Back to HomeFeature Article - June 11, 2009 Two years later, a return to RobertsvilleBy Jeff Green

Members of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation will be returning to the gate of the Robertsville mine site on June 28, two years after the start of an occupation that lasted almost 4 months.

But the Pray for the Land event will take place entirely on the road allowance, according to Bob Lovelace, and will not involve blocking access to the site.

The Ardoch Algonquins are inviting members of all faith communities to join with them in the day of prayer, and are hoping there will be a Mass as well as a Muslim call to prayer as part of the event, in addition to the planned sweat lodge ceremonies.

“Pray for the Land is an expression of our connection to all of the people that are concerned about the environment. Every spiritual faith has a belief that the earth is a sacred place, that it's a gift from the creator, and we are given directions to preserve it and look after it. That's the message of the day,” Lovelace said.

A lot has happened in the two years since the occupation, which featured the coming together of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations in common cause after years of acrimony over the respective communities' approach to the Algonquin Land Claims process.

The Shabot Obaadjiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) late last fall with Frontenac Ventures Corporation, the company that is pursuing uranium exploration on a site that is accessed through the Robertsville mine, where they lease office space. The MOU allows for drilling on the site, which is something that the Ardoch Algonquins continue to oppose.

On February 26, 2009 in an article published in Reuters, Frontenac Ventures claimed to have found a large “Alaskite type uranium deposit”, based on samples that were gathered in the fall.

“The discovery of a large new zone was made during late fall 2008. Forty bags (500 lb.) of bedrock samples, ranged from a high of 8.05 lb./ton to 0.25 lb./ton, with an average grade of 1.77 lb./ton,” said the article.

Exploration, including repeated drilling programs, has taken place in the vicinity since the 1960s, but has never before yielded enough of a uranium resource to tempt a mining company to buy into the property.

Uranium was mined at both Elliott Lake and in the Bancroft region, until the 1990s. Talk of re-opening mines in those locations has heated up over the past two years, although the worldwide recession has had an impact.

Pele Mountain Resources, for example, slowed down its plans at its proposed Eco Ridge mine near Elliott Lake late last year.

“Pele announced the postponement of its pre-feasibility study and certain components of the permitting process as cost-cutting measures, in response to difficult market conditions,” said a Pele news release in February.

The spot uranium price is hovering at around $50 per pound, well under $90, where it stood when Frontenac Ventures Corporation began staking claims in North and Central Frontenac in the spring of 2006.

The Robertsville protest has had an impact on mining and aboriginal politics in Ontario, leading to provisions for consultation with aboriginal communities in the revamped Ontario Mining Act, which was tabled in the Ontario Legislature just weeks ago.

But the changes don't just fall short of what the Ardoch Algonquins would like to see; they miss the mark entirely, according to spokesperson Bob Lovelace. “If I could use an analogy, the new legislation is like telling a rapist they have to use condoms,” he said. “What would really make a difference is a policy that requires free, prior and informed consent from the citizenry before mining activity commences.”

Specifically, in terms of the aboriginal consultations in the new Mining Act, Lovelace said, “They basically pay lip service to the Supreme Court decisions on consultation.”

Pray for the Land will take place during the day on June 28.

Another event, presented by the Concerned Citizens Against Mining Uranium, featuring a community dinner and dance with the popular Perth band Beetlejuice, will also take place at the Maberly Hall on June 28. Tickets are $20 at the door

Budget finalised

Frontenac County Council staggered to the finish line and approved the 2011 budget at their regular monthly meeting last Wednesday, April 20.

By taking advantage of some uploaded social service costs, the county will decrease the amount it collects from ratepayers by 4.2% in 2011, creating what County Chief Administrator Liz Savill called “tax room” in the budgets of the member townships of the county (see “Taxes up for Central, South Frontenac residents”).

The main budget issue item that was left for council’s consideration on April 20 was the creation of a new clerical staff position at the county office.

The budget originally included two positions, a communications co-ordinator and a clerk for the finance office, but council had made it clear at the previous meeting they were only willing to consider one new position.

Liz Savill said that the workload in her office and in the finance office has increased to the point where existing staff are scrambling to get work done, causing inefficiency. With only one position on the table, Savill said that the position would be shared between finance and communications.

The cost of the position is $48,000 per year, and council decided to leave it in the budget.

