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Thursday, 22 May 2014 08:45

Youth Diversion Seeking Mentors

Youth Diversion seeking mentors

By Jeff Green

Youth Diversion is a Kingston-based not-for-profit organization that works with youth, families and the community to assist youth to “develop and grow and realise their potential”, in the words of the agency’s website.

Among the first programs we ever had going was the mentoring one. It requires volunteers who are willing to commit two to three hours a week for four to six months to spend with a young person between the ages of 11 and 17, and it has proven to be an effective program for a lot of people over the years,” said Jackie Franklin, the manager of volunteers for the agency.

She said that a number of youth in North, Central, and South Frontenac are now looking for mentors, which has led to a push for improved recruitment in the county.

We provide lots of training and support for the volunteers in this program,” she said. “Volunteers also have the opportunity to participate in monthly workshops. They get hands-on experience working with at risk youth, and we also offer letters of reference for the volunteers.”

In addition to the mentoring program, Youth Diversion works in the community and in the schools to provide opportunities to help youth who experience difficulties to navigate through what can be a difficult few years in their lives.

Among its programs are a Youth Justice program and the KAIROS alcohol and addictions program, as well as SNAP, a program for youth who have been suspended from school, and the MEND program for conflict resolution within the schools, among others.

For further information about volunteering for the mentoring program or any other Youth Diversion activities, call Jackie Franklin at 613-548-4535 ext. 221, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Wednesday, 19 March 2014 20:00

Municipal Candidates Come Forward

A number of people have come forward to seek office in the Frontenac townships over the last week or so.

Valentini running for mayor of North Frontenac

In North Frontenac, Claudio Valentini, a music teacher at Granite Ridge Education Centre and the president of Tomvale Airport on Road 506, is the only candidate who has come forward thus far for any position in North Frontenac. He is seeking the position of mayor. Mr. Valentini has not served on North Frontenac Council before.

Gutowski seeking a third term

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski has decided to seek another term. She had indicated early in the year that she was leaning towards running and she made it official early this week. With Councilor Frances Smith already in the race, this ensures voters will have a choice for mayor in Central Frontenac this year.

Hinchinbrooke Councilor Heather Fox has also decided to run for re-election. She joins Brent Cameron in running for the two positions in Hinchinbrooke.

There are three candidates for the two Kennebec positions: incumbents Tom Dewey and Jeff Matson and former councilor Logan Murray.

Incumbent Wayne Millar is the only candidate so far in Oso ward.

South Frontenac

In South Frontenac, two candidates without council experience but with inside knowledge of municipal operations have come forward.

Alan Revill, the former chief building official in South Frontenac, is the first declared candidate in Bedford ward, and Mark Schjerning, the Chief of Paramedic Services in Lennox and Addington County, is the first candidate for Council in Loughborough ward.

(Clarification – in a previous article about candidates in the 2014 election, we reported that Bill Robinson is the longest serving councilor in Frontenac County. While Robinson is the longest serving active councilor and the longest serving in the post-amalgamation era, Thomas Martin Neal served six years as a councilor and 28 years as reeve of Barrie Township. He started his political career in 1953, and retired from municipal politics at the end of 1997.) 

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

At a Committee of the Whole meeting last week (March 5), members of Frontenac County Council took turns expressing concern about a report about emergency communications that they received from the fire chiefs of the four Frontenac townships in mid-February.

The report, which was funded by Frontenac County on the request of the four local townships, was initiated in reaction to an upgrade to the communications system in both the City of Kingston and the County of Leeds Grenville.

What Council found most objectionable was the price tag of $5-7 million for an upgraded system that would be compatible with the neighbouring systems.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle wanted to see the ambulance and police services involved in a cross-jurisdictional solution to the needs.

Councilor John Purdon from Central Frontenac said the matter is the responsibility of the townships, and that's where it should be discussed.

Councilor John Inglis, from North Frontenac, wondered how this need for a new system had come about. “In all the time I served on the fire department we never talked about this issue, and we have never talked about it at council, and now we are faced with this huge cost,” he said.

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton said, “It is all a matter of needs versus wants. We are only required to provide fire safety and education services as a municipality. Fire suppression is an optional service. This is another want, not a need."

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski said the study and its presentation “are an example of how things shouldn't be done. This report is real geek; it is a technical report, which I do not have the expertise to evaluate. We miss-stepped in funding the study in the first place. The advancement of this should have gone through a different chain of command. Our staff could have brought forward the study, and presented options for how to deal with it. I suggest we refer this to our staff and the fire chiefs can work with their CAOs to see how we can cost share on this.”

