Culinary skills for healthy living was the topic of the day as clients, staff, friends and family gathered at the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church last week.

Recently, New Leaf Link (NeLL) received a $7,000 grant for a one-year pilot project to help its community build culinary skills and nutritional awareness using locally produced foods from the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area and the Regina Rosen Food First Fund.

NeLL is a not-for-profit charitable organization based in South Frontenac Township that supports continuing education and meaningful occupation of youth and adults with developmental disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome, acquired brain injury and other neurological conditions.

Karen Steiner, founding executive director of NeLL said the project is rooted in NeLL’s overall philosophy of ‘eat wisely, move naturally and be socially connected.’

“This program will combine practical skills, such as following a recipe, with broader learning around a theme of introducing plant-based colour into one’s diet throughout the seasons,” Steiner said. “All of our cooking over the year will use this theme to generate recipes and as the basis for decision-making around meals such as grocery shopping or eating in a restaurant.”

The program one of two current NeLL initiatives, the other being an arts program, and is offered in partnership with Community Living Kingston and Extend-a-Family Kingston.

“We are delighted to have the support of these groups in our initiative,” Steiner said. “Community Living residents will take part in our programming and Extend-a-Family has offered access to it community garden for produce used in the cooking classes.”

Steiner is also hoping these partnerships will lead to other joint ventures and programs.

“We’d like to see the building of other partnerships that we can grow in together,” she said. “It’s a chance for NeLL participants to socialize, and grow social networks with common interests.

“For example, if we have outings — like birdwatching or trips to farmers markets — some of the other groups might join in.”

It’s taken about a year and a half, 40 pages of applications and a lot of research and learning, but this fall, the Granite Ridge Education Centre will be offering a unique class to its Grade 11 students — an introduction to GIS, which includes certification in the operation and use of drones.

“We believe we’re the first school in Ontario with this kind of program,” said Wade Leonard, who’s been the driving force behind it and will be the teacher. “There may be another somewhere but we’re the only ones signed up for the software.”

The ‘drone’ in this case is a Phantom 4, which is about the size of a large snare drum, complete with a state-of-the-art camera and software. It has four propellers and it’s no toy — especially not to the federal government.

“The permitting process has taken about 11 months to get this thing off the ground,” Leonard said. “We’re in the final stage now and we’ll be able to fly Class G, which is anywhere outside of restricted airspace (primarily around airports).”

Leonard got the idea after watching some Queen’s personnel flying one around his farm in Hartington. Little did he know what was involved.

“It has taken some time, but we’re taking the Mike Holmes approach,” he said. “Do it right.”

They got a Limestone Learning Foundation grant to get a subscription to software that will aid in GIS mapping, 3D modelling and several other applications including overlays and panoramas.

“We’ll be able to do some very highly detailed maps,” he said. “But there are many applications.

“Real estate, land surveying, construction — you can even count trees, which will be useful to many groups for species identification.”

They’ve already approached a variety of groups and local governments for possible partnerships and literally, the sky’s the limit.

But for Leonard, it seems the biggest attraction is the opportunity to give his students a useful and unique learning opportunity.

“I think it will be highly enjoyable and interesting for students,” he said. “And they’ll be certified going out the door.”

Elinor Rush, in her role as fibre artist in Loughborough Public School, shows grade one and two students a completed version of the Sensory Blankets she is currently helping them make. Also known as “Fidget Quilts”, these colourful, textural items have been found to calm and occupy people who have Alzheimers or other forms of dementia. The small quilts incorporate a lot of things to distract and occupy an anxious, often confused and restless person: they include a variety of surface textures, soft fringes, bright colours, big buttons in buttonholes, large beads on a ribbon, and even a zipper.

It’s an ambitious sewing project for children so young, but Rush has ensured success by doing much of the prep work beforehand, so each child can finish a square by practising a recently-learned skill such as sewing on a button or a small heart, cutting a fringe, or threading beads. In the week before, Rush gave the children small needle ‘books’ with their own needles, and taught needle-threading, knotting and simple stitching. Each child stitched their initial, cut from bright felt, onto the book cover, and sewed a button onto one of the fabric pages.

Rush will assemble the children's completed squares into small six-square quilts, a size that will fit comfortably across a person’s lap. In another week, the children will go by bus to Fairmount Home, where they will meet the people to whom they are giving the quilts. The children have been delighted to know that they can help someone else with their sewing.

Throughout the project, the theme has been “resilience”; helping seniors cope with the changes they are facing, and learning, themselves, to master new sewing skills that will improve with practice, and may prove useful in their own lives.

A construction worker training course co-sponsored by the St. Lawrence College Employment Centre in Sharbot Lake and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, is wrapping up this week, and Chief Doreen Davis is pleased with the results.

The 8 week course was designed for self identified indigenous youth (under 29) interested in learning carpentry skills and work-site safety. Local contractor Kevin Rioux supervised the trainees, who received boots, hats, tools and belts at the start of the course, took some training courses, and then began to do some renovations to the Shabot Obaadjiwan offices on Hwy 7 just east of Arden.

