Well known Northbrook entertainer and businessman, Rick Cameron, is the focus of a 45minute documentary being screened at Belleville’s popular International DocFest on March 4.

‘Rick of All Trades’ chronicles the life and times of this remarkable octogenarian, from his beginnings playing semipro hockey in Toronto, to his current entertainment and business endeavours in Northbrook.

“You simply can’t find a more interesting and unique character than Rick Cameron,” says filmmaker Maurice McFadden of Cloyne. “He’s entertained thousands as a musician, standup comedian, costumed mascot and professional clown. Who does that?”

Cameron is well known in the Land O’Lakes region where he and his wife Anya operate an arts and crafts store and a wine business. Cameron and his band entertain at area nursing homes and run a monthly coffee house at Through the Roof Ministry Centre in nearby Flinton.

For years Cameron has been mentoring country singer Dallas Daisy Arney, who credits him with helping to launch her music career, and giving her the self confidence needed to be successful. “We have spent much time practising and performing music together over the years and many of my most treasured and memorable moments were with Rick,” says Arney. “Both Rick and his wife Anja have always been there to support me through most of my biggest challenges and successes in life; they both hold very special places in my heart.”

‘Rick of All Trades’ is being screened on Saturday, March 4th at 9:30 a.m. in the CORE Centre (former Corby library) in Belleville as part of DocFest’s local film program.

When Rosemarie Bowick took on the task of organizing a quilt show for the Frontenac Heritage Festival this year, she wasn’t sure they’d be able meet the mandate of 150 quilts in honour of Canada’s 150th Anniversary.

“I only had to make three phone calls,” she said. “The next thing you know, we had more quilts than we knew what to do with.

“We had to limit many to three or four quilts.”

While the final count probably won’t ever be official, nobody could claim they didn’t make their goal of 150 quilts. In fact, the more accurate question might be how much they exceeded it by. There were four official venues (the Masons Hall, United and Anglican churches in Sharbot Lake and the United Church in Arden), each packed with quilts and each played host to a steady stream of visitors.

“We’ve been jam packed all day,” said Bowick at the Masons Hall. “And people just seem to be blown away.

“One thing people seem to like is the little cards on each quilt with the story of how the quilt came to be.

“That was Janet’s (Festival organizer Gutowski) idea.”

At each venue there were a mixture of heritage and modern quilts, all brought in by local residents.

Which ones were the most popular?

“I can’t say which one is the most popular,” Bowick said. “All of them?”

One quilt in particular did get its share of attention, the 150th quilt.

Debbie Embry did the quilting and Bowick did the assembly, along with husband Bill.

It’s to be raffled off over this year with the winner announced at the New Year’s Eve Dance.

The only thing missing was some guy spinning plates on sticks to Sabre Dance.

But as the dust settled, country crooner Zach Teal took top honours in Frontenac’s got talent, the kick-off event at this year’s 11th annual Frontenac Heritage Festival.

Singer-pianist Amber Minutillo took second, poi juggler Eric Zwier was third and the Bucket Drummers were awarded an honourable mention.

It was an eclectic evening at the Granite Ridge Education Centre as emcee Rob Moore introduced 12 acts in a spoof of the popular ‘Got Talent’ TV format.

The “No” dancers kicked off the show followed by local legend Dave Dawson (yes, he yodelled a bit). Minutillo followed showing considerable promise followed by the increasingly popular Bucket Drummers.

What followed next was anybody’s guess but essentially it was pictures of some guy playing with his dog.

The last act before intermission was Rudy Hollywood and Brian Robertson camping up an ode to “Tichborne,” a performance that prompted judge Sherry Whan to observe: “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Intermission.

Coming back from the break was an act that pretty much defies description. We’re calling it Mike McKenzie’s levitation trick.

After that, a sense of normalcy settled in with Brett and Nancy Hilder followed by last year’s sensation Jennifer Argyle.

Then the lights went down for Zwier to spin his lighted poi’s (no fire but it was still pretty cool).

Then judge Mike Proctor took the mike for some comedic musings followed by Teal’s winning performance.

The Food Bank however was the big winner on the evening, collecting $475 in donations plus food items.

“Everything is falling into place” for the 11th annual Frontenac Heritage Festival this weekend, says organizer Janet Gutowski.

It looks like even the weather will be cooperating with partly sunny skies and temperatures around 0 degrees forecast.

“For the past two years, we’ve hit the coldest weekend of the year,” Gutowski said. “Even to the point of having to reschedule the Polar Bear Plunge.”

