It is a scene that has been replicated time and time again across the country.

Fifteen or so people gathered at the almost empty Kingston airport just before 1 o'clock on Saturday, February 27. As they chatted with each other in the lobby, Nancy Bayly was sitting in a far corner with Ron Albinet of the First Baptist Church of Kingston, and Dr. Mohamad Bayoumi of the Kingston Islamic Centre.

The First Baptist Church has provided an administrative home for the Frontenac Refugee Support Committee, a group of South Frontenac and Frontenac Islands residents who have been working for months to host a family from Syria. They reached out to Dr. Bayoumi for help with translation services when the family arrived.

The three of them greeted Frontenac County Warden Frances Smith, who trekked in from Over the Hills Road (back of Road 509) to provide greetings from the County to the newcomers and the four of them formed the official greeting committee. When the small plane arrived, everyone went over the window to get a first glimpse of the 10 members of the Al Khalaf family as they disembarked.

A few business commuters came off the plane first. Then came the family: a middle-aged man and woman, three young women, three young men, and two boys. They gathered for a second on the tarmac, shivering a bit against the cold, then headed in, the boys running ahead.

The support committee hastily unfurled a Welcome to Canada banner as the greeting party headed over to the door. Bright-eyed and smiling, the family reached forward to shake hands and share hugs.

After all the planning and all the waiting - several months for the support committee and several years for the Al Khalafs - they were here. One of the committee members rushed off to gather coats; there were many to choose from because the committee only had basic information about the Al Khalafs, the number and approximate ages of each person. They then got ready to drive off to their new home.

The committee had secured a one-year lease for a four-bedroom townhouse near the Kingston Centre for the family, and one of the volunteers was already back there, preparing a Syrian welcoming meal for supper. This week will be filled with bureaucratic details, health cards and Social Insurance Numbers, etc., as well as lining up English classes and schooling for the boys and young adults in the family.

The Al Khalafs are being sponsored by the Frontenac Refugee Committee and will also be receiving some support from the federal government. The group has already raised over $33,000 out of a preliminary goal of $45,000. There will be some support from the federal government, but the bulk of the responsibility for supporting the Al Khalafs for their first year in Canada falls to the committee.

At first, the committee was told that they were going to be hosting a six-member family, and then they found out they would be hosting a 12-member family. This has been the basis for their fundraising efforts. However, shortly before they learned that 10 members of the Al Khalaf family would be arriving on February 27, they also found that an additional four members will be arriving in the coming weeks, one of whom is pregnant and due to deliver in May.

“We are committed to supporting the family for a year financially, but the commitment doesn't end there. We will be following them until they are completely settled and making a contribution. Their priorities right now are to learn English, go to school, and find work, as soon as possible,” said committee member Ruth Allen.

The Al Khalafs are living in Kingston for the time being, even though they are being sponsored by Frontenac County residents.

“The services are in Kingston,” said committee member Nancy Bayly, “and the language training is in Kingston, so we decided early on that even though we are a Frontenac County group, we would look to find a place for them in Kingston to start off. They may move to Frontenac County once they are settled, but they are in Kingston for now.”

Of the 10 who arrived on Saturday, six will be attending school, starting this week.

Meanwhile, back at the airport, the adults were figuring out how to deal with the luggage and who was going to drive with whom. The two young boys, who had been fidgeting as all the greetings were taking place, broke free and bolted out of the terminal door to the parking lot. They veered left as they got out the door, chased each other for a minute, then finding a bit of snow, one of them gathered it up in his bare hands and threw the snow at the other.

The snow was not ideal for snowballs, but they did the best they could, laughing the whole time.

Twenty years ago, Frances Smith won the confidence of two dozen, mostly male, members of Frontenac County Council and was elected warden. At the time she was the reeve of Oso Township.

None of them knew it at the time, but all the reeves and deputy reeves on the Council at the time were destined to be the last to hold their positions on their own municipal councils.

“As soon as I was elected warden, the government announced they were forcing amalgamation in and I spent my year as warden – 1996 - at endless meetings as we negotiated how amalgamation was going to work in Frontenac County,” Smith said as she donned the chain of office for 2016. “I am hoping that this year will not be quite so busy or difficult.”

