Best viewed as webpage? disclaimer September 2023

Family Arts Fest - Bert Weir Day

a Whispering River Music Production

by Brenda Muller - Zach Louch (editor)

I first met Bert Weir while he was videoing one of poet Penn Kemp’s sound operas. I was performing with his daughter Wave, who was dancing up a storm. I had met Wave about 15 minutes before we were on stage together at the Station Gallery, which at the time was an art gallery in which Bert, Joy and Wave were involved. Bert loved the performance and we quickly connected as artists. I was invited to his house a few weeks later and without much more ado we started playing music and painting together.

We didn’t talk much, we were just really good friends - and really good colleagues. We had very similar ideas about art. He loved to connect with nature and so did I, so we would sit outside for hours and he would paint while I would improvise. He has a series, Bushwall, and I was there playing for most of it, but I think the first formal improvising we did together was Homage to Women, which coincidentally has been much on my mind recently because this upcoming concert features music by five of Canada’s leading women composers.

The Sept 16 concert features the world premier of the 2023 Bert Weir Memorial Commission: Clare Pellerin’s Journeys, a five-movement piece inspired by Bert Weir’s paintings from his Journey series and the Journeys of Clare’s ancestors. Music by Carol Ann Weaver and past winners of the Bert Weir Memorial Commission Diane Berry, Janet Danielson and Dr. Patricia Morehead will be also be featured.

All of these pieces use one of Bert’s paintings, or poetry, to explore the music-visual art interface. They find inspiration in the natural energies and landscapes that Bert himself often drew inspiration from when painting, the sort of stuff that evokes a palpable sense of feeling, connection and creativity. These are things that are hard to put into words, but are innately felt – and we wanted this to be an event where you can go in and explore those feelings.

There will be opportunities to do this by trying out instruments, singing, and contributing to the community mural painted on the back of our outdoor stage while on the other side of the wall, the commissioned music is being workshopped with the orchestra for the composers. We’ll have plenty of paint and paintbrushes of all sizes. We simply want people to have the chance to paint what they feel while listening to music and get to experience that interface firsthand.

The Banner Boat Ballet is another great opportunity for community members to express their creativity through visual art and share it in a unique way. Starting at 10 AM we will have all the materials needed for everyone to paint their own banners. Boats will gather in the inlet at Minerva Park at 11 AM, and then parade around the point of Minerva Park at 11:30 AM.

The ballet is performed while the Canoe Choir treats us to their traditional canoe songs from out on the water. This is your chance to learn some canoeing songs and join in! We will have song sheets.

Anyone with a rowboat, paddle boat, kayak, canoe, or any kind of non-motorized boat with a place rigged up to fly a banner is welcome to join the ballet and be a part of this unique community collaboration of visual art, music and dance (Yes, boats can dance too!).

We are also offering a number of hands-on workshops throughout the day where community members of all ages are invited to try out violins, violas, cellos and double basses, as well as Orff xylophones and percussion instruments perfect for young children interested in starting their musical journey.

Our goal with this event is to create open questions which can only be answered through engaging with the flow between art and music. We invite people to gently journey between these two worlds. Bert loved, as I do, the abstract world – the world between worlds without limitations. We hope you’ll join us on September 16th in Minerva Park and explore your creativity and find that world.

Note: Whispering River Music is a Registered Canadian Charity serving greater Parry Sound. They teach music to over 300 families in Parry Sound area, offer programs of up to 12 weeks in length to 4 schools that have little or no music program, and work closely with their Ancestors Circle to ensure that they are respectful and inclusive for the whole community. Up to 50% of their students are on full scholarship and participants range in age from 4 to 91. They run a summer camp for local kids, community and youth orchestra, choir, coffee houses, and a concert series where they perform everything from new concert music to Handel’s Messiah at the Stockey. They are funded in part by our amazing BEER CAN and BOTTLE drive and are looking for volunteers to help with the bi-monthly collection in McKellar! If you want to help, or get involved, contact them at www.whisperingrivermusic.com or call 705 996 0736

The Red Canoe - Book Launch
Storybook written and Illustrated by Bert Weir

“This should be every Canadian child’s first story and book.”
Mary Jane Gomes, Artist Photographer and Filmmaker

“The Red Canoe” is a child’s gentle, early reading, illustrated storybook. Its journey to publication, has a tale of its own. During the early 1950’s Bert Weir and fellow artist Elena Zebrauskaite-Weir, raised three daughters on an island in McKellar’s Grey Owl Lake. Their home a rustic log cabin, their lives entwined with the nature that surrounded them. At bedtime Bert would tell his daughters stories about the fish, birds, plants, animals and insects that they would meet on their evening paddle down Deep Bay.

It was at this time “The Red Canoe” found its genesis. The story was written, illustrated and laid out then. It was never published.

Discovered posthumously amongst the papers in Weir’s studio, seventy years after its inception, “The Red Canoe” is now published.

