One thing that has set the Frontenac Frolic apart from similar summer gatherings is the annual Cow Flop Bingo.

For those unfamiliar with the Frolic, it’s an annual summer fundraiser held at Bedford Hall to raise money for the Bobs & Crow Lakes Foundation. It includes things like a silent auction, bake table, used books table, flea market, petting zoo, Little Ray’s Reptiles and displays from the fire department.

For those unfamiliar with the Bingo, here’s the “scoop on the poop” as the association puts it.

A field is divided up into 1,600 squares, with each square assigned a number. Players purchase tickets ($10 each or three for $20).

A cow is led onto the field to graze. When it poops, whoever holds the ticket for the square it poops in, gets $1,800. The second poop nets a ticket holder $900 and a third $500.

Now, for a flop to be “real,” it must be three inches in diameter and it does happen that it lands on a line (in which case the judges determine how the winnings will be split).

That’s pretty much it.

But, there are other things going on as well.

“Our silent auction has some really nice items this year,” said volunteer Mary Seaton, who has overseen the auction for nine years now, since the Frolic began. “We have everything from a chain saw to fine art such as the painting from Kingston artist Jordan Hicks.

“We usually get between 20 and 50 items for the auction and this year, we have 33.”

One new attraction this year was the inclusion of the Boot’n’Bonnet (British) Car Club out of Kingston. As one might expect, this is a club dedicated to MGs and Jaguars, as well as some more obscure brands.

President Ken Morgan said club member Larry Henderson, who owns Green Bay Heritage Cabins on Bobs Lake, talked his compatriots into coming out to the Frolic.

“It can be difficult to get people on a long weekend,” Henderson said. “We left our kids to look after the cabins.”

“We are making excellent progress, people are starting from a more informed place,” said Maureen Bostock, spokesperson for the Lanark County Neighbours for Truth and Reconciliation.

Bostock was commenting on feedback garnered from the organization’s booth at last weekend’s Festival of the Maples in Perth where they shared a booth with indigenous maple syrup producer Richard Lalande and Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, founder of Birch Bark Coffee Co.

“We were pleased to have Mark there as his company raises funds for water systems in First Nations communities and he made several contacts to sell coffee with local outlets,” she said. “We were pleased to introduce him to our community.”

One of the things the Lanark County Neighbours for Truth and Reconciliation are particularly interested in is the history of First Nations as it pertains to this area. In particular, there is the instance of Chief Pierre Shawinipinessi, who was born in 1790at Lac des Deux Montagnes, a mission set up by the Sulpice missionaries at what is now known as Kanesatake. In 1837, purchases made by Shawinipinessi started showing up in the log book kept by Benjamin Tett, a magistrate and business person who operated a mill store near Bob’s Lake.

Shawinipinessi settled on an island in the Long Bay area of Bobs Lake’s (Lot 31, Concession 9) Eastern Basin. Other Algonquin people started arriving at the north end of Bobs Lake and on July 17, 1842, Chief Shawinipinessi petitioned in Canada West for a land tract of 2,000 acres straddling the Townships of Oso, Bedford and South Sherbrooke. He argued that a land tract for agricultural purposes would enable his people to sustain themselves given the depletion of game from hunting and loss of habitat due to logging and forestry.

On March 21, 1844, an Order in Council from the government of the Province of Canada approved the application for 2,000 avres to be set aside under a license of occupation in Bedford, Oso and South Sherbrooke.

However, logging activities (timber cutting, shanty building and trespass) continued on the tract, resulting in ongoing conflict similar to that in other logging –related incursions across unceded Algonquin territory. Shawinipinessi wrote a number of letters complaining to the Department of Indian Affairs trying to convince the government to intercede with loggers and trespassers on their behalf.

Although the government did intervene, confiscating timber harvested from the tract, proceeds were retained “as part of the hereditary revenues of the Crown,” rather than being used for the benefit of the indigenous group whose land had been trespassed upon at the discretion of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province.

Efforts by Shawinipinessi and other chiefs on the Bedford, Oso, and South Sherbrooke tracts to retain rights to the timber and even build a mill continued unsuccessfully for many years and many had moved away by 1851.

