The Verona Lions’ Garlic Festival, which was held on August 30, is also the home of the Eastern Ontario Garlic Awards and according to Garlic Guru Paul Pospisil, it is the bragging rights that accompany the trophies and cash awards that the winners should celebrate most. While both overall champions this year seemed ever humble as the awards were handed out, the certificates and ribbons that now identify them as the best cultivators of the beloved stinky rose will no doubt bring some well-deserved extra attention to their efforts.

This year seven competitors entered the annual competition, now in its 18th year, where judges assess growers in a number of different categories including best single bulb; best display of 12 from a single cultivar; best collection of five different cultivars; and best braid.

This year’s reserve champion, whose displays took home the second highest points overall, was Ali Ross of Swallowtail Farm near Perth, who won the same award last year. The award was tinged with sadness since Ali's husband Glenn Gangnier passed away this past June. Ali was thrilled to receive the award again this year and said she will continue farming and growing garlic.

The first place overall champion award was given to Bill Kirby, whose garlic last year won in the best bulb category. Kirby said that last year’s win encouraged him this year to expand the number of varieties he produces and enter all four categories. Kirby grows primarily Yugoslavian gold, a type of porcelain garlic but this year he also grew silver skin, artichoke, rocambole and glazed purple. Kirby said the win came as a total surprise for him. “The first time you do something like this you really don't expect to win.” He said that the win will encourage him not only to continue growing more varieties but also to enter the competition again next year.

The cash awards, $100 for champion and $50 for reserve champion were provided by the National Farmers’ Union Local 316 and Local Family Farms in Verona and NFU president Dianne Dowling was on hand to give out the prize money. Dowling said that the Eastern Ontario Garlic Awards go “a long way in acknowledging and rewarding local growers who are working hard to produce garlic in our own area.” South Frontenac Councilor John McDougall was also present at the event and he and Dowling congratulated the growers and the winners, and also thanked the public for supporting local food and local farmers in the area.

Close to 40 vendors were on hand for the festivities selling their garlic, garlic-based comestibles and other garlic-related products. Those wanting a taste of the best of the best, can purchase Bill Kirby's award-winning bulbs at the Kirby farm located at 625 Colebrook Road near Harrowsmith.

Paul Pospisil always has good things to say about locally grown garlic and I will give him the last word here. “This year was a great year for garlic and there is just no comparison between locally grown garlic and the sub-standard imported garlic that unfortunately fills our grocery stores.” Pospisil said he wears an apron at home that says, “When in doubt, use more garlic.”

Unfortunately David Hahn of Forest Farm, whose garlic won the first place champion award consecutively for the last four years, was unable to compete this year due to illness.

Close to 30 people gathered at the Railway Heritage Park in Sharbot Lake on Labour Day to witness a special dedication ceremony honoring Bill Morton, one of the community's long-time Lions Club members. Lions president Bill Pyle hosted the event, which was the brain child of fellow Lion Ron Hollywood. Roughly one year ago Hollywood put forth a motion at a Lions meetings to honour Morton by planting a maple tree and erecting a plaque in his honour at the Railway Heritage Park.Permission was granted by the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society and Central Frontenac Council. Mayor Janet Gutowski, Councilor Frances Smith, and CFRHS President and Vice-president Sally Angle and Gary Giller were present at the dedication.

Bill Morton served as an RCAF pilot during WW 2 and joined the Sharbot Lake & District Lions in 1990, shortly after moving to the area. During his 25 years as a Lions member he served as club treasurer and was also named Lion of the Year. Active in the club’s vision screening program, Bill also visited local grade one classrooms to demonstrate to students Canadian pride. After his 90th birthday Bill submitted a letter of resignation to the club as he felt he could no longer properly fulfill his duties as a Lion. However, Lions president Bill Pyle said that the club members “respectfully declined Bill's request”, and instead decided to make him an honorary lifetime member of the club. Though Bill no longer attends meetings, Pyle said that he “continues to serve as an inspiration to us all as he instills in us the will to continue to serve to the best of our abilities”.

Morton is now 94 years old, and when Ron Hollywood unveiled the plaque and presented it to him, he was visibly moved. After the ceremony he said he was overwhelmed by the honour. “It was a pleasure to be a Lion and I just wanted to help out in the community as best I could.”

