Back to HomeFeature Article - September 17, 2009Eva’s swimBy Sandi Brown

Photo: Eva and her dad Donald

On August 15, Eva Hogan, accompanied by her dad, Donald Hogan, swam from Brown’s beach at the north end of Mazinaw Lake to the narrows at Bon Echo. It is a distance of approximately 9km. and took her 5½ hours.

Eva was born July 20, 1992, weighing 488 grams (1 lb. 1oz) at KGH. She was approximately three months premature. She spent the first seven months of her life in the hospital. Her parents were originally told Eva would probably never walk and perhaps not talk.

She has done very well with much determination and hours and hours of physio and swimming.

Eva is in grade 12 at Frontenac Secondary School. She swims with her high school swim team, the Falcons (where she makes Provincials every year and won the coach's award in grade 9). This will be the 9th year that Eva has been swimming with the Penguins (A swim team for people with physical disabilities and their siblings), and with her coach, marathon swimmer Vicki Keith. Eva could not swim when she joined the team, but loved the water. Vicki had her swimming lengths in an Olympic-size pool after her first swim camp in Florida (after only four months on the team). Eva currently trains five days a week for two hours. This year she will also be doing some dry land training.

Her Mazinaw swim was done just after Eva had come home from the Can Ams in Edmonton, where she achieved all best times. Swimmers from all around the world attend. She has been to Vancouver, Maryland, San Antonio, Montreal and Edmonton to compete in Can Am games. Eva has won a lot of medals at the games, but she doesn't like to talk about it. She is only focused on getting best times for herself each and every time she gets in the pool. Her goal is to go to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, and represent Canada. She has already attended a few camps that the Canadian Swim coaches have organized around the country for 2012 hopefuls.

Please note: Eva currently has no desire to become a lake swimmer like her coach and team mates Jenna and Natalie Lambert. She much prefers swimming in pools where there are no fish or weeds - where she can always see the bottom and knows what the temperature of the water will be!

Eva's everyday goal is to always do her best and test her limits. She loves to prove that anything is possible, if only you put your mind to it. She wants to prove that people with disabilities are quite capable of achieving all kinds of things.

Back to HomeFeature Article - September 17, 2009 Cornerstones of HealthBy Jeff Green

Timothy Christ, Registered Massage Therapist, Cornerstones Of Health

Originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, Timothy Christ lived for several years on Salt Spring Island off the coast of British Columbia. As he was training for his first triathlon, he suffered a neck spasm nine days before the race, and a massage therapist in Victoria helped him recover in time for the race.

That piqued his interest in massage, and he has now been working in the field for nine years, the last three under the banner of Cornerstones of Health.

“Most people think of massage as a treat,” he says, “but I want people to think of it as a formal way of getting better. I do a lot of deep tissue work, treatments for migraines, whiplash, sciatica pain, low back pain, anything related to soft tissue injuries, as well as dealing with neurological conditions.”

Timothy also has an extensive background in nutrition and holistic treatments and he says there is a lot of dialogue with his clients while he is treating them.

A couple of years ago Timothy Christ was living in the bustling city of Toronto with his partner, Christine Kerekes, and running a busy massage therapy practice. In Toronto he worked with other health care professionals: dentists, physiotherapists, etc., treating athletes and others who were in pain.

“I was able to work and live without using public transportation. It was good in that way, but I couldn’t take the city,” he says.

So Timothy and Christina, as well as Christina’s father, decided to turn a family farm property in Harlowe into a place to live and work.

2009 was the year for the big transition from city to rural life, but the transition was complicated when a fire severely damaged the farmhouse in January. Since then it has been a scramble to repair the damage and get the house, which was built in the 1880s, into living condition before the coming winter, and all of this has delayed plans to turn the property into a retreat. Those plans would have taken a couple of years in any event but might take a bit longer now.

Still, Timothy and Christina found enough time to get married earlier this summer and Timothy opened a massage therapy practice in Northbrook, behind Chris Winney's Royal LePage office at 12309 Highway 41.

“Most of my clients are locals and as the summer has gone on, word of mouth has been my major source of clientele.”

