Pool for our County :)

I was in our wonderful Bulk Food Store in Haliburton this morning when I saw a new cookbook available called "Recipes with a Splash". The cookbook is being used as a fundraiser for the County Swimming Pool Initiative (CSPI), with proceeds going towards a market demand feasibility study. The book is available in several locations including the Bulk Food Store, Rails' End Gallery, Wintergreen and Eagle Lake Country Market at a cost of $12.00 each. If you are in the County - please support this VERY worthy cause! The area needs an indoor pool and recreation area. Not only for those who live here now, but for those thinking of settling to the area. It is too easy to get caught up in the now - those with a vision of what Haliburton County should be, and will be in the future know that this pool is needed. If you try to find a community that has an indoor pool that pays for itself, you will be let d0wn. They don't - they are costly and take a great deal of human resources to manage and maintain. The question is, is the cost worth it. In my opinion you cannot go wrong. People's lifestyles are changing - they are more active, eating more healthy, and are more involved in their community. Indoor pools offer a place for exercise programmes, events, therapy, and an outlet for people to "just get out". It affects our physical and mental well-being. As a community, if we are more active, we are a stronger community and a place not only to stay, but to move to. Along with walking and cycling trails, an indoor swimming pool should be part of the "big picture" for our community. It is our future!

Fall Events

The colours are out in full force and all indications are that they will peak about a week before Thanksgiving - but no fear, there will still be some for the long weekend! We had amazing weather for the Hike Haliburton Festival this past weekend - almost tropical! This Saturday (Oct. 1) ColourFest hits the Highlands. This is another fabulous event organized by some extremely hard-working volunteers. Excellent muscial talent will be entertaining in Head Lake Park, an IAMS Pet Contest, Vintage Car Show, Kids' Funfest Zone, Petting Zoo, Kids' Art Attack, OPP Golden Helmets Motorcycle Show, Buskers, Clowns, Barn Dance, Corn Roast, Pancake Breakfast.....oh my I am out of breath (or finger energy)!! And wait until you see all the great scarecrows and decorations around town! Go to www.colourfest.ca for details.

Friends of the Rail Trail also have a couple of events coming soon - Friday, October 14, 2011 there is a dinner being held at Camp Wanakita, with Ed Poropat as a guest speaker. If you do not know Ed, he is a resident biologist who has an up-close and personal knowledge base of the wildlife found throughout the rail trail bed and in our County. He is a great speaker and you always learn something! Tickets are $20.00 per person for the evening and if you are interested, please call me at 705-455-7578 to reserve.

The second Rail Trail event is the same weekend - Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16. We are holding an "End to End" walk - 34 km in total. It will be a group walk, but at your own pace. Do a little, do a lot, do it all! We are starting with a small, casual event this year in the hopes of growing it into a large event next year. Everyone welcome, no costs to participate. I will post time and start info soon.

I can't wait to join these events - bump into neighbours, and see many of our seasonal residents and visitors for the last time this year. Come on out and join in!! See you there!

Hiking in Haliburton

Each year I try to squeeze in some walks/hikes throughout the County where I haven't been before and with the annual Hike Haliburton Festival coming up (details further along), I was curious to check out High Falls in the eastern portion of the County, within the borders of Algonquin Park. Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day and so it was decided! Now, having never been there, the question was - is it a large rapids or truly a Falls we were going to get to discover? As we arrived at the starting point, we (my husband John and I) were perplexed. We heard it was a rugged walk requiring really good footwear and were met with a completely level walk through new-growth forest. It was like walking through a farmers' field with young trees in it! This continued for a good 15 minutes - then we turned a corner and the old-growth forest, a hiker's true love, met us. It was still an easy hike at this point but we could hear rushing water ahead. We soon came to the river, a wide area with rapids at the top. The water was very low and most rocks were high and dry. Was this it? We tried to picture it in high water and thought it would be quite pretty. The trail continued.....another pond - more rocks - the rushing water a little more vibrant this time. We rock hopped along the rapids - very easy with that many rocks! Leaving the rock hopping behind, we got back on the path and found it to be getting much more difficult - many roots, rocks, boulders with great crevices everywhere (perfect homes for wildlife), and we noticed for the first time we were travelling higher and higher. There it was - about 40 minutes into the walk - High Falls. Not Niagara Falls by any means, but incredibly picturesque, with great spots to sit and enjoy the sounds and sights. Eventually you go right to the top and if you aren't nervous about hopping (really just stepping) from rock to rock, you can sit at the top - a great level spot, and relax. It was a great day and a lovely walk - 81 photos later!

