The old Bradshaw School, S.S. #9, is a special place for Lois Webster. It opened in 1903 and closed in 1969, as the era of the one-room schoolhouse was coming to an end. But this one has been fixed up and lives on as reminder of days gone by.
Webster started at Bradshaw in 1951, in Grade 3.
“Our family had been living in Verona and I went to both schools there,” she said. “My grandfather moved to Bradshaw in December that year.
“In January, our house burnt down and we moved in with him.
“Still living there.”

She had a lot of relatives in the area, the large Robinson family for one.
“There was one other girl and me in the Third Grade,” she said.
Obviously, there are many memories in the old building, memories like the Silver Book of Song.
“Page 132, Home on the Range, that was my favourite,” she said. “Also, Frog He Would A-Wooing Go.
“But I was shy back then.”

She remembers the big old box stove that sat almost in the middle of the room, and the outhouse.
“One girl said she could hold it all day before going out in that cold outhouse,” Webster said.
And, like every other good Canadian kid, she remembers hockey.

“We used to skate on a pond just over the hill,” she said. “The boys would break off tree branches and that would be their hockey sticks.
“I didn’t have skates so I tied pine cones to the bottom of my boots and played in goal.”
And there were no shortage of pucks.

“We used frozen cow pies for that,” she said.
After hockey, they often observed a bit of a ritual.
“Sometimes, the teacher would put a big pot of water on the stove when we went out,” she said. “We’d each bring a vegetable or something from home and when we got back in, we’d have soup.”
The building’s in pretty good shape and the Township owns it now, she said. And she’s good with that.

“It’s historical more than anything else,” she said, noting that contemporary school kids come regularly to see what things were like in the old days. “It’s important to keep the history.”

Glenburnie, Ontario – A ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Frontenac K&P Trail is planned for August 26 at Railway Heritage Park and Oso Beach in Sharbot Lake. The event – also a Canada 150 celebration – will be held in partnership with the Trans Canada Trail and the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance. Construction on the final stretch of the Frontenac K&P Trail north of Tichborne is underway and the County of Frontenac has agreements in place for all required parcels of land along the rail bed. While construction is underway, users are urged to refrain from accessing the trail between Tichborne and Sharbot Lake until further notice. The County of Frontenac will continue to issue updates on progress made on the trail. To date, the completed section of the

Frontenac K&P Trail stretches the length of roughly 40 kilometers between Orser Road in South Frontenac and the village of Tichborne in Central Frontenac. The last time a section of the trail opened was in November of 2015 when it came up from Verona to Tichborne. That 20-kilometer part includes bridges over White Creek, Elbow Creek and Fish Creek. The Frontenac K&P Trail is open to a variety of user groups including hiking, biking, skiing, horseback riding and snowmobiling. And, contrary to more southern parts of the trail, the section north of Craig Road, just north of Verona, is accessible to motorized vehicles year round. While many trails in eastern Ontario require a permit for ATVs, that is not a requirement on the Frontenac K&P Trail between Verona and Sharbot Lake. With the completion of this project, the K&P Trail will also serve as an important link in the Trans Canada Trail, which enters Frontenac County near Arden, connects to the K&P Trail and exits the County to the East towards Smiths Falls via the Cataraqui Trail.

Flat terrain, prepared surface--the K&P Canada 150 Bike Ride taking place on May 6th (10 to noon) will be a comfortable ride over historic ground. This family-friendly Bike Ride takes place on the former rail bed abandoned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Starting from Tichborne, cyclists will travel 10 km each (for a total of 150 km) passing through bush, swamps and over bridges.

The Kingston-Pembroke Railway (known locally as “The Kick and Push”)  once connected a string of small villages that depended on it for commerce as well as for their household goods. The Conboy’s shipped their maple syrup on the railway; Eatons delivered dressers and tables; cattle, fattened on the local farms, ended up in Toronto stockyards .

