November 15, 2016 – “An auto-parts heiress, married to a Russian yogi/ naturopathic doctor, is turning Kingston Penitentiary into a tourist attraction. Is this an investment opportunity to die for?” So goes the story line for the upcoming Murder Mystery Dinner happening on Saturday evening, December 3, at the Grace Centre, 4295 Stage Coach Road, in Sydenham.

Local charity Southern Frontenac Community Services is teaming up with Mr. Spot Mysteries to offer a fun-filled evening in Sydenham, where armchair sleuths can test their crime-solving skills in this hilarious production, while enjoying a lovely meal and the company of others.

Tickets for the Murder Mystery Dinner are $50 each, which includes not only the entertainment, but a sit-down, three course meal, with soup or salad, main course, one drink (beer/ wine/ soft drink), dessert, coffee/ tea, and dessert. A licensed cash bar will also be available.

“For less than the price of a dinner and a movie in Kingston, residents of South Frontenac – and beyond – can enjoy a fun evening out in the beautiful setting of the historic Grace Centre,” says Andy Mills, organizing the event on behalf of SFCSC. “Our meal will be prepared by our own cook, Josey Cadieux, and her team of volunteers,” he adds.

The Murder Mystery Dinner is intended to be a community event, and Mills states that SFCSC is involved for a few reasons: “We have this beautiful space, and we want to share it with our community quite simply by hosting events such as this. We also hope that we will meet some new guests who are not familiar with our charity, and will want to get to know us in the future.”

Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased online through the organization’s website: www.sfcsc.ca, as well as in person (cash or cheque) at their office at 4419 George Street in Sydenham.

For more information, visit: www.sfcsc.ca or contact Andy Mills at 613-376-6477, ext. 205.

In a cooperative effort between the Salvation Army and other agencies, Christmas Food hampers will be made available to individuals and families in need. The distribution effort in Central, North and parts of South Frontenac is coordinated by staff and volunteers of Northern Frontenac Community Services. Every attempt is made to make a hamper available to those who need one.

If you need a hamper, please call 279-3151 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, or come to Northern Frontenac Community Services Office 1020 Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake. The deadline for referral is December 8, 2016.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to support the Christmas Hamper Program please call 613-279-3151. Charitable receipts are provided.

There will be a few people at the Treasure Trunk Wine and Cheese fundraiser next week at 12795 Road 38 who will be poking around the building and grounds to see what the new home of the Treasure Trunk is all about.

“That's ok, we do want people to see the new building, to see our new home,” said store manager Janet Barr.

The Treasure Trunk is closing its current location on the day of the fundraiser, Friday November 25th, and will be opening at 12795 Road 38 eight days later, on December 3rd.

The Wine and Cheese fundraiser, which will go towards new signage at the Treasure Trunk, is taking advantage of the fact that the new building has been renovated and is still empty, not yet full of clothes, furniture, toys and household items. The silent auction will include a number of special items, including a print based on an original painting of a Tragically Hip Concert, two loads of gravel, a stained glass welcome sign, a hand made wooden clock, original oil paintings and artist reproductions, a cooler/stereo, and much, much more.

Admission to the event costs $10. It runs from 4-8 pm and there will be a large number of door prizes given out throughout the evening. And what is a little wine and cheese without music. The jazz flute trio Toute Ensemble willl perform as will Brian Roche.

A ribbon cutting with Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith and Town Crier Paddy O'Connor is set for 5:00 pm.

“We are very excited about the new space and the opportunity to celebrate with all of our friends and customers next week. It is 21/2 times as big as the old space and we were very fortunate to have Kevin Rioux and Glen Moase make the transformation happen,” said Barr of the building, which had been used as a metal shop by the most recent owners, Drapeau Fire Protection.

For further information, call Community Living-North Frontenac at 613-279-3731 or the Treasure Trunk at 613-279-2113.

Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) received a $45,000 grant from the Trillium Foundation earlier this year to purchase a vehicle capable of transporting staff and equipment to play-groups, youth events, and for seniors outreach programs. “The van came just in time, since our staff were starting to worry if they were going to arrive safely in our old van. It allows us to bring people, gear, whatever we need up and down Frontenac County” said Maribeth Scott, NFCS Director of Children and Youth Services.

NFCS delivers children and youth services in South, Central and North Frontenac, through playgroups, sports programs and workshops.

The agency also delivers adult and seniors programming in the region north of Verona.

“It all adds up to a lot of driving,” said Scott, “and having a reliable van helps. Lanark, Frontenac Lennox and Addington MPP Randy Hillier attended a ribbon cutting for the new van, which has actually been in service for a while. “I'm happy to help celebrate this grant from the Trillium Foundation. NFCS is an organisation that helps rural communities thrive.”

