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by Rachel Toth, La Jolla, California

Source: The Avonlea Traditions Chronicle, Issue No. 22, Winter 1997/8

Emily of New Moon. Those words alone make me smile! I think Road to Avonlea will always be my favourite, but I'm hoping Emily will be really wonderful too.

My sister and I went to Prince Edward Island in the summer of '96. We were staying at Dalvay-By-The-Sea (Avonlea's The White Sands Hotel) when I first heard about the new television series Emily of New Moon being filmed on the Island.

At breakfast we had been given a local newspaper to read. It had a large article about the show that spoke at length about how and where the sets were being built. We were ecstatic and immediately changed our plans around so we could go to see the set, which was being built in Cabot Beach Provincial Park.

Well, we went to the park and wandered around looking for anything "Emily". Most of the employees knew almost nothing about it! Suddenly, we heard some hammering DEEP in the forest and followed our ears. Presently we came to the 'brand spanking new' New Moon Farm!

It was really cool! We saw the future site of the barn and took as many pictures as we could. There were about ten construction men working and they let us come close, but not too close. We also saw the exterior of the Blair Water school. The beach there is fantastic. In fact, the whole park is just beautiful! After that, we had to move on, because we had a very busy schedule.

All throughout the following year we thought about the "once in a lifetime" vacation we'd had. Well, we eventually decided that one trip to Prince Edward Island in a lifetime was not enough! Earlier this summer I was back on Air Canada, to go to "my" beloved Prince Edward Island. For the first four days or so, we stayed close by Cabot Beach Provincial Park again and went there quite often. We revisited all of the Emily sets again. We were happy to see that the ones we'd seen being built were all done and there were even several new ones!

This time the sets were guarded so we didn't get to enjoy the freedom of going up close, as we had before. But we did get to see things we hadn't seen before, like Cousin Jimmy's garden, the well, the barn, school props, etc. One big new set was The Disappointed House!

On our very last day we went to the beach. Soon after we arrived, rental trucks showed up and workers began hauling props all around the park, especially down the path to the beach. I asked one worker what was going on, and he told me they were going to begin filming the new season the next day!

We really enjoyed watching them unload lobster traps and other assorted props. We also watched them tear down or cover anything that looked modern, so it wouldn't look out of place on the show. One example was the wooden stairway rail leading down to the beach. My sister and I actually saw them haul it away!

As I was observing that, an amazing thing happened next. I had only seen Martha MacIsaac (the star of Emily of New Moon) in some promotional pictures and in the newspaper so I didn't recognize her right away. She came down to the beach with several people: her father; another girl who was about the same size and age; and a young man. The other girl looked a lot like her, and also had dark brown hair. She must have been Martha's friend, or maybe her stand-in. The group went down to a wooden rowboat where they met another man and he took the two girls out in it.

By this time I was almost positive it was Martha and I was pestering my sister, Miriam, to look and see what she thought. We studied her and concluded that the man in the boat was teaching her to row. She was rehearsing!

I talked to her Dad and we could tell he was really very proud of his daughter. As soon as the lesson was over, the group began heading for the exit and it seemed like they were in a big hurry. I was sorry I hadn't brought a camera with me that time, but I did have my video camera and managed to get most of it on video!

I was extremely thrilled to actually see the star of an 'L. M. Montgomery' TV series in person and I'm looking forward to seeing the show now more than ever!

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