Birds chirping, cheap monkeys running on the street, sun shine reflects the lakes water, rabbits on the lawn, squirrels in trees, deers in the backyard, long trees I have never seen in my life before, snow on the trees like cotton buds, on the ground like a wool blanket, bears groaning at night, moose on the road, lakes with warm, clean water, and rivers running on rocks. This is what you will find in my town Huntsville and more.

I would like to talk about my town Huntsville. Huntsville is the largest town in the Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. It is located North of Toronto and South of North Bay. Huntsville was settled in 1869 by George Hunt. In 1870, a post office was built and the area was named Huntsville after Hunt became the first postmaster. The mayor of Huntsville is Scott Atchison, I was so happy for him when he was selected last year as I took a step campaign for him at school and the teachers were laughing when I presented.

I moved to Huntsville in 2013 from Ajax in the fall season. The first things I enjoyed were the changing of the trees. It was magnificent and the place feels homely. We have been living here for two years and it has been awesome. Huntsville has a lot of wild animals like moose, bears, deers, and fox. People from different places come to Huntsville for hunting in hunting season from October to November. Also, we have wild geese hunting period. In addition, the town has different kinds of birds. I learned how to feed birds too. Did you know that we feed the birds in winter because it`s hard for them to get food, and summer time they take care of themselves. I thought it was the other way around.

Huntsville has a lot of natural beauty and natural resources which make it known as a major tourist place bringing people from around the world. The Toronto star ranked the town the #1 place to take a summer trip in 2011.

Huntsville is very attractive because of Algonquin Park, which acts as a western gateway. I read a magazine and saw that the 36th G8 summit in 2010 was hosted in Huntsville which made the place to become more popular.

There are three large lakes in the town: Mary Lake, Lake Vernon and Fairy Lake. Also, we have many small lakes, which give us a lot of beaches. I enjoy swimming in lake water so I can leave alone the pools. There is also the Muskoka River and the Big East River in Huntsville. In summer time, we feed the ducks in the river in town. The city centre is full of hills and steep roadways. At first when we moved, I was scared to be on the road during winter time because of the hills and steep roads and corner roads with a lot of rocks on the side. I like to take a car ride during spring, summer, and fall season. It is very beautiful then.

Huntsville has a lot of snow in winters. I have learned how to shovel a lot of snow on a long driveway. I like the part after we finished shoveling the snow and got in the house where we sat near fire place and drink some hot chocolate and smelt the wood burn. It made me feel cozy.

The Algonquin Park and Arrowhead Provincial Park are largest park in Huntsville and Muskoka whereby you can do a lot of winter activities. People visited the parks from different places to do biking, cross country ski, ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing, and dog sledding. Also, we have winter and summer camping. Most of the people are doing bonfires (camp fires) in their backyard. I like it because we watch the stars, talk, and having marshmellows. It is very relaxing. My mom told me that in her dad’s place at Kilimanjaro, they have the same kind of camp fire in the house.

Huntsville has a lot of summer camps for children. A lot of kids from Ontario and other provinces come here for camping. Huntsville has resorts such as Deerhurst Resort, Shania Twain, Hidden Valley Resort and Cedar Grove Resort.

Also, we have arts festivals, such as Huntsville Festival of the Arts. Other arts activities including the gallery called ‘The Art Space’. The Edge of the Woods Theatre also shows artistic works done by people in the community. Also, we have the annual Muskoka Novel Marathon. I like to go and see the arts works and many people from different places around the world come to see the art works too. In Huntsville, we have an annual traveling outdoor theatre event where by people from many different communities provide art education projects for local seniors and youth.

Huntsville has a performing arts theatre, the Algonquin Theatre. The theatre has space for movies, local dance, music, and school activities. Seniors, youth and local people provided volunteer works and people work as a family which makes me feel as a part of a huge family.

Huntsville has five elementary schools, one Catholic school and one Public high school. Huntsville High School is very big in my opinion and has over 1000 students. My two brothers and I go to St. Mary’s and my older brother goes to St. Dominic High School in Bracebrige which is about 30 minutes away from home. Huntsville has one of the branches of the University of Waterloo.

Huntsville has one hospital which is Huntsville District Memorial Hospital. We have one main library and we go to the library once a week.

Hockey and lacrosse are popular sports in Huntsville. Also, we have large soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball clubs. Huntsville is a golf place for people who like to play golf. I have been telling my mom since I was in grade two I would like to play golf, and would like to learn; I hope I will get a chance here as we have many beautiful golf courses. There is a big community center with a lot of activities.

Last year in 2014, I was so happy to see my town was presented in the world again as winter Olympics were held in Russia and Dara Howell from Huntsville was doing free style skiing. She won a gold medal for first place with her new move the bow and arrow. When Dara came back from Russia, Huntsville had a surprise party/concert. Down with Webster, Dara’s favorite band, performed. Dara came to my school to talk to us about her experience; the good part was seeing the whole town cerebrate her from kids to seniors.

Huntsville has a local bus service in town. There is Highway 60 and 11 in Huntsville. Not too many cars on the highway like Toronto. I enjoyed getting a car ride to see the rocks, cedar trees, and tree changes in spring and fall. We have small shopping centre which most people here call mall; for me, it is not that big like the mall I have seen in Toronto. Still, we have a lot of things. We have groceries stores, fast food places, churches, eye and dental clinics as well.

Huntsville has its own radio station, the Moose; also we have a Christian radio station with good songs and we have a local news paper

Keith Bellows book writer has included Huntsville and the Muskoka region in his book of “100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life. I would like to invite AfriCanada kids and their parents to come and visit the place.

I enjoy playing outside. The air is very fresh, the land is big for backyard playing, and the streets are safe. In Huntsville, we have different parks. Some near the beach; sometime I go and play in the park.

One of the things that bother me in the summer is our main street, Beckley. This is my way of explaining it. It is like a mini Times Square. It is so busy with a lot of tourists, which sometimes I like because I feel like I live in New York City, and I am going to a very important meeting. I remember when we moved here, people would meet us on the street and asked us “Are you guys tourists?” My parents would say “We are living here with you guys now.” One of their favourite questions was, “What brought you to Huntsville?”

Huntsville is a very awesome place to live. I am so glad we moved here. Maybe, just maybe, one day you will visit here and you can see why I love it here!

Joanne K.