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The Frontenac Heritage Festival returns to Central Frontenac Township this weekend for its 12th year.

Things get underway Friday night with an opening gala at GREC and the annual local talent show — Frontenac’s Got Talent.

The Festival swings into high gear on Saturday with a variety of events and activities in Sharbot Lake, Tichborne, Arden and Kennebec Lake. You can skate for free at the Tichborne rink all day.

Sharbot Lake will be busy starting with the Lions All You Can Eat Breakfast, a bonfire at the CF Train Museum and a Bucket Drumming Workshop for kids at the Child Centre.

But the Arden area has historically been the busiest area on the Saturday and this year is no exception with the Empty Bowls lunch with proceeds going to the food bank, the annual fur-traders camp reenactment, indoor displays from the Historical Society and Trappers Council along with games for the kids outside and chainsaw wood carving demonstrations. There’s a chili cook-off at the Legion too.

And over at the Kennebec Lake public boat launch, the Kennebec Lake Association is holding its 7th annual Winter Fun Day with skating, hockey, ring-toss, snow shoeing, ice fishing, campfire and hot food and drinks.

On Sunday, the focus shifts back to Sharbot Lake for the annual Polar Bear Plunge followed by live music and chili at the Legion. At 6 p.m., the winners of the photo contest will be announced at Oso Hall followed by a family movie.

On Monday, there will be games and activities at the ball field in Sharbot Lake and demonstrations of logging skills at Glen Matson’s farm in Arden.

Although there’s no official ‘chair’ of the festival committee for this year (founder/showrunner Janet Gutowski has stepped down), Mike Procter, who’s busy with different events three of the four days, said they’re always looking for volunteers (they’re good for this year), especially when it comes to planning next year’s event.

“All it would take is a 10-15 hour commitment, all indoors if you want,” Procter said. “We will train you.”

You can call Procter at 613-279-2572.

(And you can look for Procter at his “jockularity and prestidigitation” at the talent show, the fur traders camp on Saturday and with the Frontenac Blades tomahawk/knife throwers at Matson’s Farm.)

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

It took three special meetings but Central Frontenac Council and staff have their 2018 budget in order following a meeting Friday morning in Sharbot Lake.

The bottom line is that the Township will be asking its ratepayers for $434,525 more than it did in 2017, an increase of 5.94 per cent. That translates into $34 per each $100,000 of assessment or about $75 more on the average home in Central Frontenac (about $212,000).

Council had instructed staff to be under 2 per cent increase based on figures that include estimated growth, which they did (1.9 per cent increase based on those figures).

Some projects, such as new boards for the Tichborne Rink were put off for a year but other projects, such as Coun. Tom Dewey’s desire for portable microphones ($20,000), funding for the voluntary septic inspection program ($5,000) or the wind-up for the Canada 150 committee ($4,000) were simply moved over to bolster depleted reserve funds.

Other budget lines, such as a donation for the swim program, could be added to by public donations, suggested Mayor Frances Smith, but that may require some communications/advertising.

“If people don’t know there’s a need, they won’t contribute,” she said. “But you can come to the office and tell the clerk ‘this donation is for the swim program (or whatever) and they’ll see that it goes to the right place.”

Council didn’t seem to think Public Works Manager Brad Thake’s (tongue-in-cheek) suggestion of $10 per pothole had much of a chance however.

There was some good news in the budget.

For example, policing costs went down by $10,000 ($1,256,474 vs. $1,267,908) and recent revelations that the solar projects “have never paid for itself” because of some equipment problems could lead to future revenue once those issues are addressed.

Treasurer Michael McGovern reported that having the County look after IT was more expensive than originally proposed (“we were told it would be cheaper, it hasn’t been”) Coun. Phillip Smith suggested “maybe we should look at an outside provider.”

However, McGovern said that despite not being as cheap as promised, the service has been good and he wasn’t recommending a change.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Since the demise of the Land O’Lakes Tourist Association, Frontenac County has been partnering with the Ontario Highlands Tourism Organization, a group encompassing three full counties Haliburton, Lanark, Renfrew) and parts of three others (Frontenac, Hastings, Lennox & Addington) in order to promote tourism across those areas. OHTO one of 13 regional tourism organizations funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

One of the programs that the OHTO is promoting is called Ignite, and representatives from the County, OHTO and program facilitators were at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn Monday to invite business owners and tourism operators to the program.

