“The committee knows we need some form of seniors housing, tell us what . . .” Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith told a gathering last Thursday afternoon at Oso Hall to discuss seniors housing in the Township.

To that end, the committee (Smith, Coun. Bill MacDonald, RFCS director Louise Moody, Pat Fisher and Peggy Hurley) has been asking residents to fill out a survey that asks questions related to people’s thoughts about what seniors housing should look like in the Township. To date, they’ve received about 50 surveys, many of which were filled out by the 45 or so people that came out to the information session. (You can still get a survey at the Township office or fill one out online at the Township website).

“I know there’s a need because I have a couple of rental properties and they’re always full simply from word of mouth,” Smith said. “We know there’s a need for more than just seniors housing — single males for example.

“But the County has given us money to specifically look at seniors housing.”

To that end, the committee hired Ed Starr of SHS Consulting and Ken Foulds of Re/Fact Consulting to produce a report.

“You’re fighting with the economics to make the bricks and mortar work,” said Foulds. “Frontenac Islands took three years to get a building up and South Frontenac is just at the point of marshalling resources.”

“It’s cheaper to build outside the hamlets but people want amenities,” said Starr. “The average building costs are $200 per square foot which means about $200,000 for a small apartment.

“And Central Frontenac is one of the few areas where the population has declined.

“There has been a diaspora out of Toronto where people sell their expensive Toronto properties, come here, pay cash and bank the rest, driving up prices but often health and service needs force them back to the city.”

The consultants summarized their findings as:

• Modest growth over the next 20 years
• Seniors will continue to be a significant age cohort
• Housing choices for seniors will change as they age, hence a need for flexibility/options
• There are limited housing options to suit them and existing stock is aging
• Affordability will continue to be an issue for some, especially renters.

They said the next steps are:

• Complete survey results and analysis
• Develop project concept based on needs
• Explore location/site options
• Determine development parameters
• Test financial feasibility
• Establish governance model and partnerships
• Develop a business plan document

Seniors who live in South Frontenac are encouraged to complete a survey on seniors services, and whether individuals in South Frontenac feel involved in the development of senior services in their area.

The survey is part of a research project by Nicole Raymer, an M.A. candidate in the Department of Geography at Queen’s University, and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Results from the surveys will also be shared, anonymously, with Southern Frontenac Community Services, a local community service organization.

“The response has been good so far,” says Raymer, “but getting more completed surveys means we have even better data to support our research, and to share with the community.” The surveys take about 15 minutes to complete, and there is an option to participate in a follow up interview: “What’s been really great, is the willingness of such a high proportion of respondents who are willing to participate in a more in-depth interview.” The research will be wrapping up at the end of February.

Southern Frontenac Community Services has been promoting the survey project, as they will be able to glean information from the results to provide better services in the region. Says Executive Director, David Townsend, “Demand for seniors’ services is growing, we see that every day. Especially in light of some recent funding we received to expand seniors programming, this information from the study will really help us design responsive programs, and find ways to involve more seniors in deciding what we should be offering.”

Surveys are available at Southern Frontenac Community Services, 4295 Stage Coach Road , Sydenham, or by contacting Nicole at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-533-6000, extension 75641.

Central Frontenac Township has scheduled Feb. 8 for a Seniors Forum at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. to get feedback on the need for seniors housing in the Township, Mayor Frances Smith told Council at its regular meeting Tuesday evening in Sharbot Lake.

“The Seniors Housing Committee has come up with a survey we hope many people will fill out so we can determine need and interest,” she said.

Smith said the survey is short and has questions like ‘is there a need for seniors oriented housing in Central Frontenac?’ and ‘if so, where would you be willing to live?’

She said she and committee members Bill MacDonald and Louise Moody have taken sample copies to seniors lunches and Clerk-administrator Cathy MacMunn said they’ve already gotten three completed surveys back.

“There will be computers at the forum and people to assist filling out forms and there are also paper copies available at the Township Office,” Smith said. “Also, if you’re involved with any of the various agencies that assist seniors, they’ll have them as well.

“But we really hope a lot of people come out to the forum so we can hear from you personally.”

Frontenac County has money committed to building seniors facilities for each of its constituent townships. Frontenac Islands completed a residence under the program on Wolfe Island just before Christmas.

Somehow, they fooled Leeanne White.

