the tiny cottager

Issue No. 40 Fall/Winter 2012

Inside2012 Tiny Cottager Challenge Cup Presentation . . . . .2Faith and Fortitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Report on Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Chris Figgures’ Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Follow-on Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Septage: Outhouse to Doghouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Woodland Beach History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7OMB Update: McMahan Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Why I Came to Tiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Memories are Made of This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Paul Cowley, FoTTSA’s New President . . . . . . . . . . .10The End of a Love Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11S.S. Keewatin Comes Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

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IJC Holds Hearings on Water Levels“Restore our water levels!” said FoTTSA

“We hear you loud and clear” replied the Chairman”

At this critical moment, I would like use this front pagespace to focus on the lake level fight.

FoTTSA has joined forces with the Great Lakes Section ofSierra Club Ontario in mounting a battle to have our lake lev-els restored following an unprecedented 13 years of lowwater. The International Joint Commission (IJC) is made up ofboth Canadian and American Commissioners who shareresponsibility in managing the Great Lakes. They commis-sioned a study by the International Upper Great Lakes StudyBoard (IUGLSB) who, after 5 years and expenditures of $17million of tax payers’ money, have recommended that the IJC“do nothing” about lake levels!

The water levels of our glacially-created Great Lakeswould normally vary in a healthy range according mostly toprecipitation vs. evaporation. What has happened? Overdredging of the St. Clair river has caused an excess outflowof anywhere from 6% to 10% every second - a significantcontributor to the declining levels in Lakes Michigan andHuron – the only unregulated lakes in the system.

The Sierra Club has an incredible battery of hydrological/environmental engineers and aquatic biologists whose hardwork has uncovered not only flaws in the IUGLSB study, but,worse, exposed cover ups and misrepresentations of data toskew the results of the study in support of their “do nothing”recommendation. This is a highly politically charged situa-tion which will require significant efforts on multiple fronts tocause the right answer to be implemented.

What is the right answer? The Sierra Club Great LakesSection headed by Mary Muter is recommending that flexiblesills be installed in the St. Clair River to stem the outflow andcause us to regain 25 cm over the next 10 years if we actnow. The consultants have confirmed that temporary down-stream effects would be minimal. This solution adjusts tohigh water times (if they ever occur again) and is financiallyviable at a cost of $200 – 300 million vs. the multibillion dol-lar price tag of a multi-lake regulation system.

We need your help now. Only 2 weeks prior to the IJCmeeting held in Midland in July, FoTTSA mobilized a specialtask force that helped fill the room with 650 people. A greatstart and a factor that (amongst other inputs) has caused theIJC to extend the input period for the study. The task at handnow is even more daunting as we need to convince the IJCthat the Sierra Club approach is not only right but viable andwe must also convince both Canadian and US governmentsto act on this restoration proposal. Support is growing – jointhe fight!

Please contact me directly ([email protected]) ifyou feel you can help in any part of FoTTSA’s committee.Restoring traditional water levels will benefit our grand chil-dren and theirs!

First up was Bruce Stanton, the PC MP for SimcoeNorth. He stressed that it was the role of the national gov-ernments to decide what was to be done, and he favoursthe restoration of our water levels.

Tiny Township’s Deputy Mayor George Lawrence andCouncillor Nigel Warren also spoke, noting that good sci-ence plus coordinated community action is needed incases like this, reminding us that it was the key factor in thevictory over Dump Site 41.

President Paul Cowley spoke for FoTTSA. Numerousbeach people, local residents and businessmen also rein-forced the need for and the logic of restoring our water lev-els. The main question was: how can the extremely smallprobability of flood damage to properties in Michigan out-weigh the immense real economic damage in GeorgianBay and the continuing destruction of some of the mostproductive ecosystems in the Great Lakes?

Expert scientific opinions were presented by BillBialkowski, a hydrological expert now working with theSierra Club, and Pat Chow-Fraser, McMaster UniversityProfessor and Director of Life Sciences, who explained thekey role that Georgian Bay wetlands – now drying out –play for the entire Great Lakes.

Events of July 16thA FoTTSA-led campaign with signs, T-shirts, emails,

phone calls and word of mouth resulted in a packed hear-ing room at the North Simcoe Recreation Centre. Otherarea groups helped, too. Especially eloquent was the FirstNations Water Ceremony conducted outdoors before thehearing by Roseann Monague of the Beausoleil FirstNation.

The campaign worked wonders! On arrival theCommissioners were quite startled to find so many peoplestreaming into the lower-level Askennonia Seniors Centre.The huge banner and a forest of signs at the entrance madeit clear what the crowd wanted: “Restore Our WaterLevels”.

At 7:00 pm, the time set for the Hearing to begin,Commissioner Lyall Knott offered the overflowing crowd achoice: head into an adjacent room to hear – but notwatch – the proceedings; or everyone head up the flight ofstairs to the huge Community Hall, bringing a chair along,and wait for 30 minutes or so for the high-tech audio-visualequipment to be moved upstairs.

Some 600 people took the latter choice and eagerlywaited. This crowd was double the number at any otherHearing the International Joint Commission (IJC) held intheir 10-days of touring US and Canadian Great Lakescommunities.

First, a 15-minute video was shown on the findings oftheir International Upper Great Lakes Study Board (IUGLS)Report - mainly about Lake Superior levels and controls –and the report’s conclusion that nothing should be done tothe St. Clair River outflow from Lake Huron-Michigan-Georgian Bay.

Attendees were then invited to address theCommissioners with their opinions and questions aboutthe IUGLS Report.

BY PAUL COWLEY

BY JACK ELLIS

The President’sMessage

9069874

Concerned citizens filing into the IJC Hearing in Midland on July 16.

See HEARINGS...next page

IJC Accepts Comments Until Sept. 30:In an Open Public Letter sent out on August 31, 2012 –the first-announced deadline for comments on theirReport on International Upper Great Lakes Study – theInternational Joint Commission (IJC) has stated:

“Due to strong public interest, the IJC has extended thedeadline for written comment until September 30,2012.” Details of how to send comments are in the arti-cle on page 4, or on http://ijc.org/iuglsreport/

THE TINY COTTAGER - FALL/WINTER 2012

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Mary Muter spoke eloquently: she is the amazing ladywho over 7 years ago started lobbying incessantly to havethe role of the increased conveyance through the St. ClairRiver included in the IUGLS process. She also raised hun-dreds of thousands of dollars to fund sound science,including the ‘Baird Report’ that documented the river’sexcess conveyance of our water. Now with the Sierra ClubOntario Chapter, she has been tireless all through the studyprocess in exposing “cover-ups and misrepresentations ofdata” in the IUGLS process – a process which led to theIUGLS’s indefensible conclusion that “nature should takeits course” with respect to the St. Clair River.

The Midland Hearing finally wound up shortly after10:00 pm. Lyall Knott, the Canadian Commissioner whochaired the Hearing, assured the crowd: “We hear youloud and clear.”

This was sweet news. As Paul Cowley put it: “To gofrom a standing start only 2 weeks ago to filling a roomwith over 600 people makes me so proud of our combinedefforts that I could absolutely burst with pride at ouraccomplishment.”

Events of July 17thAs it turned out, the Commissioners heard the same

message loud and clear in Collingwood on July 17th. Mary Muter was almost ecstatic in telling Paul about

her experience there, and the evident responsiveness of theCommissioners to our cause. “(Collingwood’s) hearingwas far better than I expected, because after the Midlandmeeting I did not think anything could be better.”

Mary noted, “What was good about the Collingwoodmeeting was that the Commissioners had had a chanceovernight to discuss what had happened at Midland andby then realized that something has to be done!!!”

Mary had personal conversations with three of theCommissioners before and after the Hearing, and theyindicated what they could and could not do within theirpower. But they clearly got the message we wanted themto take away from the Hearings: that increased con-veyance is a factor and they do have the authority to advisegovernments on that fact. They indicated that having thescience to back up our concerns made a difference forthem.

In an article in the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin,Morgan Ian Adams reported, “After the meeting, Knottacknowledged there is an ‘element of urgency’ to gettingthe IJC's recommendations to government. He noted thecommission has heard many of the same comments atpublic hearings with regard to water levels — and the roleof dredging in the St. Clair — since its hearing in Sault Ste.Marie last week.”