“The Ignite program provides guidance, support and encouragement with inspiring new experiences and workshop elements to seed the development of new and enhanced tourism experiences,” said Stephanie Hessel, OHTO tourism development coordinator.

Todd Lucier hosts the program at his off-grid, solar powered nature retreat Northern Edge Algonquin in Algonquin Park. He’s run several similar programs in Newfoundland.

“The program is designed for rural communities,” he said. “Your goal is to have travelers go home telling stories about your area.

“Travelers are seeking more from their travel. No longer is it sufficient to offer things to see and do or promote our physical assets, features or infrastructure.”

He said the Ignite program is a three-day best practices mission for tourism related businesses and enterprises to learn techniques and principles of experience development.

One veteran of the program is brewer Andre Rieux, who runs Cartwright Springs Brewery in Packenham.

“People are coming to the brewery for tours, for the restaurant,” he said. “It’s become a destination.

“I thought because we have good springs and make good beer, it would be enough, but it wasn’t.”

Rieux said he met a chocolatier at a retreat that he attended and that led to chocolate stout, one of his best selling products, and to beer-flavoured ice cream.

“Things that aren’t normal are the most fun,” he said.

The application deadline for the Ignite retreat is Feb. 28. Since it is in the OHTO, it is not available to tourism related businesses from South Frontenac, but is available to those from Lanark County, Central and North Frontenac, and Addington Highlands. Thanks to subsidy from the OHTO, the cost to participants for the three day retreat, complete with meals and accomodations. The only cost covered by the businesses is transportation.

For an application or information, contact Hessel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-629-6486.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

Four years ago Joanne Pickett of Arden Pottery decided to start up an Empty Bowls project in her own community.

Empty Bowls is a fund raising project that has been embraced by potters throughout North America as a way of raising money and awareness about poverty. It was founded not by potters, but by two high school art teachers in Michigan, John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn. Students in Hartom’s class made bowls and then Hartom and Blackburn, who are a married couple, organised a lunch for students and teachers in the school. They filled the bowls with soup, and served them to everyone, then asked them all to think about those in their community whose soup bowls were empty. They then asked for donations and said, “keep the bowls”.

The concept of empty bowls was born. In 2002, Empty Bowls came to Eastern Ontario when Perth area potter, the late Jackie Seaton, started up the Perth Empty Bowls project. The project is now in its 16th year and has raised over $200,000 for local youth and food programs. The dozen potters who are involved have made over 9,000 bowls.

The experience of Empty Bowls for Joanne Pickett in Arden has been similar, although on a smaller scale. In the first year Joanne made most of the bowls herself and involved few people, raising $800 for the North Frontenac Food Bank, based in Sharbot Lake.

In the second year more people were involved and $1,400 was raised and last year $2,200 was raised.

This year local potters from Water's Edge Pottery, Aileen Merriam, Jonas Bonetta and Arden Pottery have donated over 100 bowls. For $20. diners choose from a menu of gourmet soups and chilies served in a one-of-a-kind handcrafted pottery bowl that they get to keep.

This year's offerings include smoked tomato and basil soup with shaved Parmesan cheese, chicken/veg and brown rice , creamy curried squash, and baked potato soup with cheddar and bacon - just to name a few. For the adventuresome among us there will be a wild chili - all ingredients (except for the salt) harvested in Kennebec township. Soups and chilies are served with a crispy ciabatta roll and butter.

Freshly brewed coffee and tea, and mulled cider will be available with a selection of delicious homemade cookies and cupcakes.

Also this year there will be a silent auction as part of the Empty Bowls campaign, with artwork donated by local artists.

The event begins at 10 am and goes until 4 pm on the 17th, when Arden will be chock full of Frontenac Heritage Festival events.

See the blue pamphlet in this week’s paper for a complete schedule.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Lilly Legacy-Zierer picked up the drumming bug playing the snare in her high school marching band. From there, she moved on to a Djembe troupe, the Fire Drums Festival and a host of other percussive pursuits.

