Harret Riddell – North Frontenac Senior of the Year

Jeff Green | Jun 12, 2024

Harriet Riddell has lived near Mississippi Station, on Robertsville Road in what had been a mining town, for a long time, but that is not where she is from.

She was born and lived her first 16 years in Snow Road, before marrying David Riddell when she was 17, and moving a few kilometres down the road to Robertsville, two stations to the south on the old K&P Rail line.

By the time she moved to Robertsville, over 75 years ago, in the late 1940s, the mining town was already long gone. A large boarding house was still standing, as were a few others, but eventually they were all torn down, and some relocated to other places.

The Riddell's kept some animals, gardened, did some lumbering, and the gravel pit that is still on the property was used by the K&P line while it was still running.

“There was a calcite mine still running for the first couple of years I was here, but it closed not long after. The train running though every day is something that I missed when they shut down the K&P” Harriet said this week, over the phone from her house, where she still lives on her own. Her son lives next door, which is a big help to her.

She had children pretty soon after marrying, 7 in all, and was “chief cook and bottle wash” for the household as they were growing up.

In the 1960s, Harriet joined the Women's Institute, and has always been active in the Snow Road Presbyterian Church, where she is an elder. Over the years, she has been involved with hundreds of church suppers and yard sales, both at Snow Road and its sister church in Elphin. The combined numbers of parishioners at the two churches has dwindled, but Harriet remains active. In the early 1970s, she began to volunteer with North Frontenac Community Services. She served a few years on the board, and was a volunteer in both the “Friendly Visiting Program” and as a volunteer driver.

Now that she is no longer driving, she has become a client of the Frontenac Transportation Service that is offered by what is now called Rural Frontenac Community Services.

She also sat on Palmerston-Canonto Council for a couple of terms in the 1970s, something she took on, she says, partly in order to make sure that the large culvert further down the Robertsville Road, received the attention it required.

In the past 20 years, Harriet has remained active in the community, visiting friends and family, many of whom have remained in the local area, and her sharp wit and laughter has been a feature of public events in Plevna, Sharbot Lake, and beyond.

Last week, she received the 2024 Senior of the Year award at a meeting of North Frontenac Council. She said that she wasn't sure she wanted to go, but in the end it was a “very enjoyable” ceremony.

Mayor Gerry Lichty paid tribute to her, talking about her public service and history in the area, and presented a plaque. And ... then there was cake.