Many of the issues that are on the county agenda currently, such as shared services, are part of the long-term working out of the relationships between the County and its member municipalities that started when Smith was last warden in the mid 1990s.

This time around the election was a mere formality. As the sitting deputy warden, it was a virtual certainty that she would take her turn as warden in 2016, as it will be for South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal in 2017. Vandewal was acclaimed to the position of deputy warden just after Smith became warden in a similar manner. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins is slated to serve as deputy warden in 2017 and warden in 2018, the final year of the mandate for this council.

Only the municipal mayors, of whom there are four in Frontenac County, are eligible for the position of warden, which carries administrative, political and ceremonial responsibilities. The position also comes with additional pay. The base salary is $22,500, but the total can go as high as $28,500 when per diems and expenses are included. This is a jump from the $14,138 upper limit that County Council members receive. (All members receive additional pay for their roles on their own township councils).

The warden represents the County at regional meetings such as the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and at provincial events such as the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association/Good Roads Conference in February and the annual Ontario Municipal Association Conference in August.

Smith said she does not have any over-riding goals for her year as county warden.

“The thing about the county is it's a steady-as-she-goes kind of ship. Having said that I would like to see the trail initiative get moved towards completion and to see the economic development plan get underway,” she said.

Although when she was warden the last time it was in the Oso township, pre-amalgamation days, Smith has been involved in local politics as a member of Central Frontenac Council since 2003, so she has seen the county develop from the perspective of township councilor for a dozen years before taking on the role of Central Frontenac mayor and County Council member a year ago.

This year in the paper, we looked backwards many times, running a year-long series of articles to mark the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County. Many of the articles, which will continue into 2016, were based on interviews with people from our communities who made their lives in this part of the world when it was a different world.

At that time electricity was just coming in; communication infrastructure was just being developed; the world they lived in was smaller. But major global events, such as world wars, had an impact on their lives, and in the 1930s, people from all over Canada trudged up to meager farms near the K&P and CP railroad lines looking for a meal or a day's work. They came from the west and from the east, looking for something, and when they found there was no more here than anywhere else, they slipped onto the next train and carried on, never to return.

What also came out in those interviews is that although life in Frontenac County was harder than it is today, the communities were stronger in many ways. Because people travel constantly for work and shopping now, our villages are not the retail centers they used to be. Still, permits for $40 million in residential construction were taken out in Frontenac County this year, so people are investing in our county.

But Frontenac County still lacks an identity. For its 150th anniversary Frontenac County put on one minor and one major event. This stands in stark contrast to the scope and breadth of the 200th anniversary events set for the Township of Tay Valley and the Town of Perth in 2016, which will take place on almost a weekly basis.

The North Frontenac News was established 42 years ago to help bridge the gap between the communities in northern Frontenac County, and as the Frontenac News we have served southern and northern Frontenac for 18 years. The issues are the same throughout the county as they were in the north 42 years ago.

The ties of community are strong in and among the neighboring villages and hamlets, and week after week we publish stories about how we gather together to help each other and to celebrate with each other.

However, there is no coherence to Frontenac County; there is no overall community.

The county level of government is not where this kind of coherence will come, at least as it functions currently. Frontenac County is an upper-tier municipal institution, more concerned with institutional framework than the human level of politics, more adept with “best practices” and “accounting principles” than with building community.

My sense is that there is a lot of frustration at meetings of Frontenac County Council, as if it does not satisfy a need among its member politicians to really tackle the issues that brought them into municipal politics. After watching these meetings over the years, my conclusion is, more and more, that these issues do need to be tackled by the people at that table, but in some other way and in some other place.

It might be helpful if county politicians made some informal efforts outside the confines of the council. More might be accomplished with a phone call or a cup of coffee once in a while, than with a well-argued position at a council meeting.

But enough of that. We have enjoyed bringing you stories about the past, and the trials and tribulations of the present, this year, and I would like to thank all our advertisers, readers, staff members and volunteers for helping us put out another 50 editions this year.

