algonquin theatre
Banff Mountain Film Festival
2020 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour is coming to the Algonquin Theatre in Huntsville, Ontario on January 20, 21 and 22nd!
Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world! Hot on the heels of the Festival held every fall in Banff, Canada, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road.
With stops planned in about 550 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe, this year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring action, environmental, and adventure films from the festival.
Traveling to stunning landscapes and remote cultures, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2019/2020 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.
From the over 400 films entered into the annual Festival, award-winning films and audience favorites are among the films chosen to travel the globe.
Join Algonquin Outfitters when Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings the spirit of outdoor adventure to Huntsville at the Algonquin Theatre at/on 7:30 pm (Doors open at 6:30pm) on January 20th, 21st, 22nd 2019.
Show up a little early and enjoy some free samples of craft beer by our friends at Lake of Bays Brewery and the Huntsville Brewhouse. The Brewhouse is just down the street from the Algonquin Theatre and is open for dinner before the show and drinks after.
Call the Algonquin Theatre to inquire about our Early Bird Special. Buy an adult ticket for each night for just $50, but only until Dec 1st 2019.
For tickets and information contact:
Algonquin Theatre
37 Main St E
Huntsville, ON P1H 1A1
www.algonquintheatre.ca
Warren Miller’s Timeless Film
70th annual winter sports action film releases 2019 tour dates
Boulder, Colo. – August 8, 2019 – Year after year, ski and snowboard enthusiasts of all ages look forward to the coming of winter. This fall, Warren Miller Entertainment (WME) confirms that the joys of winter are eternal with its 70th full-length feature film, TimW, presented by Volkswagen.
Much of the world has changed since Warren Miller started making ski films in 1949, but the passion of snowriders across the globe has stayed the same. Timeless emulates the enduring spirit of winter and gives a deserving nod to the past seven decades of ski cinematography, while looking toward on the future. Get ready to kick off your winter with a cast of fresh faces, inspirational locales, plenty of laughs and camaraderie, and a classic blend of the new and old.
“It’s incredible, looking at the fact that this is number 70,” says narrator Jonny Moseley. “Every year I still get that same feeling I got when I was a kid watching ski movies. I enjoy watching them now more than ever, and that is what Timeless celebrates.”
From the mountains of British Columbia, across the steeps of the Colorado Rockies, to the rooftop of the European Alps, Timeless explores winter stoke around the globe. Along for the ride are more new athletes than ever before, including female phenom and Jackson Hole’s 2019 Queen of Corbet’s, Caite Zeliff, Olympic mogul skier Jaelin Kauf, Baker Boyd, Connery Lundin, Austin Ross, and Canadian World Cup ski racer, Erin Mielzynski. Plus, returning to the screen are industry veterans Rob Deslauriers, Lorraine Huber, Tyler Ceccanti, Marcus Caston, Amie Engerbretson, and Forrest Jillson, as well as ski legend Glen Plake.
Timeless will premiere on October 23 and travel across the U.S. to more than 100 cities during the 2019 National Film Tour. Arriving in Muskoka on December 11th at the Algonquin Theatre, Huntsville. All ski and snowboard fans, young and old, are invited to come together to carry on the legacy of the official kickoff to winter. Film attendees will enjoy lift ticket deals and gear discounts from WME resort and retail partners. Plus, all moviegoers are entered into nightly door-prize drawings and the national sweepstakes to win gear, swag, and ski trips. Volkswagen presents Warren Miller’s Timeless is more than a ski and snowboard film—it’s an experience 70 years in the making.
Sponsors of the 2019 Warren Miller Tour include Volkswagen, Mount Gay Rum, Switzerland Tourism, Helly Hansen, Austria Tourism, Elan, K2, Spyder, Marker Völkl, Head, and SKI Magazine.
Special thanks to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Eldora Mountain Resort, PSIA-AASI (Professional Ski Instructors of America – American Association of Snowboard Instructors), Silverton Mountain Resort, Mike Wiegeles Helicopter Skiing, Mustang Powder Lodge, and Bella Coola Heli Sports.
Paddling Film Festival
For 14 years the PADDLING FILM FESTIVAL has been touring the very best films from around the globe showcasing the passion, action, adventure, and paddling lifestyle.
