With 25 years experience working on roads crews, new Central Frontenac Public Works Manager Brad Thake hopes to be a “voice of reason” and provide the same sort of stability in the position that his predecessor, Mike Richardson brought.

“Mike was a heavy roads guy and a big bridge guy,” Thake said after his first solo Council meeting and a couple of weeks on the job. “He left the Township in good shape infrastructure-wise.”

Thake is originally from Brockville but he’s no stranger to area as much of his family is from Westport. That village’s legendary Reeve Bill Thake was his great uncle.

“I’m glad I’m here,” he said. “It’s close to friends and family and there are real people here.”

Thake started his career with a private firm contracted to MTO that covered roads in the 401 corridor from Kingston to Brockville. From there he moved on to Port Dover and started to move into management as an area supervisor before settling into Chatsworth Township (south of Owen Sound) where he was roads supervisor.

“I was even part of a declared state of emergency when Williamsford flooded,” he said. “I’ve done lots of things regarding roads from accident investigation to rebuilding and contracts.

“This is a great opportunity to make an impact on taxpayers’ lives.”

By that, he means keeping a tight lid on budgets.

“My focus is certainly going to be on roads,” he said. “(But) people can’t afford tax increases.

“Luckily, we have a fantastic staff, a great mayor with a lot of integrity and I think (Clerk) Cathy MacMunn and I have the same vision moving forward.”

He said he’s looking at a new grading program and is on board with his counterparts in the other Frontenac County Townships on landfill and waste diversion programs aiming at zero waste one day.

Thake and his wife Dana (“I wouldn’t be where I am without her”) live in Salem with a great dane, a bull mastiff and a bulldog. He has two sons from a previous marriage.

He hasn’t decided how he’ll spend his free time in the north country but after seeing all the lakes around here he said: “I may have to take up fishing.”

“The closer you come to true proportionality, the more complex it becomes,” speaker Norm Hart told a discussion group gathered in Sharbot Lake’s Oso Hall last week. “(So) you can never achieve true proportionality.”

Hart’s part of the evening was focused on the different voting systems democracies use around the world.

In his talk, ‘Making Every Vote Matter,’ he explained the differences, similarities, strength, weaknesses and nuances of various systems used to achieve proportional representation, ie where the number of seats a party gets in a ruling body is wholly or in part based on the percentage of popular vote.

Hart outlined several alternatives to the current First-Past-The-Post system including the Single Member Party Proportional System, Multi-Member Proportional System, and ranked balloting.

He and his Citizen’s Democracy Forum compatriots advocate the Single Member Party Proportional System whereby all members are still elected and vote but their votes are weighted the portion of the popular vote they receive.

“Under this system, Elizabeth May would get 10 votes whereas each Liberal MP would get 0.9 of a vote,” he said. “It’s not that different from the current system in that we wouldn’t have to change any ridings but it would force members to have to talk to each other.”

He said this system requires a “threshold” of having to elect at least one member and getting 3 per cent of the total vote in order to prevent “fringe” candidates from creating an unworkable parliament.

The second part of the evening was turned over to Wagerville’s own Jerry Ackerman, who has a PhD from Purdue University in agricultural economics.

Ackerman’s presentation was less lecture and more debate stimulation as he and Herb Wiseman of Comer.org led a discussion of how the federal government’s fiscal policies have led to crippling interest payments on a public debt in excess of $600 billion.

Ackerman maintains that when Canada joined the international finance system in 1974, the Bank of Canada stopped funding the government and we began to borrow the needed funds from private banks.

“The consequence of this is that the compounded interest now owed to the private banking system meant less money available for the needed goods and services (hospitals, schools, roads) while the private banks have reaped enormous profits,” he said. “What a scam.”

Ackerman advocates a return to using the Bank of Canada instead of private banks.

“Until recently, most of us assumed that states can’t go bankrupt,” he said. “We have now learned our assumption was illusory.

“What happened in Japan, Asia, Latin American and recently in Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, and Greece can happen in the U.S., Canada, England, France or Germany.

“The decisive factor here is not the absolute level of debt, but the rapid growth of interest burden this debt entails, resulting from compound interest.”

For many years now, food bank volunteers have been joined by OPP auxiliary members and it’s been a mutually beneficial arrangement.

