CF Council donates to NF Food Bank, Canada 150 Committee

The township considered a request for a $5,000 contribution to help the North Frontenac Food Bank deal with an unprecedented level of need in the community, particularly among the population of seniors. Between 2012 and 2014 the food bank dealt with a stable but increasing demand, from 256 baskets in 2012 to 287 in 2014. The number then jumped to 456 in 2015, and based on the first quarter of 2016, it is projected to reach 624 for the year.

With the cost of food increasing as well, the average basket of food costs $71 now, and the food bank is finding itself unable to keep up.

In a letter to Council, Kim Cucoch, the food bank's co-ordinator pointed out that the North Frontenac Food Bank is one of the few in Ontario that operates without any paid staff. She asked the township for $5,000 to help get through the year. In response, Treasurer Michael McGovern said that the township budget is very tight this year, and recommended that the township donate $2,500 instead of $5,000.

Council donated $2,500 for now and asked that McGovern take a look at the year-to-date expenditures later in the year to see if another $2,500 will be available.

Tender for fire hall parking lot

Based on the recommendation of Fire Chief Bill Young, Council awarded the contract for landscaping the parking lot at the new Parham Fire Hall to Steven McVeigh at a cost of $39,215. Among the four bids there was one for only $26,600 from AWD Contracting, but Young said that the AWD bid did not include any rock removal, which is a major part of the job. The other two bidders, Robinson Excavating and Crains' Construction, were both substantially higher priced compared to McVeigh's bid.

Money for Canada 150 Committee

Bill Bowick, chair of the Canada 150 Committee, presented a number of documents outlining some of the activities that the committee is working on developing for 2017. In addition to planning for the opening of the completed K&P Trail on Canada Day 2017, the committee is planning a number of other events, including: geo-caching significant locations within the community; planting special tulip bulbs this fall; a Fitness 150 challenge; and more. He also asked for $2370 this year and double that in 2017 to help the committee complete its mandate. Council approved the $2,370, to be taken from reserves, and will look at the second request when the 2017 budget is being worked on.

OPP use of former school raised hackles

Councilor Riddell asked Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven about township staff granting permission to the Ontario Provincial Police Emergency Response Unit to use the former Hinchinbrooke school for a one-day training exercise.

“Was the township paid for this and were the insurance implications considered?,” Riddell asked.

“The OPP did not have a budget for this and would not have used the school if we were charging,” said Neven, “but it was a good location for them to do the exercise they wanted to do, the details of which they did not share with me. As far as insurance goes, they added us as a rider on their policy, so it was covered by them.”

“We've been hit pretty hard by OPP costs, and I feel they should have been billed just like any other group,” said Riddell.

“I'd like to echo Councilor Riddell's comments,” said Councilor Brent Cameron. “We have paid substantial increases to them, and when they ask for the use of township property, which we pay heat and hydro on, we should hold them to the same standard they hold us to.”

“If further requests are forthcoming before us, you can bring them to Council,” said Deputy Mayor MacDonald to Neven and Chef Administrative Officer MacMunn, who approved the use of the building.

Sharbot Lake, Hollowood Branch 425

Here it is the end of another school year for our young folks. Legion Branch 425 would like to congratulate all of them on another successful year. Every fall the students are invited to participate in the Remembrance Day Poster, Poem and Essay contest. We commend all the students who participated, as these posters, poems and essays are much appreciated by all our veterans and military who participate in the Remembrance Day Ceremony. Congratulations to the winners in the following categories:

Poems: 1st, Junior Grades 4-6: Amica Leveque of Granite Ridge; 1st, Intermediate Grades 7-9: Hailey Wistard of Granite Ridge.

Posters – Colour: 1st, Primary Grades 1-3: Hanna Hearns of Granite Ridge; 1st, Junior Grades 4-6, Poppy Limber of St. James Major. 1st, Intermediate Grades 7-9, Amber Minutillo of St. James Major.

Posters - Black & White: 1st, Junior Grades 4-6, Gavin McCullough of Granite Ridge; 1st, Intermediate Grades 7-9, Abigail Beattie of Granite Ridge.

On another note, as Branch 425 continues to celebrate its 70th anniversary, please watch for any announcements of activities that will take place during July and August. We wish everyone a very happy and safe summer!

The Strawberry Moon Festival celebrates the end of the school year and the culmination of the visits by Marcie Asselstine, the Aboriginal playgroup co-ordinator at Northern Frontenac Community Services, to area schools.

Asselstine, a member of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, delivers an program based on Algonquin teachings to students at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake; Prince Charles Public School in Verona; Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove; Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna; and St. James Catholic School in Sharbot Lake.

