From early May until late October, Bon Echo Provincial Park is a magnet for visitors to the Hwy. 41 corridor and the entire Land O'Lakes tourist region. Then the tourist economy tends to fall into a deep slumber over the winter. Now, through a combined effort of the Township of Addington Highlands, the County of Lennox and Addington, the Land O'Lakes Tourist Association and MPP Randy Hillier's office, an attempt is being made to entice the decision makers at Ontario Parks to consider offering some winter programming at Bon Echo.

“We need to find out first if there is a reasonable demand before we start lobbying and putting a business case together,” said Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg, who is working with the township economic development committee to promote the "Bon Echo in winter" idea.

The survey takes only a very short time to fill out, and is readily available at http://lennox-addington.on.ca/bon-echo-survey.html

The survey refers to a number of winter activities that visitors might partake in, such as “cross-county skiing, snow shoeing, dog sledding, skating, tobogganing, tubing, wildlife and bird watching, and winter camping.

Residents and potential visitors are encouraged to take the survey, which can be accessed through the web address above or by clicking on the tourism icon on the L&A County website and then scrolling to Feature Experiences on the right hand side of the page to Bon Echo Provincial Park, Winter Opportunities.

Lucas Wales, General Manager of Land O'Lakes Tourist Association, said that the Bon Echo initiative fits in well with the desires of tourist operators to promote year-round visits.

“The beauty of the Land O'Lakes is certainly something to experience in the winter, and anything we can do to provide opportunities and get the word out is a benefit for our members and the region as a whole,” he said.

In an effort to preserve local history that otherwise might end up in the landfills, Margaret Axford, curator of the Pioneer Museum and Archives in Cloyne, gave a presentation titled “History in a Box”, at the Cloyne & District Historical Society’s meeting on January 19.

Axford’s basic message was: don’t give that old dusty attic shoe box the old heave-ho; it deserves a second look. Even if history is not your personal cup of tea, then passing the box on to a member of a historical society or a local museum makes much better sense than simply tossing it out.

Axford opened up one such box that came her way over a year ago via one local resident who had the wherewithal to know that the artifacts might be of interest to members of the Cloyne and District Society (CDHS).

At the meeting, Axford unveiled the contents of the box, and step by step pieced together what she found. The box contained over 150 artifacts that included numerous photographs, news clippings magazines, calendars and other documents, which tell a somewhat spotty story of one Dylan Francis, who came from Culloden, ON but also spent time in North Frontenac. An RCAF photo shows that Francis joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at some point as a young man and likely trained near Windsor Mills, Quebec, since photos found in the box showing men fixing airplanes were printed at a pharmacy in that town. The box also contained numerous clippings from the Toronto Star telling of the fates of various WW2 soldiers, likely Dylan's buddies.

We find out that Dylan played hockey in Toronto at Humberside Collegiate from another photo and that he likely married Marjorie Francis. There were numerous old photos circa the 1880s or 1890s of people that may have been his grandparents and one especially delightful photo of two young boys.

Axford spoke about the fun and excitement she feels delving into these artifacts. “It is like trying to solve a puzzle and what we are always trying to do is find out more about the local history in the area here.” She said that one Aha! moment came to her when she discovered a card from the Culloden Literary Society dated January 31, 1905, which led her to the understanding that Dylan Francis was likely the son of Viola Dylan and George Francis. A claims map of Denbigh dated 1955 places Dylan Francis in the local area though it remains unclear why that was or in what capacity he spent time here. This discovery was made thanks to a number of envelopes and Legion magazines that were mailed to Francis in the 1970s to RR2 Cloyne.

Axford said she might try to contact other historical societies in south western Ontario to see if anyone there might be interested in these artifacts. She said that if not, they will likely remain as a collection at the Pioneer Museum.

The point of the presentation was aptly summed up by CDHS member Ian Brumell. “The point here is not so much about this fellow Dylan Francis in particular but more about what it takes to put all of the separate pieces of information together to try to get the story right. That, and most importantly, encouraging people to look into those old dusty boxes they might find when cleaning out a home. If you have stuff, think first before you just go ahead and chuck it out. I remember watching and was almost in tears when one house in this area was completely demolished and everything inside was completely destroyed. When that happens you can only imagine all of the history that is being lost.”

Anyone who has such a box but holds no use for it can contact their local historical society.

by Valerie Allan

On Jan. 16, 24 students from Grades 3-7 presented projects in a Science Fair held in the library of NAEC.

