I met Kevin Wenkoff, of Bellrock, South Frontenac, at his apiary beyond their wild flower and herb garden. Kevin is a full-time school teacher and keeps a hobby apiary of four colonies of Russian honeybees on his two-acre property. Any honey that he collects he uses himself or gives away to family and friends.

I wanted to understand the work involved in keeping bees, so, leading me into his office he simply said, “OK, let’s suit up and go and take a look.” Dressed for a moon landing, we walked in that clumsy style of Neil Armstrong.

Dedicated beekeepers stress that it is the hands-on experience of keeping bees that is important in learning about these insects. Having bees on your hands and watching their daily dance conveys more information about the colony condition than reading.

Wenkoff had a goose feather for moving any bees out of the way or off my hands. It does not harm or frighten the bees - and if you have any exposed bare skin you do not want to frighten 20,000 bees.

Wenkoff spends about two hours a week working with and talking to his bees, and many more hours just watching and enjoying the relaxation that they provide. It is not all fun, however. Two years earlier he experienced a winter die-off of a complete colony and lost 12,237 bees.

When asked how he estimated that number, he replied, “It’s not an estimation. I asked my grade 6/7 French class from Prince Charles School in Verona if they would like to do some real math in my apiary. We organised a supervised school trip; most of the class came out to count dead bees in February”.

The students had to count and speak in French. One boy found and identified the Queen.

Wenkoff believes that his winter die-off was a natural disaster. It had been very cold that year and he had not added sufficient insulation.

His colonies have bounced back. This summer’s good nectar flow and new strong queen bees have helped. He will assist by ensuring that he leaves plenty of nectar and honey for them to feed off during the winter and he will add insulation to the hives. He is also considering a winter feeding program if he still has one weak hive late this fall.

Wenkoff is trying to allow the bees to survive naturally and he does not replace the colony queen bees. He allows the colony to make that decision, and they do.

Bees need to be creative; they are builders and foragers of nectar. Wenkoff does not give them a complete ready-built home with plastic honeycombs; rather, he encourages the bees to build their own honeycomb from a very small basic beeswax starter, on the frames. Commercial beekeepers cannot afford the time for this and insert a complete plastic backing shaped as the hexagonal honeycomb base on a frame.

Wenkoff’s approach to beekeeping is known as the Biodynamic method. This is not as cost-effective as that employed in commercial beekeeping, but this approach could be breeding stronger, more infection-resistant bees. Only time will tell.

The Kingston Ceili Band kicked off the fall and winter Bellrock community event program at the Bellrock Hall on Sept. 24.

Around 40 people gathered at the schoolhouse to enjoy a taste of Ireland and Scotland right in their own back yard, and the band rocked the newly renovated little schoolhouse with their foot-tapping tunes and hilarious banter. From Elvis Presley and the Great Big Sea to a few more traditional Celtic pieces, the Kingston Ceili Band had the crowd clapping along and wanting more.

The band is made up of six very talented artists: Shane Dunne on guitar and lead vocals; flute master Anne Archer; Maggie “hot fingers” McIver on the fiddle; Laura Anderson Brick on her cherry red accordion; Eric Brausseau on an array of percussion instruments; and Dennis Wilson on his trusty banjo and vocals.

The band has been providing Kingston and area with their hearty music for 30 years. The obvious chemistry and history that they have makes them truly one of a kind. Their playful repartee combined with their unique sound created a warm and fun atmosphere inside the schoolhouse and resulted in a great night of entertainment.

The concert was put on by the Bellrock Hall Community Association, which is in charge of maintaining the hall and putting on different events for the public’s entertainment. Admission to the show was a freewill donation as a way of bringing in money to cover some of the costs of keeping the hall up and running, and according to the chair of the hall association, Virginia Lavin, the event did very well in terms of raising funds. The proceeds will be put towards things like heat, hydro and insurance that the hall needs to continue hosting community events like these.

“Events like this serve two purposes, to provide the community with entertainment and raise funds to keep the hall open,” said the association’s treasurer, Bob Brown.

As the municipality does not support the hall financially, the association relies on government grants and its own fundraising to keep it funded through the year. Without support from the community, concerts and entertainment like this would not be possible. The fall and winter events will be a big part of the hall’s fundraising for 2016.

