At the Central Frontenac Council meeting in Arden last week, District 1 Rec Committee Chair Wanda Harrison and Glen Matson addressed Council on two issues — one being safety issues concerning the large white pine at the entrance to Kennebec Community Hall and the other being the sign on the hall.

“It’s grown to the point where maybe there is a problem,” Matson, who operates a tree business and offered to cut it down, said. “There wouldn’t be any charge to the municipality and perhaps we could make a plaque from it.”

“We’ve had issues with the needles on the ramp and stairs,” Harrison said. “When it rains and in the winter, they can get quite slippery.”

The tree was planted in a ceremony before amalgamation and the committee suggested replacing it with a smaller variety, perhaps in a ceremony in conjunction with the opening of the Heritage Garden across from the Mill Pond in late August or early September.

Council did approve the removal of the tree.

Concerning the sign, the District 1 committee is still hashing over several options, Harrison said.

While there is little doubt it needs some work, the question is just how historically significant it might be. It’s painted plywood that has sustained some rot and it could be quite fragile to remove intact.

Estimates vary as to when it actually went in (circa mid-’80s) and the actual name of the hall for that matter. But where the sign is now was the window of the principal’s office when the building was a school. There are no plans to change the diamond below the hall sign.

“Things are pretty much up in the air (regarding the sign),” Harrison said after a Rec committee meeting this week. “The presentation to Council was pretty much a stick-your-toe-in-the-water-to-take-the-temperature.

“We’ve had some offers to restore it but many people would like to see something new that incorporates the Township Logo.

“And at the end of the day, the Township owns the hall and all we can do is make recommendations.”

While many rural municipalities are still looking to squeeze more dollars out of tourism and Frontenac County wants to turn us into a community of goat farmers, one of our township mayors is definitely thinking outside the tourism/agrobusiness box.
North Frontenac’s Ron Higgins is gradually bringing together a concept that, if successful, could effectively re-write the blueprint for municipal governance.

It’s a bit out there, and something that you might more expect to see in a science fiction magazine than the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) bulletin, but strangely enough, it almost ‘feels’ possible.

Higgins freely admits that there are still ‘I’s’ to be dotted and ‘T’s’ to be crossed but he’s now at the point where he’s bringing a working concept to paper.

“North Frontenac, like other small rural communities are struggling to meet the needs of the community due to ever increasing taxation, cost of living and downloading of services from the provincial to the municipal level,” he says. “As a result the quality and level of services provided to the residents and visitors are being impacted in a negative manner  . . . we struggle to have basic services not only at the municipal government level from from a social level as well.

“This includes access to health care, food, restaurants and affordable housing as some examples.”

To counter this situation, Higgins has adopted a kind of Ubuntu philosophy. Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu word often translated as “humanity towards others” that Desmond Tutu argues was a formative influence on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“My mandate is to strengthen the community with the intent to enhance economic development,” he said. “We have many ideas to address this but we are limited in our financial capability to do so.

“What we do have is a strong human resource capital to make this happen.”

In other words, he sees the community contributing to the plan’s success by working together and restoring the political influence back to the people “so they can control the destiny of the economy.”

To do this, Higgins encourages the use of ‘Earthship’ eco-friendly building techniques (ie lots of solar tech and dirt) to create a vertical farming facility for aquaculture (fish farming) and vegetables.

He’s already had meetings with companies who specialize in such things and claims to have “$62 million in financing lined up.”

He’s looking at the North of 7 site to house a community operation/warehouse/restaurant.

The technologies for such a thing do exist in many countries such as the Shauguan Liran Fish Farm in China and the Kharp facility in Siberia. There are also vegetable/grain operations in existence.

And, he says he’s very close to a deal with an electrical generation company which would allow the Township to generate its own electricity.

“This step in the process is the one that will be the catalyst for resurrecting our community,” Higgins said. “I will be asking each resident to commit to three hours a week minimum to work on a community related project.

“Those who sign up and honour their commitment will receive free electricity for as long as they stay in the program.

“This concept allows us to resurrect our community that will be second to none in the world and begin to provide products and services to our resident and allow for income from providing these outside our community and to those who do not sign up for three hours a week.”

Higgins said he’s about “two months” away from presenting the actual plan.

They went all-out in Cloyne Saturday to officially open Benny Lake Heritage Park, with several musical guests ranging from a First Nations drum group and the Pickled Chicken String Band, poetry readings and a host of politicians including Shabot Obaadjiwan Chief Doreen Davis, two MPs and two heads of council.

