#SafeSummerinSF - A summer photo contest for the times

Jul 08, 2020

Last summer, the Township of South Frontenac held an online photo contest to help promote the township to local residents and tourists alike.

“Reports from last year show that the contest was pretty successful, said Amanda Pantrey, who started working in the recreation department this spring, as the events and programming coordinator.

“It has been an interesting time to start this kind of job, a summer where all the events have been cancelled, one by one” she said, in an interview this week.

Pantry knows this from an event planner as well as a township employee perspective since she is a key organiser of the Battersea Pumpkin Festival, which was canceled for 2020 in the spring, over 4 months before its October date.

“We did not want to start putting all the work into it over the spring and summer when we did not know if it would be safe to run it,” she said. “since then all the other festivals have been canceled.”

Her office decided to go ahead with the photo contest, however.

“It will look different this year, of course,: she said “it will be more pictures of canoeing and kayaking on our lakes, walking and cycling our trails, and less about other things, but I think it will be interesting to see the different images that people come up with.”

The theme of the contest is captured in this year’s hashtag - #SafeSummerInSF – which is how the photos are to be shared and entered into the contest. The contest runs until Labour Day, September 7th, so there is plenty of time to capture the essence of what is becoming a hot, dry summer.

Fittingly, the first photo posted on Twitter as part of the contest, came from Sydenham Girl, and is a simple shot of the water in a South Frontenac Lake glistening in the hot sun, embodying the relief offered by the lakes. While the photo is simple, in the context of a heat wave, it is a reminder of one of the assets in South Frontenac that is the envy of millions of people cooped up in large urban centres during a COVID-19 heat wave.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the entries,” said Pantrey, “they will embody our lifestyle in a different way than other years because of social distancing, but they will show off the natural beauty of our township, which is one of our greatest strengths.”

There is a $200 prize pack of ‘local goodies’ as a prize for the winning entry, so SF residents are encouraged to start snapping and sharing. Look to the township website, southrontenac.net, or to the twitter or facebook feeds for details.

In other South Frontenac recreation news, a decision about the opening of the South Frontenac Museum in Hartington is still pending.

“The museum is a township asset, but it depends on the members of the Portland District Historical Society for much of its displays and operating labour.”(who is this quote from?)

They will be meeting soon to discuss whether to open, keeping social distancing and mask wearing requirements in mind.