“It just so happens that the end of the school year, the strawberry moon, and the solstice, which is also National Aboriginal Day in Canada, all came together on the same day this year,” said Asselstine, on a brilliantly sunny, and comfortably cool Tuesday, as six classrooms of children clambered back onto their buses after a morning spent in the hall and on the grounds of St. James Major Catholic Church.

After a ceremonial opening prayer by Shabot Obaadjiwan Chief Doreen Davis in the hall, the children took turns visiting four stations over the next 90 minutes. In the hall, they did crafts under the supervision of Marianne Wilson and Susan Ramsay, and ate cornbread and berries prepared by John Davis. Outside they squeezed into a teepee and listened to stories from Danka Brewer; then they climbed up the hill behind the church to listen and move to the drumming of the Women's Drum (Valerie Hermer, Lily Lagace-Zierer, Nancy McDermott, Sandy Hallam and Pam Giroux).

Afterwards they all gathered for a massive round dance at the drumming circle.

“We've done Strawberry Moon Festivals for a number of years now, and they just get better and better,” said Asselstine as she waved goodbye to the students for another year.  

Canada Day is on a Friday this year, so July 2 is a big day for events as well. Not only will the farmers' markets in Verona, Sharbot Lake and McDonalds Corners be open for business as usual, there are many other events scheduled as well.

On the grounds of the Crow Lake Schoolhouse in Crow Lake Village, Primitive Catering is hosting a new event, Lost Trades and Handmades, which is billed as a “gathering of the finest food and products created by hand.”

Dean Fredette, one the principals at Primitive Catering, describes the event as a tribute to the skills of traditional crafters, whether they work with fabric, metal, in the garden or in the kitchen.

Fredette sees an appetite for products that are made by hand by skilled people, and while Primitive Catering is a food company, the same kind of commitment to function and aesthetics is found in a skewer of meat barbequed on an open fire as in the production of fine knives, baskets or any other artisanal product.

In addition to fine food sizzling on the fire pit there will be music by ALAN BRIAN, Alan Kitching on saxophone and clarinet and Brian Roche on guitar and vocals; knives made by Brian Connolly; the Enright Cattle Company; St. Paul United Church Quilts; Dragonfly Herbs; basketmaking demonstrations by Jule Koch; preserves, baked goods, a book sale, and more. The event runs from 12 noon to 7pm.

Meanwhile, 10 kilometres north of Highway 7 on Road 509, down the Gully Road in Mississippi Station, the long-awaited grand opening of the Back Forty Cheese Creamery and Bakeshop will take place from 10 am to 4 pm.

The new home of Back Forty Cheese is on an old farmstead on the Mississippi River. The large drive shed near the farmhouse has been converted into a cheese factory, with an adjoining retail space. Upstairs there is a loft space that is a screen printing studio.

Jenna Fenwick, who runs Jenna Rose Screen printing, and Jeff Fenwick, who makes Back Forty Sheep's milk cheese, have been working on the shed, establishing gardens and feeding a drove of young Berkshire pigs with the whey from the factory.

“We thought it would be nice, in this new location, to set up a storefront that we can open on Saturdays throughout the summer, to let people see how the cheese is made, and all the related activities that make for a sustainable operation,” said Jeff about setting up the shop. “We will be holding tours of the cheese factory and the grounds, and we are having some friends join us as well.”

In addition to five Back Forty cheeses – Flower Station, Bonnechere, Highland Blue, Madawaska, and the newest Back Forty Cheese, Ompah, there will be some fresh cheese available on the 2nd.

Mike McKenzie of Seed to Sausage will be on the barbeque, grilling sausages, and providing meat for Charcuterie plates.

Thanks to a special occasions permit, Stalwart Brewing from Carleton Place will be on hand, serving some of their popular brews plus a new summer beer, which is appropriately named Down by River. Three Dog Winery from Prince Edward County as well as MacKinnon Brothers from Bath will also be represented.

Black Kettle Catering is bringing their popcorn.

And to wash all that food and drink down, Elphin's own Joey Wright, fresh from a year in the countryside near Avignon, no doubt drinking too much Rhone and Rousillon Valley wines and eating much too well, will be performing on guitar, mandolin and banjo.

Over 100 people showed up at the Sharbot Lake Pharmasave last Friday (June 10) to feast on Roast Beef sandwiches from Cota's Mobile Catering and celebrate with Nick and Jocelyn Whalen as they marked 25 years since they opened a pharmacy in Sharbot Lake. From the start, the Whalens have operated the pharmacy as a community service, helping out countless people with attentive service, attention to detail, and a kind word when it was needed.
They have also been generous contributors to any and every community cause that has been brought to them. The 25th anniversary was no exception, as they marked the occasion by donating $2,500 to the Central
Frontenac Railway Museum. Mayor Frances Smith brought appreciative greetings from the township, as those of us who remember when they opened the pharmacy wondered where the time has gone.

