Organizers of the Ompah Volunteer Community Association’s Fall ATV run on Sept. 20 were thrilled that the annual event was able to take place this year even though the Ompah fire hall and community centre, which has been under renovations, was not ready to fully host the event.

Lindy Hay helps organize and run the ATV run along with its founders Denis Bedard and Rose Boivin of the Double “S” Marina in Ompah and their crew of volunteers.

Hay said she and her crew decided to cancel the event roughly three weeks ago, but there was such an outcry from riders that they decided to go ahead with it even though they could not host the dinner.

Over 300 riders attended the ride, which is a popular one for ATV enthusiasts from across Ontario and Quebec.

Unfortunately this year’s run included an unexpected glitch. Members of the OPP's Safe program came to promote trail safety, but Hay and some other volunteers said that they treated a number of the participating riders unfairly.

“Normally we are pleased to see the OPP,” Hay said when I spoke to her in Ompah on the day of the run. “They (the OPP) are usually great and help make riders aware of safety issues and normally ticket those who do not comply. But that was not the case this time around. Today they were ticketing people for going over 20 km/hour, unaware that the speed limit in town recently changed to 60 km/hour, meaning that ATVs can go 50km/hour on the road.” Hay said that riders were also being stopped and being asked to remove their two-ups while on the road and were being forced to walk the road portions of the ride between the trails to avoid receiving a ticket.

Hay said that as a last-minute solution, ride volunteers ran a shuttle service for some of the two-up riders so that they could be shuttled to where they had to go and avoid being ticketed. “We really try to make this event a family friendly run and the riders were really grateful for our assistance. As a result many of them donated to the association the amount of money that they might have been ticketed by the OPP, which was really generous of them.” Funds raised from the event go to the Ompah Volunteer Community Association, who support the community hall, the local fire hall, the fire fighters and others in need in the community. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s prizes: Jenn Sargeant who won the ATV trail seat; Henry Dekroon who took home the carrying case; and Ralph Coleman who won the helmet. Though this year’s run did not go as smoothly as usual, Hay said she hopes that things will be back to normal for the association’s next Spring run in 2015.

Over 90 paddlers from across the province endured the less than ideal weather conditions at the Ontario Canoe Kayak Sprint Racing Affiliation’s (OCSRA) O Cup Fall Classic event, which took place at the Point in Sydenham on an unseasonably cold and rainy September 13. The classic was hosted by the Sydenham Lake Canoe Club (SLCC) and 92 paddlers competed in a number of 200 metre canoe and kayak races as well as open and masters events. The event also included a 6000 metre team pursuit race open to paddlers of all ages.

The fall classic was the fourth race in the OCSRA's Ontario Cup series and it was a chance for paddlers to gain points that could lead to their joining the Ontario paddling team. The SLCC to date has 60 members, and thanks to a grant from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation that the club received in November 2013, it also now has a nationally sanctioned regatta course, which menas that major paddling events can now take place on Sydenham Lake.

Five paddlers from the SLCC competed on Saturday. Sebastien L’Abbe placed fourth in his heat in the 200metre K1 under 14 event. In the same event Ian Ramzy tipped his kayak and unfortunately was disqualified. Twin brothers Nicholas and Mathieu Symons, who competed in the under 12-200metre K1 event, placed fifth and sixth in their heats respectively. George Willes placed 2nd in his heat in the Boys K1 200m

Helen Parfitt, SLCC vice-commodore, explained that for the SLCC paddlers the event is not really about winning or even placing since the majority of the paddlers are quite a bit younger than many of their competitors. “The benefit of this event for our younger paddlers was to have the opportunity to compete on “home turf” and to have one additional opportunity to compete with paddlers from all across Ontario. Our young paddlers have had only one All-Ontario competition to date so our aim was to see how they fare ‘racing up’ with older paddlers in the U15 events”.

That being said, one Sydenham paddler, Genevieve L'Abbe, who is currently a member of the Ontario Team and who competed on Saturday as a member of the Ottawa River Canoe Club, placed first in the U 17 women's K200 event and her result will go towards her Ontario team's ranking status. Genevieve also raced in the 6000m team pursuit event and though her team did not place in the top three, it looks as though L'Abbe as a solo paddler is poised to make waves.