"People want us to move," he said. "All we can do iswhat we've been asked to do (under the 1909 treatybetween the Canadian and American governments on theGreat Lakes), and I'm satisfied that a decision of this bodywould be taken seriously by the governments."

All in all, these Hearings were a major breakthrough.But this is only a prelude to getting the message “RestoreOur Water Levels” through to the politicians who have theauthority to act. It will not be easy to motivate them to realaction, but we must keep trying!

2011 Tiny Cottager Challenge Cup Presentation

HEARINGS continued from the front page

The crowd

First Nations Water Ceremony

Left to right: Lynda Wolfhard, President of the GBGH Foundation; Ted Bailey, Nottawaga Beach (Most Raised); Al Taylor, Kingswood Acres(Largest Amount Raised Per Member - Large Association); Hamish Grant, Addison Beach (Largest Amount Raised Per Member - Small

Association); John Lister, Director of Development GBGH; Paul Cowley, President of FoTTSA; in front: Denise Gardian, FoTTSA

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This is a continuation of an article in the Spring TinyCottager chronicling histories of the churches of Tiny fromthe mid 1800s to the present.

Randolph - Anglican Church - 1885-1912A white frame church was built at Randolph (14th

Conc and County Rd 6) for the local English speaking fam-ilies. It was later moved to Penetanguishene and is nowthe parish hall for St. James-on-the-Lines.Cawaja Beach - Church in the Pines - 1925-present

There is a ‘church’ located just off Lefaive Road atCawaja Beach that is unlike any other church. A sign reads“Church in the Pines”, and as you look around you seeonly a park-like setting. On any given Sunday betweenJune and Labour Day worshippers gather here on lawnchairs and blankets, although in inclement weather meet-ings move to “The Place” in Balm Beach. Guest speakersrepresenting different religions lead the weekly services.Music is also a component of the services; Mabel Finley,an early cottager, composed a hymn for this church. Onestanza is:

Come to the Church at CawajaCome to the Church in the Pines. No lovelier spot for our worship,Than the outdoor Church in the Pines.

Woodland Beach Community Church - 1929-present

Up until 1926 services were held in private homes.Then in 1929 a lot was purchased from Jonathon Tripp anda frame church building with a cedar post foundation wasbuilt for the cost of $1,010. Pews came from the oldMethodist Church in Wyevale. From time to time thebuilding is given a face-lift. Services are seasonal, fromVictoria Day to Thanksgiving, plus a special service onChristmas Eve.Highland Point - Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic

Mission - 1938-presentIn 1938 a mission church was established at Highland

Point off Champlain Rd. in association with St. Ann’sChurch in Penetanguishene. Originally named St. David’sChapel, it became Our Lady of the Rosary in 1962, whenan upper level was added to the building. The congrega-tion is proud of its little church and the view ofPenetanguishene Bay is stunning.Thunder Bay Beach - The Church of St. Florence - 1943-present

In 1943 George McNamara donated the land and builtthe Thunder Bay Beach chapel. Opened on July 2, 1943,it was associated with Ste. Croix in Lafontaine. This whiteframe building served a dual purpose. During the summerit was used as a place of worship, and for the remainder ofthe year it was a public school (S.S .#24). The schoolclosed in 1967 and St. Florence has been used as a chapel

all year round. A ball-park and other recreational facilitiesborder the church property, courtesy of the McNamarafamily.Marygrove - 1961-present

The new chapel at Marygrove was opened on July 9,1961. It is connected to the nearby summer camp for girls.This residential camp welcomes girls, aged 5-13, to enjoya camping adventure on the shores of PenetanguisheneBay. Managed by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, TorontoCentral Council, the chapel is located on Champlain Roadnear Coutnac.Conc. 11W - Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic

Church - 1989-presentUkrainians have been living and cottaging in Tiny for

many years and one of their dreams was to build a churchin this area. Early services were held at the Gerus familycottage but in 1988 the parishioners started building achurch on a lot donated by Myron Gerus. It became abeautiful wooden structure constructed in the style ofCarpathian mountain churches of the western Ukraine.On July 9, 1989, the church at the corner of Conc. 11 andBrooke Ave was officially opened. Not only is this a placeof worship, it is also a gathering place for the Ukrainiancommunity of Tiny Township. This incredibly beautifulchurch is well worth a visit and if you enjoy perogies,come after the service on Sundays to purchase a few.

As you can see, there are many interesting and beauti-ful churches in our township. Whether for religious rea-sons or for their architectural styles, they are all worth avisit. While most are still in a good state of repair, sadly, anumber of them are suffering from dwindling and agingcongregations and one wonders how long they will last.

Faith and Fortitude – Churches in TinyBY BONNIE REYNOLDS


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MEMBERS OF COUNCILMayor Ray MillarDeputy Mayor George LawrenceCouncillor André ClaireCouncillor Nigel WarrenCouncillor Gibb Wishart

OVERVIEWOur observers report that Council agendas were

lighter than usual over the summer months. Council gen-erally works efficiently and harmoniously, although somedifferences have resulted in split votes. As noted in theSpring issue of the Tiny Cottager, the two new Councilmembers (Mayor Millar and Councillor Wishart) occa-sionally differ from the continuing members (DeputyMayor Lawrence and Councillors Claire and Warren)over development issues.

TOWNSHIP GENERAL ISSUESBudget Planning for 2013Council has announced the following dates for

Budget Meetings:• Friday, October 19;• Friday, November 9; and• Monday, December 3.The meetings are public; for times and locations

check the events calendar on http://tiny.ca/If you want to watch Council plan its expenditures –

and your taxes – for next year, show up!Water Levels: International Joint Commission (IJC)

Hearing and Follow-upDeputy Mayor Lawrence and Councillor Warren

addressed the Midland hearing on the InternationalUpper Great Lakes Study (Final Report) on July 16. TheMayor also attended. Mr. Lawrence also contacted neigh-bouring municipalities and obtained their support for ajoint letter presented to Bruce Stanton, MP, at theAssociation of Municipalities of Ontario conference.

See also the articles adjacent and on Page 1.Simcoe County Official Plan UpdateA new County OP was released in June and is hoped

to replace the version originally passed in November2008 but never approved by the province. Ontario nowhas policies governing growth in the GTA region, andprotecting the Lake Simcoe watershed, and the new ver-sion of the Simcoe County OP has been designed to con-form.

The new OP has not been subject to public meetings,but has been available online and to all municipalCouncils in the County. It was the subject of a 50-pagePowerPoint presentation at Tiny Council on August 9.The consultant showed a summary of the OP and sug-gested specific points for Tiny to consider for comment.The new OP reduces the population allocation to Tinyfrom 13,900 to 12,500 and there are changes to the waythe greenbelt overlay is applied to hamlets. For shorelineareas, there are some provisions to control major devel-opments like Friday Harbour in Innisfil but these are veryunlikely to affect potential developments in Tiny. You canview or download the full presentation athttp://tinyurl.com/9lwk8he

The consultant predicts that it will likely be late 2013or early 2014 before the new Simcoe County OP can bepassed by County and approved by the Province (per-haps even later, if any objections reach the OMB andmake an OMB hearing necessary). After that, Tiny mustrevise its own OP to conform to the County's. Tiny tax-payers should try to stay apprised of County OP develop-ments as they occur and be prepared to engage in Tiny'sOP process when appropriate.

Property Standards and Related MattersCouncil is currently considering revising its Property

Standards By-law, updating the present Clean Yards By-law and forming a Property Standards Committee. The

The IJC Makes a Dramatic AnnouncementOn August 31, the International Joint Commission

(IJC) announced a major extension until September 30of their original deadline for comments on theInternational Upper Great Lakes Study Board report(IUGLSB).

They also announced that another Hearing wouldbe held by teleconference to receive oral commentsfrom those unable to attend one of their on-siteHearings in July. This teleconference was held onSeptember 19th, our mailing deadline for this issue.

Clearly the IJC Commissioners have been listeningto our concerns, and could well be on the brink of giv-ing a direction to the US and Canadian governmentsthat would call for at least a partial restoration of thewater levels of Lakes Huron/Michigan.

