In what was easily the largest crowd at the Sharbot Lake Legion in recent memory, GREC students Corrie-Lynn Shields and Destanie Lalonde received $500 cheques to help them with their post-secondary ed...
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The South Frontenac Museum in Hartington officially opened its doors for the season Saturday as part of the Doors Open Ontario program. New to the museum this year is a presentation of 62 old stone h...
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There was a door person, keyboard music and a red carpet leading into the 1st ever St. James International Film Festival last week at St. James Major Catholic School in Sharbot Lake. They even had po...
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From Godfrey through to HinchinbrookeShe travels up the line;As Tichborne eases past herShe gets the highball sign. The fireman pours the coal on,The hogger tells his crewThat a green light at OcontoW...
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There are lots of changes afoot at the North Frontenac Food Bank, both in the background and in public. The first is the ‘retirement’ of the longest serving Food Bank Volunteer, Alex McLeo...
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Neighbourhood Speeding Concerns: No Easy AnswerChris Wilcox, Jevon Austin and Philippe Archambault, ...
Beef jerky and monster energy drinks by Jeff Green There were only three accused on the docket at ...
Mary-Jo DowkerMary-Jo Dowker is well-known in Verona, especially in the softball community, having b...
Kirk Chabot did not know what to expect when he decided to put on a fishing derby for the opening da...
Verona Lions would like you to save the date Saturday, July 7th as they are hosting their first ATV ...
First Book Canada is a program that is devoted to bringing books and other materials to students in ...
New Leaf Link (NeLL) was set up to serve a growing number of developmentally disabled young adults i...
Most people lose themselves in the things they love. Conversely, they often find themselves there, t...
After The News’ new CD, Always on the Move, kind of defies definition. It’s kind of spac...
Pam Lemke has worked in social services in Sharbot Lake and Northbrook for almost 25 years, most rec...
There are lots of changes afoot at the North Frontenac Food Bank, both in the background and in public. The first is the ‘retirement’ of the longest serving Food Bank Volunteer, Alex McLeod. Alex first started volunteering for the Food Bank when it was closely tied t...
Under the initiative of the Canonto Lake Property Owners Association and the Township of North Frontenac, representatives of a dozen or so area lakes met at Clar-Mill Hall last Saturday for a Lake Planning seminar. “Lake plans do not hold any regulatory status,” said Alyson Symon of Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. “But policy is that planning authorities do look at development impact on a broad scale and in Provincial Policy Statements, lake plans are a resource you can use to form official plans.” Common issues considered include water levels, boating practices and impacts, development and redevelopment, she said. “Often, a lot of anecdotal information comes up,” she said. “It’s good to have a concrete document to bring up. “But all lake plans are different and the level of detail is up to individual lake associations.” She said perhaps the most valuable take-away from going through the lake plan exercise is “community engagement and connections. “Process is as important as the end product.” They can also be useful when leveraging funding for projects, she said. She said there are only six lakes with plans within the MVCA watershed. Frontenac County community planner Megan Rueckwald said lake plans are a valuable resource when constructing things like municipal official plans. She said that the North Frontenac Official Plan takes a collaborative approach to waterfront area policy which contains the wording “shall have regard for” lake plans. One member of the audience said he thought “shall have regard for” wasn’t strong enough wording. North Frontenac Coun. John Inglis replied that “from my point of view, it’s very strong wording. Rueckwald said there are three levels of wording — shall have regard for, shall be consistent with and shall conform to— and any stronger wording “may be in conflict with the Provincial Policy Statement.”
While there’s nothing concrete on the table yet, North Frontenac Council certainly has some interesting concepts to look at when it comes to seniors housing, many of which came to light at its regular meeting last Friday in Plevna. The speculative discussion stemmed from Frontenac County Council’s decision that funds available for seniors housing must be used for bricks and mortar solutions rather than North Frontenac’s stated preference to use the money to assist aging-at-home initiatives. “We need to do something this term of Council,” said Coun. John Inglis. “We don’t have to start a building.” “Why not buy a large house and renovate that into seniors apartments?” suggested Coun. Gerry Martin. “There’s a motel in Ompah,” said Coun. Denis Bedard. “That wouldn’t be far for John (Inglis) to go.” CAO Cheryl Robson pointed out that with the impending fall election, Council could face a lame duck situation whereby it couldn’t buy property. Mayor Ron Higgins relayed a message from Dep. Mayor Fred Perry (who is recovering from knee surgery) that the Township already owns property in Cloyne where the tennis courts and ball diamonds are. “We could close a ball diamond,” he said. Still not everybody was necessarily in favour. “If we go to bricks and mortar, there’s no guarantee that it will be filled with our residents,” said Coun. Vernon Hermer. Council decided a committee of Higgins, Inglis and Hermer would explore options and report back to Council. • • • Resident Bert Kent got himself on the agenda to address an issue he believes the Township got all wrong — septic maintenance. “I’m very disappointed in the brochure (Septic Smart) put out,” Kent said. “When septic systems were first designed, people took baths once a week whether they needed them or not.” Kent said septic systems use bacteria to break down solids and what’s going into systems now, including hand sanitizers, are killing the useful bacteria. Furthermore, the amount of water going through them also cleans out the bacteria without breaking down solids, he said. Mayor Ron Higgins agreed to work with Kent to perhaps provide additional information to the brochure. • • • Fire Chief Eric Korhonen presented Council with the 2018 Fire Master Plan, which is available on the Township website. “There are no financial impacts on the 2018 budget in this plan,” he said. • • • North Frontenac is looking at creating its own flag, to which Coun. Vernon Hermer quipped: “what would you put on it — a black fly?”
Building permit fees in North Frontenac have not changed since 2005, even though the building code has changed considerably, Chief Building Official Shawn Merriman told a public meeting last Friday at the North Frontenac Council Chambers in Plevna. “We have a lot more inspections now and with things like insulated concrete floors and radiant heating, there could be 18 inspections required for a large modern home,” Merriman said. “Fees were very complicated. “We need to change the bylaw to reflect what’s in the (building) code.” At the same time, the new bylaw will recognize that the fees for building a deck shouldn’t be the same as for a 1,500 square foot house, he said. “There will be a minimum charge of $80, whereas it used to cost $180 for a deck,” he said. “That seemed a bit high.” In many cases, the fee will be much higher than $80 but while the $80 has to be paid up front, it will be deducted from the final bill, he said. Merriman said that more than 50 per cent of permits will decrease. He said that in the past, there was no recognition of unique projects and no encouragement to report small projects. “Yurts have been around for thousands of years but they’re completely different than a 1,500 square foot house with radiant heating and a two-car garage,” he said. Coun. John Inglis asked how cost would be assessed in an owner-built home, where technically there is little or no labour cost. “By looking at assessed value and construction value,” Merriman said. “It may cost them $50,000 to build it, but when you ask them what they’d sell it for, it will likely be around $200,000.” Merriman said the main thing about the new bylaw was to be fair and provide an incentive for people to come in and get a permit and to “address the situations that do occur here. “We had a lady come in for her yurt saying the $1,875 permit fee wasn’t reasonable. “You know what — she’s probably right.” The amendments to the fees bylaw were passed in the regular meeting that followed the public meeting.