In two weeks we will be back in the office to start putting another 50 out, and we hope everyone enjoys a good holiday as we enjoy our time off.

There were a number of distinguished Frontenac County wardens from the Township of Wolfe Island during the first 133 years of Frontenac County history, and since municipal amalgamation there have been two more from the Township of Frontenac Islands: Jim Vanden Hoek for two years, and the current warden, Denis Doyle.

Although Tim O'Shea was only county warden for a single year, the centennial year in 1967, he was a member of the council for 33 consecutive years as the long-serving reeve of Wolfe Island. He retired from politics in 1991 and died in 1996 at the age of 78.

His son, Terry, who served as the clerk of Wolfe Island and Frontenac Islands for over 20 years, starting in 1986, described his father as someone who enjoyed people and was able to remain calm in tense situations, which might explain why he was able to win election after election.

He worked for most of his life as a hunting and a fishing guide on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and in the evenings he tended to township matters. As well as presiding over Council, he was the welfare officer for the islands as well as the manager of the ferry, all part of the functions of the reeve.

Perhaps his most lasting accomplishment was convincing the provincial government to take over the ferry service from Wolfe Island and make it a free service. He also presided over the construction of the first library, medical clinic, ambulance base and fire department on the island. Because of all his accomplishments and longevity, he is still considered to have been the dean of Frontenac County councilors.

One hundred and two years before Tim O'Shea served as county warden, another Wolfe Island politician held the post. The first ever Frontenac County warden was Dileno (Dexter) Calvin, the proverbial self-made man. He was orphaned at the age of eight in Rutland, Vermont.

When he was 20 he moved to the State of New York where he worked as a labourer until he entered into the lumbering business when he was in his mid-20s. He started in 1825, squaring some timber with a neighbour and transporting it by raft to Quebec City. Slowly, he built up the business, and in 1835 he moved to Clayton, NY, and established a lumber transport business. Soon after, he became involved in a company based on Garden Islands, the Kingston Stave Forwarding Company, which was later renamed Calvin, Cook and Counter, and then Calvin and Cook after the men who owned it. In 1844, Dexter Calvin moved to rented land on Garden Island and took control of the company, taking advantage of the island's location, its sheltered port, and the fact that it was within the British rather than the American trading system.

Out of its base on Garden Island, the company maintained agencies in Sault St. Marie, Quebec City, Liverpool and Glasgow, operated 12 -15 ships and employed as many as 700 people in its peak years. It became a generalized shipping company, and also operated a large tugboat service.

The move to Garden Island took place soon after the death of Calvin's first wife, Harriet Webb, in Clayton, New York, in 1843. the couple had been married for 12 years and had six children. He remarried Marion Breck in 1844. They also had six children between 1844 and her death in 1861. His third wife, Catherine Wilkinson, whom he married in 1861 when he was 63, had two children, and lived until 1911. Of his 14 children, only six lived to adulthood.

During the last 40 years of his long life (he died in 1884 at the age of 86) Calvin was a sort of patriarch to the inhabitants of Garden Island. He bought 15 acres of land on the island in 1848 with his partner Hiram Cook, and by 1862 they owned the entire island. Calvin bought Cook’s share in 1880.

Garden Island became a model company town, with its own school, library, and post office. Although it was made up of people from different national origins and religions, it was reportedly remarkably peaceful and well managed. It was also a dry community, under the express orders of Calvin himself, who became a prohibitionist at the same time as his conversion to the Baptist Faith about a year before the death of his first wife.

Since most of the inhabitants of Garden Island worked for Calvin, he was able to shield them from economic turbulence in two ways. For one thing, since he was more involved in lumber transport than buying and selling, the fluctuations in the price of lumber did not affect the business in a substantial way. He also chose to use the company's reserves to shield his employees during serious downturns, such as one that took place in 1873. At that time he cut wages but did not lay any one off, which was as unusual then as it is now. He was strongly opposed to organized labour, however, and when sailors on his ships started a union drive, he hired replacement workers from Glasgow and eventually sold some of his schooners and bought great lake barges to cut down on the need for labour.

