On Thursday May 12, 2016 between 12 and12:30 a.m, an adult female reports being sexually assaulted by two unknown males while walking along Desert Lake Road in South Frontenac Township. The victim sustained minor injuries and was transported to hospital, where she was treated and released. The suspects are described as both Caucasian males, 30-45 years old. The vehicle is described as: a large pick-up truck with bright headlights. Frontenac OPP Crime Unit are assisting with the investigation and ask any person(s) who were traveling on or near Desert Lake Road near the times of the assault or have any other information to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) where you may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000 and not have to appear in court.

On May 8, the Grandmothers By the Lake held a fundraiser event with well-known gardening expert, Ed Lawrence, at Trinity United Church in Verona. Lawrence’s popular radio broadcast can be heard every Monday at 12:30 on CBC Radio One.

The Grandmothers By the Lake are a group of 23 grandmothers with Adele Colby at the helm. They are all from South and Central Frontenac and work tirelessly for the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, to raise awareness and funds for the grandmothers of Africa, who are struggling to raise the many children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Some of the grandmothers care for 2 to 20 children with no resources or support.

Grandmothers to Grandmothers was born following an International Women's Conference in 2006. The Stephen Lewis Foundation brought 100 African women to meet 100 Canadian women looking to help with the AIDS pandemic. The women got together for four days to discuss what could be done and decided on raising funds for African grandmothers to help their grandchildren.

There are now 8,000 chapters of Grandmothers across Canada, who have raised approximately $25 million for the campaign. All money raised goes directly to women in Africa.

At Ed Lawrence’s presentation on Saturday, there was an opportunity for all the guests to write out their gardening questions before the talk began.

If you have ever listened to the show, you know it is a half hour of callers looking for help, and the afternoon in Verona was just like that, but live!

One by one, the questions were called out and Lawrence thoughtfully and sometimes with the dry, gentle humour you might expect, answered them all, which took over two hours. Throughout the afternoon, pens were flying as guests frantically took notes.

There was a common theme for many of Lawrence’s answers. We, as gardeners, need to get more accustomed to what we should be growing, as opposed to what we think we may want to grow. With climate change a harsh reality, the need for gardeners to plant native and drought-tolerant plants is more important than ever.

Lawrence answered many questions about unwanted moss, violets or clover and how to get rid of them, but always followed with “Or you can say 'if it is green, then leave it'”. These plants are native; you do not need to cut the lawn as much if you have them and they are generally drought-tolerant. Many audience members were happy to hear this approach being taught to other gardeners.

When questioned about using a chemical spray on Wild Parsnip, Lawrence was quick to discuss how upset this made him. He talked about how Lanark County will be using a herbicide this summer to try to control this weed by spraying in ditches and along the abandoned railways. “Herbicides do not know how to stop killing,” Lawrence said. “They can kill trees in close proximity by wind. They do not break down once in the waterways and can cause dermal toxicity if handled. Using herbicides is a vicious cycle that we should be avoiding.”

Another question, which Lawrence was quick to use as a teaching tool, was about getting rid of Dutchman's Breeches, a native, spring-flowering plant. He explained to the guests that without this plant, as well as violets and trilliums, we cannot sustain our bees, which are our main pollinators.

The afternoon was also full of laughter at some of Lawrence’s advice, such as putting dirty kitty litter in unwanted mole holes, and his repeated advice on pruning: always cut directly after a node and the blade closest to what you want to keep, and please, always stop at 25%.

He also emphasized buying plants from local plant sales because the plants are usually varieties that do well in your area and are generally cheaper.

Ed Lawrence's kindness shone through all afternoon. He began and ended the day talking and taking pictures with guests and signing his book. This was the second event he has done with the Grandmothers By the Lake, and he generously donated his time and his honorarium to the foundation.

Adele Colby saw the positive effects of the foundation’s work over the years when she visited Africa for a second time in 2015. The changes for women there were clear. They are no longer frightened and are fighting for their rights; for health care and pensions. Some women even expressed their interest in running for office, which was a drastic change from Colby’s previous visit in 2010.