Preparations started in June, when Ms. Randle (a Secondary Science teacher) collaborated with Elementary teachers (Ms. Beeg, Mr. Rewbotham, Mr. Pelow, Mr. Hill and Ms. Cuthill) to design a Science Fair modeled after the regional Science Fair (FLASF).

The purpose of the fair was to provide students with a unique opportunity to engage in scientific investigation. Ms. Randle remarked, “Science Fairs are a great way to promote critical thinking skills. Science Fairs allow students to explore and investigate things they are interested in, process information using critical thinking skills, and create something they are proud of. It allows them to learn about the scientific method in a hands-on way.”

Students chose experiments, studies or innovations as a basis for their projects, and were judged by a panel of judges for Top Project, and by visitors for Fan Favourite. The top project for Mrs. Beeg’s class went to Abbi Woods and the Fan Favourites for Mrs. Beeg’s class went to Bella DeSa and Owen Bright.

The top project for Mr. Rewbotham’s class went to Sarah Reed and the Fan Favourites for Mr. Rewbotham’s class went to Hayden Riley and Ryan Kay.

The top project for Mrs. Pelow’s class went to Josie Heyman and the Fan Favourites for Mrs. Pelow’s class went to Amanda Clancy and Beth Shiner.

The top project for Ms. Cuthill’s class went to Sierra Baldacchin and Fan Favourites for Ms. Cuthill’s class went to Jessie Cumming and Riley Kay.

According to Youth Science Canada, which is a big supporter of science fairs, “Every year, over 500,000 young Canadians participate in project-based science…encouraging them to get their hands dirty and develop scientific and technological knowledge and skills through project-based science.”

For their annual drama production this year, grade nine and ten students in the drama program at the North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne chose "Aw, Shucks!" as the play that they most wanted to see performed.

Judging by the reception the play received at its inaugural performance on January 13 they made the right choice. The play, written by Toniann Guadagnoli, tells the tale of one large and way over the top "countri-fied" family. The plot focuses in on son Roscoe (perfectly portrayed by Matt Emslie) and his choice of his wife-to-be, Brooke, (aptly played by Brianna Bolduc). The problem is that Brooke hails from Brooklyn, New York, and Roscoe's “Maw”, hilariously portrayed by Selena Pelicos, is not having any of it. Instead Maw sets her sights on her preferred choice, Georgian belle Savannah, played with aplomb by Terri-Lynn Rosenblath.

Spurred on by the family matriarch, the family decides to hold a country-style contest where the two dueling possible brides-to-be face off in an attempt to corn shuck and cotton pick their way to the altar.

Of course the bridal hopefuls, being the wisest of the bunch, become friendly in the process, forcing Maw to take the outcome into her own hands. Maw hatches a sneaky countrified Princess and the Pea plan to curtail Brooke's win, which fails. Still, in the end it takes Elmer the horse to make Maw see the backwardness of her ways and realize that it is Brooke whom her son should ultimately marry - and of course Roscoe gets his city girl.

The actors each nailed their characters, with the countrified family members not only sounding like typical back woods southern hillbillies (I was informed that many accomplished the task by watching numerous reruns of the Dukes of Hazard), but also delivering their lines with the precise comic timing required to meet the mark.

The music in the play was lively and the line dancing scene at the family hoedown was one of the play's most memorable scenes.

Valerie Allan, who teaches drama at the school and stage managed the play, said the choice of play really fit the students. “They just seemed to naturally get the whole country thing really very well right from the start.”

Allan said that the fact that NAEC is a country school was a big reason why the students chose the play and added that the fact that the play presents a problem that is ultimately resolved, while poking fun at a number of typical stereotypes is a great learning experience both for these young thespians and the audience alike.

The response by the full house audience at Tuesday's performance proved that not only can these young dramatists do exactly what they set minds to, but that in the process they can entertain a full house of delighted viewers. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew who put one a very memorable performance at the NAEC for 2015.

by Marcella Neely

As I start to write this, I realize that as this is being read, we are contributing to history.

One day our descendants will be searching archives and museums for hints of how we live and work and think. To make it easy for them, let's keep photos, write names and descriptions on them, save letters, documents, diaries, mementos - all those things we wish our parents and grandparents had saved.

In the Cloyne Pioneer Museum and Archives, volunteers have managed to collect and preserve a good amount of local history. Families continue to donate artifacts, photos and documents. We want to share this information and these collections and invite everyone to take advantage of the work of the Cloyne and District Historical Society. Even now, in the off season, archival information is available and historical photos can be enjoyed on our website.

