Shows
ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 70: Our Algonquin Park Experiences Part 3Episode 70: Our Algonquin Park Experiences Part 3
In this episode I share my experiences at Algonquin Park Children's Camps (Camp Tamakwa on South Tea Lake and Camp Wapomeo on Canoe Lake) and Rory shares his experiences working as a summer naturalist and his later work helping establish the Archives and undertaking various archeological projects in and around the Park.
We both then share some ot the details as to why we had to leave and our lives now.
2025-03-1156 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 69: Our Algonquin Experiences - Part IIEpisode 69: Our Algonquin Experiences - Part II
This is the second of 3 episodes capturing the experiences of Gaye Clemson and Rory MacKay who were blessed to be able to spend the summers of their youth on Canoe Lake and Lake of Two Rivers respectively. It is dedicated to Brock Easterling, who suggested that this would a fun topic for our listeners. In this episode we focus on Canoe Lake’s 1960s social life, the challenges of mice and bears, canoe trips and park visitors.
Key References include:
Reminiscences of Gaye Clemson and Rory MacKay as...2025-01-3155 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 68: Our Algonquin Experiences Part 1Episode 68: Our Algonquin Experiences Part 1
This is the first of three episodes capturing the experiences of Gaye Clemson and Rory MacKay who were blessed to be able to spend the summers of their youth and most of their adult lives as leaseholders on Canoe Lake and Lake of Two Rivers respectively.
Key References include:
Reminiscences of Gaye Clemson and Rory MacKay as well as the following publications:
The Canoe Lake Chronicles (published privately 2001 by Gaye Clemson
Treasuring Algonquin: Settlement Stories of 100 Years of Leaseholding by Gaye Clemson
The musical interlude is called Lakeside...2025-01-1656 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 67: Childrens' Camp FoundersEpisode 67: Childrens' Camp Founders
In this episode I share profiles of many of the founders of the key childrens’ camps in Algonquin Park including Fanny Case from Camp Northway and Wendigo on Cache Lake, Franklin Gray, William Bennett and Herman Norton from Camp Pathfinder on Source Lake, Taylor and Ethel Statten from Camp Ahmek and Camp Wapomeo on Canoe Lake, Mary Jean Hamilton from Camp Tanamakoon on Lake Tanamakoon, Lillian Kates from Camp Arrohon on TeePee Lake and Lou Handler and Omer Stringer from Camp Tamakwa on South Tea Lake.
Key References include:
Summer Camp...2024-12-311h 07ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 66: Part II - Evolution of Logging in Algonquin Park Since 1922Episode 66: Part II - How Logging in Algonquin Park has Evolved over a Century (1922-Present)
This follow-on episode shares how logging dramatically changed in 1974 when the Algonquin Park Master Plan came into being and created the Algonquin Forest Authority. They were now responsible for all tree marking, harvesting, delivery to sawmill operators in the area, and later all of the silviculture efforts.
Key References:
Donald Lloyd’s Algonquin Harvest: The History of the McRae Lumber Company 2006
Roderick MacKay’s Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Other 2018
Bob Lyons Whitney: Island in the Shield 1986
Algonquin Park...2024-12-051h 07ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 65: Modern Day Lumbering 1919-PresentEpisode 65: Modern Day Lumbering 1919-Present
For those of us who have been long-time summer residents of Algonquin Park, the issue of logging in the park has been a difficult one. Difficult because, though most people don’t realize it, logging has always been an integral part of the Algonquin Park governing mandate. Though known today as a recreational paradise and wildlife refuge, those of us who have lived in and around the park are very much aware that allowing logging was one of the key compromises that was needed in order for the Park’s creation in 1893. Thou...2024-11-121h 09ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 64: J. R. Booth Part II: Industrialist and Great CanadianEpisode 64: J. R. Booth Part II: Industrialist and Great Canadian
This the second of two episodes on the life and times of John Rudolphous Booth. Most of the content comes, with many thanks from Roderick MacKay’s second edition of a Booth biography called J. R. Booth Lumberman, Railway Builder, Industrialist, Great Canadian and Influence on Algonquin Provincial Park.
The musical interlude is called 'Master of the North' and comes from the Wakami Wailers’ Un, Deux, Trois Four album.
2024-10-0438 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 63: J. R. Booth - An Ottawa Valley Lumber King (PT1)Episode 63: J. R. Booth - An Ottawa Valley Lumber King (PT1)
This is the first of two episodes on the life and times of John Rudolphous Booth one of the great Ottawa Valley Lumber Kings in the second half of the 19th C. Much of the content comes, with great thanks and appreciation from Roderick MacKay’s, newly published second edition of a Booth biography called J. R. Booth Lumberman, Railway Builder, Industrialist, Great Canadian, and Influence on Algonquin Provincial Park.
The musical interlude is called The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Rail and comes from...2024-09-1450 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 62: Lumber Kings of the Ottawa Valley - John EganEpisode 62: Ontario Lumber Kings - John Egan
Up until recently, I’d always thought that anyone who cared about Algonquin Park human history was already familiar with J. R. Booth and so never put any energy into building an episode around his life experiences. However, last summer I stumbled upon a 2018 biography by Michael McBane on John Egan.. In so doing, I discovered a whole new aspect of lumbering in the Ottawa Valley that I knew nothing about. The end result is this multi-part series about two of the most well-known of the Ottawa Valley Lumber Kings, na...2024-08-231h 03ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 61: Earth Caretaker Way - Being of ServiceEpisode 61: The Earth Caretaker Way - Being of Service
This episode is the last of a six-episode series on the Earth Caretaker Way Tim Corcoran, Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California and focus on one of the most important aspects of The Earth Caretaker Way, which is to contemplate how to be of service in ways both big and small.
