Spring In The Hills

THE SECRET LIVES OF LITTLE THINGS

A YOUTH HEALING CENTRE IN MULMUR ILLEGAL TRUCK YARDS

GOLF IN HEADWATERS GETS ITS CLOSE-UP

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FEATURES

A close-up look at some of the small critters that inhabit Headwaters and how their lives intersect with ours in crucial ways BY

DON SCALLEN

46 GAME CHANGERS

As Caledon prepares to host the prestigious RBC Canadian Open in June, and later to become the permanent home of Golf Canada’s national headquarters, In The Hills surveys some of the clubs that have helped build Headwaters’ reputation as a vibrant golf hub

BY EMILY DICKSON

55 ILLEGAL TRUCK YARDS

How the rise of truck depots on Caledon land zoned for agricultural use has galvanized local governments and activists to work together to turn back the tide – if it is not already too late

BY FRANCESCA DISCENZA

63 “A TIGHT HUG”

For youth struggling with mental health and addictions, the rigorous treatment program at Pine River Institute offers security and compassion BY

ANTHONY JENKINS

If a full brunch or sit-down dinner feels like too much, too soon after a winter of hibernation, consider gathering around an amped-up charcuterie board built with local meats, cheeses and toppings BY

ELAINE LI AND TRALEE PEARCE

74 THE ART OF THE HYPERLOCAL CHARCUTERIE BOARD

40 THE SECRET LIVES OF LITTLE THINGS

QUIRT

Pond Checklist

www.pondperfections.com

Jim Stewart

Francesca Discenza

James Gerus

Gail Grant

Anthony Jenkins

Bethany Lee

Dan Needles

Janice Quirt Tony Reynolds Nicola Ross Don Scallen

Erin Woodley

Cindy Caines Dillman

Marion Hodgson

Janet Kerr

FOUNDING PUBLISHER Signe Ball

In The Hills is published quarterly by MonoLog Communications Inc. It is distributed through controlled circulation to households in the towns of Caledon, Erin, Orangeville, Shelburne, Creemore, and Dufferin County.

Annual subscriptions outside the distribution area are $32.95 for 1 year and $58.95 for 2 years (including HST).

© 2025 MonoLog Communications Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction by any means or in any form may be made without prior written consent by the publisher.

For information regarding editorial content or letters to the editor: tralee@inthehills.ca.

Find us online at www.inthehills.ca Like us facebook.com/InTheHills Follow us twitter.com/inthehillsmag and instagram.com/inthehillsmag

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519-943-6822, roberta@inthehills.ca (Orangeville, Shelburne, Creemore and areas N of Hwy 9)

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The ad booking deadline for the summer (June) issue is Friday, May 9, 2025.

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100 PER CENT

Is it just me or did it seem like the moment U.S. president Donald Trump first floated the ridiculous spectre of Canada becoming the “51st state,” an army of miniature Canadian flag tags immediately sprouted on grocery and specialty store shelves, denoting which products were grown or made here?

My family soon found out our favourite breakfast bars are Canadian – because attached to an empty shelf where they should have been was a telltale little red maple leaf.

At a recent dinner, my mother-in-law, Kathy, recounted shopping for our delicious roast chicken with all the fixings – save for one dish. Kathy lamented the lack of Canadian green beans where she shopped, so frozen Canadian ones had to do. We survived the hardship.

Where had store managers been keeping those little signs? It’s almost as though they pulled them out of a backroom filing cabinet where they were stored for just the right moment.

This was surely the right moment.

Those small but mighty flags met many of us where we are. Our patriotism is a little tucked away; it would be gaudy to throw it in people’s faces, after all. But it’s right there when we need it – and once it’s out, well, there’s no putting it away.

I’ve always enjoyed a small hit of pride when answering “100 per cent Canadian” as I fill out forms about the ownership of In The Hills – especially in the face of American digital media giants who pull attention, and revenue, away from local media.

Now that a trade war has begun, that answer feels like a badge of honour. And just as grocery stores are helping us buy Canadian, I’d encourage you to extend that ethos to all the small businesses in Headwaters.

This 100 per cent Canadian small business has been supported by readers and advertising in these pages from local retailers, realtors, renovators and builders, pool companies, landscapers, designers, salons, financial experts, hotels and restaurants, arts groups and many others for more than 30 years. A shout-out to Erin-based Kennedy’s Flags: If you’re after a Canadian flag made right here in Headwaters, their flags are available online or at The Village Green Florist.

As our neighbours who may be directly or indirectly affected by tariffs, we owe it to all of them to level up our commitment to keep our Canadian dollars in our community.

In this issue, their support enables us to tell some fascinating stories and meet remarkable people. We go nano for a glimpse of the tiniest bugs in our local ecosystems. We meet the executive director of the Orangeville Food Bank. We look at the battle over illegal truck depots in Caledon. We learn about teens with mental health issues at a rural therapeutic retreat. We visit local golf courses ahead of major changes in the local golf industry.

Oh, and we serve a charcuterie platter consisting of cured meats, cheeses and other goodies all made here. One hundred per cent Canadian, sure, but better yet, 100 per cent Headwaters.

You might say we had all this filed away for just the right moment.

THE BEAUTY OF TIMBER FOR YOUR HOME

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Francesca Discenza

Francesca is a first­time contributor to In The Hills, and in this issue she highlights how Caledon residents and local government officials are working to address illegal land use in the town and across Headwaters.

By day Discenza serves as an advisor at Humber Polytechnic, helping students achieve their academic and career goals. When she is not guiding students, Discenza enjoys life in a cozy country home on the edge of the forest in Bolton. She shares this peaceful spot with her husband and two children, and together they explore nature, read, play music, support local farmers and embrace sustainable living.

Before turning to writing, Discenza helped aspiring artists and students find their voices and refine their work. A longtime reader and admirer of In The Hills, she sees this issue as a pivotal milestone in her journey as a writer.

Bob Noble

Bob Noble is a nature photographer who specializes in capturing images of insects and other small creatures in their own environments. His superb photography appears for the first time in our magazine in Don Scallen’s article “The Secret Lives of Little Things,” illustrating the wondrous worlds of Headwaters insects.

After retiring from the technology industry in 2015, Noble stumbled into close ­ up photography when he bought a used macro lens. Ever since, he has been crawling on the ground, looking for interesting critters and learning how to capture glimpses of their lives. It is a treat for him to be able to act like a kid again, getting dirty, making new discoveries and experiencing the wonder of the natural world.

Noble lives with his wife in Brampton’s Heart Lake area, and spends a lot of time in Heart Lake Conservation Park and in the nature reserves and trails of Caledon. His photos have won national competitions and have been featured in magazines and insect field guides. He also loves to take pictures of his grandchildren and mushrooms.

James Gerus

James Gerus is an actor, comedian and writer living in Mono. He grew up in the Theatre Orangeville community, doing his first professional play at 13, and working with local artists, including Leisa Way, David Nairn and Mark Dubois. He graduated with a BFA (Performance: Acting) from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) and was a member of The Second City Conservatory in Toronto. Gerus has acted in Hallmark movies, video games and commercials, and collaborated with celebrities, including Howie Mandel, Michael Bublé and Jodie Sweetin.

In his first time writing for In The Hills, Gerus had the rewarding task of meeting Orangeville Food Bank executive director Heather Hayes for “A Day in the Life.” He recently published his first novel, The Muskoka Murders, now available at BookLore in Orangeville. When not writing or creating, he enjoys hiking with his two huskies, Tundra and Flurry.

MELANIE CHIN AND CHILI

SILVER CREEK PONDS

•

• Bass,

• Is

Want to share your thoughts about our stories? Drop us a line – we love to hear from our readers.

Winter bird count

I take a weekly sketching/drawing class from CJ Shelton at the Alton Mill. It’s my favourite two hours of the week! In our class last week, our task was to draw birds. For our final assignment of the class, CJ pulled out a copy of In The Hills magazine for each of us. She couldn’t stop raving about the cover of the cedar waxwing [“Two in the Bush,” winter ’24]. CJ described it as “an artist’s delight” because the photo was so clear that you could easily make out individual feathers. She cautioned us to note that despite our preconceived idea, this cedar waxwing’s feathers didn’t all fall in the same direction. “Draw what you see,” she advised us. “Not what you think you see.” We all did our best to capture both the appearance of the bird and its spirit in our own particular style – CJ encourages that.

As is our practice, we all displayed our “masterpieces” at the end of the class. I’ve enclosed a photo of our efforts. CJ’s Wednesday class hopes you like them. — Nicola Ross, Alton

Warm it up

Thank you for including a piece about the value of heat pumps [“Warming Trend,” winter ’24], and not just for their astonishing efficiency at heating and cooling homes but for significantly reducing climate-warming fossil fuel emissions. I would like to add that “cold-climate” heat pumps can operate independently down to a very chilly –25C with no backup, not merely the –3C to –15C the article mentioned. Though not feasible for every older home, our cold-climate air source heat pump, installed three winters ago, has allowed us to eliminate costly propane and appreciably reduce our carbon footprint. The principal backup for heating our home is a wood stove, which we have so far never needed as the heat pump has been an exceptionally reliable and comfortable heat source. And, bonus, it cools things off just as economically during our increasingly hot summers. — Liz Armstrong, Erin

Local hero Linda Banks Congrats Linda. You’re a sweetheart. Orangeville is so lucky to have you volunteering [“Local Heroes,” winter ’24]. You’re genuine, funny and have a big heart for people. Will always remember how we met in Wasaga. It was such a delight to meet such a wonderful lady.

— Bonnie, Wasaga Beach

EDITOR’S NOTE

In late January, Mulmur sculptor and writer Hugh Russel sent me this poem –he had shared the piece with his writing group, who suggested he try and get it published. Maybe it was this dreary winter. Or maybe I just needed a laugh, but it sure resonated with me. I hope you enjoy it too. May we all find our minds.

My Mind

I’ve lost my damned mind, something I can’t do without I had it right with me last time I went out

I looked in my closet, and no, it’s not there It either leapt from my head, or I’ve left it somewhere.

I lifted up cushions, and pulled out some chairs I found loonies and toonies the kids swore they were theirs. I found oodles of things, my search wasn’t fun I found cookie crumbs, dog hair, some crackers … a bun.

As I roamed mindlessly

All over my house

Under the bed, I found … a dead mouse.

My mind is still missing, I haven’t a clue

Is there a chance dearest friend, that I left it with you?

by Hugh Russel

We welcome your comments! For more reader commentary, or to add your own thoughts on any of the stories appearing in this issue, please visit inthehills.ca. You can also send your letters by email to tralee@inthehills.ca. Include your name, address and contact information. In The Hills reserves the right to edit letters for publication.

Clockwise from top left • Namibia 8" x 10" watercolour • For the Bees 20" x 30" watercolour

Chestnuts 8" x 3.5" watercolour • Taking Its Time – The Great Mullein 10" x 14" watercolour

SUSAN POWELL

Artist Sue Powell has been painting her ethereal watercolours, and sometimes acrylics, for over 40 years, but she has another name for her craft: Visual recorder. “I capture the landscape and light, visually recording a beautiful place in that moment,” says the Hillsburgh artist. “I am continually inspired by landscapes throughout all the seasons, including the flora within these diverse ecosystems.” She adds that many of her watercolours capture the rolling rhythms and changing light of the Niagara Escarpment. Powell’s eye for the environment extends to her materials – Beam Paints, watercolours handmade in Manitoulin Island from lightfast pigments, tree sap, honey and gum arabic – because they are ecologically friendly. “My paintings, I hope, create a greater awareness of a space/place that can often lead to its long­term protection.” www.susanpowellartist.com

JUMP INTO SPRING WITH THE ORANGEVILLE BLUES AND JAZZ FESTIVAL, A HIKE FOR BETHELL HOSPICE AND A RUBBER DUCKY RACE

BY EMILY DICKSON

lucky ducks

At the Grand Valley Duck Race on May 24, 4,000 numbered yellow rubber ducks bob their way down the Grand River to the finish line at Hereward Park. The first duck – yes, you can bet on which duck will win! — that makes it into a specially designed wooden chute wins the grand prize. This fun event is one of Grand Valley’s biggest, and is sponsored by the Grand Valley Lions Club to raise funds for community projects. Early risers can join the pre ­race breakfast at the Grand Valley Community Centre from 8 to 11 a.m. before heading to the river.

MAJOR MILESTONES

Orangeville’s independent bookstore darling, BookLore, celebrates “35 years of stories” this year. “I can’t believe it’s already been 35 years!” says owner Nancy Frater, who has been at the same location on First Street since the day she opened. “It’s truly been a thing of friendship and family.” Catch their upcoming Authors on Stage event at Theatre Orangeville on May 28, featuring British writer Robert Macfarlane, who will be discussing his new book, Is a River Alive?

Congratulations to the 2025 inductees into the Caledon Sports Hall of Fame, including triathlon coach Barrie Shepley, triathlon and Ironman champ Lisa Bentley, and pole vaulter Douglas Wood

(who also coached one of our 2024 Local Heroes, Caledon East­based Olympic medallist Alysha Newman). The Orangeville and District Horticultural Society is marking 55 years of beautifying the town’s gardens, including Kay Cee Gardens and Alexandra Park — plus two holding gardens where plants are grown and stored for their annual plant sale. Join the society to learn more about their upcoming events, garden tours, workshops and plant sales.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Hike for a compelling community stalwart at the annual Hike for Bethell Hospice event on May 4, starting at Inglewood’s Lloyd Wilson Centennial Arena. Register at hikeforbethellhospice.ca.

Creemore Springs Brewery hosts their annual Turas Mór bike ride on May 10 – expect hundreds of cyclists to ride through Creemore and the neighbouring countryside on one of four routes ranging from 20 km to 85 km. Turas Mór — Gaelic for “great journey” — invites riders to enjoy the charming town, beautiful views and, of course, cold beer at the après event.

TRY YOUR HAND

Honour an animal spirit at the Celtic/ Norse Zoomorphic Knotwork Workshop led by CJ Shelton at the Alton Mill Arts Centre on March 22. And at the Museum of Dufferin, enjoy a blast from the past with a Handwriting with Fountain Pens masterclass on April 12, followed by a Make Your Own Soap workshop on April 26.

Cyclists glide through downtown Creemore at Creemore Springs Brewery’s Turas Mór bike ride.

ON STAGE THIS SPRING

Tuck yourself into Bed and Breakfast, the tale of two city boys who inherit a historic property in a quiet tourist town, at Theatre Orangeville until March 30. April brings One Step at a Time, in which actor Andrew Prashad (who starred in The New Canadian Curling Club on the same stage in 2023) shares his inspiring story of juggling family medical issues and an acting career. And in May, you already know what the story’s going to be about with the tellingly named Norm Foster comedy, I’m in Love With Your Sister Contemporary guitar group Quartet Malamatina, featuring Canadian Tim Beattie, performs as part of the Caledon Chamber Concerts on April 5 at St. James Anglican Church in Caledon East.

Brampton On Stage presents Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, a jukebox musical in early April. The eye ­popping Afrique en Cirque by Cirque Kalabanté hits the stage April 10, followed by the enchanting Rapunzel the Musical from Netherlands’ Theater Terra on April 22.

Then, starting May 30, the beloved annual Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival descends on the town, bringing international­ caliber musicians and singers to venues big and small. Watch for the schedule to be announced soon at www.orangevillebluesandjazz.ca.

SPRING PLANTING

Get a jump on your gardening this year by stocking up at the annual Perennial Plant Sale at the Friendship Gardens at Headwaters Health Care Centre on May 31 which raises funds for the hospital and gardens.

RALLY FOR A RINK

The My Honeywood project raises funds to finish renovating the North Dufferin Community Centre, known locally as the Honeywood Arena. “Mulmur doesn’t really have a downtown at all, so this is the heart of the community,” explains Lisa Thompson, who along

with James Godbold of Hill’N Dale Landscaping leads the fundraising committee. Visit www.myhoneywood.ca to donate and get a tax receipt from the Township of Mulmur.

MAKE A SPLASH

Interested in learning to paddle? Island Lake Rowing Club’s annual Come and Try Rowing Day on June 7 is an open house for ages 11 and up to grab the oars for free with instruction from experienced rowers. Visit them at www.islandlakerowing.com to learn more.

ART SHOWS BLOOM

The spring art season is underway! The Museum of Dufferin in Mulmur presents Life in the Country, a juried photography exhibition running until May 31, and showcases the work of 30 talented photographers — including In The Hills contributor Elaine Li — who find new ways of seeing rural life.

Get a glimpse of another landscape entirely, Canada’s Arctic, through the lens of Inuk photographer Robert Kautuk with the A Daily Drive exhibit at the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives, on from March 30 to September 7.

Kautuk’s work also appears in Dark Ice, a joint exhibit with Leslie Reid focusing on climate change in the Arctic, also at PAMA from April 26 to September 7. Catch photographer Peter Dušek’s crisp, stark landscapes, including his Free and Easy Wandering series at his gallery in Creemore. And a few doors away, artist David Constantino Salazar’s dreamy and delicate Forever Birds-Botanicals runs until March 24 at Gallery Lagom. Pop into the Alton Mill Art Centre’s Spring Open Studio Weekend April 26 and 27, and meet as many of the 25 in­house artists as possible.

Elaine Li’s “Golden Harvest” appears in the Museum of Dufferin’s juried show Life in the Country.

Larry Kurtz and his band Trouble and Strife play the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival.

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BY DAN NEEDLES • ILLUSTRATION BY SHELAGH ARMSTRONG

THE APRIL RAINS ARE ON THEIR WAY AND they will wash away the towering walls of snow in a mad torrent. I will watch the ice floes drift down the coulee behind the house, taking with them fence posts, gates, the neighbours’ lawn furniture and various items the winter winds have blown into the creek. Apart from the relief of being able to step off the veranda safely, there is now a possibility I can return to the keyboard and finish the novel I started last fall.

When I gave up my job in the city and moved to the country to write and raise sheep, I was pleasantly surprised by how much easier it was to get my writing done. If you remove the daily commute from your workday, plus the useless committee meetings and all the people popping their heads in the door to chat, you only have to work a couple of hours a day to get the same amount accomplished.

In those days of the mid-1980s, I was a lone pioneer of the home office and working remotely. But during the recent Covid lockdowns, pretty much everybody got a chance to do the same thing. Most people found they liked working from home a lot, and now the population of my small town has doubled as people have fled their boring office jobs in the city.

However, people who move out here are often startled by the surge of daily chores that come with life on a private well and a septic tank. There’s no condo board to call if a tree falls on your house or the pipes freeze. Your cell phone contact list skews away from life and fitness coaches in favour of plumbers, diesel mechanics and pest control experts.

People often ask me what I do for a living out here on the farm, and for the last four months the answer

has been “I blow snow.” We endured the first oldfashioned winter in a decade here, and we are finally thawing out and blinking like dopey groundhogs in the spring sunshine.

A neighbour ploughed my lane for 30 years, but because liability insurance costs have gone up so high, nobody can afford to blow snow for rural customers anymore. If it doesn’t snow much, this

The snowblower is parked inside the barn ready for action. But I have to get to the barn first, which requires the use of another smaller walk-behind machine.

isn’t a serious problem, but this year it snowed every day for weeks, as it did in Dr. Zhivago. Fortunately, I was sort of prepared. Two years ago, I cruised Facebook Marketplace and found a six-foot machine that would fit on the back of my Massey tractor and clear the driveway and the lane to the barn. I called the number wondering how many hours I would have to drive to find it.

“Hello, Dan,” said a voice. It was my friend Ross, a retired apple grower just 10 miles away. He was selling a very solid machine made a half century ago in Grey County out of heavy gauge steel you might use for an armoured personnel carrier or a turnip shredder. Ross assured me that 50 hp would run it just fine and he was right.