In Sydenham, Verona and Sharbot Lake (like last Saturday), auxiliary officers have brought a police vehicle to a local grocery store (like Mike Dean’s) and joined food bank volunteers to collect foodstuffs and cash donations. They call it Stuff the Cruiser.

“I’m local and my mom’s on the (food bank) committee,” said Aux. Const. Nicole Greenstreet, a veteran of a half-dozen or so Stuff the Cruiser campaigns. “So I know the need.

“Plus it’s a good organization to be supporting that’s vital to the community.”

“I just like to help out with the food drive,” said Aux. Const. Curtis Jacques, who was on his fourth Saturday. “There’s a need and it’s fun to meet people in the community.”

The new kid on the block this week was Steve Scantlebury, a “just retired a week or two ago” local whose wife Barb is also on the food bank committee and suggested he help out. He said he’d be back.

“Any donations of food and/or cash are useful,” said Barb, as the cruiser was starting to fill up. “It looks like we’ll have to take the cruiser over to the food bank and empty it out shortly.

“I just joined last year and we had one time when we had to empty the cruiser out twice.”

“We’ve been blessed with donations that keep us running,” said North Frontenac Food Bank Director Kim Pascal-Cucoch. “The auxiliary OPP officers have helped us collect a lot and they give us a presence.

“This is a wonderful community that supports us on an ongoing basis.”

The food bank, behind the St. Lawrence Employment Centre, accepts donations on a year-round basis.

In every basket they try to add tea bags, instant coffee, sleeve crackers, packaged pasta and jars/cans of sauce, boxed cereal, Kraft Dinner, peanut butter, jam, packaged rice and cans of beans, stew or chunky soup, salmon, tuna, soup, juice and tomatoes.

In baskets for families with children, they add snack pudding or apple sauce cups, fruit cups, granola bars, drink boxes, Rice Krispie squares, hot chocolate packages and canned pasta like Alphagetti or Zoodles.

A construction worker training course co-sponsored by the St. Lawrence College Employment Centre in Sharbot Lake and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, is wrapping up this week, and Chief Doreen Davis is pleased with the results.

The 8 week course was designed for self identified indigenous youth (under 29) interested in learning carpentry skills and work-site safety. Local contractor Kevin Rioux supervised the trainees, who received boots, hats, tools and belts at the start of the course, took some training courses, and then began to do some renovations to the Shabot Obaadjiwan offices on Hwy 7 just east of Arden.

“Not only did they completely re-do our boardroom and add a small office and shelving, they also did some work on the exterior building and built a brand new storage shed,” said Davis, “We paid for the materials but they provided all the labour. It was more than we originally talked about getting done and it helped the participants learn skills. Many of them have jobs lined up after the course ends.”

Kevin Rioux said that the shed they built was finished as a house would be finished, not only to make a good product, but to provide for more of a learning opportunity.

“They really progressed during the course,” said Rioux, “and I have enjoyed teaching it as well.”

Chief Davis said that the Shabot Obaadjiwan is planning to apply once again to host a program in the future, either at their offices or their nation site on White Lake, where they have built a large meeting hall and have plans for improvements and ancillary structures.

“These projects help us, they provide skills for our youth in a field where there are jobs, and they are good for the local economy because we buy all our materials at the Home Hardware in Sharbot Lake,” she said.

An open meeting will be hosted by the Sharbot Lake & District Lions Club on April 26th at the S. L. Legion on Cannon Rd. The public is invited to join the Lions for social hour between 5 and 6 PM and then sit down to a delicious dinner ($15 for entrée, dessert & tea or coffee) served up by the Legion kitchen staff.

Then stay for the regular Lion’s meeting 7 PM. Haven’t you ever wondered what exactly the Lion’s Club does? How their meetings are run or how they raise money and where that money goes? Well, now you can see for yourself! You will learn first-hand how the Lions Club has been serving the Sharbot Lake area for over 65 years.

The Lion’s Club supports Adopt-A-Highway, their pavilion at Oso Beach, the Central Frontenac summer swim program and the parades at Christmas and on Canada Day. Over the years they have purchased equipment for the medical centre, the playground at the beach and have provided financial support to the dog guides, the Salvation Army, Diabetes Canada, the food bank and many others, including people with specific needs within this community. They could do none of this without the support of local folks like you! When a Lion asks you to buy a chocolate Easter bunny, a Christmas fruit cake or a raffle ticket on any of their great prizes, your money goes to support all of the above – and more!