Cool weather is soup weather. Luckily, the annual VISIONSoup community fund raising event will be held at the Grace Centre, 4295 Stage Coach Road, Sydenham, on Saturday, November 19 from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

Guests will receive a beautiful hand-made pottery bowl to keep, which will be filled with delicious soup from local restaurants. All proceeds will be shared between the Loughborough Christmas Hamper campaign and the Southern Frontenac Community Services Food Bank.

“We are excited to be running this event again this year,” said Josey Steel, one of the pair of organizers who plan the event.

“We are contacting restaurants and getting more and more signed on to donate soup. We expect the final tally will be almost 20 soups!” adds Leslie Reade, the other half of the dynamic duo. “Sometimes people in our community need a helping hand, and we know that these two charities do a lot to help those in need in our community. This is a way we can give back.”

The cost for VISIONSoup is $25 per person, plus a food bank donation. Tickets can be purchased at Trousdale’s General Store, Sydenham Chiropractic Clinic, Sydenham Veterinary Services, and the Southern Frontenac Community Services office at 4419 George Street.

New this year, tickets can also be bought online, through our website: www.sfcsc.ca

Kim Cucoch of the North Frontenac Food Bank, flanked by members of the OPP Auxiliary at the fall 'stuff the cruiser' event in front of Mike Deans Grocery store in Sharbot Lake, on Saturday, October 29. A steady stream of store customers made food and cash donations from 10 until 2. The cruiser needed to be emptied more than once as food kept accumulating.

On Saturday October 22, the KFL&A Food Policy Council held an afternoon meeting at Grace Centre in Sydenham to discuss food-related issues. The overall focus was on food security, but underlying this were the stark statistics related to the other side of the coin, food insecurity:

“Food Insecurity: the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints.” According to the Health Unit’s 2013 statistics, over 8% of households in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington area live with food insecurity, unsure whether there will be enough food to go around by the end of the week, or unable to serve fresh meat or fruit or vegetables because these things are too hard to get or too expensive.

David Townsend of South Frontenac Community Services, first of three speakers, compared rural conditions to city living. Rural access to food can be difficult to impossible without transportation: few rural residents have walking access to convenience stores, and there are only three supermarkets in all of South, Central and North Frontenac (Sydenham, Verona and Sharbot Lake.) The two food banks are in Sydenham and Sharbot Lake. One food bank coordinator notes that “hunting season noticeably helps (the food shortages).” Our statistical median income may look reasonable, but Townsend pointed out that it is greatly boosted by the higher incomes of lakeshore residents, especially around Sydenham and Loughborough lakes.

Ayla Fenton, president of the National Farm Youth, spoke on behalf of young farmers, many of whom have not had the experience of growing up on farms. While in 1930, 31% of the population farmed, that percentage has dropped to 1.2% today. One problem facing beginning farmers is lack of access to farmland, either owned or rented. Also, Fenton asked, “Where are the profits going? Cost of food is rising, but farm incomes remain unchanged.” Getting fresh produce from a small farm to market can also be a challenge.

Toni Picard spoke on behalf of the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) program which would ensure that everyone receives an income sufficient to meet basic needs and to live with dignity, regardless of work status. She described how such a program, which some dismiss as ‘too expensive’ has been proven to actually cut health care and other costs, improve levels of nutrition, education and mental health, and inject cash back into local economies.

Participants then divided into discussion groups, to talk about programs and policies that might be developed or expanded to improve food security in local communities. Many ideas were floated, no hard decisions made, but the afternoon succeeded in raising participants’ awareness of some serious close-to-home issues.  

Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) has embarked on an exploration of the needs and desires of seniors in North and Central and parts of South Frontenac.

An online survey has been posted on the agency’s website (NFCS.ca) and will also be available at local libraries, churches, township offices, medical centers, and at the NFCS Adult Services office in Sharbot Lake.

The survey has two purposes, according to NFCS manager of adult services, Catherine Tysick.

“We are looking to see how well the senior population is aware of the services we provide,” she said, “and with a new generation of seniors moving in we would like to know what kinds of programs they are interested in.”

NFCS offers a range of programs for children, adults, families and seniors. Among the programs for seniors that are currently delivered directly by NFCS and through its affiliated agencies are counselling, mental health service, monthly Diners clubs, Meals on Wheels, housekeeping support, personal support, Lifeline, Adult Day Program and others.