Formed in 1998, the K&P Trail Group promotes the K&P as a right of way with a free multi-use trail starting at Sydenham Road. No motorized vehicles are allowed. In November 2015, the County of Frontenac, which owns its portion of the trail, completed the section from Harrowsmith to Tichborne. The new section is approximately 20 kilometers long and includes bridges over White Creek, Elbow Creek and Fish Creek. The next phase aims to bring the trail to Sharbot Lake and is expected to be completed in 2018. The K&P Canada 150 Bike Ride is hosted by the SteeleBender Cycle Club and is sponsored by the Railway Heritage Society. Further information at 613 279-2144.

While the sunny skies were welcome for much of the Frontenac Heritage Festival last weekend, the Tichborne venue might have preferred a slightly cooler temperature as the rink featured a bit of water across its surface.

Undaunted however, the Kingston & Area Ice Stock Club along with a few locals still threw a few rocks and got in a game or two.

“It’s OK,” said spokesperson Chris Hammer. “This game can be frustrating in the best of conditions but we’re always competitive.”

Ice stock is game very similar to curling. Indeed, practitioners throw stones towards a ‘house’ and the closer your stones are to the house (actually a rubber ring so it has similarities with bocce) than your opponents, the more points you score. The stones are quite similar to curling stones, except the handles are straight up. There is one big difference, however, the design of the 4.5 kilo stones allows for the exchanging of bases such that it can be played on asphalt during the summer.

“The summer game uses Teflon bases,” Hammer said. “That’s what we’ll be using when we start our summer season at the tennis courts in Sydenham.

“The winter bases are rubber.”

The sport likely has its origins in curling (although it is depicted in Peter Bruegel paintings from the 1500s) but it’s actually a German-Austrian variant established in 1934.

Locally, it began at Ernst Porhaska’s and Otto Egger’s properties just off Sydenham Road north of the 401 in the late ’50s.

It suffered a local decline in the ’90s but has been enjoying a resurgence with 45 regular members in the local club.

The North Frontenac Little Theatre held its annual awards ceremony last Sunday, Sept. 25 at the former Tichborne church that it purchased and fixed up as a rehearsal and storage space several years ago.

This year actors Martina Field and John Stephen were honoured in the performer category, and in the community category, long-time supporters Jocelyn and Nick Whalen from Sharbot Lake Pharmasave were also celebrated.

The hall was decked out with red carpets, and there was a table laden full of treats and refreshments in the center. The hall was full when NFLT president and event emcee, Brian Robertson, jumped onto the altar/stage at the back of the hall and called everyone to attention. Channeling Steve Martin, Robertson proceeded to deliver a monologue, complete with fake texts from celebrities, and apologies from long-time NFLT members John and Anne McDougall, who according to Robertston were busy at home working on a disco version of Fiddler on the Roof.

Finally it came time to announce the first honoree, Martina Field. As she jumped up to go up and accept her award, Robertson put his hand up. “Not yet,” he said, forcing her to return to her seat as he talked about their experiences on stage together as a married couple on two occasions, something that he said the tabloids had a field day with.

Field has performed in over a dozen productions, including as Mrs. Webb in “Our Town” and Titania in “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, a production she mentioned in particular because it was the first ever Shakespeare production for the company and its director, Inie Platenius, died of breast cancer before the play went up.

“We were committed to following the directions she gave us in order to make the production a tribute to her. It meant a lot to all of us. She also asked me to design the sets for it, with the help of Peter [Inie's husband], which was a great experience.”

Brian Robertson would not let Field leave the front until she delivered a cackle from the Wicked Witch of the West. She said that was a role she had wanted to play since she was a child as the Wicked Witch has always been an idol of hers. She called her a “positive role model.”

John Stephen first came to the Little Theatre as the father (and chauffeur) for his daughter, Shiloh, who was in a production. He took on a small role, and has been in a dozen productions since then.

He was given more and more prominent roles in a series of productions that were directed by Doug Mcintyre, including Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Drinking Alone, and Noises Off.

“He saw something in me as an actor that I never saw,” Stephen said in his trademark self-deprecating manner.

He also played the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, a policeman in Guys and Dolls, and was recently in The Miracle Worker.

