Bala's Museum with memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Name: Bala's Museum with memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery
Address: 1024 Maple Avenue, Bala, ON, P0C1A0, CA
Telephone: 1-888-579-7739 (Canada) 705-762-5876
Price range: $

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Bala, ON
Bala's Museum with memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tours 12.00 person Monday, Wed. Fri.
35.00 for family of 4. RSVP 705-762-5876 10 am or 1:30 pm

08/24/2026

When My Niece Visits Bala's Museum.....
she brings a whole batch of friends!
When Shanlee was 8 years old Auntie Linda flew out to Winnipeg to see her and her sister Alison and little brother Mark. I brought a copy of Anne of Green Gables and read the entire book to Shan (leaving out some of the descriptive scenes in favour of action scenes). Alison at five did not have the same attention span, but wandered in and out of the bedroom where I was reading out loud. So Shan, as she is now called, has had a life-long love for Anne. Today Shan and friends booked my 1:30 tour and Shan videotaped and photographed the whole tour. I particularly like this photo of all her friends with light coming in from the lace curtains and the lovely oil lamp above the table. Can you guess which activity Shan's friends are doing? Guess away!

08/21/2026

Being Invited to My Own Tea Party!
Many years ago when MuskokaTourism had a spanking new tourist centre on Highway 11 south of Gravenhurst, they offered a space by a front window to any member who wanted a display space. They accepted my idea of putting an Anne of Green Gables tea party there as a way of advertising Bala's Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was a simple affair with a little bistro table, tablecloth, 2 wooden ice cream chairs, 2 cups and saucers, a teapot, 'cream', 'sugar', spoons and a rack card holder for our brochures. I latter learned how popular the display was and that hundreds of women and children had sat down and pretended they were Anne and Diana enjoying a hot cup of tea together. After 2 years I was asked to collect the display and I decided to use it on the front porch of our museum with some added extras such as glasses and a 'raspberry cordial' bottle, everlasting cookies and small plates. A few days ago I was invited to have tea at my own tea party. Annabel and her husband Alan from London, England implored me to join them at their imaginary tea.
It was the 1st time in over twenty years that anyone had asked me to join them. Usually I'm taking photos on borrowed cell phones of how this tragic tea party progresses. We three discussed the fact that the 1st cups and saucers created during Georgian times were so fragile that hot tea could crack the cup! Aristocracy learned quickly to pour milk in the tea cup before the tea - a practise that is still widely used in England. A broken cup would be about the same as a year's wage for a labourer. Later ground bone was added to the porcelain to make dishes more durable. Alan was a good sport as we elected him to be 'Diana' who overdid the drinks of raspberry cordial and posed as a very drunk Diana! Annabel took the selfie of the 3 of us enjoying tea at my own tea party.

08/18/2026

The 1st Draft of LMM's The Blue Castle 25.00
1 available
An amazing scholarly work by Carolyn Strom Collins who edited, annotated and photographed LMM's original The Blue Castle manuscript. Presented with scribbled notes, additions and deletions and pre-publication changes, offering fascinating insight into the writing process of Montgomery. Perfect book for a Book Club studying The Blue Castle or a lover of The Blue Castle!
Published by NImbus Press, Halifax, Canada.
Soft cover with 273 pages. Cash, MC, Visa or e-transfer. Mailed across Canada.

08/15/2026

Suzanne's 1st LMM Book was NOT Anne of Green Gables
When Suzanne was a teenager she read a book belonging to her mom. It was called The Blue Castle and had been presented to her mom back in 1942 from Weston Collegiate (now part of greater Toronto) as a prize in 'Third Proficiency'. It had a beautiful leather cover with the Weston crest in gold, as was the lettering on the book. Suzanne enjoyed The Blue Casle very much but did not know anything more about the author L.M. Montgomery except that her other books included Rilla something or other and someone called Emily and House of Dreams. It came as a very big shock when Suzanne realized as a adult that LMM was famous for Anne of Green Gables especially! Yesterday I was able to explain to her that publishers McClelland & Stewart who had printed her mom's prize book did not as yet have the publishing rights to Anne of Green Gables, so they only listed the Anne sequels and Emily trilogy (to which they had the rights) as Maud's other books. Suzanne eventually did read Anne of Green Gables and earlier this summer her dream of visiting Prince Edward Island came true!

08/14/2026

The Blue Castle 15.00 4 available
Charming soft-cover British edition by Arcturus Publishing, London. Cover design by Peter Ridley incorporates heroine Valancy's imaginary Blue Castle and the all important pearl necklace for the plot! Book measures 5 inches by 7 3/4 inches and is purse-size.
Inexpensively mailed anywhere in Canada.
Cash, cheque, MC, Visa or e-transfer.

