A special certificate of recognition upon retirement was awarded Dan Bell, Portland resident and volunteer, for his years of outstanding contributions to the Portland Recreation Committee and the South Frontenac Recreation Committee.

His attention to small details (keeping water turned on, and opening and closing park facilities) and his accomplishment of large and lasting community improvements such as the new pavilion in Centennial Park and the playground equipment in McMullen Park were all a part of his continuing commitment to his community.

He seems to have had the rare ability to understand what his community wanted and needed, combined with the ability to raise enthusiasm and quietly help make things happen. As Mike Howe summarized: “Dan doesn’t say a lot, but I soon learned that when he speaks, it pays to listen.”

Families were invited to enjoy refreshments and history as the South Frontenac Museum hosted their second annual Christmas open house over the weekend.

Children were invited to come out to the museum with their families after the Santa Clause parade to explore the museum and even visit with Santa Clause. There were also prizes available and goodies made by society members for visitors to enjoy.

The old schoolhouse was filled with familiar faces and the smell of warm apple cider as members of the Portland District and Area Heritage Society sat around sharing stories and answering questions.

This was the second annual Christmas open house. According to the president of the society, Barbera Stewart, the event had a great turnout last year so they thought they would host it again this year.

The event is one way that the society tries to get residents more interested in their heritage. The society’s director, Lynne Hutcheson, sees a lot of importance in sharing the area’s history with the younger generations.

“It’s important for young people to learn about history period. History repeats itself and you learn a lot from it,” says Hutcheson. “If you look into your ancestor’s history, you know where your roots are from and how you’ve come to be where you are today.”

According to the members, there is a surprising amount of intrigue in these younger generations.

“It’s amazing how interested the little ones are in the pieces,” says Hutcheson. There are often competitions and games set up for the children to get them more involved. They have chances to win prizes while learning a bit more about the history of where they are growing up.

The Portland District and Area Heritage Society was formed in 2002 by a passionate group of individuals who were determined to create a museum for the area. In 2015, the society finally got their wish and the South Frontenac Museum was born.

The group has since organized all kinds of fundraisers, bake sales, displays and even put floats in parades.

The museum had their first anniversary celebration in August of this year, with around 80 people coming out to show their support.

Admission to the museum is by donation and there are always society members available during working hours to answer any questions that guests may have about history in the area.

“There’s a lot of history here,” says Stewart. The old schoolhouse is filled with fascinating artifacts that have been donated by different people in the area.

This open house was the last event that the museum will host for the winter season. It will open again in May and remain open until October.

The Harrowsmith and District Social and Athletic Club hosted its annual Santa Clause parade in Harrowsmith this past Saturday.

The parade started Centennial Park, travelling down Notre Dame Street to Colebrook and back to Road 38 to end back at the park.

The fire department started the parade, followed by the South Frontenac Community Services bus collecting donations for the food drive. The Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church, Kingston District Shrine Club and The Salvation Army were just a few of the many beautifully decorated floats in the parade line this year. The Girl Scouts followed along, dressed as Santa’s reindeer wishing everyone they saw a very merry Christmas.

The parade ended with an appearance from Santa himself riding on the Frontenac Firefighters Association’s float.

Everyone was invited back to Harrowsmith and District Social and Athletic Club afterward to warm up and enjoy free refreshments, compliments of the club’s volunteers.

Every year, the event gets a great crowd of people gathered down the main stretch of Harrowsmith to enjoy the parade line-up. This year was no different.

However, what did change was the parade committee’s director. Don Betke has been a part of the club for many years. He took over organizing the parade this year and did an excellent job according to the Harrowsmith and District Social and Athletic Club’s president Pam Morey.

Morey says that it is events like these that bring people together. “It’s a feel good event,” she says. “It’s nice to see all of the young families coming out… there are lots of new faces here.”

Morey has been in her current role since 2013. She worked with the rest of her club members for months to organize this wonderful community event.

The club is made up of volunteers from all around the township. “We host different community events throughout the year to provide something and somewhere for people to go in their community instead of travelling to Kingston,” says Morey.

