Rightly so, Frontenac Park is considered the hidden jewel of Frontenac County. It is located in the midst of an array of communities and cottage lakes within a stone's throw of Sydenham and is a short drive from Kingston; and yet it is a backwoods park in a unique geological and climactic location. It features the best canoeing, camping and hiking this side of Bon Echo Park, which is also a jewel but one that is less hidden and is also shared between Frontenac and Lennox and Addington.

In his definitive book on the back story about the land where Frontenac Park is located, “Their Enduring Spirit: the History of Frontenac Park 1783-1990”, Christian Barber extensively researched all of the development that took place in and around the park before the idea of a park was floated and eventually acted upon in the 1960s.

Their Enduring Spirit is not only a valuable resource in terms of how the park was developed; it is also an account of the difficulties posed by the Frontenac Spur of the Canadian Shield on those who were unlucky enough to attempt homesteading in its rocky terrain.

The park is located in what were then Loughborough and Bedford Townships, now both part of the Municipality of South Frontenac. Many of the settlers who attempted to make a life in that region did so in the mid-to-late 1800s. There were some Loyalists among them, but there were also a number of Irish immigrants who made their way first to St. Patrick's Church in Railton, and then headed into the wilderness north of Sydenham in search of a new life.

What greeted them was brutal and difficult.

The history of a number of homesteading families forms the core of Their Enduring Spirit. Based on historic records, interviews with descendants who lived on or visited those who lived on the farms, and by walking the land and examining the remnants that are being reclaimed as wilderness lands, a picture of life in the back townships during the first 100 years of Frontenac County emerges.

(An account of the life and times of the Kemp family can be found at Frontenacnews.ca under the “50 Stories/150 Years” tab)

The level of poverty among late 19th Century settlers is reflected in some of the minutes of meetings of both Hinchinbrooke and Loughbrough Townships. In the minutes there are accounts of grants for as little as $1 for families in need after the death of a partner or a debilitating illness.

Families who had settled on the worst pieces of land, who suffered from any kind of ill health, or for some reason were not able to keep up with the demands of clearing land, building shelter, keeping warm in winter and raising enough food, ended up in desperate straits. That is why settlers would take over abandoned fields and houses and only settle the ownership later on, if they decided to stay. Far from disputing this practice, as long as the property taxes were paid the local townships did not question the ownership of the properties.

Mining was one of the few means of getting money for labour, and was also a major impetus for the establishment of the K&P Railroad.

The village of Godfrey, to the west of Frontenac Park, was originally called Deniston after the name of the post office but it was known as Iron Ore Junction by the local population. The Glendower company mined 12,000 tons of iron ore between 1873 and 1880, and later the Zanesville company took over and a spur line was constructed between the mine and the Bedford Station (renamed Godfrey in 1901) of the K&P.

A large deposit of Feldspar was found between Desert and Thirteen Island Lakes, and it was mined, on and off, between 1901 and 1951, producing a total of 230,000 tons in that time.

In and right around the park, it was mica that was the most commonly mined mineral, in small mines as a kind of cottage industry and on an industrial scale as well.

There is an account of how a mica mine operated in one of the issues of “The Frontenac News” (not this newspaper but the newsletter of the Friends of Frontenac Park)

Below is an excerpt:

1905 - early in the morning Tom Gorsline, the foreman at the Tett mine, is checking the steam piping as a worker starts a wood fire in the boiler that will provide the steam that runs the drill and the water pumps. The miners had been following a vein of amber mica (phlogopite) since 1899 - the main pit now plunged close to 80 feet into the rocks and water sometimes was a problem. Fortunately, the price for mica is on the rise again and the main vein is still good.

The hand drillers are already at work. Their job is to make holes in the rock to receive the explosives. The drillers are working in teams of two using a method called "double-jacking". One person, the holder, manually holds a steel drill against the rock. The other, the striker, swings an eight-pound sledgehammer hitting the end of the drill. In between the blow, the holder twists the drill to loosen the rock chips so it does not get stuck in the rock. Then the next blow comes with a sharp clank when steel meets steel. They are drilling at a rate of 1.5 to 2 feet per hour. After a half-hour, the holder and striker exchange places so the striker can have a rest. As you can imagine, accuracy is crucial. If the striker misses, the holder could be maimed for life. This is dangerous enough when they are drilling on the floor of the mine, but often the veins are at the roof of a drift or on the wall of the pit.

As soon as the steam from the boiler reaches the right pressure, a miner starts the steam drill. It is faster and easier than hand drilling but the steam drill is enormous, unreliable and unwieldy because of connections with the steam pipes that come down from the surface. As a result, the steam driller is assigned fairly open spaces while the hand drillers work in tight quarters. Drilling is hard and dangerous - there are no hard hats, goggles, or electrical lights - but the dollar a day they are earning helps to feed their families.

