Harrowsmith Community Improvement Plan

Anne-Marie Young, Frontenac County manager of Economic Development, presented the details of the proposed Harrowsmith Village Community Improvement Plan, which came about after community consultations.

The township will be looking at major changes to Harrowsmith junction next year, which could help deal with safety issues and also help promote the trailhead at the foot of the village.

The Community Improvement Plan includes the following vision statement for the community:

“Harrowsmith will continue to build upon its strengths as an active and engaged community that has pride in its sense of community. As a group it values community safety, the importance of schools, recreation and businesses, active transportation and projecting a welcoming image for travelers. The village will continue to provide the day-to-day needs of residents and visitors. Improvements to the main north-south and east-west corridors will improve safety for pedestrians. Private property owners will be encouraged to maintain and improve the visual appearance of buildings and properties to support the development of a unique character for the community.”

The plan itself is a mix of grants and loans for facade improvements and other upgrades, including accessibility upgrades.

The county will make $70,000 available to the township to fund the program. The Harrowsmith CIP is the fifth one in Frontenac County. The first one was in Verona. That was followed by Marysville on Wolfe Island, Sharbot Lake, and the entire Township of North Frontenac.

A Public Meeting on the plan is set for October 4.

Council takes a hard line on Veseau property

Del Veseau hosts the popular Canadian Guitar Festival each summer on his property on Loughborough Lake south of Sydenham. The township has granted an exemption from its noise bylaw each year.

But as Planner Lindsay Mills said in a report to the committee, Veseau has also held unsanctioned events.

“These include one last year where he asked for an exemption and the township did not grant it, and he held the event anyway. After a complaint was registered with the by-law officer he was charged and will be going to court in October for a preliminary hearing in front of a Justice of the Peace,” said Mills. “And two weeks ago on September 10 he held another event and neighbours complained about the noise.”

Mills added that at one point in the past he had recommended that Veseau seek a zoning change, which would have permitted him to hold multiple events.

“I prepared a site plan that would have regulated what he could and could not do, but he never followed through with any of it,” said Mills.

Mills presented three options for consideration: continue to sanction one event per year and charge Veseau for any others; refuse to sanction any more events and charge him for any event he holds; or approve re-zoning the land to permit more events.

Mills also said the township could seek an injunction in civil court, and if one was granted then Veseau could face criminal charges for contempt of court if he held an event.

“He could even end up in jail in that case, although that is unlikely,” said Mills.

“I think we should proceed to civil court and take whatever action is appropriate. This gentleman thumbs his nose at the township” said Councilor Ron Sleeth.

“I completely agree even though I think the guitar festival is a great event for the township and its profile,” said Councilor John McDougall.

“I also agree we need to seek an injunction,” said Councilor Alan Revill.

The matter will come back to Council for a final decision on a course of action.

Recreation Survey

A survey conducted by the recreation department was filled out by 697 residents over the spring and summer. The results will be used as one of the inputs to the process of developing a five-year recreation plan, and to inform decisions about capital and operating budgets.

Budget confusion but treasurer gets direction for an increase

South Frontenac Treasurer Louise Fragnito initiated Council into the 2017 budget process with a report outlining the direction that staff would like to take in regard to the target numbers.

Because South Frontenac is committed to long-term budgeting, the 2017 numbers will set in motion spending over a long period, up to 25 years.

In order to maintain and even increase the level of reserve funds over the next 10 years and continue the aggressive road rehabilitation and upgrade program that the township has undertaken, Fragnito asked that the target of a 2% increase in the impact of the budget on the average ratepayer be increased to 2.2% this year.

The change reflects a proposal from the Public Works department for an expensive upgrade to the Sunbury Road, from a surface-treated (tar and chip) road to an asphalt road with a paved shoulder. The upgrade would reflect the amount of use the road receives on a daily basis, and its role as a detour from Highway 401 from time to time. A similar proposal for the Westport Road will be considered for 2018.

