Exeter, Ontario, Old Town Hall

The sun is out again, even if the temperature has fallen a bit.

Exeter, Ontario. Exeter: a small town of 4,000 inhabitants

We spend the morning in this nice little town, administrative and shopping center for the rural hinterland.

Ellison Tours, Exeter, Ontario. Welcome sign at Ellison Tours

Town Hall in Exeter, Ontario. The session-room in the town hall is beautifully renovated

We meet Linda at the Old Town Hall, where Laurie Dykstra takes over and shows us around the recently restored house with its fine session-room. Until a few years ago, the hall seemed to be going to ruin, now the renovated building is a source of pride to the citizens of Exeter. Exeter is the >Home of the White Squirrel (no albino, as the eyes are black).

Exeter, Ontario, Scenic Gardens

Scenic Gardens paving stones. The donors' names are immortalized

A beautiful garden within MacNaughton Park (where the White Squirrel ought to be seen...). The donors' names are immortalized in the stones of the walkway, Dalton and Norma Finkbeiner among them.

Goderich on Lake Huron

Ich bin mit einer Finkbeiner verheiratet. A great T-shirt

In the afternoon John MacKay takes us a bit further north to where he comes from. He tells the world on his self-styled T-shirt that he is married to a Finkbeiner, namely to Christine, who, on her part, was very much involved in the preparations for the Second International Finkbeiner Reunion. John took the afternoon off to accompany us on a color tour of scenic Huron County.

Menesetung Walking Bridge

The bridge spans Maitland River shortly before running into Lake Huron.

Lake Huron. Lake Huron near Goderich

It was built in 1906 as a railway bridge; since 1992 it is part of a wide net of walking and cycling paths. Canada geese gather above the bridge. Since the winters are not so severe any more and since people have started to feed the birds, fewer and fewer geese migrate south.

Goderich Harbor

For a while we follow the boardwalk connecting the Goderich beaches. The grain elevators on the harbor front look back to a long tradition. The first wooden elevator (long since destroyed by fire) was built in 1866. Today the storage capacity is increased by a storage ship. Another traditional line of business at Goderich is salt production. The solid salt bed below the lake was discovered in 1866 while drilling for oil. At the time of our visit a vessel is being loaded by conveying belt. There is not much time left for Goderich itself, said to be the prettiest town in Canada. We just circle the octogonal "Square" by bus.

Dinner at Hessenland

Another sign. The welcome sign at »Hessenland«

About 300 Finkbeiners and their relatives sit closely packed. And "Hessenland" is the larger place, only approached when the number of registrations went beyond the capacity of the first choice. Linda has the Finkbeiners from the various corners of the world stand up: our block from Germany, many from Ontario, several from Alberta, few from British Columbia, many from Michigan, several from New York, few from Florida, Pennsylvania etc. When we leave there are northern lights in the sky.