It is more of a snow fountain than a snowblower.

The discharge chute has been clobbered from so many close encounters with low bridges that whatever snow the machine picks up has to go by my ears before it goes anywhere else. My daughter took one look at me plastered with snow during a Facetime call from Calgary and ordered me a new set of insulated coveralls and a ridiculous furry hat. When I tog up in the snow-blowing outfit, with mask and goggles, my wife explains to visitors that I have just received the bat signal and will now disappear on a secret mission.

The snowblower is parked inside the barn ready for action. But I have to get to the barn first, which requires the use of another smaller walk-behind machine to make a path from the house. That machine is hard to start. I use a can of ether and my wife and I take turns pulling the starter cord until it coughs to life. The tractor also needs ether to start and usually has to be hooked up to a battery booster. By the time the tractor is in action, I’m already tired. When the lane is finally cleared and I stagger back into the kitchen, I need a proper nap. All those efficiencies I achieved years ago by moving away from the office in the city have been lost.

The snowblower is now in the way and must be dragged to a fence corner where it will sit in a forest of burdocks and thistles until next Christmas. Spring is a great relief, but it brings with it a host of fresh distractions: the gardens, the fences, and of course, the spring lambs.

I probably won’t finish that novel anytime soon.

Humorist and playwright

Dan Needles lives on a small farm in Nottawa. His latest book is Finding Larkspur: A Return to Village Life (Douglas & McIntyre, 2023).

PRESENTS

KIDS CAMPS IN THE HILLS 2025

It’s time to start planning ahead for those nine precious weeks of summer vacation, and there are dozens of exceptional local summer camps to choose from. Kids can breathe in fresh air while kayaking or paddling on a lake, build muscles hiking and biking in the forest, hone hockey skills or rip the duck in lacrosse. They can also try making pottery, painting a masterpiece or coding their own computer game. There’s no end to what your children can try out this year! Visit our Kids Camps in the Hills web page for an up-to-date guide to all the possibilities.

CLASSIC CAMPS

There’s a little bit of everything at traditional full-day camps with a good mix of outdoor fun, sports and games, plus arts and crafts. Daily adventures at the Town of Caledon’s summer camp include group games, science experiments and nature exploration. The littles learn outdoor skills like orienteering and building a shelter at TRCA’s Albion Hills Field Centre in Caledon, or try horseback riding, hockey, rock climbing and jousting (yes, jousting!) at Teen Ranch Kids Inc. in Hillsburgh boasts a heated saltwater pool, play forest and

outdoor stage, while Mansfield Outdoor Centre offers guided hikes, survival-skill training and campfire fun. And kids swim outdoors, go biking, learn stop motion animation and more at YMCA Cedar Glen Outdoor Centre just outside Bolton.

SUPER SPORTS

Children focus on volleyball and basketball at the Athlete Institute in Mono, or tennis, squash and more at Headwaters Racquet Club in Amaranth. The Hill Academy in Caledon is well known for its soccer, hockey and lacrosse camps, while young golfers tee it up at Shelburne Golf & Country Club or Lynbrook Family Golf Centre in Amaranth. Players run for the bases at Field of Dreams Baseball Camp in Caledon. In Orangeville kids flip out at Twisters Gymnastics. In addition to swimming and watersports in the Caledon quarry, C3’s Camp Quarry offers slacklining, beach volleyball and more.

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

There are loads of arts-focused camps in Orangeville, including theatre camp at Theatre Orangeville; dance camp at Academy of Performing Arts and Studio 3; and drawing, painting and sculpting at

Maggiolly Art, Pottery Parties Studio and Ricky Schaede Art Studio. Kids let their imaginations take flight in art, music and more at Shelburne’s Streams Community Hub, and channel their inner musician at Bolton’s Hit That Note Music Studio. Kids can explore sculpting, screenwriting and ’zine making at the Raise-An-Artist Project in Ballinafad.

SADDLE UP

It’s easy to find an equestrian summer camp when you live in horse country. Erin’s Greyden Equestrian Centre has camps for first-time and beginner riders. Caledon Equestrian School teaches not only riding but also barn skills and stable management. Learn good horsemanship at the Rusty Jade Ranch in Caledon or Cantercall Riding School in Mono.

SCIENCE RULES

The Museum of Dufferin in Mulmur offers exciting themes that have kids putting on their thinking caps, while coding, robotics and Minecraft await at STEM Camp in Orangeville. Sharpen academic skills with half- and full-day camps at Megamind Learning Centre in Caledon.

FIND YOUR FAVOURITE CAMP

www.inthehills.ca

Visit inthehills.ca to see even more camp listings! New camps are added regularly as information becomes available, so be sure to check back with us for updates.

AMARANTH

Headwaters Racquet Club

Lynbrook Family Golf Centre

BRAMPTON

A4H Sports

Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives

CALEDON

Albion Hills (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority)

Bolton Gymnastics

Caledon Dance Academy

Caledon Equestrian School

Caledon Soccer Club

Caledon Tennis Club

Camp Quarry (C3 Camp)

Credit Valley Conservation Youth Corps

Field of Dreams Baseball Camp

Hit That Note Music Studio

Megamind Learning Centre

Raise-An-Artist Project

Rusty Jade Ranch

The Hill Academy

Teen Ranch

Town of Caledon Recreation

YMCA Cedar Glen

ERIN

Appleseed Childcare Centre

Greyden Equestrian

Town of Erin

HILLSBURGH

Kids Inc.

MELANCTHON

GO Adventure

Shelburne Golf & Country Club

MONO

Athlete Institute

At Last Forest Schools

Cantercall Riding School

Compass Camps EcoCamp

Fiddlehead Care Farm

Island Lake Rowing Club

Orangeville Christian Assembly

MULMUR

Mansfield Outdoor Centre

Museum of Dufferin

ORANGEVILLE

Academy of Performing Arts

Art With Jada

Champion Cheer Academy

Maggiolly Art

Orangeville Tennis Club

Pottery Parties Studio Recess Play

Ricky Schaede Art Studio

STEM Camp

Studio 3

Theatre Orangeville

Town of Orangeville Recreation

Twisters Gymnastics

SHELBURNE

Streams Community Hub

Town of Shelburne

Recreation

Do you run a camp in the area? Add it: inthehills.ca/events/my-events/add

www.inthehills.ca/events/my-events/add

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The secret lives of little things

A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT SOME OF THE SMALL CRITTERS THAT INHABIT HEADWATERS AND HOW THEIR LIVES INTERSECT WITH OURS IN CRUCIAL WAYS

BY DON SCALLEN • PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOB NOBLE

Insects and their kin get a bad rap in our society. Aside from a couple of beloved outliers – think honeybees and butterflies – these critters are often viewed as pests, and many are loathed and even feared. This obscures the fascinating stories that surround their lives and the many ways they contribute to the planet, including their essential role in making our lives possible.

Food and sex are prominent motivators in the lives of insects, as they are in ours. The various ways insects satisfy these needs could be interpreted, through a human lens, as cruel and deceitful. The fecund creativity of evolution has yielded an insect world filled with intrigue. The

storylines of insects are as gripping as the threads of deception and cruelty in The Godfather or Game of Thrones

But like humans, insects also act benevolently. They can be caring parents, providing their offspring with everything needed to survive. And of fundamental importance to us, many have symbiotic relationships with flowers – good for the insects, good for the plants, and crucial for humans, for those plants produce the food we eat.

Above all, insects – and more broadly, arthropods, a group that includes insects, arachnids, crustaceans and other multi-legged invertebrates – are fascinating. Their complex, dramatic lives

are largely unknown to us, but despite the great evolutionary gulf between us and them, a strong connection exists. Their stories can enrich our lives, and for the curious among us, engender awe and yes, respect.

Respect for insects and other arthropods guides Bob Noble, whose superb photography illustrates this article. Noble has documented many rare Canadian insects at Heart Lake Conservation Park in Brampton and northwards into Headwaters. He finds many of his favourite insect subjects living their remarkable lives along the Caledon Trailway. What follows is a sampling of the wondrous lives of Headwaters insects.

A European wool carder bee collects fibres from a hairy plant to build a nest for her larvae.

European wool carder bee: Nest maker

For centuries people carded wool by hand, using two “cards” with a profusion of narrow metal tines. One card holds the wool, while the second is passed over the first to smooth and align the wool fibres in the same direction. The fleece is then removed from the cards, ready to be dyed or spun.

Small wonder, then, that a beautiful little bee was christened a “wool carder.” Female wool carder bees use their mandibles to scrape hairy fibres from plants such as lamb’s ears and, as seen in Noble’s photo, a native plant called pearly everlasting. They roll the fibres into a ball and carry them to a cavity in a stump, or perhaps a cleft in a rock, and use the “wool” to build nests for their larvae. These comfortable birthing chambers are then provisioned with pollen to feed the young.

Female wool carder bees practise polyandry by mating with many male partners, behaviour that can provoke moral outrage in the human world.

Males will also mate with any females that enter their territory: patches of flowering plants that beckon females to collect pollen, nectar and “wool.” Territorial males have been recorded attempting to mate with the incoming females as often as every six minutes!

Females, apparently, play coy but will often accept the males’ attentions because of the resource ­rich flowers nearby. Another wrinkle: small male wool carder bees, unable to defend a flower patch, will perch inconspicuously nearby and, given the chance, dart in to mate with females. Unsurprisingly, the territorial males don’t like this at all and will aggressively pursue the interlopers.

Flat-tailed leafcutter bee: Dual identity

Bob Noble’s continuing exploration of life in miniature offers the image of an amazing bee that exhibits both male and female external sex traits. Animals that demonstrate this dualism are called “gynandromorphs,” a term derived from Greek (gyne refers to female, andro refers to male and morph refers to form). In fact, Noble’s image shows the phenomenon of bilateral gynandromorphism, which means “an animal split neatly down the middle between male and female.”

Both invertebrates, such as insects, and vertebrates, such as birds and amphibians, may display bilateral gynandromorphism. Some cardinals, for example, exhibit both male and female traits. But this sharp bilateral division of sex characteristics doesn’t seem to show up in mammals, though whether it sometimes occurs in rodents is the subject of dispute.

In the photo, Noble’s flattailed leafcutter is female on its right side and male on its left. Note that the female side sports a somewhat larger mandible, or lower jaw, while the male side reveals a larger front leg. It is unclear how – or whether – these offset characteristics affect the bee’s chances of survival.

Eastern yellow-backed laphria: Deliberate deceiver

In Africa’s Serengeti region, a leopard climbs a tree and waits patiently for antelope to venture near. A herd of Thomson’s gazelles — small antelopes — approaches, and the leopard’s leg muscles tense, her body pulsing with expectation. She launches herself onto the back of one of the gazelles, delivering a fatal bite to the neck.

The eastern yellow­backed laphria, a species of robber fly, is a similar ambush predator. Like leopards, these insects perch expectantly near flowers that attract pollinators, then wait for their prey to come close. When a bee is within striking range, they dart out, grab it and return to their perch to eat.

Robber flies exemplify the ancient biblical idiom “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Evolution has cloaked them in the non­threatening garb of bumblebees, a type of disguise called “aggressive mimicry.” Other types of mimicry serve up ruses that make vulnerable animals appear threatening. Flower flies (see page 46) are examples.

The goal of the robber fly’s aggressive mimicry, however, is not to frighten potential predators, but to lull prey into complacency. We’re all aware of people who could be labelled “aggressive mimics,” predators who cloak themselves in an air of respectability to pursue nefarious agendas. But please don’t condemn the robber fly for moral failings. Instead, celebrate its evolutionary ingenuity.

And next time you’re in your garden admiring the constant traffic of bees and wasps, look around carefully for a “bumblebee” that isn’t acting like a bumblebee. Though these wonderful little predators aren’t rare, their deception fools not only bees, but us as well.

Trout-lily mining bee: Brief visitor

At one time, most of humanity depended on seasonal resources for food. Many of us, especially in less developed parts of the world, still do. Here in Headwaters, autumn Atlantic salmon runs once supported Indigenous Peoples and settlers alike. And we still look forward to the tapping of sugar maple trees in early spring and to the ripening of sweet corn in late July.

So it is no surprise that wild animals also depend on seasonal resources. But some insects depend so completely on fleeting resources that their annual period of activity is severely constrained. One of these insects is the trout­lily mining bee. This lovely little bee depends primarily on trout­lily pollen to feed its larvae, although it may also visit other spring wildflowers.

Its appearance in our woods, then, generally coincides with that of trout lilies, aka fawn lilies or dogtooth violets. These beautiful spring ephemerals last about a month in Headwaters, roughly from late April through May. When their brief period of bloom ends, adult trout­lily mining bees die. But their larvae, snugly settled in earthen tunnels, feed on the bounty of pollen their mothers provided, then enter a pupal stage that lasts through the summer. In the fall, they emerge as adults, but they must shelter in their lairs until the sun coaxes woodland wildflowers into bloom the next spring.

Trout­lily mining bees represent the many pollinators that have a narrow range of floral partners. These insects would disappear if their host plants disappeared. And their host plants would suffer if their dedicated pollinators disappeared.

Great golden digger wasp: Natural pest controller

Among the predatory insects few are as impressive as great golden digger wasps. One of the largest Headwaters wasps, they buzz into our gardens like miniature propeller­ driven airplanes to drink nectar from bee balm, milkweed and mountain mint.

Their name is apt — or almost so. Their size makes them “great,” and they dig in soil to build their nests. But are they “golden”? Their upper abdomens and legs are brilliant orange. Hair on their upper bodies is also orange, but may be perceived as a rich golden colour. Regardless, these wasps are lovely animals, and though their presence in gardens might inspire fear, they are gentle — except from the point of view of the orthoptera tribe, which includes grasshoppers, katydids and crickets. Energized by sugary nectar, great golden digger wasps hunt these herbivores, sting them and pack them into earthen tunnels to feed their larvae. In the photo, a drumming katydid is the victim. The katydid is paralyzed but still very much alive. This keeps the katydid — the food — from spoiling until the wasp larvae hatch. The lingering death of any animal makes us uncomfortable, with good reason, but great golden digger wasps don’t prolong the misery of their prey out of malice. And we should appreciate, too, that these wasps and many of their kin act behind the scenes to control insects that raid our crops and gardens.

Tomentose burying beetle: Progeny protector

Airplanes enable humans to quickly fly from one city to another. And for some mites — tiny arachnids related to spiders — burying beetles are their passenger airplanes. The beetles can fly and the tiny flightless mites cling to them to get airborne transportation to distant food sources.

Phoresy, the term for this method of transport, means “an association between two species in which one transports the other,” a fairly common practice in the insect and arthropod world. Many flies and beetles are used as transport by tiny mobility­ challenged arachnids. As far as I know, phoresy isn’t found in the vertebrate world, but I fondly recall my mother telling a much younger me that hummingbirds hitch rides on Canada geese — under the armpits (wingpits?) of the geese! This belief was once widespread because people couldn’t accept that tiny hummingbirds can fly thousands of kilometres on their own.

What’s in it for the beetles? Do the mites pay the equivalent of airfares? The best answer, it appears, is “it depends.” Burying beetles are aptly named. They locate a small dead animal such as a mouse, lay their eggs on the carcass, and then — surprise! — protect the eggs by digging a pit in the soil beneath the body and burying the mouse. When the eggs become larvae, they feed on the mouse carcass.

But burying beetles are not the only insects interested in dead animals. Blowflies also lay their eggs on deceased animals, and their maggots compete with the burying beetle grubs for the resource. This is when the mites step in. When they disembark from their beetle transports, fly eggs are their preferred food source. This helps the beetle larvae by reducing competition and, in a manner of speaking, “pays” the mites’ fares. Ah, but nature is complex. The mites may also feed on the beetle eggs. This helps the beetles when blowfly eggs are abundant — but hurts when they’re not.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

HYDROSEEDING

AUTOMATED PERGOLAS

LIGHTING

Black giant ichneumon wasp:

Deadly driller

Biomimicry is a field of science inspired by how living organisms have evolved to solve challenges. Materials for human use are often inspired by these solutions. A well­known example is Velcro. In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral looked closely at the burrs clinging to his dog after an outing — and went on to develop Velcro’s distinctive hookand­loop design.

Medical engineers, attempting to develop safer and more effective surgical probes, have been inspired by the egg­laying appendages (ovipositors) of ichneumon wasps. Their ovipositors are impressive: 10 or more centimetres long, but the width of a hair. When not in use, they coil like garden hoses in structures at the tip of the wasp’s abdomen.

Ichneumon ovipositors can penetrate wood without kinking or breaking. The female ichneumons probe logs and stumps to find the larvae of wood­boring horntail wasp grubs and, sensing the presence of the grubs while drilling, can change direction if needed, a feature that would benefit today’s surgical probes.

Yellow-legged flower fly: Aphid’s enemy

Stinging yellow jackets shout “back off” with yellow and black colouration. Lots of harmless insects such as yellow­legged flower flies have capitalized on this warning messaging. If robber flies mimic bumblebees to get close to their prey, flower flies — aka hover flies — mimic wasps to make predators think twice before they attack. Flower flies also fool us. My guess is that most gardeners label them bees or wasps when they are, in fact, harmless flies.

Yellow and black colouring triggers caution in many animals. Predatory insects and birds take notice – and so do we. Like flower flies, humans have exploited these colours. We use black and yellow to catch the attention of motorists. Signs that warn us of curves in roads and school zones are examples. I’m struck by how our visual and nervous systems converge with those of other animals.

Flower flies are a gardener’s friend. They lay eggs in aphid colonies and their larvae eat those plant pests with gusto. The inset photo shows the larva of a short­tailed aphideater, a related species of flower fly, enjoying its aphid lunch.

But the wonder of ichneumon ovipositors goes beyond their remarkable flexibility and wayfinding. These needle ­like organs also deliver enzymes that break down wood, and if that isn’t impressive enough, the tips are reinforced with ionized manganese, making them as strong as carbide ­tipped drill bits.

When these organic drills contact a horntail grub, they inject a paralyzing serum and lay an egg. When the ichneumon eggs hatch, the larvae feed on their horntail hosts, pupate within the wood, and emerge as adults the next spring.

Horntail wasps have their own interesting story. They transport spores of a wood­rotting fungus and inject these spores into logs with their eggs. The fungus grows in the wood and is eaten by the horntail larvae. It also softens the wood, enabling the grubs to tunnel to their hearts’ content. All good, right? Not quite. The predatory ichneumons can smell the fungus and follow the scent to the horntail nursery logs. Upon arrival they unsheathe their ovipositors and begin drilling, spelling doom for the horntail larvae.

Yellow-legged flower fly and short-tailed aphideater larva, inset.

Black giant ichneumon wasp and pigeon horntail, inset.

Shamrock orb weaver: Agile arachnid

Among the transformations that demonstrate evolutionary ingenuity and help animals survive, the adaptations of spiders are among the most spectacular. Imagine managing eight legs in a scramble across a sticky web to subdue an ensnared insect. Imagine the cognitive ability required to combine the sensory input of eight eyes into a comprehensible image. Imagine being able to spray a liquid that, upon contact with air, becomes flexible webbing stronger than steel by weight.

The shamrock orb weaver is common in the fields and meadows of Headwaters. These beautiful arachnids build the classic webs we think of when we think “spider.” Charlotte (in the children’s story Charlotte’s Web) is an orb weaver, albeit a wonderfully caring and literate one. Her* friendship with Wilbur the Pig, slated for the abattoir, led her to spin the words “Some Pig” into her web.