The goal is to have appropriate flow reductionstructures such as submerged sills installed and operat-ing in the upper St Clair River to achieve at least a 25cm increase in our water levels over the next decade.This will require 3-dimensional hydraulic modeling, fullenvironmental impact studies and onsite prototype test-ing.

Next StepsFoTTSA and the Great Lakes Section of Sierra Club

Ontario are working hard together on how to get a solu-tion:

1. We need to get the IJC Commissioners to rejectthe “do nothing” recommendation on Michigan/Huron/Georgian Bay levels contained in the IUGLSB 2012Final Report. They should direct and advise govern-ments at all levels in both Canada and the US thatrestoration is needed to protect all the interests of LakesMichigan/Huron/Georgian Bay, and that gradualrestoration is possible with no or only minimal tempo-rary impacts downstream.

2. We need to get the Commissioners to delayimplementing the 2012 Lake Superior Regulation Planoutlined in the IUGLSB Final Report until appropriatecontrol measures to maintain levels on LakesMichigan/Huron/Georgian Bay under expected climate

change predictions are in place in the St Clair River.3. We need to get the responsible political leaders,

the Minister of Foreign Affairs (John Baird) in Canadaand the Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) in the US, toreference/request that the IJC Commissioners restoreMichigan Huron Georgian Bay levels gradually by25cm. This reference is to be termed an ecologicalemergency and should issued by May 2013.

4. If the Commission and the political leaders refuseto take action or delay doing so, then options should beexplored to determine whether legal action would helpto drive restoration.

There are some hopeful political signs in Canada:On the local front, the municipalities of Tiny, Tay,

Midland and Penetanguishene have made their supportfor restoration loud and clear to the Federal MPs in theGeorgian Bay area. Spearheaded by George Lawrence,Deputy Mayor of Tiny, they apparently made someyards.

Also, I recently met with Tony Clement, MP for ParrySound-Muskoka and President of the Treasury Board.He gets the message from his many constituents. Tonywas concerned about the recent Globe and Mail arti-cle” (http://tinyurl.com/8n8taet). It implied that TedYuzyk, the Canadian Chair of the IUGLS, cared moreabout some shoreline property owners on southeastLake Michigan (who love low water levels so they canown more land) than he cares about all the damage toGeorgian Bay and Lake Huron. Clement especiallywanted to see Bill Bialkowski's submerged sill designand its estimated costs. He has already spoken withJohn Baird and said they will be getting together inOttawa as soon as the House resumes.

Also good news is that the Great Lakes and StLawrence Cities Initiative (Canadian and US mayors)are asking for a 25cm restoration, and urge the IJC tolook at options such as the barriers proposed by SierraClub.

And, just recently, the biggest opponents to restora-tion - Save Our Shorelines, down on southeast LakeMichigan - have changed their minds and have submit-ted comments in support of water level restoration.

It is encouraging to see this change of position on

Report on Council

Follow-On Strategy Needed to Restore Our Water Levels

BY MARY MUTER

See REPORT ON COUNCIL...page 14

http://www.tinycottager.org

PUBLISHER:Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations

EDITORIAL BOARD: Linda Andrews, Jack Ellis, Doug Moles

TINY COTTAGER: (letters, advertisements)Letters to the Editor: [email protected]: [email protected] (705) 533-4261

MEMBERSHIPS: Jane Bilton [email protected]

PRESIDENT: Paul Cowley(Carusoe Bay Association)Email: [email protected]

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: [email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORSRichard Hinton, Vice President (Cawaja PropertyownersAssociation)Jack Ellis, Vice President (The Rowntree Beach Association)Denise Gardian, Secretary (Woodland Beach Property Owners’ Association)Linda Andrews, Treasurer (Wahnekewening Beach Association)Jane Bilton (Georgian Highlands Cottagers’ Association)Stephen Coffey (Sawlog Bay Association)Richard Gould (Bluewater-Georgina-Wendake Beaches Assoc.)Doug Moles (Nottawaga Beach Association)Mary Jane Price (Deanlea Beach Association)Al Taylor (Kingswood Acres Beach Association)

The Tiny Cottager is published each May/June andSept./Oct.

The Federation’s members are associations of property own-ers in those parts of the Township of Tiny designated as“Shoreline” in the Township’s Official Plan.

The Tiny Cottager is mailed to the permanent addresses ofmore than 10,600 Tiny Township property owners (including7,200 in the shoreline areas of Tiny) and to businesses in thearea. It reaches some 25,000 readers. Copyright is claimedon all original articles and on advertisement layout anddesign created by this publication.

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the American side. If any of you have American con-tacts, urge them to write to the IJC and their state andfederal political leaders asking for water level restora-tion for Lakes Michigan/Huron/Georgian Bay.

Let us remember that the US is so much bigger inpopulation and dollar commitments that in the end theUS will play a large role in deciding what will be doneabout the St Clair River.

Funding is Needed Now in WashingtonThe US political system is incredibly complex com-

pared to ours, but their political leaders can be openand responsive to the public. Contacts in Washingtonare a necessity. Sierra Club and colleagues have suchcontacts. We have worked with them before. They areprofessional and therefore charge fees.

The US work will require non-charitable funding ofabout $15,000 per month to retain these contacts inWashington. There will also be travel expenses. Thiswork should begin immediately so that best options andtiming can be determined by late fall 2012.

What else is needed in Canada?Muster every connection you have to Federal and

Ontario political leaders. While Georgian Bay area MPsare on board, you should reinforce your support bywriting to your Federal MP, regardless of party affilia-tion.

Ontario too has significant interests in the GreatLakes. While the two federal governments own thewater, on the Canadian side Ontario owns the lake andriverbeds. Approval must be given by Ontario for sub-merged sills to be placed in the St Clair River. In addi-tion, the fish and bird kills washing up on our shorescan be related to the sustained low water levels andconcomitant water quality concerns. We need to con-nect at senior levels with all Ontario political parties toget broad support for restoration.

The extention of the deadline means we shouldkeep sending more letters in! Address your emails asfollows:

International Joint [email protected] Hon. John Baird, House of [email protected]

cc to:Your own MP and MPPFoTTSA: [email protected] Club: [email protected]

Make a financial contribution: to FoTTSA (see yellow box this page)Send a cheque marked “water levels”:

to Sierra Club: “for Great Lakes Section work”

online:http://tinyurl.com/8vffoo4

or by mail to:Sierra Club Canada Foundation1 Nicholas St. Suite 412BOttawa, Ontario K1N 7B7

Your family, your children and grandchildren willthank you!

Spreading Septage is Banned or is It?As electrical power came to cottage country the hum-

ble outhouse gave way to indoor facilities. The upside: nomore night “excursions”. The downside: grey water fromsinks, showers, laundry mixed with human waste formsseptage. Septage is all matter (liquids and solids) that ispumped from septic tanks and holding tanks. It should notbe confused with biosolids, which are solids that resultfrom municipal sewage treatment processes.

Two septage haulers service the approximately 8,800private septic systems and holding tanks in Tiny Township,and more beyond. Each hauler has a septage disposal fieldoperated under Ontario Ministry of the Environment(MOE) Certificates of Approval. One is near Farlain Lakeand the other on Concession 15 E. More than 90% of theuntreated septage is disposed of on these lands when theground is not frozen or saturated with heavy rainfall.

However, in adverse conditions, the remainder must besent to municipal waste water treatment plants outside theTownship, which are not designed to handle septage dueto its higher strength (160 times more concentrated and350 times higher solid levels) compared to normal sewage.A premium ‘tipping’ fee is charged and the increased dis-posal costs are passed on to property owners.

Spreading untreated septage on agricultural land hasbeen an issue throughout Ontario. Untreated septage rais-es greater health risks than animal manure. Septage maycontain endocrine disrupting chemicals from pharmaceu-ticals and personal care products, as well as heavy metalcontamination from household chemicals and pathogenicorganisms (i.e. bacteria, viruses, etc.) that pose health risksto humans, birds, fish, and aquatic animals. These sub-stances can pollute surface water from runoff and groundwater in wells by percolation.

In 2002 the Ontario Government passed the NutrientManagement Act which forbids the spreading of untreatedseptage on agricultural land by the year 2005, but theMOE has not yet set a firm deadline for discontinuing thepractice.

