Tag: travel

JAIL TIME FOR TREE CUTTERS

I suppose they thought it might be fun.

It was a tree, not unlike most others, it’s most differentiating feature being its location.  But that location was kind of important, in that where it was is what made this particular tree as famous as it was.

It was the kind of tree that people travelled to get to, not to climb it, and not to linger in its shade, although people have certainly picnicked there.  No, this tree was the subject of photography, as in people liked to take pictures of it, and pictures of themselves in front of it.

Proposals were made in front of it.  Marriages performed.  The ashes of loved ones scattered.

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PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST

Many years ago, I undertook a project that would recapture and bring to life the histories of two places I has some familiarity with, St. Thomas the Apostle School and St. Francis Xavier Church.

In order to successfully bring that mandate to a successful outcome, I had to pour over hundreds of photos, documents, and other pieces of memorabilia that were stored in dozens of cardboard boxes.  These boxes, and the treasures they contained, were almost always tucked away in some out-of-sight-out-of-mind part of the building, something I suspect is the case for most places, and even families, who take the time to save the stuff for preservation then, having no plan beyond that, consign these treasures to the ubiquitous cardboard box for somebody to come along in a couple of decades to make sense of it.

But what if nobody comes along?

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“EVERYONE HAS A BEAR STORY”

I was on the road to Sudbury, and CBC Radio was keeping me company.

Claire Cameron was a guest on The Current, a daily show on CBC.  Claire is the author of a book, actually a memoir, entitled “How To Survive A Bear Attack.”  It certainly got me thinking.

She worked as a teenager in Algonquin Park, so when she heard about a young couple being killed in the park by a black bear a couple of decades ago, she took an extraordinarily keen interest in the story and began what she would call her “investigation.”

People manage to die in Algonquin Park every year, mostly as a result of their own negligence, and sometimes as a result of extreme health events, like heart attacks.  For the most part, though, park fatalities will come from health failures, allergies, drowning, and even the car or truck ride just getting to the park.  Way down the list of potentially fatal episodes are death through bear attack.  In fact, it almost never happens.

It definitely happened to that young couple though, and it became apparent that the bear was drawn by their careless storage of food where they had set up camp.  Death, in such circumstances, is a tough penalty to pay for such an oversight, but bears don’t employ that level of higher-order thinking when they’re out and about, almost always searching for, well, food.

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SMITHS CREEK

It gets its start in Hurd’s Lake, and from there it winds and m wanders its way through McNab-Braeside and Horton Townships, before entering the jurisdiction of the Town of Renfrew and eventually emptying into the Bonnechere River across and just downstream from Air Force Memorial Park.

Smiths Creek — aka Smith’s Creek — is one of those things that you see just about every day, but the familiarity of it allows you to just walk on by, or drive on by, without giving it a thought, much less a second one.

My doctor told me to start walking routes that are different from my go-to route, something to do with mixing things up being good for me, especially if, while mixing things up, I incorporate some hills and terrain into my walk.

Never one to dismiss the advice of my doctor, I did just that, mixed it up a bit.

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BONNECHERE TRAIL PROPOSAL MAY BE READY BY CANADA DAY

To me, it seems that this is the first, or opening phase of a really good idea that provides a ton of value without needing a ton of cash.

The Bonnechere Trail will be an addition to the trail network here in Renfrew, but with significant differences that separate it from the existing Millennium and Algonquin Trails.

First, it’s not going to be a ready-made former railway bed leftover from the halcyon days of rail here in this part of the County.  Second, it will be a more winding trail, less an affair of straight lines that trains love, but more in the way of bends and curves and elevation changes.

And third, it will be people-only.  Not to people on snow machines, or people on four wheelers, or people on bicycles or dirt bikes.  It will people-only in the sense that it will accommodate foot traffic only.

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THE BAFN MYSTERY

Who are the Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation, or BAFN?

