Jon Roberts from Hydro One's Kingston office presented $10,000 to the Hinchinbrooke District Recreation Committee and Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith on Tuesday. The money comes from the Hydro One Power Play granting program, and will help pay for a play structure in Parham.

“We operate equipment in almost every town in Ontario,” said Roberts, "and all of our employees ... are committed to making Hydro One a good corporate citizen. Hydro One invests in our communities to build and maintain safe, healthy places for healthy, active lifestyles.”

Power Play is a granting program that was established by Hydro One in 2008 to support and enhance sports and recreation facilities in Ontario.

The Hinchinbrooke Recreation Committee has raised $10,000 on their own towards the project, and there is $15,000 in the draft 2015 township budget as well. With the additional $10,000 from the Power Play grant, the committee is now planning to purchase a $33,000 play structure and spend a further $2,000 on either wood chips or sand to go under the new structure.

The township public works department as well as Rec. Committee volunteers will be doing site preparation in the spring as soon as the ground is ready to be worked. The entire project has been costed out at $35,000 in cash, plus up to $15,000 in volunteer and township labour.

“On behalf of the Township of Central Frontenac, I want to congratulate the Hinchinbrooke Recreation Committee for all their hard work and many hours of fundraising in order to provide new playground equipment to be placed at the ball field in Parham,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Caption – (L to R) Jon Roberts from Hydro One; Mayor Frances Smith; Bob Teal of the Hinchinbrooke Rec. Committee; and Barrie Stanbury from Hydro One posing with a ceremonial $10,000 Power Play Cheque at the Central Frontenac Township office on February 24.

Elected officials from the Township of South Frontenac and Frontenac County Council along with members of the County's 150th Anniversary committee helped celebrate the 5th annual Family Day at the Frontenac Arena in Piccadilly. The celebrations included giving out 150 free barbequed sausages courtesy of Gilmour's on 38 in Harrowsmith.

Though the temperature was chillier than normal, many families came out to celebrate with their young ones in tow and enjoyed outdoor games, snow shoeing, a free skate, a fireside marshmallow roast, horse-drawn wagon rides and more, with organizers expecting 800-900 visitors throughout the day.

The event was catered by Jeanette and Carl Pixley of Pine Ridge Catering in Yarker. It also included a draw celebrating community volunteers in South Frontenac, who were recognized by fellow residents for the important work they do in the community. A total of 20 winners took home a number of locally donated prizes.

Dan Bell and Pam Morey organized the Family Day event along with the help of a number of community volunteers. Both Bell and Morey are long-time volunteers in South Frontenac, both with the Portland District and South Frontenac recreation committees and the S &A Club, and together they are coordinating the 150th Anniversary celebrations for the county.

The two decided that Family Day would be a great way to spark off the celebrations. This is just the start of the fun and the official three-day anniversary party is scheduled to take place at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith on August 28, 29 and 30. This free summer event will include opening and closing ceremonies, an anniversary parade, fireworks, the Frontenac County Plowing Match, a Strong man competition, a dazzling line up of live musical guests, a vendors' market, a BBQ lunch and a beer tent.

Other attractions will include a wide variety of fun family activities, a wide range of heritage and community displays, and a special Heritage Ball that will be held at the Golden Links hall in Harrowsmith. Organizers hope that people will mark the date now on their calendars and bring along family and friends for what is sure to be a fun-filled weekend.

A detailed program of all of the events will be posted on the County's website come April. Alison Vandervelde, communications officer with the County, said that she is very excited about the plans for the County celebrations. “This summer's 150th anniversary showcase will be a fantastic event and we are hoping that residents bring along their friends and family here to the Frontenacs in August to help us celebrate.”

As usual, the Sharbot Lake Snow Drags, which took place at Oso Beach on Saturday February 14, attracted winter speed demons of all ages. The annual event, now in its fifth year, was resurrected in 2011 after a long hiatus by an enthusiastic group of young participants in the YAK program.

Official snow machine races are few and far between in Ontario, and so the Sharbot Lake Snow Drags continue to attract hundreds of riders from all over Ontario, Quebec and New York state. This year the event attracted 125 registered machines, 10 more than last year and more than that number of racers, proving that it continues to grow in popularity.

There were participants from Vals-des-Monts and Saint Jolie, Québec as well as American riders from Hogansbury and Ogdensburg, New York. In addition to the regular races, a few new classes were added to the lineup, including an improved stock trail class and a King of the Trail open class.