Since he is a registered massage therapist, Timothy Christ's services are covered by extended health plans, and he has been developing contacts to take referrals from medical practitioners in the region, which is something he did a lot of in Toronto.

He can deal with painful conditions using a variety of massage techniques, including Active Isolated Stretching (AIS), Neuromuscular Integration and Structural Realignment (NISA), and Muscle Energy Technology (MET), and he is certified in traditional Thai massage.

“I'm very interested in helping people who are really hurting,” he says “I can't make everyone better, but I can relieve their symptoms to some degree.”

Timothy Christ can be reached at Cornerstones of Health, 613-336-9397.

Back to HomeFeature Article - August 27, 2009 Ompah firefighters thank the communityBy Linda Rush

The Ompah firefighters.

Last Thursday evening 60 guests, invited by the Ompah firefighters, sat down to a gourmet meal at the Ompah Community Centre. The firefighters had invited them in order to thank them for their support over the 30 or so years the fire department has been in existence in Ompah. The meal, prepared by Ompah caterers Dale and Sharon Southward, was delicious, beginning with a marinated asparagus appetizer, continuing with a choice of Salmon Wellington or Chicken Kiev and finishing with a crème de menthe parfait. Fire department members served the meal. The crowd was then entertained by magician Dave Saunders, assisted at times by his daughter Airie. Stan and Marily Seitz also sang a couple of songs, including their rendition of “Buffalo Boy”, which produced lots of laughter from the audience

Organizers of the evening explained that they started thinking about it during the recent ATV runs. They were reminded of how supportive community members have been to the fire department over the years. The ATV runs are now a major fundraiser for the fire department, and community support is very evident during them. They started thinking about all the people who should be thanked for their support, and realized that just about every “senior” in the area would be included. Accordingly, all seniors in the area were invited, and most of them accepted the invitation, though probably everyone thought that it is the community who should be thanking the firefighters, not the other way around. The mayor and several councillors also were happy to be invited.

Steve Dunham and Leo Ladouceur welcomed the guests and mentioned some of the contributions of time and ingenuity made by people present in the room. Leo reminded the crowd about some of the history of the department. It began in the 1970s as a result of some bush fires in the area, and grew entirely through the efforts of community volunteers. In the early days fund raising was a top priority, and the community hall was built in the late ’70s in order to hold fundraising events. Leo reminisced about the late Bill Kelford, who instituted the fire department toll during the Ompah Stomp. In just four years he raised the $45,000 needed to buy the first fire truck.

In recent years the township has taken over some of the responsibility for the fire department, and three new vehicles were recently purchased and proudly displayed after Thursday night’s dinner along with some other specialized equipment.

Thursday night was a very special celebration of community spirit, and the Ompah Volunteer Fire Department is a wonderful example of what a small community can achieve. 

Back to HomeEditorial - August 27, 2009 A summer of festivalsEditorial by Jeff Green

A couple of weeks ago the organizers of a music festival in Gananoque said they considered their first festival a success even though their headline act, Snoop Dogg, drew a disappointing 2,000 fans and the festival lost money.

They were probably calling it a success to save face, but if the Gananoque Festival does end up surviving to a 10th or maybe even 20th annual festival, this first year will indeed have been a success. You have to start somewhere, even if it means losing time and money at the first.

This year’s 14th Annual Verona Festival drew 1,700 on the Friday night alone, which is a lot more than anyone would have imagined back in the first year of the festival when a few dozen people showed up to hear the music.

In our region, there have been festivals of different kinds on just about every weekend this summer. There were three artisan fairs on a single weekend in July, and there have been historical festivals, agricultural festivals, a triathlon and a regatta, Canada Day festivals, agricultural fairs and a bunch of music festivals. There were mud drag races and fish frys, and the Verona Garlic Festival is coming next week, along with a studio tour and another art fair. The Parham and Maberly Fairs are both coming up this weekend, along with the first of two Pow Wows.

We’ve been previewing and covering festivals each and every weekend all summer at the News. This is not a scientific survey, but it seems like there are more festivals now in this region than ever before.

And for the most part they have been pretty successful this year, thank you very much.

