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Donevan’s Hardware in Gananoque

July 25, 2018 by Pat Brennan 7 Comments

Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

Charlie Donevan’s century of hardware and the houses of the 1000 Islands …
…….

Of course there are screws, nails and hammers, paintbrushes and garden hoses, but most people entering Donevan’s Hardware come to see the proprietor.

Charlie Donevan has been behind the counter for well over 90 years. He started as a delivery boy at age eight and suspects he was filling shelves at age six in his father’s hardware store, which his grandfather opened on Gananoque’s main street in 1872.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

One of the 1000 Islands “Cottages” in the Gananoque area of the St. Lawrence River.
. . . . . . .

He’s still there six days a week at age 94 feeling responsible for maintaining the beautiful cottages out on the 1000 Islands.

For many decades Donevan’s was the place to go whenever repairs were needed on the cottages and seasonal mansions out on the 1000 Islands. The place was so busy Donevan had plumbers, electricians, even welders on staff to advise and service customers.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

The 1000 Islands area has been a popular vacation area for both Canadians and Americans for 200 years.
. . . . . . .

And of course Charlie could answer most of his customers’ questions. He cut back some of his time in the store to earn a degree in mechanical engineering from Queen’s University.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

The questions he answers today are more about Ganonoque’s history and geography and there is little that stumps him. His grandfather James owned one of those 1000 Islands and Charlie was there when anthropologists uncovered evidence that indigenous peoples occupied the island 10,000 years ago. He’s had an interest in the history and geography of the Gananoque area ever since.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

This is how you get to see so many of those 1000 Island cottages. Gananoque Boat Line has two such vessels and does 1-hour, 3-hour or 5.5-hour island tours.
. . . . . . .

Charlie and his wife Kay owned and operated the Landon Bay campground and trails on the St. Lawrence River for 40 years. During camping season he worked in the store until noon, turned the store over to his employees and then managed the campground, including all maintenance.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

The couple donated their 225-acre property to the federal government in 2000 as an ecological preserve, which is now part of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere, one of 610 from around the world recognized by UNESCO.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

The Frontenac Arch is an ancient granite ridge, rich in minerals, that connects the Canadian Shield to the Adirondack Mountains.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

You’ll find Charlie behind his hardware counter six days a week, but the hardware business has changed big time since Donevan’s hay days. Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, even dollar stores have come to town to absorb many of Charlie’s customers.

1000 Islands house Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

Gananoque is one of world’s few communities that has a stand-alone clock tower. This red brick tower is 85 feet high and was built in 1903 as a gift to the town by prominent citizen Charles Macdonald.
. . . . . . .

So Charlie reduced his large store by half and now shares it with a studio for local artists. He doesn’t charge the artists rent for the space because their creations bring in regular traffic, most of which wander into the hardware half of the store.

Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

Charlie wearing his traditional Beaver-skin top hat and sitting in a rowboat that sits on a railway flat car. He dominates the collage of 400 painted four-inch ceramic tiles that made up Gananoque’s Canada 150 salute.
. . . . . . .

Gananoque participated in a national campaign of communities creating large outdoor murals to salute their features as part of the Canada150 celebrations.

In Gan – as the locals call it – 400 residents each painted a four-inch-square ceramic tile that were combined to make an eight-foot by eight-foot mural.

Charlie Donevan is the principal person in the mural. He’s wearing his famous beaver-fur top hat, sitting in a rowboat that sits on a flatbed railway car.  The mural depicts much of  Gananoque’s industrial history, which was home to Canada’s shortest railway line. The 8-kilometre-long 1000 Islands Railway ran from the river’s edge north to the Grand Trunk Railway, now CN.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: 
If you are passing through Brockville, Ontario (just up the road from Gananoque), drop by 1000 Island Pizza for a good nosh.

Ganonoque Charlie Donevan

Charlie Donevan in his store sitting beside his wood stove that heats the store in winter.
. . . . . . .

Filed Under: Canada, Canadian People

Comments

  1. Paul Harding says

    July 26, 2018 at 9:15 am

    Delightful article. Landon Bay, please, Editor.

    Reply
    • Glenn says

      July 26, 2018 at 10:00 am

      Good catch Paul … fixed. Thanks.

      Reply
  2. Dorothy Mackintosh says

    July 26, 2018 at 10:12 am

    We lived in Kingston when we started boating in the 1000 Islands. We then moved to Montreal in 1987 but continued to boat in the Islands every weekend. In 1998, I took a large mirror into Donavon’s Hardware Store to be cut to size for the aft cabin of our boat, Maverick. The mirror had come with our boat, many years before. I was told it was actually high quality mirror and they would prefer that Charlie cut it for me but Charlie was upstairs having his afternoon nap and would be down shortly if I had other errands to do. I did, and I came back in 20 minutes to wait for Charlie. He was already up and after making sure I knew the quality of the mirror that I wanted cut, he proceeded to cut it with his quiet confidence. I knew the mirror was safe in his skilled hands and it was. The cost was embarrassingly minimal. After securely wrapping it in cardboard (which I had not done bringing it in) Charlie offered to help me get the two pieces out to my car.
    My husband and I have many fond memories with this gentle man but I think this is one of my favourites.
    Charlie Donavon, you are a man with the riches of this world… the love and respect of every person who knows you. Fondly, Dorothy Mackintosh

    Reply
    • Glenn says

      July 26, 2018 at 1:08 pm

      Thanks for sharing this wonderful memory Dorothy.

      Reply
  3. C. Feltham says

    July 27, 2018 at 4:52 am

    Charles Donovan is a national treasure! What a great article. I’ve just learned so much more about Charlie Donovan, whom I already had great admiration for. What an incredible human being.

    Reply
  4. Anne Bristow Doak says

    July 31, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    This is a delightful article. My mother, Margaret Eaton, who passed in June would have loved for me to read this to her [Last few years she was legally blind]. I enjoyed walking ‘up street’ & dropping in to see Charlie not too many years ago.

    Thank you for the nostalgic trip home to Gan

    Kind regards
    Anne Bristow Doak
    Ottawa

    Reply
    • Glenn says

      August 1, 2018 at 12:33 pm

      Thanks Anne. I also love all those crazy summer places on the river.

      Reply

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