Feature Article - February 23, 2006

Feature Article

February 23, 2006

Former GoldenEagle leads GoldenGaels

by Jeff Green

Once upon a time Molly Groenewegen was a young girl learning the rudiments of hockey at North Frontenac Arena as an 11-year-old Frontenac Flyer. She was then attending St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Harrowsmith. Although many young hockey players grow up and out of the sport, Molly has kept on playing, for the Sydenham High School Golden Eagles, and finally for the Queen’s Golden Gaels Women’s team.

Now in her fifth and final year at Queen’s, Molly, who plays forward, is the captain of the Golden Gaels and will be leading the team when it plays at the Ontario University Athletic Association Tournament in St.Catherine's at BrockUniversity in early March.

Molly wants to bring her hockey experience back home when she graduates. As a concurrent education student, she studied Geography and Math for four years, making the dean’s list upon graduation. This year, she is completing her education degree, which includes month-long placements in local schools. In the first term she did a placement at Sydenham High School, and she is now placed at Loughborough Public School with the grade 7 Challenge Program.

“I’m hoping to do some coaching when I graduate, either for a high school or at the local level,” she said in an interview earlier this week. She hopes to get a job teaching at Sydenham High School eventually.

She has little time these days to think that far ahead, however, as she works her way through what she describes as her toughest year at Queen’s and looks forward to the upcoming hockey tournaments.

“The biggest thing for us this year has been finishing ahead of Toronto, who have been our main rivals for as long as I’ve been playing for Queen’s.”

As the second place team in the Ontario League, behind Wilfrid Laurier, the Golden Gaels have earned a bye into the semi-finals, where they expect to meet their historic rivals from the University of Toronto .

“We are feeling good about playing Toronto because we beat them each time we played them this year,” Molly said.

The winner of the semi-final will not only play in the League Final against either Wilfrid Laurier, Brock or Guelph , and they will also earn a berth in the Canadian University Championships, to be hosted by St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia .

While Molly Groenewegen has not found the on-ice role of being captain of the Golden Gaels too difficult, since the team has “really good chemistry and there are no real issues with the players”, she has had to find extra time for community events this year. As captain, she has been involved in fundraising activities for the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston, including a skills competition with members of the armed forces, the Kingston Police, and Penitentiary. There will also be a Kids for Kids hockey tournament later in March to the benefit of the neo-natal cancer program at The Eastern Ontario Cancer Centre.

For the next two weeks, however, apart from the students at Loughborough Public School , Molly Groenewegen will be concentrating on the final hockey games of her university career.

Meanwhile, at a dairy farm near Harrowsmith, her proud family will be waiting to hear of her success.

Feature Article - June 22, 2006

Back toHome

Feature Article - June 22, 2006

SouthFrontenaccelebratesVolunteers of the Year

The serious business of running a township was put aside for an hour this week as friends and family, young and old, came together to honour four people who have spent years volunteering within South Frontenac.

The four recipients of the Volunteer of the Year award for 2006 are: from Bedford, George Jones, from Portland , Brad Heyman, from Loughborough, Marni Pederson, and from Storrington, Sharon Freeman.

(The following are excerpts from the citations that were read by members of South Frontenac Council as they presented the honourees with commemorative plaques on Tuesday night)

George Jones George Jones was part of the 1980 Canadian Olympic team, but his own Olympic dream was thwarted when Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympics. Undaunted George has been working to develop his sport, canoe/kayak, in Kingston and South Frontenac for over 20 years.

In 1997 he founded the Sydenham Lake Canoe Club, and for the past ten years has been coaching local kids for free. The success of the Sydenham Lake Canoe Club has been a tribute to George’s hard work and infectious enthusiasm for the sport. He eats, drinks, and breathes the sport of canoe/kayak. And his Olympic dream may not be over after all. One of these days, a canoeist or kayaker from the Sydenham Club, might just make it to the Olympics, thanks, in great part, to George Jones.

