Photo: Golden Eagles running back Josh Thompson completes one of many passes on Tuesday against Cornwall. At the KASSA final last Saturday, Thompson was named MVP.

After winning the KASSAA (Kingston region) finals in Kingston on November 13, when they came back from a 14-1 deficit to beat the Holy Cross Crusaders 15-14, Sydenham's Senior Golden Eagles dug in their claws again at home against the St. Joseph's Panthers of Cornwall on Tuesday in the EOSSAA (Eastern Ontario) final.

Sydenham took an early lead mid-way through the first quarter after Sydenham running back Josh Thompson recovered a fumbled punt. The Panthers came back and took the lead 9-8 early in the second quarter, and it seemed as if the game might go down to the final whistle.

Things were more tense because the Golden Eagles starting quarter back Steve Knapton was hit hard, suffering a shoulder injury and was out for the rest of the game, which looked to be a strong point in the Panthers. But just minutes into the second quarter Brett Irwin, the back up quarter back for the Eagles, showed his mettle and took control of the offense.

The Eagles pushed back hard early in the second half, thanks to their superior special teams. The Golden Eagles recovered their own opening kick-off at the Panthers 40 yard line, leading to Josh Thompson scoring a touchdown, which brought the score to 15-9.

Then, with the Panthers backed up to their own goal line and trying to punt the ball away, pressure from the Golden Eagle front line forced the punter to try and run the ball out of the end zone. A hard tackle dislodged the ball and it was recovered by Sydenham’s Chris Shibley for another touchdown. The score was now 22-9.

For the remainder of the game the Golden Eagles defense shut the Panthers down and the final score was 27-11.

Sydenahm is now off to the OFSSAA (provincial) semi-finals at Minto Field in Ottawa on Saturday (Nov. 20) where they will go head to head with Ottawa's St. Peter's Knights.

The winner of that game will face off at the OFFSSA finals at the National Capital Bowl in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday November 24.

One of the goals that was identified by the Frontenac County Integrated Community Sustainability Plan last year was the improvement of the economic viability of some of the larger population centres in the county.

The Ontario Planning Act makes provisions for Community Improvement Plans (CIP), which, when completed, can enable municipalities to provide financial assistance in a variety of ways to help communities achieve the goals that are identified in the plans.

This past summer, FoTenn Consultants of Ottawa were chosen by Frontenac County to look at the communities in the county, and to recommend one community to have the first plan prepared for it.

“We needed to find one place that had the best chance for success to start off with,” FoTenn’s Mike Keene told Frontenac County Council last week. “Verona had that mix, and it has a fair number of businesses that were responsive when we did our consultations.”

FoTenn considered a number of communities for the pilot project, including Marysville (Wolfe Island) Inverary, Sydenham, Bellrock, Verona, Sharbot Lake, Arden, Parham, Mountain Grove and Plevna.

In the report that accompanied the FoTenn recommendation, all of the communities were analysed, but only Marysville, Harrowsmith, Sydenham, Sharbot Lake and Verona “have the attributes that make them plausible candidates for the pilot project,” according to Frontenac County sustainability planner Joe Gallivan. That is because they have distinct commercial, institutional, public and residential activities.

According to Mike Keene, the other communities that were identified “can still benefit from a CIP, but likely one that is focussed on municipal improvement projects such as unique signage and other infrastructure improvements.

“Verona offers the most diverse and unique commercial base while still being located on a single road. Verona contains the most households and acts as a hub for the surrounding rural area. The Farmers’ Market is unique to Verona, drawing people from the greater community and Verona contains one of the largest employers in the county,” Keene said.

Because Verona is built around one street (Main Street) the Verona plan will be transferable to other communities.

Municipal initiatives that can result from a Community Improvement plan include – street infrastructure and streetscapes, green energy, land assembly, park improvement, and affordable housing. Incentives for private sector projects can also result, in areas such as: façade improvement, feasibility/design sturdy grants, building interior improvements, heritage grants, reduced municipal fees, Brownfield incentives, property tax reductions and tax increment financing.

