The Land O' Lakes Lions are having a fundraising golf tournament for all on Saturday, September 19 at Hunter's Creek Golf Course, Cloyne. Registration 11:30am for shotgun start at 12:30pm. Money raised will help sustain different community programs such as Pine Meadow Nursing Home, Swim Club, Food Bank, Drop-in, Bingo, Santa's parade and many others. The few Lions of your community have been working hard almost every day to secure funding for different programs. We would like you to help us by coming out for a day of friendship, fun golf with numerous donated prizes, games, music, dinner, dance and auction; all for $45 per person, guests (dinner/dance only) $20. The best is that you don't have to excel at golf. Some of us will make sure you come out a winner, OK, at least feeling like one! So please come out and support our Lions who support your community. We guarantee that you'll want to return next year. Call Debbie at 613-336-8502 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible to book. If you are unable to participate, financial donations are welcome by contacting us at the same addresses. Golf carts can be reserved by calling 613-336-2587.

The name of the company, Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Incorporated (MLFI) sounds like it might have come from corporate Toronto, but the company owners and staff are more comfortable in the deep bush than in the corporate backrooms.

Made up of family owned logging companies, sawmill operators and Norampac, a pulp mill in Trenton, MLFI oversees harvesting activities on Crown forests in Addington Highlands, North Frontenac and northern Lanark County, a million hectare territory of which 306,000 hectares are Crown land. The productive land base that MLFI manages is 109,000 hectares, and its members harvest less than 1% of the managed forest in an average year.

Some of MLFI's main functions are to prepare and ensure compliance with a 20-year forest management plan that is approved and audited by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. The plan is updated on a regular basis, the latest update being completed in 2012.

Last Friday, August 21, MLFI invited members of the public to a tour of some of the forest it manages in the area of Machesney Lake, north of Cloyne.

The tour was structured around three sites where cutting has taken place in recent years, each of them examples of the three kinds of harvesting MLFI members engage in.

Based on the principles of Silviculture (the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values) MLFI foresters use selection 40% of the time, shelterwood 45% of the time, and clearcutting 15% of the time.

The first site visited was a Selection cutting site, which had been last cut about seven years ago. The only obvious remaining signs that the cut had taken place were some piles of brush in varying states of decomposition in the area.

Jan Smigielski, silviculture forester with MLFI, described the site and answered questions from the 30 or so participants in the forestry day.

The site contained a mixture of young, middle aged, and older trees, all indications of what is called an uneven aged forest system. This technique is suitable for harvesting sugar maple, beech, basswood, black cherry, ash, and other species. The stands are harvested in 20- year intervals and through management the proportions of the forest remain stable, with the target species gaining from each cut for commercial and environmental reasons.

“Other factors, such as wildlife preservation, not interrupting water courses such as streams, maintaining heritage and habitat trees, etc. are also taken into account by the tree markers who mark trees for removal and the foresters themselves,” said Smigielski.

The second stand that was shown is a Shelterwood stand, which was located on higher ground. Shelterwood cutting is a phased cutting program, requiring two or three separate cuts over a number of years. One of the goals of this cutting system is to encourage habitat for certain species that can grow under moderate shelter conditions, such as white pine, red oak and yellow birch, as well as mixed hardwoods.

The idea behind Shelterwood is to open up the forest to more light in order to encourage certain species. In some cases, the forest is regenerated through seed production and in some cases seedlings are planted. The stand that was used for demonstration purposes included a number of red pine seedlings.

“In general, natural regeneration is preferable,” said Smiegelski, “but as you can see, plantings have their place as well.

The final location on the tour was a Clearcut site, which is now filled with young poplars.

“Typically we clearcut small sites in order to encourage shade-intolerant species such as poplar, white birch, jack pine, spruce and red pine. You can see here how the poplar have taken to the site. They need full sun to do this,” he said.

Among those taking the tour were Amp and Wayne Snider, who both come from multi-generational logging families in the area, and are members of MLFI.

Amp Snider had done a lot of the work on the Shelterwood site that we visited on the trip, and imparted some of his hard-earned knowledge of how the forest reacts to logging.

“The ministry (MNR) has certain ideas about what is here, but we find that on the ground the situation is different. That's why our tree markers, and the members who do the work are all taking stock and evaluating what they find every day before they do anything,” said Tom Richardson, the General Manager of MLFI.

The forest that MLFI manages is the southernmost crown land managed forest in Ontario, and it features the most diverse population of trees and wildlife in any of the crown forests in Ontario, being part of the Frontenac Spur of the Canadian Shield.