Aside from the Santa Clause parade, the club is also in charge of running things like Canada Day celebrations in Centennial Park, dances and different fundraisers.

Morey says that an event like this would take approximately two months of planning and several meetings to ensure that all of the bases are covered and that nothing is left out.

The club encourages other residents in the area to get involved. Morey says she hopes that events like these will inspire people to come out and be more active in their community.

Time to bring you up-to-date on knitting activities in the past year. My oldest knitter, Brenda Garrett from Zealand Road and Sharbot Lake, died in August. She was over 90 and knit the most beautiful children's sweaters and toques, usually adding pins for fancy to buttons to them.  Brenda played the organ at the United Church in Sharbot Lake and was a member of the Women's Institute for many years, plus many more community activities over her many years in Canada. She is missed by many.

Again, a big thank you to all who have donated yarn to our efforts, including Bev Murdock, Theresa, Joyce Hamilton, Carol Stinchcombe, Anne Wise, Marg Whan, Theresa and also those I have forgotten. It is much appreciated.

We were able to send 121 pieces of knitting up North via Marg Taylor of Ompah and 157 pieces to the Perth/Smiths Falls Salvation Army for Christmas Baskets. Also I have been able to send knitting North with the Anglican Church Bales last spring.

Thanks to our prolific knitters, Brenda, Henriette (the sock lady), Yvonne Leblanc and Liz Bruce of Sydenham.

I mainly do toques.

Blessings at this Christmas season to all.

Peggy Beckett--268-2443

Addington Highlands hosted their annual township Christmas party in Denbigh on November 26th.  Two awards were presented by Reeve Henry Hogg including 'Outstanding Volunteer' to Bob Taylor and 'Outstanding Business' to Tobia's Guardian Pharmacy.

The Outstanding Volunteer award is presented to individuals who made a significant voluntary contribution to benefit the community in the areas of social or economic growth.  The Outstanding Business is presented to acknowledge business excellence while meeting the needs of residents and visitors.

Members of the Frontenc Fury had lots of fun with Santa at the Sydenham Santa Claus Parade on Saturday (November 26) The Sydenham parade was the first to be held locally, and will be followed by parades in Harrowsmith, Sharbot Lake, and Northbrook on Saturday morning (Dec. 3), Denbigh and North Frontenac on Saturday night, and Parham/Tichborne on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 4)

Thanks to all who helped make this year’s contest a success. 336 tickets were sold and 94 deer weighed in. The largest buck weighed in at 216.9 lbs on the first day of the season. He held the biggest buck ranking through to the finish and earned Mike Bolton a check for $200 and a trophy. The largest doe weighed 152 lbs and netted Andrew Blake $200 and a trophy as pictured. Second place buck, 200 lbs won Gary Harrison $100. Second place doe 138.2 lbs rewarded Steven Nowell $100.  There is a draw prize annually for novice hunters who weigh in a deer. The prize is a quality engraved hunting knife donated by Russel Gray.  This years winner is Rowan Lemke. Congratulations to all winners and many thanks to all who supported our contest

Quilting is a traditional practice that has transitioned from being a necessity to being a form of art. To honour our quilters past and present and to recognize Canada's 150th the FHF committee is organizing a Community Quilt Display. Our goal to display a minimum of 150 quilts. We know that there are a number of quilters in our community today and we are looking forward to hearing from you. The good news however is that you do not have to be a quilter to enter the display. Perhaps you have a quilt that was made by a relative, a friend or neighbour. Maybe it was passed down or gifted to you? Do you who made it or anything about the materials used? Would you like to display it? What story does it have to tell? We'd like to hear from you.

Beth Abbott, a well known Fibre Artist, Quilter and resident of Godfrey has been providing guidance to the festival committee for the display, which we are very grateful for. It's also quite likely she and other knowledgeable quilters will be on hand at the event so you may have a chance to speak with one of them and learn a little more about the art of quilting past and present. The FHF will be taking place Feb 17-20 at a number of locations throughout Central Frontenac. The quilts will be on display at the United Church, the Anglican Church and the Masonic Hall in Sharbot Lake on Saturday February 18, and at the United Church in Arden as well.

