Orangeville Living - Summer 2012

publisher’s note

Busy as bees

SUMMER 2012

We’ve been busy! We just published the 2012/13 Hills of Headwaters Visitor Guide, having spent a few months researching many of the amazing people in our region who make spending a day or two here such a fabulous experience.

So impressed were we at the work the Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association does in promoting the region, we invited them to share their regular updates in the pages of this magazine and our sister publication, Caledon Living. In this issue, they interview three people heavily involved in the local food movement.

You’ll find the Visitor Guide in stores and tourist information points around the region. This year it features the winning entry of our photo contest, along with the four runners-up. The winner was Tom Garnett from Shelburne—congratulations Tom! It’s great to see so many people out and about with their cameras, capturing the natural splendour of our countryside.

Have an enjoyable summer. I do hope you get the chance to meet some of the great people who make visiting and living in our region such a rich experience.

Katie Burchell, Publisher

PUBLISHER KATIE BURCHELL CREATIVE DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER SIMON BURN EDITORIAL TEAM KEVIN “CRASH” CORRIGAN ROBERT B. HULLEY RIC KITOWSKI JOCELYN KLEMM RICHARD VAUGHN DIANA JANOSIK-WRONSKI CONTRIBUTORS GEORGE CHURCH PROOFREADER SALLY MORELL EDITORIAL DESIGN SDB CREATIVE GROUP INC. ADVERTISING DESIGN & PRODUCTION CAROLINE SWEET, SKY CREATIVE GROUP LTD. ADVERTISING SALES KATIE BURCHELL BARRIE BURCHELL TRUDY GENTILE frontlinemedia1@sympatico.ca Tel: 905 857 2536 While every effort has been made to ensure that advertisements and articles appear correctly, Frontline Media cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the contents of this publication. All material is intended for information purposes only. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of its publisher or editor.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Owned & published by Frontline Media, 15 Hewitt Street, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 3A2 Tel: 905 857 2536 frontlinemedia1@sympatico.ca Orangeville Living is published 4 times a year (March, June, September, December) and delivered via Canada Post.

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contents

summer 2012 gardening 8 Water-wise gardening

2 easy recipes

food 24 Spinach

using a local super food

wine connoisseur 26 Wine for the grill community 13 Fiddling around 17 All the community’s a stage heritage 29 A visit to the museum motoring 35 Mazda CX-5 review

centre section Summer: The Hills of Headwaters

COVER

Spinach salad

5 minute recipe

Throw some fresh spinach in a bowl with a few chopped mushrooms, crumbled goat cheese, and serrano ham slices (broil first, until crispy, and break up into pieces).

Mix a half cup of balsamic vinegar and Greek yoghurt with one cup of extra virgin olive oil. Voila!

Exploring the importance of our food culture

quick dressing

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gardening

Water-wise gardening WORDS RICHARD VAUGHN

Here in Canada, a nation blessed with fresh water, we often take water for granted. Dry summers become a wake-up call, shocking us into reality. Municipalities institute water bans, wells run low, lawns turn brown and gardens wilt. Water, it seems, is not a limitless resource, even here in Canada, and we can no longer run our lives as if it were.

As water rates rise, summers grow hotter and drier, and people become increasingly aware of environmental issues. Water-wise gardening, also known as xeriscaping (xeri is Greek for dry), is becoming more popular. Simply put, many gardeners are searching for ways to have beautiful yards while using less water. The idea behind water-wise gardening is, in essence, to retain vibrancy while using less water and it’s easy to do.

It begins with plant selection. Many of the more popular landscape plants, as well as the verdant Kentucky bluegrass lawns we admire so much, demand well-moistened roots. They’re wasteful. But there are alternatives, plants that are hardier and require less water to thrive. By using a lot of these drought tolerant plants and planning correctly, you may get away with watering your garden as little as once a month.

Lawns are the first area to be targeted because the ubiquitous Kentucky bluegrass is actually one of the least hardy varieties available. When well-fed it’s gorgeous, but it rapidly dries out and becomes unsightly in dry conditions.

Try using hardier grasses instead, such as Buffalo grass, annual rye grass, or blue grama grass. All are drought resistant because they’re native to the prairies and, as a result, use as much as 60% less water than the average lawn. If you do have Kentucky bluegrass, it’s best to limit the lawn area. Replace some grass with a patio, deck or other landscape features, or make use of ground covers.

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When it comes to selecting plants for gardens and landscaping purposes, the best options will generally have broad roots, small leaf sizes, and waxy coatings on the leaves, all of which help them thrive in dry conditions and survive otherwise debilitating droughts. Bobbie Bennett, a member of the Caledon Horticultural Society, has to always be conscious of water use in the garden because her property depends on a well for all its needs. As a result, over years of trial and error, she’s found a number of plants that thrive in her yard, even with very little water.

“We have planted coneflowers in large areas around the garden, as well as coreopsis, both of which are drought tolerant. I plant lavender in clumps. Geraniums, both perennial and annual, do well in a water restricted garden.

Hollyhock, sunflowers, and butterfly bush all flourish in our garden. Marigolds are my favourite plant as they don’t seem to need a lot of water, are easy to grow from seed, which means I can get a lot for a small investment, and there is a good variety of colours,” she says. “There are a lot of hostas in the garden and they seem to be quite happy as we use mulch around them and we have several large trees to add shade. When the heat is really a problem, I spot water.”

There are a lot of other plants appropriate for a waterconscious garden as well. Annuals might include cosmos and nasturtium, while among perennials you can choose from daylilies, evening primrose, gayfeather, gaillardia,

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The use of rain barrels to collect precious rainfall and direct water runoff into planting beds is becoming more and more popular.

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penstemon, and sage. A lot of shrubs do well with very little water, but cotoneaster and junipers are particularly good choices.

“Don’t overlook native plants.” recommends Verna Jesperson, also a member of the Caledon Horticultural Society who, like Bennett, has to be water conscious because her property draws from a well. “Native plants are more adapted to our growing conditions and are available at Sheridan Nurseries, Plant Paradise Country Gardens, and Glen Echo Nurseries, where the staff can help with growing information. The ones I have in my garden are various lilies, black-eyed Susan, blazing star, bleeding hearts, coneflowers, bergamot, columbines, lupine, coral bells, iris, lady’s mantle, lungwort, Solomon’s seal, jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium, violets, bloodroot, cohosh, milkweed, joe-pye weed, hens & chickens (various succulent plants), and ferns. Something is blooming throughout the seasons.”

Jesperson tries to stay away from ‘needy’ plants like roses and tropicals, and limits her use of containers and hanging baskets since both dry out quickly and therefore require more frequent, heavier watering.

In addition to selecting the correct plants, water-wise gardening requires effort which begins even before planting. Plan your gardens so that there are groupings of plants with similar water, sun, and soil requirements. This will cut down on your work in the long run by ensuring the plants

Lavender (ABOVE LEFT) and coneflowers (ABOVE) are very drought tolerant and provide wonderful splashes of colour in the garden.

The collection of rain water is a hot topic for conservation minded gardeners. Rain water is healthier for plants, and a very easy thing to set up.

We like the Eco Options Raincatcher 4000 available at www.homedepot.ca for $89.99.