He said that he has been put into difficult positions on stage by some of his directors, including McIntyre, who decided to stage Beyond Reasonable Doubt in the center of the auditorium at the old Sharbot Lake High School instead of on stage.

“Whenever I would lose a line on stage I could look to the side for prompting, but this time the audience was surrounding me. But since I was playing a lawyer I could just say 'please give me a minute to consult, your honour', and go back to consult with my client, who fortunately had the script in front of them on the table. The audience never knew, or at least never told me they knew.”

Jocelyn and Nick Whalen are the first recipients of the Community Award. They have supported the Little Theatre ever since they opened the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy 25 years ago.

“They have put posters up in the store and sold tickets and collected money for us for 50 productions over the years. And I know we are not alone; they support other community activities all the time,”said Robertson.

Speaking for the pair, Nick Whalen said, “It is an honor to be recognised. I have always enjoyed the productions. The Little Theatre is a great asset to the community.”

The Whalens received a standing ovation.

Nominees have been announced for the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards, with fiddler Jessica Wedden being nominated in the category of Young Performer of the Year. Submissions for the CFMAs were received from across Canada there are a total of five nominees in each category.

The nomination was based on the song on her first CD entitled “Fiddling is My Passion”, which was recorded at the age of 12, just three and a half years after she started to play the fiddle. To qualify for this category, the entrant must be under 19 at the time of recording. Jessica is presently 14 years old.

She is from the Sharbot Lake area and started playing fiddle with the Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra. She then broadened her learning experience with private lessons from professional fiddler, Cindy Thompson of Almonte. To date, , profiled in Celtic Life magazine from Nova Scotia, and has performed at the 2016 Havelock Jamboree, Ottawa’s 2015 CityFolk Music Festival, Perth's 2016 Stewart Park Music Festival Youth Showcase and the 2016 Almonte CeltFest. Fiddling is her passion!

Wedden is one of three local musicians nominated for CFM Awards this year.

Frontenac News contributing reporter and man about town in Mountain Grove, Jonas Bonnetta, of Evening Hymms has been nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year for his third release, Quiet Energies, from 2015.

Finally, the decorated Elphin-based singer/songwriter David Francey, a three-time Juno Award winner, has been nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year for Empty Train.

On November 14, dignitaries and staff from the County of Frontenac and the Township of Central Frontenac, along with representatives from the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance, gathered with local supporters and sponsors of the K&P Trail for an official ribbon cutting ceremony in the hamlet of Tichborne. The ceremony celebrated the completion of phases three and four of the trail, which brought it to Tichborne.

Deputy Warden of the County of Frontenac, Dennis Doyle, thanked the members of the previous county council, specifically Janet Gutowski, Gary Davison, Jim Vanden Hoek and Ron Maguire, who Doyle said “had the vision to form a trails committee back in 2007; [the committee's] members then formed the Trails Master Plan that developed and opened the K&P Trail, which now travels from Lake Ontario to Tichborne.”

Doyle also thanked Ann Prichard of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation, who over a number of years has assisted by securing over $250,000 in funding for the project.

Cindy Cassidy, general manager of the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance, has been working on the trails master plan since its earliest days. She estimates that over 25,000 people are using the trails, which has created over 70 jobs, and that trails users are spending upwards of $6 million while en route. She anticipates those numbers to grow.

Local business people, Wayne Robinson and Marcel Giroux from W.A. Robinson Asset Management Ltd., made a cheque presentation to Doyle at the ceremony. The company has generously supported the trail project and has donated $25,000 over five years.

Also present was Wilburt Crain of Crains' Construction, who worked on the trail.

Mayor of Central Frontenac, Frances Smith, also spoke and promised that this term council will get the trail to Sharbot Lake.

Ann Marie Young, manager of economic development with the county, said she was thrilled to be part of “such a tangible, exciting project that so many people will benefit from and enjoy”. She said the trail would encourage economic development by bringing walkers, runners, skiers, ATVers, snowmobilers, and cyclists to the area.

Also present and thanked at the event were members of the Lennox and Addington Ridge Runners Snowmobile Club, who assist with regular grooming and signage; and trail maintenance volunteer, Wayne Bush, who reminded drivers not to drive cars on the trail.