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton brought up the request from Pine Meadow Nursing Home for $25,000 a year for 10 years towards its capital redevelopment program. This item has been brought to county council each year for several years and has been turned down each time, as it was again this time.

Clayton wondered why council was willing to give $54,000 each year to the Kingston General Hospital building fund, but not Pine Meadow. “They are both health care dollars,” he said, “and they both support people from our county. Why one and not the other?”

Council defeated a motion to grant the $25,000.

“I think we need some more time to get information about this,” said Warden Gary Davison. “We are not going forward at this time, but we are not closing the door.”

At the request of Warden Davison, Council decided to transfer $510,000 in gas tax rebate reserves to the townships, a move that did not affect county taxation because the money came from the federal government.

Before the budget vote was taken, Councilor David Jones from Frontenac Islands asked to address council.

“I think it is appropriate that I speak for the good people of the islands. I don’t see anything substantive coming out of these programs. I recognise this is a democratic process, but I see nothing coming from this. I’m going to have to sell this to my constituents. There are programs that have a pronounced bias towards the mainland townships. It is unfortunate that Councilor Doyle cannot be here today because he would have reiterated the same,” Jones said.

The budget passed in a 6-2 vote, with Councilors Jones and Clayton casting the dissenting votes.

County scuttles plans to move northern ambulance base back to Ardoch Road

A proposal that would have seen the Frontenac County Paramedic Service build a stand-alone ambulance base in the vicinity of Highway 509 and Ardoch Road was defeated at county council last week. The proposal would have reversed a directive from the county from last year to build a base at Ompah in conjunction with a new North Frontenac Fire Station.

But the issues that have stopped the Ompah construction from proceeding have not been resolved, leaving the entire project in limbo.

Meanwhile a 12-hour a day ambulance remains parked outside at the Lavant Road garage each day, with the car running all winter in order to keep medicines from freezing.

This is the latest twist in a matter that county council first looked at two years ago when a consultant’s report recommended building a new base at Road 509 and Ardoch Road.

That proposal was strenuously opposed by then North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire. In response, Paul Charbonneau, the Emergency Services manager for Frontenac County, brought forward an alternate proposal for a combined ambulance base and fire hall in Ompah. This proposal was endorsed by county council in February of 2010.

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski opposed the Ompah plan at the time. She had two concerns: firstly, she argued that the decision was essentially a political one that was not supported by information about its impact on response times, and secondly because the Ompah plan also included replacing the existing Parham base with a new one in Sharbot Lake to serve Highway 7.

As has been documented over the last year in the News, the Ompah plan has run into trouble because the county and North Frontenac Township have not been able to agree on a cost-sharing plan for the project.

When North Frontenac brought the matter to the county table on March 16, hoping only to address the cost sharing problem and not the viability of the entire project, county council halted the project pending a staff report, to be prepared for the April meeting,

That report made use of some new mapping of recent call volumes by the County GIS department and a population projection study that has just been completed.

At the conclusion of the report, Paul Charbonneau wrote: “The location analysis … indicate[a] an affirmative view for a new land ambulance station in the vicinity of Ardoch Road and Road 509. Both drive time/distance mapping and total call volume capture are best achieved from this location. A land ambulance station location in the vicinity of Ardoch Road and Road 509 would maximize ambulance coverage within the more densely populated area of the eastern portion of the Township of North Frontenac and the north portion of the Township of Central Frontenac.”

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton bristled at the idea of moving the base away from Ompah.

“I came here today to try and put the financial model for the Ompah project into line so we can go forward. I can talk very little more about eliminating the project altogether other than to say the people in that district will be terribly disappointed if they don’t get the ambulance base they have been promised,” he said.

John Purdon, from Central Frontenac, said, “I think there are a lot of questions here that we can’t identify today.

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski did not see any reason to wait.

“I am comfortable with making a decision today,” she said. “We have a duty to today and we have a duty to tomorrow. The correct move is for us to move forward. It is not going to be to the detriment of the citizens of the community in the north to have the service move to the 509/Ardoch Road location. I would like to put a motion on the floor to direct staff to look at options for an ambulance base on Ardoch road.”

That motion was defeated, in a 4-4 tied vote.

