Picky eater? Tantrums? This mother of four understands your frustration and is ready to help. Parenting expert, Carolyn Bond of Sharbot Lake, has just published her book Parent with Confidence. In it, she gives busy parents what she calls “Power Tools for Bringing Up Great Kids”. Based on the parenting approach of psychologist Alfred Adler, and on her own experiences, Ms Bond has crafted an easy-to-read, jargon-free book. As a Mom, she coped with such problems as sibling rivalry, picky eaters and middle-child woes. Each chapter of her book covers a common problem—and suggests solutions. At the end of each chapter, Carolyn has provided a convenient list of “Reminders” which cover the topic’s key points.

Ms Bond is a graduate of the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto. She is a former social worker with an extensive parent education background. Faced with her own parenting problems as the mother of four, she took a parenting course based on Adlerian psychology. She says this started her on the path to solving her parenting concerns. Her enthusiasm for the Adlerian approach led to more in-depth work and, as she says, she “worked in the trenches” with parents for over twenty years. Now retired, Carolyn has turned her considerable talents to offering parenting one-on-one sessions on-line at her website www.HowToBringUpGreatKids.com. Her book, Parent with Confidence, is available at Amazon. com.

There is no better sign of the arrival of fair weather than the opening of Fieldwork, Maberly's outdoor art & sculpture gallery, with its new installations for the 2015 season.

On May 9 over 100 guests attended the opening for the four (soon to be five) new installations. The artists each spoke about their works, which cover a wide range of topics.

Master print maker Franc Van Oort's “Eye Box” shows what a truly renaissance man he is. Van Oort built a huge camera obscura, a centuries-old optical device that led to photography and the photographic camera. It is also used by artists to observe the rules of perspective in drawing and painting. The huge box can easily house 10 people, though a maximum or four are invited in at any one time. Once inside guests can view an amazing upside-down real image of the landscape outside as it appears on the back wall through a small lens opening located on the front wall. Viewers are encouraged to turn a wheel that moves the box, allowing the viewers to observe in increments a 360 degree view of the landscape outside.

Christine Nobel and Brain Barth had the theme of water in mind when they created their work titled “191 Meters”, named for the distance that the field sits above sea level. This Ottawa-based duo imagined the site as it would have been 12,000 years ago when it was covered by a glacial lake. Using thousands of coloured stakes impaled in the ground, the work aims to show the way the last remnants of the lake might have drained from the field. The stakes are arranged like a river alternating in seven different shades of green and blue and appear like a kind of wave invading this now land-locked landscape.

Kimberly Edgar, a Dawson City, Yukon-based artist whose work focuses on lino cuts, placed a number of her wheat-based bird cut outs throughout the deciduous forest on the site. The work titled “Bird Memories” recalls her younger days of bird watching with her grandmother in Ontario. Her birds are lively, colourful and playful and she has stuck them on a number of trees and rocks in and around the deciduous forest, making for a fun and impromptu game of hide and seek.

Annette Hegel's work titled “Two Guiding Principles” invokes her more politically minded concerns as an artist. This dwarf-sized town, which appears both unnaturally unrooted to its landscape and devoid of life, is comprised of roughly 50 identical cookie cutter houses, each painted a bland blue with grey roofs and set amidst barren sandy roads and muddy patches of ground. It speak of dryness, desolation with no colour and no signs of human life. The two principles Hegel is addressing in this work are the James Bay Hydro-electric project and the Quebec government “supposedly respecting Indigenous ways of life”.

Missing from the show was a fifth work by Gayle Young and Reinhard Reitzenstein titled “Castorimba Suspended”, which will be installed at a later date and is sure to add another interesting dimension to the site.

Also in attendance at the show were students from The Brooke Valley School with their work titled “Ornithology 101”. The group project involved the 13 students painting a number of birdhouses scattered throughout the area. Each student chose a different cavity-dwelling bird to represent and created displays about their bird of choice.

