Making a living from June to September in this area is a relatively simple matter. However, the rest of the year is often quite problematic, as many a failed business owner has found out.

But Jeff and Jenna Fenwick may have found a wrinkle that others have missed.

You see, the owners of Back Forty Artisan Cheese on Gully Road in Mississippi Station have gone about things in a slightly different manner. Instead of immediately taking advantage of the readily available clientele summer in the Frontenacs provides, they got their main business — providing artisan cheese to restaurants and tea rooms — up and thriving before getting into the summer cottage and tourism market.

Last Saturday, they opened their shop and patio for the season, the second year they’ve done so.

“The shop is a bonus,” Jenna, who’s also operated a textile business for 10 years, said during the busy opening day. “We weren’t sure anyone would come but we’re very pleased with the turnout and the community support we’ve received.”

In 2011, the Fenwicks bought an existing sheep cheese business in Lanark township and Jeff worked with the owners to learn the business.

“It was an opportunity,” Jeff said. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own because it’s difficult to get started.”

A couple of years ago, they found their farm, made all the necessary arrangements and renovations and moved everything to the banks of the Mississippi River.

“This land provides all of our food and we’ve started shaping fields to one day raise our own sheep for milk,” Jenna said. (They currently have arrangements with some family farms for their milk to make cheese.)

“But there’s no rush on that,” Jeff said.

They’d also like to expand the patio and its menu, get a liquor licence and maybe even build some cabins to rent out.

But, again, no rush.

“I do like food,” Jeff said. “So yes, we think about a cafe, a bar, whatever.

“For now, we’re just trying to make good cheese and we have a good spot for that. We do have about 300 restaurants we have to take care of.”

Jenna said that “on some level, we’ve always dreamed about having a restaurant, even back when we lived in Hamilton.”

Jeff does like to take things cautiously, for example while he’s considered expanding to cow or goat milk cheese, the certification process alone presents its own hurdles.

But in the case of having the shop open on Saturdays in the summer, that’s a slightly different matter.

“If you’re back here making cheese, it’s kind of reclusive,” he said. “I like people and I like to talk to people.

“I’d like to make money (with the shop and patio), but it’s not about that.”

Back Forty Cheese will be open on Saturdays throughout the summer, and to mark the start of the summer season, they are holding an open house and party onn June 24 between 10am and 4pm. The converted drive shed that serves as a cheese factory and tasting room for Back Forty Cheese, and a loft studio for Jenna Rose, will be open and tours of the factory and studio will be offered at different times throughout the day. All of Back Forty’s sheep’s cheeses will be available, including Highland Blue, Madawaska, Bonnechere, Flower Station and Ompah, as well as fresh curd, ricotta and fried curd as well. Charcuterie boards and baguettes will be available as well.

Meanwhile, outside in the yard that leads out to the Mississippi River, Stalwart Breweries of Carleton Place will have a stand with at least 3 of their different beers, Luke Mercier and Chris Colgan will be playin Appalachian music, and there will be wine from Three Dog Winery from Prince Edward County, Kin Winery from Carp, and sparkling cider and wine from Scheurermann’s winery of Westport.

A BBQ, presented by Seed to Sausage, will be running all day as well.

Admission is free and all are welcome to enjoy great food and drink and the summer weather.

For information, go to artisancheese.ca/news.htm

Need one last opportunity to drive up the 509 before Christmas?

The combined open houses at Mariclaro (located on Road 509 just north of the Mississippi Bridge) and Back Forty Cheese (located a few hundred metres down the Gully Road) feature fine handmade Christmas gift options.

Mariclaro will be featuring its full line of bags, purses, clutches, wallets and more all made from top quality reclaimed materials, including many pieces from the Air Canada Collection,  a line of handcrafted items made from re-purposed Air Canada seat covers that was very successful at the recent  One of a Kind Craft Show in Toronto. Susie Osler, a ceramic artist who lives and works near Mablerly will also be showing at Mariclaro. She makes colourful vases and containers in unorthodox shapes, glazed in a very painterly way. She may also have some samples of a new project she has taken on this fall, one that she calls Objects for the hand and heart, unglazed clay objects that are, in the words of her wesbsite “made to be held and explored through touch and as objects of contemplation.” These items are all about curves and smooth surfaces, some resembling found objects such as animal bones or smooth rocks that can be found on old farm properties throughout the region.

At Back Forty Cheese, Jeff Fenwick will have a selection of holiday sheeps milk cheeses for sampling and purchase as well Berkshire Pork and gift certificates. Jenna Rose, the textile studio of Jenna Fenwick, occupies the loft above the cheese factory. Jenna is also just back from the One of a Kind Show, and she will have a selection of work available, including her Etsy award nominated Weekender bags and newly introduced Journey Bag. She will also have hand printed pouches, tea towels, hand kerchiefs and more.

