findlay Muskoka Past and Present – Geraldine Coombe My Muskoka Memories – Marjorie E. Vallery Reflections:Muskoka and Lake of Bays of Yesteryear – Sidney G. Avery The Life of Norway Point – Daphne Curtis The Spirit on the Water – Anne Hines