The seven clubs who participated on Saturday were Balmy Beach, Richmond Hill, Cobourg, Gananoque, Carleton Place, Ottawa River, and Sydenham.

One of the primary concerns of those competing, coaching, officiating and observing on Saturday was trying to stay warm. Prior to their races the Symons brothers chose to paddle around in their boats in an effort to keep their muscles from tensing up. One coach told me that wearing the right clothing is key. “It's all about layers and choosing the right kinds of fabrics. Wool is good, cotton is a no-no,” one coach said.

This year’s Ontario Cup was won by the Balmy Beach Canoe Club of Toronto, who took home the highest number of points overall. Saturday’s event attracted over 160 visitors to Sydenham and organizers wish to thank the many generous local sponsors and volunteers. For more information visit www.sydenhamlakecanoeclub.com

Seniors in Snow Road have been keen to stay active and healthy, and four members of the community took the initiative and have been running regular seniors fitness classes at the Snow Road Community Hall.

Recognizing their initiative and in an effort to serve the residents in their western North Frontenac catchment area, the North Lanark Community Health Centre recently trained the four local residents in their seniors fitness instruction program. Sheila Kittle and Carolyn Jarvis recently completed their senior fitness training through the NLCHC and are now holding one-hour classes at the Snow Road Community Hall. The classes take place there on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 -10:30am.

On September 8, Kara Symbolic, a community health promoter with the North Lanark Community Health Centre, attended the first official Monday class where 16 seniors were participating. She congratulated the four trainees, two of whom, Sue Sworowski and Laurie Ryder are just finishing up their training and will also be instructing the classes.

The NLCHC serves a large rural population and until now have been serving residents mostly in North Lanark. Symbolic said the NLCHC is unique in that it sends community health promoters and community developers, who work with community members on the root causes of illness and ill health. “We do a lot of health promotion and illness prevention by running programs like fitness classes, cooking classes and mindfulness-based stress reduction classes. We do a lot to help people build their own capacity to prevent sickness and disease from happening,” Symbolic said.

The classes and programs are free and are open to all members of the community. Participants do not have to be clients of the health centre. “People on fixed and low incomes often find it difficult to participate in community life so we have a strong commitment to being able to offer accessible programming for all members of the community,” Symbolic explained. Symbolic is delighted that Snow Road community members are stepping forward to make a healthier community. The classes at Snow Road are geared to seniors and older adults and incorporate a short warm up, 20 minutes of cardio vascular exercise, a cool down, 20 minutes of strength training and some flexibility and balance exercises. Those with specific injuries or particular health issues are welcome and can be easily accommodated in the classes. For more information contact Carolyn Jarvis at 613-278-0696.

Golfers Chad Van Camp, Ken Treadgold, Brad Barton, Mike Hurren, Johnny Knoxx who posed at the hole in one prize offered by Revell Ford Lincoln in Verona were five of the 92 golfers that participated in the Frontenac Minor Hockey Associations Rinks to Links golf tourney fundraiser at Rivendell Golf Club in Verona on September 6. Funds raised from the event will go towards supporting and building the various programs the association runs including their Learn to Skate and Tyke Initiation programs. The association is also hoping to buy new sweaters for their players this year. Following the tourney was a roast pork dinner at the club, which was included in the $100 ticket price. Al Pixley, president of the association, said that they were hoping to raise $6,000 this year and that he hopes to get more local sponsors out this year. “This is really all about supporting the kids in the community, building their confidence, getting them active and healthy and building sportsmanship and team work. “ Anyone interested in sponsoring the association can email Al Pixley at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

It's one of those classic underdog stories, but in this case it was a horse, her rider and their trainer who beat the odds recently in Fort Worth, Texas.

Brittany Doyle of Sydenham, her eight-year-old mare Pearl, and their coach Cindy Steele of the North Fork Equine Center in Piccadilly, traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to compete in the 2014 Appaloosa Youth World Show on July 3, 4 and 5. Brittany and Pearl placed 8th in the Hunt Seat Equitation Over Fences, 10th in the Hunter Hack event, and 5th in the National Snaffle Bit Association competition.