And speaking of the Plunge, it’s back on Sunday at noon where costumed plungers will jump into the frozen Sharbot Lake down at the marina to raise funds for Community Living, Connections Adult Learning Centre and the Central Frontenac Volunteer Firefighters.

Things get underway Friday afternoon as Gutowski, town crier Paddy O’Connor, Debbie and Doug Lovegrove will be going around to various businesses and organizations dressed in period costume to award prizes.

Those prizes, along with those for the snow sculpture contest will be awarded at the opening ceremonies at the Granite Ridge Educational Centre at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by the Limestone North Young Choristers.

Then, at 7 p.m., things move upstairs at GREC for Frontenac’s Got Talent, the annual variety show (admission is a donation to the food bank).

“(Variety show producer) Rob Moore’s enthusiasm for the variety show is amazing and there will be plenty of ‘variety,’” Gutowski said.

Things really get going on Saturday, with a variety of events all with heritage themes including Bavarian Curling in Tichborne with the Kingston Area Ice Stock Club (noon-2 p.m.), an open house at Peter Bell’s restored 19th Century log home on Fall River Road (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), Lion’s breakfast at Oso Hall followed by an open mike, a ‘romp & stomp’ at the Child Centre with kids events, the caboose in Sharbot Lake will be open, a host of events at the Community Centre in Arden including the popular fur-traders camp reenactment, wolf creek carvings, displays by the Kennebec Trappers Association and Historical Society, the Arden Potters Empty Bowls Project, horse-drawn wagon rides and finally the chilli cook-off at the Legion.

On Sunday, there’s the aforementioned Plunge, followed by chili on a bun at the Sharbot Lake Legion and the popular Tryon Farm visit on Wagarville Road from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parking is at the Parham Fire Station with a free shuttle every 20 minutes. There’s also a movie for kids at Oso Hall at 1:30 p.m., The Good Dinosaur. Sunday evening wraps up with a performance by Harry Manx at The Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake.
On Monday, there’s the annual Heritage Walk/Run at 1 p.m. Register at Oso Hall.

And something else that will be running on Saturday that Gutowski’s really looking forward to is quilt displays. Participation and interest was such that they had to arrange four venues to accommodate all the quilts.

“It will be at the Sharbot Lake United Church, the Sharbot Lake Anglican Church, the Arden United Church and the Masonic Hall in Sharbot Lake,” Gutowski said. “I think with this being the 150th Anniversary year for Canada, there’s been a lot of interest.

“The vast majority of quilts are heritage but even the newer ones will have something special about them that will show what we have in our hearts.”

Portland Community Church in Hartington is continuing its musical fundraising ways and 2017 began last Friday night with a concert featuring Bill White & Friends.

“We’re having fundraisers to pay for the steel roof which was put on some time ago,” said fundraising chair Judy Reynolds. “We had a very generous person put up the money and we have to raise a percentage each year.

“We’ve had ‘open mikes’ in the past but we’ve decided to go with bigger names this year and give them some gas money.

“This is the first one this year.”

The second one scheduled is March 3 with Mark and Sharon Alton, Ruth Gordon, The Singing Pastor Vernon Scott and Linda Slater-King.

“Then it’s Country Church in April with The Old Hymns and Don Edmunds,” she said. “So there’ll be no fundraiser that month.”

“We are planning fundraisers for May and June.

“We’re trying to keep this little church hopping.”

There’s also a fundraiser in the works to help Matthew and Sonary McCullough to help with their continuing work helping young girls and boys who have been victims of the sex slave trade in Cambodia.

“You can follow our activities through our Facebook page,” Reynolds said.

With her drum-making, songs, language projects and various other pursuits, Danka Brewer has been on a quest of sorts to preserve and pass on as much First Nations culture and lore as she can.

One thing she’s been trying to learn has been the traditional practice of quilling — taking porcupine quills and adding them to birch bark and/or other materials to form designs such as flowers, animals, birds, etc.

She hadn’t been having much success in finding someone with the traditional knowledge to teach her because there simply aren’t that many people around who know how it’s done.

“It’s a dying art,” Brewer says. “At one time, porcupines were a part of the Anishinabe diet and true to their culture, every part of the animal was treated as an available resource and was used for something.

“But it’s not much of a food source any more.”

As well, there’s a lot of preparation time involved in the art — harvesting, dyeing and such — and the actual crafting part is quite intricate and time-consuming. So, not a lot of people have the time or inclination to pursue it.

