The Opeongo Line

In the winter of 1847, a young British physician arrived in Montreal and made his way up through the Ottawa Valley, arriving eventually in a tiny backwoods settlement along its western frontier. What he experienced there over the next few years, he put into a set of uniquely vivid letters he sent back to England. Performed by The Opeongo Readers' Theatre at the Pembroke Public Library on January 25th, 2020, those letters provides a unique window into the dark, druidical world that would become Renfrew County.

One of the great institutions of Barry's Bay, The Balmoral started out as a small railway hotel, built in 1894 by Josh Billings in response to the coming of the OA & PS Railroad. Over the next 100 years, it became much more to the local community. Joanne Billings-Olsen reminisces with The Local host, Sean Conway about the life and times of The Balmoral, including working there when she was only eleven years old.

An adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "A Russian Christmas Party" performed live at the old Barry's Bay Train Station on Tuesday, December 10th 2019 by the Opeongo Radio Flyers.