September 2013 Volume 6 Issue 10 Ontario Visited, P.O. Box 272, Cobourg, ON, K9A 4K8, Canada www.ontariovisited.ca [email protected] (888) 818-0255 I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE I Wonder... By Gary McWilliams, the Festival Nomad 1 I Wonder... Several months ago, I wrote an article about the Aurora jazz+ 1 The Month of Fairs... Festival and its challenges with Aurora’s town council. The organizers, Sher and George St. Kitts, did their best to keep 2 The Joys of Travel... this wonderful event in Aurora, but the odds (the council’s 5 Festival Nomad's Report... short sightedness) won and the Aurora jazz+ Festival ceased to exist. Fast forward to a year later and the birth or re-birth (if 6 The Nomad's September Event you want) of a new jazz festival, the Newmarket jazz+ List... Festival! Yes, organized and managed, by Sher and George 11 Have You Ever? and their loyal group of volunteers. While the Town of Aurora fell down on the job, the Town of Newmarket stepped up to the plate! The festival was held this past month and, boy, what a “party” it was! Everyone came through with flying colours. The venue that was used was perfect and the performers out did themselves. Although I don’t know the exact numbers, I believe attendance over the years in Aurora was well up. Sher, George and company are already planning next year’s event. I know that after last year’s event the whole committee were down and felt betrayed. There was even talk about not doing another event. Fortunately for us all, those thoughts disappeared and a new event came out of the “ashes”! Congratulations go to Sher, George, the Jazz committee and to the Town of Newmarket and its staff! One note, I understand "Judi with George St. Kitts" that least one of the Aurora councilors attended the event. “I Newmarket jazz+ Festival wonder...”! The Month of Fairs... I'm sure that we all wonder where the summer went. I know I do. I also know that fall is just around the corner. I know you're saying to yourself, "Of course it is (dummy), it's September and Fall begins on September 21st!" Well, maybe those aren't your "exact words", but perhaps something to that effect! What I am really trying to say is that I know that Fall is "just around the corner", because of all the Fall Fairs that are taking place this month! When I started to compile the list, I was amazed at the shear number being held. I had thought that there were a lot in August, but September takes the prize. Here' are some of the one's we know about ~ Western District Fair (London), Lindsay Exhibition, Paris Fair, Quinte Exhibition "Ontario Premier - Kathleen Wynne" (Belleville), Port Perry Fair, New Liskeard Fall Fair, Port Hope Paris Fair Fall Fair, Cambridge Fair, Binbrook Fair, Uxbridge Fall Fair, Welland Fair, Beaverton Fall Fair, Ancaster Fair, Bobcaygeon Fall Fair, Roseneath Fall Fair, Great Northern Exhibition (Stayner) and, the International Plowing Match, which takes place this year in Mitchell. Please see The Month of Fairs... on page 2 Page 2 THE INSIDER The Month of Fairs... from page 1 In addition to Fairs, there are many other types of events taking place. Art festivals include ~ Artfest at the Distillery (Toronto), Cabbagetown Festival of Arts (Toronto), BMFA Juried Photo Show (Collingwood) and the Georgian Studio Tour & Sale (Keswick & area). Music festivals include ~ Southside Shuffle Blue & Arts Festival (Port Credit, Mississauga), Friend's of Fiddler's Green (Cambridge), Jazz & Blues in the Village (Sarnia), Prince Edward County Music Festival (Picton), Heritage events include ~ Pioneer Corn Roast (Lang Pioneer Village, Keene), War of 1812 Re- enactment - Battle of Backus Mill (Port Rowan), Our Agricultural Past - 1812 "Life on the Farm" (Jarvis) and Hamilton & Scourge "Exploring the Art" Collingwood Arts & Music Festival Memorial: On-the-Land (Hamilton), Indian River Reptile Zoo (Peterborough area) and Stones 'n Bones Museum (Sarnia). Other events and activities include ~ Trenton Scottish Irish Festival, Oshawa Rotary Ribfest, Blessfest Canada (Newmarket), Roseneath Carousel, Ruthven Apple Festival, Sunset Cruises (Bracebridge, Muskoka), McLeans Berry Farm (Buckhorn), Grail Springs Health & Wellness Spa Retreat (Bancroft), Gourds & Creative Art Show (Buckhorn) and Fort Fright (Fort Henry, Kingston). The Joys of Travel... As many of you know, Judi and I love to travel through Ontario communities visiting its people and their festivals and events. "Listening to the Music" Heck, that’s why we started Ontario Visited in the first place! One Newmarket jazz+ Festival of my most anticipated