On Aug. 2, 2002 a microburst tore through downtown Cloyne, destroying a grove of 200-year-old white pines. The public space has been renewed as a joint project of the Township of North Frontenac, the Land O’Lakes Garden Club, Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. and the Cloyne and District Historical Society. It now features a 5-foot-wide, 600-foot pathway constructed with stone dust with very little slope follow integrated accessibility standards. They also planted a lot of new pines

“If you come back in 150 years, it will be just as beautiful as it was several years ago,” said master of ceremonies J. J. (Red) Emond. “Today you’ll hear a lot of ‘I remember.’

“Let’s not forget the people that swung the axes, ate the food, the people that came before us.”

Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MP Scott Reid quickly picked up on the fact that this is Canada’s 150th birthday year.

“We have the third oldest written constitution in the world,” he said. “After the U.S. and the Swiss.

“And we were one of the first jurisdictions in the world to abolish slavery.”

Cloyne is a rather unique hamlet in that it straddles two federal jurisdictions split right down the main road (Hwy 41).

Cloyne’s other federal representative, Hastings-Lennox & Addington MP Mike Bossio said: “This is a valuable asset for Cloyne (and) it’s all about you.”

Cloyne also straddles two townships — Addington Highlands and North Frontenac.

Since the park is on the North Frontenac side, Mayor Ron Higgins got to cut the ribbon.

“This (Benny Lake Heritage Park) shows the dedication, hard work and perseverance of our volunteers,” Higgins said. “Thank you to Scott, Mike and MPP Randy Hillier for providing financial assistance.

“Before taking office, I didn’t realize the amount of work our volunteers do.

“I’m very proud of them.”

But perhaps the best speech came from Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg. It was, in typical Hogg fashion, short and to the point.

“I live (literally) right across the street,” Hogg said. “I remember the devastation.

“Acknowledge the hard work the volunteers have done and have a good day.”

Before the proceedings got underway, Hogg recounted a bit of what that day in 2002 was like.

“I was there that day,” he said. “We must have lost 40 trees, it was a mess.

“I don’t know how it missed the little house right across the street.

“It wasn’t just us that the microburst hit, though, I have a friend on (Lake) Kash(wakamak) who had five buildings.

“There was a tree on each one of them.”

It was standing room only at the former schoolhouse, now know as the Snow Road Community Centre on Saturday afternoon (June 17)

Gerry Lichty, President of the Community Centre, was the Master of Ceremonies.

The building was originally constructed in 1896. The local township, South Palmerston, provided the local school trustees with a debenture for $400 to cover the cost of the new building with the terms of repayment of $100 per annum with 6% interest. The school proved to be a wise investment wit attendance of up to 50 students a year. At times it was so busy that desks frequently did dual or triple duty. All this under the supervision of only one teacher. The building served serves as the local school until 1966, when it was decided to bus both the elementary and high school students to Sharbot Lake.

In 1976 a group of local citizens decided that the old schoolhouse should be preserved for posterity. On Oct. 20Th 1977 the “Happy Gang Senior’s Club” was established. Over the next three years an addition was dded to the back of the building to house the kitchen and washroom facilities and the meeting hall portion of the building was insulated, panelled, and carpeted. After many months of hard work and sacrifices it opened on august 9th, 1980 and almost 300 people attended the opening ceremony. The building became the focal point for local activities, meetings and entertainment. The school bell, which had been purchased by the Gemmill family at auction in 1966 when the school was closed, was donated back as part of the refurbishment.

Over the next 30 years or so, through good times and bad, even when the hall was much less active, a core group of volunteers maintained the facility. A few years ago $8,000 was raised through fund raising and with an additional 1,000 hours of volunteer labour the Township of North Frontenac, the hall was upgraded again. Corey Klatt, with the township of North Frontenac guided the volunteers through the process and helped see the dream through to reality. Thanks to everyone, including the Frontenac County Schools museum who created various displays and artifacts go that we have an enhanced appreiation of the history of the Snow Road settlement.

By 2015 use of the building had increased so significantly that major changes were needed again. With the help of the Federal government through their Canada150 program and generous assistance and wisdom of the Township of North Frontenac, the community came together once again to undertake the following activities: replacement of all he seating with new comfortable padded chairs; the addition of a heat pump to improve heating and provide air-conditioning; the construction of a new entrance to improve access and increase usable interior space;  the complete renovation of the kitchen facilities; and the refurbishment of the existing interior overhead sign. The facility has also been re-named the Snow Road Community Centre (it has been officially known as the South Palmerston Community Centre until now).