“We know what we have here, and we are careful to manage it for the future,” he said, “but as you can see, it is a complicated process.”

“We have learned a lot about the forest, but it has been here for longer than we have and there are things such as soil composition, terrain, and relationships between different plants and animals that we are only starting to figure out,” concluded Jan Smigielski.

Information about the operations of Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Incorporated is available at their comprehensive website MLFI.org, which contains links to their current forest management plan. They can also be reached by phone at their office in Cloyne at 613-336-0816. 

The Bon Echo art program will feature two outstanding artists as the final exhibitors in its 2015 season. The works of Lisa Johnson and Melissa Randle will be on display and offered for sale at the Colin Edwards Memorial Art Gallery in the park from August 27 to October 13. The featured artists are just one of many events organized each summer by the Friends of Bon Echo.

Lisa Johnson - Lisa graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she won the prestigious Mrs. W.O. Forsythe Award for 4th year women painters in 1996. While Johnson was born in Toronto, her family’s roots are in the Mazinaw Lake area; her grandfather, Wallace Johnston managed the Sawyer Stoll Lumber mills from the 30s to the 50s and her family has had a cottage on the lake ever since.

Most of the work that Johnson plans to show at the Colin Edwards Gallery will be “en plein air” paintings - typically small oils on wood panels or canvas, done on location, either floating in her boat by Bon Echo, or hiking to different locations around the lake. Website: www.lisajohnsonart.ca.

Melissa Randle - Originally from Kingston, Melissa spent a lot of her childhood at Bon Echo. She has been living in this area for nine years. Her love of nature and the outdoors provides the inspiration for her work. She strives to share this love, not only through her photography, but also by using other artistic mediums (including glass, pastels and paint). Her cameras are her constant companions as there is always a butterfly to follow, a loon rising from the lake, or the sun casting a glow through the trees or on the water. For samples of her stunning, varied work, please visit her website: http://www.freewebs.com/randleartstudio/.

The annual seniors’ baseball game took place on August 9 at the Arden ball diamond. There was an enthusiastic effort from both teams and an exciting level of play. It is wonderful to experience the ability of a group of seniors who are able to make impressive plays in spite of the 60 to 80 years of wear and tear. The Arden team provided a barbeque after the game, which all enjoyed very much. They likely report the results as a tie. We were indeed tied in our sheer joy of playing. Credit goes to the Arden team who won the tightly contested game 27-24. The Cloyne Grey Jays return home to Wednesday morning practice and preparation for the next meeting of these two great teams. Thanks to Gord Brown and Don Patry for organizing the event.

Mazinaw Lanark Forest Incorporated is a corporation made up sawmill operators and loggers with an interest in the Crown Land Forest in North Frontenac, Addington Highlands and Lanark County.

They supervise logging under a forest management plan with the Province of Ontario.

This month they are offering a unique opportunity for members of the public to learn about forestry from Mazinaw-Lanark Forest members, some of who come from families who have been logging in the region for up to 150 years.

They employ three distinct cutting techniques; selective cutting (40%), shelterwood (45%), and clear cutting (15% - followed by replanting) under a silviculture program that has been developed over many years and is adapted to the type of trees and the terrain they encounter in the region.

The tour that is planned for next week will be a hands-on event about forestry and forestry practices. Participants are encouraged to bring good footwear, water, snacks, big spray, etc. The tour leaves from the Mazinaw Lanark office in Cloyne (at the Barrie Hall-next to the Pioneer museum) and transportation through the bush will be provided.

The tour leaves at 12:00 noon and returns at 3:30 pm.

For further information or to register, call Pat Duncan at 613-336-0816 (extension 221) or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration is limited so contact them today.

One of the great things about the annual Bon Echo Art Exhibition & Sale is that there is always something for everyone. The show, which is now in its 20th year and took place at Bon Echo Provincial Park from July 24 to 26 last weekend, offered something for all the senses: great food, great live music and of course, great art. This year's show included several artists new to the show, which for its loyal following of art lovers and buyers is always a treat.

Larry Thompson of Greyweathers Press in Merrickville was one such artist who debuted his lino-cut and wood engraved prints under the towering pines at the three-day show, which celebrates the beauty of art and nature in an ideal setting.

