Welcome to the Big Apple and the Community Below It

I was challenged by the people in the #teamcanada channel on the PAL discord to write a post about the area where I live.

I was a bit hesitant to do so, I’ve avoided using the name of the community I live near as it is a small community of about 2000 people.

I decided that at some point I need to just woman up and stop trying to hide where I am. There is no shame to it and it’s not like I’m giving anyone my home address.

So, today I took a drive around the area and shot some pictures.

The Big Apple

If you’re travelling along Highway 401, which is also known as the Highway of Heroes, at some point you will pass The Big Apple.

Actually, that is the shop and restaurant building, this is the Big Apple

It is the world’s largest apple and of course, it is a tourist stop with some high priced items in their store. Having said that, it is a neat little store, restaurant, play area for the kids and a brewery on the premises.

The Highway of Heroes

So, I mentioned the Highway of Heroes. That is the section of the Trans Canada Highway from CFB Trenton to the coroner’s office in Toronto. It is the route that Canada’s fallen soldiers and their families travel via motorcade on their return to Canada.

Starting with the first four Canadians killed in a friendly fire incident, people started going to the overpasses along that stretch of highway to show their respect and support to the family who had lost a loved one in service to our country.

This video is about five minutes long and it gives the idea of what occurred for each of our fallen Canadian family members. I’ve stood on the bridge in the freezing cold, driving snow storms, rain storms, the hot humid weather of summer for how ever long it took for that motorcade to arrive.

The practice started in this county and spread along the whole route. All 51 overpasses would have people on them.

How Do You Know You’re in Small Town Canada?

Every small town in Canada needs three things to define it as a small town.

They would be:

A hockey rink. This is the Keeler Centre, named in honour of one of the founding fathers of Colborne, Joseph Keeler.

A Legion. This is the Captain Charles S. Rutherford VC, MC, MM Br. 187 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Named in honour of the local man who became one of the most highly decorated soldiers in Canada in WW1.

Last but not least. There has to be a Tim Hortons. So, yes, Colborne qualifies as a Canadian small town.

As Seen From the Town Square

If you drive down Percy St which is the street you exit onto from the 401 and head south, you’ll enter the downtown area.

We have a park in the town square. I stopped there today and will show you just how central that little park is.

I parked on the west side of the park, midway between and north and south end, and walked out into the park.

About the centre of the picture is a fountain between the WW1 and WW2 cenotaph. The one in the picture is the WW1 cenotaph. This is the area where Remembrance Day services take place.

The red brick building in the background is the local Hotel. Another staple of small town Canada is the local hotel or pub. To the left is some of the downtown storefronts.

Turning slightly, this shot shows more of the downtown storefronts and there are more on the other side of the street. That is most of the downtown, except for this part:

This is looking to the east and north of where I’m standing in the park.

Turning a bit more to the north, we’re looking at the gazebo in the north end of the park. A local committee during the summer runs a very successful music program on Thursday evenings called Music in the Park.

The committee gets local businesses and community groups to sponsor bands each week to perform in the Gazebo. They take place from about mid-June to the end of August. There is no cost for the community to bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the music.

If it rains, the Music in the Park becomes Music at the Keeler Centre.

The white building behind and to the right of the gazebo is the former Colborne United Church. It was sold in the last several months and has been refurbished into a privately owned community theatre and multiuse building.

At one time there was seven churches in Colborne, now there are three active churches.

Turning to the northwest I see another staple of small town Ontario, the LCBO, known as the Liquor Store where they also sell beer, cold beer.

Last but not least on my stand in place circular tour of downtown Colborne is the Townhall for the Township of Cramahe which is where Colborne is located.

The building at one time was the local high school. After it’s closure, the high school students went to either Brighton to the east or Cobourg to the west.

We Really Can Go to the Market

This market is on the east end of town and this time of year is just busy busy busy. You can stop and get freshly harvested vegetables and fruits at this time of year along with baked goods, preserves, cheese etc.

In the spring this market supplies the locals with their gardening needs as well as fruits and vegetables brought in from Toronto.

I love this time of year when I go and buy fresh squash and APPLES!! Picked locally and brought to the market. And while in season, freshly picked corn on the cob.

We Are On Lake Ontario Without a Lakefront.

Colborne is on Lake Ontario but it doesn’t have lakefront space. This shot is taken at the hamlet of Lakeport which is to the southeast of Colborne.

At one time, back in the 1800’s Lakeport was a very busy port through which most of the masts for the British Navy travelled through as they were brought from the north of Colborne.

So, why doesn’t Colborne have lakefront? Well, take a look at that funny looking structure extended out into Lake Ontario on the left side of the picture.

That is a docking area for a firm called Holcim which has a huge limestone quarry that runs along the lakeshore south of Colborne.

They are a good corporate neighbour, well other than the wall rattling blasting that occurs down there at times.

It really is a nice area to live in. It has a personality of being friendly and helpful with each other. Well, most of the time.

No where is perfect, eh?

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