South Frontenac Fire Chief Rick Cheseborough attended the meeting. He was given leave to speak after all the councilors had had a chance to comment.

“I would like to start by saying that under no circumstances is it the Township of South Frontenac or myself that is doing this. This is the largest joint project of the public works departments from all the townships. I am just the lucky one who got to speak for the group. We did not bring this to the county expecting a decision from County Council. It is just that since the county funded the study we thought we should report back to the county first ... we did not go into this expecting to see these kinds of costs, but the facts are what they are ... we are going to go to our individual councils with this and we will see what happens.”

Cheseborough pointed out as well that once Leeds and Grenville and Kingston bring their new system on line, firefighters from Frontenac County will no longer be able to communicate with firefighters from those jurisdictions. He also said that he does not know how Lennox and Addington and Lanark County are dealing with this matter.

While the reception at Frontenac County was rough, a presentation to South Frontenac Council a week later (March 11) found a more receptive audience.

Rick Cheseborough pointed out that the existing system is no longer being supported by manufacturers because it is basically an analogue system that is being replaced by a digital one

“In January the power to our main tower [located near Hartington] went down. Not only did we not have a battery backup, but it took two days to find some parts and three and a half weeks to find another part,” he said. “The current system will simply not be viable in the future.”

He added that the costing estimate that caused such consternation at the county is not based on any studies.

“The County insisted on seeing some pricing so we got that figure by using the $6 million that Leeds and Grenville spent and the $10 million that Kingston is spending. What we need to do is look at our own circumstances and do the technical studies to find some real pricing. Then we can figure out what we want to do and how we can pay for it.”

Mayor Davison, who missed the County meeting last week because he was on vacation, said to Cheseborough, “I’d like to publicly state that you did a good job with this report.”

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

Smith taking a run for mayor in Central Frontenac

Perhaps it’s the weather or the fact that no one pays a lot of attention to these things until at least the summer, but there hasn’t exactly been a run on nomination papers for member or head of council positions in the coming municipal election.

In North Frontenac there are still no candidates registered for any of the seven spots (six councilors and a mayor)

In Addington Highlands, newcomer Gerry Bray is contesting incumbent Henry Hogg for reeve, and the only council candidate is Ward 2 incumbent Bill Cox.

In Central Frontenac there has been a major change in the candidate list. In addition to Brent Cameron running in Hinchinbrooke Ward, Wayne Millar in Oso, and incumbents Jeff Matson and Tom Dewey contesting with former councilor Logan Murray in Kennebec, Frances Smith has decided to run for mayor this time around.

Smith served as reeve back in Oso township days, and is a former Frontenac County warden. She was township clerk before she ran for council. She was appointed to Central Frontenac Council in 2002 and has been elected three times, in 2003, 2006 and 2010. Smith has considered running for mayor in the past, but was deterred by her work responsibilities.

In South Frontenac there are three candidates for the soon to be vacated mayor’s position, Councillor Ron Vandewal, Councilor Allan McPhail, and John McEwen, but the only candidate for council thus far is long-time incumbent Bill Robinson, who with 14 years experience is the longest serving member of council in Frontenac County.

Wednesday, 08 January 2014 19:00

Time to give credit where it is due

It has been a complex and sometimes controversial process getting a new school built for Central and North Frontenac residents, and along the way there have probably been a number of miss steps, some of which have been identified by this newspaper.

In the end, however, a $15 million building project has been completed in Sharbot Lake by the Limestone District School Board (LDSB), and the northern part of Frontenac County has received its biggest boost in at least 20 years.

By investing in this community, the trustees and staff at the board office of the LDSB have more than lived up to their commitment towards the rural community they serve, and they should be given credit for that.

The one person who has probably received the most grief from the public over the project is the local trustee, Ann Goodfellow

As part of the process that led to the building of the new school, Ann Goodfellow ended up working through the closing of Hinchinbrook Public School, which was where her own children attended elementary school and where her school board career started as a member of the parent council. She has taken her share of heat for that, and for the location and name of the new school. All of her work, including the backroom arguing and cajoling it took for her to convince her school board colleagues that this least populated part of the LDSB’s jurisdiction deserved its full attention, was integral to bringing the new school to fruition.

Ann Goodfellow stayed on as trustee to make sure it happened, and she certainly was a pretty happy camper on the opening day of the school, deservedly so.