His political life, which began when he was in his early 60s, was quite distinguished. He had become a naturalized Canadian within a year of moving to Garden Island. By the time Frontenac County was established in 1865 after the amalgamated County of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington had been disbanded, Calvin was already ensconced as reeve of Wolfe Island and the surrounding islands. He became the first warden of the County, a position he also held the following year and in 1868 as well.

He then took a turn at provincial politics, as a Conservative MPP for the riding of Frontenac. He served from 1868 until 1883, with the exception of the years between 1875 and 1877, when he lost favour with the party. In those days, becoming the Conservative candidate in Frontenac was more difficult than winning the election against opposing party candidates.

He was also one of the first directors of the K&P Railroad.

He was a man who was known for his eccentricities, such as a dislike for short men “for no other reason than that they were short” according to his grandson, as well as men who bit their fingernails (author's note – I'm sure we would have gotten on famously) as well as dogs and people who own them. “When a man's poor,” he said, “he gets a dog. If he's very poor, he gets two.”

Dileno Dexter Calvin died in 1884, and despite his great success in Canada, he was buried next to his mother and his first wife in Clayton, NY.

As the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County was approaching, a committee was formed to organize events to mark the occasion. They realized that the best way to mark a year-long event such as as this was to have an event of some kind to provide a focus.

So the planning began for a three-day celebration from Friday to Sunday, August 28 to 30. The location at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith was an obvious choice. Not only is it located on Road 38, the artery that links three of the four Frontenac townships, it is also the largest community park in the county, easily hosting over 1,500 people on Canada Day each year.

However, the decision to locate the celebration at Centennial Park brought more into play than just a location; it also brought the Harrowsmith, Sydenham and Verona-based service clubs, the Portland District Recreation Committee and the public works department of South Frontenac township into the mix.

Pam Morey and Dan Bell came forward to co-ordinate the event, and the first people they met with were the public works department of South Frontenac.

“The park needed some work done to be able to handle the crowds, and to host all the events,” said Dan Bell, who, in addition to his role with the anniversary celebration is the chair of the Portland District Recreation Committee. “We had plans for upgrades to the park through our local Rec Committee and we were also fortunate enough to receive extra help for other improvements to Centennial Park from South Frontenac Township. The public works department, led by Jamie Brash and Mark Segsworth, did a wonderful job, and Harrowsmith will enjoy the benefits of the upgrades to the park for years to come. It will be one of the legacies of the anniversary.”

This is only fitting because the park itself was a Centennial project from 1967, and thanks to the 150th anniversary of Fronenac County, it will be in fine fettle to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Canada in two years' time.

The upgrades to the park include a brand new parking lot, a brand new playground, better integration with the K&P trail, and improved facilities throughout. In order to put together a varied program of events, Bell and Morey looked to the community, and found that everything they needed was just around the corner. They wanted to have a vendors' market, so they went to the Verona Community Association and the Verona Lions Club, who collaborate on events all the time, and have expertise with vendors from the Verona Garlic Festival and other events.

“They know what to do and to make it work and when they agreed to take it on it was a real load off our shoulders,” said Pam Morey, who is also the president of the Harrowsmith Social and Athletic Club

Similarly the Sydenham Lions are handling parking; the Harrowsmith S&A (Social and Athletic) Club the canteen and beer tent; the Oddfellows the Heritage Ball, and the list goes on.

“It is really an old-time community gathering, sort of like a fair or a picnic. Really a chance for us all to look at what we have built and enjoy each other's company,” said Dan Bell.

“One of the rewards of working on this event has been the co-operation with Frontenac County staff members Anne Marie Young and Alison Vandervelde,” said Morey. “Between them, South Frontenac and the local community, we are sure this event will be a huge success.”

The local flavour of the event extends to the performers who will take the stage throughout the three days. A few of the bands come from Kingston, but most of them are Frontenac County acts.

And, there is no charge to enter the festival grounds all weekend. Apart from the Heritage Ball on Saturday Night at the Golden Links Hall, a nominal fee for the VCA train, which will run though the site, and food vendor purchases, the celebration events are free to the public.

