Spring In The Hills 2014

VOLUME 21 NUMBER 1 2 014

A

M A G A Z I N E

O F

C O U N T R Y

L I V I N G

I N

T H E

H E A D W A T E R S

R E G I O N

Dufferin’s new landlord Can Bonnefield be trusted?

Local food

How far have we come?

Personal trainers

Beyond the fitness fad

Swifts & swallows The Bruce Trail turns 50

your story begins... site planning design construction custom stonework water features renovations

what story does your garden tell? tumber.ca/yourstory 519.941.3867

Imagine

Paradise

Do you have dreams of a showpiece backyard?

Where inspired design meets expert craftsmanship, you can trust Blue Diamond Pools to create an award-winning poolscape, just like this one.

CREATION 쏍 RESTORATION 쏍 INNOVATION www.bluediamondpools.ca 쏍 705.726.3403

rose theatre presents

summer theatre series 2014 billy bishop goes to war #Z +PIO (SBZ t %JSFDUFE CZ %BOOZ )BSWFZ 4UVEJP 5XP | 5JDLFUT 1. t +6-: 1. t +6-: 5ISPVHI SBVDPVT TUPSJFT IBVOUJOH NFNPSJFT BOE WJCSBOU TPOH #JMMZ #JTIPQ SFDPVOUT IJT MJGF GSPN IVNCMF CFHJOOJOHT UP GBNF BOE HMPSZ BT $BOBEB T HSFBUFTU nZJOH BDF 1BSU NVTJDBM QBSU ESBNB UIJT JOTQJSJOH BOE QPJHOBOU MPPL BU B OBUJPOBM IFSP JT OPU UP CF NJTTFE

WS O H S 4 ALL ONLY

$115p!tion

bscri u S w o h 3S 7 from $8

SLEUTH #Z "OUIPOZ 4IBåFS t %JSFDUFE CZ 3PCFSU 8PPEDPDL

(&5 :06 3 5*$,&54

50%":

4UVEJP 5XP | 5JDLFUT 1. t +6-: "6(645 1. t +6-: "6(645 "O FDDFOUSJD NZTUFSZ XSJUFS MVSFT IJT XJGF T OFX MPWFS JOUP B UBOHMFE XFC PG EFDFJU KFBMPVTZ ESBNB BOE JOUSJHVF 5IJT FYDJUJOH FEHF PG ZPVS TFBU UISJMMFS JT B QV[[MF mMMFE XJUI DVOOJOH QMPU UXJTUT UIBU OPU POMZ CFH UIF RVFTUJPO i8IPEVOJU w CVU i8IPEVOXIBU w

drinking alone #Z /PSN 'PTUFS t %JSFDUFE CZ %BOOZ )BSWFZ

4UVEJP 5XP | 5JDLFUT 1. t "6(645 1. t "6(645 " NBO IJSFT BO FTDPSU UP QPTF BT IJT mBODÏF JO BO FåPSU UP JNQSFTT IJT WJTJUJOH GBUIFS " SPNBOUJD DPNFEZ TFU JO UIF NJETU PG B EZTGVODUJPOBM GBNJMZ SFVOJPO Drinking Alone JT FYRVJTJUFMZ DSBGUFE BOE mMMFE XJUI XJU BOE XBSNUI

you’re a good man, charlie brown #Z $MBSL (FTOFS t %JSFDUFE CZ 3PCFSU 8PPEDPDL .BJO 4UBHF | 5JDLFUT 1. t "6(645 1. t "6(645 'SPN CSJHIU VODFSUBJO NPSOJOH UP IPQFGVM TUBSMJU FWFOJOH $IBSMJF #SPXO BOE UIF MPWBCMF 1FBOVUT HBOH GBDF DIBMMFOHFT JO UIF QVSTVJU PG IBQQJOFTT 5IJT DIBSNJOH NVTJDBM JT CSJNNJOH XJUI IPQF IVNPVS BOE KB[[Z UVOFT 'VO GPS UIF XIPMF GBNJMZ

905.874.2800

www.rosetheatre.ca

Follow us on Twitter

Become a fan facebook.com/RoseTheatreBrampton

Building Concepts into Reality Pro-Land Landscape Construction Inc. has been providing complete landscape and design services for over 20 years. Our professional and personalized service ensures your landscape investment will provide you with value and years of enjoyment.

WWW.PROLAND.CA

905-799-6100

416-986-1210

CHANGING LIVES ONE SMILE AT A TIME ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR SMILE? Bryan wasn’t, so he did something about it.

Bryan, in his mid-50s, had not been pleased with his smile for many years. He had always wished he could improve his smile and laugh out loud without covering his teeth with his lip or his hand.

In addition to treating adult and teen malocclusions with Invisalign, he is utilizing it to align teeth for conservative and rehabilitative restorative treatment.

Bryan observed his children undergoing conventional orthodontic treatment (braces and wires) and the benefit this treatment provided – a healthy and pleasant smile.

The thought of straightening his own teeth with braces was not on his list of preferred treatment options.

WHAT IS INVISALIGN?

Bryan was introduced to a recent, treatment technique, called Invisalign. It accommodated his lifestyle without many restrictions or inconveniences. His resulting smile justified the treatment.

Dr. Richard Schmidt practices General Dentistry in Brampton, Ontario. He has been in practice for twenty five years with his wife, Dr. Tamara Sosath. His area of interest has always been Orthodontics and four years ago he introduced Clear Aligner Therapy (Invisalign) as a treatment option for his patients, to establish healthy alignment of teeth.

Invisalign is a method of straightening teeth without using traditional braces. It uses a series of custom designed, clear plastic, removable ‘aligners’ that gradually move teeth into their desired position. It has been used to treat millions of patients worldwide.

Invisalign can be used to treat simple and complex cases.

Most adults, and teens, feel uncomfortable wearing traditional braces. Invisalign aligners are virtually undetectable when worn. As a result, the treatment provides patients with the confidence to smile in their daily lives. There is less incidence of lip and gum irritation when compared to conventional braces. Also, the aligners can be removed for daily dental hygiene making the flossing and brushing of teeth much easier. Worried about the effects of the aligners on speech? There are none.

For further information, please do not hesitate to call us at 905-454-4703 www.dentistryat8nelson.com | dentistryat8nelson@hotmail.com

6

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

E D I T O R ’ S

D E S K

VO LU ME 21 N U M B E R 1 2 014 PUBLISHER | EDITOR

Signe Ball DESIGN | ART DIRECTION

Kim van Oosterom Wallflower Design O P E R AT I O N S M A N A G E R

Kirsten Ball A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

Dyanne Rivers EDITORIAL

Food & Farming We create incredible wedding and event cakes that taste as magnificent as they look!

Save the HST (13%) on your first order with Elegance You Eat. Free delivery : See website for details.

416.886.1438 | elisa.lattavo@eleganceyoueat.com www.eleganceyoueat.com

Wellness System - PEMF Magnetic Field Therapy

8

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

For the past three years, we have been publishing a biannual sister publication to In The Hills, called Food In The Hills.

Reader feedback to the new magazine was gratifyingly enthusiastic, and we loved producing it. But it was more than anything a labour of love, and this year we have sadly ceased publication.

However, we remain in these pages deeply committed to local food. As Janet Horner said in an interview for this issue, local food represents nothing short of a “global wave” of a social movement. We concur. The matter of what we eat and where it comes from is a matter in which global and personal environmental, health and economic concerns converge – in the intimate setting of our own kitchens and communities.

In this issue, Nicola Ross takes stock of how far the local food movement has come over the past decade in the Headwaters region – and discovers that while there are still many challenges, local food culture has put down deep roots in our community and they are bound to nourish its continued growth.

Local agriculture also appears to have received an important boost with the purchase by Bonnefield Financial of the Highland properties in Melancthon. Tim Shuff interviews the investment firm’s president, Tom Eisenhauer, who offers a credible case, backed by financial analysis, for his company’s commitment to maintaining those embattled lands and their precious Honeywood silt loam as farmland.

While the Bonnefield model signals a dramatic shift in the future of the agricultural industry, Jack Hostrawser explores the changing dynamic in a much more personal way. He pays tribute to his grandfather, a lifelong Caledon farmer whose death five years ago marked the beginning of the end of an era, not just in a way of life but in a family’s private history.

In another farm-related story, Liza Sardi visits Everdale farm in Hillsburgh. It is now the Ontario site of an exciting national project that aims not only to collect and preserve diverse, regionally adapted, organic seeds, but to maintain them in a publicly accessible seed library to ensure their continued propagation – and by extension, the security of Canada’s food supply.

And, finally, because food is, as much as anything, just plain fun, Cecily Ross describes her adventures in sausage making – an experience she elevates to a metaphor for life.

Yevgenia Casale | Jack Hostrawser Bethany Lee | Dan Needles Pam Purves | Jeff Rollings Cecily Ross | Nicola Ross | Liza Sardi Don Scallen | Tim Shuff | Ken Weber PHOTOGRAPHY

Gary Hall | Rosemary Hasner Jean Kerins | MK Lynde Robert McCaw | Pete Paterson Pam Purves | Donna Wells I L L U S T R AT I O N

Shelagh Armstrong Scott Langley | Jim Stewart ADVERTISING SALES

Roberta Fracassi | Erin Woodley ADVERTISING PRODUCTION

Marion Hodgson Type & Images EVENTS & COPY EDITOR

Janet Dimond WEB MANAGERS

www.inthehills.ca Valerie Jones, Echohill Web Sites www.kidsinthehills.ca Bethany Lee, Focus on Media A D M I N I S T R AT I O N

Cindy Caines | Sarah Hallett Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/InTheHills Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/inthehillsmag COVER

Bruce Trail by Robert McCaw — In The Hills is published four times a year by MonoLog Communications Inc. It is distributed through controlled circulation to households in the towns of Caledon, Erin, Orangeville, Shelburne and Creemore, and Dufferin County.

Subscriptions outside the distribution area are $22.6o per year (including hst).

Letters to the editor are welcome.

For information regarding editorial, advertising, or subscriptions: PHONE E-MAIL

519-942-8401

info@inthehills.ca

MonoLog Communications Inc. W W W. I N T H E H I L L S . C A

— The advertising deadline for the Summer (June) issue is May 9, 2014.

HARDEST WORKING. SMOOTHEST RIDING.

INCREDIBLE VALUE AND PERFORMANCE Sportsman 570 EFI: now with 44 hp, improved comfort and EFI!

ALL NEW Sportsman ® 570 EFI

ALL-NEW RANGER ® CREW 900

SMOOTH AND QUIET RANGER CREW 900: Our smoothest, quietest running RANGER ever

MID-SIZE VALUE, FULL-SIZE PERFORMANCE ALL NEW RANGER® 570 EFI Vehicles shown with optional accessories.

RANGER 570 EFI: Now with 40hp and optional Electronic Power Steering

www.polaris.com GREAT

BUILD YOUR PERFECT WORK MACHINE AT

POLARIS.COM

Warning: The Polaris RANGER® and RZR® are not intended for on-road use. Driver must be at least 16 years old with a valid driver’s license to operate. Passengers must be at least 12 years old and tall enough to grasp the hand holds and plant feet firmly on the floor. All SxS drivers should take a safety training course. Contact ROHVA at www.rohva.org or (949) 255-2560 for additional information. Drivers and passengers should always wear helmets, eye protection, protective clothing, and seat belts.

Always use cab nets or doors (as equipped). Be particularly careful on difficult terrain. Never drive on public roads or paved surfaces. Never engage in stunt driving, and avoid excessive speeds and sharp turns. Riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. Check local laws before riding on trails. ATVs can be hazardous to operate. Polaris adult models are for riders 16 and older. For your safety, always wear a helmet, eye protection and protective clothing, and be sure to take a safety training course. For safety and training information in the U.S., call the SVIA at (800) 887-2887. You may also contact your Polaris dealer or call Polaris at (800) 342-3764. ©2014 Polaris Industries Inc.

G N I C N && FINA S !

E REBAT ILABLE NOWOM C AVA RIS. A ALE!R POLA E T D I VIS FIND YOU R A O T NE

CONTEMPOR ARY HOME DECOR

G R A N N Y TAU G H T U S H OW.CO M 519 路 92 5路274 8 V I O L E T H I L L O N H I G H WAY 8 9 B E T W E E N 10 & A I R P O RT R D

Karry Kitchens & Bath Design SERVICE AND INTEGRITY Family Owned and Operated Since 1978

Also offering services for WALL UNITS and CLOSET ORGANIZATION

Visit our Showroom: 170 Bovaird Drive West, Brampton (just west of Hwy 10)

(905) 456-2943 www.karrykitchens.com

Hwy 10

Queen St

McLaughlin

Bovaird Dr W

Mon - Fri 9:30am - 5pm; Sat 10am - 4pm

10

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

I N

T H I S

I S S U E F E A T U R E S 22 DAVID PETERSON TALKS PAN AM

58 BEYOND THE FITNESS FAD

An interview with the Games’ chair

by Cecily Ross

Personal trainers take a holistic approach

by Nicola Ross

24 DUFFERIN’S NEW LANDLORD

Bonnefield moves to Melancthon

by Tim Shuff

72 SWIFTS AND SWALLOWS

Aerial acrobats

by Don Scallen

24

14

How far have we come?

by Nicola Ross 17

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Wood up

by Dan Needles

80 HISTORIC HILLS

82 HEADWATERS NEST

Packed and ready to go

by Bethany Lee

Linda Jenetti

The seed library at Everdale farm

by Liza Sardi

84 AT HOME IN THE HILLS

A touch of French countryside

by Pam Purves

50 A REAL GRIND 32

21 FENCE POSTS

The birth of Peel County

by Ken Weber

LETTERS

Our readers write

44 SOWING THE SEEDS OF FOOD SECURITY

Our favourite picks for spring

Caledon Bruce Trail turns 50

by Nicola Ross

D E P A R T M E N T S

36 LOCAL FOOD

MUST DO

66 GOOD SPORT

32 FIVE YEARS OUT

A memoir

by Jack Hostrawser

18

A primer on sausage making

by Cecily Ross

98 WHAT’S ON IN THE HILLS

A calendar of spring happenings

56 WHIRLIGIGS, WEATHERVANES AND OTHER WONDERS

110 A PUZZLING CONCLUSION

by Ken Weber

A whimsical exhibition at DCMA

by Yevgenia Casale

I N D E X 106 FIND AN ADVERTISER

58

You know you can trust Betz with your backyard dream.

Got a vision for a showpiece backyard? If so, you’ll want a contractor who’s an expert at interpreting backyard dreams. That’s why Betz has a landscape architect and team of experienced landscape designers on staff, so you can have your own award-winning backyard, just like this one.

At Betz, we simply won’t cut corners on design, materials or workmanship. For over 70 years Betz has been the name you can trust for creativity and quality. Guaranteed.

betzpools.com

Guelph 519.820.3190

12

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Toronto 416.798.7955

Oakville 905.825.5551

Stouffville 905.640.1424

the country estate, rethought.

This is Braestone. Located on 570 acres in the heart of the Horseshoe Valley, Braestone is an authentic reflection of refined country living with four seasons of outdoor activities at its

down home, up country.

doorstep. Horseback riding, Nordic skiing and maple sugar tapping are just a few of the many remarkables homeowners will experience living here. Braestone is coming soon, so register today to be among the first to learn more about this inspiring community.

12

N

o sh

e Lin

Prices and specifications correct at press time. E. & O.E.

rse Ho

ad Ro ey all V e 9t h

register today at braestone.ca

e Lin

homesteads on ½ to over one acre lots from the mid $400’s

8th

400

11

L E T T E R S

The Lodge at Pine Cove

It Was Body&Soul Retreat with Caledon’s

Renee Holden MAY 23 – 26, 2014 Relax, re-boot and restructure your body and mind at this 4-day yoga+ retreat. Join Renee Holden at the fabulous Lodge at Pine Cove where the combination of Renee’s instruction, nature, paddling, riverside accommodations in fabulous cottages, fine food and great wine will help you shed the effects of the coldest darn winter in decades.

Spring clean your body and your soul.

Wonrite the French River

Our Pleasure

Thank you for the incredible boost the cover and story in the last issue of In The Hills has been for DCMA and our book The Quilts of Dufferin County (“Stitches in History” winter ’13). Your support has always meant a lot to the museum, but this is over the top! I have heard such great public feedback about being included in such a great magazine.

I know you have heard it all before, but sincerely, a presence in your magazine is like having a community endorsement of quality and intellect!

Wayne Townsend Curator/Director Dufferin County Museum & Archives

I wanted to thank Tracey Fockler for including two of my books in her article “The Year in Books” in the winter edition. I had the magazine on my kitchen counter for a few days and hadn’t got around to reading any of it when a friend mentioned they saw one of my books inside. It was a very pleasant surprise to see there were actually two mentioned. It was great to see so many local authors in the area too.

Thank you very much for the article and for including me.

C. D. Wood Shelburne

Too

Puzzling

I regret to advise that the published answer to the question posed by Mr. Stuart to his class is wrong (“A Puzzling Conclusion” winter ’13).

The question was: “What is the total number of buyers who bought 6, 7, 8 or 9 fi llies?”

We can discount the 10 farmers who bought “less than 6 fi llies.” Eight farmers bought “more than 7 fi llies.” That “8 farmers” includes those who bought 8 and 9 fi llies, so the correct answer to the question is 8 buyers.

“Read the question” was the advice of my better teachers.

Charles Hooker East Garafraxa Ken Weber responds: Mr. Hooker postulates that the 8 farmers who bought “more than 7” fi llies include those who bought 8 or 9, and that the answer to the puzzle, therefore, is 8. However, that kind of reasoning should properly include the 5 farmers who bought “more than 8 fi llies” (arguably 9) which would make his answer 13. That aside, the answer provided unfairly requires assumptions outside the data presented. I thank Mr. Hooker for illuminating a flaw and apologize to puzzled readers. This item should have included specificity on the actual number of fi llies purchased.

Creative Writing Retreat MAY 9 – 14, 2014 Whether your interests tend toward fiction, non-fiction or memoir, this 6-day retreat is your chance to hone your skills with two of Canada’s foremost writers while enjoying deluxe food and accommodations at The Lodge at Pine Cove. This year, you will be inspired by Don Gillmor (fiction, magazine and children’s literature) and Susan Scott (non-fiction and memoirs), both accomplished writers and coaches.

The peace you need to find your voice.

Visit www.frenchriver.com or contact nicola@frenchriver.com for more information. httRated p:/ www.tripadvitop sor.ca/ShowUsOntario erReviews-g154979-lodge d276920-r182217651onThe_Lodge_at Trip_PiAdvisor. ne_Cove-Ontario.html 14

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

ONLINE IN THE HILLS We welcome your comments! For more commentary from our readers, or to add your own thoughts on any of the stories in this issue, please visit www.inthehills.ca. You can also send your letters by e-mail to sball@inthehills.ca.

Please include your name, address and contact information. In The Hills reserves the right to edit letters for publication.

Rest in Peace, Gertie Nixon In my “Historic Hills” column “Dominion Day Shock at Idylwyld Park” (In The Hills, summer ’07), I described the dramatic outcome of Ottawa Hunter’s unrequited love for Gertie Nixon.

They were teenagers who grew up in different rural areas of these hills and met in Orangeville.

Ottawa, then just 17, fell hopelessly in love, but Gertie, only 15, politely discouraged his attention.

Ottawa was undeterred and for two years pursued Gertie in a manner that would be considered stalking today. Things came to a head on Dominion Day in 1900 when he shot Gertie in the back at Orangeville’s Idylwyld Park and then turned the gun on himself. Ottawa died immediately. Gertie survived with critical injuries.

By the time of the shooting, Gertie had moved to Toronto (Ottawa followed) where she had found work as a dressmaker. They had returned separately to Orangeville the day before the Dominion Day festivities. Although I knew that after the shooting Gertie needed a wheelchair for mobility, I was unable to discover what ultimately became of her, and in the column I asked readers for help. Recently Betty Franklin, a volunteer researcher at the Dufferin County Museum & Archives who is familiar with the story, discovered an obituary. Gertie passed away in Toronto on July 28, 1948. She was 65. She had continued in her career as a dressmaker, used a wheelchair all her life, and never married. — Ken Weber

www.brutuschallenge.com

www.waynebaguley.com

16

I N T H E H I L L S S p r in g 2 0 1 4

A R T I S T

I N

R E S I D E N C E

from top Boyne River from 4th Line Bridge 24 x 30"; Tiber River near Monte Molino 36 x 48"; Olive Trees 48 x 60"; View of Todi 25 x 40"; Fifth Line, looking east 24 x 30"; all oil on canvas

Linda Jenetti In 2012, artist Linda Jenetti travelled to Monte Castello di Vibio in Umbria to study at the International School of Art. She repeated the transformative experience last year as winner of the Reed T. Cooper Bursary, awarded to mid-career artists by Dufferin Arts Council. Her show La Campagnola – the country girl presents paintings and sketches inspired by the rolling hills of both Umbria and her long-time home in Mulmur Township. Active in the local arts, Linda has been a teacher and enjoys plein air painting. La Campagnola runs from April 23 to May 19 at The Bartlett Gallery in the Alton Mill. www.thebartlettgallery.com; ljenetti@rocketmail.com

must do

A highly selective guide to the picks of the season.

must

must

read

This year’s One Book One County selection is Triggers, by award-winning Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer.

Chosen by the chief librarians of the Grand Valley, Shelburne and Orangeville libraries in conjunction with the staff of BookLore, Sawyer’s compelling sci-fi mystery thriller is the focus of the annual event that encourages Dufferin County residents to read one book together and join activities related to the book’s theme.

Catch up on the latest on Facebook/One-Book-OneCounty-Dufferin.

The big read winds up with a grand finale that starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13.

Guests can meet the author and mingle with fellow readers at Centre Fellowship Church in Orangeville. Tickets are $10, available at the Grand Valley, Shelburne and Orangeville libraries and at BookLore in Orangeville.

celebrate The Rock

“The land as old as time” takes centre stage from March 27 to April 13 as Theatre Orangeville presents Elvis and Mavis, playwright Jeff Pitcher’s tragi-comic portrayal of an unemployed Newfoundland fish plant worker and his desperate, off-the-wall scheme to fix things – to the dismay of his wife Mavis and her friend Rose. For information, go to theatreorangeville.com.

Then, on May 4, local friends of Newfoundland’s English Harbour Arts Centre present an auction, both silent and live, to raise funds for the centre, located in the village’s beautifully restored All Saints Anglican Church. On offer will be about 100 works by Canadian artists, as well as a stay at the five-star Fishers’ Loft Inn and a canvas that local artist Lucille Weber will paint as the event unfolds.

The festivities, featuring a live band, drinks and food, take place from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Ugolini farm, 2163 Highpoint Sideroad, west of Melville and east of Porterfield Road in Caledon. Admission is $10. For information, go to englishharbourartsassociation.com or watch for updates on Facebook/EnglishHarbour-Arts-Centre.

All Saints Anglican Church, home of English Harbour Arts Centre

must

bargain hunt

Whether it’s bargains you’re after, or special treasures, you’ll find plenty of both at Bethell Hospice’s Big Garage Sale and Bazaa Bazaar on Saturday, April 26. This family event will als also feature a silent auction, a barbeque, craft crafts and yummy homemade baked goods, w as balloon making and face painting as well k to keep kids of any age amused.

Note that the event does not take place at the hospice site in Inglewood.

Rather, it runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 19659 Shaws Creek Road, north of Beechgrove Sideroad in Caledon.

Admission is $5 per vehicle, and all proceeds go to support the ten-bed residential hospice and its community programs.

Donations to the sale are welcomed and can be dropped off at the sale site between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. every day from April 21 to 25.

Volunteers to help with sorting and selling are also welcome. For information, see www.bethell hospice.org or contact embirnie@yahoo.ca.

This silver tea set and full eight-service setting of Franciscan Desert Rose china, with accessory items, were donated to the silent auction portion of the Bethell garage sale by Ralph Van Dusen in memory of his wife Mary.

18

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

The Big Melt

must

feel wonder

Just as Mendelson Joe does – through his vibrant paintings of the northern Ontario landscape. From March 26 to April 20, the Bartlett Gallery at the Alton Mill Arts Centre presents Joe’s particular take on the wonder, hope and healing power of Mother Nature. Titled “Out of the Cage,” the exhibition highlights a softer side of the acerbic social critic who has been called “the quintessential outsider artist.”

The gallery will host a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 30. True to the artist’s reputation as a recluse, Joe won’t leave his beloved Almaguin Highlands to greet guests in person, but at 3 p.m. he will call in to share his insights via Skype. For information, go to www.thebartlettgallery.com or call 519-943-3800.

must

cruise

From classic cars to vintage motorcycles to antique furniture and collectibles, the brand new Hockley Antiques and Automotive Fair promises loads of good old-fashioned fun – with a contemporary twist. There will be how-to presentations and entertainment, and local restaurants will be on hand for a battle of the food trucks.

Entry is $10 per adult (children under 18 are free), but check out haafevents.com to find out about special entry deals and much more. The event kicks off at 9 a.m. on Friday, June 20, and continues to 6 p.m. each day through Sunday, June 22 at the Orangeville Agricultural Society Event Centre, aka the Orangeville Fairgrounds, on 5 Sideroad in Mono. Then go back for more this fall by attending an encore presentation of the event from Friday, September 12 to Sunday, September 14.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

19

Carrying on a family tradition for 3 generations DESIGN

I

M A N U FAC T U R E

I

I N S TA L L

I

905.939.9000 I

INC.

P R OV I D I N G R E L I A B L E A N D P R O F E S S I O N A L S E R V I C E IN THE AREA FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS

P H O N E 9 0 5 8 8 0 4118

20

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

7195 Highway 9 I

Schomberg

COLD C R E E K

COLD C R E E K

L A N D S C A P E & L AW N M A I N T E N A N C E

www.divadakitchens.com I

CONTRACTING

INC.

D R I V E WAY S , PAT I O S , A R M O U R S T O N E , R E TA I N I N G WA L L S , TREES AND SHRUBS

PHONE 416 200 4322

OR

705 435 3249

AUTHORIZED CONTRACTOR

F E N C E

P O S T S

by Dan Needles

I L L U S T R AT I O N S H EL A G H A R M S T R O N G

t ru e c on fe ssions from t h e n i n t h c once ssion

W

e have an old neighbour named Oscar who claims that up to the age of 12 he thought his name was “Get Wood!” He showed me the side of the house where he and his father piled cordwood in four rows six feet high every fall.

That was generally enough to get them through till spring, but he still remembers hauling a dead tree up to the front yard one April when they misjudged the length and ferocity of a Canadian winter.

Like a lot of the neighbours, Oscar gave his cookstove away to a hunt camp 20 years ago and installed an oil furnace in the basement. He put a little propane stove in front of the bricked-up fireplace and hung the axe over it as an antique decoration. Virtually all of the neighbours did the same, but my romance with wood heat continues to burn steadily, outlasting all other f lirtations. I had a few f lings with electric baseboards, air-to-air heat pumps, ceramic heaters and high-efficiency this and that.

But they all proved to be expensive disappointments and none of them handed out the fierce, bonewarming heat of a masonry stove feeding on chunks of dry maple and beech.

On a farm with fencerows and five acres of bush, wood is basically free. Oscar himself would say, “It’s like money from home.” Of course, you don’t count the wear and tear on the chain saw, the tractor or the truck, and never mind the weeks of bone-headed labour to haul three bush cords up to the house.

What else does a writer have to do?

Wood Up

My sons are both keen outdoorsmen. They’ve been handling wood for the stoves here at the farm since they were toddlers, but they don’t go out to the bush with me anymore if they can avoid it. If they do pick up an axe it’s more likely to throw it at a target on the barn wall than use it to knock slabs off the outside edge of a block of maple. If I press the issue, they say, “You shouldn’t be chopping down trees, Dad. Think of the biomass!”

Whenever I suggest a day in the bush I hear a chorus of “Woodsman, spare that tree!

Think of the biomass!”

I think of biomass all the time. Sometimes I wish public schools taught mathematics with the same effectiveness they teach recycling and endangered species. Whenever I suggest a day in the bush I hear a chorus of “Woodsman, spare that tree! Think of the biomass!” And they go back to their Xboxes to whack some more Orcs.

Biomass is humanity’s oldest fuel and it still makes up something like 75 per cent of the world’s renewable energy, three times as much as solar, wind and all other renewable combined. I know it’s bad for the air, but at least it’s CO2 neutral, isn’t it? Wood

only releases the carbon sucked up while the tree was growing, so the net effect on the climate is zero.

“Not so,” they say. “That’s just bad accounting, Dad. The tree grows over 75 years and you burn it up in a few weeks. Large-scale biofuel projects have been a complete disaster for the planet.”

But I’m not large scale. I’m a dot, an insect, a tiny insignificant f leck of dust, and the forest hardly notices I’m here. Besides, I like it. I enjoy the feel of wood chips flying out of the saw, the smell of dead leaves and moist earth underfoot. My excuse for going to the bush may be the firewood, but I’m also there to sit and visit in silence with the masses of purple violets and pink herb Robert. Like the coyote I only go after the sick and the wounded – trees with a bad lean or a rotten centre, dead elms and desiccated ironwoods shaded out by the tall basswoods.

These are also the most dangerous to fell and they test my nerve and make my heart race, which is always a good thing for a man my age. I lie awake the night before, plotting the precise angle of the cut and the shortest line of escape.

Songwriter Bruce Cockburn mangled an old philosophical riddle when he sang, “If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?” But his question is still relevant. In my experience, if a virtual tree falls in conversation on the Internet, thousands will hear and object violently. But when a real one crashes in the bush, chances are you will be the only one present and you will have to lug it home all by yourself. ≈

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

21

David Peterson

BY C EC ILY R O S S

Last September, former Ontario premier David Peterson, who chaired Toronto’s successful bid in 2009 to host the 2015 Pan American / Parapan American Games, was named chair of the Games’ organizing committee.

In 2012, the committee selected the Caledon Equestrian Park (CEP) in Palgrave as the venue for the dressage and show jumping events of the Games which take place next year from July 10 to 26.

The equestrian competitions include three disciplines: dressage, eventing and stadium jumping. About 20 nations from North and South America are expected to send horses and riders to test their skill, agility and endurance at the world-class facility now under renovation in Palgrave.

Improvements to the CEP, which will bring it up to Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) standards, have been underway for more than a year.

Costing over $11 million, they include new jumping rings, stabling, grandstand seating, septic and water systems, and a community centre.

Although the Canadian team has yet to be fi nalized, many potential team hopefuls and their mounts are from Headwaters and surrounding area. In Caledon the excitement is ramping up with the Town promising many leadup events to celebrate the sport and culture of the Games, beginning with a One-Year Countdown community celebration in July.

A long-time Caledon resident and avid horseman, David Peterson took time to speak with In The Hills about the impact the Games and the new world-class equestrian park will have on the area.

David Peterson and his horse Malibou 22

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

talks Pan Am What has your role been in bringing the equestrian events to Caledon?

I’m in the second phase of this. I ran the bid in 2009 and then I was dragged back into it last fall. Part of the process was allocating venues for the events.

There were three places competing for the equestrian events: a Guelphbased group, which made sense because of its connection to the veterinary college; then there was Peter Lush in Thornbury [Cedar Run], and of course the group in Palgrave.

The committee felt Palgrave was the best facility. But of course it needed a lot of work. Its proximity to the horse industry was a very important factor, as was its proximity to Toronto. In less than an hour you’re there.

Do you see the Caledon Equestrian Park emerging as Spruce Meadows East?

I can’t answer that definitively. I hope so, but it’s big money that drives these things. What we’re trying to do is develop facilities that will have a higher value going forward. This is not just a two-week project. The question is what’s in the best interests of the sport in the long term? The Pan Am horse events are some of the most prestigious in the world. It’s a big, big industry, so we want to establish the best legacy for the horse world.

What do you mean by legacy?

It means who is going to use this [facility] next year? Is it going to attract Olympic-class horses and riders in the future? It’s going to take drive and organization and big money. Who will raise the prize money and organize the shows? It’s going to take leadership. The committee thought Caledon was the best place to find this kind of commitment.

Building your dream barn in the hills

Proudly serving the Horse Industry by creating unique Equine Facilities Complete Restorations, Custom Plans & Worry Free Project Management Gary van Bolderen

Greg van Bolderen

horsebarns@dutchmasters.on.ca

705.737.3392

www.DutchMasters.on.ca

Dalerose Country_layout 13-08-23 11:37 AM Page 1

What specific benefits will hosting the equestrian events bring to Caledon?

I have no idea. But these things always benefit the community. It’s the same thing with cycling in Milton, where they’re building a velodrome, and in St. Catharines, where the rowing will take place. This is what the Games are about. This is the dream. I’m thrilled about the excitement in Caledon and about the community involvement. Getting these events is a huge gift with the potential to uplift the whole business of horses and the entire region.

Sure there will be jobs. Everyone can benefit. But you need an awful lot of local participation and volunteers to bring it off. I think this is going to be the greatest celebration Caledon has ever had.

Last Chance to Live in the Carefully Designed Neighbourhood of Credit Springs ONLY 2 LOTS REMAINING

The show jumping and dressage competitions will be held at CEP. Where will the cross-county event happen?

The cross-country will definitely be at Will O’ Wind Farm in the Town of Mono. There were problems with the negotiations early on, but it’s all been solved and we’re moving ahead.

On a more personal note, you live in Caledon and you’re a rider.

What’s your favourite equestrian event?

I don’t have a favourite. I’ve hunted for years. I’ve even won a few ribbons at little local horse shows. But don’t get the impression I’m a good rider. I’m a terrible rider. I’m not a fancy horse person. I’m a survival rider. My wife Shelley is the real rider. She breeds event horses and jumpers. She loves spending time in the barn.

I grew up with horses. My dad had a couple of old nags that he used to let us round up his cattle with. But it wasn’t until I married Shelley that I really got into horses. Because we were both busy people, we made a conscious decision to spend recreational time together and Shelley chose horses. So that’s what we do. We saddle up and go out and ride around and jump the fences, and have a great time together. ≈ Cecily Ross, a former Pony Clubber and lifelong horse lover, is also a freelance writer living in Creemore.

Dalerose Country will custom design and build your dream home.

All remaining lots are walkout and suitable for bungalow styles.

Prices from just under $700,000.

er Custom BUILT HOMES Sales Office located at 64 Broadway, Orangeville Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 weekdays, evenings and weekends by appointment

519-938-8417 dalerosecountry@bellnet.ca

I N T H E H I L L S S p r in g 2 0 1 4

23

Dufferin’s new Landlord

Tom Eisenhauer, president of Bonnefield Financial Inc., says that unlike hedge fund investors, his company’s investors are looking for the kind of steady, long-term returns more typical of farmland.

24

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

With its purchase of the mega quarry lands, a Canadian investment firm gained control of one of the biggest single blocks of prime farmland in Ontario.

Will the new landlord be better than the old?

BY T IM S H U FF

n the prime potato-growing soil of Melancthon Township, this spring marks a new beginning – in more ways than one.

When The Highland Companies announced in November 2012 that it was withdrawing its application to build a 2,316-acre quarry here, many celebrated the news as an interim victory – “interim” because they wondered what was in store for the vast lands that Highland had accumulated, and what would be done with the valuable limestone that lies below and had attracted the company’s attention in the first place.

Then, in July 2013, came news that Highland had sold its sprawling Melancthon holdings – about 6,500

acres in all, representing nearly half of Ontario’s largest contiguous block of prime vegetable-growing land – to Bonnefield Financial Inc., a Torontobased farmland investment firm that owns more than 40,000 acres across Canada. The sale was trumpeted as “one of the largest farmland transactions in Canadian history.”

Local residents, understandably suspicious of yet another investment company buying up land in the area, waited for the other shoe to drop.

After all, Highland had made its first purchases in 2006 and had taken nearly three years to fully reveal its quarry plans.

Bonnefield’s intentions, however, seem pure. The company’s stated goal

– “to preserve farmland for farming” – seems to signal a happy ending to the famous fight to stop the mega quarry.

Yet with the transition to Bonnefield’s ownership still in the works, much remains to be seen about how the details will play out. Melancthon is trading one profit-driven corporate owner for another. The fact remains that Highland’s purchase of these lands means their fate will be forevermore controlled by global market forces and outside interests, reflecting changes in agriculture not only here, but also across Canada and worldwide.

