by Julie Druker and Jeff Green

Flinton Country Bluegrass Jamboree

Bill White and White Pine

It was an all-in-the-family extravaganza of local talent at the sixth annual Flinton Country Bluegrass Jamboree on Saturday and crowds over the weekend soared to 1200, making the turnout the best in the Jamboree's six-year history.

Fans of the kind of pop-country or country rock that have become the staple of country radio might not find the Flinton Jamboree quite their taste, but for those with a taste for traditional country and bluegrass music the Jamboree has become a cherished event.

The Harrowsmith-based band, White Pine, started off this year’s Saturday after dinner show. Bill White leads the band and his son Joe is the featured fiddler. This much was familiar to the audience, as White Pine is well known and loved throughout the region and has graced the Jamboree stage on other occasions. This time there was a twist, however, and they were joined on stage by five and seven-year-old Marshal and Wyatt Tebworth on mandolin and violin.

Marshall and Wyatt are sons of the band’s mandolin player, Rob Tebworth. White Pine also includes Barry Calthorpe on dobro, John Renne on bass, and Len Heatherington on banjo.

They played a diverse and energetic set with ample solos threaded into the mix and with players taking turns at lead vocal mike. Their four-part harmonies are as good as they come and their set was peppered with tunes from their latest CD, which is called Requests, Among those were Grandfather's Clock, The Jubilee Road, and The Lonesome Old Home. Later on they took a request from Jack Weber for Sawmill Road. Not surprisingly the crowd demanded an encore and got one, with the band returning to play Jimmy Martin's tune,Tennessee.

Next up were the Black Family, a family of nine young players, singers and step dancers ranging in age from 3 to19, who all played a number of instruments. It was their first ever performance at the Jamboree and judging from their reception, likely not their last. They thrilled the crowd with their versions of Jessica's Waltz, St. Anne's Reel and a single from their CD called Maple Sugar, and came back to play a series of gospel tunes for their Sunday performance.

Last up for the night were headliners The Abrams-Burtch Connection.

Wayne Abrams on guitar and vocals and Bob Burtch on mandolin and guitar formed the core of the band. They were joined by Shawn Kellett on fiddle, guitar and mandolin, Mary Abrams on backup vocals, and Glen MacDonald on banjo, all of whom are familiar to fans of the Abrams family bands. The Connection was in fine form and played a raucous set, showing the crowd they can rip up a tune with the best of them.

At one point, Bob Burtch told the crowd “We play real country music”. Indeed.

Canadian Guitar Festival

Guitar “Superstar” Vicki Genfan

The sixth annual Canadian Guitar Festival took place at Loughborough Lake Holiday Park just south of Sydenham and the festival is known for attracting high caliber players from all over Canada, the States and further a-field.

The festival also offers a finger style guitar competition and this year 31 entries competed.

Among the Sunday night performers this year were the Chicago-born blues player Dennis Snyder, who just released his 8th CD, entitled Full Circle. His set included songs from various CDs including “Melancholy Mood” from “Eclectic” and “Fly on the Wall” from “Roots and Branches”. He ended his set with a tribute song he wrote called “Slide” in which he pays homage to the many musicians who have influenced him and helped him to develop his own unique sound over the years.

Next on stage was award-winning New Jersey guitarist Vicki Genfan, whose mind boggling combination of picking, thumping, strumming, slapping and harmonic tapping guitar stylings recently won her the title of Guitar Superstar in Guitar Magazine.

Her guitar wizardry is combined with a soulful singing voice, making Genfan is a force to be reckoned with. Her playing is highly complex, polished and modern and her repertoire is diverse. In her set she covered the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”, Chris Jones' “Ain't Got Love” and the Rascals classic “Groovin”. She also played a number of originals including “Joy” and “Atomic Reshuffle” from the double CD Up Close and Personal.

For guitar lovers who have yet to visit it, the Canadian Guitar Festival is a must see event and the venue is sure to please.

Variety and youth at Blue Skies 2010

Matthew Zadow performs at Blue Skies

The dust was flying on the Clarendon Road over the long weekend, as up to 3,000 music lovers beat a path to the site of the annual festival.

