Inverary lottery winners look forward to new earrings and shoes, and a truck.

“I was routinely checking my tickets with the ticket checker,” shared Constance Hughson while her and  Bob Alport were at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up their over $110,000. “I came across one that caught my eye. I took it to the retailer to validate and told her I might faint if it’s how much I think it is,” she laughed.

When Constance arrived home she told her partner of more than 20 years, Bob, she had a secret. “I told him he had to be extra nice to me or I wasn’t going to tell him.”

“Winning the lottery was definitely a big surprise!” said Bob.

The pair has a few plans for their windfall. “My first priority is to become debt free, then maybe some earrings and shoes,” shared Constance. “I love my truck, but a new one would be nice,” added Bob.

“This money gives us the opportunity to dream. It offers freedom knowing that I have so many choices now,” concluded Constance.

The winning ticket was purchased at Glenburnie Convenience on Perth Road in Glenburnie.

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.

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!”

Christine Lavallee was ready for a change. She used to own a restaurant in Kingston, and more recently spent seven years working at a corporate job for WTC (Westport Telephone Company). She lives on the Washburn Road in the Sunbury area and over the years driving through Inverary she became painfully aware that the community was lacking a grocery store, something that Inverary had always had in the past. With her husband Keith, who runs Lavallee and Sons construction, she looked at the former Bilow’s lumber barn on Perth Road in the middle of the village. The space had two garage doors, and a lot of potential, Christine and Keith thought, so they took a lease out in December. It was Keith’s idea to put in windows where one of the doors was located, and to leave the roll up door in place to roll down at night for added security. It turned a dark space into a bright space and in January Lavallee’s Inverary store opened.

Christine carries basic groceries and convenience store items, but her real passion is locally produced quality food and craft products.

“I decided to go slow and see what kinds of products I could find locally, and in two and half months you can see what has happened.”

Lavallee’s carries bread and Cinnamon buns from Oomen’s bakery, a well known brand in Kingston that is produced just down the road from her home, honey from Inverary and Battersea, Hanna’s Meat pies and Barb’s Peroghi’s from Sydenham, Bear Roots seeds from Verona, chocolate and greenhouse greens from Seeley’s Bay, and the list goes on from there.

“There are so many talented and committed people in this region that I will soon have this store full. And the products are so good that customers come in the door out of curiosity and spend 30 minutes looking around. And then they come back.”

Once the summer season hits, Christine is planning to roll-up the second garage door and open up a fresh air vegetable market stocking local produce from the many farms in the local vicinity.

She will keep stocking some of the canned and other grocery items that she has on two of the aisles in the store, but is planning to completely over haul the display over the next couple of months.

Another new business, Luki’s takeout, shares the building with her, and between them the two businesses are sprucing up the Inverary retail scene.

“I believe everybody is getting back to their roots. Now everybody wants less stress and healthier local food. They want to know where their food comes from and they want to know the people in the stores where they shop. We can do that for them. They can shop here, at Garrett’s, at Northway, and save a trip to Kingston. They like that.”

Christine said that she is planning to continue to bring in new items that her customers are looking for, and will not back down from buying local either. Soon, hot meals will be available at the store in addition to coffee and baked goods. The food will be prepared by Ruthie’s catering, from Verona.

Six months after losing its liquor store, Inverary has an outlet once again.

Reta Azulay, the owner/manager of Northway Home Hardware on Perth Road, leased the space where the store had been located before it closed when the leaseholder retired in March, and after six months of negotiations with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), the new store opened on Tuesday, November 1 at 9 am

“This is something that is really good for the local community. A lot of people don’t want to go to Kingston all the time, and even those who work in Kingston are eager to leave town as soon as they are done work. They can now pick up beer, wine and spirits on their way home again,” she said.

Azulay was happy that the store will be open the weekend before hunting season. The liquor store has its own entrance, but is attached to the rest of the hardware store next to the outdoors section, which is very popular in the week or two before the two-week rifle hunting season for deer.

“This will be good for the hunters, and for us this weekend,” she said.

The store is stocked with standard brand favourites, and Northway staff will be monitoring sales and listening to suggestions from customers as they make their weekly orders in the run up to the Christmas season.

“We don't have a lot of space so we aren't going to carry the variety of a corporate LCBO store,” she said, “but we have enough room to bring in the products that our customers want.”

Northway is a full service hardware store, and operates a lumber yard as well.

“The liquor store fits in with our goal of providing products that suit the needs of our customers and the rural community in the surrounding region,” said Azulay, “and opening it is part of the rebirth of Inverary, with new houses, new subdivisions being built all around here. It is a good thing for us.”

Kelli McRobert has come home to a hero’s welcome after representing Canada in the World Obstacle Course Race Championships on the unforgiving Blue Mountain.

