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 President Iain was delighted to welcome a person who has a wee history with Breezy Bend. Someone who was one of the first employees. Our guest speaker this evening is Garry Bolton. Garry will speak about the history of Minaki and the region, an area rich in history. He has a family cottage there and is the resident historian. He's a Honorary Member of the Winnipeg West Rotary Club.
Garry spoke about his personal connection to Breezy Bend. There is also another Minaki connection through Currie McMillan, who was the first President of Breezy Bend and later became part of management at the Minaki Lodge. Garry circulated 'The Minaki Area Chronicles' (2 volumes) that he and others from Minaki spent 10 years to complete. A difficult chore, given busy lives and the need to have Minaki families submit their stories. Initially, the content was to be housed on a website, but the right decision was made to tell the story in a book. Eventually, the first two volumes were printed and sold out. This printing included many family stories, the coming of the railroad, commercial lodges (including Minaki Lodge), aviation centre, environmental challenges and the Dugald train crash. The history of train services in Minaki is fascinating and thankfully, the line through Minaki was chosen. Some thought it should be shared with the CPR line through Kenora. An important figure in the building of the CNR was Melville Hays who tragically died on the Titanic. The stretch from Winnipeg to Sioux Lookout cost $13 Million, with costs impacted by the terrain in NW Ontario.  Skipper Holst was an early business person, building the Holst Point store/ inn. It served the community very well until burning down in 1989. Minaki Inn, built in 1914 burned down in 1925 and rebuilt as Minaki Lodge. That same year was when Stanley Thompson, the renowned golf course architect, built a 9 hole course at Minaki Lodge (no longer operating). In 1927, the Minaki Lodge opened to become a treasure. It was destroyed by fire in 2003.
A road to Minaki was built in the 70s. Prior to that visitors came by train. For those who were cottagers, the 'Camper Special' brought fathers from the city for the weekend. The train station was active with families reuniting and the delivery of goods. A tragic story was the Dugald crash when the Sunday train to Winnipeg crashed into the eastbound intercontinental. There were many casualties. The Minaki train station is still standing, and there is hope of saving it. Garry told other accounts of Minaki, the Eaton family and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Regrettably, time did not allow for more. A third volume about the history of Minaki is well under way and will include topics such as the silk trains, Richard Wagamese, additional family stories, and more. President Iain thanked Garry for a most inspiring talk. He and Caroline’s enjoyed their only respite during 2020 when they booked to stay at Minaki Yurts in September of that year. They had a special few days with his puppy in glorious weather. For those wishing to follow progress on the 3rd book, there is a Facebook Page 'Minaki History Society' that you can follow. |
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