Some view the changes as a step forward in competitive efficiency, while others lament the end of the family farm.

P E T E PAT ER S O N

Fields of Gold In 2008, Bonnefield president Tom Eisenhauer was a Bay Street executive who had just sold his tech financing firm and was looking for new forms of investment. “[Tech fi nancing] was a lot of fun, but it’s a white-knuckle business,” he says. “I was just looking from an investment perspective for assets that are less volatile.”

Eisenhauer started looking at farms near his wife’s family home in southwestern Ontario as a personal investment. Along the way he became convinced that farmland represented a larger business opportunity.

“The average farmland appreciation rate in Canada is 7 or 8 per cent over 60 years. That kind of return with a low volatility asset sounds like a good idea to me,” Eisenhauer says. Bonnefield’s investor information says that farmland returns have beaten stock market gains over periods of 10 years or longer. In the nearly 60 years from 1951 to 2010, for example, the value of farmland in Canada declined in just seven years, while the value of stocks fell in 15.

Eisenhauer isn’t the only one to have discovered this. Farmland is what American fi nancier Warren Buffett calls a “productive asset.” Others call it “gold with a coupon” because, like gold, it’s a hedge against inflation and financial market downturns, while paying a dividend in the form of rent.

After the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–08, global investment capital piled into the relatively stable agricultural sector, buying up ten times as much farmland (about 111 million acres) in 2009 as in previous years.

“The long-term fundamentals for Canadian agriculture – with population growing, and diets changing in the Third World, and climate change making it harder for the traditional parts of the world to produce as much as they’ve produced historically – all those trends suggest a huge advantage in the future to Canadian farms and Canadian farmers,” says Eisenhauer.

In one of his investor presentations, Eisenhauer points out that Canada is sitting on 9 per cent of the world’s fresh water, and rainfall in this coun-

try is increasing at a time of projected water scarcity elsewhere. He also cites a 2011 Science magazine study that found Canada is the only country in which climate change is increasing, rather than reducing, agricultural productivity. All this is happening as the United Nations predicts that, by 2050, the world will need to squeeze 70 per cent more food out of existing farmland.

Yet farmland in Canada remains comparatively cheap. For a variety of reasons, Canada has been slower to attract corporate investment in farmland than other countries, and provincial laws have put large swaths of agricultural land – all of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, for example – offlimits to foreigners.

In talks with farmers, Eisenhauer also learned they have a desperate need to access capital by selling their land. But if they can secure stable long-term leases to farm that same land, they can continue operating without tying up all their assets in continued on next page

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

25

If [farmers] can secure stable long-term leases to farm that same land, they can continue operating without tying up all their assets in land ownership, giving them much needed money to pay debt or invest in equipment.

bonnefield continued from page 25

land ownership, giving them much needed money to pay debt or invest in equipment.

Meanwhile, the farm population is aging. In 2011, 48 per cent of farmers in Canada were older than 55, and many are counting on funding their retirement by selling land. Eisenhauer told The Globe and Mail that Bonnefield estimated that as farmers retire over the next 10 to 15 years, about $53 billion worth of Canadian farmland is likely to change hands. This opens up enormous buying opportunities for investors.

So instead of buying a farm only for himself, Eisenhauer and his business partners started Bonnefield Financial in 2009 and began raising money to invest in farmland in a big way.

In 2012, Bonnefield briefly announced, but then withdrew, an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The move would have allowed small investors and foreigners to buy shares, but the company elected instead to continue seeking money privately through “high net worth accredited investors and institutions.”

Bonnefield accepts a minimum investment of $150,000, and most of its funding comes from large Canadian pension funds, which in recent years have hopped on the farmland investment trend. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, for example, 26

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

launched an agricultural investment program and, earlier this year, spent $128 million to buy out Assiniboia Farmland LP, a farmland investment fund holding 115,000 acres in Saskatchewan.

Bonnefield’s early investments are already paying off. The value of its first limited partnership, a $26.6 million fund that invested in 15,000 acres of farmland, increased 61.29 per cent in its first three years, an annualized gain of 15.82 per cent. This meant that it significantly outperformed stocks over the same period.

By this past January, Bonnefield had established three farmland funds, raising more than $320 million from Canadian investors, both individual and institutional. About $260 million of this total came from its most recently created fund, Canadian Farmland Limited Partnership III, suggesting the company’s business model is gaining traction.

And this is how Bonnefield found itself sitting with multimillions ready to invest when Highland nixed its quarry plans. Eisenhauer, whose Stop the Mega Quarry lawn sign now sits in his Bay Street office, says he “smelled a rat” when Highland professed a long-term interest in farming, so he had a hunch the company would be receptive to the idea of a quick sale.

“I have yet to meet the hedge fund manager who’s interested in farming,”

IT’S THE MARKETING. IT’S THE EXPOSURE. IT’S THE EXPERIENCE! Call today, you deserve the difference!

905-584-0234 / 888-667-8299 Over 50 years of combined experience at your service!

Caledon, Mono, Adjala and surrounding areas.

www.remax-inthehills-on.com

D O N N A W EL L S

Chris P. Richie* Broker of Record/Owner chris@remaxinthehills.com

Philip Albin, Broker phil@remaxinthehills.com Sean Anderson, Broker seananderson@remaxinthehills.com

Dale Poremba, Sales Representative dale@remaxinthehills.com

THE TEAM ADVANTAGE k Chris P. Richie has consistently ranked in the Top 50 individuals worldwide he says. “It’s not a high enough return for them. Those guys are looking to knock the ball out of the park and make ten times the money, and you’re not going to do that in the farming business. Farming is all about steady returns, not huge massive returns.”

As a result, Eisenhauer told Wei Chen of CBC’s Ontario Morning, “I reached out to the Highland Group and said, ‘Look, if you really don’t have a long-term interest in farming these lands, maybe there’s an opportunity here for us to help you out.’”

Under New Management Bonnefield paid the Highland Companies “more than $50 million, a lot of money” for the land, says Eisenhauer.

This would put the purchase price in the range of at least the $8,000 an acre that Highland reportedly paid in 2006 and 2007, and is in line with the current rate of $8,500 to $10,000 an acre for prime farmland.

Most of Bonnefield’s previous land purchases have been sale leasebacks.

Under these arrangements, farmers sell their property to Bonnefield to free up some cash and immediately sign a long-term lease to continue farming the same land. “We like to know who the farmer’s going to be in the long term and to look at their farming practices and get comfortable with them,” says Eisenhauer.

So for Bonnefield, taking on 6,500 acres with no long-term tenant was uncharted territory. The company solved this problem by temporarily

leasing the land back to Highland so it could finish out last year’s growing season, leaving Bonnefield the fall and winter to find long-term tenants.

Bonnefield also had to take stock of a mishmash of new assets, including some 25 houses in various states of disrepair, vacant residential lots whose buildings had been razed in preparation for the quarry and 30odd farm buildings, including potato storage and processing facilities.

Because Bonnefield’s sole interest is farmland, the company set out to sell off as many buildings as it could. It also started introducing itself to the community and consulting with local stakeholders in a way that has earned quite a bit of community goodwill.

Highland-owned potatoes are still in storage and Highland employees still live in some of Bonnefield’s houses, but those leases will expire this sum-

k k k

k k

k k k k

of over 89,000 sales associates in more than 6,300 RE/MAX offices operating in more than 80 countries!

Get the advantage of a ‘Full Service’ team with over 50 years combined experience!

Our team has negotiated, on average, 114 successful transactions annually since 2000!

Regular massive print exposure within the north-west GTA and beyond. Second to none. Full-colour, full-gloss, advertising in Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Georgetown, Erin, Acton, Orangeville, Mono, Shelburne and Adjala!

Select properties will be included in the New York Times, DuPont REGISTRY, International Herald Tribune and The Wall Street Journal websites!

Re/Max listings automatically appear on global.remax.com, which means your listing can be found in 38 languages and 134 countries around the globe, together with www.remax.ca, perhaps the world’s largest real estate websites! www.remax-inthehills-on.com always representing a wide range of local properties and with a wide following!

Extensive virtual tours that include floor plans. Select prestige properties will be featured with ‘aerial virtual tours’.

Over $54 million in Sales for 2013. IT’S THE MARKETING. IT’S THE EXPOSURE. IT’S THE EXPERIENCE! Your property will be advertised until it sells!

*

*

Independently Owned and Operated

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

27

ONLY MAHINDRA GIVES YOU

7YEARS OF SAVINGS Save on Max28XL Get 0% interest for 60 months, 72 months or 84 months

Bonnefield approached NDACT – the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce originally set up to oppose Highland – which

ISLANDVIEW IEW FARM EQUIPMENT

urged the company to sell the houses

633520 Hwy 10, Orangeville 519.941.9098 islandviewfarmequipment.com

and vacant lots to builders to attract people back to the community.

* With approved credit. Program restrictions may apply. See dealer for details. † All offers expire July 1, 2014.

bonnefield continued from page 27

mer and new owners will take over.

It’s “the light at the end of the tunnel,” says one Highland employee.

The community feeling is one of relief, says Melancthon mayor Bill Hill. “We aren’t naive enough to forget that the resource is still in the ground. But I think the way that Bonnefield is doing it makes the chances of a mega quarry certainly reduced. Tom Eisenhauer made a delegation at our request to council so they could publicly go on the record and outline what their plans were.

Everything they said they’d do they seem to be doing and at this point in time we’re quite happy with them.”

Bonnefield approached NDACT – the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce originally set up to oppose Highland – which urged the company to sell the houses and vacant lots to builders to attract people back to the community. “There was very quick agreement there,” says NDACT chair Carl Cosack.

Bonnef ield quick ly sold some houses to three local developers. Two houses went to Shelburne lawyer Wade Mills and contractor Dave Clarke, who started a company, Farm Lane Properties, to fi x up and resell houses from the Highland sale.

“We saw this as an opportunity not only to create a business but also to rebuild the community,” says Mills, 28

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

who expects more houses to be on the block shortly.

Bonnefield, NDACT and Melancthon council are also urging the Ministry of Rural Affairs to approve rebuilding some of the 33 farmsteads Highland tore down, and NDACT hopes at least half of these will be restored.

So far, restoring homes and encouraging families to move back into an area that had started to feel desolate – one local resident described it as “like Saskatchewan” – is the most noticeable effect of Bonnefield’s ownership.

But the revitalization is also a sign that Bonnefield is acting in good faith.

The company is restoring a social fabric the Highland activity was destroying – and every new homeowner is an additional potential vote against a future quarry. “They’ll be new owners and new members of our community, and more tax revenue,” says Hill.

“That’s a good news story.”

NDACT is even work ing w it h Bonnefield to re-establish the natural wind breaks Highland had removed, and Cosack says the company has been “very accommodating” and “truly engaged.” He adds, “We’re truly grateful that Canadian money is back in this country. So far they have given us no reason to doubt their intentions.

It’s good to work with them.”

DAVID WARBURTON L ANDSCAPE DESIGNER*

D O N N A W EL L S

25 YEARS LOCAL — CALEDON — MONO — MUL MUR

Grow Big or Stay Home So far, the only complaint against Bonnefield’s tenure is that the land seems to have slipped permanently out of the hands of small farmers or those with a style other than what Bonnefield describes as “progressive, profit-oriented.”

One local farmer who was trying to lease land from Bonnefield and didn’t want to be named said, “I’m not sure there aren’t farmers in the area who could have bought [the land], but [Bonnefield] got the whole of it all.

No other chance was available.”

After selling many of the buildings and a couple of smaller parcels, Bonnefield was left with about 5,500 tillable acres. Last fall, the company proudly billed these holdings as “Dufferin County Farms” and issued a call for farmers to submit written proposals for leasing land in “one of the largest contiguous packages of Class 1 farmland in Ontario.”

About 25 applicants submitted proposals for working the precious Class 1 Honeywood silt loam. In addition to solid finances, successful applicants were required to exhibit “strong operating records, excellent land stewardship, and a robust plan for future growth and profitability.” The company narrowed the applications down to five local farmers who would work an average of about 1,000 acres apiece.

“We had hoped that smaller farmers would get a chance at some of the

leased land, but in the process that didn’t seem to happen,” says Cosack.

“We struggled with that, but business is business.”

Bill French, a vegetable grower who farms about 450 acres on County Road 124 in the heart of the quarry lands, is one smaller farmer who didn’t make the cut. “Us little guys that wanted to rent one farm [100 or 200 acres] didn’t get a chance at it,” says French.

“And I don’t know if I would have paid that much rent anyway.”

French says Bonnefield wanted a basic annual rent of $330 an acre, a figure in keeping with the company’s goal of earning a 3 to 4 per cent return on its investment. But tacked on to this basic rate was an additional peracre fee to cover taxes and so on. And when French found that the company would allow vegetables to be grown on the land only every third year, he thought he would lose money.

So when a nearby 93-acre parcel came up for sale, French decided that it made more sense to spend about $8,500 an acre to buy the land. According to his calculations, the interest payments on his mortgage for the new property amount to roughly what he would have paid Bonnefield to rent a similar-sized acreage, and the purchase means his equity in the parcel will grow with every mortgage payment. He acknowledges that other

*Inspired Design, Internationally Acclaimed HGTV, Garden Architecture & Mark Cullen Shows t Gardening Life Canadian Gardening t In The Hills t Style At Home t Victoria Magazine (USA) Country Living (USA) t Spring Garden Magazine – Women’s Day Magazine (USA)

Design/Build/Full Maintenance Eco-Swimming Ponds, Adirondack Arbours, Orchards, Vegetable & Herb Gardens, Hedgerows, Dry Stone Walls, Mixed Shrub, Rose & Perennial Borders

519-939-3600 www.davidwarburton.ca warburton @bellnet.ca

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

29

www.hughesrv.com

CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE SPECIALS Specializing in Service and Repairs for All Models from Trailers to Rear Engine Diesels and Horse Trailers Certified Centre to Check or Replace Your Permanent Propane Tanks / Fully Approved Centre for Insurance Repairs / Structural Repairs / Towing Systems / Generators / RV Appliance / Roof Airs / Awnings / Pre-Owned RV Sales / RV Storage Inside or Outside

519 - 94 0 - 4 252 1- 866 - 3 4 4 - 894 4 ORANGEVILLE

HWY 9

Townline

109

HWY 10

19th LINE

DUFFERIN RD 3

HWY 9

CALEDON 410 BRAMPTON

Located near Orangeville at 431139 19th Line

www.hughesrv.com

Headwaters Homecare PROFESSIONAL | RELIABLE QUALITY CARE FOR SENIORS Non-Medical In-Home Help | Bathing Meal Preparation | Medication Reminders Hospital and Nursing Home Visits Housekeeping and Family Support Available VAC Health Identification Cards Accepted

905-584-0124 519-217-7927

24 hour pager 519-939-7790 16265 St. Andrew’s Rd. | Caledon headwatershomecare@yahoo.ca

30

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

D O N N A W EL L S

SPRING INTO GREAT DEALS IN RV ACCESSORY STORE

bonnefield continued from page 29

farmers might do the math differently – and they clearly did, as Bonnefield seems to have found its tenants.

Still, French is pleased enough with Bonnefield as a neighbour. “I had a talk with them and they seem all right,” he says. “With Highland, you never knew where you stood. The stories kept changing. There was just something fishy going on from day one, whereas I don’t have that feeling from Bonnefield.”

The shift in land ownership and tenancy to larger farms reflects the same macroeconomic trends that enabled John Lowndes and The Highland Companies to buy up so much land in the first place. To remain profitable, farms are being forced to grow bigger, and not enough farmers have the money to buy out the growing numbers who are retiring.

Between 1991 and 2011 the size of the average farm in Canada increased by 30 per cent. David Sparling, a business professor and agri-food policy expert at Western University’s Ivey Business School, has spoken at Bonnefield conferences and has found that, to be profitable, most farms must achieve at least $250,000 in annual sales. And for the fi rst time in history, more than half the sales generated by Canadian farms now come from farms with total sales of a million dollars or more.

“As farming continues to become bigger business, it will have to shift away from the old model of farmers owning all of the land to one where they can lease,” says Sparling. About 40 per cent of Canadian farmland is currently leased, and this is nothing new, he adds. But in the past, land was usually rented from retired farmers or other individuals or investors who owned some farmland. “Bonnefield is just a more organized and systematic approach.”

Bonnefield has reassured the community it isn’t just another big corporation out to make a quick buck. Its rental rates are set to earn an annual dividend of 3 to 4 percent on its investment. This, as well as the appreciation of the land’s appraised value, is how the company calculates returns.

Aggregate mining and other forms of development aside from farming do not figure into Bonnefield’s calcu-

How Investors Care for the Land Bonnefield Financial shows every intention of being an excellent farmland steward.

The company’s rental agreements allow farmers to use the land “as if owned,” giving them independence and the stability of a rolling five-year term that adds a year to the end of the lease after each successful year – unless the farmer opts out.

Bonnefield president Tom Eisenhauer says the company asks just two things of tenants: pay the rent and adhere to the company’s standards of care, a sort of “farming best practices code” designed to ensure the land remains productive in the long term.

Motivated by Bonnefield’s hard-nosed concern for preserving the value of the land, the standards of care are a welcome reassurance that the company’s long-term interest matches its motto: “Farmland for farming.” Here is a rundown of the standards:

crops Farmers must provide Bonnefield with a rolling five-year crop, fertilizer and pesticide plan using the input of a professional crop adviser. To maintain soil productivity and to minimize soil pesticide residues and resistant pest infestations, crops must be rotated every two or three years.

pesticides Every year farmers must provide Bonnefield with a list of all pesticides applied, as well as a proposed pesticide-use plan. water Buffer strips from surface water must be maintained. Fields near watercourses must be maintained and drainage systems kept unobstructed. soil Soil erosion must be minimized through good tillage practices and maintenance of existing watercourses and drainage areas. Farmers must ensure that soil is tested every three years and manage soil inputs according to the results. trees Farmers must not cut trees for the purpose of sale or personal use. noise Farming operations must not cause “undue noise or other nuisance.”

lations, says Eisenhauer. Nor does f lipping the land to realize paper gains in the short term. As for wind power development? “It’s my belief that the practical likelihood is nil,” he says. “It would be a brave, brave wind developer who tried to set foot in that community again.”

Eisenhauer is adamant that Bonnefield’s big institutional investors are in for the long haul – “minimum 20 years” – with all the patience in the world to reap the benefits of farmland’s steady payoff.

Bonnefield’s arrival certainly seems to be a win for area farmers, especially those large and “progressive, profitoriented” enough to benefit from leasing. For smaller operators like Bill French and his neighbour Ralph

learn more Tom Eisenhauer, president of Bonnefield Financial, and Steve Peters, executive director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Producers, will be featured speakers at a public meeting organized by the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce and Food and Water First. The meeting takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, in the Town and Country Room of the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex, 200 Fiddlepark Lane, Shelburne. Because space is limited, those who wish to attend are advised to register and reserve spots at www.ndact.com.

Armstrong, who continue to own all the land they farm, it may be enough to know that the surrounding fields won’t be blasted into a quarry, threatening their well water and their peaceful way of life.

Armstrong, 72, raises livestock on 200 acres in much the same way as five generations of his family have since settling here in 1853. He fought hard against the quarry but now views the Bonnefield regime and the changes it represents with equanimity.

“A few generations ago we came over here so we could own the land ourselves,” he says. “Now we’re going back to where the moneyed people are going to own the land and farmers are just going to work the land. It’s just like nobody can build a car by themselves. It’s got to be a corporation doing it. Agriculture is getting to be the same way.” ≈ Tim Shuff is a freelance writer who has been reporting for this magazine on the Melancthon quarry lands and local aggregate concerns for several years. His first story on the quarry lands, “High Stakes in the High County,” appeared in autumn 2009.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

31

SUNSHINE TREES

Supply plant and transplant services.

Various size trees and spades available.

1.800.361.5296 www.sunshinetreeplanting.com

five Years ut O

a Memoir

BY J AC K H OS T R AW SER

Ladies Only

Opening May 1st 30% Discount on all Services for the first 50 Customers Nail Care • Body Massage Facial • Permanent Makeup Eyelash • Hair 873273 5th Line, Mono

Bus 519-941-7713 Cell 519-939-1558 (by appointment only)

32

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

nce upon a t i me, t he American writer Cormac McCarthy said that if you aren’t writing about death then you aren’t writing about anything worth writing about. I guess the idea there is that we define life against death.

Everything we do, everything we value and hold dear – and the reason we hold it dear – springs from our mortality. In a great little book by Roland Barthes, called Camera Lucida, he looks into photos of long dead people and wonders why he is alive “here and now” – leaving unasked the question of why his beloved mother is not.

This spring marks five years since my grandfather died. People traditionally observe anniversaries in multiples of five for some reason. I don’t know exactly why. The 63rd anniversary of a company just feels less interesting than the 60th. So this is in keeping with tradition: Five years ago, in April, my father found his father dead behind the barn. It was evening. I remember a deep iodine sunset – through which, by coincidence, I went out on my first licensed motorcycle ride. There are always little coincidences.

It was fitting, the way it happened.

A heart attack, while taking trash out to the burn pile (environmentalism was for a later generation). The coroner suggested it happened so fast he probably died before he hit the ground. A quick exit.

In his fi nal years, he would sometimes tell us just to toss him over a hill out back when his time came and forget about the whole matter, but I think that was probably illegal. It could have been he believed in being gone once you’re gone. A clean break.

But by the end the whole farm was haunted by his presence – not literally, of course, but made up of his living memory. Perhaps what he meant was that our actions make us up, and our bodies are disposable.

This was his farm for decades and, like some Sunday school parable, his handiwork was palpable in every part of it. He chored as much as he could until he died. As his body grew older he slowly put more and more of himself into his work, building up this living landscape of memory. Even the sound of the old ATV holds a memory of him, puttering in on it from his little house next door every morning.

He and my grandmother traded the farmhouse for that little one when my dad took over and started having kids.

I’ve pulled out all these pictures from the photo cabinet for research, from the time before we had these nice, organized digital cameras. Shots of motorcycle races are mixed haphazardly with birthdays. Wedding shots are mixed with shots of the living room as it was being renovated in the ’90s. When the wallpaper was torn down we found graffiti my dad and his friends had made as teens, back when the old paper was fi rst put up.

For fun we all traced ourselves onto the walls before re-papering them. A family of silhouettes, as if all of us had stepped out of the picture and wandered off like ghosts.

None of us kids will inherit the farm. The quota has just been sold and the land will follow in time. My grandfather expected this, having moved here mid-century from the lands now under the Chrysler plant in Brampton. He figured the small dairy farmer would get squeezed out. Rising production costs, more complicated equipment, more stringent regulations – eventually it becomes too expensive to compete. But, that said, I can’t shake my guilt entirely.

It wasn’t until he died that I began to realize just how much we are shaped by our past. I gazed backward from

WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN AHEAD OF OUR TIME. EVEN BEFORE YOURS. From our first days as a hay and grain business in the 1920s, Bryan’s has looked forward, continually evolving to provide emerging technology from coal to oil to today’s state-of-theart home comfort solutions. Yet one thing hasn’t changed: our respect for the customer — a philosophy that goes back to when a steam-driven hay press was a high-tech wonder in the world’s eyes, and many of you weren’t yet a twinkle in anyone’s eyes.

An aerial photo of the Hostrawser farm near Cheltenham as it was in the 1950s.

The writer’s grandfather steps into the milk house on a long-ago spring day, while his siblings look on.

Thanks for helping us continue to keep you at the leading edge of comfort, today and for the very foreseeable future.

Wolverine Hay Press belonging to R.D. Bryan, founder of Bryan’s Grain and Coal, c. 1920s.

Celebrating

this bright future I have imagined for myself to see my past collapsing behind me. It wasn’t until then I really absorbed what it meant that his farm would be ploughed under, the barn pulled down, and the house abandoned and demolished. Every time I see his picture I wish I could ask how he felt about that. But the photos seem to look past me.

When a loved one dies, people appear and begin to tell their stories. It came up eventually that my grandfather had once offered my little brother twenty dollars to touch an electric bug zapper. My brother got the money and my grandfather thought it was just about the funniest thing he’d seen. I never saw that side of him.

Later, as I began to explore the photos and stories he left behind, I realized that, despite all those years and years of seeing him come down the driveway each morning, I hardly knew him at all.

So five years, then. In the time since his death, I have made a point of growing close to my surviving grandmother. She shows me glimpses into the past, into his life and her own.

It’s a frustratingly small window, but it helps. It helps to see what I missed, if only so I can miss it. I think the

greatest gift in a loved one’s death is grief. It’s a whole lifetime of emotion in one moment. I didn’t realize, that night in April, what I had lost, but I recovered something in my decision not to miss out knowing my grandmother. I owe my mindfulness to him.

A story: On his first day of high school, my grandpa climbed to the top of a hill on the playground and dared anyone to bring him down. He fought every boy who tried and beat every one. Or so it goes.

About a month or so before he died, he started getting me to help him take the trash back for burning, when I was around. It took him forever to lift himself off the ATV, his legs stiff and fi lled with hardware. He would have me dump the barrels with him to save himself effort. One day I hugged him – briefly, awkwardly. I wanted to make sure I did that at least once before he died, knowing it would be sooner or later. He didn’t seem to know how to react. There was no special moment.

The hug was stupid and I knew that. I like to think we said more, really, every day when we waved to each other as he puttered out the lane after chores.

The minister who presided at his funeral mentioned to us that she had

Years of Service

519-941-2401 | 1-800-637-5910 | bryansfuel.on.ca

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

33

A lifestyle well earned At Kingsmere, we’re proud to serve homettown treasure Joe McCarroll. A lifelong residen nt of Alliston, Joe served with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in Europe durin ng World War Two. He’s been active in the Alliston Legion since that time and acted d as Chairman of the Building Committeee for the Stevenson Memorial Hospital. Joe and his beloved wife Angelina raised two sons and two daughters in Alliston and many people will fondly remember the family butcher shop - McCarroll’s Meats - which closed upon Joe’s retirement in 1984. For his community contributions, Joe has been inducted into the Alliston Hall of Fame. For all he’s brought to Alliston, Joe deserves the wonderfu ul retirement lifestyle that Kingsmere has to offer and we feel privileged to consider hiim part of the Kingsmere family.

We’re honoured to serve all the residents of Alliston. Want to find out how great life here can be? Call to set up your personal visit at 705.434.4600.

287 King Street South Alliston, Ontario L9R OC4

t www.KingsmereSuites.ca

memoir continued from page 33

barely known him despite my grandmother’s being in the choir. He came to her first service and shook her hand afterwards, saying it was nice to meet her but “you’ll never see me again.� And she didn’t.

He was like that. I don’t think that my grandfather had much time for angels. His life was earthly. It was the earth. He lost an eye and a fingertip and had two knees replaced and his hip rebuilt and was run over by a tractor during his career. After the tractor incident he told my grandmother he had just hurt his back and didn’t let the truth out until it hurt too much for chores. Only then did he go to the doctor.

The last part of his body that broke was his hip. I remember him sitting bored in his recliner in the TV room as it healed, watching the screen flash.

The desolation of it crushed me.

Easter came and at the family dinner the conversation veered toward the topic of the future. He said he didn’t expect to make it to another of these dinners. He must have finally accepted it at some point, and like that – so it seems now – he just died. I think I choose to believe he was not a man of faith because going to heaven would mean leaving the farm.

But, of course, our memories are always our own. Remembering someone is a series of choices – thing diminished or elaborated, things clutched tight to our heart. An entire life disappears, leaving only moments to be sorted through – a stack of pictures without their context. In choosing what moments to pluck out and keep we’re actually building ourselves. In that sense, McCarthy is right after all. “Even the sound of the old ATV holds a memory of him, puttering in on it from his little house next door every morning.�

34

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

One of the silhouettes traced on the living room wall before it was repapered in the ’90s – “as if all of us had stepped out of the picture and wandered off like ghosts.�

Life is a thousand goodbyes, each one more precious. Every choice I make is the death of one possible future. One possible me. Five years after that evening, I realize I am at peace with this.

I will not be a farmer like my grandfather was, or my father is. The farm will be sold to ruin and my family will move away and move on. Nothing of this history will survive, except for what we take with us. So this is my choice: The ghosts in these doomed old walls won’t be forgotten. I have taken up as many of them as I can. ≈ Jack Hostrawser is a past recipient of the York University President’s Prize in short fiction and has been featured in Steel Bananas, Existere and The Quilliad. He sometimes chases tornadoes and is being taught patience by an old motorcycle. His family farms on McLaughlin Rd. near Cheltenham.

LAWN CARE

The Organic Experts since 1996

• Fertiliz Fe izat a ion • We Weed ed Co ont n ro ol • Gr Grub ub & Ins nsec ectt Co ec Cont n ro nt ol • Co Core re-Ae re A rati Ae ration • Seeding

MOWING & GARDENING

TREE/SHRUB CARE

• We Week ekly ly Mo Mowi w ng wi • Week Weekly ly Bed Maint nten enan ance ce • Sp Spri ring ng & Fa Fallll Cle lean an-up upss • Be Bed d Mu Mulc lchi hing ng • Pl P an a ti ting ng

• • • •

Insect Controll Inse Dise Di seas ase e Co Cont ntro roll Deep De ep-ro root ot Fe Feed edin ing g Trimmi ming ng & Pru runing g

CONTACT US FOR A FREE, NO OBLIGATION QUOTE (905)857-2957 lawnmart@bellnet.ca

www.lawnmartinc.com

GOVERNMENT LICENSED AND FULLY INSURED • WSIB CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE AVAILABLE FOR LANDLORDS AND BUSINESSES

Two locations to serve you:

BARRIE 705-728-5406 COLLINGWOOD 705-445-5670

Custom Home

HVAC Experts:

Visit our Geothermal showroom at our Barrie location

B CIN Certified - we handle the Design, Permits and Installation Geothermal Specialists - over 700 systems installed Ductwork Experts - custom ductwork to suit any project In-floor hydronic heat specialists including zoning and exterior snow melt 24/7 after sale technical support

www.relianceyanchheating.com

™ “Reliance”, “Homes Run Better on Reliance” and the Reliance “Home” logo are trademarks of Reliance Comfort Limited Partnership.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

35

36

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

R E T R O S P EC T I V E P H O T O S CO U R T E S Y P E T E PAT ER S O N R O S EM A R Y H A S N ER , M K LY N D E , D A N G A R Y FA L A K I S

R O S EM A R Y H A S N ER

A look back at a decade of progress and the challenges still ahead

local food

BY NI CO L A R OSS

If you buy groceries like I do – that is, in a hurry when you have a spare hour, or when the empty fridge has been accusing you for too many days – you often end up purchasing your produce at the supermarket because you missed the farmers’ market. And then you curse yourself for having to buy apples from Mexico.

Creemore’s 100-Mile Store, owned by Sandra Lackie and Jackie Durnford, now boasts 100 suppliers who provide more than 1,000 products from within a 100-mile radius.

Although best intentions can still succumb to convenience when it comes to buying local food, and although that’s just one of many other hurdles still to clear before the local food industry can reach its full potential, the fact is local food initiatives have made great strides in Headwaters over the past decade.

Janet Horner, who ran Whitfield Farms Country Catering Service in Mulmur for 25 years and is the executive director of the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee, describes the interest in local as nothing short of a “global wave” of a social movement.

At the 100 Mile Store in Creemore, owners Sandra Lackie and Jackie Durnford are riding that wave.

Not only has the store survived its critical first five years, but it now boasts more than 100 suppliers who provide more than 1,000 different products either grown or made within a 100-mile radius. “With the exception of bananas,” says Lackie, “you can get pretty well everything else you need in our store.”

Matthew Jamieson, the former owner of Woodside Restaurant on Hockley Road who recently returned from a stint on the West Coast to open

Forage in Orangeville, has been involved in the local food movement since it wore diapers. He says, “People are much more discerning about what they eat these days. I used to serve mostly meat and potatoes. Now vegetables are a mainstay, and our customers tell us exactly how they like their food.”

Down in Caledon, things have improved as well.

And much of that progress is due to Eat Local Caledon, a program started in 2007 by the Caledon Countryside Alliance. Until last year the face, heart and soul of Eat Local Caledon was Jennifer Clark.

She organized the first Eat Local Week, in which one of the initiatives involved having five Caledon restaurants feature local foods on their menus for the seven-day event.

“I remember having fish I’d picked up from Lou Maieron’s trout farm in Erin flopping on the seat of my car because I’d agreed to deliver them to one of the restaurants involved,” recalls Clark, who has been a vegetarian for most of her life. Three years later, she says, she hardly had to do anything to get the restaurants and local farmers working together for Eat Local Week. “And if I did have to pick up and deliver something, we charged for it.” continued on next page

Local Food Headliners This magazine has been covering local food for many years. The photos on these and the following pages are a sample of just a few of the local food producers and purveyors who have been featured. You can find stories about them and others in back issues at inthehills.ca. From top left: Tom Wilson and Nicole Judge of Spirit Tree Estate Cidery. John and Marie Miller of Miller’s Dairy. A bounty of Ontario vegetables at Rock Garden Farms. Volunteers at work at Albion Hills Community Farm. Nina Garyfalakis and son Ben inspecting Hockley Honey hives.

Graham Corbett bagging potatoes at Fiddle Foot Farm. Curtis and Jane Van Dyken and family in a rapini field at Van Dyken Bros. Bert Nieuwenhuis of Bert’s Lamb overseeing his Dorset sheep.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

37

local food continued from page 37

The Local Food Act passed last year aims to foster successful and resilient local food economies and systems throughout Ontario; to increase awareness of local food in Ontario, including the diversity of local food; and to encourage the development of new markets for local food.

The interest in local [is] nothing short of a ‘global wave’ of a social movement.

Janice Gooding started the Orangeville Farmers’ Market back in the dark ages of 1991 when beets were red and carrots were always orange. It remained the lone farmers’ market in the Headwaters region for 17 years, until Eat Local Caledon started one in Inglewood in 2008. Now there are at least nine of them, from Bolton and Erin to Creemore.

These days, on a sunny summer Saturday, between 3,000 and 5,000 people flock to downtown

Orangeville to shop at the bustling market. Gooding clearly achieved her goal and notes with a wink that it has become “the place to be – like the dump in Mono used to be.” Demand is so high, Orangeville and some other towns are now offering special indoor market days during the winter. “As the momentum for local food grew, so too did the crowds at the market,” she says.

Caledon Countryside Alliance published the area’s first Buy Local Guide in 2002. Now produced

by Peel Region, the Grown in Peel map includes 23 listings, all but four in Caledon. To the north, the Dufferin Farm Fresh map produced by Marci Lipman lists 35 local small producers, nearly double the number of listings for the county included in the 2002 guide. And unlike that first guide, both new maps are now able to charge farmers/producers a fee for their listings.

Another significant development has been the creation of the Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance. HFFA’s primary objective is “to grow a stronger local economy through the development of a local food system.” To this end, it has hosted two food summits in Headwaters, bringing together food producers, food purveyors, and relevant educational and social service agencies. The group is now working with consultants to investigate barriers to the growth of the local food industry in Headwaters, and it has three working groups actively exploring the subjects of education, distribution and culinary tourism.

On the provincial front there is good news too.

The Local Food Act passed last year aims to foster successful and resilient local food economies and systems throughout Ontario; to increase awareness of local food in Ontario, including the diversity of local food; and to encourage the development of new markets for local food.

One of the more useful things the act does is define “local” food as food produced or harvested in Ontario. It’s the kind of food that has always been the stock-in-trade of the venerable Rock Garden Farms in Caledon East. And presumably the definition will help put an end to the sort of troubles experienced by Bistro Boys Catering in nearby Alliston. For reasons as mysterious as the contents of bologna, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered this small business to remove “local” from its advertising material because the beef it used came from more than 35 kilometres away. Why 35 kilometres and what this had to do with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is anyone’s guess.

In another development that should please local foodies, Premier Kathleen Wynne says she will permit Ontario wines to be sold at farmers’ markets – a move many consider decades overdue.

