Empty Bowls is a fundraising concept that started back in 1991 in a Michigan high school classroom by an art teacher. The students made ceramic bowls that were used as serving pieces for a fundraising meal, and the people who purchased the meals got to take their bowl home.

The idea took off over time, and there are now Empty Bowls projects in communities across the US and Canada. In Perth, Potter Jackie Seaton started Empty Bowls in 2002, and the event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 18 years.

In Central Frontenac, inspired in part by Seaton’s commitment, Joanne Pickett of Arden Pottery worked with some other local potters, including Tracy Bamford and Sharon Matthews (Waters Edge Pottery on Long Lake), and Aileen Merriam, to start up Empty Bowls 2015. It was presented in conjunction with Frontenac Heritage Festival, with proceeds going to the North Frontenac Food Bank.

One of the features that makes Empty Bowls distinctive, is the symmetry of the event. Volunteers make the bowls, volunteers fill them with soup, and proceeds go to helping to feed people. And all within the same community.

The 6th Empty Bowls is taking place this year, once again as part of the Frontenac Heritage Festival, on Saturday, February 15, between 10am and 4pm. Neil Purcell of Henderson is one the potters who have provided bowls this year, along with Matthews, Bamford, Merriam and Pickett.

It is not only the pots that people have to choose from, the soup is also the thing.

“There are some amazing soups that local cooks make for this occasion,” said Joanne Pickett, who is a central organiser of the event, “and since we hold it in the middle of winter, a hearty soup is as important as a nice bowl.”

The fundraising goal this year is $3,000, and donated funds will be split between the North Frontenac Food Bank, and the Arden Rink project.

In addition to soup, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and pie/cake by the slice will be available.

Soups on

With Empty Bowls coming, winter getting ready to really settle in, and with lent pending, it is time for soup. We hope to have the recipe from one of the Empty Bowls soups next week, and would like to include soup recipes every week between now and Easter – a 15 week stretch. We are therefore putting out the call to readers to share a favourite soup recipe, one that is tried and true and preferably not hard to make. No one really wants to fuss over soup. Send soup recipes to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with Soups On in the subject line.

The get things started, I am including a recipe we have made at home at least three times this winter, a simply, hearty lentil soup. It is one that my wife Martina has adapted. Don’t skip the lemon, it brings the flavours to life.

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

3 onions, chopped 

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 large carrots, chopped

2-3 medium parsnips, chopped

2 stalks celery

2 cups / 400g dried lentils, green or brown (if you only have red, use red)

1 can tomatoes (whole or crushed)

1.5 litres (6 cups) vegetable or chicken broth or water (or combination)

1 tsp each cumin and coriander powder plus 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)

2 tsp paprika powder

2-3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

One cup baby spinach (optional)

Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, for garnish

Lemon

Warm bread, to serve

Method

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until clear, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add celery, parsnips and carrot. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until softened and the onion is sweet.

Add all remaining ingredients except the lemon and salt. Stir. 

Increase heat and bring to simmer. Place lid on and turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Add a touch of water if you want to adjust soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fish out the bay leaves and discard! Add a squeeze of lemon juice and the spinach just before serving. Garnish with parsley (or cilantro) if desired and serve with warm crusty buttered bread

Thank you to all who participated in the Poppy Campaign - with your help and generous donations we raised over $7,000.00. Special thank you to Bethany Women's Institute, Sharbot Lake Lions Club, the Leo Club, Community Living, St. James Major Catholic Church, and Township of South Frontenac. lf anyone has been missed, please accept our apology, your donations are very much appreciated.

Poppy Funds can ONLY be used to support Veterans and Veteran's Spouses. We support homeless Veterans, also assisting in the purchase of medical equipment for our Veterans in Providence Long Term Care in Kingston.

Poppy Funds can not be used for any other Legion programs.