I once wondered whether any animals preyed on wasps and hornets. I now know that wasps, like all creatures, have enemies. Skunks and bears dig up their nests, praying mantises eat them alive, and I once watched a cardinal tear open a paper wasp nest to feed on the larvae. But the most effective wasp predators may be spiders like Charlotte and her kin.

* The fat spiders sitting in the centre of orb webs are females. The males are skulking pipsqueaks that cling timidly to the web’s fringes, hoping to mate with a female while avoiding becoming her next meal.

Don Scallen is the author of Nature Where We Live: Activities to Engage Your Inner Scientist from Pond Dipping to Animal Tracking. Read more of his observations on local flora and fauna in “Notes from the Wild” at www.inthehills.ca

Game Changers

AS CALEDON PREPARES TO HOST THE PRESTIGIOUS RBC CANADIAN OPEN IN JUNE, AND LATER TO BECOME THE PERMANENT HOME OF GOLF CANADA’S NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, IN THE HILLS SURVEYS SOME OF THE CLUBS THAT HAVE HELPED BUILD HEADWATERS’ REPUTATION AS A VIBRANT GOLF HUB.

ABY EMILY DICKSON • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSEMARY HASNER

s Megan Young climbed into a golf cart and zipped around the Shelburne Golf & Country Club’s picturesque 18-hole course with me last summer, it seemed as if she could find her way blindfolded. An idea that may not be so far-fetched. After all, she grew up on the course. Until his death in 2024 at the age of 82, her father, Sam Young, ran the club along with his wife, Mary, teasingly known as the “chief shenanigan co-ordinator.”

“We used to swim in that pond,” said Megan, her long brown hair whipping in the wind as she pointed out spots

that hold special childhood memories. As the two of us continued zooming along the maintenance paths that connect long, tree-lined fairways, she added, “I remember playing in the sand bunker on the ninth hole, and my dad running out to get me out of there because people were trying to tee off!”

Her family’s history at the club dates to 1975 when Sam, whose longstanding dedication to the sport earned him membership in the Professional Golfers’ Association of Canada Hall of Fame, bought a small pre-existing course. He immediately

got busy improving the drainage and turf conditions to transform the course into the meticulously maintained fairways and greens that golfers enjoy today. On any given day, you could find Sam out on the course cutting the grass or coaching. That legacy now falls to Megan, the club’s general manager, and her brother, Brooks, the superintendent. Brooks also has deep memories of the transformation of this landscape, including learning how to use a backhoe, hauling boulders, and helping his father water the greens at night –by hand – while holding a flashlight,

before the automatic system was installed. Having witnessed the evolution of the course from a “ninehole swamp to a very respectable 18-hole golf facility,” he said that one of the remarkable things about Headwaters is the variety of courses that are accessible to the public.

“Part of the fabric of golf in Ontario is its independent operators,” said Megan, as Mary, a meticulous record keeper, carefully unrolled Sam’s original blueprints for the Shelburne course and showed me weathered scorecards from its opening week.

Megan added, “And the nice thing about having a family golf course is you really learn how this place breathes and runs.”

Usually the torch passing from generation to generation is about as big a transition as you will see on the golf landscape in Headwaters. But this year, a much bigger shift is afoot as the area becomes the focus of international attention.

Over the next few months, the Youngs and others who love the sport will be paying close attention as their sport gets a close-up. Golf Canada announced last

spring that Caledon’s TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley would host the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, the crown jewel of this country’s golf season, from June 4 to 8. And in the longer term, Golf Canada, the association that runs the tournament, and many other events and programs across the country, will move its national headquarters from Oakville to an expansive campus at Osprey Valley. The campus will also include the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum. With Headwaters set to become the epicentre of Canadian golf, I

Members of the weekly ladies’ league – Bonnie Waterfield, Marty Harrison and Raija Swindells – finish teeing off at Dufferin Glen Golf Course in Mono. On our Table of Contents, page 15, a view of the course’s pond and windmill.

grabbed my golf bag last summer and toured some of the venues that have transformed Headwaters into a vibrant golf hub.

A local sport

Golf has been played in Headwaters for nearly a century and one of the oldest courses is the Orangeville Golf Club. The now-abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway track ran through the ninehole course, and today, golfers still amble over the former right-of-way. In the 1930s, the course was built on the homestead of actor Arthur Huston, and legend has it that celebrities such as Bing Crosby and Bob Hope would hop off the train for a round of golf and a drink at the clubhouse.

Tell someone today that you play golf and it may conjure up this posh vision of the sport, but dotted throughout Headwaters are many fun and friendly public golf courses where anyone and everyone is welcome for “a good walk” spoiled. (And among those with membership fees, some charge less than $400 a year.) And like the Young family’s Shelburne course, many have been labours of love intertwined with their family history.

Headwaters’ nearly 20 courses are as varied as the local topography on which they sit, from Melancthon and Amaranth’s flatter terrain to the hills of Mono and the rugged Niagara Escarpment in Caledon. The Credit River meanders through the lush grounds of the Caledon Country Club in Inglewood, its history dating back to 1961. Glen Eagle Golf Club, nestled in

the Albion hills, opened on Highway 50 in 1962, nearly across the road from Caledon Woods Golf Club (previously the Bolton Golf Club). As mentioned earlier Sam and Mary Young took over the Shelburne course in 1975.

A stone’s throw from the Elora Cataract Trailway, Erin Heights Golf Course, also family-owned, opened in 1982. And south of Erin village, Calerin Golf Club offers nine chal lenging holes.

The Adamo family, previous owners of Hockley Valley Resort, commissioned Canadian course architect Thomas McBroom to design their 18-hole course after they bought the resort in 1985. McBroom’s design left much of the rugged terrain untouched.

The Bailey family has owned Amaranth’s Lynbrook Family Golf Centre since 1999. More recently, in 2012, Winston Jageshar and his

family opened Dufferin Glen Golf Club in Mono.

And Jerry and Roman Humeniuk took over TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in 1992 and, over the years, have expanded it to offer three distinct 18-hole courses, as well as two new clubhouses, a golf academy and stayand-play villas.

What the Canadian Open could mean for Headwaters

The news that TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley would host the RBC Canadian Open for the first time, and that some of the world’s most famous golfers, including Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Canadian champion Nick Taylor, will be playing in our backyard this June was cause for celebration. As a gauge of the potential impact of this event, consider this: Last year’s

ABOVE: Streams and ponds dot the fairways and cart paths at Shelburne Golf & Country Club in Melancthon.

BELOW: Putting contests — a favourite activity of the late Sam Young — are always part of the practice sessions for members of Shelburne’s Advanced Junior Golf Program.

TOP: Native wildflowers and grasses grow along the course at Lynbrook Family Golf Centre in Amaranth. ABOVE: Flamingos, turtles and even a wee donkey stand watch while golfers enjoy mini putt.

Canadian Open, held at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, welcomed about 136,000 fans and generated an estimated economic benefit of $86 million for the region.

“Hosting the RBC Canadian Open here is going to be phenomenal,” says Osprey president Chris Humeniuk, who took over the club’s reins from his father, Roman, and late uncle, Jerry. “Everything we’re doing in Osprey Valley is going to put Caledon on the international map from a golf tourism perspective and an overall tourism perspective. And we’re proud to be a family-owned public course where anyone can come and play the same course as the world’s top golfers.”

Chris added that to honour his father and uncle, two maple trees, named the Two Brothers, have been planted on the 18th hole of the club’s

North Course, where this year’s open will be played, so that “they’ll always be there in spirit.” (Two Brothers is also the name of the on-site restaurant.)

My tour continues

Back at the Shelburne club, Megan and I watched Jaymond Woods, the club’s teaching professional, coach a group of youngsters on the driving range. Decked out in matching polo shirts and equipped with identical golf bags, they effortlessly drove balls nearly 250 yards – while I couldn’t help but wish I were 14 again.

The juniors were members of the club’s competitive Advanced Junior Program, an initiative Sam was especially passionate about. The Shelburne club has a legacy of producing athletes who go on to compete at a professional level. “The

ABOVE: Owner Daryl Bailey and daughter Lindsay lay a drainage tile in this photo from the early days of construction at Lynbrook before it opened more than 25 years ago. Behind them stands an old silo, which was turned into a giant golf bag that now marks the entrance to the course.

Find a course

Here are some of Headwaters’ top golfing destinations, both public and private.

AMARANTH

future of golf is for sure in our juniors,” said Woods, who picked up his first club at age three and trained under Sam to become an instructor. “The industry is really recognizing that it is very crucial that juniors play and learn the right way, because golf is a lifelong sport.”

As I continue my tour, I meet more enthusiasts like Woods and his charges. My next stop? The Dufferin Glen Golf Club in Mono. This low-key nine-hole course is owned and managed by Winston Jageshar and his son, Arif, a PGA Canada professional and instructor. (You are also apt to run into Winston’s wife and daughter on the course.)

Dufferin Glen incorporates many of the property’s natural features, including a protected wetland to tee off over on the first hole. The par-3 seventh hole challenges players to hit over a pond onto the green –hopefully without slicing the ball toward a nearby windmill.

Though the juniors I watched play at Shelburne, unafflicted by the aches and pains of middle age, may have an advantage, this doesn’t mean they have all the fun. Just ask the women who never miss the weekly ladies’ game at Dufferin Glen.

The Iron & the Eagle Golf and Country Club on Facebook

Lynbrook Family Golf Centre lynbrookgolf.com

CALEDON

Banty’s Roost golflinks.ca/courses/ bantys­roost­ golf­ club

Caledon Country Club golfcaledon.com

Caledon Woods Golf Club caledonwoods.clublink.ca

Glen Eagle Golf Club gleneaglegolf.com

Legacy Pines Golf Club legacypinesgolf.com

Orangeville Golf Club golfnorth.ca/orangeville

The Pulpit Club thepulpitclub.com

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley ospreyvalley.com

The clubhouse is small and informal, and as players pop in and out to pay their green fees, Winston and Arif seemed to know everyone by name. “Some of the very first players who came here from the week we opened in 2012 are still playing here happily,” said Winston. “The regulars who play here come three or four times a week. This is their home course, so we treat them like family.”

CREEMORE

Mad River Golf Club madriver.ca

ERIN

Calerin Golf Club golfnorth.ca/calerin

Erin Heights Golf Course erinheightsgolf.ca

MELANCTHON

Shelburne Golf & Country Club shelburnegolf.com

On the sunny afternoon I visited, Winston took a break from clubhouse duties to barbecue the end-of-season lunch for a group of women who get together to play every week. Hockley resident Sandi Patterson, who helps organize the outings, summed up her feelings about the matches. “I’d say 50 per cent I love the golf and 50 per cent I love the girls. It’s just the camaraderie. It’s a barrel of laughs out

MONO

Dufferin Glen Golf Club dufferinglengolf.com

Hockley Valley Resort hockley.com/golf

Mono Hills Country Club monohillscountryclub.com

LISLE

Silver Brooke Golf Club golflinks.ca/courses/ silver­brooke ­ golf­ club

there and that’s what we’re looking for. Sometimes we’re laughing at each other, sometimes laughing at the game.”

Fun “fore” the family

Driving past Lynbrook Family Golf Centre in Amaranth, just a few minutes northwest of Orangeville, it’s hard to miss the eye-catching driving range targets (kids love aiming for the school bus), and the

Members of the Advanced Junior Golf Program at Shelburne Golf & Country Club warm up at the driving range.

An overhead view of the undulating course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon in autumn.

www.peterdusek.com

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 50

old silo repurposed to look like a huge golf bag at the parking lot entrance. Lynbrook is known for its quirky mini-putt course (also nearby is 10 and 10 Mini-Putt and Driving Range on Highway 10).

Owner and PGA Canada professional Daryl Bailey, born and raised in Orangeville, celebrated the course’s 25th anniversary last year. He and his wife, Kim, named the course after their two daughters, Lindsay and Brooke, and running the show has always been a family affair. Even Daryl’s father, Tom, now 80, still cuts the grass three times a week.

“I’ve pretty much worked here since I was little, picking up balls, working in the pro shop, everything,” laughs Brooke, now the course’s operations manager, as Daryl jokes, “We change her job titles all the time!” Father and daughter trade stories about the course’s early days – including washing hundreds of golf balls in a washing machine – and share black-and-white news clippings from opening day, when Brooke and her sister were little kids.

TreasuresTurquoiseEvent

Daryl said the family has preserved as much of the natural environment as possible, and that out of the property’s roughly 75 acres only a third has been groomed. “The rest is all wild,” he says, referring to the native grasses and wildflowers that grow around and between the fairways. Brooke added that her mother cares deeply about keeping things that way. “Our ponds have wildlife coming in and out, beavers and muskrats build nests, there are birdhouses all over the course … it’s as natural as possible.”

Upping the environmental and community game

Mitigating the negative environmental impacts of the sport is also a key tenet of Golf Canada’s current mandate. The organization and its industry partners encourage golf courses to protect, expand and naturalize non-playable areas, which may make up 40 to 70 per cent of course properties in Canada, as well as to reduce waste and choose cleaner energy sources such as batterypowered carts.

Garrett Ball, the organization’s chief operating officer, says this ethos extends to events like this

year’s RBC Canadian Open, which will be “the most environmentally friendly outdoor sporting event in our country.” Examples from last year’s open include battery-powered temporary tents and structures, electric tournament transportation, and waste reduction measures, such as diverting the equivalent of about 90,000 water bottles by encouraging fans to bring reusable water bottles to use at water-refilling stations.

Long after the crowds have gone home, Golf Canada intends to be a good neighbour, most notably by building a 30,000-square-foot, 18-hole community putting green. Artificial grass will provide the surface. “We love this for a couple of reasons,” says Ball. “It has a long lifespan, it extends the season so you can play whenever there’s no snow, you don’t have to water it or cut it so there’s no gas usage.” The goal? To introduce people to golf. Free to the public with putters and balls provided, the course will be a community initiative he says “will be the first of its kind in Canada.”

Boosting inclusivity underpins First Tee, Golf Canada’s youth development program. Other inclusivity initiatives include enhancing opportunities for women golfers and making the game more accessible to anyone who wants to play in order to “reflect the multicultural strength of Canada’s population,” says Ball.

For local courses, both private and public, the evolution of what was once viewed as an elite sport is a welcome and timely development. “The great thing about tournaments like the Canadian Open is that it always sparks kids and new players to get into golf, and that’s what we’re all about,” said Megan Young. She is especially excited about this year’s Canadian Open because Canadian champion Nick Taylor’s caddy, David Markle, trained under her father, Sam, and is the top junior golfer to come out of Shelburne’s Advanced Junior Program.

“People also have a lot of choice in this area for golf, and there are bedand-breakfasts and hotels to accommodate golf tourism,” she added of the potential golf boom in Headwaters. “At the end of the day, golf is meant for everyone.”

Emily Dickson is a writer and editor living in Orangeville.

BUILDING THE CASE AGAINST ILLEGAL TRUCKING YARDS

How the rise of truck depots on Caledon land zoned for agricultural use has galvanized local governments and activists to work together to turn back the tide – if it isn’t already too late.

BY FRANCESCA DISCENZA

Drive south on Highway 50, out of Bolton’s historic downtown valley and toward Caledon’s southern border at Mayfield Road, and the road is teeming with truck traffic –tractor trailers and all manner of other heavy trucks that transport the goods demanded by businesses and consumers alike. But where do these trucks go when they’re not on the road? Unfortunately, many head for the jumble of truck yards that now dot the Caledon countryside.

These yards, many suspected to be illegal, are filled with rows of parked trucks and trailers, as well as shipping containers stacked high behind chain-link fencing. The yards have not appeared overnight, but they have become a vexingly intractable reality that many residents can no longer ignore.

Though some yards comply with municipal zoning, many yard owners, or their tenants, are operating on land that is zoned agricultural, not commercial or industrial. As a result, they have become the targets of a growing campaign by government officials and frustrated residents to dismantle them, and hold owners accountable for the environmental and infrastructure degradation, road safety hazards and other ills they cause.

In an interview, Caledon mayor Annette Groves, who has called Caledon home for 33 years, said, “Over the last five to six years, illegal trucking yards have exploded and they’re moving even farther north as well.” As a result, she added that for many residents, Highway 50 has become “a nightmare, it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night.”

Small steps

Groves and local advocates – working together after initial tension and conflict – can point to a few milestones suggesting that their campaign against illegal yards is gaining momentum. Earlier this year, the Town of Caledon stepped up its communication efforts by revamping its website to include bylaw details, steps for reporting cases and progress updates.

Then, in early February, the town debuted an even more tangible tool: a detailed, interactive online tracking and reporting map that is updated weekly. Residents can click on a pinned location and learn whether a complaint or case file exists, and if legal action has been taken. They can also find out how to report properties suspected of being illegal truck depots. The latest piece of

THE TOWN OF CALEDON MAPS THE PROLIFERATION OF TRUCKING DEPOTS

This map of Caledon – adapted from the online Illegal Trucking Depot Complaints Map on the Town of Caledon website – shows the proliferation of trucking depots across the town, with the highest concentration at the south end of the town.

Each dot represents a trucking depot which has had a zoning bylaw complaint against it.

The online map at caledon.ca/en/living­here/ illegal­land­use ­trucking.aspx allows residents to search specific properties to learn whether a complaint is currently being investigated, has been closed or if the property owner is facing

the puzzle: the town announced on February 26 an “enhanced workplan” for its Illegal Land Use Task Force.

These key first steps, observers say, show that local government officials and advocates are gaining traction. Their next goals? Co-ordinated

fines or other bylaw penalties. The map is updated every Monday.

In early March, the site reported 60 active files and 72 properties that had been subject to prosecution.

Residents are encouraged to report any properties they suspect are being used illegally by contacting Service Caledon at 3 ­1 ­1 or email info@caledon.ca, according to the map web page.

The town does not investigate anonymous complaints and the site states: “Everyone is presumed innocent of any offence(s) until proven guilty in a court of law.”

enforcement, compliance and regulatory reform – a tall order. Groves said she is determined to send a strong message that “we are no longer going to tolerate this, and you can’t just come into our community and set up shop with no regard.”

Understanding a growing crisis Although illegal land use challenges span the province, Caledon is particularly hard hit because of its proximity to highways 410 and 427, its large land mass, and a boom in fulfillment and other warehouses

CALEDON EAST

CALEDON VILLAGE

serving today’s e-commerce-addicted culture and just-in-time delivery business mindset.

In legal industrial zones, truck yards are subject to taxes, rules and regulations that support the level of municipal services, and infrastructure maintenance requirements for roadways that endure heavy loads and traffic. Legal yard operators are also expected to follow rigorous procedures for diesel storage and drainage to prevent soil contamination, among other hazards. None of these systems is in place for illegal properties. Nearby residents also report light, dust and noise pollution.

‘Over the last five to six years, illegal trucking yards have exploded and they’re moving even farther north as well.’

TOWN

OF CALEDON MAYOR

Who exactly are these bold, bad actors who have been flying under the radar for so long? According to André Leitert, a longtime Caledon resident and advocate, they are businesspeople looking to capitalize on an opportunity, though they could be anyone with the means to own land. Others suggest the owners could be struggling farmers hoping to make ends meet by renting out part of their land, or real-estate speculators, many of whom are directors of hard-to-trace numbered companies.

One incentive that leads operators and owners to set up shop illegally is the property tax rate for agricultural land, which is lower than the rate for industrial land. The higher industrial rates help offset a municipality’s higher

costs for infrastructure repairs, as well as bylaw services and investigations. It does not include the cost of repairing long-term environmental damage to soil and ecosystems, which is yet to be tracked or restored.

