Parham resident and boat builder Brian Frost with a 1954 Shepherd nearing completion

The two small gold hoops dangling from his left ear are a dead give away if you know anything about sailing in South Africa. To some they might signify a pirate but in the real world they are actually mementos of Brian Frost’s sailing trips around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, and his transatlantic excursions.

And though his sailing days are now mostly behind him, boats still remain the primary focus of his life, and it is no wonder why.

Brian Frost, who now resides with his wife Nancy near Parham, learned the trade of boat building at a very early age in Johannesburg, South Africa, from his father and grandfather. He has been earning a steady pay cheque from the trade ever since. “As soon as I could hold a tool in my hands I was helping my dad and grandpa build boats,” Brian said.

A varied 50-year career has seen him employed by a number of boat builders in Canada and he ran his own business, Frost Shipwrights and Boatworks from 1988-1996.

At the age of 66 Brian is still practicing the family trade in his shop on the Wagarville Road, where his passion is helping to keep alive the historic boats of Canada.These days Brian is focusing primarily on Shepherds, those regal, mahogany “runabouts” that have graced the waters of Lake Ontario and the Muskokas ever since Lloyd Henry Shepherd founded the Shepherd Boat Works in 1928 and opened his Niagara-on-the-Lake plant in 1939.

Similar to their American cousins, the Chris-Crafts, Shepherds are Canada's own historic floating antiques. They are no longer being made and are still greatly sought after in Canada and the US.

Brian “fell in love with them” when he was rebuilding them in Merrickville and Portland. Currently, there are three Shepherds at Brian's Parham shop. Two weathered models sit high and dry on his front lawn awaiting his touch; the third, an 18 foot, 1954 Shepherd utility runabout, is close to completion and is waiting to receive its final layers of varnish before Brian sends it out to a local upholsterer and then to a mechanic, who will apply the finishing touches to its seats and motor.

The cost of restoring an old Shepherd can be expensive - the mahogany alone for this one cost upwards of $7,000. Essentially Brain has rebuilt the boat from the bottom up, virtually from scratch. He began the project last fall and all told has put roughly 400 hours into it.

He admits to having the luxury of working “on a feel good basis” – that is, when he feels the need and is in the mood, and although his finished products come with a hefty price tag, comparable to that of classic cars, Brian never has trouble finding buyers for them. He says that often he has a number of serious buyers in line for a single boat and this Shepherd is no exception.

But Brian is not in it for the money, but rather for pleasure he derives from the work. He always loves to talk old boats with like-minded enthusiasts and is more than willing to give advice to those undertaking similar projects.

The work is a passion for him and he has no plans to quit any time soon. “When I am working here I am totally at peace with my soul. I'll likely be doing this until I drop. In the meantime there is still so much work that I still want and love to do.”

While boat building is his primary line of work, Brian also carves and paints carousel horses, sleighs, canvas canoes and horse trophies for ploughing matches.

Currently Brian does not own his own Shepherd and is patiently awaiting the arrival of a 27-foot Shepherd, a rare model, only four of which are in existence. That will be the one project that he keeps for himself.

Until then he will continue to work peacefully at his own pace at his shop, which is located at 2012 Wagarville Road, 5 km west of Road 38.

Sydney Asselstine of Hartington -out to “play her game” -just one of over 100 golfers participating at the GAO's Junior and Juvenile Ontario Championships at Rivendell.

Jim Lansdell, general manager of Rivendell Golf Club in Verona, was thrilled to be hosting over 100 of the province’s top-ranked junior female golfers for the Golf Association of Ontario's (GAO) Investors Group Juvenile and Junior Girls Ontario Championships.

On July 6 the girls teed off for the first of three days of intense play. By Thursday one of them will be going home as the Ontario Junior Champion and one as the Ontario Girls Juvenile Champion.

Claire Welsh, marketing and communications coordinator for the GAO, who had been watching since tee off time said, “It's really shaping up and looking like it’s going to be a battle until the very end. There are some pretty amazing golfers here today and I know there will be scouts out looking from some of the top schools in the States, so the girls will definitely have their game faces on and be playing as well as they can.”

I spoke to two golfers - the first, 17-year-old Augusta James from Bath, Ontario who won the Ontario Bantam Championship when she was 13.

