Cars lined both sides of Road 38 as far as the eye could see for the third annual Day of the Pig at Seed to Sausage in Sharbot Lake on May 17. The event, now in its third year, is the season opener for the business’s retail store, which offers up a wide array of artisanal meat products made on site and other fine food products.

The event attracted foodies from as far away as Kingston, Ottawa, and Toronto for a day of fine feasting, with live music courtesy of Kyra and Tully, The Huaraches and The Foley Mountain Playboys. The event offered up great eats from a number of food vendors and chefs with no fewer than seven food stations set up on the premises.

McKenzie and his Seed to Sausage staff roasted a whole pig, which was gobbled up before mid-afternoon and their delectable bacon/beef burgers were also up for grabs. Other fine restaurants, including Le Chien Noir from Ottawa, Atomica from Kingston, and Slow Taco from Prince Edward County, offered up tasty entrees that included roast chicken with potato salad, smoked salmon sandwiches and more. An additional 11 artisan food producers were set up in a double tent out front, with each offering up generous samples of their creations, including artisanal chocolates, cookies, breads and other baked good, dips, sauces, cheeses and other comestibles. Many of the products are sold in Seed to Sausage's retail store, which was doing a brisk business.

A number of food and beverage demonstrations took place throughout the day, including one by former National Arts Centre top chef Michael Blackie, who is currently owner and chef of a new restaurant, Next, in Stittsville. He whipped up a delicious salad of barbequed pulled pork served on a bed of delicious citrus-dressed greens that was garnished with roasted pork rind. Following the demo Blackie and his staff plated up well over 50 servings for guests to sample.

In the beverage department there was beer from Beau's and Big Rig Brewery and wines from Harvey and Vern, Casa Dea and Three Dogs.

Mike McKenzie, co-owner of Seed to Sausage, first initiated the event to celebrate the opening of their retail store. He has continued it not only to promote his own business but also other artisanal food vendors and those in the industry who helped give him a leg up in the business.

New this year were two competitions - the first a BBQ Sauce Off that had close to 30 entries. The brand Just Grillin' took the top prize, which was a distribution option with Ital and Findlay Foods and a meeting with a rep from the grocery chain Farm Boy. The second competition was a Home Brew Off that garnered over 60 entries and offered up a first place prize of a personalized kegerator, and funding through the Food and Beverage region (FAB) and the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC). Kris Wright, a home brewer from Ottawa organized the beer competition, which was won by Etienne Bisson of Kingston and his American Pale Ale.

Anne Prichard, executive director of the FCFDC, was on hand to announce the winner. She is currently working with the FAB and together they are hoping to see a craft brewery take root in the area. “Right now there is a huge trend in craft brewing and there is a great opportunity to bring that kind of business here,” Prichard said. “With Mike's business here it would be a natural fit and it would be great to get a food cluster growing in this area. Mike has done a great job not only growing his own business but also nurturing and fostering other similar businesses that would be supportive to him and vice versa.”

McKenzie said he was thrilled with the turn out this year and he is amazed at how the event has grown over the years. Asked to sum up his business and its rapid rise to success over a short few years, McKenzie said that it is not just about crafting tasty food but more about the special attention he and his staff pay to service. “A lot of people can make tasty food but when you go into the business of making it, the business quickly becomes more about making the food accessible and making sure people enjoy it and feel good about eating it.”

Just last week Seed to Sausage was named as one of Canada's top 10 most innovative food producers and last year it was named Canada's top artisan food producer. Those who attended this year’s Day of the Pig had a chance to experience first hand why Seed to Sausage continues to be on the cutting edge.

Young Kylie Babcock and her battle with cancer is what inspired her family and friends to enter Team Kylie for their fourth time in the North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life. Kylie was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer over five years ago and had half of her liver removed when she was not yet two years old. She is now fully recovered.

On May 17 the lively youngster, who her mother Vicki describes as “a little bundle of energy”, helped serve up burgers and hot dogs at a fundraiser for her 13-member team in the parking of Mike Dean’s Super store in Sharbot Lake. Kylie is just one example of why so many members of the community support, volunteer and participate in the Canadian Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life event In Parham. When I visited the event Vicki and Yolonda Emmert were busy serving up burgers to members of the Sharbot Lake and District Lions, who said that they love to support local area fundraisers like this one.