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are healthier and allowing you to treat entire gardens at one time, rather than laboriously tending to the needs of individual plants. In addition, mass plant so that there is very little open ground; this technique reduces weeds by eliminating places for them to grow, and helps to limit loss of soil moisture through evaporation.

It’s important to be vigilant about controlling damaging pests and weeds that put a strain on plants, and to enrich the soil with compost and other organic matter to ensure plants are strong enough to resist periods of drought.

Among the best things a gardener can do to conserve moisture is to mulch their gardens. “We use mulch to keep the weeds down and cool the earth so it will not dry out as quickly. All the leaves from last fall are chopped up using our leaf vacuum / shredder and put on the gardens. At the front, we use a mulch of pine needles which we gather from a very old tree in our back garden,” explains Bennett.

When watering, it’s most effective to do so thoroughly to encourage the development of deep roots. A light watering, even if done daily, does more harm than good because it encourages roots to grow towards the surface where they become vulnerable to heat. Shallow roots are vulnerable roots. Instead, aim to thoroughly soak plants once a week.

Irrigating with a watering can will help conserve water because you’ll target individual plants rather than large areas.

The use of rain barrels to collect precious rainfall and direct water runoff into planting beds is becoming more and more popular. Both Jesperson and Bennett have them in their yards. “We have 3 rain barrels,” explains Bennett. “One I keep next to a raised bed growing strawberries. It’s on blocks so gravity waters the plants and I have attached a weeping hose which winds through the bed. The other rain barrel is attached to the downspout and overflows to the next barrel, and all the excess of this is put through a short hose to the garden bed, and attached to that is another weeping hose. This one is used in my native garden bed, which is mostly in shade.”

Any article can only begin to touch on the subject of waterwise gardening. Thankfully, there is a wealth of resources available including magazines, books, horticultural societies and experts at garden centres, where one can turn to for tips, plant listings, and garden design suggestions specific to your own needs, desires and conditions.

Water conservation and sustainable landscapes are not merely environmental issues, but rather practices that can help homeowners more fully enjoy their yards. Xeriscaping creates a more balanced and ecological garden that not only requires less water, but is also more resistant to insect and disease infestation, requires far less maintenance, and can result in significant financial savings. Best of all, a water-wise garden can be every bit as attractive as a conventional garden.

Most casual observers wouldn’t even know the difference.

By using the right plants and taking a few easy steps, you can have a beautiful garden that thrives in even the driest of conditions. It’s well worth the effort.

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community

Fiddling around WORDS DIANA JANOSIK-WRONSKI

For all its ‘fiddling around’ so to speak, the 2011 61st Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship (locally know as the Shelburne Fiddle Contest) is a really big deal! It regularly attracts over 3,000 people to its competitions and related events.

In fact, people attend from all over Canada, plus some from the USA. Europeans and even an Egyptian have come as well.

Growing up in downtown Toronto, Don Messer’s Jubilee was a programme I remember watching on my parents’ black and white TV (with rabbit ears). I have vivid memories of him waving that fiddle in midair, and I wondered about the show with its coast-to-coast participants. Raised in a European household focussed on the arts, I never understood the cultural context of fiddling until fairly recently.

Now, having moved to a rural area, this event is a ‘must attend’ for all of us who enjoy country culture with its inherent lifestyle and pleasures. Last year’s schedule started in the Shelburne Arena on Wednesday evening with the brand new “Battle of the Bands” and culminated on Sunday with a pork BBQ lunch at the Fairgrounds. Since the event involves le tout Shelburne, most residents likely attended or worked at one of the many activities!

A competition not on its own The initial seed was planted in 1951 by the Rotary Club of Shelburne, looking for a fundraiser to support their charitable works locally and in the broader world. The answer came right from the grass roots at the time. In fact, the main debate centred on why would people pay to hear something in the arena when everyone in Dufferin County could hear it at home for free?

Why was fiddling so common in Dufferin homes? It comes from Irish, English and French early settler traditions which were adapted in the new land. Step dancing evolved along with fiddling, and is unique to Canada, appearing in three principal formats: Cape Breton Style, French Canadian Style and Ottawa Valley Style. Its origins go back to the ancient Gaels, or Celtic peoples, who covered much of Europe prior to the Roman and other invasions. It is described as, “A fast paced, rugged and energetic style of dance usually performed to traditional fiddle music and requiring limited surface movement. The dance is concentrated on footwork involving limited hand and arm motion.

Step dancing requires a board with a hard, smooth surface, character shoes with special clickers attached to the toe and heel, and music.”

Many fiddling contests include some step dancing com-

petitions. Saturday afternoon had two shows presented by a group of young fiddlers and step dancers called Rittmai with enough foot stomping and handclapping to please everyone.

In the perspective of this modern age, with our multicultural population and music appreciation via iPods and rock concerts, fiddling is now vaguely exotic sounding and it seems quaintly ‘down home’! In fact fiddling, along with step dancing, has enjoyed a recent renaissance because of the growing trend to embrace Celtic music.

In a very broad context, the Shelburne Fiddling Contest is now part of a circuit in Ontario, preceded by two in Orangeville last year. Other locations range from the Ottawa area, through Bobcaygeon, as far north as Chelmsford, and down to Wainfleet in the Niagara Region. Fiddling festivals are also scheduled out west in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Down east, the Maritime Fiddle Festival in July in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, claims to be Canada’s longest continuously running ‘fiddlefest’ (one year older than Shelburne’s), and was started as a small event to help build a community church.

A true community event Shelburne Rotary is the major sponsor of the event.

Rotary’s main focus is eradicating polio worldwide, but along with that come other humanitarian and education projects that they support. These include major commitments for digital imaging at Headwaters Hospital and renovating the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex. Brownies and Boy Scouts, local sports, local Police, Food Bank and Christmas Hamper programmes, military memorials in town and at Juno Beach, water projects in Guatemala and solar ovens to preempt deforestation in Africa are other fundings, to name a few.

The essential elements of the contest have remained unchanged since the first fiddler stepped onto the stage in 1951. The play downs still happen on Friday, although they now start in the early afternoon so that they finish before the sun rises Saturday morning! The finalists play Saturday night, interspersed with other entertainment. This format SUMMER 2012 ORANGEVILLE LIVING

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community came about because the CBC broadcast the Saturday night finals live until a few years ago, and I likely watched Don Messer there years ago, via ‘the box’.

Other supporters have since joined in and proceeds also help fund their work in the local community and beyond.

The Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 220) offers 24-hour meals from Friday afternoon, the Shelburne BIA (Business Improvement Area) has a Sidewalk Sale on Friday and Saturday in the main downtown area, Shelburne’s Kinettes have a daily food booth in the campground, and the Shelburne District Agricultural Society, Kinsmen Club, Lions Club and the Town are all involved. Wing nights, BBQs, beer gardens and tents, roast beef and ham dinners, a Saturday Open Air Market, and even homemade lunch and dessert at Trinity United Church all ensure that everyone gets fed to their liking and the festive atmosphere is upheld.

As the event has grown, so has the musical complexity.

Besides the main fiddle contests, fiddle jams and workshops plus entertainment from various musical groups are offered. No festival would be complete without a parade and this is no exception! The Giant Fiddle Parade on Saturday afternoon features many floats supplied by local organizations and businesses—with a fiddle theme, of course!