This was the second year for artistic director Joel Leblanc, and he continued on the path he set out last year by bringing in a diverse array of mostly young musicians who were not known to most of the audience before they hit the festival stage.

Every year at Blue Skies there seems to be more seniors in the crowd, but at the same time there are more babies being carried around. It defies any kind of expectations about people of different generations attending a single event. Programming for such a diverse crowd is a difficult task, and Leblanc’s strategy is to keep everyone guessing right from the start. With the exception of James Keelaghan, who played the Saturday matinee, there were few acts that could reasonably be called folk musicians in any sense, with the standout exception of Cedric Smith, the founder of the ’60s collective the “Perth County Conspiracy” who performed a short set on Saturday night.

Among the surprises were three Australian artists, and an act called “That One Guy” that defies description. That One Guy played a homemade pipe that resembles the Canadarm as well as an electric boot, performed magic tricks, and his music that was so danceable that the younger members of the audience just about stormed the stage.

The festival also featured a 15 member roots music collective from Kingston (The Gertrudes), a trio of young women from Montreal who seemed to channel the gypsy jazz sound of Django Reinhardt`s guitar, and a bus load of young musicians from Toronto who call themselves the Toronto All - Star Big Band, which closed the Friday night concert.

And then there was a bit of opera, delivered by a former blues man who once called Sharbot Lake home. Matthew Zadow has been pursuing a career as a baritone for a number of years since he graduated from the Queen's School of Music. He is based in Toronto and Brussels these days, and he was persuaded to come back home, and bring a one-hour show.

With the exception of the performance of the Blue Skies Suite by a chamber orchestra a dozen or so years ago, Blue Skies has been pretty much a classic music-free zone, and if there has ever been an opera singer at the 38-year-old festival it was many, many years ago

So, Matthew Zadow had a bit of extra work to do, performing before an audience that was not necessarily familiar with Mozart or Verdi. But, armed with a smooth voice and considerable charm, he managed to turn the audience his way, singing selections from Don Giovanni, Ravel, and others.

He was joined late in his set by Richard Hoenich, a bassoonist from Montreal who now lives in Brooke Valley. Hoenich performed Flight of the Bumblebee while Mathew Zadow took a short break. When he

Returned, he sang a particularly beautiful piece by Johann Sebastien Bach.

Even though he was one of the early performers on the final night of Blue Skies, and he had to sway an audience that is more familiar with banjos than Bach, Mathew Zadow received a huge ovation at the end of his set, and was given an encore, which is rare for that time of the evening since there were a number of acts to follow.

Photo:  Robbie McLuckie’s winning team

On August 14, the St. Andrews fundraising committee held a one-pitch ball tournament at the Flinton community centre ball field. Six teams played in the tournament, which started at 8 am and finished at 5 pm. The purpose of the tournament was to raise money for various projects and programs for kids in the local area. With the weather cooperating and great sportsmanship, the tournament was a huge success. The Flinton rec. club ran the canteen, they are raising money for the new roof over the rink at the community centre. After all the regular games were finished the semi-finals and finals took place to see who would be the champions for the day. Robbie McLuckie’s team took 1st place with Terry Tryon’s team as runner up. Both Robbie McLuckie’s and Terry Tryon’s teams made very generous donations to the fundraising committee at the end of the day. As a direct result of the funds raised and the very generous donations, the St. Andrews Fundraising committee was able to give donations to the Mazinaw Lake kids Swim program, the Flinton Rec. Club for the rink roof project, and the Kaladar Community Centre for the Scamp Camp for kids program they run during the summer months. Earlier this year the fundraising committee held various other fundraising events and they were able to make donations to North Addington Education Centre playground equipment project as well as sponsor kids from Arden so they could go to summer camp. All of these donations from the fundraising committee would not have been possible without the support from our local communities, thank you for helping us help our kids.

On Halloween night, October 31, students from North Addington Education Centre canvassed the community in their costumes; not for candy or treats, but for non-perishable food items. Students and adults were stationed in Flinton, Northbrook, and Cloyne. The response was overwhelming. Most homes had a bag or box of food ready, and were not reluctant to contribute to the community. The event and pick up were supervised by a staff member.