The musical interlude in this episode is called Silent Meditations and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD 2024 CD called Mountain Magic It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Fun...2024-06-301h 06ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 60: Earth Caretaker Way Philosophy & Spirituality:Episode 60: Earth Caretaker Way Philosophy & Spirituality:
In this episode, Tim, Julie, and I focus on various aspects of Earth Caretaker Way earth philosophy and spirituality including:
Acknowledging the mystery of nature, and greeting with gratitude sacred moments and peak experiences
Recognizing the important role of power animals as helpers and spiritual guides
Awareness of the power of trees to transform lives into lives of purpose, living beauty, kindness, and service
The importance of pilgrimage which involves going back to a place over and over so that it becomes sacred and in so doing a source of in...2024-06-081h 24ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 59: Building Confidence by Mastering Wilderness Living SkillsEpisode 59: Building Confidence by Mastering Wilderness Living Skills
This episode is the fourth of what is now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode In this episode Julie Tim and I delve deeply into Part 2 of The Earthcaretaker Way that focuses on value in building knowledge of Wilderness Skills such as shelter building, foraging for edible plants, tracking, building fire without matches and what to do if you get lost on a trail.
Another important...2024-05-1753 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 58: Earth CareTaker Way - Nature Awareness (Cont'd)Episode 58 Earth Caretaker Way Part 3: Nature Awareness - Building Connections and Relationships
This episode is the third of what are now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode, I continue my discussion and storytelling with Julie and Tim on the importance of nature awareness and how becoming more aware can help build meaningful connections and relationships with plants and animals. This art of building a personal relationship with nature by awakening your senses and rewilding your heart h...2024-04-241h 19ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 57: Nature Awareness - The Earth Caretaker WayThis episode is the second of what is now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by friends Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode I’m going to introduce you to Julie, one of the key land Earth Caretakers at Headwaters. Over the next six episodes, she and I with Tim’s help are going to delve deeper into the four key elements of the Earth Caretaker Way beginning with Nature Awareness, which is the art of building a personal relationship with nature by awakening your sens...2024-04-0656 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 56: The Earth Caretaker Way Origin Story with Tim CorcoranEpisode 56: The Earth Caretaker Way Origin Story with Tim Corcoran
In this episode and the four-part follow on, I’m going to take my podcast in what I hope you will experience as an innovative new direction. Nearly 20 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Tim Corcoran, leader, and owner of the Headwaters Outdoor School near Mount Shasta in California, who has just released a new book called The Earth Caretaker Way. 30+ years in the making, Tim with co-author Julie Boettler, have synthesized the essence of all of their learnings and teachings into an absorbing guide fi...2024-03-151h 00ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 55 - Part III: Digging Up the PastThis is the third of three episodes on archeological activities that have taken place in Algonquin Park since the late 1930s. The focus in Part III is to share insights into the archeological work that has been done in the Park since the 1990s. Most of the investigations have been initiated by private archeologists with permission from the then Park Authorities.
This musical interlude is called Algonquin Provincial Park and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes National Parks and Sanctuaries CD. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found...2023-11-1648 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 54: Part II - Digging Up The PastThis is the second of three episodes on archeological activities that have taken place in Algonquin Park since the late 1930s. The focus of Part II is to provide some insight into the archeological work that was done from 1939 to the late 1990s, mostly by private archeologists with permission from the then Park Authorities.
This musical interlude is called Ride the Wind and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD Thunder Spirit. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.
For t...2023-10-2341 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 53: Digging in Algonquin Park Part 1 - Indigenous OriginsEpisode 53: Digging in Algonquin Park Part 1 - Indigenous Origins
This is the first of three episodes on archeological activities that have taken place in Algonquin Park since the late 1930s. The focus of the Part 1 is to provide some insight into the archeological and anthropological origins of Algonquin Park's first visitors.
This musical interlude is called Arrival and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD Thunder Spirit. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.
For this seri...2023-09-2850 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 52: Tom Thomson Remembered: Anniversary SpecialEpisode 52: Tom Thomson Remembered: Anniversary Special
Given that it is the anniversary this week of Tom Thomson’s disappearance and ultimate death 106 years ago, I thought it would fun to take Algonquin Defining Moments in a slightly different direction. Published two years ago by Deryck N. Robertson from Paddler Press in Peterborough, Ontario, Canoe Lake Memories is a book of poetry with reflections on Thomson, Canoe Lake and of course fishing and water. In addition are some great paintings, which I have posted on my www.algonquinparkheritage.com website.
So for this episode, it’s best to...2023-07-111h 00ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 51: Habitat Impacts due to Climate ChangeEpisode 51: Habitat Impacts due to Climate Change
In this episode, I’m focusing on sharing some of the latest research and thinking on how climate change may impact the habitats of Algonquin. Specific focus is on the work on both climate projections overall and the expected impacts to fish habitats.
