The owner of Robinsons General Store told The Highlander they ran into financial hardship, which forced them to close the business Jan. 8.

“We tried everything,” Mike Hinbest said in an interview.

He said they did not release a statement to the community because they were devastated and did not know what to say. They also wanted to talk to staff first.

Hinbest added interest rates going up so dramatically and so fast had a major impact.

“When you buy a new business, you have a lot of liabilities.” He added the concurring drop in the real estate market put their assets at risk. What was “always a safe investment this year [2022] wasn’t and the perfect storm came.”

He said he and wife, Katie, have suffered personal financial losses. “We gave up every cent we had to our name to try to save this [the store] for the town.” An emotional Hinbest added, “we didn’t just run away.”

He said 90 per cent of people have been empathetic, and sad for the owners, staff, and community. He said other business owners in Dorset have reached out to lend support. However, he said 10 per cent of people had been unkind, even threatening, saying things such as, “don’t show your face around this town again.”

“They don’t know that we gave everything. My staff know. Even in this hardship, when we told them, the first thing out of their mouths was, ‘I feel so sorry for you guys, and I’m concerned about you and your family’,” Hinbest said. “We cared so much about them [staff], that they cared about us back.”

The marina and coffee and gelato shop are also closed.

Talking to the Robinsons

Hinbest said he had been talking to Joanne Robinson throughout the past year.

“When we started seeing that this might actually not work out, we phoned them [Joanne and husband Willie Hatton, who previously operated the store].”

“I just want people to know that we did everything for them. We tried everything.”

Joanne Robinson told The Highlander, “I don’t have any information to give you at this time, just because it’s so early, we don’t know how this is all going to play out.”

The Robinson family sold the 100-year-old general store to the Hinbests effective May 1, 2021.

Eight kittens, seemingly abandoned down an isolated road in Minden Hills, are now being cared for by Paulmac’s Pets in Minden.

Owner Amanda Dykstra said that as of Jan. 10, four black kittens were in the shop and another four tabbies were in the temporary care of a foster home.

While they appear healthy and were eating and drinking water, Dykstra said they were headed to the vet for a check-up Jan. 13.

She added once they have seen the vet, they can be adopted out. She’s encouraging locals to phone the store if they are interested. One has already been spoken for. There is an adoption fee to offset costs of $90 for kittens.

Former Algonquin Highlands mayor, Carol Moffatt, posted to Facebook Jan. 9 about the kittens being apparently dumped down Bingham Road, off of Scotch Line. She said they were in a cage on a winter’s day.

“Huge thanks to the person who came upon them and took them to the good folks at (Paulmac’s Pets),” she said.

Dykstra said she did not know about the circumstances surrounding the finding of the kittens, but said the OPP dropped them off at her store.

She was reluctant to discuss the person or persons who left the cats.

She said she didn’t want people in similar circumstances to necessarily call the pet store because they have people on a waiting list wanting to surrender cats and kittens, so circumstances such as this create an emergency situation.

“It means everybody on the list gets bumped down and that just puts pressure on the other people to dump their kittens.”

Barrie Martin sits in his Yours Outdoors office on a rainy January morning. He’s on Instagram trying to promote some of his business’s indoor activities while he, the rest of the Highlands winter tourism industry, and the visitors, wait for the snow to fall.

At the moment, it’s flameworking that Martin is selling. “It’s like glassblowing but it’s tubes and rods,” he explains. “Anything to do to throw them (tourists) this way,” he adds.

Like many businesses that rely on winter weather, Martin, who works in conjunction with Haliburton Forest, said it’s been a tough season to date.

He thinks fewer visitors are in the area than during the height of the pandemic. “So, I think demand is down a little bit and that certainly is exacerbated by a winter that has yet to arrive.”

He said Yours Outdoors and Haliburton Forest have had to cancel “all kinds of things.”

For example, the Forest’s snowmobile trails have been closed. It means less accommodation booked. Yours Outdoors has had to scrap things such as igloo building, ice climbing, skijoring, and skiing.

Martin jokes he should change the business name to Yours Indoors, since he is spending a lot of time at the computer marketing, booking, cancelling, issuing refunds, and promoting alternate adventures.

Climate change impacts local tourism and economy

He reckons his business relies on winter for 50 per cent of its revenue so, “it’s fairly significant.”

For example, on this day, he has changed an itinerary for a couple who came to ice climb and snowmobile. They’re now geocaching, going to a water spa, the wolf centre and a sip, swill, savour event. “We try to make the best of what we have.” It requires being “nimble,” he said, but admits that after a while “it does wear on you.”

“I think in the longer term, winter tourism is going to be an endangered species … with climate change. Are we prepared for five months of November weather? It’s very worrisome being in the tourism industry, and for the winter tourism industry, for sure.”

HCSA still optimistic

John Enright is president of the Haliburton County Snowmobile Association (HCSA). He noted they didn’t start grooming last year until Jan. 18, so, “we’re not behind the eightball. The sky is not falling in. We hope it does with snow. No doubt it’s a setback, but the season is not over. It hasn’t even started yet,” he said.

Enright added if history repeats itself, data indicates they’ll have a 70-day riding season.

In the meantime, volunteers are “crazy busy” preparing trails since there are several steps, including removing fallen trees on hilly terrain, and, when winter weather returns, staking 17 lakes with 900 orange stakes.

We need several days of cold to dry out all the water and then snow, snow, snow,” the HCSA president added.

He half-jokingly encourages people to do a snow dance. “Put a white crayon in your freezer, wear your pyjamas inside out and put a spoon under your pillow,” he said.

