Time Warp

This week, Kate talks about the dramtic events around a young man who is shot while hunting in the bush near Soyers Lake in 1879's Haliburton County - and there aren't any doctors available. What do you do? Plus, Paul talks about the Canadian connection to Anna Leonowens who is probably better known from 'Anna and the King of Siam' fame. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Muse...

This week, stories of New Year's celebrations and alcohol from the 1890's Haliburton County. Plus, the feuds that led to the 1880 massacre of the Donnellys in Lucan, Ontario fueled by religious differences, grudges imported from back home in Ireland, vigilantes, and a small Ontario farming community with a wild-west atmosphere. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Museum. Paul V...

This week, Kate wraps up her Christmas in the village celebrations from 150 years ago. Lights and music are an iconic part of Christmas, but what did early settlers do without electricity and modern technology. Plus, Paul talks about the origin story of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Hint - he started as part of a Department Store promotion during the depression. Kate Butler is the Director of the...

This week, Kate talks about what it might Christmas might have been like for new settlers first Christmas in Haliburton County in 1864. The postal service was one way to keep in touch with far-away family. Plus Paul talks about bicyles from the Dandy Horse, to the Penny-Farthing to the first modern bikes in the late 1880's. And how do you get on a penny-farthing bike? And, then there's the 'Great...

This week, Kate embarks on stories of Christmas life over time in Haliburton County. More seasonal stories next week. Plus Paul talks about Lucy Maud Montgomery who was born in Prince Edward Island and wrote her first two Anne of Green Gables novels there. But she moved to a small rural community called Leaksdale when she was 37, wrote most of her sequels there, and served the local church communi...

This week, Kate talks about Walter Kidd, born in 1854. Walter had a pretty diverse life in Haliburton County - lawyer; school teacher; farmer; hunter - and finally pioneer rebel. Plus, Paul talks about a storm that might not raise many eyebrows now during this age of climate change, but in 1954 Hurricane Hazel was a rare - and disastrous - event that struck Ontario resulting in death and destructi...

This week, Kate talks about Joseph Burns who was born in the Minden area (part of Haliburton County) in 1868. He was blinded in an accident at an early age but went on to accomplish so-much with his life. He was a man of many talents. Plus, Paul talks about Anna Durie who at the age of 60 followed her son Arthur to war-time Europe. Arthur died in battle, but Anna was not going to accept France as...

This week, Kate talks about Haliburton Village's Branch 129 of the Royal Canadian Legion that was originally chartered in 1928 following WW1. The Legions were organized by - and for - veterans of the war for mutual aid and to do community work. It languished for a few years between the wars, but came back stronger than ever due to the foresight of one man - Alfred Schofield. Plus, Paul talks about...

This week, it's a Remembrance Day episode of sorts. Kate talks about what non-combatants at home in Haliburton County did to contribute and help the war effort - ranging from fund raisers, metal collection, knitting and quilting. Plus, Paul talks about the WW1 riot by demobilizing Canadian soldiers staged at the Kinmel Park Camp in Wales. They were to be there for 1-2 weeks before shipping home, b...

This week, Kate talks about the Hodgson family and their lumber mill on Haliburton Lake. Lumber mills were ubiquitous in Haliburton County at one time. One of the unique features about this particular mill is an artifact that has been loaned out but has returned to the Highlands Museum for display. Drop by and see it if you're in the neighborhood. Plus Paul takes a look at the Great Depression tha...

This week, Kate talks about a small community newspapers and how they were the social media of their day. There's some items from a June 1919 copy of the Haliburton Echo that include who's having visitors for the weekend, how well the strawberry crops are doing, local soldiers returning home from WW1 - as well as that nasty flu pandemic sweeping the world. Plus Paul talks about a pioneer who was c...

This week, Kate talks about Ferdinand Sipe who was an example of the early culture and craft tradition of Haliburton County that persists today. Kate still has an example of one of the inlaid tables he built in the 1940's in the Haliburton Highlands Museum that visitors can check out. Plus. Paul talks about Captain William Jackman, shipwrecks, heroism and rescues on the high seas during a raging s...

This week, Kate talks about pets and animal companions in early Haliburton County - we even know some of their names. Plus Paul talks about Canada's world-wide mineral exploration and mining reputation that took a beating in the late 1970's with the Bre-X multi-billion-dollar gold mineral deposit fraud. Who was involved and how deep did it go? Conspiracy theories abound - even up to today. Kate Bu...