“Not only did they completely re-do our boardroom and add a small office and shelving, they also did some work on the exterior building and built a brand new storage shed,” said Davis, “We paid for the materials but they provided all the labour. It was more than we originally talked about getting done and it helped the participants learn skills. Many of them have jobs lined up after the course ends.”

Kevin Rioux said that the shed they built was finished as a house would be finished, not only to make a good product, but to provide for more of a learning opportunity.

“They really progressed during the course,” said Rioux, “and I have enjoyed teaching it as well.”

Chief Davis said that the Shabot Obaadjiwan is planning to apply once again to host a program in the future, either at their offices or their nation site on White Lake, where they have built a large meeting hall and have plans for improvements and ancillary structures.

“These projects help us, they provide skills for our youth in a field where there are jobs, and they are good for the local economy because we buy all our materials at the Home Hardware in Sharbot Lake,” she said.

Cam and Michelle Mather came to the new Parham Fire Hall, which includes the Parham branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, on Saturday April 1st.

Cam gave an informative and entertaining hour long workshop on organic gardening and then continued with informative answers to all the questions from the filled up meeting room.  

Michelle sold their books and CDs at a bargain rate and they graciously did the workshop for free. Unbeknownst to them, we did collect some donations to give them, but Cam has done workshops for $70 per person at the botanical gardens, so we are very grateful to them for this workshop for our community. Afterwards, people were invited to the library to look at the collection of gardening books brought in to the library to borrow; as well as a collection of donated books that are available to keep for free. Keep a watch out for future workshops and plan to use your local libraries on an ongoing basis.

Like the knowledge provided by presenters such as Nancy Benn on diabetes and Cam Mather on gardening, libraries are a valuable local resource well worth keeping in our area.

If this astronaut thing doesn’t work out for candidate Andrew Smith doesn’t work out, he could probably make a living teaching public school judging by how he had students at Harrowsmith Public School enthralled during his visit last week.

Smith, who attended Harrowsmith in his younger days, is currently one of 72 candidates left for two open spots in the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut selection process. He spent last Thursday talking to students and visiting classrooms to field questions from eager space fans.

Of course, students weren’t all that interested in the fact that Smith was born and raised in Harrowsmith and his parents Don (a former South Frontenac Council member) and Margaret still live in the family home. Nor were they interested in the fact that Smith was a running back for both the Sydenham High School’s Golden Eagles or Queen’s Golden Gaels.

Heck, they didn’t care that he has two Queen’s engineering degrees and is currently completing a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University or that he works for Gumstix Research Canada.

They wanted to know about space . . . and Smith was happy to oblige.

“At heart, I’m an engineer,” he said when asked why he wanted to go into space. “I really like taking things apart and putting them back together again.

“In space, all the problems associated with building stuff are bigger, so that’s why I want to go to space, to solve those problems and build stuff.”

If all goes well and Smith is one of the two successful candidates, he would head to Houston at the end of August to begin training full-time. Since June of last year, he’s been involved in the selection process.

“What will you be doing as an astronaut?” one student asked.

“I don’t really know much about being an astronaut yet,” Smith replied. “But astronauts are either doing experiments are fixing things most of the time.”

Of course there were questions about the moon being made of cheese (“I don’t think so”) and the possibility of alien life (“to me, it seems a little odd that we are the only ones”) and “how do you get back to Earth?

After thinking a moment about how to answer in a way seven-year-olds could fathom, Smith replied: “You slow down and the Earth sucks you back in.”

His overall message to the students was about the importance of working hard — both at school and also at whatever other interests you have.

“Math and science are perhaps the most important subjects if you want to be an astronaut, but it’s important to be well-rounded,” he said.

So were those his favourite subjects in school?

“Actually, I liked auto shop the best,” he said.

There’s a curious trend that’s been developing over the last little while and Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young is all for it.

What we’re talking about here is younger firefighters going away to school but returning home on a regular basis to continue their training and land a hand whenever and wherever they can.

“We have this younger generation of firefighters who want to be on the department while they get their education,” said Young. “It works.”

Currently the Central Frontenac force has four members who continue their training and time on the force while getting their post secondary education — Andrew Hole, Simon Gowdy, Suzanne Allison and Dave Basra.

“Clayton Conboy and and Jason Conboy did that too, so yeah, we have a few,” said Young. “The young ones are stepping up to the plate.”

Young said he can “see it becoming a regular thing” because it gives him more personnel and it’s building for the future.

“We have our junior program which begins at age 16 and when they become 18, they’re regular firefighters,” he said. “But, that’s also about the time they’re ready to head off to further education.

“So, we work around that because we don’t want to turn anybody away and after all, fire fighting is a young person’s game.”

For Basra, who’s in his second year of electronics engineering technology at Algonquin College in Ottawa as well as pulling regular shifts at the family PetroCan business in Sharbot Lake, admits it can be “challenging” at times but after going through the junior program, he was hooked on fire fighting and can’t imagine not doing it.

“My (firefighting) training is going well,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed learning how pumps and nozzles and things work and now we’re doing ice water training.

“I don’t want to miss that.”