Now that the holes are in place, Tom calls the blasters. They make sure the holes are dry, otherwise the charges may not go off. They put the black powder in waterproof covers, attach a proper length fuse, and place it down in the hole. They pack the rest of the hole with clay. The length of the fuse is important or they could meet their maker faster than expected. After a few minutes, all charges are ready. The head blaster gives a signal to Tom Gorsline who orders all miners and equipment out of from the mine. When all is clear, the blaster lights up the fuse and moves quickly out of the way. The explosion rumbles and the ground shakes.

After the smoke and dust settle, Tom sends in the muckers. They have a hazardous job. Everyone knew of George Amey, a mucker at the Birch Lake mine, who lost an eye when his pick hit a charge that did not fully explode. Some muckers sort the ore from the waste while others, with picks and shovels, load the waste rock in a large bucket until it is full. Then one of them yells: "BUCKET." Upon hearing the signal, a man at the surface gets the horse moving on a circular track so that the winch can hoist the bucket up to the top. The bucket is dumped on the tailings pile. As soon as the muckers are finished clearing the debris from the last blast, the drillers begin to make new holes.

Cleaning the mica is the job of cobblers who work on the surface. Some cobblers "thumb trim" the mica by the pit while others are working at the cleaning shop attached to the main mine building, "knife trimming" the mica to remove all traces of unwanted material. They store the clean mica in barrels.

The mica is shipped down the Hardwood Bay Road to Perth Road then north to Bedford Mills. There, the mica will be shipped to a buyer in Ottawa via the Rideau Canal.

The Tett mine operated from 1899 till 1924. It produced 99 tons of mica for a value of $27,279.00. For a few months, it was the largest mica producer in Ontario.

By the 1940s the mica mining boom had passed and most of the homesteads in the area had been abandoned or were on their last legs. It was then that the idea of establishing a wilderness park on the lands in Loughborough and Bedford township that had resisted settlement, and whose lakes (Devil, Big Clear, Otter, and Buck) were not already cut up into cottage lots, was first floated.

In 1954 a Parks Division was created within the Department of Lands and Forests of Ontario (the precursor to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

In 1957, the Kingston Rod and Gun Club submitted a proposal for a new park to serve the growing numbers of people in Kingston and southern Frontenac County wanting to experience the great outdoors, hiking, camping, fishing and the enjoyment of a sandy beach.

The proposal included twenty-seven 200 acre lots in Bedford and twenty-five 200 acre lots in Lougborough, a total of 16.2 square miles, with an option to increase it to 23.7 square miles if the area below Otter Lake was added.

That effort was not successful, and seemed to be dead when Murphy's Point Park on Big Rideau Lake near Perth was established instead.

Five years later, in 1962, another group, the Kingston Nature Club, put forward a similar proposal. This time, even though the cost of purchasing private land for the park had ballooned to $200,000, the proposal was successful. It eventually cost over $1 million to create Frontenac Park, which opened in the late 1960s.

The park's first superintendent, Bruce Page, was the great grandson of Jeremiah, one of the first settlers on the land in the vicinity of what became Frontenac Park.

Among the features of the park, and on the nearby Gould Lake Conservation Area, are hiking trails that pass by and over mica mine sites. In the Park, the 10 km Tettsmine Loop passes by remnants of a log slide from the lumbering days, abandoned mica mines and the remains of McNally Homestead.

At Gould Lake, the Mica Loop passes over several small mine sites and mica minerals can still be seen sparkling in the rock faces.  

(absent: Councillors Robinson, Schjerning, Sleeth, and CAO Orr)

By-Law enforcement: Neighbour’s Livestock

Trevor Piat of Harrowsmith spoke of his neighbour’s increasing number (currently 6 or 7) of horses on a three-acre residential lot. The horses frequently cross into Piat’s garden, causing damage and posing a danger to his small children. Previous appeals to the Township for enforcement of the livestock by-law have had no result. Council agreed to have the by-law officer look into the problem, and they also discussed the dual responsibility of neighbours to maintain boundary fences.

Unassumed Roads

In response to a request from Council for a listing of all unassumed roads in the Township and a process that could be used for assuming some of them, Public Works Manager Segsworth said the information was not readily available, for many of the Township’s over 600 private lanes traverse portions of unopened road allowances. To establish a process for identifying all these roads and following through on locating, and having them upgraded then assumed, “would be a significant undertaking for staff, and there would be other initiatives that will be delayed.”