She was going up to what she calls “the government lunch” in Ompah, the monthly Rural Frontenac Community Services Diners lunch at the newly renovated hall, and she said she “just happened to say to my friend that it was coming up on my birthday, and the next thing you know when I got to Ompah they had a cake out and Catherine Tysick was asking all these questions of me, like how much family I had and what work did I do and so on. I would like to thank the people who put it on. They got me,” she said when contacted over the phone earlier this week.

She is not entirely surprised that has lived such a long life. “My grandmother lived to be 102,” she said.

Last week, Leeanne moved past that milestone when she celebrated her 103rd birthday.

She hasn’t changed a lot on the three and half years since she was interviewed by the Frontenac News for a feature and video on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County.

Except for one thing. She no longer drives, and that is something she is not very happy about. In fact she pretty frosted about it.

“They just don’t want me to drive any more. I was just too slow on the draw for my doctor. But I tell you I’ve driven ever since I was 12 or 14 years old and I never had an accident in all that time, even drove mail for 38 years, but not any more. They just didn’t have anything better to do so they took it out on me,” she said.

She does get rides to places from neighbours and relatives but finds it frustrating having to depend on other people to get places, so she said that she stays home most of the time.

But she doesn’t idle away the hours too much. She still bakes all her own bread, gets her own meals, knits all the time, and keeps the house together. Any who helps her out and isn’t willing to take money for it ends up going home with new socks and mitts.

She said she doesn’t make fires in her woodstove too often anymore, “except when the hydro goes out or family comes to visit because they are in and out so much when they are here, that it gets cold and we need a fire.”

This past Christmas she made the dinner for 18, just like she normally does, even though she has problems with her knee. “I’m still doing okay,” she said, “and I have Catherine [RFCS Director of Adult Services Catherine Tysick] checking up on me.”

By keeping busy she avoids being lonely, but said misses all the people she used to know in the Fernleigh area, where she has been living since 1932.

“There were a lot of people here, but there isn’t anyone left,” she said.

A feature and a video on Lee White is posted at Frontenacnews.ca

frontenacnews.ca/frontenac-150th-anniversary/item/9043-happy-100th-birthday-lee-anne-white

When Council reconvened from a closed session for their regular meeting, CAO Orr announced that they had just accepted Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough’s resignation; after more than 14 years of service for the township, Chesebrough will be leaving at the end of this week.

Later, Orr said this did not come as a surprise; “It’s been in the works for some time now: he did the math, and realized he was eligible.”

On behalf of Council, Mayor Vandewal congratulated Chesebrough, wishing him “many years of health and happiness.”

Council then passed a motion to appoint Terry Gervais as acting fire chief.

Support for Seniors Active Living Centre
Following last week’s presentation by David Townsend of SFCSC, Council moved to allocate 20% of the net annual operating costs to support SFCSC’s proposed Seniors Active Living Centre funding application, to a maximum of $12,000 annually over the next three years in a combination of cash and in-kind services to be negotiated annually with the Township.”

It has been suggested that with the ongoing support of the township, the SFCSC Board may wish to consider inviting a member of Council to sit on their Board.

Tax Sale Policy
Council approved a revised tax sale policy which incorporates the legislative changes from Bill 68. Two related by-laws authorized the treasurer to enter into extension agreements and provided for an administration fee to be charged once the tax sale process is undertaken.

Details about the sale of properties in tax arrears and a flow chart describing the process are available on the Township website, or at the Township office.

Township Granted $80,882 for Commuter Cycling Program
The township’s application through the Public Works department for funding from the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program has been successful: it will be applied to one of two projects planned for this coming year: fully paved bike lanes between Harrowsmith and Sydenham, or a bike lane adjoining a pedestrian sidewalk along the south side Bedford Road between the end of George Street and Alton Road in Sydenham. Public Works Manager Segsworth also plans to fit in a bike lane on the north side of Bedford; Mayor Vandewal questioned whether this might narrow a busy stretch of road too much. Segsworth replied that because of the busyness of the road, it was also a very dangerous stretch for bicycles.

Storrington Centre Upgrades
Council directed staff to issue an RFP for improvements to the Storrington Centre, to include a new optic system, accessible washrooms and entrances, kitchen upgrades and a new folding wall. $333,000 has been approved in the 2018 capital budget, for this. Councillor Sleeth thanked the Township’s Public Works staff and the Storrington Recreation Committee for all their help in planning the project.

