New: Facebook has blocked all Canadian news. Join our mailing list to stay in the loop.

New: Facebook has blocked all Canadian news. Join our mailing list to stay in the loop.

Wednesday, 21 September 2016 16:35

Central Frontenac upgrades water shuttle rating

The Ontario Fire Marshall's office conducted a test of the capacity of the Central Frontenac Fire Department to deliver water to a potential fire last Saturday.

The standard that the fire fighters had to meet was to have their equipment up and running within five minutes to pump 200 gallons of water per minute, and to keep up that level for two hours in order to maintain the Superior Water Shuttle Rating for the department.

Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young thought, based on tests in previous years, that they only had two minutes to start pumping, “so I was pretty confident when the inspector said we had five minutes.”

The test took place at a portable concrete facility on Hwy. 7 near Arden.

The first pumper was set up and pumping a stream of water towards the bush within seconds, and then three other trucks rolled in. Crews from each truck quickly, but carefully, set up portable pools to hold water and began filling them. One by one the crews jumped out and pulled the pools off the side of their trucks, set them up, and began filling them.

Within minutes three pools were set up and the trucks were all headed down the road to Arden. Some of the trucks went south at Arden to the Mill Pond, and others north to the bridge at Kennebec Lake.

“Now it's just a matter of driving back and forth and keeping the flow going,” said a relieved Bill Young at the time

Soon after, however, the Fire Marshall Official called Bill Young over and said that since it seemed like the operation was running so smoothly, Young might want to try and up the flow from 200 to 430 gallons per minute to give the township a higher rating, a commercial rating.

“He said that if we didn't get the commercial rating we could settle for the superior rating we already had, so there was no reason not to go for it,” said Young when interviewed two days later.

Crews upped the flow and stepped the pace of the water shuttle was in order keep the pools from draining down. An hour and a half later, the Fire Marshall Official said there was no need to continue. He had seen enough and the commercial rating had been attained.

Superior water shuttle ratings are something that the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office established as a way to demonstrate the capacity of fire departments, and they have the added benefit of lowering the insurance rates that residents pay. The commercial rating will add that of benefit to businesses throughout the township.

Chief Young said that it will take some time for the certificate confirming the rating to arrive at the township, but once it does it will be posted on the township's website. Local businesses will be able to download the certificate and present it to their insurer. They should see some savings as a result.

The township will announce when the rating has been confirmed so businesses eager for savings should wait at least a week before looking online or calling the township for details.

“The test went really well for us,” said Young. “All of our crews were involved and were able to work together, keep the equipment working well, and co-ordinate everything we were doing. It was a good day and we got a better result than we had even hoped for.”

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 21 September 2016 16:20

Service Dog Training and Fire Trucks

K4Paws provides trained service dogs for Frontenac and eastern Ontario. The region covered stretches from Trenton to Ottawa and east to the Quebec border. K4Paws was established in 2013 to meet the growing need for a local service dog training organization specifically for non-visible medically diagnosed disabilities.

I talked with Samantha Knapp, service dog trainer and director for the non-profit organisation, K4Paws, in Kingston. www.k4paws.ca. Samantha has 14 years of dog training experience, and two daughters with trained service dogs. She was instrumental in the establishment of K4Paws, which provides trained service dogs for: Autism, Mental health, PTSD, Mobility issues and Seizures. K4Paws follows the guidelines from Assistance Dogs International (ADI), for education and training of staff, dogs and handlers together.

K4Paws currently owns 33 dogs either in training or with an approved placement partner, and the number dogs is growing slowly. There is no fast track on training. Each trained dog is valued at $20,000 to $25,000. The dogs are placed with volunteer foster homes for the first 18 to 24 months for basic obedience training and specific medical response training. After this training the dogs are teamed up with an identified partner to form a service dog team. Service team training takes place to ensure that the partner knows the do’s and don’ts of service dog handling.

Application to have a dog placed with you requires medical and social references together with interviews and background checks, and not every applicant gets a dog placed with them. Samantha stated, “This can be a very difficult decision for us.”

The K4Paws always owns the dogs they train and their monitor their wellbeing and ongoing need as service dogs. The placement partner is expected to actively be part of a fund-raising program and to cover all vet and feeding bills.