Process to Redesignate Land from Rural to Agricultural

As requested, Planner (and acting CAO) Mills outlined the somewhat lengthy process to redesignate rural land to agricultural on the land use schedule. He noted that if the subject land is in Soil Class 1, 2 or 3, the redesignation was unlikely to be supported by the province unless the landowner wished to have the change made.

Water Access To Canoe Lake from James Wilson Road

In August, James Campbell applied for three severances for waterfront lots on Canoe Lake, accessed from James Wilson Road. A number of residents have expressed concern about a beach area that has been in common use for many years. Although the area in question is part of the James Wilson Road allowance, the exact boundaries are a matter of local dispute. Council recommended that the area be surveyed, the road allowance be widened and the boundaries be clearly delineated. Should this not provide adequate public access to the water, the fall-back position would be to ask for designated parkland instead of cash-in-lieu as a condition of severance.

Portland Heritage Society

Deputy Mayor McDougall reported that the open hours for the new Museum have been irregular, but at Christmas there will be a celebration week, followed by a regular schedule of open hours.

Next Meeting

There will be no Council meeting Sept 29: Tuesday October 06 will be the next meeting of Council.

Hartington Subdivision Proposal

Council brought forward a deferred motion to forward the planning reports of June 24 and September 04 concerning this proposal, along with all related correspondence and the Township’s preliminary comments, to the County of Frontenac.

Councillor Revill suggested an amendment which would state that Council still has serious concerns about the proposal, and will comment further once the developer and Malroz respond to questions raised by the citizens’ consultant McIntosh Perry.

Councillor Sutherland asked about the 13-lot counter-proposal mentioned in some of the correspondence: planner Mills said the original large proposal was the one officially being discussed, until the Township receives formal information otherwise from the development’s planner. The amended motion was carried.

Solar Projects

A motion proposed by Councillor Sleeth concerning future solar projects was deferred until Sleeth could be present.

Council approved a motion of support for a FIT solar project at 3090 Forest Road, south of Sydenham.

Revised Official Plan

Council accepted the final draft of the Township’s revised Official Plan, as presented by Planner Mills. This version is the result of considerable discussion and public consultation over the past several months. It will now go to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for final approval.

Septic Re-Inspection Program

Council endorsed the Corporate Services Committee’s recommendation that staff be directed to investigate the feasibility and implications of septic re-inspection options and report back to Council.

Councillor Barr said that if requirements to have tanks pumped every 2 to 4 years should be recommended, there might not be enough resources in the Township to deal with the demand. However, it was noted that prior to developing any specific policies, consultation would need to take place with numerous other stakeholders including residents, associations, septic haulers and installers.

Bellrock Village Revitalization

Council approved Public Works Manager Segsworth’s recommendation to acquire two small pieces of property in Bellrock, in order to facilitate road realignment and improve drainage. Revitalization work has begun in Bellrock.

Sydenham Point Shoreline Restoration

Deputy Mayor McDougall reported that there will be accessibility issues to be dealt with at the same time as the shoreline restoration is carried out. Timing of the project is still uncertain.

Syrian Refugee Crisis

Council agreed with the Association of Ontario Municipalities’ suggestion that all Ontario municipalities donate $100 to Lifeline Syria to aid in resettling Syrian refugees.

Welcome to New Staff Member

CAO Orr introduced Sherry Corneil, who has joined the Township staff as Human Resources/Legislative Compliance Officer.

Fireworks at the Cottage

Council recently changed the noise by-law in order to restrict fireworks to certain summer holiday weekends (at cottagers’ requests). Three letters were received in response to this restriction, expressing great disappointment at the change, citing the authors’ enjoyment of the tradition of summer-long fireworks at Bob’s Lake. Responded Councillor Roberts: “Guess you just can’t win.”

Are We Perhaps Trying to Move Too Quickly?

Councillor Schjerning suggested that the recently updated fencing by-law be even further updated, to change its all-Imperial measurements to Metric…

Revised Subdivision Proposal Questioned

Speaking on behalf of a number of the residents of Hartington, Michelle Foxton noted that FOTENN Planning’s current proposal for a much smaller development situated within the hamlet of Hartington appeared to be “an unmodified northern portion of the original proposal.” None of the outstanding water concerns had been addressed. Referring to a report/review by McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers, which had been commissioned by the community, Foxton listed seven unresolved issues all relating to questions about water quality and quantity. She asked to see the response from Maroz Engineering (the company that did a peer review of the developer’s hydrogeological report on behalf of the Township), when it becomes available.