So, why is that? The economy is bad, the weather has been pretty wet, except for the last couple of weeks, and we don’t live in a high profile region by any means.

But come summer time we like to amuse ourselves a little bit, and that amusement takes diverse forms.

This is the lesson that the Land O’ Lakes might be able to teach the organizers of the festival in Gananoque.

Before you worry about dollars and about drawing crowds, before you worry about tourists, you need to amuse yourselves. By and large the festival organizers that we have talked to this summer have been enthusiasts. From the artisans in Plevna to the bluegrass fans in Flinton, from the guitar music lovers at Loughborough Lake and the farming Orsers of Sydenham, to the remarkably resilient Parham Fair Board, the “perennial organizers” of Blue Skies Music Festival and the Knapp family behind the Silver Lake Pow Wow, these people built their year around their pet events because they love them.

A lot of the local festivals are purely recreational and run by volunteers, and some have a commercial bent, but the important thing is that people take the trouble to put them on, and the rest of us do the easy part, we come out and have a good time.

It’s a great pleasure here at the News to join in the celebration, by previewing and attending all these summer events.

So, to the Gananoque music people, we can say yes indeed, you had a success if you think you did. And in 10 years when 10,000 people come out to your festival to see the Abrams Brothers, you can thank Snoop Dog, and yourselves.

Back to HomeFeature Article - August 20, 2009 GBCLA Rehabilitates WalleyeSpawning Groundby Martin Yates

Ontario Stewardship Rangers distribute  rocks in the stream.

Last Monday, a team of (rather mature!) volunteers from the Greater Bobs and Crow Lakes Association, led by Fisheries Director Gord Thompson, spent the hottest day of the year rehabilitating the Walleye spawning grounds at the mouth of McEwans creek at the north end of Bobs Lake.

The task consisted of moving rocks from a pile on the roadside, where they were left by the contractor, to the bank of the stream, then spreading them on the bottom to provide a surface for the walleye to spawn over.

Gord enlisted the help of students from the Ontario Stewardship Rangers who, under the supervision of Kathleen Pitt, looked after distributing the rocks in the stream while the GBCLA volunteers moved them from the pile. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources partially funded the project, and the GBCLA covered the remaining costs.

Photo left: GBCLA members enlist the aid of gravity to place the rocks.

This project forms part of the ongoing implementation of the GBCLA's Lake Stewardship Plan, completed in 2006, which identified the various lake fisheries as areas of high priority. This summer, as well as McEwans Creek, the association intends to rehabilitate Thompson Creek in Long Bay, and plans are now in place to do this later this month.

Gord Thompson said; “Our suspicions were confirmed last summer when the MNR's survey of Bobs Lake showed that the walleye are not reproducing sufficiently to sustain a healthy fishery. A key part of the long-term solution is for us to do all we can to ensure that the spawning grounds are kept in good condition to enable reproduction to take place. That is why we are taking a lot of trouble to rehabilitate the areas that used to be good spawning grounds and are now no longer.”

He added; “We could also use some more volunteer help – particularly from those people who enjoy the great fishing in Bobs Lake or who benefit from the fishery on the lake. We need be able to rely on more than the same few people for every project.”

By mid-afternoon, under a baking sun and with three quarters of the rocks moved and in place, the workers were starting to wilt and a jump in the lake looked more and more attractive. So Gord called a halt to the proceedings, and the project will be completed in the next few days.

Any volunteers interested in helping with the Thompson Creek rehabilitation or other fisheries projects, please call Gordon Thompson at 613-375-7359. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - August 13, 2009 Restoring sacred ground at the Cloyne Pioneer Cemeteryby Julie Druker

Rev. Judith Evenden, Mary Kelly, Eileen Flieler and Margaret Axford

An important part of Cloyne’s 150th Anniversary celebrations this past weekend was Sunday’s 2:00 pm dedication service at the Cloyne Pioneer Cemetery.

The restoration of the cemetery was a partnership between several groups: the Land O' Lakes Garden Club, the Cloyne and District Historical Society, the Township of North Frontenac, the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston, as well as a large number of volunteers and neighbours.