Our meetings are held on the third Monday of Jan., Feb., March, April, May, and Sept., Oct., Nov., at 1 pm in the Cloyne hall. We have history-related outings and informative talks with long-time residents and descendants of pioneer families. There is no obligation for anyone who wishes to join us. Our web site is www.cloynepioneermuseum.ca and is regularly updated with our activities. We continue to build our historic photo gallery on Flickr, accessed from the web site.

Our January meeting is on Monday, Jan. 19. We will discover what lurks in a box of memories that was donated to us. Come visit with us. All are welcome.  

Submitted by NAEC

On Dec. 12 at North Addington Education Centre, over one hundred elementary and secondary students with their teachers, participated in the Hour of Code. This is a global event that has people of all ages from over 180 countries write lines of code to promote computer science. This event was organized by Darren Sissons, a secondary teacher at NAEC. Students used the Hour of Code website for this event, learning how to program simple games on computers, iPads or their own hand held devices. One student commented, “It was a lot of fun, I didn’t know I could do that!” To find out more, visit http://hourofcode.com/ca

submitted by Joel Hasler

For the first time in ten years, North Addington Education Centre is sending a team to OFSAA. The Senior Boys’ Volleyball team, coached by Mr. Hasler, will be travelling to Welland on Wednesday, November 19 to play in the OFSAA Single “A” Volleyball Championship. Our games will be played on Thursday, November 20 and Friday, November 21. The Senior Boys’ Volleyball team qualified for OFSAA after earning a silver medal at COSSA in Port Hope last Thursday. The team’s success demonstrates the nearly three years of dedication from many of the team members and coaches. Not only does this team have a strong group of senior-aged players, the team is privileged to have a great group of grade nine students. The future certainly looks bright for North Addington volleyball teams.

by Valerie Allan

Five NAEC students attended the 7th annual Four Winds Festival of Aboriginal Cultures on October 29. at the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. The students were escorted by Mrs. Sproule, who is from the Chippewaas of Georgina Island.

Students attended a variety of workshops. Emma Fuller and Mackenzie Johnson (M.J.) attended an Ojibwe Traditions workshop, where they received a bracelet and learned about traditional ways to greet people and to pray. They also participated in a Corn Husk Doll Making workshop, and came away with a corn husk doll they had made themselves. Emma enjoyed some traditional stories in Algonquin Story-telling, while M.J. made a wampum belt in the Wampum Belt workshop. She also learned that on a traditional Wampum Belt, the owner had to remember the story associated with every single bead.

Madison Lloyd, Mackenzie Wilson and Luc Desrosiers did some high energy Metis Jigging. The workshop leaders taught them that it was important to use the traditional names, rather than the names used by colonialists. They reported that they learned that there was no Metis word for “goodbye” or “thank you”. They said the workshop was packed with learning opportunities and they really enjoyed it. The three students also attended a hand-drumming workshop, in which there was vocalization accompanying the drumming, but no actual words. They were taught that hand-drumming with vocalization is a form of prayer.

Madison and Mackenzie went to the Social Dancing workshop, where they learned about types of dance and their social significance. Luc went to a Sacred Medicine workshop, where he learned that the Medicine Wheel encompassed life’s cycle, starting with East and moving through South and West and ending with North. He also learned that native peoples use sage, sweetgrass and tobacco as medicine, and learned how to make cedar tea. Cedar tea is to help breathing and stress, and is made by boiling water, adding a cedar stick, and letting it steep for 10 minutes.

Students were able to attend the conference because of funding provided by the Limestone Board of Education. Unfortunately, a lot of secondary students were on a science field trip, so were unable to attend, so the festival was opened up to some elementary students. All participants said that it had been a great learning experience, and that they would love to go next year. NAEC is hoping that a greater number will be able to attend next year.

In a special touring show highlighting the issues of youth poverty and homelessness, members of Theatre Complete captured the hearts and minds of students at the North Addington Education Centre (NAEC) on October 24.

Theatre Complete, a theatre focus program that runs out of QECVI in Kingston, invites high school students from Kingston and the surrounding area to come together for one semester of intense theatre study. The program includes a drama in the community segment that has the students choose, research, and create a show centered on a relevant youth topic of their choice. Past productions of Theatre Complete have included the topics of bullying, mental health and addiction, and this year the program's 11 students chose youth poverty as their subject after receiving a special request from the Youth Diversion Organization in Kingston to cover the topic.

After intense research, which included interviews with youth who have faced issues of poverty and homelessness, the students presented a show that was based on the real life experiences of the people they interviewed.