The MOE perceives the management of current sep-tage disposal fields as a private matter between the OntarioGovernment and private sector service providers.Therefore the Township of Tiny has no role in overseeingseptage disposal by haulers within the Township.Complicating the matter further, the County of Simcoe hasstated that its mandate pertains to solid waste manage-ment, not septage management.

Some municipalities throughout Ontario beganaddressing concerns with septage management years ago.Concerned citizens of Tiny Township have made it clearthat the direct spreading of untreated septage on land is notan acceptable practice. In 2005 submissions and presenta-tions were made to Tiny Township Council by concernedgroups, including FoTTSA, about the sad state of managinguntreated septage within the Township.

Tiny Township Takes ActionThe Township of Tiny has a commitment to its residents

to protect the natural environment, and an obligation toMOE to develop a septage management master plan. In

2010 Tiny initiated a planning process to study whatshould be done.

A Class EA is now being undertaken by the Townshipin accordance with the requirements of the MunicipalEngineers Association Municipal Class EnvironmentalAssessment to:

• determine the most cost effective manner to manageseptage generated within the Township,

• identify all environmental issues that can be identi-fied,

• ensure that the septage management plan satisfies theOntario Government legislation and guidelines, and

• select an alternative to the disposal of septage on theland.

Eight consulting companies responded to theTownship’s request for proposal to undertake the first twophases of the Class EA process, and Council approved thebid of $87,721 by R.J. Burnside & Associates Ltd. onAugust 9, 2010.

The Class EA process involves five phases. Phase 1defined the problem and opportunities for change; andPhase 2 identified septage management options.

A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) consisting of 14members (5 consultants, 2 Township staff, 1 Council mem-ber and 6 others) was formed to guide the process. It heldits first meeting on May 13, 2011, and has met four timessince then.

Public Information Centre (PIC) meetings have beenheld to solicit input from the community at large. Since thefirst PIC on June 25, 2011, there have been two additionalmeetings. The final PIC meeting was held April 21, 2012,and the PAC was disbanded.

Although the Public Information Centre meetings werescheduled to allow residents to participate in the process,public involvement has been dismal to say the least. Ateach PIC, consultants, Township Councillors and staff, andrepresentatives of the PAC outnumbered the 10 -15 com-munity participants.

The low PIC turnout can be attributed in part to apathyabout the topic, but also by the lack of an effective com-munications strategy to engage and educate the communi-ty about the Class EA of an expensive major Townshipenvironmental initiative.

The communications effort was too limited. The gener-al public is not familiar with the issue of septage manage-ment within the Township, and the possible ramificationsif the right solution is not implemented.

Five alternative solutions were identified and evaluatedon criteria of natural environment, socio-economic/cultur-al, financial and technical factors. A preferred alternativewas selected: Tiny’s own dedicated facility.

Dedicated Facility in Tiny is PreferredThe technically preferred option selected was to con-

struct a dedicated septage treatment and disposal facilitywithin the Township to fully treat and dispose of both thesolid and liquid portions of septage.

A number of treatment systems are under considerationfor the facility:

Septage: Outhouse to DoghouseBY BILL SWEENIE

FoTTSA NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!Please Support the Federation: We Keep You Informed, And We Work for Good, Fair

Government and for Protection of the Environment – • WE MONITOR TINY COUNCIL • WE PUBLISH THE TINY COTTAGER NEWSPAPER & MAINTAIN

OUR WEBSITE • WE RUN A WATER TESTING PROGRAM • WE ARE INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITY WE CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!

YES…I WANT TO HELP…HERE IS MY DONATION!Please make your contribution payable to “FoTTSA”Enclosed is my cheque for $ …………………..

Name(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Address (permanent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Address (summer residence) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Telephone ( ) . . . . . . . . . . Summer Telephone ( ) . . . . . . . . E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kindly Mail Donation to:Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associationsc/o Linda Andrews42 Haslemere Rd.Toronto, ONM4N 1X6

Thank You, Your Support Is Very Much Appreciated.

Dead Fish and Bird Count

The Great Lakes Section of Sierra Club wants tobegin to keep records of the dead fish and birds thatwash up on our shores.

We hope there is not another large kill like the onelast fall but if there is, we want to know immediately. Ifthat happens again we will issue a press release andmake certain the government agencies at alllevels know about it.

So please send an email to Jerry Smitka([email protected]) and let him know the date, time,number and species of dead fish or birds that you find.If there is a question of identity send Jerry a photo.

Jerry is a retired fisheries biologist from MNR.

If there is a large kill, leave a message ASAP at 647346 8744 or 905 833 2020 and call Jerry at 905 4563322.

See SEPTAGE...on page 6

- 6 -


• geotubes, which treat liquids using a membranebioreactor and remaining dried solids are composted.

• a lagoon system, • anaerobic digestion of solids, and • reed beds.

The estimated capital cost for constructing a full sep-tage treatment facility is $6.2 million and the estimatedoperating and maintenance cost is $489,000 annually.

R.J. Burnside and Associates Ltd. presented the pre-ferred option to Council on July 30, 2012, and Councilaccepted. Projected costs to-date for Phase 1 and Phase 2are $125,971.

Although no communications have as yet been con-veyed to registered participants of the PIC process, it is ourunderstanding that R.J. Burnside and Associates Ltd. havebeen contracted to undertake Phase 3 of the Class EA pro-cess. This phase involves further evaluation of the pre-ferred solution during the 2012-2013 time frame.

It is also our understanding that the advisory committeemay be re-instituted to assist with Phase 3 and that onemore PIC may be held to engage community residents inreviewing plans to implement the preferred option.

Phase 4 of the Class EA process involves filing anEnvironmental Study Report with design and location, pro-jected for 2013.

Phase 5 is the construction of the full septage treatmentfacility, projected to be completed in 2014.

Completion by 2014 ??Is it too optimistic to believe that, by the end of 2014

or early 2015, a Township managed central septage treat-ment system will be fully operational?

How will the capital costs be funded given that Federaland Provincial grant programs have been curtailed due tofinancial constraints? In the past, the grant process couldcover 50% of the costs. Will the Township need to initiatea special service levy to cover a municipal debenture?

While disposal fees (tipping fees) will be levied onhaulers to cover operating costs, these costs will ultimatelybe borne by property owners. Could steep increases in theoverall cost of septic pump-outs drive some people to seekillegal and environmentally damaging ways to empty theirtanks, or delay pumping out their septic tanks longer thanthe recommended 3 – 5 year intervals?

Where Would Such A Facility Be Located?Are there Township properties available to be used for

a full septage treatment works or will suitable land have tobe purchased?

How will potential environmental impacts such aspotential contamination of surface and groundwater, andpotential nuisance issues such as odour, increased localtraffic, dust, etc., be addressed to satisfy “not in my back-yard” objectors?

Will new Township staff need to be hired to managethe septage treatment works or will existing staff berequired to undertake septage management courses tobecome certified operators?

How Can You Get Involved?How should the Township raise public and stakeholder

awareness of the concerns and the need to improve sep-tage management within the Township?

You can call any Council member and encourage theTownship to develop a more effective education and com-munity engagement strategy for the Septage Class EA. Letthem know if you feel the current process lacks the recog-nition it deserves by Township Council and staff as a majorlong-term initiative involving a multitude of potentialissues.

You can attend any future Public Information Centremeetings, and inform yourself!

If there are big delays in solving the septage manage-ment issue, Tiny Township could well find itself in theproverbial septage doghouse.

SEPTAGE...continued from page 5

253 Whitfield Crescent, Midland

(705) 528 - 0681

- 7 -


Next time you plunk your chair down on the beach,look down at the sand and be mindful that it took bil-lions of years of geological evolution to become what itis today. There are reminders of that evolution in thesand, water, rocks, and cliffs at Woodland Beach. Twosuch examples are “King’s Rock” and the NipissingRidge.

“King’s Rock” is located north of Lawson Road infront of the stony craggy cliffs. It became known as“King’s” because it was in front of Charlie King’s cot-tage on Woodland Beach. Charlie originally painted across on the rock, but the cross was mysteriously trans-formed into a thunderbird, and as a result the rock hasbecome legendary, the stuff of folklore.