T

hat kind of attention at the provincial level is no doubt largely in response to the activities of a host of community-based organizations dedicated to local food and to a public increasingly interested in what they eat. However, policies that affect the production and consumption of local food range across government ministries from agriculture, health and economic development to environment, tourism and education, making a coordinated legislative approach difficult to achieve and sometimes even counterproductive. As Horner suggests, “What we need isn’t a local food act, but a good food act.”

Perhaps the biggest losers in recent years have been meat producers. Given stiff new regulations, slaughterhouses, or abattoirs, have been disappearing faster than peas from the season’s first pods.

According to a study prepared for the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, the number of provincially inspected abattoirs in Ontario has dropped by 40 per cent since 1991. In Headwaters, livestock producers have to go some distance to have their animals processed. Horner notes, “It used to be easier to get local meat than local vegetables. Now it’s the opposite.” continued on next page

top : Shopper Sybil Walker surveys the produce at Orangeville Farmers’ Market.

38

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

above : Aidan, Nancy and Jamie Richards among the leeks at Am Braigh Farm.

advertising feature

F I N E D I N I N G . C A S UA L E L E G A N C E . H I S TO R I C C H A R M .

Fine food & wine in a relaxed country atmosphere

LUNCH & DINNER WED –SUN & HOLIDAY MONDAYS PETER CELLARS PUB – SPECIALIZING IN SINGLE MALT SCOTCH & LIVE MUSIC ON FRIDAYS NEWLY RENOVATED IN THE HAMLET OF MONO CENTRE

519 941 5109 MONOCLIFFSINN.CA

519·925 ·3627

V I S I T U S M R S M I T C H E L L S .C O M O N H W Y 8 9 B E T W E E N H W Y 10 A N D A I R P O R T R D O P E N T U E – F R I 12- C LO S E A N D S AT– S U N 11- C LO S E

THE Finest Dining IN THE HILLS. Executive Chef James Buder and his team offer an array of skillfully prepared delights, year round:

THE

Fresh, organic and local cuisine at Headwaters Restaurant.

MARKET

Book your next reservation at Millcroft Inn & Spa.

HILL CAFE 519 . 9 41. 515 0 19834 airport road Like us on Fac ebook

/markethillc afe

L U N C H A N D D I N N E R M O N DAY T O S AT U R DAY

Orangeville 519.942.3388 eatatforage.com

millcroft.com | 1-800-383-3976 | Caledon, ON

Gourmet Pizza - European Cheese and Meat Platters Fresh Baked Goods (Gluten Free Available)

The Globe Restaurant Fine dining in 19th century surroundings

*****

Erin, ON Premium Wines - Craft Beers Fresh Roasted Hockley Valley Coffee 121 First Street, Orangeville (Beside BookLore)

5519.833.9677 19.8833.9677 carversblock.com

Lunches r Teas r Dinners

***** Reservations 705-435-6981 Closed Tuesdays In Rosemont, Hwy 89, east of Airport Rd

more on next page

www.inthehills.ca/diningout IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

39

local food continued from page 38

Nevertheless, at the institutional level, change is afoot. Even the conservative Dairy Farmers of Ontario (formerly the Ontario Milk Marketing Board) are budging a bit, recognizing, according to Horner, that maybe it should consider the interests of consumers as well as producers.

Remedying this situation is on the radar of organizations such as the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Sustain Ontario – both of which were created within the last decade to aid the local food movement – but a solution is still elusive.

The introduction of the Greenbelt, which encompasses a large part of Headwaters, was another provincial initiative designed to help protect agricultural land. But it left out the southern reaches of

Caledon where new housing developments in and around Snelgrove sit on some of the best land in the country. And few people will forget how close Melancthon Township, also outside the Greenbelt but on the fringe of the Niagara Escarpment planning area, came to losing its potato farms to a gravel pit.

Ralph Martin, the Loblaw chair in sustainable food production at the University of Guelph, says that rather than a greenbelt that protects a wide swath of land, we should be protecting “green dots.”

He recommends that no Class I or II agricultural land in the province be developed regardless of where it’s located. It’s the kind of protection also supported by Food and Water First, the citizens’ coalition that grew out of the fight to stop the quarry in Melancthon.

The Greenbelt has also had another impact that some argue is moving things in the wrong direction.

Many of Caledon’s progressive countryside planning policies that made way for some innovative farmbased businesses had to be scrapped because the Greenbelt’s more restrictive uses took precedence.

It continues to be difficult to build a second residence for farm help on your land, and farm-based restaurants or other on-farm tourist businesses are often in conflict with Greenbelt policies.

Nevertheless, at the institutional level, some positive changes are afoot. Even the conservative Dairy Farmers of Ontario (formerly the Ontario Milk Marketing Board) are budging a bit, recognizing, according to Horner, that maybe it should consider

top : John and Bonnie den Haan with Parnella at Sheldon Creek Dairy.

above : Pat and Gord McArthur with their grass-fed black Angus cattle at Heatherlea Farm Market.

Janet Horner suggests, “What we need isn’t a local food act, but a good food act.”

40

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

the interests of consumers as well as producers.

One exciting initiative of the DFO is its Project Farmgate. In a progressive move (actually a throwback to times past), the Headwaters area is now home to two small new dairies – Miller’s Dairy in Creemore and Sheldon Creek Dairy near Loretto.

Rather than force these farmers to sell their milk to the DFO where it is blended with milk from across the province, Miller’s and Sheldon Creek are producing and selling dairy products from their own cows. In the case of Miller’s, this means their products are made with Jersey milk alone. Most people are so used to blended milk, they’ve forgotten that all milk is not the same. In fact, the taste changes from breed to breed and is influenced by the “terroir” of the region.

A

lthough such positive developments are encouraging, not all health-conscious consumers are thrilled by the local food wave.

Many committed consumers of organic food are distressed by the shift in emphasis from organic to local. While Horner doesn’t dismiss the importance of organic farming, she justifies it’s taking a back seat for now, noting, “Organic farmers are still a very small number in the bigger picture of things.”

And from the consumer perspective, the price of local food, or at least the perception of price, continues to be a barrier.

Last year, the Conference Board of Canada weighed in on the topic with its report Cultivating Opportunities: Canada’s Growing Appetite for Local Food.

The report notes, “In Canada, interest in local food has surged in the last 10 years, driven in part by social, economic, and environmental concerns.” It says in Ontario 24 per cent of the food consumed is produced in the province (second only to Quebec at 29 per cent).

Not surprisingly, along with availability and convenience, the report says price is the main reason people do not purchase local food. But in one of the few academic studies investigating the cost of local food, the Leopold Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in the US found “few differences in price for Iowa-grown vegetables, eggs and meat when compared to similar non-local products.”

Nevertheless, says the report, local food is largely purchased by higher income (household income over $100,000) and older (over 55) consumers.

Janet Horner defends the small farmer’s need to make an “equitable livelihood.” She prefers this to talking about profitability, but the bottom line is

advertising feature

Open for lunch and dinner (Wednesday through Sunday)

Live music and event booking that it remains a hard go for farmers who want to milk a few cows or grow heritage tomatoes. In the opinion of Ralph Martin and others, it will require a great deal more education for the situation to improve. “People think that all food is equal and they just want to get the best price,” he says.

Martin is a great proponent of getting food back into the school curriculum in a big way, which is something the Local Food Act failed to address despite intense lobbying. “I’m old fashioned enough,” he says, “to promote putting home economics into the curriculum from K to 12.” He worries that without knowledge about the economics of food and running a home, we will “end up with a generation who believes they have no choice but to buy fast food.” And quite apart from the health concerns, there is no economic sense to that.

The role of education is one of the three issues under review locally by HFFA. It is also where Eat Local Caledon is directing its energy these days.

According to Karen Hutchinson, executive director of the Caledon Countryside Alliance, they are working with 22 schools in Caledon. Programs range from school gardens to cooking classes to food education. At Palgrave Public School, for example, students enjoy fresh local food grown at Albion Hills Community Farm and prepared in the Palgrave Community Kitchen.

Orangeville District Secondary School has an extensive culinary arts program, and other local high schools have introduced similar food-related courses to the curriculum. Forage chef Matthew Jamieson, presumably taking a lead from the UK’s Jamie Oliver, says he’s working with grade 8 and 9 students in Brampton, helping them appreciate what good food tastes like.

This uptake of food education in schools is a huge change since the 1990s when cafeteria contracts were routinely handed out to fast food restaurants. continued on next page

(upstairs & downstairs)

Craft beer, wine & cocktails Local and fresh menu ingredients www.thebvrco.com

35 Armstrong St., Orangeville (519) 942-3400

THE BARLEY VINE RAIL Co.

Your favourite lunch spot, with new dinner hours coming in Spring 2014!

Orangeville | 519-307-1258 | piasonbroadway.com

HIGHPOINT RESTAURANT & CAFE Shock your palate with a taste of Transylvania’s finest foods.

Enjoy our large family friendly breakfasts.

519 942 2384 | 5 min south of Orangeville on Hwy 10

Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Mon­Sun 9am­9pm

Family Owned & Operated Since 1966 Local Bistro Local Flair Live Entertainment Garden Patio Revolving Menu Alton 519 941 6121 Tue–Sat 9am–Close

667294 20th sideroad mulmur in terra nova tuesday to sunday for lunch and dinner open late on fridays and saturdays

705-466-5992 www.terranovapub.ca more on previous page

www.inthehills.ca/diningout IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

41

local food continued from page 41

A report put out by the Conference Board of Canada notes “In Canada, interest in local food has surged in the last 10 years, driven in part by social, economic, and environmental concerns.” It says 24 per cent of the food consumed in Ontario is produced in the province (second only to Quebec at 29 per cent).

Getting local food from producers to restaurants and stores hasn’t improved much in Headwaters.

For HFFA a less tractable concern than education is distribution, which continues to be the big fat green worm in the broccoli plant. Jamieson says, “I would love to go and buy fresh food everyday, but I have to be in the restaurant.” Getting local food from small producers delivered to restaurants and retail stores hasn’t improved much in Headwaters, nor has the difficulty of ensuring a steady supply.

Farmers are as hard pressed to leave their operations to deliver a half bushel of beans to a retailer as Jamieson is to pick it up.

However, other jurisdictions have made some progress in resolving the distribution conundrum.

Milton-based Gordon Food Services received a grant from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation to expand the number of local food products it delivers to food establishments. The result was a 10 per cent increase in sales, seeming to prove the accepted wisdom (which Jennifer Clark learned the fishy way) that if food establishments can have convenient and dependable access to local food, they will buy it.

Neighbouring Simcoe County is investigating the establishment of a food hub. And it’s looking at models like the one in the Mad River Valley in Vermont. There, a 4,000-square-foot facility includes a fully licensed vegetable and USDA-inspected meat processing facility, dry refrigeration, industrial freezers, business planning expertise and a distribution service. Once a week, a 26-foot refrigerated truck is fi lled with local food for delivery to restaurants and retailers throughout the area. My sister Dori Ross is the owner of Tonewood, a Vermont company that makes high-end maple syrup products.

She tells me she “can’t understand how a small food producer could survive without a food hub.”

Waterloo Region, one of Ontario’s local food leaders, has taken another approach to the distribution problem. Farmers there created the Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative. With as many as

three auctions per week during the high season, the co-operative pools carrots, apples and other produce from any number of farmers so restaurant owners and other retailers can buy by the bushel or pallet, and be confident the produce will be available in one place when they need it.

C

ulinary tourism is the third item on HFFA’s study list and, like distribution, there may be a successful model to follow. The Globe and Mail recently described Prince Edward County as the “gastronomic capital of Ontario,” in large part because of the area’s Taste Trail. With map in hand, visitors can find their way to farms, food retailers, vineyards and restaurants that have turned marketing local food into an art form. It was the Taste Trail map that inspired Marci Lipman to develop the Dufferin Farm Fresh map, but the concept has yet to catch on with the same fervour as in Prince Edward County.

Gord Grant, member service representative for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture in Waterloo, Wellington and Dufferin, describes Lipman’s efforts as “very brave.” He says, “Kudos to her because the geography of Dufferin is very different.” What he means by “geography” is that this region’s proximity to the Greater Toronto Area makes it home to commuters.

“Increased commute times are not good for local food,” Grant says. “In Waterloo, for example, there is a stronger food and farm culture. They have food that really schmecks.” (A reference to Edna Staebler’s 1960s cookbook that put Mennonite food on the map).

Karen Hutchinson says she’s been frustrated for some time by her inability to make a business case for local food in Caledon. As a result, she returned to university. By the time she has completed her master’s degree next year, she says she will be able to show the Town of Caledon the economic wisdom of investing in local food.

Hutchinson recognizes the movement in Caledon and throughout the Headwaters region still needs nurturing. But whereas Waterloo region has progressive food policies, Prince Edward County excels at culinary tourism and Simcoe County may get a food hub, she insists Headwaters wins hands down when it comes to its potential to have a vibrant local food economy. ≈ Freelance writer and biologist Nicola Ross was a founder of the Caledon Countryside Alliance.

She lives in Belfountain.

top : Mushroom growers Julie and Ralph Baumlisberger at Windy Field Farms.

42

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

above : Betsy and Jim Collins and clan among the vast and tidy rows of spinach at E & J Collins Limited.

LANDSCAPES

Complete Design / Build Service 20383 Hurontario at High Point Road, Caledon cornerstonelandscaping.com Call Chad 1路888路436路9999 IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

43

Everdale organic farm is at the centre of a project designed to create a self-sufficient organic seed industry in Canada.

Sowing THE

eeds OF FOOD

BY L IZ A S A R D I

A

abir Dey readily acknowledges he was a typical suburban kid, raised in Mississauga, who didn’t know how to grow so much as a tomato, arguably the most widely cultivated plant in Canadian home gardens. So it may be one of life’s surprising twists that the 26-year-old now finds himself working at Everdale organic farm near Hillsburgh at the heart of an initiative to promote and expand the security and diversity of Canada’s – and the world’s – seed supply.

Dey is the Ontario regional co-ordinator of the national Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. Led by USC Canada in partnership with Seeds of Diversity, the four-year project was inspired by the idea that producing diverse, regionally adapted organic seed will enhance the country’s 44

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

food security. The goal is to create a self-sufficient seed industry by helping organic growers develop their own seed-breeding programs that will remain vibrant long after the program has ended.

“In conventional terms, I’d say we’re creating a stimulus package, but for the ecological seed industry,” explains Dey, who has an undergraduate degree in business and a master’s in environmental studies. “We’re providing a shot in the arm for growers and organizations that are working on organic seed production, hopefully building the capacity for those groups to continue the work they are already doing – but to a degree that’s more national than they are doing on their own.”

On a cold February day, the hills visible from Dey’s office in a straw bale building at Everdale are covered in snow. But that doesn’t mean enthusiastic

plans for this year’s crops aren’t already in the works.

This summer, garlic, squash, spring radishes, lettuce and beets, as well as heritage field crops, will grow in Everdale’s 8- to 10-acre vegetable garden.

And eggplant and okra will be cultivated at Everdale’s Black Creek Community Farm, a sevenacre urban market garden near the intersection of Jane St. and Steeles Ave. West in Toronto.

Winter is also a time for grappling with some of the challenges involved in organic farming and seed production. Dey is concerned, for example, about a particular carrot seed being contaminated by Queen Anne’s lace, aka wild carrot, which can be very persistent in open fields. “It takes a lot of skill to isolate carrots to grow true to type,” he says. “It also speaks to the challenge of seed production as a whole; it takes quite a bit of knowledge to grow good seed.”

Introducing the MLF Maple Partners Program

P H O T O S P E T E PAT ER S O N

Aabir Dey with a basket of organic seeds from the Everdale Farm seed library. The vegetables on the counter are from the farm’s fall harvest, stored through the winter in its cold cellar. According to the United Nations, the world has lost 75 per cent of the genetic diversity of food crops since 1900.

security Founded in 1945 as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, USC Canada is one of this country’s oldest international NGOs, with global experience in working with smallholder food producers. In recent years, the non-profit organization has focused on promoting ecologically sound agriculture in countries around the world. A key element of this work involves seed and food sovereignty.

Launched last year the Bauta project is the first domestic application of USC’s field work, says Jane Rabinowicz, director of the Bauta Family Initiative at USC Canada. “The Canadian program is informed by our work overseas,” she says. The project was founded by Gretchen Bauta, the daughter of Garfield Weston, and is funded by a grant from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.

The initiative is organized into five regional hubs across the country. In addition to Ontario’s Everdale, the hubs include the

Become an MLF Maple Partner and help us to put Native Canadian Maples in the ground.

Visit our website, www.mapleleavesforever.com to learn more. We can help you to find your trees, teach you how to plant and care for them and we’ll even help you to pay for them. The Native Canadian Maple is our national treasure – our national arboreal symbol. Let’s get more of them back in the ground where they belong.

Subsidy has been increased from 25 to 33-⁄ .

“Dedicated to restoring the Native Maple to the Canadian landscape”

www.mapleleavesforever.com

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

45

seeds continued from page 45

Developed in Germany Made in Belgium Engineered to Inspire Available in Orangeville

125 Broadway in historic downtown Orangeville 519-942-5908 www.kitchentotable.com Sign up online for our newsletter Secrets from our Kitchen

46

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network, or ACORN; FarmFolk CityFolk in British Columbia; and Organic Alberta, which co-ordinates the program in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In Quebec, USC Canada is responsible for programming as well as overseeing the project at the national level.

Given its long history of community engagement, Everdale was a natural choice to co-ordinate the Ontario program, says Rabinowicz. Located on some of the most fertile farmland in southern Ontario and accessible to the Greater Toronto Area, Everdale is also a working farm. “It allows us to demonstrate seed production and seed saving on site,” she adds.

Since 1998, Everdale’s mandate has been to provide practical learning and hands-on experience that promotes sustainability. Education has been a function of the farm since its inception in the mid-1960s as Everdale Place, one of Canada’s first alternative schools.

The farm continues to host visiting students from kindergarten to high school and provides a number of seed production workshops, as well as seminars on other subjects. The workshops and seminars are part of the farm’s internship program, which offers new and aspiring farmers the opportunity to earn a sustainable farming certificate after spending a season gaining practical and theoretical knowledge about operating an organic farm. The public is also welcome to participate in the one-day events, which kick off in mid-April with a focus on starting a seed garden and continue through the growing season. In late September they wrap up with a seminar on seed saving.

“The whole thing about building a movement is it starts on individual farms,” says Rabinowicz. “The powerful parts of this program are teaching individual growers in a kind of personal way and then linking them to each other within a region and across the country. That’s why I like the structure of the program.”

Dey was the perfect choice to take on the regional co-ordinator’s role in Ontario. After all, his 2012 master’s thesis focused on developing a cooperative business model for agroecological vegetable seed production in Canada. He had also been involved in conducting research during the Bauta project’s pilot stage, says Jane.

“He had a pretty unique profile, I would say, that made him suitable for the position.”

The Bauta initiative’s other national partner is Seeds of Diversity, which was founded 30 years ago when gardeners noticed many of their favour-

ite varieties were disappearing from annual seed catalogues. The Waterloobased non-profit organization works toward protecting and promoting Canadian seed by conserving the biodiversity and traditional knowledge of food crops and garden plants.

As an intern at Everdale in 2011, Dey worked with Bob Wildfong, executive director of Seeds of Diversity, and credits his mentor’s enthusiasm with inspiring his own passion for seeds – and helping him define the focus of his master’s thesis.

Wildfong, who has been involved with Everdale since he gave the first seed saving workshop to a group of young farmers in 2001, recalls his student fondly. “It’s really satisfying to see [Dey] fi nd his way into the position he’s in now,” says Wildfong.

“I remember him being a keen intern with some very challenging questions, which I had to struggle to answer.”

In Wildfong’s view, the Bauta project advances Seeds of Diversity’s goal: to reclaim the production of Canadian seeds. “We know that there are in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 kinds of seeds that you can grow in Canada, and out of that only about one-tenth are available from commercial seed companies,” he says. The other 90 per cent are maintained by individuals and likely shared only with friends and family. “You think, ‘Wow that’s unusual,’ but we run into that all the time. There are thousands of people who are doing that. They need to realize that we need a sample of those seeds, because at some point people will stop growing them and very often believe someone else has them – and no one else has that particular seed.”

Canadians are not alone in their struggle to preserve homegrown seeds.

According to the Food and Agri-

Some of the nearly 4,000 samples of more than 2,000 varieties of seeds stored in a low-humidity freezer on the bottom floor of a straw-bale building at Everdale.

culture Organization of the United Nations, the world has lost 75 per cent of the genetic diversity of food crops since 1900. Today, more than threequarters of human dietary energy comes from only nine crops, and just three of these – wheat, rice and maize (corn) – contribute nearly 60 per cent of the calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants.

Food Tank, an American-based think tank devoted to food-related issues, believes that the food system is broken as a result of factors that include extreme weather, over-exploitation of ecosystems and habitat loss, as well as a lack of public awareness.

Conservation techniques such as creating seed banks and seed exchanges can play an important role in preserving and strengthening seed production for important food crops and ensuring the sustainability of the world’s food supply.

Seeds of Diversity and Everdale jointly operate the Everdale seed library, considered the largest and most comprehensive publicly accessible seed library in Canada. Stored in a low-humidity freezer below Dey’s office are nearly 4,000 samples of more than 2,000 varieties of seed. Each sample is verified by volunteers or Seeds of Diversity staff, who carefully catalogue its name and characteristics, noting everything from the size to the flavour of the fruit.

While the inventory may not rival the famed “doomsday vault,” the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which has the capacity to conserve up to 4.5 mil-

lion seeds and is located emphatically inaccessibly 1,100 kilometres from the North Pole, Dey emphasizes that as a library rather than a bank, the Everdale project seeks not only to collect but to disseminate seeds.

This year Everdale will collaborate with other Bauta hubs to expand the national seed trials, lending seeds to as many as 30 farmers in each region to grow and return feedback. Training sessions will be offered, and Everdale will join the Quebec and Atlantic hubs, as well as the Eastern Canadian Organic Seed Growers Network, in hosting a conference on organic seed production.

The Bauta initiative has played a vital role in promoting these projects, offering grants totalling $160,000 to help ecological seed producers continue their painstaking and labourintensive work. In addition, the initiative has helped finance 27 local seed sharing events and 17 community seed library projects.

“Last year was a huge learning experience and just kind of getting our feet wet,” says Dey. “Hopefully what we’d like to see every year is this kind of level of activity in Ontario, and then more broadly in every other region.”

Before the advent of genetically modified seeds, farmers and gardeners traditionally saved seeds. They took them from the best fruit and stored them for planting the next year.

This continuing process produced different varieties and strains that could survive extreme weather, such as heat and flooding. Critics say that modern conventional farming, which uses patented seeds, including hybrids and those that have been genetically modified, have cut short the natural evolution of seeds and relegated the selection of traits to a laboratory.

The result may be a consistent product – genetically identical plants growing uniformly and ripening at the same time to make large-scale mechanical harvesting easier – but the process leaves farmers without the ability to save their own seed.

Pat Mooney, executive director of the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, believes the world’s food security should not be left in the hands of agribusiness conglomerates. A small, Montrealbased international civil society organization, ETC Group has been monitoring the reach of agro-industrial corporations for several decades.

The group’s statistics show that in the past 50 years, small-scale growers have donated 2.1 million varieties of 7,000 crops to seed banks around the world.

At the same time, seed companies have contributed just 80,000 varieties.

“One of the figures that always

We proudly carry fresh, certified organic produce.

Eat Fresh for Better Health!

Come in for our famous fresh produce, wide selection of organic meats, specialty foods and organic products.

We proudly carry antibiotic- and hormone-free meats.

We carry frozen organic meats. We also have a selection of fresh antibiotic- and hormone-free beef, pork, lamb and chicken from Liberterre and Beretta Family Farms and fresh organic chicken from Yorkshire Valley Farms. Livestock raised within Canada. Canadian Angus Rancher endorsed.

501 Queen Street South in Bolton www.gardenfoodsmarket.com | 905-857-1227 Owned and Operated for 30 Years

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

47

seeds continued from page 47

shocks me is that the top six companies in agribusiness are responsible for 76 per cent of all agriculture private sector research and 45 per cent of all their research is on one crop: corn,” says Mooney. When it comes to diversity, agribusinesses “don’t like diversity; they don’t want diversity.”

Mooney, who was at Everdale when the Bauta initiative was launched in June 2013, has high praise for their model. “The big grand initiatives usually don’t survive,” he says. “I think people should know that it has been small farmers, small producers who’ve managed to get us through the massive changes before in agriculture and climate change.”

The Bauta initiative dovetails nicely with the United Nations’ designation of 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. Many international events will be geared toward promoting public policies that encourage the development of family farming, “whose role and potential as guarantor of food security,” says the UN, “is not sufficiently acknowledged.”

In this country, Statistics Canada’s 2011 census of agriculture revealed that agriculture is rapidly changing.

There is increased consolidation, and farm size is growing at an unprecedented rate. Though Ontario still had the most farms (51,950), this number had declined 9.2 per cent since 2006. Only 774 of these farms were certified organic or transitional, a designation meaning they are involved in the three-year process of having all or part of their operations certified organic.

Canadians consumers seem to be doing their part by buying more organic products than ever, according to data compiled by the Canada Organic Trade Association. In late 2012, COTA launched a comprehensive study of the country’s organic marketplace, the first since the feder-

Awesome Antiques, Furniture, Art, Collectables and so much more

633218 Highway 10 in Mono South of Hockley Road in front of Monora Park 519 942 1173

Visit our Amazing 6500 sq.ft Showroom 48

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

al government introduced national regulations in 2009. The study found that sales, both domestic and export, of Canadian organic products had grown to a value of $3.5 billion a year, a 300 per cent increase since 2006.

The study also found that 58 per cent of Canadians buy at least some organic products every week. This rate is even higher among ethnic Canadians, people living in the country’s largest cities, households with young families, and universityeducated consumers. Ontario is Canada’s largest consumer market for organics, with annual sales valued at $1 billion.

More than half of those surveyed

by COTA believe organic farming is better for the environment, and nearly half consider organic food healthier and more nutritious. They also believe ecological sustainability is an important consideration when choosing food products, and they prefer to buy products that are not genetically engineered.

After this year’s long, cold winter, gardeners in these hills are no doubt eager to get outside and sink their fingers into the earth. In preparation, many will make a point of attending one of the seed exchanges that have become a harbinger of spring in communities across the country.

“By purchasing seeds from smaller growers, you can help them scale up and produce those kinds of seeds, and ultimately have a stronger seed supply,” says Wildfong. For him, Dey and those who work with them, a stronger seed supply is key to maintaining biodiversity and ensuring a secure food supply. ≈ Liza Sardi is an award-winning writer, editor and new media specialist. She lives in Bolton and will be planting tomato seeds this summer that she inherited from her grandparents in Croatia.

eedY SATURDAY Every year, more than a hundred community-based seed exchanges are held in Canadian town and cities, mostly between February and April. The Seedy Saturday events attract home gardeners, seed savers, native plant enthusiasts and community groups who want to exchange seeds, connect with local seed producers, learn about plants and support biodiversity across Canada.

On May 3, Everdale hosts its own Seedy Saturday. Visitors are invited to buy, share and sell seeds, learn about seed saving, and take a tour of the farm.

For information about these events and others, visit Everdale at www.everdale.org, Seeds of Diversity at www.seeds.ca, and the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security at www.seedsecurity.ca.

Farmers’ Markets working together to find you the freshest local food Creemore Farmers’ Market Saturdays 8:30–12:30 from May 17 – October 11 The Station on the Green, 10 Caroline Street East, Creemore

www.creemorefarmersmarket.ca

Shelburne Farmers’ Market Thursdays 3pm–7pm from May 29 – October 9 Besley Country Market, 716 Victoria Street, Shelburne

shelburnefarmersmarket2013@gmail.com

Alliston Farmers’ Market Saturdays 8am–2pm from May – October Mill Street, Alliston

www.allistonbia.com

Amaranth Farmers’ Market Wednesdays 3pm–7pm from May 28 – October 8 Next to Town Hall, corner of County Rd #10 and 6th Line, Amaranth

www.amaranth-eastgary.ca

Orangeville Farmers’ Market Saturdays 8am–1pm from May 10 – October 25 Beside Town Hall, 87 Broadway, Orangeville ShaneDurnford.com

www.orangevillefarmersmarket.ca

Bolton Farmers’ Market Saturdays 9am–1pm from June 14 – October 11 Near the intersection of King and Queen Streets, downtown Bolton

www.caledon.ca/farmersmarket

A FINE ITALIAN BAKERY SERVING A VARIETY OF HOMEMADE PASTAS, PIZZAS, BREADS AND GELATO.

let us cater your event this summer, BBQ is available

Four

Corners Bakery Eatery

Choose from a wide assortment of cakes and pastries for all your special occasion needs.

Book your catering with us and receive 10% off your cake.

28 Queen Street North, Bolton (behind TD Bank) 905-951-6779 Open 7 Days a Week

We look forward to serving you!

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

49

With the right equipment and ingredients, a pinch of perseverance, and a big dollop of humour, you can make your own sausages.

BY C EC ILY R O S S

G

rowing old is not for the faint of heart. Neither, I have discovered, is sausage making. At first glance these two processes may seem unrelated, but aging has, in fact, a lot in common with taking a chunk of firm red meat, adding some seasoning, grinding it up, and then stuffing it into a stretchy casing until it bears no resemblance to its former self.

50

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

If you’re lucky, the resulting product, like your aging self, will be a good deal more interesting than the raw material ever was. On the other hand, it can be hell getting there, and what you end up with often isn’t pretty.

Yes, sausages as a metaphor for life.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There’s the mess and the inevitable failures, the frustration and the setbacks, but if you persevere, there’s also satisfaction, pride and, most of all, the joy of having something tasty to throw on the grill for dinner.

For best results you will need a long rainy afternoon, a clean kitchen and, I warn you, special equipment. Most of all you will need patience, a strong stomach and a sense of humour. All, when you think about it, useful tools for growing old.

My adventures in sausage making began last fall when an invitation popped into my inbox to attend Nonna Miriam and Nonno Fabio’s sausage-making workshop at Mad Maple Country Inn and Agriturismo on County Road 124 north of Shelburne.

“Roll up your sleeves and join the fun in la cucina. Learn how to make your own sausages,” the message read.

According to urbandictionary.com, nonna is Italian for “an old woman (generally 50 plus) who is cute and can cook up the most delicious food.”

Nonno would be her male counterpart, though maybe not as cute. La cucina, of course, means “the kitchen.”

Although Miriam Streiman, coowner of Mad Maple, claims to be an Italian nonna in spirit, she is actually a 20-something Jewish girl. About two years ago, she and her husband Neil Epstein left Toronto to open Mad Maple in the home the couple had earlier purchased and renovated. Her friend Fabio Bondi is chef at Toronto’s Local Kitchen and Wine Bar. Both Miriam and Fabio are very young, very cute and can definitely cook up the most delicious food. And though I cannot lay claim to the first two qualities, I like to think I’m not bad in the cucina department. Also, I wanted to make my own sausages before I die.

Homemade Pork Sausage

That afternoon, while I and about 15 other amateurs looked on and sometimes pitched in, Fabio butchered a whole organic Tamworth pork shoulder purchased at Blue Haven Farm near Rockwood. Then he walked us through the life cycle of a pork sausage.

“You could eat this raw as far as I’m concerned. It’s that fresh,” he said, standing before the enormous chunk of meat, cleaver in hand. (Eating raw pork is probably not a good idea, but Fabio’s comment is a tribute to the quality and freshness of the pork.) For the next couple of hours, we chopped and ground and stuffed, the red wine flowed and the aromas of rosemary, sage and garlic fi lled the air.

One of the participants, Karen Gaudino, was an old hand at this.

“My father’s Italian, my mother’s Polish,” she said, “so sausages are in my blood.” Karen likes to throw sausage-making parties at her house.

“This is a great thing to do with couples. It gets very funny when the sausages start coming out. The girls get all crazy. The men love it. Everyone gets involved. We drink a lot of beer and then cook the sausages for dinner.”

Sure enough, when the fat noodle of ground pork began oozing out of Fabio’s machine, there were giggles and blushes all around. There is something so “suggestive,” as my mother would say, about sausages, something elemental, even unappetizing about their shape and texture, never mind the mysterious mixture that might be inside them. No wonder they are often the subject of ribald, schoolyard-type humour. And yet, from Moroccan merguez to Mexican chorizo to Scottish haggis, some form of sausage is part of the cuisine of nearly every culture on earth. Even the Japanese make a fish-based log called kamaboko.

Traditionally, sausages were an efficient way of using up and preserving scraps of meat and other animal parts (don’t ask). There is no record of whose idea it was to stuff these assorted ground-up bits and pieces into hog intestines, but there’s little doubt he or she must have abhorred waste even more than Rob (stop-the-gravy-train) Ford.

ingredients 2 lbs (about 1 kg) boneless pork shoulder cut into ¾-inch pieces 1 tbsp fresh sage, finely minced 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced 4 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 tbsp kosher salt 1 tsp nutmeg, ground 1 tsp dried chilies (optional) Hog casings, thoroughly rinsed inside and out preparation Mix pork, sage, rosemary, garlic, chilies, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl. Refrigerate, along with hopper and grinder attachment, for 1 hour.

Place ice cubes in a large bowl and set a smaller bowl inside it. Grind pork into the bowl using a coarse cutting plate. Form into logs, 3 or 4 inches long. Chill for another 30 minutes.

Slide 18 inches of casing onto the sausage horn. Turn on stand mixer and stuff meat mixture into hopper allowing casing to fill to desired length. Use string to tie into sausage links. Grill or fry immediately, or freeze until ready to use.

There’s the mess and the failures, the frustration, the setbacks, but there’s also satisfaction, pride and the joy of having something tasty to throw on the grill for dinner.

In today’s era of industrial food processing, commercial sausages are often stuffed with what is known as “mechanically recovered meat” or MRM. After meat has been manually removed from a carcass, what remains is ground into a paste known as “white slime” and forced through a sieve under pressure. This purée can contain bone, bone marrow, skin, nerves, blood vessels and … well, once again, you probably shouldn’t ask.

Better quality products are also available, but still, there’s no way of knowing what’s actually in there. This is one reason I wanted to make my own continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

51

Mexican Chorizo There are as many different kinds of dried chilies as there are recipes for chorizo. I bought árbol and ancho chilies because that’s what they had at Sola’s Side Door, a specialty food store in Creemore.

I used a coffee grinder to crush them with the other spices.

Traditional Chinese Medicine with all natural remedies.

Acupuncture · RMT & Tui Na Massage Natural Herbal Medicine · Osteopathy

ingredients 2 lbs (about 1 kg) boneless pork shoulder cut into ¾-inch pieces 1 tbsp árbol chilies, crushed (or to taste because these are hot!)

1 tbsp ancho chilies, crushed 1 tbsp chili powder 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp dried oregano ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground cloves ½ tsp ground coriander

RICHARD ZHANG R. TCMP, R. Ac, CMD

TCM Healthcare/Ontario Pain Clinic has a group of professional TCM doctors who are graduates of medical universities, are specially trained in pain management and have more than 20 years of medical experience.

Bolton Clinic Open May 1, 2014 7 Norton Blvd, Bolton

905-587-0008 Orangeville

Shelburne

44 First Street

506206 Hwy 89, Mono

Chef Fabio Bondi prepares and grinds a Tamworth pork shoulder.

519-942-9826

www.OntarioPainClinic.com www.TCMhealthcare.ca

Woodlot Management Natural inventories s Management plans MFTIP plan approver s Certified tree marker Maple syrup production Anne-Marie Roussy, M.Sc.

519-925-0439 hemlockhill@rogers.com

Mainly Because of the Meat

Tues-Fri 10-6; Sat 9-5; Sun 12-4 17049 Winston Churchill Blvd, Caledon 519.927.5902 www.heatherleafarmmarket.ca 52

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

The fat-to-meat ratio can vary, but remember,

sausages continued from page 51

sausages in my own cucina, but I also wanted to do this because Fabio and Miriam’s sausages were the best I’ve ever tasted.

