Exterior of St. John's Anglican Church at Eagle Lake

My great grandparents, James Carson Benson & Lydia Mioraya Hiltz, as well as Thomas & Susan Quirt, were among the founders of St. John's Anglican Church at Eagle Lake around 1888. I visited Eagle Lake in September 2003, with the hope of locating the Benson homestead property, St. John's Anglican Church & a bronze plaque inside dedicated to Thomas & Susan Quirt in a 1959 ceremony attended by my grandmother, Margaret Mildred Benson (Ritchie), & Bessie Quirt, a long time friend of my grandmother. By chance, I met Frances McDonald at the church. She was placing flowers on the grave of her mother, Alberta Hawthorne. I told her who I was & we were both amazed that she had known my grandmother, Margaret Benson & my favourite great aunt, Lydia May Benson, who never married, & that her parents knew my great grandparents! Frances had a key to the church, took me inside & showed me the plaque, lovely stained glass windows, etc. I showed Frances the "carbon copy" of the typed plaque dedication report, which I still have. I followed Frances to her house for coffee & she showed me the Benson homestead property. The original house had burned down & a new one built by current owners. I met her husband Don, gratefully accepted a copy of "The Lunch Bucket Chronicles", which has a photo of my Aunt Lydia in it, & had a wonderful visit. We kept in touch for a while, & my last letter was never answered. Eagle Lake is a beautiful place. I visited the Narrows Store & swam in the lake while I was there. I have unfortunately not been back, but hope to visit again. It's only a couple of hours from Orillia, where I live.