For many generations of cottagers and residents, thatrock was and is a marker on the shoreline; many peoplehave sat on it since the formation of Woodland Beachin the 1920s. The rock has been a place to rest, meet orconverse with friends. Kids of yesteryear could jump offthe rock into the water. Today it stands beached in thesand, majestic and legendary.

The rock is a huge black boulder, unlike other rockson the beach. Some years ago, a geologist from theRoyal Ontario Museum identified it as a “Gabbro”, anigneous rock that probably formed as magma over a bil-lion years ago. The Canadian Shield to our north is theplaned-down remnant of the mountains in which itformed; in all likelihood glacial action brought the rocksouth to here far more recently.

The Nipissing Ridge is an old shoreline of Lake

Algonquin, one of the huge predecessors of today’sGreat Lakes that were formed when the last Ice Ageglaciers started to melt and retreat north. It dates backabout 9000 years. The location of the Nipissing Ridgein Woodland Beach is the ridge between the shorelineand the beginning of the farmland.

Next time you walk along Woodland beach, knowthat there were footprints imprinted in the sand longbefore yours. Over 30,000 the Huron-Wendat lived inwhat is now Tiny Township in the early 1600s. This washome to the Bear Nation, the largest of the four nationsthat made up the Huron-Wendat.

According to John Raynor, President of the HuroniaChapter of the Ontario Archeological Society, theHuron-Wendat walked our beach at Woodland andpaddled our shoreline. Woodland Beach is close to theOssossane ossuary, a Huron burial ground where 1000people were buried; there was a major Huron settle-ment in that area. In an area near the Tiny Marsh, anoth-er Huron-Wendat archeological site was discoveredagain verifying their presence in our area. Since theHuron-Wendat traded with the Petun in theWasaga/Collingwood area for tobacco, they wouldhave been back and forth by canoe or on foot throughwhat’s now Woodland Beach. By 1650, however, both

the Huron-Wendat and Petun were decimated byIroquois attackers. Later, Chippewas (Ojibwe,Anishinabe) from Northern Ontario moved into the landvacated by the Huron-Wendat, and they remain in TinyTownship today.

Who else walked the beach before you? Accordingto John Raynor, Samuel de Champlain and FatherJoseph Le Caron (the first missionary in Huronia) wouldhave walked along Woodland Beach. In 1615 theyoverwintered with the Hurons and trekked from thearea of Awenda Park to approximately what is nowCollingwood. As it was winter, Champlain and FatherLe Caron would have snowshoed along the shorelinerather than crossing the ice on the bay.

Next time you watch the waves lapping onWoodland Beach or the colourful sailboats, rememberthere were once other vessels older than these on thebay. Logging was a significant trade between 1840 and1895 in Tiny Township, and barges anchored just belowSpratt’s point between Concession 2 (Lawson Road) &3, were loaded with cedar logs for transport to Chicagoto make corduroy roads. There were many sawmills inTiny. Years later, when Chicago’s roads were being dugup and repaved, the cedar logs under the old asphaltbore the stamp of the Chicago Lumber Company sta-tioned in Penetanguishene.

Woodland Beach had a sawmill located just north ofSiesta Drive in Concession 3. It operated from 1870until 1935 when it was destroyed by fire. Cecil Knuff(1899-1983), recounts in his memoirs that as a boy hesaw booms of 100 to 200 logs floating by WoodlandBeach toward Penetang and Midland. Cecil evenremembers an ‘ocean liner’ aground a mile out from theWoodland shoreline. Three tugboats were necessary tofree the vessel. Next time you swim in the water atWoodland Beach know that canoes, schooners, fishingvessels, log barges, and even an ‘ocean liner’ passedthrough its waters!

If you look down toward the bay from the corner ofLawson Road and Tiny Beaches Road South, you willsee the Bayshore Seniors Club and old boarded upbuildings. Once upon a time this little area was thrivingand buzzing with activity. This was “Main Street”!

In the late 1930s, there was the Sunset Lodge, theSunset Pavilion or “Dance Hall”, where live music was

played, and subsequently a jukebox. It was 5 cents arecord! Adjacent to that was a bowling alley whereteenagers could get a summer job resetting the pins forpatrons. During the Second World War, ThursdayNights were called “British War Victims Night”.Anybody with a modicum of talent: singing, dancing, orpiano-playing, could put on a concert, and the pro-ceeds from these impromptu events went to British chil-dren who were affected by the bombing raids. Ritchie’sGeneral Store was booming, a great place to stock upfor the summer. No need for a car - everything wasclose to your cottage.

Subsequently the Sunset Pavilion became the Ship-a-Hoy, which showed movies on Saturdays. There wasbingo night, and dances were every Saturday in thesummer. Jiving was “in” during the 50s and “poodleskirts” were the rage. Elvis and Buddy Holly boomedfrom the jukebox. Dancing was manic. The Ship-A-Hoyrocked!

Other stores in the area were the WoodlandWonderbar and the Woodland Food Market. TheWoodland Food Market was owned by a Mr. Smith,who used to bring a goat to work; he tied it up on dif-ferent areas of his property so that it could trim the grassfor him!

Quinn’s General Store was also part of that retailboom from the 1930s to the 1990s. The aroma of Mrs.

see WOODLAND on the next page

BY DENISE GARDIAN

Woodland Beach HistoryPart One:

photo by E.Stephenson

photo courtesy P.Whitfield

Care and Feeding of Your Septic System

Avoid flushing tissue or flossUse low-phosphate cleaners

throughout your homeReduce water use in general

Don’t pour kitchen grease, kitty litter, solvents or paint down the drain

Pump it out regularly!

- 8 -


Quinn’s freshly baked pies filled the air and the entice-ment of ice cream on hot sunny days drew people in.There were many local stores at Woodland Beach -Culvers and the Woodland Terrace Restaurant were oth-ers. The Woodland Terrace was beside Whitfield’s store.In 1979, there was a fire: Harry Tripp led the firebrigade. Everyone who could help frantically created abucket brigade, but to no avail. Sadly it was destroyed,but Whitfield’s was spared.

Whitfield’s was the centrepiece of Woodland forforty years (1953-1994). It combined a general storewith a pharmacy and a post office. It served very gener-ous scoops of ice cream, so generous in fact that some-times over a hundred people waited to be served, linedup out the front door.

Whitfield’s employed a lot of teenagers over manysummers, and many formed lifelong bonds. One of

Whitfield’s outstanding mainstays was Lily Sibthorpe,who worked at the store for 28 years. She was the realdeal when it came to customer service! She was moth-erly and helpful; adults and kids alike adored her. Hersense of humour made people smile and laugh. Onmost Saturdays the store was crowded and peopleloved to talk to her. However, little did they know thatone of her favourite sayings was: “People who talk bythe yard and think by the inch should be moved by thefoot”!

It seems that these local stores helped cement asense of community at Woodland Beach. Now, with theadvent of superstores like Wal-Mart, Loblaw’s, andShoppers Drug Mart, that sense of community hasdiminished. Cottagers have retreated to the car, nothingis within walking distance anymore, and we don’t meetand greet our neighbours like we used to in years goneby. Except for the Bayshore Seniors’ Club, “Main Street”in Woodland Beach now looks like a ghost town.

Sources:Recollections: Township of Tiny; (Township of Tiny

Historical and Heritage Committee, 1995).

Special thanks to Anita Weatherell for access to theTiny Township Heritage and Historical Archives, to J.Raynor, President of the Huronia Chapter, OntarioArcheological Society, to David Foster and Joy NorrisFowler for access to their private memoirs, and also toP. Whitfield, S. Maddock, E. Stephenson, and BevHolmes.

In our last issue, we reported that the development inConcession 4 (at Tiny Beaches Road South) known asMcMahan Woods Development Ltd. – proposed to have51 lots - was the subject of an Ontario Municipal Boardhearing. We can now provide a brief summary of theterms of the settlement.

In general, the developer has received approval for 20single residential lots, and in addition, one residential loton ‘other lands’ owned by the applicant known as Block21.

The approved plan for the entire property of approxi-mately 152 acres has residential development on 32.8acres (nearest the north end), parkland on 1.8 acres,Environmental Protection zoning on about 49.2 acres,Block 21 is 62.8 acres and the rest is designated for roads,access, reserves etc.