Seeking help from the province

Last September, Groves sent DufferinCaledon MPP Sylvia Jones a letter pleading for provincial attention and support. The letter explained that, despite the town’s efforts, “Illegal truck depots are expanding with defiance, where many operators consider legal fees and municipal fines as a cost of doing business .... Without provincial intervention, there is the risk that this issue will grow to an unmanageable state and continue to spread throughout the province.” As of late February, the letter has gone unanswered. In The Hills sought comment from Jones, but had received no response by early March, when the spring issue went to press.

The land use issue is surfacing against a backdrop of other systemic problems in Canada’s trucking industry. Organizations including the Ontario Trucking Association and the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada have raised concerns about inadequate driver training and licensing oversight.

A CBC Marketplace investigation that aired last October revealed critical shortfalls in the driver training offered by some private schools.

The shortfalls included inadequate hands-on training, a reduction in or complete elimination of in-class theory instruction and instructors who are themselves not properly licensed.

In November 2024 the OPP, along with Peel, Halton and York Regional police, the Town of Caledon and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, conducted a one-day safety inspection blitz on commercial vehicles. Highlighting the need for regulation and support from the provincial government, 72 charges were laid for violations including unregistered vehicles, faulty equipment and unlicensed drivers.

Left unchecked, critics say these

ANNETTE GROVES

practices, in addition to the trend toward illegal land use, could turn swaths of Ontario into an unsafe, freight-dominated wasteland. The problem is already appearing in more rural areas such as Dufferin County.

Mono mayor John Creelman, who is watching Caledon’s efforts closely, said illegal land use “is almost exclusively on agricultural land in Mono and that … it is ruining good farmland.” In a twist that does not dampen his support for Caledon’s efforts, Creelman noted that if Caledon’s initiative is successful, its victory could have unintended consequences for his town. “If Caledon is going to crack down on these operations, they are going to go elsewhere and guess what? Elsewhere is Mono [and] other municipalities in Dufferin County.”

A coalition grows

In a May 2024 meeting with Premier Doug Ford and Paul Calandra, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, Groves called attention to 300 properties involved in illegal land use in Caledon. At the meeting, other mayors of small urban municipalities in the GTHA expressed similar concerns over the rise in the number of illegal event centres and short-term rentals in their municipalities. As a result, Groves said, Calandra recommended taking the matter to the province’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy. When Caledon council’s delegation appeared before that committee last August, they urged MPPs to introduce measures to beef up municipal powers and tools, including increased penalties for individuals and corporations, the ability to physically bar entry to non-compliant properties, and the authority to include all charges on property titles. Including charges on titles would prevent property owners from circumventing enforcement by transferring property ownership, a strategy used to duck prosecution. In a closing plea to the committee,

‘The province needs to hear repeatedly over and over and over again from the people such as myself, Mayor Groves, members of council and citizens in the community that these activities are not acceptable, and there have to be consequences. They need to know that we’re not going to go away.’

TOWN OF MONO MAYOR JOHN CREELMAN

Catherine McLean, the town’s commissioner of community and human services, said, “We need to do more together. Our residents are counting on us.” The presentation was well-received, Groves said, with Liberal, Conservative and NDP members expressing shock at the extent of the issue.

The public weighs in

On the heels of that August meeting, tragedy struck on September 10, 2024, when 23-year-old Adrianna Milena McCauley died in a four-vehicle collision involving a commercial vehicle on Coleraine Drive in Bolton. Deeply affected by the loss of the daughter of a longtime acquaintance, Bolton resident Franca Pisani turned to social media to express her grief and concerns about road safety in the town. The initiative helped her connect with Carmela Palkowski, who suggested the need for a broader platform.

Together they turned to Facebook and founded the Caledon Community Road Safety Advocacy Group, which has grown to nearly 2,500 members determined to end the rising number of road fatalities, as well as truck congestion and illegal parking and storage yards. A dedicated website soon followed and the campaign includes the signs – Stop Illegal Truck Yards – that have sprouted on lawns throughout Caledon.

Last October, the mayor’s agenda and the emergence of the citizen-led CCRSA Group intersected dramatically during a Bolton public safety meeting that included Groves and representatives of the OPP. Emotions ran high as hundreds of residents de-

manded accountability from officials.

But after the meeting, the town and the CCRSA Group recognized that they shared goals. Abandoning the blame game, they embraced a collaborative approach in an attempt to lay the foundation for meaningful progress. “When the citizens join forces with us, it’s a force to be reckoned with,” acknowledged Groves.

A push for transparency

Initially, a major hurdle in their shared fight was that few residents were actually filing reports or questioning the town about specific properties, an environment that allowed illegal land use to flourish. So Caledon council revitalized its Illegal Land Use Task Force, first set up in 2021, with new appointments.

Councillors Tony Rosa and Doug Maskell joined staff and community experts, including activist André Leitert, who said that making changes requires “good cohesion, good organization, good communication between the town, town staff, town politicians and the community .... It’s important that the community is aware and doesn’t allow [illegal yards] to go undetected..”

Mono mayor John Creelman noted that even when municipalities successfully put an end to an illegal land use, they must apply to clean up the damaged property, a long and expensive process. He would like to see “a one-stop judicial process.” Grouping the ability to convict, fine and issue cleanup orders in one fell swoop would prevent appeals to higher courts, and spare municipalities the cost of restoring

a property to make it suitable for housing or agricultural use. Without cleanup and restoration, the damage to these lands will remain long after the trucks and trailers have gone.

Allies across borders

During this time, Caledon officials continued to combat the illegal yards in any way they could. Bylaw amendments required property owners engaged in illegal land uses to cover the full cost of fire and emergency services, the number of bylaw-enforcement staff was boosted, and operating hours were extended to include overnight shifts. But the town’s efforts are often undermined by operators who easily absorb the cost of inadequate fines that do not deter illegal activities.

At the same time, members of the CCRSA Group looked beyond Caledon’s borders to amplify their concerns. Last November and again in December, Pisani, Palkowski and Amanda Corbett addressed Vaughan city council about properties on Albion Vaughan Road, which marks the border between Vaughan and Caledon. Zoned agricultural, the area is rapidly being overtaken by trucking depots. Though properties on the east side of this road are under Vaughan’s jurisdiction, their proximity to Bolton’s residential and school zones makes the two-lane road treacherous even outside rush hour.

At the December meeting, which drew a strong turnout of Bolton residents, Corbett presented a map showing more than a dozen illegal operators on Albion Vaughan Road and nearby Cold Creek and Nashville roads. She warned that approving zoning changes for these operations would not only reward illegal land use, but also force country roads to cope with hundreds more trucks every day.

“The problem is everywhere in the GTA,” she said, “and the only way that we’re going to make any headway is if all levels of government, all residents, all of the associations, everyone works together against people who are doing things illegally.”

And once again, a municipal

meeting got feisty. Mark Hopkins, a longtime Vaughan resident, has long opposed the rezoning of Albion Vaughan Road properties. Urging council to reflect on past decisions, Hopkins’ pointed remarks prompted applause. When meeting chair Linda Jackson, Vaughan’s deputy mayor, warned attendees to conduct themselves as if in a courtroom, she referred to herself as “pretty strict” about conduct at council meetings. Hopkins seized the moment,

where the alarming clutter of red and yellow dots represent properties under review. The map’s black dots indicate closed cases. By early March, the map showed 60 active files, 72 prosecutions and dozens of closed files – closed because there was no violation, because illegal activity has halted or because the property has come into compliance with the bylaw.

The road ahead

‘The problem is everywhere in the GTA, and the only way that we’re going to make any headway is if all levels of government, all residents, all of the associations, everyone works together against people who are doing things illegally.’

AMANDA CORBETT, CALEDON COMMUNITY ROAD

SAFETY

ADVOCACY GROUP

responding sharply, “I hope you are just as strict on bylaw enforcement.” The CCRSA Group also managed to get the attention of Oshawa MPP Jennifer French, the NDP’s critic for transportation, infrastructure and highways, who agreed to table a petition calling for improvements in the way the trucking industry is regulated and monitored. The province’s response to the petition is expected this spring. Until then, residents can continue to check the Town of Caledon’s online illegal trucking depot map,

Groves expects the town’s recommendations to the standing committee to be tabled when the provincial legislature reconvenes in March. In January, she met with the Ontario Trucking Association because she believes that “bringing more partners to the table is really going to strengthen our position.” Ideas shared by the OTA will “certainly have a huge impact on the industry,” she added, though she declined to reveal those ideas at the time of the interview.

Can Caledon, once dubbed “the greenest town in Ontario,” maintain that title? Could tackling illegal land use be a rare example of town officials, activists and citizens uniting to achieve a common goal?

When it comes to the town’s growth strategies and future development plans, there is no shortage of bones of contention. But the progress on the illegal trucking-yard file is an encouraging step forward for everyone involved.

Although real action by the province has yet to materialize, the wheels are in motion. The CCRSA Group is just getting started, and organizers say they don’t plan to give up until they see action.

Mono mayor John Creelman may have put it best. “The province needs to hear repeatedly over and over and over again from the people such as myself, Mayor Groves, members of council and citizens in the community that these activities are not acceptable, and there have to be consequences. They need to know that we’re not going to go away.”

Francesca Discenza is a freelance

writer who lives in Bolton.

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“ A TIGHT HUG ”

For youth struggling with mental health and addictions, the rigorous treatment program at Pine River Institute offers security and compassion.

BY ANTHONY JENKINS

Witness an encounter in deepest Mulmur.

On a drizzly autumn day with fog playing hide-and-seek among a sea of cedars, Dan Ardis – middle-aged, pleasant and, in shirtsleeves, underdressed for the weather – encounters a passing youth wearing muddy sneakers and a dark sweatshirt.

I’m visiting Pine River Institute, an addiction and mental health treatment centre for youth, expecting stereotypes – loutish and sullen. The teen is neither. He’s big, his hair tousled, and

his eyes brighten when Ardis stops to ask, “Is your day improving?”

Turns out it is. Apparently it had begun quite badly just a couple of hours earlier, manifested in frustration and rage. The pair greet with a fist bump and Ardis, leaning casually on the tailgate of a truck, listens to what the youth – who must remain nameless for privacy reasons – has to say.

The kid, maybe 16, is a piano player and, as the drizzle increases, he respectfully notes that the instrument here is badly out of tune. Ardis

commits to getting someone in to tune it. “Can I watch?” the youth asks. And faster than you can ask yourself, Where is this conversation going and can we get out of the rain? Ardis replies, “It depends on the repairman. I’ll ask. Are you keen?” –the kid is – “Let’s talk about timing.”

Done. With that scant dialogue, a life lesson was being taught and learned. Therapy was in progress, beyond any textbook, with humanity, positivity and respect. A piano will be tuned. A youth who is troubled

A student at work during the Outdoor Leadership Experience component of the program at Pine River Institute.

and troublesome – or he wouldn’t be here – may become less so.

“People are wrapped around him here and he knows it,” Ardis explains afterward in the dry of his office overlooking a playing field where the damp weather has not deterred the progress of a 20-person game of Frisbee football.

Ardis, a former elementary school principal in Dufferin County, is senior director of operations and campus life at Pine River. He likens the program here to “A hug. A tight hug.”

A hug can be both comforting and confining. We all need them, but some, who are still in the developing, adolescent stage, need them more than most, and for both reasons. Which, implicitly, is why they come, voluntarily, to Pine River’s campus in Mulmur for what can be a tough program of indeterminate duration.

Kids in the neighbourhood Pine River Institute, its students and staff are our Headwaters neighbours. They have been quiet, unseen and almost unknown neighbours since 2006. The campus spreads over 220 acres of fields and woods east of Horning’s Mills on the site of a former outdoor education centre of the Toronto District School Board. Over the years, hundreds of students and their families have participated in the Pine River program.

Designated a Residential Youth Treatment Facility with charitable status, the campus best resembles a somewhat rustic summer camp, though it operates year-round.

Fifty-nine treatment “beds” are funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, topped up by modest supplemental fees charged to parents or caregivers. Bursaries ensure no family is rejected due to lack of means. There are also a small number of private beds along with beds funded by other agencies, bringing total capacity to 65 beds.

The government funding covers core program costs and staff salaries. Dorms, classrooms, and maintenance of bike trails, playing fields, campsites,

gym and music cabins (far from as grand as they sound) are funded by, and some are named for, generous donors to the Pine River Foundation.

Moffat House is one of them. It is a bright, new, two-storey, wing-shaped building pierced by many large windows offering views over acres of mowed fields out to seemingly endless forest. A minimalist IKEAlike ambience encompasses a large common room, classroom and fourperson dorm rooms with elegantly integrated bunks. It is staffed by youth counsellors night and day.

Although Moffat House nearly doubled Pine River’s capacity, an increasing number of applicants has meant maximum wait times were reduced by only about 25 per cent –from nearly two years to 18 months. Depending on certain variables, the minimum wait is six months. Pine River offers a six-week online program of weekly support for caregivers of those on the list.

The length of the wait reflects a steady rise in demand for mental health and addiction services for children and youth over the past two decades. A spike in most indicators of mental health stress during the Covid pandemic has fallen only slightly in its aftermath. In 2023, the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey

by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health revealed that 38 per cent of students (Grades 7 through 12) rated their mental health as “fair” or “poor.” About one in five (19 per cent)

Typically, students have already experienced psychotherapy or medical interventions, often at multiple outpatient or shortterm residential treatment facilities, without success.

reported purposeful self-harm. One in six (18 per cent) admitted to suicidal thoughts.

Students at Pine River, ranging in age from 13 to 19 (average age is 17.3 years), are struggling with mental health and addictive behaviours characterized by some combination of self-harm, eating disorders, depression, suicidal thoughts or attempts, low self-esteem, family conflict, truancy,

running away or involvement with drugs, street life, police, courts and the medical system. They come from across the economic spectrum, and though they tend to skew urban, many are from rural communities. The student body is currently about 62 per cent male, 35 per cent female and 2 per cent gender diverse.

Typically, students have already experienced psychotherapy or medical interventions, often at multiple outpatient or short-term residential treatment facilities, without success. They go through the motions –“Holding their breath,” in the words of Dan Ardis – then go back to whatever they were up to. In the minds of their parents or caregivers, Pine River might be considered “the end of the road,” although therapists and counsellors working there never use that term.

One of the things that distinguishes Pine River Institute in its stated mission – “To work with youth struggling with addictive behaviours to get their lives, relationships and futures back on track” – is the length of the program. There is no set term of stay. The average is 19 months and is dependent on a student’s emotional growth and maturation.

Pine River is also unique for its “parallel process,” in which parents or caregivers must be willing to

Teacher Ryan Stewart coaches a rugby match at Pine River. Encouraging teamwork on and off the playing field is an important part of the institute’s therapeutic model.

participate in their own lengthy therapy process. It’s not simply a matter of dropping kids at the door and coming back to pick them up, problem-free, a few months later.

“We are rare,” Pine River’s clinical director Anne Tong says earnestly, and with pride. “In the continuum of care, we would be at the heavy end of it in the length and intensity of the program.” This is evident in both the quantity – students undertake both individual and group therapy sessions multiple times a week – and the quality of therapy. The place is awash with therapists and counsellors. Even the cleaning and kitchen staff have been schooled in how to act within what Pine River describes as a “therapeutic milieu ... accurately attuned and empathetic.”

Underpinning it all is the “maturity model,” by which Pine River students are admitted and grow according to their individual timelines. The John McKinnon Maturity Model, referred to at Pine River simply as The Model, is based on principles outlined by American MD John A. McKinnon in his book An Unchanged Mind: The Problem of Immaturity in Adolescence Tong explains, “There is typical adolescent development in maturity, and life sometimes gets in the way: a death in the family, multiple moves, divorce, mental illness, learning disability, autism, substance abuse, trauma, fetal alcohol syndrome …” The Model assumes adolescents are not smaller adults, but humans in development, their brains still growing and plastic, with the ability to replace negative neural pathways with new ones that allow for emotional growth and produce healthier behaviours. Is the notion of a “bad seed” – a child irredeemably born a problem to themself, their family, and society –bad science? Tong makes clear: “That is not how we see it. Things got in the way of what the child needs to mature effectively. The work here is to understand how those things impact them so they can say, ‘I’m not bad. Things happened in my life, but I’m empowered to make different choices.’ A lot of our kids have had that experience – ‘Bad seed! I’m a bad kid, so if everyone says I am, I’ll just be so! ’” But how does The Model, defined

by “reality, empathy and regulated emotion,” combat a society inundated with dangling lures of unreality: lotteries, social media, impossible lifestyles flaunted in film and music lyrics, cults, pornography, legal marijuana and the like?

“That is why the program here at Pine River is physically isolated,” she responds. “It lessens distractions. (Cell phones, cigarettes, candy, caffeine and soft drinks are prohibited on campus.) We are helping them with a realistic future orientation, helping them recognize the things they want. If they talk of being rich or being famous, we help them break that down. ‘Is that really what you want? What are you actually looking for? What would be fulfillment?’ It is not that they want fame, it is that they want connection, they want someone to validate their existence.”

Outdoor initiation

The open-ended treatment program at Pine River begins with six to eight weeks (sometimes more) of camping, canoeing, trekking and snowshoeing in a small group. This takes place yearround, deep in and around Algonquin Park. Pine River calls this preliminary phase the Outdoor Leadership Experience, or OLE.

The OLE program is run by outdoor enthusiast, wilderness counsellor, now wilderness therapist (the latter have advanced university credentials) Melanie Fowler. She visits the park regularly to check in with the three counsellors who stay and live with the group, three staff to eight students, round the clock, rotating with alternative staff on eight-day shifts.

Imagine it is November, late in the day, surrounded by forest. The light is going, the temperature is plunging and you have a flint, steel and a pile of sticks. Make a fire …

“Making a fire without matches takes persistence and resilience. It can be finickity. It can take time. It’s challenging. ‘It’s not enjoyable – but can you get through it?’” Fowler and the counsellors ask their charges. They support. They encourage. Fowler explains: “The woods simplify. You work with the weather. You work with the land. There are natural

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consequences. If you don’t go on a firewood run, you don’t have a fire. You work as a team or you might not cook dinner that night.”

“Discomfort motivates us to change,” she continues. “The wilderness is a great place to regroup, to get yourself present. Portaging a canoe, building a fire, are things they have never done before and are succeeding at. It builds confidence. Our hope is by the time they are ready to move to campus (in Mulmur), they’ll have learned to regulate their feelings. They won’t be perfect, but they’ll have started that work.”

The therapeutic rationale behind OLE is to separate arriving students from the distractions and coping mechanisms (drugs, alcohol, defiance, aggression, etc.) they are caught up in. “To slow everything down and get clarity. To engage with life and peers in a more healthy way,” Tong says. “It is grounding.”

Grounding, but is it harsh? Is it a boot camp, as one might be tempted to surmise from the comfort of a couch? The power dynamics in OLE, Fowler explains, are quite different from the authoritarian regimen of a boot camp. “It is a very supportive environment. The kids have positive adults who care and are curious about who they are. It is never just barking orders.

“We have high expectations, but it is never a ‘forced march.’ When they first come in, it is, ‘Let’s start with a light backpack and work our way up.’ Accomplishments are celebrated. When they portage a canoe for the first time, it is celebrated. OLE is about building up, building up a sense of confidence, a sense of self. It is not about breaking down.”

A decade after learning how maturity looks and feels following 21 months at Pine River, Amy (not her real name) adds a personal perspective on OLE. She arrived “lost,” a suicidal and self-harming teen. “I wasn’t ready to be an adult yet,” she recalls in a telephone interview.

Now 27, Amy is in college studying child and youth care with a dream of returning to Pine River as a counsellor herself. “OLE was hard, I won’t lie. It

was physically and mentally exhausting. It is meant to be. Outdoor life is therapy. It gets you back to basics and appreciating the little things like a chair … a mirror … music.