County Councilors Inglis, Clayton, Purdon, and Jones voted against it, and County Councilors Gutowski, McDougall and Warden Davison (who carries two votes as Mayor of South Frontenac) voted in favour. Dennis Doyle from the Frontenac Islands was not at the meeting.

When contacted afterwards, Paul Charbonneau said that he would now “re-engage with North Frontenac County staff towards building a joint base in Ompah. The County has $300,000 budgeted for the project.”

Garrison Shores condominium agreement accepted – A number of people who live on the shores of Garrison Lake near Arden stood up and cheered when council approved a land-based condominium agreement for the properties that some of them have owned for over 20 years. They own property in a development called Garrison Shores that was not divided according to planning standards when they bought their lots up to 30 years ago. The condominium agreement has been in the works ever since municipal amalgamation in 1998 and has cost the Garrison Shores property owners hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

 

Over the last two years we have been proactively working with the Ministry of Natural Resources to enhance the fishing habitat for Malcolm and Ardoch lakes. This has involved conducting walleye census in the early spring, enhancing the spawning beds for walleye and educating our membership on fish habitat and how the surrounding environment has an impact on both fish and wildlife. Our focus is now going to be on educating the visitors to our lake about the same, and trying to promote more catch and releases.

Shoreline erosion is also a problem so speed of boats along the shoreline and especially the channel between our two lakes is an environmental as well as a safety issue. Motor sizes on our small lakes is also a concern.

Lake development is a key issue and we are currently having an issue with Global Land Consortium Inc. who have allocated 33 two-acre lots for development. Our lakes cannot handle that much pressure and it will ruin the peace and tranquility for that small lake. Of course the uranium mine is always an issue until that goes away for good.

Based on the above we have been proactively involved with our North Frontenac Council and we were a key contributor to the recently revised official plan. One of the key items we were successful in having included is a review of lake plans before any new development is undertaken on our lakes. This item will allow us the opportunity to evaluate environmental impacts for any new development before permits are approved.

The key here is to have a comprehensive lake plan and that has already started for our lake.

The final key area we are working on is having all North Frontenac lake and landowners’ associations come under one umbrella group.

The purpose here will be to harmonize our individual activities and efforts. Of course there is strength in numbers so we would like to unite associations to provide a stronger voice at the local and provincial level. We have approached other associations and interest in having an umbrella group is strong, so we will have a meeting to start kick this initiative in June.

Councilor Bob Olmstead raised concerns about the location of village signs on Gulley Road in Mississippi Station. Two farms now lie inside the hamlet where farm animals are banned. CAO Cheryl Robson clarified that the zoning laws will determine where the boundaries are, not the signs, and said she would look into the matter.

Olmstead questioned the clean up that has taken place after road construction, particularly on the Gulley Road, where large stones had been removed but left on the roadside, and some Geo Tech cardboard wrapping was not disposed of. Cheryl Robson will bring the matter to the attention of inspectors who are reporting on those matters.

Mayor Maguire asked who is ultimately responsible for cleaning up road allowances. CAO Robson said it was public works unless the owner of the garbage can be identified by the waste.

Council supported the request by the Town of New Tecumseh asking the Province of Ontario to exempt children's recreation programs from the HST, thereby making them more affordable to families.

Deputy Mayor Jim Beam requested that a monthly comparative building activity report from May 2009 to May 2010 be set up differently, so it better reflects the numbers.

A request by John and Judy Fowler for a “Hidden Driveway” sign to be added to the existing speed limit sign on the Greer Road in Ardoch was denied. In a report, Public Works Manager John Ibey deemed it “inappropriate due to safety concerns,” because a motorist could claim that they read just one sign and not both. Ibey suggested that a “Pedestrian Crossing” or a “Children at Play” sign be put up instead. A general discussion ensued about the effectiveness of speed limit signs posted in the last five years. CAO Robson asked the mayor about requesting that the OPP have more radar enforcement in certain areas.

Council carried a motion to submit an application called Municipal Data Works Funding Opportunity to the Ontario Good Roads Association in the amount of $4950, and for the CAO to transfer $4950 from the North Frontenac Roads Reserve Fund upon a successful application. The funds will be put towards assessing the conditions of 16 bridges and 11 culverts in NF Township as well as reports, recommendations, and costing for repairs and replacements.

A motion was carried to complete gravel work on Schooner Lake Road with funds coming from the CLSP Budget and/or the Crown Land Stewardship program.