Mayor Vandewal replied that Council was presently holding back from commenting until they had the Malroz reply. Deputy Mayor McDougall agreed, and complimented Foxton on her community’s work, telling her not to be discouraged.

Sleeth said he was dismayed that Council did not seem to be getting good information; Vandewal said “You could hire ten consultants and get ten different opinions.” Foxton commented; “Perhaps there’s a gap between the information that comes in, and how it is interpreted to Council.”

Charlie LaFarge reviewed the history of the Hartington area’s land zoning slide from Prime Agricultural in 1997 to its present designation of Rural. He asked “what was the process that led to this change?” He also listed concerns about surface water flooding, citing current problems in the area, and described the proposed subdivision layout as “looking like wartime housing.”

Planner Mills then reviewed the comments from the public meeting about the subdivision, held July 7th. He summarized the concerns into four main areas: 1) water quality and quantity; 2) flooding and drainage; 3) effect on farming; 4) lot frontage and aesthetics. He said there were too many lingering questions about the hydrogeology for the report to be forwarded to the County at this time.

Mayor Vandewal said that the public comments could all be forwarded to County for their records: Council did not have to make their recommendation at the same time. CAO Orr said he needed direction from Council, or he would have to bring the issue back every meeting. Councillor Revill made a notice of motion to come to the next Council meeting, recommending the current information and comments be forwarded to the County planning department. “I don’t think anything’s going to happen too quickly on this,” said Vandewal.

Wetlands, Waterbodies, Wells and Granny Suites

Mills presented a review of comments both from the public and Council concerning the Township’s updates of the Official Plan. After discussion of several details, Council agreed the revised plan should come forward to a Council Meeting.

Proposed Procedural By-Law for Council

Fortunately for all, Council agreed not to open discussion on this very detailed 22 page document tonight. Councilors will, within two weeks, each submit a list of the clauses they wish to address. These will be collated, and the results will come back to Council in October for a decision on how to proceed from there.

Want to become more involved?

Deputy Mayor McDougall announced that the County has dissolved their Sustainability and Trails Committees, and are replacing them with a new Community Development Committee, which is seeking applicants to become “Sustainability Stewards”. Further information is on the SF Township’s web page, and the deadline is Sept 11.

A colonial reminder

Mayor Vandewal opened the meeting by acknowledging that on September 9, Queen Elizabeth will become the longest-reigning Sovereign of Canada. Council has proclaimed Wednesday, Sept 9 to be a day of celebration in Her Majesty’s honour.

Proposed Mandatory Peer Reviews for All Developments

Councillor Sleeth had made a notice of motion that; “Council require peer reviews of all technical studies for all developments.”

In a report , CAO Orr detailed a number of reasons why the motion, as worded, is far too broad and might lead to unintended consequences. He recommended the motion be deferred until a more thorough policy could be developed. Sleeth agreed, adding a time frame of 60 days for the revised motion to come back to Council. Councillor Sutherland suggested the County and CRCA should be asked for their input to the policy. Council agreed, and deferred the motion.

Classification of Agricultural Land

Council agreed with a notice of motion proposed by Councillor Sutherland, directing staff to ask the Ministry of Food and Agriculture why the area of class 1 agricultural land between Boyce Road, Petworth Road, Road 38 and Watson Road was zoned rural rather than agricultural. The motion also asked the Planning Department to explain how Council could rezone rural land to agricultural. (Mayor Vandewal suggested that there were other parcels of land in the township that this could apply to: Sutherland agreed, but said these could perhaps be identified and dealt with at a later date, rather than delay addressing the Hartington issue.) The motion was seconded and passed.

Corporate Communications and Service Level

Councillor Schjerning spoke to his notice of motion to direct staff to develop a policy which would standardize staff responses to inquiries (ie, the computerized equivalent of designing township stationery to be used in all staff communications, and a policy setting optimum response times to queries.) Council referred the matter to the Corporate Services Committee.

Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF)

Public Works Manager Segsworth proposed that reconstruction of the Sunbury Road be submitted for OCIF funding under the recently announced second round (deadline Sept 11). This surface treated road is part of the 401 EDR, and needs reconstruction to be able to withstand the very heavy traffic loads demanded of an emergency detour. The project is estimated at $5,000,000, with the Township’s share of 10%.

Lease Renewed

Council agreed to renew the Frontenac Society of Model Engineers’ five-year lease of the overflow parking lot of the Battersea ball diamond, with additional permission for the group to construct a 10’x40’ storage facility (resembling an old-time railway station) to house their model railway equipment.

Unsanctioned Outdoor Music Events

Council responded to complaints about amplified public concerts advertised to be held on the site of the annual Loughborough Lake Guitar Festival (which is sanctioned by Council) at other times of the year. They will ask the by-law officer to investigate and take appropriate action.

