Although much of Muskoka’s logging story has slipped from sight, Graydon and his wife Irene have invested time, effort, money, and memory to create the Oakley Logging Museum. This engaging and entertaining centre preserves artifacts, photographs, newspaper stories, equipment, and documentary records in their authentic, scenic locale. And the curator/guide himself is one of Muskoka’s senior authorities on logging and lumbering, in both their mechanical and human dimensions.
After the Boyes mill suffered from snow load, Graydon replaced the roof with a steel one and built a safe viewing platform from which to observe mill operations or enjoy looking out over the lake. He also has upgraded the adjacent Museum, occupying an earlier era’s bunk house and cookery. Displays of equipment, tools, and operational records are accompanied by enlarged photographs of 1800s logging. A nearby blacksmith shop and trapper’s cabin round out the picture: for decades horses were indispensible to logging, and a number of men in winter bush camps supplemented their income trapping on the side.
Saturday, September 21, promises an enjoyable early fall experience for anyone wanting to put Muskoka in perspective and an outing into the woods. From 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. a special day is planned for the Oakley Logging Museum. In addition to Museum attractions you can tour the saw mill. At intervals log jammer demonstrations in the yard will reveal the secret for those high-piled “brag loads” of logs. There will be a logging video, guides, live music and entertainment from earlier times, even rides in an antique automobile. Kids enter the grounds free; adults pay $12. A logger’s luncheon will be on offer from noon until 2. The heritage day celebrates both Muskoka logging and Vankoughnet’s 130 years. To reserve tickets, it’s best to call Irene or Graydon at 705-645-5534 before September 14. To reach the Logging Museum at 1320 Bird Lake Road, go east on highway 118 (about 25 kilometers) from highway 11, then turn onto Bird Lake Road. This educational authentic facility is a private family’s gift to Muskoka.
Two years ago when spending a day with Graydon Boyes at his Museum gathering information about Muskoka logging history, I was enthralled by the extent of what was available. My notebooks overflowed with data nowhere else available. I had rare photographs to scan and return, and two history books that Graydon wrote about Muskoka logging, Oakley Township forestry, and how the lives of his and other families entwined over years of adventure and tragedy with Muskoka’s wood-based economy.