Brad Heymans Brad Heymans is busy with hockey throughout the fall and winter, and in the spring and summer he is busy with soccer. He has been coaching soccer for the Central Frontenac Soccer Association (located in South Frontenac) since the mid 1980’s, and had been coaching hockey at the North Frontenac Arena since the late 1980’s. For the past eight years he has been on the executive of the North Frontenac Minor Hockey Association, and has been the president of the association for three years. Through his efforts and leadership, the executive has increased to 18 members, and player and coach participation has also increased. He brings a passion for fair play to all of his sporting endeavors.

Marni Pederson - Marni Pederson has been a co-owner of the Desert Lake Family Resort for many years. She has also been Girl Guide Leader for 30 years, during which time she has worn many hats in the guiding movement. When Marni had a son, she kept up with girl guides but worked in the scouting movement as well.

She also has organised a cancer fundraiser each summer at Desert Lake Family resort, raising thousands of dollars in honour of her mother, who was a victim of cancer.

In addition to all her other volunteering activities, Marni is an active board member with St. Paul’s United Church in Harrowsmith, and attends each and every Sunday to carry out her duties as Sunday School superintendent.

The old clich“if you need a volunteer, ask the busiest person”, aptly applies to Marni Pederson.

Sharon Freeman Sharon excels in the Shoulder to the Wheel department. She puts her shoulder to the wheel and the wheel moves and the job gets done.

That’s how a backyard party at the home she shares with her husband Will turned into the Battersea Pumpkin Festival, which is now 11 years old.

That’s how the Pumpkin Pie Live Music Festival, now in its seventh season bringing people together for six shows a year, came about.

That’s how the Feast of fields, the wildly successful local organic food festival came about.

In each case Sharon Freeman worked alongside others to make a good idea into a great reality.

Sharon has also been an active volunteer at Storrington Public School for eight years.

Sharon Freeman instinctively acts in such a way that anybody in the vicinity can catch a spark from her creative fire. That is the essence of community service.

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - February 8, 2007

Back toHome

Feature Article - February 8, 2007

"Project End Zone"selling bricks and mortarby Jeff Green

“Project End Zone” has been having a good run of late. This campaign to fund an addition and improvements to the North Frontenac Arena received municipal support from both Central and South Frontenac Councils, and is hoping to hear soon from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation about funding for the blueprints for the addition.

And now they are starting to sell the bricks for the new walls.

Hockey families and other community members are being invited to purchase bricks, at a cost of $100 each, in support of the project.

For each $100 donation, an inscribed plaque will be mounted on a brick that will form part of the interior arena wall.

Under the slogan, “Buy a brick … build a Future, one brick at a time,” “Project End Zone” is providing an opportunity for families to celebrate their special memories related to the arena or to celebrate important individuals.

Even before the campaign was officially kicked off last Saturday at the arena, several people had come forward expressing interest in purchasing bricks.

“People began responding well to this when we passed out information to hockey families during games over the past few days. Most were trying to decide what to write on the plaque.” said Brad Heyman, past President of the North Frontenac Minor Hockey Association. Some families that have had several children go through minor hockey programs at the arena are considering purchasing several bricks to help support the project.

The Buy a Brick campaign has the ambitious goal of 500 bricks, or $50,000.

“Project End Zone” has an overall goal of $530,000. Plans are in place to begin construction this spring on a 40 foot extension to the west side of the arena. The addition will house 4 new dressing rooms, an officials’ room, a new skate sharpening room, and a storage and meeting room. In addition, the front lobby, the bleachers and current dressing rooms will also be renovated.

The arena is over 30 years old, and one of the changes that has taken place in that time is the rise of girls’ and women’s hockey. The renovations are needed not only to spruce up the building, but also to make it more suitable for current use.

Throughout its 7 months of operation each year, the arena is in use most of the time: for public skates, children and adult league play, and by the Frontenac Flyers.

Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars has been raised for Project End Zone thus far, including $200,000 from Central and South Frontenac and $60,000 from corporate and individual sponsors.

