About Oakville's Bronte

As the breeze ushered in a reprieve from the high humidity levels and warm Lake Ontario air, thousands of visitors walked up and down the grassy aisles of Oakville's 44th Annual Art in the Park show yesterday afternoon.

It was a beautiful day in Bronte village and the streets were vibrant with visitors from the far reaches of Ontario and the globe.

Oakville's 44th Art in the Park show featured artists of every venue imaginable from watercolours, oils, sculptures and pottery all the way to beautiful wooden bowls and one of a kind jewellry.

Admiring the soft coloured wooden bowls where light pink overtones eked their way across the grains in surprising places, I learned that the wood was naturally coloured that way and came from Manitoba Maples, a Maple we always considered to be a 'weed' tree when I was growing up.

I'll never look at a Manitoba Maple in the same way again, now that I've seen the objects of great beauty that are crafted from it's sinewy trunks and reaching branches.

We met a wonderful couple there, a very talented husband and wife team of artists.
Atanur and Asuman Dogan paint beautiful watercolours of streetscapes, far-away places and the people who live in them.
Atanur is able to capture the expression of his subjects with such vibrant realism that the feelings portrayed jump off the painting and strike to the viewer's very heart.

One of my favourite paintings at the entire Oakville Art in the Park show was painted by Atanur and depicts a small child smiling and bashful and brimming with a gentle happiness. The feeling of love and safety stays with you long after you've viewed the painting and restores your faith that there are still many places where childhood is a time of innocence enjoyed under the protective and loving eye of Grandparents.

Pencil in your calenday and be sure you don't miss Oakville's 45th Annual Art in the Park show next summer, a premier event of the Oakville Art Society.
Who knows, you just might come home with a treasure.

 

©2009JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group - Quantum Realty Inc., Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.Oakville-BurlingtonHomes.com

Friday evening and I was off to show condos in beautiful Bronte Village. The Four "Ennisclare" condominium buildings on Marine Drive in Oakville appeal to those who desire lakeside living with luxurious amenities. Some of the units I showed had stunning views from the balconies of the Toronto skyline at sunset. Others overlooked Bronte harbour and outer marina.

I can only imagine waking up every morning and seeing Lake Ontario from my bedroom. After the showings, I decided to take a walk down the Bronte Pier. Dusk was setting in and the area was quiet, peaceful and serene.

A few anglers were grouped together on the end of the pier and a smattering of strollers were watching the last sailboats returning to their berths. Although the calendar says it's July, there was a slight chill in the air.

Oakville truly is a wonderful place to call home.

Lake Ontario - Bronte Pier

Day is done - Red sky at night - Sailors delight

Where ya goin' ?

Darkness is coming - Heading back to the marina

I was showing condos tonight in the Ennisclare buildings on the right side of the photo

Beacon Light beckoning the last sailors back to harbour

A great note to end the evening on.

Canada turns 142 years old tomorrow. Every village, town and city will celebrate in its own special way. Oakville will be holding plenty of festivities in the Bronte Village harbour district. A full day of events is planned and hopefully the weather will cooperate. The evening will end with fireworks over Lake Ontario.

Here is the lineup of events planned for July 1.

BRONTE RD. * THE BOARDWALK * HERITAGE WATERFRONT PARK

Time: 8 am. - 5pm.

11am - 4pm KID'S ACTIVITIES

Face Painters & Balloon Clown - Bronte Rd. & Heritage Waterfront Park

Children's Entertainers

12:00 - 12:30 pm

Cinderella ‘Meet and Greet'

2:30 - 3:30 pm

NAUTICAL ACTIVITIES

Bronte Harbour Yacht Club Yacht Flotilla

Dingy Races-Bronte Harbour. Yacht Club Sailing School

Town of Oakville Big Fire-truck & Crew

11am - 9pm

VENDOR Bazaar & MARKETPLACE (merch. and food vendors )

EVENT PROGRAM

Title of activity: CELEBRATE CANADA! PROGRAM

Oakville Celebrates Canada Day 2009

Location & Address of

Activity: Bronte Village by the Lake - Bronte Rd. Boardwalk

Heritage Waterfront Park by the Lake

(Where Veterans Highway Meets the Lake)

Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 8am - 11am. Lions Pancake Breakfast - 2,000 persons

BOARDWALK STAGE

- Bronte Rd. (east side -south of Lakeshore Rd.)