Councilor Fred Perry requested information about including the township’s Crown Lands Program on the Land O' Lakes Tourist Association’s website.

After discussions about a request for a voting station at Snow Road, Clerk Brenda DeFosse explained that ballots are mailed in unless voters prefer to drop their ballots in a box at the township office.

A meeting on June 19 will have councilors giving a number of 15-minute verbal reports on different topics. Topics will include emergency preparedness, health, youth and recreation, communications, economic development and others.

By-Laws

#42-10: the signing of a Boundary Road and Bridge agreement between NF and L&A counties was deferred because information was incomplete.

#52-10: entering the township and KFLA Public Health into an agreement to regulate septic system installations and approvals in the township of NF was deferred until the schedule of fees can be examined.

#53-10 permitting an agreement between the Township and Danford Construction Ltd. for the Ardoch Road rehabilitation project, which will be completed by July 31, 2010 for $362,476.33 was carried. 

Pow Wow dancers l-r: Cory Holtz, Jordon Bilow, Josh Beaver, Jaida Ponce and Asia Reid

On September 4 & 5, visitors gathered for the 7th annual Ardoch Algonquin First Nation’s Pow Wow. Paula Sherman, Ardoch’s Co-chief, explained that the festival has been named the Manoomin (rice) festival since the Ardoch community is closely associated both physically and spiritually with rice. It was the second year that the festival has included Manoomin workshops and on Sunday a large group gathered in the Clar-Mill Hall to listen to Bob Lovelace's teaching about the Rice Wars that occurred in 1979-1980 in Ardoch, in which he and AAFNA’s Honourary Chief Harold Perry played an instrumental part.

Mitchell Shewell of Sharbot Lake emceed the festival, which included drummers and dancers from as far away as Peterborough, Alderville and Toronto. Mitch's 15-year-old daughter Cory was the female head dancer at this year’s festival.

Danka Brewer and Alison Ferrant led a number of women in hand drumming songs, including a welcoming song called Hui Quando Dey, and another called Endayan, which translates in English to “home” and celebrates the idea of the home within the self, within the community and within the Ardoch First Nation. The song originated in a women's shelter for battered and abused women. Lastly, they sang Anishinaabe Kwe, a song celebrating native women.

Non-Aboriginal visitors to the festival can always trust that they will come away having learned something new about Aboriginal culture. For me this time it was Bob Lovelace's teaching that when it comes to hunting, planting and really any undertaking that one is involved with, it is perhaps equally if not more important to consider what one leaves behind as well as what one takes away.

 

Photo: The Nelson family dancers (with Riley Brooks), l-r, Nakita, Tammy, Riley Brooks, Bernard (head male dancer), Shemia, and Keesha, (head female dancer).

On August 27 and 28, close to 1000 people gathered at the shores of Silver Lake for the 17th annual community Pow Wow, which is put on jointly by members of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in the area.

Traditionally held to trade the four sacred medicines- cedar, sage, sweet grass and tobacco, as well as to carry on commerce and match making, Pow Wows are now held primarily as a way for Aboriginal friends and family to meet.

The event attracted members from the Shabot Obaadjiwan and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations, members of the Akwesasne Reserve, and many others too numerous to mention. Highlights of the weekend events included the new dancers at the dance out ceremony, honours songs sung for community members in the military who are currently serving abroad.

As always there was feasting on traditional native foods plus a variety of native crafts available for purchase. The drumming, songs and dances performed at the Pow Wow are undertaken as forms of prayers. Pow Wow emcee, Mitchell Shewell of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, stressed the important place that prayer takes at a traditional Pow Wow . “When we dance, it is a prayer for all of those people who cannot dance, those in hospitals, in institutions, or in jails as well as for those with physical disabilities.”

I met up with a family of dancers, the Nelson family, of the Port Hope and Nippising First Nations, who were making their way to the Pow Wow site for Sunday's grand entry, each dressed in their incredibly colourful regalia. This is the third year that the Nelson family has accepted the invitation to be head dancers at Silver Lake

The Pow Wow receives no government funding and is only able to take place thanks to the generosity of individuals in the surrounding communities. The Pow Wow is a not for profit event and all the proceeds go toward covering its costs. “This is a community-based traditional Pow Wow that exists because natives and non-natives come together to raise the funds necessary to put it on”, said arena director Danka Brewer. “So everyone is welcome to attend.”

