I was greeted at the Pointe au Baril dock by Al, who put a quick end to any lingering doubts about going 6 miles out of my way.  Al is, for lack of a better term, the dockmaster of the public dock in the town. He is a government employee, though I have no idea of who actually pays him because I haven’t mastered the bureaucratic labyrinth of Canadian local government. Whoever it is, I hope they realize how good he is.

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Ponte au Baril, Ontario is not really a town, much less a tourist town. It’s a ‘Station’, a gathering point where year round residents cater to the cottage industry amid the natural beauty of the Canadian Shield. Al has the sometimes tricky job of balancing the rules and regulations of the dock with the actual usage he has to sort out every day by the people who ultimately pay him. He takes a commonsense approach with minor infractions, while still letting those who are actually abusing the rules know that he’s aware of them.

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He was a grocer most of his career, occasionally in a supervisory position but usually working the shelves. I know from my own year or two in the business that it’s a hard job, but one that can be very rewarding for a meticulous person who takes pride their work. I totally empathize with his quitting on the spot when some clueless supervisor questioned his work ethic. From his description, I don’t think his wife was as empathic.

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He went on to H&R Block as a tax preparer for almost 10 years and eventually to this dock job. He knows most of the locals by first name and is amazingly quick to help those he knows are more likely to crash into the dock. Pointe au Baril is a designated trash collection point so a lot of his job is helping cottagers unload their garbage, a job he performs just as energetically as helping a Looper with the lay of the land.

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Al is a natural ‘people person’. His happiness is contagious. You can’t help feeling better after meeting him, even if you’re just doing the cottage version of dumping the trash. It staggers the thinking process to wonder what the world would be like if there were just more Als. He’s due to retire (again) this September. Stay retired this time my friend. Travel and spread some happiness.

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I stayed over for two nights in the Pointe au Baril area so I could visit the Lighthouse on Thursday. Al made that decision more palatable and I got a couple nice bike rides in. But there was no Wi-fi and the pastries were good, but not that good. I was ready for the lighthouse.

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If I had to conjure up two people to tend a lighthouse museum, Emmaline Madigan and Bill Pugsley would be the result. It’s more a lighthouse than a museum, first lit in 1889, though for years before that, the first fisherman in for the day would light a lantern in a barrel to guide the others home, hence the name. There is some period furniture, typewriters and sewing machine artifacts that have been donated by long time locals, including a pair of four fingered scissors and a huge anchor salvaged by Emmaline’s kids. There’s a unique collection of coins, bottles or whatever else that can be sunk in a boat or lost overboard displayed by a local who dives as a hobby and a small collection of exquisitely crafted Ojibway quill and bark baskets loaned by another local.

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