When Dorothy Quattrocchi, who is originally from Sharbot Lake, made a presentation in February to elementary students at Granite Ridge Education Centre about her son Mark's two-year bicycle odyssey around the world, she promised she would ask him to stop by the school on his way through at the end of the trip.

Last Thursday, June 9, after peddling through the rain 150 kilometres from Peterborough the day before, Mark made good on the promise.

It helped that his mother had booked a room for him at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn - certainly a step up from the daily ritual of finding a place to stay or to pitch a tent in parts of the world he was visiting for the first time in his life.

In the past two years, Mark travelled north and east from the island of Hainan, in China, across China before turning south to go through India, and then north and east before crossing the Mediterranean from Italy. He then travelled due south through East Africa to Capetown, South Africa, after which he flew to Argentina and made his way northwards until he reached Rideau Ferry last Saturday, about 23 months and a shade under 35,000 kilometres after he set out on July 7, 2014.

Why did he do it? He describes it on his website oneadventureplease.com in this way: “A journey of grand proportions. One of personal designation and infatuation with our spinning world. To share and experience the road less travelled. One of the glorious unknown.”

It was not the first adventure for Mark, who had spent two years teaching English in Hainan but was looking for something different.

The trip was partly about adventure and self-discovery and partly a fund-raising campaign. The element of self-discovery was exemplified in Mark's periodic blogs from the diverse countries and communities he visited. When asked by the students at GREC which was his favourite country he did not hesitate, naming Kyrgyzstan, the second country he travelled through after a long cycle through China. He met some of the last of the world's nomadic peoples there, and was taken with the level of hospitality he received there.

“They welcome you in for ‘chai’ at any meeting and often ask you to spend the night in their home. The simple offerings mean more than just fresh bread, noodles, mutton and tea. Islamic teachings mixed with nomadic kindness is a vibrant combination. Pride and hospitality. It is the way of their world,” he wrote in his blog at the time.

The insights he gained from the Kyrgyzstanis was also captured: “Life can take us in a spaghetti bowl of lines. It is up to us to figure out which strands of life we connect with the most. To follow the lines that make ourselves and those around us feel the happiest. Life has no one set purpose, but is made up of a multitude of layers. The freedom of this reality is ours for taking. It is never too late. As terrifying as it may seem. Follow those dreams.”

The fund-raising element of the trip was based on Mark's determination to visit projects of Free the Children, a charity founded by Canadian's Craig and Marc Kielburger. He wanted to mark his visits to the projects by raising $50,000 to build schools for five different projects: in China, India, Kenya, Ecuador and Nicaragua. As his voyage was coming to an end, one of the schools was already built; three were under construction; and he was still working on raising the last few thousand dollars needed for the fifth school, in Nicaragua.

At GREC, Mark talked about his trip, what it taught him about himself and about the world, and then he asked the students if they had any questions.

Hands shot up. The questions were about the food he ate, the dangers he faced, the hardest day on his trip, the best day on his trip. There was not enough time to answer them all before he was scheduled to head over to St. James Catholic School to talk to students there.

His mother Dorothy was with him, happy to have him home safe and sound, and visibly proud of her renegade son as well.

What's next for Mark Quattrocchi?

Another adventure of one kind or another, no doubt.    

Council mulling over Crow Lake Road speed issue

A contingent of Crow Lake Village residents attended this week's Central Frontenac Council meeting to hear what Council plans to do after a delegation led by the owners of the The Oaks petitioned Council to set up a pedestrian crosswalk in the village.

In a report to Council, Public Works Manager John Badgley outlined a number of options, including: pedestrian crossovers, which include overhead lights that are triggered by pedestrians hitting a button on one side of the road; courtesy crossing, where stopping is not mandatory; speed bumps; permanent speed signs; traffic signs; and engaging the OPP to enforce speed limits.

In the end, Badgley recommended that traffic signs be installed at a cost of $1,000 to $1,500 to inform drivers that a pedestrian crossing is ahead.

However, Badgley was not present at the meeting, as he is away on vacation. In his absence, road superintendents Rick Commodore and Steve Gould said they had investigated the possibility of temporary speed bumps on both sides of the village.

“The advantage of temporary bumps is that they will not cause problems for the snow plows in the winter because we can remove them,” said Commodore.

Council passed a motion to install the traffic signs and asked Commodore and Gould to bring back pricing on the temporary speed bumps.

The Crow Lake residents then left, and at least one of them was visibly upset, saying Council is doing “nothing for us”. He then added that “the only solution is stop signs.”

