Merill Burchart
Folk Artist, Woodworker
In his trademark quiet and unassuming manner, Merril has long supported the efforts of the FBP. Drawn to the area through family history, Merril has left his mark on Bonnechere Provincial Park through his various donations of hand-crafted woodwork and painted pieces.
He has created several miniature replicas of the Basin Depot cabin and the famous Cockburn pointer boat. In spring 2002, he unveiled his prized contribution to the FBP: a life-sized version of the pointer boat that holds court under the north canopy of the Davenport Centre. After 100 hours of construction, Merill and members of his family launched the craft upriver near Basin Depot and paddled down to the beach at Park. The Little Bonnechere had arrived. At the time, historian Rory MacKay congratulated Merill and his crew for navigating a pointer boat on the Bonnechere for the first time in a century.