Back-up Generator for OPP Station
Council has approved purchase of a backup generator to provide overall backup power for the OPP building at Hartington. This had been held up when Councillor Revill questioned whether a second generator was needed. Further investigation showed that the existing generator on site at the OPP station only provides fire pump back-up power for the sprinkler system.

Briefly
On the recommendation of Corporate Services Committee, Council agreed to extend the contract with Frontenac Municipal Law Enforcement Inc. for a further two years from March 1, 2018 to Feb 28, 2020.

The 2018 members to serve on the Committee of Adjustment will be: Al Revill, Ross Sutherland, Brad Barbeau and Ron Sleeth.

There being no further questions for the planner, Council approved the zoning of a new waterfront lot on South Basin of Buck Lake, Loughborough district.

Council adopted the Corporate Services Committee’s recommendation to maintain the Township’s current investment strategy and to issue an RFP for investment advisory services.

A proposed by-law to amend speed limits on Rutledge Road was, on Councillor Revill’s recommendation, referred to the Public Works Committee for discussion.

Who cares for the caregiver? That question and more will be answered this November in a presentation by a committee designed to improve the quality of life for seniors in Frontenac County. “Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) is a community initiative the OPP brought forward,” explains Roop Sandhu, Community Safety Officer for Frontenac OPP. “The committee meets every month. Every second month, we hold a seniors safety event.”

According to Const. Sandhu, SALT picks the topic & speaker and provides a free lunch and short presentation on senior’s safety. The presentations range in topics and are held in different locations across the region. They are purposefully kept to a manageable 20-30 minutes. “We float around,” confirms the Community Safety Officer. “A lot of people like to stay in their area.”

Reflecting on the program’s success, Const. Sandhu notes, “It has gone very well. We now have a base and we’re trying to expand it.” The topic this November is Care & Compassion and Caregiver Burnout with a focus on understanding the needs of taking care of seniors and coping techniques to avoid caregiver burnout. The first will be held at the Verona Lions Centre on Nov. 3. The second is at Battersea United Church on Nov. 24.

Funded by a New Horizons Grant, the presentations are organized by a committee composed of the OPP, Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC), KFL&A Public Health Unit, Rural Kingston Nurses, Sydenham Women’s Institute, Verona Lions Club, Verona Community Association, South Frontenac Township and a handful of volunteers.

Residents interested in attending this event are asked to pre-register by calling the SFCSC office at 613-376-6477 by Nov. 1 (for the Verona Lion’s Centre) and Nov. 22 (for Battersea United Church). For residents who require a ride, transportation can be arranged through Frontenac Transportaion Services. These lunch & learn events begin at 11:30 am and end at 1:30 pm.

The next session features Falls Prevention & Seniors Exercise Opportunities at Grace Hall in Sydenham on Jan. 12 and Glendower on Jan 26.

“June is Seniors Month and Volunteers Month,” Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said at a special ceremony Tuesday afternoon at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake. “We take this opportunity to appreciated them.

“Most volunteers do it quietly, they’re not the kind to go out and hang signs.”

And so they gathered, representatives from each of the districts nominated their choices and the certificates were printed.

First to be so honoured was Kennebec’s Ronda Noble.

Noble came to Arden to retire in 2010 after being an office manager for a prominent law firm in Toronto that included Toronto’s current mayor.

“She’s very involved in the community, as secretary of the Legion, a member of the Heritage Festival committee, and the Friends of Arden steering committee,” said Coun. Tom Dewey. “She drives people to appointments in Perth, Napanee and Kingston.

“And she hates to lose at euchre.”

Mayor Smith presented Olden’s recipient, former Coun. John Purdon.

“John retired to his wife Maxine’s family home in 2001 after a successful career in the civil service,” Smith said. “He’s chair of the United Church fundraising committee, president of the Mountain Grove 51+ Club and is still on the Library Board.

“He plays euchre in Arden and is on the Arden Seniors Slow-pitch club where he has his own cheer.”

She said that since Purdon left Council, she’s had to read the agendas more carefully because Purdon was the one who caught typos, spelling mistakes and errors in arithmetic.

“Why I’m here today basically is because I volunteer,” Purdon said. “And why do I volunteer?

“My late wife knew a lot of people here and I knew nobody.

“She liked to volunteer and so I volunteered with her to get out and meet people.”