North Frontenac Council decided that instead of using their share of a $1.4 million Frontenac County housing fund as seed money for a new seniors housing project, they would seek permission to redirect the money in order to fund an aging at home strategy for North Frontenac Senior’s. In speaking to the proposal at a meeting of Frontenac Council on May 16, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins referred to a recent survey of North Frontenac senior’s. “90% want to stay at home,” Higgins said, very few wanted the bricks and mortar at this time.We want to use funds for helping seniors live at home rather than a bricks and mortar solution.” The townships three- point plan for the funds includes developing supports for seniors the help them maintain independence, pursue funding opportunities with the City of Kingston to help with home repairs and other housing costs in existing homes, and seek longer term solutions add new, affordable housing options in the township. Frontenac Islands has used their $350,000 share of the funds to help finance a 5-unit senior’s housing project on the edge of Marysville. South Frontenac is still trying to determine a final location for a larger project, and Central Frontenac is in the early stages of developing a project. Members of Frontenac County Council spoke out against re-allocating the North Frontenac funds. “The original intention of the funds was to keep senior’s in our community when they can no longer live in their own homes,” said Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle. “There are two reason I would not support this,” said South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, “The first is that the money is meant to be seed money for further township investment Frontenac Islands committed $700,000 of their own money towards their project, South Frontenac will be putting in over a million. Second, you ask anyone where they want to live and they will say ‘I want to stay in my own home’ but when the option is available to stay in the community instead of leaving when people can’t manage a home anymore, they have a different answer.” Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said that the senior’s supports that North Frontenac is “talking about already exist. That money should be for bricks and mortar not for these services.” “Our main concern with following the route everyone else is taking is that we will end up building a housing complex that is available only to wealthier seniors, which is not what we want,” countered North Frontenac Councilor John Inglis. Among County Council members not representing North Frontenac, Frontenac Islands Councilor Natalie Nossal was the only one showed much sympathy for North Frontenac’s position. “We have to look, in this case, at the issue through a North Frontenac lens. We shouldn’t exclude them from this fund of money,” she said. Ron Higgins said that a building project in North Frontenac is not on right now. “We just finished doing our municipal office. We don’t have money for any more bricks and mortar right now,” he said Higgins also indicated that there was some urgency to the request “we only have until the end of 2018 to spend the money.” County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender said that deadline is not that firm, “That was the intention when the money was set aside, for it to be used by the end of this term of council, but the money doesn’t disappear at the end of 2018,” Pender said, In the end, council voted not to accept the request from North Frontenac Council. The money, it seems, will remain in a reserve fund for the foreseeable future.
In what was easily the largest crowd at the Sharbot Lake Legion in recent memory, GREC students Corrie-Lynn Shields and Destanie Lalonde received $500 cheques to help them with their post-secondary educations. The fact that there was a steak dinner and the proximity to Father&rs...
There was a door person, keyboard music and a red carpet leading into the 1st ever St. James International Film Festival last week at St. James Major Catholic School in Sharbot Lake. They even had popcorn. In an innovative program, the students formed teams to produce 10 short videos, all with the theme of climate change. They explored topics such as the effect on penguins, flooding, wild fires, polar bears, blooper reels and cow farts. One of the biggest driving forces for the project has been of volunteer mom Charlotte MacAllister, whose day job is senior program officer, climate change at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa. With a PhD in hydrology, MacAllister naturally has an interest in science but also recognized the difficulties in inspiring students towards such pursuits. So, two years ago, she came up with the idea of marrying arts and science through the contemporary technology of video production along with Vice-Principal Lori Bryden. But being a small rural school has its limitations. So, they secured a Speak Up grant from the Ministry of Education (their second, the first was for a weather station at the school) for iPads and tripods, some free software from FiLMiC Pro and some instruction/training/guidance from Youth Active Media. The next thing you know, emcee Hector MacAllister was belting out “rooooll the clip.” “Sometimes science can be a little bit dull,” Charlotte MacAllister said. “But combining it in the arts curriculum cam get kids engaged.” And engaged they certainly were. “I know it’s not a real audience, but I had a little bit of stage fright,” said Hector MacAllister, who not only produced one of the segments but served as emcee with teammate Blake Cryer. “At first it was a square wheel but now it’s a circle.” The media award goes to Rian Cryer and Aiden Peterson for their How Climate Change Would Affect the Earth, in which they used time travel to illustrate their point in a rather engaging and creative way. “I wanted to see it in the future and he (Peterson) wanted to see it in the present,” said Cryer. “It’s something we thought was cool.” “We got the idea and hashed it around,” said Peterson, who also said he’d like to pursue video production further. School board trustee Sean Kelly seemed quite pleased by what he’d seen. “I’m so glad it worked out I could be here,” Kelly said. “They’ve shown the board how well they’re working with the technology.” “The kids were asking when they could make more videos so I guess we hit a bullseye,” said MacAllister.
