To the Expositor:
I was born and raised on Manitoulin Island and spent six years of my life in a city.
I feel so very blessed and very proud to be a Haweater.
However, I feel the life we had is slowly being eroded by what some would call progress.
The Manitoulin has always had a very special uniqueness about it.
It has an atmosphere of serenity and quiet solitude.
Our life here is far different than the hustle and bustle of city life.
So far we do not have the towering buildings, the smoke stacks, the overhead bridges that can and do collapse.
We have had a number of heritage buildings on this Island that have been torn down and replaced by more modern, common every day buildings
There seems to have been no interest in preserving our Island heritage and building upon our uniqueness.
We had our own railway station and tracks down by the Beer Store, where our water treatment plant is now.
The railway station would have made a perfect Tourist Information Booth, as well as a tourist attraction
In Rockton, Ontario there is a pioneer village with many restored buildings on site. It is like walking back in time.
It is both interesting and educational to go back in time and advance up through the ages.
We have somehow not appreciated what we had and now all signs of days gone by are destroyed to make way for the modern buildings of the present day.
We had so much—yes, it would have taken money to restore these buildings—but it would have paid for itself.
More and more people are looking for the history of yester years. They want to walk in it, feel it, live it, for the short time they visit these heritage sites.
History is our past and our future. Why are we so quick to get rid of the old? What is wrong with preserving what we have?
The millions of dollars we are going to spend on a study, let alone a new bridge which is going to destroy our uniqueness, could be spent on restoration, rescheduling the swing times, discussing how we could preserve and better serve our Island.
The bridge has swung every hour on the hour from spring until fall for its many, many, years.
To save on the mechanism of the bridge what would have been wrong with swinging for the boaters at 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm and at odd times if an emergency occurs.
You can never get back what you so impulsively destroy.
Once upon a time, when the fishing was at its best, tourism was a large source of income for the Island. Ask any tourist camp operator and you will soon discover tourism has dwindled. People come off the ferry and head right off the Island. We need to have something that people will want to stay for. We need ideas to maintain and retain the tourist industry.
We could be looking at having a large area and building our own pioneer village, with students hired to dress in the clothing of the day and perform duties of the era.
In this village we could have a maple syrup bush and the making of maple syrup—a learning experience for school children and adults alike.
The tourists come to see and hear about the Native culture. Fortunately, Island First Nations have done much to preserve and demonstrate their history.
We need hiking trails, parks, things for people to see and do.
We need attractions.
Our Swing Bridge is so very unique. How many times have we seen tourist get out of their vehicles to take pictures of our bridge?
It sickens me to think of losing it. Just because we use it every day we become complacent and do not think of it as anything special. How many other swing bridges are there? I know of lift bridges.
Is there anyone else here on the Island or elsewhere that understands my sentiment of keeping our Swing Bridge?
Passionate about preserving our bridge,
Joanne Wade
Sheguiandah
