Living History of Bruce Beach

This is a placeholder for Bruce Beachers to add their own histories of Bruce Beach. Everyone has their own version of History so why not write yours.

 Lives of great men all remind us,
 We can make our lives sublime,
 And departing leave behind us,
 Footprints on the sands of time.

 Perhaps nobody has changed the course of history as much as the historians.  
 ~Franklin P. Jones

South Bruce Beach Cottagers Association - History

History

Known locally first as The Dunes and now as Area 1, this neighbourhood really started to take shape in the early 1950s, when Pearl and Elizabeth Henderson purchased more than 50 acres from Gordon Emmerton. The Henderson subdivision (Plan #483) was officially registered in 1955, when the sisters set about dividing the property into 43 lots and building a road. They sold the lakefront lots for $1,000 and the back ones for $800 and donated two lots for a park.

In the spring of 1966, a group of these cottagers, on what was then a lightly populated area, got together to discuss the formation of a group to buy the remaining property for greenbelt purposes with a view to keeping this portion of the beach the quiet resort area the Henderson sisters had in mind. They subsequently formed the South Bruce Beach Association.

South Bruce Beach Cottage Association was incorporated on July 26, 2006 under the Province of Ontario’s Corporation Act. The name was determined by the province based on the cottagers’ geographic and historic location on Bruce Beach.

Historic Events

June 10, 2011 25-30 per cent of the pine plantation in the Greenbelt property Blandford Woods was cut by the Moggie Valley Timber Company under the supervision of the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority.

March 21, 2011 By a unanimous vote, the SBBCA named its Greenbelt property Blandford Woods to recognize Archie Blandford’s forward-thinking actions in securing the land.

2009 South Bruce Beach Cottage Association was honoured with a Green Cottager Award by Cottage Life Magazine.

2006 South Bruce Beach Cottage Association was incorporated.

1981 From James Farrell, the association purchased the old road allowance adjoining their greenbelt property.

1976 12,000 pine trees, including 5,000 red pines and 1,500 white pines are planted on the association’s greenbelt property.

1975 The association entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources for a planned program of reforestation on the greenbelt property.

1969 The estate of Elizabeth Henderson conveyed one lot to be used as a roadway access to the greenbelt property.

1968 From the Elizabeth Henderson estate the association purchased 30 acres of ecologically sensitive sand dunes to ac t as a greenbelt. Today, the land is a mature forested area providing a vibrant recreational and ecological space for members.

1967 At the first annual meeting, the association elected Gord Walls as president and Archie Blandford as secretary-treasurer. A position Archie held for 39 years until 2006.

1966 Group of cottagers bought three lots from the Elizabeth Henderson estate for a South Bruce Beach tennis club open on a membership basis.

1955 Land for Pearl Elizabeth Memorial Park donated by the Henderson sisters to Huron Township.

Past Presidents

2008-2010: Mary Wilkinson

2006-2008: Chris Meyer

2004-2006: Jane Robinson

2002-2004: Dave Gibson

2000-2002: Barb MacDonald

1998-2000: Bill Murphy

1996-1998: Nan Grant

1994-1996: Barb Strain

1992-1994: Claude Holdermeyer

1991-1992: Lyn Wright

1989-1991: Carm Whitmore

1987-1989: Beth Brown

1985-1987: Bill Henderson

1983-1985: Keith MacDonald

1982-1983: Al Warrick

1980-1982: Dan Marshall

1978-1980: Tom Plant

1976-1978: Pat MacFarlane

1974-1976: Ross Fuller

1972-1974: George Whetstone

1971-1972: Carm Whitmore

1967-1971: Gord Walls