Area trapper honoured by St. Joseph Island Museum (17 photos)

He was a fearsome trapper, the best in all the land.
A disorganized pack on his back and a hatchet in his hand.
He went to the conventions and he travelled here and there.
When it comes to the world of trappers, he was known everywhere.

This is an excerpt from a poem written by Paul Stevens about his father, the late Wilfred Stevens.

St. Joseph Island Museum board chair, Lavera Crack, told those gathered during a memorial event on July 8, the museum changed the name of the annual event from Tea Day to Heritage Day.

"We called it Tea Day but we never gave anyone a cup of tea, so we changed it," Crack said creating a chuckle from the audience. "Each year we honour a group."

For this year's theme, the board chose to honour the memory of one of the Island's most notable trappers, Wilfred Stevens. Stevens passed away on Nov. 11, 2016.

Several members of the Stevens family were present.

"Wilfred was born and raised on St. Joe and was passionate about the environment," Crack said.

In his memory, the board invited Dan Rowlinson a representative from the Sault and Algoma branch of the Ontario Fur Managers Federation of which Wilfred was a long-standing member. Rowlinson, 35-year veteran with the Algoma branch is also an instructor in fur management.

"Wilfred was a great guy. He had a lot of knowledge to share about trapping," Rowlinson said.

In addition, Rowlinson said some reality shows are entertaining, but are not the realist view of trapping out there.

He brought with him several different pelts and a number of different traps. "Tools we use today are very effective and efficient," he said.

Arranged in the brick school is a display that includes such items as a pair of snowshoes, out-dated traps and pelts. Outside the glass display area, there is a framed picture of Stevens.

Stevens was an avid outdoorsman, Wilfred's wife, Dana said.

"Wilfred was quiet, shying away from any recognition or honours," Dana said. "He loved the outdoors and did what he could to preserve and protect it. That's what we loved about him."

Stevens started trapping in his early teens, bagging his first muskrat, then a wolf couple years later, Dana said. She added that at the time, Game Warden Maurice Barton offerd Stevens a hand in skinning the animals.

Stevens’ trap line, located in the Garden Lake area, measures over 100 square miles and is now maintained by sons Jimmy and Paul.

Stevens was one of 11,000 licensed trappers in Ontario, some of which are private land trappers, while others are registered trap lines.

Within Algoma, there are 62 registered trap lines on a geographical area of Crown Land.

From the poem, an excerpt:

I guess what I'm trying to say is think of Wilf and smile.
Keep him in your memories and your heart for a while.
I know that I will see him when I'm on our trapping land,
Standing on the top of the hill, looking down the Kinahan.

Entertainment for the afternoon was provided by The Following Sea.