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--- 18 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 12, 1984 Expert at library this Thursday Ruins recall hot summers of youth by Cathy Robb Remember the summer of the haunted house? You and your buddy rode your bikes into the country on a smokey hot | day with the dust kick- ing up behind you, the tree locusts buzzing laz- ily in the trees and nobody else around except the two of you, looking for adventure. When you discovered the haunted house, down a concession you'd never been down before, you knew you'd found the adventure you'd been looking for. Here was a secret place where you could explore all summer'long without anybody (especially your parents) knowing where you were. A place where you could clamber over rubble and rocks, climb through holes where windows used to be, keep your eyes peeled for rats and make up wild stories about how the haunted house got haunted in the first place. Or maybe just sit, not talking, listening to the noises the wind made. Most people have memories of those secret places, the haunt- ed houses of our youth. Not that they were really haunted. Oh sure, there were stories about heathen motorcycle gangs, fires and ghosts but none of them ever really explained why the haunted house in question lay empty, succumbing to the ravages of nature. . Dan Schneider, a 33 year old lawyer working for the Ontario Heritage Foundation, has a decid- ed interest in the "haunted house" of the province, the ruins which dot Ontario's rural landscape provid- ing havens for adven- ture, romance and con- templation.- Poetic Fascination | "Partly it's the poetic fascination. It's almost morbid in a way, sort of perverse. Something has failed in these places, died, or gone wrong," he says, des- cribing people's interest in ruins. "It's not just that. It's as if man has tried to do something and failed. What makes it very interesting is that nature is slowly taking back what it used to have. "You can get kind of philosophical about it all. Ruins remind us that time and weather can affect even the most permanent looking structure. It's a very humbling feeling." Mr. Schneider has had '"that feeling" about ruins ever since he can remember but only recently has he begun A cow stands guard over some ruins on a farm north of Seagrave. Foundations, tumbledown houses and rubble dot the On- Chris & Mike Alle ALUVINYA "RAINBOW ROOMS" Prices start under $3,000. OUR SERVICES INCLUDE: ® Siding ® Soffit ® Fascia ® 5" Seamless Eavestrough ® Shutters ® Awnings ® Replacement Windows ® Patio Doors & Storms Retail sales available tor the handyman. "Free estimates for supply & install CALL 985-3747 AAAS A AARMARMAEAARALS LEN visiting as many ruins in Ontario as he can, photographing them, researching their history and filing the accumulated inform- ation for what event- ually could be a book. This week, Thursday, June 14 at 8 p.m., he will be at Scugog War Memorial Library to talk about his own experience with ruins and to hear about ruins in the Scugog area. Frightening Change "It used to be in Ontario, up to 15 years ago, there wasn't a great deal of interest in old buildings. Now, fortunately, there is a great deal of interest. Especially after 1967, we started to realize we had a past too, just as important as the United State's or Europe's", he points out. 'With all the modern development of the 60's, people were finding that they needed to keep some reference with the past. Change was good, but total, unbridled change was frightening". So Ontario suddenly became history - crazed, committees being set up all over the place to save historic sites and buildings. Still, people continued to ignore the province's ruins, the tumble-down farmhouses and barns which reek of local history. They have historical significance for several reasons, the most basic being they are, monu- ments built at a certain time by certain pé&ople. But "more important, they are the result of several decisions which reveal what was happ- ening to their owners and to the community. Detective Work "There was a decision to build the house, a decision to live in it and a decision at one point to abandon it. The history that surrounds that dec- ision is fascinating. Why walk away from some- thing? Why give it up?"' The questions are hard to answer but Mr. Schneider has been slowly chiseling away at the history surrounding each ruin he visits, looking for clues to the people who once lived there. Through physical clues at the site and research at libraries and other sources, he finds out who built the house in question, why it was built and why the owners left. "It's much easier to research the who", he quipps. "Obviously there's no one left to tell you why. You can't just go up to the door and knock. You've got to piece together the evid- ence. It's a bit like a tario landscape. revealing the local history of the province. Wall - Ceiling - Vanity Old Mirrors - Resilvered By Experts 20% OF (For the remainder of June. 1984) Closet Door Mirrors Resilver Orders (Hwy. 7A & Water St.) LENE NE IER RE NE a SCUGOG GLASS & MIRROR Lakeview Plaza - Port Perry gaa g LEN FO I detective game". The economy is to blame for most deser- tions. When people can't pay their bills they find it easier to pack up and leave then to stick around for the collection agencies. Fire, storms and other quirks of nature have also contri- buted to the great number of ruins in Ontario. Mr. Schneider figures he's investigated 60 ruins over the past two years and has received calls from people all over the province who have ruins in their own neighbourhood. ~ Roofless Ruins - Which is why he wants to hear from anybody in this township who knows of a ruined farm- house or barn or any- thing<that fits the des- cription of a ruin. A ruin doesn't necess- arily have to be old, either. As long as it's tumbledown and roof- less. According to Mr. Schneider, a roof makes the difference between a ruin and a deserted house. "I think that's what defines a ruin', he says with a grin. 'A derelict house is something with a roof. Without a roof, a house doesn't stand too much of a chance of lasting very long. There was this one house abandoned since the War of 1812. I guess the Americans set it on fire. It's now totally over- - grown. There are trees growing up in the middle that are 100 --N ""There's nothing better than coming across something that you've discovered that's unknown or you feel isn't known," Dan Schneider says about Ontario's ruins, the "haunted houses" of our childhood. See story for details. years old". For now, Mr. Schneid- er is working on his ruins project in his spare time and isn't quite sure what he would like to see done with the province's ruins -- even if there was a remote chance that he would have any say. "It's a real dilemma, what's going to happen to them', he muses. 'As soon as you interfere with a ruin, you destroy it. And yet if you don't do anything, it'll dis- integrate pretty fast". Building a roof of some kind over a ruin would prolong its life but it would also destroy the aesthetic appeal of a "secret place", a haunt- ed house to explore. '"There's nothing better than coming across something that you've discovered that's unknown. Or you feel isn't known. I've always noticed ruins in the countryside. It seems to me that ruins are the last...the last monument to a people that are gone forever'. "WELCOME... - employees of TAS-PAGE COMMUNICATIONS Peterborough toa Blue Gross extended health and dental Plan. Ross Freer Suite 204 Peterborough Square 360 George Street North Peterborough. Ontario K9H 7EB a (705) 743-0677 6435-2 LN 4 EE EE ONTARIO \ BLUE CROSS LUNATERRE SATELLITES Let us change those rainy, dreary days and evenings at the cottage into happy and fun loving times. Watch commercial free movies, 24 hours a day, or sports, chiluren's programmes, etc. Its all here for you to enjoy with a LUNATERRE SATELLITE. We invite you to come and see us at the D&M SALES BARN 1 Mile West of Lindsay on the Little Britain Rd. PHONE 1-705-324-2472 For More Information