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No confirmed cases in Frontenac County as of yet. 

First off. After following up on a number of rumoured cases, in both Sharbot Lake and Sydenham, as of Sunday, March 15, there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Frontenac County or the City of Kingston. There has been one confirmed case each in the Kawarthas and in Stormont Dundas and Glengarry.

There may indeed be cases that have not yet been confirmed through testing, but none have been confirmed as of March 15.

The latest from Central Frontenac.  "Township of Central Frontenac has closed ALL municipal buildings to the public including the municipal office. This includes all council meetings and municipal hall rentals. Waste sites will still be open as normal however, safety precautions are in place at each site.  These measures are being put into place to put the health and safety of everyone at the forefront. Municipal staff will still be reporting to work and available by telephone 613-279-2935. This closure will stay in effect indefinitely and reviewed on a regular basis."

The township of South Frontenac took measures on Friday, March 13. Not only did the township post information on their website (click here)  which includes information on prevention, detection and treatment, it are also links to the provincial and national government sites. The township also extended the deadline for property tax payments.

Further information is available at the KFL&A Public Health site (click here) Frontenac County has also posted information on their site (click here) pertaining to Fairmount Home, which has instituted limitations of visits in response to a directive from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Only “essential visitors” are permitted to enter the home at this time, essential being defined as those who have a resident who is dying or very ill”. These visitors will be actively screened. 

The same protocol is in place at Pine Meadow Nursing Home in Northbrook.

Within the broader community, many events have been canceled over the weekend, and many more that are scheduled over the next month are being canceled. Church services were held at some churches on Sunday and were not held at others. Please check with your own church for information.

Organisations such as Southern Frontenac Community Services (Diners Club, Grace Centre) have curtailed their services - Diners Lunch Club, Foot Care Clinics, VON Exercise Program and the COPD Support Group are canceled for this week. Adult Day Programs are not on the cancellation list which means they may be running this week. We will update this as information becomes available.

The Frontenac Arena, which was scheduled to close for the season on March 21, is closing as of tomorrow, March 16, eliminating March break skating opportunities.

All events scheduled at Frontenac Park are canceled and the Visitors Centre is closed. Day use of the Park is still permitted so the trails are available.

All public events and activities scheduled by the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, including events for children during March break, have been canceled, and as March 16 the branches are closed as well, until April 2. The Lennox and Addington Public Library has been closed.

Scheduled community breakfasts over the next few weeks, including in Snow road (Snowmobile Club – March 21) Sharbot Lake (Lion’s Club – March 21)) Verona (Lions’ Club – March 28) and Inverary (United Church – April 4) have all been canceled, as have a number of Lenten lunches.

All public use of recreation facilities in Addington Highlands, including the Flinton Recreation Centre and Denbigh Hall, are closed and scheduled events have been canceled, this includes bingos, etc.

The Maberly Hall, in Tay Valley township, is not accepting bookings and all township recreation programs have been canceled.

The Perth office of both MPP Randy Hillier and MP Scott Reid remains open. Residents are encouraged to phone or email. The phone number is 613-267-8239.

Council meetings are scheduled this week in South Frontenac (7pm on Tuesday, March 17 at the township office in Sydenham) and Frontenac County (9:30am at the County Offices in Glenburnie – shared entrance with Fairmount Home)

As of Sunday, the agendas for those meetings had been posted, but as with most events it pays to check before heading out because the situation is fluid.

All of the cancelations listed above have come about on or after March 13, and with most offices closing at 4:30 on Friday, a fuller picture will not emerge until Monday when offices re-open.

It is important to note that public gatherings have not been banned in Frontenac County. A show by Turpin’s Trail at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn on Saturday Night went ahead as planned. The St. Patrick’s Dance at the Sydenham Legion was canceled however, underlying the message to call ahead, and to follow the advice of Public Health officials to be diligent about hand washing and to remain in isolation if you have symptoms such as a cough or fever.

