By Peter Pook
The picnic was a well- attended event even with bright skies and the calm and warm waters of the bay calling. It was held both in the Hockey Rink and the Recreation Hall on Carling Bay Rd.
Many volunteers staffed the kitchen in the Recreation Hall. They provided classic picnic fare – enough to supply an army. Photographs on the walls of the hall and a looping video screen displayed the early history of Carling Township. The photos have been collected over the years from the descendants of the founding families. They showed the early life and hardships of farming, logging, trapping and commercial fishing. We are all lucky that the early settlers persevered to give us the Carling we have 125 years later.
In the Hockey Rink a number of local businesses set up displays. Among them were colourful, hand-painted birdhouses, to stunning hand made fur hats. The Georgian Bay Biosphere booth had a very large and real snapping turtle for its centre of attraction. The Historical Society’s table had the revised and much-improved “Early Day’s” booklet for sale. It is now titled “A History of Carling Township.” In addition, they offered for sale a complete collection of all the township’s early historic photos on a USB stick printed with a handsome township logo emblem.
Right as you walk into the hockey rink our WCA Rock Painting Table greeted all the visitors. Five of WCA board members, Pam Wing, Bruce Kelly, Janis Wade, Donna Tucker and Peter Pook, were ‘art directors. They made sure dozens of children chose their very own cottage rock and the colours to paint it. After three hours we ended up with a great collection of painted rocks! Half went home with the kids and half were placed around the hockey rink.
All in all, we trust the 150th Anniversary Picnic will be as fun as the 125th.