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Peggy Hallett (owner/manager/head chef) of the Sydenham Country Café, is a ball of energy, especially when she is talking about the café.

The café has been open for less than a month and it already has an established clientele and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and grab and go options. It is establishing itself as a bake shop, and does catering as well.

A take out window has just been set up at the side of the building for those who need that major coffee-shop option.

When I visited last week, mid morning, the breakfast crowd had come and gone, but the café was still half full, with mid-morning coffee drinkers, and some of the lunch sandwiches were just being prepared for the display case.

Peggy worked in restaurants as a teenager and trained in kitchens. She went to teacher’s college with a view towards teaching cooking, but one thing led to another and she ended up spending 25 years in education, most of it running her own private school in Kingston.

Recently she has been making and selling baked goods, doing some catering and painting, from her home base north of Sydenham. She has seen an opportunity for a café in Sydenham ever since Hillside, which was located in the same location as the Sydenham Country Café on Rutledge Road just east of the village.

“I even looked at properties in the village, trying to see what is available. Then my husband told me that this property had been sold, so I came up and the new owner was here, looking around. I asked him what he was planning to do with this unit and he said he was hoping to lease it to a food business. I had already drawn up what I wanted so we looked at my drawings, and we basically made a deal right then and there,” she said.

That was in the early fall, and it took a few months to prepare the space, get everything up and running and get all the equipment in place.

“I had hoped to be open earlier but we opened when we could and the response Sydenham Country Cafe - casual comfort food with a twist has been very positive so far.”

The menu at the Sydenham Country Café can be described as casual comfort food with a twist. The twist comes from some of the flavour enhancements that Peggy has developed over the years, such as her bacon marmalade that is carefully used on some of the sandwiches that are available at the café.

The cooks at the café prepare a daily soup and entrée special, and Peggy likes to make sure that some favourites are always available.

“We try to make sure that our Lasagne and Chicken Pot Pie are always available, for eat-in or takeout. They are always in demand” she said.

In addition to these classic comfort foods, the café also serves the contemporary equivalent, in the form of the Santa Fe and Asian Protein Bowls, available with chicken, or beans for vegetarians.

Among the specialty sandwiches, there is Montreal smoked meat, Turkey and Swiss, and 4 cheese gourmet grilled cheese (available with bacon or pulled pork)

The coffee at the Café comes from North Roast Coffee in Kingston. Their popular Confederation blend and the darker Sumatran are ready to serve.

And they have a breakfast sandwich? The Sydenham Country Café version is served on an English muffin or multi-grain round, with real cheddar and a hint of what Peggy calls her ‘zippy cheese sauce’. Their toasted western is another breakfast sandwich option.

From 7am – 9am the breakfast window is open, serving sandwiches, coffee, and muffins.

Their menu is available online at www.countrycafe.ca.

“We have gotten off to a really good start,” Peggy said, “and I think we will only have more available for people as we get into the spring and summer season.

The café is open on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 7am – 3pm, Wednesday to Friday from 7am – 7pm, and Saturdays from 9am -3pm. The hours will be extended for the spring and summer seasons.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

There were 120 registered participants and 30 walk-ons as ice fishing for kids took front and centre Sunday on Sydenham Lake.

“I’d say there were about 100 parents on the low side,” said organizer Clint Lawrence. “Some parents brought three or four kids.

“But all told, we’ve had about 400 people here through the day.”

Lawrence, who described ice fishing as his “winter hobby,” said last winter Will Trousdale asked him to “consider organizing” some kind of kid’s ice fishing event.

“I put some feelers out and it seemed like many folks liked the idea.”

He said Karen Brawley stepped up to the plate to recruit sponsors and volunteers.

“Dan Ball told me they had about 50 participants for the summer derby,” she said. “So, we planned for 40.

“That sold out and like four days.”

(“Sold out” is metaphorical. This event was free for participants and spectators.)

