When the clocks all strike 11:00 am on November 11, 2018, it will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, the supposed “War to end all Wars.”

By November 11, 1918, it has been estimated that there had been approximately 8 million military/service deaths and up to 21 million wounded around the world.

Arden Legion, Gordon Gaylord Branch #334, is hoping to have ready for November, 2018, a booklet listing all members, of all services from the area including Arden, Mountain Grove, Henderson, Harlow, Kaladar, and locations in between who fought and died for Canada.

The Legion is hoping to collect knowledge on every known participant including any photographs, history, personal information and current descendents.

Obviously, to achieve this, we need to appeal to the general public and make this booklet a community effort. We are also requesting information from anyone who had grandmothers or great grandmothers who served as nurses etc., or who served in the forces. Also, if any now local residents had relatives who served, we would love to hear from you.

To get the ball rolling, we have prepared a list of all service members’ names taken from the cenotaphs and plaques currently in both Arden and Mountain Grove. They are as follows:

Arden: Andrew Hayes, Roy Loyst, John Monds, Russell Monds, Ernest Mouck, Manley Wood, Milton Woodcock, Harry Alexander, Willard Boomhower, Allan Detlor, Dow Fraser, Charles Gaylord, Sandford Gaylord, Oscar Hayes, William Hogan, James Hughes, Norman Hughes, John Kellar, W.C. Morgan, Rockwell Newton, Benson Scott, Earl Scott, Sandy Scott, Curtis Selman, Frank Shorts, Durland Steele, Morris Thompson, Wellington Thompson, Edward Wilkes, Edward Wood, Oscar Wood, Ervin Woodcock, Murray Woodcock, Ellias Wormworth, E. Barker, W.J. Gaylord, F. Hugh, A. Hughes, A. Parker, C. Parkes and L. Woodcock.

Mountain Grove: H.R. Abbott, A, Lewis, H.R. Cronk, E.P. Lewis, G.E. Snider, C. Parker, J.M. Wood, R.M. Barr, G.F. Beverley, T. Beverley, B. Bradly, R. Bradly, G. Conboy, J. Dawson, C. Drew, A. Enbry, R. Flynn, A. Godfrey, T. Godfrey, W. Grant, H. Gray, J. Hawley, R. Hawley, O.A. Hayes, J. Kellar, Z. Kellar, C. Lockwood, D. MacCrimmon, D. MacDonald, S. Mills, E.R. Price, l.E. Raymond, C. Shorts, A. Smith, F. Smith, O. Smith, F. Soles, H. Somers, F. Tryon and J. Veley.

These are the names being used for the Legion's starting point. lf anyone recognizes a name of a great grandparent, grandparent or other relative, please contact one of the following: Malcolm Sampson (613-335-3664), Ronda Noble (613-335-4517), Marilyn Meeks (613-335-4531) or Jean Brown (613-336-2516) or call the Legion (613-335-2737) and leave a name and phone number.

It is also very probable that at a later date, more volunteer help will be needed, so if you are interested in helping out, please let one of the individuals listed above know.

Bob Srigley died on July 28, 2013, three days after being shot 6 times by two OPP officers at his property on the Arden Road in Central Frontenac late on a hot summer afternoon.

On February 25, 2014, the Director of the Special Investigations Unit of Ontario, Tony Loparco, released a report on the circumstances of Srigley’s death. The concluding paragraph of the his report reads as follows: “having reviewed all the evidence in its totality I am duty bound to ask: ‘Were the subject officers justified in the use of lethal force in these circumstances?’ I am of the view that they were and accordingly, I have no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers committed a criminal offense in relation to this unfortunate death. His actions put him into a position where the officers had no other recourse than to use deadly force. To do otherwise would have been to put their lives or the lives of their partners at risk.”

Three years and two months have passed since Director Loparco released his report, and the Coroners Office of Ontario has set the date for a mandatory inquest into the events surrounding the death of Bob Srigley. The inquest is mandatory because Srigley was technically in custody at the time of his death.

