Time Warp

This week, Kate has some stories about getting one over on the game warden plus Paul tells the tale of Canada's most unusual Prime Ministers - William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had two sides. He was Canada's longest serving prime ministers and accomplished a lot during his tenure. He also had a public persona as a skilled negotiator who could find practical solutions to problems, but privately was...

This week, Kate has a follow-up on Remembrance Day and the additional story of a lucky local WW2 pilot who crashed while flying with the RCAF, but managed to survive. Plus, Paul has the tale of Ken Leishman who pulled a record gold-theft from the Winnipeg airport on March 1, 1966. Ken was often described as an intelligent, charming, and charismatic man who always had a smile and was liked by every...

This week, Kate has some thoughts about Remembrance Day and how people on the home front tried to carry on life during WW1. Plus, Paul has the story of Ukrainian migration to Canada since the late 1800's, how they contributed to the cultural and social mosaic in Canada, and why Canada tends to support Ukraine in their war with Russia. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Museum....

This week, both Kate and Paul have tales of Halloween spookiness. Kate has stories from Haliburton County - especially in regards to the museum buildings. Plus, Paul has a personal anecdote and 3 stories that cover Canada from the east coast to the west coast. From Halifax there's strange happenings from a funeral home that housed victims of the Titanic and the Halifax Explosion where thousands di...

This week, Kate brings 3 separate quirky stories about modes of transportation in early Haliburton County - therefore, planes;trains; and automobiles. Plus Paul has the story of the 1789 Nootka Sound Crisis that determined that Canada's west coast became British territory and eventually Canada could stretch from coast-to-coast. Otherwise British Columbia could have been Spanish or even Russian ter...

This week, Kate brings the story of loggers and the spring log drive down Haliburton County's rivers and lakes. Who do you call when you het a log jam? Jam crackers! Plus, Paul has the story of Louis Cyr, a farm boy born from the late 1800's Quebec who earned the title of the 'Strongest Man on Earth' through prodigious feats of strength like using his back to lift a platform with 18 men standing o...

This week, Kate riffs on Canadian Thanksgiving and segues into stories of 2 early pioneer families in Haliburton County. Plus Paul has a brief overview of Scotland's Highland Clearances in the early 1800's, the migration of Scots to Canada - in particular Reverend Norman McLeod and his congregation - and the lasting impact of Scots on Canadian culture that still exists today. Kate Butler is the Di...

This week, Kate has Part 2 of the story of Thomas Mason, an early pioneer in Haliburton County. Plus, Paul has the history behind how the world has had different systems of measurement and how Canada evolved to having a hybrid system of measurement - partly Imperial and partly Metric. It's created a bit of a muddle and doesn't always make sense, but by and large it works. Except maybe in the case...

This week, Kate has the first half of the story of Thomas Mason - a world traveller and resilient character who came to be an early settler in Haliburton County. Plus, Paul has the story Canada's 'boy wonder', shy teenager Percy Williams, who overcame his 5'7" and 123 lb stature and rheumatic fever to become an unlikely double gold medal sprint winner at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Percy...

This week, Kate has a 'lighter topic'. It's the back to school time of year, so here's a couple of school stories from yesteryear. Plus, Many Canadian servicemen have earned Britain's Victoria Cross Medal since its creation during the 1850's Crimean War. But, it's no longer awarded to Canadians. It has to do with Canada's evolution from a colony to an independent country. So, who was our first, an...

This week, Kate has the story of one of Haliburton County's many characters - R.H. Baker who was the one time owner of the Haliburton Echo newspaper. Plus, Paul has the rise and fall of Canada's only Canadian-born boxing heavyweight champ, Tommy Burns - the Little Giant of Hanover. At only 5'7" and 175 lbs he was an unlikely heavyweight who beat opponents who were many inches taller and much heavi...

This week, Kate has the story of late 1800's lumber camp cook George Roach. Plus, Paul has the life and gangland death of Besha (Bessie) Starkman, a Canadian female crime boss who together with her partner Rocco Perri ran crime in eastern Canada and the Northern US during the 1920's. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Museum. Paul Vorvis is the host of the Your Haliburton Morn...