So, as things started to take off, they recruited participation from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl. Local businesses donated prizes and Coun. Ross Sutherland donated hot dogs. The Limestone Organic Creamery donated 35 litres of chocolate milk for hot chocolate.

“It seemed like a good idea and once we learned we could do it, it was ‘we got this,’’ Brawley said. “This community cares.

“We’ll do it again . . . just not next weekend.”

Lawrence agreed.

“We’re going to have less trouble financially next year,” he said.

Student volunteer Liam Gutherie said he wasn’t much of a fisherman but was “having lots of fun” handing out hot dogs.

“The only thing I usually catch is seaweed,” he said. “A friend’s mom told my mom about this and she volunteered me for it.

“But I’m glad she did because this is a great way to get volunteer hours.”

Lawrence said they also took in quite a few donations for the food bank, of both un-perishables and cash.

(Editors note – 265 pounds of food were collected as well as $130 in cash)

He said the majority of participants were locals but they did have a few from outside the community.

“We told people that we would cater to the local community but we wouldn’t say no to anybody,” he said.

He said they’re already planning for next year and considering opening it up to older youths after the main kids event concludes.

For those interested in such things, the majority of fish caught were perch. There were three pike, one of which was about two pounds.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

The council meeting began with an acknowledgment of Dr Duncan Sinclair’s appointment to the Order of Canada: Mayor Vandewal presented him with a plaque, and everyone in the room rose, clapping. Dr Sinclair is being honoured for his contributions to the Canadian Health Care system as a teacher, university administrator and advisor, and for his leadership in Ontario Health Care reform.

Dr Sinclair, a long-time resident of Buck Lake, is a familiar figure at community events and served for several years as a member of the Southern Frontenac Community Services’ Board. And yes, his son is Gord Sinclair Jr, the Tragically Hip’s bassist.

In his brief acceptance speech, Sinclair said the appointment had come as “a great surprise: I have a lingering suspicion that some bureaucrat has made an egregious error, and mixed up his files.”

‘Meals Community Champions’ Week Coming Up in March

Joanne Silver, Coordinator of the SFCSC Meals program, said that over 8,000 hot or frozen meals had been served this past year to residents of South Frontenac. The hot meals, now delivered twice a week, are affordable, well-balanced and tasty, and come with the option to also purchase frozen meals. Silver pointed out that there are a lot of intangible benefits too: the meals help lower food costs, are convenient for people who find getting out for food shopping or cooking for one is difficult, and the volunteer drivers are friendly, providing emotional as well as nutritional support.

She invited Council members to come ride with the volunteers March 17 or 19 when they do their rounds. Both Mayor Vandewal and Deputy Mayor Sutherland said they had participated last year, and had enjoyed the experience; ‘The drivers are much more than delivery people.”

Main Street Revitalization Funding

Mark Segsworth, Director of Public Services, showed illustrations of new village entrance signs, street name signs (‘blades’) and benches and planters proposed for the Township. These will be funded by a ‘Main Street Revitalization” grant of over $51,000 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Public Services Committee identified the need for updated village entrance signage for certain hamlets and the need for business section directional signage for the village of Sydenham specifically, given that its business core is the only one not located along a major roadway.

Councillor Revill said that North Frontenac had designed its signs to match the County’s signs in shape and colour, and asked whether South Frontenac should do the same. Councillor Ruttan said he was not too keen to align with the County, and CAO Carbone advised caution about aligning with the County before the Township had completed its rebranding exercise. Roberts and Sutherland liked the signs, and there was no objection to approving this use of the funding. Later, when the use of metal benches was questioned on the grounds that they could become uncomfortably hot in the summer, Segsworth said they had been chosen because “they are durable and can withstand skateboards.”

Bylaw Enforcement Contract Extended until April 30

The clerk’s office has said that due to the transitioning of by-law enforcement to the clerks department there is a need to review and identify by-law enforcement needs and implement improved reporting mechanisms prior to simply extending the contract for a longer term or going back out to the marketplace through the Request for Proposal process.