This year’s Relay, which will take place at the Parham fair grounds on Friday June 20, is sure to be another emotional, memorable and fun event, with various activities, games and team challenges planned. Several local bands will be taking to the stage and entertaining through the day, night and early morning. It is not too late to enter or join a team, or to volunteer for this annual event, which brings the community together to “Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back”! For more information about signing up a team or volunteering contact Lesley Merrigan at 613-279-3144 or Christine Teal at 613-375-6525, or sign up online at relay.ca

Unseasonably chilly temperatures could not keep close to 350 shoppers from attending the opening day of the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market at the Oso beach on May 17.

The market, now entering its fourth year, has seen its numbers increase steadily over the last three years; last year the numbers peaked at 750 on the season’s busiest single market day. Due to that fact, this year the market’s governing body, which is comprised of its regular vendors, appointed a market assistant to help manage some of the administrative and behind the scenes duties required to keep pace with its growth. Francis Wooby of Sharbot Lake was chosen and his duties include offering administrative support in between market days and in the lead up to and closing out of the market season.

Wooby said his new position is a testament to the fact that the market is indeed growing and succeeding. A total of 20 vendors set up their booths, which included a wide array of local crafts and clothing, home-made preserves and other comestibles, home baking and gluten-free products, hot-off-the-grill breakfast and lunch snacks and other ready to eat treats, hot steaming cups of fair trade coffee, body products, fresh and wild produce, flowers and plants, meats, maple syrup, honey, a knife sharpening service, live musical entertainment from young local fiddler Jessica Wedden, plus a “Body Buffet” located at the park’s covered pavilion, where guests can receive various health treatments like shiatsu, massage, and possibly physiotherapy as well.

Wooby said that a number of special events are currently being planned for the season and will include a special poultry day, a special heritage day event that will include tomahawk and knife throwing demos, heritage displays, costumes and likely a presentation about local heritage vegetables. Wooby said that the location of the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market is what makes it a perfect destination for visitors, since not only does the venue offer up great shopping under cover but also a large park with picnic tables and washroom facilities, a state of the art playground, huge shade trees and a beautiful sandy beach and floating dock for those wanting a refreshing swim in the lake.

Wooby plans to focus on the market’s beach and park front location as a major selling point and will be advertising it as a day trip destination. He is also hoping to attract new farm vendors this year, including backyard farmers who can choose to become regular, occasional or one time vendors. For more information about becoming a vendor or about the regular vendors and the goods they sell, visit sharbotlakefarmersmarket.ca. Wooby said he is confident that as the temperatures rise, so too will the number of shoppers and vendors. Market brochures are available on site and emphasize the organizers’ commitment to offering shopping within 100 km. of home and “supporting local farmers and getting quality food-picked fresh within 24 hours of purchase”. The Sharbot Lake Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

I was in attendance at the “Defend Our Climate” gathering in Sharbot Lake as reported in your last issue of The Frontenac News. I was pleased that Julie Druker came to interview the group. It is probably not possible to have a more diverse array of answers to her question, “What brought you out today to this event?” I shared some information from a meeting I had just attended of the National Farmers Union where there was a presentation on how the NFU has been actively trying to STOP the passing of Bill C-18 (go to www.nfu.ca for info and how to TAKE ACTION). This bill, if passed, will allow the biggest seed companies in the world to exercise almost total control over seed in Canada. These companies would be able to charge royalties on a farmer's entire crop! The plan is to restrict farmers from saving their own seed, force them to buy seed from private plant breeders who will offer only a mass market product. This is not the way it has been in the past. Canada's public plant breeders have been internationally respected for working in the public interest and work with farmers to develop plant varieties that are regionally adapted and can help farmers and our food system adapt to changing climate. It should stay that way now when we need it the most. The fact is that so -called “trade deals” are being used among other concerns, to enforce plant breeders' rights and prevent our farmers from saving seed. Check out CETA, Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the TPP, Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, Intellectual Property Rights Chapter.

I also made the comment that I feel any conversation about climate change should also include something else that I have come across. It can be called GeoEngineering, SRM, Solar Radiation Management, or Stratospheric Aerosol Spraying. From my observations so far I have to say that I have concerns about its effects on climate, human health and the health of the planet. The topic can be researched under any of those names.

“Defending Our Climate” as the gathering was called, is about defending our communities, our rights, our economy, our health, our sovereignty, and the list doesn't end. It can seem so difficult to know what to think about the topic, not to mention what to do about it. It helps to get solid information, start talking to others who share the same concerns and support the organizations who are already taking action to defend us.

Carol Pepper

On May 10 a small group of local residents concerned about the issue of climate change gathered outside the United Church in Sharbot Lake to make their concerns known. Their efforts coincided with those of 10,000 other Canadians who staged a number of similar protests across the country to oppose current federal government objectives and plans, most notably the building of oil pipelines, with the hopes that the government will instead chose cleaner energy alternatives.