Augusta had had a rough start to the day, with bogies on 3 of her first six holes, before recovering to a 2 over par 38 on the front nine. On the back nine she hit her stride, carding 3 birdies against one bogie for 2 under par 33. Her even par total for 18 holes put Augusta into a tie for second place, 2 shots back of the first round leader, Brittany Marchand of Brampton, the only player to break par with a score of 69

“I was a little shaky starting out but am hoping that I can pull it together tomorrow. I'd really love to win this event and feel it is a realistic goal for me,” Augusta said after her round.

I also spoke to Sydney Asselstine of Hartington, who is regular member at Rivendell and has been golfing since she was 8. I spoke to her half way through her round, after she had parred the 9th hole.

She said, “I'm just here trying to play my game. I'm not flying for the win, really just out to try to do my best and have a good time.”

Sydney shot a 13 over par 84 on the day, good enough for 33rd place among 74 participants.

This is the first time the event has been held at the Rivendell Golf Club and walking onto the course one could sense that something special was in the works. Jim Lansdell said, “We've been working towards this for the last year. The girls are loving the course and it's one that is well adapted to their game. They really have to think and place their shots.”

Edward Goodfellow, Ken Collins & Andrew Fazackerley

At 10AM on June 25 two weary young men, Edward Goodfellow and Andrew Fazackerley, putted their final Strokes Fore Hopes at hole #18 at the Rivendell Golf Club in Verona while onlookers applauded their efforts. These putts brought to a close their third annual golf marathon to raise funds for the Eastern Ontario Cancer Center at Kingston General Hospital.

The community once again rallied behind the two for the duration of their 24-hour, cart-free golfing marathon, which this year alone raised $55,000, bringing their three-year total to $105,000. Through a government initiative that matched donations nine to one, those dollars translated into a grand total of $1,050,000 towards capital improvements to the Cancer Centre

The event has landed the two on the cover of Flagstick magazine, the Ontario Golfing magazine and has made local heroes of them, a fact demonstrated at Thursday's 10AM tee-off, when close to 300 supporters came out to cheer them on.

While this was the last year for Strokes for Hopes, it was in no way the least. I spoke to Edward’s mother, Cathy Goodfellow, who along with countless other volunteers has put innumerable hours into organizing and running the event over its three-year history. She was thrilled with the turnout for this final year.

“It was definitely a very successful year and one that had its share of last-minute surprises,” she said.

One such surprise came in the form of a phone call Cathy received on Wednesday night prior to Thursday's tee off. “I got a call from Ken Collins who said he wanted to run something by me.”

That “something” was Ken's offer to match dollar for dollar whatever sum the community raised up to $50,000. Cathy continued, “I had to ask him to repeat himself to make sure that I had understood him correctly.”

$27,500 was raised in the 2010 Strokes For Hopes, and Ken Collins matching donation brought the total to $55,000.

Initially the goal of the event was to raise $1 million over three years and Cathy pointed out, “We would not have been able to do that without Ken's generous offer.”

Collins made the donation to support all of the cancer patients in the community but also to honour his niece, who passed away at the age of 35, leaving four children behind. When I spoke to Ken on the sidelines after the men made their final swings he said, “I'm just happy to be able to contribute.”

Back on the greens, Edward and Andrew, both visibly knackered but also elated, were receiving hugs, kisses and handshakes from their numerous supporters. When asked how it all went Edward replied, “It was great and the cause is a great one and as usual we got tremendous support from the community.”

Andrew said, “The weather is always a factor and this year it wasn't too bad. We definitely got soaked a couple of times and walked a pretty wet course but we both much prefer that to the extreme heat.”

Andrew also thanked the friends, supporters and junior golfers who took turns playing alongside the two young men throughout the night.

“It was absolutely awesome to play with them, especially the juniors because they are the future and hopefully they might be able to establish something similar of their own down the road,” he said.

Edward emphasized the finality of their last swings at the eighteenth hole. “This is definitely the final chapter of Strokes Fore Hopes for us. It's been a great part of our lives and we surely will miss it but this is definitely it.

“That being said, golf and giving back to the community are real passions for both of us - so you never know what might be in store for us...down the road.”

