Throughout Central Frontenac, events are planned for the celebration of the past and the present that is the Frontenac Heritage Festival.

The fourth annual festival will include many of the features from previous years, and a few new events as well. Events will run for three days this year, between Friday, February 19 and Sunday the 21st.

One of the focal points of the festival will be the Crow Lake Schoolhouse, where interactive demonstrations about what life was like in rural Ontario about 200 years ago will take place on Friday and Saturday.

Inside the building up to 15 people will demonstrate traditional skills, including wool knotting, traditional foods and herbs, including some that were used as medicines. On Saturday, lunch in the form of goulash and pie will be available at reasonable prices.

Outside the schoolhouse, local residents Bob Miller and Mike Procter will be joined by a number of other people that have an interest in the way things were done in the era before machinery and electricity. “The skills that people needed to have in order to be able to survive interest those of us who get involved in this kind of activity,” Mike Procter said. “People needed to have a lot of ingenuity and self-reliance just to get by.”

Among the skills that will be demonstrated are: fire starting using flint and steel, the use of a variety of hand tools and tool-making equipment, and weaponry in the form of muskets. John DeWagner, who makes long bows, will also be on hand.

Bannock will be prepared, and for sweetening, Matthew Wheeler will be on hand to prepare maple taffy.

Mike Procter will have a busy day on Friday. Before demonstrating at Crow Lake, he will bring some of his passion for the past, along with some of his vision for tourism and perhaps an old joke or two, to the Sharbot Lake Legion. He will be the speaker at the kick-off event for the festival, a Business Over Breakfast on Friday morning at 8:30 am.

OTHER FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Photo Contest Extended! For those shutterbugs who have missed it thus far, entries can still be made for the photo contest because the deadline for entries has been extended. Entering the contest is easy. There are three categories, People – Nature – Recreation (action shots) and there is a special category for youth (16 and under) as well. Simply email a jpeg version of a digital photo to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., indicating which category it is to be judged in, by Monday, February 15 at 5 pm.

On Friday evening the Legion will also be hosting a Roast Beef Dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m., and at 7:00 p.m. at the Maples Restaurant the winners of the Heritage Festival Photo Contest and the Snow Sculpture contest will be announced, and a slide show of the entries will be shown.

Saturday

The feature day of the Heritage Festival starts off the way any cold winter day should start, with coffee at a country store, in this case at the Parham General Store, where in addition to coffee there will be a display of local photos.

In addition to the Crow Lake Schoolhouse events, which will continue on Saturday from 10am – 4pm, the Soldiers Memorial Hall (Oso Hall) in Sharbot Lake will be the site of displays from the railway committee, the heritage weavers, spinners, cheese making, and more.

At the beach in Sharbot Lake, a girls’ pond hockey tournament will get underway at 10 a.m., as well as horse-drawn wagon rides. At noon, also at the beach, frozen turkey curling gets underway (organizers note that no turkeys will be harmed during this event)

Meanwhile, in the village of Arden, the Skills and Thrills event will get underway at 11:00 a the rink. Participants will need to bring skates, a hockey stick and a helmet to participate.

The Tichborne rink will be hosting a 3 of 3 hockey tournament, starting at noon as well.

While all this outdoor activity is underway, the Sharbot Lake Legion will be hosting a Chilifest, with judging taking place after noon. A Jam Session and Hockey & Wing Night follows.

While in Sharbot Lake, there is one added event that people should go to. At the Seniors’ Centre (across from the Freshmart in the former United Church Manse) Northern Frontenac Community Services is sponsoring a Quilt Show And Sale, featuring a silent auction with reserve bids, between 12-4 pm on Friday, and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday.

In the evening, Jim MacPherson will be hosting the annual Variety Show at the Sharbot Lake High School Cafetorium, and the day will be capped off with fireworks at the ball field next to the school.

Sunday -

Sunday is more of an informal day at the festival. It starts with a heritage breakfast, put on by the Sharbot Lake Anglican Church Women's Group. (Anglican Church Hall – $5)

There will also be a heritage snowmobile ride guided by Wayne Harris. A family skate and fun day will take place at the Tichborne rink, followed the playoffs from Saturday’s 3 on 3 hockey tournament. After the tournament, the closing ceremonies will take place.

Celebrate Valentine’s and Family Day in Sharbot Lake

A few years ago the Oso Recreation Committee put on Canada Day events and maybe one or two other events a year, but lately that has changed, and this weekend is a prime example of that.

