It still amazes Muskoka visitors when they discover that one of the world's best L.M. Montgomery museums is in Bala, attracting thousands of visitors every summer from all around the globe.

  So many Japanese visitors have come to Bala's Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery that owners Jack and Linda Hutton have had to learn basic Japanese. 

  The museum is based on the fact that Montgomery, the author of "Anne of Green Gables", came to Bala with her family in 1922 for a two-week summer holiday.

Montgomery was so impressed by Muskoka that she set her next novel, "The Blue Castle" in Muskoka.  It is the only one of her 22 books not set in Prince Edward Island.

Montgomery and her family stayed at Roselawn Lodge in 1922 and had their meals at a tourist home just down the street.  That tourist home has been lovingly restored back to the 1920s by Linda Jackson-Hutton as the present museum.

  The Inn at Roselawn, the last surviving remnant of the old Roselawn Lodge, turns 100 this summer.  The Huttons, who own the inn as well as the museum, are planning a celebration on July 24th, which is the day that LMM came to Bala in 1922.

  The celebrations will include a re-enactment of Montgomery arriving at Roselawn and an old-fashioned lawn party with music, cake and ice cream, and a fashion show highlighting what people have worn over the last 100 years.

  The museum has many things not found at other LMM sites.  That includes the rowboat used in the "Lady Shalott" scene in Kevin Sullivan's "Anne of Green Gables" TV movie, Montgomery's silver tea set (loaned by a grandson), and full Japanese translation for all displays.

  In addition, the museum has one of the world's finest public collections of L.M. Montgomery's books, plus the best Anne of Green Gables gift shop outside P.E.I. 

The museum is open Saturday afternoons between 1 and 4 p.m. until the beginning of July.  It is then open Tuesday to Saturday between those same hours, or by appointment (705-762-5876.  Admission is $2.75 a person or $7 a family.

  You won't want to miss the museum's Cran-Anne Look-Alike contest, which is part of the Bala Cranberry Festival in October.  The contest takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18th, this year, with prizes from Avonlea Traditions Inc. To learn more, check out the museum's website at www.bala.net/museum or call 1-888-249-4834. And on July 24, Thurs, 2pm is a re-enactment of L.M. Montgomery’s (author of Anne of Green Gables) 1922 arrival in Bala at the Inn at Roselawn. The event also celebrates the 100^thbirthday of Roselawn. Live music, cake, ice cream and 100 years of fashions. Free admission.