(Editors note. This item is an edited version of the item published in the Frontenac News on page 1, March 26.2019 - the original quoted Dr. Moore saying the person who tested positive was a "patient" at the Northbook clinic.  Dr. Moore did not say whether the individual was a patient or a staff member at the clinic. The policy of Public Health is not to provide identifying information about people who test positive - JG)) 

On Tuesday afternoon, the COVID-19 pandemic hit home on the Highway 41 corridor.

On their Facebook feed, the Lakelands Family Health Team posted the following: “Our clinic has been closed indefinitely due to a single positive COVID-19 test. Despite our safety precautions we have one positive. Please take social distancing seriously!”

Later on Tuesday, Dr. Kieran Moore, Medical Officer of Health for Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington (KFLA), said that the case has been fully investigated by KFLA Public Health as part of their COVID-19 containment efforts.

“We have investigated and have contacted every individual who may have been exposed to the person who tested positive.”

To reassure the local community, he then said “if you have not been contacted, you have not been exposed.”

Moore confirmed that the clinic is closed because members of the clinics staff have been exposed and are in self isolation.

“The clinic staff will be available by phone while it is closed. Patients will continue to be served, but not physically at the clinic,” he said.

He also said that after a thorough investigation, KFLA Public Health has concluded that Tobia Pharmacy, which is in the same building as the Family Health Team but with a separate entrance, has not been exposed to the virus and can remain open to serve the local community.

A few days before this case came to light, the pharmacy had already instituted a strict protocol. The premises are not open to the public at all, only by phone, and prescriptions and other medicines and products are then available at an impromptu drive-through door at the side of the building.

Dr. Moore said that KFLA Public Health has conducted 492 tests for the virus, and 12 people have tested positive. Of those, 11 are recovering at home and only 1 has been hospitalised. Unlike Toronto and Ottawa, there have been no instances of community transmission of the virus as of yet in KFL&A.

“We have tied every case so far to someone who has traveled,” he said. He is hoping that by following the directives about social distancing, the communities in the region will be spared the clustering of cases that has happened in other locations.

The instructions on the KFLA Public Health website, which have been in place for two weeks, urge everyone to “practice social distancing and regular infection prevention (e.g., wash your hands often, cough into your elbow, don't touch your face, stay home if you are sick, etc.)

The site also says that anyone who has traveled outside of Canada in the last 14 days needs to enter self isolation for 14 days immediately after returning.

“The vast majority of people have been doing the right things, but if there is any weak link in a chain the chain can break, so everyone has to do their part.”

He also said that for the next two weeks, residents should not be travelling outside the region.

“It is time to hunker down.”

Seasonal residents who have decided to ‘hunker down’ at their cottages should be following the same practices as everyone else.

“Anyone who thinks that because they have left the city, they are not longer at risk is wrong. We all need to do the same things,” he said.

When asked if people coming to the region from Ottawa and Toronto should enter self-quarantine for 14 days, Moore said that is not called for at this time.

Of the other 11 KFLA cases, most of them come from Kingston and Napanee, but there are cases from the rural areas as well.

COVID-19 is here.

On Wednesday February 12, 2020 at approximately 8:30 a.m. officers of the Lennox and Ad dington (L&A) County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a report of break and enter at a local business on County Rd 41, in Northbrook ON

Investigation revealed that the suspect(s) entered through a side door sometime overnight before 5:00 a.m. on February 12, 2020 and stole a container and a quantity of cash. The investigation is currently ongoing

Police are asking anyone with information in relation to this Break and Enter and/or the suspect(s) to contact L&A County OPP at 1 888 310 1122.  Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may submit anonymously online at tipsubmit.com.

Back in the day, John Fradenburgh was part of the Toronto music scene. These days, he runs a coffee house/music store in Northbrook.

The musician in him remains strong as does his desire to play with other musicians. That’s probably why he invites a bunch of them over on the third Friday of each month (from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) for a bit of a jam. Essentially everyone’s invited, whether you play or not.

“I go back a million years, playing in rock’n’roll bands in the ’60s and ’70s (such as Donnie and the Corvairs),” he said. “I was known as a drop-in drummer — anything, any style.

“I was even in a polka band.”