“The use of these roads has changed since the original long-term roads plan was developed” said Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth, who added that the township has been attempting for a number of years to obtain a grant to upgrade the Sunbury Road, without success. The proposal, as it currently stands, would be financed through a loan of $11 million, to be paid off over 20 years, with interest pegged at about 2.5%

The budget direction that Fragnito was seeking included annual loan payments to cover the additional projects. The direction, which projects budget increases over 25 years, also included a host of projects, including building a new $2.25 million fire hall every three years starting in 2020 until all the township fire halls are replaced.

Council had a lot to say about the proposals.

“I need more information about how all these numbers fit together,” said Councilor Alan Revill. “We see projections over a long period of time and we will have to then focus on 2017.”

Deputy Mayor Ross Sutherland said he was ok with the 2.2% proposal, but wanted to use reserves to finance the new roads projects instead of bank loans.

While other members of Council also expressed a need for more explanation of the numbers, Mayor Vandewal knew what he wanted to see: smaller numbers and less spending.

“To me this is a wish list: new fire halls, road upgrades, and on and on. We aren't going to do all this. We need to look at things we can afford, not the warm and fuzzy things that we would like to see. Even if you say this is just direction and we will make decisions as we go along, once it is down on paper it will be hard to stop, so I would like to slow down,” he said.

Vandewal also said he campaigned on 2% increases, so he wants to stick with that.

Nonetheless the majority of Council indicated comfort with Fragnito's suggested 2.2% increase.

[Editor's note – Treasurer Fragnito uses a calculation that includes projected increases in tax assessment due to new construction and overall growth as well as phased-in assessment for existing properties when calculating a 2% or 2.2% increase in the impact of the budget on the average property in the township.

In our reporting of budgets at the Frontenac News, we look only at the total amount of money the township levies to ratepayers. For example, the levy increase we reported for South Frontenac in 2016 was 6.66%, an increase from $15.5 million in 2015 to $16.5 million in 2016. Looking back in time, the total levy in 2010 was $10.3 million, so it has therefore gone up by 60% so far this decade.

Looking forward, South Frontenac is on track to increase the levy to about $30 million per year by 2025.]

Application for funding for The Point

Council accepted a Public Works proposal to apply for a $77,500 matching grant from the Ontario 150 fund. If the application is successful, new fully accessible washrooms, a new sports pad, playground equipment, new fencing and a paved walkway will be put in. The township's share of the cost will come from Parkland Reserve funds.

While indicating that she will vote in favour of the proposal, Councilor Pat Barr, her voice betraying underlying frustration with the amount of attention the Point Park has received from Council in recent years, said, “I will vote for this as long as it is the last time I have to hear a request for money to fix up The Point for the rest of my life.”

Browen Weeks, Recreation Coordinator for the seniors’ programs at Southern Frontenac Community Services, recently came up with a somewhat unusual fundraiser for the Adult Day Services program. On August 30, he rocked in a rocking chair for 12 hours from 7 am to 7 pm, a total of 720 minutes, with the goal of collecting a dollar for every minute of rocking.

When this picture was taken around 3:30pm, Browen had exactly 3 hours, 29 minutes and 22 seconds yet to go, and had already raised over $2,000. He admitted it had been a long day but for most of it he had had plenty of visitors, some of whom rocked along with him. He had a cozy space within the huge Grace Hall: a small carpet, two other rocking chairs, a lamp, a gliding footstool and a side table well stocked with games, snacks and information about the seniors’ programs. With a wry grin, Browen admitted to one modification in his chair; it hadn’t started out with the large, soft seat cushion he was using by mid-afternoon.  

Former Harrowsmith cheese factory site to be re-zoned

There was no opposition to a proposal to re-zone the Sapputo property in Harrowsmith to permit commercial car sales and other urban uses. Planner Mills noted that much of the 4.4 hectare lot is wetland, and will remain under wetland protection. Commercial use will be restricted to the higher land at the northwest corner of the property. The public works manager has advised that a traffic study may be necessary.

Mica Lake re-zoning

Darryl Silver’s application to re-zone two waterfront lots on Mica Lake from Rural to Waterfront Residential was passed. This is possible because both severed and retained lots have frontage on Little Long Lake Road, which has recently been categorized as a fully maintained public road.

