Cranberries bring off-season economic boost to Bala
The summer has officially come to an end, and for many small Muskoka communities, that historically meant the start of the off-season.
Since the pandemic began, many people have been forced to work from home, and because of this, they have moved to Muskoka full time.
The expanded population has given a needed boost to many area businesses, which has allowed them to stay open year-round.
"The people we bought it from closed all winter, but we're going to change that, and we're going to stay open for the season, so it's going to be a new challenge for us," said James Mee, the owner of Ice Dreams Soda Shop in Bala.
Mee and his family-run business was solely an ice cream and candy shop. Still, recently they purchased a local fudge company and are transforming the Coca-Cola-themed shop into a restaurant.
Although it's not just the full-time cottagers providing economic stability during the offseason.
Next month the Bala Cranberry Festival returns after being cancelled in 2020– bringing a fresh flock of tourists to the area.
"It brings a ton of people up," said Randy Brown, the owner of Cottage Cravings.
Brown said that cranberry enthusiasts and curious tourists begin to make their way to town this weekend, and the crowds will remain throughout the month.
The festival is scheduled to take place from October 18th to the 20th.
"Harvest is always when the magic happens," Wendy Hogarth, the owner of Muskoka Lakes farm and winery."
Hogarth and her husband own a cranberry farm just outside of downtown Bala and offer tours of the harvest process throughout the year, which has added another economic driver to a community that was once reliant on one season.
"We are grateful first of all for what we're able to do but also that it has a positive impact on the community around us," said Hogarth.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.