Sidetracks

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Sidetracks Local researcher uncovering the stories behind places, families, and forgotten details. Explore my work at sidetracks.ca.

Sharing what I find through writing, art, seminars, and community storytelling.

Back in the shop this week with a new idea! Stay tuned... she has a story to tell 😍
10/01/2026

Back in the shop this week with a new idea! Stay tuned... she has a story to tell 😍

THE CREATION OF LILLEY Lilley began with a little duck figurine that happened to be sitting in the shop, left over from ...
09/25/2026

THE CREATION OF LILLEY

Lilley began with a little duck figurine that happened to be sitting in the shop, left over from an earlier idea about one creative duck heading her own way.

One day, while working on Gater, I set her on his back. She fit perfectly, and suddenly Gater had a little buddy!

Since Gater travelled the Gull River, she just had to be a gull. A drawing led to a paper pattern, then felt, wire legs and a great, big, hat. There was only one problem: Lilley was too front-heavy to stand upright for long.

The answer was a pair of oversized wooden shoes, cut from pine, painted in a colour mixed just for her and finished with tiny buttons.

Once Lilley could stand, her place in Steam Junction became clear. She could ride with Gater, take in the scenery and report on everything she saw in her very own newspaper: The Gull River Gabber.

And now you know why Lilley has those great, BIG shoes. 💚

Meet Gater, the character who started it all!It began while researching the Hamilton H., an Alligator Warping Tug photog...
09/25/2026

Meet Gater, the character who started it all!

It began while researching the Hamilton H., an Alligator Warping Tug photographed at Norland around 1900. These remarkable little steamers hauled log booms, worked through shallow waterways and used a winch to pull themselves around dams and difficult ground.

The old photo sparked an idea: could this engineering marvel become a character that could help children discover local history?

First came a hand-built model. Then came the colours, personality, illustrations, Lilley and eventually an entire meeting place for stories from the age of steam.

That place became Steam Junction.

The characters are imaginary. The history beneath them is real.

Follow along as the stories behind Gater, Eldon, Lilley, Limestone and the gang unfold.

A little piece of Kawartha Lakes history is travelling beyond Canada!Today, Steam Junction colouring books began their j...
09/24/2026

A little piece of Kawartha Lakes history is travelling beyond Canada!

Today, Steam Junction colouring books began their journey to a terrific group of wee ones who just recently enjoyed an imaginary classroom trip to Canada. Their awesome adventure included pretend passports, an airplane ride and Canadian flags, so Gater invited them to make one more stop at Steam Junction!

These new activity books will introduce the kids to our rivers, Alligator tug boats, steam railways, limeworks, and the stories rooted in our rural communities.

The idea of local history inspiring curious young explorers beyond our own community? Simply amazing.

Safe travels, little books! 🇨🇦❤️

Who do you recognize?The stained-glass windows of the Olde Kirk - formerly St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kirkfield...
08/16/2026

Who do you recognize?

The stained-glass windows of the Olde Kirk - formerly St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kirkfield - remember many people and families with connections to the surrounding community:

• Agnes Beatrice (McLeod) and Wilfrid Henry Stoll
• Erin Elizabeth Hopper
• Barbara Jane Ann Hopper
• Jack Hughes
• Katherine MacDonald (Rusland) Hughes
• Richard and Jane Woffenden
• Wakefield and Sadie Bailey
• Neil D. McInnis and Rachel Cookman
• May McInnis McEachern and Isabel McInnis
• Hector D. and Gordon McInnis
• J. Oliver McInnis
• Murray Donald and Evelyn Sarah Kearns
• George and Pearl Bantam, with Weldon and June
• William Lucey and Margaret Cashore
• Josephine Lucey McInnis, Charles Lucey, Ella Lucey Wiley, Zetta Lucey, Minnie Lucey McInnis and Bessie Lucey McKay
• Olive and Wallace Osborne, with their son Robert
• Elizabeth, Jack and Dougal MacGillivray
• Roderick Cookman McKay

Do you recognize a name or know someone who might?

Family photographs, memories, letters, documents, newspaper clippings and corrections can help ensure that these people are remembered as more than dates and names, but as lives lived.

Explore the project and learn how you can contribute:

https://sidetracks.ca/help-tell-the-stories/

Please share this post so it has a chance to reach the families connected to these windows.

This book project, Stories Behind the Glass, is nearing its' completion! I invite anyone with a connection to the Olde K...
08/13/2026

This book project, Stories Behind the Glass, is nearing its' completion!

I invite anyone with a connection to the Olde Kirk - the former St. Andrew's Church in Kirkfield, Ontario - to explore this project and to contribute your knowledge, memories, pictures and corrections:

Visit: https://sidetracks.ca/help-tell-the-stories/

The people recognized within the window dedications should be remembered as more than dates and names, but as lives lived!

Please have a look and feel free to share 🥰

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3411 Monck Road
Coboconk, ON
K0M2L0

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