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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-06-27, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1988. PAGE 5. BY TOBY RAINEY The latest tourist attraction in Blyth is a smart horse-drawn carriage, available for hire several afternoons and evenings a week for those who wish to see the village in a leisurely fashion. The service is the brainchild of summer resident Wendi Gilson, a horseman all her life, who formerly ran a similar outfit in Victoria, B.C., one of Canada’s most tourist-oriented cities, where horses and carriages are a common sight. “Business has been kind of slow, but 1 expect it will pick up as Family and friends wait for business at their post on Dinsley Street west, beside the Blyth Municipal Office. Babysitter and horse-minder Heather Campbell holds young Ezra, while his parents Wendi Gilson and Vaughn Fulford pose with Phoebe the horse and Bloom, the Australian Shepherd. ■ 71 i Ml about the idea right from the start, Wendi says. “1 was very impressed with how co-operative and business-like (BlythCouncil)wasaboutthis from the moment 1 first approached them.’’ she says, adding that her reception here was “much better” that it was in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where the city council turned down her request to operate the same service last year. The carriage tours are a great idea in the little village that attracts up to 40,000 visitors each theatre season. But there is much more to this particular service than meets Francisco to Vancouver by horse- drawn wagon with British Colum­ bia's Caravan Stage Company, which performed for thousands of people at Expo ‘86. It was during this tour that he and Wendi met: a licensed farrier, Wendi’s role was to shoe and care for the 15 horses, including six spans of Clydesdales, which drew the huge caravans that carried the entire company and all their belongings. She also served as the company's stage manager and jack-of-all-trades, lending a willing hand wherever one was needed. The Caravan Stage Company has toured extensively in Canada, including a stop at the Blyth Festival in 1982. Although its roots are rural, the company is no stranger to some of the continents’ major cities, where the horses are often kept, with permission, in municipal parks, fenced in with a single strand of electric wire. “It’s quite an amazing sight,” Vaughn says, “and it’s a testimony to the communication that the theatre has been able to establish with the powers that lie in all these places.” With so much horse-drawn touring and camping experience behind them, it seemed perfectly natural to Vaughn and Wendi that they should set out for Blyth on May 3 with their own horse, Major, their dog Bloom, and the light wagon Wendi now has for hire in Blyth. At the time, Ezra was 11 months old. Packing every single item they would be needing for the next year intothewagon, along with their tent and camping gear, and their cat, Minou, and herfour three-day- old kittens, the family set out along the St. Lawrence River. But Major, a magnificent Palo­ mino just recently converted from saddle horse and pampered pet, had other ideas. Deciding that doing most of the group’s work on a day-to-day basis was not for him, he invented a number of ways to delay and imperil the journey, including breaking three sets of shafts and jerking Vaughn over the wagon’s footboards after breaking the whiffletree. Six days into the journey, as they neared Cornwall, Wendi and Vaughn decided they just wouldn’t have enough time to train Major properly and still get to Blyth by their due date, May 23. Fortunate­ ly, the Caravan Stage Company was in the area, and needed another light horse. So Major was handed over on loan, Vaughn loaded the wagon onto a pick-up truck borrowed from his uncle, and the trip resumed. When they gottoBlyth, the truck had to be returned, and the first thing the couple did was to look for another horse. Enlisting the aid of local horse­ men, Wendi tried out several animals, rejecting each until Biyth’s Ed Watson found “Phoebe,” the bag mare the family now uses. A standardbred, she had been trained and used by Mennonites in the Waterloo area before being offered for sale. Phoebe is so ideal for her new role, Wendi says, that she never even batted an eye recently when Biyth’s three emergency vehicles raced by heron a fire call, yet she is a tireless worker, willing to do anything asked of her. The summer will be a busy one for both Vaughn and Wendi, but they are already making plans for the fall. They have been discussing with a friend the possibility of putting together a small touring show which could be taken to schools in Huron and surrounding counties over the next school year. Their friend is now investigating funding for the venture, which both partners feel has an excellent chance of success. Other ideas are in the works as well, they