The Kenora Townscapes Mural Walking Tour Mystery Cache
The Kenora Townscapes Mural Walking Tour
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Size: 
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TOUR MAP
THIS CACHE will NOT be found at the posted coordinates.
To find the actual location of the cache container, you must first find some information to solve a puzzle.
This is a SOLVE ON SITE puzzle (unless you cheat a little with streetview.)
THE PUZZLE – WHAT YOU MUST DO TO FIND THE CACHE
Across the community of Kenora, Ontario can be found nearly two-dozen wall mural paintings gracing the sides of buildings. Each mural has its own story, commissioned by various people, under the Heritage Townscapes Mural Project. See details on the individual mural histories below. This puzzle is designed to be a self-guided walking tour. To solve it, you must take a tour of nine of the heritage townscape murals in the community. The walking tour is short, concentrated on the downtown core, and is roughly 600 meters long, from start to finish. You will walk through the ‘downtown’ answering a total of NINE questions, based on NINE murals easily seen on the self guided tour. The questions are listed below. Answers all NINE questions as you walk across the downtown. Use your answers to build the final coordinate listing for the ACTUAL cache container location. The final cache will be within walking distance of the self guided walking tour.
THE PUZZLE QUESTIONS
Answers the following questions on your tour.
Use the number values you obtain and match the site letters with those values to fill in the unknown values in the final cache location.
FINAL CACHE LOCATION: N 49.HI.AFG W 094.BC.HDE
SITE A = FROM HOT LEAD TO HIGH TECH (1998) How many workers are working at the newspaper facility in the image?
SITE B = MAIN STREET DOCK (1996) How many life preservers does the ferry boat have?
SITE C = THE JUBILEE PARADE (1996) How many very large faces can you see?
SITE D = THE RENDEZVOUS (1997) How many beavers/muskrats are there in the mural?
SITE E = SPIRIT OF THE WEST (1997) How many dogs are pulling the sled. EDIT: THE ANSWER IS 6! The mural at this location as been painted over recently...THE ANSWER IS 6. ?
SITE F = GAMES ROOM (1997) How many people in the bar have hats on?
SITE G = THE PICNIC (1995) How many more men than women are there at the family picnic?
SITE H = ANISHANABE AHSI (1998) How many ancestors are there in the northern lights?
SITE I = A FOREST OF MEN (1998) How many log drivers are there working on the water?
CHECK YOU ANSWER IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE! GEOCHECKER.COM:
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PROJECT AND MURALS
Source: descriptions by the founding committee, lifted from the Kenora town portal website.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Lake of the Woods Heritage Townscapes has been working since 1994 to present an outdoor gallery in Kenora. There are 20 murals completed. Work continues in planning more murals throughout the City.The mandate of the Committee is to present the history of Kenora in visual form. This makes history come alive for residents and visitors. As well as creating a tourist attraction, the goal is to raise pride in the rich heritage of the area and create beauty in an urban setting. This leads to revitalization of the downtown core to compliment the beautiful harbourfront and many downtown buildings. The murals are painted by leading Canadian artists on the large walls of buildings in the City. The artists are chosen so that each mural will be unique in design and painting style to create an interesting outdoor art gallery. Each mural takes many months of planning and 5—8 weeks to paint. The work is very physical, and the artist must enjoy talking to passers -by. The sites are chosen to be seen in a pattern while walking, driving or by boat. The support of the project comes entirely from donations by individuals, businesses, and groups in the community. All committee members are volunteers. Locally, the group received office support from LOWBIC. The Rotary Club was the first supporter and has continued to be generous to the Committee each year. They also supplied the brass plaques on the murals. We could not have done the project without the generosity of Tim Durbin of Tim’s Paint and Trim, and support from local media.
PUZZLE MURAL BACKGROUNDS
SITE A = FROM HOT LEAD TO HIGH TECH (1998) Miner and News Building, Main Street S German Jamillo, McKenzie BC German is from Columbia, South America. He studied in China and married a Canadian girl who has relatives in Kenora. This mural was commissioned by Bowes Publishing to celebrate the anniversary of 100 years of publication of a newspaper in Kenora. Old and new stories are part of the design as well as images of the old press room. The mural was painted using primarily the complimentary colours yellow and purple, and the combination they create.