This year Rob and Jen Day of Kingston put on the BBQ lunch to feed the hungry riders and announcer Robin Flaro did a stellar job announcing the races. Youngsters were awarded their trophies right after their races and the other awards and prizes were handed out at a special awards ceremony at Oso hall once when the races wrapped up in the early afternoon.

The event is put on by the Oso Recreation of Central Frontenac with the help of a number of dedicated community volunteers. Key volunteers include Scott and Mitch Cox and their crew, who prepare the snow tracks. Mitch Cox said that the work for him and his crew this year was considerably lessened when professional groomers from the Snow Road Snow Mobile Club offered to groom the snow track. Previously, it had to be packed down by countless volunteer riders prior to race day. Spencer Robinson and his crew took charge of preparing the ice track.

This year, conditions were perfect for the races and Mitch Cox said that riders, observers and volunteers really lucked out on race day because the weather was considerably warmer than the biting temperatures on Friday and Sunday.

The races also give young riders a chance to show their skills. Seven-year-old Kaylee Mustard of Westport, who has been sledding for just over two years, raced for her very first time and it was a happy day for her when she took home a trophy after placing first in the Kitty Kat half track class. Hats off to all of the organizers and the countless dedicated volunteers who together put on another safe, smooth and seamless event that keeps sledders coming back year after year.

So just who was that tall, lean, fur-cloaked man who toured Sharbot Lake village, speaking with a Scottish lilt and sparking off this year’s Frontenac Heritage Festival?

He was no one-time, off-the-cuff impersonator. Paul Dyck, who played our famed Scottish first prime minister, Sir. John A. MacDonald, hails from St. Catharines, Ontario. He studied drama at Queens University and recently graduated in 2013. For the last four years he has been working as an actor for the SALON Theatre in Kingston, a company that focuses on the history of Kingston and specifically on Sir John A. MacDonald. Most recently the company has been working on a project called Sir John A . 2015, which gives an account of the life and times of Canada's first prime minister. The company offers up costumed walking tours of Kingston in the summer months and performs in a touring road and rail show for students across Canada. Dyck's height and practiced delivery make him the perfect doppelganger for Sir John A.

When I caught up with him as he toured Sharbot Lake prior to the festival's opening on Friday night, Dyck said that he has been playing MacDonald regularly for the last year and that he thoroughly enjoys the role. “You get to play a politician without actually having to be one”, he said. “I can be jovial and charming and offer up a bit of comedy and a bit of wit, which is always lot of fun”, he said as he posed with the staff at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy.

As far as the challenges go, Dyck said the difficulties in playing the famed Scot come with MacDonald's “complicated legacy” and the fact that he was such a complex and often polarizing figure. “He had a lot of both positives and negatives associated with his legacy and though the negatives don't often come up, I am totally prepared to deal with them when they do.“

Part of his responsibility in playing the role is knowing both sides of the story and Dyck, who is well read and a Canadian history buff, said he knows his facts and feels confident to be able to respond to any issues that do come up. Some of the more negative aspects of Sir John A.'s legacy, which Dyck cited, include MacDonald's attitude and treatment of Canada's indigenous people and the Chinese migrant workers, and of course MacDonald's well known tendency to overindulge in drink.

But Dyck was also quick to point out that he was also responsible for uniting the country, building the Canadian Pacific Railway, which Dyck cited as “the impossible dream” and “one of the single largest achievements the world has ever seen”, as well as launching the RCMP and the Canadian Coastguard.

Dyck said that the policy at the SALON Theatre is to always play historic roles “with warts and all.” “Our goal is to always bring awareness to both the positives and negatives of these historic persons and we always try to avoid being one-sided”.

Dyck was presented with a print of Sharbot Lake's mural of Sir John A.’s funeral train following the festival’s opening ceremonies and he also performed a couple of songs in the opening night talent show that followed. His appearance definitely made this year’s festival a memorable one.

by Joan Hollywood

Twenty-one brave souls toed the line and took off running when the town crier rang the bell.

On this Family Day, the first family was the Melkmanaters, Liam, Elizabeth, and Derek. Two k winners were: 1. Hazuki Ono, 2.Natsuki Ono, and 3. Macy Whan for the girls; and 1. Graham Melkman and 2. Victor Heese for the men. The 5k was all ladies with Sandy Robertson 1st, Naomi Ono 2nd, and Christine Patterson 3rd. Donna Larocque was first in the lady’s 10k race, while the men’s 10k was hotly contested by Rudy Hollywood 1st, Jeff Green 2nd, and Karl Kent 3rd. Erik Zierer from Flight Centre Associates presented First Local trophies to Charlotte Hilder and Victor Heese. $160 was raised for future exercise equipment to be placed outside for the use of Sharbot Lake and area families. Polar bear cookies were enjoyed by all.