The protest titled Defend Our Climate was organized by Leadnow.ca, an organization dedicated to campaigning about a number of issues with the aim to “defend our democracy and hold governments accountable to the values of a majority of Canadians.” The non-partisan organization has over 300,000 members across the country. By holding gatherings and through on-line surveys the organization has set its sights on strengthening Canada’s democracy by “doing our part to stop runaway climate change, and building a fair economy that reverses the trend of growing inequality.”

The Sharbot Lake event was organized by Phil Somers of Sydenham, who is also seeking the Federal Liberal nomination for the 2015 election. Somers is a member of Leadnow. He found out about the event on line and was approached to hold an event in Sharbot Lake. Somers said he has always been concerned about climate change and global warming and that he is a huge supporter of green energy alternatives. “Even though I don't think that we can totally get rid of pipelines since the alternative of transporting oil by train or truck is a much more dangerous alternative, I still would like to see oil industry revenues be used for green energy projects. Ultimately I'd like to see us get rid of fossil fuel dependency and begin using electric cars and buses and other alternate energy sources.”

Somers cited other projects that he would like to see - more solar panels on homes and buildings and more wind energy projects. Somers said that clean energy is the way to go but the amount of electricity currently being produced by green energy in Ontario is extremely low and he would like to see that change.

Sharbot Lake resident, Ken Fisher, said he felt over the last 40 years that things were getting better but has recently woken up to the fact that “disaster is fast approaching”. He explained, “It's important that we show up here today and show the younger people that they should be as concerned as we are. If we were not standing here then we would be on the sidelines watching everything slide into disaster and oblivion”.

Asked to specify what he means Fisher responded, “California is pretty much drying up. They have no water this year and are now going to shut down and burn orchards because there is no water there”. Bringing the issue closer to home Fisher said, “ We have a government here that is ramming through pipelines east and west and overriding the rights of Aboriginal communities and others for the sake of being in the pocket of the oil companies. Fossil fuels need to stay in the ground and shifting to renewable energy is our only way out.”

Sharbot Lake resident, Carol Pepper, who has worked with the local farmers' group Hands on Harvest, said she felt that the big issues for her are the trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Europe, which she said are “sabotaging our well being as Canadians as well as our economy and resources. A political change needs to happen and people have to start caring and getting involved.” Pepper cited her concerns over Bill C-18, which she said threatens the rights of plant breeders who want control over their seeds and what they are allowed to grow. “There are a lot of risks that go along with only being allowed to plant certain seeds and crops, not to mention the problems and health concerns that come along with genetically modified crops, like pesticides, herbicides, and food shortages."

Though the Sharbot Lake event was smaller than others in larger centers, those who attended were no doubt pleased to be able to voice their objections about the Harper government's stand on climate change along with their own personal concerns on a number of current issues. For more information about the campaigns that Leadnow is running visit leadnow.ca.

(Editosrs note - a previous version of this article erroneously said that Phil Somers is the Federal Liberal cndidate for the newly created Lanark-Frontenac riding) 

A spokesman for the Villages Beautiful committee today revealed that our extended winter was due, at least in part, to the fact that winter decorations had not been removed from the Sharbot Lake causeway in a timely fashion. A recent study by Horticulture Canada has shown that ornamental evergreen left on display tends to delay the advent of spring. This can be extremely severe if the evergreen is enhanced by Christmas ornamentation and is allowed to go completely brown.

On Monday morning, a public spirited individual, Mr. Garnet England, played a leading role in correcting the situation. The browned out planters were removed and put into compost. On returning from photographing the activity, this reporter noted the first robin of the season at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Road 38. Mr. England confessed to a personal motive for the activity. Sap started running in earnest within hours of the planters being taken down.

Four students from the Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake recently took part in the Junior Iron Chef Competition on February 9 at Loyalist College in Belleville. The goal of the annual competition is to educate high school students in the culinary arts while exposing them to the viability of a career in the field. At the same time the competition gives the college students a chance to share their skills with younger high school students. The four GREC students who participated in the competition were Hilary Howes, Kaitlyn Cadieux, Cadence Cumpson and Joelle Parr. They competed on February 9 against teams from Loyalist College Vocational Institute, St. Peters Secondary School and the Picton Education and Vocational Institute. Each team prepared a three-course meal with each student taking charge of one of the menu items, which included a spinach and mushroom bouche appetizer, a main course of stuffed and roasted pork tenderloin, numerous vegetable side dishes and for dessert, a pear frangipane tartlette.

