GBA 2020 - Fall Update

www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2020 For 25 years, Manitou Dock became the primary transportation hub. Local cottagers would gather to meet the daily boat to receive mail, meet passengers, buy groceries and just hang out. Some of the older members tell of jumping off the top deck of the steamship as kids, while their parents shopped and transferred trunks and suitcases. In 1961 the initiation fee was eliminated as the Manitou Association had changed fundamentally to a social organization since cottagers now had their own boats and dock facilities. In 1962 the Manitou Association joined the Georgian Bay Association, a relationship that continues to this day. The last steamship stopped running in the mid-sixties. By the early 21 st century the long- abandoned Manitou Dock island was over-run with wild trees, bushes and flowers and the Association was concerned about preserving this important piece of local history. In 2006, then-Association president Ian Baines led an initiative to interest the Georgian Bay Land Trust (GBLT) in acquiring the property as a gift. After an environmental study of the island and with the support of the GBLT executive, in particular then – executive director Wendy Cooper, Manitou Dock island became part of the Land Trust, to be protected and maintained as a day-use picnicking island, with Ian Baines and Darin Buckland elected as long-term stewards. The cribs from the original Manitou Dock can still be seen in the water to the west of the island, laid out in an L-shape, although all of the buildings are long gone. While the original raison d’être for the Manitou Association may no longer be standing, the fundamental spirit of camaraderie and helping each other remains strong to this day. In recent years, the Association purchased a fire pump and an automated external defibrillator (AED) for local emergencies. And the Manitou Association hosts an annual regatta at the old Manitou Inn, now the home of Ken and Dianne Wilson. Every year whole families compete in hard-fought events such as swimming races and the much-loved clothing race. The Manitou Association and its members are proud of our history and we look forward to supporting the needs of our community as it changes over the next 91 years or so. Kah She Island Dock, circa 1910.