Seabreeze a History
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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.