As early as 1875, people began to travel to Grand Bend from London and Detroit via rail and stagecoach. Enough of an effort had to be put in that people stayed in Grand Bend for weeks, sometimes months, before heading back to the dulldrum of their everyday lives. Ford picnics began to occur regulary, the only criteria being that you needed a Ford vehicle to attend. Sometimes as many as 16,000 people attended. Festivities lasted for entire weekends. The 1920’s brought the establishment of the Lakeview Casino, and many of the world’s top entertainment acts to Grand Bend. Stars like Rudy Vali, Louis Armstrong, and Guy Lombardo played there. In 1957, the Government of Canada purchased the land now known as Pinery Provincial Park, reserving it for public use. The park planners came to the park, saw the open appearance of the forest and deemed it degraded from fire and logging. They planted about three and a half million pine trees on the land. What they didn’t realize was that the local forest type was Oak Savannah, which they had effectively turned into thick pine forest.