“I’ll admit that I’m a bit jealous that Verona has been chosen,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski, “but I see from all the analysis that has been done that it is a good fit for a pilot project, and I think it will be very interesting to see how the plan develops and how it can be adapted for other communities.”

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire addressed Mike Keene, saying, “I too think Verona is a good choice. I see that Plevna was rejected as too small and divided, suggesting that a township-wide plan might be more in order. Do you plan to pursue that?”

“There is an entire set of communities that I would classify as small communities that have excellent community support but not a lot of businesses. One of my recommendations as this project continues is to look at plans that take on broader regions,” Keene responded.

South Frontenac Township will have to agree to participate in the plan, and an amendment to the South Frontenac Official Plan will be necessary in order for the Verona CIP to be able to generate municipal funding and/or incentives.

Photo: Sydenham's Golden Eagles

Although going to print on a Tuesday leaves us here at the News hanging regarding the outcome of the Eagles’ final game at the National Capital Bowl, which was played in Toronto at the Rogers Centre yesterday, Wed. Nov. 24 against Peterborough's Crestwood Mustangs, I thought I might brief fans regarding the last nail-biter of a game that got them there.

The Golden Eagles had to be the underdogs going into Saturday’s game. The St. Peter’s Knights were the defending champions; Sydenham’s starting quarterback Steve Knapton was out for the season; they were playing their third game in a week; and the game was being played in Ottawa, the Knights’ home town.

The Golden Eagles’ grade 11 quarterback Brett Irwin, who took over from Knapton, stayed calm and cool, not causing any turnovers in the game and connecting with Ben Fisher for a long touchdown pass that put Sydenham up 8-0 at half time.

The Knights came on in the second half, scoring a single early on, and with four minutes left they finally scored a touchdown to bring the score back to 8-7. The turning point in the game came when Sydenham’s Hayden Peters, a kicker himself, partially blocked the St. Peter’s conversion kick attempt, forcing it to bounce off the crossbar and out, keeping the score at 8-7.

Sydenham then recovered the onside kick. A few plays later Brett Irwin handed the ball off the running back Josh Thompson, who reared back and threw a touchdown pass to Ollie Moyse. The game was put completely out of reach when Kieran Doyle intercepted a St. Peter’s pass and returned it for another touchdown, bringing the final score to 21-7.

Sydenham’s coach Mike Love said that Brett Irwin deserves a lot of credit for the win. “Brett played a great game even with a strong wind blowing constantly on the field,” Love said. “Overall it was a pretty hard fought game. The Knights are physically a very big team and their running back played a great game gaining 200 yards.”

In the run up to Wednesday’s game Mike Love suggested the team will just try to continue to ride the wave that has seen them win eight games in a row after stumbling with losses in their first two games at the beginning of the season.

“We've played five games in 15 days and so have not had a lot of time to regroup. Our plan is to go in just doing what we've been doing. We've had a really great season and the guys have played better every single week and have come a long way. If we do end up taking the cup on Wednesday, all I know is that it will be a pretty fun bus ride home.”

(P.S. If you don’t know what happened in Toronto yesterday, just ask any teenager or any parent of a teenager living south of Parham)

Harrowsmith December 4th

Above left: The Island of Lost Toys by the 1st Harrowsmith sparks,. Above right: The Kingston Shriners ffloat.

Northbrook

Above left: Land O'Lakes Community Services at the North Pole. Above right: Santa arrives in Northbrook.Ompah - December 5

In Ompah parade-goers sat down to a lunch and treats courtesy of the Ompah community hall ladies, and elfin helpers assisted children with Christmas crafts while a chilly Santa, who lost his hat en route to the hall, handed out gifts to all the girls and boys.