Brittany is a graduate of Sydenham High School and is currently studying for a bachelor’s degree in science and nursing at St. Lawrence College in Brockville. She has owned Pearl and has been riding her since she was seven years old and Pearl was six months old. The two have been training with Cindy Steele for the last two years.

The Appaloosa Youth World Show was Brittany's first time competing at an international level at a world class event, one that attracts thousands of riders and horses from all over the world. Brittany and Pearl have been competing nationally for the last five years and currently they are leading the nation in the Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure. Internationally Brittany currently stands in first place in the Hunter Under Saddle and third in the Western Pleasure, and with one more show to go this year, which takes place in Bethany, Ont. on September 13 & 14, she is hoping for first place finishes in both events.

Brittany first came in contact with Steele and the North Fork Equine Center when she did a co-op placement there as a grade 11 student at Sydenham HS. “I really enjoyed the experience and saw that it was a really well run facility so I decided to board Pearl here and also receive training and coaching from Cindy”, Brittany said when I interviewed the two at North Fork earlier this week.

Cindy Steele has over 30 years experience in the industry and opened the centre 20 years ago. She boards, trains and coaches and also sells horses. She trains and coaches in both English and Western styles and boards close to 30 animals, some of which are champions. She said it is the “small farm-type atmosphere here and the one-on-one coaching” that she has become well known for.

The underdog part of this story came out later in our interview when Brittany informed me that her standings in Fort Worth came quite unexpectedly. Pearl had been in a car accident in August of 2013 when a driver side-swiped the trailer she was riding in, causing the horse serious injuries to her back right leg and hip. As a result the vet said the horse would never jump again. “We talked about how to proceed and in mid-December 2013 we started Pearl back and with the help of a chiropractor and veterinarian we slowly and carefully brought her along'”, Brittany explained.

Cindy spoke of the special bond between the horse and her rider. “This mare has a lot of heart and I really believe that she would jump to the moon for Brittany”. Both Cindy and Brittany are thankful to their many sponsors, Brittany's parents and everyone involved who made it possible and helped raise $10,000 to cover some of the costs associated with their trip to Texas. Brittany dedicated her world-class win to Cindy Steele's sister, Lisa MacDonald, who passed away in August 2013 and who loved to watch Pearl jump.

Rob Moyse started playing high school football as a student at Smiths Falls High School in the 1970s and he hasn't stopped.

This year he marked his 25^th season playing touch football in the Kingston League and he has been playing on Sunday mornings in Brockville off and on since the mid-80s.

“I got back into football when I moved back to Kingston and I have never stopped. In the early 90s the Kingston Touch Football League was very competitive and we competed in regional and provincial championships. In those years I was a rusher; my job was basically to chase the quarterback,” he said when interviewed last week from his home.

In 1992 his team took the national championship, a highlight of his career.

These days he gets to play with his three sons, Nathan, Oliver and Samuel who have all played high school football for Sydenham High School, where Rob and his wife Patti moved to in 1993. Rob works as an intensive care nurse at KGH, a job he has held since moving back to Kingston from Moose Factory in 1988.

After playing at SHS, Nathan went on to play at Bishops University for two years and has been coaching summer football in Sydenham for the past two years. Oliver played on the now legendary 2010 SHS squad, which won KASAAA and went to the OFSAA finals, and Samuel is playing one more year with SHS this fall.

This summer, all four of the Moyse boys headed to Kingston each week to play on the same team, which ended its season with a semi-final loss last week. Their favourite games are in Brockville on Sundays, and there are a couple more Sundays this summer before the older boys head back to school, and Samuel rejoins the Golden Eagles.

As to how he has managed to keep playing for all these years, Rob said that his wife Patti is responsible for him being able to continue playing when they had a young family. Since then he continues to enjoy the game and playing with his sons is an added bonus.

by Helen Parfitt

Sydenham Lake Canoe Club’s Coach’s Junior Sprint Canoeist, Cia Myles-Gonzalez, who trains in Sydenham and paddles for Balmy Beach Canoe Club, and Midget Sprint Kayaker, Genevieve L’Abbe, who now paddles for Ottawa River Canoe Club (ORCC), both qualified to paddle at the National Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan next week. Both paddlers had a very good season leading up to the Ontario Championships. At the Ontario Championship Regatta in Ottawa, both girls proved that Sydenham produces strong women. A very versatile Myles Gonzalez won a gold medal in both the C2 200m and 500m, and the C4 500m. She won a silver in the K2 200m and a bronze in the C1 500m. L’Abbe won a gold in the K1 200m and 500m and K2 500m, and a silver in the U19 K4 500m.