If you have yet to visit, Fieldwork it is well worth the trip and guests can enjoy numerous past installations still standing on site. For more information visit fieldworkproject.com. Fieldwork is generously supported by the Ontario Arts council and is free of charge.

Hats off to the close to 60-member cast and crew of The Music Man, who remounted and brought to life one of the all-time musical favorites from the Broadway repertoire.

The play is being performed at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake and Saturday night’s performance was a memorable one. The two leading players, Tim White as the lovable con man, Harold Hill, and Virginia Beckett as the prim and proper Madam Marion were stellar. Both demonstrated their triple-treat talents with White nailing the physical comedy, his countless lines and most challenging of all, the mighty mouthfuls of songs lyrics, as in “Trouble in River City”, for example.

Leading lady Beckett's experience as a singer made her mesmerizing and a delight to watch as she delivered her numerous show-stoppers including “My White Knight”, “Till There Was You” and more. Witnessing her character’s hardness soften under Harold's spell was also a delight.

On all counts this is not an easy play and instrumentally speaking it was the six-member orchestra under the direction of John McDougall that provided the glue that allowed so many vocal talents to shine. The impressive barbershop quartet with singers Ken Fisher, John Inglis, Tim Holmes and Allan Brown no doubt put in countless hours to get their challenging harmonies just right. Word play and physical comedy were a big part of this show and Paul Gosse's “phraseology” as Mayor Shinn got many big laughs, as did his wife Eulalie Shinn, played to great comic effect by Roseanna Redmond whose “fountain dance” antics as Ms. Liberty were a comedic highlight.

Janina Fisher as Marion’s sometimes meddling mom and Brian Robertson as Hill's confidant, Marcellus, both pulled off their supporting roles to great aplomb, as did Sydney Drew as Amaryllis. Everyone loves a loveable con man and while Harold sets out to swindle the folk of River City, he cannot help but simultaneously bring out the goodness in them. Hill helps turn bad boy Tommy Djilas (played by NFLT veteran Nic Alarcon) into the fine young man that Vaneeta Shinn (played by Gillian Hoffman) plainly sees. Congrats to Logan Cowdy in his first talking and singing role. He more than came out of his shell in the role thanks to Hill and nailed his solo, “Gary Indiana”, with his character’s lisp intact to boot.

The show was beautiful to look at with the quaint detailed set painted in pleasing earth tones, with neat and tidy era typography naming its prime places and topped off with an big American flag. The costumes were beyond exceptional, cotton laced long skirts, lacy aprons and gorgeous head gear for the gals; suspenders, caps and boots for the males with the youngsters looking especially cute. Charlotte Hilder, who played Gracie Shinn, informed me that she donned the same lacy blouse that Pam Giroux wore in the 1981 production.

Perhaps what was best about this production was its introduction of a plethora of newbies to the NFLT stage. These cast members of all ages formed the lively, colourful chorus of the show and included youngsters Joey Beckett, Amaya Silva, Rylee Beattie, Bobbie-Sue and Tristan Cowen, and the not as young Frank and Suzanne Gallagher, Ian Whillans and Betty-Anne Blyth, Nancy Hilder, Rudy Hollywood, Carol Raymo, and Linda Bush.

Of course a show cannot go on without the help of many unseen hands and minds behind the scenes, who no doubt had their work cut out for them in this huge production.

The show continues this weekend, on Fri. & Sat. March 8 & 9 at 7pm, finishing off with a 2pm matinee on May 10. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for children and are available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by calling Nina Jenkins at 613-279-2945. Don’t miss it!

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Students at staff and Loughborough Public School in Sydenham have been busy gearing up to celebrate their school's 100th anniversary. The celebrations will take place on Friday, May 1 from 4-8 p.m. with events taking place at Loughborough P.S., Sydenham High School and the Grace Centre.