“It taught me my strength, my resilience, can be built back over time. You don’t just get things because you want them. You have to earn them. You have to earn your spot in the world too.

“By my last week in the woods, I really enjoyed it. I was proud of myself and looking forward to going to campus.”

Healing together

Through windows of the Neal dining hall, the Mulmur woods, not unlike those they left behind in Algonquin, serve as a backdrop to a group of eight teens, among those earlier engaged in Frisbee football. Finishing a midmorning snack (today, veggies and dip), they rise almost as one.

They are connected, self-monitoring and move as a team – a team carefully and clinically chosen for the right mix of group strengths and weaknesses. They return chairs in an orderly fashion, clear trays and litter, grab laidaside ball caps (prohibited indoors), and as if on cue, file out together, heading across campus for class.

Days at Pine River are structured, and then some – that “tight hug”: 7:15 Wake up, self-care, gym uniform on, initial room clean. 7:45 to 8:15 Breakfast. 8:15 to 8:35 Medications. 8:45 to 9:45 Gym. 10 Snack. 10:30 to 12:30 Academics. 12:30 Lunch (the menu is varied, wholesome and junk-free).

“When they portage a canoe for the first time, it is celebrated. OLE is about building up, building up a sense of confidence, a sense of self. It is not about breaking down.”

Afternoons are devoted to individual and team therapy, and clubs. Evenings to study hall, team time, dorm time (self-care/shower/hygiene), journals and letters home. Quiet selfreflection may happen any evening but is scheduled for 4:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. Lights out at 10:30 (10:45 on Fridays, team movie night).

“They have some free time, club time – equine, rowing, music, etc., but not a lot of ‘down’ time,” Ardis comments.

He leads a tour of a classroom –close, cluttered and portable-like –first asking students if they mind if we look into “their” room. Eight students work at eight computers to personalized curriculums. Each group is supported by one teacher, from the Upper Grand District School Board, an educational assistant and a youth counsellor. Students with poor academic records may work on catch-up in different subjects at different grade levels.

They can earn creative hybrid high school credits incorporating Pine River activities – an environmental science credit, for example, structured around outdoor pursuits in the woods and ponds of the property, including beekeeping and fishing.

With the support of their family, the students at Pine River are there voluntarily. But at times, when things get hard, when frustrations mount, a kid may sometimes “walk” –literally. They take what might be a contemplative, angry or confused walk into the fields and woods of campus. Or they leave the property and walk down a Mulmur backroad to clear their head. This is not a

During the Pine River program, young people participate in the Outdoor Leadership Experience in Algonquin Park. It is designed “to slow everything down and get clarity. To engage with life and peers in a more healthy way.”

common occurrence, but neither is it unexpected.

When it happens, they are followed at a distance or walked alongside of and spoken with, until the situation settles and they choose to return. They are never “hauled back by the ear.” On the road, if it is nighttime, if the weather is extreme or self-harm is an issue, local OPP will be called to assist, but not to apprehend, as no crime has been committed.

More local mental health resources for kids

Dufferin Child & Family Services (DCAFS)

Orangeville 519­941 ­1530 www.dcafs.on.ca

Main Place Youth Centre

Erin 833 ­ 43 ­ GROVE www.thegrovehubs.ca/erin

Where to Start / EveryMind

(formerly Peel Children’s Centre) Caledon www.wheretostart.ca 905 ­ 451 ­ 4655

Art as Therapy (private) Orangeville 519­307­9000 www.artastherapy.ca

Wondertree Child, Adolescent & Family Practice (private) Orangeville 905 ­ 425 ­9525 www.wondertreepractice.ca

24-hour crisis lines

Dufferin Child & Family Services

519­941 ­1530

Suicide and Crisis Hotline call or text 9­ 8 ­ 8 www.988.ca

Kids Help Phone 1 ­ 800 ­ 668 ­ 6868 or text CONNECT to 686868 www.kidshelpphone.ca

When someone “walks,” or when a kid is defiant, disengages, creates a “reportable incident” (which must be officially logged, such as a tantrum, physical or verbal confrontation, or hiding contraband), or wants to leave, Dan Ardis allows, “We just wrap around them a little tighter, therapeutically.

“It’s not ‘What did the kid do?’ It is, ‘What does the kid need? ’ That is the dialogue. Questions, not demands. ‘What’s going on? What can we do?’”

Ultimately, some students find Pine River too arduous, too enveloping, too long, or just too much. They can, and do, leave, but it is neither encouraged nor easy. Paperwork, time, care and psychology may change minds, encourage second thoughts. “What are you going back to? What are things like back home? Could you try another week and revisit things?” The alternatives to Pine River are often worse.

Measuring “success”

Pine River has an average 52 per cent program completion rate – students who progress through all four phases: OLE, Campus, Transition (students are allowed increasingly longer home visits), and Aftercare (a check-in program supporting students reintegrating into the community).

But do not make the mistake of equating completion rate with success rate. Completion is only one measure of success. While Pine River operates within a rigorous code of ethics and standards of care, there are no government-mandated criteria for “success.” However, Pine River carefully tracks and publicizes outcomes in an annual evaluation report (available on its website), using the information to make adjustments and improvements to its clinical programs.

Kids completing Pine River’s program do demonstrably better across all metrics: school attendance and achievement, substance abuse, hospitalizations for drug or mental health issues, police contact, and so on – but even partial completion of Pine River’s unique, open-stay program fosters healthier outcomes.

Of the youths entering Pine River, an average of 57 per cent report daily

www.classicbuildinggroup.com

substance use. One to two years after leaving, that figure drops to 10 per cent for those completing the program, 42 per cent for partial completers. Academically, 17 per cent of students entering Pine River have failing grades. After Pine River, the failure rate is 3 per cent for completers, 9 per cent for partial completers. Likewise, the number of missed school days decreases on average from about 50 per cent to less than 9 per cent for completers and 30 per cent for partial completers. However, statistics reflect only part of the story. Sometimes the difference made by Pine River is saving life itself. “We were desperate! ” one mother tells me in an interview. Her daughter Robin (a pseudonym) “was struggling to make it. The wait list was the worst time. I was afraid we would lose her.”

Maureen (also a pseudonym) was watching Robin battling – and losing –life-threatening personality and eating disorders. Repeat hospitalizations and shorter-term therapies weren’t helping. Pine River did.

Over an 18-month stay beginning in 2019, “they gave Robin back her life,” Maureen says. Pine River’s Parallel Process for parents also gave Maureen the tools to restore her relationship with her daughter.

Parents of Pine River students must commit time and effort to this parallel process. First they must disabuse themselves of the idea that “My kid

Pine River extends services into the community

In 2021, as the Covid pandemic was beginning to wane, Ontario Health reported that the hospitalization rate for youth, aged 14 to 17, experiencing mental health and addiction crises had soared by 136 per cent.

In part to help offset that spike in intensive inter vention, Pine River Institute launched the Centre for Family Initiatives. Extending beyond Pine River’s residential service, CFI provides support, education and training to families and professionals working in the community to support youth mental wellness.

Since 2021, in co ­ operation with eight mostly rural school boards, including the Upper Grand District School Board, CFI has delivered webinars to thousands of families and caregivers on topics such as positive parenting, understanding addiction, youth anxiety and managing screen time.

Last year, CFI added the Building Resilience and Nurturing Connections Home program. In partnership with nine hospitals, including Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, BRANCH offers a 16 ­week outpatient program for teens who wind up in emergency rooms or are hospitalized for addiction and mental health concerns.

John Chiodo — Owner

is the problem. Fix them! Nothing is wrong with me!” Regular parental workshops, a three-day weekend intensive (“It sure was!” says Maureen), plus therapy sessions both with and without her daughter “were daunting, but they were freeing. I learned when stressed, when challenged, what is your coping strategy? Mine was blame. Robin’s was avoidance. Once

you identify your coping strategy, it opens more space to be empathetic. To understand there are two views.”

Robin is now healthy, Maureen says. “She struggles sometimes, but she has the maturity to give herself grace if she goes off the rails and to practise selfacceptance.” Now 22, she is currently completing a BA in psychology, and plans to apply for a master’s program in social work on a path to becoming a therapist. “She wants to pay it back.”

Maureen’s advice to parents of a troubled child? “Don’t let shame get in your way. Ask for help.”

Via local organizations, CFI also provides for Pine River professionals to travel to rural communities to offer three ­ day clinical training in its Parallel Process and Maturity Model.

Initially funded by a grant from the Slaight Family Foundation, CFI is entirely supported through donations. In 2024, the Dufferin Board of Trade recognized Pine River Institute and its Centre for Family Initiatives with its Business Excellence Award for Innovation.

For more information, including upcoming webinars, visit www.pineriverinstitute.com.

Under drizzle, bright skies or gently falling snow, life at Pine River Institute takes place to a rigid schedule, under tough rules and to high expectations. Unspoken within that structure is simple human compassion.

“I was having a bad day, a hard week, dealing with emotional stuff that came up in therapy,” Amy recalls. “I was crying a lot. I sat at my desk and my team leader gave me an origami sailboat. “It was a small boat, a small gesture, to show she noticed, she cared. She said, ‘This is for you. Open it.’

“Inside was written out how I had the tools not to let emotions take me under. ‘They are waves,’ it said. ‘Ride the waves.’”

“Hope is a place” is the motto of our neighbours at Pine River Institute. That hope is realistic.

Anthony Jenkins is a freelance writer and illustrator who lives in Brockville.

Surrounded by forest and with the vibe of a rustic summer camp, Pine River Institute is situated on 220 acres in Mulmur, east of Horning’s Mills.

BRILLIANT BUCATINI, A NEW TWIST ON JAMAICAN PATTIES AND WINE EVENTS TO CELEBRATE SPRING

BY EMILY DICKSON

In the Spotlight: Bucatini sporca

Forget everything you think you know about pasta with meat sauce because you’ve probably never had it the way it’s prepared at The Craft Pizza Bar & Italian Kitchen

At this Orangeville hotspot, bucatini sporca – the literal translation meaning “dirty” bucatini – combines regional sausages with spicy Italian salami, guanciale cured pork jowl), peppers, and onion, served on house ­made bucatini, a hollow thick spaghetti­like noodle.

“It’s one of those dishes you either love or hate eating. It’s delicious, it’s messy, but it’s become crazy popular here,” says owner and chef Paul Fuda, who is passionate about ensuring all of his dishes are fatta in casa or made in­house. “We take all the different meats, combine it with fennel and add select seasonings to make this rich sauce that uses the oils and fats rendered from the meats. It’s bolognese elevated to the next level.”

Bucatini sporca is emblematic of Fuda’s interest in multiple regions in Italy – including the southern Calabria region, where his grandparents came from. With the bucatini he says he hopes to shine a spotlight on old­world traditions. “It is an experience that’s new to people, so we always hear our customers ask, ‘Is this what pasta is supposed to taste like? Is this what real Italian food is?’ because they've never tasted the real thing.”

As for what to drink with this delectably “dirty” dish, Fuda believes it’s best to whet your appetite with the 111 Craft Negroni, then pair with either an Italian red – or even a nice crisp pinot grigio “to cleanse the palate between bites.”

KITCHEN CREATIVE

This May get your kids cooking with a weekly Summer Flavours: Seasonal Cooking & Culinary Skills class at the Woolen Mill Kitchen in Erin where foodie, teacher and nutritionist Claire Bell teaches kids how to make bread, salads, tangy marinades and flavourful sauces using seasonal produce. “This series is all about building your confidence in the kitchen while having fun with food that’s fresh, healthy, and packed with flavour!” says Bell. But kids don’t get to have all the fun – check the website for teen and adult classes too.

Kids learn to make bread at Erin’s Woolen Mill Kitchen.

The Craft’s bucatini is made with sausage, salami and guanciale.

Fierce flavours

Flaky, juicy Jamaican patties stuffed with lettuce, tomato and cheese are flying out the door these days at LyvePatty, the grab’n’go Jamaican patty shop opened by Phil DeWar of Soulyve Catering in Orangeville. Try all the classics plus new creations like the Vytal Veggie patty, filled with arugula, hummus, cucumbers and plantain, or the Reuben Remix featuring corned beef, coleslaw, pickles and Swiss cheese. For a bigger, heartier meal order a Jerk Bowl, in which jerk chicken, coleslaw, fresh greens, tomato and onion top a bed of rice.

Meanwhile you may have smelled incredible new aromas at Orangeville’s Old Mill Hub thanks to the Jamaican patties, jerk chicken and curry goat ready to go at Lioness Jerk. Don’t miss their fusion dishes like jerk chicken poutine and jerk chicken alfredo wrap.

SAY YES TO TACOS

Slow­ cooked lamb barbacoa wrapped in banana leaves, tender and juicy pork carnitas, and chorizo with potato cubes are a few of the authentic Mexican taco dishes at Yes Tacos in Melancthon. Sample starters like pork tamales, dig into hearty huevos del patrón – skirt steak and eggs served on a corn tortilla with beans and avocado – or choose a juicy meat dish like roast lamb or Monterrey­style veal.

MAGIC MEALS

For a fun and affordable meal out with the kids, catch Magic Wednesdays at Deja Vu Diner in Orangeville where magician Tyler Fergus entertains the crowds and the kids meal costs just $2.99.

MARK YOUR CULINARY CALENDAR

yThe mineral­heavy, nutrient­rich soils of volcanic regions is the focus of Peter Cellars Pub’s Wine Education Dinner on March 28. Sommelier Brittany Pierson will share tastings of volcanic wines with a paired four­ course meal. Then on April 25, she’ll dive into the topic of natural wines made with organic or biodynamically farmed grapes. For a less serious sip, order the Grogu­inspired cocktail at a Star Wars trivia night on May 4 (as in, may the 4th be with you).

Adamo Estate Winery woos oenophiles with a Wine Maker’s Dinner and Dance on March 21, with a reception, a five ­ course meal paired with Adamo Estate wines, and a DJ and dance. If beer is more your thing, Two Brothers in Caledon launches its Brewmaster Dinner Series March 21 with Toronto’s Lost Craft –expect pairings such as greens with duck confit paired with Rings of Saturn Hazy IPA.

Boost your local food system — and enjoy a meal in one of the best dining rooms in Headwaters — by snagging tickets to a fundraising spring dinner on April 10 at Mrs. Mitchell’s in Mulmur in support of Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance. Go to www.hffa.ca for more information.

Sip a Grogu-inspired cocktail while testing your Star Wars trivia knowledge at Peter Cellars Pub May 4.

Gooey goodness rules at the For the Love of Buttertarts Festival on May 3 at Orangeville’s Alder Arena. Try Shelburne’s The Ten of Tarts — they use pure organic maple syrup. “I love what I do and try very hard to spread that love to all the people who try my tarts!” says baker Tracey Spencer. You can also catch The Ten of Tarts at the Orangeville Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, and at the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival from May 30 to June 1.

Phil DeWar serves one of his signature stuffed Jamaican patties at LyvePatty in Orangeville.

•

The art of the hyperlocal charcuterie board

If a full brunch or sit-down dinner feels like too much, too soon after a winter of hibernation, consider gathering around an amped-up charcuterie board built with local meats, cheeses and toppings.

INTERVIEWS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELAINE LI

Among the pleasures of living in a place with a thriving local food scene is learning that it’s entirely possible to build a charcuterie board –and hence a lively social gathering – using meats, cheeses, and all the necessary accoutrements sourced from artisan makers within Headwaters.

For instance, the spread created and photographed here by Orangeville recipe developer and photographer Elaine Li, features cured meats from Caledon’s Salumeria il Tagliere, relish from Grand Valley’s Rebecca’s Kitchen, a variety of locally made cheeses from Sheldon Creek Dairy in Loretto, and Orangeville-made finds from Woolwich Dairy and Quality Cheese, including Albert’s Leap, and savoury cheddar shortbread from Orangeville’s Wicked Shortbread.

Li says her goal here was to start with a variety of cheeses, “Ideally one from each category: soft

and semi-soft (brie and goat cheese), semi-firm (havarti), firm (cheddar and Gouda), and hard (asiago).” Then, she says, she collected palatecleansing fruits and vegetables, and acidic pickles and preserves to cut the richness of the cheeses and meats. Next was the “vehicle” – bread or crackers – and lastly, toppings, including mustards, jellies, tapenade and hummus.

But how to arrange it all? “Start with cheese, meats and bigger fruits, then move on to crackers and breadsticks to fill the gaps before adding other small fixings like pickles, preserves and nuts,” says Veronica Vijay of Grand Valley’s On the Board, a caterer who specializes in charcuterie spreads and who also runs workshops.

When Vijay teaches the art of designing a masterful charcuterie board, she explains that a memorable spread is about much more than high-quality nibbles – it’s about creating a clever layout that keeps your guests coming back for more, even if they’re reaching for the same cheese or slice of salami.

“As a host, you need to strategically place items that pair well together to encourage guests to try different combinations,” says Vijay. “Take brie as an example – a bland cheese. If you placed a wheel of brie in one spot on the board, people tend to grab a slice, find it bland and boring, and never come back for more. However, by separating the brie into different areas of the board, you encourage guests to explore and create their own unique combinations based on the nearby food items such as crackers, jellies and so on.”

Another pro tip: Think about seating contrasting flavours next to one another, such as a buttery havarti next to a salty pretzel. In her spread at right, Li rolled a creamy goat cheese in everythingbagel seasoning for crunch and texture too.

If you need to personalize servings for guests with dietary restrictions, or you like the idea of individual servings, consider copying the chic single servings Li created using mason jars.

You can also label your finds with miniature toothpick markers to help spread the word on which of your finds are local. “Showcasing these can be a great conversation starter, instead of only using mainstream national brand items that everyone is familiar with,” says Li.

— TRALEE PEARCE

Wine or cider pairs well with a charcuterie board like the one pictured here. Mimic the combination of cheese and apple or pear with Spirit Tree Estate Cidery’s Draught Cider or Pear Cider for a light, mild board, says owner Thomas Wilson. For a bold, even spicy selection, consider a dry, nonsparking Estate Reserve cider or 10th Anniversary Cider, which, according to Wilson, “has more body and is very sparkling, like champagne.”

Wicked Shortbread’s Keri Parfitt likes to pair her savoury shortbreads with local beer and wine, explaining, “Both our cheddars work really well with brews like GoodLot Farmstead Brewing Company’s Mellow Gold

or Farmstead Ale.” And she chooses Mono’s Adamo Estate Winery for pinot noirs and Rieslings to match with her savoury cheddar, sea salt and thyme variety, “while our spicy cheddar is best complemented by their bolder merlots or cabernets.”

Winemaker Vanessa McKean from Adamo Estate Winery agrees. “Wines with food-friendly acidity pair well with charcuterie. A crisp white like Riesling or sauvignon blanc will balance out the salt and fat from the meats and cheeses, and refresh between bites.”

Elaine Li is a photographer living in Orangeville.

1 Sheldon Creek Dairy havarti

2 Woolwich goat cheese crusted with everything­bagel seasoning

3 Salumeria il Tagliere lonza

4 Sheldon Creek Dairy asiago

5 Rebecca’s Kitchen summer relish

6 Salumeria il Tagliere truffle salame and coppa

7 Albert’s Leap Le Bon Secret brie

8 Mrs V’s Preserves hot red pepper jelly

9 Sheldon Creek Dairy extra old aged cheddar

10 Salumeria il Tagliere stickini

11 Sheldon Creek Dairy mild white cheddar

12 Salumeria il Tagliere spicy calabrese

13 Wicked Shortbread savoury cheddar shortbread with sea salt and thyme

Sources: More Than Just Baskets, Salumeria il Tagliere, Sheldon Creek Dairy, Rebecca’s Kitchen, Wicked Shortbread and local grocery stores. Handmade wooden tray by Mono’s AMB Boards and Baskets. Serves 4 to 6 people.