Coun. Bill MacDonald presented Oso’s joint honorees, Alvin and Diane Lake.

“Al’s lived in Sharbot Lake all his life and Diane’s been here for 44 years,” MacDonald said. “They are both Sharbot Lake High School grads.”

MacDonald said he remembers Alvin as a great coach of many teams as well as a driver for the Cancer Society and meals-on-wheels. Diane was a Girl Guides leader and active in the United Church.

“What I remember most is the Ice Storm,” he said. “I remember them feeding up to 200 people daily in the gym and making door-to-door checks.

“If there’s such a thing as a fabric of a community, these folks would be a big part of this one.”

“It’s all the community,” said Diane.

Coun. Phillip Smith and Dep. Mayor Brent Cameron jointly presented Hinchinbrooke’s honoree, musician Gord Struthers.

“Gord was born and raised in the Piccadilly area and is a unique individual,” said Cameron. “He was one of the originals at the Piccadilly Jam and never turned down a request to play whatever the cause or occasion.

“His gift is his music and he is putting together a historical and cultural record of songs on Facebook and YouTube.”

Cameron explained that Struthers couldn’t be in attendance for the ceremony because of being diagnosed in April with ALS — Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His daughter Sherry was there to accept the award on behalf of her father.

“Dad took a fall and it is heartbreaking for him to not be able to attend because he has such a gift for gab,” she said. “He spent countless hours picking, singing and yodelling and if people asked, he answered.

“This really means more to him than I could ever convey.”

David Townsend is passionate about keeping seniors in their homes as long as possible.

Sitting in a coffee shop in Kingston a few hours before the first day of summer in 2017, the Executive Director of Southern Frontenac Community Services talks earnestly about helping seniors and low income families in South Frontenac Township.

Tall with wavy dark hair, David’s laughter is loud and infectious. He smiles when asked about his work for the last 7 ½ years spearheading an agency that provides programs and services for the community’s most vulnerable residents.

As he talks, it’s clear he’s happy with his progress. But as with most community activists, there’s room for improvement.

“I love my work. I’ve got all sorts of ideas. I’ve got a great team,” confirms the friendly father and grandfather.

“We helped 902 seniors last year,” he says thoughtfully over a cup of tea. “The senior population in South Frontenac is 2,870. I have no idea if that (our number of clients) is good or not.”

According to Townsend, the agency serves an average 45 meals every Tuesday through its Meals-on-Wheels program. This means 45 people receive hot and ready meals at their doorsteps every week.

“I don’t care where you live in South Frontenac, you’re going to get a meal delivered hot,” the 61-year-old says proudly about the program that costs a mere $7 a meal.

The agency also offers services such as foot care, an adult day program, food bank and transportation to appointments. The list of services is long and varied. From palliative support to caregiver relief, a resident can get help inside, and outside, their home.

“Everything we do is geared towards helping seniors stay in their homes,” he says with conviction.

Looking around the bustling coffee shop, David sighs as he talks about his challenges.

“How do we increase our services, our profile to seniors in Storrington District,” he asks aloud. “This support for the seniors who live out that way is critical. Unfortunately, we’re not getting the engagement we would like.”

Home of many businesses and homes, Storrington District is the largest tax base in South Frontenac Township. The agency would like to see more services accessed by residents in Inverary, Sunbury and Battersea.

“It’s not hard to see who is struggling in that area,” says David kindly. “We need to find a way to help people in Storrington stay in Storrington. We want Storrington to help Storrington keep its seniors at home.”

David pauses when asked about the agency’s success rate. He admits it’s hard to measure.

“We lost one of our clients today,” says David in an attempt to answer the question. “He would have been in a long-term care home three years ago if he wasn’t in our adult day program. It’s one of our services that is good for the senior and good for the caregiver. You don’t even have to drop them off at the Grace Centre in Sydenham. We have volunteers who will pick them up.”

A resident of Storrington his entire life, Ron Sleeth is a Storrington District Councillor with South Frontenac Township.

“I believe we need a town hall type of meeting to make Storrington residents aware of these services,” says the politician from his dairy farm in Battersea. “The agency is too isolated in Sydenham. Most seniors out here don’t know many of these services exist.”

To help address this issue, the agency is hiring summer ambassadors.