County’s 150th Celebrations Deemed a Big Success

Council congratulated the County for throwing a well-attended three-day party in Harrowsmith’s Centennial Park last weekend. South Frontenac’s Public Works Department was praised for their excellent work in upgrading and preparing the park for the event.

September Meeting Schedule

There will be no COW meeting on Sept 29, the fifth Tuesday in the month.

At a hastily organized second public meeting to discuss a proposed 13 megawatt solar power project in close proximity to Inverary, representatives from Canadian Solar Solutions faced angry local residents.

Originally Canadian Solar had planned a single public meeting for the project, on Monday August 17 at the Invista Centre on Gardiners Road in Kingston. Since the Invista Centre is located a significant distance from the site of the project, and in a different municipality, a second meeting in Sydenham, at the meeting room in the public library, was convened on August 19. The second meeting also used a question and answer format, whereas the first had been set up as a Open House.

The project is sponsored by Suncorps as well as Canadian Solar, and Dillon Consulting has been hired for technical support. Representatives from all three companies were on hand.

Many members of the audience were carrying yellow signs calling for the project to be abandoned, and when the questioning began the tone was angry and sometimes aggressive.

The project is set to be located on two sites. The northwest corner of one of the larger properties is at the junction of Perth Road and Davidson Road. It extends south and west towards Holmes Road, and the second property is located to the west, on Davidson Road near the junction with Latimer Road.

There are 15 or so abutting properties to the lots that are proposed for the solar farms and those particular property owners were well represented at the meeting.

One of the first questions had to do with location.

“My wife and I, we understand about solar energy and the need for it, but why here? Why are you doing it right here where there is a major road and people are moving in all the time, and there is farming going on? Why here?” asked one man.

Tyler Balding from Canadian Solar, said that the reason his company, and a number of others, are developing proposals in the South Frontenac and Rural Kingston area, is that province is pushing for solar power generation in eastern Ontario.

“The province has asked for projects to be built in certain areas. All of northern Ontario is blocked off, and lately they have filtered us further, down to certain areas of eastern Ontario. These two sites that we are looking at are great locations, because of transformer capacity and because they are not classified as farmland but as rural,” said Balding.

A key factor for the proponents is the fact that there is a transformer that borders the large Perth Road/Davidson Road site, and there are high capacity Hydro One lines linking the smaller site to the same transformer.

Members of the audience challenged the assertion that the area is not agricultural. “My family has farmed there for generations,” said one man, “and while we may not be class 1 farmland, it is land that we have improved over generations, and we have worked to improve the land all that time. We make our living by working the land, not covering it up.”

There are seven classes of soil in Ontario and land that falls into class 1-3 is not available for solar farm development.

However, according to a representative from Dillon Consulting, the fact that the Municipality of South Frontenac has gone to the effort of identifying prime agricultural land as part of its Official Plan process over-rides provincial soil classification.

“In this township it is only prime ag lands that are restricted,” said the rep.

The majority of the issues raised had to do with the project being an incursion into a region that has seen steady and increasing residential development over the last 20 years.

“I moved to this community because I love it,” said a resident. “You should have come to see us before going forward with this.”

Council wastes no time in rejecting proposal

Flash forward six days, to Tuesday, August 25. The scene is the South Frontenac Council chambers, just meters away from the library meeting room. Most of the same people are in attendance, but Canadian Solar has a smaller delegation on hand, just two people, one of whom is Tyler Balding. As well, while only Mayor Vandewal attended the meeting in the library last week, the entire Council is at this meeting, sitting around the horseshoe-shaped council table.

The first delegate to address Council was Tyler Balding. In his 10-minute presentation, he said the company had listened to the public and was prepared to increase setbacks, ensure that neighbours were not impacted, and would gladly adhere to any conditions Council put forward in exchange for a motion of support.

After he spoke, the first question from Council came from Councilor Ron Sleeth.

But instead of asking a question, Sleeth put forward a notice of motion that Council reject the proposal out of hand and make that known to the province, the IESO, and other parties.

Council voted to waive the rule that notices of motion are deferred until the next meeting, and then voted unanimously in favour of Sleeth's motion.

Mayor Vandewal then asked if any of the 20 people who were also on the list as delegates, all of whom were going to speak against the proposed solar farm, still wanted to address Council.

A few did, including Mike Phillips, who said that he was told by a Canadian Solar employee that if the project is not supported by him and the township, the company will make no effort to shield his property from the solar panels if the project ends up being approved without municipal support.