Dr. Paul Dungey, the regional supervising coroner for the East Region, said that the coroner’s office intends to hold inquests within 2 years of the end of any police investigation into an incident, but scheduling issues have meant for a delay in this case. The 8 month gap between the death of Srigley and the release of the SIU report was also unusually long.

The coroners inquest will be presided over by Dr. John Carlisle of Toronto, and his counsel will be Michael Blain.  Approximately 9 witnesses are expected to testify and 5 days have been set aside. A five member jury will hear the testimony and will submit a report, which may include recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.

According to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correction Services (CSCS) website, The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario “serves the living through high quality death investigations and inquests to ensure that no death will be overlooked, concealed or ignored. The findings are used to generate recommendations to help improve public safety and prevent deaths in similar circumstances.”

According to Paul Dungey, the inquest is intended to answer five questions: who died, where did they die, when did they die, and how did the death occur (ie medical cause) and by what means did the death occur.”

“Inquests do not assign blame. They are not a trial. They are held in a court like setting but they are not an adversarial process,” Dungey said.

The CSCS website says “An inquest is an inquisitorial process designed to focus public attention on the circumstances of a death. It is to be a dispassionate public examination into the facts and all participants have a responsibility to conduct themselves with dignity and respect.”

In the case of Bob Srigley, the public already has answers to the first four questions. The only information that has been made available about question number 5, the circumstances surrounding the death, is contained in the Loparco report.

In his synopsis of the moments preceding when shots were fired in the case, Loparco wrote the following:  “As the officers descended the laneway toward the man’s trailer, one of the officers called out the man’s name. The man burst out of the front door of the trailer, empty-handed and naked. While screaming and yelling, the man sprinted across to a picnic table, picked up a scoped rifle lying on the table, raised it and pointed it at the officers. The man was ordered to drop his weapon, but would not do so. One of the officers deployed his CEW [taser device], but was too far away for it to have any effect. While still holding his rifle, which was pointed at the officers, the man turned around, began walking toward the front porch of his residence, and stopped at the porch stairway. The man did not heed repeated commands to drop his weapon. Two of the officers discharged their firearms, striking the man six times.”

Loparco also wrote that during the investigation into the incident, one of the two “subject officers” (ie shooters) took part in the interviews but did not provide his notes, and the other “declined to provide an interview or his notes to the SIU, as is his legal right.”

Aside from OPP officers, there were no other witnesses to the shooting.

The entire incident was instigated by a 911 call that came from the Frontenac News office. Among the first responders were the Central Frontenac Fire Department. The department took a bit of time to get to the scene because the fire chief, Bill Young, had to retrieve a boat before answering the call. Mr. Srigley had threatened to burn himself to death in his boat when talking on the phone to a member of the Frontenac News staff, hence the 911 call.

By the time Bill Young arrived at the Arden Road, police had already set up a roadblock. To our knowledge, subject to confirmation at the coroners inquest, the only witnesses to the shooting were 6 members of the OPP.

The complete SIU report into the incident is provided below:

The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Tony Loparco, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge either of two Ontario Provincial Police officers with the Lanark County detachment with a criminal offence in relation to the death of a 45-year-old man in July of 2013.

The SIU assigned five investigators and two forensic investigators to the incident. As part of the investigation, five witness officers and 10 civilian witnesses were interviewed. One subject officer took part in an SIU interview but did not provide his notes, and the other subject officer declined to provide an interview or his notes to the SIU, as is his legal right.

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Thursday, July 25, 2013:

• At approximately 4:30 p.m., four officers were dispatched to a home on Arden Road to deal with reports of a suicidal male who had indicated that he intended to burn himself to death. They parked their vehicles at the top of a graveled laneway. The officers were armed with service firearms and other use of force options including an ASP baton. One of the officers was carrying a fire extinguisher and another one of the officers was also equipped with a conducted energy weapon (CEW).