During the 2020 Budget deliberation process, Council heard several references to the need to possibly require more enforcement of by-laws in several areas throughout township departments. Staff are hoping to compile better data in all aspects of Bylaw Enforcement in the coming year so that they can better assess what areas need more resources.

Public Health Offices Withdrawing from Sewage System Inspection

As part of a Ministry of Health decision to modernize and improve Public Health Services, the KFL&A Public health has decided that beginning in 2021, they will withdraw from providing sewage system inspections to municipal governments. In any case, legislative oversight for sewage systems is found in the Ontario Building Code, not the OPHS. They have offered transitional support to local municipalities during the coming year.

Sewage inspection services will be integrated into the township’s building department.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 08 January 2020 11:26

Man charged with theft at Sydenham LCBO store

From November 26 to December 8, 2019 officers from Frontenac Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received several complaints regarding theft of alcohol from the Sydenham LCBO store. After interviews with employees and pictures from the store security cameras, officers were able to confirm the identity of the person of interest.

As a result of the investigation, William FREEMAN, age 58 from Kingston Ontario was charged with three counts of theft under five thousand dollars.  

The accused was released on an appearance notice to attend the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston at a later date to answer to the charges.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 11 December 2019 12:39

20th Annual Rock’n’Roll Toy Drive sold out

For the first time in its 20-year history, the Rock’n’Roll Toy Drive has been sold out before the night of the event.

“All of the 250 tickets have been sold,” said Tom Revell, Verona-area musician who’s been instrumental in bringing the event to fruition for more than two decades. “We’re really happy.

“We sold out last year too but the last of the tickets were sold at the door that night.”

The Rock’n’Roll Toy Drive is an evening of music and silent auctions at the Sydenham Legion Dec. 14. Doors are open at 7:30 p.m. with the music starting at 8 p.m. unlike previous years when it started at 9 p.m. This year’s bands include Little Betty, Still Standing, Project 29 and Bauderroad.

“We’re starting the bands earlier this year because even though it goes to 1 a.m., people start to leave about 12:30,” he said. “But as people go, others can come in.

“The folks at the door will deal with that.”

All proceeds go to the Sydenham Relief Fund and Christmas for Kids.

Although this is ‘officially’ the 20th such event, Revell said they actually held a couple of similar events before getting the current incarnation going.

“We actually started in 1994, I think, with Little Betty,” he said. “I think we did a couple but then took a couple of years off. Something like that.”

Revell acknowledged he didn’t organize these things all by himself.”

“Jamie Deline did much of the organizing again,” he said.

And, he said, they wouldn’t be able to do it without some corporate sponsors.

“Ryan Rose at Century 21 has helped us every year with a $250 donation to get things going,” he said. “Our other corporate sponsors who helped pay for the event are BDK Insulation and Cataraqui Cabinets.

“And Foodland Sydenham and Findlay Foods have been great.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 04 December 2019 10:18

Family Math Night at LPS

This sounds like…fun?? It was not only fun, but an up-roaring success, last Wednesday night (November 27) at Loughborough Public School in Sydenham, when the library filled with parents and children from kindergarten to grade 3 enthusiastically playing a variety of card and board games.

It all began with the idea of primary teacher Sharon Isbell, to help teach math and number skills through the use of games. When she approached the Sydenham Lions Club for a donation of $100 and received three times that amount, she was able to buy a lot of games, both modern and old familiar ones like Yahtzee and Snakes and Ladders.

At 6pm, the library was full of tables, each with a couple of games, and a few minutes later the room filled with parents and children. The children already were familiar with the games and keen to teach them to their parents. Isbell briefly described some of the basic skills: number recognition; counting more efficiently; learning simple math shortcuts; sharpening memory; that could be learned and strengthened by playing games involving numbers.

A few times during the evening, everyone changed tables, moving on to new games. Parents learned how playing games could be a way to have fun helping their children with homework, and may have picked up a few ideas for Christmas presents.