Bill's daughter Joyce Bigelow was in attendance at the event and said that both her father and her mother instilled in their children and other members of the family the desire to serve the community. The beautiful crimson red maple along with the plaque will now permanently honor their service.

North of 7 Community Day on September 6

The brainchild of ecologist Gray Merriam of the Frontenac Stewardship Federation, the Community Day is an attempt to bring people together who live North of 7 in North Frontenac and Addington Highlands to talk about the landscape and watershed where they live, how they use it, what they value about it. By inviting guests to talk about various aspects of the land and waters, the community day will also allow for knowledge to be passed around.

“Everyone is invited to this event,” said Merriam, “and there will be a lot to find out, but it is really those who live North of 7 that we want to see, because we need to talk to each other about what we have learned, what works here and what doesn't, even what we need to worry about and what we don't need to worry about.”

Merriam has called in a few favours to bring a large number of guest presenters to the event to give a full picture of the region.

The event is being held at the Barrie Hall in Cloyne and at the Pioneer Museum next door. It includes a timely chainsaw maintenance session presented by the Ontario Woodlot Association, which will include information about boosting forest value. The Pioneer Museum will be open from 10 until 3, and will be hosting a question and answer session all day.

Among the people who will be available at the hall will be some who have made particular studies of the area, including geologist Dugald Carmichael and writer Orland French, who will talk about the origin of Benny's Pond. Jenny Pearce and Matt Ellerbeck will present local snakes and salamanders. Other presenters include: Leora Berman, Mat Mertins from the Mazinaw Lanark Forest, Guy Nason, Anne-Marie Young, Ron Pethick and more.

In addition to all this, Debbie Deline's famous Dead Creek tarts and muffins will be available. For further information, call 613-335-3589

submitted by the Pioneer Museum

The museum will only be open a few more weeks and many folks have not yet seen the special display about the First World War.

In the words of curator Marg Axford: "Like many other museums, libraries and other cultural institutions across the country this year, the Cloyne Pioneer Museum and Archives is paying tribute to those young men who went from this area to fight in "the Great War".

Their contributions are no less important than those in large centres; indeed, in many ways. the impact of their sacrifices seems greater, because they represent such small numbers of people.

These were boys, really, who were out working the fields of their family farms when recruiters came along. Township and church halls, and perhaps the local hotel, were also canvassed. The lads were told by their recruiters that if they came to Kingston, or to Belleville, to join up, they would spend the winter in those cities doing training and would be home in the spring for next year's planting.

So many signed up. So many did not return."

You will see some of their photos in the museum, which is open daily from 10 am to 4pm in July & August.

by Helen Parfitt

Sydenham Lake Canoe Club’s Coach’s Junior Sprint Canoeist, Cia Myles-Gonzalez, who trains in Sydenham and paddles for Balmy Beach Canoe Club, and Midget Sprint Kayaker, Genevieve L’Abbe, who now paddles for Ottawa River Canoe Club (ORCC), both qualified to paddle at the National Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan next week. Both paddlers had a very good season leading up to the Ontario Championships. At the Ontario Championship Regatta in Ottawa, both girls proved that Sydenham produces strong women. A very versatile Myles Gonzalez won a gold medal in both the C2 200m and 500m, and the C4 500m. She won a silver in the K2 200m and a bronze in the C1 500m. L’Abbe won a gold in the K1 200m and 500m and K2 500m, and a silver in the U19 K4 500m.

Sharbot Lake and District Lions members Dave and Dawn Hansen along with Lions President Bill Pyle were stationed outside the beer store in Sharbot Lake on August 16 accepting empties for the club's annual bottle drive. Funds raised go towards the Lions' Seniors' Night celebrations, which will take place this October.

Donations will also help support a number of programs that the Lions support in the community including the recent purchase of a brand-new $7,000 auto refractor, an instrument used in the vision and hearing screening program that the Lions carry out every year at Land O' Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove, Clarendon Central in Plevna, and at Granite Ridge Education Centre and St. James Major Catholic School in Sharbot Lake.