Canadian sport fishing legend “Big” Jim McLaughlin at the Ompah Community Hall

Denis Bedard and Rose Boivin, owners of the Double S Sports Marina in Ompah and hosts of the seventh annual Palmerston Lake Bass Fishing Derby, thrilled area anglers when they invited Canadian sport fishing legend “Big” Jim McLaughlin to the event this past weekend. Jim, who came armed with 50 free rods to hand out to young derby goers, spoke at the Ompah hall on Friday night. Proceeds from the event went to the North Frontenac Christmas parade.

McLaughlin's contributions to fishing in Canada include hosting countless children’s events, donations to charities, publishing his very own magazine “Just Fishing”, as well as hosting the “Ultimate Fishing Show” on television. He is a world champion bass fisherman and has won two Canadian Classic championships plus many tournaments too numerous to mention.

McLaughlin proved himself also to be an entertaining and humorous storyteller, with a bit of the philosopher in him. He shared with the crowd plenty of information and advice to improve their fishing.

Number one on his list was ”Always strive to think and adapt to all situations”. Jim stressed, “Fish love options and often the best place to be on any lake in a tournament is the place that offers the fish the most variable landscapes”.

He covered wacky rigging and “drop shotting”; the latter, according to Jim, is “the number one and simplest method for catching small mouth bass in North America”. All you need is a rod, a reel, a line, one sinker and plastic bait. The bait is hooked so that it presents itself just up off the bottom all of the time (for more detailed information, Google drop shotting).

He covered quick fixes for twisted lines and tangled rods, which can save much time and aggravation. For the former, never spin your reel unless you’re bringing in a fish. He said that most fish are lost when the line goes slack, so keep it taut. “So many little things you do can ruin your day and waste a lot of valuable fishing time even if you have the best gear.”

To stop rods getting tangled Jim demonstrated how you simply tighten the line and spin the rod so that the line wraps itself around it - a seemingly simple tip but one worth its weight in gold.

Similarly, chasing a big fish by the tail with a net will almost always end in disaster. “I've seen that ruin so many good fishing days. All you do is touch their tail with the net and away they go.”

Putting an end to bad habits was also advised - like leaving your rods in the car or in tarped-over boats where the heat and the sun will damage them over time.

Hooking your lures on the rod guides is another bad habit to drop since rods left this way tend to rattle in a moving boat or car and will dent the guides and cause problems later on.

Bait casters should always drop slowly, and when casting you should never be trying to “kill it.” Jim demonstrated how one should cast with the same strength that you have when you place a water bottle in the pit of your casting arm. “You never need more force that that.”

Marker buoys are invaluable for marking areas in the lake since it is always hard to relocate a spot with or without shore guides.

Other good advice - always retie knots when they first appear frayed so they don't break the next time you have a catch.

He also recommended using a number of smaller inexpensive plastic tackle boxes instead of one large more expensive one. Much easier to sort and to manage and you can take with you just the boxes that you need for certain occasions.

Another point he brought home: “Never cast over good stuff to get to good stuff.” You end up upsetting the fish closer to you and he reminded the crowd that most fish you catch are never that far away from you.

His other general advice: “Everything works sometimes.” He encouraged the crowd to always mix it up, try different-sized lures, different techniques, and different spots to fish.

No doubt after his talk derby goers were even more pumped to get out on the lake and put some of Jim's tried, tested and true advice to their own tests.

Marcie Webster teaches Hinchinbrooke PS students how to play Dox-en-Eye

In celebration of National Aboriginal Day and also marking the end of this year's Aboriginal Education Program called the Story Telling Project, which was run is six local area schools, the Strawberry Moon Festival held at St. James Catholic School on June 24 was the final foray for students into the wealth of traditional Algonquin culture that thrives in the Sharbot Lake and surrounding areas.

The year-long program funded by the Limestone District School Board was run this year at Prince Charles, Land O' Lakes, Clarendon Central, Sharbot Lake and Hinchinbrooke public schools, as well as at St. James Catholic School.

Marcie Webster, Algonquin, and the Aboriginal program coordinator at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake, has been running the program for the last three years. During regular monthly visits to the schools she presented various aspects of Algonquin culture: the language, the legends, story telling, and games, to name a few.

“I tried to base the monthly themes on their prior existing knowledge so, for example, on Earth Day, I spoke about Mother Earth. Earlier in March I taught them the legend of Maple Moon, which ties in with their section on maple syrup making.