• As the officers descended the laneway toward the man’s trailer, one of the officers called out the man’s name. The man burst out of the front door of the trailer, empty-handed and naked. While screaming and yelling, the man sprinted across to a picnic table, picked up a scoped rifle lying on the table, raised it and pointed it at the officers. The man was ordered to drop his weapon, but would not do so. One of the officers deployed his CEW, but was too far away for it to have any effect. While still holding his rifle, which was pointed at the officers, the man turned around, began walking toward the front porch of his residence, and stopped at the porch stairway. The man did not heed repeated commands to drop his weapon.

• Two of the officers discharged their firearms, striking the man six times. The man underwent surgery for his injuries at Kingston General Hospital. He died the evening of July 28, 2013 of ‘complications from multiple gunshot wounds’.

Director Loparco said, “In light of the information about his suicide threats the police in this case had a duty to apprehend the man under Section 17 of the Mental Health Act. They properly engaged emergency services to assist them if necessary. Because of information they had about the man’s unpredictability and his hatred of police, one of the officers attended with a CEW and another brought a rifle to the scene.

“The moment the man ran naked screaming and yelling to the picnic table in his yard and picked up his air rifle - which appeared to be a lethal high powered scoped rifle with a flared barrel - and pointed it at the officers, he initiated the sequence of actions that led to his death. One of the subject officers who discharged his service pistol indicated he believed that the man intended to kill him. The other witness officers also indicated a fear of death and helplessness or vulnerability. Objectively, factors which informed the reasonableness of this subjective fear included the following: (1) the loud music at the scene and its secluded location, (2) the man’s alleged proclivity for violence and hatred of the police, (3) the man’s mental state, (4) the man’s pronouncements about committing suicide, (5) the pointing of the rifle at the officers and (6) the rapid speed at which the incident occurred.”

Director Loparco concluded, “Having reviewed all the evidence in its totality I am duty bound to ask: ‘Were the subject officers justified in the use of lethal force in these circumstances?’ I am of the view that they were and accordingly, I have no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers committed a criminal offence in relation to this unfortunate death. His actions put him into a position where the officers had no other recourse than to use deadly force. To do otherwise would have been to put their lives or the lives of their partners at risk.”

“If a Legion Branch had to pay for all the volunteer hours its members spent, no branch could exist,” keynote speaker G1 Zone Commander Terry Shelley told Royal Canadian Legion Branch 334 members and guests at its annual Honours & Awards Dinner in Arden last Saturday night. “And no volunteer does it for awards but a simple thank-you goes a long way.”

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith also emphasized volunteerism in her address.

“Volunteers like you make this a great community,” she said. “You do so much for our community.”

Smith cited examples of what the Legion has done like when the only store left in Arden closed and the Legion “stepped up” to bring in and sell household necessities to fill the gap the store’s departure left.

As is part and parcel of such nights, the branch awarded service pins and there were a considerable number of long service pins handed out.

Longest of these went to associate member Clark Gaylord who received his 40 years of service pin.

Receiving 35-year pins were Clarence Gregg, Robert Miller, Barb Smith, Diane Tryon, Judy McClurg and Wayne Smith.

Receiving 30-year pins were Art Dunham, David Moore, Joan Moore, Mike Trickey, Tom Dewey and Wanda Harrison.

Receiving 25-year pins were Maurice Woodcock and Nancy Gaylord.

Receiving a 20-year pin was Doug Scott.

There were also three 15-year-pins, three 10-year pins and four five-year pins.

Certificates of Appreciation were given to Tammy Shelley, Jeanette MacPherson, Carol Espy, Shirley Dewey, Ian Tryan and Judith Cardwell. Youth Certificates of Appreciation were given to Billy Paddick, Summer Kennedy and Aurora French.

Town Crier Paddy O’Connor opened the proceedings and the roast beef meal was done by Cota’s Mobile Catering.

