History
Storyland was founded in 1966 by a young couple who had emigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1950's. Durk Heyda and his young bride Bonnie came to Canada to leave behind many painful memories of his experience in a concentration camp during the Second World War. After their arrival, they became interested in a property of 175 acres near the Ottawa River, northwest of Renfrew, which was for sale. They ended up buying it for $500, an incredible bargain, and made it the location for their new home.
Despite their surroundings their life was still empty; their wish for children could not be fulfilled, and they decided if children of their own couldn't fill their hearts with happiness, then they would give happiness to the hearts of other children.
They were often asked by vacationers, hikers and others for permission to cross their property for picture taking from the Champlain Lookout, the highest point in the area. The Heyda's improved their property, built a windmill as a tribute to their Dutch heritage and carved wooden and fibreglass figurines "just for the fun of it". In 1966, the park opened to the public with a setting of five scenes, a playground and lots of high hopes. In the following years, attendance continued to grow as more new scenes were developed.
In the year Storyland was opened, the Bank of Montreal in Renfrew received
a new branch accountant, 25 year old John Berkhout. Within weeks, he and
Durk became acquainted, and a deep friendship developed between the two
families. Durk suffered a serious heart attack in late 1973. When word of
this reached John, now living in Southern Ontario, he and his wife Maria
travelled to Renfrew. The patient posed the question - would his friend be
interested in a change of occupation? Life was not exciting in the financial
world and the Berkhout's moved back to Renfrew in the fall of 1975. John
and Maria loved their new life in the Ottawa Valley. Both the family and
Storyland thrived. A new playground and more stories were added and the
park was given a complete facelift. Future plans were in high gear, until
tragedy struck and Maria was killed in a car accident. Growth was suspended
and the difficult years of the early 1980s set in.
In 1983 John remarried, and with his new partner Nancy and their blended family of nine children, set about the task of continuing Durk and Bonnie's dream. A beautiful mini-golf course was added, paddle boats were introduced and further substantial investments have contributed to a major enlargement of the park over the years.
In 2007, John announced plans for his retirement and the hunt for a new owner began. At the same time 31 year old Todd Mattila-Hartman was working on a project to bring the Ottawa Region a new amusement park. Seeing the potential and the long history of Storyland, Todd decided these two plans would be a perfect match and in early 2008 he purchased the park and began adding new attractions for all ages to enjoy - and with this a new era begins for this historic part of the Ottawa Valley!