The North Frontenac parade, once known as “the biggest little parade”, was started by Alice Davies. Though the route has since been shortened participants here are some of the toughest float goers you will meet and a brave crew sat and waved for close to an hour and a half as the parade wound its way along the wind-swept roads from the fire hall in Plevna to the Ompah Community Hall.

Parham-Tichborne - December 5

Above left: Shrek the Halls by Olden Rec Committee. Above right: Santa arrives in Northbrook.Sharbot Lake - December 4

Above Left: Sharbot Lake Pharmacy

Above right: Santa

Left: Maggie Sutcliffe of Tichborne led Rudolf the calf in the Sharbot Lake parade

Sydenham - November 27

Above Left: Kimaya and Madeline participated in the Sydenham parde by selling homemade cookies to raise money for the food bank.

Above right: Santa in Sydenham

Youtube interview of Bill Robinson here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbItySUOAT0

The battle for Hill 187 resulted in the deaths of 26 Canadian soldiers. Twenty-seven more were injured and seven were taken prisoners. It was the worst engagement of the entire war for the Royal Canadian Regiment. The losses were suffered by the regiment's newly arrived Third Battalion, whose numbers were beefed up with soldiers from other regiments who had not yet served enough time to be sent home.

According to an account of the battle in the Korea Veterans Association website, this particular battle has ever received its due, a forgotten battle from Canada's forgotten war.

“This unfortunate tragedy, the Battle of Hill 187 – which should be an unforgettable incident in the Korean War - was not even properly reported in Canadian newspapers. Censors in Korea wanted to keep the enormity of the losses covered up during the last months of the peace talks,” (Korean Veterans Association Newsletter, May 3, 2011)

One of the soldiers who were wounded at the Battle of Hill 187 was Bill Robinson, who is well known locally as the long-serving, sometimes combative, Portland District councilor in the South Frontenac Council.

On May 2, 1953, Bill Robinson was one of the soldiers in the trenches during the Battle of Hill 187. Although most of the soldiers in his regiment had only arrived in Korea weeks earlier, he had already been fighting for eight months and had been assigned to reinforce the under-manned Third Battalion of the Royal Canadians.

The attack was the fiercest he ever experienced in Korea. At one point a shell blast hit in the corner of his trench, sending him flying. He suffered a concussion and an injury to his ear, and he has never recovered his hearing in that ear.

The battle itself raged on for two days. The account published by the Korean War Veteran Association describes in some detail how the Third Battalion was under-manned and, in the writer's view, unnecessarily exposed to enemy fire at the time. And the battle has never been talked about very much in the intervening 60 years.

“How must this horrid battle have haunted the hearts and the minds of those caught up in it? Not just for weeks of months or even years, but for decades?

“There were no definitive news reports about this battle. There was a terribly inept article, diced and scratched by censors, that appeared in a few Canadian papers two months later. It told no story; only gave an impression that a company of the newly arrived Royal Canadian Regiment had been attacked.

Through the years, tales told by those who were there on the night of May 2/3, 1953 have fallen on deaf ears. Those willing to talk about it finally gave up and went silent. Nobody was interested. Anyone with vague interest believed the war had pretty much ended long before the spring of 1953 and those on the ground in Korea were mostly a symbolic force, not actually fighting. So the story of the brave 3rd Royals who fought their enemy in pitched battle soon after arriving in Korea, is not only forgotten; it was not even told.” (KVA newsletter, May 3, 2011)

As for Bill Robinson, the war did not end after the Battle of Hill 187. Rather than being sent back home, he continued on in Korea until the end of the war.

“A doctor cleaned the blood out of my ear and said I was ok. It was only after that I found out he was a psychiatrist, not an MD.”

He remained with the battalion, and on patrol, for four more months. On July 27, 1953, when the fighting ended, Robinson said his battalion only found out on the morning that the armistice had been signed. But the peace did not take effect until after midnight, and the Chinese fighters kept firing all day and all night. “That was a long patrol, none of us wanted to go down on the last day before the whole thing was going to be over,” he said.

