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There was a point in the second period of last Friday night’s Peewee Flyers game won 5-2 over the Shelburne Wolves that may have summed up the entire season.

At that point, the game could have gone either way, as it had been a back-and-forth, end-to-end match so far.

After a goal-mouth scramble and subsequent scrum in the Shelburne end, Flyers Drake Thomas, not the largest man on the squad by any means, was shoved by a Wolf that was a good two heads taller. Thomas, didn’t back down in the slightest bumping the bigger lad right back and staring him down (er, up) to boot.

“He’s all heart,” Flyers head coach Al Pixley said of Thomas. “The whole team is.”

Shortly after that incident, the Wolves got a little chippy and found themselves down two men.

The Flyers didn’t score with the two-man advantage, the aforementioned Thomas notched one just after the second penalty expired, giving the Flyers a lead they’d never relinquish.

The first period was an entertaining, evenly matched contest. Braden Dillon opened the scoring with 6:20 left but Shelburne chipped in a rebound with 3 seconds left.

Thomas’s score at the 8:30 mark made the score 2-1 and Ryder Mallet made it 3-1 with 3:02 left but the Wolves got one back at 2:57.

There were some tense moments in the third but at 10:22, Jack Pixley made it 4-2 Flyers. Pixley then added a power play marker at 3:34 to make the final 5-2.

“There were a couple of moments but we really took it to them in the third,” Al Pixley said.

The Flyers now travel to Ilderton March 14 and 15 before returning to Frontenac Community Arena for games 3 and 4 March 21 and 22. If necessary, Game 5 would be in Ilderton March 28 and Game 6 in Frontenac March 29.

The series will be a rematch of last year’s final, which Frontenac won 3 games to 2.

“We’ve played Ilderton a couple of times this year,” Pixley said. “We’ll have our hands full.”

Published in General Interest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That sold out and like four days.”

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

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

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

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

Lawrence agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

At the end of the day, they may be just benches, but to some people, they mean a little more than that.

So when students from Prince Charles Public School in Verona came to Atkinson Home Hardware in Hartington for paint and supplies to fix them as part of Brian Grigg’s 6/7 shop class, they expected to pay with funds set aside from Parents School Council fundraisers.

But Wendy Rose wouldn’t hear of it.

You see, Rose was a student at Prince Charles and remembers those benches well.

Not only did she arrange for a donation, she went to the trouble of colour-matching the paint so it would be the actual Prince Charles colours.

“They (the benches) were sky blue but we thought it might be a good idea to have have them in the school colours (green and yellow),” she said. “I got the colours from the “P” in Prince Charles.

“I remember them well, they were used for all sorts of things — choir, school photos, even as boards for floor hockey.”

“They had become a backdrop but now they’re a centrepiece,” said Principal Peter Mouncey.

He said real-life projects like this give students an education they can’t get from more theoretical teaching.

“The emphasis is on problem-solving — from a practical standpoint,” Mouncey said. “They have to figure out what tools they need, how to do a lot of measuring and such.

“They thought it was going to be simple once they started looking at it, some of the boards were in bad shape and we had to remove two cups of screws.”

That aspect wasn’t lost on the students.

“We were going to try to use the same tops and sides but we couldn’t for all of them,” said Jason Rose. “Our top was too small so we had to cut down one end and move the legs.”

“And I didn’t expect all the sanding we had to do,” said Sydney Leonard. “We had to sand for painted and the corners had to be rounded off so people wouldn’t injure themselves if they bumped into them.”

“The painting was fun but I didn’t know about all the sizes of sandpaper,” said Maddy Bruschette, whose dad Norm runs MB Carpentry and helped out, mostly in the background. “He did the big cuts and double checked measuring.

“I enjoyed the project, especially learning how to use a drill.”

Rose said the students did most of the work.

“Mr. Grigg comes over and shows you how to do it,” he said. “So then you can do it.

“Now they won’t have to be rebuilt a hundred times.”

So, what’s next for the Prince Charles shop class?

Actually Rose has a suggestion.

“When I was going here, there was a white picket fence out front,” she said. “I have a few pallets of picket fences in my yard.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 08 January 2020 11:31

Golden Eagle signs with Gee-Gees

Jordan Troyer, a 5th year student at Sydenham High School, signed commitment on December 18 to play varsity football with the University of Ottawa Gee Gees starting next fall. Jordan has been an offensive lineman for the junior and senior Sydenham Golden Eagles for the past five seasons, and a track athlete for SHS as well. He was also a Sydenham Bulldogs for two years before that.

