By Gail Henderson, Chair
Forgotten Trails Management Board
The official opening of the Trans Canada Trail in the Year 2000 has become Canada's national Millennium project as it symbolically links the whole country together along 10,000 km. of uninterrupted recreational trail.
The Old Nipissing Road, which is part of the Forgotten Trails Hiking and Cycling Trail System, has been designated part of the Trans Canada Trail.
This Millennium event will include Relay 2000, a relay run which will see water carried from Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans along the route of the Trans Canada Trail and into Ottawa where the water will be poured into the Trans Canada Trail Fountain on September 13th. National attention will be focussed on each community along the trail as the water passes from hand to hand across the country.
The Trans Canada Trail has often been called the "Trail of Dreams" but nowhere in Canada does the title "Trail of Dreams" better apply than to the Old Nipissing Road.
It truly was the "Trail of Dreams" for hundreds and hundreds of people who left everything they knew and loved for the adventure of a lifetime in the North. Waiting for them were harsh winters, inhospitable growing soil and back-breaking work. But they were more than compensated by the beauty and majesty of an unspoiled wilderness, the love of family and new friends and the exciting opportunity to make something of their new home.
When it was decided to lay the railway to the east, where Highway 11 is located, much of the population gravitated towards the new transportation route and the "Trail of Dreams" was forgotten. In some places along the Old Nipissing Road, the wilderness has reclaimed it.
What did the Almaguin Highlands look like 100 years ago? Because time "forgot it" you can hike or cycle the Old Nipissing Road and see for yourself.
What will the Almaguin Highlands look like in 100 years time? It is our hope that the Old Nipissing Road and the Trans Canada Trail will be a gift of our history and heritage from those of us celebrating the end of this millennium to those who will inhabit the next.
The Old Nipissing Road has now been restored as a recreational trail from Seguin Falls to Magnetawan and from Magnetawan up to Commanda. As the Relay 2000 is run across the country, the spotlight will come to rest on the Old Nipissing Road on Tuesday, August 1, 2000. A number of millennium celebrations are being organized along the relay route.
Some planned activities include:
exhibits of agricultural and homesteading artifactsa family album section where folks can display pictures and mementos from their family archivesbook signing (History of Machar Township)a display of newspaper archival material to give people a sense of the daily timesbicycle tours of the Old Nipissing Road on the afternoon of the eventa historic bike to the ghost town of Ryeplowing matchhorsedrawn wagon rides along the trailpioneer demonstrations and aboriginal drum demonstrations with some history of the First Nations in the regionfood , square dancing, story telling, musicchildren's games from the turn of the centurya bonfire under the stars will mark the Millennium and pay tribute to the Trail of Dreams and its heritage in our region.
Celebrations will get underway at 9:30 a.m. that morning in Nipissing Village as Heritage Day celebrations are being planned in the Village. the relay will reach the historic Commanda General Store and Museum at approximately 1 p.m. with events being planned at the Commanda Community Centre.
The Relay will then enter the Forgotten Trail System and will be run down the Old Nipissing road to Bummer's Roost, the original site of the Russell Inn which was a popular stopover for stage coaches travelling the old road.
The Relay run will stop there for the night where a summer cookout and campfire is being planned. Bright and early on the following morning (August 2), the Relay 2000 will begin along the trail again with excitement building as it reaches Magnetawan, the only original town still in existence along the historic road. There daylong festivities are being planned.There will be 25 narrative plaques installed at historic sites along the trail from Seguin Falls to Commanda. A guidebook containing points of interest along the Old Nipissing Road is being produced to mark the occasion. It will contain the history, geography, biology and wildlife that can be found along the Old Nipissing Road as well as more detailed information on the historic plaques.