The World Tour screens in more than 120 cities around the world. Join us for this year’s best paddling films. You’ll be inspired to explore rivers, lakes, and oceans, push extremes, embrace the paddling lifestyle and appreciate the wild places.
Date: Friday, June 14, 2019 07:30 PM
Venue: Algonquin Theatre Ticket Price $16
Reprimands, gratitude and a promise to do better all part of public meeting about flooding
An estimated 25 people attended a meeting held at the Algonquin Theatre on Wednesday to gather public input and answer questions about a flood event which seemed to take public officials completely by surprise.
Steve Hernen, Director of Operations and Protective Services for the Town, told those present that the only water meter available in the Huntsville system is the Williamsport Bridge gauge on the Big East River. He also noted that the water that comes through the Huntsville system from the highlands of Algonquin Park, through Kearney, and further downstream through Buck and Fox lakes flows under the downtown swing bridge, which acts as a dam.
He said when flows are high you can see a difference in the water levels from one side of the bridge to the other. “This year we were noticing at least a two-foot drop.” Hernen also noted that based on historical data, “whatever water gets under that bridge, the rest of the system can normally handle that water because there’s not a large enough opening to cause us additional problems.”
From the bridge, the water keeps flowing downstream to the Brunel Locks while picking up some flows from Pen and Fairy lakes, which also flow towards Lake of Bays (see link to map at bottom).
“Once the water normally gets past the town bridge, in a normal year, we’re good. We don’t run into problems, we don’t hear about problems. You’ll see lake elevation rise and lower but we don’t see the flooding that we’ve seen in some areas this year,” said Hernen, who displayed water flow charts from previous flood years.
He said flow rates at the Williamsport gauge during the last major flood in 2013 plateaued at 243 cubic metres per second and began to decrease. At the time, measurements could only go up to 200 cubic metres per second “because they never expected to see anything higher than 200. Since that time they’ve corrected their equipment.” Hernen said that typically when staff starts to see a flow rate above 70 cubic metres per second, they know there’ll be localized flooding in places like Rivercove.
“We know when we see 90 cubic metres per second Old North Road is going to flood… we’ve got different history where we know when things are going to happen,” he explained, adding that based on historical data, staff is also able to predict how long it will take to start seeing flooding in certain areas based on the readings at the Williamsport gauge. Another point of interest further downstream, according to Hernen, is that the Brunel Locks can’t release as much water as the Port Sydney dam can handle.
He also told those at the meeting that flow rates and conditions were similar in 2016 as they were this year, with rates measuring 182 cubic metres per second in 2016, which meant typical flood-prone areas were flooded.
So what happened this year?
The flow rates were slightly lower than in 2016 at 181 cubic metres per second. “So based on our history and based on what we see, we weren’t expecting to see the flooding that we saw downtown. The difference in this flood, which nobody had ever seen before, was the ten-day period,” said Hernen. “Normally the water goes up and it comes down in a three to four-day period. This year the water went up, it dropped down to about 150 cubic metres per second, and it basically stayed there,” he explained, adding that more rain brought the water levels back up towards the end of this year’s flood event. “So we had a prolonged period of water coming into the system that we’d never seen before, and all that water was being backed up if you will in the downtown area and all the lakes in the whole Muskoka watershed were filling up rapidly.”
Some of what the residents had to say:
Would removing the swing bridge help?
Dan Barkwell, whose business Moose Delaney’s was badly impacted during the flood, asked whether removing the swing bridge would solve the problem. “I’m not an expert in that but I’m telling you the bridge acts as a dam,” responded Hernen, adding that it would move the water to another location, but the experts would have to figure out where it would go and the impact it would have downstream.
Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison said there have been discussions about replacing the bridge with a more modern structure in the past, which may have allowed more water to flow under it, but there were arguments from people in the community who saw it as a historic bridge that should be preserved. Aitchison said he would ask the engineers at the District of Muskoka, which is responsible for the bridge, whether there might be a way to modify it “and we can at least get some analysis done on that, for sure,” he said.
What about a berm and a backflow storm water valve?