“I should point out to everyone that our vote does not mean the project will be rejected by the IESO. We just represent a certain amount of points in the procurement process,” said Mayor Vandewal, “We've done what we can, but it is out of our hands now.”

All told, South Frontenac has supported two solar farm projects under the large scale procurement process; two others were pulled by the applicant; and they have now rejected one. The deadline for applications to the IESO for large scale solar projects is September 1, and a decision is expected in November.

A number of smaller projects under the Feed in Tariff or FIT program have also come before Council in recent months, and they have supported 25 of 26 that came to them.

Over 250 young paddlers from six different paddling clubs across Ontario competed at the Eastern Ontario Division Championships, which took place at Sydenham's Point park on August 8 and 9. The small but mighty Sydenham Lake Canoe Club hosted the event, which included competitors from the Rideau, Ottawa River, Carleton Place, North Bay and Gananoque Canoe Clubs. Most of the paddlers competing were aged 11-15 but paddlers as young as eight years old also took part.

It was thanks to a grant from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation in the summer of 2014 that the Sydenham club was able to restore their course, making it once again a nationally certified one where these kinds of provincial qualifying events can take place. The event was the first of this summer’s qualifying events for the Ontario Championships, which will take place August 15 at the Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa.

While the Sydenham Club is a considerably smaller club than most, with just six competitors ages 8-16, its members did amazingly well in their events. On Saturday George Willes and Sebastien L'Abbe placed second of 11 in their final K2-500M race. Matt Symons placed first in his K1-1000M race and his twin brother Nic placed third in the same event. Both will move on as direct entries as two of the top seeds in the division. On Sunday the Symons brothers placed first in their K2-500M race, crossing the line well ahead of the pack, which made for a very exciting race. Also of note was Ian Ramzy, who placed second in the K1-100M sprint and he will also move on to the Ontario Championships. Eight-year-old Parker Friendship, the club’s youngest competitor, competed for her very first time and did her personal best in her U11 event.

One of the reasons that this small but talented club does so well is because of the dedication and talent of their coaching staff. Head coach Cia Myles-Gonzalez, a former member of the club for nine years, has been coaching the team for two years now and currently competes as a paddler with the Balmy Beach Canoe Club in Toronto. She has recently qualified to race in two C1 events and two C2 events and in four war canoes at the upcoming Ontario Cup Three Championships in Ottawa on August 16. Gonzalez credited her team for being “dedicated and working very hard towards the event despite the challenges that come with being a small club”. Gonzales also spoke of the home club advantage, saying, “It really helps to know the lake and the course. Sydenham Lake can get really windy and our team has had experience with those conditions, which is an advantage”.

Assistant coach, 16-year-old Rhiannon Murphy is also a long time member of the club and a talented paddler in her own right. Rhiannon will be competing in three events including the K1-100, K1-200 and C1-6K at the national level at the upcoming Canadian Nationals, which will take place in Ottawa at the Rideau Canoe Club from August 25 - 29. Should she place in the top three, she will move on to compete internationally.

Helen Parfitt, vice-commodore of the club, credited Roger L'Abbe and the club’s sprint paddlers for working tirelessly setting up the course prior to the weekend’s championships and she thanked the 30 officials and the 30 community volunteers who helped to make the event run so smoothly. The event is not only an exciting day of racing for competitors, their families and supporters but also attracts between 500-600 people to the area, which is a great thing for economic development in the Sydenham area. Anyone interested in joining or learning more about the SLCC can visit www.sydenhlakecanoeclub.com or call Helen Parfitt at 613-376-6613. 

History buffs wanting to experience what living in pre-17th century Europe was like may be interested to know that there exists an international society with branches right here here in Canada that allows its members to do just that. The Society of Creative Anachronism is an international organization with over 30,000 members who research and recreate the arts and skills of those days long gone by. Consisting of over 20 kingdoms, members organize events and dress in period clothing and attend various events throughout the year.

As part of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library's series of live monthly speakers, Jon McLean, a member of the society, spoke at the Sydenham library branch on August about the organization and some of its practices. Society members can engage in many of the activities that were popular during those times, including armored combat, rapier combat (also known as fencing), various types of crafting, equestrian activities, archery and other thrown weaponry, heraldry and other forms or writing, performing arts, games, meal and beverage preparation and more.