They may not have cycled to the town hall on a cold February night, but the 18 South Frontenac residents who came out to talk about cycling in the township on Monday, February 16, certainly had less snowy roads on their minds.

Rookie Loughborough District Councilor, Ross Sutherland, called the meeting, and he was surprised by the numbers.

“I didn't have expectations of more than 10 people coming out, so I was really pleased with the turn out and with the discussion,” he said.

The cyclists talked about their favourite routes in the township, and a wide range of ideas were discussed on ways to promote bicycling in the township. They decided to form a group, which they are calling South Frontenac Rides.

Three co-chairs came forward to get things underway quickly. They are Leslie Kirby-Olcet from Perth Road Village, and Scott Gordon and Alastair Lamb from Sydenham.

Among those at the meeting was a representative from Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health, who said that the group's goals tie in nicely with Public Health's priority on active transportation, and that money was available to help promote activities.

Cycling also fits in to Frontenac County's trail initiative, which is slated for completion next year, and the Cataraqui Trail is another option for cyclists.

Three particular routes will be featured at South Frontenac Rides' first bike promotion day, which will take place in early June. Maps of the routes are already in the planning stages and other information for the novice cyclists will be available as well on that day. The group hopes to be able to create maps of numerous bike routes as they roll into the summer and fall biking season.

“The South Frontenac roads department has been widening roads by 2 feet whenever they have been doing repaving, which is a benefit for cyclists,” said Ross Sutherland, who cycled many of the roads in his own Loughborough District last summer during the municipal election campaign.

The next meeting of South Frontenac Bikes is set for March 9 at the township office/hall. For more information call 613-532-7846

On February 10 both the Sydenham High School's and the Frontenac Secondary School's senior boys' basketball teams went in undefeated into an exciting game that unfolded on the courts at Sydenham, where the Sydenham senior boys showed what it takes to remain undefeated.

In what was their season's final home game, the Sydenham seniors faced off against the Frontenac Falcons.

Sydenham came on strong early on and by the end of the first quarter the Golden Eagles were up by 10. Sydenham continued to pour it on in the second quarter and their aggressive play put them ahead by 20, with their win seeming imminent as their plan to play aggressively and to attack the basket paid off big time, garnering a 20-point lead that put the score at 35-15 for Sydenham at the half.

"The plan was to use our size and length to exploit and match up against the Falcons”, Sydenham's head coach, Shaun Kennedy said following the game.

That plan panned out but in the third quarter the Falcons fought back hard. Sydenham seemed a bit fatigued, and their complacency made for a quick come back for the Falcons, who battled back and in an eight-point run that had the Eagles licking their wings by the end of the third, they cut Sydenham's 20-point lead to 12.

“The Falcons definitely smothered us in the third,” Coach Kennedy said, “and we definitely started making some desperate plays. The Falcons managed to take away our think time and they chiseled the score down to where we had to rethink a bit about our patience.”

In the fourth Sydenham battled through and stilled the Falcons' comeback down, with Sydenham winning in a final score of 51-41.

Following the game Kennedy said it was “a heavyweight match up that has been brewing all season”.

The Sydenham seniors will face off against QECVI in their last game of the regular season and Coach Kennedy said that his team will now have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs (likely in first). Coach Kennedy is hoping his team goes on to play in the KASSAA finals.

The Frontenac Community Arena in Piccadilly will once again be hosting South Frontenac's Family Day.

The event is sponsored by the South Frontenac Recreation Committee and includes ice skating in the arena, wagon rides, games, snow shoe races, an obstacle course, hot dogs, hamburgers and hot chocolate.

And all events and food is free, courtesy of the Rec. Committee.

This year Family Day will also be the kick off event for the Frontenac County 150th anniversary celebrations. To mark the occasion, Gilmour's on 38 of Harrowsmith has generously donated 150 barbeque sausages to “fire up” the celebrations.

Photo: Colleen, Jim, Cheryl and Steve from Gilmour's

The Frontenac Heritage Festival this year kicks off on Friday evening, February 13 in Sharbot Lake at a new location, the cafetorium at Granite Ridge Education Centre. Not only will the Town Crier be on hand, Sir John A. Macdonald will be there as well, in addition to dignitaries from the First Nations and other communities. The ceremonies will get underway at 6:30. Before that, both the Sharbot Lake Country Inn and the Sharbot Lake Legion are putting on dinners, starting at 5:30.