Close to 100 people attended the intimate outdoor service that was led by Rev. Judith Evenden of the Cloyne/Flinton Pastoral Charge. Dignitaries present were Mayor Ron Maguire and county wardens Janet Gutowski and Gordon Schermerhorn, all of whom supported the cemetery restoration project. MP Scott Reid was unable to attend but Rev. Judith read a letter of greeting from him.

Representatives from various area churches included Glen Dixon, Tim Kuhlmann, Carol Lessard and Bruce Kellar, and each had a chance to say a prayer.

Reverend Judith gave a brief history of the cemetery grounds and the development of the project and highlighted the reason for the gathering. “A tremendous amount of work in terms of physical labour and painstaking research has brought us to this day. Today with this service we set apart this place and hope that for many years to come it will continue to be respected, maintained and honored as a sacred place to remember and give thanks.”

Margaret Axford of the Cloyne and District Historical Society spoke about how she, Eileen Flieler and Mary Kelly went about solving the puzzle of who was buried at the cemetery. With the help of Harry Meeks they worked from old Methodist church death records and checked against those against other church records. According to Margaret, “By the process of elimination we arrived at a list of approximately 40 names of people who we reasonably assume are interred here.”

Those 40 names have been engraved on the plaque. Margaret said that the search will continue through checking old newspaper records and that if and when more names are found, a new plaque will made and those names added to it.

It is assumed that 80 people were buried at the cemetery.

Margaret also spoke of the naming of Cloyne and its connection with the other Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. She read a letter of greeting and congratulations from Cloyne, Ireland, which included a short history.

Mary Kelly of the Land O’ Lakes Garden Club spoke next. “This place has always been a very spiritual place for me…. We wanted to restore the cemetery to a place of peace and tranquility and to pay homage to the pioneers who founded our town.”

Mary paid tribute to Lynn McEvoy, the founding president of the Land O’ Lakes Garden Club, who drew up the master plan for the project. She also thanked members of North Frontenac Council for their ongoing support and the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston, who awarded the project a $4,800 grant, and of course all of the volunteers and neighbours who helped along the way.

Tod Dorozio then played the moving Brahms’ “Lullaby” on the recorder, which was dedicated to the children who rest in the cemetery. Eileen Flieler, secretary of the Cloyne and District Historical Society unveiled the plaque and read each of the 40 names engraved on it. Under those names on the plaque is written, “We thank you for founding our town; although most of your graves are not marked you will never be forgotten.”

Back to HomeLegalese - August 6, 2009 Sharing Our Roads

By  Susan Irwin, Executive Director / Lawyer, Rural Legal Services

Sharing - it’s something we’re supposed to understand by the time we finish Kindergarten. Too bad some people seem to forget those lessons when they become drivers.

Like it or not, the highway is not just for cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. The list of permitted users of our roadways seems to expand each year, with electric bicycles and scooters being perhaps the most recent. The list is a large one, ranging from pedestrians and bicyclists (with or without spandex), to school buses, fire trucks, police cars and other emergency vehicles, as well as to less common modes of transport such as farm vehicles, and, my personal favourite, horses. In between, we can all think of many other people who are entitled, and I mean entitled, to use our roads: dog walkers, joggers, road graders, snowplows, ATVs and snowmobiles (in most of this area), ambulances, and those vehicles with the funny green flashing lights that signifies a volunteer firefighter trying desperately to get to a fire or other emergency.

Yes, all those “other” users do have legal responsibilities. Pedestrians, for instance, are supposed to walk facing oncoming traffic (or on a sidewalk, although there are a few in our area), and cyclists are supposed to ride in single file with traffic. Believe it or not, I know of one hitchhiker who was charged with walking on the wrong side of the road (an unusual interpretation of Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act “HTA”). But most of these “other” users are very much aware of the consequences of drivers failing to share the road: too many cyclists have been killed or injured by impatient or careless drivers (five cyclists riding in single file were struck by one driver in Ottawa recently).