The GREC students had ample opportunity to hone their skills and they practiced preparing their menu items on three separate occasions prior to the competition, once under the guidance of Loyalist College second year culinary management student Brennan Roy, who was also one of the judges at the competition. Roy made a special trip to GREC to assist the young chefs. “Brennan was great. He helped us get the information that we needed and also helped us improve by providing hands-on guidance and teaching us a number of useful skills, ” Kaitlyn Cadieux of the GREC team said earlier this week.

The four teams were given two hours to prepare the meal. Each team was judged on taste, presentation, overall kitchen skills as well as their cooperation as a team. GREC scored an overall 78%, which placed them in fourth place. The three other teams, who placed first, second and third, were invited to a second round of the competition on March 1 at Loyalist College's annual Food and Beverage Show. In the end it was St. Peters who took the first place prize.

Although the GREC team was eliminated in the first round, the students were pleased with their results and found the experience a rewarding one. Kaitlyn Cadieux, who prepared the appetizer portion of the meal for the GREC team, she spoke of the overall results of her team. “We were docked points for a few minor things like leaving the hand sanitizer on the counter during prep. Hilary's dessert won the most points awarded in the taste category for the dessert portion and the judges told us that of all of the schools who took part, we demonstrated the best cooperation and communication skills.”

Kaitlyn said the cooperation aspect likely resulted from the fact that she, Cadence, and Hilary had all worked together previously at the former Rising Bun Bakery in Sharbot Lake. That and the fact that Joelle Parr was a great addition to the team.

While Kaitlyn admitted that it was a bit of a disappointment not to win, she said that the experience was a fun and rewarding one. “I learned a lot about taking the lead in certain situations and how to collaborate with others.” Asked if she plans to pursue studies in the culinary arts, she said that that would be unlikely. “I don't think that I fit in that well to a kitchen environment and I don't think that I have the creativity as far as food goes that you need to have.” That being said she encourages students who may be interested in taking part in the competition to do so. “It was a very worthwhile experience and a really fun way to challenge yourself in a new and interesting way,” she said. 

The old image of a small school is of a one-room schoolhouse with multi-grade classes, a wood stove in the middle of each room and upper year boys taking turns binging firewood as the upper year girls collect slates from the younger students to bring to the teacher at the front of the room.

It’s a quaint image but it doesn’t fit with the modern education system. However it does have an echo in Sharbot Lake, where 32 students attend St. James Catholic Elementary School. There is a kindergarten to grade 4 class and a grade 5-8 class just like old times, but from there the similarities end. In place of the log schoolhouse is a modern modular building, and in place of individual slates there are internet-enabled, large smartboards, and the standardized curriculum is delivered in a highly personalized environment.

Vice-principal Anna Coe, who also teaches French, said the school has seen an increase in attendance in the last year or two, as families have been looking for a smaller alternative to larger schools and the public school system.

As a Catholic school, St. James offers a faith-based curriculum but is open to all students in the area, regardless of faith.

The school also offers support for their students. Those who require individual education plans are supported by an educational assistant who works half days, and the teachers meet periodically with teachers in other schools with multiple grade classes to talk about how to layer their classes to deliver lessons that are appropriate for all the students.

“The teachers and myself provide support. We are in constant communication about what we need to do next,” said Anna Coe.

The primary teacher at the school is Nicole Perry, who is in her third year at the school, and the junior teacher is David Rooney, who came over from St. Patrick’s in Erinsville this year.

“We take pride in helping our students achieve their goals,” said Anna Coe.

St. James is currently enrolling students for kindergarten in September. For further information, contact the school at 613-279-3300.

In October 2013, staff at the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team (SLFHT) received an award at the Primary Care Forum, which was held in Kingston. The award was from Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health and recognized the success of their Enhanced 18-Month Well-Baby Visit program.

The Well-Baby Visit program was developed in 2005 after researchers found that Ontario school-aged children, regardless of socio-economic boundaries, were falling below the average curve for school test scores across the country. The program was developed and spearheaded by Dr. Clinton, a child psychologist from Hamilton, Ontario, to address that trend, with the understanding that pinpointing and addressing a multitude of health issues between birth and age five can correct problems that might otherwise develop and negatively affect children's health and learning.