MC - TBD

Time

Activity

11:00 - 11:20

Formal Welcome & Opening Ceremonies

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton

Oakville's Highway of Heroes

11:20 - Noon

Salute to Flag

Salute to Veterans

Salute to Fallen Soldiers

O Canada

Emilia Sadowski

12:00 -12:30 Cinderella

‘Meet and Greet' & Birthday Cake for Kids

1:00 - 2:00 The Sweet Mack

2:00 - 3:00 Heavy Chevy

3:00 - 4:00 The Sarah Burton Band

4:00 - 5:00 Three Finger Arrow

5:00 - 6:00 Plan B

*schedule subj. to change without notice

MAIN STAGE: GAZEBO (Heritage Waterfront Park)

Schedule (preliminary schedule, subject to change)

MC - TBD

Time

Activity

12:30 - 1:00 Joharah Belly Up Belly Dance Troupe

2:00 - 2:45 Afternoon of Pickin' in the Park - (Set 1) Shawn Brush -"The Krooked Cowboy'

3:00 - 3:45 Shawn Brush "The Krooked Cowboy' (Set 2)

4:00 - 4:45 Stephen Fearing (Set 1)

5:00 - 5:45 Stephen Fearing (Set 2)

6:15 - 7:00 "A lively evening of heart, soul and horns"

George Oliver and Gangbuster (Set 1)

7:15 - 8:00 George Oliver and Gangbuster (Set 2)

8:15 - 9:00 NewWorldSon (headliner) (Set 1)

9:00 - 9:15

Greetings - Mayor Rob Burton

Highway of Heroes (Oakville Leg) - Salute to War Veterans - Fallen Heroes

9:15 - 10:15 NewWorldSon (headliner) (Set 2)

Mayor Burton leads countdown to fireworks, thanks all, band plays into fireworks

****ends set with O Canada with all entertainers on stage playing + Singing O Canada

10:15 pm FIREWORKS - Headliner plays through fireworks and to crowd exiting

Centriller Square Lakeshore Stage 2416 Lakeshore Rd. W.

Schedule (preliminary schedule, subject to change)

MC - TBD

Time

Activity

12:00 -1:00 The Lunchables (Ska Team)

1:15 - 2:15 Alan Edge and Julie Glac

2:30 - 3:30 Jeff and Debbie Currie

3:45 - 4:45 Taffy

5:00 - 6:00 John & Sheila Ludgate

6:15 - 7:15 Trevor Burt

7:30 - 9:00 Alright Alright

On an early, autumn day last year, Louis and I
were driving along Lakeshore Road as it meandered through the cities of Burlington and Oakville, admiring the many grand waterfront homes and the majestic trees that towered overhead.




















Exploring the many side streets that lead to the water's edge, we happened to turn down a small road that led to a quiet, lakeside neighbourhood where a peaceful cemetary lay in the middle.



















Gazing at the old gravestones that lay scattered under 200 year old oaks and pines, I felt myself entranced at how such a halcyon place had survived all of these years while the city had grown up around it.
































The blueness of Lake Ontario caught my eye, where the road ended, and I noticed the cemetary lay along the shore with some headstones very close to the eroded embankment.

Being a history buff, the site remained in my mind and I vowed to one day find the cemetary again. The next time I would take pictures and learn of it's history, I quietly thought to myself.





On an early spring day, not too long ago, I set out once more to find the old cemetary that held secrets of the area's early beginnings; tales of schooners sinking in gales and small children dying of the numerous diseases of the day.