The failure of drivers to use common sense or courtesy in sharing our roads has resulted in the inclusion of many special rules under the HTA. Most people are familiar with the requirement to stop when a school bus has its lights flashing. A fewer number seem to know that they are supposed to pull over and let ambulances and other emergency vehicles through, whether they are oncoming or overtaking. More than a handful of drivers get a surprise ticket each year when they fail to slow down, move into the other lane, or generally give a stopped emergency vehicle a wide, safe, slow pass. It seems police officers are a little sensitive about being buzzed, sometimes fatally, by people who just don’t want to slow down even for a few seconds.

And that brings us to our area. Move off the paved roads, and there aren’t very many that even the most optimistic tourist brochure writer could honestly describe as straight and level. One does hate to rant, but I have never figured out why so many people at this time of the year assume that they are the only one on the road and that no-one else, whether in a car or truck, or astride a bicycle or a horse, might be just over the hill or around the blind curve: back country roads are not synonymous with empty roads! It may be that some of our seasonal visitors are lulled into a false sense of security by the absence of heavy traffic. As for the rest of us? Well, perhaps familiarity does breed contempt – we just don’t expect to meet a gaggle of mountain bikers or a touring group of ATVs on “our” road.

But there are “other” users of all our roads, and a lot of them don’t have bumpers or airbags. Drivers have a responsibility to know the special rules under the HTA, like the one that requires you to take every reasonable precaution so as not to frighten horses (see section 167 of the HTA reproduced at the end of this column as an example of a special “sharing” rule). Beyond the potential injuries or death of the accident victims, breaching any one of the special rules can also result in legal consequences ranging from a fine to a suspended licence and even to criminal charges in the appropriate case.

This summer, with so many people making use of our lakes, trails, and roads, drivers might want to be extra aware that they are not alone out there.

Approaching ridden or driven horses, etc. 167. Every person having the control or charge of a motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle on a highway, when approaching a horse or other animal that is drawing a vehicle or being driven, led or ridden, shall operate, manage and control the motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle so as to exercise every reasonable precaution to prevent the frightening of the horse or other animal and to ensure the safety and protection of any person driving, leading or riding upon the horse or other animal or being in any vehicle drawn by the horse or other animal. Highway Traffic Act R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 167.

Legalese is a column of general information and opinion on legal topics by the lawyers of Rural Legal Services, Box 359, Sharbot Lake, ON, K0H2P0, 613-279-3252, or 1-888-777-8916. This column is not intended to provide legal advice. You should contact a lawyer to determine your legal rights and obligations.

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 23, 2009 Arden Garden Party this weekendBy Jeff Green

Mid-July is about the peak time for gardens. The summer flowers are in full bloom and the varied colours and leaf shapes of ornamental shrubs and grasses are also fully developed.

The Arden Artisans: Sarah Hale of Arden Batik, Joanne Pickett of Arden Pottery, and Judith Versavel of the Gallery on the Bay, have decided to hold a garden party on Saturday July 25 to show off their town, their gardens, and maybe sell a bit of their work as well.

“Arden is particularly beautiful at this time of year,” said Sarah Hale in talking about the event, “and last year was the first time we had a little garden party. This year we've got a number of things going on in town, and our studios will be open from 10 – 5 as well.”

The artisans will also be hosting guests. Artist Carol Pepper will be showing paintings and garden book author Janette Haase will be on hand with her latest book, “From Seed to Table”.

In addition to the studios, the Arden firefighters are holding a BBQ at the fire hall to benefit the department, beginning at 11am. The Kennebec Historical Society will be holding an open house to show off their renovated office and meeting room at the Kennebec Hall.

Weather permitting, artists from the area will be spending the day sketching and painting around the village.

At 3:00pm in the hall, Adrian O’Connell will be presenting a historical concert featuring songs from Canada's past, including songs from colonial days, the American Civil War, the Irish famine and the western expansion.

“It is really a chance for people to enjoy Arden; to go for a walk, a swim at the beach, have lunch, enjoy the flowers, enjoy the day,” said Sarah Hale.

To bring the garden party theme to the forefront, the Artisans are encouraging people to wear some kind of fancy summer hat. Whoever wears a hat will not only be making a fashion statement, they will be able to enter a draw at each studio for a piece of work by one of the artisans.