Barkwell, who was the first one to ask questions during the public part of the meeting, also wanted to know whether a berm along the low spots of the river bank might help. “I also know that it first comes up through the storm drains, is there a plan in place for maybe a backflow system in the storm drains?”
Hernen said the storm system that connects to Brendale Square also runs from McDonald’s on King William Street to West Road, North Fetterly Street and all the side streets in that area, and out through the storm drain by Boston Pizza.
He said the Town did some repair work to a pipe in the area last fall and asked the project engineer about installing a backflow valve. “They didn’t feel that the one-way valve would do anything. They felt that the water pressure coming from the town side if you will, from the streets, would easily override that and wouldn’t have any effect at all.”
He said the engineer was once more asked to reevaluate that in the spring, and the opinion was still the same. “They did offer to do a full extensive study on that obviously, but their initial response was it won’t help you solve your problem.”
Hernen said the problem with a stormwater sewer system is it’s not a sealed pressure system. “They’re a gravity-flow system and if you try and start to restrict the flow, you’re going to run into problems at your catch basins and your pipes blowing apart will cause more problems,” he said. “The other thing that’s got to be considered is all the businesses and all the houses which are connected to the storm system, if we plug it up what are we going to do to those homes as well? So, could it be done? It would have to be an extensive evaluation of the whole system as to how high you’d have to build everything up and how much fill you’d have to bring in and what effects it would have on the storm system.”
Aitchison said that does not mean there isn’t another solution that could be considered. “And that’s something that I’ve committed that we will as a council look into because I think I’ve been heard many times saying what we have been doing, cleaning up after every flood and hoping it’s not as bad next year, is not a sustainable solution.” In terms of a berm, Aitchison said he did not know whether that would work, “it is, of course, private property all the way along there.” He said he’s heard people suggest that when John Street was rebuilt it could’ve been raised and used as a dam. “Of course that would probably just make things worse for Boston Pizza. It would affect fewer properties I suppose but that might be part of the broader solution as well in discussions with the private landowner there, but we will make decisions about how we proceed based on a pretty thorough analysis of the whole area.”
Why is the Town not offering sandbags to residents and is there a way to prevent flooding from culverts?
Diane Cousineau-Walsh who lives at the base of the locks in a home inherited from her family described the hardship of trying to secure sandbags during the flood in order to save her property. She said she spent about two hours on the phone trying to find sand. Many of the local companies had sand but no bags and the Town did not give out sandbags. She said it was very difficult to buy sandbags with a limited income to try and keep the water at bay and said there was 14 inches of water in her home, which did not crest the road but came through a Town culvert. She asked the Town to consider a backflow prevention valve for her culvert.
Hernen said the Town did give out sandbags during the 2013 flooding but there was very little uptake. He said the Town stored those sandbags but they degraded and “the next time we went to use them they were no good,” and they ended up in the landfill. “So our policy has been in our flood plan, which is a council approved or acknowledged flood plan,” he said, adding that the municipality does not supply them anymore.
“We make sure the local retailers have a supply. We have offered sand, we did through this flood event,” said Hernen. “But we left it to the retailers. There’s never been a big uptake in sandbags.”
Hernen said there’s also very little time to prepare for sandbags. He said from the Williamsport gauge to the Rivercove area, which usually gets hit the hardest, residents have about 12 hours to prepare when they know heavy flows are coming. “There’s no way in the world you could sandbag in time without a huge army of resources,” he said, adding that Bracebridge has more time to prepare, they had about a five to six-day warning this time around, which gave them time to use sandbags.
“A sandbag wall is designed to help divert and direct the water, if you’re going to try to use the sandbag to hold the water back, it doesn’t work well,” said Hernen, adding that there are other more expensive alternatives that can be explored if council wishes. “We’ve talked about it ourselves, we don’t even know where to even begin to sandbag in this community if you’re trying to sandbag the rivers or the one-offs. I don’t know where you’d begin or how to accomplish that.”
Aitchison said investigating either sandbags or other alternative water mitigation methods will be part of council discussions about emergency preparedness and asked Hernen whether a backflow prevention valve would work on the culvert at the base of the Brunel Locks. Hernen said a resident on Old North Road had put in a cap on the culvert by his property to try and stop it from flooding him out. He said he took a look this year, “and I can tell you there was just as much water on both sides of the road in that location, so the cap did no good.”