The Kingston City council have come alongside K4Paws with local recognition and the use of public facilities for service dog training. “Fire Stations, Police stations, hospitals and schools have all been very cooperative.” says Samantha.

I was invited to attend a K4Paws dog training class for dogs aged 3 months to 20 months at a fire station. The objective was to expose the dog to distracting sights and sounds to train them to remain under control and show no adverse reactions.

Twelve service dog foster families and their dogs arrived at the fire station, where the duty fire crew consisting of Jeff Oljejnik, Bob Chan, Ryan Vivian and Brad Dowdwell, obligingly put the fire tender through a series of slamming of metal doors, bells, whistles and of course the air horn while running the big diesel.

The dogs, for their part, had to walk around and follow all the normal commands without showing any signs of distraction with the sudden noises.

Then, with the dogs and their adult foster handlers in a half circle in front of the open fire hall door, Ryan Vivian came out in his fire retardant suit and respirator looking like an alien apparition. He had dog treats, but only for the dogs that did not back away from this scary phantom. Most dogs responded well.

Published in General Interest
Wednesday, 20 July 2016 18:56

CP Rail Grass Fires

On July 13, 2016, heavy smoke could be seen rolling along the CP Rail tracks from Glen Tay in Tay Valley Township to Churchill Road in Drummond/North Elmsley Township as firefighters battled a series of out of control bush fires along Highways 7 and 43 yesterday.

The call came in to the fire dispatch centre in Smiths Falls with numerous 9-1-1 calls just past 2:30 p.m. BBD&E Station of the Drummond/North Elmsley Tay Valley Fire Rescue initially responded but as the fires spread, mutual aid had to be called in from Perth, South Sherbrooke, Lanark Highlands, Smiths Falls, Montague, Carleton Place, Beckwith, Mississippi Mills, Merrickville-Wolford, Rideau Lakes, and Central Frontenac.

The situation also prompted THE OPP to close down the stretch of Highway 43 between Chetwynd Street in Perth and Port Elmsley.

Chief Saunders credits the surrounding fire departments and emergency crews for helping control the situation so quickly.

Crews had to remain on the scene to ensure that all hot spots were extinguished. A drone from Renfrew County was brought in to help check on those hot spots from the air. Two firefighters were brought to hospital due to heat-related issues, but otherwise there were no injuries reported or loss of any properties. The Drummond/North Elmsley Tay Valley Fire Rescue would like to thank all the firefighters and neighbouring fire departments, paramedics, county and township staff, local residents and businesses for their excellent cooperation and assistance during the emergency.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Published in Lanark County
Wednesday, 01 June 2016 19:15

Fire bans and drought warnings

A dry start for the summer of '16

Central Frontenac Township declared a total fire ban late on Monday, May 30, joining with Tay Valley and Lanark Highlands townships in Lanark County in telling residents to refrain from all outdoor burning for the time being.

While Lanark County sets out county-wide fire bans, it is up to the individual townships in Frontenac and Lennox and Addington to declare fire bans.

North Frontenac and Addington Highlands, who make a joint decision, had not declared a ban as of Tuesday, and burning was also still being permitted in South Frontenac.

North Frontenac Fire Chief Eric Korhonen said on Monday that even through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MNRF) fire index is listed as “extreme”, the township was holding off on declaring a fire ban, hoping that rain that is expected later in the week will alleviate the situation.

“We look at all of the data that is available to us, including the scientific data gathered by the MNRF before making any decision. In our case there are two fire chiefs involved, myself and Chief Cuddy from Addington Highlands since we operate the Kaladar-Barrie service together,” said Korhonen. “If the rain comes later in the week we might be able to hold off.”

South Frontenac Fire Chief Rick Cheseborough is also holding off on declaring a fire ban.

“We have been fortunate so far in avoiding brush fires, although there have been a few calls. We are hoping that the rain will come later this week to alleviate the problem. But so far we are keeping the ban off, as are others such as Napanee,” he said on Tuesday morning, May 31.

The City of Kingston has also not put a fire ban in place.

The situation in all the municipalities could change rapidly, however, so it is advisable to contact the local municipality before burning, as it is the residents’ responsibility to be aware of fire restrictions. If brush fires develop, local municipalities have the option of billing property owners for the cost of putting the fire out.