The Lions also support the No Child Without program, which provides children with Medic Alert bracelets, as well as the local food bank and the local summer swim program. The Lions also support families in need of emergency relief in the community. Empties can be donated all year long at the Lions bottle shed that has been set up at the Wemp Road Waste Site off of Crow Lake Road.

Upcoming for the Lions is a $7 All You Can Eat breakfast at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake on Saturday September 27 from 8-11am. The Lions are always looking for new members. For more information call Bill Pyle at 613-539-8190.

Keeping the steam engine heritage alive

There is a small, rough dirt road next to the pristine Battersea baseball field that leads to an overflow parking lot for the Battersea Pumpkin Festival. Last Sunday about 15 cars were parked in that field, which opens up to reveal the raised and ground level tracks that have been built by members of the Frontenac Society of Model Engineers (FSME)

Members of the society, along with some of their compatriots from the Ottawa Association, were enjoying their monthly session running their miniature steam trains along the two tracks. The FSME owns a train that runs on the ground tracks and is becoming familiar to Frontenac County residents. It has been brought out to Canada Day in Sydenham and the Verona Festival to run on portable tracks and take children (and their parents) on rides.

On this Sunday the train was running on the track that the FSME has constructed on the site. The track lacks one section to become a complete loop so the train was running to the end of the line and then backwards to the start, taking some visitors on rides in the afternoon, as the sun peeked through the clouds after a long stretch of rainy weather last week. FSME members are hoping to get the track finished by the time the Pumpkin Festival rolls around this fall.

In the centre of the field, three men were working on their smaller trains on side tracks, making sure all the elements were operating as planned before setting off on the loop. When the coal was burning hot, and the steam was ready to push the pistons, the men climbed onto the seats behind the locomotives, let the throttle out and off they went around the track, slowly at first but eventually at a brisk clip around and around the track.

The FSME began building their tracks and using the Battersea location about four years ago. Before that they were affiliated with the Steam Pump museum in Kingston but found they had to move. They approached the Township of South Frontenac and came to an agreement. They have the run of the Battersea site, and in exchange they are an attraction in at least two township events each year. They have followed all township guidelines, even undertaking an assessment for the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority before building their rail bed and track at the site.

The hobby incorporates a love of making things mechanical along with a fascination with steam engines, which were a fundamental technology not that long ago in Frontenac County, and in Canada and the rest of the world - a technology that is gone but not forgotten by model engineers.

One of the priorities of the FSME is to bring new people into the hobby. Members are keen to share what they have learned, and the club owns its own train so it is not necessary to spend money buying a train or building one from a kit before joining the club.

Graham Copley, one of the engineers who came out to Battersea on Sunday from Ottawa, where he is on the executive of his own club, described the appeal of the hobby in an article he wrote for the Ottawa Citizen earlier this year.

“Members have an enormous range of skills and so here’s your chance to build something, for example an engine or an item of rolling stock. The hobby of model engineering can be delightful and fulfilling. There is a very wide scope of opportunity for you to join like-minded souls and maybe it’s time to revive your long unused wood-working or metal-working skills. Or you can take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the diverse membership. If that’s not your bag there are still lots of other non-technical things for you to get involved in. Model engineers are a social bunch both at the track in the summer and at winter meetings in members’ homes, all of which fosters a great sense of camaraderie.

For further information about the FCME contact the club president, Phil Ibbitson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Laughter and smiles were shared at the Arden Seniors Happy Gang fundraiser, which took place at the Kennebec hall in Arden on July 26. The annual event is the group’s biggest fundraiser of the year and it included a community garage sale, craft and art market, an outdoor barbeque and a silent auction with a wide variety of items donated by members of the seniors group.

Jack Patterson has been the president of the group for the last 11 years and this year the group boasts 75 members. The fundraiser, which on average raises close to $3,000 a year, allows the group to continue to support numerous groups and organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Alzheimer's Society, and Leukemia research, as well as Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove and the Central Frontenac fire station in Kennebec.

The group also supports Northern Frontenac Community Services, the local snowsuit and hamper funds, the local swim program and the local food bank. Any remaining funds are used to put on a special Christmas dinner for the group.

Close to 300 people attended this year’s summer sale, making for another successful year. Patterson said the goal of the group is not only to provide a social venue for the seniors in the area but is also a way for seniors in the community to keep on eye on local happenings and issues that are of concern to them. “We often make special requests to our local council for things that concern us and, as one example, we have been able to acquire air conditioning for the hall here.”

