Sharbot Lake Property Owners' Association (SLPOA) is amalgamating their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with their annual social function, creating a full day event on Saturday, July 18.

The AGM will commence at 10am at the St. James Major Catholic Church in Sharbot Lake and the social shenanigans will run from 5pm to 7pm at the same location.

This year's AGM is an important meeting as the executive must be selected for the next two years. The agenda begins with an opening welcome and introduction of SLPOA executive followed by the general business portion in which they will adopt the 2014 AGM minutes and have reports from President Kevin Browne as well as the secretary/treasurer and environmental issues coordinator. After this they will hold elections for the full executive and members at large. They are interested in members joining the executive. Next they will have an update from Mayor Frances Smith and then the main presentations, including a Love Your Lake update, and an Introduction to Pollinators for Cottagers by Susan Chan, project manager, Farms at Work. 

The 2015 photo contest winners will then be announced, followed by an open forum to end the meeting.

The association has asked attendees to bring a non-perishable item for the North Frontenac Food Bank.

The SLPOA, led by Kevin Browne, has improved the layout of the social function following the results from a survey conducted last year. Instead of a fish-fry they will be serving barbeque chicken and at a larger venue from past years so as to allow for a sit down, leisurely and talkative atmosphere. They will also be hosting a live band, Ottawa’s The Kingmakers. The Kingmakers play a mix of rockabilly, jump jive, hillbilly boogie and rock and roll. They have an upbeat and infectious sound, enjoyable for all ages. The Kingmakers also played at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender Festival this year in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as at the Ottawa Jazz Festival. Obviously none of those venues compare to the honor of performing on SLPOA Day!

The later portion of the event will be catered by Temple’s and Taste. The menu goes as follows: Maple Bourbon BBQ Chicken Skewers, skewers rubbed with Cajun spice and glazed maple bourbon BBQ Sauce (Adult: 2 skewers, 8 oz white breast chicken, Children: 1 skewer), green mixed salad, pasta salad, Temple’s buttermilk biscuit, and Temple’s assorted cookies and brownies for dessert. Mmmm. The event will include a wine and beer cash bar as well as a silent auction.
Cost for the meal portion of the event beginning at 5pm are: $16 per adult and $10 per child. Children under 6 eat free. Tickets are available for purchase at the Pharmasave Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, Mike Dean’s Super Food Store (customer service counter) or through SLPOA by request to Joyce Waller (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Please make cheques payable to SLPOA and mail to SLPOA, P.O. Box 333, Sharbot Lake, ON K0H 2P0. Tickets will be waiting at the entrance to the event. This event is open to both members and non-members of the association and everyone is welcome.

The Kingston Frontenac Public Library is delighted to offer a StoryWalk® in Sharbot Lake on Saturday, July 25, from 10am to 12 noon. StoryWalk® is a fun activity that places a children’s story along a walking trail or route in the community. It was conceived as a way to inspire parents, teachers, and caregivers to take young children outdoors to combine physical activity with learning.

StoryWalks® will take place at Oso Beach in Sharbot Lake and will feature the charming and heart-warming picture book Your Hand in My Hand by Mark Sperring and Britta Teckentrup. The story follows a mouse and her mum as they take a trip through the four seasons. Find the pages along the beach.

Following the StoryWalk, enjoy a themed craft together. Throughout the event, share your photos with us online using the hashtag #KFPLStoryWalk.

The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library. This project is sponsored by the Friends of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

For more information about our StoryWalk® and other events, pick up the summer edition of What’s Happening, call your local branch, or visit the Programs and Events section of the library’s website at www.kfpl.ca.

Canada Day photo essay

Harrowsmith

Sharbot Lake

Sydenham

In her opening remarks at Granite Ridge's 2015 graduation and commencement ceremony on June 25, Principal Heather Highet praised this year's grads for showing G.R.I.T., especially during times of adversity. “By G.R.I.T. I mean your Growth mindset; Respect for yourselves, others and the environment; your Integrity and Trustworthiness,” she said. She also credited them with resiliency and perseverance, which they developed throughout the reconstruction of the school, saying it would serve them well throughout life. “You have overcome many challenges, and the skills and habits you have developed over the these past four years will support you for the rest of your lives.”

Highet left the graduates with three messages to consider as they enter this phase in their lives. “Be open to opportunities, new learning and ideas and to the opinions of others. Seek out knowledge and understanding and take risks and responsibility for your actions and beliefs; and be open to discovering who you are, what you stand for and who you want to be.”

Elizabeth Steele-Drew headed up the evening's program, which included an address by newly elected school trustee, Karen McGregor.