In total, students collected approximately 700 items, which will help the food bank through the winter season. Darian Asselstine, an NAEC student, said, “I couldn’t believe how much fun I had! A lot of people recognized the Campbell’s soup can costumes right away”. School Council chair Sarah Collins said, “I want to do it again next year- I think the supervising adults had just as much fun as the kids.” The items were then taken over to the food bank and unloaded by some of the grade 10 Careers and Civics students.

While this event helped stock the shelves, the winter and holiday seasons are a busy time for the food bank. An attempt was made to go to as many houses as possible, but if your donation was missed, please call North Addington at 613-336-8991 and ask for Candice Bovard; we will pick up your item(s). For those requiring assistance, please contact Land O’ Lakes Community Services at 613-336-8934. Those wishing to donate food, please call Karen Anderson at 613-391-1408 (leave a message if there is no answer).

Angela Salmond, the principal of NAEC, was excited to show her support for the event: “I am so proud of our students and would like to extend my thanks to their families and the community. Our students are able to contribute because of the support we receive from the community. The kids are happy and the shelves are full; that is success. Thank you for investing in our students - I am very grateful.”

Culvert Replacement - Erroll Ruth of Mallory Lake made a return visit to council to ask for the township’s help with roadwork and in replacing some culverts on Addington Road 5, which he said were in such bad shape that they could collapse and cause a bad accident. Mr. Ruth brought several photos with him. He had visited council last year with the same request, and was told that the township does not provide maintenance on un-maintained roads, but is working on developing a policy. Since a new council is in place, Mr. Ruth returned on Monday night to present his request again. Council voted to receive the request.

Medical Clinic - Councilor Tony Fritsch presented to council the Terms of Reference that he has developed for a new facilities committee for the Lakelands Family Health Team (LFHT) in Denbigh and Northbrook. Council voted to establish the committee.

A tentative date of October 29 was set for the official opening of the new Denbigh LFHT facility.

Community Centre - Fritsch also presented two plans for a parking lot at the new Addington Highlands Community Centre – Denbigh. It was decided that the first plan, which puts the lot on the north side of the building, would be too expensive and difficult, as the Ministry of Transportation has requested a traffic impact study and stormwater management report. The estimated cost is $20,000 to $40,000.

The second plan, which places the lot on the east side, does have the drawback of going over the tile bed and would require its relocation, but does not have any MTO issues and has easy and safe access off Central Street. Council voted for the second option, which has an estimated cost of just over $10,000.

Ambulance Service - Council discussed the wording of a resolution to be submitted to Lennox & Addington County Council on the Denbigh Ambulance Service. Council Fritsch wanted the wording that the township would “accept no less than a 24/7 ambulance base in Denbigh and a 24/7 ambulance base in Northbrook”. Councilor Bill Cox sits on county council and was concerned about the wording being too confrontational, and Councilor Yanch noted that it was pointless to say the township “would accept no less” when in fact they would have to accept whatever county council decides.

The wording was changed to “..that the 24/7 Denbigh base and the 24/7 Cloyne/Northbrook base need to remain in place” and in a recorded vote, was accepted unanimously.

Firehall - Council approved the new municipal building/firehall project in Northbrook and decided to issue the request for proposals. The request for RFPs will go out now and the decision will be announced at the December 5 council meeting.

Applefest - The Through the Roof Ministry Centre (TTRMC) in Flinton is planning Applefest, a free community event, for October 15, and asked council for permission to use the Flinton hall’s parking lot for overflow parking, and also to cordon off Edward Street between Harrison Street and Flinton Road.

A wedding is planned for the Flinton hall for the same day, so the parking lot will not be available; however, certain areas that are used during the Flinton Jamboree would be suitable for the Applefest overflow parking. Also, council will notify TTRMC that they must use approved barricades, which must be manned by leaders with traffic control certification.

When the second Flinton Relay for Life was in the planning stages, staff members from the Kingston office floated the idea of setting a goal of raising $100,000, an increase over the $82,000 that was raised in the first Flinton Relay in 2010.

“I thought they were crazy. How were we going to raise $100,000 in little Flinton?” recalled relay chair Carolyn Hasler this week.

