Stratford, swans mark 100 years of being synonymous
Birds have become part of city’s identity since the first pair’s introduction in 1918
Three things typically come to mind when most visitors think about this Southwestern Ontario city: Justin Bieber, the festival and swans.
The first pair of large white birds was plunked in the river running through Stratford 100 years ago this Thursday, forging — perhaps unexpectedly at the time — a unique relationship that’s now become permanently intertwined with the city’s identity. In honour of a century of swans in Stratford, here are 10 memorable moments, quirky facts, colourful characters and surprising stories.
Quin Malott, the city’s current manager of parks, forestry and cemeteries; Stratford Perth Museum general manager John Kastner; the Stratford Tourism Alliance; Robert J. Miller’s book The Swans of Stratford; and Ellen Stafford’s book Stratford: Around and About all contributed to this piece.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
On Aug. 23, 1918, a pair of mute swans was released in the Avon River. They were a gift, handed over to the city by a man named J. C. Garden who came to Stratford from Battle Creek, Mich., to work for the Grand Trunk railway shops. Garden loved watching the birds strut and swim around the central Michigan city, so he donated one mating pair to Stratford’s board of park management.
KEEPER OF THE SWANS
Miller was officially named Honorary Keeper of the Swans in 1984 by then-mayor Ted Blowes. The volunteer devoted his life to the city’s white-feathered residents — he broke up fights between aggressive breeding males, protected newborn cygnets from deadly snapping turtles, and pulled sick or injured birds from the water. He even oversaw the breeding process by stopping siblings from mating and introducing widowed females to new males. His official designation became a national news story at the time as he was the only person in Canada to have this title, and his 1995 book was loaded with odd stories.
THE MONTREAL MISHAP
One odd tale involved two of Stratford’s swans, who relieved themselves inside Montreal city hall before being trapped in a stopped elevator. The birds were sent to Montreal on behalf of Stratford city hall and the Stratford Festival to mark the opening of an event there. Initially they were kept in crates, but then-Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau wanted to provide local press better photo opportunities, so he released them, Miller wrote. Calamity, and bowel movements, ensued.
ROYAL BLOOD
In 1967, Queen Elizabeth II gave six pairs of mute swans to Ottawa in honour of the country’s 100th birthday, and one duo ended up in Stratford six years later. The female, named the West End Lady, lived for two decades and had five mates. Her blood still runs through offspring currently paddling along the Avon River this summer, Malott said.
SWAN KILLER JAILED
A 20-year-old man was sentenced to jail in early 2011 for killing a Stratford swan and its eggs. During sentencing, court heard the Perth South man was walking home after drinking on May 30, 2010, when he picked up a large stick and struck a bird named Angela several times and then prodded her into the water and left her to die. He then destroyed her seven eggs. As he sentenced the man to seven days in jail, 60 hours of community service, two years of probation and a $1,000 fine, Justice George Brophy acknowledged the sentence may not be seen as fair to the accused or the swan-loving community.
VANDALISM AND VIOLENCE
Swan-related violence has been an issue from the beginning. In the fall of 1918, mere months after Garden’s gifts arrived, then-mayor Joseph Monteith asked the parks board to have local press warn residents they would be prosecuted if they were found throwing stones at the swans. Decades later, two were found dead from gunshot wounds on the bank of the river, “a senseless killing by someone with a shotgun,” Miller wrote. Off-leash dogs have also killed quite a few over the years.
BORDER BATTLE
Then-Stratford mayor Donald Davis wanted to present a pair to his mayoral counterparts in Minneapolis and St. Paul to mark the opening of the Grand Theatre in the Twin Cities. The birds were crated and shipped, but stopped at the U.S. border, according to Miller. A confused customs officer contacted officials in Washington for advice, and the eventual reply stated: “Swans are migratory birds, they come and go as they please, so ship those swans to Minneapolis.”
SWAN PARADE
What started as a simple method to lead the herd from its winter shelter back into the river each spring has blown up into a gaudy two-day tourist attraction. Usually held on the first weekend in April, flocks of visitors from across the province arrive to check out an ever-expanding list of swan-related activities starting on Saturday leading up to Sunday afternoon’s parade. Despite thousands of people forming a human wall along their path, the birds typically march in orderly fashion back to the water.
GROUNDED
Stratford and swans have a longterm relationship, but they’re obviously not indigenous to the area. As a result, they have to be pinioned and leg-banded — usually within a week of being born — for the city to maintain its holding licence with the Ministry of the Environment, Malott said. But after being clipped they can still fly for short distances and some manage to escape the river’s eastern and western borders. Malott said they sometimes end up on neighbouring golf courses and private properties.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
The city aims to keep its herd below 25 — it currently has 21, including four mated pairs, Malott said — so when the number swells it sells excess birds to golf courses or neighbouring municipalities. But one of the earliest attempts didn’t fare well as a pair sent to Tillsonburg in the 1930s died one day after arriving, Miller wrote. An autopsy revealed they ate poisonous waterhemlock leaves.
CLOSE CALL FOR RIVERBED
A narrow vote barely salvaged Stratford’s relationship with swans before it even began. Just five years prior to Garden’s 1918 gift, the Canadian Pacific Railway proposed running a line through the riverbed, Stafford wrote. A group of activists campaigned door-to-door against the idea and it’s a good thing they did because, when it came down to a vote, the proposal lost by a mere 127 ballots.