Musical interlude is a composition by Sara Spring called Under Cold Water which can be found anywhere you listen to your music streaming or www.sarapringpiano.ca
Key References include:
Ridgeway M., Smith D., and Middel T., Science and Information Report IR-14: Climate...2023-06-1047 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 50: PT2 - Salamander Research Update with Patrick MoldowanEpisode 50: PT2 - Salamander Research Update with Patrick Moldowan.
This is the second of two episodes where I sat down with Patrick Moldowan from the University of Toronto’s School of the Environment and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Board Chair of the Wildlife Research Station to share his recent research insights into the world of the Spotted Salamander. Amphibian research has occurred periodically in Algonquin Park working from the Wildlife Research Station since the mid-1980s and in 2008, Glenn Tattersall from Brock University initiated a continuous study of the salamander population. It appears that they are no...2023-05-1951 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 49: Salamander Research Update with Patrick MoldowanBased out of the Wildlife Research Station, amphibian research has occurred periodically in Algonquin Park since the mid-1980s. In 2008, Glenn Tattersall from Brock University initiated a continuous study of the salamander population. Still very active today, this research has generated an extensive body of knowledge, which may be showing us that salamanders could be key ‘canaries in the coal mine’ as it relates to the impacts of climate change on the Algonquin ecosystem.
This is the first of two episodes where I am sitting down with Patrick Moldowan from the University of Toronto’s School of the Env...2023-04-2642 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 48:Lake Opeongo PT3 (1925-Present)Episode 48:Lake Opeongo PT3 (Leaseholding 1925-Present)
In this last of 3 Lake Opeongo episodes, my focus is now on leaseholding activities on Lake Opeongo beginning about 1925 including a detailed history of Opeongo Lodge, the life and times of John Bates (Opeongo's only private leaseholder), Lake Opeongo tragedies and few of my own Lake Opeongo musings. Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo: Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. Other references include:
Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Other by Roderick MacKay - 2018
Spirits of the Little...2023-02-0847 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 47: PT2 The Great Opeongo Lake - Colonization 1850-1925Episode 47: PT2 The Great Opeongo Lake - Colonization 1850-1925
In this episode, I’m going to focus on recounting the history of the early Lake Opeongo colonization efforts that began in the early 1850s with the building of the Ottawa Opeongo Colonization Road. Then I’ll share some stories about the Dennison Family’s farming efforts and early attempts at leaseholding on the lake until about 1925. Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo: Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. Other references include:
Algonquin Park: A Place Like...2023-01-1347 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 46: The Great Opeongo Lake - Times Before 1893Episode 46: The Great Opeongo Lake - Times Before 1893
In this and the next two episodes, I will focus on sharing as much history as I can about Algonquin’s largest body of water, Lake Opeongo. Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo: Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. I’m also for the first time, going to try to share as much as I know about the indigenous Lake Opeongo experience. For this, I depend upon two sources by Chief Kirby Whiteduck of the Algonquins of Pikwa...2022-12-1641 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 45: Chat with Dr. John and Mary Theberge - Part VI - What Good is a Wolf?Episode 45: Chat with Dr. John and Mary Theberge - What Good is a Wolf? Part VI
In this, the final episode of my six-part series on wolf research in Algonquin Park, I have the pleasure of chatting with long-time wolf researchers Dr. John and Mary Theberge. Today we talk about their sense of where things are at these days regarding the plight of wolves both in Ontario, British Columbia, and the USA’s Yellowstone National Park. John and Mary as you know from episodes 3 & 4 picked up the baton from Douglas Pimlott in the mid-1960s. Their extensive work on...2022-11-111h 06ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 44: Dr. John Benson’s Algonquin Wolf Research 2007-2011 (What Good is a Wolf Part V)Episode 44: Dr. John Benson's Algonquin Wolf Research 2007-2011 (What Good is a Wolf Part V)
In this episode, (Part V of a six-part series on wolf research in Algonquin Park), I chat with Dr. John Benson, who picked up the Algonquin Park wolf research baton in 2007, as part of his PhD studies at Trent University. Much of John’s work focused on taking a look at wolf-coyote hybridization and its impact on Algonquin’s wolf population, on territoriality, which researchers call spatial segregation and wolf and pup mortality risks amongst other very interesting topics.
Dr. Benso...2022-10-201h 07ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 43: What Good is a Wolf PT4 - More of John and Mary Theberge’s Great Leap ResearchEpisode 43: What Good is a Wolf PT4 - More of John and Mary Theberge's Great Leap Research
This episode continues by sharing the 1987-1999 work of Dr. John Theberge and his wife Mary Theberge. In this episode, I’m going to focus on the uncovering of the annual deer migration and the collective freak-out that this caused amongst the people of the Round Lake area, the Ministry officials, the Theberge’s themselves, and eventually the general public of wolf lovers and protectors.