The next event on the lineup is the Bellrock Boogie this Sunday, October 2. The Texas Tuxedo will take the stage at noon and will be joined by four other acts throughout the day. The event will go until 4 pm and the cover charge will again be a freewill offering. The Bellrock Schoolhouse is located at 6034 Levesque Road. Visit bellrockhall.ca for more information.

“If the feeling in a work of art is strong enough, the work creates its own truth. This you have achieved Misha, in these paintings,” said Kim Ondaatje in her introduction to Misha Hunter’s exhibit. Ondaatje is hosting Hunter’s series of paintings about Attawapiskat at her gallery at Blue Roof Farm, just north of Bell Rock. The show will be open until Labour Day.

The “People of the parting of the rocks" are an isolated First Nation located in Kenora District in northern Ontario, the most remote northerly link on the 310 km long road to Moosonee.

When his mother taught art in the school there, Hunter visited twice to take part in art projects and work closely with the youth.

Sometimes one understands a situation better when one is a bit removed. On his return, in his own studio, Hunter translated the photographs he had taken on his trip into large oil paintings on boards. He also brought back with him the sense of place and the sense of people’s hearts and souls.

Misha Hunter’s paintings seek the connection of the land and its spirituality. They also speak of isolation and hopelessness.
Misha paints with sure strokes. He chose to limit his palette to convey not only the rather harsh and barren landscape (trees grow no taller than 5 feet and seem to huddle from the wind) but also the loss of identity that many people struggle with. The size of his paintings allow the viewer to enter and feel the bitter wind for a small moment, or bring one forward with the wish to walk over to that old canoe with its sawed-off tip, and run a finger over the chipped paint.

There is a wolf that greets us at the entrance to the town, “Rez Wolf”, a royal looking animal, at home in this winter. A tractor, a trailer, two canoes … items that must have been cherished some time ago but have since fallen from grace, forgotten in a field, left to crumble. A street light that seems to shine for nobody, a statue of Mary without face or hands, a church once proud, now seemingly ready to blow away into the cold skies.

Attawapiskat has been in crisis for many years. The cost of living is extraordinarily high because everything has to be brought in via aircraft. Their drinking water situation has been dire since the 1970s. The elementary school had to be closed because of a diesel spill. Housing lacks good heating and insulation and there is leakage from pipes and toxic mould.

Misha Hunter's paintings entice our inner dialogue about grace and human rights, about the standard of living and hope. He invites us to question the way things ought to be and our responsibilities towards each other.

While we sit in comfortable chairs chatting and drinking coffee at the gallery, Kim relates a few vignettes of her life that show her connection with Indigenous people. One of her earliest teachers was Jack Hawk, an Ojibway elder from whom she learned the “way of the wild”.

Blue Roof Farm is a little bit of heaven, created by this grand dame of Canadian art. The view from the window is spectacular – a great wild jumble of cultivated and wild flowers, grasses and trees. At the far end of the garden is a fountain that splashes off the side of a rock.

“Everything that you see growing here, except for that maple tree over there, I planted,” Kim states.
But speaking of the garden, it is time to get back to work! And off she goes, filling the bird feeders and trimming a bush. Kim’s parting words are, “Tell people to come and see this work; it is really important!”

Blue Roof Farm is located at 6313 First Lake Road, north of Bellrock. For information call 613-374-2147.

Anybody within a few hundred meters of BellRock Hall with their windows open on Saturday night would have been treated not only to the lovely late spring evening air, but to a very fine concert drifting across the village from the windows of the hall. The LaSalle Causeway Swing Band gave a wonderful performance for an enthusiastic crowd with lots of lively tunes. This band is getting a reputation for quality performances and the audience was not disappointed. The band just keeps getting better and better. Master of Ceremonies, Mark Sibley, kept us entertained with an endless succession of bad jokes in between announcing the melodies.

Ably led by the director, Brooke Woboditsch, they swung through a variety of tunes including Moon Dance, Singin' in the Rain, Jazz Man, and many other favourites. Local singer, Cliff Edwards, was a featured entertainer and gave us all a chance to sit back and hum along with him as he crooned away on some Sinatra classics.

A highlight of the evening was when Brooke's 13-year-old daughter, Jasmine, came on stage and sang two completely contrasting songs. First she sang Louis Armstrong's lovely melody "It's a Wonderful World", which she sang very sweetly. Later in the evening she sang a much darker and poignant song, “Skyfall” - recorded by Adele, words and music by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth. In singing this melody, she captured the yearning sadness of a person much older than her years. This young lady has talent and we look forward to hearing her again in the future.

