It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 years since Addison’s 
restaurant opened its doors.

An empty room with walls, that became my dining room. Dedicated hard work and effort from myself and my staff, has created a casual dining experience that keeps customers coming

back. The repeat customers, both locals, and tourists, are an important part of my business.

Some of these customers have become my family of friends.Their word of mouth as well the use of local media

helps get my name out there. My satisfied customers create

a domino effect of advertising for me. One customer t ells another, and so on. So customer service is high on my list of

priorities to keep a successful business running. The number

one priority of course is the food.

With such a diverse clientele, it is important that my staff and I create a menu that appeals to all taste buds, and supply friendly and fast service that keeps them coming back.

We do this by creating fresh and tasty meals that are of good value. I pride myself in making much of my menu items from fresh items, using whole roasts, brisket, striploin, pork loins, chicken and produce. In the summer, when supplies exist, I take advantage of purchasing produce from the local farms, including

asparagus, squash, garlic, and corn, and in the spring, maple syrup is a must! My menu items and specials come from some of my recipes, and some are recipes with a little bit of a twist. Either way my customers enjoy the variety I offer.

Summer, being my busiest season, I like to offer an expanded regular menu, as well as theme weekends. Cajun, Greek, and Italian are a sample of the themes, including seafood weekend that is the last weekend of the month. These start in May and run until the end of September. Don’t forget the other special times of the year, including Easter, Mother’s day, Father’s day, Thanksgiving, New year’s and Valentine’s. Friday night continues to be steak and shrimp, Saturday, Prime Rib, and Sunday, Pickerel. Along with our main menu, we offer full breakfasts, with amazing eggs benedict, omelettes, and the usual breakfast fare. Lunch includes homemade daily soup and French Onion, as well as a variety of Sandwiches, including a great corned beef or roast beef sandwich. Afternoon tea, (or coffee) can be paired up with homemade desserts, including my famous Rice Pudding.

By the way, I offer one of the best coffees around. Some of the highlights of my past years include a new front entrance and vestibule, upgrading gardens, new upper room for small family dinners or meetings, new flooring, liquor licence, 150 gallon saltwater fish tank, and continuous increasing variety of Salt and Pepper shakers! All of this would not be possible without the continued support of all of the visitors to my Restaurant.

So the next time you are in the area, or have time to take a detour, please come visit me at Addison’s this year and help me celebrate my 5th year milestone.

Thank you for your continued support, Melissa Evans, Owner/Operator

Lanark County, the Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario, has even more sweetness to celebrate: a maple-related Guinness World Record holder can be found here!

One of the largest maple farms in the county, Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp, has also gained worldwide recognition for achieving the Guinness World Record for “largest collection of maple syrup production artefacts.”

“Wheelers already achieved recognition from the Government of Canada in 2009 with a National Historic Plaque for paying homage to our nation’s maple history through its museum and display,” said Marie White, Lanark County Tourism manager. “Now we extend our congratulations to the Wheelers again on this new achievement, which is another way the family continues to spread word of this culturally significant industry to everyone.”

The farm is owned and operated by Vernon and his wife Judy Wheeler and their family. They collect sap from more than 20,000 trees. Vernon learned about sugar making at his family’s farm when he was six. In 1978 he and Judy started their own venture on 730 acres near McDonalds Corners. Now more than 30,000 people visit each year to enjoy fresh maple syrup at their pancake house and to explore all that the site has to offer.

“Maple is in my blood,” Vernon Wheeler says. “I respect and admire the innovators of maple syrup making, so I began collecting items related to maple syrup production from the First Peoples to the present.”

In 2000, Vernon Wheeler’s vast collection opened for public display at Wheelers Maple Heritage Museum, and on Jan. 17, 2014 the collection of 5,228 items earned the Guinness World Record. Among the artefacts are 1,325 maple sap spouts, 507 maple sugar moulds, 694 maple syrup serving jugs, 100 Native sugaring artefacts, 37 maple syrup dippers and 263 sap buckets.

Visitors can experience Canada’s rich maple sugaring history seven days a week, 9a.m. to 3p.m. year-round at Wheelers. In addition to the museum and pancake house, there are marked trails through an active maple forest where sap is collected and, in the spring, it flows to the sugar camp where visitors can watch it being boiled into delicious syrup.

For more information about Wheelers, visit www.wheelersmaple.com. - submitted by Lanark County

 

As of January 31, staff and students at Sydenham High School have been holding regular classes in the school’s new 14,000 square foot addition, which they have named the Wellness Wing. The brand-new facility, which cost over $3 million, includes four new components: a 5000 square foot gym facility with change rooms, office and storage space; a new state of the art hospitality/food section that includes an industrial kitchen, a serving area and an attached classroom; a new theatre arts facility equipped with a stage, retractable seating for 90 and a control booth; and a new computer lab.