Subdivision monitoring proposal

Councillor Sleeth brought a notice of motion that Council consider the hiring of a consultant on a monthly basis to monitor the status and development of existing subdivisions, saying that Council lacks the manpower to do this.

Deputy Mayor Sutherland agreed: “There is clearly an appetite in the community for appropriate monitoring and enforcement.” He described this as an interim measure until a planning manager is hired.

Mayor Vandewal and Councillor McDougall disagreed, on the grounds that the proposal was too open-ended, and the new position had already been agreed upon. The motion was deferred.

Recent Sydenham parking appalls public works manager

“It looks like we’re not going to get there with moral suasion; we’ll have to resort to enforcement. It’s absurd anyone would be boneheaded enough to park in the high school crosswalk, but they did.” Segsworth reported that in spite of signage, and discussion with the high school principal and Tri-Board Bus Line, illegal parking in front of the high school is seriously compromising accessibility to the school, pedestrian safety and sight lines at the corner of Wheatley and Rutledge roads. Also, parking on the sidewalk in front of the village post office seems to have resumed. More signs will be added to clearly delineate parking stalls in front of the high school, and their message will be enforced.

Lukewarm reception to county proposal

Council received, but did not endorse a shared communications proposal from the County. Councillor Revill asked if there was interest from any of the other townships.

Recreation committees’ amalgamation encouraged

Several motions from area recreation committees were shelved, pending the September 27 release of the township recreation survey. Also, Deputy Mayor Sutherland and Mayor Vandewal reminded Council that it was not appropriate for motions to come directly to Council from district recreation committees. These are to be forwarded to the South Frontenac Recreation Committee, which will in turn bring proposals to Council.

Fire ban report requested

Deputy Mayor Sutherland suggested that Council should ask for a brief written report from Fire Chief Chesebrough clarifying his timing of the fire ban this summer. Council agreed.  

Ever since Ronnie's Place closed there has been a gap in restaurant options in the village of Sydenham.

The Mill St. Cafe is open for lunch and Mill Street Pizzeria and Subway are also available, but the village has been missing a sit-down breakfast, lunch and dinner spot.

Rumours that the former restaurant property across from the library at the corner of Wheatley and George streets was about to change hands began circulating though town in early August, and when pickup trucks started filling the small parking lot at the beginning of last week and people started cleaning and fixing up the place, the rumour mill went into overdrive.

It turns out that the Teal family from Verona have purchased the building, and Carolyn Teal, formerly of Martha's Place, is the new chef/manager of the restaurant. In recognition of the Point Park, which is also located across the street, the new restaurant will be called The Point Restaurant,

“The Point is a landmark that everyone in and around Sydenham knows, so it seemed like a natural name for the restaurant,” said Carolyn Teal, who went to Sydenham High School years ago and still lives near Verona.

She describes the cuisine of the restaurant as casual with a twist. Included in the breakfast menu, in addition to the classic Eggs Benedict with hollandaise and peameal bacon, is a “Country Style Benny” with shaved prime rib, poached eggs, a homemade biscuit and sausage gravy.

Among the items on the dinner menu there is fish and chips, a chicken dinner, steaks and also eggplant Parmesan and a brisket dinner. Among the burgers, fries and snack items there is a brisket poutine.

“Our goal is to be the place for everyone to go, before meetings, with family and for breakfast, for students at the high school.”

The turnaround from purchasing to opening has been very swift, but this weekend the Point Restaurant will be open.

“We've had workers here cleaning, renovating a little bit, getting the kitchen in perfect shape, planning the menu, hiring staff; it's been busy,” Carolyn Teal said.

The restaurant will be decorated with large, black and white historical photos of Sydenham and to the right of the front door a large harvest table has been put in to create a comfortable space for large families, small meetings, the morning coffee crowd, etc.

“I think Sydenham has been waiting for something to happen here and we are ready to make people comfortable and serve them quality food,” she said.