This list will be updated as information from our reporters comes in

Look to Frontenacnews.ca for updates or check our twitter or Facebook feeds. A full listing will be published in the Frontenac News on Thursday, March 19

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Wednesday, 07 August 2019 14:04

Getting the word out on Parkinson’s Disease

She’s well-spoken, knowledgeable and elegant.

Many years ago, in a previous life, while raising her family Susan Mactaggart worked in administration with the Art Gallery of Ontario helping organize some of the smaller exhibitions, and eventually ending up as co-ordinator of the Gallery volunteers.

Today, at 75, her 12-week old Cairn Terrier, Morgan, keeps her busy, as does her volunteer work around Green Bay on Bob’s Lake; she gardens, looks after the old 1928 family homestead, walks, and boxes.

She also has Parkinson’s Disease.

This is not something she hides. “What you see is what you get,” she says with a huge smile and a straight-on look. “Age sneaks up on you. At 70, you start to think about how much track you have left,” she reflects, “and the advent of Parkinson’s has made me think even more.”

So although Parkinson’s is a dominant part of her life, she still does everything she wants — admittedly…a bit slower. She left Toronto 20 years ago, her heart tugging her back to her roots at the country property; eight years ago, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, it dumbfounded her. Within 10 minutes, what she thought might have been a pinched nerve in her left hand, and a slight drag with her left foot, became a Parkinson’s diagnosis. She says matter-of-factly “my brain was telling me what to do and it wasn’t working. That’s about the essence of Parkinson’s.”

Susan takes time now to reflect on her present life and what the future holds. She has a few things to say…

The first is there should be a Parkinson’s 101 course for General Practitioners. “So many people are being diagnosed now…it’s almost an epidemic.“ Susan spent a while going back and forth to her GP before seeing a neurologist who diagnosed her within 10 short minutes.

A second is that living in the country is “probably the best antidote for Parkinson’s — peace, calm, lack of tension. Tension is the worst enemy for Parkinson’s” she adds, describing some of her daily activities like gardening, piling wood, bringing it in. “It’s a healthy lifestyle, not sedentary.”

She, like most other people with Parkinson’s, went back in her life scanning events, circumstances to see if she could find what precipitated the disease. In certain respects she led a stressful life but can’t put her finger on any one thing. Most Parkinson people say the same, and doctors don’t have a definitive cause either.

Susan doesn’t hide her Parkinson’s. “I’ve never kept it a secret.

A third is “it’s a fact of life, not unlike cancer. It’s not catching. When I tell people I have Parkinson’s and they immediately say ‘Oh, my goodness!’, I tell them it’s alright, quite alright.”

And Susan goes on…

For her, tiredness is the main manifestation of Parkinson’s. Always a doer she says she used to do ten times what she does now. So “it’s most important to recognize what you have, and mentally come to terms with it. There’s only so much I can do during the day even though my heart wants to do a lot of other things. That might mean at the end of a very busy day I won’t be able to go out for dinner because I’m just tired right out.”

Susan takes a combination of L-Dopa and Carbidopa, a fairly routine mixture, two pills five times a day. Sometimes, she says, it’s awkward pulling out a pill box, “being the odd (wo)man out.”

And she boxes twice a week. Exercise is becoming a turning point for people with Parkinson’s. It opens up small movements, it helps focus, stability and balance, it works on voice (at boxing they yell), and it grows a community of friends.

Saying that, Susan has another thought. As people with Parkinson’s grow older, they’re going to need help — from the extreme of total care to perhaps just someone to run errands. Here is a place for community service groups, she suggests, a way to jump in and help out.

And keep your friends and family close. “I talk to people every day; I have a wonderful lady who comes in and helps me around the house.”

So those are her thoughts about Parkinson’s disease and how to manage. She’s a local hero. There are lots of them around…we just don’t see, or notice them often.

On September 7, come out for the Parkinson SuperWalk at Conlon Farm in Perth; those with Parkinson’s (and their families) are walking as well as many caregivers, friends and supporters. Funds raised go to Parkinson’s Canada. For information, go to http://donate.parkinson.ca/lanarknorthleeds. Come and join the fight against Parkinson’s and get the word out.