Marcie is a firm believer in the importance of making the learning experience as “real” as possible for young students and she strove to present the materials in a sensorial way so that youngsters would go away from the experience with a deeper, more direct and more memorable experience.

This idea was carried over to the festival where a group of local Algonquin residents, many dressed in ceremonial attire, set up four stations and shared their specific skills with the student who rotated around to each station.

Mitch Shewell and Alison Ferrant told traditional Algonquin stories such as the Naabooze (pronounced Nanabush) Story and sang traditional songs, Wishi Ta and the Water Song; Dwight and Bev Beattie demonstrated traditional animal woodcarving; Danka Brewer told the Forgiveness Story about two brothers who become reconciled after a bitter disagreement; Marianne and Anna Marie Wilson prepared and served bannock while outside Marcie taught the children how to play a traditional Haida game called Dox-en-Eye.

Later, each school made a presentation based on what they learned throughout the program, which included songs, skits, and short dramas. Marcie presented a Miigwetch Bundle to Mrs. Putnam from Hinchinbrooke PS who was recognized for “going beyond her call of duty” by enriching the program with her own research and extra classroom activities.

For Marcie, the program is an important one and one that she is passionate about. “We have a lot of aboriginal people in the schools and whether they know it or not, I just think it’s good for all children to learn these aboriginal traditions. Also the school is required to teach it and I think some teachers who may not be familiar or comfortable with the material enjoy the fact that I can come in and present it to the students. I'm also really happy that teachers are coming out and asking aboriginal people how to effectively and sensitively teach culture in the classroom.”

L-R: Back: Lynete Whan, Elizabeth Melkman, Niki Putnam, Melissa Baillargeon, Laurie Love, Angie Sergeant, Lesley Merrigan, Nicole Greenstreet, Jen Meulenaar; front: Gen Cumpson, Amanda Sorensen

On the morning of May 29, 11 excited ladies left from the Fit Plus Gym in Sharbot Lake and headed to our nation’s capital to participate in the Ottawa Race Weekend. The decision to try our hand at something other then kickboxing (where the group originates) came from a Thursday night conversation with our “Veteran” race runners, Niki Putnam & Jen Meulenaar. Unable to pass up a great challenge, we all went home that night and registered. Each one of us started training in their own way, a few started group runs, some preferred the quiet of solo treks. Being busy ladies, we trained when we could and added RUNNING into our already crowded schedules!! Our Kickboxing classes were always filled with stories of personal bests, wild animals along the road and even some animal rescuing. Our goal became our motto “Complete not Compete”!!!

Gen Cumpson took the initiative to approach an independent Brewery on our behalf, which decided that they would sponsor our team and provided us with T-shirts and hats to make us look more “polished”!! When we arrived at the start line on race day, everyone knew we had arrived!!! Six of us took on the 5 km run and 5 the 10 km!! Each one of us saw our training pay off as we congratulated each other at the finish lines. We all shared a feeling of individual achievement but we also felt the strength of the support of the group. It was an incredible day!

Most of us have signed up or intend to sign up for the Army Run coming up in September. Proceeds from the CANADA ARMY RUN will go to support the Canadian Forces Personnel Support programs (CFPSA), including Soldier On and Military Families’ Fund. It is a 5 km race similar to the one we just completed. We are also looking for new runners to join us. We would like to enter three teams into the Team Relay Race in Picton on October 3, 2010. As of this writing we have one complete team and the start of a second. If this sort of team event interests you, feel free to send one of us a message on Facebook. Every one of us has their own motivation for getting out there and pounding the pavement! The only thing stopping others is …….um……NOTHING!!! Come on out and run with us!!!

Link to Canada Army Run Site (http://www.armyrun.ca/en/raceinfo.aspx)

Link to PEC County Marathon (http://www.pecmarathon.ca/)

Ellamae Richardson with her guest Dana Meise

Just as the sun was starting to set at the end of a long pre-solstice day, there was a lot of activity at the home of Ellamae Richardson, just south of Sharbot Lake. Members of her family were gathered to say goodbye to her brother, who was preparing to travel back west after a visit.

Just then, a man walked up the driveway and asked for a drink of water. It turned out he had been walking for quite a while.