And now, she’s the leader of the Frontenac Skies Community Drummers, a group of a dozen drummers ranging in age from 8-13.

“We’re currently rehearsing for the Frontenac’s Got Talent Show, Feb. 16,” she said while putting the kids through their paces at Rural Frontenac Community Services Child Centre in Sharbot Lake.

Armed with support from Blue Skies in the Community, a grant from Community Foundation of Kingston and Area and some buckets donated by Home Hardware in Sharbot Lake, Legacy-Zierer has embarked on a journey to bring world drumming styles together in the northern Frontenacs.

“I was assistant choir director for Young Choristers North when some bucket drummers came and I said ‘why aren’t we doing this?,’” she said. “I went to GREC and told them I’d do this on a volunteer basis and we had 28 students.

“But how can we make this sustainable?”

So, she partnered with Blue Skies in the Community and Rural Frontenac Community Services.

“The sole purpose of this is to have a performance-ready group to support community events, like the Heritage Festival and Santa Claus Parades,” she said.

And, it also gives kids the change to let off some steam.

“Drummers have a lot of energy,” she said. “And this is a way to channel it.

“This is something brand new and it’s based on the West African Dun Dun style of drumming so it’s not only drumming but movement too.”

She said they started off with rudimentary beats using recycled materials and gradually started adding world styles.

“Our bass drum is an old tire I had,” she said. “But it’s extremely rewarding.

“I regularly get parents thanking me.”

She said she’d like to build the program with an international drumming group of high school students and they’ll be holding open auditions for the current group in late February.

“We’ll likely bring in one or two more but that might be difficult because most of the kids say ‘I’m not leaving,’” she said. “My Grade 8 student, Draven Caddick, said he’s coming back to help when he gets to high school to get his volunteer hours.”

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Central Frontenac Council and staff met at the Oso Firehall Tuesday to have a second round of budget talks and while Treasurer Michael McGovern estimated they managed to cut about $10,000 out of the 2018 budget, it still looks like the Township plans to spend almost $348,000 more than it did in 2017, an increase of about 4.75 per cent.

On Tuesday, Council looked at the Fire, Public Works and Facilities budgets, with Corporate Services still to come.

There are still cuts likely to be made, for example, $7,500 for heat and $1,500 for electricity for the old library building in Mountain Grove.

In fact, Mayor Frances Smith told staff she wanted to see a report on all of the Township’s buildings within 60 days after Fire Chief Greg Robinson reported that the fire department has three buildings in Mountain Grove “one of which we use and two that we don’t.”

One of those buildings is used by the rec committee at the rink and Robinson said it could be used for fire equipment storage, which would make the old firehall in Parham surplus, meaning that property could be sold.

The former Hinchinbrooke Public School is expected to cost $8,000 but that could be considerably higher if the oil tank has to be removed.

In fact, several staff members suggested there were buildings and facilities that could be liquidated to reduce operating costs.

And there was some suggestion that even halls that are used are costing a lot. For example, Kennebec Hall brings in $3,000 in revenue but costs $20,000 to operate. Mountain Grove Hall costs $19,000 to operate while generating about $1,000 in revenue. Piccadilly Hall brings in $1,250 in revenue but only costs $8,500 to operate. Oso Hall (the busiest hall in the Township) is expected to cost $18,798 but brings in $5,500.

Coun. Phillip Smith cautioned that Council also has to look at ongoing commitments, using the proposed rink project in Sharbot Lake as an example.

“We’re worried about $5,000 for heating a hall but the ongoing costs for a refrigeration unit at a rink would be considerable,” Smith said.

Council instructed staff to go over the changes and recommendations already made and set Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. at the Oso Firehall for its next budget deliberations.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

The Township of Central Frontenac, in partnership with the County of Frontenac, is hosting two upcoming Town Hall meetings to explore opportunities for a senior’s housing project in Central Frontenac.

Two sessions will be held. The first will be taking place at Sharbot Lake Soldiers Memorial Hall in Sharbot Lake on February 8th between 2pm and 4pm.. The second will be taking place at the same Hall, same date February 8th between 7pm and 9pm.