Tysick also meets monthly with members of different seniors’ groups in Frontenac County, and in recent times she has noticed that as members of the groups age, the younger seniors who are retiring and those who are moving in to the area are not as interested in joining those groups.

“We are looking to find out what people are interested in seeing in their communities to help us design programs for the next 10 or 15 years,” she said.

The survey, which takes only minutes to fill out, includes an opportunity to enter a draw. Three of the people who fill it out will receive a $50 gift certificate to be used at a local business.

Anyone who is 55 or older can fill out the survey, which will be available throughout the month of November.

On a normal Wednesday, at least for 50 or so weeks a year, there is a boisterous gathering at St. Andrew's Church hall in Sharbot Lake at noon.

Twenty to 30 people gather to share lunch and help clean up afterwards. They laugh and eat and visit and clean up and then they are on their way.

Last week on October 12, the Community Drop-in celebrated 20 years and about 1,000 lunches, and while people have come and gone over that time there has been one constant, Mike Procter.

Procter runs the Adult Protective Services worker program at Northern Frontenac Community Services, and when he started the Community Drop-In his idea was to move beyond his own agency, to work with local churches and other agencies to develop a Drop-In for the entire community.

Procter works with a vulnerable clientele, many of whom are developmentally disabled, and works in concert with Community Living North Frontenac, a key partner in the Drop-In to this day.

However, it was important to him that the the Drop-In was welcoming to the entire community.

Twenty years later about a quarter of the people who come to the Drop-In are from the general public and the rest are clients of one of the local agencies.

“While I have been a constant, everyone who comes to the Drop-In is a volunteer. We plan meals together; we cook and clean up together. The people who attend decide what we eat, what kinds of activities people want to engage in,” he said.

Last Wednesday, to mark the 20th anniversary, over 55 people came to the Drop-In, packing the hall and eating a special pulled pork dinner prepared by guest chef Tim Cota.

“We needed to get Tim here this week, because we can't serve 55 people,” said Procter.

Procter said that the secret to the Drop-In's success, in his view, has to do with its outreach to the community at large. “There are other people in my position who started to hold weekly lunches, but none have lasted as long as the Drop-in”. Mike Procter thinks that is because they were limited only to the clientele of the agency that was putting them on.

“We have had so many people come to the Drop-In for a year or two after a partner has died or to get themselves out of the house after an illness, and then they move away or stop coming for some reason, but there is always someone else coming in afterwards,” he said.

The Drop-in operates using some of Mike Procter's work time and support from Community Living-North Frontenac, but the major source of funds to buy the food, coffee and tea that is served comes from the $5 cost of the meal.

“We don't have a lot of money to spend, but since the hall is donated and there are volunteers working here each week, including students from the high school, hundreds over the years, the Drop-In has been able to thrive,” he said.

The Community Drop-in takes place every Wednesday at noon. Lunch costs $5 including coffee and dessert, and all are welcome.  

More than 8% of households in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington area live with food insecurity. That's one in 12 households who do not know if there will be enough food next week or next month (from the 2016 Vital Signs report of the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area).

To address this issue, a “Food matters” event will be held at the Grace Centre, 4295 Stage Coach Road, Sydenham, from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday, October 22. People are invited to arrive between 12:30 and 1 pm, to meet and network with others. There is no charge and light refreshments will be served.

"Statistics about personal or family food insecurity in our region show the urgency for us to improve the food security situation here," says Dianne Dowling, a member of the Food Policy Council (FPC) for KFL&A. "That's why the FPC is holding Food Matters -- Connecting the Roots of Food Security in KFL&A, to bring people together to develop ideas for programs and policies to increase food security. Food security includes personal or family food security, as well as community food security -- the ability of the region to grow, process, store and distribute its own food. We want to help create networks of people involved in activities that relate to food and farming in KFL&A. Everyone is welcome to attend -- including community members, staff and volunteers in community organizations, elected officials, municipal staff members."

There will be panel presentations by Ayla Fenton, a young farmer; Toni Pickard from the Kingston Action Group for the Basic Income Guarantee; and David Townsend, executive director of Southern Frontenac Community Services, followed by group discussions on topics chosen by the participants. Recommendations for steps to increase food security will be collected from the groups and shared in the community.

Sponsors for Food Matters include: the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, City of Kingston, County of Frontenac, Kingston Community Health Centres, Loving Spoonful, National Farmers Union Local 316, Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul, and Southern Frontenac Community Services.

The Food Policy Council for KFL&A formed in 2012 to work toward the creation of a more secure, accessible and sustainable food system in our region.

For more information about the FPC and about the Food Matters event, and to register for the event, go to foodpolicykfla.ca