T.S. Giilck
The dog days of summer officially arrived on July 14, and it was no ordinary Joe who was responsible. The first “Beautiful Joe Day” sponsored by its namesake society attracted a small audience to Beautiful Joe Park on Thursday.
A reading of the excerpts from the famous novel by Margaret Marshall Saunders was held for a group of about a dozen people, mostly children, but that didn’t daunt organizers, who are planning various events to help raise the profile of the iconic story of a sadly mistreated local dog more than 100 years ago.
The novel was the first in Canada to sell more than a million copies, society members said, and the book has become an important part of local and Canadian history.
Sharon Mansion, a member of the society board, explained the vision of the day.
“We’re having a reading in the park for basically the kids aged six to 10,” she said. “We’re just trying to resurrect the story of Beautiful Joe and get the kids a little more familiar with the story. There’s a lot of newcomers here who don’t necessarily know the story, and it’s no longer part of the curriculum as it once was many years ago. So we need more people to understand about Beautiful Joe and why he’s important to Meaford.”
Mansion noted that Joe is buried in the park that bears his name, and as the first Canadian book to sell more than a million copies “it’s important to our heritage.”
As well, the book reminds people that at one time, female authors were not accepted in the literary world. Saunders didn’t even try to have the novel published under her full name, opting instead to use the nom de plume of Marshall Saunders.
“We want people to familiarize themselves with the story and with the park,” Linda Stephens, the society president, added.
She also noted there is a lesser-known sequel, Beautiful Joe’s Paradise, as a complement to the original story. It’s written from a child’s perspective.
Along with the reading, the children in attendance were treated to arts and crafts, as well as ice cream.
There was even ice cream for dogs courtesy of Pet Valu, although only one canine was present.