“The more it’s talked about in the community, the less people make of it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. We are going to conquer this.”

Published in Lanark County
Wednesday, 12 June 2019 13:23

No break for local farmer at the waste site

Addington Highlands is prepared to work with a local beef farmer but wants a little more information before deciding how to proceed, Council decided at its regular meeting Tuesday in Flinton.

Area farmer Glenn Davison wrote a letter to the Township asking for “consideration regarding the cost of disposing of farm-generated waste once the transfer station is established.”

A beef farmer in the area since 1985, Davison went on to say: “As the costs for farm materials has tripled or quadrupled, the income made from cattle sales has remained fairly stable for the past 35 years. Additional costs to dispose of farm-related waste such as netwrap and twine off bales of hay, hay tarps and feed bags will have an additional negative impact on the already fragile bottom line in the farming industry.

“For this reason, I am asking Council to consider an exemption on farm-generated waste for farms that belong to OFA, Agricorp or have a farm business number as some other townships have done.”

“If I were him, I’d burn it,” said Roads and Waste Management Supervisor Brett Reavie. “But that wouldn’t be environmentally friendly.”

“I’d burn it too,” said Coun. Helen Yanch. “I wonder what waste it is.

“Is some of it recycling?

“I don’t know what he’s asking.”

“We’re not changing any of our tipping fees at the transfer station,” said CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed.

“They (farmers) already get a 75 per cent reduction on their taxes,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “What are other Townships doing with farm waste?”

Council instructed Reavie to contact Davison to see if some of his waste could be recycled and to conduct further research as to what neighbouring municipalities are doing with similar situations.

 

Burn Bylaw

Council passed a new open-air burning bylaw, the same one as neighbouring North Frontenac with which Addington Highlands shares a joint fire department for Barrie Ward.

Fire Chief Casey Cuddy said the new bylaw isn’t much different than the old one, “basically re-worded to make it easier for residents to understand.”

It does however, ban the use of fire lanterns in the Township.

 

Mandatory septic inspection? No

Addington Highlands won’t be instituting a mandatory septic reinspection program for lakefront properties, following a report from Chief Building Official Mike Twiddy.

Twiddy made the recommendation following a request from a resident.

“We thought this was coming from the Mazinaw Property Owners Association but the resident didn’t represent the association,” Twiddy said. “But I looked into it and while the Ontario Building Code was recently amended to establish and govern mandatory on-site sewage system maintenance inspection programs established by local enforcement bodies, we have the authority to establish an inspection program or not.

“I talked with some other municipalities and most agreed that if you have a program like we have with KFL&A Health Unit, you’re best just to leave it with them.

“If you take it over, you’re just potentially putting yourself into an antagonistic situation.”

He said that Belleville initiated a mandatory inspection program but phased it out as it became unworkable.

 

Fisheries Act

Addington Highlands passed a resolution adding its support to the Township of Bonnechere Valley to have changes to Section 2(2) of the Fisheries Act contained in Bill C-68 removed.

The amendment will deem any body of water capable of supporting fish as being a fish habitat.

“Whereas consequential of this amendment, puddles in farm fields, municipal lands, drainage ditches or water reservoirs can possibly be declared fish habitats,” said the Bonnechere motion, which also said the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has said the amendment “will place a crippling regulatory burden on family-owned operations.”

Published in ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 13:45

May is Hypertension Month

Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels.

High blood pressure means that there is too much pressure in the blood vessels which, over time, can damage the blood vessels and organs.

Hypertension is a specific condition in which blood pressure (BP) measures consistently higher than normal. Hypertension is often called “the silent killer” as it has no warning signs or symptoms and can only be diagnosed through blood pressure measurement.

Hypertension can affect anyone and is more common as we age.