Somehow, when all of the money was counted this year, the total was $130,081, a number that mystifies the local organizing committee.

At the end of the relay, the total was about $80,000, but though committee members knew there was more money that had not been counted, no one expected another $50,000 would come in

“I don't know how we got there, I really don't,” said Hasler, “but there were so many fundraising events that people held, some raising $500, some $1,500, and the money has kept coming in. It's really an amazing total for little old Flinton.”

To put those numbers in perspective, there are 267 houses in the Flinton postal exchange.

A wrap up meeting for the 2011 relay was held in mid-July, and at that time committee members started considering whether to do the relay again in 2012.

“We have a really strong group, but some committee members need to step back so we need people to come forward to do it again. And we need to consider whether we want to keep approaching our sponsors again. They are all local businesses, and they are asked to help all the time, so we have to think before we ask them again and again for money,” said Hasler.

That said, the total of $130,000 is a real morale booster for the committee, as is the total that has been raised in the two years, which is almost $215,000.

A meeting is scheduled at the Flinton Recreation Centre on Wednesday, September 16 to confirm and begin organizing the Flinton Relay for 2012. Anyone interested in getting involved is invited to come to that meeting, which starts at 7 pm.

As far as a fundraising goal for that event in light of what has been raised so far, Carolyn Hasler was adamant.

“Don't even talk to me about that,” she said. 

 by Julie Druker and Jeff Green

Local music lovers had a smorgasbord of live music choices to feast on this past weekend as no less than three high quality music festivals offered listeners a eclectic mix of top notch music from a huge roster of talented players from near and far.

Photo: Calum Graham at the 7th Annual Canadian Guitar and Finger competition festival

On Friday night the place to be was the 7th Annual Canadian Guitar and Finger competition festival held at the Loughborough Lake Park located just south of Sydenham. The festival opened with rising star, 19-year-old Calum Graham of High River, Alberta. Graham was last year’s winner of the festival’s finger competition and he not only dazzled the 400 plus crowd with his prowess on his original instrumental compositions like The Channel and Indivisible but also added his newly found voice to the mix, saying “There's more music in me than just the guitar can handle.” Indeed. It’s hard to imagine that Calum has been playing guitar for five years and singing for just one. His original vocal/guitar tunes like Double Vision, a mellow, reflective, slowly strummed rhythmic musing on the effects of female beauty, proves the words of many music predictors right when they say that his oozing talent points him directly to the world stage. Calum’s star qualities shine brightest when he is using all three of his triple treats, i.e. writing, singing and playing his songs. His first instrumental CD, Sunny Side Up will soon be followed by a second to be produced by Joe Cocker’s production team. It will include Calum's new vocal works.

Next up was the fire-fingered Chicago guitar duo Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic, whose old-world inspired sounds awed the crowd with their emotional and musical depth. The two players are well-known and highly respected; each is a virtuoso in his own right, and they covered diverse ground with original tunes like Shattered, a ballad played in minors and inspired by some of their diverse musical influences, which include Paul Simon, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Beethoven and Chopin. Shattered demonstrated their tendency to break new musical ground by creating never-before existing genres. Other originals are more playful, like Karate, inspired by old Kung Fu and Karate movies’ soundtracks.

On a mellower, more traditional note was Gregory Hoskins who rounded out Friday’s line up by playing a number of his pop-inspired tunes that have a bit of the Paul Simon swing to them. Gregory is a natural-born crooner and front man and the crowd lapped up every single one of his toe-tapping nifty ditties.

Last up was finger-picking Canadian guitar legend and guru Don Ross, who as usual dazzled the crowd with his genius. Ross' wife Brooke Miller joined him onstage for a few tunes, after which Ross revisited some of his old stomping ground with tunes like Loaded Leather Moon, a love child kind of an oldie that he described as “Pat Metheney meets ZZ Top in a bar.” Ross regularly plays as the festival’s Friday night headliner, which is fitting since it was in his living room that he and organizer Del hatched the idea for the first ever Canadian Guitar festival years ago.

Flinton Jamboree

Photo: H'SAO were one of the headliners at the Blue Skies Festival in Clarendon.