Rotary still sponsors the new Wednesday Battle of the Bands, the Thursday night “headliner” show (last year it featured Louis Schryer), the Friday “Fiddle Down” events in the Arena, as well as the Fiddle Championship Finals which take place on Saturday. The audience has recently benefitted from major renovations to the Shelburne Arena, with new enlarged viewing areas and improved washroom facilities.

Real fiddling The heart of the matter, of course, is the fiddle competition!

Over $17,000 in prizes are offered to encourage contestants, all donated by local businesses, residents and companies.

Fiddle competitions and awards start early Friday afternoon in a variety of classes. Some are age-related such as 9 and under, 10-12, 13-18, 19-55, and age 56 and over. (I guess you have to admit to your age when competing!) Other classes are Novelty, Duet, Gospel and Championship. Last year’s Fiddle Championship Finals were judged by Louis Schryer, Doug McNaughton and Karen Reed.

Behind the participants So who are the people who participate? A few short biographies will give you an appreciation of their passion and explain the kind of ‘grass roots’ event it still is!

Louis Schryer is eight-time winner of the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship, as well as being four-time Grand Masters Champion. He has played the fiddle, trained in both classical and traditional music, since age eight.

Louis was born in Sault Ste. Marie and now resides in Chapeau, Quebec. As well as judging last year, in Thursday’s show he performed accompanied by his daughters Chesley and Kaitlyn, both talented step dancers.

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Karen Reed, another judge, took up accordion and then fiddling at age four in Sudbury. By age six she was travelling to competitions. With her siblings, she won many awards and championships, ranking as one of Canada’s top fiddlers and a North American Champion. Karen is passionate about this traditional culture which brings people together with a sense of belonging, community and family. She is now a full time fiddle instructor, performer, fiddle competition judge, Director of the Orangeville Fiddle and Step Dance Camp, and is a freelance workshop and camp instructor.

Doug McNaughton from Stratford is a two-time 18 and under winner and has been a finalist at Shelburne for five years. He has performed backup with a number of country music stars and has been a studio recording musician since 1972. Doug has been a fiddle judge for 37 years!

Sam Nassey is fourteen and lives in Hockley. Studying classical violin since age four, he started dabbling in fiddling about five years ago and attended fiddle camp for fun. At age nine, he entered the Shelburne competition the first time—and was the best fiddle player from Dufferin! Not thinking he was so good, he left for home and received his award in the mail. Sam does weddings now, and has played at the Hockley Resort and in Calgary. He also teaches violin at Aardvark Music and Culture on Broadway in Orangeville.

Greg Williams comes all the way from Dorchester, near London, to participate. Greg has been fiddling since he was about seven or eight, and has been at it for eleven years. He has competed in the age classes, junior and senior duet, gospel duet, and novelty fiddle. Greg received the Invincible Vince Mountford Award for the Most Entertaining Fiddler of 2010, a title which he is very proud and honoured to have received. Last year he was an emcee and part of Saturday night’s show. Taking violin seriously, Greg is studying jazz violin performance at Humber College and he is a member of the Karen Reed Band.

Serious Stuff So fiddling is serious stuff! Once mainstream in local communities, it is now being rediscovered by converts.

The Shelburne Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship is one of the events not only keeping fiddling alive, but spreading the word about this traditional element of culture. Karen Reed put it best. One of her missions is that fiddling “not lose the place from where it originated, nor fail to serve its purpose—touching people, speaking into their lives, and echoing the voices of those who passed on this tradition throughout the years.”

If you missed it last summer, be sure to mark the 62nd Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship—August 8–12 on your calendar! This year’s Thursday night show featuring The Blazing Fiddles is on August 9th, 2012, presented by the Shelburne Rotary Club.

Tickets may be purchased from the website or by phone at 519-925-8620. www.shelburnefiddlecontest.on.ca

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community

All the community’s the stage WORDS DIANA JANOSIK-WRONSKI

You might actually say, “All the community is on the stage.”

And, moreover, the community is its players. My apologies to William Shakespeare!

Orangeville Music Theatre (OMT) is all about community, and community theatre is what Orangeville Music Theatre has been about since 1979. Like many such theatres, OMT has grown out of a smaller scale effort, starting as a choral group doing Gilbert and Sullivan in Orangeville’s St. Mark’s Church. The name was changed when they began doing Broadway productions. Orangeville Living took the opportunity over a Saturday afternoon coffee to speak with OMT President Lucinda Silva and Vice President Amanda Dempsey-Laughlin, and get the ‘scoop.’

They emphasize that OMT has grown because of the love, dedication, time and effort given on its behalf by the totally volunteer participants. And it’s grown fast in the last couple of years, from about 30 to 100 members. Not to mention audiences. In fact, the productions are so good that they have been mistaken for professionals! Winning the Headwaters Tourism Best Arts, Culture or Heritage Experience for 2011 award for Annie was recently added to their list of accomplishments.

Also, it’s not just the players on stage who are volunteers; there is much work to be done ‘behind the scenes’ and a host of skills are needed. “There’s a lot of talent around here!” says Amanda. Putting on any production requires a multitude of tasks being accomplished with ‘hands on’ for everyone involved. To start, a decision needs to be made about what production to undertake. Then there are casting auditions. Other responsibilities include obtaining props, making scenery and sets, and designing the costumes, to name but a few. And don’t forget the people managing the stage, sound and lighting during performances. To keep things on an even keel, OMT is run by a Board of about ten, including six elected members.

Sets are made in Lucinda’s garage. Amanda does yeoman’s service by doing the advertising and promotion.

Not only creating the handbills, signs and other marketing,

she was at Orangeville Farmers’ Market on Broadway on Opening Day, May 5, to tell everyone about their upcoming productions. OMT was also at the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce ‘Excellence in Business’ awards in early May. “It’s a full time job!” comments Amanda.

In terms of costumes, choreography, music and directing, an artistic team is put together for each show. For the June production of The Wizard of Oz, Andrew Cleveland, a York University theatre student, does the amazing job of not only designing outfits worn on stage, but hand sewing them himself. Another York student, Raeburn Ferguson, undertakes the choreography, a critical element in making a successful production. Besides fulfilling their love for theatre in a concrete way, both are getting valuable experience to fill their resumés.

Every year new things are learned! Some go on to ‘bigger and better’ things after a career start with OMT. Kyle Buchanan, for instance, now acts on TV. Professional names like Amy Wright have lent their talent and direction. These are but a few of those who have dedicated their free time to OMT. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre may have proclaimed the motto Totus mundus agit historionem, “All the world plays the actor,” when founded in 1599, but this idea has been attributed back to Petronius, a Roman courtier of Nero, and was widely circulated with the English at that time. Shakespeare’s famous lines actually alluded to the seven ages of a man, from babyhood to being an old codger, a popular concept then. In the case of Orangeville Music Theatre, the ages of the players range from six to at least sixty! As for children alone, at least 20 to 25 kids ages six to thirteen are involved. For them, the theatre is a safe and fun place to be, encouraging their creativity to the fullest. They not only build their self-esteem, but make important personal friendships.

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community It was OMT’s production of Annie last year which got so many kids involved. “Little girls came dressed in their best!” said Lucinda. The show was immensely popular; a total of 1,700 attended. “We even had birthday parties come and they were over the moon to meet the cast!” she added. “You realize the impact we had by all the “Thank You” compliments we received.”