The Empty Bowls started off in 1990 as a small project by a group of potters working with some chefs in a town in Michigan to give away bowls of soup and allow people to keep the bowls. All that was requested was a donation to a local food based charity. Twenty seven years later not a lot has changed about how with Empty Bowls work, except it is now a series of small projects in communities throughout North America. It was introduced in Eastern Ontario by Perth area Potter Jackie Seaton who developed it with the help of a number of potters in the Perth, Brooke Valley and Maberly area into an event that raises over $10,000 each year for The Table, YAK and other projects in Perth. Although Seaton has since died, the project remains strong.

Three years ago, Joanne Pickett of Arden Pottery started an Empty Bowls event in Arden, holding it in conjunction with the Frontenac Heritage Festival weekend. In Arden it has taken on a Frontenac County flavour and has grown every year. Last year over 100 bowls of soup were served and carted away and $1,400 was raised. Instead of restaurants making the soup, in Arden it was local volunteers.

“There were some real gourmet soups last year, including venison soup and sun dried tomato blue cheese soup, and in our project the potters serve the soup,” said Pickett, when contacted about this year’s event earlier this week.
The potters who are participating this year include Pickett, who has been potting at her studio on Big Clear Lake for nearly 40 years, Tracy Bamford and Sharon Matthews (Long Lake Potters) and Jonas Bonnetta. Local cooks are going to be supplying desserts and coffee this year and the suggested donation will be $20, in the hope of raising $2,000 for the North Frontenac Food Bank.

“It has been a good fit to hold the Empty Bowls during the Heritage Festival weekend because there are many other events in Arden during the weekend and they all help each other. And with all the help from the local community it is more than just potters who are involved. Everyone in Arden helps out,” she said.

Empty Bowls runs from 10-4 on Saturday, February 18th along with displays by the Frontenac Trappers Council and the Kennebec Historical Society, chainsaw carving by Robin Deruchie, and games put on by the Arden Volunteer Firefighter Association. There will be a pioneer demonstration outside, and weather permitting, horse drawn wagon rides.

For information about Empty Bowls, contact Joanne Pickett at 613-335-2763

2017-02-08: Corrected the date in the headline from "February 21" to "February 18". The article also missed one of the potters who has participated, Aileen Merriam. Aileen has been participating for three years. She will have some of her pots available and will be on hand on the 18th.

A few weeks ago it was mentioned, in the Arden column, about a gun donated to Arden for their Cenotaph.  After a conversation with the donator and then some research, I felt it was necessary to bring some attention to this unique and generous individual.  Geoffrey Landon-Browne was born in England and relocated, with his wife, to Carp, Ontario in 2008.  He has refurbished a Land Rover, is in the midst of rebuilding a Volkswagon Iltis but his pride and joy is the work he is doing on the flight deck of a Lancaster heavy bomber plane.  He is a millwright and machinist by trade and has a garage stocked full of metalworking equipment and many mechanical parts acquired by a variety of ways.  

I asked him why he decided to donate the gun to Arden and he told me he really did not know why, he just had a compulsion to do it.   Passing by the large Arden sign, on his way to Toronto he recalled the documentary “The Lost Highway” and felt a connection, one that he could not explain.  On another trip he ventured into town and found the Cenotaph, and much to his dismay saw that one of the guns was missing.
He chose his replacement, a replica of a .303 “Vickers” because of it’s direct link to the Canadian forces and because the gun mounted on the other side was a German “Maxim” machine gun, vintage World War One. The Vickers gun has relevance to WWII and Korea as it was used by British and Commonwealth forces until 1989. Landon-Browne recreated this gun by newly making 100% of it;  there are no original parts.  
The actual time required to fabricate this gun…..3 days.  Impressive is just one way to describe Geoff,
and in turn,  Geoff was impressed by Arden as well.  The one thing he felt that many a large metropolis lost was their sense of community and willingness to remember and be thankful for the past.  He found both of those things in Arden, in their service November 11 and the fellowship that followed. 