Members are proud of their ‘Vision Screening’ program in which they have been testing the eyesight and hearing of local kindergarten and grade one students for more than 10 years. In October they visit the schools in Plevna and Mountain Grove, along with Granite Ridge and St. James Major Schools in Sharbot Lake. They use equipment purchased with the monies they have collected through their various fundraising activities. This year in this district they have tested over 7000 kids. And they continue to support a project called ‘No Child Without’. In this program, they work hand-in-hand with the Medic Alert Association to provide every child in our local schools with the Medic Alert bracelets they may need to keep them safe at school, at home and everywhere in between.

They also support our senior citizens. In mid-June each year they go to a Seniors Home to barbeque hamburgers and hot dogs for the residents and their families. And each October for the past 40 years they have invited local seniors to spend a wonderful evening of entertainment, prizes and good things to eat. The club even provides the buses to bring folks in from far and near.

Anyone 18 and over can become a Lion. And we have recently sponsored a LEO Club for younger members of our area who want to serve their community. Membership provides people with the opportunity to meet and work with other individuals, striving toward the common goal of helping those in need. The satisfaction gained by being a part of these efforts is one of the big rewards of being a Lion or Leo.

Mark April 26 on your calendars and in the meantime, check out their Facebook page or visit the websites: www.sharbotlions.com or www.lionsclubs.org.

To reserve your seat for dinner, just contact any Lions Club member, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 613-539-8190 or 613-375-6318.

“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” said Lillian Barker-Godfrey as Community Living North Frontenac hosted a games afternoon last Sunday at Oso Hall in conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day.

Although current thinking is shying away from the ‘autism spectrum’ philosophy, it is still highly variable neuro-development disorder, that first appears in infancy or childhood. Those with autism may be developmentally impaired in some aspects but not in others. They may even display superior development in some areas.

“Not everybody with autism has an intellectual disability,” she said. “And medical professionals that diagnose autism don’t refer to it as a ‘spectrum’ any more.

“But there can be a wide range of aspects and there is no definitive diagnostic tool like a blood test. It has to be determined by observation.”

One common aspect tends to be social communications issues and/or instances of repetitive behaviour, she said.

“Brains are wired differently,” she said. “People with autism process information differently.”

This can manifest itself in both hyper- and hypo-sensitivity to sensory stimulation, including sight, sound, touch, taste and smells, and that can be overwhelming, she said.

“For example, some people with autism can hear a plane coming long before we do,” she said. “And some need extra sensory stimulation.

“We try to help them meet their own sensory needs.”

She said the key is to realize that people with autism perceive the world differently.

“Some tend not to look people in the eye,” she said. “That can be overwhelming for them.

“For many, routine is very important and it becomes very stressful for them if that is broken or there is a change in their environment.”

But we all have sensory differences and we can relate if we think it out, she said.

“For example, some people have difficulty waiting in line and their stress levels are high in those situations,” she said. “At concerts, some people like to be in the middle of the crowds while others prefer the fringes and have to calm themselves down by working out an exit strategy.”

Another curious quirk is that autism is more prevalent in males than females by a ratio of 5-1. (Hence all the blue balloons decorating the hall.)

And it’s also estimated that 1 person in 68 has some form of autism.

However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, she said.

“Overall, people are becoming more accepting,” she said. “Patience is a big thing.

“But, there are so many parts to this that there is no stereotype.”

It was a sweet weekend last Saturday and Sunday as visitors from all over came to the Bell Line Road to visit the maple syrup operations of Oso Sweet Maple Farms (Mel & Joyce Conboy) and George and Darlene Conboy & Sons Maple Syrup.

“It’s been an average year,” said George Conboy. “It did start very early in February and we weren’t expecting that but then it got cold again.

“Still, it’s a very high quality syrup this year with very light colour (and) we haven’t made any of the lower grades.”

For the Conboys, maple syrup has been a family business for a long time.

“Our grandchildren will be the sixth generation,” George said. “The Conboys came from Ireland in 1876 and got a land grant.

“I remember going to Sharbot Lake with my father to send the syrup out on trains.”

It’s still a family operation. George and Darlene have sons Jason, Ryan and Devon around for much of the harvest (although Trevor does have to spend a lot of time in Ottawa in computers).

“We couldn’t do it without the kids,” George said.