Doug Wilkinson, who owns Sir Sam’s Ski/ Ride, said they had to postpone the planned ski cross for this past weekend and they also had to close some of the slopes. However, he said they opened a week earlier this year and had two winter camps over the school holidays.

“If you look at our guest count … it’s pretty much flat or a little bit up from last year.”

They also have the advantage that they can make snow, unlike those who make money from other sports, including ice fishing and dog sledding. Sir Sam’s was planning to make more snow this past weekend.

“It’s just part of the business,” Wilkinson said. “I actually take it in stride because there’s nothing we can do about it. Not all doom and gloom. You have to stay optimistic.”

He is looking forward to sun and cold going forward, anticipating a fully open hill as of Jan. 12. They are eagerly awaiting 1,500 kids, booked through school trips, to show up over the next month or two.

Climate change

County climate change coordinator Korey McKay said, with climate change, “we are seeing warmer winters with more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow. This impacts snow and ice cover for winter-based recreation such as skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing, which in turn has impacts on tourism and our local economy.”

McKay added, “the impacts that we will experience in the future depend on global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Climate Atlas of Canada, if emissions continue to rise at current rates, the average winter temperature in the Haliburton area will increase by approximately 5°C toward the end of the century.”

Vendor applications open for all three markets

The Stanhope farmers market is on the move for 2023 – heading to Abbey Gardens from its spot on North Shore Road in Algonquin Highlands.

Haliburton County Farmers Market Association manager, Lauren Phillips, shared the news Jan. 1 as the association announced applications are open for this year’s market season.

Phillips said board member Ron Lofthouse, of Lofthouse Beeswax Company, was instrumental in the shift that has resulted in the new partnership with Abbey Gardens for the Friday markets. Along with the new venue comes expanded dates to align with markets in Haliburton and Minden; May 19-Oct 6.

The market used to be at the corner of Hwy. 35 and 118 before moving to North Shore Road but struggled to gain traction, Phillips said. However, she thanked Algonquin Highlands council and its parks department for hosting the event outside the Stanhope Firefighters Community Hall for the past number of years.

“We’re really excited about this new partnership,” Phillips said.

She added it’s a natural location in many ways. For example, Haliburton Highlands Brewing has been a vendor at Stanhope and will now be across the road from the markets. Into the Blue wood-fired pizza is also on the grounds of Abbey Gardens. They also go to the Tuesday farmers market in Haliburton.

“So, there’s a lot of overlap in a good way,” Phillips said.

She added the vendors will set up outside along Abbey Road and not be using the big white gardens’ tent.

Abbey Gardens Ashley McAllister said they have a lot of new ideas and development happening at this year, “and we’re excited to be a part of helping the farmers market grow at the same time.”

She added their Food Hub was founded with a passion to support local food and economic development, so they already have existing relationships with a lot of the vendors.

“It’s a very natural fit to host the market at Abbey Gardens, and our own garden team will be working with the market vendors to plan our 2023 garden intentionally to ensure what we harvest on Fridays is complementary to the market offerings, so we’ll have a wide variety to offer visitors,” she said.

The Haliburton markets are held Tuesdays in Head Lake Park and the Minden markets on Saturday downtown.

As for vendor applications, the market manager said the deadline to apply is Jan. 31.

Applications are online at hcfma.ca by clicking the link, on Facebook, or by emailing incrediblehcfma@gmail.com. Guest vendor spots will remain available after Jan. 31 as will ‘community ag table’ spots, Phillips said.

For more on the markets, see hcfma.ca or facebook.com/ HaliburtonCountyFarmersMarket.

While winter has set in, the Highlands Summer Festival (HSF) has already set its sights on summer 2023.

The community theatre organization has announced a five-show lineup running from July 3 – Aug. 10 featuring dramas, a musical comedy, songwriter tributes and even a deep-dive into rural Ontario life.

“There is nothing like being swept up in a compelling story or moment that only live theatre can deliver,” said artistic producer Scot Denton in a media release. “The 2023 season is a wonderful opportunity to fall in love with live theatre again.”

The Highlands Summer festival returned to indoor performances in 2022 after two seasons off stage due to COVID-19, with acts such as The Sound of Music.

First up in 2023 is She Loves Me, opening July 3. It’s a musical comedy about two young people in Paris finding love through a lonely hearts letter exchange as they navigate the workplace culture behind the counters at a cosmetic store. “I think our audiences will find this to be a delightful story cleverly told,” Denton said.

Next is 4,000 Miles, a tale of a young man completing a cross-country cycling trip to see his 91-year-old grandmother. The title, writes HSF, refers “not only to the journey he has just completed but as a metaphor to the generational distance that separates the two.” The play debuts July 17, running until the 25.

Celebrated Ontario playwright Dan Needles will come to town July 26-28 to perform More Confessions from the Ninth Concession, a look at Ontario rural life through the lens of comedy.

Shirley Valentine debuts next on July. 31, running until Aug. 4. It’s an award-winning single-actor play about a woman trapped in a relationship who finds the courage to break free.

Finally, Leisa Way, a musician who has toured in the Highlands multiple times, will return to the HSF stage Aug. 6 for a tribute to the Canadian troubadour Gordon Lightfoot.

Early Morning Rain runs Aug. 6-10.

Seasons pass tickets are available now, with single-show tickets going on sale Jan 31.

Passes and tickets can be ordered online at highlandssummerfestival.on.ca by phone 705-457-9933 or 855-457-9933 or by mail to Highlands Summer Festival, Box 938, Haliburton, Ontario, K0M 1S0.

“On behalf of everyone at the Festival, I invite you to join us next summer and fall in love with live theatre all over again,” said HSF president Brian Kipping.