From Godfrey through to HinchinbrookeShe travels up the line;As Tichborne eases past herShe gets the highball sign. The fireman pours the coal on,The hogger tells his crewThat a green light at OcontoWill put them right on through. This verse from “Ballad of the K&P,” written by Bill Easton and sung to the tune of “Wabash Cannonball,” describes a Kingston & Pembroke train headed north through Tichborne, to Oconto and Sharbot Lake. The photo above shows the engineer’s view of the grade crossing at Tichborne, where the steam engine has turned west onto the main CPR line to pick up coal at the coaling tower, visible in the background. (The picture was taken by David Page in 1956.) Cyclists and ATVers will soon be able to sing the “Ballad of the K&P” as they pass the same landmarks along the K&P Trail, although the coaling tower disappeared when diesels replaced steam engines. It’s surprising how many songs there are about trains, whether they are real trains (“City of New Orleans” and “Orange Blossom Special”) or fictional trains like the “Wabash Cannonball,” or just trains as a metaphor for life’s journey (“500 Miles” and “Steel Rail Blues”). Many of the great songs about railroading will be sung beside the track in Sharbot Lake’s Railway Heritage Park at “CabooseFest” on Saturday, June 30, between 11a.m. and 2p.m. Former members of the Feral Five will reunite as “The Boxcar Boys” to perform a set of train songs and will also accompany local teacher and singer Kora Kamps, whose outstanding voice will be showcased in one of her first performances in the area. Headliners at CabooseFest will be songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire Shawn McCullough, and 16-year-old fiddler and step dancer Jessica Wedden. Originally from Parham, Shawn McCullough was nominated for Guitarist of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association, and he rocked The Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake in early June. Jessica Wedden was a Canadian Folk Music Award Nominee for Young Entertainer of the Year, and recently opened for Juno-winning fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. It’s a safe bet she will play “Orange Blossom Special” at CabooseFest. The event on June 30 will also feature a huge display of Kingston & Pembroke Railway history, assembled by Steven Manders, author of “The First Spike.” There will be activities for children, and a barbecue lunch for sale by the Lions Club, with proceeds going to the Food Bank. The schedule of performances is: 11:00 – 11:30a.m. — The Boxcar Boys(Jim MacPherson, Dennis Larocque, Dave Limber and Gary Giller)11:30 – 12 Noon — Kora Kamps and Friends12:15 – 12:45p.m. — Jessica Wedden1:00 – 1:45p.m. — Shawn McCullough CabooseFest is presented by the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society, who will have memberships available for $10 (or $20 for a family), and the performances are supported by Blue Skies in the Community. Admission is free, and everybody is invited to bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Beef jerky and monster energy drinks by Jeff Green There were only three accused on the docket at Sharbot Lake Criminal Court this month, all cases that have been in front of Judge Griffin for some time. One of them is a bit of a mysterious case, involving a former contract employee for a federal MP from Newfoundland. Gipse Julio Ricardo Villas, 68, known as Guilio Villas, and his wife, Jessica Louise Villas, 42, face two charges each of fraud over $5,000. Jessica Villas was the special assistant to Newfoundland MP Judy Foote until Foote resigned her seat last September and Villas was not offered a reassignment. The charges were laid in November. The accused each have their own lawyer and Kingston assistant Crown Attorney John Skoropada has been assigned to the case and has been in discussions with both defence lawyers about how to proceed. There was an attempt in the early winter to move the proceedings to Kingston but that was resisted by Judge Griffin, who indicated again this week that he will schedule extra Sharbot Lake dates to accommodate a trial, that would likely last longer than one day, should a plea deal not be reached. Dates in the early fall are being canvassed either for a preliminary hearing or a trial. “I know nothing about the case,” said Judge Griffin. It then came out that the Villas allegedly impersonated lawyers in a fraudulent real estate transaction, and a David Hill is listed as one of the victims, who is allegedly out of pocket to the tune of $80,000. The victims are both from North Frontenac. It is not clear at this point if the David Hill mentioned in court is the same David Hill who is well known to North Frontenac Council, the developer behind a subdivision and resort on NorCan Lake at the far northeastern edge of the township. That David Hill has had his own legal issues with the township, none in criminal court, though. There are, however, no other David Hills with listed phone numbers in the township. The case is also being slowed down because the Crown Counsel, who has been negotiating a resolution with defence lawyers, is off on an adventure. John Skoropada is only sporadically available because he is on a cycling race across the United States, in which all supplies are purchased by the riders along the route. This caught the attention of Judge Griffin. “So, he doesn’t have a lot of time to deal with the Villas while riding the route, does he. When is he back?” “Maybe at the end of next week. He is in Kansas now,” said the provincial crown attorney who was in attendance, “you can track him online.” “That’s fabulous for him. So, what is he eating, gas station food? Beef Jerky?” asked the judge. “And massive energy drinks, …” said the Crown” “And donuts” said one of the defence lawyers. Judge Griffin set a new reporting date for the case on August 20. Trial dates set Randall Kirkwood, charges with driving with blood alcohol over 80mg/100ml of blood and having open liquor in his vehicle, will be tried on October 15. Dwight Vanalstine, charged with operating a vehicle while disqualified, as well as three Highway Traffic Act violations, will be tried on September 17.
Kirk Chabot did not know what to expect when he decided to put on a fishing derby for the opening day of bass season on Sharbot Lake. “If we get ten teams and they share a few hundred dollars in prize money that won’t be the end of the world,” he said a month ago when he was first getting the word out. “But, from what I hear, people want to come out for a derby, so I think we will have more then ten teams.” He was right about that. There were 39 teams registered by the time the derby got underway last Saturday morning, one under the capacity for the event. And when it was all over, the team of John Davis and Tim Riley, with 8 bass weighing in at 18.625 pounds, took home $1,000. The second prize, $500, was won by the grandfather/father/son team of Bill Bowick, Scott Bullen, and Braden Bullen with 17 pounds, 6.875 ounces of live bass in their 8 fish catch, and the third prize, $250 went to Scott Mconal and Adam Massey, 16 pounds, 8.75ounces. The heaviest single fish was caught by Dave and Scott Lockridge, 4 pounds, 11 ounces. “It was quite a day,” said Chabot, “we thought people would weigh in parts of their catch as they went along, but we waited through the morning until mid afternoon and nothing much happened. Then at 2.30 they all came in. I weighed in about 200 fish in an a hour and a half. It was a lot. Chabot is already thinking about next year, when the King of Sharbot Lake bass derby will return. “People are already talking about coming back and bringing more friends, he said, “but some things will change. We won’t have a BBQ because fishers bring their own food, and I’ll weigh the fish as a group if they come in with their entire catch at once,” he said, pointing to his cut and swollen thumb, which was in that condition from picking up the bass one at a time and returning them to the lake.
The South Frontenac Museum in Hartington officially opened its doors for the season Saturday as part of the Doors Open Ontario program. New to the museum this year is a presentation of 62 old stone houses in the area by David Jeffries, which is a project of the newly-formed Sout...