“There is a need for more affordable housing options for seniors as well as a need for housing and support service options that will allow seniors to stay in their communities” said Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith. “Town Hall sessions will bring the community together to help identify options that could help solve problems,” Smith said.

The County of Frontenac retained SHS Consulting and Re/fact Consulting, to develop a business plan for seniors housing in each of the County’s member municipalities. A senior’s project has already been completed in the Frontenac Islands and a business plan was recently completed for a project for South Frontenac.

Unable to attend? Share your ideas/feedback by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Survey’s are available on Township website or pick up a paper copy at the Township office

613-279-2935 select “0” for more information.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

The 12th Annual Frontenac Heritage Festival is set to go Feb. 16-19 and one of its regular features, the local talent show, is once again the big draw on opening night (6:30 p.m. at the Granite Ridge Education Centre).

Once again it will follow the Frontenacs Got Talent format with guest judges determining an overall winner.

“Last year’s winner, Zack Teal, will be opening the show as per tradition,” said emcee Rob Moore at last Wednesday night’s audition/rehearsal. “A new winner will be crowned that evening.”

Once again there will be a variety of acts ranging from musical offerings to the demonstration team from Sharbot Lake Karate to poi juggler Eric Zwier to the Sharbot Lake Line Dancing group.

“And Mike Procter will be doing a magic show,” Moore said.

Following the opening gala Friday night, there will be a range of events and activities all weekend including skating at the Tichborne Rink on Saturday, breakfast at Oso Hall, bucket drumming at the Child Centre, bonfire warming station at the C.F. Train museum and a host of events including empty bowls, log-splitting, hay rides and pioneer village in Arden.

On Sunday, there’s the ever-popular Polar Plunge at the Sharbot Lake Marina followed an open mike with chilli at the Sharbot Lake Legion.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Central Frontenac Township has scheduled Feb. 8 for a Seniors Forum at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. to get feedback on the need for seniors housing in the Township, Mayor Frances Smith told Council at its regular meeting Tuesday evening in Sharbot Lake.

“The Seniors Housing Committee has come up with a survey we hope many people will fill out so we can determine need and interest,” she said.

Smith said the survey is short and has questions like ‘is there a need for seniors oriented housing in Central Frontenac?’ and ‘if so, where would you be willing to live?’

She said she and committee members Bill MacDonald and Louise Moody have taken sample copies to seniors lunches and Clerk-administrator Cathy MacMunn said they’ve already gotten three completed surveys back.

“There will be computers at the forum and people to assist filling out forms and there are also paper copies available at the Township Office,” Smith said. “Also, if you’re involved with any of the various agencies that assist seniors, they’ll have them as well.

“But we really hope a lot of people come out to the forum so we can hear from you personally.”

Frontenac County has money committed to building seniors facilities for each of its constituent townships. Frontenac Islands completed a residence under the program on Wolfe Island just before Christmas.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

For me, a highlight of the Christmas season is taking part in a few of the Christmas Bird Counts held in our area. This year I participated in 3 “CBCs”, as they are known by many – Westport, Frontenac Provincial Park and Sharbot Lake. So how did it go this year? In three words – cold, cold and colder! More on this in a moment.

Christmas Bird Counts go back to 1900, when American ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed a new holiday tradition of having people count living birds in their home towns. Coined the "Christmas Bird Census”, people believed that it could be a fun activity that also contributed to conservation. It caught on, and CBCs are now conducted in over 2000 localities across the Americas.

Christmas Bird Counts are conducted on any one day between December 14 and January 5. They are carried out annually within a 24-km diameter circle that stays the same from year to year. CBCs are usually group events organized at the local level, often by a birding club, naturalists’ organization or simply an enthusiastic group of volunteers. People participate in one of two ways: field observers cover a portion of the count circle on their own or with a small group, counting all birds they find. Feeder watchers count birds at their feeders for a portion of the day.

On the chosen day, field observation teams have 24 hours to identify and count every bird they see or hear in their assigned sector of the circle. At the end of the day, the numbers are compiled, and this information is reviewed and coordinated by Bird Studies Canada, the sponsoring organization in Canada. This data has proven to be very valuable in helping scientists better understand important things like bird distribution and movements and population trends over time.