A number of displays of students' work will be set up in the foyer at LPS and the school's Spirit Store will also be on site offering up a selection of LPS logo and crest-bearing spirit gear, including lanyards, t-shirts, scarves, school supplies, bracelets and more. The LPS school mascot, Leo the Lion, will also be making a special appearance. For those requiring a meal, the LPS school council will be putting on a barbeque at Sydenham High School and there will be a raffle with a number of prizes donated by local businesses and individuals, including a gas barbeque, travel accessories, and a number of gift certificates courtesy of Trousdale's General Store. An old-fashioned photo booth will be set up and those wanting a historic pic will be able to don period costumes.

Next door, at Sydenham High School, there will an anniversary cake cutting at 6:15 p.m., followed by speeches by School Board Trustee, Suzanne Ruttan, and School Superintendent, Krishna Burra.

Then at 7 p.m. LPS students from grades 5-8 will perform a play titled “One Hundred Years of Learning”, written and directed by Christine Harvey. The play is made up of a number of vignettes including skits, songs and dances. It hearkens back to the area's first native inhabitants and covers the history of the Sydenham community and the school.

A number of events will also be taking place at Sydenham's Grace Centre, including an art show by LPS students in the main hall. Students from the grade7/8 challenge program will be offering up tours of the community garden that they are growing there, and which will provide fresh vegetables and other produce to the local food bank and to seniors at Sydenham's retirement residence.

Loughborough Public School has a unique history. Originally built in 1915, it has undergone two major expansions since that time, the most recent in 1993 when a new library, entrance way and new classrooms were constructed, which brought an end to its outdoor portables. The school has received awards. In 2002/2003 it was named the Associate School of the Year by Queen's University. It has also birthed a number of unique programs, including its annual Girls Active Living and Sports (GALS) conference, which was recognized by none other than Oprah Winfrey.

Helen Peterson, who has been principal at the school for the last four years, and taught there for five years, is thrilled to be a part of the school 100th anniversary celebrations. “This is a unique opportunity for students, staff and the entire community to celebrate 100 years of teaching and learning at Loughborough. Many of our students have parents and grand parents who went to this school and its great for our students to see, understand and celebrate how the school has changed so dramatically and adapted so well over the last one hundred years. In 1915 education looked very different to what it has become today and that history represents something interesting for students to learn about and understand."

The 33 young singers that comprise the Elginburg Public School Choir are no strangers to guest performances and over the years they have been invited to sing at numerous community happenings. The group has performed many times at the Fairmount Home and last year they were the special guests at Miss Emily Fennell's CD Release party and concert, which took place at the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston.

Recently the choir was invited to perform at the 70th Annual Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, May 3 beginning at 11 a.m. at Navy Memorial Park in Kingston. The Battle of the Atlantic Service has been commemorated annually every year since the end of World War 2 in 1945 and choir director Jennifer Guild said the invitation came as “an incredible honour”. Guild, who teaches grade three at the school and founded the choir, said the group will be performing a number of commemorative songs, including Remembrance Day by Bryan Adams, Highway of Heroes by the Trews, I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan, One Tin Soldier and Blowing in The Wind. The choir, which sings primarily in unison with touches of added harmonies, will be joined on stage by a number of musicians, including Annette McCaffrey who teaches music at Elginburg, along with Greg Ross, Steve Stenman and Scott Martin.

The choir is made up of students from grades 3 through 8. It has been in existence for six years and continues to grow year after year. The students practice regularly at lunch and recess and in gearing up for this special performance they have also been practicing after school.

I visited the school on April 23 after the choir had just returned from a music festival at Prince Charles Public School in Napanee, where they had been invited to perform, and I had a chance to watch them in rehearsal. One could not help but be moved by their dedication and the joy that they take in performing together. I spoke with a few members of the group, who spoke of their love of singing and the opportunity it brings them to visit numerous places and people in and around the community.

Guild is a dedicated and enthusiastic leader who strongly believes that the choir gives the students a chance to express themselves in a different and special way. “I chose very inspirational songs, which give the singers a chance to sing their hearts out and the opportunity to just let everything else go. When they are singing they are really in the moment and they really seem to enjoy the music that they are making together as a group.”

