Culture: York Region and Canada's famous Group of Seven

York Region's artistic side has remarkable ties to the Group of Seven. It is home to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006, and to the Varley Gallery, which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary in 2007. The permanent gallery at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection houses the largest collection of Group of Seven paintings in Canada. The Varley Gallery is named in honour of Fred Varley, one of the Group of Seven's original members.

York Region is where most of the Group of Seven first committed to exploring, through art, the unique character of the Canadian landscape. In 1912, J.E.H. MacDonald, a Group founder, moved to Thornhill. His move influenced three generations of Canadian artists and art, including Group of Seven members. At one time or another, five of the original seven members lived in Thornhill. The small rural village served as a base for them to take sketching trips into York and Simcoe counties and later Georgian Bay, Algonquin Park and points north.

Local historian, Adam Birrell, has recorded where each of the members lived in the community along with a host of other well-known Canadian artists. Many of these artists' former homes are still here. Four Elms, the MacDonald farmhouse where J.E.H. painted Tangled Garden is one of them. It remained in the MacDonald family for more than 70 years and was the meeting place for artists until the death of J.E.H.'s son, artist Thoreau MacDonald, in 1989. Today, the home and grounds are owned by the City of Vaughan and are the site of an annual September exhibition founded and organized by J.E.H. MacDonald's great-grand niece, Susan MacDonald.

 Culture/Heritage: The Sharon Temple's annual fall illumination

Every year,  the Sharon Temple hosts a special fall illumination on the first Friday night in September. The illumination is a recreation of an annual fall illumination that was practiced by the Children of the Peace, an early religious sect.

This national historic site, which celebrates its 175^th anniversary in 2007, was built between 1825 and 1832 by the Children of Peace as a symbol of their vision of a society based on peace, equality and social justice. Although the Children of Peace are remembered primarily for building the Temple, they impacted early Canadian artistic and political life too. They built the province's first shelter for the homeless and its first organ (which still stands in the temple today) and they helped organize Ontario's first farmers co-operative and first credit union.

 The Children of the Peace also played a critical role in the development of Canadian democracy by supporting William Lyon Mackenzie and by ensuring the elections of Robert Baldwin and Louis LaFontaine, regarded as fathers of responsible government.

The Sharon Temple National Historic Site is now run by the Sharon Temple Museum Society.

York Region is Ontario's fastest growing new wine region. Eight wineries are now operating in here including Willow Spring Farm Winery. Founded by Mario and Julie Testa, Willow Spring is located on the Oak Ridges Moraine near Stouffville. Its eleven acre vineyard produces premium VQA wines, including a Baco Noir and a Chardonnay. Both are sold at the winery and at select LCBO stores. Mario Testa planted a test plot of vines on what is now the winery's front lawn back in the early 1990s even though people told him he couldn't possibly grow grapes on the Moraine. He proved he could. His "Testa Stouffville Vineyard", planted in 1995, is Ontario's most northern commercial vineyard.

Touring: Fall is a ten-week celebration in York Region

Fall in York Region is a ten-week smorgasbord of events, Best Fall Drives and related hotel packages. The festivities begin early in September every year. 

The release of the region's special FestiFall magazine coincides with the celebration. The magazine gives travelers hundreds of ideas for fall outings within an hour's drive of downtown Toronto. The region's best Fall Drives crisscross the Oak Ridges Moraine and go as far north as Lake Simcoe. Suggested stops include little-known hamlets with secret bakeries, old general stores, and tiny museums as well as family farms selling Hallowe'en pumpkins, fresh Thanksgiving turkeys and pick-your-own apples.

Travelers on the Markham-Stouffville area driving route may see giant straw creatures taking form in the fields to help celebrate the 163rd Markham Fair, September 27-30, 2007. The region's plentiful forest tracts and conservation areas are great places to take a fall hike. Thornton Bales Conservation Area, on the Oak Ridges Moraine, for example, offers one of the best fall colour hikes in the region. Nicknamed "99 steps" for its elevation drop of 54 metres, its heavily forested slopes feature sugar maples that dazzle visitors with their brilliant reds.

Local hotels partner with York Tourism during  the fall to encourage visitors to stay overnight.

For a free copy of the FestiFall magazine, contact us.

For more information on these and other York Region Fall adventures, contact us.