Bill was 18 when he joined the army in Kingston in 1952.

“It was just an adventure in my mind at the time,” he said.

Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, as Bill Robinson laid a wreath at the Sydenham Cenotaph on behalf of Korean War veterans for the 38th time, and joined the procession of veterans who pinned their poppy to a wreath at the end of the ceremony, Bill said he still remembers “all the bad parts of the war; all the memories are still there, and they come back from time to time, when there is a sudden noise, something like that.”

Bill remained in the military until 1969. By that time he was well qualified as a lineman and could have worked for Bell or Hydro, but neither were interested in taking on his military pension, so he worked for the prison service in various capacities until he retired in 1988.

He worked for his wife, who held the management contract at the Verona waste site, until recently.

He has served on South Frontenac Council as the Portland Rep since amalgamation in 1998.

Build it and they will come. That phrase wasn't coined to refer to a free home-made lunch program for students but judging by the turn out at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Sydenham on November 12, it might have well have been. That was when Lunch4Teens launched its first free lunchtime meal for Sydenham High School students and no one was more pleased to see close to 40 students file through the side door at St. Paul's than Janet Knights.

Knights founded and leads the program and said that for her it is a way of providing a healthy home-made lunch to students while also giving them a chance to get out into the community. “I don't remember exactly what inspired me to start it but I knew it would be a good thing,” Janet said when I Interviewed her at St. Paul's on the day of the launch. Janet was assisted by a cheerful group of volunteers, all members of the congregation at St. Paul's and at this point in time she is relying on her own funds to provide the food for the meals.

After speaking with Lisa Taylor, who heads up the hospitality program at Sydenham High School, Taylor offered to have her students prepare the meal.

The meal included home-made squash or chicken noodle soup, egg salad and ham and cheese sandwiches, home-made cookies and a box of juice, and was enjoyed by the students, who arrived en masse at the church. Janet invited each of them to complete a survey that asked what soups and sandwiches they would like for a lunch time meal.

The program will continue weekly every Tuesday at the church from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Janet said that in the hopes of continuing the program into the future and in an effort to make it sustainable, she is planning to approach local businesses, churches, service groups and other organizations and will be asking them to help by donating funds to secure the food costs for the program. Individuals can make donations as well.

So far she is getting a lot of community support and the Sydenham Legion has already committed to providing a lunch and volunteers to serve it up. She also said that two chance meetings at the Foodland grocery store in Sydenham, one with famed NHL'er Doug Gilmore and a second with Canadian comedian Dan Ackroyd, led to both gentleman offering up their support for the program. Janet is also looking for volunteers to help serve the meals.

I not only had a chance to enjoy the meal but also to ask students how they liked their first Lunch4Teens meal. Chantal Lefevre, a grade 11 student at SHS, said she loved the sandwiches and the soup and that it was a much better meal than she might have eaten if she had been left to her own devices. Hunter Spafford, another grade 11 student, agreed and said she really appreciated the delicious and healthy choices, and grade 12 student Ed Burley gave the meal two big thumbs up.

It looks as though Janet has begun something that has very quickly caught on. No doubt she needs to be prepared for what might become an ever-increasing lineup at the church doors every Tuesday. She also said that the program affords enough to feed roughly 50 students and that the meals are given out first-come, first-serve. Anyone wanting to make a donation or to volunteer can contact Janet Knights at 613-379-6948 or 613-545-7039.

Photo: Jim Kelly, Peter Stewart, Mikaela Horton, Kristina Bradbury and Sue Clinton at Sydenham High School

In an effort to bring joy to children and families in need in their community, one grade 12 student at Sydenham High School took it upon herself to get students and staff involved in a local initiative that supports those in need in the community. Kristina Bradbury, who is a grade 12 student at the school, approached Sue Clinton, chair of the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Committee, to find out how she could assist. For close to 25 years the committee has been putting together Christmas baskets that go out every year to local families in the community and Sue Clinton welcomed Kristina’s idea to run a toy drive at the school, with the toys being added to those baskets. “For some children these toys may be the only toys they receive during the holiday season,” Clinton said.

