Published April 10 2018

To the Editor

I am writing today to share a personal story that I think really illustrates how wonderful our little town of Haliburton is. It happened a few months ago but I’ve had the chance to reflect since (while laid up recovering from a surgery) and decided it is definitely worth sharing to help boost the spirits of anyone else in our community who’s had a long winter!

New Year’s Eve was exceptionally busy at Bonnie View Inn. We really needed the business and I was excited to put on a good time for everyone who came out. Every room was booked the dining room and lounge were decorated to the nines and filled to capacity and all the guests were in a great mood … and then just as dinner was being served disaster struck: our well pump stopped working!

This meant that we had no water in the kitchen no dishwasher no toilets no showers nothing (and the strong likelihood that everything would freeze – again – overnight)! My poor husband Johnny a fairly recent transplant from Orillia spent the whole evening in the basement trying (in vain) to fix things. He is not particularly handy and certainly not a plumber but he was able to coax a few more gallons before the pump died completely. At that point I thought I was going to have to announce that the party was over and send everyone home even before midnight!

But we were rescued by the extraordinary kindness of our neighbours/friends. Karen from McKecks Restaurant and Janine from Out of The Blue Bakery leapt into action and kept things moving in the kitchen (the pictures of the mountains of dishes are hilarious) and then at 11:15 p.m. on New Year’s Eve Wade and Jane from the Pump Shop arrived and did an emergency repair! It truly felt like a Haliburton miracle!

Just before midnight water was flowing as freely as the champagne and we were able to catch everything up and carry on with the best New Year’s party we’ve ever thrown. One hundred forty people probably never knew how close we were to a nightmare and I want to make sure they know who to thank.

Karen Janine Wade Jane and all the wonderful Bonnie View staff – you are exactly the kind of people that make me so proud to live and work in this beautiful part of the world. Thank you!

Andrea Hagarty

Bonnie View Inn