Following the formal speeches, the more than 40 graduates received their diplomas, and numerous special awards were handed out thanks to the generosity of many individuals, groups and organizations wanting to lend a helping hand to these fresh-faced young adults as they enter a new world and pursue their future endeavors.

This year's valedictorian was Jacob (Jake) Watson. He was introduced by Mr. Leonard, who credited Jake with a fine mind, a great sense of humour, and a way with words.

Watson plans to study journalism at Trent University in Peterborough and Mr. Leonard stated that Jake's compassion and conviction would no doubt take him to interesting places in the world of journalism.

When Jake took the podium, he recalled the good times at school with friends and staff and remembered entering the school a bit nervous and “at the bottom of the food chain”. He delighted his fellow grads and staff with his moving and funny account of their years together and his words made for a positive and moving wrap up to the event. Following the ceremony the class gathered for a final photo, after which the new grads and guests gathered in the school's main foyer to cap off the evening with a celebratory cake and refreshments.

TAMI (Talking About Mental Illness) is an organization whose goal is to raise awareness of and to address the myths and stereotypes associated with mental illness and mental health.

Staff of the Kingston chapter are doing just that by including those who have experienced mental illness first hand as speakers at their presentations.

On June 17, the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team (SLFHT) invited TAMI-Kingston to give one such presentation and it included two speakers, Doug and Luciele, who shared their personal stories.

Each spoke about their journey through mental illness, of how they first recognized that they were ill, their struggles as they journeyed through it, the barriers they experienced to getting treatment and their triumphs as they eventually found the right kind of medical help.

Doug spoke first of his experience with schizophrenia. He first became ill when he was practicing law and told of his personal journey, of overcoming the obstacles his illness presented, and finally after finding the right diagnosis and treatment, returning to practice law for 12 years.

Luciele spoke emotionally about her experience with bi-polar disorder, the ups and downs she experienced as a mature student studying psychology at Queen's University and as a mother of five and the painful years of not knowing what was wrong. She spoke candidly and openly of how, at her lowest point she contemplated taking her own life before eventually being properly diagnosed and getting the right treatment. Both likened their diseases to diabetes, an illness that you will always have but that with the right treatment can be successfully managed.

Katrina McDonald, a steering committee member and presentation facilitator with TAMI-Kingston spoke to me about TAMI, a program that originally came out of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. The program was first geared to high school students, since early signs of mental illness often first present in young adults. The idea was that students, after hearing from people with mental illness, would be able to break down some of the stereotypes and myths associated with it. “Historically we have had this sense that people with mental illness are different or scary or dangerous and that they are not contributing members of society. The idea we want to get across through TAMI is to get real people who have experienced mental illness first hand talking about it, answering people's questions and letting people see that someone with a mental illness is a real person who with the right treatment can become a healthy and contributing member of society.”

McDonald also stressed the idea that mental illness is just like any other illness. “Once it is properly identified and the right treatment is provided, people can continue to live healthy, productive lives.”

Laura Baldwin, program manager at the SLFHT, was pleased with the turnout at the presentation which she said “fostered a rich discussion.”

McDonald said that the more we can reduce the stigma of mental illness by talking about it, the more people will come forward and get the help they need. Any local schools interested in bringing a TAMI presentation to their school can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Over 100 local kindergarten students along with youngsters from the local community took part in the eighth annual Strawberry Moon festival at St. James Major Catholic School on June 17.

The event was in celebration of National Aboriginal Day (on June 21) and it also marked the wrap up of “First You Plant the Seed”, an Aboriginal educational program for kindergarten students based on the Algonquin full moons, which is run through Northern Frontenac Community Services and aims to bring First Nations culture to youngsters in local schools.

Marcie Asselstine, who headed up the festival, also ran the program this school year, and throughout the year she visited various junior and senior kindergarten classrooms at four local area schools, including Clarendon Central in Plevna, Land O'Lakes in Mountain Grove, and St. James Major and Granite Ridge in Sharbot Lake.

Those students attended the festival, as did other youngsters involved in other early learning programs that are offered at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake. At the event, the children visited four areas, including a craft table where Lily Davis showed students how to make their own totem poles using recycled materials.

Just outside in a traditional tee pee typically used by First Nations people from the plains, Grandmother Danka Brewer, local member of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, told the children the story of the race between the fox and the frog, as a way to teach them about peer support and cooperation.

Also outside, a men's drumming circle headed up by Josh St. Pierre, Leslie St. Pierre and Joe Wilson with the help of the Kokumis Women's Drum group, taught the children numerous songs, and traditional dancers Alesha Mercier and Madison and Logan St. Pierre wore their traditional regalia and demonstrated traditional dancing.