So Arden formally thanks Geoff Landon-Browne for his gift and wishes him every success in his task of rebuilding history in his Lancaster bomber project.

This year the Kennebec Recreation Committee hosted two Halloween events for children in Arden.

On October 29, the committee hosted its 16th annual children’s Halloween party at the Kennebec Recreation Centre in Arden. Eerie music filled the hall, while children moved from station to station around the hall enjoying a multitude of Halloween-themed crafts. Fifty-nine souls returned from their visit to the “Wicked Witch Inn”, located deep down in the bowels of the building, where children participated in a spooky scavenger hunt. After lunch, and the costume parade, children received a treat bag.

This year’s event attracted youth from Arden; Flinton; Kaladar; Kingston; Mountain Grove; Parham; Sharbot Lake; and Winchester.

Then, acting upon a suggestion from Lisa Matson, the committee hosted the inaugural Community Shell-Out on Halloween night itself, Oct. 31.

The concept was simple. Provide a safe; fun experience in a central location where the more rural members of the community, and “Trick and Treaters” could hook up. “Trick and Treaters” and community members met at the Kennebec Recreation Centre between the hours of 5 and 7 pm for the exchange of traditional Halloween goodies.

A total of nine families, with donations from an additional five families shelled-out to 39 youth, who were accompanied by 31 parents and family members. This year’s event attracted youth from Arden; Kaladar; Mountain Grove; and Sharbot Lake.

The Kennebec Recreation Committee is a committee of Central Frontenac Council, and enjoys their interaction with all residents. You can support the committee in many ways. You can join into one of the many sponsored programs, purchase a ticket to one of the fundraising events or make a donation, for which you will receive a tax receipt. You could also share some of your ideas with the committee by coming out and joining the group. We’d be happy to have you join in any way you wish! Thanks to all!

Join us on Facebook: “Kennebec Recreation Committee”

CD release concert set for Saturday, October 22

Logan Murray is a gadfly, a sometimes politician, a cabinet-maker, musician and music lover. He has lived on a farm on Elm Tree Road near the far western edge of Frontenac County with his wife, Andrea Jones, since the early 1970s. There, he built a recording studio and over the years has recorded musicians from near and far. He has also been jamming and practising harmonica and guitar and playing and writing songs.

With the encouragement of friends and neighbours he decided to put his skills and musical journey together to record a CD of his own songs, and that idea has become reality in “Ninety Five Acres”, which is being released this month.

Murray describes the 10-song CD as “eclectic roots music”. It features some tunes that can be described as country, with some rockabilly, barrel-house blues, rock & roll and honky tonk thrown in. So calling it Americana or eclectic roots music is pretty accurate.

The first song is the title track, a country song that is rooted in the location that has been at the core of Murray's life for all these years.

From there the CD meanders from a rockabilly sound (Gadget) to Blues (Plain Talk, Occupy), southern rock (Play with Fire), Chicago Blues ($100 or The Strange Relative of Human Endeavour and Snake Charge), and Honky Tonk with the cheeky (Cell Phone Blues).

There are echoes of early Rolling Stones blues songs, Bob Dylan and the Band, and even Lynyrd Skynyrd in Ninety Five Acres. Murray's voice has a gravelly sweetness that works for the styles of music on the album.

In addition to clearing brush, cutting wood and doing all the things people have to do when living on marginal rural land, Logan Murray took an early interest in the Internet, seeing it as a way to connect with the world without having to drive all the time.

He has become connected with sound engineers on a couple of websites over the years, many of whom have been working in the music industry at a high level and are top-notch musicians as well. When he decided to do a recording, they wanted to participate.

Much of the music on Ninety Five acres was recorded in studios around North America and beyond and sent back electronically to be mixed at Murray's own studio. Local musicians were involved as well and that's why the band credit on the record is “Logan Murray and the International Bandits”.