 

Cathy Owen is another local artist who has every reason to say that she is “living the dream”. On August 3 Cathy, who has been painting and teaching for over 20 years, officially opened the doors of her brand new “Red Dragon Studio” which is located on Malcolm Lake near Ardoch. “My dream has always been to have my own gallery,” she said on opening day. Cathy and her husband Trevor were in the midst of serving guests wine and cheese just outside her recently erected gallery space, a rustic, cottage-style 9x12 building that houses her meticulously framed watercolor pictures as well as her other current work.

Cathy says she is primarily a self-taught painter and currently she teaches over 35 students, many of whom have gone on to become established artists themselves. Cathy's foray into art began in Halifax where she took evening courses in painting and later she continued her art education at the Ottawa School of Art. Watercolor painting is her main focus and she said she fell in love with the medium, as it was the one that best suited her personality. “Watercolors are spontaneous, challenging, exciting and often unpredictable, which is the reason that I was so drawn it right from the start.”

The wide range of subject matter she has on display in the new gallery shows that she does not like to stick to one particular style. Her more realistic paintings are done from photographs - one of a cedar tree; another of a small German fishing village, and they show her skills as a draftsman. Three other paintings, all based on the theme of leaves in the fall, also demonstrate her ability to clearly depict nature, though in a fresh, more personal way, with the leaves being used to create intricate designs in soft airy palettes that make them appear to float on air. Another of her styles is more surreal and narrative and is apparent in a second series of three paintings, each titled the Cycle of Life. One depicts the life of the monarch butterfly, the second, a dragonfly and the third, a pond frog. This series demonstrates Cathy's willingness to tackle more complex subject matter. In each painting the main subject is often repeated in various shapes and forms and while realistically represented they are placed in swirling, colorful backgrounds that allow each picture to stand as a magnificent and pleasing world unto itself.

Cathy explained her wide-ranging stylistic scope this way. “Because I teach both advanced and beginner painting, I tend to paint in various styles so that I am able to instruct my students in any style that they might prefer to paint in.” Cathy says that she is also the type of person who loves to tackle new things, which is perhaps why she has ventured into other mediums besides paint. Her stained glass pieces allow her to continue to create colorful graphic imagery using a glass on glass technique, which she frames in old salvaged windows or in hanging metal garden lanterns. Similarly her tile mosaic work, which comes in the form of patio stones, large decorative bowls, and bird baths allows her to create beautiful central landscapes and images of animals like swans and goldfish which she then encloses in colorful mosaic backgrounds.

Cathy will be holding workshops at the Malcolm Lake Studio. She will be offering a one-day beginners watercolor course this fall. For more information call 613-479-2137. Red Dragon Studio is located at 1091 Ridge Lane just off the Ardoch Road. Visitors can drop in by chance or make an appointment.

Long before it officially became a provincial park in 1965, the flavor of Bon Echo Park had begun to take shape decades earlier, thanks to the influence of three distinct personalities.

In a presentation titled "The Dentist, the Feminist and The Writer", local historian Margaret Axford spoke of the influence these three people had on the park, which continues to draw visitors from across the country and from all over the world.

Photo: Dr. Weston A. Price courtesy of Ian Brumell

The first was the dentist, Dr. Weston A. Price, who was born in Newburgh, Ontario, but who lived and worked in Cleveland, Ohio. Price's wife was from Brampton, Ont. and she taught in Ardoch. In 1898 Price began renting land in what is now Bon Echo in the summer months from a farmer named David Weese. In 1899 the couple acquired land in the area and Price decided to build an inn modeled on the tourist hotels of the Adirondacks. Axford stated, “He [Price] knew that the setting of the Mazinaw Rock would be a natural draw and it was the Prices who gave the name 'Bon Echo' to the area, and who gave birth to tourism in the region.”

Price, who was described by one observer at the time as a “wiry man, always rushing somewhere with a hammer in his hand” used local labor to build the inn, which consisted of the main building, five cottages, a separate staff house, a boat house, a laundry house, an ice house, numerous docks and a bridge across the Narrows. By the end of Price's second summer after purchasing the land, the Bon Echo Inn was complete. In 1901 a telephone line that originated at the Kaladar train station and ran along the old Addington Road became the first telephone line in the area.