The conservation authorities in the region have also expressed concerns about the potential effect of low water levels on the boating and fishing seasons that are just getting underway.

The Cataraqui, Rideau Valley, and Mississippi Valley Conservation Authorities have all issued minor drought declarations in recent days.

“We’ve seen less than 50 per cent of the normal amount of rainfall over April and May, and stream flows are at approximately 25 per cent of average flows for this time of year, and already near summer low flows,” said Water Resources Engineer, Sean Watt of the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) in a press release on May 26.

CRCA also said that lake levels are currently around normal for this time of year, but are concerned that with the forecast of a warmer summer a lack of rainfall would cause lake levels to fall, causing potential problems with navigation, water intakes, and moorings.

On a more hopeful note, the CRCA said that “the current long-term forecast is for an average amount of precipitation and, if that occurs, stream flows and lake levels should also remain close to normal.”

The CRCA regulates water in much of South Frontenac.

On May 24, before the latest heat wave, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority said the watershed is “on the verge of minor drought conditions”.

They said that “stream flows in unregulated watercourses are about half of normal for the time of year and lake levels are declining.”

While the Rideau Canal system remained at full navigation level at that time, the RVCA was concerned that deepening drought conditions might lead to exposed shoals on lakes within the system. Lakes at the upper level of the Rideau system, such as Bobs Lake, are reservoirs for the canal system through the operation of the Bolingbroke dam.

The RVCA regulates water in parts of Central and South Frontenac.

The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) also issued a release on May 26. “Most of the upper lakes in the watershed are at or slightly above their summer target levels but evaporation could also become a significant concern for those areas if current conditions persist,” the MVCA said.

“A significant rainfall over a large portion of the watershed will be required to return the watershed to normal conditions,” they added.

The MVCA regulates water in parts of North and Central Frontenac.

Quinte Region Conservation, which regulates water at the western edge of North, Central, and South Frontenac, had not issued a release as of the beginning of this week, but their office indicated the same conditions apply in the Quinte watershed as in others in Eastern Ontario. They will be issuing a release later this week, once they have fully analyzed their month end data from May.

A “Minor” drought condition is the first of three levels and indicates only a concern. “Moderate” suggests a potentially serious problem. “Severe” indicates a failure of the water supply to meet demand.

Conservation authorities are also telling residents to begin conserving water now, as water shortages may affect well water levels later this summer.

Published in General Interest
Wednesday, 01 June 2016 18:40

Parham Fire Hall opening

Members of the Hinchinbrooke District 4 fire crew were joined by Central Frontenac Fire Chief, Bill Young, Deputy Chief Art Cowdy, Scott Hayes from the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office, Sparky, and other dignitaries to mark the official opening of the new Parham Fire Hall on Saturday, May 28. The Parham hall is the third fire hall to be built by Central Frontenac Township in the last 10 years. Photo by Wendy Parliament

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 11 May 2016 18:25

Fire Prevention in North Frontenac

Last year at about this time, a very successful “Fire Extinguisher Day” was held at the Ompah Community Centre. Glenna Shanks from Perth Fire Extinguisher Service was there to inspect home and cottage owners’ fire extinguishers, and to service them if necessary. In addition, the North Frontenac Fire Department was present with fire prevention information. They also provided an opportunity for people to try out using fire extinguishers on a real fire. Lots of people took advantage of the day and came from far and wide to do so.

May 21 will see a similar event at the Ompah Community Centre this year. According to Rick and Debbie Morey, who organize the day, quite a number of people who attended last year were surprised to learn that their extinguishers were either completely non-functional, or needed recharging. Even if your extinguisher indicates that it is fully charged, this is not always the case. Lots of people also discovered that they didn’t really know how to use a fire extinguisher. Even if they could get it to discharge its foam, how to apply this foam to a real fire was not as straightforward as they had believed. Being able to try out an extinguisher on a real fire was an eye-opening experience that many appreciated.

So, come out on May 21, between 9 and 12, to take advantage of this chance to make your home or cottage much safer in the case of a fire. A small fee will be charged for the inspection. If you have any questions give Rick or Debbie a call at 613-701-3648.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 23 March 2016 19:05

Kaladar/Barrie FD service awards

On March 17, representatives from the townships of Addington Highlands and North Frontenac honoured members of the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Department with years of service recognition awards. Chief Casey Cuddy and Captain Blake Garey received awards for 25 years of service.

