By Barry Penhale - The provincial treasure that is Algonquin Park since becoming Ontario’s and Canada’s first provincial park in 1893, has deservedly attracted artists, photographers, filmmakers, naturalists and a wide-range of camping and recreational enthusiasts alike. It seems as if most everyone has had a memorable “Algonquin” experience.

By Shelley Wildgen - I am in France. Out my window, I can hear kidlets playing; their shrieks of excitement and reproach are the same as in Canada … only in French. Garden gates creak back and forth, a neighbourhood dog barks sharply. Its owner yells ‘Arret’, and pup arrets immediately, until it’s time to bark again. It’s Easter Sunday and French life is full in Saint-Zacharie.

By John Hopkins - The battle against pests has changed a great deal in my lifetime. When I was a boy and we had mice trouble in our cottage, we either rented a cat or set deadly traps. The cat had limited success but the traps seemed to always do the trick, a telltale snapping sound during the night attesting to their effectiveness.

The Canadian land base is well-known as being ideally suited for the growing of beans with an abundant harvest concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. In fact, 80-90% of the beans grown by those 1,200 Ontario farms that specialize in this crop are exported. Green/wax beans rate among the top four vegetables grown in Canada, and the estimated annual harvest worth ranges between $25-30 million.

By John Hopkins, Photos courtesy Bobbie-Joe Blackburn: As far as Canadian symbols go, the barbecue could rank right up there with the Maple Leaf and the beaver. Few images define the summer experience in this country quite like meat cooking on the grill in the backyard or on the deck. Magazine articles, books and television shows are dedicated to barbecue recipes, and the surest sign of spring is the appearance of grilling devices and accessories in hardware stores. However, the barbecue is much more than simply a means of cooking food.

In July 1932, eight young Belleville men travelled by canoe along the Trent-Severn Waterway. They began their journey from Belleville and continued north of Peterborough, camping on the sides of lakes, rivers and canals. The photographer was S. Alec Gordon (1905-1989), who was a music teacher for the Ontario School for the Deaf (now the Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf). This image is one of 33 taken on the journey, 13 of which have been delicately hand-tinted like this one.

By Paul Brown - A poem

By Robert Graham - A poem