Neighbourhood Speeding Concerns: No Easy AnswerChris Wilcox, Jevon Austin and Philippe Archambault, all of Silverwood Drive in Storrington District, made what has become an annual trip to Council to express concerns for the safety of their children which they feel is threatened by the fast driving of local residents along their road. (Silverwood leads from Round Lake Road to Loughborough Lake.) None of them professed to have an answer to the problem: in the past, a temporary speed hump seemed to help, but their road does not meet the criteria set by Council for combined volume and speed of traffic. Other possibilities discussed included lowering the speed limit or having a sign giving a read-out of current speeds, which flashes when the limit is exceeded. They offered to raise money as a community to help cover the cost of a flashing sign. Mayor Vandewal said the Township receives many similar requests every year, but has neither the resources nor the enforcement capacity to deal with them all. Segsworth joined the group after their presentation to share statistics collected recently in an assessment of traffic on Silverwood. Desert Lake Causeway CulvertsCouncil confirmed that the culverts on the Desert Lake Causeway would be replaced with similar sized culverts subject to Conservation approvals. This closes the discussion of whether the waterway between Desert Lake and Holleford Lake should be made fully navigable by installing a bridge. “The Desert Lake Causeway budget does not contemplate a bridge.” Building Inspector AppointedBrent Hewlett, who began with the Building department in March, has now completed his ministry credentials, and is officially appointed as South Frontenac’s Building Inspector. Bellrock Community HallThe Bellrock Community Group was appointed a Committee of Council, with Councillor McDougal as their Council representative. This means the hall and its activities will be covered by the Township’s liability insurance. Cooper Rezoning Application, BedfordAfter Councillor Barr and Deputy Mayor Revill viewed the property on Fairhaven Lane/Badour Road, Revill reported that there appeared to be a housing envelope, and recommended the rezoning be approved, but only if the owner can present a septic system design for the low-lying property that the Public Health Unit is willing to accept. Grace Under PressureCouncillor Sleeth commended Building Department Admin Assistant Peggy Spafford for her ability to remain calm and polite recently while trying to help a very angry, unpleasant resident. Planner Mills’ Last MeetingMayor Vandewal acknowledged Planner Lindsay Mills’ last official meeting before his retirement at the end of June by presenting Mills with his name plate. When asked about his retirement plans, Mills said he’ll think about that later; for now he’s concentrating on getting his desk work all finished in the next two weeks. Public Works UpdatePublic Works Manager Segsworth reported that the Bedford Road and the Harrowsmith Corner projects are both coming along well, but may not meet the July 1st completion deadlines. However, he listed completion of the Perth Road Firehall and the Storrington Center upgrade in what must be the heaviest year of projects in a long time. Still to come: surface treatment of Westport Road and the Sydenham-Harrowsmith stretch. Grand Opening of Perth Road Fire HallFiremen from across the Township are inviting the public to the official opening of the Perth Road Fire Hall this Saturday, June 23, from 9-1. There’ll be games for the children, and a BBQ for all.
Mary-Jo DowkerMary-Jo Dowker is well-known in Verona, especially in the softball community, having been involved for 11 years, most as convenor. This is a time-consuming role that begins long before the softball season, usually in January or February, and continues until Fall. As convenor, Mary-Jo liaises with and represents Verona at the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association. She takes care of all the registration, recruiting of coaches, equipment and uniform maintenance, purchasing and organization. She also does all the scheduling for Verona/Hartington Softball and coordinates with the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association and the InterCommunity Softball Association to avoid conflicts. Mary-Jo organizes umpires through the Limestone Umpire Association, acts as the treasurer and fundraises too! Field maintenance, washrooms and clubhouse are all taken care of by her, in coordination with the Lions Club, who owns the facilities. She has also been the treasurer and secretary of the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association. She has been a member of the Portland District Recreation Committee for 10 years and has been involved with minor hockey as well. In addition to all her work in local sports, she has been a member of the Christmas for Kids Committee in the Verona area for 10 years. When her children were young, she was an active member of Parent Council, holding the positions of treasurer, secretary and vice-chair. As any volunteer knows, time is a precious commodity. Volunteering with a young family as Mary-Jo has adds another layer to her commitment. It is with heartfelt thanks that the community relays their appreciation on behalf of the many children and families who have benefitted from her time and dedication. Kerry FoxKerry started her volunteer work as a young high school student. Kerry volunteered at the local united church and taught Sunday School. Recently, Kerry joined two other women in making over 250 pairs of warm mitts and slippers for a class in Betecheco, North West Territories, where her eldest daughter teaches. Over the past 22 years, Kerry has been a member of the Storrington Minor Soccer Club Executive and has taken on the role of both secretary and registrar for the club. Kerry has coached numerous teams and developed an ingenious system for player substitution that ensured all her players were able to play the same amount of time. Kerry has helped with organizing and conducting the fun day canteen for the soccer club. The proceeds from the fun day go to the Storrington Minor Soccer Club bursary fund that has helped over 175 kids play soccer in the community who might not have been able to participate otherwise. Prior to the start of the soccer season, Kerry is there to install nets on their frames, coordinate the teams and answer the many calls about the soccer season. Kerry has been married to Kevin for the past 37 years and is the mother of two grown children, Katelyn and Kortney. Kim DelineWhen it comes to being a South Frontenac citizen extremely involved in community service and an outstanding leader and role model for our children, one noteworthy citizen arises – Kim Deline. Kim has been extensively involved with community events over the years: As a member of Parent Council of Loughborough Public School, she hands out hot lunches and successfully champions her volunteer teams for Family Fun nights; she assists with Canada and Family Day celebrations, along with S&A Club events; and she coached soccer for five seasons. While she has excelled in these, in her true passion – Girl Guides of Canada – she has far exceeded. Kim has had a tremendous impact on girls aged 5 to 17, working as the Contact Guider for the 1st Frontenac Guides and Pathfinders (2015–2018) and the 1st Sydenham Brownies (2012–2014). In 2017, while juggling the administration of Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders, she founded the 1st Frontenac Extra Opportunities (‘Extra Ops’) unit for girls aged 12 to 17 in our area. Through weekly meetings and weekend events, Kim has been providing youth-centred programming, encouraging girls to learn, to make friends, to grow and discover the very best in themselves, and above all, to be a good citizen. In 2017, Kim stepped up to organize and implement an incredible 90th Year Celebration of Carruthers Point Camp, the oldest Girl Guide camp in Ontario. This event was attended by approximately 200 Guides and Guiders of South Frontenac, Kingston and its surrounding area. Kim approaches each task passionately, no matter how daunting. She multi-tasks all this volunteer work diligently around her demanding career as an Emergency Room nurse and while managing a busy family at home. As a result of her volunteer “career” and sincere dedication to community, Kim is truly making a difference in the lives of countless residents of our Township. Congratulations on this award, Kim. So justly deserved. Boyd GoodberryBoyd Goodberry, a lifetime resident of South Frontenac having recently retired from Kingston General Hospital, has spent quite a lot of time volunteering for the Social & Athletic Club. We are lucky that Boyd is so handy; his handyman skills were definitely an asset when we received the