Walter Gemmil brought everyone together for the ceremony on Saturday by ringing the bell that he donated back to the centre so many years ago. Sharon Dowdall did a fantastic job and presentation about the history of the one room schoolhouse. Mayor Ron Higgins gave a speech. Wonderful music as provided by Walter Cameron and his partner Marilyn, who is a fantastic singer, as well as Eric Labelle, Eddie Ashton, Mark Hannah and Kevin Topping.

Olive Allen, Harriet Riddell, Ron Higgins and Eva Webster cut the ribbon. And there was cake of course, and cold drinks and coffee and tea.

It was a wonderful and interesting afternoon.

The Land O’ Lakes Garden Club (LOLGC), the Cloyne and District Historical Society (C&DHS), Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc.(MLFI) and North Frontenac Township have joined forces to regenerate the area between the Pioneer Museum and Barrie Community Hall in Cloyne that was devastated by a micro-burst in 2002, during which most of the trees were destroyed (some 200 years old). We will create a legacy parkland with educational signage for all to enjoy. The park will be named Benny’s Lake Heritage Park in honour of the family who originally owned the land. The Land O’Lakes Garden Club members have prepared a special project which will be unveiled at the Ribbon Cutting of the park.

The Bon Echo Rocks choir will be performing, Martine Buissart will be singing in French, Tunes and Tea, a local Ukulele/singing group will be playing, Eileen Fleiler will be reciting a poem about Benny Lake. There will be a BBQ with The Pickled Chicken String Band entertaining us while we eat.

Mike Bossio (MP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington), Scott Reid (MP for Lanark- Frontenac-Kingston), Ron Higgins (mayor of North Frontenac), several members of the North Frontenac Council, and Chief Doreen Davis (Chief of the Sharbot- Obaadjiwan First Nation) will be attending the celebration.

Please mark Saturday June 24th on your calendars and join us to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary.

Craig Beattie, of Edgewater Stonemasons in Kingston, loves working on restoration projects involving heritage buildings. He took the Heritage Masonry course, along with his colleagues at Edgewater, at Algonquin College and has worked on projects on government and other heritage buildings over the years.

These days, Beattie and his crew are at the Grace Centre in Sydenham, restoring the Grace Centre to the condition it was in when it was first constructed in 1861.  He said he is pleased with the condition of the building.

“You can see that the stone work is intact, nothing is really coming apart,” he said, pointing to the building. All we have to do is take out what is there and replace it with something that is as close to the original mortar as we can use nowadays.

He explained that the idea behind the original limestone based mortar was that the mortar would absorb moisture in the wet and cold seasons, and would dry out in the hot summer weather, maintaining the stone cladding in good condition. Later on, the thinking was that the buildings would be better off if they were sealed against moisture completely, so a layer of Portland cement was applied over the original mortar.

“The problem that resulted for these heritage building is that any moisture that got in, even through cracks in the rock, was trapped inside and can do damage over time,” he said.

So in recent times many buildings, including the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and Queen’s Park, are having the Portland cement removed and replaced so the buildings can function the way they were first intended to, and can live on for another 150 or more years in good condition.

The Grace Centre re-pointing project is being supported to the tune of $38,000 from the Ontario150 Community Capital grants program, with the funds being administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Last Wednesday, (June 7), at the Grace Centre, scaffolding was already covering the south wall of the building and a three member crew was hard at work when they took a break to allow for MPP Randy Hillier, Ontario Trillium Foundation Rep John Blake, and Southern Frontenac Community Services Executive Director David Townsend to conduct a ceremony announcing the grant.

Hillier took the opportunity to don a hard hat and chip off the old mortar from the front of the building, under strict supervision from Craig Beattie.

“These kinds of non-partisan projects, and the work of the Trillium Foundation, are what government is really about, beyond all the politics at Queen’s Park,” said Hillier.

“The Centre is delighted to receive the funding to ensure it will continue to be a place where seniors and others in the community can gather to benefit from programs and events that reduce social isolation and contribute to their quality of life,” said David Townsend.

The politicians, officials, SFCS Board members and the public then went into the building for coffee and treats at the Grace cafe. Soon after, all the officials drove off, the SFCS staff returned to work, and the masons climbed back up the scaffolding to continue working.

The project is expected to be completed by the fall.

Judy Borovskis came alive after the removal of a brain tumour gave her a new perspective on life.

“When I woke-up from the surgery, I wanted to be a better person,” says the friendly 68-year-old about her life-saving operation six years ago. “I was sick for three years. I had so much pain in my body, life was almost impossible.”

After almost nine hours of surgery, her life returned to normal.

“Six days after surgery I was swimming in my pool. My kids were there with me because they thought I was going to drown,” she says with a chuckle.

Healthy and happy six years later, the mother of three and grandmother of seven has worked hard at her recovery.

