By Kelly Louiseize
Picture this; A walk through the LaCloche Mountains where all one needs to think about is the next step and the feel of the ground beneath their shoe, not the meeting next week or the report due next month.
Sometimes decompressing from work’s heavy load, or life’s frenetic schedule, can be quite welcoming.
Today, corporate retreats can actually be a retreat. At the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, one will not find high-speed computer hook up, or virtual satellite capabilities.
The 10-acre retreat centre is approximately three kilometres west of Espanola proper. Nestled in amongst the tall pines and hardwoods, visitors behold a large barn style timber-framed building surrounded by six other cottages on Anderson Lake. Each cottage is self-contained and equipped with bedding, and kitchen supplies.
Traditionally, the centre is used to train Native Catholics for ministry in local churches during the academic year, but in the spring and summer months, it is open to visitors from all over Ontario including various organizations such as Cambrian College, March of Dimes and various Native groups.
The main building was constructed by master crafters 25 years ago without using one nail. Housed in the building is a common room, a large and smaller chapel, a library/discussion area, a 30-person dining room and large kitchen, several bedrooms for guests, a gift shop and a patio facing the lake.
The larger window-filled chapel is octagon shaped providing room for up to 100 people, while the smaller one below is for more intimate gatherings holding approximately 30 people. In both rooms artwork from Blake Debassige, Leland Bell, and Juergen Hug along with the primary colours symbolic of the Native teachings that fosters the marriage of First Nation culture and the Catholic order.
In the common room stands a floor-to-ceiling fireplace made from local stones. A wall of windows give a birds' eye view of the lake on the east side while, log pine walls make up the rest of the room. A gift shop is located in the loft where artists' prints can be purchased.
Below, the 30-person room equipped with a DVD, VCR and a 47-inch television can be rented for $15/day. The stereo and photocopier are $10 and 25 cent page. It is the extent of state-of-the-art technology and for some who have been going hard at it all year round, it is enough.
Father Michael Stogre SJ is the director of the centre who oversees the programs, maintenance and visitors to the area.
For $32.50 a day chef, Ivan Shane stays on to provide three square meals a day. Leonard Cynink ensures the grounds are well maintained, while Stella Shane organizes the office duties and a cleaning staff ensures that cleanliness is next to godliness.
Guests can sink into bed with handmade patchwork quilt comforters to wrap around their weary bones for a good night’s sleep. Cabins are $50 per night and $35 for the main building.
www.anishinabespiritualcentre.ca