SF Council rejects  zoning bylaw for project, Frontenac County suports plan of subdivision

(Note - The first two paragraphs of this article have been updated from the one printed in the Frontenac News on August 25 to reflect the decision taken by Frontenac County Council on August 24)

South Frontenac Council met on Tuesday (august 24) and voted down a proposed bylaw to change the zoning for a parcel of land in the hamlet of Hartington from R-U-46 (Special Rural Zone) to R-U 29 (Special Residential Zone). At a meeting of Frontenac County Council the following morning (august 25),  the council, voted to support the plan of subdivision that is tied to the zoning byklaw amendment.

These two bylaws, which were recommendations bythe planning departments of both South Frontenac and Frontenac County, were to be forwarded to a  pre-hearing of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) on September 6th at the South Frontenac Township Office. The township and county are now sending diverging messages to the OMB, which is the approval authority for both the zoning and plan of subdivision applications. 

The development is a smaller version of a larger proposal that was made by Terry Grant, who initially applied in July, 2015 for zoning and planning approval to build 47 new houses in and adjacent to the hamlet.

Opposition was fierce from the start, centering on the capacity of the local aquifer to support 47 additional wells.

The proposal was later whittled down to 13 lots, all within the designated hamlet, dovetailing with the clearly stated intentions of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) which underpins all planning decisions in the Province of Ontario.

A series of sometimes contradictory hydro-geological and planning reports have been prepared at the behest of Terry Grant, the local opposition group, the township and the county.

These reports took time to prepare, delaying the process until, on February 1st, Terry Grant launched an appeal of the process with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the final authority for all planning decisions in the Province, on the grounds that the process had taken longer than six months, which contravenes provincial regulations.

As the first stage of the appeal looms, South Frontenac and Frontenac County Council's have both been working towards having their own decisions in place to present to the appeal board for consideration.

Another complicating issue in the process is the existence of contaminated soil from a former gas station, just across Road 38 from the proposed subdivision.

In the spring of this year, members of South Frontenac Council were faced with a set of conflicting planning opinions. Reviews of all the hydro-geological studies, test well results, impact assessments by the Quinte Region Conservation Authority, etc. led the peer reviewer hired by Frontenac County to conclude the proposal was acceptable, and reviewers for the opposition to conclude it was not.

They commissioned a literature review, by Hydrogeologist Christopher Rancourt from exp services, a large consulting firm with an office in Kingston.

Rancourt reviews 20 documents as well as the PPS and came to the conclusion that the 13 unit subdivision was appropriate, with the stipulation that each of the 13 wells that are drilled “be evaluated by a certified hydro-geologist.” He added that “a detailed scope of testing requirements be established that is acceptable to the planning authority in advance of approval.”

Later, he made the further recommendation that “given the hydrogeological sensitivity associated with the site/hamlet the township should consider restricting agricultural use in close proximity to the site/hamlet.”

Opponents of the project point to two documents, a letter by the geologist Wilf Ruland, dated July 28th/2016, concerning the impacts on groundwater from the hydrocarbons that were found at the site of the foremr gas station. In addition to detailed recommendations about how the township and the Ministry of the Enviroment should deal with the potential spread of contamination in the immediate area, he said that no new deveopment should be contemplated until all of the other concerns he expressed are dealt with.

“The prudent thing to do would be to place a temporary moratorium on development in Hartington” until the remediation of the contaminated site is complete, he said.

The second document is a letter of opinion by the planning consultant they hired, Mark Dorfman from Waterloo.

“In my opinion, this planning application is premature and should not be approved. The uncertainty of the evidence supporting the application are sufficient to conclude that as a matter of precaution, the municiapity and the board should not approve this application,” he wrote.

In his own report, South Frontenac Township Planner recommended that council approve the zoning change, subject to 28 conditions.

Council celebrates firefighters

South Frontenac Council's celebration for long serving firefighters, which took place before the August council meeting on Tuesday night (August 2), started on a poignant note, as Fire Chief Rick Cheseborough requested that Mayor Vandewal call for a minute of silence in recognition of the recent death of a volunteer firefighter, Patrick Pidgeon, in Amherstview.