The result is an album with a lot of variety, as the songs were written over a long time and Murray is not bound by genres. The music is all high-tempo; it rocks quite a bit, and the lyrics often feature a turn of phrase that surprises.

Here are two examples. From $100 or The Strange Relative of Human Endeavour - “I had a ‘49 Mercury, boys that was a cherry ride, 'til some yuppy with a Lexis, ran into the passenger side. A hundred dollars ain’t gonna fix that stuff.”

And from Cell Phone Blues, which was inspired by the lineup at a Tim Horton's – “LOL, you’re such a clown, you can't seem to put that gadget down. OMG, WTF, nobody’s got any privacy left.”

Now that the record is complete, Murray has put together a show featuring two bands to encompass its breadth at a release party at the Tamworth Legion on October 22.

One of the bands features mostly local musicians, and the other features musicians from the Peterborough area.

Tickets for the show are $20, which includes a CD of the album. For more information and to purchase tickets or CDs, go to Loganmurray.net, phone 335-2599, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

(Note - in the paper version of this article the date of the cd release in Tamworth was listed as October 24)

For the past five years or so the Kennebec Recreation Committee has organized a successful and fun-filled Italian experience in Arden.

This year the Italian Night was held on Sept. 24 and with the hall decorated in the “Italian” theme, the committee welcomed the guests. Thanks to Kathy Barr and her team of volunteers, salad and garlic bread were served at the tables, and the pasta was ready to be consumed. Throughout dinner, the sweet lilts of Italian music filled the hall. Bartender, Dave Moore, kept the wine flowing while guests finished their dinner and prepared for the tiramisu and fruit.

As dinner was ending and the band was preparing, Master of Ceremonies, Jim Duthie, told a few Italian ditties, some funny and some groaners. The band of the evening was Carleton Place’s own “Diplomats” led by Gary O'Meara, a nice east coast guy. After introducing themselves and their guest singers, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, the audience was entertained with a number of standards as well as some sing-alongs.

As the evening progressed, a Kennebec Rec Committee member and dancer extraordinaire, Jeff Matson, could no longer remain seated. Not only was he dancing, but he got others up off their chairs as well.

Another guest band, Mexican I think, made an appearance and after some samba music led the audience in a Conga line. Not to be outdone there was also a visit from a member of the armed services and tributes to our forces. The lone commando visited the audience and not only introduced himself, but his horse as well.

With the evening drawing to a close, the band helped with some door prizes and the chair thanked everyone who participated in the evening.

The Kennebec Recreation Committee leads the way in offering many physical and mental exercises in the community. Line dancing, Tai Chi, Fit & Fun and seniors’ baseball encourage all to get off their sofa and move, while Euchre provides mental exercise. The group is most proud of their sponsorship of the Kids Klub organized here in Arden. Supervised by Connie and Boyd Tryan, the children have an organized and safe place to get together for reading, crafts and sing-a-longs. The Victoria Day fireworks are another of the sponsored events.

The Kennebec Recreation Committee is a committee of Central Frontenac Council and enjoys their interaction with all residents. You can support the committee in many ways. You can join into one of the many sponsored exercise programs, purchase a ticket to one of the fundraising events or make a donation, for which you will receive a tax receipt. You could also share some of your ideas with the committee by coming out and joining the group. We’d be happy to have you join in any way you wish! Thanks to all!

About 1855, Daniel Scott and Phoebe Parks, of American Loyalist families, came with their young family up the Salmon River from Hay Bay and Sheffield and settled on the river just below the current Arden town site. They made a livelihood there and other places in Kennebec and their children had families there and many remain today, living happily with an ever-greater extended Scott family, marrying with other settlers and later arrivals. Other Scotts arrived about the same time and have also stayed here.

In the 1860s and 70s, two Cox families arrived from St. Giles, Quebec and settled in the Mountain Grove area; a third family stayed in Quebec. They had emigrated from County Monaghan, Ireland early in the 1830s. They farmed and thrived in Olden and Kennebec and joined in marriage with other families in the area, and many continue to enjoy lives here in Central Frontenac.

