Frontenac Heritage Festival 2012

Mar 01, 2012

Festival walk/Run

Photo: Eating their just rewards – Any thoughts of saving the Gingerbread medallions given out to these participants in the Heritage Festival 2-10 km walk/run did not last long.

The second annual Heritage Festival Fun walk/run went off in brilliant afternoon sunshine last Sunday. This year trophies were handed out for the fastest 2km runners who came from Frontenac County. They fastest female 2 km runner was Mary Whan, followed by Joan Hollywood and Elizabeth Bigelow. The fastest 2 km. Male runner was Kyle Kinkley Dale, with second place going to Graham Melkman, and third to Jack Jarvis.

In the 4km. race, the fastest female was Jen Allen, followed by Minna Lee and Cheryl Woods. Among the males, Tosh Hagashi finished first, Kaelum Whan second, and Liam Melkman third.

The 6km race for females was won by Suzanne Gallagher, Johanna Jansen was second and Laurie Gordon thirs. Among the male racers, Bob Woods came in first, Logan Graff second, and Andre Langlais third.

Finally, in the 10km race, Nancy Villeneuve was the fastest woman, followed y Lynette Whan and Tammy Shepherd. Among the men, Rudy Hollywood finished first, followed by Jeff Green and Karl Kent.

Pioneer Log Home offers guests a trip back in time

by Julie Druker

Photo: Pioneers Millicent and Matilda McConnell greet visitors at Peter Bell's newly restored 1840s log home on the Fall River Road, one of many popular events at this year’s Frontenac Heritage Festival.

Those who came out to explore Dr. Peter Bell's recently reassembled 1840s pioneer log home on the Fall River Road were treated to a trip back in time when they disembarked from a horse-drawn wagon and made their way along the newly reconstructed snake fence that encloses the property. A steady stream of visitors were greeted by costumed pioneer homesteaders who offered visitors a cup of hot mulled cider and freshly baked buttermilk biscuits.

The women pioneers, who went by the names of Florence, Matilda and Millicent McConnell ” (Pam Giroux, Matilda Bron and Brenda Dixon), tended to the wood burning hearth and also offered guest carrots and apples with which to feed the two shiny black Percheron horses and two adorably cute shaggy-faced donkeys outside at the stable. Guests had a chance to tour the main floor of the expansive log home and its wealth of antique furnishings and accoutrements and to ply Bell with numerous questions.

Bell, who admitted that eastern Ontario history is simply “a passion and in my soul”, is a wealth of information about pioneer history in these parts. He oversaw the relocation and reassembling of the log house, which has been a five-year project, and has also been collecting pioneer furnishings for years. He highlighted some of his favorite furnishings in the homestead, which included the 1873 Northwest step-back style stove that heats the main room of the house, and the bottle jack that stands by the wood burning hearth and on which hung a Cornish hen in the process of roasting.

“In those days people had their servants do a number of tasks and the devices that came to replace some of the work that those servants did, like removing your boots, or roasting a hen on the hearth, or replacing the wheel on a wagon, all came to be known as ‘jacks’.. So there is the bottle jack, the boot jack, the car jack, all of which were named generically for ‘Jack’, the servant whom they replaced,” he said.

Bell pointed to an enormous built-in cupboard, which came from Lennox and Addington County and now sits beside the equally enormous stone hearth that was painstakingly reassembled stone by stone. He pointed out the tall four poster wooden framed bed, circa 1830, which came from Sydenham, and the wooden pie safe with screened in doors to keep the flies away, an item he picked up in the Merrickville area. It was used to store the wealth of pies needed to feed the many farm hands. He explained about the wooden dough box, a free standing wooden box used for warming bread dough prior to its baking which he said was “likely built by Willis Armstrong's father since it came from the old Willis Armstrong estate located at the corner of the Zealand and Armstrong Roads just north of Highway 7 near Sharbot Lake.”

Peter Bell also showed visitors the metal reflector oven, which came from Lanark County and which he and his family used to cook pizzas in the other night. He also described a very unusual primitive chair that sits beside the hearth, which dates back to the first half of the 19th century. Its seat is made from the hollow trunk of a tree and its back from a single tree root which gives it its natural curve.

Though the upstairs of the home was closed off to visitors, Bell said he expects the second floor to be ready for visitors in the next couple of months. Visitors also had a chance to explore the property and its many outbuildings, which include an authentic log stable that came from the Ottawa Valley and a much smaller log house that came from the Henderson Road, which Bell hopes to bring back to its former glory in the near future.

Restoring the log home, which measures 37 feet x 27 feet, was huge undertaking to say the least and I asked Dr. Bell how the newly restored home will function in the future since the objective was never to make it livable. “It would be a struggle to keep it open regularly to the general public, but that being said, I still hope to be able to open it up for special local events and occasions like this one,” he said.

Plunge Raises Spirits & $7,000

Photo: It's all about the costumes. Participants in the 2nd annual Polar Bear Plunge wore heritage dress, bathing suits, superhero costumes, Elvis, pirates and Mad Men (photo right).

36 plungers - up from 24 last year – jumped into the waters of Sharbot Lake. In the process they raised $7,000 funds, which will go to children's and youth programs at the Child Centre. Organizer Mark Montagano was really impressed by the plungers, the costumes, and the enthusiasm of the spectators. He said, "It was really something to see those young people braving the icy waters. You could see fear in their eyes but they overcame it and they will never forget the experience.”

Prizes were provided by the Sharbot Lake Inn for: Youngest Plunger: Amber Asselstine, at 11 years of age with Samantha Kempe and Levi Teal a close second and third. Best Costume: Jen Farnum in her "heritage outfit", with many in close pursuit with their originality and flair. Most funds raised and the oldest Plunger, Mark Montagano, at $920. Hot in pursuit was Art Holloway at $710, Connie McLellan at $565.

The event was kicked off with flair by Town Crier Paddy O'Connor and a fine addition to the program, Jeff Donnelly on the bag pipes.

The event could not be possible without the support of Richard Struthers and his staff at the Sharbot Lake Marina as well as the hands on support of Bill Young and the EMS team. Thanks to Anne Howes, the hot coffee was appreciated by all after the Plunge. All the Plungers received certificates and T-shirts commemorating the event from Bowes and Cocks Real Estate.

Everyone had a lot of fun and raised some funds for a great cause.

Variety Show

Photo: Rob Moore and Nancy Moore

Gary Giller organized and hosted the Heritage Festival Variety Show at Sharbot Lake High School on Saturday Night. It was a typically eclectic mix of music. Perhaps some of the younger audience members fidgeted a bit during local poet/storyteller and railroad songster Dave Dawson’s set, but there were a number of seniors with their hands to their ears when local rockers HD Supply took the stage, even though the sound for the HD Supply set was turned down pretty low, almost too low for a band that plays renditions of AC/DC and Black Sabbath tunes when not playing original music.

The Stray Cats (Jim Macpherson, Terry Reynolds, Dave Limber, and Gary Giller) were the host band. They warmed up the audience at the beginning of the night and came back after the intermission, where they played tribute to contemporary Canadian stars, including The Tragically Hip and Joel Plaskett.

The final act of the evening was the husband wife team of Nancy and Rob Moore, making their stage debut in a set that also featured a number of Canadian songs, including ones by the two Sarah’s, Harmer and Mclaughlan.

To close out the night, The Stray Cats joined Nancy and Rob Moore and their niece, for a song by a man who should be an honorary Canadian. They played Folsom Prison Blues by the man in black himself, Johnny Cash.