As a part of the Bryson Summer Festival, and coinciding with the town’s 150th anniversary celebration, local history buff Perry Kluke offered walking tours of town. And what a tour he gives!

The Havelock building in Bryson, now the Municipal Hall, served as the meet, start and end point for Kluke’s walking and talking tour. Built in 1932, it was once known as the four-room school – two for English students and two for French.

One of its four rooms has been converted into a temporary museum absolutely full of intrigue. There are photographs spanning the 1800s to today. There are large ledger-style books full of meeting notes from the early 1900s. There are mixed items offering footprints from across decades of local history. And there are scrapbook-style collections stacked on a table, with chairs that seem to invite you to sit and linger with the past, perhaps getting better acquainted with one’s own story or learning a new one.

Once Kluke enters the room, you know he’s there. His delightfully giddy demeanour is infectious even before you meet and he has an almost straight-from-fiction twinkle in his eye and laugh to go with his personality. He is dressed as if from the era where his story begins. Born and raised in town and having lived here his whole life, it’s hard to imagine a better guide. He fits the part to a tee.

With little-to-no preamble, Kluke leads the way out the front door and starts talking the moment his feet are in motion. You are well-advised to keep up and lean close to hear what he has to say. The names and locations and dates start to roll off his tongue and it is clear that Kluke has a story to tell, one that he has told before.

This is where the fire started. This used to be the Hamilton’s house. They tore this building down brick by brick and moved it to Campbell’s Bay. Mr. Rimer was the mayor for 50 years. There is where the old Sunnyside Grill used to be. Here is where the first bank and robbery happened.

The stories are constant as they morph one into the next, and they are as captivating as they are quick. Fires. Floods. Sweepstakes. Churches. Births. Deaths. Some conflict a little with the official story you may have already heard but, no bother, they are a delightful romp just the same.

To hear Kluke tell the tale is to get lost in history. And that’s the point, isn’t it?

Contact the team behind the walk via the Bryson 150 Facebook page for more details or to ask Kluke for your own personal tour of town.

Jean-Charles St-Pierre and Annette Cartier share a moment looking at the wall of photographs, some of which St-Pierre is in.

Perry Kluke holds a captive audience while sharing tales from Bryson’s history.

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