The restrictions (in part) on Block 21 are as follows:“3.b. That the lands comprised of Block 21 may only

be developed for one single family residence until the year2020 and until that time no application for developmentshall be made by McMahan, its successors and assigns andany such development shall be in accordance with theProvincial, County, Township and other applicable poli-cies and by-laws approved and in place at the date of thatsubsequent application. For purposes of this provision, theproscription against “development” shall include the con-struction, placement or installation of any structures what-soever, or any excavation or site alterations, unless sameare pre-approved by the County and Township.“ and fur-ther, “It is intended that this condition runs with the landand binds subsequent purchasers, successors and assigns.”

In conclusion, 21 lots in total have been approved,with restrictions as described above.

BY RICHARD HINTON

OMB Update:McMahan Woods

WOODLAND continued from previous page



www.tinycottager.org

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Diana & Andrew Harvey, Bluewater Dunes

World class boating was the lure that convinced Dianaand Andrew Harvey to build their permanent home inBluewater Dunes. Diana was introduced to the SouthernGeorgian Bay area when she was just a babe through herfamily vacations on Springhurst Beach, now a part ofWasaga. Later they also rented in Victoria Harbour. Shehas fond recollections of the miles of sand and crystal clearblue waters that were part of her summers as she wasgrowing up. After she met Andrew as a teenager, she intro-duced him to Allenwood Beach, just north of Wasagawhere they would spend summer days hanging out withtheir friends.

Married with a young family, Diane and Andrewbought a home in Markham. In those days, their familyvacations consisted of camping at Killbear Provincial Parkon Georgian Bay, where they would enjoy windsurfingand admiring the passing boats. One day, they decidedthat sailing was a natural progression from windsurfing, soin 1996, they purchased their first sailboat, a CS 27, whichthey decided to dock at Hindson’s Marina inPenetanguishene. Understanding the potential challengesof navigating Georgian Bay, they wisely took extensivelessons with Captain Mike. Their boat was pre-owned andnamed “Road to the Isles” which they thought was appro-priate for exploring the 30,000 Islands. As it turned out,the name alluded to the Isles of Scotland which are famousfor their Scotch Whiskey Distillery District. As Andrewappreciates fine single malt, they were content to leave thename unchanged. Their new acquisition became theirweekend ‘cottage’, although at times the space was con-fining with three teenage daughters aboard. As time pro-gressed, they upgraded to a comfortable, 34 foot Catalinawhich they continue to sail out of Hindson’s.

With the frus-trations of acceler-ated growth andtraffic gridlock inMarkham, Dianaand Andrewdecided to startlooking for a prop-erty in SouthernGeorgian Bay.Andrew’s businesshad moved to thesouth end ofBarrie in 1999, sothis area offered aviable commutingdistance. Theyspent 3 yearsinvestigating vari-

ous options but they kept gravitating to Bluewater. On oneof their exploratory drives along Tiny Beaches Rd. South,they ventured into an open house and began their searchin earnest. On another occasion, a future neighbourstopped and told them that they should move herebecause it was a great area and they would love it. In2006, after 3 years of searching, they fell in love with thesandy dunes and the forested areas of Bluewater Dunes.There was a bidding war for their lot, but they won and arenow just a short walk from a beautiful sandy beach and anextensive boardwalk plus sounds of the waves can be

heard from their new homeThere are challenges, as Georgian Bay weather can test

the skills of even the most experienced boater as it canchange without warning. Also winter whiteouts and icyroad conditions can produce long, nerve wracking whiteknuckle drives. In spite of these challenges, the area hasbeen everything that they had hoped for. They value thestrong sense of community and the many caring friend-ships that have developed. They feel that residents, bothpermanent and seasonal, truly appreciate all the naturalwonders that abound in Tiny. There is a little bit of every-thing; charming hamlets, rolling hills and pastures, pic-turesque farm houses, spectacular vistas of Georgian Bay,excellent swimming and some of the best boating in theworld. They have the best of both worlds, a location con-venient to work and amenities surrounded by nature’sserenity.

Don & Rosemary Stefano, Edmore Beach

In 1970, Don and Rosemary Stefano were planning asummer vacation for their family of three young boys. Asresidents of Rochester, New York, the nearby Finger Lakesdistrict would have been a logical choice. Unfortunately,the lakes were polluted at that time and since Don’s moth-er was Canadian, a natural choice was to investigate theirneighbour to the north. They approached a local travelagency that specialized in Canadian holidays. They weredirected to the southern Georgian Bay area with safe sandybeaches ideal for children.

The Bluebird Cottages at Woodland Beach were theirdestination that summer. The family had a wonderful timeand fell in love with the area, especially the clean sparklingwater and white sandy beaches. The birth of their daugh-ter in 1971 delayed their return to Woodland until 1972.With their brood in tow, they decided to explore the pos-sibility of owning a little piece of this paradise. Althoughit was a long drive from Rochester, both Don andRosemary were teachers and could spend much of thesummer in the area. Happily they found an old white cot-tage just across from Edmore Beach with the asking priceof $14,500. After some negotiation, their offer was accept-

ed and with a $100.00 deposit, their dream was a reality.Part of this old cottage had been the local variety storewhich was the hub of activity for the beach. Many similarbeach stores have disappeared through the years. EdmoreBeach is tucked off Tiny Beaches Road South, in a quiet,private area, surrounded by forest.

Twenty-five years ago when the American dollar wasstrong, the Stefanos built a new winterized home as a

BY IRENE WILSON

How I Came to Live or Cottage inTiny: Personal Histories

potential retirement residence. They continue to use it pri-marily as a summer retreat, but also have come up in thewinter when the children were younger to enjoy tobog-ganing down the dunes and other activities. The roadswere always well plowed, so that it was easy to gainaccess. It has become a gathering place for their family of4 children, spouses and grandchildren, who live inRochester, Boston and Israel. The grandkids can hardlywait to get to Canada. There is a strong sense of commu-nity in this area and their children meet up with old friendsthat they have made over the past 40 years.

Growing up at the Canadian cottage influenced theirdaughter’s decision to attend McGill University inMontreal to study French and International Studies. Shecurrently lives and works in Israel, but makes the trek backto the cottage every summer to reconnect with family andthe Edmore community.

Many years ago, Don had the unfortunate opportunityto test the response time of the Tiny Volunteer FireDepartment. The white cottage had been built over theold well which was no longer in use. Don had set a ladderon top of the wooden cover, not realizing that it was rotten.As he went up the ladder, the cover gave way and he land-ed in the bottom of the well. The fire department had tobe called for the rescue, which Don recalls was promptand professional. Luckily he suffered only minor injuries.

Both Don and Rosemary are active here as members ofthe Bayshore Seniors’ Club. Don has been president of hisbeach association for the past 10 years, but would love tofind a successor and Rosemary runs a book club. Theylove to watch the spectacular sunsets and appreciate theircaring neighbours and community.

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Memories are Made of ThisBY PETER CALAMAI

A few years ago the discounted price at a sales tablelured me into purchasing a slightly battered “time capsule”from that purveyor of putative necessities, Lee Valley Tools.

This stainless steel cylinder, almost two feet long by sixinches in diameter, seals with a Thermos-like top. Theinstructions (it’s a Lee Valley product; there are alwaysinstructions) suggest filling the cylinder with personal andtopical memorabilia .

This was, I thought, the ideal thing to bury at the cot-tage which four generations of my wife’s family haveinhabited at Cove Beach during more than 35 years.

Alas, the time capsule lies under our cottage bed, stillempty. That’s because the Big Red Shoe is too large to fitinside.

And the Big Red Shoe is what memories are made of,an object of no intrinsic value but sentimental valuebeyond price.

The Big Red Shoe is the kindest sobriquet given to thehome-made trophy awarded at The Donald Classic, thecombined fun golf tournament, barbeque, hootenannyand camp-out which brings together the descendants ofthe two Donald brothers, Ray and Bud. Since each brotherfathered eight children starting in 1944, that now meansroughly three score souls, counting spouses.

Bud, his four sons and a son-in-law erected WoundedTree Cottage in 1976 with maximum of sweat equity anda minimum of capital (the second floor was a tiny house inthe way of a highway widening, purchased for a bargainprice and trucked to sit atop a ground level built from con-crete blocks.) The finished structure boasted six bedrooms,so each of five owners had their own even on busy holidayweekends. There was, of course, just the one bathroomand Wounded Tree has never been winterized.