The first step was acquiring the necessary equipment. At the Mad Maple workshop, Fabio used an electric grinder and a commercial fivepound vertical sausage stuffer. These can be found on eBay or at restaurant supply shops for about $150 each. Or you can buy an electric meat grinder with sausage tubes for about the same amount.

But both options are a big investment if you’re not a commercial sausage maker. If you’re feeling energetic, you can purchase manual grinders and sausage stuffers for a lot less money. But if you already own a KitchenAid stand mixer – in my opinion, a must for any serious kitchen – you can do what I did: order the meat grinder and sausage stuffing attachments from Amazon for about $70 or so. Do not use a food processor, which will grind the meat too finely.

Next, the ingredients. I bought a four-pound boneless pork shoulder.

You will want lots of fat on it, so ask your butcher not to trim it. The fatto-meat ratio can vary, but remember, when it comes to sausages, fat is a good thing. (Yes, I know, but some of the best things in life involve risk.)

Finding the casings was more challenging. Hog casings aren’t exactly

when it comes to sausages, fat is a good thing. And after all, some of the best things in life involve risk.

the sort of thing you find on most supermarket shelves. But then Garden Foods in Bolton is not “most” supermarkets. Many of their customers are of Italian descent, and if you’re Italian, sausages are in your blood, right? This independent grocery store has an entire cooler devoted to all things sausage, including casings in containers that sell for $5.99 – enough to make sausages from two pork shoulders. Dave’s Butcher Shop in Orangeville also sells what they call a “string” for $9, enough to make 20 pounds of sausage. Hog casings are packed in salt and should keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, but don’t freeze them, as this makes them prone to tearing.

Finally, one gloomy Saturday afternoon, with all the necessary equipment and ingredients on hand, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly playing on the radio, I was ready to make sausages. The only thing I hadn’t realized was that sausage making, like many things in life, goes a whole lot better if there are two of you.

preparation Mix pork and remainder of ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate (along with hopper and grinder attachment) for one hour. Place ice in a large bowl and set a smaller bowl inside it. Grind pork into the bowl using a coarse cutting plate.

Form into 3- or 4-inch logs. Chill for another 30 minutes.

Slide 18 inches of casing onto the sausage horn. Turn on stand mixer and stuff meat mixture into hopper allowing casing to fill to desired length. Use string to tie into sausage links. Grill or fry immediately, or freeze until ready to use.

Fortunately, my worthy assistant, who was reading in the next room, was happy to lend a hand once I had prepped and set up.

First, I cut the pork shoulder into ¾-inch chunks and mixed the meat and seasonings (garlic, rosemary, sage, chilies, nutmeg and salt) in a large bowl. You can use whatever herbs and spices you like, but don’t leave out the salt. Fabio recommended 50 grams of kosher salt for every five pounds of meat, though I found this a little too salty. Start with less; you can always add more later. Next, I put the seasoned meat, as well as the KitchenAid grinding attachment, in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Everything

P H O T O S M K LY N D E

Proudly serving our community for over 25 years A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Loyal Customers for Supporting Local and Ontario Farmers

There is something so

Using a sausage horn, Chef Fabio expertly fills the sausage casings.

“suggestive” about sausages, something elemental ...

No wonder they are often the subject of ribald, schoolyard-type humour.

should be really cold before you start so the pork fat doesn’t melt as you work with it, which would produce a dry sausage.

Now for the gross part. But like so many gross things, this was also the most fun. It was time to rinse the sausage casings, which had been soaking in warm water and lemon juice since first thing that morning. I opened the end of each length of casing and held it under the kitchen tap to let a stream of water run through it. As I did this, the casing bulged and bubbled in the most disconcerting, yet somehow charming manner. All the little veins became visible, reminding me in no uncertain terms that these were once living intestines.

Many people are put off by this, but don’t be squeamish. Remember, life can be messy. Besides, I have assurances the casings are thoroughly cleaned in state-of-the-art facilities as sterile as operating rooms. So banish your qualms.

Once the casings were thoroughly rinsed, I set them aside and assembled

the grinder, using the coarse cutting blade. I placed some ice cubes in a large bowl and fit a smaller bowl inside that to catch the meat. Turning on the machine, I began feeding the pork into the hopper, pushing it down until all the meat and spices were ground. Early in this process, I pinched off a bit of the mixture, fried it, and tasted it to check the seasoning.

I formed the ground meat into logs that were three or four inches long and chilled these for another 30 minutes, before placing one end of a hog casing on the sausage horn and sliding and scrunching it until I had slipped on about 12 or 18 inches.

It was time to summon my, by now napping assistant. While he stuffed the logs of ground pork into the hopper, I gently slid the casing off the horn with one hand as the meat mixture extruded into it. I used my other hand to catch the emerging sausage like a newborn baby. It takes a bit of practice (my first few attempts split the casing because I was pushing too hard), but in the end I was surprised how easy it was.

After all the mess and effort, suddenly, thrillingly, there they were: a pile of sausages on a plate. Not particularly pretty, but better than I expected. And good enough for me. ≈

Eat Local and Taste the Difference!

Ontario Grown Produce as in Season Offering you a large variety of annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, herbs, vegetable plants, fresh cut flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, free range farm eggs, preserves, maple syrup, home baked pies and bread daily Open for Easter, Spring is Here

Reopening April 4 Open Every Day Including Holidays, 8am to 7pm

905-584-9461 16930 Airport Road 2.5 km North of Caledon East

www.rockgardenfarms.ca

Farmer Fresh Produce: from our table to yours

Cecily Ross is the former food editor for The Globe and Mail. She lives in Creemore.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

53

DowntownOrangeville.ca

Off Broadway Clothing Boutique An incredible selection of contemporary brands such as Guess, Free People, Pink Martini and much more. Come in for a fabulous boutique experience.

Like us on Facebook.

21 Mill Street offbroadwayboutique.ca 519.941.5633

Sproule’s Emporium Shop fair trade. Sproule’s Emporium offers unique one-of-a-kind gifts. Currently featuring artwork by primitive artist Mary Scattergood.

Like us on Facebook.

114 Broadway 519.942.3042

Chez Nous Thrift Boutique We have a wide variety of better labels and designer clothing and accessories.

Brands such as: Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Lululemon, Ralph Lauren, True Religion.

70 Broadway cheznousboutique.ca 519.307.0603

Skin ‘n Tonic

Dragonfly Arts on Broadway Celebrating Canadian art and fine craft for over 10 years.

Introducing our newest studio artist, Rosemarie Armstrong.

Brides, drop in and consider our wedding registry.

10 Second Street skinntonic.ca 519.941.7100

189 Broadway dragonflyarts.ca 519.941.5249

Genesis Interiors & Home Decor

Shannah Rose

Your decorating and renovating design team: StoneCast Designs, Centurian Window Fashions, Genesis Space Creations Decorating & Design.

Equine giftware, home decor, furnishings, fashion accessories.

83 Broadway 519.415.5577

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Artisan and gluten-free breads, pastries, sandwiches, homemade soups and daily specials. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

Please visit us on Facebook.

153 Broadway sproulesemporium.ca 519.941.3621

Enjoy relaxing, professional esthetic services from head to toe. Specializing in skin care.

Come discover the OxyGeneo 3-in-1 Super Facial.

54

Son of a Chef Bakery

Elegant handcrafted designer ready-to-wear and custom women’s wear, styled and tailored to flatter every woman’s body. Handcrafted custom jewellery and all natural body products also available.

151A Broadway shannahrose.com 519.942.8383

Where Shopping Meets Dining

KNOW WHERE IT GROWS AT ORANGEVILLE FARMERS’ MARKET Every Saturday May 10th to October 25th | 8am to 1pm Orangeville’s Historic Town Hall

OrangevilleFarmersMarket.ca

The Chocolate Shop

Wicked Shortbread

Indulge yourself with a tasty tidbit, or surprise someone special with a delectable treat.

Handmade chocolates and truffles. Gifts for any price range.

Love a treat that is so worth the indulgence? Wicked carries only local products and specializes in handmade, artisan shortbread.

Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

114 Broadway thechocolateshop.ca 519.941.8968

96 Broadway wickedshortbread.com 519.307.5000

A.M. Korsten Jewellers

Pear Home

Fine jewellery, custom designs, watches, repairs. Goldsmith and gemologist on premises. Serving Orangeville and area since 1960. Accredited Appraiser C.J.A. Gemologist, Goldsmith.

Lenny & Eva jewellery features a beautiful collection of leather and beaded bracelets with interchangeable sentiments.

163 Broadway korstenjewellers.com 519.941.1707

185 Broadway pearhome.ca 519.941.1101

Academy of Performing Arts

The Manhattan Bead Company

20th year promotion: new students, ages 3 to 5, save 20%. Hip-hop, ballet, tap, acro, jazz, musical theatre, zumba, adult classes and more.

Sign up now.

Please visit us for all your beading needs!

133 Broadway academyofperformingarts.info 519.941.4103

111 Broadway manhattanbeadco.com 519.943.1299

Winexpert

The Scented Drawer Fine Lingerie Boutique

Orangeville’s only full-service on-premise winemaking establishment. Fully automated equipment. A fun and easy experience!

41 Broadway winexpertorangeville.com 519.940.4111

Bridal season is fast approaching. We have discreet personal service, and specialty sizing A - H. Come in early to ensure proper fit and availability for your special day.

143 Broadway thescenteddrawerltd.ca 519.941.9941

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

55

Whi igigs The whimsical decoration on everyday objects expresses “Art from the Heart” in a new exhibition at Dufferin County Museum & Archives

a erva s & o er wonders

It is unknown who made the two whirligigs, ca 1950s, shown at left and near right. They are included in a collection of 35 whirligigs donated to the museum’s permanent collection in 2ooo by Canadian artist, the late Robert Markle and his wife Marlene.

ou might not always call it good art.

Depending on your sensibilities, you might not even call it art at all. But those who think they’d rather skip the new exhibition at Dufferin County Museum & Archives would be robbing themselves of the chance to see a glorious celebration of the true character of the people who populated these hills.

“Art From the Heart: Folk, Found, Farm & Folly” is an unabashed romp through the domestic creativ ity that made living in the country more tolerable in those early days of backbreaking labour, harsh winters and sometimes even harsher summers. It pays homage to the often funny, curious and sometimes crude illuminations found on regular household objects, depicted by the amateur artists who used them.

Y

This young man’s drum, ca 1860s, was manufactured by Jonathon Ritchon of Marsville, son of the village shoemaker, for Leonard Allan, son of the village weaver.

56

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Handmade and once painted a brilliant red, this sap bucket is a new donation to the museum. Like modern sap buckets, it hung beneath a spile, attached to a maple tree. Shaped maple sugar molds like this one were introduced to Quebec in the 1800s.

This year whirligigs, weathervanes, farm implements, decoys, treen (small, handmade, functional household objects made of wood), quilts, rugs, furniture, paintings and more take centre stage.

They are not what the museum might usually display as exemplars of its collection. Many have languished in storage for decades from lack of opportunity to showcase them. Others are on loan from museum supporters.

“Fine art comes with training, whereas folk art comes right from the heart,” enthuses museum curator Wayne Townsend. “It’s what is inside a person that comes out. That’s what I like about this decoration. It’s fun because it’s unnecessary to the function of the object. The embellishments are the personal expression of the owner.”

Townsend has often had to bypass these objects either because they are so ordinaryy or so worn

The museum has an extensive collection ction of spiles, spiless, some made of wood and some of metal. etal Spiles control the flow of air into, and carbon dioxide out of, things like a cask of ale or a tapped tree. This spile was once owned by Charles Cooke of Amaranth, ca 1910.

P H O T O S P E T E PAT ER S O N

BY Y E VGENI A C A S A L E

This fanning mill (right), used to clean threshed grain, was made and decorated by William Daniels in Orangeville, ca 1870, who had a thriving business manufacturing them until the large factories crowded out the small makers.

through generations of handling that they lack archival merit, or because they are so unique that they are atypical of “the normal historical timeline.” But this exhibition is more focused on sly wit and personal humour. Until now, for instance, Townsend had to content himself with private chuckles at the sight of a painting produced in an otherwise classical style but for the small detail of the deliberately placed cross-eyed dog.

He felt the best way to celebrate the eclectic collection would be by “pulling them out of their natural environment and giving people the opportunity to reflect on them as objects” rather than utilitarian implements or conventional art.

The roughly 1,200 pieces in the exhibition are capsules of human endeavour that hat transport us to the very moments when they were either created or used.

Theyy include several examples ples of the nearlyy 200

A hooked rug made by Edith (Phair) McMillan of Orangeville, ca 1940. The McMillan family operated a service station on the south side of Broadway.

This cupola and rooster wind vane, ca 1988, were removed from the carriage house of a home on 11th Line East Garafraxa.

quilts in the museum’s collection (see In The Hills, Winter ’13), as well as such items as a document box constructed by an Orangeville house painter who meticulously inlaid small wooden tiles to form the shape of a house, a picture frame made of smashed wood collected after the famous 1907 Horseshoe Curve train wreck, and much simpler things such as a hooked rug decorated with hearts to celebrate the love within the home where it lay on the doorstep.

Unlike fine art, the worth of these objects is not necessarily based on the skill of the hand that forged them. Though that skill is sometimes considerable, the delight of these objects lies more in the stories g , and to which theyy from which theyy were wrought,

bear witness. The show is also inspired in part by the notion that, as Townsend says, “It’s okay to smile.

It’s very healthy. When it happens in the everyday, it’s very unexpected, great and good. In today’s world we almost have to have permission to laugh.” This show delivers that permission in spades and hoes. ≈ Art From the Heart: Folk, Found, Farm & Folly opens on Sunday, April 6 and runs through to the end of the year. Additional programming to complement the exhibit includes summer folk art workshops in July and August. For more information, visit www.dufferinmuseum.com.

Yevgenia Casale is a C Caledon-based freelance writer and passionate commu community organizer. Her writing often highlights the humanity hu behind the things we ttend te n to take ffor nd or granted grante every day.

Alexander Cooper constructed this parquetry “cottage” box. Originally from Belwood, the painter and decorator relocated his home and trade to Orangeville in 1900.

W.H. Lamb, who worked as a carpenter for CPR at Orangeville, had a workshop behind the family home on Margaret Street, where he cut and assembled the pieces of this frame, made from wood salvaged from a train wreck.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

57

beyond the

fitness fad

BY NI CO L A ROSS | PH OTOS BY ROSEM A RY H A SNER

personal trainers offer clients much more than a physical workout “I feel my body and my car have a lot in common,” says Diether Weeren. In his early 70s, Diether is increasingly aware that his quality of life depends on keeping his body tuned up. He recognizes it would be less expensive if he learned how to fix his automobile – and his body – himself. But Diether is neither an expert mechanic nor a fitness pro, so he willingly pays professionals to do both jobs. iether is part of a trend driven by a growing awareness of the links between health, wellbeing, fitness and nutrition. This awareness extends to people of all ages and fitness levels, with recreational tennis players and aging baby boomers as inclined as aspiring Olympians to put in the time, energy and money needed to keep their bodies in tune.

Sandy Irwin, who operates 2bfitt Training Classes and Events in Orangeville, has racked up more than 25 years as a personal trainer and finds herself working with more and more corporate clients. What began as a fad among working professionals, she says, has turned into a fitness phenomenon. “Business professionals wanted more of a workout than their aerobic classes offered. They had money, but were short on time. When they added a workout with a personal trainer to their Day-Timer, they got specialized and professional service, and were able to achieve their goals.”

Nikola Boadway, the Palgrave-based personal trainer who puts Diether through his paces, explains what’s behind the trend. “Sitting,” she says, “is the new smoking.” Nikola didn’t coin this phrase, but she has made it her life’s mission to help others avoid or reduce the effects of spending hours in front of a computer.

D

58

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

With rod-straight posture, a waist the size of my thigh and the ability to do eight chin-ups, which is eight more than I can do, Nikola, like most of the personal trainers I met, doesn’t limit her expertise to physical fitness. To varying degrees, personal trainers also promote mental health and nutrition, and Nikola, who sees up to 60 clients a week in one-on-one, semi-private and group sessions at Palgrave Personal Training, views herself as a holistic lifestyle coach.

“It’s better,” she says, “if the people I train combine their workouts with drinking plenty of water and eating healthily.”

She also recognizes that stress can undo many of the benefits of a workout.

According to experts at the Mayo Clinic, the longer we spend sitting in front of a TV or computer screen, the greater our chances of experiencing health problems or even premature death. One study compared adults who spend less than two hours a day staring at a screen for recreational purposes with others who do the same thing for more than four hours. The risk of death from any cause was nearly 50 per cent higher among those who spend the longer time, and the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease, such as angina or a heart attack, was about 125 per cent higher. continued on next page

Trainer Tony Fenech has been putting Orangeville mayor Rob Adams through his paces for about four years, usually in the gym at Big Tyme Fitness and Boxing, but sometimes for variety on the playground equipment of a local school.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

59

fitness continued from page 58

fashions . gifts . home decor

ronen chen . katherine barclay french dressing . joseph ribkoff michael kors . sympli . bylyse

78 First Street in Orangeville 519.940.4719 www.achesons.ca

Wedding Specialists • Colour Highlights • Updo’s • Make-Up Perms • Chemical Straightening

307 Broadway, Orangeville

519.415.4545 www.artizanhairsalon.ca

60

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Moreover, the increased risk was independent of factors such as smoking and high blood pressure.

Sitting, experts say, seems to stall the body’s ability to break down fats and sugars, which explains not only the apparent obesity epidemic, but also many other health problems.

To help her clients build a well-balanced, functional body, Nikola focuses on mobility, core strength and correcting posture. Using a clever illustration that shows how our modern lifestyle encourages us to hunch over computer desks or stare down at cell phones, she makes her case: by improving posture we can avoid a lot of pain, increase energy levels and look better, too.

Spending long periods scrunched over a screen can shorten the muscles in the front of the body and slacken those in the back. Dowager’s hump was often considered an affliction of older women, but computer and cellphone users beware. That unsightly rounded back is but one of the ailments you can look forward to if you don’t take steps to raise your chest and prevent your shoulders from caving in.

According to experts, the longer we spend sitting in front of a TV or computer screen, the greater our chances of experiencing health problems or even premature death.

My preconceived notion was that personal trainers, who charge in the range of $75 an hour depending on their experience, are well-informed cheerleaders whose function is to push clients a bit harder in the gym than they might push themselves, to provide an incentive similar to a weekly weigh-in at a weight-loss clinic and to hand out some tips on a personalized workout routine. It turns out that personal trainers do all this – and much more.

For about four years Orangeville mayor Rob Adams has been working out with Tony Fenech, a high-energy, Orange ville-based trainer. Rob praises Tony’s motivational skills, but is most impressed by his technical advice. “Tony,” says Rob, “identified my weaknesses and corrects my form.”

“Form,” an everyday term in the world of personal training, refers to the motion used to complete a particular exercise. Correct form uses the proper muscles. But letting our strengths compensate for our weaknesses is human nature, and people often do this when working out on their own. “The body will always fi nd a way to cheat,” says Nikola. Personal trainers use their knowledge of how the human body works to identify problems and zero in on muscles that are less strong, designing an exercise regimen that often specifically avoids the use of dominant muscles.

Nikola gave me a series of exercises designed to use the muscles I had allowed to slacken, and then made sure I did the routines properly – because even a slight change in form can be enough to allow one set of muscles, usually the strong ones, to take over from another, usually the weaker ones.

Personal trainers also design training routines that help clients stay challenged and motivated as they strive to meet their personal goals. “If you

continue to do the same exercises without progression,” says Nikola, “you will also get the same results and potentially lots of wear and tear.

Training is about being accountable and working with focus, consistency and a willingness to push yourself past comfortable. If you just do the same thing over and over again, most people will get bored and give up.”

Tony uses an imaginative array of equipment and exercises to keep his clients’ interest. He can, for example, create an amazing workout from a big fat old rope and a couple of plastic discs. Rob Adams recalls the day Tony took him to a playground behind a local school. “Today,” Tony told him, “we are going to just use this playground equipment.” He then put Rob through his paces using swings, slides and monkey bars.

he relationship between client and trainer can run deep. Bonnie Richmond, a Belfountain resident, has worked with personal trainers for years. Though she doesn’t lack motivation and has learned the routines she needs to keep herself fit and strong, Bonnie keeps up with her personal trainer anyway. “The main reason I keep seeing her is because we’ve become friends,” says Bonnie. “I really like her.” She also turned to her trainer to help with a recent injury. “My trainer gave me exercises that didn’t exacerbate the problem. She also gave me exercises that helped me recover.”

For seven years Nancy Frater, owner of BookLore in Orangeville, has been seeing Terri Holden of Fit for Your Life Personal Training.

Though she jokingly calls Terri “the princess of pain,” Nancy says she has no intention of retiring anytime soon, and she credits Terri’s cardio and strength-building routines with giving her the energy to keep going.

Like many people I spoke with, especially women, Nancy says, “I’m not comfortable going to a big gym.” For some, venturing into places like GoodLife Fitness can be intimidating. When I visited the GoodLife facility in Orangeville, the trainer who showed me around pointed out and rattled off the names of a dizzying array of machines: elliptical trainers, TRX systems, treadmills, rowing machines, adductors, abductors and so on.

But when I asked about some specific equipment Nikola had suggested I use, he showed me the exact machines I required and demonstrated how to use them. It was great for me to be able to supplement my session with Nikola by using equipment specifically designed to isolate the muscles she told me needed strengthening. And knowing what to ask for reduced the intimidation factor.

T

hough machines can be helpful in fitness training, most of the trainers I spoke with focused on “functional” training. The Mayo Clinic defi nes functional training as exercises that “train your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports.” So rather than use a machine that might require use of only your bicep or hamstring,

T

continued on next page

above : Nancy Frater (left) practises cardio and strength exercises with Terri Holden, whom she affectionately calls “the princess of pain.”

below : Sandy Irwin in her Orangeville studio: “Business professionals wanted more of a workout than their aerobic classes offered.”

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

61

VOTED #1 WINDOW & DOOR COMPANY IN DUFFERIN COUNTY

Quality Window ws & Doors Great Service

ďŹ tness continued from page 60

functional exercises use these muscles, as well as the associated ones you might need to swing a tennis racquet or pull a heavy bag of gardening soil out of the trunk of your car.

AndrĂŠ Leitert owns Riverdale Fitness Mill in Inglewood and sells a complete line of high-quality fitness equipment through his company National Fitness Products. AndrĂŠ points out that “functional training is good way of training, but it’s easy to lose proper technique if you’re not coached properly.â€? A trainer can help you zero in on the equipment that will give that wayward muscle an extra workout and bring it up to par with your strengths.

As women age, osteoporosis becomes more of a concern, and it is widely accepted that weight training can slow or even halt this debilitating disease.

EXCEPTIONAL

Value Finaanc ncing g A ai Av aila labl la ble bl e (O OAC AC)) Free Esttim Fr i attes Tran Tr ansf sfer erab abl ble le Life Li feti eti t me e Warr War Wa rran antty ty

519-938-8700 9 938 8700 TOLLFREE TOLL FREE 866 866-938-8700 938 870

CALEDON TRAVEL Experiences of a Lifetime Should be Trusted to Professionals

Naomi Rogers www.caledontravel.com

A Virtuoso Travel Advisor 16035 Airport Road In the Village of Caledon East Ontario L7C 1E7

TICO Registration # 50020258

DID YOU KNOW? AT TONY’S GARAGE

WE service all vehicles from Acura to Volvo...

Muscle Cars to Mini Vans & Light Trucks! t %SJWF 5SBJO 'MFFU 4QFDJBMJTU t 'MVTI .PVOU "MJHONFOU 3BDL GPS MPX DMBTTJD WFIJDMFT t 'BDUPSZ "QQSPWFE .BJOUFOBODF # 4UFXBSU $PVSU 0SBOHFWJMMF UPOZTHBSBHF !HNBJM DPN XXX UPOZT HBSBHF DB

62

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

A trend at Riverdale Fitness Mill, AndrĂŠ says, is the rising number of women using strength equipment for resistance training. Perhaps because they have turned to personal trainers for advice, women are becoming more comfortable using the pulleys, weights and levers that make up exercise equipment.

Fulvio Cubello, who runs Esteem Fitness and Wellness in Hockley village, sees twice as many women as men. “It sounds like I’m putting women on a pedestal,� Fulvio says, “but they are easier to motivate, more disciplined and they do the homework I give them.� Many of Fulvio’s female clients are also older than 40. As women age, osteoporosis becomes more of a concern, and it is widely accepted that weight training can slow or even halt this debilitating condition.

Whereas many of Fulvio’s male clients are coping with weight gain, the women he works with more often complain of feeling sluggish. So he designs programs to cope with these differences. And he notes another way in which women are conscientious clients: “Women are more inclined to change to a healthier diet than men.� Then, echoing Nikola, he adds, “You can’t diet properly without exercise and you can’t exercise properly without a good diet.�

hough personal training is a relatively new and largely unregulated profession, all the trainers I met are certified in some way. AndrĂŠ Leitert says he has seen effective personal trainers with a ton of certificates and others who have trained themselves. “The important thing if you are a personal trainer,â€? he says, “is that you have to be in shape. And you have to have experienced the training that you’re prescribing to your clients.â€?

Tony Fenech, Rob Adams’ trainer, is an example of someone who has worked his way up through the ranks. I met with Tony beside the boxing ring at Big Tyme Fitness & Boxing in Orangeville. His battered nose and short, quick boxer-like movements seemed to contrast with the very healthy-looking green blender drink he sipped as we talked. Tony explained how he had been a high school tennis champ. Then he moved on to skateboarding and boxing, excelling at both.

He vividly recalls the day he discovered his own strength.

When his father, whom Tony describes as extraordinarily strong, and a friend couldn’t lift a concrete slab, Tony brushed aside the “old guys� and picked up the slab by himself. Then he carried it up a flight of stairs. Then he carried up 14 more slabs. From that point his relationship with his dad changed forever, and Tony added weightlifting to his long list of athletic endeavours.

Tony has accumulated an impressive list of certifications through Canadian Fitness Professionals, aka canfitpro, and

T

continued on next page

FOR ALL YOUR BUILDING NEEDS Orangeville Home Hardware above : Diether Weeren (right) relies on trainer Nikola Boadway to keep him in shape – just as he relies on a mechanic to keep his car running.

below : In Hockley Village, Fulvio Cubello sees twice as many women as men. “Women,” he says, “are easier to motivate, more disciplined.”

60-4th Avenue 519-941-5407 www.orangevillehomehardware.com

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

63

A TASTE OF SUMMER!

fitness continued from page 62

works with people ranging from the mayor to professional boxers and horseracing jockeys. But to do what an effective trainer such as Tony does, it’s important to have a good grasp of anatomy, nutrition and even psychology – and to be willing to keep learning.

ne way in which the industry has advanced, says Sandy Irwin, is that there are now great courses for aspiring trainers. They still require time in the gym, she says, but new trainers come out of these programs with solid knowledge.

In one exceptional case, Renée Holden, a trainer with a home-based studio near Belfountain, was called upon to work with Bill Acheson, an aging baby boomer who, as a result of a cardiac arrest induced by sleep apnea, had been deprived of oxygen before fi rst responders arrived at his Hillsburgh home. After four months of rehab in Toronto for his resulting brain injury, Bill scored 6 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, well below the level of 26 or higher considered normal. Experts told Bill and his wife Dianne that further improvement in his cognitive skills would likely be slight.

But Dianne had been working with Renée for years, and unwilling to accept the verdict, she took Bill to see her.

“During the fi rst visit,” says Dianne, “Renée noticed that while Bill could imitate her actions, he didn’t understand how to even raise his leg when given verbal directions.”

Renée recalls spending hours learning about Bill’s condition, called anoxic brain injury. She then turned to studying neuroplasticity, the idea that, with repetition, neural pathways in the brain can be re-established.

Last December, 15 months after Renée began her painstaking treatment to help Bill relearn how to perform the most basic movements, his score on the cognitive assessment had risen to 27. And he is now in the process of getting his driver’s licence back.

O

48 Centennial Road Unit 13, Orangeville 519.942.1568 1.800.461.4401

DONSHEATINGANDCOOLING.COM

If we want to be pain-free and vibrant well into our senior years, we must live a healthy, active lifestyle.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED

**Pio Pioneer nee eer err 700 7000 -44 shown wit 70 ith ac it access cess ess ssor ories. ories. orie s.

Introduci Int In rod oduci uc ng the al all-n ll-n -n new new an an in and nnov novati o ati ativ ative t ve ti ve Pi Pione Pio onee ne eerr side ee side ide-b -by by-side -side lineup lin from Honda.

The Pione Pione on er e 700 ca carr rri riies two pe peopl ople e, and nd d th the e Pioneer P 700-4 features the ind dustry’ ustry’ ust us ry s first firs co c nv verti rti tiible seating designed for two, three or four.

Learn Lea r mor rn o e abou outt Pioneer and the full lineup of accessories at honda.ca

Larry’s Small Engines 4 km north of Orangeville on Highway 10 519-941-1517 www.larryssmallengines.ca Larry’s Small Engines

@Larrys_ oville

Honda Pioneer is recommended for drivers 16 years of age and older, and tall enough to wear the seat belt properly and reach all the controls. The passenger should also be tall enough for the seat belt to fit properly and brace themselves, if needed, by placing both feet firmly on the floor while grasping the hand hold.

Always wear protective clothing when operating your Honda product. Please respect the environment. Obey the law and read your owner’s manual thoroughly before operating your Honda Product. Model images and specifications subject to change without notice. Visit honda.ca for additional safety information.

64

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Most people who work with a personal trainer face less daunting challenges than Bill, but like Renée’s star pupil they need to do more than push additional weight to achieve success. The study that investigated the risks of sitting also found that visiting the gym for a few hours a week or doing other vigorous exercise doesn’t significantly offset the risks.

Instead, as any experienced trainer will say, you need to be generally more active, eat better, sit less and build your strength and cardio fitness.

Diether Weeren’s auto mechanic can keep his customers’ cars in good shape only if their drivers are conscientious about keeping their vehicles running smoothly. Similarly, if we want to be pain-free and vibrant well into our senior years, we must live a healthy, active lifestyle.

I began working with Nikola hoping to do a single chinup. I haven’t achieved that goal. But I am standing straighter, getting up from my computer more frequently, sitting less, drinking more water and making it to my workout classes more regularly. I am more mindful of what it will take to get my whole body and soul into shape. Maybe I will do that chin-up someday, but sticking to such a single-minded goal, I now realize, would mean missing the overall good that can come from working with a personal trainer. ≈ I’d like to thank Nikola Boadway of Palgrave Personal Training for her patience and encouragement in putting me through my paces. —nr

Shelburne Golf & Country Club Nature, Beauty and Sophisticated Charm

Sh helburne Golf & Country Club offers the offe h perfect close-to-home Dest De stination Wedding Experience. st Th he Sh S elburne Golf & Country Club off fers the discerning Bride and C Groo Gr oom oo m the the mo th m st romantic of settings for th for fo heiir wedding with wonderful cuis cu isine, spectacular views and is exquissit itee memories to last a lifetime.

Plleaase inquire at 519 925 5581 or info@shelburnegolf.com North h of o Shelburne on County Road 124

www.rebeccahallphotography.com

above : Trainer RenĂŠe Holden helped put Bill Acheson well on his way to recovery from disabilities resulting from a brain injury.

below : AndrĂŠ Leitert, owner of Riverdale Fitness Mill, says using good equipment with proper coaching assists multi-muscle workout.

www.shelburnegolf.com

Add some Curb Appeal to your home

s Wood & Steel Insulated Doors s Wide Choice of Designs s 3Ervice & Spring Replacement s %LECTRIC /PENERS Authorized Dealer

519 942-1956

www.allmontdoors.com Orangeville 48 Centennial Road, Unit #20 IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

65

G O O D

S P O R T

by Nicola Ross

an

Audacious idea It began as one man’s visionary dream. Now the Bruce Trail is a defining feature of Ontario

“W

e are poor indeed if we are so grasping for every dollar that we cannot afford this narrow strip of land across our province for the good of all,” Ray Lowes, who has been called “the father of the Bruce Trail,” told a conference in 1968. “The simplicity of our request is astounding! We just want a strip of land that will be left alone – not manicured, not landscaped, not serviced by multilaned highways or ‘parkways,’ and not through new subdivisions. It’s not much to ask. A later generation will demand it.”

Lowes was right. Current generations not only demand the Bruce Trail, which traverses Ontario from Queenston Heights near Niagara Falls to Tobermory at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, but they have also come to believe that the 890-kilometre trail is an integral part of both the landscape and the proud character of the province.

66

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Those who walk the first marked trail in Canada escape the rigid grid pattern of the province’s roads and get inside the Niagara Escarpment. Hikers don’t simply look at nature; they touch the magnificent maple, basswood and beech trees that grace what singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer calls “the backbone – the one that crosses the muscles of the land.” They feel the wind that ripples the surface of abundant vernal ponds, important breeding grounds for many amphibians, including the threatened Jefferson salamander, and hear the rushing brooks that cascade over rocks as old as 430 million years. Features like these contributed to UNESCO’s designation of the escarpment as a World Biosphere Reserve.

Today, the Bruce Trail, like the escarpment itself, may seem as if it has always been there, but in the late 1950s when Lowes came up with the idea of a publicly accessible pathway, his scheme was audacious, a first in a country not yet a century old. The story of how Lowes mentioned his vision to fellow

naturalist and Burlington high school teacher Robert Bateman, who had yet to make his name as a wildlife artist, has become as much a part of the lore of the trail as the white blazes that mark the way.

“What,” Lowes asked, “would you think of a hiking trail winding up the Niagara Escarpment from one end to the other?” To which Bateman famously replied, “Well, that’s a great idea, but who’s going to do it?”

Of course, the job of organizing and building the trail fell to the man who suggested it: Lowes, along with the small troupe of like-minded and tenacious volunteers he recruited. Their hard work paid off in 1967, when the trail was formally inaugurated as part of Canada’s centennial celebrations.

Although it took until 1967 to complete the entire trail, the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club, which manages the section that stretches from Cheltenham in the south to Mono Centre in the north, was founded in 1964. “The club came to be at a February

PHOTOS GARY HALL

J E A N K ER I N S

– and 50 years ago, the Caledon section was among the first to be completed. meeting in my house in Guelph,” says Philip Gosling, who is now 85. On that long-ago day, Gosling agreed to be president until the new club had rounded up a hundred members. When that goal was achieved, he passed along the title and tasks involved.

Named to the Order of Canada last year, Gosling not only helped start the Caledon Hills club, but was also instrumental in creating the entire footpath. As the first trail director of the fledgling Bruce Trail Association – now called the Bruce Trail Conservancy to better reflect its mandate – Gosling travelled the route from one end to the other, talking landowners into allowing the footpath to cross their property.

A self-described naturalist, Gosling took a year’s leave of absence from his job in real estate to work on the task. Covering his expenses with a small grant, which he more than paid back several years later, he laid the groundwork for the trail by meeting farmers, municipal officials, conservation authority

representatives and anyone else who might help the association gain access to the route. He was a man on a mission. “For us, it was an emotional thing,” he says. “We wanted to save the Niagara Escarpment for its natural beauty.”

Of all his experiences during that time, Gosling’s favourite story is the “miracle” of the Forks of the Credit. “The only way down the escarpment through the Forks of the Credit,” he explains, “crossed land we thought was owned by Senator Harry Willis.”

But the senator hadn’t responded to letters asking for a meeting to discuss the trail. Frustrated, Gosling and Tom East, who later became the Caledon Hills club’s second president, began looking for other options – and discovered an unopened road allowance that included a route down the cliff.

“We couldn’t believe our luck,” Gosling recalls.

“It’s a very steep slope and the road allowance happened to run down one of the only places where we continued on next page

Fiddleheads unfurl next to the Lime Kiln Side Trail near Belfountain.

As a threatened grassland species, the bobolink symbolizes the Bruce Trail Conservancy’s mandate to secure and maintain a conservation corridor along the escarpment, thus protecting and increasing biodiversity.

A hiker enjoys a hike along a high path amid the golden fields of late summer.

The Caledon club’s Tuesday Hikers cross one of the bridges in Hockley Valley Nature Reserve.

