By Emily Stonehouse

46 signs

By Emily Stonehouse

Nothing is easy.

As is noted by the process of getting 46 signs put up around Minden.

A process that’s been going on since 2023. Yes, I had to double take that as well. Nearly two years now to set up the concept of 46 signs. And that’s just to get us to this point. Scott Ovell, the county’s director of economic development, shared that there’s still another three to six years to go.

There are a few reasons for the hold-up. Part of it is the ‘my problem versus your problem’ conversations between Haliburton County and the four lower-tier townships. Another is waiting for the funding, posed to come primarily from the municipal accommodation tax, which was only recently put into place.

The last kicker is that we are waiting for people to decide which style and colours they like for the signs. The options are: Timber, Natural Forest, or Haliburton Forest – three stylized versions each incorporating the organic elements of our surroundings.

Now I like design and colour as much as the next guy, but these three options brought back memories from when I was helping my friend paint her living room, and she asked if she should go with Eggshell, Crisp Cloud, or Fresh Snowfall as the backdrop. White, whiter, or whitest. The choices, the choices.

Now these signs would be largely implemented in an effort to put the village of Minden on the radar of drivers whipping down Highway 35. While that bypass eased up on the clogging congestion to the downtown core, it unfortunately allowed motorists to skip the village altogether.

Unless they are seeking a specific reason to head downtown, many don’t even realize it exists. I have taken multiple touring trips with individuals who have audibly gasped when they see that a quaint and cozy village is settled along the river. It really is a hidden gem.

Perhaps a little too hidden.

So yes, we need signs. 46 signs, to be exact, apparently. And these wouldn’t necessarily highlight the individual businesses and experiences in the downtown core. Just a push to go there. You’ll find out once you get there!

While I truly value the work that has gone into this process, and completely recognize the need, I can’t help but feel drained at the concept. It’s taken literally years to get here, and we still have years to go. For 46 signs.

And often, what happens when these projects get carried over year over year, staff or council changes hands, shuffles around. As is the nature of the ever-revolving door of municipal politics.

But suddenly, a new group of people come in with new ideas. And while that’s refreshing at the time, the projects that staff and tax payers have poured time, money, and energy into, get floated down to the bottom of the pile. Another binder gathering dust on the ever-growing library of consultations over the years.

I hope they follow through with this. That whatever variable concept of blues and greens somehow appeases everyone. That this wayfinding project can have a formal beginning, middle, and end.

Because despite all the direction these signs are giving and getting, it still feels like they may get lost.

And for the record, she went with Eggshell.

No regrets.