McLean has a interest in making mead, an alcoholic beverage popular at that time and said that was what initially attracted him to the group. The first step for those interested is to locate the Kingdom closest to you by accessing the organization's website and looking at a list of their events that can be attended, or alternately by getting in touch with a member to find out more. McLean spoke of some of the events that he has attended, which have included special feast days when summer and winter Kings and Queens are chosen by the group; special combat days that are held in a drill hall located at CFB Kingston; large re-enactments of battles that have taken place, as well as other celebrations where members recreate period meals and activities in an effort to emulate life as it was back then. Members create their own authentic dress, and accessories and McLean stressed that it is up to members to go as in depth into the authenticity of their roles and gear as they like. McLean showed slides of members of his group at a special Trebuchet Day where they test fired a catapult they had built, and other slides showed members participating in a re-enactment of a Trillium War.

Those interested can visit the website at www.sca.org to find out more information and how to get involved.

Township hopes to submit plan by mid-September

South Frontenac Council interrupted their summer meeting break to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, August 11. The only item on the agenda was a statutory public meeting to gather input from council and members of the public regarding the township's draft Official Plan, which needs to be reviewed every five years.

The draft plan has already been submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for comment, and was the subject of an open house in July that drew 50 people. Along with the draft plan, planner Lindsay Mills presented Council with a summary of all the oral comments from the meeting along with a number of written comments he has received, some as late as this week.

He pointed out a number of points of contention between what Council has said they would like to see in the plan and what the ministry is indicating they will accept.

In 2001, with the adoption of the first South Frontenac Official Plan, a limit of three new lots could be subdivided out of an existing lot, and Council has said it wants to increase that to five lots.

“The ministry has indicated they will not accept that but Council wants it to remain so it is still in the plan,” said Mills.

The ministry is also asking for a new provision, that both Mills and Council consider will be a detriment to township residents hoping to develop their properties without providing any improvement to the environment.

That provision is that all development within 120 metres of any body of water will be prohibited unless a full-blown environmental assessment is done.

“I think this is a problem for us. Our current practice is to seek comment from the relevant conservation authority about waterfront development and they essentially do what I would call a scoped study. If they indicate a full-blown study is necessary we require one. If this goes through it will add costs to private landowners that are not necessary and will change the pattern of development in the township,” said Mills.

As well, the ministry is requiring that “all private lanes be 'condominiumised'” said Mills, which he described as a “solution to a problem that does not exist.” Private lanes in South Frontenac are improved every time there is a new lot created on them as part of the approval process, and the township has been providing funding on an annual basis for the improvement of lane ways.

“Emergency vehicles are able to access properties on those lanes, which is what the ministry is concerned with,” Mills added.

Most members of Council had comments and suggestions to add to those from the public regarding the plan.

Councilor Ross Sutherland thought a provision prohibiting privately run common septic and water systems should be softened.

Councilor Ron Sleeth said the township should stand firm on the five lots, saying, “That has been a good model for development in South Frontenac, and is easier and fairer for property owners than a plan of condominium or subdivision.”

When asked by Councilor John McDougall if he will be waiting for Frontenac County to complete their Official Plan before submitting the South Frontenac plan, planner Lindsay Mills said that as far as he is concerned “It is full speed ahead; this has been delayed for too long. If the County OP comes in while this is in process, we will deal with that at the time.”

Members of Council and the public talked about the idea of introducing something in the plan about a “community fit” in addition to the technical requirements for a plan of subdivision.

Mike Keene, a township resident and planner with Fotenn, which is in the midst of developing two subdivisions in the township, said that the township might consider fine tuning the areas designated as hamlets in the township to fit the geography and patterns of development.

At the end of the meeting, CAO Wayne Orr said that a final draft plan will be ready for Council to consider at a Committee of the Whole meeting that is scheduled for September 8. “If that plan is acceptable, we can look at township approval on September 15, or we can put it off until later if Council wishes to do so.”

Once the plan is approved by the township it will go to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. But the process will not be complete, particularly if, as is likely, the ministry will want further changes.

A complicating factor is that once the Frontenac County Official Plan has been approved by the ministry, the County will replace the ministry as the approving body for township plans

The Trousdale family is known for the iconic Trousdale General Store, which is still operating as a gift store, as well as for the Home Hardware and Foodland stores in Sydenham.

However, it turns out that although the family has been in the retail business for a pretty long time - longer than either Frontenac County or Canada have been around - they actually started out in farming.

The family arrived in Canada from England sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. They farmed near Holleford at first, and there are Trousdales who are still farming in that area to this day.

“One brother went to Tennessee and another moved to Holleford,” said John Trousdale when he and his wife Ginny were interviewed at their home in Sydenham.

The changeover from farming to running stores came as a result of a number of family members who were interested in getting into the baking business.

“There were six boys, and they all seemed to get into baking as a core business,” John Trousdale said, “and that involved buying eggs and cream from farmers. If you are buying flour from Lake of the Wood milling, you could also bring in middlings, bran, shorts, other grains. They got into selling grains to the farmer, and the store grew out of serving the farming community.”

