Local Reads: Ray Love brings Muskoka’s sports history to light

For those of us who have either grown up in Muskoka or just call this home, we know the importance sport and recreation plays in our day-to-day lives.

So it should come as no surprise that sport and recreational activities have always played a role in the development of the area. What might not be as well known though is its history. What were the sports in Huntsville back in the late 1800s and who played them? Who were the sports heroes of the day?

This was part of the motivation of author Ray Love who has just released a new book, his third, called Muskoka: Ontario’s Playground.

It’s a history of recreation and sport in Ontario’s cottage country from 1860 to the 1940s.

The retired principal at Riverside Public School has always had a self-admitted interest in history as well as sport. While writing an earlier book about Elgin House he knew he wanted to explore what really interested people back then.

Love grew up in Bracebridge and Port Sandfield and had his first teaching job in Toronto, having classes in history geography and economics. His aunt had a cottage in Muskoka and she was also a history teacher in Toronto. Love says he picked up his passion for local history from her.

The family’s home was Elgin House, which is now the Lake Joseph Club, and that was the subject of his first book.

“I have a love of history and sports and played and coached sports all my life, so I tried to combine the two in this book,” explained Love as he described what was in the pages of his latest project. “There’s lots of lessons to be learned from what people did in the past. Most of all they were most enthusiastic about sports and recreation.

“People came here to recreate. They came here to canoe and fish and hunt and explore the woods. However, it didn’t take long for the local recreation base to kick in and organize their own sports.”

Going back to the late 1870s, Love talks about local cricket and baseball teams in the area and later in the 1890s the emergence of lacrosse first in Bracebridge and later in Huntsville.

“The big lacrosse town then was Bracebridge and they won four Canadian championships,” he said, “and from there it went to box lacrosse and that’s where Huntsville got involved and were most active.”

Love said there were two elements to what sports were played in Muskoka: there were those played by persons who came to vacation and those who lived here.

“The first hockey leagues in Muskoka were 1899,” explained Love. “At the time the only way you could get to a game was by train, because roads were nonexistent and there were no cars. In the winter time you would take a train to a game. In the summer you would either take a boat or a steamship.”

Love also writes about the number of notable athletes that came out of the area and made a name for themselves. He gives special attention to hockey players Ace Bailey and Bucko MacDonald, Olympian Abbott Conway, baseball player George Selkirk, and swimmer George Young, amongst others.

There’s a section on the history of skiing and other winter sports in Huntsville and the role it played in attracting winter enthusiasts to the area in the 1930s.

“As a marketing program to try to combat the depression, Mayor Kelly and council really went to town in promoting ski jumps and ski hills and the ski train that came up from Toronto every weekend in the winter time. They had carnivals, too. I would say Huntsville was a little more sports-minded at the time than the other towns in Muskoka and more aggressive at marketing themselves as a sports town.”

Ray Love spent a year researching material for his book, mainly from the Huntsville Forester, Bracebridge Gazette and Gravenhurst Banner. He said he was impressed with the influence they had at the time.

“If a curling or hockey team was doing well it was front page news,” he said. “The Forester was the best of the three newspapers. H.E. Rice was an amazing supporter of sports in Huntsville. He was the chair of the hockey team, chair of the winter sports committee, mayor three times, and he would chastise his readers if they didn’t show up to a hockey game. He would say, ‘can you not afford 25 cents to go and support your local hockey team?’”

Huntsville readers will get a chance to meet Ray Love and see the book first hand on July 14 when it will be unveiled at The SportLab. Owner Dr. Lowell Greib liked what he saw when he read the manuscript.

“Ray encapsulates the importance of the rich history of recreation and sport in cottage country, in both textual and pictorial format,” he said. “After reading it, it becomes evident that our local roots are firmly embedded in sport, leisure and recreation. This walk through time reviews our history in a diversity of recreational activities—from hunting and fising to golf, from lacrosse and hockey to track and field and water sports. Whether you are a local or seasonal resident, this touching of our past is a must read.

“The SportLab is committed to working with active individuals in our community and since the book is founded upon the history of active lifestyles in recreation and sport, it made sense for us to host the book launch for Ray in Huntsville. All of our clinicians are athletes themselves and have established their professional practice in cottage country because of the accessibility to sport and recreational activities. It would be our hope that we can assist our community in keeping individuals active, while reducing limitations from injury.“

Ray Love will be at The SportLab (68 West Road #2) for the book launch from 2-4 p.m. on July 14.

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