No matter, the cottage has been heavily used every

year from the Victoria Day weekend through toThanksgiving, with occasional Christmas forays. But at theend of the 90s, the Big Red Shoe made its appearance andthe memory-creation pace of Wounded Tree kicked up asignificant notch.

The Donald Classic event had already been takingplace for nine years at that point, at sites around Hamiltonand Dundas, and with the matriarch of the clan adding acommemorative verse each year to an epic poem. In 1999,at the invitation of some of the cottage owners, the golfmoved to Brooklea’s executive course and the eating-games-drinking-singing aftermath descended on WoundedTree.

Since most participants came from several hours driveaway and all liked to party, sleeping spots had to be found.Thank goodness for the flat septic bed behind the cottagewhich could easily house six tents. (The expanse of canvaslikely would have reminded Bud of his artillery training atMeaford before shipping out to Britain and D-Day.)

Since then, the Classic has alternated between theHamilton area and Cove Beach (with a hiatus in 2008). Asmany as 56 participants have found their way into a groupphoto one year and the number seldom falls below 40,with offspring as young as eight wielding a golf club.

This summer’s event, on July 28, was particularly mag-ical. A waxing gibbous moon reflected off the water andshone on the make-shift performance area where severalsilver-throated cousins sang and played guitars for hours.Especially gratifying was the applause from neighbouringcottages.

A “time capsule” can’t really preserve such moonlightand song, any more than it can hold the Big Red Shoe.Which, by the way, this year’s winners left behind.

I wonder why.

As a long time seasonal resident of Tiny, Paul has been a strong and vocal advocate of FoTTSA’s efforts in TinyTownship. He has been an active director on the FoTTSA board since 1998. Paul assisted in the Market Value Assessmentproject to support an equitable assessment system of property in Ontario and he also participated in the beach mediationinitiative in Tiny Township.

He came to the FoTTSA board as a result of his considerable experience on the board of the Carusoe Bay Association.Paul was one of a handful of neighbours who organized cottagers to form the Carusoe Bay Association in 1975 whendevelopment on environmentally sensitive land was proposed.

When the Site 41 proposal looked as if it was going to be implemented, Paul along with others, helped to organize andpromote a rally against Site 41 in Perkinsfield. That successful rally, along with the efforts of many others, brought the issueto a head and Site 41 was finally abandoned. Currently, Paul is leading efforts to persuade the International JointCommission of the Great Lakes to reverse the significant water loss that has occurred in Georgian Bay.

Paul has been enjoying every summer since infancy at the cottage that his parents built in 1948. The cottage, one ofthe first in the area, has been enlarged over the years to accommodate his wife Katherine, his secret weapon, and theirfour lovely daughters. The latest addition to the family, a 3-pound Yorkie Poo, won’t require any additional space. In hisearly years, Paul spent from June to September at the cottage and he has built and maintained a wide circle of friends inTiny over the years.

Paul was born and raised in the Old Mill area of Toronto. After Runnymede High School he earned Honours Degreesin Business from Western University and Wilfred Laurier University. For the past 26 years, Paul has owned and operateda consulting company specializing in management systems.

At his cottage, Paul enjoys water skiing, sea-dooing and fishing and, all of his neighbours know when his seaplanelands and takes off from the waters in front of his cottage. When neighbours howl “duck”, one doesn’t know whether abird or Paul’s plane is about to land.

We are fortunate to have Paul’s sense of humour, organizational skills and commitment to our community and the lead-ership of FoTTSA.

Paul Cowley – FoTTSA’s New PresidentBY JOE ALLEVATO

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The End of a Love StoryBY BILL JOHNSON, AS TOLD TO PENNY BARR

(This article is a sequel to “Love and War at theCottage” Fall/Winter 2003 issue of The Tiny Cottager thatyou can access on our website’s issue archives. In it BillJohnson, who has cottaged north of the 21st Concessionsince the 1930’s, describes his infatuation with Libby, thebeautiful girl next door to his cottage, who was 10 yearshis senior. Her true love was Peter, a daring English pilotinstructor, who was lost during a search and rescue mis-sion in Ontario in December 1940.)

When I wrote the above article, Inever dreamed that nine years laterevents would happen that wouldallow me finally to close this chapterof my life about a special girl, LibbyHenry, on whom I had a lifelongcrush, and her fiance, Flight Lt. PeterCampbell, who to me was a hero.

Their love story had all the Hollywood requirements: love,pathos, adventure, and excitement.

Peter Campbell, anEnglish flight Instructorfrom the RAF, was sta-tioned at CampBorden during WorldWar II to train our air-men and was knownto buzz Libby’s cottagefrequently. I desper-ately wanted to followin his footsteps andjoin the RCAF. Amonghis life experiencesthat I admired werethe ten claw marks on his body from an aborted tigerattack in India where he lived as a child.

Then came that terrible day in December 1940 whenhe took off to search for a fellow pilot’s missing plane inMuskoka. He ran into a blinding blizzard, collided withanother search plane, and never returned.

His plane was one of 400 lost over Canadian soil dur-ing World War II. And so the story of this gallant pilotended ... or so I thought, until the following article hit theheadlines on page A2 of The Toronto Star on July 25, 2011,printed here with permission - Torstar SyndicationServices:

Missing plane found – 71 years laterby Raveena Aulakh

It was snowmageddon, only that word hadn’t beencoined. Yet.

On Dec. 12, 1940, the snow was flying fast and furiousin high winds when an aircraft on a training flight from theRoyal Canadian Air Force base in Borden went missingover Lake Muskoka.

The next day, though the weather was still treacherousand the countryside and lakes still frozen, two aircraft took

off to search for the missing plane.Hours later, the planes, Northrop A-17A Nomads, col-

lided and plummeted into the icy waters of Lake Muskoka.One plane was found within weeks and the bodies of

the two pilots recovered. The other aircraft and its pilots –a Brit, Peter Campbell, 24, and a Canadian, Ted Bates, 27- were never recovered.

Until recently.………………………….

On Dec. 13, Flight Lt. Peter Campbell and LeadingAircraftsman Ted Bates climbed into the cockpit of theirNorthrop Nomad, the last time anyone saw them.

Efforts were made to recover their plane but the weath-er was still treacherous in the months following the crash,and the technology nothing like what it is now.

Nomads, originally built as “attack bombers”, were bigaircraft – they weighed about 3,175 kilograms, had a 16-metre wingspan, stood four metres tall – and for a longtime no one really knew where exactly this plane wentdown into Lake Muskoka. (The lake is more than 30metres deep in places.)

Then Matt Fairbanks stepped in.President of Lost Airmen in Muskoka Project, a group

dedicated to finding missing aircraft, Fairbanks and hisfriends learned some years ago that a family of trappers liv-ing beside the lake had actually seen the crash and the twoplanes plunging into the water. Backed by eyewitnessaccounts and military maps of the crash site, the groupstarted searching.

“I spent hours, hundreds of hours, looking for it,” saidFairbanks, who used side-scan sonar. “It’s like a golf ballin middle of a football field. Blink and you miss it.”

Fairbanks and his friends, Al Bacon and Don Ruud,narrowed the potential sites down to three then called inthe OPP. The provincial police underwater search andrecovery unit found the plane last fall.

“It was so good to see that the plane had been located,:said Fairbanks. “These men made a sacrifice…this is theleast we can do for them.”

It’s not yet clear if any remains of the two pilots havebeen recovered.

Campbell from West Sussex in England, came toCanada in 1940 as part of the successful Empire AirTraining Scheme to train pilots from the Commonwealthcountries and other allies for the conflict.

He had been here only a few months when he and Tedtook off.

And so this poignant story finally comes to an end 71years later, and one wonders what could have been. Libbydied a few years ago and so never quite got a full sense ofclosure. But, in a positive way her young daughter, JanetBoyer, who today is still my cottage neighbour, and I havebecome close friends. She has given me copies of lettersfrom Peter’s sister to Libby after his death and the telegramfrom the Commanding Officer at Camp Borden, inviting

her to the memorial service for Peter (shown below).