The list of references that have informed much of this and the previous episode...2022-09-2959 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 42:What Good is a Wolf PT3 - John and Mary Theberge’s Great LeapEpisode 42:What Good is a Wolf PT3 - John and Mary Theberge's Great Leap
This episode focuses on the 1987-1999 groundbreaking work of Dr. John Theberge and Mary Theberge. A student of Douglas Pimlott in the 1960s, John Theberge was a professor and researcher in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, from 1972 until his retirement in 2000. His initial interest in wolves involved work on wolf vocalizations (published with WRS’s Dr. Falls in 1967 and on observations about their behavior in the summer of 1969). His wife and research partner Mary Theberge was a key fieldwork contributor, an ex...2022-09-0751 min
NFLPOLSKA.COMNFLplRadio #75 (Zapowiedź sezonu NCAA)Zapraszamy na wydanie specjalne NFLplRadio. Karol Potaś i Dominik Kędzierawski rozmawiają o najlepszych prospektach, w startującym sezonie NCAA.
Notatki do podcastu:
QB:
Bryce Young - Alabama,
CJ Stroud - Ohio State Buckeyes,
Will Levis - Kentucky Wildcats,
Anthony Richardson - Florida Gators,
Jayden Daniels – LSU Tigers,
Hendon Hooker - Tennessee Volunteers,
Grayson McCall - Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
RB:
Bijan Robinson - Texas Longhorns,
Devon Achane - Texas A&M Aggies,
Jahmyr Gibbs - Alabama Crimson Tide.
WR:
Jaxon Smith-Njigba - Ohio State Buckeyes,
Kayshon Boutte - LSU Tigers,
Quentin Johnston - TCU Horned Frog,
Jordan Addison - USC Trojans...2022-09-021h 14ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 41:Remembering Dan Gibson’s Wings in the WildenessEpisode 41:Remembering Dan Gibson's Wings in the Wildeness
In the mid 1970s Dan Gibson award winning wildlife film maker, sound recording artist, inventor of the Dan Gibson Sound Parabola recoding device, founder of Dan Gibson’s Solitudes music label, Juno award winner and a recipient of the Order of Canada decided to venture into doing a feature length film. Filmed on Canoe Lake during the summer of 1974, Wings in the Wilderness went on to win a Canadian Film Awards Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of c...2022-08-1857 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 40: Remembering Dan Gibson - Nature Film Maker ExtraordinaireEpisode 40: Remembering Dan Gibson - Nature Film Maker Extraordinaire
In this episode Holly Gibson Stewart, one of my long-time Canoe Lake friends, joins me in sharing stories of her father, Dan Gibson, and her perspectives about his extraordinary film and music career.
One of the key founding members of Pimlott’s Algonquin Wildlands League in the 1970s, Dan Gibson was a Taylor Statten Camps Camp Ahmek alumni and a long time resident of Canoe Lake since the mid 1940s. From there, he went on to leverage his keen interest in photography and Algonquin Park’s wildli...2022-07-2853 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 39: What Good is a Wolf? PT2 More of Pimlott’s Myth BustingEpisode 39: What Good is a Wolf? PT2 More of Pimlott's Myth Busting
In this episode, I share more o Douglas Pimlott and his researcher's ground-breaking and myth busting research on the wolves of Algonquin Park. Topics of interest include details as to how wolves move, what they eat, how they establish territory and of course wolf vocalization and the history of Algonquin's premier public wolf howls.
Musical interlude is a track from Dan Gibson's Solitudes Breaking Through the Mist album and is called Return to the Pack. It is brought to your with thanks from Digi...2022-07-1450 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 38: What Good is a Wolf! Pimlott’s Early Myth BustingEpisode 38: What Good is a Wolf! Pimlott's Early Myth Busting
This episode is the first of a series on the Algonquin Park wolf research that began with Douglas Pimlott's early work from 1958-1962. Prior to that time, Algonquin Park wolves had mostly been seen as vermin out to destroy all other Park wildlife.
This episode's musical interlude comes from Dan Gibson's Solitudes Algonquin Suite and is called Reunion of the Wolves. It is brought to your with thanks from Digital Funding LLC. This and other of Dan Gibson's Solitudes work can be found on Apple Music...2022-07-0147 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 37: Lake Water Rising Part 2: The Gilmour TramwayEpisode 37: Lake Water Rising Part 2: The Gilmour Tramway
In this second of two episodes on the Gilmour great misadventure, I focus on Gilmour’s great tramway adventure. where the company tried to haul and float logs from the Algonquin Park Highlands to Trenton. On a completely different river system and uphill for a fair amount of it, the adventure was an engineering marvel but a practical disaster of both time and money.
In addition to my own research for many of my books and other podcasts, most of the content comes from a few...2022-06-1141 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 36: Lake Waters Rising - The Gilmour’s 1894 Lumbering Misadventure Part 1Episode 36:
As I noted in the last episode one of the really interesting aspects of Chief Ranger Peter Thomson’s first Algonquin Park report, was the almost nonchalant way he described the fact that the newly constructed dam at Tea Lake was expected to raise the water level by nearly four feet. In this first of two episodes on the Gilmour's great lumbering misadventure, I wanted to give you a sense of what the Oxtongue River-South Tea-Canoe-Joe and Smoke Lakes area looked like in the pre-Gilmour time and share why the Gilmour and Company lumber operations built Sou...2022-05-2042 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 35: Algonquin’s Early Beginnings: The first Official Canoe Trips Summer-Fall 1893Episode 35: Algonquin’s Early Beginnings: The first Official Canoe Trips Summer-Fall 1893
In 1893 the Algonquin National Park Act was passed and soon after Peter Thomson was appointed Chief Ranger. In this episode I share his first report of his activities in the summer of 1893. As well is another provided by Mr. James Wilson Superintendent of Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park who was asked to tour ‘the territory’ which he did via canoe during the late fall of 1893. His observations, descriptions and recommendations are for the most part just as insightful today as they were when reported in early 1894.