Several of the local Lions were also present: Lion Joanne Ankers, herself a retired teacher, said she was surprised and pleased when several people, both adults and children, thanked her as a Lions representative, for helping making this event possible.

It was a happy, raucous, delightful evening.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Ryan Vowles lives on Morgan Drive, in a newer subdivision in Sydenham, not far from Sydenham High School, with his wife Maegan Leavitt and their young children. The family moved into their new home 5 years ago and say they love living in Sydenham.

But they don’t love what happened a couple of weeks ago.

Sometime between Saturday, November 16th and Thursday, November 30, someone shot at their house.

“I went into my basement on Thursday and noticed a small hole in the wall. When I went to look at it, I saw that there was something on the floor next to the hole. I thought it was a bug but when I picked it up, I realised that it was a bullet. I went outside and saw that the bullet hit the house and made it through the siding and all the other house material all the way to the basement,” said Ryan Vowles.

Vowles said that he had been in the basement on Saturday afternoon, and if the hole had been there at that time he would have seen it.

Vowles added that the yard behind the house ends at some swampy and wooded land, which is likely where the bullet came from.

“It is pretty alarming to realise that someone fired a rifle towards our house,” he said. “My wife is home a lot now, as she is on maternity leave, and she spends a lot of time playing with the kids in the yard near where the shot must have come from. The kids’ bedrooms are upstairs from the bullet hole as well, so that makes us even more concerned.”

He said that he has contacted both the Frontenac detachment of the OPP and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry about what happened. Investigators from both have come out to his house and they have launched investigations.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

The Sydenham High School Golden Eagles junior football squad was undefeated going into last Thursday’s KASSAA championship final versus Holy Cross (6-0 in the regular season). And it came down to a final drive by the Crusaders to eek out a 32-29 win.

“It was a nail biter,” said Sydenham head coach Karl Hammer. “In our regular season game, we beat them by three points — ironic, eh?”

This was the second year in a row the Golden Eagles fell to Holy Cross in the final, both years Hammer described as “a series of unfortunate events.”

In the 2018 final, Sydenham had a punt blocked in the dying seconds that led to a Holy Cross score for the win.”

This year, we were up 29-25 with two minutes left and we didn’t want to punt because of what happened last year but there was some miscommunication and we ended up giving them the ball on an interception,” Hammer said.

It was almost like the football gods had it in for Sydenham.

“After they intercepted, we stopped them but there was a roughing the passer call on third down,” he said. “And I’ve never seen our defensive backs tip three pass attempts only to have it fall into the hands of a receiver before.”

When Holy Cross finally punched the ball into the end zone, there were 11 seconds left on the clock.

“They won by a field goal,” he said. “Earlier in the game, they missed a field goal but an offside call gave them a second chance from five yards closer.

“Take away that field goal, and it’s a tie game.”

Hammer did acknowledge that the game was entertaining for the fans.

“And we did have a great season with a lot of support from the community,” he said.

And, he said, he’s looking forward to seeing his charges move up to senior next year.

“We’ve had two years of kids coming so close, I’m hoping it’ll light a fire in their bellies,” he said.

Hammer said one of the things he’s proudest of this year is the sense of culture and “family” his team showed.

“We also had several exceptional leaders too like lineman Nate Hamilton, two-way player Brennan Finucane, linebacker Sam McLeod and quarterback Keiren McNeely.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

The day started out calmly enough. Brad Telford, who has lived on the Campbell Road near Sydenham with his wife Megan and their 2 1/2 year old son John for about a year and half, did some indoor chores last Saturday morning (August 10) because it was raining.

When the weather cleared up, he went outside to do some yard work. The weather, as far as he could tell at the time, was fine, as he began filling some bird feeders with birdseed in the yard. He was listening to some music through ear buds that were connected to his phone, which was in his pocket. It was all pretty normal Saturday stuff.

He did not know what hit him.

“All I knew was that I had been blown back from the bird feeder and that I was on the ground and I felt that I was paralysed. I could smell burning flesh. I was trying to move my legs but I could not move them at all,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday evening (August 15).