Kids were so inspired that they wanted to be part of the productions. And that was easy, because OMT produces many family shows that Orangeville residents like, and present them at an affordable price.

This year, The Wizard of Oz will be offered in June and Lucinda is excited about all the younger talent on the stage.

“We have a great cast, and two Dorothys,” she exclaims, “ages 12 and 15, who are equally charming and talented, and have the vulnerability and likeability to make you fall in love with them.” “And I love my Munchkins. The youngest is six!” she continues.

Lucinda also says the story is very similar to the movie, “… with extra nuggets of fun. The trees and crows are all people. The entire cast is amazing.” Acting in OMT is so much fun, Lucinda continues, “The woman playing the Wicked Witch, Candi Zell, a seasoned actor who has always wanted to play the part, comes all the way from Toronto. And she’s not the only one from out of town!”

Previous productions have included Crazy for You, Oliver, Anything Goes and Oklahoma. Last winter, OMT’s production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which was a comedy and not their traditional musical, was amazingly successful.

OMT is also part of a broader community, as they are members of ACT-CO (www.actco.ca), Association for Community Theatres—Central Ontario. They recently took The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for adjudication there, an effort they find very beneficial as they always take positive things away from the exercise. OMT has been represented at ACT-CO’s annual gala by both that show and The Rocky Horror Show, earning a Thea award nomination for costumes for The Rocky Horror Show and 3 Thea award nominations for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, including Best Ensemble. As this was their first year participating in the ACT-CO Festival, it was a huge accomplishment to be recognized.

Speaking of The Rocky Horror Show, it will be back by popular demand for Hallowe’en. Look for it at the Horizons Event Centre on Highway 10, just north of Orangeville. The Rocky Horror Show is a licensed event! Patrons are seated at tables of 10, with food and drinks available for purchase.

They are encouraged to dress up and participate in the show by dancing along to the song, The Time Warp, shouting out when appropriate, and holding their lighters and cell phones high. After the show, the band plays classic rock until 1:00am and tables are moved back to make way 18

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for dancing. Last year’s show was so popular that it sold out on the Saturday night.

On the challenging side of things, despite its successes, OMT has no funding and no home. They use whatever stages and venues are available. “We have professional expectations,” says Lucinda, “and the real cost of putting on shows is high to meet those expectations. We have a long list of things required and the budget just isn’t here for all our needs.” They are very appreciative of generous support from sponsors such as TD Bank where Lucinda works. Other sponsors contribute at very high levels, such as Dufferin Storage Mart which helps out by storing sets and equipment, and both the Academy of Performing Arts and the Upper Grand School Board who donate space for rehearsals. This year, OMT will also be performing at the Jazz Festival in the TD Bank’s tent.

What’s on their future ‘To Do’ list? First off, since they are homeless, “Our ultimate goal is to have a home of our own!” Lucinda and Amanda pipe up in unison. They also really want a summer programme for kids to get involved in all aspects of theatre, as there is a huge demand. Finally, they talk about launching the new OMT-TV on their website to feature behind the scenes interviews.

In the end, it’s all about members just wanting to perform. Both Amanda and Lucinda have seen tremendous personal transformations in the journeys people have made as characters, from starting out shy to blossoming into superstars. The friendships and connections made are really important and last a lifetime. A good slogan might be the one repeated often within the group, “There’s no MT like OMT!”

Look for these Orangeville Music Theatre productions this year!

The Wizard of Oz – June 9 to 23, 2012 The Rocky Horror Show – October 19 to 27, 2012 And early next year …

Homechild – The Musical – January 12 to 26, 2013 Based on the true story of a family torn apart by the Child Emigration Movement in the early 1900s. This important chapter in the history of Canada and other British Colonies has been quietly ignored in school texts. 12% of Canadians are descendants of Home Children, so the story has wide appeal. This story is respectfully presented as a tribute to Home Children and their descendants. It was work-shopped at the Charlottetown Festival in P.E.I. and was produced in Erin, Ontario in 2005, Oakville in 2009, and Ottawa in 2011. OMT was asked by the author, Barb Perkins, who is a local resident, to produce this 4th performance of Homechild – The Musical.

For more information go to:

www.orangevillemusictheatre.com

John Paul Adamo, Hockley Valley Resort

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Now is the time to visit the Hills of Headwaters, and experience a sophisticated Ontario country getaway, just a short drive from the city!

In our inaugural issue of Summer: The Hills of Headwaters, we celebrate the bounty of the season and explore the importance of our food culture—from the farm through the restaurant to the table—a piece of the hills that is as important as it is delicious. We talk with Janet Horner, who helps run Whitfield Farms and Catering and who knows more about the local agriculture scene than anyone else; John Paul Adamo, owner of Hockley Valley Resort, is also the heart and hands behind the Resort’s 2.5 acre garden and their bid to serve 100% local food; and Beth Hunt, owner of the Globe Restaurant, whose own local food endeavours are rooted in the history of the area and her support of the community.

Each of them showcases the abundance and growth taking place in the region.

Welcome to the Hills of Headwaters, just steps outside Toronto’s back door, yet worlds away from life in the city!

The Hills of Headwaters Tourism Association Executive Director: Michele Harris Writing: Rodney Barnes Photography: Simon Burn

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John Paul Adamo

Sowing the seeds of community in the fertile ground of Hockley Valley Rows of dark soil running outside Hockley Valley Resort show the promise of the coming season. Young shoots tremble in the wind, glowing a fresh green under the new sun while gardener Santo Bartucci and Resort owner John Paul Adamo discuss the progress of their garlic. The 2.5-acre garden, full of Swiss chard, cucumber, kale, parsley, shallots, berry bushes and apple trees, among others, is now coming into its third year and represents the history, passion and commitment of its owner.

John Paul, a first-generation Canadian from an Italian family, grew up spending Sundays with his grandparents and eating what was harvested in their garden. This is where his food philosophy took root. Then, after years spent abroad studying cuisine in Europe and the United States, he took over his parents’ enterprise five years ago.

With the next generation came a new focus.

“My parents were all about growth and construction,” says John Paul. “For them it was more about building a legacy.” But John Paul is interested in a different sort of growth. Today Hockley Valley Resort is on its way to sourcing its food almost entirely locally, if not from its own garden, then from the multitude of farms in the Headwaters region. Part of this goal comes from his experience in Europe where he says, by law, restaurants have to grow and produce over 90 percent of their product, from olive oil to milk to making their own cheese.

“There are laws governing us that prevent me from going that far,” says John Paul, “but we want to get as close to that as possible.”

So the garden continues to expand. There will be 100 fruit trees by the end of this spring, he says, along with 6,000 grape vines being planted at the top of the property with the vision of growing into a winery specializing in sparkling wine. “I know maybe five percent of what it takes to grow. I’m not going to profess that I know a lot, but that five percent blows me away,” says John Paul. “The work that goes into our garden, the care and attention that goes into it, that takes a lot of dedication and effort, and we’re not in it for the money.

We’re in it for the joy and for the passion.”

Sourcing locally is not cheaper. It’s about 10 –12 percent more expensive but, if you can factor that into your pricing and make it work, he adds, it’s all worth the while. And the number of suppliers continues to grow with the opportunity for other restaurants in the area looking to follow suit.

