Why did I write the book?

One of the questions I am asked is why I wrote the book on Maple. Whenever I was asked in the last 40 years where I grew up, and I responded with “Maple”, the most common retort was “oh, at Wonderland”.  When I was a young boy the idea of growing up with Yogi Bear or Fred Flintstone as my neighbour would have been a dream come true, but as an adult I didn’t appreciate the connection of our small village to an American theme park.  The village where I grew up was full of small businesses, wonderful volunteer groups and a strong sense of community.  There was no Wonder Mountain or Ghoster Coaster, though we did have teeter-totters and our bicycles.  I wanted people to remember what Maple was like in the decades before Wonderland and the arrival of the sewers.  I wanted people to remember John Perry, Annie Lawrie, Kirby Brock, Doug Chalmers, Minnie Clegg and all the other ordinary people that made great impacts on the lives of the kids who were lucky enough to grow up there.  I wanted kids, grandkids and great-grandkids to know that their relatives played an important part in making memories for the kids who grew up in Maple.

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