Among the highlights of the three-day celebration will be a large-scale historical re-enactment on the Sunday afternoon, featuring the Brockville Infantry. The group, which has been active for 25 years, takes its inspiration from the original Brockville Infantry, which was founded in 1862, when the pre-confederation communities sought to protect themselves from potential incursions by the Fenians from south of the border. The Fenians conducted raids on British-held lands in Canada in order to pressure the British government to withdraw from Ireland. The re-enactors dress in identical British bright red tunics, carry and fire fully functional replicas of the original Enfield rifles with bayonets, and perform the same precision drill manoeuvres that their counterparts did over 150 years ago. In order to present this polished image of precision, the re-enactors practice these drills on a regular basis throughout the year.

They will not only be presenting a full re-enactment from 1:00 until 2:30 on Sunday (August 30), they will be camping in the park all weekend and will also present a “short skirmish” in Dan Bell's words, on Sat. Aug. 29 from 1 - 1:30pm at the south soccer field.

In keeping with the great tradition of music in Frontenac County, the performers who will be performing all weekend are made up primarily of artists who live or come from Frontenac County, supplemented by some from nearby Kingston.

On Friday night, Kingston/Nashville based Rob Carnegie will take the stage at 6pm, following the opening ceremonies, which start at 5pm. Rob is a singer songwriter in the country music tradition. He has been making a name for himself as a songwriter and performer in Canada and the United States, with his 2014 release “Unwind”.

Also on Friday night, a family movie, Big Hero 6, will be screened at 8pm, followed by fireworks.

On Saturday, the festival swings into high gear with a parade at 10am. Across the road from the festival site, the Frontenac County Plowing Match also starts at 10 am and runs until 3 pm. Meanwhile, on the site, mini-putt, midway rides, a strong man competition, heritage equipment and numerous other events are running all day.

On stage at 12:15pm, 14-year-old Abby Stewart will be performing. Abby, who first performed in Frontenac County at the Old Time Music Festivals in 2010 and 2011, played on the Upcoming Artists stage at the Boots and Hearts Festival in 2014, and a few weeks ago she played the main festival at the Front Porch Stage and was featured on the festival poster.

She will be followed at 1:30 by Sydenham-based Big 'Mo and the Blues Mission, whose up-tempo rock 'n blues sound is familiar throughout the region. They play local events and are mainstays at the Limestone City Blues Festival as well.

At 2:45, Rudy and Saddle Up will bring their high energy country sound to the stage.

Later, after the plowing match winners are announced, Bellfonix are playing at 5:15pm. Heather Bell got her start singing at Canada Day and other events in Harrowsmith and Sydenham as a teenager and with the Bellfonix, she performs her pop-rock repertoire often at popular bars in Kingston.

The final musical performer of the day at the festival stage, at 6:30, will be Chris Koster, a Kingston-based performer and songwriter. Chris' music has an emotional edge and a contemporary alternative rock feel.

Although Centennial Park closes down at 8 pm, there is one more event scheduled for Saturday, one that promises to be a highlight of the celebration. The Golden Links Hall, on Colebrooke street, will be the site of the Frontenac Heritage Ball. This is the only ticketed event of the weekend. Participants are invited to wear heritage dress for the ball, which costs $20 and features the eight-piece R&B sensations, Soul Survivors. Tickets also include a light buffet and the ball is a licensed event.

While people may be dressing like it's 1865, the dancing will be more like it's 1975. Tickets are available at Nicole's Gifts in Verona, at Nellie's Gas Bar in Harrowsmith and by calling Pam Morey at 613-372-1578. There will also be limited numbers of tickets available at the door, but buying them in advance is recommended.

On Sunday morning, Fiddlers and Friends from North Frontenac and neighbouring Lanark County will be on stage at 10:30. With fiddles, piano, and guitars they play tunes from the 1940s on, and always entertain.

The final band of the event is After the News from Verona, featuring Lee Casement and vocalist Lisa Menard, at 11:45.

The historical re-enactment, as mentioned earlier, will follow After the News. The closing ceremonies are set for 3 pm.

