Food Less Travelled, a store devoted to selling products produce within 100 miles of its Verona location, is taking Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations to another level. The business, also known as Local Family Farms, will feature a special promotion every month of 2017, fostering Frontenac County agriculture, with profits going to the North Frontenac Food Bank and Southern Frontenac Community Services.

“We’d been thinking about how we could celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, and this idea just fits,” says Kim Perry, co-owner of Food Less Travelled. “We have always promoted local food, and we really enjoy giving back to our community. We firmly believe that people who rely on food banks for their next meal are deserving of the same quality food that we eat,” Perry said.

Food Less Travelled was one of the first local businesses to become a Frontenac Brand Ambassador, a program designed to build the reputation of Frontenac as a great place to do business and enjoy an outstanding quality of life. To date, nearly 60 businesses have signed on to the ambassador program and are collaborating #inFrontenac.

“There are so many great businesses in Frontenac, like Food Less Travelled, who work hard to provide quality products and services, and build up our communities,” said Alison Vandervelde, Community Development Officer at the County of Frontenac. “The brand ambassador program connects business owners to a growing network of resources and supports, and multiplies our efforts to raise awareness of Frontenac,” Vandervelde said.

Food Less Travelled is posting their monthly specials on its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/locallyfarmed. To learn more about the Frontenac Brand Ambassador Program connect with Alison: avandervelde@frontenaccounty. ca or 613-548-9400 ext 331. This Friday, February 3, Kim Perry will be at Southern Frontenac Community Services in the Grace Centre in Sydenham at 11 a.m. to make a donation of 25 meat pies.

Come help us celebrate Canada’s 150th by participating in our 7th annual Polar Plunge as part of our annual Frontenac Heritage Festival. The first toes hit the water on Sunday, February 17th at 12 noon sharp! Our thanks again to Richard Struthers and his staff at the Marina for hosting the event. You can participate as a plunger, a spectator or even as a financial contributor!!

After two years of particularly polar postponements – this year we will jump the following Sunday if the weather is to be below -20 C. We will make a proclamation 24 hours before jump time on whether it is a go or not and this will be broadcast on the Heritage Festival Facebook page and website so check in the evening before, or the morning of the jump for the latest updates.

Plungers please show up between 10:45 to 11 for pre-plunge refreshments and safety briefing.  Paddy O’Conner, our Town Crier, will get things underway at 12 Noon and the first plunger will hit the water shortly after.  For the sake of the participants and the audience the action will be fast and furious and should wrap up within 30-45 minutes.  Through the generosity of St. Lawrence College Employment Center, Karen McGregor will join Mayor Frances Smith to present the trophies for our award winners just before the plunge.

Come!! Plunge with us - but if (for some reason) you can’t – why not sponsor a plunger??  Funds raised this year will go to assisting:

• Community Living – Treasure Trunk
• Northern Connections Adult Learning Centre
• Central Frontenac Fire Department

Thank you in advance for all your generous donations.  When making cheques out to plungers, please make them payable to: Township of Central Frontenac with a notation of “Polar Plunge” at the bottom.  If you want a receipt for your generous donation please include accurate postal address info on the pledge form so we can get the receipt to you!!  Our thanks again to Bill Young and the Firefighters for being in the water right there with us, the Emergency Services personnel for being on hand (just in case!) and the many volunteers that make this event possible.

For information or pledge forms, or for info on available plungers to fund please contact Art Holloway at 613-985-2895 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Last Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. and so it was appropriate that Parham’s Madeleine Tarasick would begin her talk to the Canadian Federation of University Women at the Perth Legion with a quote from King.

“Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter,” she said.

In 2013, Tarasick and fellow member of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Margaret Stewart travelled to the middle eastern country to help out with a project — essentially teaching Afghani women and girls to read.

“We don’t build schools, but we hire the teachers,” she said. “Our teachers get paid $1,500 per year and teach 150 students per day.

“They’ll teach anywhere they can even if it’s a tent in the dust.”

The CW4WA was formed in 1996 with the mandate to “advance education and educational opportunities for Afghan women and their families and to educated Canadians about human rights in Afghanistan” she said. They are a not-for-profit organization with two main field program areas — the Community Libraries & Literacy and the Investments in Public Education program.

The local chapter supports projects in Takhar Province, in the north east of Afghanistan and last year, the Perth CFUW provided training for six teachers.

Tarasick cited statistics from a recent survey that suggest attitudes towards women being educated in Afghanistan are changing. For example, 65 per cent of survey respondents disagreed with the practice of Baad (giving away a daughter to settle a dispute) and 80 per cent agreed that women should have the same opportunity for education as men.

Still though, not everyone agrees and there are dangers.

Tarasick said that when she and Stewart were there, they had to “be careful” even to the point of wearing the burka when going to the marketplace.

“There was one threat we received because men and women were in the same classroom,” she said. “We left right away.”

But, they are making progress, she said and things like cell phones and computers are having an impact.

“The area we’d most like to improve in is computers but they cost money,” she said.
To that end, CW4WA’s big fundraising Gala is April 28 at the Vimy Officer’s Mess in Kingston with guest speaker journalist Sally Armstrong.

For more information on the gala or local efforts, contact Tarasick at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-375-8290. For more information on CW4WA in general, visit their website cw4wafghan.ca.

One of the more popular events in the annual Frontenac Heritage Festival (Feb. 17 – 20 this year, the Festival’s 11th year) has been the Polar Plunge. You know, it’s the event where brave souls jump into Sharbot Lake down at the marina to raise funds for local organizations and charities.