Keeping the steam engine heritage alive

There is a small, rough dirt road next to the pristine Battersea baseball field that leads to an overflow parking lot for the Battersea Pumpkin Festival. Last Sunday about 15 cars were parked in that field, which opens up to reveal the raised and ground level tracks that have been built by members of the Frontenac Society of Model Engineers (FSME)

Members of the society, along with some of their compatriots from the Ottawa Association, were enjoying their monthly session running their miniature steam trains along the two tracks. The FSME owns a train that runs on the ground tracks and is becoming familiar to Frontenac County residents. It has been brought out to Canada Day in Sydenham and the Verona Festival to run on portable tracks and take children (and their parents) on rides.

On this Sunday the train was running on the track that the FSME has constructed on the site. The track lacks one section to become a complete loop so the train was running to the end of the line and then backwards to the start, taking some visitors on rides in the afternoon, as the sun peeked through the clouds after a long stretch of rainy weather last week. FSME members are hoping to get the track finished by the time the Pumpkin Festival rolls around this fall.

In the centre of the field, three men were working on their smaller trains on side tracks, making sure all the elements were operating as planned before setting off on the loop. When the coal was burning hot, and the steam was ready to push the pistons, the men climbed onto the seats behind the locomotives, let the throttle out and off they went around the track, slowly at first but eventually at a brisk clip around and around the track.

The FSME began building their tracks and using the Battersea location about four years ago. Before that they were affiliated with the Steam Pump museum in Kingston but found they had to move. They approached the Township of South Frontenac and came to an agreement. They have the run of the Battersea site, and in exchange they are an attraction in at least two township events each year. They have followed all township guidelines, even undertaking an assessment for the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority before building their rail bed and track at the site.

The hobby incorporates a love of making things mechanical along with a fascination with steam engines, which were a fundamental technology not that long ago in Frontenac County, and in Canada and the rest of the world - a technology that is gone but not forgotten by model engineers.

One of the priorities of the FSME is to bring new people into the hobby. Members are keen to share what they have learned, and the club owns its own train so it is not necessary to spend money buying a train or building one from a kit before joining the club.

Graham Copley, one of the engineers who came out to Battersea on Sunday from Ottawa, where he is on the executive of his own club, described the appeal of the hobby in an article he wrote for the Ottawa Citizen earlier this year.

“Members have an enormous range of skills and so here’s your chance to build something, for example an engine or an item of rolling stock. The hobby of model engineering can be delightful and fulfilling. There is a very wide scope of opportunity for you to join like-minded souls and maybe it’s time to revive your long unused wood-working or metal-working skills. Or you can take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the diverse membership. If that’s not your bag there are still lots of other non-technical things for you to get involved in. Model engineers are a social bunch both at the track in the summer and at winter meetings in members’ homes, all of which fosters a great sense of camaraderie.

For further information about the FCME contact the club president, Phil Ibbitson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

One of the misconceptions about kids' hockey that the volunteer board of the Frontenac Minor Hockey Association (FMHA) is trying to overcome is that getting kids into hockey is an expensive proposition.

It costs $100 to sign up children in the Learn to Skate program; $300 for the Tyke league; and even for teenaged youth the $500 annual cost is not that high considering that the season runs for six months and includes practices and games each week.

Cheryl Hallam, a hockey parent and communications co-ordinator for Frontenac Minor Hockey, moved to South Frontenac with her husband and two children three years ago. “We were paying $875 for our six-year-old son in Calgary,” she said. “It is more affordable here.”

The Flyers hold a used equipment sale in September, which helps defray the cost of new equipment for young players just starting out in the game.

“It is very important for the future of our league to bring young children to the game. We emphasize learning the game and having fun for boys and girls,” she said. “It's kind of a neat little gem of a house league that we have over here. The kids get to play in rinks around the region and at the Frontenac Arena, and there is a lot of camaraderie among the parents.”