The singers were wearing their brand new choir shirts and Guild said that she is trying to instill in them the understanding that the upcoming concert is “a big opportunity and also an important part of Canadian history.” Their participation in the Kingston ceremony will no doubt make it a memorable one.

When Grace United Church in Sydenham closed several years ago, it left the future of the former church building, a large stone hall, in question. It could have become a private home or apartments or a commercial space. Instead, it was leased and is now owned by Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCSC).

The agency’s original intention was to divide the space up into offices. They stripped out the interior furnishings, removed the sloped floor, and realized that what was left was much too amazing to be lost. At the urging of the board, particularly chair Joan Cameron, Don Votary was hired to oversee the restoration. He repaired the original wainscoting and floor, insulated and painted the walls. He kept local artist Ole Jonassen’s 1950’s painting (directly on the back plaster wall) of the road into Bethlehem.

Although the primary use of the hall was and is day programming for seniors and various community groups, SFCS offered some local artists the opportunity to use the hall for local arts and cultural events. This became Grace Arts, a volunteer committee which hosts art exhibitions and live performances in Grace Hall.

Grace Arts is the public face of a volunteer committee of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) which hosts art exhibitions and live performances in Grace Hall, Sydenham. The committee includes representatives from across South Frontenac Township. Their mandate is “to recommend and organize uses of Grace Hall which celebrate, promote and support the diversity of creative expression in our South/Central Frontenac community.”

The hall opened with an afternoon variety concert that included a choir, vocal soloists, a poet, a composer/pianist, a country gospel singer, a folk singer and a harmonica solo. Since then a number of local artists: painters, paper-makers, photographers have hung their work on the walls, and have come to discuss their creative processes. There have been evening performances of song, storytelling and instrumental music.

If you would like to showcase your painting or other visual art, for further information please contact:

Hanna Back, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 613-372-5240 and Rose Stewart, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 613-372-3656

For music, poetry, storytelling, drama travelogue or something not on this list, contact either of the above or Nona Mariotti, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information.

We need volunteers to help with occasional tasks, such as putting up posters, helping with event set-up or take-down, or acting as events-greeters.

Many events are free or by donation. When admission is charged, it is to pay the performers: profits are earmarked toward upgrading the hall’s facilities. Better lighting, acoustics, and perhaps a moveable stage are all on the wish list. Whenever a group donates a portion of their services to programming needs of SFCSC, that event is advertised as a fundraiser.

By Andrea Dickinson

Spring has finally sprung and in Frontenac County that means another big production is in the works. North Frontenac Little Theatre’s 2015 spring production is “The Music Man” – a large musical production with a cast of over 40 local actors, including 15 local children and youth. Once again, I’ve had the privilege of watching this production come together during the cold winter months. Set in 1912, this play includes an entertaining storyline, fun choreography and music that everyone will recognize and enjoy.

Being part of a theatre production requires commitment and for a community as small as ours, it’s remarkable to see so many volunteers come out, including the parents of youngsters – to help get this play off the ground. Some of the children participating have been in past productions and for many it’s their first time. It’s never too late to start! It’s a fantastic creative outlet for children and youth and I’ve witnessed children evolve from being terribly shy to extremely confident over the course of the rehearsal schedule. I volunteer in the capacity of guiding and supervising the children in the play and I find the theatre program to be an important and worthwhile component of our community. The children and youth participating learn all about how a production comes together, how to work within a team and how to express themselves creatively. When interviewed, the most common response I received to the question, “What’s the best part about being part of this production?”, the answer was consistently, “the friends I have made.” In my experience, that’s what really matters to kids – having friends, being creative and keeping busy. After all their hard work and commitment, a big audience and loud applause is the payoff!

Don’t miss “The Music Man” – being presented at Granite Ridge Education Centre, over the course of two weekends – Friday & Saturday, May 1 & 2 at 7 pm, Friday & Saturday, May 8 & 9 at 7 pm as well as a Mother’s Day matinee on Sunday May 10 at 2 pm. Tickets: students $10, adults $14, are available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by calling Nina Jenkins at 613-279-2945.