The concert was a benefit to support the maintenance of the hall and also the food bank. Many thanks to the musicians who came out and provided us with a lovely evening of entertainment.

Perhaps it was not just the pure enjoyment of hearing so many talented female voices joining together in song that attracted the capacity crowd to the community hall in Bellrock on November 28 for the Frontenac Women's Chorus' annual Christmas concert. It may have also been curiosity, since it was the first concert conducted by the chorus' new leader since the group's long time conductor, Betty Wagner, passed her baton to Kingston singer and voice teacher, Patty Smith, in the spring of 2015. Smith proved that Wagner made a good choice and Wagner, who was also in attendance, likely agreed. Smith proved that she is more than capable of taking on these ladies in her new role as their fearless leader and the audience seemed to enjoy her quirky sense of humour to boot.

The choir performed a concert titled “Deck Those Halls” and their Christmas program included offerings that were as diverse and they were delightful. The concert opened with an eerie tune titled “Soul Cake”, a traditional Hallowee'en/Christmasy tune that showed off well the chorus' apt harmonies and which also showcased an impressive flute accompaniment by special guest Christine Kennedy. The choir sang a glorious version of the well known carol, “Do You Hear What I Hear”, a favorite call and response carol that features the great range of the chorus' sopranos whose high notes inspired (in myself at least) the kind of head tingles that only practiced voices joined together in song can bring.

Highlighted in the program were a number of Canadian composers as in “Star Light, Star Bright”, an anonymous traditional verse put to music by Martha Hill Duncan. The program also featured the premiere of Parham-raised musician, Stanley Stinchcombe's “A Bear's Christmas”, a comical Christmas ditty that he wrote especially for the group, which was a delightful exploration of how bears might celebrate the holiday season.

“The Christmas Waltz” was the choir's most jazzy offering of the night, and the traditional Quebecois tune titled “D'ou viens-tu, bergère” with an arrangement by Mark Sirett was also memorable, as was the historic “Huron Carol”, composed by Jean Brebeuf.

Hats off to accompanist Kate Van Allen, whose talents created a solid foundation for this group to show case their own. The choir gave the audience a chance to join in for “Deck the Halls” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas”, bringing to a close a delightful night of premieres, one that will no doubt keep our local ears focused on the choir's next offerings.

Fans of famed author, humorist and lecturer, Mark Twain, were treated to an evening of Twain courtesy of David Jacklin, who is the producing director of BarnDoor Productions in Perth. In his one-man show titled “Mark Twain's Patent Scrap Book”, Jacklin reminisced, told stories and jokes and spoke of issues close to his heart. Jacklin's portrayal was of an older, reflective but still very witty Twain. Jacklin manned the stage with grace and confidence, and moved and spoke easily as the famed speaker and wordsmith.

Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 in Missourri, Twain wrote and made public speaking an art form. The show has Twain looking back to his earliest ambitions of becoming a steam boat man (a desire that inspired his novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), and Jacklin recited some very beautiful and memorable descriptions of some of the places made famous in those novels, like the majestic Mississippi River and the dry hills of California, where Twain tried his hand at mining. The show was perfect for Twain fans, and those less familiar with the man and his work will likely be inspired to read and explore more of this famed author.

Coming up at the Bellrock Community hall is a Christmas concert by the Frontenac Women's Chorus on November 28. Admission is by free will donation and the concert starts at 7:30PM. For more information visit www.bellrockhall.ca

A capacity crowd filled the Bellrock hall on June 6 for the official release of “After the News”, the self-titled album and latest musical offering from Lee Casement and the band, many of whom are long time collaborators who have written and performed together in the past on the In the Guestroom series of recordings. The group, comprised of Casement on bass/guitar, Lisa Menard on vocals, Shaun Weima on vocals/lead guitar, Jamie Young on vocals/guitar, and drummer Matt Piper were joined on stage by Kelli Caravan on trumpet and Josh Lyon on keyboards. They performed the complete song list from the album, which was released to the public the same day that the event took place.

Casement said the project represents something brand-new for him. “My cousin Lisa and I were always talking about writing songs together and Shaun, whom I had formed a partnership with during the In the Guestroom series of albums, just started writing songs together and wanted to record and perform them.”

