For those of you who know me you know I love going to our family camp (cottage) every summer. I long for it throughout the year and the babies can’t wait to get there too. It’s a magical place where you can be free! There are no agendas, a beautiful lake to swim, paddle, and maybe the occasional water ski. (Later post about how my cousins video-taped me crashing in to the dock and cracking my ribs when I was 12)
My paternal grandfather (born in the late 1800s) built our cabin and it has seen many additions over the years but there is still one wall left that he built. It is a place of history and mystery. It is a place of love for family and the land. I am lucky to share this with my cousins, my uncle, and my bro and their families.
The fascinating thing about White River, Ontario is that although it is in the middle of nowhere (forgiveness from our WR friends) it is the most endearing place for our family. By family you have to understand that my paternal grandmother was raised there with her 12 siblings. There is even a river east of town named after that side of our family. The house they lived in is still there complete with a family graveyard in the front of the home (but not too close haha) Many of the descendants of these siblings come from all over the country and US to be in White River for some part of the summer. It is like an informal family reunion every summer. It’s so hard to capture in words what it means. White River is a feeling.
The road that leads to the lake is a gravel road that has a couple of twists. I’ve known this road for most of my life. I remember walking it and riding my bike on it as a kid. My brother and cousins and I would walk or ride our bikes to town to get a burger or milkshake together. Talk about freedom! The best is now seeing my babes do the same. There are so many memories made as a
child with my bro and cousins that my own children are making with their cousins. You wouldn’t even know there is a lake there from the highway. It is sheltered and tucked away until the reveal down the gravel road.
All of this has changed.
A couple of years ago I started to notice that the property at the end of the beach road was being “worked” on. Trees were being torn down and a driveway was put in. I tried to find out what was being built there but it didn’t seem like anyone else knew either. Fast forward to today and now this land is totally stripped, trees have been cut and buried and cleared right to the lake. There is no longer a precious marsh to support the health of the lake. This isn’t just a little piece of property – it is huge. It now has work trailers on it and from my understanding the noise from the equipment is loud and unsettling. A work camp for up to 200 people is being erected on this part of paradise.
Or at least that is the plan.
Why? I’m not sure. Couldn’t there be possibly other places for it? I think so. Why would you put a huge camp with heavy equipment in the middle of a residential zone? Business is complicated here. White River is a small blip on the highway famous for Winnie the Pooh. You may have seen the statue that was erected in the 90’s. I love that I was there for that. Why Winnie? Well, the original black bear cub was bought by Harry Colbourn in White River. Cool eh? She was named Winnie after his home town of Winnipeg but really she’s from White River, Ontario.
Anyway, back to the bunkhouse/camp. Because it is a small town business like this bunkhouse for 200 people has the potential to bring revenue to this tiny town. Sure, great. Noted. But on the lake?? I remember being told as a kid that no one was allowed to build on the lake because of moratorium of construction on the lake. There are 4 bays and they all have properties on them. What about another 200 people fishing on the lake? The traffic on the beach road? People at the beach? It’s not that big, folks. Can Picnic Lake really handle all of this? I’m usually pretty positive but at this point – not so much.
This brings me to my cousins. We have come together as a family to look at how we can protest this situation… with tact and empathy for the town’s development. What is really cool is looking at the combined talents, skills and abilities of each of us... I feel really proud to be on such a stacked team. Do we know if this project will continue to go through? No. But what I do know is that that we have a team of family dedicated to preserving this precious part of paradise. Cross your fingers that this work site can be moved to a different, less intrusive, part of town and pray that the health of the lake will be strong… forever.
To read the submission opinions on the rezoning of this land: http://www.whiteriver.ca/upload/documents/white-river-written-comments.pdf
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