{"id":147059,"date":"2023-11-27T12:39:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T17:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=147059"},"modified":"2023-11-28T15:32:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T20:32:33","slug":"gary-denniss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/","title":{"rendered":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results of his latest archival expedition can be found in Muskoka Memories 106, which is now available exclusively at the Owl Pen in Bracebridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denniss has now published more than 50 books, including the six volumes of his Muskoka Memories chronicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time Dennis continues his deep dive into the fascinating stories that make up the shared history of the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topics covered in the 108-page book include: Roxborough Shea, an early pioneer in Watt Township; the Madill Methodist Church; Christ Church, and the Anglican church in Port Sydney ( both are celebrating 150 years in 2023); farming in Muskoka; the Madawaska Club and the Go Home Bay School; When Matthiasville was Young; the Mutchenbackers of Rosseau Falls; the Genesis of the Bracebridge Fire Department and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One chapter delves into the interesting history of night skiing in Stephenson Township.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something the children of the area south of Port Sydney engaged in decades before it became popular at today\u2019s ski resorts,\u201d says Denniss. \u201cThe story was told to me by one of the participants and it surprised me how resourceful these young people were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Another chapter takes a look at the origins of Matthiasville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt brings to life the exploits of <\/strong>William Ira Matthias who wended his way to Muskoka about 1870, and returned with his family and established a community that contained his home known as the Matthias Castle,\u201d says Denniss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recognition of the preservation efforts of a group of interested citizens in the Huntsville area, a chapter on The Madill Wesleyan Methodist Church includes a firsthand account prepared by Rev. Alfred Laycock that was given at the Diamond Jubilee of the church in 1923, says Denniss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denniss says his interest in ensuring the preservation of local history was sparked during the celebration of Canada\u2019s centennial in 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBooks recording local history was one of the many projects the government encouraged to be undertaken,\u201d he says. \u201cA friend of mine in Douro Township near Peterborough and my Great Uncle in Watt Township (both elderly gentlemen), published history books of their townships as a way of contributing to this memorable commemoration. Although it was too late for me to accomplish that for my home township of Macaulay that year, I began researching with a similar goal in mind and published my first book, \u201cMacaulay Township in Days Gone By\u201d, which just happened to coincide with the centennial of Macaulay as a municipality (1871-1971).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While doing his research, Denniss thought it might be interesting to collect archival photos of all of the one-room schoolhouses in the region. The result was A Brief History of the Schools in Muskoka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the positive responses I received from people across Muskoka from my first two publications, it occurred to me that there was a growing interest in creating a historical paper trail to preserve some of the stories of people and events in the District,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd so, I have continued to do so until the present time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denniss says he will continue to document local history, and Muskoka Memories 107 is already in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m certainly not the only author who seeks to preserve in print the history of Muskoka,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat isn\u2019t recorded now, in most instances, will be lost and it is my determination to help in the preservation of our District\u2019s historical exploits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n

Sign up here<\/u><\/a> to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
\nLocal news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to support local news<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past. The results of his latest archival expedition can be found in Muskoka Memories 106, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1856,"featured_media":147094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"357\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Driscoll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Driscoll\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matt Driscoll\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/a4f51bf5d07b2bdf489e4696e70ebd90\"},\"headline\":\"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\"},\"wordCount\":581,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arts, Culture and Entertainment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\",\"name\":\"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":357,\"caption\":\"The Madill Wesleyan Methodist Church diamond jubilee in 1923.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"description\":\"Read Local\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":212,\"caption\":\"Huntsville Doppler\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/a4f51bf5d07b2bdf489e4696e70ebd90\",\"name\":\"Matt Driscoll\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/mattdriscoll\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler","description":"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler","og_description":"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.","og_url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/","og_site_name":"Huntsville Doppler","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":357,"url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Matt Driscoll","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_site":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Driscoll","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/"},"author":{"name":"Matt Driscoll","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/a4f51bf5d07b2bdf489e4696e70ebd90"},"headline":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106","datePublished":"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/"},"wordCount":581,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png","articleSection":["Arts, Culture and Entertainment"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/","name":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106 - Huntsville Doppler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png","datePublished":"2023-11-27T17:39:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-28T20:32:33+00:00","description":"Local historian and author Gary Denniss continues to mine the archives for treasurers from Muskoka\u2019s past.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2023\/11\/9CDmWVxB-local-author.png","width":750,"height":357,"caption":"The Madill Wesleyan Methodist Church diamond jubilee in 1923."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/gary-denniss\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Local author releases Muskoka Memories 106"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","name":"Huntsville Doppler","description":"Read Local","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization","name":"Huntsville Doppler","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","width":760,"height":212,"caption":"Huntsville Doppler"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/a4f51bf5d07b2bdf489e4696e70ebd90","name":"Matt Driscoll","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/mattdriscoll\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1856"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}