The first Trousdale store, which was also a bake shop, was established around 1836, and for many years there were three Trousdale stores as the brothers competed with each other for customers.

Eventually, John's grandfather Percy outlasted his brothers and only his store survived into the 20th Century.

“They brought in everything that the farming families needed. There were 100 acre farms everywhere on the back roads around here, one after another, and the farmers wanted to get everything in one store so we brought it in - boots, bolts of cloth, hardware, dry goods; it all came in by train when the train came.”

In 1927, Percy Trousdale decided to do a major renovation on the family store.

“Once he got into it he realized that the store was pretty shaky. The renovation turned into a demolition and he built a brand new store. When you look at that building today you see that it was quite a lot of store for 1927.”

The store was built out of concrete, and that is maybe why it survived a fire that burned down a number of buildings across the street, where the Sydenham One Stop, the hair salon and bank are now located.

Percy Trousdale was also the last baker in the family. He used to take his son Nobel on the bread runs in a wagon. There is even a box under the seat of the wagon, where, according to family lore, Nobel used climb in to get out of the rain while his father drove the wagon. Percy also kept up a grain grinding business across the retail store until the 1950s.

After returning from World War 2, Nobel came into the family business and he ran the store until he died in 2004 at the age of 90.

A passionate supporter of the Conservative Party, and the Trousdale family connections to the party go back to its very beginnings when John A. Macdonald did business in Frontenac County, Nobel once credited Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien with helping him to recover from an illness. Chretien called an election and Nobel got himself out of bed to get to work trying to get Chretien out of office.

John, who was born in the early 50s, grew up working in the store.

“I remember when I was six or seven, with my older sister and brother, we used to work in the store all the time. It wasn't a hardship or anything, it was fun, I never wanted to go to school. Everything came in bulk. We used to bag the tea, split 50 pound bags of potatoes into 5 or 10 pound bags - all that kind of stuff. And when people came to shop they stood at the counter with their list and called out the items. We would run and get the items from the wooden shelves behind the counter and put them out for them, and after they paid or marked down what they owed to pay at the end of the month, we would carry their groceries and whatever else they bought out to their car. It was that kind of store.”

At some point, in the early or mid-60s, “farmers were no longer able to sell milk in cans, they had to sell it in bulk. That was a huge change and a lot of farmers went out of dairy. Farms were consolidated and got larger and they began to order grain in bulk, which changed our business and we eventually got out of grain.” John recalls.

In the 1970s and 80s when John came into the business with his father, he realized that Sydenham and the area around it had changed completely. It was no longer a farming community; the train was long gone, and more and more of its residents travelled to Kingston every day for work.

“I realized there was not enough business in the store to support two families, and I also realized that Sydenham was now a bedroom community and the shopping was different.”

In 1985, the property where the Foodland and Home Hardware stores are now located was up for sale. At one time it had been the location of a very large dairy and milk condensing factory where powdered milk was produced, but the factory had been torn down and a dance hall been put up. The dance hall was a free-standing structure, 60 by 100 feet, and John thought it would make an ideal store. So he bought it and opened an IGA store. Three additions later, the store is still selling groceries, under the Foodland banner.

In 1989, the Home Hardware building had been completed and had its grand opening, with a blue ribbon being cut instead of a red one, at Nobel Trousdale's insistence.

As the two stores were running at one end of town, Nobel Trousdale's store was still open, so the Trousdales were competing against each other again, but this time John was really competing against himself as he was still spending most of his time working for his father, and having managers run his own stores.

When his parents died, just three weeks apart, John's business focus shifted to the newer stores, and at that time Ginny became involved.

Although she had been married to John for 25 years at that point and the couple had raised a family, Ginny had never been involved in the family business. She had pursued a career in social work until then. She decided that, instead of letting the General Store go, she would reinvent it as a gift store.

A lot of creative work has gone into bringing in new products and displaying them in the confines of what still looks much like the store did 80 years ago. There are still products from bygone days around, now as display items, and in many of the back and side rooms the old bolts of cloth and crates of soap are still tucked away.

“I don't think they threw anything out,” said Ginny, “and now how can you, since much of what is there is so unusual today?”

John and Ginny's son, Will, has come into the Home Hardware business now, and as Sydenham continues to change, look for Trousdale's to follow suit.

Family businesses do not survive almost 200 years and five generations without seeing around a few corners to always end up in the right place at the right time.

In the Trousdales' case, however, the past is carried along as a reminder.

“One thing that has never changed - from delivering bread to delivering and fixing appliances, it's a service business,” said John Trousdale.