The fundraising committee is working on other fundraising applications, including ones to the Bell Sports Fund and the Trillium Foundation.

“But public support is crucial” says Arena Manager Jim Stinson, “Funders want to know that the people who use the facilities support them. It is great to see the “Buy a Brick” campaign get off to a good start.”

In addition to the “Buy a Brick” initiative, a fundraising skate will be held on March 25th, and planning is underway for a golf tournament on July 26th. The fundraising committee will be releasing more information on those events in the upcoming weeks.

For further information, contact the arena (374-2177) or Carole Sparling at 376-3354.

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - March 15, 2007

Back toHome

Feature Article - March 15, 2007

Girls' Hockey Tournament at North Frontenac ArenabyJeffGreen

Cathy Phillips, the goaltender for the 1990 National Women’s Team (the first ever Women’s World Champions), dropping the first puck before a game between the Frontenac Fury and Carleton Place Cyclones Bantam teams during the first ever Frontenac Fury Invitational Tournament at the North Frontenac Arena on March 13. PAWSitive, the OWHA mascot, accompanied Cathy. Tournament organizers promised “first class hockey, played by fabulous girls,” and that’s exactly what took place. Thanks to support from local businesses, each team was presented with a basket full of healthy food when they arrived, and each girl received a unique medallion, hand cut from slate shingles by tournament coordinator Michael Doggett. The medallions were adorned with ribbons sewn by the Perth Road Crafters and were inscribed with "Building Teams for Life". “Everyone has rallied together to organize an exciting and fun day of hockey for these young athletes. This rural arena, located in beautiful North Frontenac, is supported by such a wonderful community,” said Michael Doggett. The tournament was an opportunity for the North Frontenac Girls’ Hockey Association to celebrate their successes. Mayors Davison and Gutowksi were on hand to present trophies to the winning Bantam and Peewee teams as the tournament wound down in the early evening after a 12 hour festival of girls’ hockey. “We are proud of our girls’ program at North Frontenac,” said Buff Chadwick, President of the Hockey Association. “Girls’ hockey is the best kept secret at our arena, but we are working hard on changing that.”

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - March 8, 2007

Back toHome

Feature Article - March 8, 2007

Three generations of hockey at the North Frontenac ArenabyJeff Green

You might say the Asselstine family of Hartington has grown up with the North Frontenac Arena.

Cecil and Eldene Asselstine have been involved with the arena since it opened in the mid-seventies. Cecil helped to put together one of the first men’s teams from the Portland Volunteer Firemen. He sat on the original committee for the Gentlemen’s Hockey League and served as chairperson for the League.

When daughter Sherry wanted to play hockey, Cecil put together the first girls’ hockey team out of the arena, and ended up coaching.

Sherry went on to coach with the North Frontenac Minor Hockey Association in the early 80’s, and between 1991 and 1997. In 1998 she was one of the founders of the first Ontario Women’s Hockey Association affiliate at the arena.

Sherry married Larry Van Luven, who has played on various teams as well, and their children Mary and Vanessa grew up playing hockey.

Cecil and Eldene’s son Scott played his minor hockey at the arena. He particularly enjoyed the annual tournament exchanges that took place for many years with Benfield , Maryland . Scott played on three teams that won Ontario provincial championships, and he now plays with the Revell team in the Gentleman’s League.

Scott’s wife Shelley is also a hockey player, and their children Morgan and Joshua play in the North Frontenac Arena as well.

When it became time for the arena to have a facelift, and the Project End Zone fundraising campaign decided to establish the Buy-A-Brick program, the Asselstines were at the front of the line to purchase a family brick to commemorate their dedication to the arena.

Project End Zone will see much needed improvements made to the arena. A fundraising committee is hard at work raising the $530,000 that will be needed to complete the project. $310,000 has been raised thus far. Anyone interested in buying a brick can contact Jim Stinson at 374-2177 or Glenna Asselstine at 374-1448.

