CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Gary Smith lived on Big Clear Lake in Arden, with his wife Laurielle, after retiring from the Canadian Diplomatic service and taking on the role of Vice-President of York University, where he attended in the 1960's. While living in Arden, Smith...

With the official arrival of spring, a young public works manager’s fancy turns to thoughts of road maintenance, and that’s certainly what Tyson Myers was thinking about at the regular (online) Central Frontenac Council meeting April 26. First...

Jordan Lowery got his musical start as a “School of Rock'' kid from the now closed Hinchinbrooke Public School in Parham, before forming HD Supply and Reckless with Jay Mills, who he met when they were in high School in Sharbot Lake. Just as COVID...

Central Frontenac Township currently has no strategy to mitigate Eurasian milfoil infestations in Township Lakes but has begun to reach out to the three Conservation Authorities (Mississippi Valley, Rideau Valley and Quinte) for advice as to how to...

Anyone who decides to name their business after the old K&P rail line (which was supposed to run from Kingston to Pembroke but never made it past Renfrew) has to expect to have a bit of a struggle. The nickname Kick and Push came later, because of...

At our regular Branch executive meeting held on March 16th the following charities were selected to receive a donation of $1000 each from our branch Poppy Fund. Zone G-1 Youth Education (Literary, Poem & Poster Contest) District G Hospital Trust...

Recently, I was invited for a lovely visit to a local carver who has been creating works of art for over 30 years. Dennis Foeller is an artist who creates carvings from images he sees in his head. Yes, I mean he ‘dreams’ things up and can then...

This week my Frontenac follies took me north to Sharbot Lake Karate to try out the Tuff and Tone classes. I had a front row seat as students were lined up in their crisp white Gi’s proudly displaying their many coloured belts. The Sensei was...

Members of the Frontenac Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Auxiliary OPP have joined up in partnership with the North Frontenac Food Bank to have a "Stuff the Cruiser" food drive.  The event will take place on Saturday April 9, 2022 from...

It’s fair to say that restaurants and hotels were among the harder hit by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is something the owners of the Sharbot Lake Country Inn & Crossing Pub know first-hand. Before COVID-19 struck, the inn was a...

About FedDev Ontario For more than 12 years, FedDev Ontario has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth in Canada’s most populous region....

New resort to offer authentic Frontenac experiences, every time A proposal from an Austrian based resort developer, with a Montreal based partner, is turning heads in Frontenac County. The company ÉcoFrisson Frontenac has quietly purchased some 246...

Our township consists of one 'large' village - Sharbot Lake - and a collection of tiny villages/hamlets and lots of rural land and waterfront properties. Council is currently reviewing our existing zoning by-laws and all they entail.  I would like...

“Welcome back after two long years,” Mayor Frances Smith told Central Frontenac Council in her opening remarks March 22 as they assembled in Oso Hall for the first time since the Covid pandemic reduced all municipal gatherings to Zoom meetings...

11-year old Quinn and 9 year old Kieran Palmer are “sports fanatics” according to their mother Jennifer. Between them, the two Harrowsmith Public School students play hockey, volleyball, basketball, and football, take part in power skating, and...

Grocery store owners in the region are treating the end of the mask and distancing mandates as another COVID pivot, rather than the end of the pandemic. They are not selling off their supply of masks at bargain prices in response to the end of...

Maple syrup season has been moving in fits and starts over the past two weeks, as the weather fluctuates in and out of the sweet zone of frosty nights and warmer days that allows maple trees to draw moisture from the ground, and send sap up the tree...

Zach Woodcock, who purchased Gibson's Garage on January 1st and has renamed the business Sharbot Lake Automotive, said he felt a pull towards business ownership from his family background. “My grandfather, Ford Robinson, ran a dairy business for...

Central Frontenac’s District 3 Recreation Committee – also known as the Oso Rec Committee - is comprised of an energetic group of volunteers whose goal it is to organize seasonal events for all to enjoy. Be it on Canada Day or Hallowe’een;...

Central Frontenac Council held a doubleheader of meetings March 8, convening at 2:30 p.m. to accept a revised 2022 draft budget. In his presentation, Treasurer Michael McGovern said this latest version “is levying 3.29 per cent ($297,477) more...

The North Frontenac Food Bank (NFFB), which serves residents in Central and North Frontenac from its base in Sharbot Lake, has a new contact phone number. “We had a good deal on an old cell plan, but the quality was declining and it only held a...

On March 10, 2022, at approximately 6:10 p.m., police from the Sharbot Lake Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) collision on Mosque Lake Road, North Frontenac Township. The investigation...

The second draft version of the Central Frontenac Township budget is being presented to Council this week, and $250,000 has been trimmed, from the total, that is projected to be levied to Central Frontenac ratepayers. The result is a 3.3% increase...

I had to ask a few times what people were saying and then did some research as to what this sport was. Off I went to Sharbot Lake and the “ball diamond, near the school” was my guide to the location. Sure enough, I saw a pleasant group of people...

There has been an outpouring of support in reaction to the devastating news that Jocelyn Whalen, who started up the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy in 1992 with her husband Nick, is in palliative care after developing cancer symptoms just a couple of months...

It has ben 17 years since the Kingston Frontenac Public Library embarked on a full scale facilities plan. The last one, a branch services review by DMA Consulting of Mississauga, did not go so well for the integrated library, particularly in some of...