That start underlined the kind of sacrifices that have been made by the six South Frontenac volunteer firefighters and their families over the years. In addition to recognition from the Ontario Fire Marshal's office, the township also presented certificates to the men. Captains Rick Nelson and Brian McCarthy were both on hand to receive their 30-year pins, and firefighter Mike Noonan received his 25-year pin. Firefighter Steve Young (25 years), Captain Mark McDermott, and Deputy Fire Chief Tom Veldmand could not make it to the ceremony and will receive their pins in a private ceremony.

Council approves organizational review 'light'

South Frontenac Council has approved a proposal by the Corporate Services Committee to hire a new manager for Development Services at a salary of about $100,000 per year.

The approval puts in place only one of the positions contemplated by a consultant's report that was presented to Council in March, which envisioned the creation of up to six new positions, most of them at the management and senior management levels.

The new manager of Development Services will oversee the planning and building departments and economic development efforts and will also play an integral in the township's efforts to assume responsibility for plan of subdivision and plan of condominium approvals by 2019. Those approvals are now under the jurisdiction of Frontenac County.

Once the new position is filled, which is not likely to happen until late October, a senior management team will be in place to oversee the work of township staff and “to develop an implementation plan for the strategic plan, as well as required policy and long term needs”, said a report that was adopted unanimously by Council at their August 2 meeting.

The management team will include CAO Orr, Treasurer Louise Fragnito, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth, and the new manager of Development Services.

As part of the new structure, the Recreation Supervisor Tim Laprade will report to the public works manager, and Human Resources/Legislative Service Compliance Officer Sherry Cornell will report to the treasurer.

The new structure will greatly reduce the number of staff who report directly to CAO Orr, which was one of the key needs identified in the organizational review that was presented to Council back in March.

Some of the other recommendations in the report, such as the hiring of a communications person, a full time deputy clerk, and a fire safety officer, are to be deferred, but not for long.

The final recommendation in the corporate services report that was adopted is “that the 2017 and 2018 recommendations be brought forward for decision in advance of the corresponding budget debate”. The 2017 budget will be discussed in October.

Council adopted the Corporate Services Committee's report and all nine of its recommendations in a unanimous vote.

The net cost of the plan, including salaries and some one-time spending, will be about $41,000 in 2016 and $127,000 per year going forward.

Fencing approved at the Point Park, but school board support proves elusive

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented the results of a tender for the construction of a fence around the new and improved football field at the Point Park, and recommended that the township award the contract to the lowest bidder, Lennox Fencing, for $60,130 plus HST.

The field is the home of football and soccer for Sydenham High School, and the Limestone District School Board has paid 50% of the $300,000 cost of renovations thus far. The proposed motion to grant the contract to Lennox Fencing approved the $60,130 cost “under the understanding” that the Limestone Board would pay half of that back to the township.

“I have been having some difficulty getting a response about this from the school board,” said Segsworth. “They don't seem to want to call me back and we need to approve it now if we want the fence in place when the kids get back to school in September.”

Segworth said that he did not really think a fence was necessary but Rec. Committee members felt that a fence was necessary

Councilor Norm Roberts said, “I feel the fence is required because you are going to have vandalism otherwise,” a point of view that was echoed by other members of Council.

Councilor Mark Schjerning said, “The purpose of the fence is two-fold: to keep cars off the field and to prevent vandalism.”

The only thing of concern was the wording of the motion.

“We can't force the school board to pay their share so why include them in the motion at all?” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “We have to do it anyway.”

Councilor John McDougall said he is reluctant to move forward without the school board at the table, but the need to get the project done by September won out.

“Working with the school board has been interesting all along,” said Segsworth, “but I don't want to say anything more than that.”

Council voted to award to contract with no reference to the school board.

Speed limit changes approved

“Speed, speed, speed. It's an issue we deal with all the time, and its almost always about requests to lower speed limits,” said Mark Segsworth in presenting proposals to lower the speed limit to 60 km/hr on a number of township roads. They include an 800-metre section on the Westport Road; over 2 km on Duff Road; 1.5 kilometres of Greenfield Road; 2.7 kilometres on Alton Road west; 1.6 kilometres on Henderson Road; 2.75 kilometres on Murton Road; 400 metres on Walker Road; and two sections of Canoe Lake Road, one of which is 1.3 kilometres long and the other 400 metres.

