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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
Nipigon is a pleasant place but unfortunately far too close to Thunder Bay to make it viable as an overnight stop on route from Thunder Bay to Espanola; we find Sault Ste Marie to be a large, congested and unpleasant place, although it has a full range of facilities; Blind River is another good place but it is far too close to Espanola. Wawa is another possibility, but I'm afraid I can't remember anything of that town despite having driven through it.
I'm grateful to Stephanie Micus who kindly sent me some more background information about the connection between White River and Winnie The Pooh and some history of the town:
The bear was purchased from a trapper by a vet with the army, who was on his way to Europe. Disney, who owns the rights to Winnie, gave White River permission to erect the statue and to sell Winnie memorabilia. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, fought hard for that same right, but it was denied, since the bear was only named after Winnipeg, and not born there. There is a Winnie The Pooh festival every year in August in White River, and people come from across North America, and other points, to attend. The newest version of Disney's story about Winnie now makes a direct reference to White River in it.
White River is a very friendly town, and used to be called the coldest spot in Canada. That title was taken away in the 1970's. It was solely a rail town at one time, with stopovers by all passenger trains along the CP line being serviced there. It also used to have a stock yard, as all animals travelling by rail were watered and fed there. When rail service declined, Domtar pulp and paper came into the town with a plant.
One last note. In 1997, children from the local school travelled to a zoo in London, and presented the zoo with a plaque which tells where Winnie's life began.
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Most recently modified 18-Sep-99