Thompson, a self-taught artist, calls himself “an artist with a press” and is a former free-lance writer and editor with a degree in English literature. He has always been interested in printing and at 16 years of age, as a young student, he pulled his first proof from a letter press in a graphic arts class. Twenty-five years later, in 2005, he purchased a 2400-pound vintage printing press and installed it along with a considerable amount of lead type in his Merrickville studio.

He originally planned to print letter press books exclusively, but his need for illustrations quickly led him to explore relief print making in linoleum and wood. His display at the Bon Echo show included a number of framed and unframed prints in a range of sizes, with prices from $30-$90. His illustrations cover a wide range of subject matter and come from many places, including photographs, drawings, and doodles, with others inspired from the visions and minds of “dead poets and poets with a pulse”.

The works, because they are white and black, are highly graphic in nature and Thompson said the beauty he strives for comes from creating art within that limitation. His illustrations range from a series of graceful nudes to illustrations from the many books he has printed at Greyweathers Press, including excerpts from Coleridge's “Kubla Khan, A Vision in a Dream”, as well as prints from one of his own original stories that he printed and illustrated in a book titled “The Vampire and the Seventh Daughter”.

Thompson's work is precise, intricate and graceful and is well thought out. He says his art is “very labour intensive and requires an extreme amount of planning, attention and care”. His most recent book work is called “The Truth About Rabbits”, by a poet named Winona Linn, and it is a collaboration Thompson undertook with a printer named Hugh Barclay of The Hellbox Press in Kingston. Another recent book work also by Thompson is called “Tenebrismo: Ten Poems” by Merrickville poet Kera Willis, which is one of the more high concept book works Thompson has printed to date. An example of the dense detail that his art allows for can be seen in one illustration showing Thompson's cat Tennyson lying in an interior room stretched out on a computer keyboard.

For the Bon Echo show, Thompson felt the need to explore the theme of nature and wildlife and some of his most recent prints include landscapes – wind-swept pines in water-infused scenes typical of Bon Echo landscapes, as well as birds. Thompson is an exceptional artist breathing new life into the art of letter press printing and illustration and his display at the 20th installment of the Bon Echo art show is an example of what keeps art lovers and buyers visiting the show year after year. For more information and to see examples of Larry Thompson's work, visit greyweatherspress.com

The boats in the inaugural Sail Mazinaw had to endure gray skies and light shifty breezes in the morning. But by afternoon, the skies had cleared and a consistent west wind had set in. It was a warm, sunny day with the perfect sailing breeze. A west wind does not have enough fetch on the narrow lake to build a significant swell or chop. The beaches at Bon Echo were loaded with swimmers and sunbathers. Alpine Club of Canada had several teams of climbers on Bon Echo rock.

The day started with a crew breakfast at Mazinaw Lakeside Resort. The staff opened the doors early for the sailors so that they could maximize their time on the water. Then, the boats hit the lake for a day of sailing. At noon, the crews from the north lake and the crews from the south lake met at The Friends of Bon Echo barbecue pavilion in Bon Echo Provincial Park.

The historic Mazinaw Cup was donated to the event by Linda Leistner. It will be presented to Steve Karniej and Andy Lennon for their activities both on and off the water. These sailors from Hamilton drove crews to and from the breakfast, delivered veteran windsurfing champion Glen Pearce from Shabomeka Lake to Bon Echo Park, and still found time to change a flat tire for a stranded motorist on Highway 41. Congratulations to Steve and Andy.

The date for the 2016 Sail Mazinaw has not been determined. For more photos, visit the Sail Mazinaw Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SailMazinaw

The road to becoming a provincial park actually began way back in 1910 when the Bon Echo Inn and surrounding land was sold to Flora MacDonald Denison. She had been coming to the area for many years with her family and in the early 1900s stayed at the Bon Echo Inn. She loved the surroundings so much that she bought the property including Mazinaw Rock from Dr. and Mrs. Weston Price. She and her son, Merrill, ran the Inn until her death in 1921 when Merrill assumed ownership.

Both Merrill and his mother had a passion for this Ontario landscape as well as a vision for its preservation. Merrill once said he had become a conservationist at age 8, ever since his first sight of the ‘Bald Mountains’ (Mazinaw Lake and area). To him, “Bon Echo was one of the most spectacular natural beauty spots in Ontario - a place to which people are drawn from near and far to feast their eyes in wonderment on its majestic mass and find spiritual refreshment in communion with nature”.

Merrill ran the Inn with his wife, Muriel Goggin Denison, until 1928. The depression set in and few people were going to the Inn for the summer. For several years, Bon Echo became a meeting place for professional foresters, conservationists and other nature lovers. Unfortunately the Inn burned down in 1936. Despite this setback the property was maintained as a private estate by Merrill and his wife.