The band is stacked with talented vocalists and the trio of singers - Shaun, Lisa and Jamie took turns centre stage, with each adding their own individual style and flavour to the diverse repertoire that makes this collaboration work. Each singer’s voice is distinct. Lisa is the group’s diva. She offers a strong, solid and silky smooth vibe, and proved she can funk it up at the drop of a hat. Jamie by contrast sings in a breathy lament and took the lead in tunes like “I'm Drawing You” to great effect. Shaun's delivery is wildly dramatic and energetic - his precise and pointed delivery so masterfully other worldly at times it had me doing double takes.

The songs also invite the three to come together as they did in their opener “Stand”, the only tune from the album that has been made into a video, which was recorded at local metal artist Stefan Duerst's studio near Godfrey and features Duerst and some of his work.

The other band members each offered solid performances, with Piper keeping the beat, Casement holding down the bottom end and Caravan and Lyon bringing a distinct density to the show. Casement said he wanted to hold the party in Bellrock since it was close to home and he wanted to promote the band in his own backyard. He paid respect to the musicians who inspired this album and invited the Evening Hymns (Jonas Bonnetta with Jon Hynes) who inspired the band’s tune “Morning Hymn (Wake Up)”, which was a highlight. The Evening Hymns, who do not often play locally, performed a generous set that showcased Bonnetta's work and also Hynes' talents as a recent member as well as his own solo efforts. Bonnetta is an amazing singer and poet and he performed a number of older tunes including “Arrows”, plus a number of brand new songs like “Evil Forces”, which will appear on a new release. From his acclaimed CD titled “Spectral Dust” Bonnetta invited Casement to play bass for the tune “You and Jake”, a song that was featured in the 2015 Cameron Crowe film starring Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams, which wowed the crowd.

For his closer Bonnetta performed “Mountain Song”, a fascinating and demanding looping number that defined this unique artist’s seemingly limitless talents. Hynes sang a few of his own originals from his album titled “Watchful Creatures”. His tunes “Sea Diver” and “One More California” show him to be a talented singer and energetic performer.

Well known and loved local troubadour, Jon McLurg, had opened the evening with a number of his own mesmerizing solo numbers including “True Blue” and “Big Band Theory”, which warmed up the crowd, demonstrating his virtuosity as a writer, singer and player. His version of “CC Rider” was a delight as was his stream of consciousness number inspired by North Carolina legend Etta Baker.

The evening demonstrated that original top-notch music is alive and well in these rural parts. After The News will be performing a house concert in Kingston on Friday, July 17 and will be taking to the stage at the Westport Music Festival on Saturday, August 15 and in Harrowsmith at the County of Frontenac's 150th Anniversary celebrations on Sunday, August 30. They will also be appearing on Saturday, November 7 at the Daily Grind Art Cafe in Ottawa. For more information visit www.tinyracket.com/bands/afterthenews

Lee Casement of the band “After the News” will hold a release party on June 6, 7pm, at BellRock Hall to celebrate the release of their new self-titled album, “After the News”. Songwriters Lee and Shaun Weima, joined by musicians Jamie Young and Lisa (Bresee) Menard have produced a fabulous new musical offering. The style is ambient folk/alt-rock. Guest artists Jon McLurg and two members of the group “Evening Hymns” (Jonas Bonnetta and Jon Hynes) will also be performing.

Sounds like an exciting musical evening featuring several of our own “locally-grown” musicians. It isn’t just the market gardens around here that are producing great products! Admission is free.

Visit http://tinyracket.com/bands/afterthenews

At the second public information meeting regarding the proposed $1.2 to $1.5 million revitalization of the village of Bellrock, which was held at the community hall on May 7, South Frontenac public works manager Mark Segsworth highlighted the proposed design for close to 30 residents who attended the meeting.

The proposed plan, which was designed by the Greer Galloway Group of Kingston, has numerous aims. It addresses drainage issues in the village and includes the resurfacing of a number of roads with asphalt and the construction of sidewalks on Mill Street, First Lake and Levesque Roads.

To address residents' concerns about speed and safety issues on First Lake Road, the road will be reshaped and de-hilled and a four-way stop will also be put in at the intersection of First Lake Road and Mill Street. According to Segsworth the plan is “consistent with the village revitalization that we have done in Battersea and Perth Road Village and it meets our goals of trying to build for the future.”

Prior to the meeting Segsworth said that suggestions and concerns raised by residents at the first public meeting, which took place in February this year, were considered and addressed. Property owners at that time were mainly concerned about the proximity of the new resurfaced roads to the houses and the costs and necessity of new sidewalks.