The Grandmothers by the Lake will be holding their 8th Annual Plant & Bake Sale on Saturday, June 4 from 10am – 1pm at St. Paul's United Church in Harrowsmith. Proceeds to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. For more information or to donate, please call Adele Colby at 613-375-8845.

To hear Ed Lawrence answer all your gardening questions, listen to CBC 1 at 12:30pm on Mondays.

There was a silent auction with items donated by Lee Valley & Chapters in Kingston, Canadian Tire Perth & Cataraqui, Memory Lane Flowers & Gifts in Sydenham, Silverbrook Garden Centre in Sydenham, Hillside Garden Centre in Perth and Food Less Travelled in Verona.

If you own a woodlot, here is an opportunity to create a 10-year management plan for your woodlot and save money on your property taxes, similar to agricultural land.

On Saturday, May 14, the Limestone Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association is hosting a workshop in Verona to help people with woodlots of 10 acres or more understand the steps to making a Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP) plan. Note that pre-registration is required.

"There are people who have MFTIP plans who basically want to do very minimal things in their woods and simply preserve it for wildlife habitat. Even then, their plan can include monitoring for disease and invasive species, building walking trails, or putting in nesting boxes and platforms. There are all sorts of things you can put into your plan and no one is going to tell you what you have to do. As long as it follows sound forestry principles then it's up to you. Planning will involve hiring a MFTIP Plan Approver to help assess the woods and figure out the right approach for filling out the MFTIP forms. I recovered the cost of the Plan Approver in the first year of tax savings alone,” said Dave Sexsmith, OWA Provincial President

The workshop is set up in two parts. In the morning, Rob Spence, the MFTIP Coordinator from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry, will describe the program. Then, David Smallwood, MFTIP Plan Approver will present an overview of a typical MFTIP plan.

In the afternoon, participants will travel to a local property, where the family is beginning to plan their MFTIP. This is a chance to learn more about the program on the ground. Participants will meet at Trinity United Church Hall at 6689 Road 38 in Verona. The workshop will run from 8:30 am to 4 pm. The cost for the day is $25, which includes a chili lunch, and OWA members are free. If you are interested in becoming an OWA member at the event, the fee will be waived. The annual OWA membership is $45. Pre-registration is required; contact Kevin Hansen at 613-449-0732 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To learn more, visit www.ontariowoodlot.com.

The Frontenac OPP have partnered with the local community agencies, including the Township of South Frontenac, Southern Frontenac Community Services, the KFL&A's Health Unit, Kingston Community Legal Clinic and Rural Kingston Family Health Organization to create the committee known as Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, or S.A.L.T.

The committee's focus is aimed at seniors living in the Township of South Frontenac, and their goal is to increase seniors' communication with the local police and other service agencies. The committee will provide support and information to seniors in South Frontenac, with the aim of improving their safety and overall well-being.

The committee launched their first safety information session on April 19. Presentations were held in Sunbury, Verona and Sydenham and attracted seniors from across the township.

The free sessions were comprised of three presentations: Keeping Healthy, Falls Prevention and Scams and Frauds.

The first was delivered by two registered nurses: Meredith Prikker from the Sydenham Medical Clinic, and Annie Campbell from the Verona Medical Clinic, both of whom specialize in the management of chronic diseases with the goal of keeping seniors living at home longer.

They covered numerous health-related issues, like medication reconciliation, tips to avoid medication mistakes, advanced care planning, and creating a coordinated care plan. They informed guests about two free self-management workshops on the topics of Living Well with Chronic Disease, which runs from April 20 to May 25, and a second workshop in the fall on Living Well with Chronic Pain, with dates to be announced.

Rhonda Lovell, a registered nurse with KFL&A Public Health, gave the second presentation on Falls Prevention. She spoke about the leading fall risks to seniors, how to prevent them, and how seniors who fall represent 58% of the leading causes of unintentional injury-related emergency department visits. Lovell highlighted the personal costs associated with a fall, which can include bone fractures, chronic pain, loss of independence and a decreased quality of life.