However, there is a lady, one Kim Muskrat of the Hiawatha First Nation near Rice Lake, who had been taught by an elder in Curve Lake. Muskrat has considerable history with the art as her great grandmother Pauly Soper and her sister, Margaret Anderson, were skilled in quilling. In fact, such was their skill that in 1860, a basket and briefcase made by them was presented to Prince Edward, who later became King Edward VII, and to this day the pieces are part of the Royal Collection.

Muskrat holds occasional workshops but Brewer’s schedule had never meshed with Muskrat’s until last weekend.

So, Brewer along with compatriot Tanya Strickland headed off to make the 166 kilometre (each way) trip to the Hiawatha Band Office for lessons.

They came home enamoured with their new skills and traditions.

“This will make my rotation,” said Strickland. “It’s the first craft in 10 years with Mother (Brewer) I’ve been able to do.

“I enjoyed it with ease.”

On this day, Brewer and Strickland made birch bark medicine boxes, punching small holes into the bark and inserting the quills to form images. There’s no gluing or anything like that involved, the quills make their own attachments and are folded over on the inside with tweezers. A second layer of birch bark is added on the inside to hide the quills.

It’s painstaking work, but something Brewer has always wanted to do.

“It’s the traditional knowledge,” Brewer said. “I already know how to make birch bark baskets and this (decorating them with quill work) is the next evolution.

“I can now pass this knowledge down.”

Brewer teaches a lot of classes, both in connection with school boards and other organizations and she plans on incorporating quill work in these.

But she also does traditional crafts just for the sheer love of it.

Although quill art can fetch prices of $50-500 depending on the piece (jewelry, wall hangings, feather boxes, etc), the amount of quills and the time it took to put together (antique pieces have been valued at $1,500)

But that’s not why Brewer does it.

“You never get back the time spent harvesting, dyeing and work,” she said. “I do crafts because I enjoy it and to pass it on to next generations.

“To keep the knowledge and traditions alive so we don’t lose them.”

Stephen Goodberry aka Elvis - aka Neil Diamond - aka Roy Orbison entertained a full crowd at the snowmobile clubhouse. The event was hosted by the Snow Road Community Centre and drew fans from as far away as Oshawa. Stephen was accompanied by his talented wife Debra and together they provided an excellent show with their vocal talents and their bantering interaction. They brought the crowd to their feet in an ovation and were gracious enough to do several encores. Thank you Stephen and Debra on behalf of the Snow Road Community Centre. Unfortunately the camera did not catch all the great "moves" in that leather suit.

One dedicated and long-time fan of "everything and anything Elvis" was absolutely thrilled with the performance.  Pearl Killingbeck received a souvenir scarf when "Elvis" did a walkabout in the audience and received a warm hug from her idol.   Plus she had the opportunity to enjoy some personal chat time with him at the end of the show along with her friends Olive Allan and Harriet Riddell.   

The music committee knows this will be a hard act to follow but are certain that Henry Norwood is up to the challenge. Join us at the Community Centre on Thursday, February 16th for another great evening of music.  Call 613-278-0958 for tickets.

It was standing room only at the Clar-Mill Hall in Plevna last Saturday as more than 30 pickers got together to honour Jack and Lois Weber on the occasion of Jack’s Jam’s 10th anniversary.

There were 90 people in total at that first jam (which went from 1 p.m. to “five to ll”) and there had to be a lot more than that for the 10th anniversary.

“Jack’s Jam is one of the key community events both for entertainment and socializing,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins while presenting plaques commemorating the event to Jack and Lois. “It’s popular for musicians, visitors and residents alike.

“It’s key to ensuring community spirit (and) lives on by sustaining historical traditions.”

Jack’s Jam started out in the Webers’ basement but soon outgrew its modest beginnings. After a few years, health issues required the Webers to scale down their organizational duties which were handed over to Karen and Roger Hermer.
“We started this just for enjoyment,” said Lois. “We still haven’t got many young children (although their 12-year-old cousin Hayden Weber was in the band and there was a 101-year-old young lady in the audience).

“Hopefully, Roger and Karen can fulfill my dream.”

“Age is catching up with me but I’m still not over the hill,” said Jack.

Jack grew up in the area and actually got his first guitar at age “16 or 17” but didn’t get much playing in.

“I learned a few chords but there was nobody in the country that you could get lessons from,” he said. “I didn’t sing much then either.

It wasn’t until he was in the army and stationed with NORAD that a buddy, Richard Frasier started showing him a few things.

And then, in Madison, WI, he went to a George Jones/Johnny Cash/June Carter/Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs concert.

“It was listening to Earl Scruggs that made me buy my first banjo (a Gibson RB250 Mastertop in Cleveland, OH),” he said. “And I bought Lois a guitar to keep her happy.”