Future phases of the plan will bring the trail to Sharbot Lake and beyond, and the planners are hoping that the 20 private property owners between Tichborne and Sharbot Lake will cooperate by allowing the trail to make its way sooner rather than later to Sharbot Lake.

Eleven-year-old Leah Neumann, of Tichborne, has returned from The War Amps 2015 Ontario Child Amputee (CHAMP) Seminar in Ottawa, which brought together young amputees from across the province. This year marks the 40th anniversary of CHAMP, which has provided generations of child amputees with financial assistance for artificial limbs, regional seminars and peer support. Leah, born a right arm amputee, attended the three-day seminar with her mother where they learned about the latest developments in artificial limbs, dealing with teasing and bullying, and parenting an amputee child. She is pictured showing the special bike adaptation she uses to hold onto the handlebar.

CHAMP is funded through public support of The War Amps Key Tag and Address Label Service. For more information, call 1 800 250-3030 or visit waramps.ca.

Joelle Parr and Dayna Stone received Student Achievement awards; Tom and Eileen Christensen received Certificates of Merit; and Sarah Hale received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Frontenac Little Theatre (NFLT) last week.

The NFLT held its annual version of an awards show at their practice space in Tichborne last Saturday (September 26).

The hall, a converted church, was decked out for the occasion. There was wine, beer, punch and fancy finger foods, and many in attendance were dressed as if for the Doras. If it were not for the fact that the hall is serviced by an outhouse out back, it would have been the same as a fancy award show in Toronto or New York.

The afternoon was structured around videotaped interviews with the winners that were conducted by NFLT President Brian Robertson, who seemed to be channelling the late, great Brian Lineham in the videos.

The first recipient was Joelle Parr. Joelle has been involved in most of the productions where there are youth in the cast over the last seven or eight years, and most recently starred in Aladdin and Music Man. She has also been the student representative on the NFLT board.

She said that she has felt supported in all the productions she has been in, and also that she appreciates the role of student representative on the board because it gives her a sense that the younger members of the NFLT family have a say in what the NFLT does. When she was presented, live and in person, with a plaque and flowers, she gave a special thank you to her mother for encouraging her, and driving her to rehearsals, year after year.

Dayna Stone started acting in NFLT productions as a six-year-old in Oliver. She was a mainstay at NFLT for several years afterwards, acting in The Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Tom Sawyer. In 2012 she played the title role in Annie. In her interview she talked about all that she learned by acting with adults as a child, and about the acting she has done in Perth during and after her years with the Little Theatre. She is enrolled in a Theatre, Community and education Program at the University of Windsor.

In NFLT plays there always seems to be a role for Tom Christensen. He has played either a policeman, a fireman, a bouncer or a drunk in most of the productions over the last 17 years, and at the cast parties he has presented each cast member with a wood-burning of the play's program cover as a memento. Eileen has always come along with Tom to rehearsals and performances and each time she has ended up helping with the production in one way or another.

Sarah Hale said she looked at her lifetime achievement recognition as an award for her family as much as herself. She initially got involved because her daughter Julia was interested, and brought her late husband Lorne along for the ride. Lorne liked to sing more than he liked to act, although Sarah said playing the Mad Hatter in Alice in Theatreland in 1989 was a role he enjoyed. Sarah has been in many productions over almost 30 years, and has directed a number of productions as well. As her interview was being screened, there was a surprise cut to a short clip from her daughter Julia, now a teacher in Columbia, who talked about how much the Little Theatre had meant to her when she was young.

Over the years Sarah, an elder and lay preacher with the United Church in Arden, has played several nasty characters.

“I think it is good for a church elder to play an evil character on stage once in while,” she said. “Besides, it is so much fun.”

Signs are up for the 2015 Inroads Studio Tour, a familiar event for over 20 years here in Central Frontenac Township. This year, there are nine open studios and a dozen fine artisans displaying their work; hours are from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Sept. 5-7 of Labour Day Weekend. Now is the time of year when friends and visitors to my shop are likely to say something like: “You must be really busy getting ready for the Inroads Tour.” These comments got me thinking about what it is we do to prepare for Inroads – and realizing how long the process really takes.