Price hoped to attract like-minded nature lovers to the area, and because he was a teetotaler and a religious man, the inn was dry until Merrill Denison took it over decades later.

Photo: Flora MacDonald Denison courtesy of Ian Brumell

In 1901, Flora MacDonald Denison arrived on the scene at Bon Echo with her husband Howard and son Merrill, first as guests in the tower room suite of the inn. Axford said that “she would have bought the place at that time if Price had been selling it” but instead she bought a lot south of the Narrows, where she built a summer cottage. Flora and her family would spend the next nine summers there. Flora MacDonald Denison was born in 1867 in Actinolite, worked as a teacher near Actinolite, and as a dressmaker in Toronto. She later was a writer on women's rights and the suffrage movement.

It was on her annual trip to Bob Echo in 1910 that Flora learned that Dr. Price wanted to sell the inn. Differing reasons are given for Price's reason for selling. One was that his 10-year-old son Donald was ill at the time; he later died either of spinal meningitis or from a diving accident.

Flora paid Dr. Price $13,000 for the inn, Big Bear Island and numerous acres of land, and Flora's husband Howard ran the Inn from 1911-1913 until the two separated and their marriage ended. Flora then took it over and her intent was to create “a haven for artists and philosophers in an inspiring natural landscape with an incredible view of Mazinaw Rock, where visitors could renew their souls, their energies and their creative instincts.” Flora also celebrated the teachings and writings of Walt Whitman, the famed 19th century American poet. According to Axford, Flora “was caught up in his [Whitman's] democratic ideals and she saw Bon Echo as being a symbol of democratic freedom...that would always be enhanced by the spirit of Walt Whitman.”

It was Flora who had a large rock face on the lake inscribed with a dedication to “Old Walt”. As a practicing spiritualist and part of a group whose members claimed they could communicate with the dead, Flora held numerous séances at Bon Echo. One observer at the time recalled that guests at Bon Echo “often preferred a séance at midnight to a Sunday morning church service.” Under Flora's command the inn housed many notable guests, including James Thurber, Morley Callahan, Frank Lloyd Wright and the painters from the Group of Seven; the latter would often be guests when Flora's son Merrill took over ownership. Financially the inn ran at a loss, with “Flora's dreams always outstretching her financial capabilities”.

Photo: Merrill Denison courtesy of Ian Brumell

Flora died at 54 years of age on May 23, 1921 and a bronze urn holding her ashes was deposited in Mazinaw Lake just below the Whitman inscription. Her son, Merrill Denison, a writer and later a well-known radio personality, inherited the inn and its 10 square miles of property, and began some much-needed repairs. His contacts at Hart House and the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto put him in touch with many famous Canadians artists of the time, many of whom would become regular visitors to Bon Echo. Merrill's partner, Muriel Goggin, whom he would marry in 1926, ran the inn from 1923-1928 “like a general”, and it prospered during this time until the stock market crash of 1929. From then until 1934 it was closed to the public at large and became Camp Mazinaw, a boys' camp for Trinity College School in Port Hope.

 In 1936 the inn burned down after being struck by lightning. A Toronto woman who was working at the inn at that time, when she was 16 years old, sadly recalled watching it burn. Though the inn was never rebuilt, Merrill and Muriel continued to spend the summers at Bon Echo after selling off some of the land. They kept less than 100 acres for themselves. Merrill's aim still was to preserve the area as “a meeting place as it was for the Alonquins, a center to which people would come to learn and discuss ideas in an inspiring natural surrounding.”

 In 1959 he turned over the buildings and land to the provincial government to be used as a provincial park. The official ceremony did not take place until 1965. Merrill died in 1975 at the age of 81.

 Axford ended her presentation defining the legacy that these three personalities left behind for all who continue to visit and enjoy Bon Echo Park. “The legacy they left was that the democratic spirit should prevail and the ordinary person must continue to have access to this wonderful place.” For those wanting a more detailed account of the history of Bon Echo and the personalities who helped to create it, a number of books on the subject are available at the Cloyne Pioneer Museum. They include "The Oxen and The Axe" (Brown, Brumell and Snider), "The Mazinaw Experience: Bon Echo and Beyond" (John Campbell), "Sunset of Bon Echo" (Flora MacDonald Denison), and "Bon Echo: The Denison Years" (Mary Savigny).