When I visited the school on February 28 all four of the new components were being utilized.

Earlier that same week a number of activities were scheduled in the new facility by staff member Jeff Sanderson in an event called Wellness Week, which focused on activities to promote the physical and mental well-being of students and to give them an opportunity to explore the new wing and what exactly it has to offer.

Tabitha Kirby, who heads up the hospitality/foods programming at the school, was busy in the new kitchen with her grade 11 hospitality students, who were aproned and preparing a catered lunch for 100 students at Loughborough Public School. The students were assembling over 100 ham and cheese sandwiches as well as preparing hors d'oeuvres -smoked salmon and cream cheese canopies, cheese crisps topped with a bean pesto and Thai shrimp rolls that they would later snack on themselves. Tabitha said she is thrilled with the new facility, which includes a brand new industrial walk-in fridge and freezer, four new six-burner stove tops, four ovens plus one combi and one convection oven, and numerous stainless steel work stations plus an attached teaching classroom. “It's wonderful, gleaming, clean and very spacious and we are really excited since we are going to be able to do a lot of new things here that we could not do in our former classroom. We will also be able grow our own fresh herbs outdoors and will expand our composting as well”, Kirby said.

Grade 11 hospitality student Sam Earle said he is thrilled with the facility and it was part of the reason that he chose to relocate to SHS. “I heard about the new kitchen facility and wanted to come to Sydenham because I heard that it was brand-new and so advanced.”

In the new drama room, drama teacher Erik Rutherford was sitting with his grade 10 drama class in a large circle on the stage floor of the new theatre arts facility and said that the facility is helping to raise the bar for the theatre arts program at the school. “It feels a bit like Harry Potter, where we have moved from the little dark hideaway under the stairs to Hogwarts. This new space offers a great learning environment and the new theatre especially gives students not only a large activity space but also a state of the art theatre facility where they can experience what it feels like to perform on stage in front of an audience.”

SHS drama students will be presenting this year’s school play in the new theatre facility with an original multi-media play titled Macdeath, which is based on the Shakespeare's Macbeth but set in the 1990s grunge scene. Show dates will be announced. Jess Sherman, who will be playing one of the leads, said that the new facility raises the bar for students. “It feels like what we are doing here is more serious and more important because of the new facility.”

The new theatre space is fully wheelchair accessible and can be used by various community groups. It is also fully equipped with audio-visual equipment for presentations.

In the new gym, which boasts a floating hardwood floor, 26-foot ceilings, new change rooms, a storage room and an office space plus lots of natural light, a grade nine volleyball tournament was underway and Vice-Principal Brent Pickering said the new gym will allow more physical activities to take place at the school on any given day. “Before this new gym was built we typically had five phys-ed classes booked at one time and only three teaching spaces. With the new gym we can place all five classes in the two gyms.” Extra-curricular sports at the school will also benefit as a result of more available gym space both before and after regular school hours and the space will also be made available to community groups as well.

Vice-Principal Pickering said the new wing will help both teaching and learning at SHS. “These new facilities are state of the art and with them we are able to offer students more and better programming at SHS, which is exciting for both students and staff here.”

Staff are raffling off the 76 new lockers in the new wing as a school fundraiser for the local food bank and students are flocking in in droves to enjoy their colorful and spacious new wing.

The official public grand opening of the new wing will take place in April and the public will be invited to tour the new facility.

Feature Article January 20

Feature article January 20, 2005

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Winter of the Great Gray Owl

This winter is an opportunity for many Ontarians to see this majestic bird. There must be a lack of available food for them in their more northern summer habitat, for there have been many reports from people right across Ontario who have seen them.

The Great Gray Owl is larger than all our other owls, but this is deceptive. Its large, rounded head, long fluffy plumage, long, broad wings and tail make it seem larger than it really is. Stripped of its feathers it would be only slightly larger than the Barred Owl, and would be smaller than the Snowy or Great Horned Owls. The facial disk of feathers of the Great Gray can be six inches across which also enhances the impression of size.

Coming south in search of food, this owl may be seen perched on a tree or hydro pole, watching and listening for any sign of a small animal in the snow, with its favourite food the Meadow Vole. The bird has extremely sensitive ears that are placed asymmetrically on its skull. I was delighted to see one near my house before Christmas, and watched as it moved from perch to perch actively seeking prey. It was easy to tell when it heard something rustling or squeaking under the snow as it would bend its head in the direction of sound, and would occasionally take off obviously towards something it heard, then veer up to another perch. Only once did I see it make a successful catch - diving into the snow, and in a few moments coming up with a vole, which was swallowed in one gulp.

