As she opened her mail recently, Tiny resident Irene Jankowski was taken aback to receive another anonymous, “threatening” letter.
While it was addressed to her, the two-page, poison pen letter outlined how those favouring the township’s Dynamic Beach bylaw work were simply wrong.
"I'm from Toronto so I know how quickly things can turn due to stupidity," Jankowski tells MidlandToday.
"This person or these people are unhinged, and as far as I am concerned, dangerous. They cross lines, take no accountability for their behaviour or actions. This is unacceptable."
Jankowski says she's not the only one who has been targeted by "these cowardly acts" in Tiny Township.
"I'm taking this as a threat against my family," she says, noting her daughter regularly visits the beach and has been intimidated by residents in the past. "We need to stand together against these bullies. If anyone recognized the handwriting, please reach out to me."
This marks the second anonymous letter she has received from somebody Jankowksi imagines is upset about the public using what they consider to be their own private beach between concessions 15 and 16.
“They’re getting nervous about the Dynamic Beach bylaw," she says. "No one has ownership right up to the water."
For the past couple of years, the township has been delineating where private property ends along the municipality’s shoreline with an end goal of creating a Dynamic Beach bylaw.
On the beach near Jankowski’s home, she estimates the polls installed by the township to show where the property line ends are about 25 metres from the water's edge.
As for the latest shot across the bow, the writer accuses Jankowski of being "the lone voice from Georgian Sands Beach parroting mistruths and encouraging illegal activity similar to those on Rob’s sites," referring to Rob Johnston, who started the Beach Rights and Tiny Township News Facebook sites a few years ago.
The letter goes on to state that the beach in question is not public, but can be used by residents, including Jankowski, living nearby who have deeded access.
The letter further notes or attempts to yell (if a piece of paper is capable of such things) by using capital letters that those living along the shoreline actually have “DEEDED OWNERSHIP TO THE WATER’S EDGE.”
“If you believe otherwise, you prove it, rather than yammering,’ the letter says, adopting a calmer tone after getting the yelling out of the way.
For the hoi polloi, the letter states they have access to Lafontaine Beach “to park their coolers and umbrellas for the day.”
The letter goes on to heap praise on Karen Zulynik and her Tiny Facebook group that opposes not only the beach bylaw, but also the plan to build a new administrative centre.
"There are very proficient residents assisting her (such as) lawyers, professors, chartered accountants and more, vs the group you mightily support that includes a manure spreader, bar seat warmer, loud mouths, alternative reality quacks and just plain quacks, who can't and just won't accept truth and facts," the letter says in disparaging those interested in ensuring better beach access for all residents.
But what's perhaps most disturbing can be found at the letter's end when the writer warns Jankowski to better "respect" her neighbours.
"I remind you, you have posted your email address and residence location online for everyone to see," it states. "Running to Rob (Johnston) and having the vapours is immature and unintelligent."