travels is north on Hwy 400 to the Muskokas. As a youth, my family and I travelled this ever changing Highway to our cottage on Lake of Bays. Our trip this past week was no different; it started off with great expectations and experiences. I want to tell you about 5 of them! Orillia This is a great place to visit! It’s located on the shores of Lake Couchiching. Its scenic lakeside park is one of the best in Ontario. I know that Judi and her sisters have many happy childhood memories of playing in the park. Judi’s sister, Carol, and the Newmarket Citizens Band, play there once a year. On their main street, there are many wonderful shops. One in particular beckons to Judi and I each time we visit Orillia. The shop/restaurant is the "Warming Up" Mariposa Market. This time, we visited both the park and the Sutton Fair & Horse Show Mariposa Market. This is where my Orillia story begins. After leaving the park, we travelled up the main street and found a great parking spot close to the Mariposa Market. When we had finished visiting the store, we headed back to our car. On the windshield was a “yellow ticket”! Mistakenly, we had not noticed the parking meter that was located on the far side of the sidewalk. The meter was basically the same colour as the building it was next to. We just did not see it at all. However, it was my mistake, so I decided to go to city hall to pay it. Inside the hall I paid the clerk $15.00 for the ticket and mentioned to her about the challenges of not noticing the parking meter. "Learning the Ropes" Sutton Fair & Horse Show Please see The Joys of Travel... on page 3 THE INSIDER Page 3 The Joys of Travel.. from page 2 I had thought she might have been more sympathetic and say something like “that’s too bad, I’ll let our parking people know and maybe they can make the parking meters more noticeable”. Unfortunately, this is not what she said. Instead, she said, “Yes, it happens to a lot of people”. I know it’s not her job to be empathetic, but a little public relations would have gone a long way. So, my warning to visitors to beautiful Orillia, beware of “hidden” parking meters, and unsympathetic payment clerks! "Learning from the Best" Baysville St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival Baysville was our next stop. This is a quite vacation village located in Muskoka on the river that leads to the Lake of Bays. It is a village that I knew well, because our cottage was located on Lake of Bays and we travelled to Baysville by car or boat, almost every day during the summer months. I even worked one summer, when I was 14 years old, at one of the marinas located there. Over the years I have travelled back through the village to discover the changes that have taken place. It’s been kind of a “bitter sweet” journey. The marina that I worked at was sold to its rival, the Baysville Marina. I’m sure ownership has changed over the years. McCormick's General Store, located across from the municipal docks has been torn down and replaced with a large “condo” building. "Working on the Mural Project" Near the beautiful “falls”, the old inn and restaurant, “The Buckhorn Fine Art Festival best place by a dame site” had burned down a number of years ago and is now a vacant “prime building site”. Actually, it’s not so vacant. Some enterprising person has set up a “hot dog” stand on some of the remaining build remains. Across the street, however, remains the “Langmaid’s” General Store. It still looks the same on the outside, but it’s now an ice cream/coffee shop on the inside! I can always remember going into the store and being greeted by the store owner, Miss Langmaid with a “up for the summer?” greeting. I think that she said that to everyone who entered! The village has certainly changed and I’m not so sure for the better! Huntsville My family and I used to travel to Huntsville during the summer "Great Shuttle Bus" months. We went the 30 some odd “miles” from our cottage at Lindsay Ribfest Lake of Bays to buy groceries or to shop in some of the unique stores located on main street. Sometimes we even travelled there to visit the town’s golf course for a game of golf. Back then Huntsville was a lot of fun to visit. Today the town has grown and spread out, especially the main street. The shops located in the old section of downtown still resemble the unique shops of when we visited, “so long ago”, but the summer traffic, at least the few times we have visited was hectic! The line of cars travelling the main street was never ending! I am sure that the local residents are not that happy with the congestion that occurs.