SITE B = MAIN STREET DOCK (1996) Scotia Bank, Main Street S Joyce Kamikura, Richmond BC This mural was sponsored by a group of summer residents, many of whom have come for two or three generations to “the lake”. At first the families came from Winnipeg, but now their descendants come literally from all over the world. The mother and children would move down for the entire summer with nannies, boat boys, cooks and staff. The fathers would arrive on the “campers’ special” ever Friday night from Winnipeg. Everybody came out to meet the train and walk down to the Main Street dock where old wooden launches awaited the families. Some families had special boats made to cruise the lake in style. The boat in this painting is called “The Grace Anne”. It was made as a special birthday present for Grace Furlong. The boat was fabulously appointed in mahogany, wonderful fabrics and a specially made set of china. The Furlong family (now fourth generation) still comes from all parts of North America to enjoy family times on Coney Island, but the boat has been sold. It now operates as a private enterprise and can be rented for special events and corporate cruises. The other boat depicted was called the “Clipper” and was involved in the illegal whisky trade of the 20’s.
SITE C = THE JUBILEE PARADE (1996) King Furniture, Main Street S Frank Lewis, Victoria BC At the time of the painting of this mural, the building housed a sporting store that based its sales on bicycles. The owner wanted the mural to depict what cyclists wore at the time as well as different kinds of bicycles. In this fine mural, we see a varied group of townspeople who belonged to the “Third Street Bicycle Club”. They are pausing to watch a marvelous parade celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897) as it goes by. This was a major occasion in Rat Portage at this time. The marvelous sky is done in the colours and style of “Art Nouveau” of the period. As a sense of fun the artist has added barnyard chickens that scratched around in everyone’s yard at this time.
SITE D = THE RENDEZVOUS (1997) Donny B’s, Corner of Main Street and 1st Street S David Carty, Kenora ON David Carty trained as an artist at the Nova Scotia School of Design. In his well-researched work he shows the many modes of transportation used in the area and the importance of the Hudson Bay Company to our town, which was formerly known as “Rat Portage”. This building is one of the oldest in town and was the Hudson Bay Company store. The Hudson Bay Company has generously sponsored this mural.
SITE E = SPIRIT OF THE WEST (1997) SEARS, Formerly Mid Canada Amusement Centre, 1st Street S Kelley Morrell, Kenora ON Kelley is a local artist with careers in music and art. In his dramatic blue background work he shows the changing seasons and images of the hunter. The tools are still used today by a diminishing number of trappers in our area. Kelley’s work is on the wall of the Sears building, which used to be the pool hall.
SITE F = GAMES ROOM (1997) Lake of the Woods Hotel, Matheson Street Kelley Morrell, Kenora ON This mural, on one of the oldest hotels in town, was the first to be sponsored by a local business owner. The painting shows the interior of a lavish gentlemen’s bar at the turn of the century. In the middle of the wilderness there was an attempt for great elegance with woodcarving. A gentleman and his friend take part in a card game—the only entertainment in the frontier community. < BR > < BR > SITE G = THE PICNIC (1995) Standard Insurance Building, 2nd Street Gus Froese, Moose Jaw SK Families love to picnic on Lake of the Woods. In this impressive family portrait at the turn of the century, we see a formal event with a wealthy family (judging from the presence of a nanny for the child, the elegant dress, the presence of superior libations, and anabundanceoffood).
< BR > SITE H = ANISHANABE AHSI (1998) Corner Matheson Street & Third Street S Louis Ogemah, Winnipeg MB This unique wrap around mural is designed and painted by an artist who spent his formative years on the nearby Rat Portage Reserve. It honours the religious traditions and life of the first people of the area, the Ojibway. The Ojibway lived by the water and used birch bark in all aspects of their life. On the front side of the building, the artist depicts the hunting and gathering traditions, and on the other side, the spiritual forces in Man, Woman and Child. He also shows a feast held in a sacred midewin lodge. < BR > < BR > SITE I = A FOREST OF MEN (1998) Frosted Foods Building, First Avenue S Designed & Painted BY Bill Dixon and Ken Faulkes, Sooke BC This mural was painted to celebrate “Kenora...Canada’s Forestry Capital 1999”. Painted in flat bold techniques, this mural depicts all of the activities of the forestry industry in the area, from water bombing of the last fifty years to drawn sleighs of logs in the past. This mural reflects in the building opposite and as well, brightening up a busy corner is stunning when viewed by the summer boat traffic. The artist was born in Kenora and has had three careers—United Church Minister, Social Worker, and Artist.
The final cache is a magnetic key holder, placed hiding in an often high traffic area.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur svany pnpur vf n zntargvp xrl ubyqre, cynprq uvqvat va na bsgra uvtu genssvp nern....
Naq, lbh znl unir gb cyht lbhe abfr, qrcraqvat ba jrngure.
Treasures
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