Maidenhair ferns are among the dozens of fern species found along the springtime trail.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

67

68

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

PHOTOS GARY HALL

Produced by the Bruce Trail Conservancy © Feb 2014 (Scott Langley, Cartographer), under licence with the OMNR. © Queen’s Printer for Ontario 2014. This map is not intended to be used for hiking.

bruce trail continued from page 67

could build the trail.” Because the road allowance was a public right of way, Willis’s permission wasn’t needed to make the final link in the Caledon Hills section. “It was a miracle,” says Gosling.

Since those early days, the Caledon Hills club – one of nine that cover the entire trail – has matured and grown.

Under current president Jean Kerins the club manages about 70 kilometres of main trail and about another 50 kilometres of side trails. With the help of more than 200 volunteers, the club ensures that the trail is kept shipshape. It also tries to secure portions of the trail to protect it from development and offers regular weekend and Tuesday hikes to anyone interested, including the club’s 850 members. Barbara Sonzogni of Orangeville hikes every Tuesday with a group of friends and says, “We only cancel if it’s 30 degrees above or 30 degrees below. The hikes are that popular.”

Kerins herself gets out on the trail as often as she can. “If I’m lucky,” she says, “I hike two to three times per week.” She adds that she’s a “stop and smell the roses” kind of hiker, who can’t help but pause when she comes to a lookout or other point of interest.

Kerins’ approach to hiking isn’t for everyone. Orangeville resident Cody Gillies, for instance, ran the length of the trail in 2012, raising more than $35,000 for the Headwaters Health Care Foundation. It took him less than 13 days, smashing the previous record by more than a day. (Read about Gillies’ end-to-end run online at inthehills.ca.) Compare Gillies’ time to the 30 days or more normally needed to cover the entire distance.

Kerins points out that the club offers hikes of various lengths to suit people of varying ages and fitness levels, as well as those who do and do

facing page, from top : Beth Gilhespy conducts an environmental hike at Hemlock Ridges, a 57-acre Bruce Trail property on the south side of the Hockley Valley.

Two hikers follow the main trail overlooking Cataract Falls, one of Caledon’s historical landmarks.

Hikers descend the Devil’s Pulpit near Belfountain.

Wild leeks along the trail are a sure sign of spring.

not want to smell the roses. “Hiking is one of those sports that can be adapted to anyone’s preferences,” she says.

Those who lead the club’s regular hikes are masters at sorting out different hiking styles. The hikes generally attract up to 20 people, and not everyone will walk at a similar pace.

“Hiker Sue” Simons, a Bolton resident and club member, says she likes to hike about 15 kilometres, which takes her about four hours. Though Hiker Sue is at the younger end of the hiking demographic, her main reason for hiking is the same as that of many others. “I love the camaraderie of it,” she says. “You get exercise and don’t even notice because you are talking.”

Albert McMaster, who lives in Alton, is another of the club’s regular hikers. Like Simons, McMaster lists good company as a key reason for his enthusiasm. “I live most of my life on my own,” he explains in a lilting accent that gives away his Irish heritage.

“It’s nice to have people to talk to.”

Though McMaster’s favoured hikes last about two hours, he gets out two or three times a week and occasionally completes the longer 20- to 25-kilometre distances of some club hikes.

Five years ago he joined about 50 keeners for the club’s annual Thanksgiving hike, covering Caledon’s entire 70-kilometre section over the threeday weekend – and he received a badge to prove it.

As Hiker Sue and others point out, hiking is a great form of exercise and an opportunity to meet new friends and catch up with old acquaintances.

By walking the Bruce Trail, you also become intimate with the landscape in a manner not possible inside a car or atop a bicycle. Ray Lowes, who died in 2007 at the age of 96, knew that on foot you can pat an oldgrowth maple that stands guard along a favourite trail. Or you might have lunch on a stretch of the Credit River seldom visited by humans.

And if you are a smell-the-roses kind of hiker like Jean Kerins, you will certainly stop to read the small trailside plaque that recognizes Philip Gosling’s role in creating the Bruce Trail. From this spot atop the cliffs not far from the Devil’s Pulpit, be sure to gaze out over one of the most spectacular vistas along the entire length of the Niagara Escarpment. As the miracle of the Forks of the Credit demonstrates, this view was secured because a group of dreamers had not only a vision, but also the wherewithal to get the job done. ≈ continued on next page

hillndalelandscaping.com 519 925 3238 / mono, mulmur, creemore regions

specializing in the design and installation of irrigation and landscape lighting systems

It’s time!

Plan a landscape lighting system that will extend your pleasure into the evening hours.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

69

J E A N K ER I N S

Volunteers position a stile they constructed so hikers can cross a fence.

Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club Celebrates Its 50th To celebrate its first 50 years, the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club has planned a number of special activities in 2014. There is a theatre night in the spring and a fall train excursion. The club will also dedicate a nature reserve to Philip Gosling. Details about forthcoming anniversary events, as well as information about the club’s hikes and membership, are available at www.caledonbrucetrail.org.

We’ve made it our business to know what’s important to you!

Family owned and operated for over 15 years, Lord Dufferin Centre is a charming, intimate retirement residence located in a mature, desirable neighbourhood and only steps from downtown Orangeville.

Within our warm and welcoming community you’ll discover exceptional people delivering exceptional service.

Call Tammy today for your personal tour and complimentary meal.

519-941-8433 ext 241 or visit us at www.lorddufferincentre.ca

PRIVATE SUITES FROM $2,495

Your Co m

munity

… You r H om

32 First Street, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 2E1 70

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

e!

Dufferin Hi-Land Bruce Trail Club Extending from Mono Centre in the south to Lavender in the north, the Dufferin Hi-Land section of the Bruce Trail is also located in Headwaters. Over its 51 kilometres, it passes through Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, Boyne Valley Provincial Park and the Pine River Fishing Area. The club, which holds Tuesday and “regular” hikes, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2015. Membership, hiking and other information is available at www.dufferinbrucetrailclub.org.

Bruce Trail Conservancy Membership The Bruce Trail Conservancy is a volunteer-run, charitable organization that receives very little government support. Most of the BTC’s revenues come from membership fees, individual and corporate donors, and foundations. So if you use the trail, please join the organization’s more than 8,000 other members.

To become a member, you join one of nine clubs or, like Caledon Club president Jean Kerins, you can join all nine clubs. The BTC sells the excellent Bruce Trail Reference Guide ($30.96 for members or $36.96 for non-members) – which some refer to as the “Bruce Trail Bible.” It includes information about the trail and offers detailed maps which can be removed from the guide and carried by hikers.

The benefits of membership include • a tax receipt • information about organized hikes • a subscription to Bruce Trail Magazine, the BTC’s quarterly publication • club newsletters and email updates • invitations to special BTC events • discounted access to some conservation areas • discounts on BTC products such as Bruce Trail Reference Guide • discounts from retail partners • voting privileges.

Visit www.brucetrail.org for more information. ≈

architectural design \ installation project management \ maintenance custom irrigation and landscape lighting systems garden maintenance and tailored property care pools and outdoor kitchens

hillndalelandscaping.com 519 925 3238 / mono, mulmur, creemore regions

Swifts and Swallows

BY D ON SC ALLEN | PHOTO GR APHY BY ROBER T Mc C AW

Swifts and swallows dance on the air, displaying a mastery of flight that is the envy of earthbound humans. These birds fly with grace and verve, flitting over fields and wetlands and high above towns and villages. Though not closely related, swifts and swallows make their living in a similar fashion.

As they swoop and soar, both consume aerial “plankton” – flying insects, as well as spiders that have chosen an inopportune time to balloon, or launch themselves into the air on gossamer threads. Both swifts and swallows have also thrown in their lot with humans, depending on us in large measure for their nesting sites. And disturbingly, the population of both birds is on a downward trajectory.

72

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Swallows Five species of swallow inhabit the Headwaters region. A sixth, the purple martin, lived here at one time and may still, though I saw none when I went searching last summer.

Barn swallows are the familiar forked-tailed swallows of the countryside. The most widely distributed of all the swallows, they are found across wide swaths of North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In this region look for them darting in and out of old wooden barns and nesting under bridges.

Cliff swallows, the birds of Capistrano fame, are superficially similar in appearance to barn swallows – without the barn swallow’s lavish tail. The two species often use the same artificial supports for nesting: bridges, barns and outbuildings. I found cliff swallows nesting under bridges on King Street at the Credit River just east of Terra Cotta and on Old Church Road at the Humber River north of Bolton. Undoubtedly these swallows also nest in many other locations around the hills.

Tree swallows are handsome birds with metallic blue-green backs and radiant white breasts. They are cavity nesters, often using woodpecker holes. But many raise their families in nest boxes provided specifically for them, or for the bluebirds that share their savannah-like habitat. The tree swallow is a bird that can be readily attracted to your backyard, if you live near a natural area. Moving in shortly after they were offered a birdhouse, a pair nested on my brother’s property in Caledon village last summer.

Bank swallows and rough-winged swallows also inhabit these hills. Though these two species look similar – brownish above and whitish below – the prominent brown band across the upper chest of bank swallows is absent on the rough-wings. Bank swallows nest in colonies, and as befits their name, they create their little homes in banks, either in the artificial sand banks found in quarrying operations or in the natural banks along water courses.

In Caledon, the Lafarge-Aecon pit is home to at least one large colony of bank swallows. Despite my repeated requests, however, I was not invited to enter the quarry, so I watched the swallows from a vantage point on McLaren Road. continued on next page

top : Barn swallow. bottom : Cliff swallows gathering mud for their nests. left : Migrating swallows rise up from their roosts into the dawn sky.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

73

Fresh + Local

Tranquil + Beautiful

Intimate + Romantic

Serene + Soothing

EXPERIENCE THE BEST OF THE REGION,

all with

millcroft.com | 1-800-383-3976 | Caledon, Ontario

An iridescent tree swallow in flight.

swallows continued from page 73

We Grow Strong Trees that Stand the Test of Time • Supply and Plant Mature Trees • Deep Root Fertilizing • On-Site Transplanting Since1983

519-942-1507

Replace Storm Damaged Trees

Rough-winged swallows can be a challenge to find and identify because they look so much like bank swallows, especially in fl ight. But unlike bank swallows, rough-wings don’t nest in colonies. Look for them under bridges where they nest in drainage holes. I found rough-winged swallows doing just that under a bridge in Alton and under the Charleston Sideroad bridge over the Credit River just west of Caledon village.

Assuming they are still here, purple martins are the largest of the local swallows. They nest almost exclusively in large apartment-style martin houses. Island Lake Conservation Area next to Orangeville has one such house, but martins have so far eschewed occupancy. Over the past few decades, these birds have abandoned much of their inland range in Ontario, retreating to their optimum habitat along large water bodies such as the Great Lakes.

Swifts

At one time the chimney swift was a common inhabitant of towns and villages across Southern Ontario. Its name came from its fondness for 74

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

nesting in chimneys. Swifts are brown all over, and though they resemble swallows, their closest living relatives are, surprisingly, hummingbirds.

While swallows glean aerial plankton at various heights, often skimming mere centimetres above lakes and ponds, chimney swifts nearly always forage high above the ground.

And unlike swallows, swifts never alight on branches and wires.

Last summer I spotted chimney swifts flying in Orangeville and Bolton. Searches in Erin and Shelburne came up short, but Paloma Plant of the Fatal Light Awareness Project, whose goal is to reduce the number of birds that die as a result of flying into buildings, reported seeing swifts in the air over the Valu-Mart plaza on Main Street in Erin.

populations in decline According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, a joint project of Environment Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey, the population of chimney swifts and all North American swallows has been declining since data collection began in 1966. Most other birds that feed on flying insects

SCHUSTER CONTRACTING 30 Y E A RS O F QUA L I T Y C RA F T S M A N S H I P

CUSTOM HOMES . ADDITIONS . RENOVATIONS INTERIORS & EXTERIORS

Purple martins like apartment-style housing.

have also experienced troubling population losses. These include flycatchers, common nighthawks and whippoorwills.

Among swallows, bank and barn swallows have undergone the most dramatic declines. And the chimney swift? The Breeding Bird Survey reveals that from about 1970 to 2011 the Canadian population of chimney swifts declined by an alarming 92 per cent. This is a species in freefall, so much so that both the federal and Ontario governments have declared it “threatened.”

What has gone wrong? Habitat loss is nearly always central to the decline of species, and though this may not explain the plight of the urban-loving chimney swift, it is certainly the case for swallows. Suburban sprawl has destroyed vast expanses of swallow habitat.

Beyond habitat loss there is no clear explanation for the decline in the numbers of swallows and swifts, says Mike Cadman, songbird biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service and an editor of both editions (1987 and 2009) of the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. Cadman has suspicions though, and cites several factors that may be hurting aerial insectivores.

51 9 . 9 3 9 . 3 116

“The intensification of agriculture, favouring large fields of corn and soy over pastures and hayfields, has likely lowered insect populations in rural areas,” he says. Anything that drives down insect numbers will obviously have unpleasant consequences for the creatures that eat them.

Cadman also cites studies showing barn swallows have begun nesting earlier in Europe and North America, a behavioural modification that may be an effect of climate change. It is possible these birds and the insects they eat are responding differently to climate change. He suggests the timing of insect availability may be “getting out of sync” with the development of nestlings, creating food shortages at a critical time.

In addition, after swallows and swifts leave the Headwaters region in autumn, they may run into other adversities. “The species that migrate farthest south, like chimney swifts and barn and bank swallows, are experiencing the biggest declines,” Cadman says. This means habitat loss, pesticide use or an unknown dynamic the birds encounter during migration or in their wintering territories in South America may be at fault. continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

75

F I N E D I N I N G . C A S UA L E L E G A N C E . H I S TO R I C C H A R M .

bringing together fine food and fine company 519·925 ·3627

M R S M I TCHELL S.COM IN VIOLET HILL

HW Y 89 BE T WEEN H W Y 10 A N D A I R P O R T R OA D

TUE– FRI LUNCH 12- 2 & T E A 2- 4 D I N N E R 5 - C LO S E

S AT– S U N B R U N C H 11- 2 & T E A 2- 4 D I N N E R 5 - C LO S E

Bank swallows nest in colonies in sand banks.

swallows continued from page 75

Kitchen Art receives

Best of Houzz 2014 Award

KitchenArt 1 Little York St., Orangeville 519.942.8500

KitchenArt North 149 Welham Rd. Unit 23, Barrie 705.719.6712 www.cabinetsbykitchenart.ca

Book your Pool Opening before April 30th & receive a FREE POOL CLEANING! (value $75 for new customers only)

Free Water Testing Follow us on Facebook & Twitter for Pool School & Coupons 365 Healey Road Unit 8, Caledon 905-857-1188 www.friscopools.ca

76

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

The increase in severe weather may also be implicated. In October 2005 Hurricane Wilma became the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. Cadman notes that Wilma coincided “with the peak migration of chimney swifts in eastern North America. Thousands were transported north to the Maritime provinces, where large numbers died.”

Pesticide use here in Canada may also be contributing to the decline. A fascinating project at Queen’s University in Kingston has shed light on how the notorious insecticide DDT affected the insects eaten by chimney swifts.

When researchers examined a large chimney on the Queen’s campus, they discovered a two-metre-high deposit of swift guano, which had accumulated between 1944 and 1992, when the chimney was screened to prevent the birds from entering. The malodorous droppings provided a detailed record of the swifts’ diet over the 48-year period. Tellingly, the swifts’ consumption of beetles, a high-quality food source, dropped in step with the rise in DDT use during the 1950s and 1960s. Beetles are very susceptible to DDT, and the persistent nature of this poison meant it con-

tinued to kill them even after it was banned in 1972.

The Queen’s research revealed an indirect effect of pesticides through the decrease in a food source. But these birds can also be directly affected – by eating pesticide-laced insects.

One wonders what the successors of DDT are doing to swallows and swifts.

By the way, the screen over the Queen’s chimney has been removed.

Chimney swifts have reasserted their claim to its interior and are again donating their droppings to science.

In addition to all this, the humble homeowner ought to shoulder some of the blame for the decline in swift and swallow populations. Most of us are in thrall to a neatness ethic promoted by lawn care companies, fertilizer manufacturers and the makers of lawn mowers and string trimmers.

Exotic trees and shrubs, of little interest to native insects, are a mainstay of suburban landscapes. Furthermore, many of us are bug-phobic, ready to reach for the Raid at the least provocation. Few swallows nest in our towns and cities for good reason: there simply isn’t enough food to sustain them.

The transformation of urban and suburban properties should be at the forefront of a campaign to turn back

indulge impress satisfy Experience interactive, seasonal and fine dining in the comfort of your own home or at a venue of your choice.

Northern rough-winged swallow.

the current tsunami of species decline.

We can plant native wildflowers, trees and shrubs, and we can replace some of our turf with vegetation that sustains insects and the birds that rely on them. We need to leave herbicides and pesticides on the shelf. Our neaness fetish must yield to a celebration of the natural. Naturalized yards may be less tidy, but they are far more interesting and life affirming.

Rural residents could also be less concerned with tidiness. Like the Queen’s University swifts, swallows poop copiously. Gerald and Joan Donnelly, owners of a Caledon farm that specializes in geese and ducks, understand this and accept it with aplomb. From April to September they partition their garage to protect their precious incubators from barn swallow droppings.

The other half of the garage is given over to the swallows. The couple park their cars in the driveway until the young birds leave the nests, and they caution visitors not to linger below the swallows’ flight path out of the garage, lest they or their cars be anointed with fecal matter. For the Donnellys, providing a home for the swallows is small payment for the insect control services these birds render.

Don and Joanne Chambers have also made a conscious decision to accommodate barn swallows on their rural property north of Erin. One pair raised three broods in an outbuilding last summer. The mess they made was eclipsed by the joy, and the fine photo opportunities, they provided.

Nesting sites, such as those provided by the Chambers and Donnellys, will be crucial to the success of barn and cliff swallows in the years to come.

Old wooden barns are as imperilled as chimney swifts. These buildings are rapidly disappearing, and those that remain are often in an advanced state of disrepair. When they go, so too will the barn and cliff swallows that depend on them.

Perhaps then, we need to provide alternatives. More than any other birds, except the introduced starlings, rock pigeons and house sparrows, swifts and swallows have come to rely on humans for nesting opportunities.

Most of our help, aside from providing nest boxes for tree swallows and purple martins, has been entirely unintentional. We didn’t build barns, bridges, quarries and chimneys with swifts and swallows in mind – but it is time to consider doing just that.

416 - 8 4 6 - 9 712 m a r y j a n e @ l a c o u r t o i s i e . c o m w w w. l a c o u r t o i s i e . c o m

TASTE OF SPRING Fabulous Floral Designs Unique Gifts • Home Decor • Antiques We Deliver 78 John Street • 519-941-2592 www.orangevilleflowers.com

AWARD WINNING FLORIST

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

77

SeekingSwifts

OPENING DAY

Saturday April 26

Beautiful Hanging Baskets, Annuals, Perennials and Herbs Gift Certificates Available

Open Mon-Fri 8:30-7:00 Sat 8:30-6:00 and Sun 8:30-5:00 13694 Chinguacousy Rd, Cheltenham 2km west of Hwy 10 south of King St www.scgreenhouse.ca

• Landscape Design and Construction • Natural and Interlocking Stone • Lawn and Garden Maintenance • Landscape Lighting • Retaining Walls • Water Features

www.peellandscaping.com

519-927-9404 1-800-663-7680

We supply all your needs for both indoor and outdoor projects • large selection of landscape products • precast and natural stone • cedar and pressure treated lumber • composite decking

Orangeville Building Supply 78

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

205164 Hwy 9 just west of Orangeville

519-942-3900 | 1-800-647-9442 www.orangevillebuildingsupply.ca

swallows continued from page 77

With most modern chimneys capped or simply too small to accommodate nesting swifts, researchers in the United States and Canada have begun to experiment with specially constructed “swift” towers. Though some swifts in the U.S. have accepted these structures, swifts in Canada have so far ignored them. We should increase efforts to find a suitable design. There are many successful templates to learn from – the chimney at Queen’s University among them.

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds promotes the creation of nesting habitat for bank swallows, known there as “sand martins.” Projects like this are worthy of consideration here.

In the Headwaters, as in most of Southern Ontario, many bank swallows nest in active quarries, risky places to raise families. Creating sand

banks designed to encourage them to nest successfully could benefit parks and conservation areas. These sites would attract not only swallows, but also visitors who want to see them.

In his 2013 book, The Once and Future World, J.B. MacKinnon used the term “habitecture,” which he describes as “the integration of habitat for other species into structures designed for human purposes.” Perhaps it is time to embrace habitecture in architectural design and modify buildings and structures to encourage swifts and swallows to nest.

Could bridges, for example, be designed to encourage even more swallows to take up residence? What about rural houses and outbuildings?

What features can be integrated into their design to encourage these birds to nest? How can this be done intelligently so the inevitable droppings fall where they pose little concern?

T

he ice cream vendor raised an eyebrow and told me he didn’t know of any “chimney sweeps� in Shelburne. And why, he wondered, did I need a pair of binoculars to look for one? I left Tony’s Sweet Treats, milkshake in hand, to walk Shelburne’s downtown, looking, not for chimney sweeps, but for chimney swifts. I didn’t find any on that sultry July evening last summer, but I did come across another gentleman with birds on his mind.

He was standing in the driveway of his home on Gordon Street, equipped with two stones, ready, on orders from his wife, to clack them together to keep marauding crows away from the robin nestlings in a crabapple tree. He told me that clacking the stones would send the crows wheeling whence they came. Asked if he had seen any chimney swifts, he answered, “Nope, never heard of them.�

My quest continued two days later, this time in Bolton. I began searching after enjoying a tasty dish of yellow curry at Bangkok Thai Cuisine. I had just about admitted defeat when I heard the characteristic twittering of swifts high overhead. One, two, maybe three swifts careened above Bolton Mill Park along the Humber River. “Yes!� I shouted to no one in particular.

My swift search next took me to Orangeville on July 11. The moment I stepped out of my car on Broadway, I heard them! There seemed to be about six birds, but swifts are notoriously hard to count as they swoop and crisscross high in the sky.

After enjoying a tuna sandwich at the Bluebird CafĂŠ and Grill, I repaired to Alexandra Park, spent time contemplating the Dufferin County War Memorial, and then craned my neck to watch the swifts silhouetted against the billowing clouds. I wondered how Orangeville appeared to these high-flying birds. And I wondered if they thought at all about the large, colourfully dressed mammals scurrying around far below. I doubted it. But I also doubted the townspeople thought much about them either.

Erin beckoned on July 21. I started with a delicious Reuben on the patio of the Carver’s Block on Main Street. The server told me she enjoyed feeding birds and had been thrilled the previous winter by the arrival in her backyard of a hoary redpoll, a rare northern visitor. Of chimney swifts, though, she knew nothing.

For two hours I walked Erin’s streets, but found the blue skies bereft of swifts. I mentioned my quest to a woman enjoying the fine summer’s afternoon on her Charles Street porch. She thought a moment and then offered, “I know of a chimney sweep in Guelph, but I don’t think you’ll find one in Erin!�

ADAM & COMPANY I N T E R I O R

D E S I G N

Can you see it? ...We can!

Co C omp mple ete te int nte errio or de desi essiig gn n ser ervi vice vi es, s, citt y & count ount ou ntry trryy pro rop pe erttie iess..

Hu umble mble, mb lle e, u un np prreten etten enti t ou ous ap ap p prro oa ach ch. ESST. T.1 19 9 92 92 ad dam man andc d co dcom om mpa any nyin inte in te eri rior ior orde desi s gn si gn.c .ccom .com m 51 519 94 9 0 87 8781 81 1 I 877 884 84 411 12

left : A chimney swift at rest from the rigours of migration. below : Chimney swifts returning to their roost at dusk.

Could faux chimneys be incorporated into the design of government buildings to attract swifts?

Human beings are now the most powerful force shaping the environment. We must become compassionate stewards of that environment. To enhance biodiversity, rather than passively watch it slip away, is among the most noble of goals. We can wring our hands and let swift and swallow numbers continue to diminish, or we can take creative action to halt, and even reverse, the decline of these dancers on air. ≈ Naturalist Don Scallen teaches science at a Brampton elementary school. You can read his regular blog about local wildlife, “Notes from the Wild,� at inthehills.ca. His most recent post describes the rescue of an injured snowy owl near Orangeville by Honeywood residents Bill and Sharon Rowe.

HE:8>6A>O>C< >C HE:8>6A>O>C< >C H>C<A: B6AI H8DI8= Ă&#x2C6; A>K: BJH>8 DC ;G>96NH

>CI:GC:I Ă&#x2C6; EGD?:8I>DC H8G::C >CI:GC:I Ă&#x2C6; EGD?:8I>DC H8G::C E:G;:8I ;DG G:8:EI>DCH DG 7JH>C:HH B::I>C<H JE ID )%

>CI>B6I: EG>K6I: >CI>B6I: EG>K6I: 9>C>C< ;DG E6GI>:H D; JE ID -

L: 86I:G 6CN 96N Ă&#x2C6; A6G<: DG HB6AA E6GI>:H Ă&#x2C6; A DC DG D;; H>I: AJC8= 9>CC:G &&#(% 6B ¸ .#%% EB L:9C:H96N ¸ HJC96N =DA>96N BDC96NH >C I=: =6BA:I D; BDCD 8:CIG: Ă&#x2C6; *&. .)& *&%. Ă&#x2C6; LLL#BDCD8A>;;H>CC#86 HE:8>6A>O>C< >C 6JHIG6A>6C L>C:H

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

79

H I L L S

by Ken Weber P EEL A R T G A L L ER Y, M U S E U M A N D A R C H I V E S P N 2 0 07 _ 0 4 5 6 4

H I S T O R I C

the

on-again off-again birth of Peel County

On October 7, 1856, at the first meeting of a special council created to establish Peel County, harmony prevailed and every vote passed unanimously. But then the wheels fell off and it took ten long years to finish the job.

T

he issue that nearly torpedoed the process was where to put the county seat. Whichever community won this prize would not only boast the courthouse and jail, legal requirements for a county’s existence, but would also enjoy significant commercial and social perks. Brampton, of course, was a contender, but Streetsville, Malton and Port Credit all felt they too had a legitimate shot. And Bolton, Sandhill, Alton and Tullamore, along with over 20 others were rolled into the debate before the issue was settled. Disagreement over the choice of county seat became so intense through the ten-year period that establishing Peel County almost became a stillborn venture.

80

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

peel’s rather special case Each of the three counties graced by these hills had to choose a county seat when they were established. For Wellington County, established in 1853, Guelph was a slam dunk because it already had a courthouse and jail, and was the area’s clear commercial leader. Dufferin County, once spread among Grey, Simcoe and Wellington counties, was established in 1881, just two years after the fi rst public vote was taken to begin the process (although earnest lobbying had gone on for nearly two decades).

While debate about municipal governance continues to this day in Dufferin, in 1881 simple logic put Orangeville way out in front as the county seat. For the voters and coun-

Peel County Courthouse, c1875. This Venetian Gothic building with its Byzantine dome in the centre of Brampton was designed by Toronto architect William Kauffmann and completed in 1867. It served as Peel council chambers until the 1950s, and trials were held in the raked and balconied courtroom until 1967. Now part of the Peel Art Gallery, Museum & Archives (PAMA) complex, the courtroom and other spaces are available to rent for performances and meetings.

40 YEARS OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT On January 1, 1974, Peel County became the Regional Municipality of Peel with its three administrative structures: the Town of Caledon and the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga. The purpose of the change was to consolidate services in the name of efficiency.

In Peel, reaction to the change was not unlike that of a hundred years before.

Many county politicians asserted they would have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of a system that had worked well for a century. And just as back then, the conversion to a new municipal structure began ten years before it finally became official. This time though, negotiation replaced acrimony, and when Peel County Council accepted the final regional plan by a close vote of just 12 to 10, no one walked away. Perhaps history had taught a lesson.

cillors of Peel in the mid-19th century, however, nothing about becoming an independent county seemed obvious or straightforward.

It should have been easy because Peel was technically already a county when that October meeting was held in 1856. When the province’s district system of governance was replaced by

the county system in 1849 (see sidebar), Peel had been set up under a single governance unit called The United Counties of York, Ontario and Peel.

Ontario (now part of Durham Region) quickly separated to become an independent county, leaving The United Counties of York and Peel. Not long after, Peel too seemed ready to go

HOW COUNTIES CAME TO BE Following the division of the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1791, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe organized the administration of Upper Canada into “districts.” Within districts, he established counties. (The Home District, for example, once held the counties of Peel, York, Simcoe, Ontario and parts of Dufferin.)

Administrative power rested with the districts and officials were appointed.

Townships were carved out of the counties, essentially for survey purposes, but these units too had no administrative power in the district system.

By the mid-19th century, the population of Upper Canada (by then Canada West) had grown to nearly a million. The districts, undemocratic and far too unwieldy, were abolished in 1849 and replaced by a democratically elected county structure. Within a county, each township and incorporated village and town elected its own council (usually five people), and each council in turn designated representatives to serve on the county council. With tweaks, this system has prevailed ever since.

it alone. Its townships and urban centres were fi lling with people. Its farms had moved beyond self-sufficiency into prosperity. Commerce was growing. Clearly it was time for local administration. In Peel, however, “local” became a very narrow concept.

first, an eye-opening public vote The men who met on October 7, 1856 were designated the Provisional Municipal Council of the County of Peel by an act of Parliament. They were the reeves and deputy reeves of Peel’s five townships: Albion, Caledon, Chinguacousy, Toronto and Toronto Gore, plus the reeve of Brampton, Peel’s only incorporated village. Their job was to make Peel County independent of York, and the first step was to hold a public vote (male landholders only) on whether to go forward with the project.

The results were a jolt. Although 1,309 voted in favour, nearly as many, 1,258, voted against. More ominous was the vote distribution. Albion, Toronto, and Toronto Gore lined up solidly on the nay side (Albion, for example, voted 492 to 3 against), while Caledon, Chinguacousy and Brampton were overwhelmingly in favour.

Although the vote was a victory for the yeas, the tiny majority of 51 indicated trouble ahead because the next decisions were where to put the county seat and how to pay for the courthouse and jail to be built there.

off-againon-again Over the next decade, each member of the provisional council locked on to his own preference for county seat (precisely half the members seemed to be anti-Brampton) and could barely agree on anything. Typical was a

meeting in January 1859 at which it took 24 consecutive votes to agree on the time and place of the next meeting. No wonder then that by 1860, the council had tried and failed on 160 resolutions to settle the choice of county seat.

The voting public too played its part.

In April 1862, with negotiations still going nowhere, and having already participated in three referendums that decided nothing, electors went to the polls once again. This time they killed the idea of Peel as a separate county, choosing by a another slim vote of 2,055 to 1,925 to stay united with York County.

But even that didn’t resolve things.

Two and a half years later, the council for the United Counties of York and Peel (back in charge after that 1862 vote) passed a motion to let the electors of Peel try yet again – which they did in March 1865 and, for reasons that still perplex local historians, a large majority (567) now said, yes, let’s make Peel a separate county.

Happily for the future of Peel, that same election killed two birds with one stone by holding not just a yea/ nay on becoming a county, but also by allowing a write-in vote for county seat. Although choices ranged from Lockton to Coleraine to Burrell’s Hollow (there were even 15 write-ins for Toronto), a vast majority wrote in Brampton and that settled the matter.

After ten years the struggle was over.

Well, almost over. When the council of the newly independent County of Peel convened in 1867, a first task was to choose a site and a builder for the courthouse and jail. That potentially hot topic did indeed stir the pot again – but only briefly. The people of Peel and their councillors were too weary to face another storm. ≈ Caledon writer Ken Weber’s bestselling Five Minute Mysteries series is published in 22 languages.

-BSHFS 4VJUFT t &YDFQUJPOBM 4FSWJDFT t &YDFMMFOU 3BUFT Every aspect of Montgomery Village has been carefully designed to provide a setting where you feel stimulated, active and comfortable. Take a swim in our therapeutic heated pool, attend a fitness class to enhance muscle strength, balance and flexibility. Challenge your friends to a game of bridge. Try your hand at our indoor putting course, or spoil yourself at our on-site beauty salon. And when you are ready you can enjoy a wonderful chef-prepared dinner with friends in our beautiful dining room.

You choose how to best enjoy your day!

Top quality fence and building construction.

Complete project management. www.mcarthurfence.com don@mcarthurfence.com 519-994-1036

www.calhoun.ca

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

81

H E A D W A T E R S

by Bethany Lee

Ready to go I L L U S T R AT I O N S H EL A G H A R M S T R O N G

packed and

N E S T

Calling All Drama Queens and Kings Channel your child’s inner drama queen or king this summer with programs conducted by our venerable Theatre Orangeville leaders.

What If? is a program where children ages 7 to 10 take part in dramatic games and activities. Led by Gary Sarazin, the program emphasizes fun and structures the “Big Show” so every child is a star and has a significant role. Or how about The “Fun”damentals of Theatre for ages 11–14? It provides an exciting opportunity to explore the essential elements of theatre through improvisation, scripted material and more. These eight-week programs promise to be an exciting diversion from the everyday. Visit www.theatreorangeville.ca for audition and program dates.

Orangeville

Earth Day Tree Planting

Over 200 volunteers are needed on Saturday, April 26 from 9 a.m. to noon to participate in an Earth Day Tree Planting, to help fight climate change and increase the forest cover in the town of Orangeville. No experience is needed, and there will be demonstrations on site. Equipment is provided, but if you have your own shovel, please bring it. After the planting there will be light refreshments and a free barbeque. Select one of the following Orangeville locations to plant trees: 30 Centre St. or Mill Creek Trail, off Hunter Rd. Contact Lindsey Jennings at 905-670-1615 x445 or ljennings@creditvalleyca.ca

82

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

A

s I write this, many parents are finalizing plans for March Break, whether for a day in the city, a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, or a road, train or plane trip. This year, I’ll be taking Adrian out of school for a few days and heading south to Florida to see my parents – snowbirds that they now are.

I love to watch my son pack his suitcase.

It’s a small bag that is half backpack, half rolling suitcase. A few years ago, when his plastic baby suitcase became too small and too embarrassing for him to pull around, we took a trip to a department store for an upgrade.

He picked out a brown utility pack that will be his for years to come. I was surprised by his pick. It was quite handsome, with many pockets, sturdy zippers and a black handle. It felt like it would hold up to being loaded with gear, squished into a car and tossed around a few baggage belts. I was confident a near week’s worth of his small clothes could fit into it. A great choice!

When we got home with his purchase, I took off the tags and carried it up to his room. We unzipped the zippers and examined all of the pockets. “Lots of pockets are good,” Adrian explained.

“For what?” I asked. “For stuff,” he said. (“Stuff” – obviously!)

So now we were making a list of what he will need for one week in Florida and gathering the goods. A beach towel. A snorkel. Shorts. Flip-flops. Beach shoes.

T-shirts. Underwear. A pair of pants for cold nights. Toothbrush and toothpaste.

Sunscreen. He picked out many more items of clothing, but I explained we had to be selective, and we could do laundry at his grandparents’ house if necessary.

Once everything was decided, I let him know it was his job to fit all his necessary items into the suitcase. He could do that while I went and packed my own bag.

I went to the basement and grabbed my rolling suitcase, which is quite large and not very feminine compared to some of the stylish cases and gorgeous supple leather totes I see in my travels. In fact, my bag looks a lot like a hockey bag with wheels. It’s quite ugly, but I love it for its utilitarianism. It’s been across the continent with me.

Free Youth Night

I lugged it up the stairs and packed a few things, carefully calculating the right amount of space to bring home a few new finds. It’s a bit like doing a puzzle, or playing Tetris, packing the perfect suitcase. I called out to Adrian, “Are you done packing?” and I could hear him chit-chatting to himself and walking back and forth, zippers zipping. What a good little guy, I thought. He’s a great traveller already!

I knocked gently and asked, “Can I come in?” “Yes, all done!” he said. I couldn’t wait to see the results of his happy, hard work.

All his clothes, beach gear and toiletries were perfectly in order – right where we had left them on the bed. Instead, there were stuffies everywhere. Books pulled from shelves lay scattered on the floor.

Drawers were open and clothing had been strewn across the bed.

