Local history enthusiasts boarded a yellow school bus and took a surprise trip up the historic “Highway 27” through Bond Head, Cookstown and Innisfil.
Every year, the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association invites people to take its Mystery Bus Tour — with locales revealed the day of — on a bus driven by councillor and local historian Gary Lamb.
Organized by association member Franz Aschwanden, the tour this past weekend passed the “Rails to Trails” Trans Canada Trail, once the rail line from Beeton to Thornton, and the ghost towns of Lennox, Killyleagh and Bethesda.
They saw the old Knock Schoolhouse, a designated heritage site on 10 Sideroad, and drove past the former communities of Craigville, Nantyr, and Cherry Creek, with stops at some historic locales.
In Stroud, the group was welcomed by Innisfil Historical Society members Donna and Merv Wice, who offered a presentation on the communities of Stroud and Vine, and refreshments at St. James United Church, followed by a stroll through the historic cemetery across the road.
This year’s bus tour was free. The usual $5 fee was waived to encourage people to come out — and they were “glad they did,” said Jan Blommaert, who attended.
Due to the soaring temperatures and humidity on Sunday, organizers gave participants a choice of riding on the bus and listening to the commentary, or picking up a map and driving the route in their own air-conditioned vehicles.
The commentaries were entertaining, “there was enough breeze to cool us off, (and) to complete the informative and fun afternoon, when we arrived back in Bond Head we enjoyed a social time with refreshments in the Bond Head United Church hall,” Blommaert said.