Trillium grant last year to renovate the club hall. Boyd was at the hall every day for very long days working tirelessly alongside the contractors, and even keeping up the momentum after the renovations were complete. We are very proud to have him on our team of directors and members. Boyd’s volunteering did not just start when he retired. Boyd has been helping out with the Canada Day in the Park Celebrations for many years. His BBQ chicken over a fire was always the best around. Boyd is also known for his generosity and talents; always donating hand-crafted gifts for the Chinese Auction and graciously bringing down his trailer to the park for the Canada Day Celebrations to use as a headquarters. When the going gets tough, Boyd is always there to lend a helping hand; setting up the hall for functions, picking up supplies, setting up and tearing down for events at the park, fixing a toilet or changing the locks on the cupboard doors. Boyd is one of the most reliable, hard-working volunteers we have ever had. He attends monthly meetings and is not afraid to ask the hard questions for the good of the club. He is also known for his excellent bartending skills at many functions such as Euchre nights, dances and Chinese Auctions. Boyd also was on the 150th Celebration Committee, attending meetings and helping out in any way that he could. Thank you for your dedication, and for volunteering many years of service to our community Marilyn GoodberryMarilyn has lived in the area for all of her life and is a proud, active member of our community. She has been a long-standing, invaluable and active member of the Harrowsmith Social and Athletic Club. Marilyn wears many hats for the club and the community. Marilyn is currently treasurer and hall rental manager as well as club director. She is also involved in marketing events, maintaining the club hall and supporting softball in Harrowsmith. Marilyn has also volunteered her time to support organizations such as The Children’s Wish Foundation. Marilyn’s keen passion for helping develop new initiatives and expanding on existing initiatives has enabled the club to successfully offer such events as euchre fun nights, Canada Day in the Park, Santa Parade and Open House, Chinese Auctions, dances, children’s parties, babysitting courses and VON exercise classes, to name a few. Marilyn is a very hard worker as well as team player. Running large events such as Canada Day and the Canada 150th Celebration & Road Rally is definitely a team effort and can be challenging at times. Keeping track of the many vendors, events and entertainment that must be paid, as well as managing the revenue and expenses involved with events and the club, is no small task. Marilyn has greeted these challenges with a positive and determined attitude. She is known for hunkering down and getting things done. Marilyn has spent countless hours dedicating her time to making sure that everything always runs as smoothly as possible. To put it simply, the community and the Harrowsmith Social and Athletic Club are very lucky to have such a generous, hardworking volunteer. The successful running of many events and the S&A Club would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of volunteers like Marilyn. Marilyn is an asset that we simply could not do without. Thank you for your endless years of service to our community.
Verona Lions would like you to save the date Saturday, July 7th as they are hosting their first ATV Poker Run and Show at the Verona Lions Centre, 4504 Verona Sand Road. The show and run will open at 10:30am to the general public with a vendor’s midway showcasing the latest offerings from your favourite ATV manufacturers as well as other outdoor products. The Lions Canteen will be open for duration of the show serving their famous Lions burgers, fries and more. Whether you come to see the latest ATV’s in the vendor’s midway or to have some lunch or even ride the poker run, they’ll be looking forward to seeing you there. The poker run registration will take place from 10:30am to 12:30pm and the run is a leisurely 80km ride comprising a loop of rail trail and backroad. There will be card stops along the way returning to the Lions Centre where the top three poker hands will be awarded great prizes. There will also be participant prizes drawn and a 50/50 draw. Registration cost for the Poker run is $30 per rider or $25 if you pre-register before June 30th.For more information or to pre-register visit www.veronalions.ca They’ll be looking forward to a fun and exciting day and hope to see you there Saturday, July 7th.
New Leaf Link (NeLL) was set up to serve a growing number of developmentally disabled young adults in South Frontenac. After graduating from Sydenham High School, where there was and still is an excellent school to community program, there was nothing in the township for the graduates. At the time, Dr. Karin Steiner, New Leaf Link’s Executive Director, was looking to continue her work as an autism educator and to find a program to benefit her son Nicolas, who has autism. In its initial press release, New Leaf Link set out some principles, which make interesting reading after ten years. “We aim to steward the occupational, cultural, and social contributions of disabled participants by a) creating a model educational centre; b) linking the strengths and interests of participants with employment and volunteer opportunities in local communities; and c) sharing our model with other communities.” To a great extent those principles have not changed at all, but Dr. Steiner has found that some of the goals are taking longer to achieve than she initially envisioned. “It has taken a lot more time and effort than I orginally thought it would to grow and become well established,” she said, when contacted early this week, a few days after the NeLL year end celebration and fundraiser at Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church. “My goal is still to create something that is going to continue beyond my time.” “I feel that NeLL is healthy and growing. Lots of people are coming into the fold at the board level, and we continue to grow. We have fifteen people coming to programs now, and when we started there were four. And I feel we are on the cusp of a bigger change, and perhaps we are ready to partner with another organisation, but none of that is clear just yet.” What is clear, is the evolution of NeLL programming. There are two days of programs, incorporating the skills of teachers, such as Gabriel Deerman of Salmon River Studios in Tamworth, playwright and theatre producer Christine Harvey, and a new addition is Linda Alford who is providing workshops on Adaptive Technology. Other teachers have come in to teach dance and karate and other skills, including cooking skills. The first NeLL day each week is an arts day, with drama in the morning and visual art in the afternoon, and the second day is a healthy living day, with cooking class, as well as gym and other programming. Last year NeLL received a Community Foundation of Kingston and Area grant for a community gardening project. At the NeLL event last week, there were many community members, including supporters of the program and people who have befriended the participants around South Frontenac and Central Frontenac. Among the presentations at the event was the presentation of an original play, written about the history of New Leaf Link. Three of the four original NeLL’ers are still coming to the program each week and they were a resource for the play writing and production. “One other thing has been clear from the beginning is that New Leaf Link is a friendship project. It is its own community but we reach out to other communities and it’s building and maintaining healthy relationships between NeLL participants, their families, and people we all live with and interact with in the larger community. That part of it has only become stronger,” said Steiner. As NeLL looks to the future, there is continuing concern around funding. NeLL has some project funding from different sources and receives private donations, but has no government support and depends on student fees, which are $35 a day, to pay the bills. It is also supported in a major way by the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church, which donates the space they use. Finances are a main reason why NeLL has not been able to open up for a third day of programming, which is a goal. Still, after 10 years NeLL is not about to close up shop and continues to grow and expand its network of friends and supporters, and its services remain as essential as they were at the start. “There was a gap that we filled and without us, that gap would still be there, in South Frontenac, for this community of people,” said Steiner, “so we continue to grow slowly, gain strength, and carry on.”