The committee will be presenting two events: a Valentine’s Dance for the grownups and a fun day at Sharbot Lake Beach on Family Day.

The dance will be held on Saturday night, February 13 at the Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake. It is a licensed event, featuring the Cellar Hounds, who are brothers Joe and Tim Asselstine, Randy Kempe and Pete Davis. Tickets are $10 per person, and are available in advance at Fit Plus and the township office.

Tickets have been selling well, but there will be some available at the door. The hall only holds 120 people so people are advised to come early or buy their tickets beforehand.

Family Day activities – Spencer Robinson's zamboni has been spotted on the west basin of Sharbot Lake. The rink is ready for the broomball game, and the oval is ready for the skaters as the February holiday approaches.

Free events are all scheduled to start at 1 o'clock on the school holiday, Heritage Day, Monday, February 15. Smoosh races, skating, broomball, snow shoeing, horse-drawn carriage rides and snowmobile/trail safety are all featured events, and everything is free, including spider hot dogs, hot chocolate and snow taffy. The recreation committee is even providing equipment for people to use if they don't have their own.

Mikayla MacDonald, 11, finished 5th at the Marmora dog sled races last weekend. Photo Kelly Macdonald

11 year old Mikayla MacDonald took part in the 4 mile sled dog races which took place on the weekend of Feb 6 and 7 in Marmora. Mikayla and her 4 dogs finished 5th in the race. Not bad when you consider that she was up against older and more experienced handlers. Mikayla trains her own dogs and is totally responsible for their care. Well done Mikayla!

Recent events have presented the opportunity for both Central Frontenac Council and the community to address future outdoor recreational activities within the Hamlet of Mountain Grove.

In 2007 a 17.5 acre site was purchased in Mountain Grove by the municipality (immediately east of the Land O Lake Public School) to provide space for a needed local fire station. Since that time the station has been constructed and work has commenced to establish an outdoor fire training facility behind the station. Although this development has utilized approximately 4 acres of the site, still much of the property remains available for other possible uses.

The Olden Park Road ball-field is presently on a site that is also home of the township’s largest public works garage and the Olden Park landfill site (which became busier after closure of the Arden landfill site in 2007). As the Township grows there will be an increase of traffic on the site and a need to expand public works facilities as is evident by the new sand storage building. Although the ball-field remains fully functional, the site is less than desirable for a number of reasons related to the incompatible uses on the property referenced above. Also, the ball-field is some distance from Mountain Grove and the access off busy #7 highway is another detraction.

These events have resulted in the opportunity for Council, in conjunction with the Olden District Recreation Committee to launch a local site planning process for the surplus lands adjacent to the fire hall. This process is intended to explore the viability of building a new ball-field and other recreation development options at this location which is much more accessible to the hamlet.

To assist Council and the Recreation Committee to meet this site development challenge the township has retained the services of Ms. Kristine Hebert who has had extensive recreation development experience while working with the City of Kingston. Her role in the exercise is to facilitate local discussion regarding potential recreational uses for the site and to prepare a “concept” plan for the property, which will include both Fire Department considerations along with input received from the public, members of local Recreation Committee and other stakeholders who will be identified as the process unfolds.

An initial meeting was held January 18 to confirm the next steps, including the importance of issuing a news-release/news letter to explain where the process sits.

Another important decision made at this initial meeting was the creation of a local “working committee” to help guide the process. This committee (which may certainly be expanded as interest grows) is made up of:

Recreation: Cory Thompson, Anita Hole; Councilor: Norm Guntensperger; Fire Department: Art Cowdy; Township Staff: Crystal Nedow, Mike Richardson; Planners: Kristine Hebert, Joe Gallivan

Future meetings/events by the committee will be advertised and it is hoped that a concept plan for the site will be completed by April, 2010. This plan will then form the basis for initial budget estimates, fund raising activities, grant applications, and final site design work.

Carmine and Laurel Minutillo of Parham show their son Richard the ins and outs of maple syrup making

Last week’s sunny days and chilly nights had maple syrup makers out in force tapping trees and gathering sap prior to this week’s weather taking a wet and mild turn.

For the Minutillo family of Parham, maple syrup making has been a family tradition for the last seven years. They taught themselves how to make syrup with the help of a booklet from the Ministry of Natural Resources and with practice.