Lastly, Bonnie Murphy assisted the children at a traditional foods section where the youngsters made their own edible strawberry treat and enjoyed traditional bannock.

The Strawberry Moon Festival is based on the Algonquin peoples naming the June full moon as the strawberry moon and the festival is funded through the Limestone School Board, the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, and the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board (ALCDSB).

Shawn McDonald, assignment teacher for Aboriginal education with the ALCDSB, was present at the event and explained that it signifies a coming together and celebration of all the traditional knowledge and learning that has been taking place at the schools throughout the year. “This is a perfect time to celebrate the traditional learning that has been taking place in the classrooms with these younger students and it is also a wonderful learning experience for their teachers as well. By bringing in a number of local Aboriginal people who know first hand about traditional Aboriginal culture, everyone here today is learning and sharing and that is what makes this event so exciting and worthwhile.”

Max Sedmihradsky is a bright and funny four-year-old boy who loves to laugh. His parents, Kerry and Andrew, love him to bits.

Max was born in Australia and the family later moved to Hamilton, where Andrew had been raised. A couple of years ago, they noticed that although Max was very active and had high energy, he seemed to have trouble jumping and was a little awkward on his feet.

Doctors confirmed there was a problem and it was worse than Kerry and Andrew could imagine. Max has Duchenne Muscular Distrophy (DMD), a disorder that afflicts about one in 3,600 males. A degenerative genetic disorder, DMD continually restricts movement in people who have it, limiting their life span to about 25 years. There is no cure, so research is the only answer.

The news of his son's condition was understandably devastating to Andrew, but about a year later, he learned about another father who was facing the same circumstance, John Davidson. Some 20 years ago Davidson pushed his son Jessie across Ontario and began “Jessie's Journey” a non-stop fund raising campaign that has now raised $6 million for research into DMD.

One quote from John Davidson struck a chord with Andrew: “You can roll over and play dead, or you can roll up your sleeves and get busy.”

Max's Ride is Andrew and Kerry's way of “getting busy”.

The ride started in Ottawa on Sunday. Andrew is riding a bike that is fitted with a front cargo container on wheels. Max is the cargo. Andrew is riding along the Trans-Canada Trail from Ottawa to Hamilton and is bound and determined to get there by Canada Day. As for Kerry, she is providing all the necessary logistical support, driving ahead in a van, arranging food and lodging, contacting media along the way and helping Max's Ride make some money for research.

On Tuesday, June 23, that meant waiting at the Caboose in the Central Frontenac Railroad Park at noon, only to find out that the trail had washed out between Maberly and Sharbot Lake and Andrew was turning back and heading along Hwy, 7 until he could get past the washout. She headed out in the van to find her two men, and helped them figure out how to get to Sharbot Lake and get back on schedule as they were set to push on to Arden by the end of the day.

Just before 2pm they arrived at Sharbot Lake, in time for a photograph or two and a bite of lunch before heading off again.

“The best way for people to learn more about the ride is to go to Maxsbigride.com,” said Kerry. “It explains what we are doing and includes a map that shows their progress and talks about the journey.”

There is also a donation button on the site. All proceeds are going to Jessie's Journey, and will automatically generate a charitable tax receipt.

The money has been used for some promising efforts using cutting edge medical science to seek treatments for DMD.  

The sounds of the Arden Glee Club at the Oso Hall on a week day in late June can only mean one thing: it is the day of the Seniors of the Year presentation. This was the 17th edition of the ceremony, and the Glee Club has performed in at least the last 10.

This year, as has also happened in the past, one of their members was among the honourees.

The first person recognized was Reverend Jean Brown from Henderson. Jean is well known locally for a number of reasons. She is an ordained United Church minister who originally came to the area to serve as minister in Arden, Mountain Grove and Henderson between 1992 and 1999. Later she served congregations elsewhere in Eastern Ontario from her home base in Henderson, where she met Alan Gurnsey. The couple married in 1999.

More recently she has been filling in where needed at local churches and is currently serving at Sharbot Lake, Maberly and Parham United Churches.

As Frontenac News readers are aware, Jean keeps the community informed as our Henderson reporter and always contributes a seasonal recipe or two from Manitoulin Island, where she was born and still visits each summer. She may be best known however, for her love of the colour pink, which has adorned her clothes, vehicles and even her home. Her license plate reads “PINKJEAN”.

As Mayor Frances Smith said in presenting the award, “Jean is a real 'hoot'”.