The room was an absolute mess.

“Adrian, what have you been doing in here?” I asked, my forehead wrinkling into a stepladder of surprise.

“I’ve been packing, Mom! Look!”

He opened the pockets, one by one, to show me. “My favourite stuffies are in this main pocket. I am bringing 12 of them, I counted.

I have my two favourite books, and my flashlight, and my three favourite hats, and my favourite blanket – but it’s too big, and all of my favourite pencils, and my mini sticks in case we want to play mini-stick hockey, and my picture of my dead cat Zax – who I miss very much, and my alive cat Remy – who I love very much, and my picture of my cousin Cole…”

All the worldly, most treasured possessions that were close to his little boy heart were there, the “stuff” that had made the cut into his big boy bag. I looked from the pile of carefully chosen items we had folded and put out together to the overstuffed case of f luffy things, toys and pictures of cats.

“What about your clothes, Adrian? What about your toothbrush and sunscreen? Don’t you need those things for your trip?”

I asked.

“Of course, Mom,” he said, looking up at me seriously. “That’s what your bag is for.” ≈ Bethany Lee is the online editor of www.kidsinthehills.ca, a sister site of www.inthehills.ca, where she also writes a regular blog.

Join the Town of Orangeville for a free Youth Night, sponsored by Mayor Rob Adams’ Youth Advisory Committee. Students in grades 6 to 10 will enjoy swimming, games and activities, and Flash Mob Zumba, with a special guest deejay. It all takes place May 16, 6 to 10 p.m. at the Alder Street Recreation Centre in Orangeville.

Caledon Day 2014 This giant outdoor fair is an all-day free event centred on family fun.

There will be demonstrations by Caledon firefighters and the OPP, fair food and live music all day, with all sorts of other activities spread out across the town hall campus on Old Church Rd. The day will be capped off by a free concert, including Big Sugar, with a fireworks finale. Be there on June 14, rain or shine.

Pan Am Picnic The Toronto 2015 Pan American games are just over a year away!

When they arrive, close to 7,000 athletes from across Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and North America will put their years of intense training and perseverance to the test in world-class competition covering 36 Pan Am sports and 15 Parapan Am sports. Caledon and Mono host the equestrian portions of the games. Mark your calendars now – on July 12, Caledon will host a one-year countdown picnic! See www.caledon.ca/panam for details.

Visit Soon to See Why Our Customers Love Us Over 50 Years in Business PUBLIC PLAY | MEN ’ S NIGHT | LADIES ’ NIGHT NINE AND DINE | DEMO DAYS | JUNIOR CAMPS | WEDDINGS SCENIC PATIO / RESTAURANT

905-838-0200 | golfcaledon.com | info@golfcaledon.com

Spring is here and it’s time to get back outdoors! Be sure to check out the events for families and kids on our website, including many Easter “Bunny Brunches” and egg hunts for your little ones. Then check back in April and May for other activities, including our annual Camp Guide which will be posted soon. The popular guide is the most visited page on our site.

— Bethany IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

83

A T

H O M E

I N

T H E

H I L L S

by Pam Purves

a touch of French countryside E

top right : Parallel rows of ferns and geraniums make a colourful natural screen. bottom : A small porch provides a spot for quiet reading and viewing hummingbirds.

rica Pratt is curious, instinctive and has restless feet â&#x20AC;&#x201C; qualities that have led her in all kinds of directions. But sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no dilettante. She is an accomplished

pianist, serious student of violin, thoughtful and talented photographer, community volunteer, independent traveller, and disciplined blogger.

Currently residing for a year in a rural area of southern Cambodia where she assists primary

and secondary school teachers with English lessons, she keeps in touch with friends and family online. For many of its avid readers, her blog is the highlight of the week. Loaded with pictures and stories of day-to-day life and special moments in Cambodia, it is a vivid reflection of a place and a woman.

Her home in Caledon is the base from which she launches her many ideas and explorations. continued on next page

84

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

P H O T O S PA M P U R V E S

The large sunroom was a later addition to the original house and provides a comfortable dining area through three seasons. In late spring, it overlooks a glorious display of blossoming tree peonies.

INTRODUCING JAMIE GAIRDNER Broker, ASA

Sotheby’s International Realty Canada is pleased to announce that Jamie Gairdner has joined our company and will be heading up our Caledon office located at 122 Main Street in Erin, ON. As the former owner, President, CEO and Chairman of Johnston & Daniel, Jamie built the company from a minor presence in the industry to a consistent $800 million per year sales giant. With over 46 years of experience, Jamie is a recognized industry leader and record-setting broker. He now specializes in niche proper ties, estates, horse farms and land in Caledon, Mono, Halton, Erin and Hillsburgh.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING FOR YOUR HOME

SOTHEBY’S INTERNAT A IONAL REALT L Y CANADA We combine the world’s most prestigious real estate brand W with true exper tise off the To T ronto market to off ffer ourr clients the highest caliberr of real estate service and unrivaled global marketing solutions. gairdner.ca r

|

sothebysrealty.c y a

416.464.7364 | 1.877.960.9995 **Broker. Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage. Independently Owned and Operated.

E.&O.E. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. Houses at the Seine River used with permission.

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

85

The kitchen design was influenced by the eclectic kitchens of rural southern France. Freestanding cupboards and colourful furnishings make it a lively centre for cooking and conversation.

Shop with us... it’s always a good time!

D I V I S I O N O F A D A M A N D C O M PA N Y I N T E R I O R D E S I G N I N C .

© Jan Strouhal

Furniture, Lighting, Art & Accessories 367006 Mono Centre Road in the Hamlet of Mono Centre www.nestinghabits.ca . 519.941.3111

at home continued from page 84

Quality Installations U Free Estimates Ceramics U Carpet U Hardwood U Blinds U Laminate & Vinyl Flooring 18 Centennial Road, Orangeville 519-942-3414 86

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Like her other choices, choosing that home turned out to be rather more instinctive than planned. When Erica and her husband thought about moving to the country from Toronto, they presented a well thought out list of “must” features to the real estate agent. The house had to be near water – a creek or river or, ideally, a pond, it

had to be set well back from the road.

It had to be stone and approached by a long, gracious lane of mature maples.

The house they ultimately chose has not one of these features.

This house is contemporary. It was built in 1963 and has floor to ceiling windows, a long rambling layout and large open spaces. It couldn’t be more different from what they thought

TM

BONE STRUCTURE AUTHORIZED BUILDER

RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION CALEDON . MULMUR . TORONTO Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on our BONE Structure model home.

www.caledonbuild.com T. 416-400-5029

BONEstructure.ca ©2014 Simple Concept Inc. | BONE Structure. The illustrations can differ from the actual model. Architectural works relative to BONE Structure houses are subject to international copyright law. The simple fact of using or copying the plans of Simple Concept Inc. in whole or in part or to fabricate or build directly or indirectly a house based, in whole or in part, on plans, scale-models or model homes of the former, without the express consent of Simple Concept Inc. might constitute an infringement to international copyright laws.

Let us help you have the home of your dreams

CUSTOM WINDOW TREATMENTS | FURNITURE | LIGHTING | FLOOR COVERINGS | ACCESSORIES

they wanted. So, what happened?

Well, as in so many of life’s unexpected turns – love. They walked into this space and had the feeling of being in a tree house. They loved the light and feeling of expansiveness. They noticed and appreciated the quality of the finishes. And, although the drive is not long and f lanked by mature maples, the property is dotted

with ancient maples that encircle the house in a warm embrace that keep it cool in the summer.

Building on its “good bones,” they undertook a major renovation shortly after they bought the house in 2000.

The existing galley kitchen was doubled in size and another bedroom and summer room were added.

Don’t leave home. We come to you! Our extensive product assortment allows us to work with your lifestyle and budget.

Marg Anquetil, DDCD

519-942-0602 Readers’ Choice Award for #1 Interior Decorator/ Designer in Dufferin County for 4th year in a row.

decoratingdenint@rogers.com www.decdens.com/anquetil

continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

87

PERFECT YOUR PORCH

Victorian Gingerbread Custom designed to fit your home. Low maintenance. Will not rot.

Heritage Inspired Building Products Solid Wood Entry & Screen Doors ~ Cabinets ~ Custom Kitchens Mouldings ~ Mantels ~ Tin Ceilings ~ Door Hardware ~ Shutters

493 Broadway, Orangeville

www.kurtzmillworks.com 519-941-7875

Tempered Glass Railings Replacement Thermopane Glass Custom Frameless Showers Custom Mirrored Walls Glass Shelves/Tabletops Serving Orangeville and Surrounding Area since 1998

above : Blocks of colour and light from a floor-to-ceiling window draw the eye through the entire length of the house.

519-940-4200 www.dufferinglass.ca

EXPAND YOUR SURROUNDINGS WITH GLASS RAILING

top right : With light flowing in from three sides, the airy living room seems to float among the trees. right : A grand piano is positioned between the living and dining areas, allowing Ericaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music to flow throughout the main level.

at home continued from page 87

416.761.9691

ironsidearchitect.ca

Custom Residential Design for Caledon & Dufferin

88

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Erica has spent a lot of time in western and southern France and her home reflects that influence. She has absorbed the colours and the unstructured design of kitchens she has visited in Provence and CharenteMaritime, and imported them to Caledon. Echoing the eclectic style of the kitchens of Europe, her kitchen has become a French room in a Canadian country house.

Working with a local woodworker,

Hovel Studio of Orangeville, Erica designed the kitchen, introducing freestanding cupboards, a built-in window table, a counter-height fireplace, an island topped with fourinch-thick pine, and strong colours.

It can now accommodate the cook, a couple of sous chefs, a dishwasher and assorted loungers sipping a fine burgundy from the cellar. With the fireplace burning throughout the fall and winter, it has become the heart of the home.

from concept to completion

TAMERLANE DESIGN Barb Shaughnessy www.tamerlaneinteriors.ca

905 838 5182 HOME ADDITIONS

& RENOVATIONS EXTERIORS & INTERIORS

KITCHENS & BATHS CUSTOM FURNISHINGS Split Second Photography

Finest quality re-upholstery · New upholstered furniture Custom window seat cushions · Upholstered antique restoration Excellent array of fabrics and leathers to choose from

Now that she’s lived in the house for 14 years, Erica has come most to appreciate the light and openness.

Because she is often absorbed in photography or a creative project with a community organization, her family or on her own, she delights in the space to spread out her work and see it properly in the natural light that pours in from all sides.

The openness of the house has also resulted in all the rooms being used.

Moving from a design project to the

piano is only a few steps. Moving from there to the kitchen to stir the stew is a short right turn and a few more steps. The southern-exposed office is just a short stroll down the hall. There is an easy logic to the layout that makes work, play and life a little easier to accomplish. And in the wild weather of winter, even the short driveway has proven to be a blessing.

The summer room, or as Erica likes continued on next page

For the finest in custom upholstery, trust

RecoveringNicely

Ltd.

519-833-0225 · www.recoveringnicely.ca 16 Thompson Crescent · North end Erin Village Tue – Fri 8am – 5pm · Sat 8am – 2pm · CLOSED SUN & MON IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

89

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING FOR YOUR HOME www.gairdner.ca | 416.464.7364 jgairdner@sothebysrealty.ca Serving Caledon, Erin, Mono, Halton and Surrounding Areas **Broker Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage, Independently Owned and Operated

HIGHLAND RELESSEY FARM IN MONO Fully integrated horse ranch on rolling 98 acres. 5-bedroom home that overlooks main pond, has gorgeous views covering many valleys and hills in Mono that can also be viewed from the atrium. Original stone portion of house built in 1830 and renovated in 1979. Separate staff quarters with kitchen and 2 bedrooms and 3-bedroom log house. 26 large box and 10 summer stalls, 200 x 60 foot arena, 12 paddocks and 5 large pastures, 6 run-in sheds. 50,000 feet of fencing. 20 x 40 foot heated swimming pool with hot tub plus hot tub in basement. 2 drilled wells, 3 septic systems and propane, oil heating. $2,985,000 Jamie Gairdner** ASA

There is a real Provençal feel in the summer room which is lit entirely by candles in the evening.

FULLY WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE HOME This 2 storey, 3-bedroom house was totally redesigned for wheelchair access on all levels starting with the garage. All tables, counters and 6 bathrooms are also fully designed for the excellent access for whatever needs to be done. The Cambridge elevator has 5 door openings with access to the whole house. In this incredibly spacious nest, you can easily entertain several dozen people all at one time. All appliances included. Lennox auto gas generator and gas heater in garage, water softener and artistically landscaped. The whole house is beautifully suited for all activities and is in very good taste. $775,000 Jamie Gairdner** ASA

at home continued from page 89

to call it, the salle d’été, is another short stroll from dining/workspace and the kitchen. It is a generous octagonal space, screened in the summer and with sliding plastic inserts that make it a three-season retreat. It is the ideal place for al fresco dining with a table that can seat eight and a sitting area that can easily seat another six or eight. The Provençal-designed fabrics reinforce the French flavour.

Erica is also an enthusiastic gardener. Her tree peonies, in particular, are astonishing. A large stand of a variegated red and white variety – a type of Paeonia suffruticosa – invariably takes visitors’ breath away as they come into the private back courtyard. In their season they are visible from all the public areas of the house. They should be called “Gloriosa.”

90

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

The house and its vivid red horse barn sit on a well-travelled country corner and are a distinctive landmark for neighbours and visitors from out of town. As different from Erica’s original idea of country living as it is, the contemporary home is well loved and well lived in. No doubt it will soon reflect her time in Cambodia, after she returns laden with more fabrics, cushions, art and artifacts from her adventures. ≈ Pam Purves is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Caledon.

ROLLING ACRES IN MONO This dramatic 25 acres of rolling land is beautifully positioned to take advantage of the stunning views to the south and west of the property. It would also be a lovely piece of land for your own horse farm, not too big and not too small, sitting on the edge of the escarpment.

On the other hand, due to the rolling property, one may want the privacy and choice of many settings and it becomes your own private estate. Close to hiking, snowshoeing or cross country skiing. There is a bored well and hydro already on the property as well. $475,000 Jamie Gairdner** ASA

jacquelineguagliardi.com 519-833-0569 • 800-268-2455

RCR Realty, Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated

BROKER

HOME ON THE GRANGE - CALEDON Newer 3600 sq ft 4-bedroom bungalow with 10’+ ceilings and finished w/o lower level with separate entrance; serene views over 82 rolling acres in prime location. Heated 2200 sq ft, 2-storey workshop. $2,650,000

HOWLING HILLS FARM - ERIN Stunning 4 year new 3100 sq ft country estate with dream kitchen, geothermal heat set privately behind pine forest on 84 acres (35 arable) with swimming pond, river, barn/drive shed and paddock. $1,399,000

HOBBY FARM WITH ARENA Extremely private 43-acre hobby farm in Erin. Large 4-bedroom home with 5 year new propane furnace, lower level suite with separate entrance, inground pool, 17-stall barn and 80’x150’ riding arena. $999,900

PRODUCTIVE 200 ACRE FARM Rare, scenic corner farm with 155+ workable acres (140 tiled), 2 good broiler barns and bank barn, 2007 drive shed and a pretty bungalow built in 1990, with finished lower level and new roof. $2,050,000

‘ne plus ultra’ in country living

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

91

CLICK ON SUTTONHEADWATERS.COM FOR MORE DETAILS

GRAND VICTORIAN CIRCA 1883 4 bedroom beauty with incredible circular staircase and woodwork throughout, huge country kitchen, dining room, living room and separate sunken family room with fireplace.

52 acres with pond, lawn, barn and fields. $1,195,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

HIDDEN IN THE WOODS - 17 ACRES Drive down the tree-lined driveway to this unique 4-bedroom home with hidden staircases, Juliet balconies, granny suite, tiered decks with hot tubs and more. Plus 6000 sq ft workshop/warehouse with two 2-bedroom apartments. $995,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

STUNNING COUNTRY ESTATE 5+ priv & scenic acs w/ forest, trails, stunning landscaping, grdns & pond. 4+ bdrms, gourmet kit, library w/ fp, formal din rm, mstr on main flr w/ romantic spa bthrm overlooking garden.

Heavenly garret as a retreat for family/guests. $1,450,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

HOME & BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 3-bdrm brick century home in downtown Orangeville w/ gracious wrap-around porch, high baseboards and clawfoot tub. Sep commercial 1200 sq ft office space/workshop at back with laneway access and parking. $499,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

92

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

UNIQUE HOME - 11+ ACS - POND Tree-lined driveway leads to this 3+ bdrm home that mixes modern with old world.

Open concept, sunken living rm, sun rm, mstr suite with large ensuite and sitting room.

Loft/bdrm with catwalk. Finished lower level. $999,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

1837 STONE MASTERPIECE Pillars, archway, driveway, walkways and home feature incredible stone craftsmanship.

3 bedrooms, library, country kitchen, master suite, solarium, wood floors, decks, w/o from basement. 2 acre private setting in Erin. $899,000 Wayne Baguley* 519-941-5151

17 ACRES, NEW, CALEDON 4800 sq ft, open concept, gourmet custom kit, fin bsmt w/ w/o. Reduced $1,350,000

33 ACRES, FARM, CALEDON 3000 sq ft country home w/ gourmet kit, bank barn, 4-bay drive shed, pond. $1,295,000

13 ACRES, 3000 SQ FT, CALEDON 5 bdrms, home theatre, granite, multiple w/o’s, large pond, 6-car garage. $1,250,000

68 ACRES, 2 CUSTOM HOMES, MONO $1,295,000

38 ACRE REC PROPERTY, ERIN 7 year construction, 3 ponds, Credit River, 4-bay heated garage. $1,049,000

4 ACS, 2500 SQ FT ON CEDAR DR Well maintained, inground pool, very private, possible in-law suite. $799,000

15 ACRES, 2000 SQ FT, CALEDON Handyman’s dream, 2 bdrms, w/o from bsmt, geothermal, Shaws Creek & trails. $699,000

68 SEATS, 2 BDRM APT, ERIN Thriving restaurant w/ accommodations. 28 seat outdoor patio o/l Credit River. $649,000

RAVINE LOT, VALLEYWOOD Very private yard, cul-de-sac, 4+1 bdrms, fin basement with w/o. 2200+ sq ft. $629,000

OFFICE/RETAIL - ERIN C3 zoning, with endless possibilities, buy or lease, 2 buildings, new septic. $449,000

RENO’D, IN-LAW SUITE, O’VILLE Stunning, beautiful backyard, 1.5-car garage, hrdwd, 4 renov’d bthrms. Reduced $365,000

OFFICE/RETAIL - 5 UNITS, ALTON Rent for $16/sq ft incl TMI. Units range from 700-1100 sq ft, equipped with CAD5.

SOLD

IT’S THE MARKETING. IT’S THE EXPOSURE. IT’S THE EXPERIENCE! Call today, you deserve the difference!

905-584-0234 888-667-8299

Chris P. Richie Broker of Record/Owner chris@remaxinthehills.com

15955 Airport Road, Suite 203A Caledon East, Ontario L7C 1H9 (BACK DOOR, 2nd FLOOR)

Complimentary Market Analysis

Philip Albin, Broker phil@remaxinthehills.com

...not just another evaluation

Sean Anderson, Broker seananderson@remaxinthehills.com

Dale Poremba, Sales Representative dale@remaxinthehills.com

Independently Owned & Operated

www.remax-inthehills-on.com

Over 50 years of combined experience at your service! Caledon, Mono, Adjala and surrounding areas.

LOOKING FOR AN ESTATE OR WEEKEND GETAWAY? This beautiful property has it all. High quality home set majestically down a long, winding drive.

Absolutely breathtaking views of Hockley Valley. 6-stall barn, inground pool. 47+ acres. Mono. $1,295,000

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Stunning country lot, magnificent quality home and backyard oasis. Close to amenities in an estate development. Extensive living space, finished walkout lower level. 6 fireplaces, cherry floors, lavish master suite, sparkling inground pool and more. Orangeville. $1,375,000

file photo

TAMARACK ESTATE A handsome executive home on over 2 acres. Soaring ceilings, main floor den, finished basement plus nanny quarters. ‘Showroom’ garage for the car buff. Beautiful, mature treed backdrop.

Extensive landscaping and inground pool. Caledon. $1,079,900

CALEDON HORSE/HOBBY FARM Spacious bungalow with finished walkout basement situated on over 25, pretty and private acres.

6-stall barn with French drains, 6-paddocks, arena with separate driveway, tennis court, inground pool and more. Caledon. $1,495,000

SUPERB EQUESTRIAN FACILITY Large bungalow home plus a first-class horse facility featuring a 24-stall barn, huge indoor arena with viewing area, Thoroughbred sand track, 6-well sized paddocks and 24 acres. Great location.

Caledon. $1,999,999

PRIME CALEDON EAST NEIGHBOURHOOD Sprawling home in a ‘Muskoka’ setting on over 2 acres. An impressive offering including a finished walkout basement, 3rd floor guest/nanny area, theatre room with private entry, maintenance-free deck and indoor pool. $1,249,000

LARGE LAND PARCEL A great investment opportunity. A large tract of land near Caledon Village and adjoining Town of Caledon property. Approximately 103 acres currently being farmed with 2 road frontages and hardwood bush. Caledon. $1,695,000

2014 SOLD An amazing bungaloft backing onto treed town lands. Extensive upgrades, crown mouldings, quartz kitchen counters, butler servery, loft with guest room and finished walkout basement w/ separate entry. Mono. $879,000

S

D L O

2014 SOLD This rustic hideaway is situated on almost 79 private acres with a pond, log home with addition, detached shop/garage with loft and a large bank barn. Wonderful forest stands and pasture lands. Caledon. $985,000

S

D L O

2014 SOLD ‘White Belt’ vacant land, almost 50 acres. Good frontage, flat land currently being farmed with an area of bush at the back west corner. Close to development. Good investment potential.

Caledon. $3,900,000

S

D L O

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

93

ERIN, CALEDON, MONO AND SURROUNDING AREAS

519-833-0888

www.CPCountry.com

Patrick Bogert**, Sandy Ball*, Sue Collis*

info@CPCountry.com

‘NE PLUS ULTRA’ IN COUNTRY LIVING An exceptional property on 50 private acres. Master wing on ground floor. Unique gardens, pool in original bank barn foundations, trails, ponds. Minutes to ski hills, golf courses and all local amenities. $4,350,000

GRAND CANADIAN “SWISS CHALET” An Upper Canada post & beam of stature! Masterpiece in design and workmanship. Soaring ceilings. State-of-the-art fixtures. Grand but simple landscaping. Easy to maintain.

Full time or country weekends/holidays. $4,100,000

** Broker *Sales Representative

MATCHLESS CALEDON-PERFECT ‘FAMILY’ Versatile space for family and entertaining. Surrounding picture views from all sides. 4 ponds, stunning pool and tennis court.

Separate 5-car garage and barn. Complete privacy. Within 40 minutes to Airport. See any time! $2,300,000

Please contact for additional information on these and other properties

SOLD

HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE $695,000

SOLD HILLTOP IN MONO $1,295,000

Creemore Hills Realty Ltd

SOLD CALEDON CHALET $735,000

SOLD ERIN STORYBOOK $995,000

www.CaledonTownandCountry.com Brokerage

Austin Boake, Broker of Record/Owner 705.466.3070

www.CreemoreHillsRealty.com

94

SOLD

WOODLAND CALEDON $1,150,000

Roger Irwin, Broker Barbara Rolph, Sales Representative Angie Heinz, Sales Representative Oliver, Land Inspector

905-857-0651

“FERN HILL” MULMUR RETREAT Fabulous 32 private rolling acres with spectacular views, beautiful hiking and nature trails cut into the forest leading down to the stream. Magnificent sun-filled residence, simple and elegant. $995,000

“WESTVIEW” CREEMORE ESTATE Stunning 5000 sq ft stone house on 10 private acres, surrounded by 200 acres of never ending forest with wonderful views.

Energy efficient. Terrace overlooking pool. $1,195,000

KING ATTRACTIVE 15 ACRES Stone bungalow with loft, 4 bedrooms, office, 2 ensuites, 4-car garage, open concept kitchen/family, long iron fence/ gates, hardwood, granite, high ceilings.

Immaculate. $1,990,000

84 ACRE ESTATE WITH MAGNIFICENT POND Modern, stylish 5000 sq ft home w/ spectacular views over the Creemore Hills. Remarkably private, rolling land with forest, fields, hiking trails and lake-size infinity pond. $1,625,000

CHARMING CREEMORE CRAFTSMANSHIP Open concept w/ designer finishes. Luxe comfort and fashion-forward style. 9’ ceilings, crown mouldings, gas fp, main master suite, 5 bdrms, 3 baths, landscaped. $435,000

CALEDON 25 ACRES 2 PONDS An amazing property near Caledon East with a 12 year stone home, 2-car garage plus 3-car detached workshop, pool, generator, great room, finished basement, screened summer room, and complete privacy. $1,650,000

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

CALEDON EXQUISITE 10 ACRES Bright multi-level home hidden in mature hardwoods. 3-car detached garage, tennis court, geothermal heating, skylights, large windows with great views, over 4000 sq ft finished. Superbly maintained. $965,000

S

D L O

LD

905-841-7430 www.moffatdunlap.com

O

REAL ESTATE LIMITED, BROKERAGE

74 ACRES, STABLES, ARENA CENTURY HOME

S

MOFFAT DUNLAP

Moffat Dunlap*, John Dunlap**, Peter Boyd, Murray Snider, George Webster, Peter Bowers, Nik Bonellos*** *Chairman, **Broker of Record, ***Sales Representative

HAWKRIDGE FARM, CALEDON A superb country estate of unmatched scenery with outstanding buildings. 10-bdrm main house + 3 other houses. Tennis, pool, sporting clays, trout pond, streams, stunning views. 150 acres. $19 million

FORKS OF THE CREDIT, CALEDON Walk to the Trout Club! Massive 2-storey family room with fireplace. 3 finished levels. 2 ponds.

Detached workshop/office at gate. Beautiful gardens. $3,250,000

CALEDON STONE HOUSE Important residence totally renovated. Deluxe kitchen and baths. Gym, rec room. Beautiful peaceful grounds. Minutes to skiing, golf, hiking.

Prime location on The Grange. $2,595,000

CREDITVIEW, CALEDON 62 acres, 4-stall stable, commercial art studio, extensive trail network. Ready for new home.

Location, location, location. $1,675,000

BY THE HUMBER, CALEDON 2+1 bedroom bungalow on the Humber.

Adjoining Albion Hills Conservation. Deck overlooks river. Hike + fish and enjoy outdoors. $729,000

ON THE CREDIT, CALEDON Hidden oasis in Belfountain. Very private road.

Custom built house on the Credit River.

Elegant grounds with river flowing by. $1,250,000

ROSE HILL, CALEDON Restored Napier Simpson 3-bedroom home.

21.7 acres near Terra Cotta Conservation Area.

Extensive trails. Truly an enchanting country experience. $1,250,000

HIGHEST POINT IN ERIN Spectacular 46-acre country estate with endless views. Wrought iron gates open to a long winding driveway. Pool, fountains, outdoor kitchen area + cabana. $2,750,000

NATURAL STONE, ERIN Exceptional quality 9-year-old stone house on 50 acres. Chef’s kitchen. Exterior is Owen Sound Ebel ledge rock. Mix of open meadow, hardwood and trails. $1,675,000

MONO GOLF, HOCKLEY VALLEY 2-acre lot on private golf course. Be one of only 10 owners! Mono Hills Country Club.

10 minutes to Orangeville. Play your own course any time. $335,000

RIDGEFIELD, HOCKLEY VALLEY Main house with magnificent views. 80 acres.

Gatehouse. Renovated country home with chef’s kitchen, main floor master, stone fp’s.

Pond. Tennis. Mix of open lands and woods.

GRANDE FARM, HOCKLEY VALLEY Renovated main house. Deluxe indoor arena and stables. Views, pond, rolling pastures.

20 minutes to the Caledon Horse Park.

2 staff apartments. $2,999,000

STONEHILL FARM, HOCKLEY VALLEY Views! Views! Views! 90+ acres. Original board and batten farmhouse with new kitchen, bathroom and Muskoka room. Large swimming pond.

Immaculately restored bank barn. $1,275,000

148 ACRES, HOCKLEY VALLEY BC Cedar clad 3+2 bedroom home is perfectly sited to capture endless vistas. Trails traverse the hills. Hiking, cross-country skiing and horseback riding. $2,775,000

PRIVATE GOLF HOCKLEY VALLEY Elegant 4-bedroom home overlooking the fairways of private Mono Hills Golf Club.

Combined kitchen, dining, family room.

Great views. $1,049,000

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

95

Know anyone dreaming of Life in the Country?

Our personal video tours are a great place to start.

BRINGING FAMILIES TO ERIN

gillianv.com • 519-941-5151

14 Main St, PO Box 1076, Erin, On N0B 1T0

1-800-834-5516 www.al-liz.com ALLAN ALLS

alls@easyfocus.com

STUNNING PRIME-AG FARM 95 acres. Gorgeous Century home, 5 bdrms, 2.5 baths, den, family, library/office, formal dining rm and open concept kitchen. Huge finished lot above 5-stall barn, heated drive shed and separate garage. Come check out the majestic beauty. $1,700,000

96

Gillian Vanderburgh sales representative

Andrea Kary sales representative & licensed assistant

LIZ CRIGHTON liz@lizcrighton.com

COUNTRY ESTATE ON 65 ACRES Elegant, custom home with superior interior finishes. Absolute privacy. Open lands, mixed bush and Nottawasaga tributary.

2000+ sq ft workshop serves multipurpose. $1,275,000

NORMERICA POST & BEAM Finely crafted, custom home sitting high on 2.3 acres. Open concept living space and southern views that carries for miles.

Detached 3-car garage ideal for the car enthusiast or craftsman. $1,375,000

COUNTRY CHARM ON 20 ACRES Classic Century home in south Mono.

Country kitchen, i/g pool, det 3-car garage & horse friendly barn/paddocks. Cabin down at the 2-acre swimmable pond has hydro!

Year-round family enjoyment. $799,000

COUNTRY LIVING Beautifully updated, energy efficient home.

10-acre playground for your family with walking trails & above ground pool. Oversized picture windows capture views of the countryside. Character & charm. $749,999

SEEING IS BELIEVING! Built in 1920 and lovingly renovated in 1997, this 3000 sq ft beautiful home is located on 58.93 gorgeous acres with bank barn, 3-car garage/drive shed and large pond! $1,395,000

CHARLESTON BEAUTY This one has it all! Fully and beautifully landscaped. 9’ ceilings and transom windows on main level, Cambria quartz countertops, tumbled marble tiles and backsplash. Hrdwd floor, square flagstone and armored stone front walkway. Lots of upgrades. $849,000

COUNTRY PROPERTY ON PAVED ROAD 17.72 acres. Easy commute to the GTA. Huge workshop (w/ electricity), newer barn, run-in for horses, and some fenced paddocks.

3-bdrm, 2.5 bath, 5-level side split with updated kitchen, bath & flooring. $774,900

SPACIOUS FAMILY 4 BDRM HOME In the middle of Erin Village, walk to town, schools and friends. Backing on to a beautiful wooded ravine. Truly a wonderful place to live, play and an easy commute to the GTA. Updated and well maintained inside and out. $575,000

GRACIOUS & ELEGANT Comfortable living home built in 1920, the time and craftsmanship of the era has been beautifully maintained with high ceilings, spacious hallways, good size closets. The woodwork is amazing. Walk to everything our little village has to offer. $429,000

EXCELLENT HOBBY HORSE FARM Located on paved road, easy commute to the GTA. Comes with recently built 100x184x16 indoor riding arena, 2 paddocks, 20x150 both w/ double run-ins & small 6-stall barn.

Spacious home w/ 4 bdrms, 3 bath, 2-car garage all on just under 10 acres. $984,900

PROFESSIONALLY FINISHED! H & G magazine perfect. A wonderful find for the most discriminating folks. Erin Village, walking distance to everything.

Lovely private backyard, all fenced, large single car garage. Perfect for a professional, retired or just starting out in style! $385,000

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

&

CENTURY CHURCH Completely renovated stone church on huge lot in Horning’s Mills, close to Devil’s Glen and Mansfield. Soaring, light-filled barrel ceiling, 2 storey stained glass windows, wonderful loft, chef’s kitchen and breakfast room in choir box. All the character remains but upgraded with all the conveniences. Fantastic as a weekend or full-time residence. $419,900

100 ROLLING ACRES It is hard to find it all in one property – gorgeous panoramic views, natural ponds, rolling hills and magnificent Niagara Escarpment rock cliffs – but here it is in the hills of Mulmur.

Add in some wonderful walking trails and a gorgeous building site to take in the views and call it home. $600,000

Sales Representative

Royal LePage Top 3% in Canada

519-925-1776

Susan Brown

Serving Mono, Mulmur, Caledon and Orangeville

View Full Details On All Our Listings At:

www.susanbrown.com

RCR REALTY Brokerage

71 ACRES SOUTH OF CREEMORE Views of surrounding countryside, this stunning executive style stone bungalow with soaring ceilings, dark cherry hardwood floors, infloor heating, has all the “I wants”.

MULMUR $689,000

NATURE LOVERS PARADISE On 73 acres with pond. Abundant deer and wild turkey. Wooded with 20 acre open field, pond and stream. Impeccable bungalow, large outbuilding.

NEAR SHELBURNE $650,000

LOG HOME ON PRESTIGIOUS RIVER ROAD Beautiful exposed pine log beams and interior walls. Private setting with 2 km of trails on 8.6 acres. Perfect for skiers.

MULMUR $650,000

600’ RIVER FRONTAGE AT YOUR DOORSTEP 11 acres, rare setting with upgraded 1700 sq ft bungalow and 400 sq ft guest cabin.

Great trout fishing.

NEAR HORNINGS MILLS $589,000

VICTORIAN GEM Beautifully restored on 1.9 acres.

Outbuildings can be for horses, business or hobby. Country kitchen and gracious dining room. 1 hr to GTA. NEAR ALLISTON $549,900

STRIKING LINDAL LOG POST & BEAM HOME Large treed lot ensuring privacy in an enclave of exclusive homes. Immaculate condition.

Cedar interior with floor-to-ceiling windows.

NEAR ALLISTON $535,000

RESTORED CENTURY HOME ON 3.9 ACRES 3.9 acres, loads of century charm inside & out with large great room. Upgraded kitchen, family room and library. Walkout to a private pool area. CLEARVIEW TWP $519,000

LARGE FAMILY HOME ON 1/3 ACRE LOT Beautifully renovated 4 bedroom, 4 bath house with separate 2 bedroom legal apartment.

Income or extended family. 1 hour north of airport. HOCKLEY VILLAGE $455,000

OVERLOOKING MANSFIELD SKI HILLS On 1.5 acres. Unique country house backs onto conservation. Near skiing, golf. Totally upgraded. Great for entertaining.

MULMUR $399,000

SKI IN & SKI OUT AT MANSFIELD Delightful chalet with sweeping views on 1.5 acres. Open concept, pine floors, woodstove.

Family room, heated floors, gas fireplace and walkout.

MULMUR $399,000

HIGHLY SCENIC 50 ACRE BUILDING LOT One road over from Mansfield ski hills is this incredible 50 acres with many building sites to take advantage of the surrounding views.

MULMUR $349,900

NEWLY SEVERED 50 ACRE LOT Rare parcel of land ideal for homestead or hobby farm. 5-minute walk to Saugeen River.

660 ft frontage with groomed trails and workable farm land.

BRUCE COUNTY $279,000

EXTENDED FAMILY HOME ON 9+ ACRES WITH POND Refurbished interior, brick bungalow with 3000 sq ft and including finished in-law suite on walkout level. Close to Orangeville.

MONO $599,000

FISHERMAN’S DELIGHT, 1500 FEET OF RIVERFRONT Backing onto conservation, 1/2-acre pond and log bunkie, with 33 acres of mixed bush on the Boyne river, this property calls to the outdoorsman. MULMUR $569,000

ATTRACTIVE STONE BUNGALOW, 1.1 ACRE LOT Scenic rolling hills, perfect space and privacy.

Approx 1700 sq ft and 1000 sq ft finished walkout basement. 2 stone fireplaces.