Both studios will be open from 10-4 on Saturday, December 17th. For more information, contact Mariclaro at 613-278-1631 or Back Forty Artisan Cheese at 613-278-7011.

“Memories of General Stores” presented by the Clarendon Miller Community Archives.

Clarendon Miller Community Archives will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on May 14 at the Clar-Mill Hall from noon to 4 pm by bringing back memories of local general stores. Guest speaker, Mary Cook, will provide a historical perspective; a panel of local store owners/operators/employees will describe their experiences; and displays will bring back memories of the local stores in North Frontenac Township.

It was Isaac Allan (one of the Allan brothers from the mill on Millar’s Lake) who built the store at Mississippi. His first store was built on the east side of the railroad tracks. This first store became a private residence when he built his second store.

This second store, which later became known as the “Furniture House”, was on the west side of the railroad tracks. In 1890 he then had Louis Marguerat build his third and final store, at which time his second store was used for storing furniture and coffins.

This last store was a large building with an attached residence. This store business was operated as I. Allan and Son, since he had taken his son Roy in as a partner. This store listed several articles for sale: “General Merchandise, Furniture, Renfrew Lime and Brick, Cordwood, Railway Ties, Fence Posts, Lumber, Shingles as well as a full assortment of Undertaker’s Goods on hand and Hearse in Attendance”.

Isaac operated here until July 26, 1911 when he left for Kingston. His son Roy Allan took over the store. Before Isaac left he gave a banquet for all his customers, which was remembered by all for a long time.

Roy operated the store until he too left for Kingston on March 28, 1918. In Kingston he established the Allan Lumber Company.

William Geddes and his family then moved into the residence attached to the store and operated the store as W.A. Geddes and Sons. They operated the store, post office and funeral business. In 1919 they sold the funeral business to W.J. Jackson of McDonalds Corners.

William Geddes died in 1958. William’s son, John R. Geddes then took over the business; in 1961 he decided to discontinue operating the general store, at which time he sold his stock to Max Millar of Snow Road.

The first post office in Mississippi was in the Norman Clark residence. The Clark family left in 1910 and William Geddes replaced him as Postmaster. In 1911 the Geddes family and the post office moved to the house across the road and remained there until he took over the store from Roy Allan. He installed the post office in the rear of the store.

When John Geddes moved to Toronto the post office was then moved to the George Olmstead residence with Edith as Postmistress. It remained here until October 27, 1987 and then closed when Edith retired. The Mississippi residents then collected their mail from the green boxes at Gemmill’s Store in Snow Road Station.

North Frontenac Council

Mississippi bridge set for construction in 2014, if the price is right

For a number of years, North Frontenac Council has identified building a two-lane bridge on Road 509 at the Mississippi River as a priority. The township even applied for grants to cover two-thirds of the cost of a new bridge on three separate occasions, but without success.

Finally, last year, the township received the go-ahead for the construction, this time with the Province of Ontario covering 90% of the cost, up to $2 million.

At their council meeting on Monday morning, January 13, council approved a proposal by their consulting engineer, Guy Laporte of the engineering firm, AECOM, to build a two-lane bridge to the west of the existing Mississippi bridge, provided the tenders for construction come in at or under the $2 million threshold.

Laporte said that in his analysis of the project, he ruled out putting the bridge in where it is now, the shortest span over the river, for logistical reasons.

“There was no viable detour for traffic while the bridge is being built,” he told Council.

One possibility for a detour was the Gully Road, which is close by and runs to the Elphin-Maberly Road, but Laporte said “the Gully road is not suitable for the large truck traffic that travels on Road 509. We looked also at a lengthy route that goes back to Hwy. 7, but that was too long, and we looked at building a temporary bridge but we did not have the budget to do that.”

Laporte went to a public meeting in late December with four locations as options, two to the west of the existing bridge and two to the east.

In the end he proposed a location to the west, which will require road construction and a bridge that is longer than the current one.

“That option has the least impact on neighbouring houses on either side of the river and it involves the least amount of in-water work during the construction phase,” Laporte said.

The new bridge will bisect a piece of parkland on the Mississippi River, which was a concern for Councilor John Inglis.

However, Mayor Clayton said that moving the bridge would create parkland at the bridge's current location.

Councilor Betty Hunter pointed out that the Gully road was used as a detour once before, during the construction of a bridge on the Elphin-Maberly Road, “and as I recall there were no issues. The road was fine,” said Hunter.