Th...2022-05-011h 04ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 34: The Amazing World of the Canada JayEpisode 34: The Amazing World of the Canada Jay
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been enamoured by what my family used to call Whiskey Jacks - now called Canada Jays. I and my brothers would sit on our front deck holding our hands out whilst these little gray darlings would come and, with a little coaxing, take pieces of bread and other goodies from our hands.
In this episode, I am joined by Dan Strickland, former Algonquin Park Naturalist and Dr. Ryan Norris an ecologist who is an Associate Professor with the Department of...2022-04-081h 05ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 33: More Fish Fun Facts and Harkness Fisheries Lab Research GemsEpisode 33: More Fish Fun Facts and Harkness Fisheries Lab Research Gems
In this episode I'll continue my journey through the world of fisheries research in Algonquin and hope to bring to life some of the really interesting and fun fish facts that I've been able to ascertain. Also of course, introduce you to a few more of the Fisheries researchers and there work.
This episodes musical interlude is called Easy Stream from Dan Gibson's Solitudes Breaking the Mist CD. His music can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora and most other places where you get yo...2022-03-2451 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 32: Fish-Fish and More Fish: Early Years of the Harkness Fisheries LabEpisode 32: Fish-Fish and More Fish: Early Years of the Harkness Fisheries Lab
Not being that into angling, except when my twins were young and fishing off of our Canoe Lake dock a regular pass time, it's been seriously enlightening to learn all about the Harkness Laboratory for Fisheries Research on Lake Opeongo. This is the first of two episodes that explores the history of fisheries research in Algonquin Park, which began in 1936. YOu'll have an opportunity to meet some of the amazing fisheries researchers and their work both then and more recently. I now know more about f...2022-03-0545 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 31: More Cool Algonquin Wildlife Station ResearchEpisode 31: More Cool Algonquin Wildlife Station Research
This concludes a 3-part series on the history and research that is going on at the Wildlife Research Station. My focus in this episode is more recent work on moose, salamanders, Canada Jays, hemlock tree regeneration, sapsuckers and beaver as well as another wonderful collection of Wildlife Research Fun Facts.
This episode’s musical interlude comes from Sara Spring and is another of her piano compositions called Across Long Lakes and can be found at saraspringpiano.ca
For this episode in addition to my own research fo...2022-02-2050 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 30: Wildlife Research Station - Some Cool Research ProjectsEpisode 30: The Wildlife Research Station
In this episode I’m going to focus on a number of really interesting research projects that have been going on – some for many, many decades and along with more stories of the researchers and their experiences.
A Big shout-out to Patrick Moldowan, the Station's Communications Director who has been an incredible partner. Not only did he make sure that I was getting all of my explanations right or at least mostly right, but he also was incredibly patient with my at times really dumb questions and scientific term translation reque...2022-02-0453 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 29: The Wildlife Research Station - The Early YearsEpisode 29: The Wildlife Research Station - The Early Years
Park Superintendent Frank MacDougall was the force behind much of the early efforts to increase public awareness of the importance of ecology and to do so on a scientific basis. After the success of the Harkness Laboratory for Fisheries, in 1944, he pushed for the establishment of a Wildlife Research Station that would focus on terrestrial i.e. land-based ecosystems. In this episode, I share the history of the early years of Algonquin Park’s Wildlife Research Station and provide some insight into the characters of the people who wer...2022-01-1953 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 28: Don Lloyd,:Algonquin’s Renaissance Man - An Interview with grandson Mathew ThiviergeEpisode 28: Don Lloyd, Algonquin's Renaissance Man - an Interview with grandson Mathew Thivierge
Don Lloyd, who died in 2013, is I think the closest that Algonquin Park has come, to creating a true Algonquin Park Renaissance man. Don wasn’t just an Algonquin Park wildlife and landscape illustrator, he also turns out to have been also been a geography teacher, a receiver of a Bachelors, Masters and PhD in Geography, an author of two important Algonquin books, a board game designer, a children’s book creator as well as an avid Algonquin Park canoe tripper, birder, wood carver. He was a...2022-01-0150 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 27: Algonquin Nature Interpretive Programs RediscoveredNature interpretation activities have been part of the Algonquin Park experience for a long time. In this episode, I’ll take you down memory lane and share with you the origins of what used to be called the Algonquin Park Interpretive Program, now called the Discovery Program, and introduce you to some of the incredible people who made it all possible.
Note that the sources for much of this content is my own research compiled for my book Treasuring Algonquin: Settlement Stories from 100 Years of Leaseholding. as well as Roderick MacKay’s Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Othe...2021-12-1952 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 26: Wilderness Adventurers Part IIIEpisode 26: Wilderness Adventurers Part III
In this episode, I’ll be continuing my recollections of some of the wilderness adventurers who settled on leaseholds in Algonquin Park in the early 20th Century. Here I'll be introducing you to a few more interesting characters who became the heart and soul for the leasehold community.