Captain Richard Tryon was recognised for his 40 years of fire service. Captain Tryon started with the fire service in 1975 with the original Land O’ Lakes Fire Brigade. Captain Tryon has seen the department evolve and grow through the years. In 1989 the department joined with Barrie Twp. and the department was renamed Kaladar-Barrie F.D. With the formation of K.B.F.D., C. Cuddy and B. Garey joined in 1990 and around 1994 the Cloyne Station was built. The new Northbrook Station was completed in 2015.

Kaladar-Barrie F.D. has approximately 30 dedicated members operating out of the two stations. K.B.F.D. responds to 100+ calls a year, ranging from medical assists, structure, vehicle and bush fires, motor vehicle collisions, shore and vessel based water and off road rescue. The department is always looking for dedicated, energetic people who wish to help their community. If interested call Chief Cuddy 613-336-1851 or email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS

Steve Sunderland, the volunteer who supervised the $275,000 renovation project at the Ompah fire hall/community center/library, appeared before North Frontenac Council last Friday, February 4. He was accompanied by Judy Hitchcock of JMJ Contracting from McDonalds Corners, the company that installed a concrete floor in the hall as part of the renovation.

They were appearing in response to reports by township Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven that were received by Council at their previous meeting on January 18, and to comments made at that meeting by members of council as reported in this newspaper.

The building department reports were focused mainly on a number of electrical and plumbing-related deficiencies that need to be re-mediated in order for the building to comply with the Ontario building code. There was also a reference in the first report to “no insulation under portions of the radiant floor insulation system”.

In a written response that Sunderland sent to Council in advance of appearing last week, he outlined how the project had come about in the first place, and his and Judy Hitchcock's roles in its completion.

In 2013 Sunderland was asked to chair a task force to design an upgrade to the fire hall/community centre after Council had rejected a recommendation to abandon the building and put up a new one. The budget for the upgrade was $180,000. When the technical drawings were completed in August of that year the project went to tender and received no bids. In early 2014, a new tender was issued and the lowest bid that came in was for $365,000.

Council then asked the task force to “come up with a sequential tendering process whereby the work could proceed and the budget carefully monitored on a project-by-project basis,” Sunderland wrote.

He said that he had explained to Council at the time that as the general contractor they assumed all risks associated with the construction. These included: “potential poor coordination between trades; cost overruns; engineering concerns; unforeseen site conditions; change in orders; poor weather; no workers during hunting season; uninformed decisions; mistakes; and the like. Council at that time agreed to proceed.”

The project was to be managed, according to Sunderland, by then Fire Chief Steve Riddell, then Deputy Fire Chief Denis Bedard, and Councilor John Inglis, with overall management by Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson. For various reasons, including the removal of Bedard from the fire department, most of the project management eventually fell to Sunderland.

“I think it is obvious why [I am] a bit defensive when [my] project management skills, motives and commitment are questioned by people in the community who had little or no stake in the project,” he wrote.

Sunderland went on to discuss the concrete floor and in-floor heating system that was installed, at length.

He pointed out that as early as 2012, when putting in a new floor was first considered, Mike Cleland, a structural engineer and task force volunteer, recommended that a new fire station be built after supervising an excavation into the existing concrete flooring in the fire hall.

“When Council rejected this recommendation, Mike Cleland refused to participate in the renovation project,” said Sunderland.

He went on to say that he “personally begged” JMJ contracting to do the concrete floor. Among the problems that were found was a granite outcrop in the front 1/3 of the building. The township was informed about this, and did not opt to go to the expense, risk, and delay involved in removing the rock.

According to Sunderland, “Under the circumstances the township was fortunate to have JMJ do the work ... the rock outcrop is one of the unforeseen risks the township accepted as part of this renovation.”

At the council meeting on January 18, Denis Bedard, whi is now a member of council, said, “The biggest and most major issue is the fact that the floor was improperly installed. We spent a pile of money on a concrete floor with the chances now of it heaving and destroying the in-floor heating system.”

“What force is there that is going to heave that floor? Sunderland asked.

It was also this comment by Bedard that led Judy Hitchcock to address Council directly.