Plummeting headfirst toward its target, a Great Gray Owl thrusts its long legs forward at the last minute so it strikes the snow with powerful feet rather than its head. It can punch through an ice crust that is half an inch thick and is capable of supporting the weight of a 185-pound man. Then it sifts through the snow with its toes to come up with a vole in its talons. This bird stayed in this area for three days and then must have moved on, probably because there was not a lot of food. There is a real danger to these birds of starvation - if they do not find sufficient food, they become emaciated and eventually die. If the vole and mouse population is low (populations of voles cycle periodically), the owls will move from area to area, and if their hunts are unsuccessful there is no future for them.

As I reported last week Brian Sutton saw one close to Highway 7, possibly the one I had seen earlier. Peri McQuay reports one near their home near Bobs Lake on January 4, and one was seen on the Christmas Bird Count on December 28 on McPhail Road east of Perth - and reportedly still there on January 5.

It is possible to approach these birds quite closely, as they seem to have no fear of people, though it will turn its head and stare unblinkingly at a person with its yellow eyes. If you do see one, please do not approach it closely - you may jeopardize its future by disturbing its hunt, or putting stress on the bird.

Observations: An immature Bald Eagle has flown over my place near Maberly three times in the past week. Ursula Ossenberg, Cloyne, has a Pileated Woodpecker coming to her feeders. A Barred Owl was watching for rodents near Helm's feeders in Oconto on January 16. Share your sightings - call Jean at 268-2518 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mazinaw musings February 24, 2005

Mazinaw musings February 24, 2005

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Fat, sugar and salt

We have a halfway stop on the way home from a day out front. It is a coffee shop that is handy relief for our aging and weakening bladders but our Canadian consciences won't allow the unlimited use of a rest room without some recompense. Invariably as we sit in the parking lot consuming the muffins, one can handle a coffee while driving but not coffee and muffins, comments are made about the tastiness of the Fruit Explosions being devoured. I console my Significant Helpmate by suggesting that if she would use the same amounts of fat, sugar and salt in her whole-wheat/oat-meal/ wheat-germ/apple-sauce/flax-seed/raisin/bran muffins we could also have the same flavour at home and at a fraction of the cost of buying readymade. My suggestion, actually a plea, falls on deaf ears and we sup our coffee in silence for the remainder of the trip. There is no detouring in our family voyage along the healthy food highway as mapped by my SH.

Interestingly many of the fast food joints, which are being accused of contributing to the rising rates of obesity around the world, are beginning to change their ways and reduce the fat, sugar and salt in their menus. A reduction in business has hit their bottom line, their income. Profits are plummeting as enlightened customers look in the mirror and recoil in horror at the weight that has slipped on from over-indulgence and inactivity.

There is nothing like a sharp kick to the bottom line to make a business promote a healthier eating style! Stop the money, and the fat, sugar and salt quickly disappear to be replaced by healthier alternates. Who says money doesn't talk?

Some futurists are predicting that obesity will soon surpass smoking as a major cause for health problems and that the health care system can ill afford to face this onslaught. We are eating ourselves to death; we know we are doing it but are having a difficult time heeding the warning signs and as long as business can make a buck with liberal doses of cheap fat, sugar and salt in food, we wont get help from them.

Tobacco products are highly taxed in an attempt by the government to discourage smoking and to raise tax revenue. There is now discussion of additional taxes on certain unhealthy foods to discourage people from buying them. (The fat tax was swept out of sight once but I predict it will raise its head again.) We humans are a sorry lot when it takes a tax increase to encourage us to be healthy. Why pay at all for obesity-causing and artery-clogging foods when we can refuse to buy them and feel better?

Take a minute at the grocery checkout counter and reread a label, then say to the cashier, "Oh sorry, I don't want this. It has great taste but high in hydrogenated trans-fat" or "Sorry, but I didn't see that this juice cocktail has high sugar content; I wanted the pure juice. Please place the pure juice bottles where they can be found easily instead of the cheaper sugar-laced drinks." Then give the offending items to the clerk before they are scanned. By forcing the store manager to return the items to the shelves, you will be denting his bottom line and he will eventually get the message. This is not always a popular interchange when I am accompanied by SH at the checkout counter: I am not certain why she doesn't accept the explanation that I wish to make mankind healthier and am not just being ornery; but perhaps she knows me too well!

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Feature Article

August 11, 2005

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Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo Enright

What to do about bears?

by Jeff Green

Ever since the Spring Bear hunt was abolished, there has been much said and written about increases in the bear population in Ontario.

In response to concerns about encounters with bears in populated areas, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has established a Bear Watch program over the past couple of years. The program has included an ad campaign, information packages, some of which will be included with the 2005 final Tax bill for North Frontenac residents, and signage at dump sites and other locations.