We are anticipating a good response from the public and therefore we have decided to limit entrants to a maximum of 3 quilts per household at this time. For more information please call Janet Gutowski at 613-374-1355. There will be more information forthcoming on our website www.frontenacheritagefestival.ca and our Facebook page.

Gordon Wood is a familiar figure in Flinton. Partly that's because he's been there longer than just about anyone else. Also, whenever the weather is nice, even if it is a bit chilly, he can be seen rolling around the village on his motorised scooter. He enjoys the fresh air, and stops to talk to neighbours once in a while. Then he returns to the home that he built with his late wife Wilma in 1947, where they raised five children.

Gordon just turned 92 last week, and although he remains pretty sharp, he is “finally showing his age” according to his daughter Audrey, who lives in Cloyne and checks in on him every day. Audrey puts food together for him to microwave, deals with his medical needs, and makes sure he is ok. Gordon also receives a pension and some help, including medical devices, a new scooter every four years, and other benefits from Veteran's Services.

Although he has lived in the Flinton area most of his life, got married there and raised five children, there was a gap.

Gordon spent five years with the Canadian military.

He walked into the recruitment office in Kingston when he was only 17, and tried to sign up.

“They told me I was too young,” he recalled earlier this week, “so I came back the next day and they signed me up then.”

What followed for Private Gordon Wood is a classic tale from WW2, which has been told before in The Frontenac News and is captured on film in the archives of the Pioneer Museum in Cloyne.

On D-Day (June 6, 1944) he was still only 19, and that fact, coupled with the fact that over 72 years have passed since then, makes him a member of a dwindling club. It is hard to get an accurate count, but Veterans Affairs estimated that as of March of 2014, about 76,000 Canadian WW2 veterans remained alive, and at that time their average age was 91. Based on sheer demographics, that number is certainly under 30,000 now, and is likely much lower. As far as veterans of the Juno Beach invasion are concerned, the number is certainly dwindling. In an article in the National Post that was published 18 months ago in April of 2015, the number was estimated to be 1,000.

At the 72nd commemorative service for the Juno beach invasion, which was held on June 6 of” this year, there were 9 veterans of invasion in attendance, and only 1 Canadian.

J.L Granatastein, a popular Canadian historian, published a book on the D-Day invasion. He described the soldiers who stormed the beaches: “We also need to understand the great courage of all those young men who faced the enemy's fire and, conquering their understandable fear, stayed to fight and to support their friends and honor their country. A band of brothers? Without a doubt. Our greatest generation? Absolutely."

This puts Gordon into some pretty impressive company:

Here is an excerpt from the Frontenac News article from 2005, based on how Gordon described the invasion when he was 81.

After training for two years at Camp Borden Gordon was finally sent to England in the early spring of 1944. Three months later, Private Gordon Wood, by then an infantryman with the Regina Rifles of Saskatchewan (which he had joined while in England), took part in the landing at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.

“We had a rough landing. We came out of the landing craft in water up to our chests and had to run to shore with our rifles held up in the air.”

Gordon’s landing craft was among those in the middle of the pack of craft that came into shore that morning. “By the time we hit the water, it was red with blood,” he recalls. He doesn’t remember being particularly frightened, however. “I was too young to know I wasn’t invincible,” he says, “even though we lost a pile of men on that beach.”

After hitting land, Gordon and the other soldiers who had survived pressed forward, shooting as they went. “The first 24 hours were probably the most dangerous, but then things did settle down,” he said.

Gordon Wood spent the next nine months fighting through France, Belgium and Holland. He became a Lance Corporal and a Section Leader.

“We would advance for days and then stop, and then we would take a rest for three or four days when the supplies arrived, and let another bunch push ahead. Then it was our turn again,” he remembers.