“Nobody came to me and said there were deficiencies ... to say the concrete was poured incorrectly, it is completely false. Why did that go into the paper, without my knowledge, without a meeting with myself?” she asked.

“The building inspector put this in the report,” Bedard responded.

“Where?” Hitchcock asked. “Where does it say that in the report?”

Bedard looked at his copy of the report and could not find the statement.

Hitchcock also said that before doing any of the work she made sure she had the go-ahead from the building inspector of the day, George Gorrie.

CAO Cheryl Robson said that when staff went looking for the inspection reports for the project last month they did not find them.

Both George Gorrie and Steve Riddell, who were respectively the building inspector and fire chief at the time the project took place, are no longer with the township.

Mayor Higgins said that since the project took place under the previous council, he has been working to make sure it is only “factual data” that is being communicated to Council and the public.

“There is no record that I am aware of from an official point of view that the concrete is deficient,” Higgins said.

“No insulation under the radiant floor is part of the building code,” said Councilor Bedard.

“How does he know whether the insulation is or is not there? When the rock goes under the entire front half of the job, we couldn't pour any insulation there. For [current Chief Building Official] Jeremy Neven to say that is totally irresponsible and it is not a deficiency. And what does it have to do with the code?” said Steve Sunderland.

Curiously, even though all of the building department documentation for the project has gone missing, and Neven's report was based entirely on “visible items and no destructive inspections were carried out”, there was one exception. The determination that there is “no insulation under portions of the radiant floor heating system” was based on “images provided during the inspection”.

The report does not say who provided the images and where they came from.

Upon inquiry, the News has been informed by Mayor Higgins that those images were provided to Neven by the Ompah Community Volunteers Association. The Association have pledged $50,000 towards the project but are waiting for the deficiencies in the fire hall top be dealt with before turning the money over to the township.

As far as Judy Hitchcock is concerned, however, all of the internal North Frontenac politics are not her problem, but she is concerned about her professional reputation.

“'Oh Canada' is what we call rock outcrops like that in the trade. The thing to do is to remove them, but we were told no. I asked engineers, I made phone calls to everyone involved, I made phone calls to George [Gorrie] ... I did my job on this project and then I see this kind of thing reported in the paper ... it is not good for my reputation. I want a public apology, from the paper and the township itself,” Hitchcock said.

“I agree with you,” Mayor Higgins said.

Higgins put a motion on the floor authorizing him to write a letter of apology, and the motion carried. The letter can be viewed, in its entirety at Northfrontenac.com.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 03 February 2016 13:48

Suzanne Allison: Parham Firefighter

It is no surprise that numerous phone calls came in to the newspaper office following the glaring error I made in an article I wrote in last week’s paper, where I erroneously misquoted Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young by stating that all of the fire halls in Central Frontenac, until recently, had been considered “a gentlemen's club”.

In actuality, Fire Chief Young was referring only to the Sharbot Lake fire hall and the error deserves not only an apology and a correction but also the following story.

Debbie Allison was deservedly offended by the error and made a call to the newspaper office stating that the Parham fire department is not now nor has ever been thought of as a gentlemen's only club. Debbie's 23-year-old daughter Suzanne has been working as a volunteer firefighter in Parham since the age of 16, when she joined the department in October 2008 as a junior fire fighter. Her mandatory two-year probation period included observing at calls, rolling hoses and cleaning trucks and other equipment. Two years later when she turned 18, she became a full-fledged member of the force and has since become a valued member of the Parham team and someone the other firefighters regard as an asset.

Suzanne herself credits her dad, Paul Allison, who has been a volunteer fire fighter with the Parham department for 22 years, as the person who encouraged her to take the training. “He knew of my background and my previous training as a life guard; that I cared about making a difference in the community and thought I would make a good fire fighter.”

