Latest Posts

  • Josy P. Zaremsky

    In Memory of Stan Johnson This story is long overdue. Many years ago, I promised a friend, Stan Johnson, that I would write down the story of Josy P. Zaremsky for the local museum and for the history of Marathon.… Continue reading

  • A Gift at 7:30 in the Morning

    Teachers seldom see the harvest. That may sound strange coming from someone who spent more than thirty years in education, but it is true. Teachers plant seeds, encourage growth, celebrate small successes, and then watch their students move on. Most… Continue reading

  • The Crosses Beyond the Rock Cut

    When I was a boy growing up in Marathon, Ontario, my friends and I spent much of our free time exploring the shoreline of Lake Superior. There were countless paths leading to favourite places. One of them followed the Canadian… Continue reading

  • Walking Where He Walked

    There was a funeral some years ago that has stayed with me more deeply than I expected. I had been asked to preside at the funeral of a local father whose family had come from Newfoundland. Not simply from Newfoundland… Continue reading

  • Pebble Beach: A Place of Return

    There are places in the world that become part of us so deeply that we no longer think of them as “places” at all. They are woven into our breathing, our remembering, our way of understanding ourselves. For me, that… Continue reading

  • The Heartbeat of Marathon

    In my early years in Marathon, our family lived in a trailer park at the far southern edge of town. There were four of us in a space just thirty-three feet long and eight feet wide. It was not large,… Continue reading

  • Highways as Lifelines—And What Comes Next

    I was struck by Mayor Rick Dumas’ recent comments to delegates at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference, reported in The Marathon Mercury, where he described Highways 11 and 17 as “essential lifelines for northern communities.” I agree with him… Continue reading

  • When Banks Leave Town, Communities Pay the Price

    Over the past few years, many rural Canadians have watched local bank branches quietly disappear. At first, these closures may seem like simple business decisions, part of a shift toward online services and centralized operations. But for communities along the… Continue reading

  • Sailing Home

    I’ve been awake since 5 am this morning. Here I am at age 75 feeling like a kid at Christmas waiting for Santa to arrive as I pace and sip a coffee awaiting Don’s arrival. We are heading to Thunder… Continue reading

  • The Sound of Learning

    This afternoon I spent several hours in the church with a friend. At least, that’s how I think of him now. A lifetime ago he was my student. Don had agreed to help me experiment with the church sound system.… Continue reading