One of my favourite family traditions is the one where we rent a cottage every summer. The family, either just the four of us or with friends or extended family, enjoy some quality time together normally in Ontario but sometimes as far out as New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. It is always a great time.

Back in 2017, we rented a cottage on Georgian Bay. We’ve done so a number of times as we love the area and the awesome beaches (despite it not being seashore – inside joke with my wife). Much as we had done before, have done since and will likely do again, we were in the area that summer for a bit of R&R with toes in the sand and sun on our faces.

On one of our small day trips, we drove by a place called North of Exile on Main Street in Penetanguishene. Bright green sign that could not be missed. Lo and behold, a game store! The boys and I immediately knew that we would be checking it out. And when we did the next day, we found out that they had been open for all of three days (if I recall correctly – certainly less than a week).

As we checked things out, I got talking with Jason, one of the two owners of this new store. Just a general conversation but a pleasant one. We bought a few things, including Magic cards of course, and returned to our vacation. Jason invited us to come back. And did we ever – This was but the first visit in what became an annual stop.

From that point on, every summer, we either stopped in if we were renting in the neighborhood or we planned a trip up at some point to take part in a pre-release or some other event. The highlight was probably our ‘Boys trip’ in 2019 when the boys and I went up for a couple of days, including two nights playing Magic at North of Exile. The boys still talk about that trip! Ask them if they would prefer to stay at the local Super 8 or a fancier hotel elsewhere and the answer might surprise you!

Things began to change after that. First there was COVID. Then, North of Exile moved from Penetanguishene to Midland and a bit later, they got out of running Magic events and selling Magic cards, focusing instead on Genesis and Pokemon. On this side, the boys grew up and there was less time for family Magic (I may need to rename the site). But we still managed at least one trip up every year. We do like our traditions in this family!

When COVID hit, Jason launched a weekly Twitch stream and ran online Magic events through Arena. It was not the same as a visit to the store but gave me a chance to get to know Jason a bit better and continue to play the game I love so much through some challenging times. It gave me a sense of what might have been if North of Exile was not so far away.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a trip North this year (well, not to go play Magic at least); Jason and Janis announced the closure of the store earlier this month:

Every time I visited North of Exile, I told Jason I wished it did not take 2 hours to get there. It was the kind of LGS where I would have spent far more time had I had the chance. I suspect the boys would have also – Maybe one of them would have worked there! It was not too small, not too big and the community they built was a special one. Friendly and supportive. And welcoming of the strangers dropping in once or twice a year.

As much as I love our LGS here in Toronto, it is bigger and feels like less of a community. Maybe I need to spend more time there but North of Exile felt like a place where I belonged from our first visit. It just felt easier to get to know people there (maybe a reflection on Toronto itself?). I think Jason and Janis’ vision fostered that in their community. Being in a small town probably helped but I would like to think it was how they approached what an LGS should be that really enabled this.

Things change; that’s a given. The closure of North of Exile is a marker in time. The boys and I will continue to play Magic, maybe not as much and maybe I will be going to my local LGS alone a bit more, maybe we will pick up other games. One thing is certain: We will always have our memories of our trips to North of Exile.

I hope that there will be chances to reconnect with Jason in the future! And there may even be a day when we will have a chance to resume our trips to North of Exile (when Jason strikes the motherload and decides that running a game store is the best way to enjoy his success)!

In the meantime, I wish Jason and Janis the very best with their future endeavours. I suspect one of those will be Genesis: Battle of Champions. I’ll be rooting for them!