 

Uncontrolled hypertension increases the risk of:

stroke

kidney disease

heart attack

eye problems (retinopathy)

heart failure

erectile dysfunction

dementia
diabetes

Managing your Blood Pressure

Lifestyle strategies used to prevent hypertension are often the same as those needed to control it.
Blood pressure is highly responsive to healthy behaviours, and some people may be able to control their blood pressure without medication. Others cannot, through no fault of their own, and will require medication to lower their blood pressure to a safe range. It’s important to note that medication never replaces healthy behaviours. Healthy behaviours and taking medication as directed go hand-in-hand in controlling blood pressure and reducing health risks. (Hypertension Canada, 2019)

Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and decreased amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure. This eating plan is known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Lifestyle changes include quitting smoking, losing weight (if you are overweight) and increasing your exercise such as a brisk walk of 30-45 minutes daily.

Salt (sodium) makes your body retain water. If you eat too much, the extra water stored in your body raises your blood pressure. Cutting back on salt in your diet is one of the best ways to help curb your blood pressure, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension. A general rule of thumb: buy products that are labelled with ≤5% daily value of sodium.

Hypertension Control tips:

Adopt all of the prevention tips and keep at them. They’re as important as medication.

Adopt the DASH diet and limit your sodium/salt intake

Take medication as directed and report side effects to your health care professional.

Do not stop taking your medication without first speaking to your health care professional

— unless you are having an allergic reaction.

Know what your target blood pressure should be.

Monitor your blood pressure at home, using proper technique, to see your progress.

Make sure you have the right size blood pressure cuff.

Have your home blood pressure monitor checked yearly for accuracy.

Keep a blood pressure log and show it to your health care professional at every appointment. (Hypertension Canada, 2019)

 

Please speak to your regular health care provider for more information on Hypertension.

Published in General Interest

Gale Chevalier will take over as Chief of Frontenac Paramedics on July 1st.

She shouldn’t have any difficulty fitting in, however, since she will be heading a service where she has spent her entire 25-year career as a paramedic.

She began working as a Primary Care Paramedic at Hotel Dieu Hospital Regional EMS in Kingston in 1994 and progressed to Advanced Care Paramedic in 1997. In 2004, after the Frontenac Paramedic Services took over the Hotel Dieu operation, she became the Operations Supervisor with the new service, and advanced to Supervisor of Quality Assurance and Training in 2009. She became the Deputy Chief of Performance Standards since November 2010 and Deputy Chief of Operations in April last year.

She also serves as the Acting Chief while Chief Paul Charbonneau was off on a leave of absence in late 2018 and early 2019. In February, Charbonneau returned from leave and announced his intention to retire, and the job was posted widely.

According to a Frontenac county media release, Chevalier “was the unanimous selection of the recruitment panel in a highly competitive field of candidates.”

With his replacement named, Paul Charbonneau is set to retire on July 1.

“I’m very excited and honoured to become the next Chief at Frontenac Paramedics, and I’m looking forward to leading a great team of professionals, and an organisation where I’ve spent my entire career,” said Chevalier. “I want to make sure we remain an employer of choice and continue to be leaders in the industry.”

The announcement of her appointment came one day after the news came out that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for Ontario intends the reduce the number of ambulance services in the province from 59 to just 10.

The potential impacts of the changes that the ministry is planning were not lost on her when she very briefly addressed Frontenac Council on Wednesday afternoon.

“It is an interesting time to take this on,” she said with a bit of wry smile when introduced to Council as the next chief, “but we will continue to provide the best service we can and we’ll see what changes come about.”

Out-going Chief Charbonneau reported to Council about what he had learned in the roughly 36 preceding hours since he found out about the Ministry’s unexpected plans.

“They said they will be consulting with the Paramedic Service providers, but it will be a quick turnaround for consultation, maybe a week or two, then we expect they will set up some sort of request for proposal process, similar to what they have done in other parts of the health care system,” he said.

“We have always been pro-active at Frontenac Paramedic Services, when it came to community Paramedicine or to addressing mental health issues among Paramedics, and we intend to be pro-active in this case.”