Aitchison asked Hernen whether an analysis could be done to see if it might help in that particular location and Hernen agreed.
It usually rains in April
Ross Kirwin also spoke at the meeting and said given the historical data available and the obvious snow load in the system coupled with the fact that it does tend to rain in April, perhaps a better emergency preparedness plan would have been appreciated by the citizens of the community in order to better prepare.
Aitchison said there is a plan in place and the Town takes its lead from Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) staff. He said the provincial government has committed $5 million to review the watershed system, which includes this area.
“We actually do have a plan and we have a pretty good plan that’s based on sort of what we’ve experienced in the past that has informed us pretty well but I think that why we’ve decided to do this now is because this was very different than anything we’ve seen before, not just in terms of snow load but in terms of the duration of it, we’ve never seen that before. Because of that and because of the fact that we are seeing these floods more frequently, I have concluded and I think my council colleagues would agree, that the plan we have isn’t going to work in the future,” said Aitchison, adding that the plan the MNRF has is probably also not sufficient anymore.
We need to update that plan and it needs to be more comprehensive and there are probably some things that we’re going to need to do physically within our community to address the changing nature of the watershed.” Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison
Others like Port Sydney resident Sandy Inkster, who lives on the river and whose home was flooded, were a little less forgiving. She said that while Huntsville public officials were reporting that the water had reached its peak, she was alerting everyone and telling them “this is different.”
Port Sydney resident says she felt excluded
She said she was unable to reach anyone at the Town on the holiday Monday but managed to purchase some sandbags from a local retailer. She questioned the change in policy from 2013 where every household impacted was allotted 10 sandbags by the municipality to help mitigate flooding. She also questioned the attitude of those she did manage to reach at Town Hall when its offices reopened on Tuesday. “At no point did anyone say, ‘are you safe? Do you need help? What can we do?’ Instead, she was told staff did not know that the river had gone over the bank in Port Sydney. She said at that point the water had reached about six inches inside her home.
Inkster said she found it interesting that when she called Hydro One at midnight to go and help her turn the power off to her home so she could walk around safely, the question they asked is whether she was safe. She said the same happened when she had to call CAA for roadside assistance, they asked if she was safe, yet at no time did municipal employees ask if she was okay.
“I’m wondering about the scope of attentiveness beyond the scope of proper Huntsville,” said Inkster. “As a tax-paying resident in Port Sydney I’m concerned that in the scope of attention we were ignored and it [flood waters]seemed to have come into Port Sydney in a surge of greater urgency than what was being experienced in Huntsville… Look beyond the streets of Huntsville to include the other communities,” she told staff and council.
Aitchison apologized that Town staff did not apparently seem to know what was going on in Port Sydney or ask her if she was okay. “That kind of thing will never happen again under my watch,” said the Mayor.
Why is the MNRF slowing the flow?
Another resident who lives on Bayshore Blvd. said he and his wife were flooded out of their home on April 22 and they’re still not able to return. “I’ve been there since 1997, never seen the water as high as it was,” he said.
The resident told those present that about a week after they were forced out of their home he saw the MNRF putting logs back in the dam at the Brunel locks.
“I was still flooded. My property was under water and I’d like to know why the MNR was putting logs back in the dam, maybe to save people down south from getting flooded? I don’t particularly care about them down there, sorry, but when my property is [being flooded]they should not be putting logs in, they should be taking logs out. I don’t know if that’s the solution but it sure would help,” he said.
Aitchison said municipal representatives would be speaking to the MNRF to get some sort of explanation.
Others had similar questions about what would be done to prevent similar flooding in future or at least alert residents so that they could prepare.
Aitchison said a review of the Muskoka River Water Management Plan is underway. He said all area mayors have urged the MNRF to take a closer look at the plan, he also said the District of Muskoka has almost completed an entire floodplain mapping analysis, which will provide additional data as the water management plan is reviewed.
