We ask millions to visit yearly.

We have the longest freshwater beach in the world. We promote that fact daily, so people from all corners of our world will surely want to visit.

I only started visiting in the 60’s, but imagine the problems with fecal matter in the 40’s and 50’s when riding stables were one of the main tourist attractions and horses helped fill the beach with memories daily.

Yes, the beach itself is the responsibility of the Province of Ontario, but the Town of Wasaga Beach shares in the economic spinoff from our wonderful visitors who come to enjoy it.

We need to do a better job of providing our visitors with adequate comfort facilities.

One simply has to visit on a sunny, warm summer day to see the massive crowds of people who plan their day by making OUR beach their destination.

I ask myself, how many of these people just happened to be passing by, saw a beach and decided to stop for the day. I think the answer is none. Virtually every one of the possibly millions of visitors we host every year plan their visits. We need to do a better job of helping them plan their visits.

As long as I have lived here, there have been social media posts that focus on garbage and clutter after a weekend where millions descend upon our beaches. So, as a community, we clean up and by the time the next visitors arrive, it is again a true reflection of pristine, sandy beaches.

Every year those of us who have chosen to live here prepare to welcome the hundreds of thousands of visitors to our pristine shores. Most simply want to dip their toes in the water’s edge and hopefully lay in the sand and feel their moment in paradise for the day.

Every time someone wants to turn this into a negative, just take the conversation back to the positive. Haters are going to hate. There is nothing we can do to change their biases.

I have visited Wasaga Beach since 1961. I have lived here permanently since 2003. I have owned a tourism based business one block from the beach since 2005. Not ONCE have I encountered the negative issue recently in the news. So to those making it look like a regular occurrence, please stop.

To those who have the power to help our visitors plan their day, please do better.

To those reading this planning a visit… Welcome! Stay for a few of our breathtaking sunsets.