Charbonneau also said that when it was announced in the provincial budget that dispatch services were going to be rationalised into 10 dispatch centres it was widely applauded by Chiefs of Paramedic Services across the Province as a way to improve service.

“That was something the we had been asking for, but we never talked to them about cutting the number of providers. For our service, … It’s one of those cases where we need to decide if we want to drive the bus, be on the bus, or wait at a bus stop hoping to be picked up.”

Charbonneau said he will keep Council informed about decisions they may have to make “over the next 72 days and 2 hours before I retire, not that I’m counting the days.”

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Wednesday, 21 February 2018 10:55

Leonard Chan opens Inverary Pharmasave

Leonard Chan started working in his uncle’s pharmacy, as a volunteer, when he was just a kid. Later he worked in local pharmacies in Mississauga, where he is from, as a part-time and summer job.

When he went to University of Waterloo in 2006, he took a science degree with a pre-health option, and then took a pharmacy degree in the co-op program. Between co-op placements and work in the field since graduating he has worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals and for Health Canada as a program officer in the medical marijuana division.

As his career has progressed he has focused on bringing some of the modern aspects of pharmaceutical medicine to an independent, community based practice.

“Out of all the places I worked, I always found myself drawn back to the community setting and always wanted to open my own Pharmacy one day. Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals,” he said, when interviewed a couple of weeks ago as he was putting the finishing touches on the new Inverary Pharmasave.

For the past three and a half years Leonard has been working at the Gananoque Pharmasave as a clinical pharmacist.

Taking the job in Gananoque meant moving to the Kingston area for Leonard and his wife Rachel. The proximity to nature has been a welcome change for the couple, allowing them to enjoy the outdoors more.

“We love the outdoors and often camp, fish and hike in our leisure. It was these hobbies which attracted us to the South Frontenac area as we often canoe at South Frontenac Park and in neighbouring lakes.”

Leonard knew that he wanted to open his own pharmacy at some point, and when he got to know the region a bit better, he saw an opportunity.

“We realised there was a void that could be filled by opening a pharmacy in Inverary, with all the surrounding areas such as Perth Road Village, Battersea, Sunbury, Davidson's Beach and Glenburnie which could potentially utilize our services. The Inverary area is also growing at a rapid pace with the construction of new homes and developments, two new commercial buildings and a recent return of the LCBO outlet.”

The new Inverary Pharmasave is located just south of the hamlet on the east side of the road at 3810 Perth Road, in a new building that is set back from the 24 hour automated gas station.

The pharmacy is open Monday to Friday, from 9am – 6pm. Leonard’s vision of the pharamacy is as more than place to pick up medications, vitamins and household supplies.

“We want to be a healthcare hub, where people come to get advice and utilize some of the services our Pharmacy has to offer,” he said.

Among the services that Inverary Pharmasave are bringing on right away are: smoking cessation counselling; travel health counseling to ensure people are fully prepared and take the right precautions when traveling out of the country; medalign to ensure medications are filled on schedule; and strep throat an urinary tract infection testing.

Also, the store offers MyDNA Personalized Medication Test.

“Everyone has a unique genetic profile determines how their body processes certain medications. Some people process certain medications too quickly and receive little or no benefit. Others process some medications too slowly and have an increased risk of dangerous side effects. The myDNA Medication reports can help us personalise treatment by selecting the medications and doses that may work better for individuals.”

Inveray Pharmasave is also committed to being part of the resurgence of local business in South Frontenac and rural Kingston. As he was setting up the store, Leonard asked around and used social media to find products he could use in the new store.

Among those that he found were farmacy bath and beauty products from Harrowsmith, Litsie Creations from Perth Road who make artisan fabric bags, will be providing flax seed heat packs and maybe epipen bags at the pharmacy. The pharmacy also worked with Westwood Rustic Living of Glenburnie who are making the exterior sign for the store, and Rust and Roses Design, or Elginburg, who make metal signs.