 

The big day for the Westport CBC was Friday December 14th. It was cold and windy but sunny, with the thermometer reading about minus 20 when I set out. The mercury rose a little during the day, but the wind became more biting as the day went on. My tally was below normal, with 113 birds representing 12 species, but with several interesting highlights, including a group of 5 Eastern Bluebirds and 2 small flocks of Cedar Waxwings. Overall some 23 intrepid birders and feeder watchers tallied 5,030 birds of 54 different species. Among the most unusual birds were a White-crowned Sparrow at a feeder and a trio of Yellow-rumped Warblers – both very rare sightings during the winter in this area. Blue Jays were back in large numbers this year (at 501), in contrast to last year when they were virtually absent.

 

Next up was the Frontenac CBC. Coordinated by The Friends of Frontenac Park, the count takes place in a circle that encompasses Frontenac Provincial Park and includes the towns of Sydenham and Verona. Now in its third season, this year’s December 16 count drew 50 participants, many of whom met at the Sydenham Branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library for coffee and a great “Winter Birds 101” workshop. The weather was not unpleasant, with temperatures in the minus 7 to minus 10 range all day under sunny skies and moderate winds – a nice winter day. Participants tallied 3,502 individual birds of 48 different species. Highlights included a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Common Redpoll, both spotted at Loughborough Lake feeders, and 3 Rough-legged Hawks – all new species for the Frontenac CBC. Birders finished the day with a hearty and well-deserved meal at The Point restaurant in Sydenham. The day’s events also included a CBC for Kids afternoon workshop at Frontenac Park attended by several families. Plus, the Frontenac CBC had its first youth survey team, with seven participants aged 11-16.

 

Several years ago the Sharbot Lake bird count was revived by the keen and itinerant birder (and expert “pisher”) Andrew Keaveney, making this year’s count, held on January 5, the third consecutive recent count for this circle. The weather was likely the most memorable feature of the Sharbot Lake count day. There’s no way around it, it was brutally cold. Our small but hardy birding party headed out at 9:00 am with the thermometer reading minus 25 with a wind chill of minus 36. Man it was cold! We tallied 13 species and 83 birds, a bit higher than last year but still quite low. The cold weather handicapped us a little – I rely a great deal on my hearing to help me find birds, but the layers of hats and hoods I was wearing (to stay alive) muffled most sounds. Another teammate found the cold weather left his glasses fogged up all morning, so he was operating at less than 100%. And for the first time in my birding career, the exceptional cold made the focus wheel on my binoculars stiff and uncooperative.

 

At sundown, survivors converged on the Maples Restaurant in Sharbot Lake to thaw out and compare notes. In total 9 field observers and several feeder watchers tallied 1,347 birds of 32 species, including a Northern Goshawk, 2 Black-backed Woodpeckers and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Several Pine Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills were tallied as well, a pair of species that are not easily found in Frontenac most years. Perhaps the most interesting find was a Brown Thrasher being treated like royalty at a local feeder. Neither the thrasher nor the Red-bellied Woodpecker had ever been recorded on the count before. Bird numbers were down a bit over the long-term average, with the weather (did I say it was cold that day?) having an impact on bird numbers. For example, open water usually yields waterfowl like ducks and geese, but this year open water was very scare.

 

All of the above CBCs are looking for more volunteers. Anyone who is interested in birds and in spending a winter day looking for them either in the field or from the comfort of their own homes as feeder watchers are invited to join the fun. Those interested in participating in the Sharbot Lake CBC can contact Andrew Keaveney at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more info on the Westport CBC, please contact Wendy Briggs-Jude at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and to join the Frontenac CBC please contact Carolyn Bonta at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Participating in Christmas Bird Counts for me is a bit like a treasure hunt – it’s exciting to seek out new species to add to the daily tally or come across a group of interesting birds like this year’s bluebirds or the 110 Snow Buntings we spotted north of Westport during last year’s CBC. I also get a good deal of satisfaction knowing that our effort and the data we collect is helping to paint a continent-wide picture of the status of our winter birds. Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without looking for birds.

Published in General Interest
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