When I spoke with Paul Allison earlier in the week, he was adamant about the fact that the Parham department has never been considered a gentlemen's only club. “Dawn Hansen, who is our current dispatcher and who has been with us for over 20 years, is an integral and valuable member of our team”, Paul said. “And we can look back even further to Sue Veley, who was one of the founding members of the department. She was a pillar of the force here for decades and a woman who pretty much ran the place”. Paul said he took offense when he read last weeks article stating, “I have been around the department here for 22 years and during that time women have always been integral and very much respected part of our team. I would not have encouraged my daughter Suzanne to join up if I had felt in any way the place to be a gentlemen's only club. If that had been the case, I never would have encouraged her to join up nor would have tolerated that fact myself.” Other female members of the department include or have included over the years Susan Peters, Melissa Shanks, Brooke Raymond and Stacey Rochetta and to this day Paul says that women are “an integral part of this close knit group many who have been here for a very long time and who all get along with each other very well.” Suzanne agreed with her dad stating “ I have never felt uncomfortable with the guys. I have always felt welcomed and comfortable and have always been treated as an equal.” Not only that, Suzanne said that she is a proud member of the Parham Fire department and someone who likes to encourage other women to get involved. “I like to let women and men in the community know that I am a fire fighter and tell them that if that if I can do it, they can do it too.”

Look forward to more upcoming stories about local women firefighters.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Over 100 diners dressed in high style filled the Oso Hall on January 23 to celebrate famed poet, folk hero, pioneer of the Romantic Movement, and inspiration to the founders of liberalism and socialism, Robbie Burns.

Burns was born on January 25, 1759 and back in 2009 he was voted as “the greatest Scot” by the Scottish public. His poems and songs were front and center at the fundraiser, which was put on jointly by, and in support of the Central Frontenac Volunteer Fire Department and the Frontenac Masonic Lodge No. 621.

The annual event, which attracted lodge members from as far away as Napanee, Harrowsmith, Kingston and Seeley's Bay, continues to highlight the close relationship between the two organizations.

Back in 1949, when the Oso Fire Department was formed, seven Masons were among its 16 founding members and for decades after, the two groups shared the use of the lodge’s well and parking lot while working together on a number of community projects.

The newest members of each organization were honored at the dinner: firefighter/first responders Heather Rioux and Jamie Malone, who joined the CF fire department in December 2014, and the Frontenac Masonic Lodge's newest Master Mason, Matthew Innocente.

The program included words of welcome from CF Fire Chief Bill Young and the lodge's Worshipful Master, Bill Kennedy. Kennedy, who was born in Crow Lake and now resides in Kingston, said that he became involved in the Sharbot Lake lodge because two of his uncles were members, one of them a founding member.

The Masons currently number 50 at the Sharbot Lake lodge and the oldest member is Virgil Garrett, who was in attendance at the dinner. Summing up the work of the Masons, Kennedy said the organization “teaches a system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols.” Kennedy stated, “Essentially the teachings are to make good men better by teaching life lessons and in particular, how to live your life with faith and hope and charity.” Kennedy added that long before there was welfare, there was the Masonic lodge and the churches. Charity given through the lodge was something that was just done and never advertised: “Years ago members would just show up with a cord of wood or a pair of shoes or a side of beef to help those in need. Nowadays we do things like tonight, where we hold fundraisers to support local groups and organizations.”

Currently, the lodge is also supporting renovations at the Child Development Centre at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, which serves both children and adults with developmental disabilities. Lodge members are also asked to bring a food donation to their regular meetings to support the NF food bank.

Following the opening words of welcome, Jeff Donnelly and Kathleen White piped in the haggis, which arrived fresh from a butcher in Kemptville and was addressed by lodge member Bill Robertson in a rousing toast.

The full course meal included appetizers of Scotch eggs, Cock-a-leekie soup, stuffed pork loin with all of the fixings and sticky pudding for dessert. Afterwards guests were entertained by Philippe Archambault, who gave the toast “to the lasses”, to which Frances Smith responded.

Kingston lodge member Ross Morton recited Burns' epic poem “Tam o' Shanter”, in which Burns paints a vivid and humorous picture of the drinking classes in the old Scottish town of Ayr in the late 18th Century. Local residents, Ken Fisher, Janet Gutowski and Simon Spanchak also recited selected verses written by the famed poet and Brent Cameron made a toast to “The Immortal Memory”.

Musical entertainment was provided by famed local fiddler Jessica Wedden and the evening was capped off with diners singing Burns' best-known song, “Auld Lang Syne”.

Proceeds from a raffle held at the celebration went to support Villages Beautiful and the North Frontenac Food Bank.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Page 5 of 9
With the participation of the Government of Canada