Other Scotts and Coxes together with other families have moved to other parts of Ontario, Western Canada and the United States in search of new jobs, livelihoods and other opportunities. In the early 1900s we saw large numbers of our ancestors leave to take up farms on the Prairies. Although some have returned and some come back for holidays, some emigrant Coxes and Scotts have never been back and have lost touch with kin who have stayed to look after our homelands.

For many years some of us 'from away' have thought about coming back for a Kennebec and Olden reunion. Some of us have worked together on family history and have been able to reconnect somewhat in that way. While we have thought about gathering, many of our elders and family knowledge carriers have passed on, taking all their experience and wisdom with them. Every year it’s too late to meet and learn from some of our history carriers. We need to get together now!

So, although it’s last-minute, a small group of us have decided to begin the important process of gathering family together Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16. We call out to all Kennebec Scotts and Olden Coxes and their related families to gather back in their homelands to get to know each other, to visit and share our stories, our family histories and our place in it and to have some family fun!! Please bring your old family pictures, film, Bibles, memorabilia and keepsakes. Come prepared to share your stories - humorous and serious!

The gathering is free and open to all with an interest in getting together and sharing our family experiences and history. We will visit the old family home sites and trails. On Saturday Elders Leigh and Dale Scott will guide us around the Daniel Scott and Phoebe Parks sites. Cox descendants will show us around the Cox family homesteads. We will have lunch together, on Saturday at the Arden Legion and on Sunday at the Mountain Grove Community Hall, and give thanks to the generosity of family who have stayed here and kept the homelands and the home fires burning while the rest of us were away.

We will have family histories available for you to study, change and add to with your own family tree. Kellie Cox Love and other genealogists will be with us to help. Family pipe major Reg Scott of the Kalamalka Highlanders Pipe Band, who was born here in Arden, will call us to gather, celebrate our ancestors at the old homesteads and salute them at the burial grounds.

We invite you to join us at this inaugural Kennebec Scott and Olden Cox gathering October 15 & 16. For information please contact:

Harvey & Evelyn Scott; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 780-675-4158

Reg & Heather Scott: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 250-545-4280

Sherri Scott: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 613-335-3759

Kellie Love: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 705-439-2983

Larry Birney and Theresa Hooiveld, organizers of Open Mic at the Kennebec Community Hall in Arden, are extremely pleased to announce that because of overwhelming support by local and area entertainers and residents, all costs associated with running the open mic for the first three events have been recouped. As a result, net proceeds of $208.05 will be donated to the Land O' Lakes Women's Program/Safe Homes Emergency Fund.

The last Open Mic, which was held on Aug 20 and was the first to include a pot luck dinner, saw a total of 64 people attending, 21 of whom were entertainers. As well as a surprise visit to "check out" the open mic by our own Central Frontenac councilor, Cindy Kelsey, the music was enhanced all evening by the superb guitar licks and solos of country music recording artist Sonny Oden from Texas, USA, with his wife Connie Phillips, who also sang some lovely country tunes. The "Share the Wealth" draw saw the winner walk away with $70! It was truly an enjoyable and gratifying evening for all!

Many thanks to all those who participate, entertainers and audience alike, whose support has brought a new once-a-month entertainment choice to Arden and the surrounding area.

The next Open Mic is Saturday Sept 3 with a potluck at 5pm; music from 6 to 10pm. Any net proceeds from the open mics held in September, October and November will be donated to the Coats for Kids program. The OPP in Hartington is one of the sponsors of Coats for Kids. Coats of sizes 2T – 16 are needed. They do not have to be brand new; "gently used" is quite acceptable. As much as possible, coats collected from our area will be given to children in our area. The coats are collected till the end of November, after which they will be distributed by Corus Entertainment, who runs the program. For further information please email Theresa at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..