Kristina Bradbury was assisted by fellow grade 12 student Mikaela Horton and their guidance counselor, Corinna Goldring, who acted as their school liaison in the effort. The two students put up posters around the school back in mid-November and made announcements over the school's PA system, inviting both students and staff to donate new and gently used toys to the baskets. In total, 60 toys and games were collected, all of which will be included in the more than 60 baskets that will be given out at the Grace Centre in Sydenham to over 60 local families.

Sue Clinton said that she was pleased to see students stepping forward to help out. “It's really great to see students getting involved and helping to give back to the local community in this way and it's especially great to see them taking the initiative.” Both students will be returning to Sydenham High next year for their final year and their guidance counselor said she feels that they both have promising futures ahead.

Asked if the tradition will continue on, Kristina said that she would be happy to continue the toy drive next year and hopes that other students might take it over in years to come.

Photo: L-R Amy Jack, Kyla Gordon, Michael Timmerman, Margo Gallagher, Joan Worsfold, Christian Scheunemann, and Sam McKay, students and volunteers involved in a production of the Grinch who Stole Christmas.

Almost three years ago New Leaf Link (NeLL) came into existence with the goal of bridging a massive service gap for the community of developmentally disabled people in Frontenac County.

“Over the years the school system has really made progress in learning how to integrate developmentally disabled students into the elementary and secondary school panel through the School to Community program, and by allowing developmentally disabled students to remain in school until they reach the age of 20, they have really made a difference in the lives of the students,” said Dr. Karin Steiner, Founding Executive Director of NeLL.

But when those students leave school, there is little support for them and their families in the community. The situation is particularly acute in South Frontenac Township because while services are available in Kingston through Community Living – Kingston, and in Central and North Frontenac through Community Living – North Frontenac, those services are not generally extended to residents of South Frontenac for travel and budgetary reasons.

As well, because NeLL's founding directors come from an educational background and it has found support from members of the local artist community, its focus has been more on bringing educational opportunities to its clients rather than other kinds of physical or life skill related supports.

The program that has developed, and which was marked last week at a Christmas Open House, is a twice-weekly day school that is held at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Sydenham on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 am and 2:30 pm. Eight students attend the classes, which focus on the production of artwork, healthy eating and exercise, literacy and functional skills.

Making full use of the kitchen in their home in the basement of St. Paul's, the program includes cooking classes that tie in with the work the class has been doing with the Canadian food pyramid. In the winter/spring session that will begin in January, Local Food will be another aspect of the healthy lifestyle program that will take place.

Because the disabilities that the different students face are so varied, ranging from: autism spectrum conditions, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injury, even blindness, the educational programs are individualized.

Nonetheless, one of the most important aspects of the NeLL classes is the interaction between the students.

There is a palpable feeling of camaraderie between the students, volunteers, and staff at the NeLL classes, and according to Karin Steiner, whose son Nicholas takes part in the program, the human connection between the people in the classes is a major benefit, one that transcends the skills that are taught.

“It took a long time for my son Nicholas, who has autism, to come into his own at Sydenham High School, but he did eventually. When he became too old, there was nothing for him to do but sit at home, and that is no way for someone to move forward. For him, and for everyone in the program, interaction with other people is very important,” she said.

As a charitable not-for-profit corporation, New Leaf Link survives on donations, a few isolated grants, including one from the County of Frontenac's community sustainability initiative, and the efforts of volunteers. The volunteer effort of people such as Joanna (Jo) Lyon, a retired special educator who runs the educational program, and Karin Steiner herself, is what sustains the program, and the long term viability of vital service organizations that are fully staffed by volunteers is always a challenge.

“We know that we are doing something valuable, and it is something that is not done in other places. That's why, although we focus on residents of South Frontenac, we have participants coming from Kingston and Sharbot Lake,” said Steiner.