He was all alone, and thought he might be done for.

But Megan heard the bang and saw the flash of lightening, as had their neighbour Chad Hotner. It took a minute or two to locate him, but when they did Chad, who has a military background, took control.

Brad’s shirt and shorts were gone, as were his phone and ear buds. Chad told Megan and his own son Milo to get some blankets and call 911.

“Fortunately, our son John slept through the whole ordeal,” said Megan later.

They were pretty concerned, because of the extreme nature of the lightening strike and the severity of some of the burns on Brad’s body, particularly a diagonal burn across his torso where the cord for the ear buds had been laying. Also, by this time a storm was really brewing and the rain was coming.

Within a few minutes, the first responders were on the scene and the system kicked into gear. Members of the South Frontenac Fire Department, some in their own vehicles, were the first to arrive, and one of them informed Brad that he is a full-time paramedic when he isn’t volunteering with the fire department.

“After he said that and I saw what was going on, I began to feel that maybe I would live through this,” Brad recalls, “at least I knew that the right things were going to be done.”

The firefighters prepared him to be lifted onto a stretcher and when the Frontenac Paramedics arrived, they helped lift him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, which rushed him to KGH.

“When we got to KGH there was a whole medical crew waiting to treat me. The medical team at KGH contacted the burn unit at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto for advice, and soon decided that it was best to send Brad there. He was taken to the airport and flown to Pearson on an ORNGE plane, and then whisked by ambulance to Sunnybrook.

“They did everything, looked internally to see if there was any damage, got my electrolytes straightened around and evaluated my burns. On Wednesday they told me they did not think they needed to do any skin grafts and that as long as I changed my dressings every day I would heal up on my own.

Five days after being struck by lighting, Brad was back home, still in considerable pain and in need of a few weeks of healing, but home, safe and sound with his family.

His main emotions are relief and gratitude.

“From the volunteer firefighters, the paramedics and medical teams at KGH and Sunnybrook, I received the best care I could imagine. I’m very grateful for everything they have done. We are very lucky to have these kinds of services in our communities,” he said.

He also admitted that, in the past, he was not one to take every precaution during electrical storms, but that will change in the future, even though he could not have foreseen the strike that hit him on this occasion.

(Postscript – Megan reported to us on Monday (August 19) that Brad’s “burns are healing beautifully. It’s amazing really.”)

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Among its assets, The Point Park in Sydenham has a fenced in court, which has fallen on hard times.

“Right now it is not being used at all,” said recreation Supervisor Tim Laprade this week.

In the 2019 township budget, $8,000 was set aside to paint lines, do some surface work, and install tennis nets to turn it into a functioning tennis court.

All that changed when an anonymous donor offered the township $25,000 on the condition that the scope of work on the court includes a more premium resurfacing process, extra coats of paint on the surface and the lines, and crucially, the creation of two Pickleball courts in addition to a tennis court.

Laprade said that Pickleball has become very popular in South Frontenac, and the courts at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith and Gerald Ball Park in Sunbury are very well used.

It is a case of if you build it they will come, as far Sydenham is concerned, Laprade thinks

“This donation will likely result in a lot more use for the court,” he said, “a lot of Pickleballers from South Frontenac are playing in Kingston and would prefer to play closer to home.”

Although this will give the township three locations in the warm weather seasons, it does not solve the problem of late fall to early spring, when indoor courts are required.

Southern Frontenac Community Services organises Pickleball in the gym at the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church, but the gym is not available all the time, and there is a demand for an alternative somewhere in the township.

The possibility of putting courts in at the Frontenac Arena has also been discussed, but that would only be in the summer season and there is a heat factor as well since the arena is not air conditioned.

A proposal regarding an expedited process to sole source contracting out the $32,000 project on the Point Court went to Council on Tuesday night.

While Councl rejected that proposal on procedural grounds, it is still the township's hope that the project can be completed this fall.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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