But of course the nature of the business, being so dependent on weather and time of year, means that when you need help, that’s when you need it.

“It’s not something you can think about leaving until tomorrow,” he said. “When the sap gets running, you gotta do it right now!”

That never changes. Other things do, but then sometimes they change back again.

Originally, sap was boiled over wood fires. Then that changed to oil burners and also propane.

But George is back to wood.

“It just works the best,” he said. “And we only burn old dead wood.”

Despite some rather questionable weather Saturday, a steady stream of visitors kept showing up. Along with maple products, there was a bit of a festival atmosphere with the Frontenac Blades showing people how to throw tomahawks and knives and Cota’s Mobile Catering featured a maple theme with sausages and cornbread with syrup.

“I’m pleased with the turnout,” Darlene said. “I’m seeing a lot of old familiar faces and a lot of new ones too.

“Remember, you can use maple syrup for anything you would use sugar in.”

Local service agencies, experts and the general public are invited to attend the 2nd Rural Summit on Poverty and Housing to work together on ways to address the unique challenges faced by vulnerable rural residents in Frontenac County. The summit will take place on Tuesday, April 18, from 1:00 to 4:00pm at Oso Hall, 1107 Garrett Street in Sharbot Lake, Ontario.

“We’re trying to keep the momentum of last year’s rural summit going,” says Louise Moody, Executive Director at Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), who is co-hosting the event with Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCSC). “As a result of the 2016 session, we’ve been exploring some of the ideas proposed.”

At the 2017 version of the summit, two presentations will be made related to housing options. Chantal Landry and Robert Diebel are Occupational Therapy students from Queen’s University who have been doing their community development placement with both NFCS and SFCSC. They will present “Shared Housing: Is this an option for Frontenac County” based on research and analysis they have been conducting.

This will be followed by a presentation titled “I Think I Can, I Think I Can – the little community that could: a model for independently-funded rural housing” presented by Fay Martin and Max Ward from Haliburton County Places for People. Following these presentations, discussion will be facilitated to consider the models presented.

“We know that local solutions are the best solutions,” says Louise Moody, “but these presentations will give us great models to consider. Will they work? Maybe. Can we adapt them? Probably. It will be a healthy discussion.”

Adds David Townsend, Executive Director for SFCSC, “Our county and townships have unique characteristics, such as a high proportion of seniors, and a vast geography that can present a lot of challenges. This is a great opportunity to view these models through a lens that is specific to our unique situation.”

About 30 people gathered in Oso Hall last week to put together a video celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary in Frontenac County with a song aptly titled the Frontenac County 150th Anniversary Song (lyrics by Rudy Hollywood, tune-traditional).

The video, by Doug Steele, is scheduled to be up on the cfcanada150.ca website in the near future, said 150 committee chair Bill Bowick.

“We also hope to play it at the Canada Day celebration,” Bowick said. “And we’ll attach to it on Facebook in the hopes it’ll get picked up and inspire other communities with their 150 celebrations.”

Bowick said that with the video shoot now in the can, the committee will be focusing on planning for Canada Day “for the next short while.”

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be activities going on before July 1.

“We will have a presence at Day of the Pig at Oso Beach on the Victoria Day weekend and there’s the Arden Festival June 16-18,” he said. “And author Michael Goodspeed (Three to a Loaf) is scheduled for a book signing for the release of his latest work in June.

“And on May 6, Doug Steele and Phillip Bender are planning a bike ride on the K & P Trail. They’re expecting 15 riders each covering 10 kilometres for 150 Kilometres of Social Biking.”

There’s also the Easter egg hunt in Arden April 15 and an old-fashioned hymn sing May 15 at Parham United Church.

And Bowick said they’re planning to make a calendar a priority for the website as soon as they can find somebody who knows how to do that.

On March 17, 2017 at approximately 10:15 pm, Sharbot Lake, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers responded to an altercation between two males at a residence on Clement Road in Central Frontenac Township.

Investigation indicated that the two males known to each other were involved in an argument, when one male stabbed the other in the neck with a knife. The victim was transported to hospital by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect fled the scene but shortly returned and was located by police near the parking area.  

Andrew STONESS (22) of Central Frontenac Township was arrested and is charged with; Assault with a Weapon under the Criminal Code Section 267(a).

He was released and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston on April 25, 2017.