08/20/2026
Bayview Park: Another Throwback Thursday!
A few weeks ago, I shared the "Christmas Card Story" of how Otto and Pauline met, and how something as simple as a Christmas card could change the course of two lives. This week, we fast forward a generation to another chapter in the Bayview Park story, the beginning of Bruce and I working together to carry on the legacy they started.
Growing up here, Bayview Park was never just a place to me. It was home. It was where summers were spent cutting grass, stacking and hauling wood, helping with paperwork, maintaining the grounds, and learning the rhythm of park life. Like many family businesses, there was never really a clear line between family and work. Bayview Park was simply part of who we were.
In 1999, my first marriage was coming to an end; I moved to Ottawa, but every summer would take a six-week leave of absence to come home and help Mom and Dad. They were getting older, and the responsibilities of running the park were becoming more challenging. Eventually, my employer gave me an ultimatum: choose the park or choose my city job. Apparently, everyone wanted summers off by then. (Imagine that! It wasn't like I was taking a 'summer off' !)
The decision wasn't easy. Dad and I shared the same love for Bayview Park, but we didn't always share the same ideas about how it should be run. There were plenty of 'very spirited discussions' and more than one occasion when I packed my bags in frustration, determined to leave for good. Yet every time, something pulled me back. I would grumble while unpacking my suitcase, and called it the "firstborn guilt complex," but deep down, I knew it was something more.
I knew that if I walked away, there was a very real possibility that one day Bayview Park would be sold to someone outside the family, and a huge part of our family history and who my parents were - would be lost. This place represented years of hard work, sacrifice, and dreams built by Otto and Pauline. I simply couldn't let that happen.
So I chose the park.
I returned full-time, working alongside Mom and Dad while continuing contract work in Ottawa during the winter months. Life, however, has a way of taking unexpected turns. My first marriage had ended in divorce, and I continued balancing city life and park life until my youngest daughter left for university. I eventually found myself facing the reality of an empty nest.
It was during that season of life in Ottawa, after gathering the courage to start dating again, that I met Bruce. His long-term marriage had also ended, and it didn't take long for me to realize that he was "the one." Another "keeper". 😊
We were engaged on December 31, 2004, but before we shared the news with family and friends, I knew there was one very important conversation we needed to have. The kids were grown. We didn't have to decide where we'd live, how many children we'd have, or any of those things young couples typically face.
Instead, I sat Bruce down and said something along these lines:
"So... there's this place called Bayview Park. And there's a guy named Otto Lingertat. And if you ask for the ring back next September, after experiencing your first season at the Park, I won't hold that against you."
The photo shared here was taken during the summer of 2005 when we first worked together at the park. Looking at it now, I'm not entirely sure whose smile was more forced, mine or Bruce's! What I do know is that neither of us fully understood just how many challenges, obstacles, and difficult decisions lay ahead. There were times when the road seemed impossible. But there was also determination, perseverance, and a shared belief that Bayview Park was worth fighting for.
Together, we eventually took over the park and began the next chapter of preserving and honouring the legacy Otto and Pauline created so many years ago. Not because it was easy, but because some things are simply too important to let go. And it was the right thing to do.
Today, when I go through the park, I still see Mom and Dad in so many places. I see the vision they had, the work they poured into it, and the countless memories created here by generations of families, including our own.
And here we are today, still enjoying and celebrating this beautiful place we call Bayview Park, grateful to be carrying that legacy forward for another generation.
And yes... I still have the ring. ❤️