Merrill thought a lot about what would happen to the Bon Echo property once he was gone. The area should be enjoyed by everyone. For him, “It would be nothing less than a national disgrace were Bon Echo to be divided into real estate parcels and sold piecemeal for summer building lots”.

Merrill announced in 1959 that he was giving 1200 acres as a gift to the Department of Lands and Forest to be protected and used by the people of Ontario. It was the desire of the Denison family that the Bon Echo area be preserved so all could enjoy its wilderness and beauty as they themselves had done for nearly sixty years. Merrill would retain life use of some buildings including Dollywood (now the Visitor Centre) and Greystones (now the Greystones Gift and Book Shop) and approximately 8.5 acres of land immediately surrounding them.

Initial park development occurred in 1961 with the installation of 200 campsites. The park officially opened on Wednesday, July 21, 1965. Opening ceremonies were held at the amphitheatre with over 500 people in attendance. During the ceremonies, a historic plaque was unveiled commemorating Merrill and his family’s gift to the people of Ontario. It reads, “Acquired by the people of Ontario through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Denison. Bon Echo Provincial Park, dedicated to recreation, conservation and education, in memory of Flora MacDonald Denison and Muriel Goggin Denison.” (Muriel had passed away and Merrill had married Elizabeth (Lisa) Denison in 1957.)

When Merrill died in 1975, use of the remaining land and buildings was transferred to Lisa Denison. Upon her death in 1977, Greystones and Dollywood and the land surrounding around them were added to the park.

Visitors to the Park are encouraged to take time to read the plaque on the rock near the Narrows. It stands as a reminder to look around and be grateful for this special place thanks to Merrill Denison and his family.

Bon Echo Provincial Park will officially celebrate the 50th Anniversary on July 21st at 2:00PM at the Amphitheatre.

Art has always played a significant part of the heritage of Bon Echo. Hundreds of years ago the aboriginal artists left their unique drawings at water level on Mazinaw Rock. In the 1920-30s, Merrill Denison invited several members of the Group of Seven to discover and paint the beautiful Mazinaw countryside. In the ongoing years hundreds of artists have come to capture the scenery on canvas and film.

The annual Art Exhibition and Sale was the brainchild of the late Gary Sharman, Assistant Park Superintendent in 1995. It was orchestrated by then Friends of Bon Echo President Joan Lindey and Director Carla Miedema. Both have continued to be involved throughout the 20 years. Attendance, the quality of the artwork and total sales continue to increase. Many campers, cottagers and local residents plan their vacation dates to coincide with the Art Show.

An exciting variety of activities will mark the Friends Art Exhibition and Sale this year. On July 24, 25, 26 original art depicting Canadian nature, wildlife and countryside will be presented with over 40 new and returning artists participating. Highlights for all ages include mouth-watering barbecues and baked goods, Sciensational Sssnakes!! presentations, live musical groups and stone and paddle carving.

The entire summer season at the Park offers campers and day visitors a number of activities which arise from the Friends’ commitment to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of Bon Echo Provincial Park. Through the effort of over one hundred volunteers they are able to give major funding assistance to numerous educational activities, many of which are orchestrated by the trained Natural Heritage Education staff. The Greystones Gift and Book Shop, the tour boats, barbecues and enhanced trails give visitors the opportunity of an exceptional park experience. www.bonechofriends.ca

Sail craft of all descriptions are invited to Sail Mazinaw on Saturday July 18.  Sailboards, kite-boards, dinghies, and keelboats are all welcome.  Boats from as far away as Hamilton will be making the trek to one of the most spectacular sailing venues in Ontario. It will be an opportunity for cottagers and campers to sail in a flotilla on Mazinaw Lake.  The activities start with a skippers' breakfast at Mazinaw Lakeside Resort from 8-10 am.  Then boats will meet at mid-lake for a day of sailing in company.  Friends Of Bon Echo will have the barbecue lit in The Lagoon from noon to 2pm for burgers and hot dogs.  Boats on the north lake should pull up on the North Beach and walk to The Lagoon.  Boats on the south lake should pull up next to the South Beach and will be just steps away from The Lagoon.

The windiest time of the day is usually at 2:00.  Sailors can enjoy a full afternoon of sailing before heading for home. For more information, please check the Sail Mazinaw Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/SailMazinaw
or call 613-336-2814.