Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Remember Red Fisher and Scuttlebutt Lodge: Tall Tale Capital of the World? It ran on CTV from 1968 to 1989. Guests included NHL greats Johnny Bower and Eddie Shack (Leafs), Stan Makita (Blackhawks), Gordie Howe (Wings), baseball legends Fergie Jenkins (Red Sox) — and even Slim Pickens (actor — […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Jack was jumpin’ Friday. Literally. The Bala ragtime pianist is the hare to Joe Biden’s tortoise. And if Donald Trump were within earshot of the Opera House, he would have heard ‘… Hutton and Friends’ tear up the stage “one more time.” Not bad for a nonagenarian. “91 and […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Rotary continues to rock the Barge. Their new amphitheatre seating has increased crowd numbers allowing more people to see and hear the summer shows. Sunday — on a second straight perfect night of weather — the sounds of the Doobie Brothers filled Gull Lake Rotary Park. And every new […]
GRAVENHURST — After an “excellent” start last week, Trinity United Church continues it short noon concert series on Wednesday. Kate Ward provided a superb “tasting menu” of organ music, said church member and organizer Diane Harrop. “It was excellent and a great introduction to our three-concert series,” she said in release. This week, TUC welcomes […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — An attainable housing expansion at McVittie Place will add 44 district unit with rents expected to range from $550-$950/month. Fourteen of the 44 new units will be barrier-free, with an elevator and accessible parking spaces to support persons living with disabilities. Construction of the new building at 100 Pine […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PORT CARLING — Funny how life throw’s you a pass and you either run with it or get sacked. Muskoka comedian Tyler Morrison, who is performing Tuesday nights all this summer at Tulo’s by the locks, gives as good he gets when it comes to joking around. The Bracebridge-based funny man […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com ORILLIA — Who knew a baton could be so damn entertaining. In the right hands it was magic as the Old Crow Medicine Show stole the show the final night of the three-day Mariposa Folk Festival. With the mixed wizardry of an Olympic gymnast and showman, his whirling and twirling bedazzled […]
Story and photos Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com ORILLIA — Bruce Cockburn fans are still lovers of the folk legend in these dangerous times. At 79 he remains relevant to generations of followers through collective political, environmental and indigenous activism, singing and song-writing and still protesting. But it’s his association with the weekend’s Mariposa Folk Festival […]
MUSKOKA — Mark Wednesdays on your musical calendar starting tomorrow to beat the heat and cool off in the lake after. At noon enjoy exceptional pipe organ playing as Trinity United Church in Gravenhust returns to its summer recitals. Their first concert features Kate Ward, who has been playing piano since age 3 and organ since […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Call it a mini Mariposa. As Orillia’s folk festival wrapped up Sunday, north Gull Lake Rotary Park was just starting it’s summer season of Music on the Barge. With the Bifocals Band kicking things off in the afternoon, they were followed that evening by Motown in Motion. Gathered round […]
Photos, story Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com ORILLIA — Many folk fans still come to Mariposa for the intimate small stages, but the it’s the bigger acts on the Gordon Lightfoot Mainstage that draw the larger crowds. That’s why the former shut down at 5 p.m. to make way for the evening headliners who are less […]
LETTER TO EDITOR: The Save South Muskoka Hospital Committee has been fervently advocating for months, pressing Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare to honour its commitment to build two acute care hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge, equipped with shared amenities and adequate beds. Regrettably, MAHC has disregarded both established protocols and common sense necessary for access to equitable […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com ORILLIA — The Bruce Cockburn isn’t the same nervous kid who was thrust on to the Mariposa main stage in 1968. “I was supposed to do an afternoon set – which I did. And Neil Young was on the bill and Neil had to cancel because he had an ear issue […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — The stage for today’s big Rotary show off was set 65, 75 and 85 years ago. Eighty-five years ago when Rotary was founded in Gravenhurst, 75 years ago when Barge concerts began and 65 years ago when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip opened the historic yellow band shell we […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — July 4 is now definitely a historic day in Gravenhurst especially at Gull Lake Rotary Park. Sixty-five years to the day after Queen Elizabeth dropped in to open the Barge — Rotary Rocked the Barge this afternoon. The setting was jovial as Rotarians, the town and community members marked […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Rain or shine Rotary Rocks the Barge will officially open tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. No need to bring a chair — the club has seating for more than 500 on the bank overlooking Gull Lake and the Barge. The Rotary and Town of Gravenhurst amphitheatre project at Gull […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com “… I’m just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.” The Animals, 1964 HUNTSVILLE — MAHC amended a motion tonight it claims was misunderstood by the public, doctors and MPP Graydon Smith as green-lighting its hospitals proposal to the province. Board chair Dave Uffelmann […]
BREAKING NEWS … Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — Could an eleventh hour appeal by MPP Graydon Smith stop MAHC from voting on a motion this afternoon go ahead with its deeply divisive Muskoka hospitals redevelopment plan? Smith put in an emergency phone call this morning to new Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare chair David Uffelman with […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Sunrise to sunset Canada Day was a cavalcade of our colours and lighting up day and night. The sights were red and white hued with true patriotic love as Canadians celebrated with song and dance — and a ton of cup cakes and ice cream across Muskoka. In the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com CHARLOTTETOWN — Jack Hutton looks like a scholar — with his bushy eyebrows, braces and bent posture that makes him appear as if listening or speaking with quiet authority. He and his wife Linda Hutton-Jackson were among similar company last week as they received a rare award for their Bala Museum […]