This year the Parham Fair is running on Saturday and Sunday, August 18 and 19.
Saturday is a traditional Fair Day. The Palace displays, featuring contest entries in dozens of categories from baking to zucchini, as well as crafts and much more, open at 10am. So does the Tryon Farm petting zoo and vendors alley. The 4H cattle show starts up at the same time and runs until noon.

Fair games start up at 1:00, the opening ceremonies are set for 2:30 and the horse pull follows at 3.
Entertainers Magoo (who will do a Children’s Show and a songwriting workshop) and the Zack Teal band take place in the late afternoon and early evening, and the midway runs all day and into the night. It promises to be a long, active day at the Parham Fair.

On Sunday the Palace show runs again, as does vendor’s alley and at 10:30 the best dressed cowboy/girl contest starts up, and the pet show begins at 11:00. At 1:30 the demolition derby returns to the Parham Fair.
This year’s fair also includes the debut of a new video by former Fair President Wendy Parliament. The video is a 125th anniversary project featuring interviews with people who have been integral to Parham and the fair over the years. The video also features interviews with a new generation of farmers who have been taking a whole new path to success in a changing marketplace. This combination of the farming tradition and a new generation is being seen on the fair board as well this year. A new board, including chair Sharon Shepherd, and executive members Owen Tryon, Mark Howes and Theresa Hicks and a dozen directors, has stepped forward to ensure that the oldest and longest running event in Frontenac continues on.

The best way for residents and visitors alike to enjoy the fair is to come out and have a good time on August 19 and 20. For further information about the Fair, go to Parhamfair.ca.
The Parham Fair is also one of the featured events on the Frontenac-Five web page in August. Check out Frontenac-live.ca/events/frontenac-five 

The Frontenac Five, events you should not miss in August, have been posted. This month they include The Wolfe Island Music Festival, which runs this coming weekend – August 12 and 13, is the first one on the calendar, check wolfeislandmusicfestival.com for details. The following weekend, August 19 and 20, the Parham Fair is featured. See Parhamfair.ca for more.

Ongoing events this month include the Godfrey Sculpture Park, see Godfreysculpturepark.ca for more, and the Thursday Night Battersea Porch Sessions, different musicians each Thursday all summer between 6:30 and 9:30 at Holiday Country Manor. Rounding out the list is the K&P Trail day grand opening on Saturday August 26 at the trailhead in Sharbot Lake.

For the full Frontenac-Five experience, go to Frontenac-live.ca/events/frontenac-five.

RKY camp has been a fixture on Eagle Lake, near Parham, since the 1930’s, and its roots go back to the 1920’s, when W. Goodfellow allowed the Kingston YWCA to run boys camps on part of his property on Eagle Lake for two weeks each summer.

In July of 1930, Goodfellow and J. Snider sold a 25 acre parcel of land to the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs of Kingston, and the YMCA provided in kind contributions of equipment, providing for a three way partnership to form the RKY Eagle Lake Camp. The original deed was put under the trusteeship of the 3 representatives, one from each of the 3 organizations: J.C. Reynolds (Rotary), C.E. Walker (YMCA), and W.H. Herrington (Kiwanis).
By the mid 1930’s the camp operated from late June until Labour day, and it has continued to thrive throughout the summer ever since, except during the war years between 1942 and 1944 when not enough staff were available. After the war, however, the camp continued to expand and new cabins, docks, dining hall extensions were all built over a 20 year period.
In 1968, the nearby Mohawk girls camp merged with RKY and the camp took the form that has remained to this day.

Darcy Munn, the current camp director, oversees a summer schedule that is fully taken up with 1 and 2 week camp sessions with about a 150 camper capacity. There is one week left open each summer, when the camp is rented out to a group from Ottawa that runs an LGBTQ camp. The camp is open year round for school and other groups to use for a variety of purposes. There is a March Break camp and programming on Professional Development Days at the Limestone School Board.

For Munn, the greatest strength of RKY camp lies in its traditions.
“All of our counsellors, camp directors, all of the people who run the activities are former campers. They know what the camp is all about. This is not a specialty camp or a designer camp, it is a summer camp in the same way it has been for 85 years,” he said.

Activities at RKY include swimming, canoe/kayaking, camp craft, arts and crafts, Adventure (wall climbing, ropes, etc.) nature and music. Campers participate in a variety of activities
Among the camp traditions that has developed recently is the cell phone policy. Campers don’t have access, and counsellors face severe restrictions.