Mean while on Sunday in Flinton, the 7th Annual Flinton Jamboree was close to winding down though some would argue that some of the best acts were saved for the last. When I arrived mid-day, the Blue River Band was finishing up their rousing set with classic bluegrass tunes like Old House Down the Hill, I'll Fly Away and a new version of Hallelujah Trail. The five-piece band sings close, pitch-perfect harmonies and all five players are virtuosos on their instruments, which include, banjo, bass, guitar and fiddle. Young local talents also had a chance to shine and I caught a few tunes by Shayne Arney, younger brother of Dallas Arney both of whom sang before a very enthusiastic Sunday crowd. The event was a near sellout once again and the Flinton festival, which has been growing steadily since it began, is continuing to attract fine talent and an appreciative audience from far and wide.

Blue Skies in Clarendon

Photo: H'SAO were one of the headliners at the Blue Skies Festival in Clarendon.

Blue Skies Music Festival artistic director Joel Leblanc finished his three-year long stint last weekend by presenting a line-up that successfully fused the desire of festival goers for some of the old-style folk tradition that the festival was known for in its early years with an impressive variety of different musical styles and personalities coming from all corners of the world; including Africa, Australia, and northern Canada.

The 38-year-old festival still draws some people who came in the first year or two, and their grandchildren (and perhaps great grandchildren) come as well, so the task for an artistic director is to bridge a massive age gap.

Joel Leblanc did it this year by making the assumption that any kind of music, no matter how introspective or how loud and electronic, can be listened to by anyone as long as the music is performed with integrity, skill, and rhythm.

So, some teenagers ended up being exposed to 59-year-old Canadian/American folk singer Ferron, who accompanied herself on guitar even though she was hindered by a bruised finger (she is not a very good carpenter, so she said). Not only did Ferron sing some very moving songs from her vast repertoires, she demonstrating a biting wit, saving her best barbs for herself, but not sparing the audience either.

Among the other solo acts were Canadian Danny Michel and 20-year-old Australian Kim Churchill, who both used instrumentation and looping techniques to produce a big sound without a backup band.

Among the highlights of the weekend were H’SAO, an Afro R&B band from Chad via Montreal; Donne Roberts and his band from Madagascar/Russia/Toronto; Leela Gilday from Yellowknife; Inuit Throat singers Siqiniup Qilauta (Linda Brown and Heidi Langille); and Lehera with Sarah (an Indian/Swiss jazz fusion band). John Showman of New Country Rehab and Jaron Freeman Fox of the Opposite of Everything are very different kinds of fiddle players, but they both have the rare distinction of being lead vocalists who play the fiddle while singing.

A lot more can be said about the music at the 38th Blue Skies Music Festival but to sum up, Joel Leblanc went out with a bang.

He is taking over as Artistic Director of the Stewart Park Music Festival in Perth next year. Lucky Perth.

Photo: Scott Cannatta (centre) with students at NAEC. Photo: Katie Ohlke.

Some of us get exhausted just thinking of a marathon, let alone running one. But Scott Cannata, a physical anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, intends to run one marathon, or 42.2 kilometres, every day for approximately seven months in a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. That translates to 209 marathons.

Cannata’s journey, named The Run To Live, will start on May 1, 2011 at St. John’s, NL and end at Port Renfrew, BC around mid-December if all goes as planned.

Scott Cannata has many local family connections and on March 26, a fundraiser was held for him at the Flinton hall. Many bands, groups and individuals donated their time and talents to make the event a success.

One of the organizers, Beverly James, is a cousin of Scott’s, and she says she was overwhelmed by the response. “We didn’t have that much time to organize it,” she said, “but everyone pitched in – all the musicians - and people just showed up with plates of sandwiches and food for the buffet dinner.” Beverley said that the musicians really helped each other – one group had forgotten their keyboard so John Fradenburg of Log Cabin Music drove all the way back to his store to bring one.

The organizers are planning another fundraiser, to be held when Scott passes through Kaladar on his run, and James says that all the musicians have already indicated their willingness to play again on that day.

“The run will be really tough for him, both physically and psychologically – perhaps the psychological part will be the hardest,” James said, “but he’s a tremendous young man. He can do it.”