Most people lose themselves in the things they love. Conversely, they often find themselves there, too. Sitting in a coffee shop in early June, 62-year-old retired military officer Ralph Kennedy talks with a smile about the sport he loves. “I love archery. It’s a lo...
The polls closed at 9 p.m. Before 9:30, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier was declared re-elected and he was ecstatic.He waited until the pundits were calling a PC majority government before declaring victory but the wide grin began as soon as he saw the check mark beside his name.The final total was 26,194 for Hillier, 15,349 for NDP Ramsey Hart, 5,359 for Liberal Amanda Pulker-Mok, 2,410 for Green Anita Payne, 601 for Libertarian Steve Gebhardt and 440 for Independent John McEwen.Hillier won all polling stations in the riding except seven in the south and two in Perth, all of which went to Hart.“It’s wonderful to see a PC majority government and to get off this treadmill we’ve been on,” Hillier said. “(This will be) a government that will actually work for rural and small town Ontario.”To that end, Hillier pledged to work for the municipalities in his riding, even getting a little animated when recalling what life under a Liberal regime has been like.“We’ll be able to help municipalities big time,” he said. “In fact, I’ll be meeting with Kingston (City) Council shortly about the rural wards of the city.“In terms of planning, infrastructure, municipalities need to know that they’ll have stable funding. They need to know what their finances will be in order to plan instead of the haphazard, bizarre way things have been done for years.“It’s been bulls----!”As a four-term member, Hillier should be under consideration for a cabinet post of some sort but he stopped short of speculating, even about pondering what post he might be interested in.“I have lots of interests,” he said. “But Doug (Premier-elect Ford) is going to have to take a look at what skills he has in his caucus and I’ll be happy to have those discussions.“We’ll see.”Hillier said there are so many things he’s looking forward to with a majority government but said one of the things he’s looking forward to the most is seeing Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals out of power.“It’s going to be a little odd going into Queen’s Park and being on the other side of the aisle,” he said.
When Jon Allison Design and Avenue Strategy came to Frontenac County Council a couple of years back to present the new brand identity for Frontenac County, the got a pretty rough ride. Some members of council did not think the Fir trees in the design were representative, and the overall sense at the meeting was that the design was empty. Allison explained that it needed to be ‘empty’ in a sense so that it was both versatile and able to grow into its meaning through its application in the community. The vote to accept it was closer than anyone expected, but it did get accepted, which was a relief for c ounty staff because some giant banners were waiting at the back of the hall to be unfurled and a branded county Smart Car was sitting in the parking lot outside the meeting hall. The InFrontenac brand has been a success, so much so that there was little drama when the two companies returned to Frontenac County Council last month with the brand identity for Fairmount Home. The only question about the branding initiative for Fairmount had been raised at an earlier meeting, when Council was informed the brand was almost ready, and it was about the necessity of re-branding a long term care facility that had a very good reputation in the field and a long waiting list. Lisa Hirvi, Fairmount Home Administrator, said that the brand initiative was not so much about marketing Fairmout as it was about encapsulating the gentle care philosophy that is part of the culture of the home in an image. She said it was as much about staff morale as it was about public perception. And it had to not be ‘corporate’ The new brand came about after a series of focus group meetings were held to pinpoint the core values of Fairmount. The identified values were then associated with simple images. The core message is that Fairmount is a home, not a facility. The concept of caring is identified with a heart shaped image, the concept that the homes residents are unique individuals by a thumbprint, the concept of community and inclusion by overlapping circles, and gentlecare by a butterfly. The final drawing, at first glance, is non-descript, just two offset spheres, but when combined with text, or altered with colour schemes and other features, it was clear, at least to members of Frontenac County Council who had the experience of the way Infrontenac brand has worked its way into the public imagination, that it will be a success. There was no dissent on council, and the new brand will be rolled out over the next few months, finding its way onto stationary, crests, even the front desk of Fairmount Home.
June 4th to 10th is local food week! Deemed by the provincial government, the proclamation is a reminder to Ontarians to consider increasing their intake of locally available foods. And why wouldn’t you? Eating produce as close to the day it was picked not only tastes better, but is more nutritious than that picked and stored for two weeks or more and delivered to major groceries. And economically, supporting your neighbourhood farmers makes sense. According to Dr. Kevin Stolarick at the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute, “If every household in Ontario spent $10 a week on local food, we’d have an additional $2.4 billion in our local economy at the end of the year. Keeping our money circulating grows those dollars to $3.6 billion and creates 10,000 new jobs.” Not to mention the environmental benefits; According to researchers at York University, “If 10,000 Toronto families shifted $10 of their weekly food purchases to local for a year, it would equate to taking 908 cars off the road for a year; on a per-family basis, carbon savings are equivalent to not driving a car for a month!” Imagine the impact of doubling your spending! So, are you ready to make a change and up your local intake? There are many options available. June is the seasonal start-up of farmers markets throughout the area. You are now able to attend farmer’s markets every day of the week, and twice on Saturdays! (see chart at right) The newest addition is the West Market. Located at the Royal Curling Club at 130 Days Road in Kingston, the market provides access to farm fresh food to the city’s west end from 9am to 3pm. Frontenac County continues to witness a rise in locally available foods and products made with them, driven by an increase in consumer demand. “Ten years ago, there were few options (for those seeking local) outside of farmer’s markets,” says National Farmers Union president, Ian Stutt. “Today local grocers, like Glenburnie Grocery, now have large local food sections in their produce and frozen food departments.” Hats off to Trousdale’s IGA in Sydehnam who recently offered Stutt’s farm, Patchwork Gardens, greens for sale. It remains difficult for local farmers to sell their wares in larger grocers. Of course, this gives our locally-owned grocers a competitive advantage! Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) continue to grow in numbers and are an economical way to purchase produce and in some cases meat and eggs. Just google CSA Kingston. A quick scan on Kijiji will introduce you to growers of beef, chicken, pork, lamb, rabbit and eggs. Local food means more than produce and meat. Locally produced grains, beans, milk and even cider and beer are now available where 10 years ago, they were not. Add to this, options like exotic mushrooms, bison, rabbit and wild boar and the locally sourced menu options become endless. The last 10 years have seen the development of businesses catering to mostly local products, both fresh and prepared like Elginburg’s Limestone Creamery, Verona’s Food Less Travelled, Sydehnam’s Mill St. Café and Kingston’s Old Farm Fine Foods. Many restaurants know that featuring local attracts customers. Bayview Farms, Le Chein Noir, Chez Piggy and the Juniper Café are local farmer friends. And if you like to do some of the work yourself, consider the area’s “Pick Your Own Options” like Fruition Berry Farm, Waddell’s Apples and the newest, Fat Chance Farmstead on Highway 38. And last but not least, keep your eyes peeled for roadside stands and on-farm stores, which often don’t advertise, but sell at farmgate, like Sonset Farm in Inverary and Dirt Farm on Montreal St. by the 401. It’s challenging to consume all of your food locally, but it’s easy to shift $10 of your weekly budget to local food. Do it for yourself, your community and the environment! Sharon Freeman is an organic farmer and local food advocate. She owns Freedom Farm together with her husband, Will, who can be found Sundays at their stand at the Memorial Centre Farmers Market.