Lovell also spoke of the fears related to falling and how a “Cycle of Fear” can increase the potential for a fall. She ended her presentation on a positive note, stressing that most falls are preventable and can be avoided by making smart choices, remaining active, and planning ahead.

Community services officer with the Frontenac OPP, Roop Sandhu, made the final presentation on the topic of Scams and Frauds. He spoke of the myriad of cons that exist, including door-to-door scams involving water purification, driveway sealants, and energy and hot water tank services. He spoke at length about telephone frauds, where con artists pose as grandchildren in a fix, needing immediate cash; various prize and money scams, like free travel awards, fake charities, credit card fees; and online frauds, like fake letters from Nigeria and West Africa.

He spoke about fraudsters imitating officials from the Canada Revenue Agency and demanding payments. He also gave tips on how to avoid identity theft. In summary, Sandhu quoted the old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”

The S.A.L.T. Committee will be holding future workshops and members are hoping to hear from seniors about the topics they would like to see covered at the sessions. Active seniors in the community who want to become involved with the committee are invited to commit to just one hour a month of meetings. For more information about how to get involved can contact Roop Sandhu at 613-372-1932 or David Townsend at the Southern Frontenac Community Services at 613-376-6376.

Heather Woodyard, owner of Verona's yarn shop, Ewe can Knit, is enlisting the help of local knitters for a good cause. In an effort to give comfort to youngsters who are undergoing medical procedures at Kingston’s KGH and Hotel Dieu hospitals, Woodyard has launched a community blanket- making project. “The idea is get the community together to give these kids a sense of comfort and something nice to hang on to while they are in the hospital,” Woodyard said. She is inviting knitters to knit or crochet 7x8 inch squares, which she will then sew together to create blankets. This is an ongoing project and those interested can drop off their finished squares at Ewe Can Knit in Verona, which is located at 6667 Highway 38 just beside The Verona Convenience store. Store hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-5pm. If you have any questions please contact Heather at 613-374-3000 or visit Ewe Can Knit on Facebook

The popular Verona Cattail Festival, which was held annually on the weekend after the August long weekend, is no more. The Verona Community Association (VCA) canceled the festival earlier this winter because it has become more and more difficult to secure the kind of commitment from volunteer coordinators in order to keep the extensive program of the festival in place.

“Over our 20 years, many businesses and community supporters have given generous donations and volunteer time to support these events, particularly the Cattail Festival/Verona Festival. The Cattail Festival has been our annual fundraising event, which supports all our other activities and allows us to deliver the free events in our community, listed above. It not only provided funding for other events, but also was entertaining and had great activities for all ages. Because of the challenge in recruiting managers for this extensive event, we have had to move in a new direction,” said VCA President Wayne Conway, in a press release last week.

This year, on August 7, which would have been the Sunday of the festival, the VCA will hold the Verona Car Show at the Lions Centre on Sand Road in Verona.

“The car show portion of the Cattail Festival has always been a great success and we have a committed group of people who are making this year’s car show bigger and better than ever,” said Conway.

Established in 1996, the Verona Community Association has been very active in the village and the surrounding areas. They have welcomed new businesses to the community through their Village Ambassador program; have promoted local events through social and traditional media; and provided stage and other equipment rentals. They maintain the welcoming village signs on Road 38, the kiosk in the middle of the village as well as an events sign near Foodland. They manage www.yourverona.ca, providing information on Verona and promoting local events. Most recently they have been fundraising for an electronic sign to replace the current event sign. The majority of the costs for the sign have been raised.

Their committees run events such as the Flower Barrel Contest; Music in the Park; Community Christmas Dinner; Christmas for Kids; Christmas in the Village; Free Skate, and formerly, the Family Fishing Day.

“The objective of the VCA and its eight elected directors is to promote community involvement through activities that benefit the general public and that enhance our community through celebration, beautification and helping one another. With our community’s support and under the umbrella/guidance of the Township of South Frontenac, we hope to continue to operate successfully for another 20 years,” said Conway.