“Some kids have a problem with that for a day or so, but they get over it. We want them to be immersed in camp life, and cell and computer games are not what RKY is all about,” he said.
RKY does, however, need to upgrade its facilities for modern times, to improve its standards and become more accessible.

The main camp building is called the Homestead Centre, named after Homestead Land Holdings, which is owned by one of the camp’s major benefactors, Brit Smith. It was constructed in the 1970’s with help from a grant from Wintario (a precursor to the Trillium Foundation) as well as donations from private individuals, including Smith.

The building is showing its age after 40 years, and it is time for a new dining hall/office complex/visitors centre to the camp. The kitchen needs an upgrade, the office space is cramped, and the dining hall is too small.
Already, from its ongoing fundraising efforts, the camp is putting in a brand new septic system, capable of managing a new, larger dining hall. The septic system is being installed near the RKY parking lot, and a location for the planned new building has been selected. The current building will remain as program space.

“The camp is not going to change. The capacity is meant to stay as is, but it will be better served with a fully accessible building like this. The time is right for RKY to do this,” said Munn.
That’s where the RKY board of Directors newest employee comes in. Daniel Shipp has been hired to oversee fundraising and take care of project management for the construction of the new building, which has an estimated cost of $2 million.

Shipp has only been working at RKY since the beginning of June, but he already has developed a sense of the camp\s place in the lives of the campers
“I am really taken with the feel of the camp,” he said. “It has its own unique history. The campers and counsellors and program directors all cherish the place. The staff who run it have been here for years and they love it too. To be able to help bring the right new facility in order to keep the camp going for another 40 or 50 years is a great challenge for me.”

The first thing that the RKY Board did when they decided to work on a new building was to contact Brit Smith, who is now 97 and still runs Homestead Land Holdings.
“He came on board right a way, and that had given us out start,” said Shipp.

Over the next few months the details of the project will be worked out and Shipp will be working with the board to prepare the ground for a capital fundraising campaign.
Shipp is optimistic that the goal can be met and the building project will take place as scheduled in the fall of 2018 for completion by the time the summer of 2019 rolls around.
For further information about RKY camp, go to rkycamp.org.

The St. Lawrence Employment Centre Bantam Girls team from Central Frontenac (which includes Sharbot Lake, Plevna, Mountain Grove and Parham) overcame a first-inning, 6-run deficit to defeat Kingston Kia 12-6 in the B Final the Greater Kingston Softball Association Intercommunity Year-End Tournament in Sydenham Saturday. 

Back row: Nicole, JessieMae, Julia, Tangie, Meg, Autumn, Marcie; middle row: Vanessa, Sidney, Tori, Amber; front row: Michaela, Claudia. Photo/submitted

Cam and Michelle Mather came to the new Parham Fire Hall, which includes the Parham branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, on Saturday April 1st.

Cam gave an informative and entertaining hour long workshop on organic gardening and then continued with informative answers to all the questions from the filled up meeting room.  

Michelle sold their books and CDs at a bargain rate and they graciously did the workshop for free. Unbeknownst to them, we did collect some donations to give them, but Cam has done workshops for $70 per person at the botanical gardens, so we are very grateful to them for this workshop for our community. Afterwards, people were invited to the library to look at the collection of gardening books brought in to the library to borrow; as well as a collection of donated books that are available to keep for free. Keep a watch out for future workshops and plan to use your local libraries on an ongoing basis.

Like the knowledge provided by presenters such as Nancy Benn on diabetes and Cam Mather on gardening, libraries are a valuable local resource well worth keeping in our area.

The Parham Agricultural Society's Annual General Meeting is slated for 7 pm on January 26th at the United Church Hall in Parham. And according to out-going President Wendy Parliament, at this meeting the group will have to grapple with whether they have enough 'people power' to continue to host the annual fair.
"Our retirees need to be replaced by younger community members", said Parliament. "We have a number of positions that need filling before we can go ahead. We know there are enthusiastic participants out there - we just need to get the word out that everyone can help. You don't have to be a farmer. You don't have to commit hours every month. People can check the list of jobs that need to be covered on our website (parhamfair.ca) or our Facebook page (Parham Fair). There are little jobs that simply need someone to step forward."
 
The group is looking for new President (Manager) of the event, as well as a Secretary, a Fundraising Coordinator, a Vendors Coordinator, and an Advertising Coordinator. These people are needed to work with others that are already in place to run the Palace, the Cattle Show, Childrens' Games and look after the finances.
 