Opening a new store is a big step for Leonard Chan, and along with a baby on the way 2018 is a year of big, positive changes for the Chan family.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 07 February 2018 13:09

CF firefighters and Naloxone

Central Frontenac Fire & Rescue (CFFR) will soon be equipped with a potentially life-saving tool to deal with opioid overdoses.

CF FR fire trucks will be carrying naloxone for use by trained firefighters to treat patients.

"The administration of Naloxone by trained CFFR personnel will enhance the level ofservice CFFR provides to the public". Fire Chief Greg Robinson said.

Acknowledging the increase in opioid-related emergencies in Ontario, CFFR. in alignment with current Tiered Response protocols and with the suppon of Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Public Health, will enhance service delivery through the administration of Naloxone.

CFFR Firefighters are currently receiving training to deliver Naloxone. The program will be implemented once all training is completed and the Naloxone kits are put on first response fire trucks, which is anticipated to be March l, 20l8.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Diane Dawber is living the good life these days. She is feeling strong and healthy, enjoying living on Wilmer Road next to Sydenham Lake

But that has not always been the case. In 1990, while she was working as a teacher and living in Amherstview, she had a foot injury, but tried to ignore it and carry on with her life.

“Gradually, the pain spread and we found out I had other injuries which all contributed to the pain,” she said, when interviewed last week at her home.

By the mid 90’s, the pain was pretty much all consuming, and she found it difficult to get around or even to sit.

Things did not improve much, if at all, and in 1996, with 5 other people in similar circumstances, Diane formed a study group.

“It was made up of nurses and teachers with chronic conditions who wanted to figure out how to improve our health,” she said.

The group’s focus was on reading and researching and sharing information. It was a self-help group of a sort but, as Dawber said, it was not about commiserating and sharing coping mechanisms, it was about finding solutions.

“We read books, and followed recommended therapies of all sorts. We tried every diet known to man, we tried environmental clean ups, we tried vitamins and mineral supplements, bio-mechanics, exercise and every strategy we could find.”

In the first six years during which the group met, they calculated that collectively they had spent $250,000 on supplements.

Gradually, through more and more focused research, the group, whose numbers began to increase, began to have success. One by one the original members found their way to better health.

The solution, which is tailored to each individual, has to do with nutrition and “gut bacteria” and the way to determine what will help an individual makes use of the sense of smell.

The group of friends and fellow travellers has become a charitable organisation, which is called Health Pursuits Reading and Research: MEND, which has developed a kit that is available to the public from the website healthpursuitsgroup.com.

The kit includes 56 vitamins and minerals, and instructions. The process is based on two simple premises. One is that individuals are unique, and the second is that our sense of smell can provide valuable information.

“Take one of these, say vitamin D for example,” Diane Dawber said, pulling open a small plastic bottle with a vitamin D pill in it. “If it smells bitter to you, you likely have more vitamin D than your body needs. If it smells sweet, you are low, and if it doesn’t smell at all you are likely OK for vitamin D.”

By using a combination of substances a picture can emerge of what issues are at play for an indvidual, and those can be confirmed by blood or other medical tests.

Over the last few years, Diane has been compiling all the information that was used to put the kits together into book form. The result is a new book, the Nutrient Scent test, which is a resource volume that includes sections on each of the substances in the kit, their interactions, and examples of individual cases.

The back jacket includes this short description of subject matter: “The Nutrient Scent Test provides you with a tool that is relatively inexpensive, easily accessible, and wide-ranging to determine when nutrients are adequate of deficient using your body’s nutritional intelligence.”

For Dawber the book is a culmination of years of effort, and marks the end of a chapter in her life as well. The original group does not meet any more because they are all doing well, and the website and Facebook groups are where meetings take place between people who are working on their own health issues and sharing information between each other.

A celebration event is set for December 11th from 12:30pm to 5pm at the Isabel Turner branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library to celebrate the completion of the book and the 15 years of research that went into its creation. The public is welcome to meet all of the original members of that group that began meeting 22 years ago.