The show included music and dance and the stories included one girl, who along with her mother faced numerous challenges after their economic situation changed dramatically following the death of their father/husband. Another story tells of a teenager who fathered a child, and faced a number of challenges including the decision to give the child up.

Much of the factual information presented in the show challenged the common myths about youth poverty and demonstrated how youth can easily fall into the clutches of poverty and homelessness. Canada's child poverty rate is 15.1%, four percentage points higher than a 17 country average. Many people are shocked to find out that 50% of homeless youth come from upper and middle class households and have left their homes as a result of unhealthy living situations that often include various forms of abuse and neglect. The fact also that one in five Canadian youths are either homeless or living in poverty is another eye opening statistic, as is the fact that children who experience persistent poverty are at a higher risk of experiencing health problems, developmental delays and behavior disorders.

One of the goals of the Theatre Complete program is to demonstrate how theatre can directly impact the world and facilitate discussion about important issues facing youth. Ryan Clement, who heads up the program, said he hopes the show will “make people more aware of the these issues, while also offering help to those living in these circumstances and encouraging them to share their experience and to seek out the many supports that are available to them. “This is something that can happen to anyone anywhere at any time,” he said.

Clement said that given the fact that students who drop out of school are 10 times more likely to end up homeless than those who graduate is one reason that he is also encouraging schools to set up funds for post-secondary schooling to help students secure deposits for tuition and student residence accommodations. “For many students the fact that these deposits are required before their student loans kick in can be a barrier to their securing a spot in a post-secondary school program”.

Students experiencing homelessness and/or poverty should know that there are numerous resources available to them to assist with accommodations so that they do not have to live on the streets. These resources include: Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868); Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000); the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) 1-613-546-4266; Home Base Housing in Kingston (613-542-6672); Kingston Youth Shelter (613-766-3200); Youth Diversion Organization (613-548-4535 ext. 223, as well as Employment Ontario Service, Youth Initiative Canada and Pathways to Education. These organizations all have websites with helpful information and resources.

The performance at NAEC was the final one of this year's Theatre Complete show and NAEC Principal Angela Salmond was pleased that students had the opportunity to see it. “As a rural school we can tend to be insulated and sometimes don't see the challenges facing youth in other areas. For these students to see the production presents an opportunity for them to better understand these particular issues and to see how they might affect their own particular situation here,” she said.

As a means of gathering more historic photos and documents as well as making their current collection more accessible to the world at large, members of the Cloyne and District Historical Society (CDHS) engaged the know-how of one of their members, who is well versed in the workings of the world-wide web.

Ken Hook, who some might know as the owner of Flintshire Pheasant Farm, former Addington Highlands reeve, and the former general manager of the Land O' Lakes Tourist Association, currently co-owns and operates his own media production company called 45 Degrees Latitude, where he and his wife Cathy do video and website production as well as SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Hook recently volunteered his talents to set up the Historical Society’s current website and most recently has included the free photo sharing site FLICKR as part of the Society's newly fashioned web presence. He demonstrated to Society members in a special presentation on October 20 at the Barrie Hall in Cloyne how the society’s current collection of photos and documents can now be viewed online world wide. In additions to joining Flickr the society's collection has also been included in The Commons, a site for organizations who wish to share their photo collections with the public, and which includes notable organizations like NASA, the British Library, the Getty Research Institute, and countless others.

Hook said, “In the past before computers we did not really have a way of sharing all of these documents worldwide. Now it is not only fast, easy and free but it offers up a safe storage place for all of the museum's materials.”

Given the fact that the Pioneer Museum in Cloyne is open only in the summer months, interested historians will now be able to access the museum's unique collection at any time. Another advantage to the online collection is that the Pioneer Museum, like most museums, houses thousands of items that it does not have the space to put on display. Flickr will allow the society to display the majority of its collection so that interested parties can view items that are not displayed at the museum.

In his presentation Hook also demonstrated another reason why having the collection available online is a plus. He showed one particular photo where a viewer in a comment section identified a person in the photo whose name had been previously unknown.

CDHS members are thrilled with the work that Hook has done in making the museum collection more accessible. Because the number of photos and documents that can be shared are virtually limitless, the society is inviting those with historic photos or documents from the local area to contact Society members to arrange to have their photos added to the on-line collection. Anyone interested can contact the Cloyne and District Historical Society's president, Red Emond, at 613-336-8011; Carolyn McCulloch at 613-336-6858; Ian Brumell at 613-336-2203, or can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.