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - March 1, 2007

Back toHome

Feature Article - March 1, 2007

BellSports fund puts Plevna rink back in business

Skaters were all smiles at the Clar/Mill rink last week.

After two years without ice, the rink is back in business this winter, thanks in part to a $5,000 grant for maintenance from the Bell Sports Fund. A presentation was made by a Bell official at a family fun day on February 17th.

The rink has been very popular this winter, as it was on the 17th, when there was a free skate followed by a pick up game for local adults. The Plevna Hockey Mums are back in business as well. They have organised a league for local kids that is running two days a week and there is a free skate on Saturdays.

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - May 31, 2007

Back toHome

Feature Article - May 31, 2007

The best place in Canada to watch hockey is in...Griffith

by JeffGreen

Anyone who has been watching the Stanley Cup playoffs will be familiar with the advertising spots which feature Mark Messier carrying the Stanley Cup and knocking on the door of a hockey fan’s house.

That scene was played out in real life last week, at the Villamere family hunting camp near Griffith, in Madawaska Highlands, when Mark Messier, Stanley Cup in hand, walked the final stretch of a two kilometre road off Highway 41 to the Villamere hunt camp. The limousine Messier had been driven in was parked around the corner.

At 42, Ed Villamere is the youngest of the 12 Villamere children - 9 boys and 3 girls. With his wife Barbara, he runs the Glaesar General Store in Denbigh. Each spring, the family gathers at the hunt camp for a bit of a reunion and an opportunity to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs on TV.

Ed’s niece Jennifer, the daughter of his brother Mike, saw the hockey shrine ad and thought the hunt camp might make a good entry. So on a Saturday night a month ago, on April 28, just before the contest deadline, she did some filming as about 15 members of the family were gathered around the campfire at the camp. They were watching the Senators win a game on a TV image projected onto a rigged-up bed sheet. The video, which was named “True Hockey Spirit”, was sent in just in time, and was selected as one of the top three entries.

On May 19, just before the overtime period in the game that would send Ottawa to the Stanley Cup Finals, it was announced that the Villamere hunt camp video was the winner of the contest.

“We were watching at the time,” Ed recalls, “just me and my wife. I jumped about high enough to put my head through the roof. It was really exciting for my wife, who is a big Mark Messier fan.”

Ed Villamere is convinced that the reason that the hunt camp was chosen was his mother Dorothy. Now, 84, the matriarch of the family played a central role in the video. Hockey has been a part of her life for a long time, and she told the story of how she remembers the night that Foster Hewitt came up with the moniker “Rocket” for Maurice Richard.

The hunt camp has been in the family since 1949. At first, the Villameres listened to the games on radio, then they set up a TV with a generator and an antenna, and eventually they put up a satellite dish.

The family lived in Renfrew, where they played hockey, and took vacations at the hunt camp. Although the siblings have scattered around Ontario over the years, they have all kept coming back to the camp in the fall for hunting, and in the spring to watch the hockey playoffs.

The real glory years for NHL hockey, and for the Villameres as fans, seem to have been the years before the expansion of the league in 1967. Among the 12 siblings, there are fans of each of the six original NHL teams, and to this day a lot of good-natured ribbing takes place at the camp as one team beats out another.

With the Senators making the finals, almost the entire family has joined forces to cheer for the team that is located within a 90-minute drive from the camp.

“The only exceptions are a couple of diehard Leaf fans who refuse to cheer for the Senators,” said Ed Villamere.

Last Thursday May 24, in the middle of the hiatus before the NHL finals, a party to present the Stanley Cup to the Villameres was held at the hunt camp. One week before, a crew hired by the CBC had come in and did some renovations to the cabin, including putting in a big screen TV, easy chairs, new counters, a lot of paint, and some NHL memorabilia. Finally, at 6:30 last Thursday evening, with 60 members of the Villamere clan in attendance, Mark Messier arrived with the Cup.

The contest sponsors: Pepsi, Lays and Gatorade provided food, but it was Mark Messier who made the greatest impression on the family.