It has been his dream to play at the university level all that time Jordan was a heavily recruited football prospect, and has been pursued by several schools including Ottawa. The signing ceremony was attended by his Eagles line mates, the Eagles coaching staff, and by his new coach Carl Tolmie, the offensive line coach of the Gee Gees.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 27 November 2019 11:07

2019 Community Builder Awards

Each year the Addington Highlands Council and the Addington Highlands Economic Advisors for Development call for nominations of a deserving person to receive a Community Builder Award in a number of categories This year’s recipients received their awards at a ceremony last week.

Abbi Woods received the Emerging Youth Leader Award. A grade nine student from North Addington Education Centre, (NAEC) Abbi has exhibited strong leadership skills and enthusiasm towards volunteering. She helped organise the local soccer association and was a coach, and volunteered with the Santa Clause Parade, the Lions Club, the Haunted Walk hosted at Sherwood Park, and the Trunk or Treat Halloween events in Flinton.

Diana Weichenthal also received the Emerging Youth Leader Award.
Diana is a grade eleven student at NAEC. Diana provides leadership through her involvement with volleyball and in the hallways of NAEC, where her positive demeanor welcomes others and makes everyone ready for learning. Teri Woods received the Citizen of the Year Award. Teri was recognized for volunteerism in the community over the past few years. She helped to organize the Breakfast with Santa and Touch the Truck events in conjunction with LARC, the township float for the Santa Clause parade, and the North Addington Soccer Association. Teri has had a positive impact on our local community for many years and has also donated her time to the Lions Club of Land O’Lakes as well as North Addington Education Centre.

Jillian Mumby received the Business Leader Award. She operates a small business and employs a significant number of locals depending on demand. Jillian recently built a two-unit family dwelling in Flinton to provide housing for seniors. During construction a number of local companies were contracted to complete the project.

The Township and AHEAD committee thanked the recipients for their efforts in the community and congratulate them on a job well done.

Published in ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS

The new(/old/refurbished) organ at St. Paul’s in Sydenham got its second workout in a concert setting Sunday at Jeffrey Moellman, director of music at St. Mary’s Cathedral, brought his five musical children (Jonathan, Clara, Paul, Gabriel and Catherine)to town at the request of colleague, St. Paul’s Music Director Damien Macedo.

The organ has had a rather storied journey to get to Sydenham and is in the process of breaking new ground with an electronics/pipes technology to restore former glory.

Moellman’s performance featured pieces by Craig Sellar Lang and George Thalben-Ball and while the organ performed well in the higher scales, the bottom end still needs some work. No fault of the performer though.

“We’re about 80 per completed on the organ project,” said Hans Berriman, one of the driving forces behind the restoration project.

Berriman, himself a trumpet player, hails originally from Perth Road and has connections with the old church. While working as an OPP officer in the Kenora area, he undertook a similar project there.

“That one took about four years,” he said. “This particular organ was rescued from St. Mark’s in Deseronto.

“It was in another church before that. We’re quite pleased that it fit in the architecture of this church.”

They’re using a Hauptwerk virtual organ system augmented by air (pipes) and electric.

Restoration of the organ has spurred a musical renaissance of sorts with concerts scheduled for 2 p.m. Sundays throughout the summer.

On July 21, Luba Cargill, Fran Harkness and friends are scheduled for an eclectic mix of violin, piano and chamber ensemble. (See Northern happenings for further concert details)

Merriman said they’d very much like to hear from anyone interested in playing at the church (particularly the organ once it’s finished) but “we’d like to make this available as a venue form anyone who needs one.”

It should be an attractive one as the acoustics of the old church (original thick lathe and plaster) make it particularly effective for music.

Most of the Moellman kids (Clara, Paul and Gabriel) played factory-built (two of them ¾ size) fiddles, the sound was incredible. Much of this was no doubt enhanced by their impeccable fingering techniques but the youngest son sounded particularly good during his solo section.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Loughborough Public School (LPS) grade 3 Anishnaabe student Nescia Giangrosso travelled to Winnipeg, early last month, to be part of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Imagine a Canada – Youth Leading Reconciliation workshop and national celebration, which took place at the Turtle Lodge International Centre for Indigenous Education and Wellness in the Sagkeeng First Nation.