“There’s a lot of research being done now to determine how we can, as you say, either prevent or prepare better for these events as they happen. I can’t give you an answer as to when that will be completed but the Province has committed to working with us and to updating all the plans,” said Aitchison.
Resident thanks Town staff for prompt action
Another resident thanked the Town for closing a particular road shortly after a complaint was launched about the wake of vehicles sending water to the resident’s door. She said Town staff responded within an hour of her making the call.
Following input from the public, representatives from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing explained their Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program. Those with questions can call 1-844-780-8925, email DisasterAssistance@Ontario.ca or visit Ontario.ca/disasterassistance.
You can find a Muskoka watershed map with hydrological features from Muskoka Water Web here (pdf).
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Art Exhibition: Discovery, Wonder & Storytelling
The Art of Michelle Vyn: Showing from May 31 to June 26, 2019, with artist reception on Sat., June 15, 1 – 3 pm.
An Artist Talk is planned for Saturday, June 15 @ 1:30. As a Wildlife & Landscape Artist, Michelle paints flora & fauna subjects from around the world, often endangered species and the keystone species of our planet. She paints to share her love of creation, and to increase awareness of its beauty and our obligation to care for it.
One of the painting techniques Michelle has developed independently over the past few years has involved the building of texture on canvas or wood with acrylic mediums, by sculpting over the surface while it is still wet, which she paints over when dry. Time and care are taken in the shaping of delicate strands of animal fur, the roughness of tree bark and the coarseness of granite rock, with depth and layers of colour throughout. The details in the texture are better seen in person.
Huntsville Art Society Christmas Marketplace
Banff Mountain Film Festival
The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is coming to Huntsville on January 23 & 24th 2018!
For 20 years, Algonquin Outfitters has been bringing the spirit of outdoor adventure and mountain culture to Huntsville, in the form of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Once again, we are proud to feature the world’s best mountain sport, culture and environmental films, letting you experience the thrill and challenges of the mountain environments that inspire us all.
This year’s screenings feature the world’s best mountain sport, culture and environmental films, letting you experience the thrill and challenges of the mountain environments that inspire us all.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is the most prestigious mountain festival in the world. Right after the festival, held every fall in Banff, Alberta, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour starts to travel the globe with stops in about 450 communities and 40 countries.
The 2018 World Tour features an exhilarating and provocative collection of films that explore the mountain world, highlighting new landscapes and remote cultures, and exposes audiences to exciting adventures and adrenaline-packed sports.
At each screening around the world, audiences will see a selection of award-winning films and crowd favorites from the hundreds of films entered into the annual festival.
Join Algonquin Outfitters when the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings the spirit of outdoor adventure to Huntsville, at the Algonquin Theatre on Tuesday January 23rd and Wednesday January 24th 2018 at 7:30pm (Doors open at 6:30pm). Our shows typically sell out so be sure to get your tickets online early.
Film Information
- Date: Tuesday January 23rd and Wednesday January 24th 2018 at 7:30pm
- Tickets: Adults: $20 + tx, Students $10 +tx
- Venue: Algonquin Theatre, 37 Main Street East, Huntsville, ON P1H 1A1
How to buy tickets
- Online: use Visa or Master Card to purchase tickets online.
- By phone: Please call 705-789-4975 or toll free, 1-877-989-4975, use Visa or Master Card.
- In Person: At the theatre box office, 37 Main Street East, Huntsville, check hours here.
Don’t forget that Algonquin Theatre tickets are nicely sized to fit in a Christmas stocking, so if you need a last minute gift for the outdoor adventurer on your list, they are just a mouse click away.
About the films
Unfortunately, we can’t show all the films available on the tour and the selection process is challenging: there are so many good ones to choose from! Each night will feature a completely different set of films, covering a wide range of subject matter, with no particular overall theme. Both evenings will show a little over two hours worth of films, and follow a similar format: in the first half of the evening, you can expect one or two short films, followed by one or two longer features. After intermission (and door prizes) we’ll show a number of shorter films. There is a very slim chance that minor changes will happen in the list between now and January. We do consider this a “family friendly” show but a few films may have “coarse language” warnings. Consider yourselves warned!
Find out more about this event online at: www.algonquinoutfitters.com
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