And as I have grown older, the romance and excite-ment of combat that I felt in my youth has disappearedwhen I consider the waste and the pain that so many suf-fered for the rest of their lives. I hope that The Lost Airmenin Muskoka Project will leave Peter and his pilot buddy,Ted Bates, to rest peacefully in their quiet grave.

The following eulogy by F. W. Pangborn appearedin Camp Borden’s Wings Over Borden on February 7,1941:

“Dead at his post of duty.”What finer eulogy? All the boastOf pomp and glory seems but idle breath,Beside the calm quiet of death.Where death and duty meetIs found solution most completeOf all life’s problems, it’s enough.“Dead and at his post.”

- 12 -


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- 13 -


S.S. KeewatinComes Home

BY LINDA ANDREWS

On July 23rd of this year, a fleet of approximately 1000local boats escorted the S.S. Keewatin – the last Edwardiansteamship in the world -- home to Port McNicoll. The des-ignated captain for the trip, a former crew member fromsome 40 years ago, was greeted by cheering crowds on thepier area as an estimated 7,000 onlookers welcomed theS.S. Keewatin home.

Back in 1908 the Canadian Pacific Railway fingeredPort McNicoll to become a major Canadian port city onthe Great Lakes rivaling the American port Chicago andproviding a much shortened route to transport grain fromthe west. By 1912 the CPR’s Great Lakes fleet of 5 – theAssiniboia, Keewatin, Manitoba, Alberta and Athabasca –called Port McNicoll home.

Commerce (grain shipments) and tourism (luxury pas-senger accommodation) thrived for many years as theships sailed regularly to and from Port Arthur/ Fort William.Port McNicoll was booming and even the gardens sur-rounding the pier were a famous attraction. After the con-struction of the St Lawrence Seaway, the lake shippingbusiness slowed and ultimately CP announced the end ofpassenger service in 1965. The Keewatin was sold forscrap but happily was rescued and refurbished to becomea marine museum in Michigan.

Seven years ago, an international developer andmarine history buff fell in love with the area around PortMcNicoll and with the story of the Keewatin. He envi-sioned a renewed waterfront park with the Keewatin as themain focal point and a much rejuvenated residential, retailand recreation area in town. And his timing was fortuitousas the Michigan owner of the Keewatin was ready to passon the care and responsibility of this preserved treasure toa new owner. Bringing the Keewatin home was a hugechallenge. Although she was in excellent condition, shedid have to be towed and some of the waterways had tobe dredged. The captain of the day had been instrumentalin keeping tabs on the Keewatin in Michigan and makinga connection with the owner.

The S.S. Keewatin, originally built in Scotland, couldaccommodate 288 passengers in 105 first class cabins – amini Titanic with lots of mahogany and polished brass,stained glass windows and an impressive staircase. Asmany of these features as possible will be restored. Currentplans for the refurbished Keewatin include a museum, acommunity space, a theatre, a restaurant and a bar and thetarget date for opening the facilities to the public is summer2013!

Many folk in the community have a past connectionwith the Keewatin and they have enthusiasticallyembraced her return and offered many volunteer hourstowards this homecoming. The “Friends of the Keewatin”group is working hard to raise funds for the refurbishingproject; they are looking for sponsors, fundraising ideasand people interested in buying naming rights to thelifeboats and rooms. Watch for the official opening sched-uled for next summer and visit the S.S. Keewatin, an histor-

ical symbol of pride and tradition in the community.There is a delightful series of short video tours narrated

by Ship’s Master Eric Conroy on the Huronia Museumwebsite (http://huroniamuseum.com/?s=Keewatin) inwhich one is introduced to the ship’s interior accompaniedby the narrator’s recollections of his experiences workingaboard the S.S. Keewatin many years ago.

draft revisions will bring Tiny’s provisions in line withthose that apply in our neighbouring municipalities. AProperty Standards Committee is required to hear anyappeals that may be filed against an Order issued by theProperty Standards Officer. Staff would advertise to locatecandidates for Council consideration and appointment.

The re-drafts incorporate all existing provisions,strengthen some definitions and incorporate a few newprovisions commonly found in more recently drafted by-laws. These include the ability to address long weeds andgrass, dead or damaged trees, and wrecked or dismantledboats and trailers. In the past, the By-law Department hasreceived complaints of this nature but lacked the legisla-tion to address these issues.

The full report to Council contains the relevant drafttexts and can be viewed or downloaded at

http://tinyurl.com/8vm349cPenalties Increased on Many By-law OffencesCouncil has passed revisions to several By-laws to

increase penalties. These include higher fines for parking,noise, fireworks, signs and topsoil removal.

Beach Access Permits and By-lawPrivate property owners needing access to township-

owned beaches or access ways to work, for example, ona well or boathouse, need a Beach Access Permit. Theapplication form covers types of use, fees and securitydeposit.

Improved Cellular and Wireless Internet ServiceMany users of mobile phones and internet devices

have noted a significant improvement in service sinceearly summer. Both Bell Mobility and Rogers have addedcapability in our area. A tower can cover 200 calls simul-taneously but as usage grows dropped calls and slow ordropped internet connections can result. Bell plans fur-ther expansion in the Thunder Beach and ArdmoreBeach areas. Under the Rural Data Program the Federal

government helps finance construction of cell towers; theprogram stipulates they have to reach each home in thearea.

Champlain 400 CelebrationsGregory King, Chair of the Infrastructure Committee

for Champlain Commemorations Huronia 2015, hasrequested Council’s assistance in funding the celebrationof the 400th anniversary of Champlain's visit to Huronia.He noted that the bulk of funding for programs andevents will likely be provided by the federal and provin-cial governments. At this time, he is asking each munici-pality (Midland, Penetanguishene, Tay and Tiny) to setaside some money in their next three or four (2013,2014, 2015 and 2016) budgets for a total of $30,000 toassist in making this celebration a regional success.

Heavy Garbage Questions RemainDeputy Mayor Lawrence has reported that the issue of

whether or not a heavy garbage pick-up will take placein 2013 has yet to be resolved at the County level, inview of the likelihood that a new contractor will servicethe entire County of Simcoe. Items not accepted by theCounty heavy garbage pick-up and left at the roadsidemust be collected by the Township; letters will be sent tothe offending owners.

Septage Class Environmental Assessment SelectsPreferred Solution

The Septage Class Environmental Assessment Phase 2has completed. The selected preferred solution is to con-struct full septage treatment works. (See article on page5.)

BEACH AND LOCAL ISSUESIn July the Cawaja Propertyowners Association signed

a Memorandum of Understanding with the Township onpublic beach use and parking in the Cawaja Beach area.A management agreement was needed since the beachand roadways in the original Cawaja subdivision areowned 2/3 by the Association and 1/3 by the Township.

In September Council discussed the ownership situa-tion for the beach fronting Registered Plan 776(Ossossane) with the lawyer representing several proper-ty owners.

The Balm Beach pay parking machines are consid-ered a success, including the 30-minute free spaces formerchants and the picnic tables in front of the GeorgianGrill. Pay machines are also approved for Parent Park.

The Lafontaine Beach Park Master Plan process hasprogressed since the initial report 18 months ago on whatsteps to take. The feasibility of removing the existinggroynes and boulders from the shore and the approvalprocess needed to do so was addressed in a new reportto Council. In view of the continuing low water levelsthat affect the kinds of machines needed to do the job,Council decided to defer, to later this Fall, a decision onstarting the actual work.

Bluewater Dunes restoration is proceeding well.Signage now deters the public from walking on the dunegrass, boardwalks have been modified and the look-outhas a new location.

A comprehensive report on the study of the waterquality in Farlain Lake found moderately low nutrientconcentrations, low algal biovolume and high clarity.

The Georgian Sands Water Supply Class EnvironmentAssessment is complete, but an appeal has beenlaunched by a resident and will have to be addressed.

In Wyevale an intersection pedestrian signal andSchool Zone warning signs are being installed at CountyRoad 6 and Concession 5.

Parking spaces on Balm Beach Road West inPerkinsfield for Church access will be clearly signed todelineate the parking from the bike lane. A 1.5 m bikepath will be designated with appropriate signage alongthe south side of Balm Beach Road West (BBRW) fromCounty Road 6 to #39 BBRW, with open parking fromCounty Road 6 to #19 BBRW.

REPORT ON COUNCIL...continued from page 4

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