The water was warm. It was a balmy day on the lake. Great costumes, back flips - it was all there for this year's Central Frontenac Heritage Festival Polar Bear Plunge. There was an Olympic theme going on with several of the Plungers, including Anne and Hilary Howes, dressed in Olympic costumes. Anne, by the way, was a torchbearer in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. The event was emceed by our dynamic Town Crier, Paddy O'Connor, with assistance from Mayor Janet Gutowski. It was a great group of Plungers and a very enthusiastic audience and generous supporters.

Art Holloway raised $1,320; Mark Montagano raised $1,290. They thought they were battling it out for the most funds raised and then Jeremy Neven came roaring up the middle with $1,926. Several other notable fund raisers were Connie McLellan of RBC with $640, Richard and Vickie Struthers at $530, Heather and Kevin Rioux at $490 and Janine Falk at $405. All in all, $10,137 was raised for three worthy organizations: The Child Centre (unfunded programs), GREC School Council and the Alzheimer Society. In the last four years the plunge has raised over $32,000 for various causes.

Karen McGregor of St. Lawrence College, a long-time supporter of the plunge and the Heritage Festival, supplied the trophies, sound system and the services of Jesse Mills, our videographer who is on a work assignment with the township. The trophy for the most funds raised went to Jeremy Neven; the youngest plunger was Samantha Kempe and the best costume went to Shane Steeves, who dressed as a coureur du bois and put on another very athletic and creative performance. The indomitable Karen Burke was our most senior plunger and also managed to raise $460.

Richard, Gill and Dawn had the marina ready for the event. The EMS team, led by Chief Bill Young, was on the grounds and in the water to keep us safe. Cox Bus Lines provided a bus to keep the Plungers warm while they were waiting to plunge. Jesse Mills, our videographer, is putting together a video of the event and it will be available in the next few days.

You have thought about it, talked about it and 2015 will be the year to join us in the tropical waters of Sharbot Lake for the 2015 Plunge. See you there.

Certain types of art and craft work, when demonstrated live, often draws a big crowd. That was the case outside the Kennebec hall in Arden during this year’s Frontenac Heritage Festival, where chainsaw artist Robin Deruchie of Cloyne spent the weekend sculpting a bear from a piece of solid pine. Onlookers gathered around Deruchie as he bent, crouched and moved around the free-standing piece of pine, etching in lines and cutting away chunks of wood to bring forth a bear that lay hidden inside.

Deruchie, who works out of his Wolf Creek Studio in Cloyne and who travels extensively all year long doing shows and demonstrations, delighted festival-goers, who watched him in amazement. Deruchie has been chainsaw carving professionally for eight years and creates a wide variety of work that includes sculptured owls, bears, turtles and other wildlife as well as totem poles, spirit faces and functional pieces like benches, floor lamps and coffee tables.

A self-taught artist, Deruchie said he “stumbled across the art form” while building his home in Cloyne. “I had a bunch of extra logs lying around so I just picked up the chainsaw and started playing around”, he said, but that is not something he recommends to others. Deruchie is not only a full-time artist but also teaches the craft. Asked if he knows of others making chainsaw art, he said not in the local area but he did say the art form in general is booming. “In the last five years it has become very popular, which is likely due to the internet and the fact that artists are able to share their tricks of the trade.”

Deruchie said he starts each piece with a solid piece of pine, many of which he collects from fallen trees that neighbors want removed from their properties. “Often after a storm, neighbors who know what I do will call me up and ask me to remove a fallen tree from their property for them, which I am more than happy to do.”

His pieces take roughly an hour per foot to carve. After the piece has been carved, he lets it dry out for about two weeks and then adds the finishing touches by burning the surface of the wood to create facial characteristics like eyes, noses and other decorative highlights. Deruchie said the most challenging thing about his work is knowing how to do it safely. “Making a six-foot bear will bring you about 250 kickbacks of the saw. So you really have to know how to handle the saw and make sure that you are using the right side of the blade at all times so that you don't run into problems.”

Deruchie uses a number of different-sized Stihl saws, one being a custom saw specially designed for carving. It has a special bar that prevents kickback.

