75th anniversary of the church in Sturgeon Falls

I had the pleasure of presiding the Eucharist for the 75th anniversary of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sturgeon Falls. The Mass was followed by a reception, and a good time was had by all. Congratulations to the community! 

Side treks on the trek back from the Soo

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning as I prepared to head back to Sudbury from Sault Ste. Marie, so I decided to do yet another trip of exploration.

I first headed to Echo Bay via Garden River First Nation, which was a very pretty and relaxing drive. When I got to Echo Bay I saw a monument I decided to explore:

Canada's biggest loonie! The late Robert-Ralph Carmichael, a resident of the municipality, was the designer of Canada's famous coin. 

From there I crossed the highway to a place called Leeburn. I had no idea what might be there, but there was a road sign pointing the way, so I steered in that direction to see what I'd find.

There wasn't much there, to be honest. I did see a building that looked like a church, but I suspect it is now a private residence. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

As I continued on my way towards Bruce Mines I came across a sign pointing to a place called Dunn's Valley. I figured what the heck, let's see what's at the end of that road. It turns out there wasn't much more than a few houses, some of which looked nearly abandoned. But you have to love the sense of humour of the people there. 

This road sign was at the corner of a makeshift intersection called "Moose and Goose". Made me smile.

I then turned the car around the headed back to Bruce Mines. Along the way I passed through Rydal Bank.

I wasn't expecting much, but to my delight I discovered a small hamlet whose people clearly had great pride. There was a park with a historical plaque, and an old church that the people were maintaining as part of their heritage. Amazing work.

After pausing in the park and listening to the water rushing through the dam, I got back in my car. I then got to Bruce Station, just north of Bruce Mines.

This got me back on highway 17 headed east. My plan was to continue straight home, but when I got to Thessalon my wanderlust took over again, so I turned north on the road to Chapleau to see what I might find.

My first stop was in Little Rapids, which doesn't even have one of those blue signs but which does have an outdoor heritage museum I decided to check out.

As you can see from the sign the museum was normally only open in the summer, but to my good fortune the woman who runs the place was present and gave me the grand tour. Many thanks to Mary Anne MacDonald for her kind hospitality!

I kept going north and made it to the next community, known as Wharncliffe:

After passing through I turned right on highway 554, thinking to loop back to Iron Bridge (and discovering who knew what along the way). 

To my surprise, in the middle of the road with hardly any homes around, I came across a church!

 Just one more proof that there is a lot of power in just showing up. I love never knowing what I might find!

Once I got to Iron Bridge I turned east on highway 17 once again, heading back to Sudbury. The weather stayed warm and beautiful the whole way home. It was a good day.

Finding French River Station

 I had a bit of time this morning so I decided to do another bit of exploring. When I was touring around Alban on November 8 I noticed that there was a highway (607) that leads south to a place called "French River Station". 

I wasn't able to visit it on that day, so I asked around (and did some Google sleuthing) to try and learn more about it. The pickings were slim. But I believe there is a lot of power in just showing up, so today I took a detour and see for myself.

I headed back to Alban and turned south on that highway, which was really more of a numbered road. There wasn't much along the way, until I got to this sign:

As you can see, the arrow showed I would have to zig a bit to get to my destination. It turns out that road 607 turns west, so to keep going south I had to take road 607A. As I headed down I realised that this road would continue to follow the railway line towards the French River. So it made sense that I might find a place called French River Station at the place where the two met. And sure enough, signs of community soon emerged.

The fist thing I saw was a church. There was no sign outside indicating what denomination it might be. I wondered if it might have been converted at some point to a personal residence, but the absence of any footprints or parking/tire tracks made me doubt it. Still, the place looked to be in good shape, at least from the outside. Someone is taking care of it.

Across the street was something I often find as I visit these historical locations: a small local cemetery:

The headstones are obviously more modern, so it would seem the cemetery is still used. Again, it made me wonder who runs it.

As I continued south I found... the old train station! 

And beyond it is the French River! So welcome to French River Station!

I am enjoying this time of exploration. I've been preparing a custom Google Map with pins for each settlement in our diocese, no matter how small. One more pin today!

A special gift for L'Arche

I had a chance to visit L'Arche in Sudbury today, on behalf of the Bishop Alexander Carter Foundation (of which I am the chair). The Foundation is making a donation to their new project, which we hope will encourage others to donate as well. 

Here is an article on the Sudbury Star on the subject. Many thanks to Mary Katherine Keown for helping us share the good news.