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NOVEMBER 2004 Just a quid note to say a thank you for taking the time to drop oft the extra copies of your paper to us I appreciate it very much, and my children were very pleased to be able to have a copy at their grandmother's story about the Church of Christ at Pine Orchard WM Dacia Pine Orchard Church says thanks Dear Editor. AWHITCHUICHVETEMN Me_l ,Mnhlmmsemdhlheflmwm Wanavovtlanger.vou’l hhmmmdmewhneaosmlnme Optometrist: . am mm 8!. . ma 042-3937 Historic photo courtesy of Whltohumh-smumtllo Museum Rwasaiamaakdaylrom suntofinishjndthelood madebyalltheladiavho veculatly attend Pine Ordntdwasiwavesome In lad. we had three very 200d). Theannivetsarydayvasa canpkte m and we had about '00 guests attend. some 0! them tanner pupils In Sunday SchooIandChutch. All in all. It was a wondeflul day! Thanks min tor belngso manned in our little (Won. lame ways 0! first course and desserts that were taken to Yellow Brick House In Aurora [or their supper that same evening Darts E Slum Pine Orchard Clumh "Shoe tree". You hear those words, and in your brain you form an image of that strange wood-and-metal contraption we insert into leather footwear to ensure it keeps its shape in a crowded closet. A contraption that. without too much modification, looks like it could serve as a device for excruciating torture. The "shoe tree" is truly an ingenious tool; if I'd invented it. my descendants would probably be living luxuriously off the royalties. Imelda Marcos on her own undoubtedly uses hundreds of them But take your mind away from lmelda's closet for a moment, and enter the wonderful world of rural Ontario. which I first did about nine years ago. At least in our part of the province (and I'd be curious to know if other parts of Ontario have the same custom). a "shoe tree" is exactly what it says it Is: a tree that grows shoes. or at least wears shoes. In case you haven't seen one. allow me to explain On at least three byways I'm aware of within a half hour's drive of here. a traveller wlll encounter a living tree whose trunk and lower branches are festooned with shoes. dozens of shoes. every type of shoe from Oxford to pump to sneaker. with even the odd sandal or rubber boot thrown Int Although some of the shoes are tled together with laces and thrown over a branch, most are attached directly to the trunk with a nail .or tact. and there are so many that the actual but 0! the tree ls qulte Invlslble The “front a dlstance is that of a mum-«floured funel slowly taking over the tree. Curiously. I have never seen anyone actually affixing their old footwear to one 0! these trees. so I've never been able to question them on their mOtlve to: dolnu so. But my understanding Is that in this particular neck of the woods. the "shoe tie! is a kind ofwishing well. Instead of casting coins into a fountain or pool. loals whisper a fervent hope or desire. and nail on old shoe to a tree. An odd custom. surely. and a ritual probably best performed in the wee small hours when potential spectators are few. wouldn't you think? MOLLER INSURANCE Con-fessions When you wish upon a shoe by Conrad Boyce 64 Sandihrd Drlvo,Un|1 1, STOUFFVILLE A Home * Auto ' WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE THIS MONTH - 5 . So how did 'this custom originate? Why shoes? A \ So Is a "shoe tree" a memorial? A mass fertility rite? Environmental art? Here's my theory. This part of Ontario Was settled by Quaker and Mennonite immigrants from the northâ€"eastern States in the very early nineteenth century If I had my druthers, I'd prefer to think that the “shoe tree" is an ancient Quaker tradltion carried on by southern Ontarians for almost two centuries. Next time I'm In rural Pennsylvania or Vermont. I'll drive slowly and keep an eye out, l posed these questions to Allan MacGilIivray, curator of the Uxbridge- Scott Museum'not far from a couple of the trees, and he has.no idea. although he recalls a similar tree at Gamebridge. on the Trent-Severn Canal east of Lake Simcoe. receiving a lot of publicity a few years back Was the Gamebridge tree the original “shoe tree", or just one high- profile example of a long-established rural tradition? If any institution might have record of such a tradition, you’d think Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum would be it. But curator lulia Pine was stumped (if you'll pardon the pun). "Maybe it has something to do with the old European tradition of putting shoes in the walls of new houses as a fertility boost. or putting out shoes instead of stockings at Christmas (as the Dutch do), or loggers nailing the dead man's boots to a tree when one of their own dies in a logging accident," mused lulia. “But I suspect it's really not an old custom at all. iust a fairly recent fad. Someone nailed his sister’s high heels to a tree as a ioke. and it caught on." In the fourth paragraph above. I confess I wasn't being totally honest with you. I have seen one person attaching an 'old shoe to one of these trees. That romantic old fool was me. and my wish came true, after a few twists‘ and turns. So next time you're tempted to wish upon a star, take an old slipper insteadland tack it to the nearest maple. preferably in the middle of the nights Then. next morning. stand back and listen to what the neighbours say.