Individuals have their own motivations for participating in what some call lunacy, be it altruism, a lost bet, or even a candidate for a federal government seat.

This year, Ray Fletcher will be completing his 73rd trip around the sun (“I’m turning 74 for the arithmetically challenged”) and contemplated taking the plunge himself.

Originally, his musings were more of a quixotic notion, with the caveat that pledges (which would go to Connections: Adult Learning and Community Living) would have to reach $3,000 before he’d get wet. But, the best laid plans and all that . . .

Fletcher was recently named President of the Board of Directors of Connections: Adult Learning in Sharbot Lake and now feels somewhat more obligated to immerse himself in frigid water.

“As president, fundraising is something I’m somewhat responsible for,” he said.

Fletcher maintains that the $3,000 goal is still in effect, but he’s sounding more and more like it’s a go.

“I plan to wear my 150th Anniversary shirt,” he said. “But it’s just going to be an in-and-out job.

“I’ll be coming out of that water like a Polaris missile launched from a submarine (and) I poor pity anybody’s grandmother who gets in the way of me and the heater.”

He’s even made up a little poem for inspiration:

“Here I stand, about to leap
“I know I’d rather be asleep
“If I should die in this frigid lake
“I’ll see you at my friggin’ wake.”

Actually, he’s not all that worried. When he ran into a doctor friend who suggested that the shock of jumping into a frozen lake might not be the best thing for his heart, Fletcher replied: “heart attack? My heart is the only part of me that’s untainted.”

The Polar Plunge (then called the Polar Bear Plunge) first became part of the Festival in 2011. It’s been canceled and rescheduled because of brutal cold but to date, there have been no incidents.

The Central Frontenac Fire Department is in the water to assist plungers and there is medical help available on site.

The Plunge is set for Feb. 19 this year at the Sharbot Lake Marina on Cannon Road, weather permitting.

“A teacher is a candle that burns to enlighten others'. This is an Afghan proverb and is very appropriate for the first meeting of 2017 for the Canadian Federation of University Women. The topic for this month is Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan) and the evening promises to be very inspiring. The goal of CW4WAfghan is to advance education to Afghan women and their families. This organization also works to educate Canadians about human rights in Afghanistan. The Canadian Federation of University Women(CFUW) is excited to welcome CW4- WAfghan back to our club for an update on the educational progress that has occurred in Afghanistan over the past year.

Please join us on Monday January 16, 2017 at the Canadian Legion Building at 26 Beckwith Street East in Perth at 7:00 pm to hear more about this dynamic organization. Returning to our Club to share information is Madeleine Tarasick of Parham, National President of CW4WAfghan, as well as one of the members of the Board of Directors, Margaret Stewart. A history of CW4- WAfghan will be reviewed as well as ways to become involved.

Canadian Women For Women in Afghanistan is a non-profit, member-based organization founded in 1996. This organization has ongoing educational and fund-raising activities in Canada. It also provides a human rights education initiative to provide Canadian and Afghan educators with free on-line resources.

In Afghanistan 3 million girls are back in school and will change the course of their country's future. However, more than half of school age girls are still unable to access classrooms and only 20% of young Afghan women are literate. This can and will change thanks to the work and dedication of organizations such as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan.

CFUW is an organization of women linked locally, nationally and internationally, to promote quality education, encourage participation in public affairs and improve the status of girls and women, all in an atmosphere of cooperation, fun and friendship. More information about CFUW Perth & District is available on our website: www.cfuw-perthdistrict.com

We are a group of members who have strived to follow the Mission of Victoria's Quilts, to provide comfort and warmth to those individuals who have cancer. Harrowsmith Branch is entering it's ninth year as a branch and we deliver quilts, free of charge, from Verona to Nappanee, Sharbot Lake and Harrowsmith into Kingston and area.

Harrowsmith is a hard working group but also enjoy the companionship of each other. Many lasting friendships have developed and the social part of our meetings have also become important as is our making of quilts.

Members can either be sewing quilts, ironing or helping to deliver quilts to recipients. These quilts are a gift and the feeling you get when you see the faces of those receiving these quilts is the answer to why we do this.

We are always looking for volunteers, so if you think you might be interested in joining us, we meet at Trinity United Church in Verona on the second Friday and the fourth Tuesday of each month from 10:00am until 3:00pm.

In the  season of giving, Sam Davison, President of the Grass Hogs Lawn and Tractor Club presented the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada a cheque for $1400.00. Pamela Morey, Kingston’s Children’s Wish Foundation Chapter head proudly and graciously accepted the donation Friday, December 16th at the Harrowsmith Social and Athletic Club. Davison mentioned that his club, which is based in Kingston, has been holding 50/50 draws at every race over the past 2 years and that some of the members even donated their winnings back to the cause. The Grass Hogs Club has been going since 2007 and consists of people from Ottawa to London. They race throughout the summer months at many exhibitions and fairs throughout Ontario. Davison and his members wanted to support local people who are going through a hard time. They want the money to go where it is needed and Children’s Wish is the perfect place.

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is the largest all-Canadian wish granting charity, dedicated to granting wishes to children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For more than 30 years, Children's Wish has worked tirelessly to grant heartfelt wishes to nearly 25,000 children and their families. Last year they granted nearly 1200 wishes, their largest wish granting year in their 32 year history.

Many children from Kingston and area have been the recipients of wishes.  Morey’s son received a wish last year. According to Morey, “wishes help take the child’s mind off their health for a while so they can concentrate on happier things, which is what a child should be thinking of especially this time of year.”
Visit www.childrenswish.ca or call 613-221-9474 for more information and to donate during the holidays.