Though they only have 12 taps on just five trees they manage to gather enough sap to produce roughly 10 litres of syrup a year, which is plenty for them. Behind the house is their sugar shack, which houses a old wood stove on which they boil the sap.

Carmine said it takes about 100 hours to boil down. “We boil it down in these pots here until it starts to get thick and wants to boil over and then we finish it off in the house.” Once it reaches the right consistency they filter it through cheesecloth and felt to get rid of the sediment.

Laurel explained, “The syrup we end up with is quite dark and I think that the wood smoke gives it a richer flavour. We give some of it away but eat most of us ourselves and love it on waffles.”

Tappers are taking a break now and hoping for the weather to change so the sap begins to flow once again.

Editorial by Jeff Green

There are some pretty complicated setups for making maple syrup. Professional producers often talk about vacuums and osmosis and sugar percentages and the like.

But at its root maple syrup is very basic. All a person has to do is gather sap and then boil and boil and boil until it turns into syrup.

You might say, any fool can make maple syrup.

That's where we come in at the Frontenac News. We know all about being fools. You might say it's a preoccupation of ours.

So here is our primer on the ten most common errors in maple syrup production, as tested by our staff.

Do not bother tapping Elm trees, or Oak trees for that matter. I personally tap the same Elm tree every year. I see the hole from the previous year and figure it must be a Maple. It never runs. One day, perhaps, Elm trees will start producing sweet sap. I'll let everyone know when that happens

Make sure that before you drill a hole you have a spile and a bucket to go with it. Just drilling holes and watching the sap drip onto the ground is considered to be arborial cruelty, even if the tree is not in any real danger.

Check your sap buckets periodically to see if they have holes in them. They don't work as well when they have a leak. (Hint: If you find that some trees don't seem to be producing even if they are always dripping when you check the buckets, a leaky bucket may be the problem. Just tip the bottom of the bucket skyward over your head to see if any light gets through – it helps to make sure the bucket is completely empty before doing this.

You will need some system of storing sap – a holding tank or bins of some sort -something that isn't too “tippy”.

The next section concerns the most precarious stage in production, the boiling itself.

Drinking sap as a spring tonic is perfectly acceptable, but the practice of bathing in the syrup early in the boiling process is to be discouraged among all members of the family, no matter how old or young they may be. Tends to harm the finished product. Gamey, smoky and sharp are not the kind of adjectives you want people to use when describing the taste of your syrup.

It is recommended that whatever kind of pan you use to boil down the sap, it would be best if the pan does not leak, again for obvious reasons. However, if it leaks at one end, that end can be raised so the sap does not leak out. Be sure the heat does not build up over the dry, leaky, end however. Smoky syrup, anyone?

You can boil down syrup using wood, oil, electricity, or propane, and as everyone knows, 25-50 litres of water needs to be boiled off the sap to produce a single litre of syrup. People have been known to wander off during a boil, or to fall asleep during a boil. This is not recommended, for two reasons 1) burnt syrup, (this is beyond smoky) and 2) burnt house.

Be very careful when the sap has been reduced down to near syrup. There are various ways to tell whether the syrup is done. There is temperature (when the temperature begins to approach the 219 degree Fahrenheit, 104 degree Celsius mark); there is the two-drips-off-the-spoon technique, and there is the sheeting-on-the-spoon technique. Unfortunately none of these techniques work. It has something to do with the sea level. One thing is certain, when the syrup is bottled and huge crystals develop that cling to the glass, the syrup has been overcooked.

Do not - I repeat - do not, leave the finished syrup laying around in a finishing pan in your kitchen or back room for three or four months uncovered before getting around to bottling it. Unlike blue cheese and some dessert wines, introducing different kinds of mould to syrup is not a good idea. Funky is not an adjective you want to be applied to your syrup

When the season is all done and the trees go into bud, do not leave the pails and spiles in the trees. Whatever sap that is left in the buckets will ferment; the spiles will be harder and harder to remove, and the buckets will take on an aroma that may lead next year's syrup to be as bad as this year’s.

Back row:  Emma Leblanc, Brianna Blight, Keighan Chadwick, Buff Chadwick (trainer), Jamie Hitchcock, Kevin Hitchcock (head coach), Randie Hollingsworth and Mark Hollingsworth (assistant coach).

Front row:  Lacey Henwood, Suzanne Allison, Nicole Hunter, Erica Sortberg and Kelsey Player

The Frontenac Fury Midget C girl’s have done it again! Not only did the team win their second tournament this year (Brockville February Freeze, February 21, 2010), but through hard work and dedication by all team members, the girls have qualified for the OWHA Provincials, which will be held in Mississauga, April 9 – 11.