Imagine a Canada also includes an art project. Youth across Canada “invited to submit an art piece about the way they envision Canada through the lens of reconciliation”.

Nescia was invited to participate in the workshop because the mixed-media art piece that LPS had created was chosen as the Ontario entry for 2019. 11 or the 16 classes at the school (aprox. 70% of the students) from grades Kindergarten to grade 8 participated in creation of the art piece.

The 13ft long piece, which hangs in the school, is called “From What Dish Do You Want to Feed Your Grandchildren From?” was inspired by the treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississauga and Haudenosaunee First Nations in 1701 that bound them to share the territory and protect the land along the Lake Ontario basin. The treaty carries a message of peace and unity, and it is its environmental underpinnings that make it so valuable in a modern context. This was the inspiration for the art piece.

But the idea of one bowl (or one dish) one spoon is an old one in North America, signifying an agreement to share hunting grounds between neighbouring peoples. It refers to sharing the harvest as well as ensuring that there is plenty left for future generations to share.

The idea for the piece came from a walk that Nescia took with her mother and her little brother along a creek bed that runs through their backyard. When their mother Janza knelt down and thanked the creek, it sparked the idea that led to the art piece that the Loughborough students ultimately made, and idea about reconciliation with the natural world.

When Anishnaabe elder Deb St. Amant and Anishnaabe parent Janza Giangrosso shared the teachings about One Dish, One Spoon, and the wampum that it has inspired (see photo). They included some text from John Burrows about the wampum.

“We all eat out of the dish, all of us that share this territory, with only one spoon. That means that we share the responsibility of ensuring that the dish is never empty; which includes taking care of the land and the creatures we share it with. Importantly there are no knives at the table, representing that we must keep the peace,” he wrote.

The classes decided to "What do you want your grandchildren to eat?" - detail look at what they ate and where it came from, and ask the question, ‘what dish do you want to feed your grandchildren from?’.

They had the idea for the art piece. On one side it would be wrappers and garbage that litters the community, it would have beaver pelts in the middle, and birch bark on the other side.

They cut out squares of birch for one side, and cut out wrappers and other found materials for the other side. Then they sewed them together to make a very large installation. They each reflected on the piece and wrote their thoughts in many of the squares.

Each side of the piece represents an option for the future.

In her presentation in Winnipeg, Nescia said “Reconciliation is more than just reconciling our relationships with each other. We need to reconcile our relationship with nimamaki (mother earth). She has loved and supported us for generations. We learned about the honourable way to harvest gifts from the earth. This awareness can significantly impact my ecological footprint, as it is our grandchildren that will carry the burdens of the decisions we make today.”

The submission from LPS was an effort of the entire school community. Students from upper year grades helped with the cutting and sewing process, and the school’s ongoing food initiative dovetailed with the project.

Janza Giangrosso, who was also with the project from start to finish, said that a number of passionate teachers in the school and their students made the project what it was.

“We really warmed the ground and as a community, got a taste of what Indigenous education can look like and what is possible when members of the Indigenous community are invited into the classroom to share teachings alongside educators”.

The submission that accompanied a photo of the piece, which was much too large to transport to Manitoba, concluded with the following statement on behalf of the school: To imagine means “to form a mental image or concept of”. This was more than just a dreamy conceptualization of reconciling this country. This work created a safe space within our school community, where multiple perspective, narratives and world views came together to engage in a real, visceral conversation about sustainability and the future lives of our grandchildren.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Ken Garrett Memorial Park in Inverary was a hive of activity on the weekend as the first ever 3 Pitch, 3 Chords Spring Fling drew crowds in an effort to raise funds primarily for accessible washrooms.

“Everybody thinks this is a Township-owned park but it isn’t,” said Shawn Pearce, president of the Inverary Youth Activity Group, which owns and operates the park. “It’s used six, seven nights a week and we have nine minor ball teams — the most we’ve had in years.

“I grew up here and I’d hate to see it die — I even took a week of holidays this week to work on it.”

By all accounts, the Fling was the brainchild of Kimberly Allen, who, among other things, owns Little Texas Roadhouse in Kingston.

“I was very pleased when Kim approached me with this idea,” Pearce said.

Allen, who is originally from the 509 corridor north of Sharbot Lake, now calls Rickards Road home. She’s played her share of ball at Ken Garrett and other area diamonds, and she likes music.

“Growing up, I used to go to the Ompah Stomp,” she said. “This is my Ompah Stomp.”