“We are hiring two community ambassadors for a six-week term this summer,” confirms the executive director. “The objective is to raise awareness of Southern Frontenac Community Services and its programs and services, but more importantly - to link seniors to health support programs to keep them in their own homes longer and later in life.”

Looking ahead, David says Southern Frontenac Community Services wants to centralize the area’s social services.

“We want to become more of a community hub,” he say with enthusiasm. “We want to create a one-stop rural shopping experience.”

Working to create a sensory garden and accessible walking path at their headquarters in Sydenham, David says the agency is poised for growth.

“There’s a lot of things on the go,” he says with his trademark smile. “Now we want to grow in Storrington District.”

To learn more about the programs and services offered by Southern Frontenac Community Services, call 613-376-6477 or visit www.sfcsc.ca

June is Senior’s Month, and Pine Meadow Nursing Home wanted to join in the celebration! This year’s theme is “Living your best life”.  We thought a great day to show this was to have our residents get involved in our planned celebrations!  We had ladies prepare the squares for the party the morning before, and during the social, we had our residents plant a cherry tree in their courtyard.  A few years ago they planted an apple tree for Senior’s Month. We thought it was a great way to enhance our courtyard, and our resident’s will reap the benefit from the trees for years to come!

Remember when you were a kid, before school started, at recess, lunch hour, whenever you weren’t in class but were still required to be on the school grounds. Chances are, if there was no snow on the ground, every diamond on the property would be in use. In many Southern Ontario school grounds, the game was called ‘scrub.’

Call it what you will, softball, lob-ball, slo-pitch, whatever, the image of a ball glove slung over a bicycle’s handlebars was common.

When school let out for the summer, the game continued, often on open fields, with bases defined by dragging your heel in the dirt to delineate a less-than-perfect square. Often, rules were set by stomping home plate, as in ‘no lead-offs’ and/or ‘call your field’ if there weren’t enough players to cover all the positions. Players rotated through the positions and everybody got their turns at bat.

That generation has become seniors now, but the memories still linger.

So is it any wonder that seniors seem to be returning to the game, albeit with a slower-paced approach?

This summer, there are no less than three, and probably four teams (using the term ‘team’ loosely) operating in the northern areas of Frontenac and L & A Counties, whereas it wasn’t that long ago there were none.

Cloyne, Arden and Sharbot Lake all have seniors softball programs operating this summer, with Sharbot Lake being the new kids on the block.

By all accounts, things got started about five years ago when the late Don Patry and Lauder Smith put an ad in The Frontenac News asking if anybody wanted to get together once a week in Cloyne to play a little ball.

As it turns out, enough people did. Some of them were from the Arden area.

“My wife Karen and I along with the Pratts drove up there and enjoyed it so much we thought we’d try to get something similar going in Arden,” said Gord Brown, the de facto ‘commissioner’ of Arden seniors baseball.

That was three years ago and from an inaugural season of about 10-12 players, the Arden contingent grew to around 20.

One of those was Sharbot Lake’s Mike Procter, who this year started testing the waters to see if there was enough interest for a team there.

“I’ve had all sorts of inquiries,” Procter said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we could fill two teams.”

That doesn’t surprise Brown or Rick Guthrie, who is one of the main organizers in Cloyne.

“I was lucky enough to play rec league until 2013,” Guthrie said. “But in many ways, this (seniors ball) is better.

“It’s all of the fun, with none of the stress.

“When you go back and catch that fly ball, it’s just as much fun as it always was.”

“I always come home with a few aches and pains, but yes, it is fun,” said Brown. “You know we have quite a few players in their 70s and a couple are over 75.”

Another aspect of seniors ball is that while pick-up games in the ’60s tended to be more of a guys thing (although there always seemed to be a couple of girls in the game), seniors ball tends to be co-ed, with more females than males on many nights.

There’s no real ‘league’ of sorts but there is talk of games between the communities including a potential Canada 150 ‘tournament.’

At any rate, if you’re 50-something-plus, you may want to check it out this summer.

In Cloyne, games are Friday mornings at the field behind the tennis courts. Contact is Rick Guthrie 613-336-3460.

In Arden, games are Wednesday and Sunday evenings at the Arden ball field. Contact is Gord Brown, 613-335-4843.

In Sharbot Lake, games are Wednesday and Sunday evenings at the ball field. Contact is Mike Procter, 613-279-2572.

All you need is a glove and it’s all about just having fun.