“Four to five years ago, we didn’t have as many suppliers that were willing to provide us with product,” says John Paul. “Now, instead of us going to them, we have people coming to us. We have such a great region here in the Hills of Headwaters and we’re blessed to have so many great suppliers on our doorstep.

“And for here, there is no other option; for us, it’s what we’re about.”

The garden at Hockley Valley Resort

Beth Hunt

The Globe restaurant keeps up with the times by returning to its roots There’s a sense of coming home at the Globe Restaurant. First built in the mid-1800s, the Rosemont building was once a stagecoach stop and boarding house for the men laying down highway 89.

Once the highway was finished the Globe fell into disrepair before being bought by the Needles family who transformed it into a restaurant in the late 1960s. They hired Beth Hunt, who has since owned and run the restaurant for the past two decades.

What makes the Globe special is that much of the food on the menu is the same today as was served three generations ago, and most of it is sourced from local farms. “I think we’ve come full circle,” says Beth. “When we started here we were fully local.”

Then there was a stretch during the 1990s where Beth, and nearly every other restaurant owner in the area, went to the food terminal in Toronto for their produce. The best star fruit could be found there, plus year-round strawberries in February, and raspberries in March. It didn’t occur to anyone to only serve local preserves, or maybe apples, during the winter months, says Beth.

But the mindset has changed and it’s now almost offensive to offer anything out-of-season, or foods from foreign places. The turning point for Beth came with the E-Coli disaster in the U.S., nonfiction books that blew the lid off factory farming practices, and documentaries including Supersize Me. “I had a new baby and I thought—this will never go into her mouth,” Beth says.

And as this happened with her, it was also happening all over. Slowly local farms were sprouting anew. Where before Beth only found farms growing canola and other unusable produce, or items in quantities too small for her restaurant, suddenly she saw fields of usable goods and drove in to ask about buying them.

So the Globe has been returning to its roots, though it hasn’t been quite straightforward. People come to the restaurant for a certain experience, says Beth, and sometimes it’s in conflict with her moral obligations. “We might get three generations of one family with the eldest looking to eat the same things they did as a child, and to share that with their grandchildren,” she says. “It’s lovely, but it’s a tightrope walk. It’s a balance that I do every single day, to keep it as it was, but to make it as it should be.”

Beth is hoping she can wean the new generation into eating local, though she admits the price can act as a roadblock. “Some of our clientele will not pay what it costs to serve fresh Ontario lamb,” she says.

But she’s hopeful. A few years ago she helped start a nearby farmers’ market that, in its first year, ran several weeks longer than planned. “We were only going to do eight weeks but people were begging us to continue to Thanksgiving,” says Beth. “We burnt out; we were ready for a break. But there was such a demand we kept it going.”

What drives her is “The nurturing in me that wants to feed you and make you happy,” she says. “People are craving community connection and events. It’s good to take care of each other; it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Beth Hunt with one of her specialties, a freshy baked tray of biscuits.

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Janet Horner

New farmers are breaking ground on the local food movement There are few people more tuned in to local agriculture than Janet Horner. Co-owner of Whitfield Farms, which started out as a hog farm in the 1980s and 1990s before committing its 400 acres to grains and oilseeds, Janet worked for the Ministry of Agriculture before leaving that job to take care of her family. Today she is part of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, where she helps run courses for farmers from the nearby regions. She is also the Executive Director for the GTA Agriculture Action Committee, where she promotes local food issues, connects farmers with opportunities to sell into different markets, and works with the Farm Start program which helps introduce new farmers to the trade.

Having run her own catering business for over 25 years, Janet knows all about the local food movement.

“The funny thing is, because I’m a farmer, I have always believed in using local food to make my meals in catering,” she says, “because I know if we didn’t support our own farmers, they wouldn’t be here.”

It’s not just in Canada that the trend is taking off, says Janet, it’s in Europe, England, and Africa. “Everybody’s trying to eat food that is produced a little closer to home,” she says. “Some of that is because they want to know who the farmer is that’s producing their food, and some of it is they understand the connection between buying something in your own local community and supporting the economy of your local community.”

Janet Horner

And ‘going local’ is nothing new. “It’s just going back to what we always used to do anyways,” Janet says. “You always used to have a garden; you had your own food that you grew. We have gotten away from it and now we’re coming back to it and saying—you know, this was really important.”

With renewed demand comes opportunity for farms to grow, or shrink. Many of the new farmers—some who have inherited the job, while others have come into it as a second career—are not taking the traditional approach, or farming the way their parents did. “I see some of the new farmers being far more tuned in to what the market is demanding,” says Janet. “So people now, especially younger people, are saying maybe there’s a different way we should be going about this. Instead of shipping my cattle to Cookstown and taking what the market will bear, why don’t I try to sell those cattle directly to people, to consumers?”

All of this has Janet optimistic for the future of agriculture in the region. “I think in Headwaters we’ve got a lot of the right elements,” she says. “The whole outlook for agriculture in the next five to ten years is very strong. And I think it’s going to get stronger.”

SUMMER EVENTS June 23 QUILTS IN THE GARDEN TOUR Horning Mills Community Hall Board www.horningmills.yolasite.com July 1 SHELBURNE CANADA DAY CELEBRATION Town of Shelburne www.townofshelburne.on.ca July 1 DOWNEY’S STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL Downey’s Farm Market and Winery www.downeysfarm.com July 1 CALEDON STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL Caledon Fairgrounds www.caledonfairgrounds.ca July 6 and 7 ORANGEVILLE FOUNDERS’ FAIR & SIDEWALK SALE Downtown Orangeville www.discoverbroadway.ca July 20 to 22 ORANGEVILLE RAM RODEO TOUR Orangeville Fairgrounds www.orangevilleramrodeo.com

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July 20 to 22 ORANGEVILLE ROTARY RIBFEST www.orangevilleribfest.com July 21 and 22 CUISINE-ART Alton Mill www.altonmill.ca August 6 LE TOUR DE TERRA COTTA www.letourdeterracotta.com August 8 ERIN SUMMERFEST www.erin.ca August 8 to 12 62nd CANADIAN OPEN OLD TIME FIDDLE CHAMPIONSHIP www.shelburnefiddlecontest.on.ca August 8 to 12 MID SUMMER CELEBRATION Plant Paradise Garden Centre www.plantparadise.ca Aug 12 ERIN OPTIMISTS ANNUAL RHYTHM AND RIBS WEEKEND www.erin.ca

August 14 to September 2 SUMMERFEAST Throughout the Hills of Headwaters www.summerfeast.ca August 18 & 19 GRAND VALLEY RODEO www.grandvalleyrodeo.ca August 15 to 19 ORANGEVILLE SHOW JUMPING TOURNAMENTS Orangeville Agricultural Society www.orangevillefairgrounds.ca August 25 MUD HERO Albion Hills Conservation Area www.mudhero.com August 30 to September 3 ORANGEVILLE FALL FAIR www.orangevillefairgrounds.ca

For the latest event updates and details visit

www.thehillsofheadwaters.com

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Spinach baked eggs

This amazing leafy bundle of green goodness packs one huge punch for good health.

It’s available locally throughout the summer.

You should be eating as much as you can get your hands on!