Virtually all of the stories I share, come from two of my books Algonquin Voices; Settlement Stories of Canoe Lake Women, that won in 2002 the Alison Prentice Award for best women’s history that year by the Ontario Historical Society and Treasuring Algonquin...2021-12-0151 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 25: Interview with Wilderness Adventurer Sandy LewisEpisode 25: Interview with Wilderness Adventurer Sandy Lewis
In the last episode I shared some of the origin stories of a few Algonquin Wilderness Adventurers whose ancestors, some as many as five generations back, were invited by the Ontario Government to lease small plots of land on a specific set of Algonquin Park lakes and build summer cabins. In this episode I’m thrilled to be chatting with the patriarch of one such five-generation family Sandy Lewis. Sandy is the grandson of both Dr. Alexander Pirie and Thomas Bertram who were Algonquin’s first wilderness Adventurers. The two purch...2021-11-1945 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 24: Early 20thC Wilderness Adventurers Part 1Episode 24: Early 20thC Wilderness Adventurers Part 1:
In this episode I bring to share with you some of the stories of another part of the Algonquin Park community - those whose ancestors – some, as many as five generations back, were invited by the Ontario Government to lease small plots of land on a specific set of lakes and build summer cabins. The belief then was that visitors wouldn't come unless there was a community of some sort to provide an anchor.
Virtually all of these stories come from two of my books Algonquin Voices; Settlement Stories of C...2021-10-311h 04ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 23: Caretaking in the Bush - the Hamilton-Haskin Family ExperienceEpisode 23: Caretaking in the Bush - the Hamilton-Haskin Family Experience
In this final episode on the lives of full time Algonquin Park residents, I wanted to share with you stories that I’ve collected from the Hamilton-Haskin family from Madawaska. The family’s original matriarch and patriarch, Wilmot and Victoria Hamilton lived just outside the eastern boundary of Algonquin Park from 1897 to 1954 on the north shore of Victoria Lake,14 kilometers from anything close to civilization. Not only did they survive, caretaking a hunting lodge owned by Edward Curtis Smith, a former governor of Vermont, but also raised a doze...2021-10-1646 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 22: Bring on the Fall ColoursEpisode 22: Bring on the Fall Colours
In this episode I've shifted my focus a bit and have decided to concentrate on the most spectacular of Algonquin Defining Moments, ‘The Fall Colours', which are taking place as they do every year around this time. First I’ll share some interesting facts about what the fall colour process is all about from a scientific perspective, then I talk about some interesting factoids about trees and lastly touch on what other things are going on in the fall that make Algonquin such a unique and interesting place this time of year...2021-10-0155 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 21: More Stories of Algonquin Park Full Time ResidentsEpisode 21: More Stories of Algonquin Park Full Time Residents
In this episode I continue my sharing of stories that I have collected about the lives of Algonquin Park full time residents. First are stories about the The Dufonds and Dennison’s who farmed in the area before it became a provincial park. Then are some amusing anecdotes from Robert Taylor about his grandfather William McCourt who was the station agent for Rock Lake Station from 1897 until well into the 1940s. The adventures of Billie Baulke who lived as a care taker first for the Fleck’s of J. R...2021-09-1958 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 20: Living Alone in Algonquin - Gertrude Baskerville‘s ExperienceEpisode 20: Living Alone in Algonquin - Gertrude Baskerville‘s Experience
In the spring of 1941, Gertrude Baskerville set out from the Kitchener area with her ailing husband Ted and 16-year old son Ed to join her brother Charles and his family in establishing a new life on the shores of South Tea Lake in Algonquin. Within a year her husband had died from his injuries received in the trenches during WWI. Her son was immediately shipped overseas to fight in WWII and her brother had decided that a better opportunity lay for him and his family to move to B...2021-08-301h 04ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 19: Tom Thomson as a Myth and Legend
Episode 19: Tom Thomson as a Myth and Legend
This is the last of a three-part series on the life, the body, and the legend of Canada’s artist icon Tom Thomson. In this episode, I will focus on the mythology that that evolved around Thomson from the 1940s to today. Then, I’ll try to address the legend by assembling the thoughts on the subject by three great writers Roy MacGregor, Sherrill Grace, and Gregory Klages. The idea is to try to understand why our imaginations and reinventions of who he was have become such a part of the...2021-08-151h 22ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 18: Artist Tom Thomson‘s Mysterious Death in Algonquin ParkEpisode 18: Artist Tom Thomson's Mysterious Death in Algonquin Park
On Tuesday, July 16th a little over 104 years ago, after almost a week of fruitless searches, the body of Tom Thomson was found on Canoe Lake just east offshore from Little Wapomeo Island. Over the next few days, chaos and confusion seemed to have reined on Canoe Lake. This is the second of a three-part series on the life, the body, and the legend of Canada’s artistic icon Tom Thomson. In Part 1, I focused mostly on Thomson’s time in Algonquin Park, some of the people he met, and...2021-07-2952 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 17: Tom Thomson‘s Art and his Introduction to Algonquin ParkEpisode 17: Tom Thomson's Art and his Introduction to Algonquin Park
On Sunday July 8th a little over 104 years ago, Tom Thomson was wearing 'khaki trousers, white canvas shoes, a lumberman’s grey woolen shirt and no hat' as he headed off south down Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. According to the Algonquin Park weather station, the average temperature that day was 16.4 degrees Celsius and about a centimeter and a half of rain had fallen.
