I find that it’s necessary to occasionally have guests from off-island visit otherwise we may forget all the great things there are to see and do on Manitoulin. For example we just had a couple visiting us from up in Schumacher and it gave me a good excuse to go exploring once again.
I had actually introduced these two way back in 1973 or 1974 when he was my co-worker at The Bay and she was a teacher. In those days it was common for the HBC boys and the local group of teachers and nurses to get together often and I suppose that this still goes on even though I’ve turned into a recluse myself. Back then I spent many an evening visiting with the other “outsiders” and tipping back more than a few tasty beverages, especially on the weekends. At any rate these two hit it off but we thought all was over when Ken transferred from Mistassini to St. Augustine down on the north shore of Quebec. As fate would have it he became manager of our store in Wemindji a year or so later and guess who was teaching in that community at that time? Yup, game over for both of them and he and Brenda were married shortly afterward.
I occasionally ran into Ken and Brenda who had moved south when I was travelling out from Moosonee serving in various capacities for the Lions Clubs, but hadn’t seen him in the past 4 or 5 years. They finally came down to visit a few days ago and Gloria and I got reacquainted with them and I got reacquainted with Manitoulin Island. We hit most of the highlights on the eastern end of the island (we’ll do the west next year) from High Falls to the Little Current docks and on to Kagawong for the Bridal Veil Falls tour and even managed to hit the Thursday night
Dinner Cruise on the Chi-Cheemaun. As I think I’ve mentioned before, if you’ve never taken this cruise then by all means do so. The food is great, the service super and the views heading over and then sailing back into the sunset are beyond compare. If any of you out there reading this have never visited our area and would like more information just let me know. Personally I’m going to make it a point to get out and about much more often and we’ll update you with some other photos later on.
Manitoulin Fish & Chips anyone?
It was yet another successful event at the South Baymouth Flea & Farmers Market yesterday. We're there every Sunday from 11:00am to 3:00pm and it would be great to see you there next week. LOTS of great products and bargains from all the vendors, including yours truly!
This will be a weekly event for July and August and we’ll all be there from 11:00am to 3:00pm every Sunday. I have my Watkins wares of course and although I do not stock every one of the 350+ items that are in our main catalogue I do have 30 or 40 different goodies on hand such as spices, soups, gravies, cleaners and home remedies. Of course I try to keep the all time favorites of pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, Petro-Carbo and Medicated Ointments on hand at all times. Personally we find ourselves using more and more of the soaps and detergents every month as they work great and are plant based and environmentally friendly. I think these “green” products are very important for those of us who live so close to the many lakes and streams on the island and it’s nice not to have to worry about what our “grey water” may be doing to that family of loons near the house.
We all hope to see you there each and every Sunday throughout the summer but if you can't make it you can always order all your Watkins products directly online or send me an e-mail and we'll get back to you with details. I'd like to thank you all in advance as we're really pushing to make Manager level with Watkins this month and can't do it without your continued support. See you at the market!
I had actually introduced these two way back in 1973 or 1974 when he was my co-worker at The Bay and she was a teacher. In those days it was common for the HBC boys and the local group of teachers and nurses to get together often and I suppose that this still goes on even though I’ve turned into a recluse myself. Back then I spent many an evening visiting with the other “outsiders” and tipping back more than a few tasty beverages, especially on the weekends. At any rate these two hit it off but we thought all was over when Ken transferred from Mistassini to St. Augustine down on the north shore of Quebec. As fate would have it he became manager of our store in Wemindji a year or so later and guess who was teaching in that community at that time? Yup, game over for both of them and he and Brenda were married shortly afterward.
I occasionally ran into Ken and Brenda who had moved south when I was travelling out from Moosonee serving in various capacities for the Lions Clubs, but hadn’t seen him in the past 4 or 5 years. They finally came down to visit a few days ago and Gloria and I got reacquainted with them and I got reacquainted with Manitoulin Island. We hit most of the highlights on the eastern end of the island (we’ll do the west next year) from High Falls to the Little Current docks and on to Kagawong for the Bridal Veil Falls tour and even managed to hit the Thursday night Dinner Cruise on the Chi-Cheemaun. As I think I’ve mentioned before, if you’ve never taken this cruise then by all means do so. The food is great, the service super and the views heading over and then sailing back into the sunset are beyond compare. If any of you out there reading this have never visited our area and would like more information just let me know. Personally I’m going to make it a point to get out and about much more often and we’ll update you with some other photos later on.