Judith Versavel is a landscape and portrait painter who works in acrylic and watercolour. She also creates jewelry. Joanne Pickett is a long-time potter who makes clay garden sculptures as well as well loved functional pieces for the table. Sarah Hale is a renowned landscape batik artist. She also has cards and name cards available.

For further information about the Arden Garden Party, phone Sarah at 613-335-2073. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 16, 2009 Rainbow Health Ontario bridging health care gap for vulnerable communityBy Jeff Green

Receiving necessary health care in a rural setting is a challenge at the best of times, and for people from vulnerable communities that challenge can be even greater.

Rainbow Health Care Ontario is an organization, based in Toronto, that does research and advocacy work into health care for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Community throughout the Province of Ontario.

While a lot of this work has been done in major centres such as Toronto, where the LGBT community is well organized, Rainbow Health has a presence throughout the province through outreach workers that work on a part-time basis in each of the 14 Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) zones in the province.

In the Southeast LHIN, which includes Kingston, Belleville, and Frontenac, Lanark and Lennox and Addington counties, that person is Godfrey-based Calvin Neufeld.

“Many health care providers are uncomfortable when caring for LGBT people,” Neufeld says, “and are uninformed about the specific health care issues of this community. LGBT people have often had negative experiences and may be reluctant to come out to their health care providers. Some avoid the health care system, especially for preventative care, resulting in later diagnoses and more serious conditions. Even in the case of timely health care, it is common for patients and their care providers to lack accurate knowledge about LGBT-specific health risks.”

Health problems such as substance abuse, tobacco use, sexual health, mental health issues, violence and safety, and nutrition fitness and weight, are all more common among LGBT people than the general population.

For example, according to the Rainbow Health Ontario website (rainbowhealthontario.ca) “while 16% of the Ontario population smokes, a 2007 Toronto study showed that 36% of LGBT people were current smokers”, resulting in a higher incident of smoking-related illnesses.

“Rural areas face unique challenges,” said Calvin Neufeld. “People often have to travel long distances to seek even the most basic medical attention. Doctors in rural areas may be less knowledgeable about LGBT-specific health issues than doctors in urban centres. And LGBT-specific resources are in short supply. It is not uncommon to see LGBT people in the South East LHIN travelling to Ottawa and Toronto for their health care needs.”

Neufeld notes that Queen's University has a positive impact as a “queer friendly presence in the region, as does the HIV-AIDS Regional Services (HARS)”, which has a presence in rural Frontenac County.

“But”, he said, “the challenges are complex. Service providers may require further education and training.”

For many rural health care providers, LGBT needs are not even on the health care map, unlike other concerns such as poverty-related health issues and high rates of Diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD).

Through raising awareness of the need for services, and improving access to existing services, “Rainbow Health Ontario seeks to ensure that the unique health care needs of an already marginalized group of people will not be overlooked.”

People interested in Rainbow Health services are encouraged to contact lhin10 @rainbowhealth.ca 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 16, 2009 Ten years of fireworks, & tea towels.By Jeff Green

Parky with his wife and partner, Bonnie

Parky, the irrepressible front man at the store across from the Northbrook Foodland, and his wife and partner Bonnie, had retired to Northbrook when they got a bit bored and decided to open a small store.

That was 10 years ago, and since then Parky's store has become a fixture on the local scene, saving people from the region a trip to Napanee or Belleville throughout the year and serving the seasonal and tourist populations during the busy summer season.

“If you look at it on per square foot basis, we have more product on the shelves that Walmart,” said Parky, when interviewed this week from the store.

When they started, Parky's was a one-room store carrying variety products, but over time two extra rooms have been added, and the product line has exploded.

“When people ask us for something and we don't have it, we keep that in mind. If two or three people ask us, then we try and get it into the store,” Parky said.

This has led the store to stock items as diverse as knitting needles and inflatable summer toys, along with a large selection of fireworks, cards, and gift items.

About 60% of the store’s sales takes place in the busy summer season, and 40% during the off season.

“We get people coming in from around here, and from Ardoch and Plevna all year round,” said Parky, “the summer is good but this has turned into a year-round, full-time business. So much for retirement.”

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Parky's will be holding special draws later in July, along with other events. Just ask Parky or Bonnie about them.