A resident of Inverary, McRobert competed against some of the greatest obstacle course racers in the world in Collingwood, Ontario on Oct. 14.

“That alone would have been a dream come true,” said McRobert, more than a week after returning home. “But it was even more spectacular as I arrived at the Blue Mountain Resort and saw the quaint village set-up with a myriad of fantastic full-size obstacles for me to tackle at the World Obstacle Course Race Championships as a Masters participant.”

According to McRobert, more than 40 countries participated in the competition, creating a nervous energy that motivated racers and spectators throughout the weekend. McRobert completed 15 obstacles over three kilometres.

“It was difficult to sleep the night before and I found some comfort online with other insomniacs as we texted back and forth to alleviate some of our fears,” she noted. “The following morning came way too early. We headed down for a quick warm-up before our heat, and before we knew it, we were at the start line getting pumped-up with a motivational speech by Coach Pain.”

McRobert called the 3K mountain climbing course incredible.

“The obstacles challenged our deepest fears, including heights,” she admitted. “We leapt across deep divides and clung desperately to a thin pole on the Dragon’s Back. Then, as a test of strength and endurance, we climbed the mountain and up a set of stairs with 50lbs of sand on our shoulders. Up and back we went, relieved as we dropped the bags to race onto the next unknown.”

A member of the Canadian team, McRobert said racers displayed patriotic pride as they wore their Canada jerseys and clung to monkey bars, ropes, rings and suspended skulls while shimmying their way to the finish line.

“The final wall was a great spectator point and you could hear the crowds cheering us on as we climbed the rope vertically, scaled down the other side and raced with a full sense of accomplishment towards the finish line and our finisher medal,” said McRobert proudly.

Bruised and sore from the challenging course, McRobert said she is comfortable with her ranking of 33rd in a division for females 40 and older.

“I may even set my goal for 2017 to improve my placement to the top 20,” she said with optimism. “Who knows what the future holds.”

The Inverary Youth Activities Association needs your help! We are trying to build a children’s playground in Ken Garrett Park, a well-known ball park in the region. It has three ball diamonds, two with lights for night-time games. The ball diamonds are used every day from April until the end of September. The association sponsors children’s teams and hosts a number of tournaments during the season. The uniforms for children’s teams are provided, and umpire and tournament fees are paid. The income from diamond fees supports these costs plus our everyday expenses such as hydro, repair and upkeep, taxes etc. Volunteers open the canteen on tournament weekends to add to the revenue.

We have eight youth swings and two tot swings and most summer days at least 25 children are in the park daily.

The play area has recently been excavated thanks to Dig’n Dirt and is now covered with a safety cedar weave ground cover. The two tot swings have been replaced to comply with safety codes. All of this has cost $4950.87. A deposit has now been made on a play structure which will allow up to 30 children to enjoy it at any given time and it is suitable for ages 2 to 12 years. Total cost installed is $32,956.21.

We are asking for community help. Our project has been accepted into the funding competition of the Aviva Community Grant program. Now we need votes and lots of them! Voting continues until 4:00 pm on October 28. Each e-mail address is allowed 18 votes and these votes can be placed at one given time. Just copy and paste the address below into your web browser and follow the links!

www.avivacommunityfund.org/voting/project/view/16-79

Spread the news to your friends and post our campaign on your Facebook Page!

We are also collecting beer cans and beer & wine bottles and these can be dropped off at Garrett’s Meat Store, Perth Road in Inverary.   

Kelli McRobert is on a mission.

Sitting in her home in Inverary on a Friday afternoon in the fall of 2016, she smiled when asked her age.

“I’m 50,” she replied with a grin. “That’s what started this all.”

“This”, according to McRobert, was a quest to complete 50 fitness challenges by the time she turned 50 on April 22, 2016.

“As of last Saturday, I did my 101st race, so I doubled my goal,” she said with a chuckle.

A safety officer at CFB Kingston, McRobert’s efforts have taken her farther than she imagined. On Oct. 14, she will join a team of Canadians in Barrie for the Obstacle Course World Championships.

Her event is the Women’s Masters 3 km race on Blue Mountain. The course is expected to be technically challenging, with many obstacles over a steep incline. “This is it; this is the big one,” she said. “I’m really excited and I don’t get excited very easily any more. It’s going to be awesome.”

To prepare for her event, which includes racers from approximately 45 countries, McRobert has been training at home and at the base gym to improve her cardio, flexibility and strength. “We’ve literally tried one of everything to see what it’s like,” she said about the races she’s completed with her friends over the last four years. “If we win, great, but it’s more about getting out there and looking forward to something every weekend.”

McRobert estimates it has cost her $6,000 to complete the 101 events. Approximately 40 of them were obstacle courses and more than 60 were triathlons and marathons. This amount does not include event registration fees, which are covered by a publication for which she works as a writer to rate and describe races.

“I’m a tough critic now,” she said. “I’ve done so many.”