Shawinipinessi himself moved to the Piwakanagan community (as evidenced by the census of 1881 and 1882) where he lived with his daughter until his death at the age of 101.

The land that was once the Bedford tract is now the site of cottages on Bobs Lake and little remains in the area to remind visitors of its history as an Algonquin community.

However, Bostock and her organization are working to change that.

“What we’re really focusing on is permanent installations for First Nations History,” she said. “A proposal for a plaque and monument similar to others depicting exploration has been submitted to the (Tay Valley) township and a location will be determined when approved by the Heritage committee.

“It’s so gratifying to see people are becoming aware (and) reconciliation is the single-most important issue for Canada.”

Over the past 10 days, three sets of break-ins have been reported, each affecting multiple cottage properties, on lakes in South and Central Frontenac. Eleven cottage properties were vandalised on Bobs Lake on the evening of Friday, January 12, five on Sharbot Lake, and six or more on St. Andrews Lake.

As reported in the News last week (Vol.18, no.2 – January 18) an alarm and camera system led one property owner who was in Florida to call both the Ontario Provincial Police and a year round resident who lives nearby, to properties on Bobs Lake near Steele Road in the Tichborne area in South Frontenac. The resident went to survey the damage and came upon the vandals as they were travelling from cottage to cottage, smashing windows, patio doors, tv sets, sinks and toilets as they went.

The witness said he saw two vandals, who jumped off an ATV and ran into the woods just as police arrived. 11 cottages were attacked in that incident, according to witnesses, although the OPP have not confirmed the number.

On January 17th, the OPP were called to investigate another set of break-ins, which took place sometime over the last month on Craig’s Island, Sharbot Lake (West Basin).

In that case one of the cottage owners went to inspect his property on January 17th, and saw that it had been vandalised. In a release that came out on January 19th, the Frontenac OPP said that 5 cottages had been affected by the incident. The release said the following:

Sometime between December 17, 2017 and January 17, 2018, culprit(s) entered five cottages on Craig Island and totally destroyed the insides. Items were thrown around and smashed in each cottage. Estimated damage in total is approximately $75,000. Only item reported stolen was a bush buggy that is valued at $300.

In separate reports from witnesses, the News has learned that toilets, sinks, and patio doors were targeted in the Sharbot Lake incident, as they had been on Bobs Lake.

Then, this past Monday (January 22) a seasonal resident on St. Andrews Lake, which is located off Ball Road in Central Frontenac, emailed the News about another set of cottages that had been vandalised sometime over the last few weeks.

The email included the following description of the damage: “at least a half dozen or more cottages have been vandalised on St. Andrews Lake. Just this weekend we learned about it, some cottagers have been up to survey damage. Broken windows, smashed patio doors, interiors wrecked, fire extinguishers let off inside, toilets and sinks smashed, and more.”

The only OPP release related to these incidents was the one concerning the Sharbot Lake case, although the Frontenac detachment has confirmed they are investigating the Bobs and St. Andrews Lake incidents as well.

Police have not, as of yet, said anything about whether they consider that these incidents are linked, directly or indirectly.

A major complicating factor affecting communications from the local detachment in regard to these cases, is the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigation into the death of Debra Hill (Teal), who had an interaction with police while they were in the area investigating the incident on Bobs Lake.

On January 17 SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon, updating a preliminary SIU news release from January 13, made the following statement: “At approximately 11pm on Friday, January 12, 2017, OPP officers came across a vehicle which was parked on Steele Road, between Bradshaw 3 Road and Maple Grove Lane. One of the occupants of the vehicle fled. The second occupant, a 49-year-old woman, was located outside of the vehicle. Around 1 a.m. - after conducting an investigation - the officers took the woman to her home and they left.

“At approximately 5:30am emergency responders attended the woman’s residence after receiving a call. At this time, two investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to this incident.”

There is no information linking Ms. Hill’s vehicle with the vandalism itself. She did live on Steele Road and was not far from home when police came upon her. When asked if the SIU are also investigating the vandalism, Monica Hudon said that the “SIU’s investigation is focused on the interaction that occurred between police and Ms. Hill.”