Bill Powers, the Glee Club member among this year's recipients, moved to Mountain Grove 10 years ago with his wife Sylvia. They both joined the Glee Club, which is a major commitment, and Bill joined the fire department, where he brings the kind of background in emergency services that is hard to come by. In his previous life in Ottawa, where he taught high school, Powers joined a volunteer organization called International Rescue. They have developed expertise in dealing with global scale natural disasters that has led to them being called in first when a disaster strikes anywhere around the world. Through International Rescue, Powers provided assistance in Galveston, Texas after Hurricane Mitch, and in Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. He was called to Indonesia after the tsunami, and most recently to Haiti after the devastating earthquake. By that time he was 70.

As Councillor Victor Heese said in presenting the award, “There is no retirement for Bill Powers.”

In presenting the award to Ron Hollywood, Councilor Bill MacDonald deferred to his neighbour Skip Moyse.

“Ron is as old as dirt,” Moyse said to start, but then grew more complimentary as he went along. He described how Hollywood is a tireless volunteer for the Lions Club, the Railway Heritage Society, and the Silver Lake Pow Wow, which granted him their highest honour, the Eagle Feather, two years ago.

“Ron is the quiet guy you always see setting up or tearing down at just about any community event,” said Skip Moyse, who added that perhaps Ron's most enduring volunteer work is done informally. He has been known to cut, split and deliver wood to neighbours who need it, or help fix a roof, or shovel a driveway.

“I cannot think of a more unassuming person who has done so much for so many,” Moyse concluded.

Finally, it was the turn of Hinchinbrooke Councilor Brent Cameron to present the award to a couple he has known all his life, Joan and Roy Shepherd. Again, as readers will know, the Shepherds were the founders and driving forces behind the monthly Piccadilly Jam sessions, which over the years have become known as the “Bedford Jam” at the Glendower Hall.

“These weekend sessions not only showcase local talent and provide an opportunity to share and collaborate, but they offer audience members with a cultural gift. They provide us with performances in a genre that connects us with our rural traditions and heritage,” said Cameron.

The Shepherds have successfully transitioned a new couple, the Card's, to the helm of the Bedfod Jam, ensuring its continued success.

The puppet show that was presented by The Flying Box Theatre from Montreal last weekend in Sharbot Lake, Perth and McDonalds Corners features a related set of German Fairy Tales. The show is called Hans Dudeldee and Other Forgotten Fairy Tales and the story behind the story is quite interesting.

We’ve all heard of the Grimm brothers who collected children’s stories and passed them out to the masses. Cinderella ring any bells? I doubt as many of you have heard of Xaver Von Scönwerth however. The eighteenth century historian spent much of his life collecting folklore in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz. Despite their overshadowing success, the Grimm brothers felt inferior to Scönwerth’s method of collection and told King Maximilian II of Bavaria that the only person who could replace them was Von Schönwerth. This was because, unlike the Grimm brothers, Schönwerth did not doctor the tales in any way. Due to this among other factors, the complete 500-story collection had been long lost and forgotten for 150 years.

Last year, the cultural curator of Oberpfalz, Erika Eichenseer, published a selection of fairy tales from

The Scönwerth Collection that she had discovered while leafing through archives in Reegensburg, Germany, where they had been left dormant. In 2008, Eichenseer helped to found the Franz Xaver Von Schönwerth Society, an interdisciplinary committee devoted to analysing his work and publicizing it. It is Eichenseer’s goal to translate the 500-some tales into English with the help of Munich-based English Translator, Dan Szabo. The Flying Box theatre has taken on the mission of presenting these tales for the very first time in English, and boy do they do it well.

Council addresses Raymo Road collapse

At an emergency meeting on June 18, members of Central Frontenac Council addressed the issue of the collapse of the Raymo Road, which is off Wagarville Road. It had come to the works department's attention that there had been a partial collapse of one of two structural plate culverts on the road, which resulted in a section being washed out and closed to traffic from 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday June 16 (the time of the collapse), until 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18.

At that time the road was reopened to a single lane of traffic, with signs advising drivers of a load limit of five tons per axle.

Unbeknownst to council, as they were meeting that afternoon, the second culvert also collapsed, making the road totally impassable to traffic. Currently that section of road can now only safely handle foot traffic and is off limits for vehicles. This has forced residents on Raymo Road who travel north and west on a regular basis to drive directly south, to Piccadilly, and then double back on Road 38 north to Parham and points north and east. A 10-minute drive to Parham now takes about 40 minutes, for example, and to Sharbot Lake upwards of an hour.

While Kyle Labbett and Steve Reynolds of the Public Works department were not aware that the second culvert had collapsed, the premise of their presentation at the emergency meeting was already based on replacing both culverts.