This week, Kate has the story of the significance of Fall and agricultural fairs in a rural community and how they became popular during pioneer times. Plus, Paul has the story behind women stepping up to work outside the home in support of the WW2 effort, and how Canada's Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl, who was a real person, came to symbolize all her sisters working in factories. And she preceeded her...

This week, Kate has the story of Miriam Holland, a 17 year old woman who settled in Haliburton County in 1860, ended up living there into her 90's, and seeing an huge arc in community change. Plus, Paul has the life-story of Mona Roberts who was born in Nova Scotia, ended up in WW2's Dutch Resistance, and became the only Canadian woman to be tried by a Nazi tribunal and sentenced to death by firin...

This week, Kate has the story of horse racing in Haliburton County in the early 20th century, the local racetrack from 1909-1925, and a local race horse of some renown - Guilford Boy. Plus, Paul has the seafaring tale of the 'I'm Alone', a rum-running schooner out of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia during prohibition. The I'm Alone was chased over several days by the US Coast Guard who, out of frustration,...

This week, Kate has an update on last week's episode on time capsules then talks about art and art-artifacts that the museum has seen lately. Plus, Paul has the story of Abigail Becker, a pioneer who came to be known as the 'Angel of Long Point'. Abigail rescued the crews of at least 3 shipwrecks on Lake Erie in the mid-1850's and as a result received international recognition - including from Que...

This week, Kate muses about time capsules in general and including one found in Haliburton County in 1931 - it had been left in a stone wall on September 4, 1985. Plus, Paul has the story of the rise and fall of the Canadian sailing clipper the Marco Polo. She was launched at Saint John, New Brunswick in 1851, was phenomenally fast - setting voyage records, was known as the fastest ship in the wor...

This week, Kate tells the tale of the practices of early General Stores in Haliburton County along with their often credit and barter practices. They were an example of what helps a close knit small community work. Plus, Paul has the history of the evolution of Governor Generals in Canada, and specifically about the 6th Governor General - Gilbert Elliot Murray, the 4th Earl of Minto. The story inc...

This week, Kate talks about a time when municipalities set up their own local phone utilities. In the 1920's as the world of communication was evolving, Dysart (part of Haliburton County) set up their own phone system. And it was partly because of the budgeoning tourist summer lodges. Plus, Paul has the story of POW camps in Canada during WW2 and the only POW to ever have escaped Luftwaffe pilot F...

This week, Kate has the origin story of John Henry Billings who learned his trade as a builder in England, then eventually ending up in Haliburton Countyaround the turn of the 1800's. Plus, Paul has the tale of Toronto's Casa Loma castle built in the 1860's. During WW2 the basement and a secret 800 foot tunnel were turned into a wartime facility called Station "M" (for magic) for the production of...

This week, Kate has the story of a time in the late 1800's when newcomers to Haliburton County needed a cow for all it provided to help their family survive, but couldn't afford one. The answer? Cow rentals. Plus, Paul talks about how early baseball was so popular in Canada that it easily could have become our national sport. Canada's adoption of baseball was, in many ways, ahead of the US. Kate B...

This week, Kate talks about the roots of the almost 160 year old Haliburton County Fair. It all started in Minden in 1864.m It's a remarkable record given that Haliburton County and cottage country isn't especially known for things agriculture. Plus, paul has the story of the iconic Canadian Tire company, one of Canada's most recognizable retail chains, and their 'money' - customer rebate coupons...

This week Kate tells us about an example of early arts in Haliburton County. Duncan Bain was an in-demand talented musician with a great voice and was an accomplished fiddle player. Plus, Paul has the story of the Corps of Guides, an early mounted militia unit and how it evolved to become the forerunner for the modern Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburt...

This week - it's the first holiday weekend of the summer and it's called the May 24 weekend but it falls on May 19. Kate tries to clear up the confusion. Plus, the 1860's were a troubled time in Canada due to the Fenian crisis. And then Irish-Canadian politician D'Arcy McGee was assassinated. A person with Fenian leanings, Patrick James Whelan, was convicted and executed for the crime. But was he...

This week, Kate takes a look at the many instances of picnics in the early years of European settlement in Haliburton County. Plus, Paul has the story of the student's strike at Montreal's Aberdeen primary school 122 years ago in February 1913. The students were the children of poor Jewish immigarants attending a school staffed and administered by the Protestant school board. Religious, cultural,...