MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Spring 2018

112 ML BLUE SPRING 2018 BACK PAGE words :: George Weider illustration :: Dave Barnes In February 2017, I attended the Home Horizon “Coldest Night of the Year.” It was an event to raise funds for homeless women, children and youth. Leaders of Home Horizon were joined by hundreds of supporters including families with young children. The morning was unseasonably warm and spring-like but by late afternoon when the walk began, the weather turned appropriately cold and snowy and the marchers had to wear parkas, scarves, toques and mitts. Inside the United Church was a figure bundled up in a sleeping bag. At first glance it appeared to be a person, but it turned out to be a dummy, dressed up with great realism to dramatize the plight of those without homes. Homelessness is a serious problem in Canada and our community. At least 50 young people have been identified as homeless in our area, and there may be many more whose plight is unknown. The “coldest night” was meant to highlight the suffering and was a strong and vivid effort that succeeded. One has to remember that most of those who turn up to help at such events have warm homes to return to, and their ordeal is temporary. The event in Collingwood reminded me of my own ordeal on a bleak shore of an island in northern Ontario where I nearly lost my life. I was with a close friend, George Czerny, then publisher of the Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin . In those years George organized an annual fishing expedition in May to Lake Kashbogama, a remote and large body of water in a forested area north of Sudbury. I was with the group organized by George, fishing with canoes and small boats powered by outboard motors. Even well into spring, northern waters can be forbidding. The day started mild and sunny like the day of the “Coldest Night” in Collingwood but by late afternoon it turned cold and started to snow. George had given me the assignment of picking up two of our party who were fishing from one of the islands. Darkness and fog were setting in, and I lost my way and started to run low on gas. I landed on one of the islands to try to get my bearings, but found myself without sufficiently warm clothing and started to shake and shiver. I had no matches or MY NIGHT IN THE COLD RECALLING A NIGHT LOST IN NORTHERN ONTARIO, GEORGE WEIDER REFLECTS ON THE PLIGHT OF THE HOMELESS