Mother Nature’s Cafe’
“The Silver Islet Tea Room”, ‘Mother Nature’s Cafe’; to be more specific. In 1985, my parents, Lorne and Joan Saxberg and late brother, (CBC Anchorman Lorne Saxberg) bought a general store in cottage country outside Thunder Bay. (Northwestern Ontario)
A Tea Room was added in 1995 and also operated seasonally since. Cottagers; mostly ‘well off’ come from afar and more local to
enjoy their summers on the shore of Lake Superior. And being that this natural haven is at the end of a peninsula, (known as The Sleeping Giant), and separated by miles of park land, there is absolutely no hunting, and therefore deer, moose, bears, wolves, rabbits, fox…basically the animal world is abundant and with its breath taking scenic backdrop, controlling the entertainment of the back / front yards and more cautiously the hiking trails and the road that leads to it. It’s been a business and labor of love for my retired parents to yearly chase the winter’s spirits from this desolate 150 year old ghost town community center in the spring and cater to thousands of tourists until it again becomes silent and dead once again for its long cold winter where the animals have just started to prepare for the long sleep ‘hybernation’. Somewhere between this time and when everyone departs for their posh homes, jobs and back to school sales; the local township dump gets sparce with its expected and enjoyed leftovers from campers, the park and this Store / Tea Room. It is this time when the town (like it or not) once again becomes the property of the animals, and they stop at nothing to consume and store as much food as possible for their long season sleep. We’ve not only had to fight off bears from breaking in at this time, but have also seen doors ripped off, garbage sheds destroyed, cars broken into, walls chewed through and (the best) an aluminum trailer peeled open like a sardine can for the big pot of spaghetti on the stove. this 80 year old couple; My father who worked his life running timber operations (strictly selective logging) and was deputized ‘Game Warden’ by the ministry due to his constant affiliations with the hunting and trapping areas. Several times he found himself cutting a snare or freeing from traps near vicious critters and risking limb and life. Only to deal once more with them in retirement. And my mother who has a love for all animals and talks to them as if they are human. She is recovering from some recent medical ailments successfully. She is who I am referring to here as “Mother Nature”. They both have taken a year off from the business. I understand that they have left the key under the mat for the animals to party; so long as they clean up. These illustrations were originally meant for this year’s ‘Tea Room’ endorsements. They are however currently showing at the ‘Conspiracy Culture Book Store’ situated at 1696 Queen St.