The design includes an urban cross section (new curbs and gutters) on First Lake Road and Mill Street. The drainage and standing water issues will be addressed by constructing a number of ditches and swales, and will require that the township acquire some private property and easements on three separate pieces of property located in the village.

Segsworth said that he is hoping to finalize the plan and put it up for tender in the next few weeks. This year's budget has socked away $600,000 towards the costs of the project and another $600,000 will be put into next year's budget. Construction is expected to get underway after Labour Day this year and the expected completion date is in the summer of 2016.

Some of the concerns raised by residents at the meeting included the cost of maintaining the sidewalks in the winter and whether the micro blasting needed at a few locations in the village would affect local wells. Segsworth took note of a number of other concerns, including replacing trees that need to be removed. A total of 11 private properties in the village would be directly affected by the project, some by as little as one metre.

Long Swamp Bridge

A second public meeting held at the hall immediately following the first focused on a number of proposed alternatives as to how to deal with the dilapidated bridge on Long Swamp Road just south of the village. The bridge is one of 52 bridge structures in the township. It has been deemed unsafe because its decking is insecure and it sits under water for at least one month each spring. It is part of a class 6 road that sees just 50 vehicles daily. It was established at the meeting that the road is primarily used by residents in the summer and winter months. Residents voiced their opposition to removing the bridge and thereby closing the road since they said that the road offers quicker access to their homes while providing a direct link to commerce and services in Verona for residents from outlying areas. It is also an important detour route when Highway 38 is closed. The road is used by emergency service vehicles and the bridge is used recreationally by residents for fishing and as a put in.

Troy Steele and David Bonsall, engineers from Wills Engineering in Kingston who were hired by township staff to propose the alternatives for dealing with the bridge, outlined four options, none of which Segsworth said would be undertaken for four or five years. These options included doing nothing; removing the bridge and closing the road; rehabilitating the bridge; or replacing it.

The “do nothing” option, while it has no immediate costs, poses future liability issues since the bridge would eventually become unsafe. The second option, to remove the bridge, would cost approximately $50,000, but was the option least popular with residents as it would close the road.

Replacing the bridge at an estimated capital cost of $400,000 would resolve all issues best, but it is by far the most expensive of the four options.

The residents at the meeting seemed most supportive of rehabilitation. At an estimated capital cost of $150,000, the rehabilitation option also address safety issues and would increase the bridge's load bearing capacity likely to 10 tons, though it would require ongoing maintenance.

Segsworth seemed pleased with the input he received, but added, “This not going to happen anytime soon but we are wanting to know which way area residents are leaning as far as the alternatives go.”

by Debbie Twiddy

Have you ever wished to revisit your childhood? If you could go back and re-experience some of the most intense moments, be they joyous or sad, would you? David Kemp is giving local theatre goers a chance to live those days again. Interpreted through the writings of a collection of well respected and well-loved authors including the works of British, Canadian and American authors, “A Child Growing Up” is a bittersweet journey through the world of childhood memories. Humorous, moving and thought-provoking, audiences from around the world have found the stories within the show a pleasure to identify with. Together, Kemp and the audience will re-experience episodes from childhood, family life, school life, love, and, best of all, memories of Christmas. This series of readings which Kemp devised, directs and performs, was first performed in England in 1970. CBC Radio recorded it for a special Christmas edition of their ‘Anthology’ program. Since then it has been performed in over 50 different countries around the world. The show has toured across Canada from coast to coast and has garnered excellent reviews from the world

press wherever it was presented. Kemp who is the founder of the Exeter Theatre Festival also served as the head of the drama department at Queen¹s University for 10 years and has made numerous appearances at the Thousand Islands Playhouse.

Kemp¹s gift for the stage is well-known, and we at the Bellrock Hall are lucky and thrilled that he is willing to share his talents with us. The overall quality and mood of the show make it a perfect fit and start to the upcoming the festive holiday season. Two performances will take place. Available for the first show on Saturday November 29 is a $20 ticket that includes a pre-show ham & scalloped potato dinner that will be served at 6:30pm or a $12 ticket for the show only, which begins at 7:30pm. The second performance on Sat. Dec. 6 is $12 and is a performance only. The Bellrock Schoolhouse Theatre is located at 6034 Leveque Road in Bellrock. Tickets are available in Verona at Asselstine and Verona Hardware and Food Less Traveled and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. For more information visit www.bellrockhall.ca