Line painting contract approved retroactively

CAO Cathy MacMunn learned on Monday that the line painters who were engaged by both South Frontenac and North Frontenac to work on the arterial roads, such as Highway 509 and Road 38, were working their way through South Frontenac and would be willing to do the painting in Central Frontenac at the same price as the other townships, $160 per kilometre under a three-year contact. However, they needed the go ahead on Monday.

By the time the matter came to Council on Tuesday, MacMunn said she had already given the go-ahead. Still, Council gave retroactive approval.

Building starts slow down in May

After a disappointing May, when permits valued at only $88,000 were sold, which compares unfavorably to the total of $269,000 in 2015 and $935,000 in 2014, the year to date permit activity has dropped to the lowest level in the last three years. As of June 1, the total is $1.2 million this year. By this time last year the total was over $2 million and in 2014 it was $1.3 million.

In terms of new residential units, permits for three have been sold this year, whereas five had been sold at this time in 2015 and three in 2014.

Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven said that based on enquiries he has received, he expects that activity will increase in the coming month or so.

The Canadian Power and Sail Squadron (CPSS) is a 75-year-old organization devoted to boating in Canada. The local affiliate, Kingston Power and Sail (KPS) is offering a free program to promote safety and help boaters comply with boating regulations.

Stephen Duggan, who lives on Eagle Lake, is a member of KPS and he has organized a Recreational Vehicle Courtesy Checks (RVCC) program for local lakes. Two free safety check rallies will be held in the near future.

The first will be at Eagle Lake on Sunday, June 26 at Parham Landing. From Road 38, take Eagle Lake Road to the end.

The second will be held at Sharbot Lake on Sun. July 3 at the government dock, adjacent to the K&P Railway Park, near the Central Frontenac Township office on Elizabeth Street.

Both rallies are from 10am to 3pm.

A local marina, Sharbot Lake Marina, is offering a 10% discount on safety equipment needed to pass the check.

The safety requirements and criteria for the check are published by Transport Canada’s Office of Boating Safety in their Safe Boating Guide, which can be found by searching the keywords “safe boating guide Canada” on Google.

The check takes about 15 to 30 minutes to complete, depending on the size of the boat. Boaters who have on board the equipment as outlined in the Safe Boating Guide will receive a 2016 decal that can be displayed on their boat. Authorities will be able to see that the check has been done and give that boat a pass. The check is anonymous; only generic information (boat size and type, complete or uncompleted) is provided to Transport Canada for review.

The foremost purpose of the program is to ensure the safety of everyone in or on the water, but as well, law enforcement levies hefty fines ($200 per offence) for each piece of missing safety equipment, which can add up to thousands of dollars.

The KPS points out in their communications that drinking and boating is not only unsafe, it is illegal and jeopardizes the safety and enjoyment of all those on the water.

Finally, KPS reminds boaters to wear their personal floatation device (PFD) or lifejacket on the water; 80% of boating fatalities involve boaters not wearing them.

Similar events are scheduled for this summer at Charleston Lake, and in Portland, Westport and Rockport.

Stephen Duggan is also approaching the Sharbot Lake Property Owners Association to help publicize the July 3 safety check rally to its members and the KPS is open to setting up similar programs on other lakes with large boating populations.

For further information, contact Steve Duggan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Central Frontenac Soccer Association is gearing up for another season of soccer for kids ages 3 to 18.

New members have joined the hard-working committee to help keep soccer alive for the kids in Central Frontenac.

The 2016 season will begin on Monday, July 25 and continue until the end of August, with a final fun and games day planned for Wednesday August 31. Games will be played on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Granite Ridge Educational Centre and the cost is only $30 per child!!

There will be two sign-up dates to help make it as easy as possible for children to get involved.

The first sign-up date is Saturday, June 18, from 11:30am until 2:30pm at the Relay for Life at The Parham fairgrounds.

The second sign-up date is Saturday, June 25 from 9am - 1pm at the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market at Oso Beach.

Registration forms can also be printed from the website at www.cfsoccer.net and mailed along with a cheque to: Central Frontenac Soccer.

c/o 3158 Bell Line Rd. Sharbot Lake, ON, K0H 2P0. For more information please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Jen Farnum at 613-305-3214.

Come on out and keep the kids active this summer!

Students from St. James Major Catholic School in Sharbot Lake had a great experience in Tennessee at the Destination Imagination Global Finals, which were held May 25-28. Just making it there was a huge reward for our students! Thank you to our community for your overwhelming generosity! St. James Major will be hosting a Destination Imagination Appreciation Open House in the Church Hall on Tuesday, June 14, from 9 to 10:15am. Come hear about our experiences and see pictures from our great adventure. Light refreshments will be served.