As I sat last week in the well-appointed new council chambers for Frontenac County Council (aka the Rotary Auditorium of Fairmount Home), waiting for Warden Dennis Doyle to be ushered in by the county clerk to preside over a civilised, if pretty boring meeting, I remembered a very different January meeting from long ago; well, two years ago to be exact.

That meeting took place in another beautiful room, a much smaller one, at the other end of the horseshoe-shaped building that houses the Fairmount Home and Frontenac County offices.

The council was meeting for the first time after the warden of the day, Janet Gutowski, had informed her colleagues that she was not going to follow the long-established tradition whereby the warden resigns after a year in office. She had decided to stay on as warden.

There was a palpable sense of frustration in the air as members realised they had no way to force Gutowski out of the position, and tempers flared. The targets were Gutowski and then CAO Elizabeth Savill, and the issue underlying everything was the sense that Gutowski was staying in place to block attempts by the rest of council to rein in the county and keep it from taking on a greater role in service delivery at a township level.

The bad feelings in the room at that meeting in 2013 have had many consequences. Among them was motion of censure against Gutowski a few months later, which led to a lawsuit being launched by Gutowski against four members of Council.

Flash forward to today. That lawsuit has not gone away. Last month an appeal court upheld a decision from May 2014. At that time Justice Beaudoin had ruled that statements made in the context of a municipal council are not protected from libel and slander laws in the way that statements made in provincial or federal legislatures are, and rejected a motion by county lawyers to reject the suit out of hand. No court date has been set for the case, but the unofficial word is that the county's insurer would like to settle the matter out of court.

Gutowski did not want to talk in any detail about the case when asked this week, but said she has not heard anything from her lawyer about an offer, or a court date either. She did indicate that there is still time for the defendants, only three of whom are still alive, to “do the right” thing before the matter goes to court. Presumably a settlement at this point would include a financial component as well as some form of retraction.

Meanwhile, back in the orderly confines of the new council chamber, Dennis Doyle, who happens to be one of two current members of the council who were named in the lawsuit, presides over council now, and in an interesting twist of fate, Doyle sees the role of the county in much the same way that Gutowski did.

Instead of seeing a limited role for the county, Doyle sees an expanded role in township matters, from planning to financial services and it may go on and on. As the three smaller townships face difficulties covering their costs, the county's status could be on an upswing.

South Frontenac will not be happy about this. Its council and county representatives are wary that all of this will lead to increased costs for South Frontenac ratepayers with no benefit.

A debate over planning costs for contract services provided by the County department is set for next month's county meeting.

That debate might mark the beginning of another chapter in the debate of the role of Frontenac County in the lives of residents.

The Frontenac County offices are located in what county staff call "The Old House", which is at the southeast corner of a horseshoe-shaped building complex that includes the Fairmount Long Term Care Home and the new Rotary Auditorium. The site is located in what was once Pittsburgh Township, which was part of Frontenac County before 1998 but is now part of the City of Kingston. The fact that its offices are located in a neighboring municipality is one of the many quirks of Frontenac County, but more on that later.

In the basement of "The Old House" there is a hallway leading to the offices of the county-run Frontenac Paramedic Services. The walls are full of photographs of Frontenac County wardens. The photos don't quite go back to the beginnings of the County in 1885, but they do go back about 100 years. The photos are predominately of men in the 50 and over demographic, and they demonstrate a change in facial hair fashion over the 20th Century. Moustaches, mutton chops and full beards grew less and less common as the century wore on. Still, very few women have served as warden. Exceptions were Isabel Turner – later the mayor of Kingston for one term, Frances Smith and most recently, Janet Gutowski.

The roots of the name Frontenac County go back to Sieur de Frontenac, an early governor of New France who established Fort Frontenac (a.k.a. Fort Cataraqui) at the mouth of the Cataraqui River in 1673. The fort was destroyed and rebuilt several times, and still functions to this day as the Canadian Army Staff and Command College.

In the early 1800s, as what was then a colony of England was working towards self-government, the establishment of individual townships and the overarching Midland District, which encompassed what are now the City of Kingston and the Counties of Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, took place.