PAINTING WITH WOOL

With a rug hook and strips of wool fabric, Caledon textile artist Leslie Knight captures the beauty of nature.

BY JANICE QUIRT

FOR EARLY HOMESTEADERS, HANDhooked rugs were a way of keeping floors warm(ish) during cold Canadian winters. While city folk could buy rugs, settlers made their own using the materials at hand: burlap recycled from grain sacks and scraps of fabric, often from old clothes. They were guided by sustainability and functionality long before these concepts became catchwords.

Nearly two centuries later, Leslie Knight hooks rugs in her home studio tucked into a log cabin on a family property in Caledon. Although she uses slightly different materials, her process and setting would be familiar to those self-reliant homesteaders.

She starts with a linen backing, an upgrade from burlap, which is prone to drying out. When she first began hooking rugs, Knight sketched her designs on the backing with chalk, which is easy to erase. Now that her strokes are surer, she wields a Sharpie from the get-go. Her subject matter is unfailingly natural.

An avid gardener, Knight finds inspiration

among the buds. She also appreciates wilder forms and has made more than five pieces from the same inspiration: a windswept pine near her parents’ Georgian Bay cottage.

Once sure of her outlines, she stretches the linen over a frame and fixes it in place. A backing that is tight as a drum makes it easier to hook fabric through holes in the loose weave.

Knight’s materials are simple: a rug hook

and strips of wool fabric. She uses a mechanical cutter to form the strips, although other rug hookers may use hand-held blades or even tear strips manually. Knight counts herself lucky to have a supplier of the materials she needs just down the road in Martina Lesar’s Hooked Rug Studio. In fact, Lesar was her first rug-hooking teacher.

Knight stresses the importance of colour selection. “Rug hooking is painting with wool, but unlike in painting, you can’t just mix your colours to achieve the effect you want. You need a clear vision,” she says. She gestures toward the many pieces of fabric fanned out in beautiful colourways. “This is my palette.”

Knight uses the hook to thread a strip through the backing, with about an inch exposed and the rest dangling below. She pulls up loops from the strip until she has covered the desired area, then trims the strip.

She repeats this in various colours until the area is totally filled in. “Some of the ‘rules’ of rug hooking say to start in the foreground

Leslie Knight at home in Caledon with one of her intricate hooked rugs. BELOW: Knight uses strips of wool fabric and pulls them through a linen backing.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

and work from there, but sometimes I follow these guidelines and sometimes I don’t,” she says. “Often I’ll want to test out my colour choices so I’ll do little bits from each of the sections to make sure it will all come together.”

To finish a piece, she turns the edges under and sews them in place.

permission to experiment widely. “I had a lot of time to make mistakes,” she laughs. In fact, her favourite work is the first she finished. Featuring a beautiful peony, the 24-inch square piece hangs on an upstairs wall.

Although Knight prefers dyed wool fabric, she says anything goes, making her art truly green. “Artists have hooked with old shirts, pants, jeans, leather, sari silk and scraps of wool yarn,” she says. “If you can make a strip, you can rug hook with it.”

Varying the width of the strips helps achieve more painterly effects. “Using smaller strips yields a more realistic effect, and I can use a greater mix of colours in the area – almost like blending,” she says.

www.nadinemeek.com

Knight’s current work in progress, a gift for her brother, features that same majestic windswept pine on a rocky shore. She loves the subject because it looks completely different depending on the light. This rendering features a moody sky as a storm blows in. The Group of Seven are clearly an influence: “I can’t rug hook the way they painted, of course, but my colour choices for this piece were certainly inspired by their stunning paintings, especially Tom Thomson’s Stormy Weather.” Knight enjoys walking outdoors and often takes photos to serve as inspiration. During Covid, she hooked a lot of flowers, giving herself

Many of her other creations are draped on couches, made into pillows, or serve as wall art. But Knight never places her rugs on the floor – at least for now. Harley, her Swiss mountain dog, loves to claw and would make quick work of a rug by pulling out the loops. After their youngest child left for university last September, Knight and her husband, David, began making Caledon their permanent home. She now spends about four days a week at the cabin and hopes to complete the transition from Toronto this spring. Last year was a busy one. She sat on the board of an international rughooking guild. She and fellow textile artist Yvonne Iten-Scott shared a studio at the Alton Mill Arts Centre and taught a variety of workshops. The pair also curated and contributed to the travelling exhibit and illustrated children’s book Magnificent Bugs in Rugs, which features hand-hooked rugs depicting bugs by artists from around the world. Her year culminated in a month-long residency in Iceland. As for 2025? “I’m staying put and we gave up the studio – life was just too busy. I plan to offer some workshops from here, though for now, I want to be still and create, surrounded by my beautiful Ontario landscapes.”

Janice Quirt is a freelance writer who lives in Orangeville.

A painterly floral rug made by textile artist Leslie Knight.

MYSTICAL CARRYALLS, ARTFUL QUILTS AND COLOURFUL MOSAICS TO BRIGHTEN UP THE SEASON

BY JANICE QUIRT

IN THE BAG

Tristan from Orangeville is the seamstress behind Helloskywalker ’s line of carefully crafted fabric bags and “nerdy items,” as she calls them, featuring contrasting linings and decorative charms. “I started this line when I found that bags that fit tarot and oracle decks were generic and poorly made. It took off from there with interest from other people, and Healing Moon [in Orangeville] asked if I could supply them with bags at the store.” Available in two sizes and an array of patterns, these holdalls could house jewelry, tarot cards, art supplies, crystals – or serve as reusable gift bags. (Small bag 4 inches x 6 inches $12, medium bag 51/4 inches x 91/2 inches, $23, Helloskywalker, Healing Moon

QUITE A QUILT

Amanda White is best­known for her flower farm, Broadside Flowers, in Terra Cotta. But this creative entrepreneur also taps into her blooms to make dye for quilting fabrics. She describes her creations as modern heirloom quilts, meaning they are constructed with quality materials and techniques meant to last for generations. “I’m inspired by the colours from my dye garden,” she says. “I’m exploring the range of colours I’m able to achieve from each plant — cosmos, marigold, indigo, coreopsis — as I dye my own fabric. I think they have a particular kind of harmony that I only see with natural dyes.” (Pricing starts at $500 and varies based on size, complexity and fabrics used, Amanda White)

MIXED MOSAIC ARTS

MaryLou Hurley describes herself as a collector of materials that have a unique beauty, referring to both the forms she decorates and the mixed media she uses to make her mosaic art pieces. “I transform tired, discarded items and give them new purpose,” she says.

forms, such as stringed instruments, tables or mirrors.” (Guitar $1,100, Mosaics by MaryLou Hurley)

SOURCES

Amanda White, Terra Cotta. IG @amanda_n_w Healing Moon, 23 Mill St, Orangeville. healingmoon.ca Helloskywalker, Orangeville. Helloskywalker on Etsy Mosaics by MaryLou Hurley, Caledon East. truebluelou.com

SERVING UP MORE THAN SOMETHING TO EAT

Heather Hayes and the Orangeville Food Bank team bring dignity to people’s lives as they keep the shelves stocked.

THE WEATHER HAD BEEN CALLING for blizzards and more than 30 centimetres of snow through the week, but on the day I visit, that doesn’t stop executive director Heather Hayes and the Orangeville Food Bank team from coming into their Commerce Road headquarters to serve their community. “Regardless of the weather, people need food,” Hayes says with an air of wisdom and experience this cold February morning. Even if the roads are closed and the plows are pulled out of service, people will still walk and wait outside for the chance to fill their stomachs with food provided by local citizens and businesses. “We do our

BY JAMES GERUS

best to stay open regardless of what’s going on.”

Hayes has been in her role since fall 2015. She had previously been everything from a foster parent to school bus driver and teacher of cooking classes. She had also run a fish farm and a catering company, cleaned churches and worked as a service co-ordinator for Dufferin Child & Family Services, in addition to serving on Mulmur council and as the township’s deputy mayor. But in September 2015, when the food bank was searching for an executive director, she leapt at the chance to apply – and got the job. “It is where my

heart and soul live. Food and people and this building are so important.”

Notable hardships – Covid and inflation top the list – have increased food bank traffic, so the number of people using the bank’s services has risen by a startling 133 per cent – in the few years since the onset of Covid. Through it all, Hayes and about 220 volunteers and 10 staff offer more than something to eat. “It’s the dignity we try to bring to people’s lives every day,” she says. “That’s gotta be worth fighting for.”

4:30–5 A.M. Hayes describes herself as a “silly-o’clock person” when it

comes to waking up, but says “it’s a quiet time, nobody calls … it gives me time to get one with the day.” A cup of coffee is poured, and morning cuddles with her golden retriever, Lucy Lou, commence.

6:15 A.M. Hayes takes Lucy Lou to the park for an hour’s play with another dog named Eilish. Lucy Lou’s newest talent has been sniffing out hockey pucks buried in the park’s heavy snow.

8:45 A.M. After listening to CBC Radio during her commute, Hayes arrives at the food bank and checks

Heather Hayes, executive director of the Orangeville Food Bank, amid the supplies she and her team distribute daily.

in with staff and volunteers. Some are helping clear the mountain of snow that built up overnight, and the place is already bustling. Carrie-Anne DeCaprio, the food bank’s manager of donor engagement and outreach, informs the team that one client was waiting in her car at 6 a.m. to get in early for some food. “I’m not sure that any of us have spent three hours waiting for a grocery store to open up to access food,” says Hayes. The sense of urgency about addressing the issue of hunger in Orangeville is palpable.

9:30 A.M. Hayes “farts the pig” (a rubber pig that makes a squawky flatulating sound when squeezed) to signal the staff to get together for the morning briefing. Twenty volunteers and staff assemble to hear the day’s announcements. First, and perhaps most important, that evening’s all-candidates’ debate in advance of the February 27 provincial election. As a debate sponsor, the food bank will have a chance to ask questions relating to food insecurity. Other issues that come up: the food bank is down to only five boxes of crackers, but Gary Skinn, the warehouse co-ordinator, chimes in that 29 more boxes have been secured offsite. Huzzah! Hayes also notes that Mark Comendador, the in-house chef, has made a pork and ginger soup for clients to sip while they wait their turn to shop. Finally, there is the daily groaner, a joke to start the day: “Why did the mushrooms get invited to the party? Because they are a bunch of fungis!” The farting pig and the groaner bring some much-needed humour to what can be an emotionally demanding job.

10 A.M. The morning meeting wraps, and the first clients arrive. (Hours vary. Check orangevillefoodbank.org.) People of every age, ethnicity and background are here, looking for nutritious food. One client, after standing for too long, becomes woozy and needs to sit. The everaccommodating volunteers help the client, and Hayes offers water and a candy. Though there is structure to

her day, her work is never typical or mundane. She fittingly calls her job “surprise chain management” rather than “supply chain management.”

11 A.M. New volunteers arrive to substitute in and Hayes returns to her office for virtual meetings. There seems to be one every day at about this time. Today, it is with Ontario Health Teams.

2 P.M. Time to catch up on other jobs within the food bank, including strategic planning, policy setting, and touring the building to check in with staff and volunteers. “Anything that lands in your cart is desperately needed here,” Hayes explains. “We distribute 60,000 pounds of food out the front door, we are bringing 30,000 in the back door. So that is a deficit of 30,000 pounds a month.” What can people do? Well, it’s the little things. “The majority of our donors are people coming in dropping off twenties and hundreddollar bills … I have got someone who donates $5.17 every month. But I know I can count on that $5.17 every month. And if everyone gave $5.17 every month, we would be okay.”

7–9 P.M. Hayes normally leaves work at about 6:30 or so, but this night, she heads to the political debate at Theatre Orangeville a few minutes away on Broadway. She presses the candidates on important questions such as how they would ensure people who rely on food banks have the resources needed to support their well-being. Though Sylvia Jones, Dufferin-Caledon’s current MPP, did not attend, and Hayes did not get quite the responses she might have liked to hear, she is thankful she was able to raise critical issues with the political hopefuls who did take part.

Once the debate is over, Hayes heads home, back to cuddles with Lucy Lou and off to bed to get ready for another day of following her passion: ensuring that the clients of the Orangeville Food Bank don’t go hungry.

James Gerus is a novelist, screenwriter and actor who lives in Orangeville.

Terrance Carter Jacqueline Demczur Nancy Claridge Barry Kwasniewski Esther Oh Theresa Man

Jennifer Leddy Sean Carter

Sepal Bonni Adriel Clayton Esther Shainblum Ryan Prendergast

Heidi LeBlanc Martin Wissmath Cameron Axford Urshita Grover

FROM HUMBLE TO GENTEEL

The home designs that captured the fancy of early Headwaters settlers.

BY TONY REYNOLDS • ILLUSTRATION BY RUTH ANN PEARCE

WALK OR DRIVE THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS of Headwaters and you’re bound to spot heritage homes built in the popular styles of earlier times. These houses often replaced the humble log cabins built by the first settlers from the trees cut down as they cleared the land for farming. The style of those cabins? Perhaps best described as “hurry-up-winter’s-coming.” The restored two-storey log house featured in our 2020 summer issue [“At Home in the Hills”] is one of the few remaining reminders of those early settlers’ homes. Not surprisingly, subsequent generations and new arrivals wanted homes that were roomier, more comfortable and more stylish. Sometimes they would build a new wing on the log house, add a second floor, disguise the logs with stucco or another siding – or start anew.

If starting anew, The Canada Farmer often provided inspiration. Published from 1864 to 1876, this magazine featured designs for farm buildings and houses, including Georgian, Gothic Revival and Italianate styles, and made building design accessible to people in rural areas.

It’s worth noting that not all the features of the styles described in the following were necessarily present and often varied as the builders ad-libbed or borrowed freely from other styles.

Georgian balance

The Georgian style was popular in Great Britain during the reigns of the first three kings George in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1865 The Canada Farmer published drawings that showed a solid, dignified Georgian house with very little ornamentation. The design, usually two storeys, is painstakingly symmetrical, and the centred front door usually has sidelights and a transom, with

two sash windows on either side and five across the second storey. A low hip roof slopes down to each wall and may feature dormers, vertical windows projecting from the roof. The Melville home featured in our autumn 2018 issue [“Georgian on their Minds”] and Greystones Restaurant [“A Landmark Reborn,” spring ’21] are classic examples.

Going Gothic

As suggested by its name, Gothic Revival design reintroduced medieval features, including lancet windows, tall, narrow and pointy, as well as decorative finials atop spires. Though churches and two-storey homes were often built in this style, most Gothic Revival houses in Headwaters are much simpler.

In fact, the Gothic Revival cottage, based on drawings in The Canada Farmer and touted as “a cheap farm house” became ubiquitous throughout Ontario. Typically one- or one-and-a-half-storeys, these homes feature a steeply pitched roof, a central front door with one or two sash windows on either side, and a windowed gable – often topped by a finial – above the door. Intricate bargeboard often decorates the gable eaves as well as the main eaves. The Caledon farmhouse highlighted in our spring 2012 issue is an example.

Italianate and beyond

As the people of Headwaters became more prosperous and dreamed of loftier things, the grand – and busy –Italianate style became a go-to design. In fact, if 19th-century buildings still stand on the main street of any Ontario town, there will likely be something Italianate. In Headwaters, both the Orangeville and Shelburne town halls are examples, no surprise as the two buildings were designed by the same man.

Orangeville’s town hall boasts the typical Italianate low-pitched hip roof with a pediment, a decorative form that is usually triangular, above the main entrances, as well as a domed cupola, deep overhanging eaves supported by brackets called “corbels,” and the tall, narrow, arched windows that are a hallmark of Italianate style. Yellow brick “quoins” mark the building’s corners and yellow brick also provides decorative contrasts with the predominant red brick, which was readily available at local brickyards. The yellow bricks apparently came from Mount Forest.

The Italianate residence presented in The Canada Farmer was a two-storey square house with projecting eaves, corbels and other ornate details. Many more styles were introduced through the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include BeauxArts Classicism, featuring Doric and Ionic columns; Neoclassical, marked by pilasters, which are columns that project from a wall, as well as a transom and cornice over the front door; and Second Empire with its mansard roof and ornamental ironwork.

An enduring legacy

It’s fun to examine a heritage building and name its features – quoins and corbels, pilasters and pediments – and think about not only the design, but also the artisans – the masons who chiselled the stones, the bricklayers who stood on the scaffolding and placed the bricks, and so on. When finished, they could stand back and be proud of the art they had made. And perhaps hope that they had created an enduring legacy that would still be admired more than a century later.

Tony Reynolds is a freelance writer who lives happily above Broadway in Orangeville.

TRANS CANADA TRAIL

At 28,000 km, the Trans Canada Trail is the world’s longest multi-use trail system. It crosses all provinces and territories, touching all three coastlines. It connects our massive nation, reminding us all that we share another Canadian “national dream.“ The TCT stretches across our local landscape, following a series of existing trails and smaller roads, passing through Hillsburgh, Erin, Cataract, Inglewood, Caledon East and Palgrave. When walking, bicycling, skiing or snowshoeing and you see a sign advising that you are following the TCT, take a moment to thank those who made this dream a reality and consider donating a few dollars to help cover the costs to build and maintain this Canadian gem. tctrail.ca

Palgrave Rotary Stationland Park Pavilion

Century Church Theatre

FORKS OF THE CREDIT RD

The first pavilion of dozens on the Trans Canada Trail.

Stanley Park Gate

HIKING ETIQUETTE

Hike only on marked trails. Obey all signs. Carry out all litter, including dog poo. Keep dogs leashed. Don’t disturb people, animals, plants or trees.

The entire route locally is 50 km. Elora Cataract Trailway

Forks of the Credit Provincial Park Trails Roads

Caledon Trailway

NICOLA ROSS IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING LOOPS & LATTES HIKING GUIDE SERIES

SPRING CLEANING SEASON

BY BETHANY LEE • ILLUSTRATION BY SHELAGH ARMSTRONG

AS THE SILKY SPRING SUNLIGHT SLOWLY slips across the floor toward me, I can feel my spine stretch like a content cat coming out of its nap. The sun is delightfully warm as it hits my toes and slides up my legs. I’m so happy to feel that warmth and my vitamin D factory starts coming out of shutdown. We’ve been craving this sun. The rays are the perfect angle to reach the depths of my winter brain. I relax into the warmth and just as I’m about to close my eyes, I see it. It’s layered all around – it’s dust. Curses come to my lips! I sigh and lean forward toward the glass lamp on the table beside me, running my finger swiftly over the circular base … and it is confirmed. It’s officially spring-cleaning season.

As I rub the dust into a tiny ball, I think back to a time when I was a sassy teenager and wrote in the spring dust on one of my parents’ Bombay Company campaign tables. Two words: DUST ME. I giggled to myself and then ran my fingers through the potpourri in the bowl my mom had artfully arranged on the table – the clementine peels and patchouli oils still fragrant from Christmastime.

Several days later, the sun shared my secret message. My mom … lost … her temper. “Top to bottom,” she said. “The entire house.”

Needless to say, I spent the next several days cleaning the house, and I mean, every surface. Vases and coasters were picked up, washed, put back down.

The books pulled off the shelves, gently wiped. I stopped to read a few pages of the magazines my mom collected. I helped with the sheets, and shaking out the pillows and beating the smaller carpets outside. Lemon-scented Pledge filled the air in our century farmhouse. The surfaces were slippery and dust-free, if only for a short time until the windows slid open to let the farm field dust in.