According MNR information, the bear population has been stable at somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 for many years. The cancellation of the Spring Bear hunt has led to a decrease in the number of bears hunted by sport hunters by about 1500 per year. If all of these bears survived, which the MNR says is improbable, “a 7.5% increase in the Ontario population over five years is possible, but extremely unlikely”, according to MNR literature.

The MNR claims, “there is good evidence that along the southern part of their range, that is the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, the bear population has been slowly growing over the past 20 to 30 years. As abandoned farmland returns to old field habitat, it proves much better habitat for bears. Raspberry, aspen, and hawthorn all grow in this habitat to provide food and cover for bears. Mild winters may also have had an impact by improving the natural food supply for bears.

“In fact, it is the increase in the human population, particularly in ‘cottage country’ that is a credible explanation for more contact between people and bears.”

While there is disagreement between advocates of the Spring Bear Hunt and government officials concerning the root cause, the fact that more bear encounters seem to be occurring has led to a need for a more informed population.

Much of the information being promoted by the Bear Watch program is based on a common sense approach. It tells people to be careful about leaving food or garbage outside, avoid putting meat, fish, or sweet fruit in compost piles or bins, fill bird feeders only in the winter months, and pick all ripe fruit off fruit trees.

When encounters with bears do occur, it is rarely advisable to run, unless in very close proximity to a car or a house. When a bear is sighted, backing off and keeping the bear in sight is advised.

While Black Bear encounters can be dangerous, instances of Black bears killing humans are very rare; just over 50 people have been killed by Black bears in North America over the past 100 years.

Norm Quinn, a recently retired Park Biologist from Algonquin Park who conducts seminars on bear safety, said that most deadly encounters with Black Bears have been with full-sized adult males.

“About 40 of the roughly 50 deaths have been caused by adult males who have seen the human as prey.” Quinn said in an intrview with the News last week.

Other dangerous encounters occur when a bear is either cornered or is intently focussed on a food source and is disturbed, or when a human approaches too closely to bear cubs when a mother is present.

Mother bear encounters rarely progress to the point of danger, according to Norm Quinn.

The MNR agrees with this opinion.

When dangerous encounters do occur, with an adult male, a cornered bear, or female with her cubs, the MNR has the following advice:

“If the bear tries to approach you, stop. Face the bear . If you are with others, stay together and act as a group. Be aggressive, yell, throw rocks or sticks and use pepper spray if you have it. NEVER TURN AND RUN. If the bear continues to approach you, resume backing away slowly while continuing to be aggressive towards the bear. If a bear makes contact with you, DO NOT PLAY DEAD. Fighting back is the best chance of persuading a black bear to stop its attack. Use a large stick, a rock or anything else that you have on hand to hurt the bear.”

Black Bears range throughout Ontario, but their peak range, where there are between 40 and 60 bears per 100 km, extends to the northern half of Frontenac County, Addington Highlands, Lanark Highlands and Tay Valley. Most of South Frontenac is in a middle range, with a population of between 20 and 40 bears per 100 km.

Feature Article - October 6, 2005

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October 6, 2005

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Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo Enright

Letters to the Editor

Municipal funding for Sydenham Water

Dear Mr. Lake:

I am in receipt of a letter from Alastair Lamb, which was sent as a follow up to a meeting I had with representatives from the Sydenham Safe Water Association. During the meeting, they described the significant costs that would be borne by local residents to have the new water treatment system installed in their community.

They asked if there would be any possibility for additional provincial dollars to be directed towards this project. I indicated that with all such infrastructure projects, the costs are shared on a one third basis with the federal government, provincial government and the local municipality. With regard to the Sydenham Water System, I indicated that the people of Ontario would cover their third of the approved project costs.

You will note in their letter to me, and during our meeting, the Sydenham Safe Water Association has strongly advocated that the local costs of this project should be shared more equitably by the residents of South Frontenac. Such consideration would mean instead of a few hundred people bearing several thousands of dollars in costs, per household, that if the burden were spread across all of the residents of the municipality, the burden would be less than $200 in one time costs per household. An even more attractive scenario would be for the municipality to spread the capital cost over 20 years at a cost of approximately $13 per year/per household.

You know that I have strongly supported your council's decision to provide safe water to the residents of Sydenham by constructing a water treatment facility. I believe that safe water is essential to a community's health and well-being. Sydenham is the community of interest for much of South Frontenac where children go to school, and people go to shop, worship and recreate.

When funding is provided to municipalities from the Province of Ontario it is important to note that the province does not area rate the funding, as such initiatives are funded by all taxpayers of Ontario. If area rating was applied at the provincial level it would prove burdensome, and insufficient for many parts of the province, particularly for northern and rural communities.

Recognizing that amalgamation did provide an opportunity for a greater pooling of resources and the development of a greater assessment base for municipalities, sharing the costs of the water treatment plant among all of the residents of the township would be consistent with the way the other two levels of government provides funding.