08/13/2026

Life Letter
I guess it should be expected when you own and run a Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum for 34 years. We get lots of letters. Thank you to dear Kate who recently emailed a Life Letter:

Dear Linda and Jack:
I was so delighted to see you yesterday. I had thought I would just pop in to say hello and cruise the gift shop, but I ended up getting the full tour and enjoyed it again. I love that kitchen. I/we thoroughly enjoyed the concert from Jack, the (silent) movie stills, and the dollhouse and the telegraph station.

I also want to tell you that, as I have reflected on it, your museum has become part of my life story. I discovered it the year after you opened it. We stayed at the Roselawn Inn for two nights when two of our daughters were small, and came back the next summer with yet another brand-new daughter. She is now 39.

With your encouragement, I wrote my master's thesis on Montgomery and Church Union and introduced my then-history professor to the journals. I have sent many friends and family to the museum in Bala. My daughters have fond memories of Linda's cooking lessons and of breaking a slate over one another's heads.

You also encouraged me to travel to PEI, which we did for the first time in 2012 for our 25th anniversary. We have now been back 16 times, and to every Anne museum/site on the island.
I agree that Bala has the best display by far, with Park Corner a close second, although Macneil homestead could also be second! I have so many delightful pieces of china from Bala's gift shop, and I purchased a Rosebud tea set at an antique store years ago because I recognized the pattern from the Bala museum.

Your collection is so wondeful, and I love how you incorporated Montgomery's role as a minister's wife into your museum. That really resonates with me.

As we were driving home yesterday, I realized again how important the museum is to me and to my life as a Montgomery fan. More than the stories, although I do love The Blue Castle, Anne of course, and Jane of Lantern Hill. I consider you both friends. You have given such a gift to the Anne community and to Bala.

I was sorry to hear of your health troubles and will keep you both in my prayers. Thank you for everything you have brought to my life through the Bala Museum and your friendship.

Blessings, Kate

08/05/2026

Thursday Aug. 5, 1926 (LMM's Journal)
My Blue Castle came today. It has a make-up different from all my other books. Not so pretty. A plain cover.

07/31/2026

Yesterday I received this Thank You
Hi Linda,
I wanted to thank you again for the amazing tour you gave L.... and I. Your museum is beautiful, and out of all the museums my daughter has visited (there have been many, as she is a history buff), this was the most immersive experience, by far. She really enjoyed 'baking' with you in the kitchen!
Also, that was so kind of Jack to play the piano for us. We hope to visit with you again sometime!
Sincerely,
S...
P.S. Thank you as well for renewing my love of L.M. Montgomery's works. I am thoroughly enoying reading 'The Blue Castle'!

07/29/2026

To The Little Boy Who Gave Us a Rock
Five days ago a family arrived at Bala's Museum noisy and excited about visiting. It was well past 1:30 when our afternoon tours start and I was busy with a large group. Jack went to talk with them and give them the disappointing news that we were fully booked that afternoon. He suggested they come back on Friday when they could reserve either the
10 am or 1:30 pm time slot. As the family started to leave a little boy asked Jack if he would like a rock. Jack, with his poor eyesight accepted the rock, feeling its smoothness and said how wonderful it was. It was not until later when I had a chance to see it we realized it was the perfect gift for Bala's Museum. It was painted to represent a little mouse, perfect in every detail- even to its pink paw pads. The little boy had given a mouse rock to the museum that celebrates a mouse in the custard!

07/23/2026

Watering Plants Leads to a Covid Mystery (Published by Linda)
When our Grandson Kai agreed to water plants for a Toronto condo neighbour he and his mom Sue saw a picture on the neighbour's computer screen that seemed familiar. Sue couldn't get it out of her head that it looked like me with a covid face screen on! When neighbour Nancy & her husband returned from holidays Nancy brought down a wee present to thank Kai. That's when things started to click together. Nancy noticed a hand painted sign on Sue and Kai's balcony that said 'Hutton'. Nancy then remembered that
Sue had mentioned that her dad lived in Bala and Nancy asked if he had anything to do with Bala's Museum to which she and her husband had visited during Covid!! Of course the answer was 'yes' and Nancy was so pleased to tell Sue of how they had arrived at the museum just when we Huttons were doing yard work and we agreed to do a tour with appropriate hand sanitizer and masks on. The experience meant so much to Nancy and hubby because the world was being so careful about visiting anywhere. I think I have graced Nancy's computer screen ever since! Thank you Nancy for sharing your pics of Bala's Museum during Covid!

Address

1024 Maple Avenue
Bala, ON
P0C1A0

Telephone

1-888-579-7739 (Canada) 705-762-5876

Website

http://www.balasmuseum.com/

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