The group meets regularly on the first Tuesday of the month at the Kennebec hall in Arden at 11 a.m. and Patterson encourages anyone over 50 who is interested to come out to sample a meeting. “We have an hour-long business meeting and then we enjoy a nice potluck lunch. It's a lot of fun and you can bet to hear a number of pretty good jokes.” The meetings are a great way for seniors in the community to get together, share a meal and offer support to numerous worthy causes in and around the community.

Fishers in a competitive derby are never apt to give away too much information about where they landed their catches. That was the case for two fishers who weighed in at the Sydenham Legion's Bass Derby, which took place on July 26 and attracted over 150 participants.

Legion members Garnett Van Luven and Bob Stinson weighed the catches of fishers Tik Ostopovitch and Scott Bowes, whose fish each weighed in just a smidge under four pounds. Both men, not surprisingly, refused to name the lakes where their fish were hooked but Tik did offer up the fact that his fish were caught “with a worm”.

The Sydenham Legion Fishing Derby was organized by Legion members Scott Morrison and Brent VanLuven and was brought back again this year after running on and off for many years previously. Kate Lett, the newly elected Sydenham Legion Branch 496 president, said the stops and starts of the derby were because it takes a substantial number of volunteers to organize it, and that it was possible to bring it back this year because “a number of eager members were willing to take on the responsibility of gathering the prizes, doing the advertising, selling the tickets and finding all of the other necessary volunteers to perform all of the other jobs that it takes to run a derby.” Participants could fish on any of the area back lakes and the winners were based on the weight of their single largest catch. Prizes were donated by local area businesses and individuals and the first place prize was a Glider 55 pound thrust Shakespeare trolling motor. Other prizes included a number of coolers, life jackets, fishing gear, sport clothing and numerous gift certificates from area businesses.

The Sydenham Ladies Auxiliary put on the lunch at the derby. Lett said she was pleased with the turn out and hopes that the event will become an annual one again, which is good news for bass fishers everywhere.

Funds raised from the derby will help pay for the upkeep of the Legion hall as well as help support a number of programs in the community including the lunch program at Loughborough Public School and Southern Frontenac Community Services.

Photo 2056- 

James (Jim) Webster, who died earlier this winter, left instructions that anyone who wanted to donate money in his memory should put it towards new uniforms for the children in the Central Frontenac Minor Softball League.

The uniforms were on display this week at a game in Sharbot Lake, worn by the team coached by Leslie Merrigan, who happens to be Jim Webster's niece.

Donating uniforms to teams, and gloves and balls to players is something that Webster did for 15 years or more. He was also a constant presence at games, especially when one of his grandchildren were playing, and, because he brought bubblegum for the kids most of the time, he became known as the gum man.

Webster was tireless in his fundraising efforts for the children. One year he raised over $7000 and had Tim Horton’s donate 5 sets of TimBit uniforms given by Ron and Donna Lemke of Plevna, who continue to donate medallions for all five teams year after year.

Jim Webster's efforts to promote ball extended to working to keep up the ball field in Sharbot Lake, which made him a friend to ball players of all ages in the region but not always of the Central Frontenac Council.

About 12 years ago, Jim lined up contractors and donations to do some major work on the field. They were going to build shelters over the player’s benches, build new bleachers and work on the field itself. It was all set to go when Jim and Brett Harvey, who was then the franchise owner of the Sharbot Lake Valumart, went to get the township’s blessing.

It did not go well. The township was concerned about liability, and balked at the building plans not having an engineer’s stamp and the prospect of volunteers from the men's league doing the work. They said no, and the project was stymied.

A few years after the township purchased and installed new bleachers, but the benches at the park remain uncovered. Unknown parties have mysteriously done some work on the park since then, when the township wasn't looking that closely.

Jim Webster never gave up on baseball in Sharbot Lake, and on the Sharbot Lake ball park.

According to his daughter Marcie, when his family was going through his things this past spring, they found records of all the donations he collected, where all the money went, and a number of brand new baseball gloves, waiting to be given to a young ballplayer in need of a glove.