I look around my beautiful house here in Mono and decide to dig in. I keep a small bin of rags, that make me so happy. They are old towels ripped into small squares, and pillow slips and sheets cut down to manageable sizes. These rags are the best for the actual deep cleaning and are used over and over until

Happy Days Take a nostalgic trip down memory lane – and right through your childhood if you grew up in Dufferin! This fun exhibit runs now until December 21 at the Museum of Dufferin and explores days gone by through curated artifacts and hands­ on activities that marked our milestones. I wonder if they’ll have toys from my era or a photo of my bus (C4, going

to Marsville Public School)?

While you’re at MoD, check out the fabulous summer camp line ­up featuring six themed weeks of camp ­ goer­ goodness, from July 7 to August 22. www.dufferinmuseum.com

On our calendars: Caledon Day – June 14

You can’t ask for more than what Caledon Day has to offer! This free event brings the community together in a

fun and energetic setting at the Caledon East Community Complex. This year is sure to be a hit again with family fun, including children’s activities, vendors, music, fireworks and more. Headlining the evening concert is Juno awardwinning band The Strumbellas. Caledon Community Services also hosts Velocity, its annual family­friendly cycling event, at Caledon East Park to raise funds to

support Caledon seniors. www.Caledon.ca/caledonday

Good Inside

If you’re not listening to parenting podcasts, this might be a good place to start: Good Inside with Dr. Becky. Manageable lengths (usually around 30 minutes), tackling some of the challenges we face as parents and caregivers. A few episodes jumped out to me: Losing my teen to the

screen and Why won't my kids listen? Good Inside podcasts are companions to online courses you can pay to join — topics such as finding your village, getting control over your own triggers, or more straightforward lessons such as intro to potty training, are all a click away. Need more parenting advice? Podcasts from around the world on the listening platform of your choice can tap into

they’re shredded and ready for the bin.

I pour a bucket of warm and soapy hot water and soon, I’m into it. Everyone out! I put my little ear pods in and listen to my playlist. It’s all so satisfying – the instant gratification of clean surfaces, that vitamin D sunshine assembly line ticking along, beautiful tunes in my ears and the smell of fresh air and my favourite soap. I am not naturally a cleaner; I’m fairly tidy though. Day to day, I’m constantly cleaning dishes and the counter, and cleaning after cooking and having a coffee. But I’m no Marie Kondo, my home is not austere, and this is not the place you want to “eat off the floor.” (Public health teams would not approve.) But every once in a while, I want to dig in like this, scrub everything down, and have a little purge. Spring seems to be the right time. We’ve been hibernating all winter, and everything feels a bit shaggy. It’s nice to put away so many of the layers we have collected over the winter in our little human caves. Blankets are washed and folded nicely, the slipcovers from the chairs are put through the wringer, papers are sorted, and filed and shredded, and the donation bags make their way to the garage.

The house feels new and fresh, and for a few days we take our shoes off at the door. Bowie, our handsome black cat, gets the “fritzies” and howls his springtime sexy meow. Anyone looking for a date? Zoe, our Lurcher, gives Bowie a chase and they scatter their claws and nails in circles in an end-of-the-winter jicker (one of my favourite Scottish words, a precursor to “zoomies”).

I say goodbye to a few plants that are not coming back from the dryness of the season. It’s time for a few new plant besties. I whisper sweet promises to them that I won’t over- or under-water them and that they’ll live forever! I pull out some seeds to start sprouts and shake a few packages, holding them up to the light to see what’s inside. Maybe I’ll start something new this year and grow seedlings indoors to get a jump on the growing season, as good Canadians do.

Everything feels alive again and it’s a good feeling.

freelance writer who lives in Mono.

a wealth of support and knowledge in a private, quiet personal setting. Pop in some headphones and take a deep breath. We’d love to hear any recommendations you have — leave us a comment on this story at www.inthehills.ca

Safety First

Keep on top of food and household food safety by bookmarking the Government of Canada’s Recalls and

Safety Alerts page. This is the authority on all safety recalls; search for products you might be concerned about, sign up for recall alerts or report a potential hazard. Note: You can sign up for immediate or weekly updates, and select certain product alerts that are important to you and your family (tree nuts, infant products, soy, gluten, etc.). www.recalls­rappels.canada.ca

Bethany Lee is a

THE HOUSE BUILT ON FRIENDSHIP

When the McLean family set out to build a new home in Caledon, friends and neighbours stepped up to help.

JEFF MCLEAN KNOWS THAT IT takes 217 steps to walk the labyrinth he and his wife, Carol, have created in their back garden. “It was meant to be a meditation garden, but rather than blanking my mind and feeling the vibe as I walk through it, I too often find myself deadheading or pulling weeds,” says Jeff.

In 1994 the McLeans purchased the roughly one-acre Caledon property

BY GAIL GRANT • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN FITZGIBBON

from Perry Borden, grandson of Robert Borden, Canada’s eighth prime minister, whose portrait graces our $100 bill. “Perry, a Toronto lawyer, was a weekender in Caledon, and used the original cottage on the property for overflow houseguests,” says Jeff.

Carol recalls the first time they stopped in front of the For Sale sign posted by the roadside. “There was no driveway at all. We just drove off

the road onto grass, but when I got out of the car and saw the view, with horses in the field next door, I was sold,” she says.

Planning to replace the cottage, which had seen better days, with a home suitable for their family of five, the McLeans sold their Brampton house and bought a prefabricated Cape Cod-style house from Viceroy Homes.

Having spent his entire career with

the Brampton fire department, Jeff has lost count of the number of additions, decks and garages he has worked on over the years with his fellow firefighters. He knew he could count on his friends to help him put together his new home.

“Firefighters are generally known as ‘how-to’ guys … they either know how to do things on their own or have connections to others who do. My

buddies on the force came through in spades,” he says.

The first load of building materials, which included pre-cut framing lumber as well as everything else needed to get going, arrived by enormous flat-bed truck in time to start the build on the 1996 Victoria Day weekend, and the McLeans moved into their new home that October. With the exception of the brick cladding and drywall, Jeff

Carol and Jeff McLean’s Caledon Cape Cod-style home was built by Jeff and his friends over four months in 1996.

and his friends put together the entire home in a little more than four months. In addition, a geothermal system comprising 2,000 feet of plastic pipe running six-to-eight feet underground harnesses the earth’s energy for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. “I can’t tell you how happy we have been with

that decision,” says Carol. “The initial $10,000 investment, although enormous for us at the time, has paid for itself many times over.”

The couple’s three daughters, all now in their 30s, live within a day’s drive of the family home: Brittany in Kingston, Chelsea 20 minutes away in Caledon, and Laura in Ottawa. Each has a busy career and a full life.

But the family’s early time in Caledon presented challenges. As

the weather grew colder, they lived in a borrowed tent trailer that they parked in a room in the unfinished house – and used the less-thaninviting kitchen and bathroom in the old cottage. “Two of the kids started at Caledon schools in September of that year, and the family was virtually camping on the property as the house went up,” says Carol. “Jeff had to lay skids down over the slush and mud for the girls to get to the school bus.”

TOP LEFT: The traditionalleaning living space opens onto the dining area and updated kitchen.

But both Jeff and Carol fondly remember the many kindnesses that came their way in the form of casseroles and good deeds offered by friends and neighbours.

Today, the four-bedroom, 3½-bathroom home is tastefully furnished with a variety of soft seating collected over the years from members of both Carol’s and Jeff’s families, as well as treasures picked up at the secondhand stores and garage sales the two

TOP RIGHT: A swing provides a charming place to sit on the porch.

LEFT: Jeff and Carol McLean’s lush green

RIGHT: The couple with their dog Watson.

sloping yard.

enjoy frequenting. One of these is a chandelier they first saw at a friend’s home in Bramalea. It eventually ended up in a yard sale, where they picked it up for $5. Since then, it has been equally at home in the children’s bedroom in Brampton and in the dining room in Caledon – and it now resides over the antique claw foot soaking tub in the master bathroom.

Jeff began building a free-standing two-car garage in 2013. “We had some permitting issues with it, and I was in no hurry to finish it,” he says. It was eventually completed in 2017 and is now affectionately called Man Cave 2. (Man Cave 1 is a much smaller version in the main house.)

In Jeff’s case, Man Cave 2 is not a massive TV-centric room with a bar and leather furniture; rather, it is home to a scarlet red 1964 Pontiac Parisienne Custom Sport convertible

built in Oshawa and willed to him by his Uncle Ken.

“Only 2,400 of these cars were ever built. Everything on this car is GM parts,” Jeff says. He is in the process of installing new front disc brakes to go with its V8 engine and will eventually sell it to a rare-car collector.

A David Suzuki photo on the wall was a gift from his crew when he retired from the Brampton fire department. And a hockey sweater sporting Number 00 above the words

TOP AND BOTTOM LEFT: Clean lines and crisp cobalt blue energize the kitchen.

ABOVE: The couple’s love of azure tones extends to the updated bathroom.

LEFT: The delicate vintage floral chandelier hanging above the tub is a $5 yard sale find.

“This side up” is a reminder of the 10 years he played goal for a Brampton fire department team.

A cool gift Jeff gave himself when he retired is a 2010 BMW motorcycle. To honour firefighters lost in the line of duty, a commemorative coin issued by the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation is embedded in its frame. With various groups of friends, Jeff has toured north to James Bay, circled Lake Superior and travelled south to the Eastern and Midwestern United States.

But his long bike trips might soon be coming to an end. “On the bike all day, plus sleeping on the ground at a campsite at night, takes its toll,” he says ruefully.

Carol spends many hours each week on Zoom calls in her comfortable office in the lower level of the home. She gradually shifted from her original accounting practice to focus her life-coaching skills on helping at-risk youth, and she now conducts spiritual readings and provides neuroscience coaching for coaches in many disciplines. More information can be found at carolmclean.ca.

The house is now nearly 30 years old, and the windows in the kitchen and eating nook still attract an enormous amount of natural light and feature the same beautiful views of the countryside (and the next-door horses, although not the original group), but the McLeans recently decided that a kitchen upgrade was in order.

With the help of Paul Violo of Fox Custom Woodworks in Erin, Jeff and Carol revamped their kitchen layout, incorporating upgraded cabinetry and generous quartz countertops.

But the pièce de résistance is the live-edge black walnut island countertop, which Jeff purchased from Old Schoolhouse Mill, Mike Frencel’s Caledon live-edge wood-slab business. To showcase the distinct shape, grain and character of each piece of wood,

Mike slowly and carefully kiln dries the slabs until the moisture level is between six and eight per cent. This ensures each piece is not only functional, but also a lasting work of art.

For the McLeans’ countertop, two pieces of wood from the same tree were joined, a process called “bookmatching,” then planed down to the correct thickness by Mike’s friend Matt Pittock of Country Woodworks in Dundalk.

At that point, the wood was ready for finishing, a job Jeff did with loving care and precision. He also salvaged a few pieces of live edge and used them to finish the open shelves in the kitchen.

Many years ago, the McLeans planted three maple seedlings at the rear of the property, each representing one of their daughters. Now more than 30 feet tall, the trees are thriving. The large, productive kitchen garden flourishes nearby, and a variety of birds, cheerfully creating their own soundtrack, take advantage of the various birdhouses Jeff has built and placed around the property.

“This home is an intrinsic part of who we are as a couple, and as a family. I can’t imagine our life anywhere else,” says Jeff.

Gail Grant is a happily retired senior who lives in Palgrave.

The back of the house features a lively perennial garden.

This massive ( 63x150) lot hosts a meticulously maintained mid-century home perfect for lrg families All brick 5-lvl backsplit w/ generous rm sizes & Tigerwood flrs currently houses three full liv rm suites Its lrg bright kit has a 13 countertop, & space for a full table 4 spacious bdrms are all well-lit, w/ great closet space With a 3-season sunrm, wood-burning fp, full height 2-car grge, surface parking for four, & a huge 5’9” subbsmt, this home offers numerous opportunities With multiple vegetable grdns, fruit trees, & four sheds, there are lots of options outdoors – like adding a garden suite ARU Being across the street from a grocery store/plaza & a walk away from parks (AP & IB) schools conservation areas Peel Memorial two transit hubs GO buses & trains, the Etobicoke Creek Trail, & proximity to Hwy 410 access makes property ideal Discover its charm & convenience & why it stands out in Brampton s real estate landscape **Extras ** Roof 2022, elec panel - 2015, bathrm upstairs - 2017, bathrm downstairs - 2015, driveway - 2022, furnace/AC - 2019 (w/ transferable warr), fridge - 2016, sump pump (w/ backup) $1,145,000

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A CALENDAR OF SPRING HAPPENINGS

COMPILED BY JANET KERR • ILLUSTRATIONS BY JIM STEWART

ARTS & LETTERS

NOW – JUN 24 (TUESDAYS): KNITTING & PUZZLES Join us for knitting, crocheting, puzzles and social time. 10-11am. Free. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519941-0972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

MAR 8 – MAY 31 : LIFE IN THE COUNTRY A showcase of 30 Canadian photographers. Mar 8: reception 1-3pm; awards 1:30pm. Tue-Sat 10am-4pm. Airport Rd & Hwy 89, Mulmur. 1-877941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

MAR 19 – APR 20 : NATURE’S INSPIRATION This members' show features 30 artists who take nature's beauty seriously. Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. Free. Alton Mill Arts Centre, 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-943-1149; headwatersarts.org

MAR 26 : ARTS INSIDE WITH HARMEET REHAL: STORYTELLING THROUGH COLLAGE – AGES 14+ Explore a variety of textures, colours and materials. No experience necessary. 7-9pm. Pay what you choose. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905-874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

APR 1 – SEP 7 : A DAILY DRIVE Inuk photographer Robert Kautuk captures the striking Arctic on outdoor banners. PAMA, 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca

APR 5 – 6 : STUDIO TOUR KING ART

SHOW & SALE A record 45 artists and artisans at six venues and five home studios. 10am-5pm. King Heritage and Cultural Centre, 2920 King Rd, King City. 905-833-2331; artssocietyking.ca

ABBREVIATIONS

CCS

Caledon Community Services

CMHA

Canadian Mental Health Association

CVC

Credit Valley Conservation

DCAFS

Dufferin Child and Family Services

MOD Museum of Dufferin

PAMA

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives

APR 12 – SEP 7 : JUDE GRIEBEL: ILLUMINATED COLLAPSE Miniature sculptural scenes depict the end of the world. PAMA, 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca

APR 23 – MAY 25 : DANCE OF LIGHT Painters Alina Lloyd and Anne Schnurr present colourful works exploring light and shadow. Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. Free. Alton Mill Arts Centre, 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-943-1149; headwatersarts.org

APR 24 : FLOWER CITY SLAM CURATED BY THE WILD WOMAN Talented poets battle for cash prizes and a coveted featured spot on the slam stage. 8pm. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905-874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

APR 26 – SEP 7 : DARK ICE: LESLIE REID & ROBERT KAUTUK Climate change puts Inuit knowledge and traditions at risk. Ottawa Art Gallery, PAMA, 9 Wellington St E, Brampton. 905-791-4055; pama.peelregion.ca

APR 26 & 27 : SPRING AWAKENING: OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND Explore the mill. Local artists on-site. 10am-

5pm. Free. 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-941-9300; altonmill.ca

MAY 24 : AN AFTERNOON WITH ROY MACGREGOR One of Canada's great storytellers discusses his bestseller Paper Trails – From the Backwoods to the Front Page, a Life in Stories. 1-4pm. Fee. Airport Rd & Hwy 89, Mulmur. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

MAY 25 : TAPESTRY OF ART & MUSIC Art show and sale fundraiser for Headwaters Arts. Music by the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth. 1-5pm. Free. Alton Mill Arts Centre, 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-943-1149; headwatersarts.org

MAY 28 – JUN 29 : LAND, SEA & SKY Over 40 original and captivating works by 25+ Headwaters artists. Wed-Sun 10am-5pm. Free. Alton Mill Arts Centre, 1402 Queen St, Alton. 519-943-1149; headwatersarts.org

MAY 28 : AUTHORS ON STAGE: ROBERT MACFARLANE Our first international author discusses Is a River Alive? Tickets at BookLore or Theatre Orangeville. 7pm. Theatre Orangeville, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-3830; booklore.ca

COMMUNITY

FARMERS MARKETS OPENING DAYS

NOW – APR 19 : ORANGEVILLE

WINTER FARMERS MARKET Saturdays, 9am-1pm. Orangeville Town Hall, 87 Broadway. orangevillefarmersmarket.ca

APR 12 : CREEMORE SPRING FARMERS AND CRAFT MARKET Saturdays, 9am1pm. Creemore Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E. creemorefarmersmarket.ca

MAY 3 : ORANGEVILLE Saturdays, 8am-1pm. Downtown Orangeville, 87 Broadway. orangevillefarmersmarket.ca

MAY 17 : CREEMORE Saturdays, 9am1pm. Creemore Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E. creemorefarmersmarket.ca

JUN 8 : CREEMORE INDIGENOUS MARKET AND CELEBRATION

GATHERING 10am-2pm. Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E, Creemore. creemorefarmersmarket.ca

JUNE 19 : ERIN Thursdays, 3-6:30pm. Erin Fairgrounds, 184 Main St. erinfarmersmarket.ca

JUN 22 : ALLISTON DOWNTOWN STREET MARKET Sundays, 9am-2pm. Centre St & Victoria St. allistonbia.com

NOW – ONGOING (MONDAYS) :

CMHA PEEL DUFFERIN – RAPID ACCESS ADDICTION CLINIC

Low-barrier care, counselling, links to services, and more. Call 905-4512123 for info. 10am-1pm. Caledon Specialist Clinic, 18 King St, Bolton. CCS, 905-584-2300 x230; ccs4u.org

NOW – ONGOING (SECOND THURSDAYS) : NEWCOMERS

WEBINAR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING & SETTLEMENT

ASSISTANCE Learn about Eh Café, LINC, finding community and achieving goals. Zoom. 2:30-3pm. Free. CCS, 905-584-2300 x230; ccs4u.org

NOW – JUN 24 (TUESDAYS) : ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION EXERCISE CLASS Small group, video-led. Drop in. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their mobility. 11-11:30am. Free. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519-9410972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

NOW – JUN 25 (WEDNESDAYS) : STRENGTH & STRETCH EXERCISE CLASS Small group, video-led.