Traveling up and down various roads that led to the water's edge, I came home unsuccessful and even more determined to locate this beautiful, heritage area.
Googling Oakville pioneer cemetary, I at last found what I hoped was my cemetary. Once again I set out with my Garmin close by in search of West Street along the shores of Oakville.

Traveling down the tree-lined street, I sighed with satisfaction as I spotted that , yes indeed, I had found the pioneer cemetary that had so marked my soul last autumn.

Parking my car and gathering my camera, I began to meander amongst the almost 200 year old gravestones and marvel at their beautiful carvings and simple inscriptions.

My heart felt a deep sense of sadness as I noticed that many of the graves were those of children and very young men and women. I could only imagine how hard times must have been back then.
















Bronte Pioneer Cemetary came to be in 1830 when Phillip Sovereign, a farmer in the area, designated the peaceful eastern corner of his property as a cemetary. Many local people had already been laid to rest there.


He wished for it to be a burial ground for people of all 'orders, sects, nations and parties' and officially deeded it as such. Many of the earliest people's who had escaped slavery via the Underground Railway came to be buried here.

Childhood mortality was very high in the 1800s and the cemetary has an even more sadder feel with 1/3 of the graves being those of children.

Schooner and shipwrecks were common on the Great Lakes in the early days of settlement and many mariners who's boats were lost in storms off the cemetary's coast, were laid to rest here.
One of them, Jimmy Baker, a young man who was the 1st mate of the schooner Magellan, was the only body found when the Magellan collided with the U.L. Hurd in 1877.

Two brothers, the Dorlands, were young fishermen whose boat capsized in a great storm in December 1886. Both perished and were laid to rest in Bronte Pioneer Cemetary, leaving behind two young families.









The fierce storms of Lake Ontario have wreaked their havoc on the cemetary over the years and 70 feet of cemetary have been swallowed by the crashing waves, taking along some graves of the early pioneers.


























Today it is a peaceful place with towering old Oak trees where Gray Squirrels scamper about looking for acorns and building nests.














































It seems very fitting that Mourning Doves are commonly seen now, walking serenely amongst the old stones.


















Some of the stones have suffered vandalism through the years, and the sands of time have eroded many inscriptions away, however the feeling of reverance and sorrow for those whose lives were lost, still remains.





















In 2003, the Bronte Pioneer Cemetary was registered under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act as a Heritage Site.

The cemetary is a peaceful place to visit for those who are interested in historical sites and in the early history of the Village of Bronte and the City of Oakville. There are benches where a traveler can sit and gaze in awe at the beauty of Lake Ontario while the silence of the heritage site washes
over a harried soul.

©2009JoSmith

 

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group - Quantum Realty Inc., Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.Oakville-BurlingtonHomes.com

One of the most picturesque and relaxing
places to visit in Oakville is Bronte Outer Harbour Marina.

Resting serenely on the shores of Lake Ontario, Bronte Outer Harbour Marina has a myriad of services to offer local boaters and visitors as well as beautiful areas to walk or spend some time contemplating the sounds and sights of nature.

Bronte is now re-awakening from a long winter's nap and anxious boaters are counting down the days to when their boats will leave dry land and once again float gently in their water homes.




















Canada Geese have returned and the gulls are once more gliding gracefully on the upland drafts and breezes coming off the lake.

The boat slips are thawing and a myriad of migrating waterfowl stop over daily to rest in the sheltered waters of the marina.

Local residents once
again can be seen walking along the peer and fishermen can again be seen casting their lines in hopes of landing a prize catch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lonely  harbour lays in wait.
























Bronte Outer Harbour re-awakening after a long winter.


































Patient slips await their boats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overlooking Bronte Outer Harbour ~ A beautiful place to call home.

©2009JoSmith

Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group - Quantum Realty Inc., Oakville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.Oakville-BurlingtonHomes.com