In 1859 a small group of families arrived in the beautiful Madawaska Valley. Hailing from a region of Poland known as ‘Kaszuby’, they found this small pocket of Canadian wildnerness as their home. At the north end of Lake Kamaniskeg, at the town of Barry’s Bay, they lay claim to the land and rooted their culture in the rocky earth. The surrounding area was primarily Irish in its settlement, and to this day both cultures are prominent between the townships of Wilno and Barry’s Bay. Years later, as fate would have it, two cottagers of the area would meet. A Polish lad named Andrzej would win the heart of a young Irish lass named Mary Patricia, and the duo would enjoy the cool waters of the Madawaska Valley together, united in the cultural and historical diversity of the land. The young Irish lass would then paint a bench in traditional Kashub tradition to try and win over the family of the Polish lad. It was a lovely bench of love.