McRobert is a member of the Canadian Mudd Queens. She spends almost every other weekend traveling to and from a race. “We’re really good at bruising,” she said, while tugging at her pant leg to reveal a recent bruise. Her repertoire also includes strains, sprains, scratches and pulled muscles.

“Last weekend, we were chased by zombies in Stittsville,” she said. “It was pretty epic.”

Holding a fistful of medals, McRobert proudly showed the severed finger she received from the Zombie Run when she crossed the finish line. It has become one of her favourite trophies.

Married to James McRobert, her best friend from high school, Kelli is grateful for the support she has received from family and friends as she works to fulfill her dreams. “You have to have a really supportive group of friends and family,” she said about what it takes to achieve so much in the sport she loves.

“They’re working on making it an actual Olympic sport.”

Asked if she hopes to win at the world obstacle course championships, McRobert replied with a quick no. “I’m going to go and have fun and enjoy the moment,” she said. She also said she doesn’t plan to slow down after her big race in Barrie.

“My new goal is 200 races by 60,” she said with enthusiasm. “That gives me 10 years. I don’t want to rush it.”

Josh Bennett is a young man doing an old job.

Happiest when he’s covered in dirt from working the land, Josh is the fifth generation of his family to work as a farmer.

“I like tending to the animals and doing crops,” the friendly 18-year-old confirms from his family’s sheep farm, which covers 600 acres in Inverary, Ontario. “I like being outdoors.”

Filled with plans to continue his family’s tradition of selling sheep meat/wool and cash crops, Josh is poised to leave the farm behind to embark on a post-secondary education.

For some, it is bittersweet to leave what you love just to learn how to do it better.

For Josh, he’s grateful for a show-of-support from the farming community.

“It will help a lot,” he says with sincerity about a recent grant from the Frontenac Federation of Agriculture (FFA).

“I appreciate the help.”

The FFA says Josh qualified for the $500 education bursary because of his farming background and five years with 4-H.

Josh intends to use the money to pay for two years of agriculture classes at Ridgetown Campus near London, Ontario.

With a focus on agriculture, food, the environment and rural communities, the campus is a division of the University of Guelph. It has been part of the Ontario Agriculture College since 1997.

Once he earns his diploma, Josh will return to the family farm to continue raising more than 1,800 sheep.

“Josh is a good guy and we feel we have a good representative from Frontenac County to go on to Ridgetown,” says President Gary Gordon when asked about the FFA’s opinion of this year’s award winner.

Speaking on behalf of the FFA, which is composed of farmers across Frontenac County who volunteer their time to act as the frontline of a national organization, he notes, “This farm is one to try new technology, which we like to see.

“He’s going to be the fifth generation (of his family) on the farm,” says Gary, impressed.

“We’re very pleased.”

The community was taken by surprise when the liquor store in Inverary closed on March 21. The Barr family, who ran the store along with a convenience store, decided to retire.

When Reta Azulay, the owner of Northway Hardware, which is located next door, found out what had happened, she immediately contacted the Barrs and offered to rent the store, because whatever happens, Northway can use the space.

The second thing she did was contact the LCBO to find out about re-opening the liquor store.

“The liquor store is important for Inverary,” she said when interviewed early this week. “We fought to stop a solar farm from coming in, and we were successful. We are trying to build up the community, and there is a lot of development coming this way. The convenience of a liquor store is important to people in the surrounding area.”

The response she received from the LCBO was that they had not renewed the contract with the Barrs because a new corporate store has been opened on Division Street next to the Canadian Tire and No Frills stores and the company needs to do research to determine if a store in Inverary is still necessary.

“We know from running our own business for decades that people do not want to have to drive to Kingston all the time” said Azulay. “If they think north Kingston is going to serve them, they are wrong. The liquor store is definitely needed for Inverary.”

Not only has she contacted the LCBO repeatedly by email and phone, Azulay has also contacted MPP Randy Hillier who expressed his support, and sent an email to the township.

“Ron Vandewal is putting forward a motion of support for this, which I did not expect, and the two councilors for Storrington, Norm Roberts and Ron Sleeth, are also fully in support,” she said.

A petition to bring back the liquor store has been signed by 1000 people in one week.

What Azulay is hoping to hear this week is if the LCBO is going to put out a call for tenders to take over the contract in Inverary. If it does she will submit a bid, hoping to put it back into the same location where it was until just two weeks ago.

All of the shelving has been left in place in the building, and while work has been done to brighten the space up a little, Northway is waiting to see if a liquor store can come back before preparing it for any other use.

“We never planned to go into the liquor store business,” she said, “but we think it is important for Inverary's future that there is a liquor store. A couple of older buildings in the village are being renovated now and we are trying to bring the village back to where it was. Losing the liquor store would move us backwards when we want to move forwards,” she said.