Tour preparation began in January or February when former participants decided whether they wanted to do the tour again this year. With snow still on the ground, the interested parties got together, in person or via e-mail, and volunteered for various roles (chair, treasurer, secretary, sign manager, etc.) Previous tour members and possible new participants were contacted, commitments were made and cheques mailed to the treasurer so that the brochure co-ordinator could assemble the information and brochures could be printed to be given out during the summer.

For all tour members, preparation throughout the summer involves distributing brochures and generally promoting the tour whenever the opportunity arises. Closer to the event, we put up small signs and dust off the larger signs that we have stored, making sure we have enough and that they are in good repair. I think we all look around our studios and do whatever re-arranging and cleaning seems necessary.

For those of us on the tour who have a shop that is open throughout the summer, much of the pre-tour activity is what we would be doing anyway – filling current orders, replacing stock that has sold through the summer, and trying to keep ahead of the general mess generated in an active artist’s studio. Joanne Pickett (Arden Pottery) says that her usual long days just get longer. At this time of year, Joanne can often be found in her studio at 2 am, throwing pots or waiting for firings to be finished – fortunately, she finds these night vigils peaceful and rather pleasant.

Judith Versavel, who runs Gallery on the Bay in Arden, summarized her preparations for Labour Day thus: “Sprucing up the garden, mowing the lawn, washing gallery windows - again, rearranging items for maximum show, helping my guest artist and trying to figure out what to wear! Oh yeah … and trying to get new paintings and jewellery finished at the last minute!!!”

Here at the Arden Batik shop, I have completed some new pictures, and plan to get them matted and/or framed before the tour. However, I am also going to start some batiks that I know I will not finish, so there will be a selection of interesting pieces in process for tour visitors to see – and for me to demonstrate with during the weekend.

Nancy, at Hilderbrook Studio, tells me that she has some new necklaces, and is “madly busy” making more. Jo Crivellaro has been working on a new product -- collaged mirrors with hunting and fishing themes. She has yet to do the weed cutting and tidying up around her owner-built house in the woods, but will certainly be busy until the tour date. Laurel Minutillo, (Laurel Leaf Studio) has also been busy creating new work; she will be showing painted ceramic jewellery as well as new roller printed metal earrings and forged pendants for necklaces. The worst part about getting ready for the show, she says, is that you never think you are ready enough. Alas, how true!

Nick Hally, our sign man, puts up the large highway signs, and makes sure that all studios are supplied with the signage they need. He and Annette, at Maple Hollow Studio, write that they “ensure that we have enough of our various stock on hand for the full weekend, make sure our signage is all up and visible the night before the first day, cut the grass, weed the garden and make sure our whole place wherever customers will be going is neat, tidy and welcoming, and provide adequate seating and iced bottled water for tired feet and legs.”

Doreen Morey doesn’t show at her home studio, but at her cottage location, so her preparation includes setting up a tent for display and arranging a temporary work space on the cottage deck. She sews in preparation for the tour, and continues sewing throughout the weekend.

For those who are guests at another artisan’s studio, the process involves less house cleaning and more carrying of boxes. Jill Ferguson, guest at Gallery on the Bay, writes: “Worst part is packing and carting all the stuff and the best part is looking forward to meeting new people and seeing regular visitors. I have my must do cards and coasters ready to go and all made with prints of original artwork. I still hope to prepare some mini-prints so I guess that's on my wish list. I have several new landscapes of Ontario country scenes ... roads, fields, waterfalls, trees.”

Janet and Steve MacIntyre are guests at Ken Waller’s studio, and enjoy both the tour and a good visit with the Wallers. This year, Steve and Janet have been trying an unusual jewelry making technique called broom casting. Yes, it involves brooms – they hope you will come and see their new work and find out how it is made.

In fact, all of us look forward to our tour visitors, and hope that the preparations we have made will mean a pleasant tour for all who come and share, for a day, our work, our studios, and a bit of our lives.