Conway also wanted to thank all the volunteers who have made the Cattail Festival such a success over the years.

Two six-week series of free self-management workshops on Living Well with Chronic Disease and Chronic Pain are coming up in our area. The workshops will help you gain information and new skills to better manage Chronic Pain, keep active and live healthier. You will learn how to deal with emotional, physical and social aspects of living with chronic pain. This workshop helps people who have a wide range of chronic pain conditions such as musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, repetitive strain injury, post stroke, neuropathic pain and other chronic conditions.

These workshops are open to anyone living with chronic pain, their family members and caregivers. You will receive a free copy of the book “Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions and Chronic Pain”.

DENBIGH, Mondays, April 18 - May 23: Land O’ Lakes Community Services is holding “Living well with Chronic Pain” workshops from April 18 to May 23, 1:30-4pm at the Denbigh Hall, 222 Highway 28 Denbigh Ontario. For more information and to register, call Pam @ 613-336-8934 ext 229; 1-877-679-6636, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Registration is limited.

VERONA, Wednesdays April 20 - May 25: Workshops will be held at the Verona Medical Clinic, 1:30-4pm, to provide help for those living with arthritis, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, depression, lung disease, diabetes, and other diseases. To register please call Meredith Prikker 613-376-3327 at the Sydenham Clinic or Annie Campbell 613-374-3311 at the Verona Clinic.

When friends and family get together to celebrate the Easter long weekend, food is always a going concern. For that reason, vendors at the Frontenac Farmers Market have been putting on an annual Easter weekend event, which was held at Prince Charles Public School in Verona on March 26.

Debbie Harris, long-time manager of the market, was pleased with the turn out and said the idea behind the Easter market is to give buyers a chance to purchase food locally grown and raised for their Easter celebrations. “This event is also a great outing for local people who may be entertaining guests for the weekend; it gives them something to do and a chance to get out and purchase a few things that might come in handy for their Easter meal and celebrations” Harris said.

Sixteen vendors took part this year and up for grabs were fabulous meats like Easter hams, lamb, plus locally grown veggies, and a wide assortment of home made comestibles like jams, pickles, and candies. Home baked good like pies, hot cross buns, and monkey bread were also bountiful, and not to be missed were home-made perogies, organic soaps, spring seeds for growers, a wide assortment off art and craft items including home-spun yarns and more.

Together with the long-time regular vendors, the Easter market introduced some new and notable sellers to the market’s loyal clientele. David Bates and Lucinda Thum, owners and operators of Bramble Heights Farm near Parham, are two first time vendors to the FFM. Their booth attracted much attention due to their unique products that include their pastured heritage pork, Muscovy ducks, geese, chicken meat and egg products and much more. The couple’s motto of “Happy Animals, Heritage Lifestyle” is as unique as their off-grid farm and hand built 176 square foot cabin located on their 30-acre farm property near Parham, where they have a single solar panel, and still pump their water by hand.

Old-style farm practices are first and foremost at Bramble Heights, where Bates and Thum raise a wide range of heritage breeds of pigs, ducks, geese and chickens both for meat, eggs and breeding stock. “We have a really old traditional style of raising our animals, who are all free range and ecologically raised”, Bates said. “We have a unique approach to raising our animals and as a result the products we sell, for example our pork, is especially tender, flavorful and juicy and our bacon is really something special”.

The two have been farming for the last four years and they offer up a unique range of items including their “flock in a box” selection of fertile hatching duck and chicken eggs. They decided to join the farmers’ market not only to bring their goods to market but also to meet people in the community, to make contact with other farmers in the area, and to build up their animal stock, which they will be selling during the market’s upcoming regular season.

“ We are hoping to introduce people to the idea of local food and the unique “happy” animals that we are raising”.

The two also sell birch syrup, a wide selection of plants and local trees like beaked Hazelnut as well as locally grown produce, seeds and more. Judging by how fast their ducks and geese flew off the shelf on Saturday, these two farmers, new on the scene with the FFM, will no doubt be attracting many more shoppers when the regular market season opens in May.