The change in how early years child and family programs are funded has resulted in a situation that moved one area mother to start a petition on change.org, asking Rural Frontenac Community Services (RFCS) to rescind termination letters it sent out to five affected staff members. Jean Conlon, who has had two children go through the Early Years program, became concerned about the stress the staff members are going through and initiated the petition which by 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon had 193 signatures. “These ladies do an incredible job and they don’t deserve this stress,” Conlon said. RFCS operates an Ontario Early Years Centre, which us funded through a contract with the Ministry of Education under the Ontario Early Years Program. That contact runs out on June 30 when the Early Years Centres will be replaced by new EarlyOn centres, with the City of Kingston being the operators for Kingston and Frontenac County. Last November, the City set out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Service to find providers for the EarlyOn services. While RFCS was preparing their (RFP) submission, their board was concerned about the possibility they would not be the successful applicant in Frontenac County. The RFCS board delivered termination letters to the five staff members of it Ontario Early Years Centre on February 6, effective June 30. In April, the City awarded contracts to three agencies to provide EarlyON services, Kingston and Community Health Centres, the Boys & Girls Club of Kingston in the City of Kingston, and RFCS in Frontenac County. The RFCS EarlyOn headquarters will be operated by RFCS out of a new headquarters in South Frontenac. The EarlyON staff complement will include 8 full time positions, a supervisor and 7 front line workers. The five Early Years staff members have been encouraged to apply to fill some of those those new jobs. (The first job to be posted was for EarlyOn Supervisor has been posted and closes on June 4 at 4pm) Community members who have made use of the Early Years Services at play groups across the county have come out in support of the five employees, saying the letters of termination should be rescinded, and the five employees guaranteed a job in the EarlyOn program, and the Change.org petition asks the RFCS Board to do just that. When the RFCS board of directors became aware that there concerns about the way the changes have been handled, they issued a statement, which reads in part: “It was clearly understood, that effective June 30, 2018, the Early Years program and the related contracts with the agencies would be terminated. Existing operators were advised, and in each case did inform their employees that there was no certainty that the agency would secure the contract anticipated by the bidding process, and that their employment would be terminated on June 30. “Our dedicated Early Years staff participated fully in the development of the EarlyON proposal that our agency made to the City of Kingston, contributing their insight and experience . . . RFCS was successful and awarded the responsibility for the EarlyON centres for essentially all of Frontenac County. “The EarlyON operations for RFCS will employ more staff that we employ today.” The statement went on to say that a hiring process is underway and “due consideration of past service will be given.” The ful statement can be read at the following url: http://www.rfcs.ca/news/statement-of-the-board-of-directors-of-rural-frontenac-community-services-regarding-the-new-earlyon-centre/ One rumor that has been circulating in the community and on Facebook is that other agencies facing similar situations have “rescinded” similar letters needs some clarification. While it is true that situations have been handled differently elsewhere, the News cannot confirm that any letters have been “rescinded”, particularly because they didn’t exist in some cases. Kelly Allan, executive director at Family Space which had administered Early Years in a wide area in the Quinte region and will now administer EarlyON, said Family Space didn’t issue any termination letters. “I can understand why an agency would issue such a letter and we did receive legal advice to do so,” she said. “But we decided to take a chance by not issuing such letters trusting that we’d be successful in our bid. And we were. All of our Early Years staff and all our contract staff still have their jobs and will as long as we have funding. “We’re even looking at adding some permanent staff.” As far as the Boys and Girls Clubs goes, they had no Early Years program and as such had no staff to inform that the program was ending. Wendy Vuyk, director of communications at Kingston and Community Health Centres, said she couldn’t comment on what they consider to be private HR (human resources) matters. (Publisher/editors note. Full Disclosure, I serve on the Board of Directors of Rural Frontenac Community Services as Vice-Chairperson – Jeff Green)
Pam Lemke has worked in social services in Sharbot Lake and Northbrook for almost 25 years, most recently for Land O’Lakes Community Services. As of March 9th, she has been working for the Alzheimer Society of Kingston, Frontenac Lennox and Addington. Some days she works ou...
All Lennox and Addington County based businesses in tourism and related sectors are invited to attend a special "Naturally L&A” Speed Dating Event at the Lennox & Addington County Museum & Archives on Tuesday, June 26th at 7pm. This event is hosted by the Lennox & Addington Economic Development Office. The evening will provide participants with an opportunity to learn about fellow operators in the L&A County community and find out about a number of new tourism initiatives that are currently underway. It will be a fast paced event providing an opportunity to interact one-on-one with other tourism stakeholders in Lennox & Addington County. Businesses will be able to promote their tourism offerings and look to build partnerships and experiences with other businesses. "We believe that attraction operators, restaurant owners, lodging providers, and retailers will find this event beneficial.." stated Stephen Paul, Director of Community & Development Services with Lennox & Addington County. "Bringing businesses together under the same roof will help them to better understand what is available in our county. We hope that this will drive customer referrals and foster business partnerships.” All L&A County based businesses in tourism and related sectors are encouraged to attend this free event. Businesses are welcome to bring along brochures and publications to share with those in attendance. The event venue is the L&A County Museum & Archives, located at 97 Thomas Street East in Napanee. For more information and to register, please visit www.lennox-addington.on.ca or call Rob Plumley at 613-354-4883 ext. 3271.