Unlike his hero, Terry Fox, Scott Cannata has never had cancer, but when he was 12 his mother Deborah battled cervical cancer, which affected him deeply. Later, he lost his paternal grandfather to cancer. On a video that was made about the Run to Live, he says that that showed him that not everybody survives the way his mother has.

In September 2009 he decided to undertake the run and has been training ever since for it. He runs about 150 to 200 kilometres a week, in addition to cross-training.

In addition to his mother and grandfather, he has dedicated the run to several people, one of whom is his six-year-old cousin, Isabelle Lemke, of Belleville. Isabelle is almost finished her treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia after than two years of chemotherapy and in spite of being very sick from the treatments last week, she was able to be present at the fundraiser on Saturday night.

Scott is also planning to dedicate part of each run to someone he reads about in the letters he will be receiving.

The day before the Flinton event, Scott visited North Addington Education Centre (NAEC). He told the students, "Running a marathon a day is hard and will hurt, but it is nothing compared to the pain of dealing with cancer on a daily basis." Many NAEC students came out to Flinton to support Scott - they performed, volunteered and spoke.

In the coming months students and adults will be writing to Scott and they will track his journey via a large map of Canada at the school. For every toonie donation that comes in, students will put a sticker on the map.

Beverley James said that a group of runners from the school intends to meet Scott on Highway 7 and run with him. Of course, he will pass by Sharbot Lake first and she hopes that NAEC’s efforts will inspire other schools in the area to undertake fundraisers. “Perhaps runners from one school could escort Scott to meet runners from the other,” she said.

The fundraisers that are taking place right now are to raise funds for the expenses of the trip. The Flinton event brought in $3,000, and Beverly James wishes to thank all the musicians and the many people who helped on Saturday night.

The fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society will start when the run starts on May 1. The goal of The Run To Live is to raise $2 for every Canadian, or approximately $70 million. Because of his local connections, many from this area will probably be watching the run with special interest. To follow Scott’s progress, to donate, or post messages of support, visit www.theruntolive.com. 

Photo: Kendra  Wilson and Dallas Arney perform Oh, Canada during the Relay Opening.

There were a lot of familiar faces at the Flinton park on June 10 as most of on and  We Hwy. 41 corridor community gathered for the second Relay for Life. The bar had been set rather high in 2010 when the local community raised over $83,000 for the Cancer Society.

Thanks to the efforts of a now seasoned committee, headed by Carolyn Hasler, Sue Tobia, Joel Hasler, Suzanne Tebo, James Wood, Beth Hasler, and financial whizzes Janice Arthur and Donna Wood, the number of teams held steady at about 35, and the corporate sponsors, all local companies, were on board again. Alex Chisholm was on hand as the President of the Land O’Lakes Lions Club, which was the event sponsor of the relay once again.

In addition, since a number of teams held fundraising events in advance of the relay, almost $60,000 had been counted and deposited in the bank before the relay even got underway on Friday night.

At the opening ceremonies, once the dignitaries and sponsors were thanked, two people were introduced who brought home the real reason that so many people had sacrificed what turned out to be a pleasant late spring evening for the cause.

Dylan Walker (photo left) bounded to the stage, looking and acting like the active little boy he is. It was bit of a different story a year ago, when Dylan was bald and in a more subdued state after just having completed multiple sets of chemotherapy, radiation treatments and stem cell therapies for neuroblastoma.

This year it was hard to get Dylan to stand still long enough for him to give an update of his condition, leaving it up to his steadfast supporter, his grandmother Debbie MacLeod, to explain that Dylan has just had the best year of his life and has been gaining strength week by week.

Then came another tale of survival, delivered by Lois Wise. Lois is not accustomed to public speaking, as she pointed out when she admitted she was using the trick of imagining that everyone in the audience was standing in their underwear in order to combat her nervousness. But she had an important message, and after taking deep breaths she began to relate the story of her ten-year journey, which started with putting off seeing her doctor when she began to notice changes in her body, to having her relatively rare form of breast cancer finally diagnosed. This was followed by an emotional and physical roller coaster of denial and acceptance, and a brutal series of treatments.