As all good outdoorsmen do, Tom likely had checked to make sure his spare portaging paddle and a little food were pro...2021-07-1247 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 16: A Chat with Sven Miglin from Canoe Lake‘s Portage Store in Algonquin ParkEpisode 16: A Chat with Sven Miglin from Canoe Lake's Portage Store in Algonquin Park
The Portage Store has always had a special place in my heart. This is because for many years my family had a lease on Canoe Lake, and as a kid, it was often the local hangout for ice cream and people watching. I’m delighted that in this episode to be joined by Sven Miglin, whom with many members of his family, has been the heart and soul behind the Portage Store since 1976. In this episode, Sven shares with me how this venerable Al...2021-06-3052 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 15: The Origins of Canoe Lake‘s Portage Store (1935-1975)Episode 15: The Origins of Canoe Lake's Portage Store (1935-1975)
In this episode with the help of an old memoir from my Canoe Lake neighbour, Isabel Cowie who with 3 friends once ran it in the 1950s, I’m going to share all that I have researched and can remember about the origins of the Portage Store from 1935 to 1975 and its role as the social centre of Canoe Lake.
For those unaware, on a typical weekend during the heat of the summer, hundreds of visitors pass through and admire Canoe Lake from the vantage point of Portage Ba...2021-06-1137 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 14: Shanty Life Wrap Up and 2008‘s Last Squared-Timber Crib RunEpisode 14: Shanty Life Wrap Up and 2008's Last Squared-Timber Crib Run
I had originally thought that three episodes would cover just about all there was to say about the history of logging in Algonquin Park. But when going back over my notes, I realized that I wasn’t quite done. There were a few more amusing shanty life stories that I still wanted to share and a few more shanty songs that needed a hearing. In addition, I realized that another missing link was to share something about the last crib river run that Ron Corbett wrote so...2021-05-3136 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 13: The Merry but Risky Lives of Skidders, Teamsters and River DriversEpisode 13: The Merry but Risky Lives of Skidders, Teamsters and River Drivers
This third of three episodes on the history of logging in Algonquin Park and the Ottawa Valley shares details as to how the cut logs and square-timber were hauled out of the bush, driven down the rivers that led to the Otttawa River and eventually conveyed to saw mills or floated by the raft to Quebec City. It includes insight into what the life of skidders, teamsters and river drivers were like including a few shanty songs uncovered on an internet archive site. In addition, I’ll...2021-05-1849 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 12: A Chat with Roderick MacKay on Life in a 19th Century Camboose ShantyEpisode 12: A Chat with Roderick MacKay on Life in a 19th Century Camboose Shanty
This second of three episodes on logging in Algonquin Park shares anecdotes as to what life in the logging camboose shanties of the 19th Century was all about. I decided to go directly to the source and is an interview with Roderick MacKay (known as Rory) a subject matter expert on the camboose shanty both as a historian, archeologist, and as the resident blacksmith at Algonquin Park’s annual Logging Days event at the Logging Museum, hosted by the Friends of Algonquin Park.
2021-04-3039 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 11: Logging in Algonquin Park - The 19th C ExperienceEpisode 11: Logging in Algonquin Park - The 19th C Experience
Controversy over logging in Algonquin Park is almost as old as the Park itself, though truth be known, public attention on the issue didn’t really start until the 1930’s and major antagonism didn’t happen until the late 1960s early 1970s. The funny thing is that when Algonquin Park was created in 1893, the conventional wisdom was that logging would stop when the pine were all gone. In addition, was the view that forest fires destroyed far more of the forest than lumbering ever did.
This f...2021-04-1545 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 10: Back Country Canoe Tripping Part IIEpisode 10: Back Country Canoe Tripping Part II
As noted in Episode 9 backcountry canoe tripping has been an integral part of the Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada experience since well before the Park’s beginnings in 1893. This follow-on episode focuses on what the landscape was like that our three canoe trip parties paddled through including majestic waterways, beaver dam filled rivers, and muddy swamps; how they overcame the pains of portaging, cooked over an open fire, and dealt with the bugs as well as the joys of a balsam bed.
Diaries and pictures and books by these canoe...2021-03-2735 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 9: Turn of the Century Backcountry Canoe Tripping Experiences - Part 1Episode 9: Turn of the Century Backcountry Canoe Tripping Experiences - Part 1
So backcountry canoe tripping is one of those past times that you either love or you absolutely hate or, as the mother of a childhood friend said, you do it so that you can talk about it afterwards. Have you ever wondered though, what it must have been like venturing into the ‘wilderness’ or the bush as it was called back in the day?
The truth is that backcountry canoe tripping has been an integral part of the Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada experience since its...2021-03-1138 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 8: The Grand Trunk‘s Long Lost Algonquin Railway HotelsEpisode 8: The Grand Trunk's Long Lost Algonquin Railway Hotels
In the late 1800s, outdoor recreation in Ontario was just starting to become a ‘thing.’ Folks who lived in cities were anxious to escape their urban and industrial woes and reconnect with the wilderness. In 1905 the Grand Trunk Railway had just acquired J. R. Booth’s Canada Atlantic Railway, which in turn had merged with his Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway that ran through the southern end of Algonquin Park a few years earlier.
