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Thanks to a $55,000grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Thomson’s Cut portion of the K & P multiuse Trail is all but finished, and as such was recognized with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning in Sharbot Lake.

Gary Giller, who as a member of the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society and the Multi-Use Centre committee spearheaded the project to have lights installed as well as delineation as to pedestrian and ATV areas. Giller thanked the Trillium Foundation as well as Marcel Giroux of W.A. Robinson Asset Management, John Purdon and John DuChene for their contribution to the project.

He said the work will greatly enhance the safety of users.

“Expectation, circumstance and reality are three very different things,” Giller said. “Obviously things are still a work in progress but we do have the financial resources to complete it and we’re very close to that.

“This (Thomson’s Cut) will serve as a link from Railway Heritage Park to the beach.”

Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier picked up on Giller’s words.

“Vibrant, healthy communities are always a work in progress,” Hillier said. “What this project shows is an illustration of community, business and politicians working together.

“Not everything has to be strictly political.”

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith particularly thanked all the volunteers involved in fixing up the 300-metre stretch of the trail.

“It’s been a long time coming and while $55,000 may not sound like a lot, to a project like this, it’s huge,” Smith said. “Without the Trillium Grant, it could have been another 10 years.”

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded more than $108 million to 629 projects in Ontario last year.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Club members and dignitaries gathered at the Social and Athletic Club in Harrowsmith Saturday to acknowledge a $19,500 grant the club received to renovate its building o Colbrooke Road.

The grant was presented by Ontario Trillium Foundation Bob Burge, who began his remarks by acknowledging the Anishinabe and other First Nations history of the area.

“This year, OTF was asked to administer the Ontario 150 Community Capital Grant Program,” Burge said. “And the Harrowsmith District S & A Club was one of just over 200 Ontario150 grantees to get the good news that you’d received funding.

“And the Club’s done all this work to make sure that this community space continues to be a great meeting place for years to come. Thank you for bringing your request to our attention and we’re so pleased that we could help you continue to make your community a healthier and more vibrant place.”

S & A Club treasurer Penny Lloyd said the grant was used to do new electrical wiring, new insulation, drywall and painting and perhaps most importantly, a new steel roof.

“We won’t have to do the roof again,” she said.

The S & A Club, a registered charitable non-profit corporation began in the mid-’60s. Since its beginning, it’s offered a wide variety of community and family events such as Canada Day in the Park, the Santa Claus Parade, family movie nights, dances, softball and various other activities. They encourage new families to join the association

No pressure is placed on members to volunteer, making it the members’ choice as to how much time they want to commit to volunteering and as to which events.

The hall itself is available to rent for meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, family dinners and reunions.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

The Highland Waters Métis Community Council is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant to gather traditional knowledge about the Métis culture and way of life in its community. The council will work to collect this knowledge from Métis elders, traditional knowledge holders, Michif speakers, harvesters, and artists through written survey questions, oral interviews, audio/ video recordings and document research.

From their office near Northbrook, the council and its skeleton staff oversee a territory that extends southeast to Smiths Falls and to the 401 just north of Kingston and west to the edge of the Kawartha Lakes region.
“The territory is large and hard to cover,” said Candace Lloyd, Secretary/Treasurer of the council.

Handling membership issues is one of the challenges faced by the council, and Lloyd has copies of a booklet available that outlines how membership in the Metis Nations is determined. There were distinct Metis communities dotting the Ontario landscape. To qualify as a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario geneological information must be provided to establish direct descendence from a Metis ancestor. As the booklet points out, however, different terms were used in documentation over the years, and the term Metis is rare in Ontario records.

“For the most part the term Halfbreed is used and may be modified in various ways (i.e French breed, other breed, English breed, breed, etc.)” the booklet says also lists other terms, such as “Chicot, Bois-brule, Northmen, Canadian inhabitant, half caste, Indian Voyager, etc.” and the historical context of the record is taken into account as well.

One important aspect of Metis peoples and their identity is that they are distinct and not “simply groups of mixed ancestry peoples” the booklet says.
Documenting Metis knowledge is an important step in the work of the Highland Water Metis Council to help create awareness of Metis traditions and the distinct culture of the Metis in Ontario and beyond. That is why the Trillium grant comes at an opportune moment in the history of the Highland Waters Council.
With the completion of this project, the council will have documented stories of its knowledge holders that can be shared with the Métis community, especially the youth. This knowledge will be preserved and protected for future generations. This project will also help the Métis community in sharing its stories and perspectives with its First Nations neighbours, government, the broader non-Indigenous community, and others.

The council will be holding a local event to celebrate the grant during its Annual Harvest Dinner on Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 4-6pm at the Flinton Township Hall, 72 Edward Street, Flinton, Ontario. Harvest Potluck menu encouraged.
Anyone with questions can contact Candace Lloyd, High Land Waters Metis Community Council Secretary/Treasurer by phone, 613-336-1732 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

The Highland Waters Métis Community Council is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant to gather traditional knowledge about the Métis culture and way of life in its community. The council will work to collect this knowledge from Métis elders, traditional knowledge holders, Michif speakers, harvesters, and artists through written survey questions, oral interviews, audio/ video recordings and document research.

From their office near Northbrook, the council and its skeleton staff oversee a territory that extends southeast to Smiths Falls and to the 401 just north of Kingston and west to the edge of the Kawartha Lakes region.
“The territory is large and hard to cover,” said Candace Lloyd, Secretary/Treasurer of the council.

Handling membership issues is one of the challenges faced by the council, and Lloyd has copies of a booklet available that outlines how membership in the Metis Nations is determined. There were distinct Metis communities dotting the Ontario landscape. To qualify as a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario geneological information must be provided to establish direct descendence from a Metis ancestor. As the booklet points out, however, different terms were used in documentation over the years, and the term Metis is rare in Ontario records.
“For the most part the term Halfbreed is used and may be modified in various ways (i.e French breed, other breed, English breed, breed, etc.)” the booklet says also lists other terms, such as “Chicot, Bois-brule, Northmen, Canadian inhabitant, half caste, Indian Voyager, etc.” and the historical context of the record is taken into account as well.

One important aspect of Metis peoples and their identity is that they are distinct and not “simply groups of mixed ancestry peoples” the booklet says.
Documenting Metis knowledge is an important step in the work of the Highland Water Metis Council to help create awareness of Metis traditions and the distinct culture of the Metis in Ontario and beyond. That is why the Trillium grant comes at an opportune moment in the history of the Highland Waters Council.
With the completion of this project, the council will have documented stories of its knowledge holders that can be shared with the Métis community, especially the youth. This knowledge will be preserved and protected for future generations. This project will also help the Métis community in sharing its stories and perspectives with its First Nations neighbours, government, the broader non-Indigenous community, and others.

The council will be holding a local event to celebrate the grant during its Annual Harvest Dinner on Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 4-6pm at the Flinton Township Hall, 72 Edward Street, Flinton, Ontario. Harvest Potluck menu encouraged.
Anyone with questions can contact Candace Lloyd, High Land Waters Metis Community Council Secretary/Treasurer by phone, 613-336-1732 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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