The program involves a one-time in-depth physical and developmental assessment of children at the age of 18 months and it strives to identify problems early on so that children can be referred to the appropriate professionals to correct the issues. The goal is that the children will be able to meet their developmental and educational milestones later on. Children identified with possible concerns related to autism, family violence or assault, nutrition, parenting, physical/neurological/ or developmental issues, social/emotional or behavioral issues, speech language and hearing or vision issues can be referred to the appropriate health care providers to have those issues addressed.

Brenda Bonner, the nurse practitioner at the SLFHT, worked on the pilot project and along with KFL&A Public Health, helped to set up the referral stream for the SLFHT patients. The program includes two assessments, the first, the Nipissing Developmental Stage screen, is carried out by the parents of the child and the second, the Rourke Baby Record assessment, is performed by Brenda Bonner at the SLFHT. This latter assessment was developed by two family doctors from Goderidge and it is widely acclaimed and accepted by the College of Family Physicians. The Rourke assessment examines the emotional, social, physical development of the child by age 18 months and includes necessary immunizations as well. A dietary assessment is also performed on every child by the SLFHT's dietician, Salam Iqbal.

Brenda Bonner said the program is an important one. “We have been told that the number of occupied jail cells in Texas directly correlates to the outcome of grade three test scores, which proves that early detection of health and developmental issues is key. The fact is that children who are having trouble learning in school can tend to have less successful outcomes later in life, and knowing that these issues, if detected early, can be addressed and corrected is what is motivating us to have all our patients complete the assessments.”
The 18-Month Well-Baby Visit was rolled out beginning in 2008 and at that time the KFL& A Public Health Unit took the lead with the program. They chose the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team as one of the pilots for the project. By 2013 the SLFHT achieved a 100% completion of the program by its patients and that is the reason that they received the award. Bonner said staff were able to reach their 100% goal “partly because we have a small team and a relatively small number of patients, but also because the staff at the clinic here have been working together as a team to meet that goal.”

The final aim is to get all family health teams and all family physicians to participate in the program. Darlene Johnson, with KLF &A Public Health was at the Sharbot Lake Medical Centre on February 19 to discuss the award with staff. “The Sharbot Lake Family Health Team have done a fabulous job in implementing the program here and we wanted to both recognize and congratulate them on their efforts. Our gold standard is to have every single child complete the 18-Month Well-Baby Visit since it is the key to early intervention and a way of connecting the child and the parents to the appropriate local resource so that any issues raised can be addressed in a timely fashion,” she said.

Brenda Bonner stressed that the goal of the program is always to help support the child so that the child can meet all of their milestones, can succeed and have a happy and fulfilling life. “We always try to remind parents that if concerns are identified, it is not that the parents have done anything wrong, but rather is a way to correct the issues early on so that their child has every opportunity to reach their full potential.”

The water was warm. It was a balmy day on the lake. Great costumes, back flips - it was all there for this year's Central Frontenac Heritage Festival Polar Bear Plunge. There was an Olympic theme going on with several of the Plungers, including Anne and Hilary Howes, dressed in Olympic costumes. Anne, by the way, was a torchbearer in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. The event was emceed by our dynamic Town Crier, Paddy O'Connor, with assistance from Mayor Janet Gutowski. It was a great group of Plungers and a very enthusiastic audience and generous supporters.

Art Holloway raised $1,320; Mark Montagano raised $1,290. They thought they were battling it out for the most funds raised and then Jeremy Neven came roaring up the middle with $1,926. Several other notable fund raisers were Connie McLellan of RBC with $640, Richard and Vickie Struthers at $530, Heather and Kevin Rioux at $490 and Janine Falk at $405. All in all, $10,137 was raised for three worthy organizations: The Child Centre (unfunded programs), GREC School Council and the Alzheimer Society. In the last four years the plunge has raised over $32,000 for various causes.

Karen McGregor of St. Lawrence College, a long-time supporter of the plunge and the Heritage Festival, supplied the trophies, sound system and the services of Jesse Mills, our videographer who is on a work assignment with the township. The trophy for the most funds raised went to Jeremy Neven; the youngest plunger was Samantha Kempe and the best costume went to Shane Steeves, who dressed as a coureur du bois and put on another very athletic and creative performance. The indomitable Karen Burke was our most senior plunger and also managed to raise $460.

Richard, Gill and Dawn had the marina ready for the event. The EMS team, led by Chief Bill Young, was on the grounds and in the water to keep us safe. Cox Bus Lines provided a bus to keep the Plungers warm while they were waiting to plunge. Jesse Mills, our videographer, is putting together a video of the event and it will be available in the next few days.

You have thought about it, talked about it and 2015 will be the year to join us in the tropical waters of Sharbot Lake for the 2015 Plunge. See you there.