Anne Shirley, the Island Heroine

Although Anne Shirley has always been a character in a play and never a real person, in the hearts and minds of those who love the red-haired orphan, heroine of Lucy Maude Montgomery's book, Anne of Green gables, she is real. Anne just had a birthday; she has now reached the amazing age of 113.

If you don't know Anne you certainly will by the time you leave PEI, her island home and birthplace as well as that of her creator. There have been numerous plays, movies and series done on her life. The most recent being Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning which showed on CTV but there has also been the popular Disney series Avonlea.

Anne is characterize by her red pig-tails, freckled face, straw hat and gingham dress, her love of summer, ice cream and raspberry cordial. Can you believe that after 113 years she still has her own brand of raspberry cordial sold in most island stores? Not bad for a girl who never existed.

The Anne of Green Gables musical plays to packed houses in Charlottetown's Confederation Theatre every year, and has done since its inception in 1964 and the newest Anne musical Anne & Gilbert tells of her later life based upon the nine books that make up the series on the life of Anne. Anne and Gilbert is produced in the Summerside Eptek Theatre but is also produced in other theatres throughout the country to the delight of audiences everywhere.

Should you visit PEI real estate, some of the central "Anne" places to visit include Lucy Maude's original home, Green Gables House and the Avonlea Village. This "Anne" village was created so that you may experience total Anne and there is of course an Anne onsite to welcome you. Good family fun abounds at Avonlea and Anne and the other characters will have you and your kids lost in the simple fun of another time and place. You will find lots of Anne's throughout PEI attractions during the summer. More than that you will see every conceivable Anne-mobilia including dolls, straw hats with red-pigtails sown in, and just about any item that can be connected with the Anne story.

Green Gables is a must see for the Anne-fan and situated very close to the Avonlea Village. The house is set in period style. Run by Parks Canada, each room has a character name from the book. The home is surrounded by wooded trails and is a great spot for a hike.

Traveling in the area that was the setting for Anne's "life", you really realize what a beautiful setting PEI makes to this heartwarming tale of a little girl who fought hard to be accepted into a family who really needed a boy. In the times of the story, PEI real estate was truly agrarian, life was much tougher than today and boys were needed to run the farms. Anne Shirley was no quitter though and she came through proving her worth equal to any boy's.

Islanders are equally tough when it comes to their heroine and they were not amused when there were suggestions that Anne was a lesbian and that there was a lesbian context to the work. http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/literature/clips/11220/

I think that this really illustrates how the red-haired orphan has jumped off the pages of her author and found her way into the hearts and minds of everyone who knows her.

When you travel in the Cavendish and Stanley Bridge area, be sure to stop into the numerous island craft and gift shops, check out the ceilidhs and visit an ice cream social or two as well as the lobster suppers, some held in church halls. In this way you will experience both the charm of Anne and the charm of the PEI real estate her island is famous for. Surely these are locked together forever.

Ron Wesley is a consultant for PEI real estate. You can get more information about PEI real estate at here http://www.peirealtor.info/