The history of the Kaladar Hotel is still very much a work in progress, but the Cloyne and District Historical Society has being doing a lot of work and shared what they’ve learned last Monday at the Barrie Hall. “What information I have I got by reading and talking to people,” said Eileen Flieler, who presented the seminar along with John Bolton (a former owner of the Northbrook Hotel). Flieler invited the audience to share whatever information they may have during the presentation. Flieler admitted that “we’re not sure on some of the information, especially in the middle” but in the absence of hard data, the anecdotal information was nevertheless quite interesting. Here’s some things we’re pretty sure of. The hotel, at the corner of highways 7 and 41 was finally torn down last month. The original owners were John Lewis, who was born in 1864 and his wife Harriott Woodcock who was born in 1863. Flieler said there are suggestions that the first Kaladar Hotel was actually located south of Highway 7. The story is that that building burned down and was re-built north of the railway tracks up the hill on 41 across from Tryons’ boarding house. There was a store on the hotel property as well. In 1934, owner Robert White decided to move the hotel down the hill to the corner of Highway 7 — literally. The building was put on rollers and horses plus a Model-T Ford acted as brakes going down the steep incline. The move took four days. After telling a story about a WW II Jeep being driven up the front steps on a bet, co-presenter Bolton gave a list of people who are believed to have owned the hotel at one time including Walt Vilneff and his wife, former Chicago Black Hawks player Glen Brightson and his father, brothers Nelson and Cliff Murphy6, Ellett Morris, Bill Brown and then Leo Trickey and family. Then comes the last (private) owner, Andy Anderson, bought the place from the Trickeys in 1989. Anderson sold the property to the Ministry of Transport in 2009. “I was sad to see it gone,” said Anderson. “The deal is not quite finished but it did help my pocket book.” Anderson had a ton of stories about the place including Terry Fox stopping in during his famous run and the hotel being mentioned in a Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro story (for the record, the story is the 2004 short story Passion and the line is “They stopped, finally, in Kaladar and went into the hotel — the old hotel that’s still there.”) Anderson talked about how the hotel evolved during his time. “There were only seven bedrooms and the family used two of them,” he said. “And one of the remaining five was only 5 ½’ x 11’. “But we were never full anyways. We mostly rented to stranded people or those picked up for impaired driving.” Anderson said they essentially closed the bar in 1991, focusing mainly on being a restaurant. He said he was most proud of being able to donate more than $22,000 to charity, most of that to Pine Meadows. But it seemed from the questions the audience asked that one aspect of Anderson’s tenure most apt to be remembered is the money map. “It was just a 4x8 sheet of plywood with a world map on it,” he said. “We pinned up money from guests from around the world including Madagascar and Fiji.” That map is now part of the museum/archives permanent display.
At the May board meeting of the Limestone District School Board student achiever awards were handed out, and there were winners representing each of the three secondary schools in our region; Cassandra Parks from NAEC in Cloyne, Cameron Jackson from GREC in Sharbot Lake and Samantha Kempe from Sydenham High School. The award for Cassandra Parks we made in recognition of her “academic successes, her athletic prowess and her far-reaching leadership” in the words of the testimonial prepared by the staff at North Addington Education Centre. A member of many sports teams, volleyball being her strongest, as volunteer for school events, a hockey player, and the top overall ranking in her grade every year since grade 9 are some of the accomplishments that led to her selection for the award. In summing their submission up, NAEC staff called Cassandra “a leader of sound character and integrity and provides a wonderful example to others.” Cam Jackson also plays on all of the sports teams at GREC and this year he has transitioned into an assistant coaching role for the junior girl’s volleyball team. In academics, he is the math and science whiz at the school. He has been at the top of his class in those subjects since grade 9. His abilities in math and science are pared with patience, which is useful in his role as peer tutor. “In the community, Cam has deservedly earned the reputation of an upstanding, hard working, ethical young man by being involved with numerous organizations, from the local church, to athletic organizations, to community fundraising events” is how GREC staff summed up his contributions to the school and the community. Samantha Kempe has been involved in volleyball and track at SHS, and is a solid student. Her award recognises her many contributions to school life, as the co-President of the Student Council this year she has been instrumental in organising many events, including a cancer fundraiser (Inside Ride), Spirit Week, Grade 8 and 9 Days, and the school’s holiday charity event. In the community she has been involved as Relay for Life team leader, a camp director and a member if the Red Cross anti-bullying group. She also helps with Canada Day at the Point in Sydenham. Although she is generally friendly and easy going, it would be best not to get on he bad side. This year she is a Shotokan Karate practitioner, earning her black belt last year.
While the staff at FACSFLA (Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac Addington) have been working hard for many years to provide the kinds of resources and supports that families in crisis need in order to keep children in the family home wherever possible, the fall back plan of placement in a foster home remains an important option for about 200 children in Kingston, Frontenac Lennox and Addington. Establishing and maintaining Foster families is always a challenge. To meet that challenge FACSFLA is going to be holding a drop in event at their new Sydenham office on Tuesday May 29 from 7-9pm. The office is in the former medical centre at 2876 Campbell Road, across from the ambulance station. “Our catchment area is all of Kingston Frontenac and Lennox and Addington,” said John Suart of the FACSFLA communications department, “which is a large geographic area, the size of Prince Edward Island, so we need to reach out to the communities to try and build up as big and diverse a pool of potential foster families as we can to be able to serve the very specific needs of the children in our care. The number of children in foster care continues to decline, and the need for placement is greatest among the teenage population.” Becoming a Foster Parent is a major commitment, and Tarra Williamson, the foster family recruitment lead for the agency, stresses that the first step is for interested people to learn about what is involved in fostering. “The open house in Sydenham will be a low-key, drop in event. We’ll have lots of people there, including some foster families, to answer questions and pass on information and their own stories. We are only looking for a beginning with people who come out. There is no rush since we are looking to establish long term relationships with foster families,” she said. Steve Woodman, Executive Director of FACSFLA, said “opening a home and heart to a child or youth that [people] do not know is a big request. It isn't for everyone. But some of the people hearing or reading about this would find their lives profoundly enriched by the experience of being a foster parent, of providing a stable loving environment for those who so desperately need it.” FACSLFA has developed a website for prospective foster families, which spells out the 5 steps to becoming a foster parent. The first step is to contact the agency, which can be done by calling Tarra at 613-545-3227 ext. 5610 or to come out to the open house on May 29. Open houses have been held in Napanee and Kingston, and this first one in Sydenham will also produce an opportunity for community members to visit the new FACSLFA office, which is being shared with the Maltby Centre (formerly Pathways for Children and Youth). “Many people who read about this will not be interested, or in the right circumstances to become a foster parent, but we are hoping that they might know someone who is and will pass the information along to them,” said John Suart.
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