After coming back to the area, Jack took a course and made 11 guitars. In 1997, he bought himself a Dobro (“I’m still working on that.”).

He admits to being a little nervous getting up on stage but a love of country and bluegrass music has kept him at it.

“I’ve had to work at it,” he said. “We were on the camping circuit for 15 years.”

He also admitted to being “a little overwhelmed” by the outpouring of affection on Saturday but “I feel very good about it.

“It’s all been for music, not for money, just the love of music and a lot of nice people.

“I really, really love all these people.”

He does have one small regret however.

“When I was young, I would have given anything to get lessons,” he said.

For her part, organizer Hermer was “thrilled” with the way things went. “We always have good crowds but never like this.

“I was hoping but you’re never sure . . .”

Got talent? If so, Rob Moore of the Heritage Festival committee would like to hear from you.

Actually, the ‘talent’ part isn’t even all that necessary.

“Yes, if you have a stupid pet trick, juggle or do magic, everybody’s welcome,” Moore said with a laugh.

Yes, the casting call is going out for Frontenac’s Got Talent, the annual talent show component that kicks off the Heritage Festival Weekend (Feb. 17-20).

To that end, they’ll be holding auditions Jan. 18 at GREC from 6-8 p.m.

Of course if you sing, dance, play an instrument, chances are they’ll find a spot for you.

The idea is a ‘got talent’ format show and judges Mike Procter, Sherry Whan and Brian Roach will be on hand to make suggestions and such.

“Last year, we did a Hee Haw takeoff,” said Moore who has hosted the past two shows. “This year, we thought we’d do an America’s Got Talent format, that will be part actual talent competition and part staged event. A lot of it will depend on who shows up.”

He said the ‘judges’ will be adopting personas from the American Idol panel with Procter being Randy Jackson, Whan being Paula Abdul (“the more positive one”) and Roach as Simon Cowell.

“I guess that makes me Ryan Seacrest,” he said.

But Moore said any barbs and jabs will be reserved for a couple of “ringers” they plan to bring in, which could be people from the audience.

“It’s a staged event in the form of a contest,” he said. “But the term ‘auditions’ is just a word we chose.

“It’s really an open call.”

And, he said, they’d really like to reach out to North and South Frontenac, not just Central Frontenac or Sharbot Lakers.

“I’d like to hear from people I’ve never met before,” he said. “The only real requirement is that your act is legal and doesn’t require us to get special insurance (ie, nothing involving fire or pyrotechnics).

“We’d really like to branch out and we’re even having the bucket drummers this year. It doesn’t have to be just singers.”

You can just show up for the ‘auditions’ or you can call Rob at 613-539-1280 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.

The show will take place on Feb. 17 in the auditorium following opening ceremonies in the foyer. There will be refreshments available at intermission and admission is by a donation to the food bank.

Jack’s Jam is celebrating its 10th birthday Jan. 21 and as such, they’re planning a few extra features when the music begins again at 1 p.m. in Plevna’s Clar-Mill Hall.

“Weather permitting, it’s going to be a special day,” said Karen Hermer, emcee and one of the organizers. “It will be in honour of Jack and Lois.”

Jack’s Jam was the creation of Ardoch pickers Jack and Lois Weber, who started out inviting friends to their basement. Their inspiration was the musical evenings that used to happen at Ed’s Place, a local restaurant owned by Ed Schlievert.

But the Webers’ basement soon filled up and the next thing they knew, they were at the hall, coming close to filling that up on many occasions and attracting musicians and audience members from as far away as Tweed.

Eventually, the Webers turned operations over to the Clar-Mill volunteers, with Hermer and her husband Roger ensuring that the event would continue. The Hermers have been organizing things for the past five years.

The Jam happens once a month excluding December, June, July and August.

The Jams also featured a regular house band, The Over the Hill Gang (Hugh MacDonald, Vietta McInnes, Bob Deschamps, Roger Hermer and the late John Fraser) who will reunite and perform Jan. 21.

There will also be a performance from the Land O’Lakes Country Cloggers as well as the current House Band (Lionel Grimard, Roger Hermer, Bill White, Vern Martyn, Bruce Pennington as well as Murray and Don White).
“It will be a bit different but the format will still be the same,” Hermer said. “We’ll fit everybody who wants to play in but be sure to sign up early.

“And of course we welcome dancers. It’s just like Dave Deacon says on his photograph - good music, good friends, good food.”

And speaking of food, there will be the customary pot-luck dinner beginning at 5:30 pm.

There’s no admission charge but there will also be the customary donations bucket.