The students who make use of the improved facility will benefit from her efforts and those of her colleagues at the board and the teachers, staff and administration of the schools that have joined together at Granite Ridge.

The PARC process and aspects of the building project, and what ended up being a shambles of a naming process, all had their flaws, as we have sometimes gleefully pointed out.

As late as this past weekend, I admit I half expected the opening to be delayed, leaving students with nowhere to go to school this week.

All that aside, the LDSB came through and completed the building to the point where it is a functional school within 15 months of breaking ground, which is quite a feat.

It is now up to us in the surrounding community to figure how to use the new school as a catalyst for community revitalization.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 18 December 2013 19:00

Unfinished Business

Editorial by Jeff Green

Normally I thank our staff, readers, and advertisers on this, our last issue of 2013, and I would like to do so this year as well.

As I look back on the stories we covered this past year, a few stories, it seems to me, have been left hanging. The saga of Frontenac County Council is one of them.

On one hand, the politicians recognise that the townships need to work together, but on the other there is resistance to giving the county any role in bringing that about. We have an article on an organizational review that was just presented to county council, which explicitly points to this dilemma.

One item that was not part of the report's recommendations but was in the narrative, refers to something I have thought about in the past but have never seen anyone take up. It says the County should consider selling or renting out its current office space adjacent to Fairmount Home in rural Kingston and coming home to the county by building a new office. If the county used some of its reserves to build an office, perhaps in Verona, it might change everything.

Other stories this year were more serious than the sometimes comical shenaningans at Frontenac County.

It has been five months since a troubled man was killed by police on the Arden Road in late July, and the Special Investigations Unit has yet to file a report. Other cases that took place at around the same time have been cleared up by the SIU and we await the report in this case.

Finally, in October, 500 members of the Shabot Obaadjiwan received form letters informing them that they are no longer electors for the Algonquin Land Claim, and while they may have Aboriginal heritage, there is not credible evidence they are descended from Algonquins.

These people are descendants of Francis and Mary Sharbot, the founders of Sharbot Lake. Until the land claim came along, the Sharbots had been considered as Mohawks, but they were recruited by the Algonquin Land Claim and their Algonquin status was verified by the same genealogist who now says they are not Algonquin.

There will be more to this story coming up as the Shabot Obaadjiwan seek to bring two-thirds of their members back into the land claim fold. I can’t help but think that this entire episode is reminiscent of how Canadian governments stole the identities of Aboriginal peoples in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Restoring identity and dignity is one of the major goals of the land claims process, but in the case of families like the the Badours. Hollywoods, and Cotas, the opposite is taking place. The only scant comfort in this lies in the fact that these families are resilient, and they will certainly persevere.

Happy Christmas.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Thursday, 26 May 2011 13:15

“Hansel and Gretel” at Land o`Lakes

Photo: Cash Matson plays Hansel opposite Jessica Deroches' Gingerbread Witch

For four days in early May, Grade 7 student Cassidy Savic, and Grade 4 student Cash Matson, cast off their normal earthly persona and skillfully transformed themselves into lovable heroes of legend as Land O’ Lakes Public School presented “The Story of Hansel and Gretel”.

Backed by a well-rehearsed choir of 28 “Gingerbread Cookies” conducted by Mrs. Joanne McCullough, and a cast of 32 performers directed by Mr. Brian Robertson and Ms. Jenn Meulenaar, Cash and Cassidy showcased the results of hard work, commitment and sheer talent as they carried the play through song, dance and acting, portraying the lead characters, Hansel and Gretel.

Cast and crew worked together to overcome minor and major obstacles as the performances unfolded, producing awesome results. Cast and crew included Jessica Desroches and Sadie Clarke as the Witches; Devon Scott, Cassy Lowery and Jade Walker as the Children; Jonathon Wisteard and Matt Sproule as the Trolls; Claudia Thompson and Erica Thompson as the Owl and Echo; Jessica Wisteard as the Gypsy; Bailey Paddick as the Sandman; Jesse Mae Ferguson and Megan Power as Caspar and Katrina; the amazing sound and light crew, Ophelia Cooper, Adam Power, Tristen Veley; and the awesome set crew who doubled as emcees, Summer Kennedy, Noah Wilson and Emalee Riddell, with Brianna Drew on props.