In 1850, the City of Kingston was established as its own legal entity, and the United Counties of Frontenac and Lennox and Addington were also established.

Over the next 14 years, events took place that resonate to this day in determining the borders of townships and counties. In 1855, representatives from Barrie and Kennebec wards requested that they be attached to Lennox and Addington, and in 1857 Kennebec residents requested unity with Kaladar township. To make matters more complicated, changes to the Municipal Act permitted withdrawal from a county simply by passing a county bylaw. That same year, the United Counties moved into the newly built county courthouse, which was (and still is) located in the City of Kingston on Union street at the north end of City Park.

In 1860 two contradictory events took place. First, former United Counties Warden Roblin, who was by that time sitting as a member of the provincial legislature, introduced a bill to separate the counties. Later, a motion to keep the counties united was passed by the local council by a vote of 20-6.

By 1863 United County Council had swollen to 35 members. A motion to investigate the possibility of separating was approved by an 18-11 vote, and a further motion reaffirming unity was also approved, but only by a vote of 17-13.

Within a year, the document of separation was signed by the last warden of the United Counties, S. Warner, in front of 34 of the 35 council members. The date was September 17, 1864.

The new Lennox and Addington Council met shortly thereafter, but the first session of the New County of Frontenac did not take place until January 25, 1865. That's why although L&A County celebrated their 150th anniversary last year, the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County is being marked in 2015.

Although there was talk of revisiting the county borders when municipal amalgamation was mandated by the Province of Ontario 130 years later, in 1997, the province said the 1865 boundaries could not be altered. This was not well received by some politicians from Kennebec and Barrie Wards of Frontenac County and Kaladar ward in Lennox and Addington, who felt much as their predecessors had in the 1850s.

In 1865, Frontenac County was made up of the following townships: Barrie, Bedford and Palmerston, Clarendon, Hinchinbooke, Kennebec, Kingston, Loughborough, Olden, Oso, Pittsburgh and Howe Island, Portland, and Portsmouth.

While the City of Kingston was, and has remained, distinct from Frontenac County, there have always been a number of institutions tying the city and the surrounding county together, such as the Frontenac County Courthouse and the Kingston-Frontenac Public Health Unit. Other connections between Kingston and Frontenac are symbolic, such as the Kingston Frontenacs hockey team and the location of Fort Frontenac within the boundaries of the city.

Over time, the city has also swallowed up county territory. In 1952, Portsmouth Village was annexed by the city.

Pressure from the provincial government to amalgamate townships and institute a regional system of government started to build in the 1960s.

In 1969 Frontenac County Council sent a letter to local MPP, J.R. Simonett, advising him that the county rejected any suggestion that a regional government study be conducted for Frontenac County. In 1970 a second letter was sent. “Frontenac County does not wish at any time to enter into any form of discussion to consider any form of amalgamation or Regional System of Government. We have operated well and economically ... and we wish to continue with the same system,” the letter said.

That seemed to hold the forces of amalgamation at bay for 30 years, but everything changed in the mid-1990s.

The Conservative government, under Premier Mike Harris, mandated municipal amalgamation, telling local politicians that if they did not come to an acceptable arrangement the province would step in.

As a result of the ensuing negotiations, Frontenac County essentially ceased to exist in 1998.

Of its 15 townships, two (Kingston and Pittsburgh townships) became part of the amalgamated City of Kingston. The other 13 became the four Frontenac townships (North, South, and Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands). The townships were designed to be able to handle all the responsibilities formerly taken up by the county. In place of the county structure the Frontenac Management Board, made up of the mayors of the four townships, was set up to oversee the Fairmount Long Term Care Home and the Howe Island ferry and act as a intermediary between the townships, the City of Kingston and the province. The city was charged with providing social services to the Frontenac townships under a local services re-alignment (LSR) agreement.

At the same time, the Frontenac Public Library and the Kingston Public Library amalgamated to become the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

In 2004, partly because the Frontenac Management Board subsequently took on the responsibility of providing land ambulance service for the Frontenac townships as well as the City of Kingston and also embarked on a major re-development of the Fairmount Home, the Frontenac Management Board members decided to re-establish Frontenac County.