The OPP have not said whether they consider that the vandalism incidents on Sharbot Lake and Andrews Lake are related to the Bobs Lake vandalism, although the damage seems to have been very similar in all three cases.

All that the Frontenac OPP are saying at this point about the vandalism is that police are “continuing to investigate into these mischiefs and are seeking assistance from the public. If anyone has any information they are being asked to contact the Sharbot Lake OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward.”

The iconic dam at Bolingbroke that created Bobs Lake is going to be rebuilt. Careful consideration has been made in scheduling this complex, in-water construction, due to timing challenges associated with fish spawning, and both high and low water periods. Due to these challenges, the optimal month to begin construction is in early July. Although, earlier or later starting dates are possible, a July start minimizes the possibility of the project running into a more challenging spring season. As the design process is still ongoing, a summer 2017 construction start was not possible and therefore July 2018 is the new target. Due to poor quality rock at the current dam site, it is anticipated that the new dam will be located approximately 40m upstream. Additionally, a second spillway will be added to the dam in order to meet current Canadian Dam Association safety guidelines. This additional spillway will act as a redundancy in case one spillway is ever blocked or requires repair. Additionally, design work has been undertaken in order to create a new walleye spawning habitat in the stream channel that will be created between the new dam and the existing dam.

Community engagement is also underway for this project and will continue through the summer and into 2018. This will include additional public meetings that will be coordinated with community and lake associations. The new dam will not alter the water management strategy for Bobs Lake and residents should not experience any significant change in water levels as a result of construction.

The replacement of the Bobs Lake dam is part of Parks Canada’s three billion dollar investment over five years to support infrastructure work to heritage, and other assets. Dams have existed on Bobs Lake at Bolingbroke since at least 1821. In 1870 the dam site was purchased by the Government of Canada in order to enhance the size of the reservoir for the Northern Sector of the Rideau Canal. In 1871 the dam was significantly increased in size and the volume of water in Bobs Lake was raised considerably.

The current dam has been in place since 1930 and has seen several major repairs over the course of its operation.For up-todate news on infrastructure work along the Rideau Canal, please visit website: www.pc.gc.ca/rcInfrastructure. If you would like to be added to the community engagement list and receive updates on this project, please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include Bobs Lake Dam in the subject heading.

It is not often that someone gets to walk away significantly richer after a cow does her business in a field. But that was the case on August 2 when five-year-old Holstein dairy cow, Emmy-Lynn from Barr Farms in Burridge, answered the call of nature in a fenced field beside the Bedford Hall near Godfrey. 

In fact three individuals, Roger Bradley, Donna Stairs and John Parks, took home prize money totaling $3200 in the famous cow flop bingo, which offered up 1600 chances to win. The bingo has become a major draw at the annual Frontenac Frolic at the Bedford hall, a fundraiser for the Bobs and Crow Lakes Foundation that is now in its fourth year. The frolic included a huge indoor/outdoor flea market, bake sale, and silent auction with members of the association donating all of the items up for grabs. There was a canteen and numerous activities for kids that included a petting zoo, pony rides and more.
The foundation is the financial funding arm of the Greater Bobs and Crow Lake Association, which boasts over 250 members who together are committed to enhancing and preserving the water and air quality, nature and wildlife in and around the lakes and educating residents about how best to do just that. The GBCLA is one of the first lake associations to create its own funding arm and it was created in 2005. On average the frolic raises upwards of $10,000 each year for the foundation and the funds raised are used to support the numerous projects initiated by the association.
Susan O'Brien MacTaggart, past president of the foundation and currently a sitting board member, outlined the recent projects that are underway. They include fish restocking, placing fire pumps around the lakes and providing boating guides to all the boaters on the two lakes. Other projects will also be announced later this year.
MacTaggart said that it is important to have a foundation in order to be able to independently raise funds for lake area projects since provincial grants are fast becoming harder to acquire. “Since forming the foundation in 2005 we are now able to independently raise funds for our own projects. We have successfully not only become a charitable foundation in Canada but have also received clearance in the US by the IRS, so that anyone who owns a home or cottage here can receive a tax receipt for any donations or bequests that they make."
For more information visit the foundation's website at www.bobs-and-crow-lakes.org and /or the association's website at bobsandcrowlakes.ca