Al Pixley is the current FMHA President, having taken on the role last year. He has been involved in hockey in Piccadilly at the Frontenac Arena, as a player and a coach, pretty much all of his life.

He says the current executive has the goal of “trying to create as many fun experiences for the kids as possible.”

He said that the Learn to Skate program provides a good opportunity for children who are not ready or not sure about playing in a league to get out and learn to skate with their parents. It runs for 10 weeks starting in October. "The more we can get kids skating the better it is for us, and for them.”

Children of any age, even those with no hockey experience, can play Frontenac hockey. The players attend clinics in September and then are evaluated. The teams are then made up, with an emphasis on making teams that will be competitive with each other.

The Flyers play with other rural teams that rim Kingston, including Gananoque, Deseronto, Tamworth and Amhersview, and the Flyers are fortunate to have had multiple teams in each division in recent years, a tradition that the team's executive is keen to keep going.

They are working hard to register children from North, South, and Central Frontenac. Online registration is available at Frontenachockey.ca along with details about the team and multiple ways to contact team officials, who are happy to answer any questions about how the league works.

They can also help parents navigate through a new initiative from Hockey Canada this year, Respect in Sport, a mandatory online session that at least one parent must take before their children can register this year.

“Respect in Sport fits with the goal of making sure hockey is fun and healthy for the players, coaches and parents. It is an imposition on families to take the course, but it is not long or difficult to take. It is just Hockey Canada's way of reinforcing the values that make hockey a Canadian tradition that endures,” said Cheryl Hallam.

For further information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The decision by members of the Verona Community Association's festival committee to shorten this year's Verona Cattail Festival to two days from its usual three in no way compromised what proved to be another successful festival year.

Organizers somehow managed to cram in all of the regular annual festival events that keep crowds coming back, including the popular duct tape boat races at McMullen park beach, which attracted 18 boats with 36 paddlers and many more people who helped to build the boats.

The opening parade, which took place on Saturday morning along Road 38 was also well attended with a fine array of close to 20 colorful, high-quality floats and numerous young and old bog-inspired characters. Prizes where given out to parade participants in several categories; winners included Sheldon Lovegrove, the Butterfly Princess Willa Morton, the First Verona Scouts for their float and Asselstine Hardware for their huge butterfly-ornamented float.

There were tours of Verona and a bigger and better than ever classic car show that was a huge draw on Sunday. New this year were live steam train demonstrations courtesy of the members of the Frontenac Society of Model Engineers.

The customary wide array of activities for kids were also set up on site and new this year was Morphy the bouncy caterpillar, which was a popular draw. The Cattail Express Train made countless trips around the grounds loaded with youngsters who also enjoyed the cycle and skills centre that was set up in the parking lot. Inside the hall were numerous educational games, displays and demonstrations for the inquisitive types. The canteen offered up regular and special festival treats like funnel cakes and more and the vendors' market this year swelled to include over 40 vendors.

Perhaps the biggest draw of all was the stellar line up of 14 live musical acts that were front and centre at the festival stage from noon till well after sundown. The groups included both local bands and bands from in and around the Kingston area, which kept festival goers entertained and the festival emcees Debbie Lingen and Dick Miller on their toes all weekend long. Juno-nominated Gary Rasberry was commanding the stage when I visited on Saturday while the powerhouse blues band Lisa V and the Roosevelts waited in the wings. The Saturday night headliners, the Rock a Billy All Stars and the Sunday afternoon closers the ToneKats show that entertainment coordinators Linda Bates and Rhonda Storring definitely did their homework. This year's festival was co-managed by Wayne Conway and Ron Bruyns and Conway said he was pleased with the early turn out on Saturday. On average the festival attracts between 2000-3000 visitors and with any luck, though one day shorter this year, festival organizers will continue to meet that mark.

Photos

-VCF parade 1 & 2 courtesy of Louise Day

2016- Debbie Lovegrove and Lily the Fairy strike a pose with Asselstine Hardware's butterfly float ornament

2011- youngsters loved the Festival's new Morphy the Caterpillar bouncy tunnel