Thank you to all local schools for participation in our Remembrance Day Poster, Essay& Poem Contest. The importance of never forgetting our Fallen Comrades is evident with the number of young students participating. The Winning Contestants are: "insert"

Our Friday Night Dinners, Wednesday Afternoon Euchre, and Entertainment Programs all contribute to our continuing Community Support Branch 425 also supports our Community with donations to the local Meals on Wheels Program, the Food Bank, Christmas Food Baskets, the Summer Swim Program etc

SEE YOU AT THE LEGION

Poster, Colour

Category I, Primary, Grades 1, 2, &3 (Colour): 1st: Dixie Warren (P.C.P.S); 2nd: Sydney Potts (G.R.E.C); 3rd: Krisal Hickey (G. R.)

Category II, Junior , Grades 4,5,&6. (Colour): 1st: Poppy Miller (P. C.); 2nd: Savana Harrington Durst (P. C.); 3rd: Adam McMahon (P. C.)

Category III, Intermediate, Grades 7,8, &9 (Colour): 1st: Wyatt Clow (P. C.); 2nd: Logan Chiasson (G. R.); 3rd: Richard Minutillo (S. J. M.)

Poster; Black & White

Category II: 1st: Drake Thomas (P.C); 2nd: Sophie Shelley Harrell (G.R.); 3rd:Hayley Cooke (G.R.)

Category III; 1st: Kylie Babcock(G. R.); 2nd: Serenity Murray-Cotton (P. C.); 3rd: Madison Robidoux (G. R.)

Poems

Category II: 1st: Madison Brushette (P. C.);

Category III: 1st: Sloan's Putnam (G. R.); 2nd: Austin Barker (G. R.); 3rd: Madison Robidoux (G. R.)

“We really recycle a lot,” said Kathy Wood of the Hartington Community Caring Store. “At 10:30, we were swamped.”

The Second Hand Store isn’t usually open on Sundays, but this year they made an exception for their Christmas Open House so as to not conflict with the Farmers Market/Prince Charles Public School event on Saturday.

“It’s been pretty great, a lot of people are Christmas shopping,” said Nicole Kasserra.

“We’ve been getting a lot of donations this year,” said Wood. “Things like these gardening gloves from businesses.

“We’ve been putting a lot of the newer items aside for today. It allows us to have things kids can buy for their parents for Christmas.

“Yeah, we’re a community store and the cheapest ever.”

She said that as a non-profit, everything they make goes back to the community — Christmas for Kids, South Frontenac Community Services, the Food Bank.

“We’ve filled up every little spot the Township’s allowed us to use,” she said. “Just think about how much we recycle and how much we’ve kept out of the landfill.”

One thing was for sure, there were all sorts of clothes, games, toys, household items and you-name-its packed all over the Princess Anne Centre Sunday keeping Wood, Kasserra, Cindy Gordon Judy Martin, Karen White, Kerri Valiquette, Cheryl Kellar and Marilyn Clow hopping to look after everybody.

To a certain extent, one of the biggest secrets on last weeks South Frontenac Community Services Garden Tour was right in their own back yard — the Food Bank Community Garden.

It’s actually been up and running for seven years, having been started by Master Gardener Janette Haase when she lived in the area. And its been a success on several levels, according to current garden steward Alan Macdonald, whose day job is teaching at Loughborough Public School.

“The Food Bank doesn’t tend to get as many donations in summer and that’s when the demand seems to be highest,” Macdonald said. “For one thing, kids do often get fed at school and when it’s not in session, they still have to eat.”

The garden/greenhouse goes a long way towards bridging that gap, he said.

But a community garden does a lot more than put food in hungry mouths, he said.

“A lot of our volunteers are students,” he said. “And it goes a long way to empower them, giving them a method for change by teaching them how to grow their own food.

“It also shows them that what’s on your plate is as much effect as what’s in your driveway.”

He said the garden is as much a classroom as any other.