Now, as promised - Hike Haliburton Festival! This is a great excuse to come to Haliburton County. On September 23, 24 and 25 there are over 30 guided hikes held across the County. They are FREE (donations appreciated), and organizers ask that you pre-register the hikes you wish to go on. The hikes range from short and sweet, to hardy. Something for every age and ability. Pick an area of the County you haven't been to before - get out and explore this gorgeous part of Ontario. For hike info, visit www.haliburtoncounty.ca/tourism/fall/hikehaliburton.asp .

Back at last!

Did anyone miss me? I miss this blog - but if I am not writing it means I am busy, and as a real estate agent, as Martha would say, that is a very good thing! Our social life has been minimized lately due to my hectic schedule, but I wanted to share 2 things with everyone! Last night Christine and I went to the Dusk Dances at Head Lake Park in town - lots of fun! Our local and extraordinarily talented band, Jazz Kitchen, entertained people as they arrived for the first half hour - the weather was perfect and everyone brought their lawn chairs for comfort. This is the fifth year for Dusk Dances and I hadn't been yet (shame on me!) so I wasn't sure what to expect or how things worked. Our local celebrity - comedian and tv show host (now also council woman) Brigitte Gall, hosted the evening in fine character as a ravishing and blood thirsty vampire! She was brilliant! There were 5 performances, each in a different part of the park. The concept was that you watched a performance, then the horn sounded and everyone picked up their chairs and moved to the next performance. Not sure of attendance but there must have been at least 200 people last night and it was quite a feat! But the constant movement of the crowd added to the fun and atmosphere. The performances were great and it was a perfect way to pass a Saturday evening in Haliburton County! There dogs, children, people of all ages. Tonight is the last performance for this year. As I sat watching the performances, I marvelled at what amazing things happen in our great County - a unique experience, yet only one of many unique experiences that happen here throughout the County - how fun!

The second fun thing, I will admit, did not take place in Haliburton County. Two weeks ago Christine and I snuck away for a 3-day camping trip at Bon Echo Provincial Park, south of Denbigh. Reviews from people about the park were mixed, so we were unsure of what to expect. We were told it was right by the highway and that the highway noise was very unappealing. This is a HUGE issue for us as we camp for solitude and peace, but we booked our campsite on line and chose one that we thought would be quite remote, and hoped for the best. One word describes what we found - gorgeous! We went mid-week, our campsite was located in Hardwood Hills, and there was nobody around! We had to park our car and carry our gear into the site, but it wasn't far and we had complete privacy on a huge campsite. It was a 20 minute drive on dirt roads to get from our campground to the beaches and other amenities, where the crowds were, but we didn't mind one bit. My biggest complaint was how far our outhouse was! Located on Mazinaw Lake, the park offers many beautiful trails and sites. The Mazinaw Rock that looms out of the water is amazing - photos cannot capture the height, but look at the photo and pick out the tiny canoe at the bottom to help! Plus, when you are on the water at the base of the rock, the rock goes 300 feet straight down under the water! Indian pictographs line the rock - over 200 of them and you can take a fun boat tour for a meer $6.25 to learn about the rock, the park and the pictographs - well worth it! We also canoed JoPerry Lake while there - a quiet, peaceful lake of good size with "canoe-in" campsites. Oh yes - and the Cliff top trail to the top of Mazinaw Rock - amazing! 180 official steps, 240 if you count misc. steps along the trail, but incredible views from the top - a peregrin falcon flew past our noses while we watched!

Next venture - High Falls which is part of Algonquin Park but located at the east side of Haliburton County - I hear it is a great hike and Christine and I are off to explore!

Cottage Life Show

Well - this year's Toronto Cottage Life Show was a huge success! Best attendance ever! Marilyn and I were at the RE/MAX booth on Sunday. The booth had a new look this year with more space for browsing and lots of people were checking out what Haliburton has to offer. It should be a great season! For the first time ever, Marilyn and I are going to have a booth at the Haliburton Home Show, the first weekend in June. It will be great to see people in this setting - past and current clients, and friends! Look us up if you come to show and say Hi!