"We also have many people asking about whether there would be a Demolition Derby," said Parliament. "If there was someone, or a few people, who would be interested in coordinating that it is always a welcome part of the weekend's events. With this being the fair's 125th Anniversary and Canada's 150th we would love to continue. We just need more people to get involved in the organizational jobs throughout the year in order to commit ourselves to another season."
 
Other local festivals, like the Verona Cattail Festival, have faded away due to a lack of volunteer power. As our 'Baby Boomer' generation thins out in the front lines, Parliament said there is a bit of a gap before new retirees are able to devote time in their place.
"The Parham Fair consistently attracts a thousand entrants over the weekend and seeks to highlight the role of agriculture in our past and present. It is a great way to bring community together. If you have even a little time you could contribute please do come out on the 26th to help make this summer's fair a possibility,” she said.

When compared to the fate of the former Sharbot Lake Public building, which was doomed to a slow decline followed by demolition at a hastily announced council meeting a couple of days before Christmas last year, the former Hinchinbrooke school building has a bright future.

That does not mean it will be opened up for public use any time soon, or perhaps ever. A report to Central Frontenac Council that was presented on the final meeting of the year on Tuesday (December 13), said that the lower floor of the building can be re-born as an accessible recreational building with a commercial kitchen for under $300,000. While Central Frontenac does exactly have $300,000 kicking around, grants could be available for such a project. What is more of a concern are the long term operating costs of such a public building, which is estimated at $60,000 per year by the community recreation centre committee that is spearheading the project, including over $30,000 in heating costs.

The feasibility study was overseen by Perth architect Geoff Hodgins, and included reports on the structural and mechanical soundness of the building. The report did not consider the cost of remediating any of the asbestos in the building, or the cost of removing an oil tank that is buried on the site. Both of these issues would need to be dealt with whether the building is renovated or torn down.
The windows and other elements of the building, which is 46 years old, were upgraded within the last 15 years. For that reason, as well as cost factors, the study does not recommend that any major energy efficiency upgrades be made to the building, the result being that heating costs will remain quite high.

In the summary of his findings, Hodgins said the following: “The former Parham elementary school building is in relatively good condition and could be retrofitted to serve the proposed use as a multi-purpose recreation and cultural facility. There are some substantial costs that would be associated with this retrofit, the most significant of which have to do with renovating the support system for the gymnasium to include a fully functioning commercial kitchen,  required upgrades to the mechanical and electrical system and accessibility compliance requirements. Should the design be made to proceed the result would be $8,500 square feet of fully functioning accessible space, with an additional $5,000 square feet of second floor space for development.”

In his response to the Hodgins report, Central Frontenac Chief Building Official (CBO)Jeremy Neven said there are a number of potential costs that are not included in the Hodgins report but need to be determined before he can confidently make a recommendation to Council on the viability of the project.

“The study appear to have been well done, but there are factors outside of its mandate that could cause construction costs to balloon substantially,” he said.

In his report, he recommended that council reserve any decision on the matter until “a complete and viable business plan is put forward detailing how capital costs for any and all renovations will be addressed and how ongoing operational costs for the building will be addressed.”

The community recreation centre committee also appeared before council as a delegation in response to the release of the study. Sue Campbell of the committee said that the they are asking council to allow them to take the lead in preparing an application to the Trillium Foundation for a “seed stream” grant which would be used to fund “development of a working business plan for a culture and recreation centre at the former Hinchinbrooke School site.”

Campbell said that the Trillium deadline is the end of February.

Councillor Tom Dewey asked about the status of the committee that is working on the project, and Sue Campbell said the were under the previous council. That status was not renewed, however, and that will have to be rectified in January, which will require that a councl member join the committee, likely one of the Hinchinbrooke Councilors.

Councilor Brent Cameron said “I’m personally supportive of the project, but we need to find a way to make the building self-sufficient.”
Meanwhile, as the building waits for its fate to be determined it will not be heated this coming winter. That poses a minimal risk of heaving, which is offset by $30,000 in savings.

COUNCIL BRIEFS

Building permit activity drops in November, but December is looking good
CBO Neven presented the construction permit report as of the end of November.

In November, permits for $150,000 in construction were issued, down from over $500,000 from last year, leaving a year to date total of just over $7.5 million, up from just under $7 million a this time last year, and $4.6 million in 2014. Neven said that the November numbers were down because a number of permits were delayed and he expects to issue over $1 million in permits this month, which could bring a record year end total for the township.

Fire report
Fire Chief Bill Young reported that the department has issued an rfp for the replacement of 32 twenty year old Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units.