Spinach and eggs are best friends

the perfect breakfast treat or tasty appetizer 24 24

ORANGEVILLELIVING LIVING SUMMER SUMMER2012 2012 ORANGEVILLE

recipes I food

Spinach WORDS + PHOTOS SIMON BURN

a local super food!

Spinach hummus RECIPE ON PAGE 26

Spinach is on my top 10 list of super foods. Its health benefits are numerous, and I eat as much as I can when available fresh locally. I love it with eggs. They really are the best of friends, and make a tasty start to the day, packing you full of energy and nutritous goodness.

To start with, spinach is full of calcium to strengthen bones. It has vitamins A and C, fibre, folic acid, magnesium and flavonoids—all helping control cancer, heart disease and age-related memory loss.

Spinach is one of the best foods to help prevent cataracts, thanks to a good dose of lutein found in it.

Sautéed spinach with garlic makes a great side dish; I often have it with a piece of baked fish. You can use spinach in sandwiches instead of lettuce, or as a salad. It’s also fantastic in an omelet.

I’m sharing two of my favourite quick-to-make recipes here as ideas to help you integrate this wonderful green into your diet this summer. Good health!

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wine connoisseur

Spinach hummus spinach chickpeas feta cheese evoo tahini garlic lemon juice turmeric nutmeg sea salt

1 cup, chopped 1 can, 398ml ½ cup ½ cup 2 tablespoons 1 clove 3 tablespoons 1 teaspoon pinch pinch

This takes just minutes to make, and is a fantastic healthy snack!

Wine for the grill WORDS RIC KITOWSKI & JOCELYN KLEMM

Drain the water from the can of chickpeas. In a food processor blend the spinach, chickpeas, tahini, feta, garlic, olive oil, turmeric, nutmeg and lemon juice. Add sea salt to taste. That’s it!

Serve with toasted bread or pita.

For parties, sprinkle some olive oil and paprika on top. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.

Spinach baked eggs spinach eggs prosciutto sundried tomato garlic evoo salt & pepper

500gm 4 large organic 2 slices 3–4 pieces 2 cloves 2 tablespoons to season

Prep time 10 min Cooking Approx. 15 min Serves 4 Equipment 4 ramekins, pan

Preheat oven to 385°F. Wash spinach and chop off thicker stalks. In a large pan add a dash of extra virgin olive oil (evoo) and throw in the spinach.

Place in oven for a few minutes until spinach wilts. Take pan out of oven, add crushed garlic and a dash more olive oil, stir until well mixed and spinach is glistening.

Lightly oil the ramekins, divide up the spinach into four equal amounts, and add to each ramekin. Chop up the prosciutto and sundried tomato and add. Crack and add an egg to each ramekin, then season with salt and pepper. You can also grate a little cheese on top if you desire; we used parmesan.

Increase oven temperature to 400°F and bake for 8–10 minutes, until eggs are set. Be careful not to overcook them or you won’t be able to dip your bread in—and that’s half the fun!

Serve with toasted bread rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil.

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Firing up the grill makes us think about new food and wine combinations. But cooking outdoors doesn’t mean we abandon our basic principles of matching, adjusting, and mirroring. They still apply; we’re just more flexible. Summertime is for relaxing!

The way food is prepared determines the intensity of its flavour, and grilling shifts the intensity up a notch or two. Add your secret sauce or spice rub and you’ve changed the balance again. Summertime grilling presents a lot of different food combinations, and many opportunities to put our pairing principles into practice.

Summer weights All foods have body and texture, a sense of how they feel in the mouth. The wines you choose should match the weight and texture of the food, neither overpowering the other.

Steak, for example, overpowers light-bodied wines, especially light-bodied white wines. Fullbodied, full-flavoured wines like Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon offer a more even match. However, the same wines would overpower grilled chicken, for example, which pairs better with light- to mediumbodied white wines like Albariño from Spain or dry Ontario VQA Riesling. Grilled shrimps or scallops are excellent paired with these whites, as well as sparkling wines like Prosecco from Italy.

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When grilling vegetables, mirror their natural earthiness with wines like Pinot Noir or slightly oaked Chardonnay.

Sauces and rubs Sauces, rubs, and marinades change the dynamics of a dish, and can become more dominant than what’s actually being grilled. Sauces and marinades can be light or rich, savoury or fruity, and creamy or zippy. Rubs can run the gamut from citrous, to smoky, to spicy.

With a delicate sauce like olive oil, lemon and herbs on grilled chicken, choose a lighter-style (more delicate) wine like Pinot Grigio. With a more robust sauce like soy, ginger and garlic, pick a heartier wine like Primitivo from southern Italy. If the sauce is fruitier, as some barbeque sauces tend to be, similar elements can be found in wines like Merlot or Malbec from New World.

Grilled fish or seafood with fruity marinades like a papaya salsa match wines with equally tropical aromas like Australian Sauvignon/Semillon blend or Grillo from Italy.

When grilling vegetables, mirror their natural earthiness with wines like Pinot Noir or slightly oaked Chardonnay, or add fresh herbs and match with Ontario VQA Sauvignon Blanc or dry Rosé.

Hot sauces are a challenge, as higher alcohol wines will increase the sensation of heat. It’s better to go with fruitier-style red wines like Gamay (Beaujolais) or Valpolicella for beef or off-dry white wines like Gewürztraminer if you are grilling chicken or fish.

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In general, summer meals tend to be lighter than what we eat in the cooler months. For a change, look for lighter-style red wines or even rosé wines from regions—for example the south of France or Sicily—that enjoy the summer temperatures all year long.

Up to the challenge The more elements there are in a meal, the more latitude you have for picking a wine.

When grilling a simple burger or steak, for example, with a fresh tomato salad and bread on the side, an equally simple wine will be fine, perhaps a light-bodied red wine like Chianti.

But if the meal is spicy barbecued ribs, served with a fully loaded baked potato and grilled vegetables, opt for wines like Shiraz blends (for example, Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre or SGM or GSM). Multi-grape blends offer a broader flavour profile and are equal to the stronger elements in these dishes.

Chill Your wine selections, white or red, won’t like the summer heat. It may seem obvious to keep your whites on ice, but do the same for the reds as well. It will accentuate the tannins slightly in the reds, but it’s better than serving warm, unbalanced wine.

Whether your tastes run to still or sparkling, red or white or rosé, there’s lots to choose from when you fire up the grill.

Richard Kitowski and Jocelyn Klemm are The Wine Coaches and authors of the best-selling guide to the basics: Clueless About Wine. Sign up for their newsletter at www.thewinecoaches.com

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heritage

A visit to the

museum WORDS+PHOTOS ROBERT B. HULLEY

The first thing you notice when approaching the Dufferin County Museum and Archives is the bright red roof of a building designed to resemble a typical Ontario barn. Award winning architect Carlos Ventin purposely designed it to reflect the agricultural heritage of Dufferin County. What better way to do this than to replicate such an enduring local image into a fully functioning Museum.

Built in 1993, the building contains 25,000 square feet of space, with four floors of exhibits and storage. Its striking architecture includes vertical board and batten wood siding, a metal clad gable roof, and a simulated concrete silo which is blended into the working complex as an art gallery, staircase and elevator to all floors. One of the outstanding features is that it also incorporates three other complete heritage buildings, the c1861 Rich Hill Orange Lodge, a fully intact c1850 log cabin and the c1882 Grey and Bruce Crombie train flagging station.