“They learn about soil biology,” he said. “This is one of the few classrooms where results are measured by who has the dirtiest hands.”

It also meshes well with many in-class subjects such as learning how to cook and meal planning, he said.

“And some of these kids are potential food-bank users of the future,” he said.

And it teaches them to deal with problems that arise, often in creative ways.

“We’ve had a problem with battling Colorado potato beetles,” he said. “We’ve brought in some parasitic wasps and praying mantis eggs.”

They’ve also learned about things like floating row covers, which protect against bugs but also extend growing seasons.

Finally, they learn a lot from the adult volunteers that help out, many of whom are retired seniors with a love of gardening and lifetimes of experience.

“It’s very much an intergenerational story,” Macdonald said.

Volunteers get together on Tuesday mornings at the gardens on Stage Coach Road. If you’d like to become part of this, they’re always looking for more people and you can do so by contacting Heather Rogers at The Grace Centre (614-376-6477), or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We all talk about the weather – here is your chance to sing about it! An eclectic mix of music loosely based on the theme of weather will be presented by the popular Tay Valley Community Choir. Under the ever-patient direction of Rebecca Worden and accompanied by the talented Mary Lou Carroll, the choir will sing selections ranging from musicals to pop songs to folk tunes. As is the custom at Tay Valley Choir concerts, there will be plenty of fun as well as opportunities to sing along (words provided) with familiar tunes.

Featured guests at this concert will be 'Three Guitars in Spring'. David Ramsden and Rob Rainer, both former Tay Valley Choir members, play guitar and sing with Mike Erion playing archtop guitar. Together, the trio has explored jazz standards of yesteryear and other popular music with jazz interpretations. They will share some of their favourites. Several vocal sections of the choir have also prepared familiar songs to perform.

The Spring concert will be held at the Maberly Hall on Friday, April 12 at 7:00. Admission is $10 at the door. Food Bank donations are welcomed. Refreshments will follow the concert, allowing time to chat with neighbours and friends. Come for the music, and stay for the food.

Four years ago Joanne Pickett of Arden Pottery decided to start up an Empty Bowls project in her own community.

Empty Bowls is a fund raising project that has been embraced by potters throughout North America as a way of raising money and awareness about poverty. It was founded not by potters, but by two high school art teachers in Michigan, John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn. Students in Hartom’s class made bowls and then Hartom and Blackburn, who are a married couple, organised a lunch for students and teachers in the school. They filled the bowls with soup, and served them to everyone, then asked them all to think about those in their community whose soup bowls were empty. They then asked for donations and said, “keep the bowls”.

The concept of empty bowls was born. In 2002, Empty Bowls came to Eastern Ontario when Perth area potter, the late Jackie Seaton, started up the Perth Empty Bowls project. The project is now in its 16th year and has raised over $200,000 for local youth and food programs. The dozen potters who are involved have made over 9,000 bowls.

The experience of Empty Bowls for Joanne Pickett in Arden has been similar, although on a smaller scale. In the first year Joanne made most of the bowls herself and involved few people, raising $800 for the North Frontenac Food Bank, based in Sharbot Lake.

In the second year more people were involved and $1,400 was raised and last year $2,200 was raised.

This year local potters from Water's Edge Pottery, Aileen Merriam, Jonas Bonetta and Arden Pottery have donated over 100 bowls. For $20. diners choose from a menu of gourmet soups and chilies served in a one-of-a-kind handcrafted pottery bowl that they get to keep.

This year's offerings include smoked tomato and basil soup with shaved Parmesan cheese, chicken/veg and brown rice , creamy curried squash, and baked potato soup with cheddar and bacon - just to name a few. For the adventuresome among us there will be a wild chili - all ingredients (except for the salt) harvested in Kennebec township. Soups and chilies are served with a crispy ciabatta roll and butter.

Freshly brewed coffee and tea, and mulled cider will be available with a selection of delicious homemade cookies and cupcakes.