I am sure you can recall my suggestions to you in the past, that council could consider spreading the costs of the project more equitably among all of the residents of the township. Now, that the Sydenham Safe Water Association has presented me with the same suggestion and some compelling numbers to support their position, I respectfully request that the Council of South Frontenac seriously reconsider this funding option.

Such consideration would provide for a more bearable and equitable payment plan for a very valuable part of your municipal infrastructure.

I thank you for your attention to this very important matter, and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Leona Dombrowsky, MPPHastings-Frontenac-Lennox &. Addington

Re: Hinge Lake Fire

To: Mayor Bill Lake and South Frontenac Council:

On August 8 smoke was seen above the tree line on the southeast shore of Buck Lake. Alert residents gave the Township Fire Department information to pinpoint the fire location on the south shore of Hinge Lake. Hinge Lake is only about 200 to 300 metres east of the Buck Lake shoreline, and the fire was not accessible to regular fire fighting equipment. Firefighters used pickup trucks and ATVs with trailers, and over a ten to twelve day period, the fire was finally extinguished after considerable heavy and dirty work by our volunteer firefighters.

On behalf of the Buck Lake Community I would like to express our gratitude to our volunteer firefighters for their great efforts. We are truly fortunate to have such citizens commit themselves to this often hazardous responsibility, and they deserve our utmost support and recognition.

- Crawford M. MacIntyre

Re:Sydenham Water - What can we do?

As a non-resident ofSydenham Village I wouldlike to commenton the letter to the editor from David Waugh (September 29, 2005).

I agree that it iscommon sense for all of thetaxpayers, who are participating in the "share costing" amalgamated township, to pay what is not more than the price of a daily cup of coffee for most of the water treatment project.Weshare costs forall other services!Who among us would even know, especially when we have so many other secret and public projects that benefit a host oftaxpayers and municipal employees.

Further on this theory of cost sharing,our councillors will, hire water plant treatment operators, buy chemicals,other materials and testing equipment, provide maintenance, probably purchase a vehicle or two, and as this operation grows, so will the ongoing costs escalate. Surely they are not going to expect the residents using the water to bear these back breaking expenses that they will have no control over. If they do, I hear there are two water plantoperators, formally from Walkerton Ont., who will work for beer.

As far as similar costs for other communities, common sense says that this fiasco will very likely not be repeated. When you look at recommended communitiy sizes, I even question why Sydenham village sudivisions are not included (was there even enough water in Sydenham lake to service them?)

I also agree with another responder that laws are easier to change than stubborn minds.

- Peter Svendsen

Re: The Importance of Local Foods

I am pleased to see the support that the Perth Farmers' Market has been garnering in their fight to continue selling locally produced eggs and "value added" home-made products like pickles or baked goods. In his letter of Sept. 29, MP Scott Reid presents solid arguments for amending what he rightly describes as the "poorly designed provincial regulations" which impose prohibitive bureaucratic requirements both on local farmers and on consumers. Food safety is important, and we should have no problem with government regulations that are actually needed to protect the public. But let's not be ridiculous!

Beyond the specifics of the Farmers' Market, the larger issue is the need for all of us to "eat close to home". Most of the food being sold in supermarkets has travelled hundreds, often thousands of miles before it gets to us. These "food miles" are extremely costly, in environmental, economic and human terms.

Buying lettuce from California or tomatoes from Mexico literally costs the earth in terms of fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, and most of what we are importing is water - water from irrigated fields in naturally arid areas. In many of those areas, salination and aquifer depletion are increasing problems, and the appropriate dryland crops which formerly fed the local population have been abandoned in favour of globalization's export market.

Meanwhile, here at home, prime Canadian farmland is being paved over or sold to big corporate interests because our own farmers don't get decent enough prices for their products to be able to stay in business. And has anyone detected any taste in those massive lumps of California fibre that the supermarkets still promote as "peaches", even at the height of the peach season in Ontario when our own sweet and juicy fruit is abundantly available?

So let's support the farmers markets whenever we can do the rest of our shopping locally where possible, and make sure we demand Canadian food products where ever they exist. With a little awareness we can kick the habit of food from afar, support our neighbours and our own economy, and enjoy quality food that's both tasty and nutritious and hasn't spent days in a truck.

- Helen Forsey

On February 6, staff from Northern Frontenac Community Services held their first fundraiser of 2014 for the United Way at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake. Guests enjoyed generous helpings of chili that was made and donated by members of the NFCS staff, and during the meal guests also had an opportunity to bid on a number of home-made pies that were auctioned off.

The United Way funds a number of the services that NFCS provides free of charge to the community, including their Family Counselor program, which offers in home or in office counseling to families in Central and North Frontenac who require help to get them through family-related life struggles including bereavement, separation, divorce and more.