According to an OSIM (Ontario Structure Inspection Manual) bridge inspection report that was completed in 2013, it was recommended that two existing culverts be replaced in 2018 due to section loss at the culvert ends and corrosion within the pipe itself, at an estimated cost of $338,000.

Labbett outlined four options for addressing the problem,

The first option is to replace the culverts “like for like” through an invitation to bid process, with the township purchasing the pipe directly from the manufacturer to speed up the process. This option, which would take 8 weeks to complete, was identified in the report as requiring the least amount of engineering work, but it would lead to costly problems over the medium turn.

The second option was to proceed with an invitation to bid, with the successful contractor purchasing the pipe.

The third option is to proceed with the traditional tendering process with full advertising, which would open up the process to more bidders but time-wise would be lengthiest.

The fourth and final option would be for the township to hire a geo-technical firm to bore holes in the road and vicinity and provide a report that would be sent to an engineering firm to review in order to determine the bearing capacity of the soil and suggest different options for replacement.

Following the report a design/build RFP would be released to contractors who would submit their own ideas for replacement. These could include replacing the existing culverts with similar ones, replacing them with an arch culvert, a Bailey Bridge or a pre-cast box culvert, with other ideas also possible.

Labbett reminded council that all the options would require geo-technical and engineering work, at an estimated cost of $22,000.

The report also outlined the possible ways to pay for these road and bridge repairs. They included delaying other planned work for a year and re-directing the funds to this. This would impact planned road and bridge projects on Burke Settlement and Elm Tree Roads

A second option for payment would be to to take money from reserves to repair Raymo Road.

When Council met again this Tuesday (June 23) Kyle Labbett brought forward a new proposal, to proceed with geo-techncial work but to hire the engineering firm, Greer and Galloway Group, to come up with a design and to prepare an invitation to tender.

Treasurer Michael McGovern was asked what he would recommend in terms of financing the project. He said that until public works knows how to proceed, it would be difficult to say, but he did say that Council could consider pulling some or all of the funds from reserves or possibly taking out a loan.

After hearing from McGovern and Labbett, council passed a motion instructing staff to move ahead with geo-technical work. Mayor Frances Smith added that council will move ahead on this issue as soon as any information becomes available, and that she estimates the costs to be anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000.

Labbett estimated that the reconstruction could take a minimum of three to four months. In the meantime the affected section of Raymo Road will remain closed. All talk of road fixes are cold comfort for Raymo Road residents, who are likely to be facing long detours at least until the end of the summer.

$610,000 grant to EOTA

Mayor Frances Smith announced that the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance received a grant of $610,000, some of which will benefit trails in Central Frontenac.

Lions liquor bottle shed approved at Hinchinbrooke site

Council approved staff's recommendation to allow for a liquor bottle donation and storage shed at the Hinchinbrooke waste site. It will be the third shed set up by the Sharbot Lake and District Lions, who are happy to take empty liquor bottles as donations.

Cardinal Cafe to open July 4

Mayor Frances Smith announced that the owners of the new Cardinal Cafe, located in the old Catholic church on Road 38 in Sharbot Lake, will be holding their official grand opening on Saturday, July 4.

Parham Playground Equipment tender awarded

Council approved staff's recommendations to award the tender of the Parham playground equipment to Playground Planners at a cost of $39,267.

Permanent hockey rink in Sharbot Lake?

In his delegation to council, Dave Willis of the Oso Recreation Committee requested that council support and share the costs of building a permanent ice hockey rink at the Oliver Scott Memorial Park in Sharbot Lake, which is located near the ballfied at the Granite Ridge Education Centre. Willis explained that the committee has acquired the rink boards and glass and he hopes that the township would help to contribute to the pouring of a concrete pad. Willis said that the committee plans to raise most of the costs through fundraising and that the park would be the perfect location for a rink since it offers parking, lights and washroom facilities. “A permanent rink, Willis said, “would offer members of the community, young and old, opportunities to stay fit and have fun throughout the winter season.” Council received the information and approved the request.

Outdoor fitness equipment in Sharbot Lake?

On behalf of the Oso Recreation Committee, Joan and Rudy Holywood made a presentation to council requesting their approval of the installation of outdoor fitness equipment on township property located on the east side of the K&P trail between the beach and the government dock. Presently the committee has earmarked $1500 to initially purchase three pieces of equipment and are hoping to purchase six more pieces at a total cost of $30,000. They hope to have the equipment installed as part of the Multi-Use Cutural Centre Commitee's Enhanced Trail Project. Council accepted the presentation for information and approved the request. They advised the presenters to attend the next meeting of the MUCC.