These days, he’s pretty much settled in on bass, but he can play most instruments.

“I got tired of lugging drums around,” he said. “And on drums, you don’t get your name in lights.

“And, you’re in the back and if you get flashed, you have to be paying attention.

“I’ve been flashed about 20 times and each time I wasn’t paying attention.”

He did spend many years in the garage business (“I’m still a licenced mechanic”), from 1976 to 1990 in Brampton and Mississauga. But he and his wife at the time bought a cottage on 41 just north of Bon Echo.

“My wife always wanted a Yarn Store so we opened up Log Cabin Yarns,” he said. “I said ‘let’s start a music store’ so we were music and yarn.

“In 2012, my wife left and I didn’t want yarn so we just started selling coffee.”

Fradenburgh is hardly a newcomer to the local music scene however. He and a group of friends started up The Old Farts and were known to play regularly in places like the old Northbrook Hotel. They also hosted an open mike there.

But, as bands do, that one sort of dissolved of natural causes and this past spring, he decided to start up monthly jams again with Spill the Beanz becoming magnetic north for such things.

“We started off with country but I’m a rocker, Johnny B. Goode,” he said. “But I’ve learned a few country tunes.”

The format at Spill the Beanz tends to be an ‘anything goes.’ There’s no house band per se, essentially just Fradenburgh on bass and whoever shows up.

“Whatever you want to play, we’ll play,” he said. “It just can’t be too loud.”

And some people drive quite a ways to sit in with Fradenburg.

Dale O’Hara came from the other side of Belleville to jam.

“At most open mikes, you get two or three songs and then you sit down,” he said. “Here, I can do 10 if I want to.

“It’s a fairly long drive but it’s worth it.”

“For 34 years, the Legion was responsible for ceremonies on Nov. 11,” Land O’Lakes Lions Past President and Zone Chair Red Emond said Sunday night in Northbrook. “This year, we’re just assisting them.”

The Northbrook observances were a little different than what one normally expects. First of all, it was held on the night of Nov. 10. Yes, there was the traditional moment of silence, laying of wreaths, playing of The Last Post and Reveille as well as a reading of In Flanders Fields, but a couple of other things set these ceremonies apart.

What made this remembrance unique were the memories of three women, two who spent the Second World War in Kaladar and Flinton, and one who was in the thick of it in Yugoslavia and Austria.

Rose Merkler has lived in Canada for 60 years, in Toronto, Skoottamatta Lake and now Northbrook.

But when she was eight years old, she was in Yugoslavia, of German descent. (Rose’s older sister, Mitzi Mangold, was scheduled to be there as well but was unable to attend).

In 1941, Rose’s family lived in Zemun, which is now a suburb of Belgrade. Her family had been in the area for 600 years, however they still spoke German. It was at that time the Germans invaded and took over the area.

While her family wasn’t a target of the Germans, many families, particularly Jewish and Romani, were.

“I remember the concentration camp (Sajmiste) and the trucks taking people over the river,” she said. “They never returned.”

In 1944, the Russians came and took over.

“The Russian were taking revenge on all Germans,” she said. “My grandfather had an oil factory and my mother’s sister had gotten engaged to an Austrian.

“My father said we had to get out.”

She remembers a neighbour who decided to stay.

“The Russians came and killed him shortly after we left.”

Once in Wels, Austria, they thought they’d be OK but things changed quickly.

“In 1944, when we got there, Austria was still under Hilter, but soon the Russians came there too,” she said.

“The Russians were like animals,” she said. “I remember one woman standing on a bridge, who cheered and put flowers on the Russian vehicles saying ‘our saviours.’

“That night, eight Russians raped her.

“I’ll never forget the screams. They (the Russians) came in, took whatever they wanted.

“There was no food.”

She said she moved to Canada when she could because “Canada is known as the peacemakers of the world.

“The horror in the world doesn’t seem to stop and it was horror. You were not safe to go anywhere but here you are safe.

“It’s great to be in Canada.”

One-hundred-and-one-year-old Meritta Parks also has memories of the War Years, albeit not as horrendous as the ones Merkler carries.

Still, they were trying times.

“In 1939, food was rationed,” Parks, who was originally from Flinton but living in Kaladar at the time. “You got so much butter, so much sugar for each child.