One road was deferred so Council can clarify where the speed limitation will start and where it will end. That was North Shore Road, where 10 km is proposed for a reduced speed limit.

“We really should have taken the public works manager's suggestion that we make 60 km per hour the default speed lmit and only put up signs on roads where the speed limit is 80 km/hr. We would have saved money in the long run,” said Ron Vandewal.

Ron Sleeth goes on a rant

When it came time at the end of the meeting for Council members' announcements, Councilor Ron Sleeth said, “I have more of a rant than an announcement.”

He then proceeded to speak in rapid succession about a number of measures taken by Frontenac County at their meeting in July, including adopting the new county logo, which he describes as “empty”. He also complained about the proposed spending to renovate the county office, and a proposal to hire a second communications officer.

“It just boggles my mind what is going on there,” he said, “I would like to thank our mayor and Councilor McDougall for trying to protect our money there, since it is our ratepayers who put in 60% of the money, and my district, Storrington is the largest in South Frontenac and we have no direct representative there.”

John McDougall said, “I have to disagree with you about the logo, which is really much more than that when you look at it and hear the entire presentation, which will be presented at our Council. But as for the rest of it, you're spot on.”

“That logo and branding was paid for with grant money, so while it is all taxpayers' money it does not come directly from our ratepayers,” said Ron Vandewal. “But I do see where you are coming from.”

Organizers from Somersault Events did not know what to expect as they set up under stormy skies on Saturday evening (July 9) for this year's Sydenham Triathlon.

Fortunately, the rain, heat and humidity blew over, leading to cool, slightly overcast weather on race day Sunday.

“The unsettled weather and the forecast had an impact on our race day registration, but even the participation was good. In its 7th year, Sydenham remains a solid event for us. The Point Park is really a great location. The roads for cycling are not too busy; the trail is right there for the run; and the lake is great,” said Christine McKinty of Somersault. The company runs a number of triathlons in Ottawa, where it is based, as well as the Brockville, Smiths Falls and Sydenham Triathlons.

The Sydenham Triathlon includes an Olympic distance triathlon as well as a shorter sprint triathlon, a duathlon, a short Tri-a-Tri event for beginners, as well as a 5km and 10 km run.

“We have events for every level of athlete, and for all ages,” said McKinty.

The Sydenham Triathlon is popular with athletes from Kingston and Frontenac County, and would be more popular with athletes from Ottawa and west Quebec, according to McKinty, but for a lack of accommodations.

“It is very hard to get a room in Kingston on the weekend of the triathlon because there is so much going on there,” she said.

Most participants who travel from a distance stay with friends or family that have cottages in the region because there is not a lot available nearby. Even camping opportunities are limited.

“We have thought about extending to a Saturday event, because it is such an ideal location and the people from Ottawa really enjoy visiting here and always say how beautiful it is. But the accommodation issue has held us back,” she said.

The results from the triathlon show how popular it is with athletes from the local area, as three of the top 10 men in the Olympic Triathlon, including the winner, Jeff McCue (2:18:23), are from Kingston.

In the women's Olympic event, which was won by Jutta Merilainen of Batawa, the top 10 all came from different Ontario locations, including Gananoque, Stirling, Smith Falls and Perth.

Local athletes who shone in other events include 15-year-old Rayden Shelter from Syenham (3rd in the male 5 km run) and 12-year-old Avery Nelder (7th in the female 5 km run).

Clive Morgan from Yarker finished 3rd in the male Sprint Triathlon event; Nick Vanderschoor from Perth Road Village finished 5th; and Patrick Gilmour from Inverary finished in 8th place.

Also, Sandy Roberston from Sharbot Lake was the fastest woman in the 55-59 age group in the Sprint event. Patri Kelly from Harrowsmith was the fastest in the Swim-Cycle event. In the male Super Sprint event, Jason Nelder from Sydenham finished first; Jacob Beckwith, also of Sydenham, finished in 4th place; and Therol Peterson from Glenburnie was 9th. Among the women, Nora Bond from Battersea finished 1st and Erin Peterson from Glenburnie finished 9th.

