Back in the Bay Magazine

06/11/2026

The new Artisan Corner at Laporte's Nursery & Greenhouses has quite the selection growing with local businesses and crafters selling their products and wares, including our Back in the Bay Magazine and shadfly merch.

04/23/2026

Darkhorse Comics North Bay , Allison the Bookman, Laporte's Nursery & Greenhouses, 176 Lakeshore and North Bay Museum have the hot-off-the-press Spring 2026 edition...

04/05/2026

A Back in the Bay Magazine supporter provided this 1957 Kinsmen Peewee photo for the 2026 Spring Edition set to hit North Bay streets April 24. Do you recognize any of the players, coach and arena? Thanks for the pic Mike L. He found it in a used book he bought.

02/06/2026

Something to look forward to this spring ... Back in the Bay Magazine following in the footsteps of the no-longer published A Bit of the Bay https://smalltowntimes.ca/arts-and-culture/2021/02/05/there-is-a-new-nostalgia-magazine-coming-to-town

12/17/2025

See the full script for the Centennial Sounds story in Small Town website story

11/24/2025

Did you miss the Century of Sounds event on Sunday? Among the many performers, Bill Vrebosch sang his 'Duke the Toque' song written in 1972 for the North Bay Winter Fur Carnival

North Bay's oldest musical icons joined forces with youthful talent to mark the city's 100th birthday at the Capitol Centre, Sunday.A full slate of performer...

11/18/2025

Anybody remember the Shadfly-N-Bluegrass festival? Jana Brogan dug up an old hat from back in the day and sent a pic for the next magazine. She remembers going to an event at Lee Park and thinks it was 1980-81-ish.

11/15/2025

In honour of we are sharing a photo taken on the streets of North Bay with the North Bay CPR station in the background. This photo was taken on January 29, 1946 when soldiers from the Algonquin Regiment returned home in North Bay. Large crowds lined the street to mark the occassion.

11/07/2025

11/05/2025

Flashback to the 1970s: This photo was published in the Fall 2021 edition of Back in the Bay Magazine (No. 3 of 19 so far), part of Butch Blair's feature on the Hockey for Beginners roots nourished by his parents, John and Rose. The article attracted several new paid supporters, including Rex Hunter, one of the young players below. This is the email he sent the magazine to subscribe after receiving one of the free samples in West Ferris that year:
"Thanks for the great magazine! So many memories pop up when you see those old pictures and hear those stories about North Bay. The Tim Hortons that I believe became Woodies and so on and so on… So much great content. Thanks! I also got a bit of a kick while reading the story on Page 9 of Issue 3. I now fully remember Rose Blair stepping out from behind the canteen and grabbing a whistle like a Drill Sargent, confident and in control of 30 or 40 little kids trying to skate and turn and heaven forbid learn how to stop before crashing into the boards. Imagine all the time that she and her family put into giving all those young people a healthy, life molding activity week after week year after year. The young faces of the teen coaches who were up early on their Saturday mornings, guiding young people to take part in a spirit building team sport. (This should be a guide map for some young people today!) But hey, why do I remember all this so well… if I squint my aging eyes just enough I can make out a young version of myself In the first hockey jersey I ever owned. It was a hideous green and gold uniform with equally hideous purple and orange hockey socks. And if I look closely at the young faces of my teammates, the names start to come back to me. I can remember all the future teams we played on, the memories of growing up together at Marshall Park School, Silver Birches, and West Ferris. All those long lost memories of biking over to their houses, cruising around their neighborhoods, and finding cool places to explore. In seeing these pictures we make those connections to our pasts. A past we can thank many people for. I think they would be happy that all their hard work and effort made a future we can all feel proud about."
Rex Hunter