He said it’s a matter of “balance” and because school will lead him to a full-time job, there are times when it has to take priority.

“It’s OK,” he said. “If we get a call and they need lots of guys, I’ll go.

“I did have to miss one training session because of exams, but I don’t like to miss too many.”

But that’s OK with the Chief.

“They’ve been very dedicated,” Young said. “They make the effort to get here for training nights.

“I don’t say anything if they miss a night because they can’t stop their education.”

Last Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. and so it was appropriate that Parham’s Madeleine Tarasick would begin her talk to the Canadian Federation of University Women at the Perth Legion with a quote from King.

“Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter,” she said.

In 2013, Tarasick and fellow member of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Margaret Stewart travelled to the middle eastern country to help out with a project — essentially teaching Afghani women and girls to read.

“We don’t build schools, but we hire the teachers,” she said. “Our teachers get paid $1,500 per year and teach 150 students per day.

“They’ll teach anywhere they can even if it’s a tent in the dust.”

The CW4WA was formed in 1996 with the mandate to “advance education and educational opportunities for Afghan women and their families and to educated Canadians about human rights in Afghanistan” she said. They are a not-for-profit organization with two main field program areas — the Community Libraries & Literacy and the Investments in Public Education program.

The local chapter supports projects in Takhar Province, in the north east of Afghanistan and last year, the Perth CFUW provided training for six teachers.

Tarasick cited statistics from a recent survey that suggest attitudes towards women being educated in Afghanistan are changing. For example, 65 per cent of survey respondents disagreed with the practice of Baad (giving away a daughter to settle a dispute) and 80 per cent agreed that women should have the same opportunity for education as men.

Still though, not everyone agrees and there are dangers.

Tarasick said that when she and Stewart were there, they had to “be careful” even to the point of wearing the burka when going to the marketplace.

“There was one threat we received because men and women were in the same classroom,” she said. “We left right away.”

But, they are making progress, she said and things like cell phones and computers are having an impact.

“The area we’d most like to improve in is computers but they cost money,” she said.
To that end, CW4WA’s big fundraising Gala is April 28 at the Vimy Officer’s Mess in Kingston with guest speaker journalist Sally Armstrong.

For more information on the gala or local efforts, contact Tarasick at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-375-8290. For more information on CW4WA in general, visit their website cw4wafghan.ca.

On October 27, a packed bus left NAEC early in the morning for a trip to Toronto. Students started their program with a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. There, they saw the work of Dale Chihuly, a famous artist who works in blown glass. Students saw boats filled with huge glass globes, a landscape of glass including creatures from above and below the sea, various vessels, and some installations called “Persians”, inspired by the patterns in Persian Rugs.

As well as seeing the Chihuly exhibit, students visited other areas of the ROM, including the dinosaur exhibit, the Chinese exhibit, the bat cave, and the rock exhibit.

The group split into two for the next part of the day. Photos are not available for this part of the day, because one group was in the pitch dark, while the other was in an art gallery (a traditional “no-photo” zone).

Ms. Dunphy and Ms. Shepherd accompanied students to “Onoir”. This is a restaurant where the food is consumed in total darkness. The premise behind this is that all the diners’ senses are concentrated on their food, rather than being distracted by their surroundings. Students and staff reported having a delicious meal, and said it was a lot of fun to eat in the dark. Many said they would like to go again.

Ms. Allan and Ms. Harnden took their group to the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the “Mystical Landscapes” exhibit. This featured an international array of different landscape artists, such as Van Gogh, Gaugiun, Monet and Georgia O’Keefe. There was also a good representation of Canadian artists, including Emily Carr, Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven. The focus of the exhibit was the concentration of artists on the soothing effects of the natural world in times of upheaval. Students were pleased when they recognized the works of artists they knew, but also enjoyed seeing the works of artists th  

Things somehow got a little out of hand at Loughborough Public School last Thursday, October 27, and it was all because some of the teachers at the school thought the students might respond to a little incentive during the annual Terry Fox fund raising campaign for cancer research.

The teachers said that if the students raised $800 they would all put on a crazy hair day, which they did. But then one of the teachers, Chris Chinook, said he would shave his head if $1,000 were reached. When the total went up to $1,200, more had to be done, so Alan Macdonald decided to join in.

When the big day arrived, the students arrived, sat quietly (or as quietly as can be reasonably expected under the circumstances) and waited as the teachers sat still and Robyn Lindsay from E-Clips quickly and methodically buzzed off their hair in a matter of a few short minutes. It was pandemonium while the hair buzzing was going on, with the students chanting out the last name of each victim, the noise increasing with the removal of each swath of hair.

Then, showing true leadership, school principal, Scott Morency, took the stage. He whispered into Robyn Lindsay's ear and took his seat. He did not lose all his hair, leaving about 1/8th of an inch, bald enough to bring more cheers and squeals from the crowd.

Then, as quickly as it had all started, it was over. The students lined up and exited the gym for lunch in an orderly fashion, then headed back to class after their lunch break and the school returned to normal.

You wouldn't know that anything had happened at LPS, except for the three bald men teaching there.