The 40 children, aged 6 to 12, who attended the Vocational Bible Study (VBS) at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Sydenham for the five days during the first week of July, got more than Bible stories. The theme for the week was Animal Encounters. The organizer, Michelle Laing, had arranged for a different animal to be there each day. The animal owners showed a true passion for the care of their animals and allowed them to interact with the children.

Each day was a mix of energetic praise songs to a demanding arm-waving, foot-stomping beat, followed by water slides, crafts, gardening, and the animal of the day.

Bee keepers came in their space suits, with stories of how a hive works and a show & tell of moth and bear attacks, and finally a sample of pure honey. The children were shouting out questions in excitement.

Silky Chickens, with their soft feathers were happy to be handled by excited children. The apparently delicate, but actually very robust chickens, broke down barriers with even the most reserved child.

Service Dog handler, Brittani Lawson, brought her service dog Anchor, a six-month-old Labrador. Brittani sat on a chair with Anchor lying at her feet. With 20 children at a time sitting round them, Brittani leaned forward and in her whispering voice told children what Anchor had done for her. It was as quiet as only a church can be. The children listened to secrets of what they must and must not do when they meet somebody with a service dog.

• Only talk to the person not the dog.

• Do not touch or stroke the dog.

• Never distract a working dog by talking to it; the handler’s life may depend on the dog.

The children learned that a service dog is working when he/she has the backpack on. When Britany removed Anchor’s blue backpack he was off duty and was a dog like any other, who then played with and got hugs from the children. Brittani would like to help set up a non-profit foundation to help other people in need get and train Service Dogs. She said, “In just six months Anchor has helped me lead a normal life and now I want to help other people do the same.”

The pot-belly pig, who lived in a house and slept in a bed with a dog, was a hit with the children as he ate cereal from their hands, and would come when they called his name.

Pony rides provided the animal encounter on the last day. Every child got to stroke or ride a pony having first heard the sad and exciting story of hand feeding Charcoal the pony. Hand-reared from the time he was 11 days old on goat’s milk, Charcoal, now 11 years old, was there with Lightning to give rides.

Then it was a final excited group photo and a barbeque to round out a great week.

Despite the ominous start to the day last Saturday, July 9, which began with thunderstorms, four new novice paddlers headed out to compete on the Gananoque River to win ribbons in War Canoe, K1 and K2 events, carrying on a 110-year-old tradition of friendly competition at the Gananoque Canoe Club that began in 1906. Sydenham Lake Canoe Club, now in its 19th year at its Sydenham Lake location, has its roots in the Kingston Yacht Club in the early 1900s, so, Sydenham and Kingston paddlers have in effect been paddling against Gananoque for well over a century.

As the first U15 event of the season, the 100, or so, young paddlers were bursting with enthusiasm, determined to achieve their personal best without tipping their boats in a series of 200 meter single and team events at the Gananoque Canoe Club.

Parker and Peyton Friendship, Jack MacInnis, Kiera Wilson and her cheerleading sister, Charlotte were all in attendance. Though Sydenham won’t be hosting an event this year, there are four more regattas that the SLCC paddlers can look forward to participating in. The next U15 regattas will be held in North Bay, Carleton Place, and at Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa.

Coach Rhiannon Murphy, an eight-year veteran at SLCC, says, “Parents often can’t believe that they are sending their children out alone to compete in a tippy sprint boat, but are often surprised by their own children’s confidence, determination and success. They are also amazed by the supportive audience of parents and fellow paddlers who enthusiastically cheer on the last paddlers over the finish, just as if they were the first. It is really all about having fun as a family and being active outdoors. If you don’t over focus on the results, the children enjoy themselves and just concentrate on achieving their personal bests that they have worked all week to master”. The Sydenham Lake Canoe Club offers day camps and lessons to children and adults who wish to improve their paddling skills, or just get out on the water for fun and fitness. For more information visit www.sydenhamlakecanoeclub.com