Dana Meise told Ellamae that he is walking across Canada along the not yet completed Trans-Canada Trail, and he needed a place to pitch his tent for the night, which he ended up doing in Ellamae's yard.

Dana's trip started in May of 2008. By mistake, a friend bought him a plane ticket to Saint John, New Brunswick, so he flew there from his home in British Columbia and then had to take a bus to St. John's Newfoundland, where his trip was set to start.

He walked all summer in 2008, until he reached a small town in New Brunswick. He then returned to BC for the winter, where he works in forestry. In 2009, he picked up where he left off and walked as far as North Hatley, Quebec, and then visited with the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, and the prime minister’s wife, Laureen Harper, in Ottawa. They are both advocates for the Trans-Canada Trail.

He has ambitious plans this summer. He got an early start in mid-April, and his goal is to walk as far as Windsor, and then head north to Sault Ste. Marie (which may involve some boat travel) en route to his goal of Thunder Bay. “I walk between 30 and 40km a day, which takes from 5 to 7 hours, leaving me time to look around and meet people along the way,” Meise said. As of Monday night, he had walked 5389 km, 16 more than his fellow BC native Terry Fox ran during his marathon of hope.

Although he is raising money for “the Brain Injury Group” this summer (his dad suffered a brain injury some years ago) and has forged an alliance with the Trans-Canada Trails Association, his trip is not fundamentally a fundraising venture. It is rather the fulfilment of a lifetime dream. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be an explorer, but everything had been explored. When I heard about the Trans-Canada Trails project, I thought it would be an idea to walk the entire trail,” he said.

For a while he waited for the trail to be completed, but in 2008 he decided to stop waiting and started his trek. Where the trail is not complete he uses the roads, which he does not like doing. Walking up the fledgling K&P trail, which is slated to join the Trans-Canada Trail when it is completed, proved to be a daunting task because of some open swamps and non-existent bridges, but Meise did the best he could, with the fallback of walking along Road 38 when necessary. He walked from Godfrey to Sharbot Lake on Monday.

Among the few rules that Dana follows is to limit what he asks for from people along the way. He keeps all the food he needs, only asking for water, directions, and, occasionally, a place to pitch his tent. During his off time, Meise keeps a detailed journal, which he plans to turn into a book after his trip.

One thing that he has made note of are the connections between people. He makes use of email and his Facebook page to keep in contact with people and even to deliver messages from people in one part of the country to people living far away. “A lot of coincidental, even serendipitous things have taken place,” he said.

One of them happened with Ellamae Richardson. “When he walked up my lane and started telling his story, I already knew something about it, because my sister in Perth had mentioned him. He met her at Tim Horton's. And my brother lives in Nanaimo, BC where he plans to end his trip,” she said.

Dana Meise plans to complete his trip in 2011, which seems ambitious, but he points out that while the trail in eastern Canada is very winding, it is more or less straight from the Manitoba border to the Pacific Ocean.

He can be followed at www.thegreathike.com 

Phys. Ed. students at Sydenham High School carry the torch for the Ontario Special Olympics Torch Run on May 28 in Sydenham

Ninety students at Sydenham High School joined forces with members of the Frontenac and other area OPP detachments for their 24th annual Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Ontario (SOO).

The run is an annual community-based, province-wide event to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics movement in Ontario, the charity of choice for the Ontario Chiefs of Police Association. Funds are raised through donations, pledges for the runners, the sale of t-shirts and other merchandise, corporate donations and other special fundraising events.

The run began at the school and took participants along a 2.5km loop around downtown Sydenham. Vice-Principal Bryan Lambert participated in the run. He spoke about the important opportunity it offers students at the school. “It’s great to have our Phys. Ed. students fully engaged in this event. It’s a wonderful cause and since we have a number of students at the school with special needs, the event goes a long way in pulling people together in the community and bridging the gap for those students who have special needs."

Trousdale’s Foodland donated food and beverages for the runners and OPP Constable Natalie McDowell of the Frontenac detachment, who organized the event, was thrilled with the turnout that included 17 officers, most from Frontenac detachment. She was equally pleased with the funds raised, which more than doubled last year's total.

This year the 2010 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games will be in London, Ontario, from July 13 to 17. Athletes from across the country will be taking part for the chance to represent Canada at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Greece.

