A Portrait of Small Town Life In Winter, In Two Parts
In early 2020 Cottage Life magazine reached out to the Chamber of Commerce about the opportunity for a feature story in their winter edition. It was an opportunity to showcase another great season in Fenelon Falls so of course the answer was yes. In March, just before lockdown, the photographer arrived to capture photos and stories of local residents and business owners. You can find the results in the recently released Winter 2020 edition or on Apple News.
“Born and bred” in the Fenelon Falls area, Adam Kay works for the Trent-Severn Waterway, a division of Parks Canada. In summer months, he serves as a supervisor at Fenelon Falls’ famous Lock 34, allowing the movement of boat traffic—which at peak times can be up to 225 boats per day—between Cameron and Sturgeon Lakes. With the end of boating season in October, the locks are closed, and the role of Parks Canada turns to off-season upkeep.
Most importantly, water flow still needs to be managed. “Even though it’s the wintertime, we still have to maintain levels,” Adam says. Using a series of locks and connected “reservoir lakes” that feed into Balsam Lake from as far away as Minden, fifty kilometres to the north, the staff maintain the water levels to make sure that they are adequate for boat traffic in the spring. For Adam, that means being out there all winter pulling logs and putting them back in, which, in winter, is particularly dangerous work. “You have a whole bunch of ice, a lot of moving water, and it is extremely cold. If it is -20°C on land, it feels about 10 degrees colder on the dam because of the water.”
“I wasn’t designed for the cold” he says, laughing. “I don’t have any extra insulation!”
IN WINTER, MAINTAINING WATER LEVELS IS PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS WORK. “YOU HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH OF ICE, A LOT OF MOVING WATER, AND IT IS EXTREMELY COLD. IF IT’S -20°C ON LAND, IT’S 10 DEGREES COLDER ON THE WATER”
EMILY FORBES, 23, grew up spending summers at her grandparent’s cottage on Cameron Lake, but 2019 was her first year as a full-time resident. She purchased the Cow and Sow Eatery with her mother, Lorraine, in May 2019. The Cow is something of a Fenelon Falls landmark—in fact, it was her family’s favourite restaurant when she was growing up.
Emily and Lorraine’s first year running the restaurant “was crazy,” and their first winter, although quieter, was still steady. “I thought it would be a ghost town,” she says, but local customers kept them busy.
The past few months have been challenging due to COVID-19. With only a small patio, they elected to close completely and took advantage of the downtime to make some upgrades. “We want to preserve the character of the original restaurant,” she says, while updating the layout to better accommodate social distancing. They are aiming for a spring 2021 reopening, and they anticipate a busy season.
TIM WISENER AND CHRIS VAN LIEROP, local homebuilders who also run an art gallery downtown, live year-round in the Wisener family cottage on Sturgeon Lake, which they bought in 2017. Their work slows down in the cold months, but because of COVID-19, they expect to be busy this winter renovating and winterizing cottages. Many are being turned into year-round homes. “Some people are even purchasing for the first time in cottage country knowing that they will not be back in the office,” says Chris. “We’re also seeing requests for incorporating an office area into existing private spaces.” Socially, Tim and Chris are also anticipating a busier than usual winter season. “Our friends and clients who normally head to Florida are going to be finding ways to enjoy winter at the cottage,” says Chris. “It will be exciting to have more people to do things with this winter, and it will be interesting to see how we can do that inside while social distancing and being cognizant of the virus.”