“Our rink has not had a women’s team qualify for provincials in over 20 years”, says Buff Chadwick, team trainer and president of the Frontenac Girl’s Hockey Association. “This is big news for our arena, and for girl’s hockey!”

To earn their spot at Provincials the team played a single round-robin against the South Dundas Lions, Kemptville Storm, Castor River Coyotes and finally the Brockville Angels.

“This is our year to take home the cup”, says Erica Sortberg, team captain. “Most of the team has played together since they were kids. Four of the team members will not be returning next year, as they will have surpassed the age limit to play in the league.

“What a thrill it would be to hang an OWHA Provincial Banner at the Frontenac Arena”, says Kevin Hitchcock, head coach. “I won’t make any pre-tournament predictions, but we are not going to the provincials to lose!”

In the photo: 

NAEC Elementary Girls’ Basketball Team

On Friday, March 5, the elementary girls’ basketball team traveled to Napanee District Secondary School to compete in a basketball tournament. The Vikings dominated in their first two games against Enterprise and Selby and also in the semi-finals against Sharbot Lake. However they had a close victory against Selby in the finals.

The final score was 17 to 16 for N.A.E.C. The team showed awesome teamwork and sportsmanship. Even though the games were back to back the girls pushed through and got the results that they were hoping for. After the final game the girls received gold medals, which meant that the Vikings were the Limestone District School Board basketball champions!

The players that went to NDSS were Deanna Allen, Taylor Salmond, Emma Benn, Danielle Drysdale, Kendra Wilson, Chantal Smith, Abby Tryon, Cayley Wilson, Brittany Wood, Kassandra James, their amazing coach Madame Bumstead, and Mr. Rewbotham, who was not able to attend the event, but still showed great support for the team.

After 24 hours of grueling golf Edward Goodfellow and Andrew Fazackerley raised $330,000 for the Eastern Ontario Cancer Clinic at KGH in 2009 bring their 2 year total to $500,000

Andrew Fazackerley and Edward Goodfellow are remembering what it’s like to play 24 consecutive hours of cart-free golf – and they admit that with two years’ experience under their belts they know exactly what to expect. What keeps them coming back year after year is not the inclement weather, the chilly early morning rain or the blazing noon-day sun. Nor is it the dehydration, the blisters and intense fatigue. For both men, what keeps them coming back to Rivendell Golf Club to raise funds for the Eastern Ontario Cancer Clinic in Kingston is their fierce dedication to the cause and their love for the sport. What both remember most is the emotional high of accomplishing a difficult task, fighting for a local cause, and perhaps most importantly, receiving the ongoing support of community members, friends and family with every swing they make.

The two golfers will once again be taking over Rivendell Golf Club in Verona on June 24 and 25 for their third annual Strokes Fore Hopes. In the event’s two-year history, Edward and Andrew have raised $50,000, which through a government initiative program that matched their donations 9 to 1, has been multiplied into half a million dollars for the cause - no small feat for two young golfers, who in the process have gained national recognition and landed themselves on the front cover of Flagstick golf magazine.

While the government will be offering the same 9:1 initiative this year, the gentlemen fear that it might be the last year the offer stands. As a result they have been brainstorming new ideas for this year’s event, hoping to make it their best year ever.

New this year will be “Pledge to Play” forms, where supporters collect a minimum of $150 in pledges and earn a chance to play three holes alongside the gents. The size of the pledge will determine first pick of play times.

Also new this year is an invitation to local businesses to provide corporate sponsorship from $250 up to $5,000. Permission has been given by the Kingston Hospital Foundation to allow gold and platinum sponsors to defer their payments until September 1, 2010.

Corus Entertainment will again be broadcasting live from Rivendell on 104.3 and 96.3 FM and will be offering additional television coverage in the form of regular public service announcements. Last year’s radio coverage attracted the generosity of one anonymous sponsor who donated $11,000 - which through the government initiative became $110,000.

Also returning this year is the silent auction and prizes will include green fee passes to Woodensticks Gold Club in Uxbridge; a weekend excursion to Mont. Tremblant, QC; wood carvings by local artist Bob Ruttan; and a signed Toronto Soccer Club jersey, to name just a few.