Several production numbers clearly stand out: “Public Holiday” featured singing solos by Cassy Lowery, Jade Walker, Cassidy Savic and Cash Matson. As the flats of Hansel and Gretel’s poor mountain cabin transformed into a colourful panache of circus-oriented scenes (designed and painted by Mr. Lee Hull and his grade 7/8 class), the choir exploded onto the stage depicting, through song and action, various circus acts including those of strongmen, puppeteers, clowns, cowgirls, candy vendors, dancers, and acrobats.

In “Hocus Pocus” and “Gingerbread Witch”, Jessica Desroches and Sadie Clarke (who shared the role of the Gingerbread Witch), performed spell-binding, dramatic versions of these songs, mixing up a cauldron of fun with comic sidekicks, goblins Claire Willis and Swayde Scott (voice by Jack Willis). In “Hocus Pocus”, the zombie-induced Gingerbread cookies are transformed into live dancing delights (all 28 gingerbread costumes and the two Shrek costumes were designed and sewn by Mrs. Peggy Muldoon of Sharbot Lake).

“Tap, Tap, Tap” featured the lead actors, Cash and Cassidy, singing this catchy children’s song and skillfully leading choir members (portraying local children) in an entertaining dance.

Ms. Fournier’s Grade 4/5 students did a fine job performing a “Witch’s woodland dance” based on Rossini-Respghi’s “The Tarantella”.

From the pitch-perfect notes of the opening song sung by Dew Princess Kirstin Colliss to the celebratory closing song with Father and Mother (Jacob Brash and Quinn Scott) leading the entire cast, “The Story of Hansel and Gretel” achieved an entertaining sharing of magic, wonder and delight that only children’s theatre can produce.

Director Brian Robertson was noticeably moved when the cast presented him with beautiful thank you cards and dedicated a song to him at the end of the final performance. He thanks everyone – actors, crew, choir and Land O’ Lakes Public School parents and staff – for their support and role in making live children’s theatre such a success in Mountain Grove.

 

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

After receiving the go-ahead from Central Frontenac Council, a 10-vendor farmers’ market is scheduled to run on Saturday mornings in the parking lot next to the Lions’ picnic shelter at the Sharbot Lake Beach. The market will run on Saturday mornings until Thanksgiving weekend, with the exception of July 16, when the beach area is booked for a large Algonquin gathering.

In approving the use of the space for a market, the township had a number of concerns, ranging from crowding at the site, parking, etc. One unresolved issue is the cost to the township of covering their liability and the township is still waiting for information on that score from their insurance company.

Mayor Janet Gutowski expressed support for the proposal. “I think we should go forward and embrace the opportunity to encourage local vendors,” she said, “Let's re-address this in the fall.”

The approval is for 2011 as a trial period. Vendors will have to sign a waiver form to take full responsibility for the products they sell.

Pat Furlong, who runs a mixed farm with her husband Laurie Brownlee in Elphin, is the president of the fledgling market. She said that a set of rules is being developed for vendors, and the main focus of the market will be locally grown and/or processed food.

The market is an offshoot of the Hand On Harvest Initiative, which has produced a brochure for the past four years listing local producers. This year’s brochure will be available in a couple of weeks.

Details about what will be available at the Sharbot Lake market, which joins successful markets in Verona and McDonalds Corners, will be available in the coming weeks.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Thursday, 17 November 2011 07:06

NFLT makes little theatre big

Photo: Principal Jim Horan (retired), Chantal Lafrance, Virginia Mayhew, Principal Val Arsenault, Janice Miles and Jim Boyce.

The North Frontenac Little Theatre's production of Maple Lodge was both well played and well received during its run at Sharbot Lake High School from Nov. 10 – 13 and it offered up the charms that only small town community theatre can.

The tiny cast of five definitely had their work cut out for them as they tackled Colleen Curran's award-winning and very dense script and they believably conveyed the complicated yet humorous relationships between three adult siblings who suddenly discover they have an older sister they’ve never known about. She was born when their mother was 16 and was given up for adoption.

The humorous play has its serious side and addressed some long time hushed up family secrets and the lies they gave birth to. In the end, it is the unknown intruder, another family secret herself, who when forced into the equation ends up bringing balance and truth, managing to make all things right. The first half of the play established each of the three siblings' long-defined roles within the family: Dennis, the musical, gay brother, still closeted to his mother, clownish, big-hearted and played impeccably by Marc Veno; his domineering, high strung older sister Tara who has her claws out from the moment she arrives on the scene, played with sting by Karen Steele; and the kind-hearted, more sensitive and easy going but lonely Heather, played soulfully by Sandy Robertson.