Inground pool. MULMUR $479,000

DELIGHTFUL VICTORIAN REPRODUCTION On 1-acre lot. An incredibly delightful country parcel w/ appealing old fashioned front porch, gingerbread trim & high peaks. Loft studio above garage. NEAR HORNINGS MILLS $399,900

S

D L O

S

D L O

S

D L O

S

D L O

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

97

I L L U S T R AT I O N S J I M S T E WA R T

FRI JUNE 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SUN JUNE 8 Caledon Fairgrounds Highway 10, Caledon Village FRI PM : Giant Truck/Tractor Pull SAT : Lawn Tractor Challenge, BBQ & Country Music Concert, Horse/Dog Relay SAT & SUN : Livestock Competitions & Horse Show Plus Exhibits & Midway Rides!

Canada Day Strawberry Festival July 1stt Celebrate CANADAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S S 147th BIRTHDAY strawberry pancake breakfast, reakfast live music, miles of classic cars, Christmas in July craft/artisan trade fair, Bavarian beer garden

www.caledonfairgrounds.ca

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on in the Hills A

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) Find it at the PAMA Store Visit the PAMA Store and browse our selection of unique gift ideas from local, regional and national artists for every occasion and budget.

C A L E N D A R

arts+crafts NOW â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAR 30 : SUSAN ROSS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NARRATIVES, NEW WORK Wed-Sun

10am-5pm. Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton. The Falls Gallery, 519-941-9300; altonmill.ca NOW â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 6 : MARCH MADNESS

Juried works by Headwaters artists.

Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. Mar 30: reception, 2-4pm. Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton.

Headwaters Arts Gallery, 519-943-1149; altonmill.ca MAR 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 20 : OUT OF THE CAGE

New folk art and landscapes by Canadian iconoclast Mendelson Joe. Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. March 30: reception, 2-4pm.

Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton.

The Bartlett Gallery, 519-940-0199; thebartlettgallery.com

Bring this ad to the t PA AMA A sto ore on your next visit isit and receive a free PAMA tote t bag with any purchase over $20 (before tax).

Valid until July 31, 2014.

NOW â&#x20AC;&#x201C; APR 24 (THURSDAYS) : INSPIRED â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ART WORKSHOP Create three projects

inspired by PAMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art collection.

Materials included. 6-8pm. See website.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton.

905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca APR 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 : THE MAPLE SHOW All

9 Wellington St. E., Brampton, ON L6W 1Y1 t QBNB QFFMSFHJPO DB

things maple, in conjunction with Hills of Headwaters Tourismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Taste of Maple celebration. Mon-Wed 10am-5pm. Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton. The Falls Gallery, 519-941-9300; altonmill.ca APR 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 : OILS BY VANESSA SHAND & POTTERY BY ALLAN PACE Florals, still-

98

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

O F

S P R I N G

H A P P E N I N G S

lifes and stoneware. Fri 7-10pm. Sat & Sun 10am-5pm. Farmhouse Pottery, Gallery and CafĂŠ, 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono.

519-941-6654; pacepottery.com

embellished by their owners. 2pm.

Donation. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-9417787; dufferinmuseum.com

APR 5 : LIGHT AND COLOUR WORKSHOP

APR 10 : FASCINATING FACES Laurie McGaw shares stories about sculpting, coin design, painting. Proceeds to Friends of Island Lake. 7-9pm. $10, reserve.

Farmhouse Pottery, Gallery and CafĂŠ, 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono. 519-941-6654; pacepottery.com

Doug Purdon teaches colour pooling, limited palette, tonal values. Bring lunch. 10am-4pm. $70. Victoria Parks Community Centre, Mono Mills.

Orangeville Art Group, 519-307-0210; orangevilleartgroup.com APR 5 : SEED TO SEED â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FLOWER OF LIFE MANDALA MAKING WORKSHOP

Sacred geometry, growing a dream, with CJ Shelton. 10am-2:30pm. $75.

Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton.

Dancing Moon Designs, 519-942-2018; dancingmoondesigns.ca APR 5 : ARCHIVES SERIES: PAPER TREASURES Learn photographic record

identification and preservation with archivist Diane Allengame. Bring one paper item or photo (11" x 17" or smaller).

10:30am-noon. Pay what you can.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton.

905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca APR 6 : FINE ART COLLECTION: BETTIE SCALE HENDRIE War bride, accomplished

Mono watercolour artist. 2pm. Donation.

Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com APR 6 : ART FROM THE HEART: FOLK, FOUND, FARM & FOLLY Opening of

year-long exhibition of everyday objects

APR 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 27 : WALK THE ART Teens express ideas and showcase their talent.

April 24: reception. Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055 x3632; pama.peelregion.ca APR 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 25 : PAINT AND PROCESS

Encaustic painting with Karen Darling.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton.

905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca APR 12 : BOOK-MAKING WORKSHOP FOR KIDS AND ADULTS Rita Reitsma

demonstrates making your own handmade books. 10am. $20. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com APR 12 & 13 : NOTTWAWASAGA HANDWEAVERS AND SPINNERS AT ALPACA ONTARIO SHOW See alpaca hair

transformed into beautiful fibre. 10am3pm. Orangeville Fairgrounds, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. 705-435-6991; nottguild.ca

APR 17 : SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

Potter Al Pace shows how canoe adventures shape his art. 7-9pm. $10.

Farmhouse Pottery, Gallery and Café, 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono. 519-941-6654; pacepottery.com APR 19, MAY 17 & JUN 21: THE NOTTAWASAGA HANDWEAVERS AND SPINNERS GUILD MONTHLY MEETINGS

Speakers, mini-workshops, spinning and weaving. Jun 21: annual meeting/ potluck. 1-3pm. $5. The Gibson Centre for Creativity, 63 Tupper St W, Alliston. 705435-6991; nottguild.ca APR 19 – MAY 18 : MUSINGS Expressed

in art, finding introspective calm. April 19: reception, 2-4pm. Mad & Noisy Gallery, 154 Mill St, Creemore. 705-466-5555; madandnoisy.com APR 20 : GUEST LECTURE: CHUCK SCOTT

Importance of art, collecting, and art in the community. 2-3:30pm. Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-7914055; pama.peelregion.ca APR 23 – MAY 18 : LA CAMPAGNOLA – THE COUNTRY GIRL Paintings and

MAY 3 & 4 : BLOW YOUR MIND! Beth Grant and Joan Hope demo their new glass-blowing skills. $75, incl free pair earrings. Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 11am-4pm.

Dragonfly Arts, 189 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-941-5249; dragonflyarts.ca MAY 4 : ENGLISH HARBOUR ARTS CENTRE SHOW & AUCTION 100 Canadian

works, prizes, live band in support of the Newfoundland arts centre. 1-5pm. $10. Ugolini Farm, 2163 Highpoint Sdrd, Caledon. englishharbourartsassociation. com MAY 4 – JUL 6 : PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE TIME OF DIGITAL DISENCHANTMENT

Artists try to humanize the process. May 4: reception, 2-4pm. See website. Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055 x3632; pama.peelregion.ca MAY 10 & 11 : SPRING TREASURES

Handcrafted items in various media by Kai-Liis McInnes, Jill Sadleir and friends.

Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 10am-4pm. Rosemont Hall, Hwy 89 W, Rosemont. 705-434-3283; jill.sadleir@gmail.com MAY 10 & 11 : ART IN THE ROUND – MANDALA MAKING Create and colour

sketches of Umbria and Mulmur by Linda Jenetti. Wed Sun 10am-5pm. Apr 27: reception, 1-4pm. Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton. Bartlett Gallery, 519-940-0199; thebartlettgallery.com

circular patterns with CJ Shelton. 1-4pm. $60. Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton.

Dancing Moon Designs, 519-942-2018; dancingmoondesigns.ca

APR 26 : CLICK CONNECT PHOTOGRAPHIC ART SHOW & SALE Peruse, buy

MAY 11 – AUG 31 : LEGACY: DAVID SOMERS AND PAMA’S WORKS ON PAPER COLLECTION A tribute to artists

original art. Proceeds to CLD photography group and each artist. Tickets at Scotia Bank in Orangeville, which will match sales. 7-9pm. $10. Alder Street Recreation Centre, 275 Alder St, Orangeville.

Community Living Dufferin, 519-941-8971 x126; communitylivingdufferin.ca APR 26 – MAY 11 : THE MADE OF WOOD SHOW Juried show & sale of one-of-a-

kind works in wood by artisans from across Canada. Wed-Sun 10am-4pm.

Apr 26: reception, 1-4 pm. May 10-11: Woodworking demonstrations, seminars, tools, lumber, 10-5pm. See website. Free.

Alton Mill, 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-8068560; madeofwoodshow.com APR 30 – MAY 18 : SPRING INTO ART EXHIBITION & SALE Over 25 Mill artists.

Various media. May 3 & 4: reception.

Williams Mill Gallery, 515 Main St, Glen Williams. Mill Artists’ Group, 905-8738203; williamsmill.com MAY 3 & 4 : ALTON MILL ARTS CENTRE SPRING OPEN HOUSE Workshops,

demos and gallery shows. Wed-Sun 10am5pm. 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-941-9300; altonmill.ca

and donors who support the collection.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton.

905-791-4055 x3632; pama.peelregion.ca MAY 17 – 19 : KAI-LIIS ART STUDIO & HEED FARM ALPACAS SPRING SHOW & SALE New works, art for children’s rooms,

alpaca products. 11am-4pm. 836100 4th Ln E, Mulmur. 519-925-0421; kai-liis.com

Thanks For The Memories What would you do if your innermost thoughts belonged to someone else?

JUN 14 & 15, 21 & 22 : ART IN THE GARDEN Guest artists: Bridget Wilson,

glass. CJ Shelton, mandala. 10am-5pm.

17 Lorne Street, Caledon. Lucille Weber, 905-838-0922; lucilleweber.com

community MAY – JUNE : FARMERS’ MARKET OPENINGS Shop for Headwaters’

freshest foods. Check websites for details on special events at each venue.

MAY 10: ORANGEVILLE Saturdays, 8am-1pm. Second St & Broadway. orangevillefarmersmarket.ca MAY 17: CREEMORE Saturdays, 8:30am-

12:30pm. Station on the Green parking lot. creemorefarmersmarket.ca continued on next page

Triggers

One Book One County 2014

By Robert J. Sawyer

Multi-award winning author

Presented by BookLore and The Public Libraries of Orangeville, Shelburne and Grand Valley

Meet him at the Grand Finale Tuesday, May 13, 7pm The Centre Fellowship Church 375 Hansen Blvd, Orangeville

519-942-3830

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

99

A

C A L E N D A R

O F

S P R I N G

continued from page 99 MAY 28: AMARANTH Wednesdays, 3-7pm.

Amaranth Municipal Office, 374028 6th Line. amaranth-eastgary.ca MAY 29: SHELBURNE Thursdays, 3-7pm.

Let me help you find

Besley Country Market, 716 Victoria St. shelburnefarmersmarket2013@gmail.com MAY TBD: ALLISTON Saturdays, 8am-2pm.

Mill St & Victoria St. allistonbia.com JUNE 14: BOLTON Saturdays, 9am-1pm.

Downtown Bolton, Queen St N & King St. caledon.ca/farmersmarket JUNE 18: INGLEWOOD Wednesdays,

3:30-7pm. Village of Inglewood. eatlocalcaledon.org the house you’ll call

JUNE 20: ERIN Fridays, 3-7pm. Erin Agri-

cultural Society Fairgrounds. erinfair.ca JUNE 27: ROSEMONT Fridays, 3-7pm.

Orange Hall parking lot, beside Globe Restaurant, Hwy 89, Rosemont. theredrockfarm@gmail.com NOW – APR 24 (THURSDAYS) : GRIEF SUPPORT PROGRAM Dealing with the pain

home, sweet home.

of grief and loss. 7-8:30pm. Free. Lord Dufferin Centre, 32 First St, Orangeville.

519-941-2630; eganfuneralhome.com NOW – JUL 9 (WEDNESDAYS) : LIFETREE CAFE – STORIES AND CONVERSATION

Explore life and faith in a coffee shop atmosphere. Topics on website. 7-8pm.

Free. St. James Anglican Church, 6025 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. 905-584-9635; lifetreecafe.com

(519) 341-6060 christopherbol@ ronanrealty.com

MAR 28 : HOLI GALA Food, music,

dance. See website. Proceeds to Osler’s Etobicoke General, Brampton Civic and Peel Memorial hospitals. 6:30pm. $150. Grand Empire Centre, 100 Nexus Ave, Brampton. William Osler Health System Foundation, 905-494-6556; oslerfoundation.akaraisin.com

We’re having a fundraising dinner, and you’re invited.

On April 9, Christopher Bol & One99 are hosting a dinner to raise funds for the Ontario SPCA Orangeville & District Branch.

For just $56.50 you’ll be treated to a delightful salad, entrée and dessert.

All profits will help the animals. For tickets call (519) 341-6060 or email christopherbol@ronanrealty.com.

MAR 28 : UPPER CREDIT HUMANE SOCIETY – BOWLING FOR COLLARS 3

games, shoe rental, pizza, prizes. 6:30pm. $20. Georgetown Bowl, 12 Mountainview Rd S. 416-706-7406; uppercredit.com MAR 28 – 30 : CAN-AM ALL BREED EQUINE EXPO Clinics, entertainment,

shopping, Guy McLean, Amber Marshall.

Fri & Sat 9am-7pm. Sun 10am-5pm. Day: $22, $17. Weekend: $40, $30. Orangeville Fairgrounds, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. 519942-3011; canamequine.ca MAR 28 – APR 13 : A TASTE OF MAPLE

Transfer to DVD

Festivals, maple products, workshops, classes, contests. Various venues throughout Headwaters. 519-942-0314; thehillsofheadwaters.com APR 2 : UNDERSTANDING WSIB

Legalities, new rules of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. 9am-noon.

Free, register. Tony Rose Sports Centre, 6 Northmen Way, Orangeville. Orangeville & Area SBEC, 519-941-0440 x2286; orangevillebusiness.ca

8mm, Super-8, 16mm Film, Video & Audio tape

Slides & Photos ★ Duplication & Packaging ★ Video editing www.ADD-duplications.com

100

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

519-928-2604

APR 4 – 6 : ORANGEVILLE LIONS HOME AND GARDEN SHOW Hundreds of vendor

exhibits. Fri 5-9pm. Sat 9am-5pm. Sun 10am-4pm. Free. Orangeville Agricultural Centre, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. 519-9415151; info@therealestatemarket.com

H A P P E N I N G S

APR 5 : BONNEFIELD FINANCIAL & ALLIANCE OF ONTARIO FOOD PRODUCERS PUBLIC MEETING Tom

Eisenhauer, president (Bonnefield), and Steve Peters, executive director (OFP), featured speakers. 9:30am. Free, register.

Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex, 200 Fiddlepark Ln, Shelburne. Food and Water First, info@ndact.com; ndact.com APR 5 : HUGE MULTIFAMILY INDOOR GARAGE SALE Fantastic prices. 8:30-

11:30am. 16379 The Gore Rd, Caledon.

King’s College School, 905-880-7645; kingscollegeschool.ca APR 5 : ORANGEVILLE 1864: 150 AT LAST! Verbal tour of Orangeville’s

first year with archivist Steve Brown.

2-4pm. Live Learning Presentation, $5.

Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com APR 5 : WELLIES TO WISHES Entertainment, auctions, local food. Proceeds to Dufferin Children’s Fund. 7-11pm. $60. Mono Community Centre, 754483 Mono Centre Rd. Dufferin Child & Family Services, 519-941-1530; dcafs.on.ca APR 8 : THE TWIST Sarah Robinson

reveals how research can give unassuming articles a twist. 2pm. Live Learning Presentation, $5. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com APR 9 : ONTARIO SPCA ORANGEVILLE BRANCH DINNER Delightful salad,

entrée and dessert at One99 restaurant.

Presented by Christopher Bol, Ronan Realty. Proceeds to the animals. $56.50.

199 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-341-6060; one99.ca APR 11 : HAM DINNER Ham, scalloped potatoes, homemade pies. Tickets at church office. 5-7pm. $15; $17 at door if available; kids $6. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519941-0381; westminsterorangeville.ca APR 12 : UPPER CREDIT HUMANE SOCIETY RABIES & MICROCHIP CLINIC

Dogs leashed, cats in a carrier. Cash only. 10am-1pm. Microchip, $30; 3-year rabies shot, $30; nail clipping, $5. Premier Equipment, 8911 Wellington Rd 124, Ospringe. 519-833-2287; uppercredit.com APR 12 : TASTES OF AFRICA GALA

African-inspired dishes, entertainment, dance. Proceeds to sister school in Cameroon. 6-11pm. $80. Caledon Woods Golf Club, Bolton. King’s College School, 905-880-7645; kingscollegeschool.ca APR 13 : PALM SUNDAY COMMUNION SERVICE Palm procession with the kids

and Westminster Bell Choir. 10:3011:30am. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-940-0381; westminsterorangeville.ca APR 13 : CALEDON CIRCLE OF HOPE New

advances in all types of cancer research presented by a doctor of oncology. 3-6pm. $10. Caledon Seniors’ Centre, 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. Caledon Breast Cancer Foundation, 905-857-1045; caledonbcf.org

MAY 3 : PUTTIN’ ON THE GLITZ – DINNER & AUCTION FOR HEADWATERS HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION Cocktail

reception, gourmet dinner, live entertainment. $225, reserve. Hockley Valley Resort, 793522 Mono 3rd Line, Orangeville. 519-941-2702; hhcfoundation.com MAY 3 : REDC HUGE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE FUNDRAISER People for

Responsible Escarpment Development Caledon. Donations welcome. Table $25.

8am-noon. $2. 17895 Heart Lake Rd, Caledon. 519-927-3376; peopleforcaledon.com

APR 17 : MAUNDY THURSDAY POTLUCK AND TENEBRAE SERVICE 6-7pm.

Free. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-941-0381; westminsterorangeville.ca APR 17 : MAUNDY THURSDAY SEDER SUPPER Followed by stripping of the

altar. 6-8pm. St. James Anglican Church, 6025 Old Church Rd, Caledon East.

905-584-9635 APR 19 : CREEMORE EASTER MARKET

Celebrate Easter with your favourite vendors. 9am-1pm. Creemore Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E. Creemore Farmers’ Market, creemorefarmersmarket.ca APR 23 : WOMEN AT THEIR BEST

Entertainment, speaker, fashion show.

Proceeds to My Sister’s Place, Girl Guides of Canada and Stevenson Memorial Hospital. 6-9:30pm. $30. Nottawasaga Inn, 6015 Hwy 89, Alliston. 705-435-8874; womenattheirbest.ca APR 24 : FALL LINE: AUTHOR CAROL GRANT SULLIVAN Nicola Ross interviews

Carol about her inspirational, thoughtprovoking book. 7pm. $20 donation to Caledon children’s sports. Legacy Pines Club House, 9 Zimmerman Dr, Caledon.

905-880-8484 APR 25 : CHARITY SPRING FASHION SHOW Great night featuring local

boutiques. 6:30pm. $65. Hockley Valley Resort, 793522 Mono 3rd Line, Orangeville. 519-942-0145 x5191; hockley.com APR 26 : BETHELL HOSPICE BIG GARAGE SALE & BAZAAR Antiques,

furniture, handcrafted wood, pottery, Lorna Bethell’s personal items, BBQ. Proceeds to Hospice. 9am-3pm. $5/car.

19659 Shaw’s Creek Rd, Caledon. Bethell Hospice, 519-833-7136 APR 26 : ERIN SPRING HOME AND LIFESTYLE SHOW See how you can buy

local. 10am-6pm. Erin Centre 2000, 14 Boland Dr, Erin. East Wellington Chamber of Commerce, 519-855-6683; ewcc.ca APR 26 : GETTING PUBLISHED AND GETTING INVOLVED Writer and editor

André Babyn shares practical knowledge.

2pm. Live Learning Presentation, $5.

Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

MAY 4 : EWCS HIGH TEA AND HIGH HEELS Scones, shopping, silent

auction. Funds support East Wellington Community Services. 2:30-4:30pm. $15. St. Andrew’s Church, 83 Trafalgar Rd, Hillsburgh. 519-833-9696; eastwellingtoncommunityservices.com MAY 8 : GDACC BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS Recognizing businesses in the

Greater Dufferin Area. See website. Best Western, 7 Buena Vista Dr, Orangeville.

Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce, 519-941-0490; gdacc.ca MAY 8 – 29 (THURSDAYS) : LEARN TO MORRIS DANCE Clash sticks and

step-hop through basic figures. 18+.

7:30-8:30pm. $40, register. Orangeville locations TBA. Orange Peel Morris, 519-939-0020; orange-peel-morris.ca MAY 10 : ORANGEVILLE FARMERS’ MARKET OPENING DAY Free pancake

breakfast, vendors, live music. 8am-1pm.

Second St & Broadway. 519-942-0087; events@downtownorangeville.ca MAY 10 : PLANT/BAKE SALE AND BACK BACON ON A BUN BREAKFAST Large

selection of perennials and other spring plants. 8am-noon. Palgrave United Church, 34 Pine Ave, Palgrave. 905-8800303; palgraveunited.ca MAY 10 : SPRING MARKET IN THE MILLS

Local artisans, Mother’s Day brunch.

9am-1pm. Brunch: 10am-noon, $10; kids 12 & under, $5. Community Hall, 14 Mill St, Horning’s Mills. 519-925-5512 x127; horningsmills.yolasite.com MAY 10 : DCMA SPRING BUS TOUR

Curator Wayne Townsend hosts a historical tour through Dufferin County.

Includes homemade lunch. 10am-3pm. $30. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com MAY 10 : BELFOUNTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOL 50TH ANNIVERSARY Displays, food,

souvenirs. 11am-4pm. 17247 Shaw’s Creek Rd, Belfountain. 519-927-5212; facebook. com/BelfountainPublicSchool50th MAY 13 : ONE BOOK ONE COUNTY FINALE Meet Robert J. Sawyer, author of

Triggers. 7pm. $10 at BookLore or Grand Valley/Shelburne/Orangeville libraries.

Centre Fellowship Church, 375 Hansen Blvd, Orangeville. 519-942-9421; dfraser@ orangeville.ca

APR 26 : BEEF BBQ All you can eat.

MAY 13 : UNDERSTANDING YOUR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS With Karen

Takeout available. 5-7pm. $20; kids 10 & under, $6. Creditview Public School, 13990 Mississauga Rd, Caledon.

Cheltenham United Church, 905838-3417; brander@sympatico.ca

Webster, CGA. 9-11am. Free. Tony Rose Sports Centre, 6 Northmen Way, Orangeville. Orangeville & Area SBEC, 519-9410440 x2286; orangevillebusiness.ca continued on next page IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

101

A

C A L E N D A R

O F

S P R I N G

continued from page 101 MAY 17 : HIGH COUNTRY UNITED CHURCH CAMILLA GARAGE SALE

design|planning Call us for all your Event DÉCOR and Party RENTAL needs!

info @ posch.ca

416.725 7 .3142 5 Queen Qu Street, downtown Bolton

FFree delivery d y to Caledon, Bolton, Schomberg, Bo g Nobleton and Kleinburg No

potatoes, desserts. 5-7pm. 1 chop dinner, $14; 2 chops, $16; kids 10 & under, $5.

34 Pine Ave, Palgrave. 905-880-0303; palgraveunited.ca

MAY 17 : CREEMORE FARMERS’ MARKET SEASON OPENER Fresh local produce,

JUN 16 & 25 : HEART AND STROKE BIG BIKE 29 riders and 1 driver pedal through

meet artisans. 8:30am- 12:30pm.

Creemore Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E. creemorefarmersmarket.ca

Orangeville raising funds. Register on website. Noon-8pm. Heart and Stroke Foundation, 519-837-4858; bigbike.ca

MAY 24 : GRAND VALLEY LIONS DUCK RACE Prizes, entertainment, free

JUN 20 – 22 : HOCKLEY ANTIQUES AND AUTOMOTIVE FAIR Antique market,

breakfast 7-10am, plant and garage sales, spaghetti supper. Noon-4pm. Free; duck $5. Hereward Park, Grand Valley. 519928-5470; grandvalleylions.com

classic car show, battle of the food trucks.

See website. 9am-6pm. $10. Orangeville Agricultural Centre, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono.

705-435-9229; haafevents.com

MAY 25 : PURINA WALK FOR DOG GUIDES Register online or call for pledge

JUN 21 : WINES OF THE WORLD

forms. Proceeds to Lions Foundation Dog Guides. 10am-12pm. Alder Street Recreation Centre, 275 Alder St, Orangeville. Amaranth Lions Club, 519942-2121; purinawalkfordogguides.com

50-plus wines, beers, local ciders, food, live music. Tickets from Palgrave Rotarians; Migration Travel, Palgrave; Naked Vine, Bolton; Howard the Butcher, Caledon East. 6:30-8:30pm. $40. Palgrave Equestrian Centre, 200 Pine Ave. Rotary Club of Palgrave, 905-857-0651

MAY 31 : ERIN’S SUMMER CELEBR ATION Sidewalk sale, local artisans,

JUN 22 : RELESSEY MEMORIAL SERVICE

performers, entertainers. Main St, Erin. villageoferin.com MAY 31 : UPPER CREDIT HUMANE SOCIETY GOLF TOURNAMENT Dinner,

awards, contests. Shotgun start 1:30pm.

Golf and dinner $175; golf $145; dinner $50. Eagle Ridge Golf Club, 11742 Tenth Line, Georgetown. 416-706-7406; uppercredit.com JUN 1 : CHELTENHAM BAPTIST CHURCH 170TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

CALL FOR ARTISTS

Followed by a BBQ. Everyone welcome.

10:30am-12:30pm. 14520 Creditview Rd. 905-838-3122; cbchurch.ca

September 19-21, 27 & 28, 2014 Any artist who is a member, resident or exhibitor within the Headwaters region (Dufferin, Caledon, Erin & vicinity) is invited to submit work to the juried HAFestival Art Show and Sale.

Details & entry forms at HeadwatersArtsFestival.com or 519.943.1149

JUN 14 : EQUI-FEST 2014 Clinics, games,

outdoor MAR 29 : GRASSLANDS ON MY LANDS

Provide habitat for threatened grassland birds. 10am-3pm. Free. Terra Cotta Conservation Area, 14452 Winston Churchill Blvd, Halton Hills. Credit Valley Conservation, 800-668-5557 x430; creditvalleyca.ca MAR 29 : THE ONCE AND FUTURE GREAT LAKES COUNTRY John L. Riley

presents an ecological history of how our region’s massive declines in flora and fauna after European contact. 2-4pm. $5.

Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

JUN 14 : KNOX UNITED CHURCH COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE Shop for

MAR 29 & 30 : OPTIMIST MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL Activities, demos, birds of prey.

treasures. 8am-noon. $20 table rental.

2976 Charleston Sdrd, Caledon Village.

519-927-3320; kcjohnston@rogers.com Prizes in many categories. 10am-4pm.

Free. 203 Main St E, Shelburne.

519-925-2600; townofshelburne.on.ca JUN 14 : CALEDON DAY Entertainment,

kids’ zone, car/motorcycle show, vendors, beer garden, fireworks. 2-11pm. Free.

Caledon Community Complex, 6215 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. 905-584-2272; caledonday@caledon.ca

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

All are welcome. 2:30pm. Relessey Church, Mono Centre Rd at 5th Line.

Donna, 519-941-1100

demos, vendors. All disciplines. $60; spectators $5. Orangeville Agricultural Centre, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. Women Horse Owners Association (WHOA), 705-434-0081; whoamembers.wix.com

JUN 14 : OATMAN’S CLASSIC CAR SHOW

102

JUN 14 : PALGRAVE UNITED CHURCH BBQ PORK CHOP DINNER Salads, baked

Recycled, reused and nearly-new articles.

8am-noon. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519941-5826; gharrington@sympatico.ca

Headwaters Arts Festival ENTRY DEADLINE MAY 16

H A P P E N I N G S

Pancake breakfast $4-$7. 10am-4pm. $10; kids 12 & under, free. Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville.

519-278-4262; orangevilleoptimists.ca APR 3 : BOB’S BRIDGES OF ISLAND LAKE Story, photos of the mammoth

construction project. Proceeds to FOIL. 7-9pm. $10, reserve. Farmhouse Pottery, Gallery and Café, 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono. 519-941-6654; pacepottery.com APR 5 & 6 : SPRING TONIC MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL Pancake breakfast, activities.

9am-3pm. $10; kids 2-12, $5; infants free.

APR 30 : CALEDON EAST AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING Diane

Allengame on the history of firefighting in Caledon. 7:30-9pm. $5. St. James Anglican Church, 6025 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. 905-584-9635; cedhs.ca MAY 3 : EVERDALE SEEDY SATURDAY

Buy, save and exchange your seeds.

1-5pm. $5 or pay what you can. Everdale, 5812 6th Line, Hillsburgh. 519-855-4859 x103; everdale.org MAY 3 : KINGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S COLLEGE SCHOOL PLANT SALE Planters, boxes, urns, great

APR 8 : ORANGEVILLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY MONTHLY MEETINGS Apr 8:

Roses. May 13: Good Bugs, Bad Bugs.

June 10: Shade Gardening. 7-9pm.

Orangeville Seniorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Centre, 26 Bythia St. orangevillehort.org APR 12 : CALEDON HILLS BRUCE TRAIL CLUB â&#x20AC;&#x201C; INTRODUCTORY HIKE

Explore Mono Cliffs Park. See website.

10am-1pm. Free. Mono Community Centre, Mono Centre Rd. 905-216-7559; caledonbrucetrail.org APR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY: PLANT PARADISE COUNTRY GARDENS SEMINARS Apr 12: Dividing

Perennials. Apr 19: All About Pruning ($10). Apr 26: Xeriscaping â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DroughtTolerant Gardening ($10). May 3: Spectacular Plant Combinations. May 10: Unique Shade Selections. May 17: A Recipe for Continuous Bloom. May 24: Wild About Wildflowers ($10). May 31: Garden Wise â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Organic and Sustainable Gardening ($10). 10-11am. Free unless indicated, register. 16258 Humber Station Rd, Caledon. 905-880-9090; plantparadise.ca APR 15 & MAY 20 : SHELBURNE & DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY MEETINGS Apr 15: Trish Symons. May

20: Dan Cooper, mini flower show.

7:30pm. Shelburne Agricultural Society Community Centre, 377 William St. 519925-2182; shelburnehort.blogspot.com APR 26 : ORANGEVILLE EARTH DAY TREE PLANTING No experience needed, bring

a shovel. BBQ. 9am-noon. 2 locations: 30 Centre St and Mill Creek Trail off Hunter Rd, Orangeville. Credit Valley Conservation and OSAT, ljennings@ creditvalleyca.ca APR 29 : BIODIVERSITY WITH DR. ALEX SMITH Exploration of old problems and

new tools. 7:30-9pm. Free. Orangeville Seniorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Centre, 26 Bythia St. Upper Credit Field Naturalists Club, 519-925-3968; joanneavison@yahoo.ca

MAY 3 : ERIN COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING No experience needed, bring

shovel. 9am-12pm. Erin Storm Water Pond behind Centre 2000, Erin. CVC, Erin Trails Group, Transition Erin, Erin Rotary, CAGE. creditvalleyca.ca MAY 3 : UPPER GRAND TRAILWAY TREE PLANTING/EARTH DAY EVENT Bring

shovel & work gloves. 9:30am-2:30pm.

Free. Upper Grand Trailway, Cty Rd 25, N of Grand Valley fire hall. Upper Grand Trailway Association, library.grandvalley.org MAY 4 & 10: HIKES FOR BETHELL HOSPICE May 4: Inglewood hike on the

Caledon Trailway. May 10: Bolton hike on the Bolton Mill Park Trail. Proceeds to Residence and Community & Bereavement Programs. Food, t-shirt. See website.

9am-1pm. Bethell Hospice Foundation, 905-838-3534; bethellhospice.org MAY 10 : CALEDON CREEK COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING Restore the Caledon

Creek shoreline and protect the endangered Redside Dace. No experience needed. Bring a shovel. 9am-12pm. Free.

Caledon Creek, Caledon Village. Credit Valley Conservation, HPWWS and Town of Caledon. creditvalleyca.ca

You Are Invited

MAY 10 : FRIENDS OF ISLAND LAKE SCRAP METAL DONATION DAY Bring to

Island Lake Conservation Area, or call for pick-up. Proceeds to final phase of Vicki Baron Lakeside Trail. 9am-4pm. 519-9413599 x227; kim@townofmono.com

,0 $* ( 3523(5 7 < 2 ) .,1*u 6 5 $ 1620 3( $ 5 /6

Tiffin Centre for Conservation, 8195 8th Line Essa, Utopia. Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, 705-424-1479; nvca.on.ca

prices. 8:30-11:30am. 16379 The Gore Rd, Caledon. Parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association, 905-8807645; kingscollegeschool.ca

MAY 10 : CPCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LITTLE TYKE HIKE WALK-A-THON & BBQ North Hill Park,

Bolton. Registration and pledge forms available Apr 3. See website. 10am-1pm.

Caledon Parent-Child Centre, 150 Queen St S, Bolton. 905-857-0090; cp-cc.org MAY 24 : BELFOUNTAIN GARLIC MUSTARD PULL & BBQ Help remove

this invasive plant. 9am-1pm. Free.

Belfountain Conservation Area Credit Valley Conservation, Belfountain PS, Belfountain Com Org, 905-670-1615 x441; garlicmustardbusters.ca continued on next page

to a show & sale of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ nest and most interesting cultured pearls at Gallery Gemma Jewellery &KRRVH RQH RI WKHVH HYHQLQJV )ULGD\ 0D\ 25 6DWXUGD\ 0D\ SP SP KRXU VHDWHG HYHQW y UHIHVKPHQWV VHUYHG $GPLVVLRQ LV IUHH y UHVHUYDWLRQV DUH UHTXLUHG OLPLWHG VHDWLQJ 3ULYDWH GD\WLPH DSSRLQWPHQWV DOVR DYDLODEOH 'D\V 2QO\ y &DOO QRZ WR ERRN

\RXU WUXVWHG VRXUFH IRU ILQH MHZHOOHU\

4XHHQ 6W _ $OWRQ _ &DOHGRQ _ JDOOHU\JHPPD # JPDLO FRP _ ZZZ JDOOHU\JHPPD FRP IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

103

A continued from page 103 MAY 24 : WILDFLOWER IDENTIFICATION

Identify wildflowers and shrubs common to this area. 9am-noon. $5; kids free, register. Little Tract, Dufferin County Forest, 938130 Cty Rd 18, Mulmur. Dufferin Simcoe Land Stewardship Network, 705-435-1881 x23; dufferinmuseum.com MAY 24 : BOLTON SUNKIST WOODS COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING Improve

water quality and wildlife habitat. Park at the pumping station, Old King Rd & King St E. 10am-noon. Bolton & District Horticultural Society, 905-857-3228; rich. hunt@sympatico.ca MAY 25 : FRIENDS OF ISLAND LAKE TRAIL DONATION DAY Coffee, muffins.

Proceeds to final phase of the trail encircling the lake. 8am-4pm. Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. 519-9413599 x227; kim@townofmono.com MAY 31 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ANNUAL PLANT SALE Perennials, houseplants,

herbs, shrubs. 8am. Orangeville Seniors’ Centre, 26 Bythia St. 519-942-0779; orangevillehort.org MAY 31 : WHAT TREE IS THAT, ANYWAY?

Leisurely walk to identify trees, shrubs and plants. 9am-noon. $5; kids free, register.

Little Tract, Dufferin County Forest, 938130 Cty Rd 18, Mulmur. Dufferin Simcoe Land Stewardship Network, 705435-1881 x23; dufferinmuseum.com

C A L E N D A R

O F

S P R I N G

Mountainview Rd or by phone. 2-5pm. $25; kids 6-12, $10; 5 & under, free.

Caledon Community Complex, Caledon East. 905-584-2189; caledoneastuc@ on.aibn.com

H A P P E N I N G S

APR 25 : ORANGEVILLE CONCERT ASSOCIATION – TORONTO CONSORT

Internationally recognized for medieval, renaissance and early baroque music.

