Cultural, religious diversity focus of CKL Doors Open
Cultural and religious diversity are front and centre for this year’s edition of Doors Open in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Several sites that symbolize rich heritage traditions will be taking part in the annual event for the first time, said organizers, who acknowledged that we are all on the land of the Michi Saagiig People (Mississauga Anishnaabe).
For example, James Whetung of Curve Lake First Nation will demonstrate how to harvest wild rice and explain its spiritual significance at Gamiing Nature Centre east of Lindsay on Pigeon Lake. Visitors are encouraged to bring their canoe or kayak or try one.
An exhibit that celebrates the more than 100-year-old Kawartha Chinese Canadian community will be displayed at the Derry Restaurant – the oldest still operating Chinese restaurant in Lindsay, on Kawartha Lakes Road 36.
Maryboro Lodge at the Fenelon Museum on Oak Street in Fenelon Falls will celebrate the life of Anne Langton, the early 19th century writer and artist who represents the unusually large number of creative women who settled in the Kawartha Lakes region.
The Amish, Mennonite and Quaker communities, who have been in Ontario since the 1700s, will be highlighted at Friends (Quaker) Cemetery at Peniel and Eden roads east of Lindsay, as well working Amish and Mennonite farms. Visitors can take home some produce and craft work.
Visitors can also see the site of the Pontypool Jewish Recreation Community – where from the 1920s to 1960s, Jewish people from the Toronto area and beyond could enjoy and share their heritage, food, music and entertainment – with each other – and others.
Places of worship will also open their doors. Visitors can see the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association Lindsay Masjid (mosque) on Kent Street and meet its worshippers, as well see the Anglican Church on Sherwood Street in Bobcaygeon with its unique, large, round arts and craft style stained glass window honouring farmworkers in the region.
They can also take in the charming cottage built on 3rd Street in Sturgeon Point by W.A. Goodwin (born in 1840), an agnostic, vegetarian, socialist, phrenologist painter who lived 100 years by putting marijuana in his tea, officials said.
The Kinmount Railway Station, built in 1901 by William Mackenzie and the Grand Trunk Railway, is also on the tour, as is the Olde Gaol Museum (built in 1863) and St. Andrew ’s Presbyterian Church (built in 1886) in Lindsay.
David Wesley, chairman of the Kawartha Heritage Network that is organizing the tour weekend with support from the Ontario Heritage Trust and City of Kawartha Lakes, encouraged visitors to learn more about our history.
“It’s an engaging and enjoyable way for long time residents and newcomers to Canada alike to be reminded that here as across Ontario – a heritage of diversity has enriched people’s lives for centuries,” he stated.
NOTE: For more information, including maps and directions, visit www.doorsopenontario.on.ca and click on City of Kawarthas Lakes, or call 705-324-3404 or 705-4541405.