Articles - STOKES BAY, ONTARIO, CANADA

Memoir by Margaret Laughlin Given McGee 1862-1955

Christmas, 1947, and I am 85 years old today. I am going to reverse my policy of looking forward at life, and instead I am going to take a backward glance and for a little while live with my memories which are both rich and satisfying. I have had a very busy life; being the…
Mrs Louis Sutter Recalls Many Changes on the Bruce Peninsula since 1871

By Mrs. Louis Sutter, R. R. 1 Mar, born Jane McMaster 1856-1943 First prize winner of Pioneer Story Contest, July 6, 1939, Wiarton Echo Having heard that you would like to receive pioneer stories of the early days on the Bruce Peninsula, I thought perhaps my experiences would be of interest to some of your…
Stokes Bay 1946-1960s: Some Tiny Tales

Cows with No Borders In the late 40s and early 50s, we would often be awakened in the mornings to the sound of cowbells in our backyard. At the time there were hardly any fences around the yards and the cows, in this case from McArthur’s place a bit east of us, wandered all over…
Community Softball Games on the Sand

Supplement #2 to initial post – Stokes Bay Photos and Memories from Jack Bertrand Another fun community activity in the late-1940s and early 1950s were the softball games played on the sand behind Vaughan’s Camp. That is, they were played when the lake water was low enough to allow a big enough sand area for…
Dances at Jeanne & Don’s in the 1950s

One activity I remember fondly were the dances at Jeanne & Don’s in the 1950s, which brought the community together on a regular basis in the summers: The dances were a regular social activity for one and all, held Wednesdays and Saturdays from, I think, 9pm to midnight at the Restaurant/Dance Hall. The Saturday dances…
The Sinking of The Asia and Christie Ann Morrison

Excerpt from The Sun Times, Owen Sound, article #942575, At one o’clock in the morning on Sept. 14, 1882, the wooden steamer Asia left her berth in the darkness of Owen Sound’s harbour. The Asia was on her way to a rendezvous with a storm. It would be the nine-year old ship’s last voyage and…
Stokes Bay Photos and Memories from Jack Bertrand

The following pages are some glimpses of my and my family’s time in Stokes Bay, which began in the mid-1930s and continued to the early 1990s. That was mostly my parent’s time. I was a part of it from my birth in the late 1930s to around 1960, when I graduated from university and started…
The Big Seige 1952 – Stokes Bay, Ontario, Canada

A collection of media and stories related to The Big Seige in Stokes Bay of 1952, including first hand accounts and newspaper articles. Photos courtesy of Jack Bertrand The Big Seiche by Vincent Elliott May 5, 1952 The Big Seiche of 1952 in Stokes Bay will be long remembered by the people who had to…
OLD TIMERS’ TALES: A History of Stokes Bay and Surrounding Area (Bruce Peninsula)

A re-print of this book by Helene Scott is now available on Amazon, in softcover and hardcover! Much of Stokes Bay village history was gathered by the this writer and others some years ago.
Tweedsmuir History

Since 1897 Women’s Institute Members have worked together recording history for their communities, giving insight to the past that would otherwise be forgotten. Containing collections of memoirs, hand written, and typed, clippings of newspaper articles, lists of pioneer settlers, family stories, veterans, obituaries, recipes, and general cleaning tips, the subjects are vast. Such an influential…
Flossie the Christmas Angel

A True Christmas story By Lourena Akins “Mom, here comes Flossie” Yes, I always got excited when I saw our next-door neighbour coming. I could see her home from my little cot Daddy had put by my window. The hours were long for me because I was only seven years old. Hadn’t walked for 2…
Helene Scott

The history of Stokes Bay, Ontario, Canada could not be told with such clarity, if it were not for Helene (Murray) Scott. A great deal of gratitude is owed to her relentless quest to record the memories of the ‘Old Timers’ of the time. Most of the Tweedsmuir Books that are attributed to the community…