The United Way also funds NFCS' Youth Services programs, which this past year were able to run thanks to a one-time $20,000 United Way Community Investment grant. The grant helped support NFCS programming for youth leadership development, after-school programming and life skills development programs.

Currently NFCS has applied for more permanent funding from the United Way to support their youth programs on an ongoing basis and they will find out if that grant was successful in March.

Don Amos, the executive director of NFCS, said that in addition to the funds raised from their numerous United Way fundraisers, this year all the NFCS staff are also donating a percentage of their salaries to the United Way Campaign through their Employee Deduction Plan, an effort that Amos was very proud to announce. “The fact alone that every single employee in our agency is donating to the United Way campaign on a regular ongoing basis as well as taking part in these fundraisers is a testament of how the staff here realize the importance of the United Way in our area and the support that the United Way has given to our organization,” Amos said when I spoke to him at the recent fundraiser. Amos stressed the fact that without the funding and support from the United Way much of their programming for youth and families in the area would not be possible.

Maribeth Scott, who is the manager of children and youth services at NFCS, said that NFCS staff are making year-round efforts to raise funds for the United Way “to make these programs work for the community.”

Upcoming in May will be the annual NFCS United Way yard sale, which will coincide with their Great Outdoor Adventure at St. James Major Catholic Church. Later in the fall NFCS will hold their annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser and they are also planning a Chinese dinner/quarter auction that will take place this fall. Details will be announced at a later date. Amos said he was pleased with the turn out for their most recent fundraiser and wished to thank NFCS staff, guests and donors for making the event such a success.

Feature Article - September 8, 2005

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September 8, 2005

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Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo Enright

Report from the front lines: a weblog from a deputy sheriff in Slidell, Louisiana