“Your brain controls so much of how you feel and I have learned that you can grow and develop it, if you work at it,” she notes with a smile. “I have four screws holding me together, but I’m not a loose screw.”

Blessed with a new lease on life, Judy is determined to make the world a better place through one act of kindness at a time.

“When you feel good about life, you want to share that feeling and for me – I am one of the lucky ones and life is really, really good,” she says softly. “Every day is a gift, never to be taken for granted.”

“I want to do things and I really enjoy people,” she explains about her motivation to help a group of volunteers improve the playground at Ken Garrett Memorial Park, a popular baseball park and children’s play area in Inverary where she has lived for the past 17 years.

“We need something for the kids. We don’t have a school or community centre. Kids are riding their bikes on the streets. They need a fun, safe, play area.”

A volunteer with Inverary Youth Activities Inc., a non-profit group in charge of the park, Judy helped launch a campaign last year to replace outdated playground equipment. In less than one year, the group has raised more than $36,000.

“I think our achievement has been amazing!” she notes about the work by volunteers. “We raised $36,000 from August to March. I never would have thought we could accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. Dig’n Dirt made that first cut into the soil for us and our ideas became a reality.”

“It’s been a real learning experience. I’ve learned so much,” she adds, referring to the strict safety rules they had to follow to install the equipment. “We’ve been so fortunate with the guidance from everyone we’ve dealt with.”

Sitting at Judy’s kitchen table with the evening sun at her back, committee member Kim Popovich looks at her friend with pride.

“If it wasn’t for Judy’s energy to get us started, we wouldn’t have the money,” says Kim respectfully. “And we really needed a new playground. A few years ago, we weren’t sure if we would have enough money to make ends meet. Greg Howatson, our president at that time, helped to put us on a track to success. We’ve built on that and look at us now.”

Supported by Dig’N Dirt, Township of South Frontenac, Larry Gibson Foundation and many generous community minded companies and individuals, the playground is coming to life.

Painted in bright colours, a new play structure includes slides and climbing poles. It is surrounded by a cedar weave safety mulch which was also placed under a nearby rejuvenated swing-set.

“We spread the mulch ourselves to save money,” Judy says with a chuckle. “It came in a 53 ft trailer. It looked like mountain when the truck dumped it.”

Pleased with the results of the first leg of their campaign to improve the park, the committee is now looking at Phase 2. It has started with the re-surfacing of the basketball court.

They want to renovate the park washrooms, buy a fryer for the canteen and add park benches. They also want to install a shade structure, outdoor musical play equipment, adult fitness equipment and a walking path around the perimeter.

Although the amount of this work hasn’t been calculated, the women know it will be much higher than the first phase of the campaign to improve the community park.

“I think this is going to be a tough-one,” says Kim with a sigh. “That’s a tall order. It’s a lot of money.”

Responding with a smile, Judy notes, “This committee has lots of spirit and determination.”

“We’ve got a big picture here,” she says wisely. “We’re looking at building our park area for the future. Our community is aging. It would be perfect to have a safe and accessible walking path in the village. A well-developed green space area is something to bring people to this area.”

“The borders (between Inverary, Sunbury and Battersea) are fluid,” adds Kim, “We need to be supportive of each other, closer and stronger. This is something we can all share. We have an amazing community here.”

The community is invited to the park this Saturday (June 10) at 11:30 am to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 and launch Phase 2. To support this campaign to improve the park in Inverary, please contact Judy Borovskis at 613-353-1768 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The metal shop at Sydenham High School is a pretty busy place throughout the school year, but last week it was more frantic than normal. TV cameras and politicians on hand for a media day mark the final stretch of a project that partners the school, the township, and local business in the production of 60 pairs of bike racks to go up throughout the township. For the shop students, there was more pressing business on their minds than posing for the cameras. They had just received 60 sets of decorative circular metal plates from Martin’s Welding and Fabricating of Inverary to go on the stands and they were busy working out the most efficient way to get them all built in the time remaining before the end of school, keeping in mind they can’t spend all day working to fill the order.

Five of the students who took the lead in both the design of the racks and working out the necessary tooling and processes for making them are ICE (Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship) students who are taking the Fabrication and Manufacturing Specialty at SHS for a specialised certificate when they graduate. They are: Ryan Hyndman, Daniel Van Heyst, Ian Udall, Jason Campbell and Brandon Long. They were using all their training and skills to bend metal tubing into place, cut cross pieces to size, weld them in place, weld the plates on and the tubes onto feet so they can turn them over to South Frontenac Rides.