Charles Melville Hays, President of the Grand Trunk Railway, who went down wit...2021-02-1635 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 7: A late 19th Century Bear HuntEpisode 7: A late 19th Century Bear Hunt
Just outside the park boundary on the east side, on Victoria Lake, is a large hunting lodge owned for over 50 years by a former Governor of Vermont, Edward Curtis Smith and his family. Whilst researching the history of the lodge and its connection to the town of Madawaska, (to be published Feb 2021) I came across a short story about a family bear hunting expedition. Though the author, Nancy Bailey, is not known, it seems that many of the protagonists were actual people and if the ages are generally correct, the...2021-01-3017 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 6: Algonquin Park Poaching StoriesEpisode 6: Algonquin Park Poaching Stories
As shared in Episode 5, one of the downsides to the creation of Algonquin Park in 1893 was the fact that a significant number of folks in the local communities around Algonquin Park were now considered outlaws because they were running trap lines in what was now a protected area. They went overnight from being fine outstanding citizens trapping to supplement farming and logging livelihoods to unenlightened, disreputable and heartless bandits. This second of two episodes is focused on sharing a broad collection of stories and tall tales; adventures and lifestyles recollected by both p...2021-01-0629 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 5: A History of Poaching and Trapping in Early Algonquin ParkEpisode 5: A History of Poaching and Trapping in Early Algonquin Park
One of the downsides to the creation of Algonquin Park in 1893 was the fact that a significant number of folks in the local communities around Algonquin Park were now considered outlaws because they were running trap lines in what was now a protected area. They went overnight from being fine outstanding citizens trapping to supplement their farming and logging livelihoods to unenlightened, disreputable and heartless bandits. This first of two episodes on the topic of poaching in Algonquin covers the history of legal and illegal hunting...2020-12-1344 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 4: The Brent Run ChallengeEpisode 4: The Brent Run Challenge
Though perhaps hard to believe by some, since the 1930s there has been a hidden challenge by locals primarily from Camp Ahmek and the Portage Store staffs on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park to see if it’s possible to complete the entire 160-kilometer trip in less than 24 hours. The trip includes just about every possible terrain that it’s possible to experience in Algonquin Park including large and small lakes, winding creeks, bogs, rapids and portages long and short.
In the summer of 2013 two women, Quinn Cathcart and Rachel Quinb...2020-11-2342 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 3: A Walking History Tour of Rock Lake Station in Algonquin ParkEpisode 3: A Walking History Tour of Rock Lake Station in Algonquin Park
This episode takes the visitor on a walking tour of what was once a bustling community of railwaymen, loggers, tourists and leaseholders and their families at Rock Lake in Algonquin Park. Today Rock Lake Campground is one of the largest campgrounds in Algonquin Park and unless one realizes that the road through it was once the railway bed, you'd never know that for almost 40 years a different Rock Lake existed. The tour takes Algonquin Park history or railway enthusiasts to several locales and shares, insight...2020-11-0224 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 2: A Paddler‘s Guide to the Lost History of Canoe Lake‘s Algonquin ParkEpisode 2: A Paddler's Guide to the Lost History of Canoe Lake's Algonquin Park
Located about 14 km in from the West Gate and unbeknown to most, Canoe Lake has a deep and colourful history well beyond the Tom Thomson Memorial Cairn and Totem Pole and the Canoe Lake Cemetery, where according to some, the spirit of Tom Thomson once rested for a while. This podcast shares the highlights of about a dozen landmarks around the lake. For those who are checking it out in a canoe, you’ll have to use your imagination as little if anything of mo...2020-09-0532 minALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTSEpisode 1: Life on Algonquin Park‘s Canoe Lake in the Pandemic Year 1918Episode 1: Life on Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake in the Pandemic Year 1918
It was 1918, the first year of the Spanish Flu pandemic and a year after the artist Tom Thomson had died under mysterious circumstances on Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake. This episode focuses on what life was like at Canoe Lake at the time including challenges getting there, the landscape, community economics, insight into the lives of some of the key residents and a peek at healthcare challenges of the times.
2020-08-3147 min
College Football NowLSU Football 2020 Recruiting Class - Ed Orgeron's Unreal Class, Led By Arik Gilbert & Elias Ricks- Arik Gilbert - TE, 5-star, Marietta, GA
- Elias Ricks - CB, 5-star, Santa Ana, CA
- Rakim Jarrett - WR, 5-star, District of Columbia
- Kayshon Boutte - WR, 4-star, New Iberia, LA
- Jaquelin Roy - DT, 4-star, Baton Rouge, LA
- Jermaine Burton - WR, 4-star, Calabasas, CA
- Antoine Sampah - LB, 4-star, Woodbridge, VA
- Jordan Toles - Safety, 4-star, Baltimore, MD
- BJ Ojulari - DE, 4-star, Marietta, GA
- Demon Clowney - DE, 4-star, Baltimore, MD
- Josh White - ILB, 4-star, Houston, TX
- Jacobian Guillory - DT, 4-star, Alexandria, LA
...2019-12-1600 min