“I can’t say enough about Mark Messier,” said Ed Villamere. “He did a few interviews when he first arrived, then he spent about 20 minutes talking to my mom. Afterwards he went inside the cabin with the cup for a photo session.

“He was available to everyone, especially to the kids. When he had a bite to eat, he washed up in the creek, and wiped his hands just like the rest of us would, then went back for more autographs. He couldn’t have said or did anything better than he did.”

CBC’s original plan had put a limit of 20 on the number of people at the party and three hours on the length, but they couldn’t keep this family to either of those limits, and they didn’t try.

“When you see our family, and how close we are, it’s actually genuine. The camp really is our shrine. It’s hockey, it’s the camp and it’s the company. Messier understood that, and that was a thrill for all of us,” Villamere said.

The Villamere gathering last Thursday was captured on video and played back during the 2nd intermission of the first game of the finals on Monday night. Aside from the presence of the Stanley Cup and Mark Messier, a national audience saw a typical Villamere family gathering.

The only difference was that the event was a dry event, which was something the CBC was adamant about.

“Our gatherings are not usually dry,” said Ed Villamere. “Of course, the CBC, Messier, and the Cup all left by 10:30.”

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - May 3, 2007.class { BORDER-RIGHT: black 1pt solid; BORDER-TOP: #000 1pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: black 1pt solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1pt solid } .class1 { BORDER-RIGHT: #9f5128 1pt solid; BORDER-TOP: #9f5128 1pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: #9f5128 1pt solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #9f5128 1pt solid } .class2 { FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #666 }

Back toHome

Feature Article - May 3, 2007

Girls' hockey club pays tribute to local supporters

The Frontenac Fury paid tribute to a long-time volunteer and to team sponsors at their year end banquet on Saturday, April 28.

Team sweaters were presented to Vaughan B. Good of Vaughan’s Automotive, and Mark Alton of Boundary Paintball Games. Connie McVeigh, Mortgage Specialist with RBC in Sharbot Lake was unable to attend. Vaughan’s Automotive sponsors the Bantam Girls (black jerseys); Boundary Paintball Games sponsors the Pee Wee Girls (white jerseys) and Connie McVeigh sponsors the Midget Girls (black jerseys).

Certificates of appreciation were presented to Pat Player of Accounted IV, Fred Henwood of Atkinson Home Building Centre and Chris Davy of Davy Well Drilling. These local businesses and business owners sponsored individual jerseys and have girls playing hockey with the Frontenac Fury. Our other sponsors will be receiving their certificates in the mail.

Local, long-time volunteer, Carol Sparling was presented with the Carol Sparling Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voluntarism “Dedication to the Game of Hockey”. Carol has been involved in both boys and girls hockey at the North Frontenac Arena for approximately 15 years. Carol also sits on the Project End Zone Committee and is the President of the Central Frontenac Soccer Association. This award named in honour of Carol will be given each year to someone in the community who has shown a true commitment to the game of girls’ hockey.

Many thanks to the players, parents and sponsors for a great year. See you in the fall!

Other Stories this Week View RSS feed

Feature Article - April 3, 2008

Back toHome

Feature Article -April 3, 2008 Hockey is a family game for the Allisons of Parham By Jeff Green

When Debbie and Paul Allison were the parents of three young daughters, they encouraged them to go out for figure skating at the North Frontenac arena.

“The older two were into figure skating and the youngest was just learning how to skate, when a neighbour said 'You’ve got to start them in hockey, it's so much fun’, so we threw them all in at the same time,” recalls Debbie Allison.”

She couldn't have known it at the time, but the day that brought 8-year-old Laura, 6-year-old Jessica, and 4-year-old Suzanne to the first practice of the Frontenac Flyers' girls team, would be the beginning of over a decade of driving her daughters to and from hockey rinks on almost a nightly basis.

Laura is now attending St. Lawrence College and she is cutting back on hockey a little bit, playing on the intermediate team with the Frontenac Fury. Until last year, she was playing with the Kingston Ice Wolves and was on the Sydenham High School team.