8pm. $30; students $15. Orangeville Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway. 519-9423423; orangevileconcerts.ca

APR 1 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT MUSIC FESTIVAL REGISTRATION All

forms online or by phone. Deadline for forms Apr 1. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-8675; odmf.ca

APR 26 : LORD DUFFERIN IODE SPRING FLING Live music, auction, buffet. All

proceeds 50/50 to Headwaters Health Care Centre and HHCC Friendship Gardens. 8pm-1am. $25. Monora Park Pavilion, Hwy 10, just N of Orangeville.

519-942-3721; sus_ryan@hotmail.com

APR 6 : CONCERT IN CHAMBERS – KATRINA OSTAPCHUCK AND PAGANINI STRINGS Classical crossover in our

historic council chambers. 2-3pm. Pay what you can. Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055; pama. peelregion.ca

APR 27 : CANDESCENCE QUARTET CONCERT Variety of genres including folk.

APR 12 : CHINGUACOUSY SWING ORCHESTRA Big Band music from this

Light refreshments, tour the museum.

2pm. $10. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-9417787; dufferinmuseum.com

Evolution of country music, influenced by gospel, folk, pop and rock. 7:309:45pm. $25.Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton Festival Singers, bramptonfestivalsingersinc.org

MAY 1 : BAD SINGER Tim Falconer

MAY 25 : LICENCE TO SING WORKSHOP

describes tone deafness and why singing is important. 7-9pm. $10, reserve. Farmhouse Pottery, Gallery and Café, 307114 Hockley Rd, Mono. 519-941-6654; pacepottery.com

18-piece orchestra. 8-10pm. $20. Century Church Theatre, 3 Hill St, Hillsburgh. 519855-4586; centurychurchtheatre.com APR 17 : PEEL ABORIGINAL DRUMMING CIRCLE Share songs to the heartbeat

MAY 5 – 7 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT MUSIC FESTIVAL Certificate & adjudica-

of Mother Earth. 7-8:30pm. Regular admission. Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055; pama. peelregion.ca

tion. Scholarships available. Syllabus, registration forms on website or phone. $2.

Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-8675; odmf.ca

JUN 1 : CHASE THE TORNADO 10K RUN AND 5K WALK 9:30: Kids’ Fun Run. 10am

MAR – MAY: LIVE MUSIC AT ROSE THEATRE All performances at 8pm,

unless noted. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. 906-874-2800; rosetheatre.ca APR 2 : CLASSIC ALBUMS – ELTON JOHN’S GREATEST HITS Unforgettable songs like

“Daniel” and “Rocket Man.” APR 4 : AMY HELM Gospel, blues standards

and her own compositions.

APR 11 : GEORGE KOLLER QUARTET A truly

original evening of jazz.

MAY 1 & 2 : THE TEN TENORS Unique

combination of rock and classical music.

MAR 30 : SCOTT WOODS OLD TIME JUBILEE Proceeds to the Building

Together and Mission and Service funds at Caledon East United Church. Tickets at Davis Feed & Farm Supply, 15770 104

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

MAY 26 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT MUSIC FESTIVAL GALA CONCERT

Best performances from the festival.

Scholarships and Most Promising Musician presented. 7-9pm. $15; kids 12 & under, $10. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-8675; odmf.ca

Ken Whiteley. 2-5pm. $18; $20 at the door.

Glen Williams Town Hall, 1 Prince St, Glen Williams. 905-459-9753; brucemadole.com JUN 5 – 8 : ORANGEVILLE BLUES AND JAZZ FESTIVAL Thurs night: opening gala

JUN 7 : EDIBLE WILD Master herbalist

music

Award-winning singer/songwriter and voice movement therapist Chris MacLean explores breath, sound and movement.

9:30am-4pm. $75, register. Touched

by Light Gallery, Mono. 819-459-4474; chrismaclean.com

MAY 31 : SOURCE OF THE SONG 27 – A SONGWRITER’S CONCERT Special guest

Run/Walk. Chip timing, age group medals, t-shirt, refreshments, cash prizes. 8:30am1pm. $50. Grand Valley Community Centre, 90 Main St N. Run Dufferin, Upper Grand Trailway Association, chasethetornado.com Lisa Yates identifies edible and medicinal wild plants. 9:30am-12:30pm. $10; kids free, register. Mansfield Outdoor Centre, 937365 Airport Rd, Mulmur. Dufferin Simcoe Land Stewardship Network, 705435-1881 x23; dufferinmuseum.com

MAY 25 : A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY

P U Z Z L I N G

S O L U T I O N S

from page 110

A Wartime Letter at DCMA – An In the Hills Mini Mystery During the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) the term ‘World War I’ was unknown.

Until World War II, the 1914–18 conflict was known as ‘The Great War.’ Many Canadians volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War, most of them in the Mackenzie-Papineau battalion, part of an international brigade supporting the Spanish government. Canadian volunteers in this war were outnumbered only by those from France.

Crossing the Credit on a Rope They all crossed safely in 46 minutes. The natives crossed together in 7 minutes.

The younger came back in 5 minutes with the lantern. The two priests then crossed together in 20 minutes. The older native brought the lantern back in 7 minutes and with his younger companion crossed again in 7.

There’s a Ten in Each Six rotten; beaten; intent; tender; tenure; tennis; stench; hasten; attend; whiten Harness Parts in the Hillsburgh General Store The hame strap cost 5¢ and the halter, $1.05.

(ticketed). Fri night: Blues Cruise classic car show and outdoor stages. Sat: Bikes & Blues show and shine, and nonstop musical programming in Alexandra Park Saturday and Sunday, and in 25+ local venues. 519-941-9041; objf.org JUN 6, 7 & 8 : ORANGEVILLE BLUES AND JAZZ FESTIVAL – RHYTHM & SOUL INDOOR CONCERT SERIES June 6: AURA

This extraordinary talent performed with Quincy Jones & Duke Ellington, 7pm, $28.

June 7: Jarvis Church (Philosopher Kings), sings Motown, 7pm, $48. June 8: Alana Bridgewater, soul siren sings gospel, blues and R&B, 11am, $23. Tickets online or 1-800424-1295. Orangeville Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway. orangevilletix.ca JUN 14 : ST. ANDREW’S STONE CHURCH SCOTTISH AFTERNOON Scottish music

and dance, lunch available. Noon-3pm.

Advance $10; at door $12; kids 12 & under, $5. 17621 St. Andrew’s Rd, Caledon.

Friends of St. Andrew’s, 519-927-5987; doncar@ca.inter.net JUN 21 : GORD DOWNIE, THE SADIES AND THE CONQUERING SUN Food and

An In The Hills Two Minute In-Your-Head Challenge!

no (18)

yes

yes

no ($27)

yes

yes (cedar)

yes

no (11)

music to benefit local food banks and The Stop. 5:30-11:30pm. $45. The New Farm, 9783 Sdrd 6/7 Nottawasaga. 705-888-5139; sara@creemore.com

theatre+film MAR 21 – 30 : REMEMBER ME When

Mary’s college flame shows up, jealous Brian goes to hilarious lengths. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2:30pm. $20. 3 Hill St, Hillsburgh. Century Church Theatre Guild, 519-855-4586; centurychurchtheatre.com MAR 27 – APR 13 : ELVIS & MAVIS

2pm. $18; students & seniors, $12. Grace Tipling Hall, 120 Main St, Shelburne. 519925-2600 x0; lpstageproductionsinc.com MAY 23 – JUN 1 : STAFFROOM Love,

divorce, teenage infatuation, scandal & pompous administrators. $20. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2:30pm 3 Hill St, Hillsburgh.

Century Theatre Guild, 519-855-4586; centurychurchtheatre.com

Newfoundland comedy in which Elvis contemplates terrorism while Mavis just wants a nice “cuppa tea.” Wed & Sun 2pm.

Fri & Sat 8pm. Thurs 2 & 8pm. $33-$40.

Theatre Orangeville, 87 Broadway. 519942-3423 x0; theatreorangeville.ca

JUN 6 & 7 : WINGFIELD UNBOUND Walt

MAR 28 : THE PEKING ACROBATS

kids

Amazing displays of trick cycling, precision tumbling and gymnastics.

8pm. $53-$67. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. 905-874-2800; rosetheatre.ca APR 3 : THE JUST FOR LAUGHS ROAD SHOW Four of the best stand-ups in

comedy. Mature themes, language. 8pm. $38-$58. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. 905-874-2800; rosetheatre.ca APR 12 : FAMILY DINNER AND MOVIE NIGHT Popcorn included! 6-9pm.

Donation. 2976 Charleston Sdrd, Caledon Village. Knox United Church, 519-927-3320 APR 16 & 17 : FOR THE LOVE OF ME – CREATIVE PARTNERS ON STAGE

Stories through dance, mask, mime, music. 7pm, $12 at theatre box office, theatreorangeville.ca, or 519-942-3423.

Theatre Orangeville, 87 Broadway.

Community Living Dufferin, 519-941-8971 x126; communitylivingdufferin.ca APR 17 : SISTER’S EASTER CATECHISM

Part pageant and wHOLY hysterical.

8pm. $37-$57. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. 905-874-2800; rosetheatre.ca APR 24 – MAY 10 : JAKE’S WOMEN Jake’s

imaginary conversations are interrupted by actual women with hilarious results.

Apr 24-26, May 2, 3, 9 & 10: 8:15pm. May 3: 2:15pm. Matinée $12; evening $15; dinner and show $28. Caledon Town Hall Players, 18365 Hurontario St, Caledon. 519-9275460; caledontownhallplayers.com APR 25 : LAUGH OUT LOUD LADIES’ NIGHT Yuk Yuk’s on Tour, antipasto bar,

waffle station, silent auction. 6:30-11pm. $75, advance only. Royal Ambassador Event Centre, 15430 Innis Lake Rd, Caledon. Caledon Parent-Child Centre, 905-857-0090; cp-cc.org APR 25 – MAY 3 : JENNY’S HOUSE OF JOY Women living and laughing by their

wits in the Wild West of 150 years ago.

Apr 25, 26, May 2, 3: 8pm. Apr 27: 2pm. $12; $15. Grace Tipling Hall, 120 Main St, Shelburne. tiplingstagecompany.com MAY 8 – 25 : QUEEN MILLI OF GALT

A retired schoolteacher thinks she’s the dead Duke of Windsor’s wife. Wed & Sun 2pm. Thurs 2 & 8pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Mar 27 8pm. $33-$40. Theatre Orangeville, 87 Broadway. 519-942-3423 x0; theatreorangeville.ca MAY 22 – 31 : GYPSY – THE MUSICAL

Gypsy’s mother Rose is the ultimate show business mother. Thurs-Sat 8pm. Sun

tries to preserve Persephone Township by promoting the crumbling Hollyhock Mill as a museum. 8pm. $35. Fergus Grand Theatre, 244 St. Andrew St W. 519-8434852; ralphbasset.com

NOW – APR 5 (SATURDAYS) : KIDS SAMPLER Drawing, painting, clay, toy

making for kids 6-12. 10:30-12:30pm.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA), 9 Wellington St E, Brampton.

905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca NOW – APR 10 (THURSDAYS) : FIREFLIES GIRLS’ GROUP Crafts, games,

Bible stories. 6:30-7:30pm. $30/year.

Cheltenham Baptist Church, 14520 Creditview Rd. 905-838-3122; cbchurch.ca NOW – APR 15 (TUESDAYS) : I’M GIRL

Girls in grades 6 & 7 learn positive personal image, assertiveness, critical thinking.

4-5pm. Free, register. Orangeville Public Library, 1 Mill St. Family Transition Place, 519-941-0610, orangeville.library.on.ca NOW – APR 16 (EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY) : DRAGONFLIES BOYS’ GROUP Sports and Bible stories. 6:30-

7:30pm. Free. Herb Campbell School, 749 King St, Caledon. Cheltenham Baptist Church, 905-838-3122; cbchurch.ca NOW – APR 16 (WEDNESDAYS) : YOUTH GROUP GRADES 6 –12 Laserquest, Sundaes

Night, see website for events. 6:30-8pm.

Cheltenham Baptist Church, 14520 Creditview Rd. 905-838-3122; cbchurch.ca MAR 31, APR 7 & MAY 19 (MONDAYS) : TARP (SPRING SESSION) AGES 11–17

8-week skill-based theatre program using games, music and improv for kids with special needs. Mar 31: information session, 7-8pm. $180. 5:30-7pm.

Theatre Orangeville Rehearsal Hall & Outdoor Theatre, 065371 Cty Rd 3 & Hwy 9, Orangeville. Kerry’s Place Autism Services, 519-942-3423 x2800; theatreorangeville.ca APR 6 : GAMES FOR AFRICA Board/card games provided, prizes, refreshments, African marketplace. Ages 10+.

Proceeds to Stephen Lewis Foundation.

2-5pm. Suggested $10; 18 & under, $2.

Orangeville Seniors’ Centre, 26 Bythia St. Orangeville. GoGo Grannies, 519-9419966; aanimad.com/gogo APR 8 : AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Teaching kids with autism to understand and manage emotions.6:30-8:30pm. Free, register. Princess Margaret Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca continued on page 107

What?!

Didn’t save your copy of In The Hills? Don’t panic.

You can find what you’re missing in our archives at inthehills.ca While you’re there check out Don Scallen’s Notes from the Wild nature blog, or Laurie May’s Two Blue Boots blog about her adventures in country living.

Catch up on the latest local events on our What’s On online calendar. Or just comment on an article.

We love to hear from you!

.ca Unique Perennial Garden Designs

Custom Cakes & Sweets Personalized perennial gardens that reflect your own style. Specializing in drought-tolerant pest-resistant native plants and time-efficient gardening.

905 951 7780

mayflowersbydesign.com Contact Deborah May-Forbes for a no-obligation consultation

for all occasions

Cupcakes, Cake Pops, Confectionary & Sweet Tables Gluten-free, nut-free and vegan friendly available designercakesbyamy.com 416-818-9124

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

105

Find an Advertiser F O R

M O R E

I N F O R M A T I O N ,

L I N K

D I R E C T L Y

T O

O U R

A D V E R T I S E R S

A T

I N T H E H I L L S . C A

arts, culture + theatre

event centres + services

heating + cooling

pools

Alton Mill Arts Centre ⁄ 99, 105 Dufferin County Museum & Archives ⁄ 16 Orangeville Concert Association ⁄ 100 Peel Art Gallery, Museum & Archives ⁄ 98 Rose Theatre ⁄ 5 Theatre Orangeville ⁄ 11

Caledon Country Club ⁄ 83 Hockley Valley Resort ⁄ 19 La Courtoisie Event Planning & Catering ⁄ 77 McLean Sherwood Event Rental ⁄ 107 Mendonça Catering Equipment Rental ⁄ 107 Millcroft Inn & Spa ⁄ 74 Posch Event Studio ⁄ 102 Shelburne Golf & Country Club ⁄ 65 Vintage Rentals & Events ⁄ 102

Bryan’s Fuel ⁄ 33 Don’s Heating & Cooling ⁄ 64 Hearth & Leisure ⁄ 34 Reliance Home Comfort ⁄ 35

Betz Pools ⁄ 12 Blue Diamond Pools & Landscaping ⁄ 4 Frisco Pools ⁄ 76 New Wave Pool & Spa ⁄ 49

home décor + furniture

professional services

Acheson’s ⁄ 60 Boss Leather ⁄ 31 Chic à Boom Consignment ⁄ 60 Dragonfly Arts on Broadway ⁄ 54 Electric Garage Sale Consignment ⁄ 48 From the Kitchen to the Table ⁄ 46 Genesis Interiors & Home Décor ⁄ 54 Granny Taught Us How ⁄ 10 Mono Centre Salvage & Wood Co ⁄ 88 Nesting Habits ⁄ 86 Olde Stanton Store ⁄ 48 Orangeville Furniture ⁄ 112 Pear Home ⁄ 55 Recovering Nicely ⁄ 89 Sproule’s Emporium ⁄ 54

Carters Professional Corporation ⁄ 26

auto Hughes RV ⁄ 30 Orangeville Volkswagen ⁄ 31 Tony’s Garage ⁄ 62 WROTH Auto ⁄ 81

beauty + fitness Artizan Hair Salon ⁄ 60 Country Home Spa ⁄ 32 Millcroft Inn & Spa ⁄ 74 Skin ’n Tonic ⁄ 54

events Bethell Hospice Garage Sale & Bazaar ⁄ 101 Caledon Fair ⁄ 98 French River Body & Soul Retreat ⁄ 14 French River Creative Writing Retreat ⁄ 14 Headwaters Art Festival Call for Artists ⁄ 102 Headwaters Health Care Gala ⁄ 103 Hike for Bethell Hospice ⁄ 101 SPCA Fundraiser Dinner ⁄ 100

books BookLore ⁄ 99

farm + garden equipment

builders architects contractors developers

Islandview Farm Equipment ⁄ 28 Kubota ⁄ 111 Larry’s Small Engines ⁄ 64 Polaris ⁄ 9, 15

Braestone Horseshoe Valley ⁄ 13 Caledon Building & Design ⁄ 87 Classic Renovations ⁄ 70 Dalerose Country ⁄ 23 Dutch Masters Construction Services ⁄ 23 Harry Morison Lay, Architect ⁄ 26 Ironside Architect ⁄ 88 Schuster Contracting ⁄ 75 Tamerlane Design ⁄ 89 Village Builders ⁄ 46

camps Teen Ranch ⁄ 83

fashion + jewellery A.M. Korsten Jewellers ⁄ 55 Acheson’s ⁄ 60 Chez Nous Thrift Boutique ⁄ 54 Chic à Boom Consignment ⁄ 60 CreekSide Clothing ⁄ 48 Gallery Gemma ⁄ 103 Manhattan Bead Company ⁄ 55 Off Broadway Clothing Boutique ⁄ 54 Scented Drawer Fine Lingerie Boutique ⁄ 55 Shannah Rose ⁄ 54 Shoe Kat Shoo ⁄ 75

concierge services

home improvement services All-Mont ⁄ 65 Celtic Carpet ⁄ 86 Divada Kitchens ⁄ 20 Dufferin Glass & Mirror ⁄ 88 Headwaters Windows & Doors ⁄ 62 Karry Kitchens & Bath Design ⁄ 10 KitchenArt ⁄ 76 Kurtz Millworks ⁄ 88 Orangeville Building Supply ⁄ 78 Orangeville Home Hardware ⁄ 63 Trutone Electronics ⁄ 61

hospice services Bethell Hospice ⁄ 101

interior decorating + design

The Gatekeeper’s Daughters ⁄ 83

fencing

dance

McArthur Fence ⁄ 81 McGuire Fence ⁄ 30

Academy of Performing Arts ⁄ 55

Adam & Company Interior Design ⁄ 79 Decorating Den Interiors ⁄ 87 Genesis Interiors & Home Décor ⁄ 54 Tamerlane Design ⁄ 89

flowers Orangeville Flowers ⁄ 77

dental Dentistry at 8 Nelson ⁄ 6

Designer Cakes by Amy ⁄ 105 Elegance You Eat ⁄ 8 Farmers’ Markets ⁄ 49 Garden Foods ⁄ 47 Heatherlea Farm Market ⁄ 52 Rock Garden Farms ⁄ 53 Son of a Chef Bakery ⁄ 54 The Chocolate Shop ⁄ 55 Wicked Shortbread ⁄ 55 Winexpert ⁄ 55

Cold Creek Landscape ⁄ 20 Cornerstone Landscapes ⁄ 43 David Warburton Landscape Designer ⁄ 29 Hill’N Dale Landscaping ⁄ 69, 71 LawnMart ⁄ 35 May Flowers by Design ⁄ 105 Peel Landscaping ⁄ 78 Pro-Land Landscape Construction ⁄ 6 Raymar Landscape Design Build ⁄ 63 Stephanie’s Country Greenhouse ⁄ 78 The Local Gardener ⁄ 74 Tumber Landscape Consultants ⁄ 2

golf

photography

Caledon Country Club ⁄ 83 Hockley Valley Resort ⁄ 19 Shelburne Golf & Country Club ⁄ 65

ADD ⁄ 100

food + catering dining Barley Vine Rail Co ⁄ 41 Cabin at Hockley Valley Resort ⁄ 41, 51 Carver’s Block ⁄ 39 Forage ⁄ 39 Four Corners Bakery Eatery ⁄ 49 French Press Coffee House & Bistro ⁄ 39 Gabe’s Country Bake Shoppe ⁄ 39 Highpoint Restaurant & Café ⁄ 41 Market Hill Café ⁄ 39 Millcroft Inn & Spa ⁄ 39 Mono Cliffs Inn ⁄ 39, 79 Mrs. Mitchell’s Restaurant ⁄ 39, 76 Pia’s on Broadway ⁄ 41 Ray’s 3rd Generation Bistro Bakery ⁄ 41 Terra Nova Public House ⁄ 41 The Globe ⁄ 39

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

Chestnut Park Real Estate ⁄ 94 Patrick Bogert, Sandy Ball, Sue Collis Coldwell Banker, Ronan Realty ⁄ 100 Christopher Bol Coldwell Banker, Ronan Realty ⁄ 91 Marc Ronan Moffat Dunlap Real Estate ⁄ 95 Moffat Dunlap, John Dunlap, Peter Boyd, Murray Snider, George Webster, Peter Bowers, Nik Bonellos RE/MAX Creemore Hills Realty ⁄ 94 Austin Boake RE/MAX In The Hills ⁄ 27, 93 Chris Richie, Philip Albin, Sean Anderson, Dale Porembra RE/MAX Real Estate Centre ⁄ 96 Alan Alls, Liz Crighton Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 8 Dawn Bennett Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 96 Gillian Vanderburgh, Andrea Kary Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 91 Jacqueline Guagliardi Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 94 Roger Irwin, Barbara Rolph, Angie Heinz Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 97 Susan Brown Royal LePage RCR Realty ⁄ 96 Suzanne Lawrence Royal Le Page RCR Realty ⁄ 16, 92 Wayne Baguley Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Canada ⁄ 85, 90 Jamie Gairdner Sutton-Headwaters Realty ⁄ 92 Jim Wallace Sutton Group – Central Realty ⁄ 43 Mary Klein, Kelly Klein, Kaitlan Klein

schools + education Brampton Christian School ⁄ 7 The Maples Academy ⁄ 3

seniors’ services Headwaters Home Care ⁄ 30 Kingsmere Retirement Living ⁄ 34 Lord Dufferin Centre ⁄ 70 Montgomery Village Seniors Comm. ⁄ 81

travel

health + wellness

Caledon Travel ⁄ 62

tree services ponds Pond Perfections ⁄ 28

Dr. Richard Pragnell ⁄ 8 TCM Healthcare ⁄ 52 106

landscaping + gardening

real estate

Hemlock Hill ⁄ 52 Maple Leaves Forever ⁄ 45 Sunshine Trees ⁄ 32 Trees 4 U ⁄ 74

To submit your community, arts or non-profit event, go to www.inthehills.ca and click what’s on in the menu. That takes you to the listings page.

Click submit your event and complete the easy form.

For the summer (June) issue, submit by May 9, 2o14.

We reserve the right to edit submissions for print and web publication.

For up-to-date listings between issues, go to www.inthehills.ca and click what’s on in the menu. continued from page 105 APR 10 : COPING WITH LOSS AND GRIEF

Strategies to better support kids and youth.

7-9pm. Free, register. 655 Riddell Rd, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca APR 8 – MAY 27 : WHAT IF? Drama, games

and activities for ages 7-10. See website.

6:30-8pm. $160. Theatre Orangeville Rehearsal Hall & Outdoor Theatre, 065371 Cty Rd 3 & Hwy 9. 519-942-3423 x2800; theatreorangeville.ca APR 10 – MAY 29 (THURSDAYS) : THE “FUN”DAMENTALS OF THEATRE Improv,

dancing, singing to perform in the Spring Showcase, for ages 11-14. 6:30-8:30pm. $180. Theatre Orangeville Rehearsal Hall & Outdoor Theatre, 065371 Cty Rd 3 & Hwy 9. 519-942-3423 x2800; theatreorangeville.ca APR 12 : STATION ROAD NURSERY SCHOOL BUNNY BRUNCH Continental

breakfast, bouncy castle, magic show, kids’ crafts. 9am-noon. $5; kids 2 & under, free. Centre 2000, 14 Boland Dr, Erin. 519833-2882; stationroad.ca

MAY 1 : DRUGS AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH IN TEENS Reasons for and early signs of

abuse. 7-9pm. Free, register. Montgomery Village Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca MAY 1 & 2 : KNIGHTS OF VALOUR – WARRIORS THROUGH ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS Gladiator games, chariot

run, swordfights, full-contact jousting, birds of prey. Day shows for schools only, 10am-2pm. Must register online. Friday 7pm show for public. Tickets at door. No reservations. $18; evening $15. Orangeville Fairgrounds, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. 519428-2498; knightsofvalour.ca MAY 3 : TEDDY BEAR CLINIC Fish pond, BBQ, miniature horses. Proceeds to medical equipment. 10am-1pm. $2 per patient. Headwaters Health Care Centre, 100 Rolling Hills Dr, Orangeville.

519-941-2410 x2268; hhccauxiliary@ headwatershealth.ca MAY 13 : PARENTING SIBLINGS Solving conflicts in age-appropriate ways. 7-9pm.

Free, register. Island Lake Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca MAY 14 – JUN 4 (WEDNESDAYS) : POSITIVE DISCIPLINE FOR EFFECTIVE PARENTING Parent consistently with

practical tools. 7-9pm. Free, register.

Princess Margaret Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca MAY 15 – 17 : ANNIE JR Annie is

determined to find her parents. Thurs, Fri 8pm. Sat 2 & 8pm. $15; students & seniors, $10 for 8pm shows. Matinée: $12 & $8. Grace Tipling Hall, 120 Main St, Shelburne. LP Stage Productions, 519-9252600 x0; lpstageproductionsinc.com

Reitsma, with examples and beautiful papers. 10am. $20. Dufferin County Museum & Archives, Hwy 89 & Airport Rd. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

Zumba. 6-10pm. Alder Street Recreation Centre, 275 Alder St, Orangeville. Mayor Rob Adams’ Youth Advisory Committee, 519-940-9092; orangeville.ca

APR 12 : SHELBURNE’S EASTER EGG HUNT Hay wagon rides, entertainment,

MAY 26 : RAISING YOUR SPIRITED SCHOOL-AGED CHILD Follow-up session.

egg decorations. Kids 12 & under.

1-4pm. Free. Shelburne Fiddle Park.

Town of Shelburne, 519-925-2600 x230; townofshelburne.on.ca

7-9pm. Free, register. Princess Margaret Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519940-8678; dpsn.ca

APR 12 & 13, 18 – 20 : DOWNEY’S EASTERFEST Wagon rides, magic show, baby farm

teams of 2. Win a Future Shop gift card.

9:30am. Free. Cheltenham Baptist Church, 14520 Creditview Rd.905-8383122; cbchurch.ca

pancake breakfast. 10:30am: Easter egg hunt. See website or Facebook. 9:3011:30am. $5; kids free with adult. Horning’s Mills Community Hall, 14 Mill St. 519-9255512; facebook.com/HorningsMills?ref=hl

TABLES, CHAIRS, LINENS, DINNERWARE, BBQ’S, CASINO EQUIPMENT, WEDDING ACCESSORIES, TENTS & MORE! IN BRAMPTON 93 Heart Lake Road South (south of Clark) 905-459-5781 IN ORANGEVILLE 400 Townline, Unit 11 (beside Wimpy’s) 519-307-5781

www.mcleansherwood.com

kids and grandchildren. 7-9pm. Free, register. Princess Margaret Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca MAY 16 : FREE YOUTH NIGHT – GRADES 6-10 Swimming, games, Flash Mob

APR 19 : EASTER EGG HUNT 9:30am:

Free On-Site Consultations

MAY 15 – 29 (THURSDAYS) : EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION FOR GRANDPARENTS Relate better to your

APR 12 : BOOKMAKING WORKSHOP FOR KIDS AND ADULTS Instruction by Rita

animals. 10am-5pm. $12. Downey’s Farm Market, 13682 Heart Lake Rd, Caledon.

905-838-2990; downeysfarm.com

Create Lasting Memories

JUN 21 : AMAZING RACE Grades 6-12,

JUN 3 : INTRODUCTION TO AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER Help kids

with communication, social skills and behaviour. 6:30-8:30pm. Free, register.

Princess Margaret Public School, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca JUN 5 – 12 (THURSDAYS) : POSITIVE PARENTING FROM SEPARATE HOMES

Don’t let your kids get caught in the middle. 6:30-9:30pm. Free, register.

Dufferin Child and Family Services, 655 Riddell Rd, Orangeville. DPSN, 519-940-8678; dpsn.ca ≈

All the necessary mobile outdoor equipment needed for weddings, birthdays and other events.

Crown Verity Barbeque with accessories, mobile cocktail units, three compartment mobile hand sinks, mobile stainless steel tables in various sizes with under shelves, mobile draft units, propane outdoor heaters, combination freezer and refrigerated mobile units.

The combination freezer and refrigerated mobile unit is a chef’s dream for any off-premise catering event – it runs on propane with no electrical required.

Keep all of your frozen and refrigerated items stored to the max temperatures as outlined by Health & Safety Board.

519-925-3517 IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

107

www.echohil .ca Valerie Jones webdesign@ echohill.ca 519-942-5842

internet consulting 쎿 email and social marketing 쎿 websites

108

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

FURNITURE

LANDSCAPING & GARDENING

(cont’d)

PEST CONTROL

(cont’d)

www.yesterdayshome.weebly.com

Yesterdays HOME FURNISHINGS

Can’t Beat our Prices!

5000 Sq Ft of Furniture (Previously Loved) Home Decor • Chairs • Vintage • Retro Antiques • Collectables • Jewellery Lighting • Brand New Mattresses “Man Cave” • “Mom Cave” • Gift Cert.

Delivery • Lay-Away Plan • Open 7 Days Yesterdays Home Furnishings Shelburne

101 Main St, Shelburne 519-925-1011

Short drive N of Caledon/Orangeville up Hwy 10 left on Hwy 89

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

Seasonal Gardener Garden Bed Maintenance • Planting & Pruning Spring & Fall Cleanup • Professional Garden Team Janice Sant Barry 705-440-8607 seasonalgardener@hotmail.com

PET SUPPLIES & SERVICES We can help: • Overweight • Frequent paw licking • Hairballs • Dry, flaky or greasy skin • Smelly ears or skin • Excessive shedding • Stiff joints/arthritis • Recurring ear infections Shelburne store now offering equine health & treat products 47 Broadway, Orangeville 519-942-8187 113 Victoria St W, Alliston 705-434-3311 Grooming (Orangeville) 705-440-1907 226 First Ave E, Shelburne 519-925-3471

DUFFERIN LAWN LIFE SCHOOL OF MIRACLES Psychic Development / Meditation Mediumship / Channeling / Reiki Heather Scavetta, RN, Reiki Master, Channel, Medium READINGS 519-927-3387 Caledon Village/Oakville www.schoolofmiracles.ca

Customized Organic Based Lawn Care Programs

PHOTOGRAPHY

Since 1973

519-942-9333

1-800-265-1605

LAND SURVEYING 413 First Ave. East, Shelburne

P.J. Williams Ontario Land Surveyor

Open: 8am-4pm weekdays Free Consultation on Weekends by Appointment

CPR TRAINING For Healthcare Providers, Business, Personal Daniel Fracassi, BCLS Instructor “May the Beat be with you”

www.rtapleyphoto.com (519) 939-7116

Creating artistic heirloom portraits for your home

SEPTIC SERVICES

Phone: 519-925-0057 or 519-941-6231 Fax: 519-941-6231 www.pjwilliams.ca

519.942.9944 daniel.fracassi@sympatico.ca

INTERIOR DESIGN

MUSIC

P

SPECIALIZING IN DRAPERY & DESIGN

Corinne Russell 519-217-6722

Quality Quality ccraftsmanship, raftsmanship, unlimited unlimited p potential. otential. w. CitharaGuitars.com Cithar aGuit ar s.com f. /CitharaGuitarsInc /Cithar aGuit ar sInc tt.. 5 519.806.8888 19.806.8888

LANDSCAPING & GARDENING

Garden Design & Installation Property Maintenance Nursery Stock Supplied & Planted Spring Clean Up David Teixeira 519-942-1421

PARTIES TREE SERVICES

PEST CONTROL

Gardens by MsPlants

Caledon Garden Design • Landscaping Planting • Maintenance

Sheilagh Crandall • Gail Morrison 647-244-2970 msplantsofcaledon@gmail.com

MARKETPLACE: CLASSIFIEDS DON’T GET ANY CLASSIER For Summer Issue Call by May 9, 2014 IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014

109

a Puzzling Conclusion A N

I N

T H E

H I L L S

M I N I

M Y S T E R Y

A Wartime Letter at DCMA

There’s a Ten in Each Six

“You’re supposed to know what this kind of letter is worth, right? What they said at the War Museum in Ottawa is I got to get an opinion from two experts before they’ll consider buying anything. You’re the first expert to see it, so what do you think?”

The woman was speaking to Wayne Townsend, curator of the Dufferin County Museum, but he barely heard her, absorbed as he was by the frayed and yellowing paper she’d put on his desk. It wasn’t the age of the sheet that intrigued him. He’d seen too many old documents in his career to be excited. What intrigued him were the words on it:

Each sentence or phrase below describes a six-letter word that has the word ten in it, as in ‘listen’ or ‘intend.’ What is the word in each of the ten challenges below? foul and spoiled — defeated — a plan or purpose — soft, warm and gentle — a guarantee of position — You can play singles or doubles in this game.

— It violates one’s olfactory sense.

— to increase the rate at which you do something — to show up — You may do this in fear or embarrassment.

Crossing the Credit on a Rope In the spring of 1642, just downstream from where Cataract stands today, a small band of French soldiers exploring south from the tiny mission at Sainte-Marie had strung a simple rope bridge across a gorge carved out of the landscape by what would one day be called the Credit River. During the following summer of that year, in the dark of midnight, two missionaries and two natives from the Huron village near Sainte-Marie came upon this bridge in a very anxious state for they were being followed by a hostile Iroquois war party. The travellers began to cross but immediately discovered the bridge could hold only two people at a time. And because of the darkness, whoever was crossing needed to take the single lantern the group carried.

The younger of the two Huron natives could cross in five minutes and the older in seven. One of the priests could cross in eleven minutes, but his companion, because of an infected foot, needed twenty.

The Iroquois war party was an hour away.

Given the conditions described above, did the four get across before the hostile natives arrived?

by Ken Weber

Harness Parts in the Hillsburgh General Store At Hillsburgh’s first general store established in the 1820s, owner William Howe made certain to stock replacement parts for the leather harness farmers used to hitch up their teams of work horses. Howe’s neighbour Nathaniel Rozell, who farmed on Erin Township’s 7th Line, came to the store to buy a halter and a hame strap. The two items came to a total of $1.10, with the halter costing one dollar more than the hame strap.

The woman broke into Wayne’s Wayne s thoughts. “There’s another page,” she said. “I got it here.

My great uncle, he was. A Canadian you know. Got killed in that Spanish civil war or rebellion or whatever it was.”

For the first time, Wayne took his eyes off the letter. He really couldn’t decide if the woman was a naïve con-artist or simply naïve.

How much was the hame strap?

Why does Wayne have doubts?

An In The Hills Two Minute In-Your-Head Challenge!

Without using pen and paper, see if you can correctly answer YES or NO to each of these questions in two minutes or less.

The odd numbers in the sequence 58 432169 add up to 17.

In the alphabet, the letter one place before the letter two places after the letter F is the letter G.

If three dogs uttered a single bark at each other, there would be six barks.

If you have four-fifths of $60 and spend $21 you will have $26 left.

If Monday is the 8th day of the month, the 3rd day was a Wednesday.

There is the name of a tree contained in the sentence “He raced around an empty parking lot.”

Max is shorter than Libby and Eleanor is taller than Max so Max is shortest of the three.

If you write all the numbers from 1 to 20 you will write the number 1 twelve times. solutions on page 104

110

IN THE HILLS SPRING 2014