Also this year there will be a silent auction as part of the Empty Bowls campaign, with artwork donated by local artists.

The event begins at 10 am and goes until 4 pm on the 17th, when Arden will be chock full of Frontenac Heritage Festival events.

See the blue pamphlet in this week’s paper for a complete schedule.

Sunday in Sharbot Lake featured the seventh year of Ecumenical Carol Service put on by six ministerials in the area.

“This is our second time here at St. James Major,” said Rev. Mark Hudson. “We rotate around the different churches.

“We’d like to hold it outside like the summer service at the beach but you never know what the weather’s going to be.”

Hudson said when they started out, they held the Carol Service on Saturday nights “but the seniors seemed to prefer we hold it in the afternoon.”

“It’s a popular service with good representation from many faiths and participation from a lot of lay people.”

For example, Richard and Lois Webster greeted guests as they arrived and did the offering (which goes to the Food Bank), Hudson did the welcome and opening prayer, George Weiss read Isaiah 7:10-14, Nelda Whan read Isaiah 11:1-10, Art Shaw did a solo, the Kids Zone Ministry did Shout it Out, Irene Hawley told the Legend of the Candy Cane, Lois Webster read Luke 2:8-20 and Father Jonathan Askwith gave a message and the closing prayer.

Christmas Carols included Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Joy to the World and O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Bob Miller also performed a couple of carols.

“I’ve sorta gravitated towards the best unknown carols there are,” he said.

Refreshments and fellowship followed the service.

Participating ministerials included St. Andrews Anglican Church, St. James Major Catholic Church, Parham Free Methodist Church, Sharbot Lake Centennial Pastoral Charge, Sharbot Lake Pentecostal Church and the Praise Church.

Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake often functions as Provincial Court but last Saturday, it became a slightly different ‘Court’ as the Sharbot Lake Leos Club held its first ever Jail ’n’ Bail to raise funds for the Food Bank.

President Annika Putnam, who also served as ‘judge,’ said the idea came from a brainstorming session where club members tossed out fundraising ideas.

“This one seemed the most feasible,” she said. “We thought it was unique.

“The Mayor (Francis Smith) was the first one we thought of to arrest.

Lion Leslie Smith-Merrigan said the ideas were all from the Leos but “sometimes you gotta shake up the town.

“(But) we try to let them make the rules.”

So, beginning around 10am, prominent local ‘criminals’ started being ‘arrested’ and sentenced to an hour behind bars phoning friends, family and anybody else they could think of to pledge funds and get them out of jail.

At the end of the day, they’d raised about $5,600 for the Food Bank.

They had a lot of help, such as OPP Aux. Const. Nicole Greenstreet and Ilya Medovikov who apprehended the criminals, Brian Robertson of North Frontenac Little Theatre who assembled the ‘jail,’

John Richter who made a special maple and cherry wood gavel and block just for the occasion, as well as numerous parents and Lions Club members who donated to the Leos’ bake sale table and canteen (proceeds of which will go towards funding Leo activities).

Bailiffs were Abby Beattie, Braidey Merrigan, Zack Kaillam, Christian Armstrong and Riley Merrigan.

Smith-Merrigan said anyone 12-18 who’d like to join the Leos can do so by contacting her, and Leo or Lions Club member.

The following is a list of the criminals apprehended and the crimes they commited:

• James MacDonald: Orderly conduct and Driving while under the influence of education
• Tom Corneil: Felony planking, Attempted retirement and Possession of shorts and attempting to wear them year-round
• Wayne Robinson: Generosity in the first degree
• Marcel Giroux: Excessive volunteering and Stalking and contributing to every needy cause
• Connie McLellan: Grand selflessness with excessive positivity
• Robert Moore: Possession of caffeine with intent to sell and Distribution of Community Spirit
• Bill MacDonald: Aiding and abetting aggravated salting of township roads and Attempted assault on an innocent pine tree
• Francis Smith: Attempting honest politics and Break & entering into office
• Dave and Dawn Hansen: Disturbing the peace with the Lions roar and Possession and trafficking of pins worldwide.