“It’s more of a celebration of the fact the book has been completed than anything else, and a chance to inform more people about the Scent Test,” said Dawber.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

The Land Between charity in partnership with Watersheds Canada (makers of the Love your Lake program) are piloting the new Blue Lake ecolabel program for Cottage Country! It is poised to be the gold standard in lake stewardship. The Land Between has spent 7 years in developing and testing a new interactive database that combines water quality data, with fisheries information, and shoreline development data. This new database can also accommodate Love Your Lake data and other data sets and it is able to receive and instantly process new data entered from lake stewards, landowners, anglers and biologists. The database can already assess trends, highlight issues, and also be used for research. For example, we have been able to test and highlight shifts in lake health for many lakes in Haliburton county, and allude to what areas within the lake that need attention. Therefore, too we can highlight stewardship actions to take in order to help. “It is the first time in Ontario’s history that we have put all the key pieces of information that relate to lake health together in one digital warehouse.” Says Leora Berman, CEO of The Land Between charity. The database was developed with support of Sir Sandford Fleming geomatics students and using the best available science.

It has been peer reviewed by a team of biologists from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) and Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (OMOECC). Now, The Land Between and Watersheds Canada are poised to pilot a new ecolabel called “Blue Lakes Program” that will use this database (and companion app) as a core part of its framework. Lake associations that agree to adopt stewardship principles and actions will receive the ecolabel and with it, access to the database and app, as well as all the scientific data that is housed in the database, and also the realtime information that it generates about their lake. Ecolabel stewardship actions will include providing education to lake residents on best management practices, water quality monitoring, improving boating practices, and advancing natural shorelines on their lakes through planting projects. While enrolled lakes are recognized under the label and have access to the database, the platform will also contain educational content and links to news, research, and resources, and other cool and emerging features such as the Natural Edge shoreline restoration app. Enrolled lakes will also have ready access to ongoing stewardship programs, such as The Land Between’s Design Your Own Shoreline Garden Before launching the program across the region and beyond, the team are looking to partner with interested lake associations in order to pilot the program, to ensure that it is state of the art and effective.

Both Leora Berman and Watersheds Canada, Executive Director, Barbara King, agree that there are many benefits to cooperation under this new program; “This new project is a perfect complement to the Love Your Lake Program that has been so successful in raising awareness about lake health in Ontario. It is a stewardship-based ecolabel that combines the best of science and modern technology. We hope that it will empower landowners to take informed actions in order to sustain the health of our lakes for the foreseeable future.” If your lake association is interested in piloting the ecolabel, or for more information, contact Leora Berman or Barb King by visiting www.bluelakes.ca

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

When Kerri Pringle’s mother, Sharon Horgan, died of Sarcoma 9 years ago, she was understandably devastated. Among the ways that she dealt with her grief was to stasrt up a fund raising event to donate money to the University Hospital Foundation for research into Sarcoma, which is a rare form of cancer.
Kerri is a Pampered Chef Consultant based in Sydenham and at first she set up an annual fundraising sale for her customers in her own home.

Over the years the event has grown and moved to different locations. This year the evening is set for the Community Room at the Sydenham branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, and in addition to the Pampered Chef, five other businesses are participating.

They include: Hayley Hudson - Independent Consultant with Steeped Tea, Leann Benoit - The Crafty Gardener / Mrs. Bee, Amber Gustavel - Independent Consultant with Thirty-One Gifts, Amanda Kaiser - Independent Wellness Advocate with doTerra, and Jenn Kent - Independent Consultant with Arbonne.
“We are all friends and we thought by having us all there it will make for an enjoyable evening for all of our customers and the whole community,” said Kerri, “I’m looking forward to it.”

In addition to raising money for research, there will be material available about Sarcoma in order to raise awareness about patient care and research.

The vendors will be offering samples as well, and there will be raffles as well at the two house event, which runs from 6:30pm – 8:30pm on Thursday, November 9th.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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With the participation of the Government of Canada