The annual Heritage Festival Variety Show follows at 7:30, featuring music, dance, comedy and more with host Rob Moore.

Saturday will be a big day in the Arden area.

At the community centre, the Kennebec Trappers will be on hand, and the popular fur trader re-enactors, Mike Procter, Bob Miller and their sidekick Ray Fletcher will be cooking, throwing axes, demonstrating tools and making Crow's feet.

Rob Deruchie will be showing Wolf Creek Carvings, and the Arden Potters will be holding an empty bowls event in the all. Buy a bowl of soup or chili and keep the bowl, with all proceeds to the food bank.

There will also be games for the kids put on by the firefighters. Just north of Arden at the Henderson Road boat launch, the Kennebec Lake Association is presenting their 4th annual winter fun day; featuring skating, hockey, ring toss games, food and more. In the evening a fish derby and dance is slated for the Arden Legion (Branch 334)

Sharbot Lake will also have a full set of events on Saturday, including the popular Snow Drags at the beach. This event attracts hundreds of snowmobile enthusiasts from near and far.

For those who prefer the great indoors, the Artisan/Crafters Show & Sale runs from 10-4, with lunch available from Johnston Lake Organic's. The Craft show runs on Sunday from 12-4 as well.

The CF Railway Society is opening the Caboose at the Railway Park on Elizabeth Street for visitors, and over on the Fall River Road, Peter Bell is opening up the log home that he brought over several years ago from Brooke Valley and restored and furnished with authentic period antiques. Weather permitting, there will be a horse drawn wagon available at the junction of Fall River Road and the Trans-Canada Trail to bring people to the property.

In Tichborne, a broomball tournament, hosted by the Granite Ridge grade 8 graduating class, will take place at the rink.

On Saturday Night, the Sharbot Lake Country Inn is hosting a Valentine's Dinner and the Sharbot Lake Legion is hosting a dance.

Sunday is Polar Plunge Day at the Sharbot Lake Marina, starting at 11 am, where dozens of colorfully costumed Polar Plungers will descend into the icy waters of Sharbot Lake - and come out just as quickly!

This will be followed by snow shoeing on Fall River Road.

Finally, the Heritage Festival walk/run starts at 1 pm on Family Day Monday.

Volunteers and staff at the Snow Road Snowmobile Club (SRSC) seem to know the best way to attract riders and non-riders alike to their club. The club's regular bi-weekly Saturday breakfasts have long been popular with both snowmobilers and non-snowmobilers, and on January 24 volunteers served up no less than 170 breakfasts to early morning diners. Some came from the local area and some from as far away as Kingston, Smiths falls, Clayton, Perth, Westport, Carleton Place and Almonte. The breakfasts consists of a hot and hearty serving of eggs (as you like them), bacon AND sausages, beans, home fries (with or without onions), toast, juice, coffee or tea plus a wide selection of homemade dessert treats to boot. At a cost of $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 8-13 and free of charge for kids ages 7and under, the breakfasts are a real deal and they run on alternate Saturdays from 8-11am. The next one takes place on Sat. February 7.

Club president Ruth Wark said that the club, which formed in 1976, depends on the regular breakfasts for its regular upkeep and to help support ongoing renovations. The clubhouse has undergone numerous changes over the years. In 1979 a new addition was built. In 1992 a new kitchen and new bathrooms were added and in 2011 the club received a $60,000 Trillium grant, which together with the $24,000 that the club fundraised themselves, allowed them to expand the building and put in in-floor heating as well.

Club members are currently raising funds to put in automatic doors in the washrooms and entrance ways, change tables in the washrooms and a new dishwasher in the kitchen. The club not only serves snowmobilers from all over Ontario but also acts as a gathering place for locals.

Upcoming on Sat. Feb. 28 will be the SRSC's first ever Ride For Dad event. The event, which is a fundraiser for prostate cancer, invites riders from near and far to take part. Registration costs $30 but is free for participants who have raised upwards of $100 in pledges. Riders can either register online or on the day of the run at the club from 8-10am.

The 160km ride begins in Snow Road and runs through Hopetown, Middleville with a lunch stop in Lanark (location to be announced). The scenic four to five-hour ride continues on through Perth and Silver Lake and ends back in Snow Road. Riders can enjoy free coffee and donuts at the start of the run and the club is offering up free prizes plus a spaghetti dinner afterwards, with proceeds going to the club. Riders are reminded to stay on the trails at all times. The Snow Road Snowmobile Club is located at 1106 Gemmills Road in Snow Road.