Those acquainted with Grey Owl Lake will recognize the cabin within the pages of the book. It remains, standing on the island as a beacon of an earlier time, to this day.

Bert Weir was a Canadian artist known for his powerful expressive paintings of the landscape. His lifelong love of the Georgian Bay area was reflected in both his artwork and his commitment to community development and education. Bert’s love of nature lead him to spend countless hours outdoors in every season.

He painted directly from the landscape returning to his studio to develop paintings that celebrated the essence of the landscape he found so important. It was his passion to describe those experiences in colour and form.

The book launch of “The Red Canoe” will take place during the Family Arts Fest Bert Weir Day, orchestrated by Whispering River Music. This festive occasion, a part of the McKellar 150 celebrations, will feature a kaleidoscope of events, including workshops hosted by five of Canada’s foremost female composers and a Classical Pops Concert.

More information on all the activities scheduled for Bert Weir Day can be found at www.whisperingrivermusic.com

What Do Loon Calls Mean?
by Peter Duffey

We've all heard the call of a loon, but have you ever wondered what they are saying? Here's a link to a page that explains the 4 most common calls a loon will make, the wail, the tremelo, the yodel and the hoot.

Of all the calls, it's especially important to understand the tremelo. That is the sound a loon will make if it feels threatened (you are getting to close).

The wail (often referred to as a call) is a sound we like to have some fun with. If a loon is within earshot of our dock, we'll sometimes call to it and see if they answer. Sometimes they do.

Please report your Weekend Loon Sightings to looncount@mlca.ca!

A reasonably close GPS setting is helpful - go onto Google Maps and click on the spot to get coordinates.

We will publish results later in the Fall.

Photo Credit - Maine Audubon

AGM Roundup - Year in Review
by Steve Macdonell

Read and learn what your Association has been up this year. It was a year of elevated contributions to the community by our many volunteers.

Our goal is to support, encourage and connect our members to each other as a community and to the environment. Encouraging our members to be stewards of the land, the water, and each other makes us all stronger. As we support the community of McKellar, the community, in turn, gives us more support and our membership continues to grow. Everything we do is directed at building a better environment and a stronger, happier community.

We were fortunate to have Steve Bradley of the Parry Sound Blue Bird Nesting project bring us up to speed on their extensive work that has been going on for many years in our area. He clearly describe the tremendous success of the program and how easy it is to implement. Many of our members are involved in this work. We hope to support this work by publishing building plans on our website so that more people can get involved. More birds is definitely a great goal for our community. 3 members talked to Steve at the AGM about getting involved.

Through our Weekly and Seasonal Newsletters we inform our members of events in McKellar and the Parry Sound area. We are now reaching over 900 people and their extended families with this online communication. Approximately 85% of the communications are opened. This is a very effective way of getting information out to our members and contacts and it also allows us to support activities in the community. We proactively look for community groups and events to support by this method. We especially try to support new businesses and welcome them to McKellar by providing them with free advertising - discounts for members are often negotiated as well.

The Summer Market continues to be a wonderful meeting place for the community. Big thanks go out to Jan Gibson - a MLCA member - for all of her work. Operating a booth at the Market allows us to connect with our members, share information, and produce new ideas. Jennifer Ghent-Fuller has done a great job running our booth - it was her idea to sell the Septic Dye Testing tablets and to get the special flash lights for the Library to loan out.

Tree Sales continue to be a popular event for us. Over 30 volunteers including the Parry Sound Scouts helped out this year. If you want the birds, you must have the trees. To avoid the shortages we had this past May, we will soon put our order into the nursery - thanks to our Tree and Shoreline specialists, we have a very good idea of what to order and the extras always make it into the ground somewhere. Our support of the Still Creek Reserve on Grey Owl Lake through the Magnetawan Watershed Land Trust helped the Trust with their financial obligations to the land and it also gave us an opportunity to facilitate a Citizen Bio Blitz to the property with the GBBR and the residents of Grey Owl Lake.

We strive to create a richer community through the support of community groups. The Ribfest was our biggest project of the summer - we helped to coordinate the efforts of 15 groups in order to have a wonderful celebration in honour of the McKellar 150th. These groups recently had a followup meeting to plan an even better event for next year. The enthusiasm was tremendous. The Township’s Recreation Committee gives our members great opportunities for involvement and enjoyment - to recognize the value of their efforts, we donated funds to build stage risers for the Murder Mystery Night and for many future events. Big thanks to Phil Jefkins for taking a lead on this. The Hurdville Community Club provides an excellent hub for activities down in the south end of the township - we helped them produce a new free website and we will continue to offer them help as we can.

Our Propane Plan continues to be very popular with members. We facilitate problems and handle questions from at least 2-3 members per week.

The work of the Township’s 150th Committee over the past few years has been outstanding. The Grand Celebration and other events have all been huge successes. We participated in the celebrations by running the Art Gala - the artists of the community, as you know from our newsletters, are important to us. We also volunteered to create and host the website for the 150th.