As the NeLL program wound down for the Christmas break, the Open House last week featured artwork and gift items made by students for sale and the presentation of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.

The NeLL program, which costs $30 a day, will be starting up again in early January. Anyone interested in the program, or in opportunities to volunteer, is welcome to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 613-374-3451.

Photo: assisted by Joan Cameron and David Townsend of the SFCSC, Mayor Gary Davison cuts the ribbon inaugurating the former Grace United Church in Sydenham as the SFCSC's new Grace Centre.

Guests gathered to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Grace United Church and its rebirth as the Southern Frontenac Community Services Grace Centre on December 7.

The new center will not only house the SFCSC's staff and the bulk of the many important community services it offers, but also hopes to become a focal point in the community where a myriad of arts, community and other social events will take place. “We also hope to create partnerships in the schools to benefit seniors and students as a way to preserve and lengthen history and build a future of this community”, said SFCSC board chair Joan Cameron when she addressed guests on Wednesday evening.

Also invited to speak at the event was Sydenham resident and avid local historian Wilma Kenny, whose ancestors settled in Sydenham over 200 years ago. Kenny spoke of the history of the Sydenham area and said, “The building of Grace United was a key step in the progress of the community and was the first large gathering hall where early setters could congregate.”

Reverend Malcolm Stienburg, a former minister of Grace church, recalled his years there with much humor. He spoke of the day, December 22, 1861 when Bishops Richardson and Smith dedicated the church. “At the time the church was filled to capacity and it was reported that the people here had erected one of the most spacious and best furnished churches in the county built by the forebearers of many who still reside in the community.”

Rev. Stienburg spoke on a more serious note of the new and important role the building will have in the community as the new home for the SFCSC. “It's very good to know that this building is now being used by an organization that is very much involved with real people facing some real difficulties in their lives. In a sense, if you use your imagination there is no difference between what the people of this organization (the SFCSC) do and what Jesus did when washing the feet of his disciples. So while Grace United Church is gone, its good to know this building is going to a cause which has as its goal the helping of men, women, boys and girls. The sermons preached by preachers like myself over many years are now being replaced by a different type of sermon; a sermon in the form of relief, mental and physical, in the form of comfort and peace of mind for people who are experiencing difficulties in their daily living.”

Anne Prichard, representing the Ontario Trillium Foundation, also spoke and announced the SFCSC's successful receipt of a Trillium grant for $69,200, which will be used for the renovations. The grant, together with fundraising efforts to date, has put the corporation close to 50% of the $350,000 total needed to purchase and redo the building.

On that note Mayor Gary Davidson was invited to cut the ribbon officially opening the new centre. Guests were then invited to tour the building, including the former sanctuary, which is currently under renovation. Don Voteary is heading up the renovation project and recently he and his two young apprentices uncovered the sanctuary's original pine flooring, which they are in the process of repairing and refinishing. On a small table Voteary had gathered some of the artifacts he has found in the process including “holy nails”, old square-headed nails found under the church altar, and one very old nickel embossed with a portrait of King Edward and dating back to 1903.

The renovations are slated to be completed a few months into the new year. SFCSC executive director David Townsend summed up the overall excitement felt throughout the evening best. “This building is full of excitement, potential, dreams and visions and I hope we can make them happen for all of us in the near future.”

Students of all ages at Sydenham High School will be showcasing their musical talent on Friday, December, 2 at the annual SYD's Cafe that will take place in the school gym. The cafe has been an annual event at the school for over two decades. Listeners will be entertained by 16 musical acts by students who will be performing a wide array of musical styles. Tickets are available at the door the night of the show and the doors will open at 6:30PM. All proceeds raised at the event will go towards the schools music program and will allow the department to purchase instruments, supplies and sheet music. Music teacher and Arts Department head Mike Verner is looking forward to the event and said, “It's a great way for musically talented students at the school to showcase their abilities in front of a live, appreciative audience.”