Testing out the accommodations in 1870’s era jail.
Six of us ventured out on the first leg of Elgin end-to-end on a overcast day in October. Wild turkeys were seen while hiking through the woods and cormorants have taken up home in the harbour. We were given a tour of the Lake Erie Trout club facilities by Kit Brown and got to see fingerlings in the holding tanks.
The hike was cut short due to muddy conditions and will be continued on November 26th. Our newest member Joan was out as well as two ladies from London Doris and Jennifer. They all hope to continue with the end-to-end. Welcome. Fellowship followed at Harbour Merchant Coffee Company in Port Stanley.
Loretta, Brian, Eileene and Steve at 40th Celebration held in West room at Mackie’s, Port Stanley
The day started with the hydro being out in Port Stanley, the weather was a bit chilly and windy for our 40th celebration, still 60 people came out for the Port Stanley Terminal Rail train to Whytes Park. Cathy Johnstone had a nice surprise of water and chocolate at the park which everyone definitely enjoyed. The children had fun poking their heads out of the Col. Talbot’s Animal Circus rail car. The commentary on the train was superb.
At the train station it was a bit too windy and people started to migrate to the warmth of Mackie’s. The ten hikers who got off at Union Station arrived thirty minutes later, Loretta did a great job motioning them along. As we walked along the harbour, waves were certainly foretelling of rain to come.
We had the West room at Mackie’s for the celebration and everyone was socializing and bringing up old memories. John and Jeanette Cervan greated guests at the entrance to Mackie’s. Kelly Jones did a great job of welcoming everyone and introducing our guest speakers. The Mayor of Central Elgin, David Marr, welcomed everyone and acknowledged the county of Central Elgin appreciate all the work the volunteers do to make the trail possible. He presented the EHTC with a Certificate of Congratulations which Loretta accepted on behalf of the club. Dan McNeil welcomed everyone. Steve Peters spoke to the history of the trail and stated parts of it would have been used many many years before by settlers and natives. Brian Wilsdon introduced our special guests and thanked the land owners for their continued support.
William Stewart was one of the visionaries for creating the trail. His wife Eileene Stewart and current president Loretta Vaughan cut the cake. Loretta, Lydia Driscoll and Dave Gibson (absent) were instrumental in reforming the club in 1989. The socializing continued afterwards.
A group of us went for turkey supper after at the Anglican church and Tom Friesen, president of Hike Ontario was able to join us.
A big thank you to Mackie’s for allowing us free use of their facilities. The Lale family have been a strong supporters of the club. A very, very special thank you to the amazing job the organizing committee of Brian King, Loretta Vaughan and Brian Wilsdon did in making the 40th celebration such a great success. Good job.
More photos of 40th celebration can be found on our Flickr site.
After a long hiatus two of the pole people are in their rightful place. It took a long time for the two of them to get over the loss of their son Totem who mysterious dissapeared from the same spot many years ago. The pole people were created by Cathy Cook and were originally installed on the beach near Mackie’s in 2002 to celebrate the Elgin Hiking Trail being extended thru the village of Port Stanley. The pole people are at kilometre zero of the northward trek of the Trail that goes all the way to Southdel Bourne where it connects with the Thames Valley Trail. Seen in picture are Evan and his grand parents Loretta and Richard. Evan supervised the installation and enjoyed watching Mike from Central Elgin dig the hole with his back hoe. Thanks to Mike for making small work of the install.