This week, Kate talks about how Haliburton County was a destination for historic-car rallies, even in the 1950's. Enthusiasts came from far and wide - often to take in the County's glorious fall leaf colour season. One of these organizations was the Upper Canada Automobile Club. Plus Paul talks about Andrew Mynarski, a young airman from Winnipeg who became the recipient of the last Victoria Cross...

This week, Kate takes an early Halloween opportunity to talk about a couple of spooky tales from Haliburton County history. Plus Paul talks about what we know about Black involvement in early Canadian history - especially in the fur trade. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Museum. Paul Vorvis is the host of the Your Haliburton Morning Show 7 - 9 a.m. Fridays on Canoe FM 100.9...

This week, Kate talks about Joseph Paul who came to Haliburton in 1870. Nominally the local butcher, but really a man of many facets. And perhaps a representative of what the community of Haliburton County is all about. Plus, Paul talks about Rubin Carter who, along with a friend, was convicted of a triple homicide in 1966 in Patterson, New Jersey then fought for almost 20 years to overturn his co...

This week, Kate continues the story of the legacy of Francis Harvey, his land donation on which Dorset's St Mary Magdelene Church was built, and how it contributed to the community for over the next 100 years. Dorset is about 3 hours north of Toronto in the Haliburton Highlands. Plus Paul talks about the last Grand Duchess of Russia - Olga Alexandrovna, who was sister to the last Tsar; how she esc...

This week, Kate talks about school in Haliburton County circa 1908 and Olive Robertson - an 18 year old school teacher in a 1 room schoolhouse (the Moon school) outside Haliburton Village. Plus, Paul talks about Lord Selkirk's humanitarian efforts to relocate poor Scot and Irish tenant farmers displaced by the Clearances - and the unitended impact when indigenous and Métis found themselves displac...

This week, Kate talks about Frances Harvey who settled in Dorset, Ontario (near today's Algonquin Park), but his wife and children lived in Prescott near Ottawa. Yet Harvey somehow managed to travel back and forth and make it work - during a time of few roads. A definite case of wanderlust. Plus Paul talks about Chinese Canadians who largely weren't accepted into the regular armed forces during WW...

This week, Kate talks about Robert McKelvey whose family immigrated from Belfast in the mid-1800's. Robert went on to open Haliburton's OTHER (and lesser known) hotel, the Queens Hotel around 1880. It was an early attempt to attract tourists by providing a full outfitter experience for the outdoorsman. Even the hounds for deer hunting. Plus, Paul talks about Joseph Whiteside Boyle - one of Canada'...

This week, Kate talks about Phoebe Ann Clark who was born in eastern Ontario in the 1830's, married and settled on Haliburton County's Boshkung Lake in the 1870's. Phoebe then led a pretty interesting and diverse life over the years as she adapted to whatever fate brought her. Plus, Paul talks about the first recorded mention of the Red Cross in Canada during the NorthWest Rebellion, the rapid gro...

This week, Kate talks about the Women's Institutes in Haliburton County that provided an outlet for the County's women who wanted to do-good for the community, but couldn't join the fraternal organizations dominated by men. Luckily, Kate has access to the record books and minutes of the Haliburton village chapter to give us a glimpse into the lives of women in the community. Plus Paul talks about...

This week, Kate uses William Cashmere - who came to Haliburton County in the 1860's - as an example of how early settlers would often reinvent themselves and their livlihood to try and succeed in life in the challenging new Ontario frontier. Plus Paul talks about the Irish Republican Brotherhood and their support group in North America - the Fenian Brotherhood - and their campaign of armed invasio...

This week, Kate talks about when the iconic Canadian department store, Stedmans, commisioned picture postcards for Haliburton around 1910 that were accompanied by quite elegant prose regarding what could be found here. Plus, Paul talks about the 1972 crash of a twin engined Beechcraft airplane on a medical mercy flight in Northern Canada and a tragic story of survival involving cannibalism. Kate B...

This week, Kate chats about what the end of the school year would have been like for kids in Haliburton County in the late 1800's and early 1900's. It might sound somewhat familiar - without the electronic devices - but there's always the old swimming hole. Plus, Paul talks about Isobel Gunn - a young lady from the Orkney Islands who fought gender stereotypes by assuming a male identity in the ear...