I don't know whether you know Mariposa. If not, it is of no consequence, for if you know Canada at all, you are probably well acquainted with a dozen towns just like it.
There it lies in the sunlight, sloping up from the little lake that spreads out at the foot of the hillside on which the town is built. There is a wharf beside the lake, and lying alongside of it a steamer that is tied to the wharf with two ropes of about the same size as they use on the Lusitania. The steamer goes nowhere in particular, for the lake is landlocked and there is no navigation for the Mariposa Belle except to "run trips" on the first of July and the Queen's Birthday, and to take excursions of the Knights of Pythias and the Sons of Temperance to and from the Local Option Townships.
In point of geography the lake is called Lake Wissanotti and the river running out of it the Ossawippi, just as the main street of Mariposa is called Missinaba Street and the county Missinaba County. But these names do not really matter. Nobody uses them.
The town, I say, has one broad street that runs up from the lake, commonly called the Main Street.
On the Main Street itself are a number of buildings of extraordinary importance,--Smith's Hotel and the Continental and the Mariposa House, and the two banks (the Commercial and the Exchange), to say nothing of McCarthy's Block (erected in 1878), and Glover's Hardware Store with the Oddfellows' Hall above it. Then on the "cross" street that intersects Missinaba Street at the main corner there is the Post Office and the Fire Hall and the Young Men's Christian Association and the office of the Mariposa Newspacket,--in fact, to the eye of discernment a perfect jostle of public institutions comparable only to Threadneedle Street or Lower Broadway. On all the side streets there are maple trees and broad sidewalks, trim gardens with upright calla lilies, houses with verandahs, which are here and there being replaced by residences with piazzas.
To the careless eye the scene on the Main Street of a summer afternoon is one of deep and unbroken peace. The empty street sleeps in the sunshine.
(adapted from Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock. 1912)
First published in 1912, Stephen Leacock's comedic classic Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town tells the fictional story of life in the sleepy small town of Mariposa, along the shores of Lake Wissanotti. Although Leacock himself long denied that Mariposa and its humourous characters were based upon Orillia, most scholars believe it to be a thinly disguised satire of turn of the century Orillia. Ironically, Orillia prides itself on a book poking fun of the foibles of its residents.
The inspiration of the book,--a land of hope and sunshine where little towns spread their square streets and their trim maple trees beside placid lakes almost within echo of the primeval forest,--is large enough. If it fails in its portrayal of the scenes and the country that it depicts the fault lies rather with an art that is deficient than in an affection that is wanting.
Stephen Leacock. McGill University, June, 1912. (from the Preface of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town)
As you work your way through the stages of this multi-cache, you can imagine yourself walking in the footsteps of Canada’s most famous humourist and see the real Mariposa, including some of the actual buildings and locations depicted in the book.
To begin, at the given coordinates, you will find a sign and a garden.
Standing at the sign, you will be able to look around and find the information needed to determine the coordinates for Stage Two.
Each additional stage will provide you with the coordinates for the next stage (no extra solving needed) and will take you through the grounds of the Stephen Leacock Museum. Enjoy your walk and take the time to visit the Museum itself and perhaps stop for lunch at Swanmore Terrace or let your kids explore the Children's Discovery Centre in the boathouse.
To determine the coordinates for Stage Two:
N44 AB.CDE
W079 VW.XYZ
Where:
A= the final digit of the year Sunshine Sketches was published +1
B= the third digit of the year Stephen Leacock was born
C= the number of chimneys on the main house
D= the second digit of the year the property was purchased
E= when the Butterfly Garden was placed July ___, 2008 (look for the dedication stone in the garden behind the sign)
V= the number of metal plaques on the sign
W= the number of letters in the first word on the sign (after the Cdn. Government logo)
X= the number of stone steps from the pathway to verandah on the house
Y= number of words in the title of Leacock's novel published in 1912
Z= last digit of the date of construction +1
Have Fun!