In 2010 Frontenac County Council was expanded to eight members (two representatives – the mayor and a council appointee - from each of the four townships)

To this day, just as in 1865, members of Frontenac County Council tend to be wary of attempts to undermine the independence of their own townships, while at the same time working to present a strong common front to both the provincial government and their city cousins in Kingston.

(Information for sections of this article was taken from chapter 7 of “County of 1000 Lakes – The History of Frontenac County 1673-1973”, a book published by Frontenac County in 1982 to mark the 300th anniversary of the establishment of Fort Frontenac. The chapter was written by John Smale)

The Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund was originally set up as a way to compensate small, rural townships for costs that were downloaded to them from the Province of Ontario in 1998.

Since then it has morphed into a means of helping those municipalities deal with the fact that they lack the property assessment that larger municipalities enjoy, but still have significant obligations to live up to.

The overall amount transferred through OMPF has been decreasing in recent years, but some municipalities have still seen increases.

In Frontenac County it has been a mixed bag. Central Frontenac Township will receive $1.66 million, an increase of $42,000 over 2014.

South Frontenac will receive $1.47 million, a marginal increase of $8,300.

The most disappointed township will likely be North Frontenac, which will receive $1.1 million, an increase of $29,000. However, since North Frontenac is facing an increase in policing costs of almost $140,000, the small increase in their OMPF funding is cold comfort indeed.

Frontenac County does not receive OMPF funding directly, but the province has taken back a number of the costs that were downloaded on the County in 1998, including some of the downloaded charges for the Ontario Disability Supports Program and some from Ontario Works.

The province calculates that this upload is valued at $3,300,000.

Election results – check back here on Monday night.

We will be capping off our comprehensive election race coverage with results on Monday night. Since all of the townships we covered in depth (North, South and Central Frontenac and Addington Highlands) and most of the other townships in the vicinity are using the services of Intellivote this time around, we expect final results to be released somewhere between 8:10 and 8:30 in all of the townships.

The results will come out in one complete set, rather than a series of partial results as in the past, so the evening will not go late. In the past the candidates gathered at a central location to watch the results come in, and that may be the case this time around, and we will confirm the locations on Monday.

On Monday evening, the post at this web location will be updated regular with results and comments from candidates.

We will have reporters available to talk to the winners and the losers.

In the meantime voting continues.

In Central Frontenac 1722 votes had been cast as of Friday, October 24 at 4:30 pm. That represents 23.4% of eligible voters.

In North Frontenac, just under 20% (19.9%) of voter had cast their ballots as of Friday at 4:30 pm. Voting figures were not available from the other townships.

As part of the Intellivote service, candidates have daily access to voting statistics, including a breakdown of which of the eligible voters have already voted. This could mean a busy weekend for candidates, who will be combing those lists looking for the names of voters they are expecting support from, ensuring they have voted, and calling them if they have not.

Anyone who logs in to vote, either by phone or internet, by 8:00 on Monday Night, will be able to complete their ballot and have it counted.

Once all votes are cast, there is a process that a designated staff person at each township will complete, before Intellivote, a Nova Scotia based company, makes the tabulations and releases the results back to the township designate for release to the public.

A study is being undertaken by a researcher from the University of Toronto, Nicole Goodman, into the impact of electronic voting on voter turnout and access in general. (Electronic voting study article)

The local townships are all participating in that study.

Anecdotally, the two townships that we cover who were early adopters of e-voting, South Frontenac and Addington Highlands, did not see an increase in participation rates between 2003 and 2006, the first time they used tbe new system. Turnout dropped in both cases. Whether this had to do with the voting system or not has yet to be determined. Given the high percentage of seasonal residents in all of the local townships, e-voting would seem to offer a better opportunity than the mail-in ballot, which needed to be sent 10 days before election day for the vote to be guaranteed.

In the coming days we will look at the turnout in 2014 and seek further insight from Nicole Goodman as she looks at results from across rural Ontario.