She talked about a new drug, Herceptin, which was approved in Canada just as she was at the point when its best chances of helping her had come about, saving her the need to sell her house and temporarily move to the United States.

“If I had been diagnosed with this form of breast cancer 15 years earlier, I would not have survived it. The research dollars that have made the development of new treatments possible have made a real difference in my life,” she said. “Today, here I am, in as good or perhaps better shape than I've ever been in,” she said.

Lois Wise's address led right in to the Survivors’ Lap, and the 83 survivors who were willing to participate from such a small community again only underscored how prevalent cancer is.

As the teams began their hours-long trek across the track, Emma Grand, an 11-year-old Flinton girl, had her long hair cut off to become part of a wig for young cancer patients as her brother passed a can around to collect further donations.

Sue Tobia had earlier explained that the long, dark night of the relay is a metaphor for the cancer journey towards the dawn of a hopeful new day

The long night of the Flinton Relay had begun, but instead of the long, lonely night that Sue Tobia talked about, it was to be a night filled with fun and cheer between friends and neighbours. In addition to all of the messages of strength and defiance, participants in this year’s relay will remember a spectacular all-male beauty contest that brought the house down.

As of Monday, $80,000 had been counted and banked from the relay, and event chair Carolyn Hasler expected that the total will likely exceed that of 2010, to no one’s surprise.

Hasler did not want to say anything about whether the relay will return to Flinton in 2012 before the post-relay committee meeting takes place, but in light of the amount of energy and support this year’s event received, a third relay would seem to be a distinct possibility.

The Conservationists of Frontenac Addington (COFA) renewed one of their time-honoured traditions at Deer Rock Lake last week. Five children between the ages of 9 and 12, who might otherwise not have an opportunity to fish, were taken out by COFA members and Conservation Officers from the Ministry of Natural Resources for a morning of fishing.

Ed Yanch, former Principal at North Addington Education Centre, picked up the five youngsters from their homes early in the morning, and brought them to Deer Rock Lake near Flinton. There they were met by COFA members and the Conservation Officers and their boats and off they went fishing. COFA provided each child with a rod and a reel and line and lures, which they got to keep.

“We had a real good day,” said COFA President Ron Pethick, “everyone managed to catch at least one fish, some more than that, and they learned something about fishing and boating along the way.”

By noon the fishing was done and it was time for a shore lunch. COFA members prepared potatoes and bacon and showed the kids how to clean and filet the fish they’d caught for frying.

“We all had a taste of fresh fish,” said Pethick, “and there isn’t anything that tastes much better than that.”

But even with food on the table, the youngsters were more interested in fishing. They had to be called to the table from their perches on shoreline rocks where they were fishing for sunfish.

Ed Yanch brought the well-fed kids home as the COFA members and Conservation Officers dealt with the boats. COFA is an organization that is devoted to preserving wilderness and fish habitat in North Frontenac and Addington Highlands.

Meanwhile in Flinton it was the lovers of bluegrass who packed the ball field at the Flinton Recreation Centre for another installment of the ever popular Flinton Country Bluegrass Jamboree. Over 300 trailers were parked on site to take in this year's line up, which included jamboree regulars Steve Piticco and South Mountain, the Tebworth Brothers and house band Bill White and White Pine. When I visited on Saturday early in the evening, headliners Rhyme “N” Reason were onstage heating things up with their pitch perfect old timey blue grass repertoire. Band members included Randy Brethour on mandolin, Stefan Van Holten on banjo/vocals, Doug Moerschfelder on stand up bass/vocals and Joe Rohrer on lead guitar and lead vocals. The foursome played their own version of a number of classic bluegrass favs including "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms", George Jones' "Walk Through This World With Me", and "When the Mountain Dew Begins to Fall". The foursome have the genre down pat, each player playing stellar solos in almost every tune with lead vocalist Rohrer masterfully delivering up a wide ranging emotional repertoire. Highlights included Van Holten's stellar picking abilities on banjo and in the rare song where he sang lead ,he demonstrated that he also possess the perfect vocal chops best suited to old timey bluegrass, a high reedy sounding tenor. The band also appeared in a second installment on Sunday morning for a special gospel session.