Photo Left: Gordon Wood (top right) with his platoon mates enjoying the sound of music coming from a portable phonograph they picked up along the way

At one point Wood and three other men were captured. Since the war was in its dying days and the German army was in a state of disarray, the men bade their time until one night when there didn’t seem to be anyone guarding them, and then they made a run for it. They kept down, hiding in ditches and wooded areas, and eventually rejoined their comrades.

Again, Gordon does not recall being particularly frightened during the time when he was a prisoner, even though he says that “we knew that if we didn’t escape the Germans would have eventually kill us, but you don’t think about dying when you’re 20 years old.”

After the War ended, Lance Corporal Wood stayed on in Europe for a year as a member of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, spending some of that time as a guard in a prison camp just inside of Germany. In 1946, Gordon returned to Canada and was discharged.

It turns out that the minutes after Gordon landed at Juno Beach were not the most dangerous moments that he faced. Those came even earlier. In an account of the invasion that I came upon this week in research for this article, it turns out that of the boats carrying members of Gordon's company, D Company (nicknamed Dog Company) of the 3rd Battalion, two struck land mines about 250 yards from the beach, killing many, including the company commander and the signals commander. Only 49 D company soldiers even made it to the water alive. Fortunately for them, a soldier in A company, the first to land, lieutenant Bill Greyson, had found a safe spot after making it to the beach, and gauging the timing and direction of rifle fire, had tossed a grenade into a major German “emplacement” and the German soldiers abandoned it and were soon taken prisoner. All told, the 3rd battalion took 80 prisoners, with the 49 surviving D company members taking 20 on their own.

Since 2005 time has taken a toll on Gordon. His wife Wilma (Bryden), a school teacher who he met shortly after returning from the war at a supper and dance at the former Flinton Hall, passed away 9 years ago after a 60 year marriage, and he still feels the loss. He doesn't hear or see that well anymore, and struggles with Diabetes as he has for the past 30 years, but he still lives on his own and with the help of family and friends he lives a happy, independent life.

He said this week that he never has talked a lot about the war after he came back, and “just sort of got on with life”. He still thinks about the day of the invasion, however, on Remembrance Day, and on June 6 each year when he participates in the parade that the Tamworth Legion puts on. He said that he also remembers that day in quiet moments when he is alone in his chair, in the house the he built with his wife, late in the afternoons as the sun is going down.

Three years ago.

In 2013 Jan Miller published Dear George, a book about her experiences as a counsellor using Neuro-Linguistic Therapy. A the time she said the key to all the work she did was communication.

Three years later, now retired as a therapist more or less, Miller has published a new book, a mediation on her long-standing, recurring relationship that is called Wilfred and Me.

Miller met Wilfred at her first job as a Councillor. Wilfred was a deaf man in his early 20's who had recently been released from Rideau Regional Institution. He was few years younger than her, and he had no language. He did not know sign language and had not been taught any other way of communicating other than some basic gestures.

“Wilfred knew nothing about deaf culture, nor did I, and we both learned from some people from Gallaudet University, but we both remained outsiders to the deaf community.”

Years later, when she moved to Kingston she sw Wilfred again. He had also ended up in Kingston. She helped him get settled into a job at Shoppers Drug Mart, where he has worked for 16 years.

She was working with a program that helped people maintain their employment and worked with Wilfred. Over the years they have become friends and she eventually realised that she has learned a lot from Wilfred.

“The book started because he was having a difficult time. He has only bad stories in his life. So since he is an artist I said id he drew some pictures I would tell a better story about him than he had in his head, and it kind of took off.”

She said that the process of working on the book has been positive for Wilfred, and now that is complete it is time to celebrate.

Two events are planned for next week in Kingston, a book signing at Chapters at 2376 Princess Street on Thursday, November 24 from 1-4 pm, and a reading at Physiotherapy Kingston at 1469 Princess on Saturday, Novemer 26 from 1-4 pm. Readings will take place at 2pm and 3pm. Wilfred and Me will be available at Nicole's Gifts in Verona, Novel Idea and Woodpecker Lane Press in Kingston, and through Amazon and JanMiller.com.