say, and the family would like tostay in thearea at least for the winter so that Wendi can complete her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guelph, aswell as having more time for her successful writing career. The nextfew weeks will see their plansfor the near futuresolidify. In the meantime, both partners are busy and content, and both are rapidly becoming familiar faces in Blyth. Wendi’s horse and carriage may behiredat$10percarriage load and advance registrations may be made by calling 523-4994 at any time. soon as people know we’re here,” the new entrepreneur says. Most of her business to date has come from theatre patrons looking for a pleasant way to spend some time while waiting for their matinees or evening performances to start, Wendi says, but a number of local people have also gone along for the ride. Children especially enjoy the new experience, and the carriage is also available by special arrange­ ment for birthday parties, wedd­ ings, or other special occasions, with as little as a day’s advance notice. The usual tour consists of a 15-minute drive around the streets of Blyth, but almost any arrange­ ment requested by a client is perfectly permissable, as the tours have the full blessing of Blyth council, which was enthusiastic the eye of the casual observor: the whole enterprise began in early May in Hudson, P.Q., more than 300 miles from the Blyth Festival Theatre. Furthermore, the horse and carriage is the sole means of transportation for Wendi and her partner, Vaughn Fulford, and their year-old son, Ezra, who are living in a farmhouse just west of Blyth for the summer, and who hope to stay in the area next winter as well. Vaughn is a professional actor, in Blyth for the season, with parts in “The Cookie War,” “The Mail-Order Bride,” and “Fires in the Night”. He comes to the Festival Theatre from New Bruns­ wick where he has worked for many years as an actor, director and writer, and where he still serves as co-director of The Comedy Asylum of Fredericton. In 1986 he toured from San Carriage rides through Biyth’s pleasant streets are fast becoming popular with tourists and residents alike. Above, Biyth’s Dave Cook and son Derrick enjoy a tour. lyth to guarantee its share of ice plant price Blyth village councillors at their June meeting unanimously agreed to guarantee the village’s share of the purchase price of a new condensor for the ice plant at the Blyth and District Community Centre but not before holding a 40-minute discussion on the pro­ ject. It was a kind of “chicken and egg” discussion as to which should come first. Nooneseemedto object tothe idea that the condensor is needed for the aging ice plant. All also agreed that the summer is the time to get the condensor installed along with the other construction work required, so that the ice plant will be ready to go come fall. The issue revolved around whe­ ther the other municipalities in­ volved in the community centre operating agreement (Hullett, East Wawanosh, Morris and West Wawanosh) would go along with guaranteeing their portions of the total for the $20,000 to $30,000 repair since the arena board had agreed that capital projects would befinancedas much as possible through fundraising. “At one time we were told it (capital improvement money) would not at any way come back on the public purse,” Councillor Bill Manning pointed out. Councillor Bill Howson, one of Blythcouncil’s two representa­ tives on the arena board, assured council that the board still wants the money to come either through fundraising or through increased user fees. However, he pointed out, the joint community centre agreement said that all councils must approve expenditures of over $2,000. Councils were being re­ quested to approve the expendi­ ture so the community centre boardcouldgoahead and order the condensor. There is a 12-week waiting period on the part he pointed out. The risk is if the part isn’t ordered immediately the arenamayhavetobeshutdown come fall. Councillor Lloyd Sippel pointed out some private fundraising has already gone on with the broomball league donating $3,000 and the Blyth Lions Club planning a dance with part of the proceeds going to the arena project. He said that if, as some people had urged, afundrais- ing committee should be set up, it should be composed of other people than the arena board representatives who didn’t have the time required to fundraise as well. It was pointed out that a grant from the Capital Conservation Fund of the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation is already on hand for up to one third of the cost of the project and if it isn’t spent by the end of the year, itwill have to be sent back. Council agreed with Councillor Howson’s motion that Blyth ap­ prove its part of the cost. Under the agreement Blyth would also supply interim financing for such capital expenditures with interest later recovered from the arena board.