Jessica, the goalie in the family, is really busy with hockey these days. She played goalie for Sydenham this year, and for the Kingston Ice Wolves Midget AA team. The Ice Wolves play in tournaments throughout the province and their season will end at the Ontario Provincials in Brampton on the weekend of April 11-13.

Suzie, the youngest of the Allison girls, also plays for Sydenham, but she plays her league hockey in Perth, with the Blue Wings.

All of this leads to a pretty crazy schedule for Debbie and Paul Alison.

“Our normal winter schedule includes a game or two each weekend, and Jessie has practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights, power skating on Wednesdays, and there is school hockey on Mondays,” Debbie said.

Then there are tournaments on many weekends.

“It's quite common for me to be driving to Kingston or Napanee and Paul to be driving to Perth or somewhere else on a weekend day.”

With their eldest daughter Laura now in college, their hockey obligations are actually less onerous than in the past when they were ferrying three girls around and taking on coaching and managing roles.

As any parent knows, each child is different, and this extends to the attitude of the three Allison girls towards hockey.

“Laura has a lot of skills. She made MVP at Sydenham and was the fourth highest scorer in the league, but for her hockey has always been about having fun.”

Suzie, the youngest, has a similar attitude, but Jessica, who was picked for goalie back in the Frontenac Flyers days because her name was the first on the players' list when the coach brought the team together on the first day, has always had an intensely competitive streak, which is fitting for a high-performance goalie.

Next week, she will be between the pipes when the Ice Wolves play at the tournament that will determine the top Midget AA team in Ontario, the highest level of girls’ hockey for Jessica's age group.

“I've already told them that none of my grandchildren are playing goalie,” said Debbie Allison, “I can't take the pressure. If they win, they’re a hero, but if they lose ...”

Win or lose, Jessica will keep playing hockey next year, which will be her final year at Sydenham High. There will be scouts at the Midget AA tournament from many places, but the Allisons are not thinking that far ahead.

“After this season, we'll see where the girls want to play next year, and we'll keep going,” said Debbie Allison.

Feature Article - April 10, 2008

Back toHome

Feature Article -April 10, 2008 Frontenac Fury Bantam Girls “A” Champions Greater Kingston Girls Hockey Association

Jenine Davy (trainer), Kevin Hitchcock (head coach), Leah Quenneville, Blake Nicholson, Jamie Hitchcock, Brianna Blight, Kayla Clinton, Dana Tavares (assistant coach), Mark Compton (assistant coach) Kneeling: Keighan Chadwick, Morgan Davy, Kayla Blakely, Haley Tavares, Laura St. Pierre, Taylor Deblois (goalie), Rachel Barnett, Brittany Denna, Terry Blight (assistant coach)Front Row: Katie Jackson

It was smiles all around on April 5 for the Frontenac Fury Bantam Girls as they were crowned Bantam “A” Champs at the Greater Kingston Girls Hockey Association champion’s day held at Centre 70.

The girls earned their spot in the “A” final by squeaking by the Napanee Crunch 3-2 in a spectacular come back from 0-2 with only 4 minutes left in the game. The “A” final against the Gananoque Royals was a well-fought game by both teams, with the Fury winning the final 1-0. The girls end their season with 14 wins, 6 losses and 3 ties.

They had an amazing season making it to the final round of qualifying for the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association Provincials. They beat the Brockville Angels and Kemptville Storm to move on to the final round of provincial qualifiers where they fell to the Clarence/Rockland Lightening in the best 2 out of 3 series.

“We are so proud of all the girls in our association,” says Buff Chadwick, president of the Frontenac Girls Hockey Association. “Our Atom team won the “A” Championship, our Peewee Team was runners-up in the “B” Championship and our Midget team was runners-up in the “A” Championship.”

“We are offering quality girls hockey at North Frontenac,” says Sue Hitchcock. “I think the end of the season results speak volumes for the commitment of our girls and coaching staff.”