The Museum and Archives now hold a collection of thousands of archival documents and artifacts, including a glass and ceramic collection, furniture, wagons, machinery and agriculture implements, clothing and quilts, plus old documents and 6,000 catalogued archival photographs. The site also features heritage gardens with a rich variety of plants, trees and flowers, all native to the region. The grounds contain the relocated former Corbetton United Church, which was built in c1885. It is a small building, as churches go, and is clad in metal simulated to look like chamfered ashlar stone.

It is now used for private weddings and meetings, but not

for regular church services. The Museum also commands a striking view of the valley below, where a branch of the Boyne River flows, flanked by the escarpment and Singhampton and Gibraltar moraines.

There are many things about museums that people enjoy, but for me, I’m fascinated by what most people seldom see. Museums rarely show their entire collection to the public at any one time. In fact, experts say that, on average, only 10 percent of what is available is permanently shown or even occasionally shown in special exhibits. Dufferin is no exception and holds a plethora of items ‘in waiting’ in its Artifact Storage Room. Steven Brown has been with the Museum as Archivist since it opened some nineteen years ago and he seems to have an intimate knowledge of every item in the collection. He was born in Dufferin County and has always been close to the community. I made arrangements with him to have a look inside the storage room.

It turned out to be a history buff’s delight. The storage room was absolutely jam packed with artifacts including furniture, organs, farm equipment and implements, wagons, and a host of miscellaneous items too numerous to mention, SUMMER 2012 ORANGEVILLE LIVING

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heritage

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A successful museum evokes a sense of wonder on the part of its visitors while generating a sense of resonance. Wonder stops you dead in your tracks; resonance makes you think.

that the yield in these areas is as much as 25 to 35 tonnes per hectare, while the average yield in the rest of Ontario is 24, and only 32 for Canada. It is, therefore, quite fitting that some of the Museum’s artifacts relate to the development of the equipment and methods used in potato planting and harvesting. Potatoes are grown in every province and, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, they are our most important vegetable crop. And—I promise this will be the last of the statistics—their production and processing account for $65 billion in both direct and indirect contribution to the economy. Potato farming also provides employment to some 33,000 people, located mainly in the rural areas of Canada which, of course, includes Dufferin County.

There seemed to be something of interest at every turn in the Artifact Storage Room and it wasn’t long before I found the second item that caught my attention. This was a cabinet containing electronic equipment that had helped change the face of business in the late 1800s. It was a manual telephone exchange, otherwise known as a switchboard. I must admit, the last time I had seen one was in a comedy skit by Lily Tomlin where, as an operator, she would enquire, “Is this the party to whom I am speaking?” as she fumbled with her necklace.

Early switchboards in large cities were usually mounted floor to ceiling in order to allow the operators to reach all the lines in the exchange. The operators were usually boys who used ladders to connect to the higher jacks. This arrangement failed to keep up with the increasing number of lines and the Divided Multiple Switchboard was designed so a series of female operators could remain

ABOVE Eight-prong

potato digger manufactured by the Dufferin Foundry in Shelburne.

RIGHT Early telephone

switchboard with modifications, most recently used by the Orangeville Answering Service.

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all neatly stacked, itemized, catalogued and recorded electronically for reference purposes. In fact, with so much to see, one could literally spend days just poking around among its treasures. For this reason, I must be very circumspect and write about only three items of special interest.

First, in keeping with the agricultural motif of the museum, I thought the farming section might be a good place to start. It was just crammed with various styles of wagons and agriculture equipment including a shelf devoted entirely to a variety of plows. One, for example, was used

exclusively for cutting ice. Next to it,

looking very much like something out

of Star Wars, was what Steven described ` as an early potato harvester. With

some authority he showed me how this

piece of equipment worked and how

useful it was to the early farmer.

This particular potato

harvester, or digger, was

horse-drawn and had eight

tines that spread out from

the plowshare that dug into

the ground to turn over

a drill or mounded row of

potatoes. The tines or

prongs separated the

potatoes from the

loose soil and

deposited them at or

near the top of the

plowed row ready for

easy picking. This must have been a great improvement over using a spade or fork to dig out the potatoes, but a far cry from today’s computerized harvesters that can pick up four drills, plus 12 more that were dug in advance by windrowers. A modern harvester can harvest 80 acres on a good day, and can load approximately 30,000 lb of potatoes into a truck in about five minutes.

Most of the soil from Alliston through Melancthon and Mulmur Townships is a sandy loam over a limestone base, very suitable for growing potatoes. Local farmers claim

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seated and work

together as a

team on a line of

smaller boards.

They worked on

much the same

principle as the

one in the Museum.

In this age of

cell phones, it

may come as a

surprise to some

that the Bell Tele

phone Company

opened its first

office and exchange

in Orangeville in 1886,

over Mann’s Fruit Store at 167-169

Broadway, to meet the increasing demand for improved communication services. Bell’s arrival in Orangeville coincided with the economic expansion which started during the 1870s with the arrival of the Toronto, Grey, and Bruce Railway and the Credit Valley Railway. In 1883 both became part of the nationwide Canadian Pacific Railway. This enhanced the business community, as Orangeville was the most important town on the route between Toronto and Owen Sound, an essential part of the system’s functionality.

During those good times, many successful farmers, businessmen and professionals upgraded their homes as well as their furnishings. The Dufferin Museum holds many period items, from tables and chairs to sofas and cabinets.

The third and final piece I focused on in this trip to the storage room was a fine looking walnut cabinet on loan to the Museum by the family of W.H. Hunter. Of particular interest to me was that last year Dan Field (of Danfield Antiques) and I had found three ceremonial chairs, used by the Judges in the Dufferin Courthouse, that were either made by Jacques and Hay or by the Tunstall Brothers. Learning that this cabinet had also been in the Courthouse during W.H. Hunter’s tenure as County Clerk, I thought it might be from the same manufacturers. (See Orangeville Living, Spring 2011 edition.)

Jacques and Hay Company was the largest and finest furniture maker in Canada during the mid-to-late 1800s.

During this time they also operated a very successful apprentice system and two of their graduate apprentices, the Tunstall Brothers, had set up shop in Orangeville in 1862. Understandably, I was anxious to hear Dan’s appraisal.

But, after a detailed look, he was quick to say that sadly he did not think it was of Jacques and Hay quality. This was somewhat of a disappointment to me but Steven Brown, the Archivist, was a little more sanguine. “That’s what we do here,” he said. “Everything has to be studied and researched to find out what we can about it and accurately record what we’ve got. So actually we’re glad to have Dan’s opinion, even if it’s not what we had hoped for.”

Before leaving, I sought out Wayne Townsend, the Director–Curator, who has worked at the Museum since 32

ORANGEVILLE LIVING SUMMER 2012

1988, first in the old location and now in its new facility. He was born in Dufferin County and has been involved in a number of significant heritage restorations, including the Opera House and Market as well as the Dufferin County Courthouse. I located him as he was preparing an upcoming exhibit at the Museum titled, “The Beauty in the Beast.” It is a collection of art and artifacts, all portraying animals.