To that end, she closed up Little Texas for the weekend, allowing all her staff to donate their time to this venture, if they so chose. Most did.

And so did 16 musical acts, all part of the musical family at Little Texas.

“Ninety-five per cent of the bands will just jump at the chance to do this for her,” said stage manager Ken Hemlow, who also played on Sunday. “We had one band who had to cancel because their drummer hurt his back but another one jumped right in.”

Country singer Courtney Kane is just getting started in the business and saw it as good exposure.

“I’m trying to make this full-time,” she said. “I’m working on a website and doing my own thing.”

Besides the ball tournament and concert, the day featured a beer tent, a kids area as well as several food and merchandise vendors.

They even brought the mechanical bull in from Little Texas.

“That bull has been all over,” Allen said. “It’s even been to the Havelock Country Jamboree.”

Even the mayor was there, but not in an official capacity.

“It’s wonderful that they’re fixing this up,” said Ron Vandewal. “It’s not a Township-run facility so thanks to all the volunteers donating their time.”

While Allen was very pleased with the way the weekend was unfolding, this may be only the beginning.

She can see potential to make it a yearly festival and has talked to local contractors and friends about fixing up an area for camping, just like many of the music festivals operating in Southern Ontario.

“This would be my Ompah Stomp,” she said.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 13:46

Exploring the Arts in local schools

On May 14, several girls and staff from Granite Ridge Education Centre and Sydenham High School tried their hand at blacksmithing. This event was arranged to show the girls that there is no job they cannot do. Stefan Duerst, Artist Blacksmith from Godfrey, Ontario, led the students through a logical sequence of techniques including forging, twisting, scrolling, and bending.

After covering safety and the basic techniques, Mr. Duerst let students work on their own to plan and make items. Mr. Duerst stressed that with the proper techniques and equipment, anyone can work with metal – it is not necessary to be built like Thor.

Students worked hard all day, and came home with several items they had made. A Grade 8 girls’ group will be going to Duerst Artist Blacksmith in June, from Land O’ Lakes Public School, Granite Ridge Education Centre, and Prince Charles Public School.

On May 15 and May 23, David Francey led songwriting workshops at Sydenham High School in the morning, and Granite Ridge Education Centre in the afternoon.

Many students participated in these intensive sessions, working alone or with partners.

David Francey has won three Juno Awards, the SOCAN Folk Music Award, the Grand Prize in the International Acoustic Music Award and the Grand Prize in the Folk category for the John Lennon Songwriting Award.

These events are part of the initiative focusing on the Arts, Indigenous Learning, and non-traditional pathways funded by various combinations of AIREE, GREC Parent Council, Live Wire Music, Blue Skies, Gillianne Mundell, and Pez.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

Last week was a busy one at Prince Charles Public School in Verona beginning with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) night, a concert by the Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra, a play from the 1,000 Islands Playhouse Young Company and then on Thursday afternoon, the school’s Grandparents & Games gathering.

“There’s a common misconception that there are two kinds of people — math people and non-math people,” said Principal Peter Mouncey. “That’s not true.

“Everybody can do it (and) math is fun.”

To that end, Prince Charles invited grandparents (and other family members) to have a chance to play new and familiar games that promote arithmetic and problem solving skills for Primary/Junior age students (JK-Grade 4).

“In conjunction with the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, the staff at Prince Charles are participating in a two-year project to help families find fun and effective ways that engage children with mathematics,” Mouncey said. “We will provide all the games, some light snacks and a math card game for each student to take home.”

And by all accounts, it was mission accomplished.

As Grade 6-7 class members Jorja Steele, Maddy Parks, Sydney Leonard and Isaac Badour wandered around the games tables offering cookies and snacks they’d baked as part of their classes, grandparents like Ina Emmons enjoyed the company of their grandchildren and their friends.

“He’s (grandson Tyson Revelle) always at my place but he made a point of wanting to do this this year,” she said. “He said ‘you come, you come.’”

Grandfather Peter Fitzsimmons was part of a larger group playing the card game Uno.

“Nobody knows the rules,” he joked. “They’re (the kids) picking on us.”

SK-Grade 1 teacher Lee Casement said games are a good way to teach concepts like probability, spatial sense and counting.

“This was so successful last year, we just had to do it again,” he said. “I remember being a student here in the ’80s and we’d have a grandparents tea.

“It’s nice bringing this concept back.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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With the participation of the Government of Canada