Star Date 8/27/05: 7 PMStarted Evacuation convoy to Shreveport. Transport was good on I-12 for 30 miles. All traffic westbound was diverted to any northbound route. Traffic slowed to 15 mph for 1 hour.Star Date 8/28/05: Sunday, watched hurricane approach New Orleans. Chatted online.Star Date 8/29/05: Monday watched news reports of the destruction. Watched eye go right over my house. I need to get back NOW!. Friends pointed that out as premature.Star Date Tuesday 8/30/05: Had lunch in Shreveport. Purchased two generators, gas cans, water and made other preparations for a prolonged duration. Left kids with my friend. His family is so generous. Still cannot contact my wife. Her phone is based in New Orleans and she is trapped in Chicago. My family is split up. But, at least we will get together again in a few weeks. Some will not be so lucky. Arrived home before dark and assessed damage. My home has water. My shop has water. Wife’s car is under water. I am wiped out but alive. The trip home gave me plenty of time to reflect on how I would respond to this tragedy. Was my house ruined, were my friends safe and what would be there when I arrived? I-10 blocked to all access east. However, law enforcement documents gave me a pass. Checked into the sheriffs office command center and assigned to looter patrol right away. The entire staff was numb.Star Date 8/31/05: 4 am briefing was not only short and to the point, but under a small emergency light. Command center radio system is on rationed generator power. Water rationed, Food rationed. Breakfast was one muffin and water. Arrested two looters. Cigarettes and booze? This is not survival items. Besides, what’s the store money doing in your pocket? Bond set at $100,000 cash. NICE! Judge is on evacuation and cannot give a hearing. Looters are not loved here. Jail has no power, A/C or running water. This will not be good for these looters. I think I'll get 4 hours sleep tonight. Uniform of the day is anything that smells the cleanest. Sam's Club is commandeered for life support items. Sam's Club should be given an award for this. The Sam’s staff is only asking for a list of what we are taking. We take out thousands of dollars of stuff. FEMA is here. They set up a MRE site. They give out water, ice, and MRE's – now people will eat and drink. We need freezers to store the dead. Ok, this store has some. Commandeer them. Leave a list and a note. Thank you. We commandeer another huge generator from an arena show group. Sorry, you wont need this for a concert soon. I’m taken aback just a little at what the Sheriff can do. He was free reign to take anything we need from any one. Some deputies are waiting to pounce on the next 250 k generator that goes by on the interstate. It’s needed for the jail who just lost thier generator. Ah, they just got one. Another looter. Oh, you have no food or water? What are those? Diapers? Ok my friend. You are not a looter. Go on home and make arrangements to get out of here. There is not one store of food access point available.Star Date 9/1/05: More patrol. Uniform is a shirt washed in sweat from Tuesday. Smells ok. I'll use some rex body deodorant. This will smell good for the victims. Entire town is shut down. Every street and road is blocked with trees. Wires down everywhere. Main transport routes have vehicle wide paths carved through. No phones, water, or power. No birds singing, no frogs, none of the usual night-time summer noises we listen to. Eerie, and in fact, scary. Shots heard in the distance. No traffic on any street anywhere. Pure black darkness. Went to hospital to transport medical info to another hospital. Check points set up are manned with shot gun armed officers. This is no game. This is real life and death. While there I get a request as to what its like on the pearl river. Her family has a house there and stayed to ride it out while she worked at the center during the storm. She has not heard from any one. I am so sad to report her house is no longer there. I stop telling her the rest. She already knows.Star Date 9/2/05:Briefing with breakfast. Water with oatmeal and two strips of bacon. We joked about being in the matrix and eating a bowl of snot. Got some water to drink. On patrol. Assigned to removed an Emu carcass and a call to check a signal 29 (death) at a residence. Confirmed. Sorry sir, Family informed. Another dark night. Even though I live in a subdivision with 900 homes there are only a few with any one here. There is no one moving around. If looters comes by, it’s not going to go well for them. South side of town is either under water or is gone. Nothing but rubble. The smell is unbearable from the dead dogs, sewage, cats, and other reasons. Very depressing. The water is contaminated and very unsafe. Special Operations are doing search and rescue. We recovered 5 souls today – this is not going to turn out good. Work is slow. We use chain saws in the debris field. During the day a few deputies are scrambling to make arrangements for their families. They give no more than 1 hour for this. The rest of the time goes to the team. This is truly a challenge. No one complains. This is the most dedicated team I have ever been around. Some have lost everything. Entire homes cleared back to a vacant lot. There is nothing there. Not even one 2x4. But not one single deputy will accept anything that will give them anything the others could not get. We are all in this together. We are more concerned with the locals, and protecting their lives. I go to the hospital for a call. One x-ray tech wants a ride to check her house. We go and find it is rubble. I'm sorry. She is devastated. We have no mail service, no lights, no water, and no communications to anywhere. I watch a small battery operated TV and see a certain element in New Orleans taking over. It’s so wrong for the media to show only the negative. There are thousands more doing good down there. I hate the media. People flag us down medical attention. Sorry. Only if its life or death – your cut finger will just have to wait. We cannot help. People are dying all around us. There is nothing anyone can do. No phones and our radio system is barely functioning. More souls are found in the debris fields. Someone stops by the command center wanting us to take away her rotting meat out of her freezer. Sorry lady the trash man will be by in about 7 weeks. Better bury it in the back yard.Star Date 9/3/05: I think it is the 3rd. The days are running together. 30 miles to E-center to make a phone call. We have a very limited special satellite phone access. Hi Si, am alive and well. Got gas from the emergency center. Law enforcement only. Thank you. Walmart has opened another store and is GIVING away water and ice. Back to Slidell. Local shelter is having trouble with one. He from south shore, has a 4" knife and booze. Figures... A guest violates the sanctity of a shelter. Get Out! I should have put him in jail But let him wander around and suffer. I know we will see him again looting. I need cash for personal gas. The banks will not be online for weeks. Streets are getting cleared. Who are the saw fairies? We never see them. One day trees criss-cross like pickup stix, the next day the all cut and moved to clear paths. Distributed one pickup load of bread sticks and bananas around the subdivisions. Some are desperate but not uncivilized. Some fathers have tears in their eyes. I am feeling emotional too. All I see are their kids with my son’s image for faces. I feel blessed. This food mission is turning into a recon mission. We’re going to set up a looter sting tonight. Scalper is selling generators for $1100 bucks. I know they cost $319 because I just bought one in Shreveport. He’s from Oklahoma. I am upset. This one's going to be reported to attorney's general office. Lt. says next time confiscate the stuff and let them sort it out with FEMA. WOW. These scalpers are in for a surprise. Out of state vultures are setting up roofing stands with phoney work permits. Next one I find is going to jail. We are not finished recovering the dead. No respect. There are people siphoning gas. I let them do it. They are just getting means to get out to Texas. I do not see it as theft. This is a time of desperation but also a time for compassion. You need gas? Get some and go. We get reports that some are escaping from the South shore via sheets of plywood. All the bridges are out. This is their only escape. Some are stealing boats to escape the south shore. No problem. Except those who have guns and then lie about them. They are up to no good. We determine they are part of the thugs escaping by hijacking boats from honest people trying to escape. Central reports a home invasion. Every unit is racing to be the first onsite. This maggot is going to rot in jail for at least 30 days. 100k cash bond is hard to come up with... Its 9:30 pm, and my phone is working. It's amazing. Anyway, another cold water shower and find the DSL is up now too! Great, now I can store my log where it’s safe. Must get up at 4 AM again. I think ill get a few hours sleep tonight. I feel extremely fortunate. I get to eat and have water. I have nothing but neither does any one else. Before I could only imagine what Don was living. But now I know for real. One thing is different, though. I see it from an inside perspective because I have access to the entire area. There will be many deaths, yet so many others saved. I used to be an unpaid volunteer deputy sheriff. I did it to contribute to the community. I'm still an unpaid volunteer and will be broke soon enough. But, so will my neighbors. My family is split, but not as bad as too many others. I am here at the beckon of a higher authority.Star Date 9/04/05: Another day on generator power. Went to bed at 5 am and back awake at 10. Got some 5 hrs of needed sleep. Command center didn't need me until around 11 AM. Thank God because I am now suffering Plantars fasicitis or something like that. I can hardly walk. Doc says I must lay off at least 3 days. Sorry Doc, that’s out of the question. All of us are hurting and I'll be damned if I have it better than the next guy in a time like this. I shake my head with wonder to those who lost every thing, yet never say "I need a break." These guys are my role models. If they can do it, I'll do it too! We were given bottles of special hand disinfectant today. Do they know something we don't know? Well, we already refuse to touch our food with bare hands. Lunch was two slices of turkey and a hogie bun with water. Water is our beverage of choice. Water boiling is the command of the day. Sewers are backing up and the spoiled meat is starting to stink. We are under orders to bury the bad food in our yards. Roads are more back to normal. Power poles are looking more normal all the time. People are cleaning up the downed branches making a few yards look clean. It our only means of showing some control over our destiny. Checked out a roadside stand today. It was a pleasure to see someone selling items at cost just to help. Dinner at DISA site was great. One 6 oz slab of beef, cold veggies, and all the bananas I could eat. Picked up a load of ice and two boxes of MRE's – I will snack good if I need to. A high point of the day. My cell phone service is back up. This is perfect. About 200 of us have landline phones now too. Ill be in bed by 10:30 and up at 4 am, I know I will be assigned to looter patrol again. The looting is running rampant in parts of town. The sheriff deputies are keeping it down though in the rural areas. Its just a matter of time. Someone is going to get shot. Bossier city school board sent down a 5x5x10 ft box of relief supplies. Badly needed baby food, diapers and cereal for the deputies baby children. I received the load and had 8 trustees unload the trailer – another day of public service. 6PM. Suddenly the radio is humming with calls. The criminals are starting to rear their ugly heads. Phone service is improving and the morons are drinking the last of their beer. All alcohol sales are banned after mine and several other reports of drunks causing mayhem in shelters. Good. We don't need to deal with drink-induced stupidity. Some person is spotted carrying 95G (gun) on the interstate. I get to check him out. I think I'll wait for backup. Oh how I pray he is not a paranoid schizo coming off his meds.