PIN HIGH will be sponsoring the golfers again this year and will also be selling “Strokes fore Hopes" golf shirts.

Student volunteers from Prince Charles Public School in Verona will be participating in the event through “Golf in Schools”, a program aimed at increasing student awareness of the sport.

The $10 pre-tee-off breakfast will be available again this year and last year's 175 breakfast diners alone raised $17,500, which shows that every little bit goes a very long way.

Edward’s mother Cathy Goodfellow is one of the organizers of the event and stresses the fact that all of the funds raised will go far in supporting members of the local community - people from Kingston all the way north to Plevna who may presently or in the future require treatment at the centre. Last year alone the centre cared for close to 35,000 patients who received regular care, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

This year’s motto for the event is “Strength Courage, Faith and Hope" and with just over three weeks to go till tee off both golfers have been thinking hard about that motto as they prepare for the event.

Edward said, “The memories from past years remain so strong. We never forget the feeling we get when so many people from the community come out to support us.” Andrew spoke of the opportunity he and Edward had to tour the cancer clinic and explained, “It really opened my eyes and has allowed my passion for the event to grow year after year. With the event looming you remember the physical pain but also how it made us feel emotionally - which is what makes me want this year to be our biggest and best year ever.”

For more information visit strokesforeshopes.ca. Anyone wanting to donate to the silent auction can contact Cathy Goodfellow at 613-375-6651

Sydenham’s Golden Eagles squad take second place at the Nationals. Photo courtesy of Miranda Roy

After placing first in their division in mid-February the Sydenham Golden Eagles competitive co-ed cheerleading team placed second at the Nationals, which were held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga this past weekend. The team competed against seven teams in the intermediate division from all over Canada. 

The Eagles put on a tremendous performance, finishing just 2 points (out of 800) behind the first-place winners, Eden High School from Hamilton. Seeing that of the 26-member team only one is an actual gymnast, they chose to focus on technical difficulty. Head coach Jenn Mizerovsky said, “We took a big chance and focused on big precision stunts like pyramids and tosses and it ended up paying off.”

In the preliminary round, worth 40% of their score, the Eagles finished in second place with a score of 280.5, just 1.5 points behind the first-place team. They incurred a small deduction in an otherwise clean performance.

In the second round, worth 60% of their final score, they scored 287.7, just 0.7 points behind the leading team.

The team’s second-place finish was even more remarkable given that they lost seven members leading up to the competition, and were forced to make a number of last-minute changes to their routine just weeks before the event.

Jenn Mizerovsky said, “We were feeling pretty nervous going in and though we were still shooting for a top spot we all knew that it could either turn out very well or really badly.”

Grade 10 student and team member Katrina Roy spoke to me by phone after the win and said, “We’re all so proud. We practiced so hard for this and it all came together in the end.”

The team also took the award for most creative use of music, beating out the 150 teams that participated.

The coach credited the team for their drive and determination and said, “They did an outstanding job, and with so little time to prepare they performed with confidence and precision and also managed to keep smiling the entire way through.”

Paul Tyrrell, Dawn Parks, Joe Doran and Rob Doran rode 97 km in the Ompah volunteer fire fighters annual Spring ATV run on April 24.

The fourth Annual Ompah Volunteer Firefighters’ Spring ATV run took place on April 24. Over 625 participants took part in the 97 km run that took riders through a diverse trail, one of the run’s major draws.

The event attracted riders from all over Ontario and from as far away as Vars, Quebec. It has grown from 70 riders in its first year and its popularity has been spread mainly by word of mouth. The Ompah crew for the first time this year enlisted the help of the volunteer firefighters and FLAG Ladies from Snow Road, who put on the turkey supper which fed upwards of 400 diners; the volunteer firefighters from the Clar-Mill Volunteer Fire Department, who put on the lunch; plus a crew of students and staff from Clarendon Central Public School who ran an ATV bike wash. Between the four groups over $20,000 was raised.

The majority of funds will be put towards the building of the new fire hall in Ompah, which is set to begin in the fall, and towards the purchase of a thermal imaging camera that will allow fire fighters to locate people trapped in buildings.

The event is the single biggest fundraiser for the Ompah firefighters and according to ATV enthusiast Dawn Parks, who took part in the event, it was  “a very organized run with no congestion, great signage and a lot of volunteers who helped make it a really enjoyable ride.”

For those who missed out, the Ompah and area firefighters will be holding another run in the fall, on Saturday Sept. 18.