For more information about Bramble Heights visit www.brambleheights.com and for more information about the FFM visit

www.frontenacfarmersmarket.ca and follow them on facebook.

Members of the parent council at Prince Charles Public School in Verona, along with some of the school’s staff members, organized and hosted a direct sellers/craft show and sale at the school on March 26, which combined forces with vendors at the Frontenac Farmers Easter Market event. Proceeds from the parent council’s fundraiser will go towards purchasing new playground equipment for the school, at a cost of approximately $13,000. The event offered visitors a unique shopping experience, with a number of direct sellers and crafters offering up a wide variety of products. The farmers’ market vendors also donated their table rental fees to the playground fundraiser.

Alison Williams, secretary of the PCPS parent council, helped organize the event. She said, “There has been a great need for this kind of equipment at the school for a number of years now and we, the parent council, have already made a down payment on the equipment, which will be installed at the school sometime in April”. Williams said that while the school currently has playground equipment for kindergarten-aged school children and children in grades six and above, there is a great need for equipment for the intermediate students at the school. '”Currently there is no equipment outside specifically geared for children in grades 2 through 5.”

The new equipment to be purchased will include three large separate structures; two different types of rock climbing walls and a third structure that will have interactive equipment that focuses on developing this age group’s gross motor skills.

What kid - and for that matter, what adult - doesn't love a kid goat?

That was the motivation for a “Kidding Around” event on March 12 at Food Less Travelled in Verona, when the Perry children of Perry Farm in Harrowsmith, brought the latest four-legged members of their family farm to the grocery store, which is operated by their parents, Kim and Dave Perry.

Grant, Mason and Kaitlyn Perry hosted the event, which attracted kid goat lovers of all ages from near and far. Many who enjoyed meeting the goat and human kids were already doing their regular Saturday shopping at the store, while others were just passing by and noticed the lively commotion.

The four Nubian goats are cared for by the Perry children and the two oldest, Kaitlyn and Grant, are experienced at the task, having both worked at a goat farm in Harrowsmith. The goats, the youngest of which was just four days old, are still being milk fed and are mostly pets for the Perry kids, but requests have recently come in at the store for goat meat, which has the Perry parents wondering if expanding their operation to raising meat goats is an option for their farm.

“The thing with goats and other smaller animals like sheep is that it is hard to get meat on the bone and you really have to work at it to be proficient,” Kim Perry said. “Farmers who specialize in raising goats and sheep know how to do it and while we know how to do it with our beef, pork, turkeys and now chickens, we will likely just wait and see what happens with the goats, which right now are pets.”

Perry also updated me on the many recent changes at the Verona store, which will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary this June. The store has recently expanded and added chicken to its regular inventory of beef, pork and turkeys, which is something new. “This year is the first in the history of Ontario that we are now allowed to sell our own free-range chickens at the store instead of just at the farm gate,” she said.

The kitchen area has also been expanded and Perry has added a number of new pies to their inventory, such as bumbleberry/rhubarb. She and her staff will continue making last year’s popular grape pie. She also makes a wide variety of quiches, all with Perry Farm meats, local cheeses and vegetables.

The indoor dining area, now open all year round, has also been expanded with a new kitchen access, where Perry offers up weekly specials of hot and cold lunches that include entrees like shepherd’s pie, Irish stew, quiches, a wide variety of home-made meat and vegetable soups and salads. Her home- made pies are served with Kawartha Dairy ice cream.

On the store’s shelves is an eclectic selection of fresh and frozen meats, cheeses, veggies and a wide assortment of other Canadian food and cooking products all of which are either grown and/ or locally processed. They include snack foods, dressings, sauces, condiments, sweet treats, grains and flours and much more, with an emphasis on products and groceries that are organic, gluten-free and non-GMO.

“I choose suppliers who either grow locally or process locally, which means they are small manufacturers for the most part that are using as many local ingredients as they can. My aim in doing so is to help ensure diversity in our food supply,” Perry said.

For more information visit foodlesstravelled.ca or local family farms/foodlesstravelled on facebook.