First Ramble of the Year

Spring has sprung! Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first Sunday Ramble on the Rail Trail of the season. We ramble every Sunday throughout April and May, while ATV's are not able to use the trail. We vary in size from 10 to 35 people each Sunday that show up, free of charge, to take a stroll. Each week we start from a different point in the trail, so we can see all the trail has to offer. It is a lot of fun for sauntering, walking or speed walking - whatever the pace! Tomorrow we leave from the Rails End Gallery on York Street in Haliburton, at 11am. For those that work up an appetite, several plan to return to McKeck's Restaurant after the walk for lunch. For a schedule of events you can email me at terry@remaxhaliburton.com or check the organization's website - www.friendsoftherailtrail.com . I will post some photos this week of tomorrow's walk!

Office Re-Opening/Commercial Seminar

We are getting excited! Our office is set to re-open on April 13 if everything stays on time! It will be great to be back. In this age of cell phones and email, real estate agents don't really need a central office - it is business as usual, but I miss seeing the public and chatting with people who wander in, curious about the area. On Wednesday I attended a commercial seminar in Huntsville. I got to learn about services the Bank of Montreal offers to people purchasing commercial businesses and to hear from OREA (Ont. Real Estate Assoc.) and what tools they have for commercial realtors. The number of commercial businesses available in the County of Haliburton has been slowly increasing over the years as the County grows and it is important for Realtors to be up on the latest tools and services to help them sell! I attended a commercial seminar last Fall that was sponsored by TD Canada Trust and it was fabulous!! I learned so much.....never stop learning!

Company Name Change

If you are a frequent visitor to my website or this blog, you may have noticed that the company name on my website has changed from RE/MAX Haliburton Highlands Realty Ltd., to RE/MAX North Country Realty Inc. - a small change, and yet a very big change! Our offices have new owners and we are all very excited about the changes. Even though we are already the largest, busiest real estate brokerage in the County, we are looking forward to even more dynamic services. Our Haliburton office keeps it's location on the main street across from Foodland, but we have temporarily moved out for about 3 weeks for renovations. In the meantime, business is as usual. Our admin staff have a temporary office for processing listings, sales, and providing customer service, and as agents, well, we are working from home for the 3 weeks, but you can still reach me through our office phone numbers and emails - no changes! We are looking forward to the Toronto Cottage Life Show, preparing our listings and advertising for the upcoming season, and ready to help our clients buy and sell!

Rail Trail Events

Friends of the Rail Trail has big plans this year! We are continuing with our Sunday Rambles along the trail through April and May. Last year we held a luncheon at Camp Wanakita after one of the rambles and at the luncheon we provided a history of the community of Donald - it was it's 101st anniversary. This year we are going to do the same thing but provide a history of the ghost town of Gelert! The date is in April - I will post a complete list of event dates within the next few days! Another VERY exciting event is our first ever End-to-End. In October we shall host an event where people can, over a two-day period, challenge themselves to walk from one end of the trail (Haliburton), to the other end (Kinmount). Now remember, this is a completely level walking trail - ready for participants of all ages and abilities! Take a full two days and do it in stages, or do it one and challenge yourself. Bring the kids, the dogs, make it an annual event! For those travelling to the area to participate, we are in the midst of working with two local providers to provide inexpensive accommodation packages. Another HUGHE project by FoRt is a new trail map for Haliburton County - the first of it's kind. The map will cover trails of all kinds, from short walking trails to major hikes and will cover all corners of the County! It will be a must-have for anyone visiting our beautiful area. It will also cover items such as the locations of museums, parks, mountain biking, the Wolf Centre......the list goes on!

Real Estate Update

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog! Alot has been happening and it is tricky some days to keep up - but busy is good! The Toronto Cottage Life Show is happening the last weekend of March, which means realtors are busy pricing properties and getting listings ready to kick off the season - for those who keep a close eye on what is available - expect to see a lot of new listings from March 1 forward! RE/MAX has a huge presence at the Cottage Life Show - come see us and get a colour brochure of what is currently on the market! The market has started off with a bang this year. One week into January and we saw buyers back - no more distractions by the holiday season, and they were serious! Who says that cottage country has few sales in winter? Our office has been bustling! If you are thinking about spring or summer listing, now is the time to phone our office and book an evaluation on your property - time flies.