The list of events for the 2018 Lakes and Trails Festival, held in Sydenham, South Frontenac, on July 14, has been released. The Festival this year will run from 9:30a.m. to 4p.m. Additions to the Festival include more events for children, and live music in the Point Park and on Mill Street, Sydenham. The “Around the Lake” bike (21k, 32k and 44k loops), the historic walk of Sydenham, numerous paddling opportunities on the Lake, and a free community lunch will continue as part of the festival. The Lakes and Trails Festival is a community event to celebrate the area’s natural beauty, active lifestyle, and history. Everyone, from everywhere, is welcome to join us. Around 400 people attended last year’s activities. More information on the festival…

Remember public school in that awful endless last week of June? Steaming hot classrooms, courses and exams finished, teachers and children counting the days, longing for the freedom of summer? Long ago, the Sydenham Public School principal not only taught grades 6,7 and 8, but he was also the local softball umpire. Umpiring was his real job, the one he loved, the one that defined his role in the community. So for the last three years of public school, we mostly played ball that final week. Which was fine if you were good at softball, but not all of us were. Occasionally a few perennial outfielders would slide into the bushes that surrounded the schoolyard, scramble over the fence, and run down through the cow…

The South Frontenac Museum in Hartington officially opened its doors for the season Saturday as part of the Doors Open Ontario program. New to the museum this year is a presentation of 62 old stone houses in the area by David Jeffries, which is a project of the newly-formed South Frontenac Heritage Committee. And Doug Lovegrove’s little military history corner is also undergoing some changes. “We’re moving out some of the Second World War stuff in favour of the 146th Overseas Battalion (the First World War unit formed in this area,” he said. “We’ve also got some stuff about life in the trenches such as the knitting program whereby people on the home front would knit socks for the soldiers. “Sometimes, they could go through…

Mary-Jo DowkerMary-Jo Dowker is well-known in Verona, especially in the softball community, having been involved for 11 years, most as convenor. This is a time-consuming role that begins long before the softball season, usually in January or February, and continues until Fall. As convenor, Mary-Jo liaises with and represents Verona at the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association. She takes care of all the registration, recruiting of coaches, equipment and uniform maintenance, purchasing and organization. She also does all the scheduling for Verona/Hartington Softball and coordinates with the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association and the InterCommunity Softball Association to avoid conflicts.   Mary-Jo organizes umpires through the Limestone Umpire Association, acts as the treasurer and fundraises too! Field maintenance, washrooms and clubhouse are all taken care…

New Leaf Link (NeLL) was set up to serve a growing number of developmentally disabled young adults in South Frontenac. After graduating from Sydenham High School, where there was and still is an excellent school to community program, there was nothing in the township for the graduates. At the time, Dr. Karin Steiner, New Leaf Link’s Executive Director, was looking to continue her work as an autism educator and to find a program to benefit her son Nicolas, who has autism. In its initial press release, New Leaf Link set out some principles, which make interesting reading after ten years. “We aim to steward the occupational, cultural, and social contributions of disabled participants by a) creating a model educational centre; b) linking the strengths and…