Sunshine draws people to Sauble Beach in search of escape
Sauble Beach was a lot of people’s “happy place” Saturday, where they relaxed on the sand and took a break from their routines. Karen Park said she camped with friends in her teens at Sauble, rented a trailer for at least a couple of weeks every summer with her young kids, and now she stays in her own trailer there. A lot of seasonal campers were opening their sites Saturday and campers came up for the weekend, she said. “Normally, we don’t get good weather on this weekend. It’s normally really rainy and cold,” Park noted. She’s from the Hamilton area but Sauble is her “happy place,” she said. “I just feel calmer, things are just simpler up here. I love the beach, I love the sound of the water, it’s the best place to be,” she said. “You’re not cleaning all the time, doing laundry.” It’s an escape from her routine at home of going to the gym and eating right too. At Sauble, she gets herself a burger when she wants. On the weekend there, she’ll have a coffee and then maybe a caesar in the morning, she said. “It’s a different vibe,” added her friend, Kim Davy, of Caledonia. “It’s a completely different vibe. It’s a party vibe,” Park said. A group of young guys from Owen Sound played spikeball, a popular beach game, and listened to country music on the sand. The four, divided into teams of two, stood around a round, mini trampoline while one of them throws a yellow ball about the size of a softball onto it. The other team must gain control of the ball, as in volleyball, and spike it back onto the trampoline, which sits a few inches off the ground. They came to the beach for the day to help Zach McCartney celebrate his19th birthday. They’re at the beach almost every weekend in summer. McCartney said he was surprised the beach wasn’t packed, given the nice weather. It was busy but not crowded at Sauble Saturday. It was sunny, with a cool breeze which blew fog over the sand. A few people were in the water but most sunbathed or played games on the sand. It was about 20 C but cooler by the water and so some people wore jackets or wraps. Main street was busy too and the side streets had many parked cars. Three young women who were walking up a lane into the cottage area said this was their chance to reconnect. They were a group of five and a sixth was expected that night. “We just have a really good sisterhood. This is the place we come to celebrate that sisterhood,” said Maha Khan, 22, of Brampton. Five of the six went to Western University in London. All but one has just graduated. A smaller group came to Sauble together last year, in their final year of school, and they want to keep meeting. “Since then, we wanted to keep on feeling things and doing it together. So this is our place to reconnect. Because she’s in Ottawa, she was in London before, I was in Brampton. As life changes, we find ways to keep in touch.” Gina and Santino Artuso run Amabel Shores Cottages, where they rent five cottages. They had two daughters and their families up for the weekend. The Victoria Day long weekend at the beach used to be busier, especially with young people booking the first long weekend of the season. They must be going somewhere else now, Santino said. People who book before Dec. 31 for their stay next summer pay the same rate they paid this year to encourage return visits. Some return guests are like family now, they said. Mostly it’s families which rent their cottages. This weekend lots of people called who wanted to rent for one night only. But financially, after the costs of having someone clean the cottages and other expenses, the Artusos usually require a two-night minimum stay, they said. Becky Knight, the president of the Sauble Chamber of Commerce, said members are anxious to kick off their season under sunny skies. “We’re very, very happy that we’ve got a weekend forecast of sun. That’s always very important for our patios and shoppers and people who want to eat in the restaurants and camp.”