NatureReflections November 24, 2005

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Nature Reflections

November 24, 2005

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Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo Enright

A rare swallow

by JeanGriffin

How many of you have heard of the Cave Swallow, let alone seen one? This fall has been unusual in the number of Cave Swallows seen in Ontario and the northern United States.

I saw one estimate of six hundred of these birds present in New York State, and there have been fifty or more sightings in Ontario.

The Cave Swallow, a close look-alike of the Cliff Swallow, historically was found only in Mexico and southwards, but over the last century has been expanding its territory. It now breeds in numbers in Texas and New Mexico, and there is a small colony of a different subspecies that nests in Florida. As it expands its breeding territory, it also increases its visits to other areas in the autumn season. There have been reports from Sable Island in the Atlantic, Nova Scotia, most northern and eastern states, and for a few years in Ontario, with this year being especially notable.

In Ontario most have been seen along the north shores of Lake Erie, but there was one sad little bird that found its way to Algonquin Park. Found resting on the pavement on November 7, apparently in an attempt to get the warmth from the tarmac, it was rescued to try to save it, but unfortunately it died overnight. What brought these birds to our province? Probably during the post-breeding migration they were carried by the warm winds that brought the storms from Texas, through the America mid-west, all the way to the northern states and Canada. Here it becomes a question of survival. Will they find enough food with a possible lack of insects as the cool season arrives? Will those that find food also find their way back south?

Named for its original penchant to build its mud nests deep in caves and isolated crevices that have minimal light, the birds have adapted to artificial structures such as bridges and culverts. The Cave Swallow can be told from all swallows except the Cliff Swallow by its pale rump. The Cave Swallow has a darker forehead and a paler throat than the Cliff Swallow. Also its tail is more squared at the tip than most other swallows. Since there were also a few sightings last year in Ontario, bird watchers are now aware that the presence of any swallow in autumn should be closely checked to see if it is this unusual visitor.

Observations: Joanne D’Aoust reports five River Otters on Pine Lake on November 15. Audrey Cooper, Cloyne, has had visits from some Evening Grosbeaks, jays and chickadees, some finches on the 18th, but all vanished when a hawk, probably a Sharp-shinned, appeared also on the 18th. Share what you have seen. Call Jean at 268-2518 or email (new address) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.