Anyone who missed the run and would like to donate to the SOO can visit their website at www.specialolympicsontario.com or www.torchrunontario.com

The Motorcycle Ride for Dad, an event dedicated to fighting prostate cancer through research and awareness, started 10 years ago in Ottawa.

The event has now gone national and in May, 27 rides took place across the country.

To mark the 10th anniversary, a second ride has been added this year, a seven-stage, nation-wide ride that is taking place during the month of August. The National Capital stage is taking place next week, and the riders will be stopping at the Sharbot Lake beach on Wednesday, August 11, sometime between 1:30 and 2:00.

Members of the Central Frontenac Economic Development Committee will be on hand to greet them, and a donation cheque will be presented by Wayne Robinson of W.A. Robinson and Associates. The public is invited to show their support.

There will likely be hundreds of riders participating in the stage because the Ottawa Chapter of the Motorcycle Ride is the oldest and largest of the 25 chapters in the country.

The Motorcycle ride for Dad has raised over $5 million over the last 10 years for prostate cancer research. In addition to raising money for cancer research, the ride also makes donations to the military families fund.

“The stop in Sharbot Lake will provide people from Central Frontenac a chance to show their support for this worthy cause,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski, who is drumming up support for the event. “It also promises to be quite a thing to see, with that number of motorcycles riding down Road 38 at one time.”

For more information about the ride, go to motorcycleridefordad.org

Don Bates conducts The Verona Express, a festival favorite for youngsters

The Verona Festival underwent two major changes for its 15th season both in name-The Verona Cattail Festival - and place, the Verona Lions Club and Frontenac Farmers Market site. And judging by the turnout it seems that change can sometimes breathe some fresh life into what was already a good thing.

Cattails loomed large, especially at Friday night’s opening parade, which included frogs, fairies, Prince Charles Public School's float of “bog buddies”, the Deline family's prize-winning bog trailer, Debbie Lovegrove's fancily decorated boggy bug mobile and a number of other impressively decorated vehicles, costumed walkers and horse riders.

After the parade festival goers headed to the festival's new hub location and found ample entertainment, snacks and a record number of vendors at the marketplace, which all kept attendees entertained till well into the twilight hours and throughout the entire weekend. One of the organizers, Debbie Lingen, estimated the number of attendees this year as approximately 2000-2500.

The Lions canteen provided munchies and diners lounged comfortably under cover of the new Donna Clarke pavilion. Kids had their choice between a number of hands on crafts, mini-golf, petting zoo and took frequent rides on the Verona Express.

Photo Right: Team Whalen's Curtis and Justin off to a good start took best overall finish at the duct tape boat races

Regular events held at McMullen park and beach like the antique car show, dog show, antique engine display and classic car show, were well attended thanks to the frequent shuttle bus service. Long-time festival favorite, the duct tape boat races had a record number of entries this year, seeming to prove that attendees are embracing the new changes.

Many of the high lights occurred on the main stage and this years entertainment hit the mark many times over with an eclectic array of high quality groups ranging in styles that included rock, blues, gospel, bluegrass, reggae and country. A professional marquee naming the individual bands and their scheduled appearance times added a nice touch.

Doug Lovegrove was the festival’s “green guru” who organized the recycling station that took care of virtually all of the festival garbage and recycling and his booth was a particular hit with the youngsters.

Rain is forever an unfortunate visitor to any outdoor summer festival but Sunday's deluge hardly dampened the over 300 attendees who gathered undercover at the new pavilion and waited out the storm, enjoying Sunday's line up where Luther Wright and the Wrongs gave a heartfelt encore performance.

Festival organizers who might have been hesitant of this year’s changes warmed up by the end of the festival as visitors raved about the changes. Debbie Lingen, who emceed all weekend long along with Dick, said, “We've gotten great reviews about everything and we feel that every year it is just going to get bigger and better. Those who were unsure about the changes I think have been won over.”

The festival's general manager Wayne Conway was equally enthusiastic. “The new location is just terrific-I'd have to call it awesome. It's bigger, safer, and we have no health, safety or parking issues. I think that the numbers are up and the signage and the free transportation have made it easy for people to attend all of the events. The really great thing is that this year for the first time we are incorporating all of Verona.”

The festival is funded by a number of local and area sponsors and the Verona Community Association and is run solely by volunteers. It continues to be a long time favorite attraction for locals and visitors alike.