“They have a 15 year life span so we need to do something,” Young said.

He  reported that work on the library addition to the Montain Grove Fire Hall will not be completed before the end of the year, as had been hoped, but will happen in mid-January.

“We had to wait too long for approvals from hydro, etc.” Young said, “but it has gone well and is almost complete.”

He also reported that a new software system, the Fire House records management program, has been installed and will automate tracking and reporting department activities, which will help the township comply with reporting requirements set out by the Ontario Fire Marshall’s office.

The hiring for a full time fire chief has been posted internally and an external posting is pending. The new hire was one of the recommendations of a report into the departments operations.

Council approved a request for $1670 for a street light at the Parham Fire Station and Public Library.

Train whistle presentation
Donald Lafleur of Crow Lake appeared before Council in support of his request that the township undertake the 8 step process to request from CP rail that trains passing through the four rail crossings in Central Frontenac cease to whistle.

Lafleaur said that the trains whistle 5 times at each crossing, for a total of 20 for each train, and there are anywhere from 3-10 trains passing near his Crow Lake property each day.

He said that at least two guests at his rental property have said they will not be returning because of the whistling, and presented  a petition signed by most of his neighbours.

In response Councillor Dewey said he wanted to make sure that if the township requests that the whistling stop it will not create any liability, a point shared by others on Council.

Lafleur said that it is the railroad, not the township, that will make the decision and the liability rests with them.

Council accepted Mr.Lafleur’s submission, and instructed CAO MacMunn to seek legal advice on the liability issue

Foul play not suspected

Police cruisers and a helicopter used the former Hinchinbrooke Public School as a staging area on Monday afternoon (November 7) as they conducted a search for Ben Hannah (52)of Tichborne, who had not been seen since leaving his house at 12:30 pm on November 1st.

“At approximately 2:30 p.m. members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Emergency Response Team (ERT) located Benjamin HANNAH deceased in a wooded area in Central Frontenac,” said an OPP release that came on Tuesday, November 8.

Police do not suspect foul play and the Frontenac OPP said they would like to thank the media and public for their help in the investigation.

Parham's Della Atwood was surprised earlier this week when she went to the Parham cemetery to visit the graves of family members.

While the artificial flower arrangements that she had purchased in Verona to decorate the graves of two of her relatives were intact, the ones on the tombstones of her husband and in-laws were gone.

“I bought them in the spring. I thought they were a nice addition and would last a couple of years. I put them in place on Mother’s Day and was about to remove them for the winter, when I saw last weekend that two of them are gone.”

Atwood is unhappy about what has happened, and although she does not think anything will come of it she said she wants to send a message to the person or persons who took the flowers.

“How low can you go?” she said in a letter she submitted to the News. “Stealing from the dead? Would you please put them back where you stole them from.”

She also told the News that she is not likely to buy new arrangements if these are not returned.

“The whole thing is discouraging. It bothers me,” she said.

The arrangements that Atwood placed on two other sites have not been touched and remain in perfect condition. For information, contact Della Atwood at 613-375-8240

The Parham Fair was well attended on the opening night this year, the new location of the bandstand tying the two main events of the evening together, the annual horse pull and a performance by Old Habits.

The midway was also up and running all evening.

By Saturday morning the fair was in full swing, with one of the cornerstone fair events getting underway long before noon. 4-H club members competed in the horse show in two divisions, beef and dairy. They brought their own animals into the ring and were asked to bring them around to line up in different locations, and the judge came over to see how the cattle reacted to being touched, and how well they reacted to the subtle controls by the 4-H members.

For the club members it was a matter of trying to keep their animal calm and following their lead without betraying any stress themselves. The increasing heat of the morning had an impact on young farm kids, who were trying, mostly with success, to present an air of calm even as they were sometimes pulling reluctant cattle in a direction they did not seem to want to go.

The contest culminated when the top two entries in the dairy and beef categories were brought into the ring together. They were then told to leave their own animal and move over to one of the animals from the other category. The contest was about how well each of them could handle an unfamiliar animal.

The contestants were sweating as they used all of their skill to immediately learn how to handle not only a different animal but a different breed altogether. They did well, and the overall winner for 2016 was crowned.

Freed from the stress of the cattle show, the 4-H club kids joined with other kids of all ages to play country fair games; the egg toss, pie eating contest, nail hammering, log sawing, three legged races, and more.

The pedal pull was a new addition to the fair this year, and in the evening HD Supply closed out the festivities, as the midway powered on through the warm summer night