Asked why his artwork tends to attract so much attention, Deruchie said it is likely the fact that it is unusual to see a chain saw being used to create a piece of art work. “People don't often get a chance to see a big burly chain saw being used to create something intricate, which I think is why people find the demonstrations so interesting.”

Deruchie has donated one of his chain-sawed totem poles to the Arden Legion and it will be raffled off at a later date as a fundraiser for the organization. For information about purchasing tickets call the Arden Legion at 613-335-3727.

To see more of Deruchie's work visit www.wolfcreekcarvings.com or call 613-336-2137 to make an appointment.

Perhaps it was the perfect ice, snow and weather conditions that attracted over 120 riders, who came to participate in the 4th annual Sharbot Lake Snow Drags on February 15. The event is put on by the Oso Recreation Committee. It was revived in 2011 after a long hiatus and is a popular annual event for riders from as far away as New York state and Quebec, as well as from all over Ontario including Petawawa, Belleville and Burlington.

Organizers have made a couple of changes in the classes year and added a new ice track, a four-stroke single-cylinder class and a vintage class in order to attract more riders. Also new was the addition of a third lane on the snow track, which made for more exciting races both for the participants and the hundreds of onlookers who watched from behind the orange safety fences. Participants were awarded trophies at a special ceremony at Oso Hall after the races. The biggest prizes of the day went to the Kings of the Snow and Ice tracks who each took home a whopping $300 cash prize. A roast beef dinner followed the awards ceremony

Over 40 volunteers from various community groups assist with the event and take on the numerous tasks involved, which include preparing and grooming the tracks, manning the start and finish lines, registering the riders and more. Spencer and Heather Robinson donated their time and services to set up the ice track, as did Mitch Cox and Dennis Scott to set up the snow track. Volunteers Jim MacPherson, Spencer Robinson and Art Starkey announced the races. The Sharbot Lake and District Lions provided the on site canteen.

Charlene Godfrey, who was manning the registration site along with Cathy MacMunn, said that the event is mostly about attracting visitors to the area. “We will put the extra proceeds we make back into the event but our main goal is to draw visitors to the area, who in turn support our local businesses by gassing up, eating meals here and often staying overnight for the event. Our goal is to put on a quality and well-organized event that is fun and entertaining for everyone who comes out”, Godfrey said. Judging by its ongoing success year after year, the Snow Drags will be bringing visitors and snowriders to the area for a long time to come.

This year’s Frontenac Heritage Festival was another success and as it unfolded over the weekend.

At the opening breakfast, guest speaker Eric Wagar highlighted the history of Central Frontenac with a focus on the areas that he knows best. Following his speech Dean Walsh and Janet Barr of Community Living-North Frontenac presented a cheque for $500 to members of the festival committee, Mayor Janet Gutowski and Councilor Tom Dewey. On Friday night the crowds swelled to record numbers for the talent show, which was emceed by Gary Giller and Jim MacPherson. The two presented a diverse line up of local talent and that included many newbies to the Oso Hall stage, including singers Xavier Gomez from Northbrook, Adrian O'Connell from Arden, the comedic hillbilly trio comprised of Megan, Milosh and Mike (photo right), and a impressive selection of young musicians from the area including fiddle virtuoso Jessica Wedden and Lucas and Natalie Reynolds. There were also memorable performances by the Land O'Lakes Cloggers and the St. Pierres.

On Saturday in Arden, sizable crowds turned out for the Fur Traders’ Camp Re-enactment, which was moved this year from the Crow Lake Schoolhouse to the Arden Hall and featured the old time pioneers Mike Procter, Bob Miller and Ray Fletcher. There was also a wide variety of other attractions, including displays by the Kennebec Trappers Association, and the Kennebec Historical Society, miniature horse wagon rides, children’s games, a BBQ lunch, skating and demonstrations. A number of new events were added to the line up in Arden including demonstrations by chain saw sculptor Robin Deruchie of Cloyne, which proved very popular. Those who headed north enjoyed a myriad of winter games and activities courtesy of the Kennebec Lake Association.

The snow sculpture contest was moved this year to the Railway Heritage Park in Sharbot Lake but only drew one entry, as people probably preferred to create their snow sculptures on home turf.

