I love Muskoka's Volunteers!

There is so much going on! I especially laud the volunteers.


We went to lunch at a Bala's Trinity St. Alban's church.

A fundraiser, we had a delightful  lunch, graciously served by volunteers.

The presentation was festive, the  cupcakes great,  but the fellowship was grand.

The church hall was decorated beautifully by many hard-working volunteers, the mainstay of Muskoka.



This Monday (Feb. 15) being Family Day in Ontario, it is a long weekend. I noticed many, many snowmobiles along the road. 


Many volunteers are preparing for the curling tournie at the Muskoka Wharf. We passed by in the dark. It looked so Canadian to me!






You can see that they are getting ready for the tournie!

The generators were allowing some frozen ice men to flood the Muskoka Wharf bay ice.

It was a damp kind of cold!








It looks so different in the daytime! A few were playing pick up hockey, having a blast.

The skies, too, are full of tourists, taking a gander over our frozen lakes and forests.


In town, in the restaurant, I spotted sledders who had lost their heads!   :-)

The police were active, too. God Bless her! I haven't a clue what she was up to, and really didn't want to know. She was eyeing the train tracks.

There are some fabulous sledders, many volunteers who work tirelessly to make the sport a safe, honest one, contributing, as it does to our 3-season economy. The S.T.O.P. program I wrote about in the above post.

Muskoka is definintely a tourist region, as the skies, frozen lakes and roads fill up on long weekends.

We passed our vounteer firefighters, on their way to a call, around 5 p.m. Friday night and the w/e had barely started.

The emergency truck was towing two snowmobiles. It never occurred to me that their equipment needed to change from summer to winter!

They also have some 4-wheel vehicles (seen left at the Cranfest booth) that they tow when they have to travel to remote cottages in summer.

This is not an inexpensive part of our infrastructure. Yet, seasonal residents complain about tax increases.
If they'd play more safely. I'm just sayin'!!!

Coincidentally, I met Mr. Schenk (my contact for my presentation at the Gravenhurst Senior's Centre Friday) the author of a book about the Fire College in Gravenhurst.
Both of our books are available at The Book Store in Gravenhurst.

Our firefighters, men and women, all volunteers, take their work seriously, bless them all!


Here I am with a wonderful young woman, one of our female volunteers. Both she and her hubby volunteer in Muskoka!

Many men and women give up their time to help others.






They do back breaking work, keeping fit and being prepared for lifting, and lugging.

Attending training courses at our Gravenhurst fire college.

They do their work in rain, snow, sleet, cold water or hail.

In subzero or 35˚ C. weather.

They remain at the other end of a cell phone, on call, until they set that green flashing light going and rush off to another emergency. The drownings last summer at Bala Falls, were a prime example.

They help friends and neighbours,  locals residents, visitors and tourists.


I bow in honour and gratitude.