For many years now, food bank volunteers have been joined by OPP auxiliary members and it’s been a mutually beneficial arrangement.

In Sydenham, Verona and Sharbot Lake (like last Saturday), auxiliary officers have brought a police vehicle to a local grocery store (like Mike Dean’s) and joined food bank volunteers to collect foodstuffs and cash donations. They call it Stuff the Cruiser.

“I’m local and my mom’s on the (food bank) committee,” said Aux. Const. Nicole Greenstreet, a veteran of a half-dozen or so Stuff the Cruiser campaigns. “So I know the need.

“Plus it’s a good organization to be supporting that’s vital to the community.”

“I just like to help out with the food drive,” said Aux. Const. Curtis Jacques, who was on his fourth Saturday. “There’s a need and it’s fun to meet people in the community.”

The new kid on the block this week was Steve Scantlebury, a “just retired a week or two ago” local whose wife Barb is also on the food bank committee and suggested he help out. He said he’d be back.

“Any donations of food and/or cash are useful,” said Barb, as the cruiser was starting to fill up. “It looks like we’ll have to take the cruiser over to the food bank and empty it out shortly.

“I just joined last year and we had one time when we had to empty the cruiser out twice.”

“We’ve been blessed with donations that keep us running,” said North Frontenac Food Bank Director Kim Pascal-Cucoch. “The auxiliary OPP officers have helped us collect a lot and they give us a presence.

“This is a wonderful community that supports us on an ongoing basis.”

The food bank, behind the St. Lawrence Employment Centre, accepts donations on a year-round basis.

In every basket they try to add tea bags, instant coffee, sleeve crackers, packaged pasta and jars/cans of sauce, boxed cereal, Kraft Dinner, peanut butter, jam, packaged rice and cans of beans, stew or chunky soup, salmon, tuna, soup, juice and tomatoes.

In baskets for families with children, they add snack pudding or apple sauce cups, fruit cups, granola bars, drink boxes, Rice Krispie squares, hot chocolate packages and canned pasta like Alphagetti or Zoodles.

Don’t be alarmed at the sight of OPP cruisers at Verona and Sydenham Foodland stores on April 1st – in fact, be sure to stop by and see how much food can fit into a police cruiser.

On Saturday, April 1, from 10:00am to 3:00pm, the OPP Auxiliary will be supporting the South Frontenac food bank by hosting their bi-annual “Stuff the Cruiser” event. In partnership with the Foodland stores in Verona and Sydenham, customers will be encouraged to make donations of non-perishable food, and stuff their donations in the OPP cruiser on site.

“The community was incredibly generous over the Christmas holiday season, and the food bank shelves were full and overflowing,” says food bank coordinator, Vicki England, “but as spring and summer approach, stocks begin to go down, particularly of certain items that are given out regularly” England states that the food bank is in need of certain items. “We are in need of cereal, small jars of peanut butter, chunky soup, pasta sauce, and canned fruit.”

England also states that the food bank is completely supported by donations, not only of food, but also of cash. “Many people don’t think of the food bank as needing money, but it needs to pay for operating expenses, and to buy fresh food like meats, dairy, and eggs.” Cash donations over $20 are eligible for a tax deductible receipt.

The food bank has one part-time staff member, and a dedicated team of twenty volunteers who receive and sort donations, and prepare and distribute food hampers to over 50 families – or about 80 people total – each month.

Adds Janet McComb, a food bank volunteer; “The Foodland stores are great, and put together packages of some of our most needed items. Then they sell these packages to customers at a significant price reduction.” Customers can choose to purchase a pre-packaged bag, or to donate whatever they would like.

“It’s always fun, and a great visual to see the OPP officers interacting with the public, and giving of their time to support our community,” says England.