MUSEUM LECTURE

As part of their 50th anniversary season the Muskoka Lakes Museum is offering a series of free lectures, held most Wednesday evenings. Tonight's feature was "Cottaging 50 Years Ago" and was presented by Susan Daglish, who regaled the audience with her experiences of cottage life then and before. Their cottage, on Lake Rosseau, is one of Muskoka's oldest, originally a squared log cabin and is called "Subha", an East Indian name meaning "place of peace and healing."

BUTTERTART FESTIVAL

Rain and thunder did little to discourage people from attending the Buttertart Festival, sponsored by Muskoka Life and held at the Muskoka Lakes Museum. Several local bakeries were on hand, busy promoting their versions and vying for the coveted People's Choice Award. The sun eventually made an appearance and everybody left happy, their cravings satisfied and umbrellas stowed, and for some, like us, with a door prize of more buttertarts to enjoy afterwards.
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GREGORY CEMETERY

I joined several other people for an interesting visit of the Gregory Christ Church and its cemetery, the second such event hosted by the Muskoka Lakes Museum. We learned about some of the area's early pioneers, heard stories told firsthand by their descendants, and the controversy behind the Smythe family and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
[Click here to visit Ed's post on this and his great Muskoka website.]
[Thank you to Doug Smith, museum Director, for use of his picture.]

WILSON'S WELCOME

Woodrow Wilson, before becoming the 28th President of the USA, was enamored by Muskoka on previous visits that he once bought this island, and the Muskoka Lakes Museum has in its collection a faded wood sign, its painted message signed by himself, granting visitors access to his private property if they honoured his wishes.

MUSEUM DAY

Today is International Museum Day and opening day of the Muskoka Lakes Museum, where new for this year they have introduced a self-guided audio tour using your cellular, with five stations set up so far and limitless potential. This service is provided by Tour-Mate and is sponsored by the Bean family, who have summered here since 1885.
[Photo and audio c/o Doug Smith, Director/Curator of the museum.]

FIRST NATIONS

In the First Nations Gallery of the Muskoka Lakes Museum, a display case features stone implements dating from 8000 B.C.E. to modern ornamental artwork. Native handiwork like this is still carried on by Frank and Phoebe Roads, a Mohawk couple who make and sell their wares to tourists each summer in their craft shop across the river.