-3- above Orillia the road was often just two ruts in the sand with many a steep hill which had to be negotiated in low gear. Some of the Fords of that time could only get up these hills in reverse gear. My first trip by car took fourteen hours fairly steady driving. Bill Beatty was instrumental over the years in facilitating the moves of a number of people from Sundridge to Brampton and vice versa. When Willard Lang was interested in importing a good lacrosse player, Bill suggested Bucko McDonald then a star in Brampton. When Willard enquired if he would have to pay him, Bill Said, 'Oh no! But you will either have to find him a job or keep him and he can eat an awful lot." Bucko proved worth his keep. The youngsters of that day were always looking forward to picnics by steamer down the Magnetawan, at Eagle Lake, at the Gorge, and at the Sandbanks on the Magnetawan to the east. At the Sandbanks they were always intrigued by what they called the "Haunted House", a derelict brick house which seemed out of place in the wilderness. George James, who was born out that way, recalls how the Trudgeon family brought the bricks and other building materials up the Magnetawan around , how there was a rift in the family as a result of which the house was split in two and how the farm was deserted when the family moved down around Lake Simcoe. For a number of years, Mrs. Ethel (Dale) Brydon held church services on Sunday evenings in front of her cottage. She had a beautiful voice to lead the singing and a piano on the verandah. The services were conducted by the local ministers, one of whom was the Rev. John Houston, or by visiting clergymen, one of whom was the Rev. J.D. Parks, then at Brampton, who summered in one of the Brydon cottages. One evening when Dr. Parks was preaching a skunk visited the neighbourhood. After the service was over, Jack Houston said to Dr. Parks, "I am not in your class as a preacher but I never preached a sermon that smelt like that one." Ethel always took up a collection for the benefit of the United Church in Sundridge so we did not save any money by attending her services. Over the years the Brampton gang has expanded to the point where their descendants now own over twenty-five cottages on the lake. Some have established permanent residence here. They have made, I think it could be said, a considerable contribution to the life of the community. J. Gordon Beatty, November 16, 1977.