The new kings of old-time music.

The Grace Centre in Sydenham is presenting the olde tyme music and modern showmanship of Sheesham and Lotus and Son this Saturday.

The trio are just back from touring Denmark and the UK to rave reviews. They are described as “dynamic and entertaining, a surprise and a delight; one of the most popular old-time and roots acts in North America”. They began as a fiddle and banjo duo, but soon added a variety of instruments and touches of vaudeville and old-time music hall to their performances.

The core duo of the band, Teilhard Frost (Sheesham), and Sam Allison (Lotus), first got together as part of a band called Flapjack. During tours with Flapjack they found they had a common love of Appalachian tunes and vaudeville, and by the time the band was winding down, they were ready to form Sheesham and Lotus. They have played all across Canada, including at the Blues Skies Music Festival, Millrace Festival of Traditional Folk Music, Summerfolk, Mariposa, Northern Lights Festival Boreal, Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, Barrie Folk, Little Slocan Valley Fest, Cree Fest (Kasheshawan, On), Champlain Valley Folk Fest, (V.T.), Shelter Valley Folk Fest, and the Winnipeg Folk Fest. They have acted as host to the main stage at both Peterborough Folk festival and Shelter Valley. In January 2010 they held a two-week residence at Queens University Faculty of Education, teaching harmonica, step dance, and square dance to teacher candidates. They have played theatres and concert venues all across Canada, coast to coast.

The newcomer to the band is Son Sanderson, who fills out the banjo and fiddle sound with the sousaphone and occasionally the French Horn.

This is a show not to be missed by lovers of music in the Sydenham area and beyond.

The show will take place on Saturday April 25, 7:30 pm at the Grace Hall, Stagecoach Road, Sydenham; $12 advance, $15 at door. For information call the Grace Centre at 613-376-6477. Grace Centre is a fully accessible venue.

by Marily Seitz

The Tay Valley Community Choir presents "Here's to Singing!", a celebration of music and friendship. This year's spring concert will take place in the Maberly hall on Saturday, April 25 at 7pm. As is their custom, the choir welcomes local musicians to join them on stage. The audience will help round out the evening of joy-filled entertainment with several sing-a-long songs.

In the true spirit of a community choir, this group of choristers gathers weekly for the joy of friendship, and sing for the joy of song. Under the inspired direction of Rebecca Worden and the inspiring accompaniment of Rachelle Reinhart, the choir has prepared an eclectic set of songs sure to appeal to all types of music lovers.

During the intermission concert-goers and choir members will be invited to bid on silent auction items to raise some needed funds for choir activities. Items donated by choir members include a print of Barron Canyon, a painting of a musician, locally crafted jewelry, an hour of reflexology treatment, an hour of Shiatsu therapy, and dinner for four.

Admission is by donation at the door with refreshments and conversation to follow. Here's to time spent with friends and song!

by Cindy McCall

Maberly Hall will be filled with fiddlers and their friends on Sunday, May 3. The Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra is holding a fundraising Jam-a-thon with an open invitation to any local musician to come and play. And it’s not just for fiddlers; guitars, cello, viola, mandolin, penny whistles and the like are all welcome to join in the fun. Players obtain sponsors, collect the funds and bring them to the hall on May 3. Participants can drop in and join the jam circle anytime during the day between 1 and 6pm. Participants will have the opportunity to choose tunes (or songs) for all in the circle to play (or sing). Refreshments will be available for players throughout the day. The Jam-a-thon aim is to provide a relaxed opportunity for local musicians to have fun as they play together while raising funds for the fiddle orchestra. Supporting the orchestra will help to keep amateur music alive in the community and assist in making it affordable for anyone to learn to play the fiddle and join in the fun. To obtain a sponsor sheet contact Cindy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 613-278-2448.