July 17, 2009 Making History on Callander Bay

The 5^th anniversary of the Books By the Bay event, July 17-19 2009 ,in Callander makes history with some innovations and lots for art and history buffs.  The Art on Main Gallery on Main Street North Bay which has become a major force on the Art Scene has partnered with  Books By the Bay with Art By the Bay making the weekend an even better cultural event. 

On Saturday July 18^th there is a free event in Centennial Park in Callander where art can be seen and purchased. There is a free print making workshop for children 5 to 15.  An Art by the Bay Exhibition is at  The Alex Dufresne Gallery in Callander during July and is an excellent co-event to take in. 

History at Books By the Bay 

Books By the Bay looks at all aspects of writing but always has some history writers involved.  Since this is a history column I will draw attention to those events.  The featured history author is Bruce Hodgins the retired history professor from Trent University who has written some great history books including the one on Father Paradis and one on Temagami. 

Presentation at Books on the Bay.

Bruce and his wife Carol have written books on canoeing as well.  They have been associated with Camp Wanapitei on Lake Temagami for decades.  Carol has two books on nutritional wilderness cooking.  Bruce is the featured artist on the Chief Commanda Cruise on Sunday. 

Ted Barris, radio and television personality and author of 11 books, including his recent book on D-Day in WWII will be at the event.  I have Mel Bradshaw’s Death in the Age of Steam and enjoyed it very much.  I wrote about Kevin Reeves book Somewhere in France in this column.  He is an outstanding musician and documentary producer and has done some excellent work on Grey Owl and is working on an opera on Grey Owl. 

George Berrigan’s book on North Bay policing is a gem  I have written about it in this column. The book Police Stories: Tales from a Small-town Cop is a local history keeper. 

Edna Scott is an artist with an interest in Carousels and has been a major force in the North Bay Carousel projects and as an editor of the Carousel book which is now in its second edition.  She is in the indoor and outdoor art shows this weekend. 

I wrote recently about Francoise Noel’s 100^th anniversary reproduction of the early North Bay history book The Gateway to Silverland.  The book is now out and will be on sale this weekend as well as at Gullivers Books as are the other books mentioned here  As a professor at Nipissing Noel specializes in community studies and has produced some definitive scholarly work including her new book Family and Community Life in Northeastern Ontario: The Interwar Years which will be out in October and will be a fine addition to area history. 

The weekend will start at 7 pm Friday  at the Callander Community Centre with the CBC’s Dan Lessard as host.  George Walters will speak at 7:30 followed by Bruce and Carol Hodgins at 8:00.  At 8:30 five authors have 5 minutes each- Kevin Reeves, Francoise Noel, Edna Scott, Pat Stamp and Lynn Johnston. 

On Saturday morning the Student Writers awards will be announced and two children’s authors will speak.  In the afternoon 3 authors including George Berrigan at 3:00 will speak for 45 minutes each.  Dinner is  at the Legion at 6pm and  will be followed by 2 speakers at the Community Centre at 7pm including Ted Barris.For prices locations and other details log on to www.booksbythebay.ca. or drop in to Gullivers or the Callander library. 

 The Chief Commanda Cruise with Bruce Hodgins featured will run from 8:30 to 10:30 on Sunday morning  A walk on the new Cranberry Trail with several artists at work along the way will  follow from 2-4pm.  All in all one remarkable weekend opportunity to stretch our cultural boundaries.