When the aloof and mysterious stranger, Noel, played with effect by Kelli Bell arrives later on the scene, the hijinks of this play are truly set in motion. A few lines were missed on Friday night's performance in the play's first half, causing a few awkward moments onstage plus one short spell of nervous giggles, but the cast managed to pull together and successfully placed the audience on the edge of their seats just before the intermission, when Noel finally laid bare the truth and burst out before the intermission curtain came down, “I AM YOUR SISTER!”

The second half of the play was when each player, including the soft spoken and believably caring Gilbert, played by John Stephen, truly had a chance to shine in what were the play's more intimate, one on one scenes. One felt the blooming of true love between Heather and Gilbert when they sat and spoke together, starry-eyed; one witnessed the eventual untangling of the relationship between Tara and Dennis when push came to shove during a touchy yet humorous game of Scrabble. And Noel let her true colors shine in the play's most successful slapstick scene when a bat made a surprise appearance, which added a hilarious and memorable touch courtesy of the set crew.

The music played from an onstage Victrola, a combination of older jazz and show tunes added a perfect touch to this homey play, which coupled with a simple yet effective front porch set of the long-time, well-worn family cottage allowed all of the action to unfold smoothly while adding a few creative special effects.

Hats off to the cast and all the behind the scenes wizards who once again managed to make little theatre big in Sharbot Lake.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Thursday, 01 December 2011 07:06

New lawyer in Sharbot Lake

Photo: Eccelstone and Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch

Dawn Quelch, an associate of Eccelstone and Eccelstone LLP law firm of Kingston, had a full day seeing clients in Sharbot Lake on Nov.25, proving that there is indeed a need for increased law services in rural areas.

The Kingston firm was approached by Anne-Marie Langan, of Langan Family Law in Sharbot Lake, after Langan identified a need for additional law services for her clients and other potentials clients, especially, but not exclusively, in the area of criminal representation.

Langan, who had studied law with the firm’s junior partner Chris Eccelstone, met him by chance at the Family Court in Kingston and the two began discussing some of the issues surrounding access to justice issues, and the affordability of counsel. She expressed a need for additional services in this area and is now helping to fill that need by offering her offices to the firm as a location to serve clients in the area.

Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch is offering clients a free half-hour consultation every Friday in areas of criminal law, real estate, wills, powers of attorney and other areas. This past Friday she discussed various issues including criminal law, estates, solicitor drafting work and more with a number of potential clients.

Quelch grew up in Atikokan, a small town in western Ontario, near Thunder Bay. She received an undergraduate degree at York University and worked in publishing at General and Stoddart in Toronto before studying Law at Queen’s University, where she graduated in 2006.

While at Queen’s she was a member of the Clinical Correctional Law Program and represented incarcerated inmates at various prisons, helping them with both street charges and disciplinary court. She articled with the Crown Attorney in Kenora, Ontario and worked at a number of fly-in reserves in the area, dealing primarily with Aboriginal issues.

Married and with a young daughter, she now resides in Kingston and is thrilled to be back in eastern Ontario, where she finds it’s “a nice balance between urban and rural living.” Her goal is to provide counsel to those in need and she is encouraged by the number of clients she saw on her first day.

“I want clients to get a feel for me and to make sure that I am somebody that they have faith and confidence in. It’s also a chance for me to find out the reasons they are coming to see me and to give them a preliminary outline of what they might be facing and what happens next. It’s a chance to talk about the business of hiring a lawyer, whether they will be seeking legal aid or establishing a private retainer. We really try to work with the clients as much as we can to make sure that when they are in need of representation, they are able to get it. There aren’t enough lawyers accessible to the public in rural Ontario - the Law Society has identified this as a problem.”

Quelch’s advice for those who have been charged with a criminal offence and who think they might be eligible for legal aid, is to make an appointment, but also to get their application in for legal aid as soon as possible. They can do without having decided who is to be their legal representative.

Other advice for those coming for a consultation is to: Bring photo ID to confirm identity, which is a requirement of the Law Society. 2) Bring any court papers or other documentation pertaining to the matter, and 3) bring the date of their first court appearance

For wills, she advises clients to pick up a wills information package at the Sharbot lake office and to fill it out prior to the consultation. Quelch says this can save a lot of time.

To make an appointment call the Kingston branch of Eccelstone and Eccelstone at 613-384-0735 and be sure to specify whether you would like your consultation to take place at the Kingston or Sharbot Lake branch at 1012B Elizabeth Street.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
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