The Polar Bear Plunge, on the other hand was a huge draw as always. Spectators, who were cozy in their own winter gear, enjoyed seeing others bite the bullet and take the icy plunge into the waters of Sharbot Lake. The plungers did not disappoint. They appeared in colorful costumes that delighted the crowd and together raised $10,137 for three local causes including the Child Centre, GREC's school council, and the Alzheimer Society (see the Polar Plunge article). Saturday night events were also well attended. The dinner and dance at the Sharbot Lake Legion and the Slocan Ramblers at the Crossing Pub attracted full houses. The 17 vendors who participated in the craft show, which was moved this year to St. James Major from Oso hall, would have liked a larger turnout, but those who shopped were appreciative and receptive to the diverse range of products for sale by local makers who create in a wide variety of mediums.

Another popular site, the Fall River Road Pioneer Log Home, which has been restored by Dr. Peter Bell, allowed festival-goers to step back in time. Visitors enjoyed being driven to the building in Bill Lee's horse-drawn wagon and were greeted by the strains of a bagpipe, played by local musician Gordon Wright. Once inside the circa 1840 home, which is filled with museum-quality artifacts, visitors were offered mulled cider and home-made scones. Adding to the heritage atmosphere were artisans Jean Clair demonstrating quilting and Beth Abbott demonstrating spinning.

On Monday runners and walkers took part in the Heritage relay, which drew 34 runners.

The festival's photo contest had as its theme "Frontenac Landmarks" and drew many entries. Congratulations to winners: Andrea Dickinson - 1st , Kyle Cryer – 2nd and Taylor Babcock – 3rd. All the entries are posted at sites.google.com/site/frontenacheritagefestival/home/photo-contest/2014

Hats off to the members of the Heritage Festival committee and to the countless volunteers who continue to make Central Frontenac a destination in February.

Thanks to a grant from the St. Lawrence College Employment Centre, the Frontenac Heritage Festival will employ a new marketing strategy this year and into the future.

Jesse Mills, a graduate of Sharbot Lake High School who has studied film in Toronto, has been engaged to help upgrade the festival's website and facebook page, to help promote the upcoming festival, and to create some videos to create visibility for the festival into the future.

Mills started his one-month contract with the festival late last week, and he began by bringing the festival website up to date, including all of this year's events and plotting the locations of each event on a map.

“The main thing I'm here to do is promote the festival, particularly to a younger group. I'll be running around and filming things for the next few weeks,” Mills said.

This year's Heritage Festival, which is set for the Family Day weekend (February 14-17), features many of the popular events from previous years, including the Sharbot Lake Snow Drags, the Fall River Pioneer Log Home, The Polar Bear Plunge and the Talent Show.

New this year will be a number of events on Saturday in Arden, including displays by the both the Kennebec Historical Society and the Kennebec Trappers, a Fur Traders Camp re-enactment, chain saw wood carving by Rob Deruchie, and more at the Kennebec Hall, the Arden Legion Fishing Derby and the Kennebec Lake Family Fun Day.

One of the events that Jesse Mills is promoting is the revamped Festival Photo Contest. This year there is only one category for the contest, Frontenac Landmarks, and entries, up to three per photographer, can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The deadline for submissions is February 10, and there are cash prizes for contest winners, which will be announced on the Saturday of the festival.

Further details are available at the festival website, which is most easily accessed through the Frontenac Heritage Festival facebook page or Twitter feed.

“One of the things I plan to do is prepare a video from previous years' festivals and during the festival I plan to get as much footage as possible to prepare videos for internet release afterwards,” said Jesse Mills.

Mills graduated from Sharbot Lake High School in 2011, and has a sister attending Granite Ridge Education Centre, so he hopes to be able to approach the students and staff at the school seeking volunteers to help out at various festival events.

“I also want to encourage students to participate in the festival this year,” he said. “As I was updating the website I saw how many diverse events there are and I began thinking about how I can let people know what will be happening.”

He will also be looking at promoting the festival in Kingston and beyond through services such as Kijiji and Craigslist.

Look for more about the Heritage Festival in these pages over the next two weeks. A flyer will be included in next week's paper in many communities, or go to sites.google.com/site/frontenacheritagefestival/