“If you had a big family, you got more.”

Parks shared a story of coupon booklets and rationing.

“You had a coupon booklet and I never used my butter coupons,” she said. “We had a cow and made our own butter.

“The storekeeper in Kaladar (Arnold York) asked if he could have my butter coupons.

“I bootlegged butter.”

Parks’ younger sister, Verna Andrews remembers things a bit differently.

“Before the war, nobody had money,” she said. “When I first started school, I thought we were hard up but there were kids at school who only had a single slice of bread for there lunch and maybe they had a pair of rubber boots if they were lucky.

“I had clothes because of hand-me-downs but I remember my mother made our underclothes from flour bags — and sometimes, the flour wasn’t all gone.”

She remembers when the war ended quite vividly.

“In 1945, we had a big party in Northbrook,” she said. “Everybody was dancing in on the street, and it wasn’t paved at that time.

“We had a big square dance on the gravel road.”

A thunderstorm may have cancelled the geocaching event and forced the barbecue indoors, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the Lions Club of Land O’Lakes, as they gathered in their Northbrook Lions Hall Saturday to celebrate 50 years since their charter was granted.

“The actual date was Jan. 22, 1969 and clubs generally try to schedule celebrations closer to that, but we thought it might be tough to get a lot of folks to come here in the middle of winter,” said Past President Kerry Skipper. “At least you didn’t have to scrap ice off your windshield.”

As might be expected, the luncheon featured speeches and well-wishes from a variety of Lions and politicians.

There were 15 past presidents, nine past district governors, a reeve, a mayor, an MPP and three charter members in attendance, along with a host of members visiting from other chapters.

“Many organizations and individuals have benefitted from your generosity,” said Addington Heights Reeve Henry Hogg. “The list is too long to ever start.”

“Being here for 50 years proves you’re sustainable and how much you’ve done for the community,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins.

“The motto of Lions International is Serving the World, One Community at a Time, and that’s what you’ve done here,” said Hastings-Lennox & Addington MPP Daryl Kramp.

But perhaps the best speech came from charter member Terry Halzhauer, who along with Don Wannamaker and Harold O’Brien, was part of that 1969 group.

“I have many wonderful memories,” said Halzhauer, who is now president of the Denbigh-Griffith Club. “In 1969, Weldon Bahm moved here from Sarnia and bought a lodge,” he said. “He missed his Lions Club.

“We had a charter ceremony in North Addington Education Centre with Trenton serving as sponsor club.”

He said they’ve met in many area locations before building the present clubhouse in Northbrook. They’ve held a lot of bingos and casino nights since those original days.

“There were no women in the clubs in those days,” he said. “But we could always depend on our wives to help out (and) it’s good to see so many women Lions today.”

Looking for something different in the artsy-craftsy-curiosity vein?

There’s a new kid in town in Northbrook for that.

“We try for the unusual, even if it’s only the people,” said owner Karen Anderson at the opening of her new gallery/boutique, The Kuriosity Shop in Northbrook Saturday. “Everything here is local, from local artists and artisans.

“We felt a need for someplace like this and wanted to make it a joining place for the public and artisans.

“Everything is in on consignment.”

Inside, you’ll find everything from paintings, to quilts, to knitted things, to stained glass to repurposed artworks to skin care products.”

You won’t find antiques, however.

“We don’t do antiques,” she said. “Unless they’ve been turned into something else.

“Like a chair turned into a flower pot.”

Or wind chimes made from old cutlery.

There are the works of 28 artists and artisans on display, she said.

She said the building is wheelchair accessible.

The Kuriosity Shop is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

For photos of what’s available, Anderson suggests visiting their Facebook page.

“We try to keep it up to date,” she said.

In health care, as in all human interactions, people hold ideas and feelings about others that may involve judgement, demonstrate stigmas and reflect bias, which is harmful for all people. And more so for those who are most vulnerable in our society.

If you’re interested in countering bias to improve health care outcomes, then consider taking the Empathy Effect workshop. This workshop is appropriate for a wide variety of health care audiences, including medical, dental, mental health and government agencies.