To the uninformed or less-informed eye, the title suggests an aboriginal group of some sort, more than likely a First Nation.  The word Bonnechere suggests a group who calls elements of, or the entirety of the Bonnechere River watershed their home, their ancestral home.  And if you’re from around this part of the 613, you might understandably conclude that they have some affiliation with, or are actually part of the Algonquins of Golden Lake, or Pikwakanagan.

And although BAFN and Pikwakanagan are both listed as members of the AOO, or Algonquins of Ontario, the two barely talk to one another, if at all.  Phone calls to the Band leadership in Golden Lake were initially warm and friendly, until I mentioned BAFN as my point of enquiry.  

There’s been no communication since.

So who are these mystery people and what’s the reason for my interest in them?

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CANADIAN WOMAN ARRESTED TRYING TO RE-APPLY FOR U.S. VISA

Jasmine Mooney is a Canadian actress and sometime entrepreneur.  The thirty-five year-old woman from British Columbia, while born in Canada, has spent the last several years working in the United States, in California to be specific.

Then they arrested her.

They being federal U.S. agents — U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents — as she attempted to renew an expired work visa.

Her previous visa was now invalid since the health beverage she was promoting contained hemp, and that’s verboten in America, where they cling to the notion that cannabis and its derivatives are threat to national security.  This in a nation where you can buy milk, guns, and ammunition at the same store.

Jasmine persevered though, getting another job, this one located as well in the United States, and representing another health beverage of some sort, this one hemp-free.  With optimism at what she considered to be a routine visit, she arrived at U.S. Customs with the job offer and her visa paperwork to get herself a revised and up-to-date visa.  Piece of cake.

No such luck.

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THE ROAD TO 2035

“Seventy-five percent of this job is half mental.”

I think it was that great American thinker Yogi Berra who came up with that line, in all seriousness, when asked a question by a reporter.  This from a man who said when you come to a fork in the road, you should take it.

It’s why, maybe, we shouldn’t hang our hats on philosophy laid down by tobacco-chewing baseball players, although Berra himself was more of a cigarette and cigar kind of guy.

Yogi is my inspiration today, although I’m not sure his utterance is a true fit for my commentary, but honestly, any time you have the opportunity to quote such a sage person as he, you go for it, whether it fits or not.

The Town of Renfrew, at least the administrative side of it, is in the middle of a journey, as all corporations are, along with other institutional entities, like schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.

Entities cannot remain static, that much is true.  They are living beasts that need to keep abreast of, or remain relevant to the ever-present requirement for change and nimbleness against a backdrop of near universal and enduring uncertainty.  In English, that means that things are constantly changing, and to remain relevant in the face of that fact, corporations like our town need to respond and adapt.  

So standing still is not an option.

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CARS AND CAMERAS

Did you realize that the Town of Renfrew was part of a conduit operation whereby cars stolen in Southern Ontario, primarily the Greater Toronto Area, are transported through the town en-route to Montreal before being shipped overseas?

Drivers of these stolen vehicles are paid to get them to Montreal.  With the heat rising in terms of law enforcement along Highway 401, the back highways have become more attractive to these Pony Express types, and a lot of those secondary routes will take these drivers, and these vehicles, right along our very own Raglan Street and O’Brien Road, or Burnstown Road.

The thing is, we’re on to the dirty little bastards.

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COMMUNITY GARDEN PARTNERSHIP FORMALIZED

The creation and implementation of a community garden at Oddfellows Park on Sidney Avenue in Renfrew is a really good adaptation of a really good idea.

In association with the Renfrew Food Bank, the town has set aside one of its several parks for use as an urban agricultural experiment, where citizens can rent a plot of land, or space if you will, to cultivate for themselves any fruits or vegetables they may desire to bring into this world.

Not only does such a program benefit from a “farm to table” aspect on a smaller scale, but it also fosters a sense of community through interactions with others tending their own plots.

And further, it benefits the efforts made by the volunteers over at the Renfrew Food Bank.

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