South Frontenac Rides is a citizen led group that sprung up less than two years ago, and with council support has become a major force in the township, promoting cycling on trails and roads, working with public works on cycle friendly infrastructure and promoting a summer festival. At least some of the stands will be in place for the inaugural Lakes and Trails Festival on July 15th.

Ross Sutherland, council liaison to the committee, and an avid cyclist who rode from house to house when campaigning in 2014, said that this project might be “the best thing that South Frontenac Cycles has been involved in so far because it will leave a permanent mark on the township. They will be in place for a long time, a testament to the students who made them and to the commitment the township has made to being a cycling friendly place.”

Glen McCallum is the shop teacher who oversaw the project.

He can’t say enough about the students, and the partnership that brought the project about.

“As you can see from the way they are working here, there is a lot of problem solving that goes on all the time as they work out how to work together at every stage of this project, and now they are dealing with coming up with a production schedule to get them all finished. It’s just like what they will face on job sites if they continue on in this field,” he said.

The partnership with Martin’s Welding is one that has been ongoing for years.

“We approached them to help because they are local and they offered to produce the designs for free, and they really came through for us. We worked on the rest of the pieces and when the plates came, we were set to do the final assembly.  The students are now under pressure to finish the project off in time, but they’ll make it. They even come in at lunch to work on it. It’s not only the ICE kids who are working on the project, but they are the ones who are really driving it.”

Fabrication and Manufacturing is one of two Specialised High Skills Majors offered at SHS, the other is Performance Power Technology in the automotive department. Of the 25 offered in the board, 5 are offered in Frontenac County High Schools. The other three are Forestry (Granite Ridge), Health and Wellness (Granite Ridge) and Construction (North Addington Education Centre) These programs take place during the final two years of High School and involve extra levels of commitment on the part of the students.

Phase One of the new Playground at Ken Garrett Park in Inverary is  installed and being used! The cost was over $36,000 and it is paid in full by local residents after a campaign was organised by the local group, Inverary Youth Activities, inc.

A celebration to is set for June 10  at 11:30 am in the Park. There will be hot dogs, drinks and cake to share with all the completion of Phase One is celebrated and the focus shifts to the kickoff of Phase Two.
“Drop In, We would love to see you there,” said  Judy Borovskis, the playground chair for Inverary Youth Activities. “See what we have accomplished and learn about our “wish list” for the coming year!”

The Community Foundation for Kingston & Area (CFKA) awarded 20 grants totaling $152,519 to local charities which are expected to benefit 5,262 people, including 1,246 youth.

Executive Director Tina Bailey says “At the Foundation we believe that we are all stronger together.  Through our community grants program, we encourage collaboration, skills building and awareness-raising to act on this belief. Community Development has always been one of our fields of interest and is so important to what we do and what makes our community great. We are pleased to have funded a number of such projects in this area this granting round.”

Four grants went to initiatives within Frontenac County this year.

Clarendon & Miller Community Archives, Historic Tours of North Frontenac Township: $10,672
The Guidebook produced by Clarendon & Miller Community Archives, Historic Tours of North Frontenac introduces travelers to the rich heritage of the historic and present hamlets of North Frontenac. Whether you are driving/cycling/walking OR making a virtual tour on the Archives website (www.clarmillararchives.ca), come visit Fernleigh, Ardoch, Plevna, Ompah, Snow Road, Mississippi Station, Coxvale and communities of the past such as Wensley, Playfair, Beech Corners and Donaldson.

New Leak Link (NeLL), Seasonal Cookery from NeLL to Home: $6,500
This project uses adapted technologies in conjunction with coaching at NeLL and at home to promote healthy food choices, tap local food sources like the Diversity Garden, and generate a repertoire of recipes and cooking strategies. A Midsummer Picnic event will bring interested agencies together to share fresh local food and knowledge about healthy living.

Wolfe Island Community Medical Clinic, Community Garden: $6,362
The Wolfe Island Community Garden Expansion project will create a large garden space located between the Medical Clinic and the proposed Seniors’ Housing Project and support hands-on learning opportunities for local students. It will engage local students, seniors, and community groups to promote healthy eating and food literacy in the village of Marysville on Wolfe Island.

Wolfe Island Friends of Ferals, Continuation of Trap, Neuter, Release Programme: $4,000
Wolfe Island Friends of Ferals began in March of 2015. Our immediate focus is on humane management of the large feral cat population on the Island through a programme of live trapping, spaying, neutering, rabies vaccinating and releasing ferals back to their colonies to live out their lives.  The general welfare of ferals on the Island is the broader goal and, if human and financial resources permit, we hope that can also provide shelter, etc.