Wayne wryly quibbled, “What else would you expect to find in a simulated barn building but animals?” However, my current inquiry was about something not usually found in a barn. It was the Museum’s celebrated collection of W.J. Hughes’ “Corn Flower” glassware.

The distinctive 12-petalled Corn Flower pattern was developed by Hughes and had been the choice of Canadian families for almost three quarters of a century. Wayne has not only provided a lot of details and history about Hughes in his book, Corn Flower – Creatively Canadian, but he has encouraged the Museum to acquire a large collection of some 1,200 coloured and clear glass pieces of Corn Flower crystal or glassware. This collection is on exhibit each year from mid-August, and is always presented in a special themed event, often featuring other artifacts from the Museum’s collection.

Wayne took a break to show me the collection, and I asked him which piece was his most favoured. After a pause he said,” You know, I can’t say that I like any one more than another; I like them all.” I couldn’t help think that he looked upon the collection in much the same way as parents look upon their family.

The Dufferin County Museum and Archives do what most museums do well, providing a repository for artifacts and art and, in their case, even architectural representations of buildings that might otherwise be lost ‘in the sands of time.’ Stephan Greenblatt, the Harvard University literary critic, once wrote, “A successful museum evokes a sense of wonder on the part of its visitors while generating a sense of resonance. Wonder stops you dead in your tracks; resonance makes you think.” The Dufferin Museum and Archives seems to do both!

ABOVE Walnut

cabinet on loan to the Museum by the W.H. Hunter family

RIGHT

Wayne Townsend, Dufferin County Museum’s Curator

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motoring

Mazda CX-5 review

The CX-5 is Mazda’s new compact SUV and the first vehicle to fully reap the benefits of the company’s SKYACTIV fuel-saving technologies. This combines ultra-efficient engines, weight-saving reduced friction gearboxes/transmissions and free-flowing exhaust systems, together with some rather impressive lightweight body and chassis design.

WORDS KEVIN “CRASH” CORRIGAN PHOTOS GEORGE CHURCH

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motoring The vehicle replaces the well-loved, but rather long-inthe-tooth, Mazda Tribute which was the company’s badgeengineered version of the Ford Escape. Personally, although it sold quite well for a number of years, I never truly liked the Tribute. For me it was the odd man out in the lineup and simply didn’t mesh with the company’s zoom-zoom policy.

Of course, Mazda is now stating quite categorically that its all new CX-5 is a totally Ford-free product and bears absolutely no resemblance to any current model in Ford’s lineup. No offence to the blue oval, who make some fine products, but I’m pleased to see Mazda back in charge of its entire DNA. The new CX-5 is a pretty stylish looking vehicle. Perhaps not as sporty in stance as its closest relative, the CX-7, but the added height dimensions allow for some pretty impressive interior space for a vehicle of its size. The cabin area appears well thought out and employs a considerable amount of pleasant soft-touch materials. The cockpit follows along with this by demonstrating Mazda’s commitment to providing a true driver’s feel to its products. The CX-5 also features several owner-friendly niceties such as the quickpull rear seat fold-down releases on the sides of the rear compartment. These make gaining access to the full load capacity (966 litres) a breeze.

Now some may feel that there are already enough pintsized SUVs on the market today and, in many ways, I would agree with that assessment. However, this new offering from Mazda brings something slightly different to the table by delivering affordable/impressive agility to an otherwise rather mundane section of the market!

The CX-5 comes in three levels of trim, the GS and the GX (both available in front- or all-wheel drive), and the topof-the-line GT which comes only in all-wheel-drive. Pricing starts at $22,995 for the base GS with the stick shift (a great

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deal in my book), whilst the GT starts at $32,495. All models are powered by a 155hp 2.0L engine.

This power plant, although perfectly adequate, can hardly be described as high-performance—it’s aimed more at good fuel economy. The figures quoted are 8.0L/100km in the city and 6.4 on the highway and, tooling around in Dufferin and Caledon, I had no problem achieving a respectable average between those two. I’d term that pretty impressive and, although I might perhaps have wished for a tad more power at times, the CX-5 more than makes up for this with its astonishing handling characteristics.

After making that rather bold claim, especially when speaking of a small SUV, I feel I should perhaps expand on my reasoning behind it. You see, this was not my first ever experience behind the wheel of the new Mazda CX-5.

As some of you know, a few weeks back, I was invited to Laguna Seca Raceway in California for the North American launch of the CX-5. Now that’s the home of the famous Corkscrew (a devilish section of the track which has caught out many a renowned racer), and at first I thought it a tad strange to be introducing a new sports utility vehicle at such a venue. After all, we’re not talking of a Porsche Cayenne or a Range Rover Sport here!

Boy, was I in for a surprise because, along with piloting several CX-5 models around the course myself (one more epic race track ticked off my do-before-I-die list!), I was also treated to an amazing shotgun ride alongside a gentleman named Dave Coleman. Dave, as he likes to be known, is the company’s Director of Technobabble. Yes, you read that right! Mazda, being the rather cool, hip manufacturer on the block, decided to tag its man in charge of explaining the technical aspects of its new vehicles with that perfect job title. I like their way of thinking!

Anyway, Dave is much, much more than a technically

The figures quoted are 8.0L/100km in the city and 6.4 on the highway and, tooling around in Dufferin and Caledon, I had no problem achieving a respectable average between those two.

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educated mouthpiece. He has been extensively involved with the development of the CX-5 and, in particular, the underpinnings of the vehicle and its suspension setup. In many ways, Dave was the perfect man for the job as he boasts a rather extensive background in road racing and rallying—the man can drive!

Adding the fact that most of his suspension assessment trials were carried out at Laguna Seca, you probably couldn’t find a better guy to ride shotgun with around such a challenging course.

Of course, it might have helped a little if I had known all of this when I first slid in beside him. I simply thought he was a technically well educated man in a suit!

As many of you know, I’ve had my fair share of driving experiences. I hold a national race licence and can lay claim to taking third place in the toughest class at one of the most gruelling rally events in Canada, the weeklong Targa Newfoundland Rally in 2010, so I don’t exactly scare easily. However on this occasion, not fully cognizant of Dave’s credentials, I was just about ready to open the door and bail out by the second corner.

Dave had the little SUV four-wheel drifting into corners and I swear we went airborne as we dropped down into the Corkscrew.

I thought the guy was doing his best to kill us both, yet by the halfway point I began to realize that I was perhaps sitting alongside a possible contender for Top Gear’s next Stig. So I settled down and started to marvel at what this little pint-sized SUV could actually do. Yes, a tad more power would have made things slightly better climbing the hills out of the corners, but it wouldn’t have made a scrap of difference to the speeds in which we actually took those corners, that’s for sure!

Now this probably means very little to those of you out there contemplating the purchase of a new SUV. However it should, because phenomenal (and I mean precisely that!) handling on a track translates into exceptional maneuverability on the road, and especially when you need it most, like when you need to avoid one of those numerous idiots out there. (Yeah, we all know, there are enough of them out on the road today!)

So, if you are looking for a fun-to-drive SUV at some time in the future, I urge you to try out a CX-5. Don’t be shy, drive responsibly, but do throw it into a corner or two. Or even better yet, find yourself an empty parking lot away from all other traffic and practise a few collision avoidance maneuvers. Do this, and you’ll get a better understanding of what zoom-zoom is truly all about.

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