On the Water Front, our Lake Steward, Jennifer Ghent—Fuller, initiated an annual Loon Count for our McKellar lakes. Our members responded with numerous sightings. Two members, Patty and Peter Duffey, volunteered to administer the count and they also set up a Loon Facebook page - The Loons of Manitouwabing Lake.

Water Testing continues with our intrepid crew of volunteers. The summer of 2023 has not found any significant E.coli hotspots. Over the past fall and winter, we authorized our Lake Steward to purchase $8000 worth of equipment to allow us to accurately measure the health of our lakes. We are now measuring phosphorus, calcium, oxygen and salinity levels in our waters so that trends can be detected. Phosphorus levels are at reasonable levels at the moment, but any increase in phosphorus combined with warming waters due to climate change could lead to an algae problem. Lakes all across Ontario are dealing with this. So, more than ever, it is critical to track the health of the lakes and look for ways to keep phosphorus in check.

Thanks to all for participating in this year’s AGM. We had 8 people view online, and 40 people in person. 143 members voted through the online poll. All motions passed with a very large margin - detailed minutes will be published soon.

Turtle Landing
by Linda Taylor

The point of land at our cottage has yearly visitors every June and I have designated the area as “turtle landing”. The land base is 2 to 3 feet of sand on top and solid rock below. The turtle crawled ten feet over the sloped rock front and up an eight foot elevation stepped section.

In the 15 years we have owned the cottage we have enjoyed the turtles laying their eggs. The older ancient one inches her way up from the water. The young female whose shells are 6 to 8 inches in diameter move quickly from the water. Quick as that, in the wee morning hours I have watched the ancient one lift her head in the air as if to sniff her nest location and slowly move in that direction. For her it takes many hours. I have watched her lay eggs, first nest, second nest and then totally exhausted she makes her way back into the water to cool off then comes back to lay more eggs. Her half arched shell is about 14 inches in diameter.

We have a fair amount of wildlife that frequent our property – moles, water snakes, racoons. All of which, in my mind, can detect the location of the eggs. Sad but true, despite all the efforts of the turtle, we have yet to see any of the babies emerge. There is a chance that the young female that laid this year is an offspring of the ancient one. I have found broken and empty shells about the size of a small hen egg. I always hope that some of the turtles that emerge make it safely to the water’s edge and start a new life cycle.

Summer Round-up by Vicky Short
Volunteer Extordinaire

There was an incredible turn out of visitors to McKellar's Labour Day Market, and what a beautiful day to be there for our last market of the summer season. While the sun shone, everyone was entertained with lively music provided by our talented musicians.

There were lots of familiar faces and new ones too. Visitors were from as far away as: Scotland, England, Upstate New York, and a shout out to the group visiting from Nova Scotia! Our vendors were certainly busy, as evident with folks laden with goodies & treasures.

McKellar Fire & Parry Sound EMS held their food drive for Parry Sound Harvest Share. Visitors were generous with food and monetary donations. $494.40 was collected. Thank you to all for your overwhelming generosity!

I'd like to take a moment and thank Jan Gibson for welcoming me as a volunteer at the market. She & her husband, Rob, do an amazing job. Being at the market each week, I've had the pleasure of getting to know the vendors and also the visitors to the market. Everyone has a great story to share.

As we wrap up another successful summer season at the market, we'd like to thank all of our vendors, musicians, volunteers, and visitors.

Thanksgiving Market
Saturday, Oct 7
10am. to 1pm
Minerva Park

All proceeds are going toward the restoration of the hall.

Activities

Sound of Hope Walk
September 30
Click for details

Bands on The Bay
At the Stockey
September 14

Filthy Rich and The Empty Pockets

McKellar150.com for updates

Sound Septic Services

Do you find yourself “baffled” about why your toilet won’t flush? At Sound Septic Service, we encourage preventative maintenance but understand septic system emergencies of all kinds happen occasionally and often at the most inconvenient time.

Call us at 705-346-2428. We won’t leave you stranded up creek without a paddle.

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Vendor Highlights

For The Bees
Eddie and Charles travelled to Egypt and had the pleasure of meeting some Egyptian beekeepers there. Peter and Pia who own and operate Manoufia Honey by Peter's Bees sent them home with some of their wonderful Honey. They will have several varieties for people to try at this years festival.

Pudge’s Honey
back again with their delicious honey and loads of bee information! Based out of McKellar.

Fire & Folk @firefolkcandle is a new addition to the festival this year. They make gorgeous tinned candles, using both soy and beeswax while incorporating essential oils

The Holmstead @holmsteadfarm will be back at this years festival with their goats milk soap! Did you know that they use locally sourced honey in some of their soaps

The Detour Co. @thedetourco.muskoka is a new addition to the Bee & Honey Festival this year! They believe in using natural products in their sensitive skincare line, including beeswax!

Heart of Yolk
returning this year with all of her amazing bee inspired earrings!

Paper Hearts
These amazing, handmade cards by Cate will be available