“In order to go back and reconsider the bridge's location, we would need another public meeting and a new Environmental Assessment. We would not be able to go to tender on the project in June in that case, and our current plan to start construction on July 15 and finish this year would have to be altered,” Laporte said.

The provincial grant that is supporting the project is also time-sensitive, he added.

The bridge will be tendered under two construction options, one being a pre-engineered steel deck on concrete abutments, and the second as a conventional concrete structure. He said that the pre-engineered option would be cheaper to build but more expensive to maintain, while the conventional option will cost more now but less later on.

Council approved the proposal as presented and will wait for the tenders to come in before giving the project final approval.

Manadatory septic re-inspections contemplated.

Eric Kohlsmith of the Mississippi-Rideau Septic Inspection office presented his report on the 2013 voluntary septic re-inspection program in the township.

For the second year in a row, the number of inspections completed was considerably less than the target of 100 inspections on waterfront properties.

This year Kohlsmith's office sent out 346 letters to property owners requesting they complete a questionnaire and set up a time for an inspection, but in the end only 61 properties underwent the inspections.

Of the systems that were inspected, 29% were in good working order, 64% required some remediation, and 5% (four systems) required replacement. Kingston Frontenac Public Health, the agency that is under contract with North Frontenac for septic permitting, was informed about the four systems that need to be replaced,

Changes in the Ontario Building Code have recently come on stream. They allow municipalities to require re-inspections of septic systems that are over 10 years old, and in his report, Eric Kohlmsith recommends that the township look into going that route in the future.

“The greatest change between the current voluntary program and the one we are proposing is that the inspections will be mandatory. It will allow for the continued education of property owners on the maintenance and operation of their system but with a mandatory inspection,” Kohlsmith said.

In order for Mississippi-Rideau to provide mandatory inspections, the township would also to have them take over doing all septic inspections, for new properties as well, and sever its longstanding relationship with KFL&A Public Health for septic inspections for new construction.

Official Plan woes

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs has returned the township's Draft Official Plan and is asking for a meeting to discuss the changes that they are insisting upon. Faced with a document that resembles what a grade one teacher might send back to a reluctant student - a page full of black lines drawn through lines and lines of text punctuated by red ink with new wording - North Frontenac Mayor Clayton asked, “Why does one size have to fit all? Why does our plan have to be the same as all other plans? Why do we go to the trouble of preparing a plan? They could just send us the plan they want and be done with it if this is the way it is going to be.”

Among the disagreements between the township and the ministry are a number of long-standing issues. One is the ministry's insistence on concentrating development in identified hamlets rather than in the rural countryside. The idea behind this provincial policy is that services are available in hamlets, but in Frontenac County this is not the case, and in North Frontenac some of the identified hamlets are nothing more than a sign at the side of the road, such as Donaldson, Coxvale, Roberstville and Wilbur.

Frontenac County Council agreed last week to proceed with a contract for the construction of an ambulance base in North Frontenac Township. The contract was awarded to Argue Construction for $503,650.

However additional costs, including professional costs of $81,363 and an item listed in a report by Chief of Paramedic Services Paul Charbonneau as “other costs” of $51,686 will bring the total cost to $670,000.

The County has $450,000 budgeted for the project, and agreed to take the extra $220,000 from reserve funds in order to complete the project in the first part of 2014.

Charbonneau told Council that the cost works out to $288 per square foot for the stand alone building, a steep increase from the cost incurred for the construction of the Sydenham ambulance base just three years ago, which came in at $172 per square foot.

“In retrospect, I would say we got a very good deal when we built the Sydenham base,” said Charbonneau.

Part of the overrun stems from the decision that Council made to upgrade the status of the Robertsville base to a stand-alone ambulance base rather than an ambulance post, as had been originally planned. This means that the paramedics who will be providing service out of the base from 6 am to 6 pm daily will start and end their 12-hour shift at Robertsville. If it was only a post at that location the shifts would start and end at the Parham base, which would cut the North Frontenac-based service by the travel time from Parham to Robertsville, which is as much as 90 minutes each day.

Charbonneau also cited land acquisition fees and the cost of environmental assessments as partial reasons for the cost overrun.

However, the purchase price of the lot where the base will be located, which was paid to a private landowner, was only $20,000. That is less than half the $42,000 that the County paid to South Frontenac Township to buy the one acre where the Sydenham base was located.

The Robertsville base was originally slated to be built in Ompah, as part of a joint project with North Frontenac to build an ambulance base/fire hall complex. However that project was abandoned last year because North Frontenac balked at the projected cost.