It’s a 4.5 FREE training, in a fast paced, highly interactive workshop that combines opportunities for self-reflection and practical skill building, in a small group setting.

It includes refreshments, a text book, and an accreditation certificate.

It will be help at the Pine Meadow Nursing Home, 124 Lloyd Street, Northbrook, Ont.  This workshop is being provided in partnership with the Alzheimers Society, the Kingston Community Health Centre and Pine Meadow Nursing home.

May 28, 2019 starting at 11:30-4:00

For more information about this workshop, please call Pam Lemke 1-800-266-7516 ext 701.

Space is limited, so register early with Melissa 613-336-9120 ext 239.

Tickets for the annual Pine Meadow Special Needs Fund raffle are now on sale at various locations. The proceeds from the raffle sales go towards monthly excursions for the residents at Pine Meadow Nursing Home in Northbrook. This year, the prizes are a beautiful quilt, funded and constructed by the Treadles Quilting Group and a concrete fire pit designed by Tuscany Concrete. Tickets are $3.00 each or 2 for $5.00 and will be sold until the date of this year's Pine Meadow Charity golf tournament on June 22nd. The draw will be held at Pine Meadow that afternoon and will be announced at the tournament at Hunter's Creek. There will only be 2,500 tickets printed so they may not be available for that long. They are available at Bishop Lake, Nowell Motors and at Pine Meadow and will be sold by volunteers at local grocery stores over the next month.

The Special Needs Committee also organizes the annual Pine Meadow Charity Golf Classic at Hunter's Creek golf course. It is the biggest fundraiser that they undertake. Last year, this event raised over $20,000. Tickets for the golf tournament, which include a BBQ lunch and green fees, are a reasonable $55 per person, and are available through Eleanor Nowell at Nowell Motors in Cloyne. Call 613 336 2547 for information.

The funds raised through the raffle and the tournament owe a great deal of their success to the support of the small business community and to families in the surrounding region. The tournament has 80 to 100 sponsors annually and new sponsors are included each year. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please call Laury Hitchcock at 613 336 2394 or Esther Demczak at 613 336 2751.

Over its 16-year history, the tournament has raised thousands of dollars which is all directed towards extras that are not covered in Pine Meadow's funding. The home is a community owned, not for profit enterprise, under the umbrella of Land O' Lakes Community Services. This year, the funds will be used for additional adjustable dining tables, wing chairs for the activity room, heel supports, wheelchair positioning rolls and outdoor storage sheds, as well as all of the monthly outings.

Addington Highlands event organizers and businesses in tourism related sectors are invited to attend a special "Naturally L&A” Tourism Stakeholder Breakfast at Addison's Restaurant, 11893 Highway 41 in Northbrook on Thursday, April 25th at 8am. Those interested are asked to register by calling 613-354-4883 ext. 3271 or by visiting https://www.lennox-addington.on.ca/explore/addington-highlands-tourism-breakfast.

Participants will learn about a new funding opportunity available to Addington Highlands event organizers and tourism-related businesses. $5,000 is available for new event creation or for enhancements to existing events in Addington Highlands. Funding for new/enhanced tourism product development initiatives will also be eligible for funding at https://www.lennox-addington.on.ca/tourism-activation-program.

The morning will also provide participants with an opportunity to learn about fellow operators in the Addington Highlands community and find out about a number of new County-led tourism initiatives that are currently underway. Businesses will be able to promote their tourism offerings and look to build partnerships and experiences with other businesses. 

All businesses in tourism-related sectors and event organizers are encouraged to participate in this free event. Businesses are welcome to bring along brochures and publications to share with those in attendance.

The residents and staff of Pine Meadow Nursing Home had their very own Winter Olympics Competition. The teams consisted of staff and residents divided into teams of White Pines, Scotch Pines, Red Pines and Jack Pines! Over the two weeks, while cheering on Canada, they too were competing in similar games of curling, hockey as well as various other singing competitions and word scrambles.

Complete with Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the residents had fun waving their flags, representing their teams and of course accepting their medals. Each ceremony began with the singing of our National Anthem which brought those who could to their feet and the room beamed with patriotism. Extra special awards were given to those who showed most team spirit, most competitive and best out of the hack and so on.

It was a fun change of pace and great to see the team work between staff and residents!