Central Frontenac Council took its first kick at the budget can Feb. 24 with a proposed draft 2022 budget sporting a six per cent ($542,103) levy increase which translates into a tax rate increase of 4.3 per cent or $56 more for every $100,000 of...

Dieter Euler’s experiences, as the son of a woman who suffered from what we now call ‘early onset Alzheimer's’, started in the mid 1960’s. His family had emigrated from Germany in the 1950’s in search of a better life in Canada, which they...

Central Frontenac municipal buildings (fire halls, recreation halls, equipment depots) need $7,813,689 in repairs and upgrades, Council heard at its regular (online) meeting Feb. 22. “That’s about $10 million over 10 years,” said Treasurer...

O’Reilly Lake Campground, long a summer refuge where families from Kingston come for summer fun, was purchased last summer by Summerhill Resorts, a fast-growing Canadian resort park company that now owns 16 resorts, three in Alberta and thirteen...

The scenarios of either a single, three storey, 42 unit building, or separate 35 and 50 unit buildings were presented to the public last week. At a virtual Open House last week, the Frontenac County planning department oversaw presentations by...

On Friday February 18, 2022 Members of the Sharbot Lake Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a report of a serious collision on Highway 7 near Mountain Grove Road in Central Frontenac just after 1:30 p.m. OPP responded...

The notification process started Nov. 22, 2021 and the last day to provide objections was Jan. 22, 2022 for the proposed Robinson Pit and Quarry at 12795 Road 38, Tichborne, Mark Priddle of McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers told Central Frontenac...

Central Frontenac Township’s Economic Development Committee is nearing the completion of a Downtown Revitalization Plan for Sharbot Lake. Building upon the street reconstruction work in the village centre done in 2020 and supported by the Ontario...

When Jocelyn and Nick Whalen moved to Sharbot Lake in the early 1990’s to open the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, they did not know very many people. But they did know that the community needed a pharmacy. With Jocelyn’s skill and commitment to the well...

A recommendation from the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief to sole source Loomex Group to complete the Community Risk Assessment (CRA) and Master Fire Plan (MFP) met with some resistance at Central Frontenac’s regular (online) Council meeting Jan....

Jocelyn Whalen, the beloved founder of the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, is very ill. She is palliative. A group of people are making a video of thanks to her. Please come to say a few words (1-2 minutes). They will be making a video of thanks for her...

In October 2021, an informal survey was done of the trees in Oso Park (Sharbot Lake Beach). There were approximately 23. “Approximately” because opinions may differ on what’s a tree and what’s a bush. The 23 trees include a half dozen...

There are only bad times for house fires, but the one last week at 3158 Bell Line Road (just north of Sharbot Lake off Road 509) took place at an even worse time. The fire was called in at 5:17 am on Friday morning (January 22) when the temperature...

It’s back to the drawing board for Central Frontenac Waste and Recycling Committee after Council rejected a plan to change hours of operation at the Wemp Road and Road 38 transfer stations at its regular (online) meeting Jan. 11. In a recorded...

Central Frontenac Township has a new fire chief/director of emergency services. Veteran fire chief Chris McDonough has taken over for Jamie Riddell, who had been Acting Fire Chief. Riddell will remain on as Deputy Fire Chief. After more than 30...

The weather looked quite treacherous as the communities of South & Central Frontenac awoke to an icy day Christmas morning. Black ice had glazed every street and while main roadways had been plowed and sanded, at least once, the side roads continued...

The numbers don’t lie. Construction details in Central Frontenac have been rising steadily for the past three years. Chief Building Official Andy Dillon’s report presented at Central’s regular (online) meeting Dec. 14 show that construction...

Motor Vehicle Fire On December 14, 2021 at approximately 3:00 p.m. members from the Frontenac Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detachment and the Frontenac Fire Department were dispatched to a motor vehicle fire in the parking lot at a school in...

For almost 20 years the Villages Beautiful Festival of Trees has been a Christmas tradition in Central Frontenac. The Villages Beautiful volunteers bring the community together through the festival. They also use the festival to raise money for...

With COVID numbers on the rise, members of Central Frontenac District #4 Recreation Committee were determined that they wanted to do something.  So, what better way to do this then a Drive By Santa Parade at the Parham Ball field. 13 plus floats...

The very special and cherished Blue Skies Fiddle Orchestra has been meeting virtually for the past two years because of the pandemic. In September, about half of the Orchestra members started to meet in person at OSO hall In Sharbot Lake and halfof...

While a bylaw to reduce the number of councillors was on Central Frontenac’s Nov. 27 (online) Council meeting agenda, it never got to a vote as Council decided to take the question to the electorate for the 2022 municipal election. The exact...

“To all members and fans of North Frontenac Little Theatre: Please help us get back on our feet and on with the show!” And with those few words, community response came fast and furious – and overflowing with generosity.   As with many...

Of the six people who signed in to comment on Central Frontenac’s online public meeting Nov. 16 on the composition and size of Council, five said they were in favour of the status quo (two members from each of four wards and a mayor elected at...

For the first time, Louis Riel has been formally acknowledged in Frontenac County. On Louis Riel Day, November 16. In 5 locations throughout the territory of Highlands Waters Métis Council, which is much of Southeastern Ontario, flag raising...