Drop in. 11am-noon. Free. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519-941-0972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

NOW – JUN 27 (FRIDAYS) : VON SMART EXERCISE CLASS Small group, video-led. Drop in. VON SMART – Seniors Maintaining Active Roles Together). 11am. Free. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519-9410972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

MAR 15 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE

ST. PATRICK'S DAY LUNCH & EUCHRE

TOURNAMENT Corned beef dinner with pistachio dessert. Check-in and lunch pick-up 11:30am, lunch at noon, tournament 1pm. Call to buy tickets. 11:30am-4:30pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

MAR 15 : ODEIWIN CONNECT PRESENTS: WALKING TOGETHER

SERIES Indigenous-led experimental workshop series integrates storytelling, land-based learning, creative arts and community engagement. *session activities might change. Noon-3pm. Free, register. Mansfield Outdoor Centre, 937365 Airport Rd, Mulmur. Odeiwin Connect, facebook.com

MAR 18 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE

MEN'S LUNCH Menu is meatball sub, salad, chocolate eclair dessert. Dr. Joe Niedoba will present Senior Men's Health. Call to buy tickets by Mar 17 at noon. 11am-1pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

MAR 19, APR 16, MAY 21 & JUN 18 : CREEMORE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

MEETINGS Mar 19: Rural Roots Nursery: What's New for 2025. Apr 16: Designing with Edibles. 7pm. Creemore Station on the Green, 10 Caroline St E, Creemore. 705-466-3170; gardenontario.org

MAR 19 & MAY 14 : CALEDON

SENIORS' CENTRE SPECIAL LUNCHES

Mar 19: shepherd's pie. May 14: TBD. Everyone welcome! Pick-up 11:30am, dinein noon. Delivery available. Call by the day prior to buy tickets. caledonseniors.ca

MAR 21 : LATE BLOOMERS & EARLY BOOMERS TALENT SHOW Enjoy some hors d'oeuvres, cake, and cash bar while you enjoy the show! Call to buy tickets. 7-10pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

MAR 22 : SHELBURNE LIBRARY’S SEEDY SATURDAY Borrow seeds from our Seed Library. Varieties of herbs, vegetables and flowers. Donations

welcome. 10am-1pm. Free. Shelburne Library, 201 Owen Sound St, Shelburne. 519-925-2168; shelburnelibrary.ca

MAR 22 : CPR & FIRST AID TRAINING Training for CPR and First Aid (or CPR only) with certification. Presented by SAJE – Vital Signs. Free, includes a free lunch. 10am-4pm. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519941-0972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

MAR 27 : CYBERSECURITY: PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS FROM EMERGING THREATS Geoff Anderson, CEO of Sentryon IT Solutions, explores how AI can enhance your cybersecurity strategy. 8:30-10am. Humber River Centre, 28 Ann St, Bolton. Town of Caledon, 905-584-2272 x4376; caledon.ca

MAR 27, APR 24, MAY 29 & JUN 26 : CANCER SUPPORT GROUP Peerled group. Anyone welcome. If you need support outside this time, contact the church. 1pm. Free. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519-941-0972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

MAR 28, APR 25 & MAY 30 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE MONTHLY DINNERS

Mar 28: Guinness stew. Apr 25: Fish and chips. May 30: TBD. Everyone welcome! Pick-up 5:15pm, dine-in 5:30pm. Local delivery available. Call two days prior to buy tickets. 5:15-7pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

APR 4 – 6 : ORANGEVILLE LIONS CLUB SPRING HOME & GARDEN SHOW Browse 130+ vendors from local industries. Workshops and seminars. Fri 5-9pm. Sat 9am-5pm. Sun 10am-4pm. Free. OAS Event Centre, 247090 5 Sdrd, Mono. 519-942-6341; orangevillelions.org

APR 5 : INCOME TAX CLINIC

Qualifications are single income to $45,000, couple income to $55,000 and three-person income to $57,500. By appointment only. Call to register. 9:30am-3pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

APR 8, MAY 13 & JUN 10 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY MONTHLY MEETINGS Apr 8: A Garden for the Rusty-Patched

Bumblebee. May 13: Xeriscaping. Jun 10 Cutting-Edge Daylilies. Guests welcome, bring a mug for refreshments. Other activities include our Annual Plant Sale, local Garden Tours and workshops. Join today! 6:30-8:30pm. Orangeville Seniors' Centre, 26 Bythia St, Orangeville. orangevillehort.com

APR 10, MAY 8 & JUN 12 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT PROBUS MEETINGS A club for socially engaged people, retired or semiretired. Guests welcome. Apr 10: Medical Links Between Hearing Loss and Wellness. May 8: You Be the Judge. Jun 12: Human Activity's Effect on Climate. 10am. The Salvation Army New Hope Community Church, 690 Riddell Rd, Orangeville. Probus Club of Orangeville, 519-938-8934; probusorangeville.club

APR 11 : SPRING BUBBLY FASHION SHOW Enjoy some champagne, hors d'oeuvres, coffee/tea and a cash bar while the fashions float by. Call to buy tickets. 7-10pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114, caledonseniors.ca

APR 11 & 12 : ALPACA ONTARIO SPRING SHOW Vendors, photo booth, demos, AGM dinner and networking. 10am-4pm. Free. Kawartha Downs, 1382 Cty Rd 28, Fraserville. 416-873-7476; alpacaontario.ca

APR 11 – 13 : CALEDON HOME & LIFESTYLE SHOW Eco-friendly, energy-saving options from industry professionals and 100+ vendors. Proudly supporting Caledon Meals on Wheels. Fri 6-9pm. Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 10am-4pm. Free if you register online for a show pass. Albion Bolton Community Centre, Bolton. 416-508-7056; homeandlifestyleshow.ca

APR 12 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE BINGO TOURNAMENT & LUNCH Beef on a bun. Check-in 9:30am, play starts 10am. Lunch pickup 11:45am, lunch served noon. Call to buy tickets by Apr 10 at 3:30pm. 9:30am-1:30pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

APR 12 : CALEDON HORSE TACK SWAP Two buildings of new and used horse equipment for sale. Free entry for shoppers, vendor fees apply. 10am-3pm. Caledon Fairgrounds, 18297 Hurontario St, Caledon Village. Caledon Agricultural Society, 519-925-3461; caledonfair.ca

APR 12, MAY 10 & JUN 8 : WHOLE VILLAGE ORIENTATION Tour the farm and eco-residence. 1-4:30pm. Entry fee. 20725 Shaws Creek Rd, Caledon. 519-941-1099; wholevillage.org

APR 16 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE

SPECIAL EASTER LUNCHEON The menu is ham dinner and lemon meringue pie. Everyone welcome! Pick-up 11:30, dine-in noon. Call by Apr 14 to buy tickets. Delivery available. 11:30am-1pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

APR 19 : HOP ON MAIN – EASTER EGG

HUNT Kid’s activities, local treats and unique shopping. 11am-1pm. Downtown Grand Valley, Main St. Grand Valley BIA, 519-928-5652; townofgrandvalley.ca

APR 26 : ECO CALEDON EARTH DAY REPAIR CAFE Bring your items to be repaired including bicycles for tune-up. Also, textile and e-waste. Free coffee and muffins, lunch for sale. No registration required. 10am-2pm. Caledon Seniors’ Centre, 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. ecocaledon.org

MAY 8 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE

LUNCH & LEARN Amica Senior Lifestyles – Credit Mills speaks on the new building, living options and services. Free sandwich and dessert at noon. Call to register. 11am-1pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

MAY 10 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE FUNDRAISING MOTHER'S DAY AFTERNOON TEA Enjoy fancy sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and jam, desserts and tea/coffee. 2-4pm. Call to buy tickets. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca,

MAY 12 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Free sandwich and dessert lunch at noon if attending the meeting. AGM 1pm. Call to register for catering purposes. Noon-3:30pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca,

MAY 17 : HILLSBURGH GARDEN CLUB PLANT SALE Annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, heirloom tomato plants. Cash or etransfer. Bring your own containers. 8:30am-1pm. Free. 9042 Wellington Rd 22, Hillsburgh. 519-855-4390; gardenontario.org

MAY 24 : SPRING FESTIVAL & PLANT SALE Perennial native and other garden plants, annual seedlings of tomatoes, peppers and more. Farm tours and walkabouts. Treats, snacks and farm-fresh produce. 10am-1pm. Free. 16555 Humber Station Rd, Caledon. albionhillscommunityfarm.org

MAY 24 : GRAND VALLEY LIONS DUCK

RACE Watch 4,000 ducks dropped in the Grand River at 2pm. Prizes, bouncy castle, dunk tank and more. Free. Bid on the winning duck at most Grand Valley merchants and Lions. 8am-4:30pm. Hereward Park, 200 Main St S, Grand Valley. 519-943-5471; grandvalleylions.com

MAY 24 : AN AFTERNOON WITH ROY

MACGREGOR One of Canada's great storytellers discusses his bestseller, Paper Trails – From the Backwoods to the Front Page, a Life in Stories. 1-4pm. $20. Airport Rd & Hwy 89, Mulmur. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

MAY 31 : FRIENDSHIP GARDENS

PERENNIAL PLANT SALE – HEADWATERS HEALTH CARE CENTRE

A variety of potted plants at great prices. Experts on site. Cash or debit. Free parking. Perennial plant donations up to May 21. 8:30am-11am. 140 Rolling Hills Dr, Orangeville. 519942-6341; friendshipgardens.ca,

JUN 7 : BOOK/PUZZLE & LOCAL

VENDOR MARKETPLACE Find cottage treasures, handmade cards, woodworking and more! 10am-1pm. Free. 83 Trafalgar Rd, Hillsburgh. 519-8556216; pccweb.ca/standrews-hillsburgh

JUN 10 : FORE! DCAFS GOLF

CLASSIC Supporting Dufferin families. Lunch provided. Golf carts included. Registration 8am. Shotgun start 9am. Rain or shine. Fees. Early bird discounts. Tax receipts available. Shelburne Golf & Country Club, 516423 Cty Rd 124, Melancthon. dcafs.on.ca

JUN 14 : CALEDON SENIORS' CENTRE

TRUNK SALE FUNDRAISER Call to book your paid rental space (two parking spots). Caledon Seniors homemade preserves, peameal bacon on a bun, BBQ and more! 8am-1pm. 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton. 905-951-6114; caledonseniors.ca

JUN 14 : CALEDON DAY Kids activities, local vendors, musical act The Strumbellas, fireworks and more! 2-10pm. Free. Caledon East Community Complex, Caledon East. Town of Caledon, 905-584-2272 x4376; caledon.ca

JUN 20 – 22 : SUMMER SOLSTICE NATURE CELEBRATIONS Forest bathing, species identification and other events along sections of the Dufferin HiLand Bruce Trail. dufferinbrucetrailclub.org

KIDS

NOW – DEC 20 : HAPPY DAYS

CHILDHOOD EXHIBITION A nostalgic journey through the cherished memories and playful moments of childhood. Tue-Sat 10am-4pm. Airport Rd & Hwy 89, Mulmur. 1-877941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

MAR 26 : MOD: TOTS ON THE FARM – AGES 1 TO 4 You and your toddlers can participate in tot-friendly, farmthemed crafts and sensory play! 11amnoon. Fee. Airport Rd & Hwy 89, Mulmur. 1-877-941-7787; dufferinmuseum.com

APR 3 – 5 : 3 ON 3 HOCKEY TOURNAMENT Tournament guarantees three games, promises cash prizes, trophies and draws. Fri 1-9pm. Sat 8am-9pm. Sun 8am-3pm. Fee to enter; free all weekend to watch. Creemore Community Centre, Creemore. Clearview Township, 705-428-6230; discovercl earview.ca

APR 4 : TEEN RANCH PD DAY CAMPS

Explore outdoors, play games and enjoy great activities. Hockey option. Lunch and two snacks included. Daily Campfire Time with an emphasis on sharing God's love! Drop-off: 8:45am. Pick-up: 4:45pm. Fee. 20682 Hurontario St, Caledon. 519-941-4501; teenranch.com

APR 4 & MAY 2 : SPRING INTO FUN & ADVENTURE – PD DAY CAMP AT MANSFIELD Nature crafts, spring games and outdoor explorations. Lunch and snacks. 9am-4pm. Fee. 937365 Airport Rd, Mulmur. 705-4354479; mansfieldoutdoorcentre.ca

APR 19 : EASTER ROUNDUP 2025 –ALL AGES Outdoor day including indoor ice skating 1-3pm, giant egg hunts 1:15, 2, 3 & 4pm, and more. Giant swing, trail and pony rides extra. Rain or shine. fee/ vehicle. 1-5pm. 20682 Hurontario St, Caledon. 519-941-4501; teenranch.com

APR 22 : RAPUNZEL THE MUSICAL BY THE NETHERLANDS' THEATER TERRA Rapunzel lives alone until one day a prince appears. 6-7:30pm. The Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. BramptonOnStage.ca

MAY 9 – 11, 16 – 18 : THE LITTLE MERMAID JR Based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and the wildly popular Disney film. Fri Sat 7:30pm. Sun 2pm. Fee. Grace Tipling Hall, 203 Main St E, Shelburne. LP Stage Productions Inc, 519-939-9038; lpstageproductionsinc.com

MUSIC

MAR–JUN: LIVE MUSIC AT ROSE THEATRE All performances at 8pm unless noted. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. 905-8742800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAR 21 : ALAN CUMMING & ARI SHAPIRO: OCH & OY! A CONSIDERED CABARET Witness the critically acclaimed evening of tunes and tall tales.

MAR 26 : BRETT KISSEL An elevated new chapter with inspiring, unrelenting releases.

MAR 29 : THE ROSE ORCHESTRA: LEGENDARY JOURNEYS Explore the music of John Williams and Richard Wagner. 7:30pm.

APR 3 – 6 : BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL PRESENTED BY BRAMPTON MUSIC THEATRE This musical takes you on the ride of a lifetime. Apr 3 & 4: 7:30pm. Apr 5: 1 & 7:30pm. Apr 6: 1pm.

APR 5 : CRATE CLASH CURATED BY JOSEPH KHARGIE – AGES 12 TO 19 Catch the youngest and hottest DJs battling for the top spot. 7pm

APR 9 : STAGEDOOR STORIES: IAN THOMAS – A LIFE IN SONG An evening of conversation, live music, Q & A and more!

www.theatreorangeville.ca

APR 15 : IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING FEATURING THE B-JAZZED ORCHESTRA An evening filled with the greatest music of the 20th century and insightful conversation.

APR 16 : CENTRE STAGE 2025 FINAL PERFORMANCE Enjoy Brampton’s rising stars! Cyril Clark Theatre, 20 Loafers Lake Ln, Brampton. 7pm APR 24 : CLASSIC ALBUMS

LIVE: DAVID BOWIE'S ZIGGY

STARDUST Hear Bowie's iconic songs note for note, cut for cut.

APR 25 : RISING VIBES CURATED BY TCSPADES Dynamic hiphop and R&B showcase.

APR 26 : THE ROSE ORCHESTRA: NATURAL MELODIES, LIFE & LOVE An enchanting evening featuring Rachmaninoff and Dvorak with the Rosebuds. 7:30pm

APR 27 : RE-IMAGINED: A THEATRE CONCERT The magic of musical theatre with new arrangements by Artistic Director Darryn de Souza. Cyril Clark Theatre, 20 Loafers Lake Ln, Brampton. 7pm

APR 30 : BLUEBIRD BRAMPTON

Johnny Rivex curates an acoustic showcase of some of Southern Ontario’s most promising country music talent. Cyril Clark Theatre, 20 Loafers Lake Ln, Brampton.

MAY 4 : CALEDON CONCERT BAND CONCERT – MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU A repertoire that is out of this world! 2-4pm. Fee. Caledon Hills Fellowship Baptist Church, 16595 Airport Rd, Caledon East. 905-9517979; caledonconcertband.ca

MAY 21 : ARTS INSIDE WITH LIBERTY SILVER – AGES 14+ Singing and songwriting workshop from a wealth of experience. 7pm

MAR 29 : ALEX BURNETT & FRIENDS

Doors open at 1pm. Call or email to buy tickets, or online at ticketscene.ca. 1-4pm. 346255 15 Sdrd, Mono. 519-9410972; highcountryunited.weebly.com

APR 5 : CALEDON CHAMBER CONCERTS – QUARTET MALAMATINA

An evening of beautiful music. 7:30pm. 18 & under free. St. James Anglican Church, 6025 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. 905880-2445; caledonchamberconcerts.com

APR 26 : CALEDON CHAMBER CONCERTS – FROM SOUTH TO VIENNA An evening of beautiful music. 7:30pm. 18 & under free. St. James Anglican Church, 6025 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. 905880-2445; caledonchamberconcerts.com

APR 28 – 30 : ORANGEVILLE & DISTRICT MUSIC FESTIVAL A nonprofit, nonpolitical, noncompetitive adjudicated festival. Gala Concert May 12. Westminster United Church, 247 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-941-4334; odmf.ca

MAY 3 : ORANGEVILLE COMMUNITY

BAND SPRING CONCERT 2025 Uplifting music that celebrates life, rebirth and the experience of seasonal renewal. 3-5pm. Fee. New Hope Community Church, 690 Riddell Rd, Orangeville. orangevillecommunityband.ca

MAY 30 – JUN 1 : ORANGEVILLE

BLUES & JAZZ FESTIVAL Performances and special events on multiple stages and venues. Friday Night Blues Cruise, Saturday Broadway Ramble and street market, the Sunday Blues & Bikes event and more. Downtown Orangeville, orangevillebluesandjazz.ca

JUN 7 : MUSIC IN THE HILLS Drivein concert featuring Campfire Poets, Matlockes, Crowded Table and the Dufferin Rising Star Competition winner. Proceeds to Shepherd's Cupboard and Family Transition Place. Food trucks and vendors on-site. Tickets online. 7-11:30pm. Mansfield Outdoor Centre parking lot, 937365 Airport Rd, Mulmur. Kinette Club of Shelburne, 519-938-0801; musicinthehills.ca

OUTDOOR

NOW – APR 6 (SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS) : MAPLE SYRUP

EXPERIENCE AT ELLIOTT TREE FARM Includes entry to Maple Syrup Museum,

pancake breakfast, sugar shack walk and more. 9:30am-2pm. Fee. 5 & under free. 9467 Erin East Garafraxa Tnln, Hillsburgh. 519-216-0699; elliotttreefarm.ca

MAR 13 – 16, 22 & 23 : MAPLE SYRUP IN THE PARK Interactive maple syrup production, Indigenous demonstrations, wagon ride, kids' activities and pancake breakfast. 9:30am-5pm. Fee. Terra Cotta Conservation Area, Halton Hills. 1-800-668-5557; cvc.ca

MAR 29, 30, APR 5 & 6 : SAP TO SYRUP: A MAPLE SYRUP-MAKING EXPERIENCE – AGES 16+ Make sweet maple syrup in this hands-on workshop. Two sessions: 10am or 2pm. Fee. Terra Cotta Conservation Area, Halton Hills. 1-800-668-5557; cvc.ca

APR 5 & 12 : LAMPLIGHT: MAPLE SYRUP AFTER DARK – AGES 19+ Maple-themed food and drinks, and an educational wagon ride. Relax by the fire with Rag Maple Music. Two sessions: 7:30 and 9pm. Call to buy tickets. Terra Cotta Conservation Area, Halton Hills. 1-800-668-5557; cvc.ca

APR 26 : HUNGRY HOLLOW COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING

Help make the neighbourhood more sustainable and ready for a changing climate. 9:30am-noon. Free. Hungry Hollow at Metcalfe Court, Georgetown. 1-800-668-5557; cvc.ca

MAY 3 : MONORA LAWN BOWLING CLUB OPEN HOUSE Learn about our events from seasoned bowlers. Enjoy some refreshments. Wear flat-soled shoes. Rain or shine. 10am2pm. Free. 500 Monora Park Dr, Mono. monoralawnbowling.com

MAY 4 : HIKE FOR BETHELL HOSPICE

Meet at the Lloyd Wilson Arena before hiking the Caledon Trailway or do your own hike. Donations accepted until May 31. Register online. 8am-noon.

15551 McLaughlin Rd, Inglewood. Bethell Hospice Foundation, 905838-3534; hikeforbethellhospice.ca

MAY 10 : CREEMORE SPRINGS TURAS MÓR A cycling journey on gravel and nongravel roads through the rolling hills of Creemore. 8am4pm. 139 Mill St, Creemore. 705466-2240; creemoresprings.com

MAY 10 & 11 : DUFFERIN HI-LAND BRUCE TRAIL CLUB TWO-DAY END-TO-END HIKE Earn the coveted Red Trillium Badge. Checkpoints offer refreshments, encouragement and help. Buses from the centre point each day. 7am-4pm. Fee for nonmembers, at brucetrail.org. dufferinbrucetrailclub.org

MAY 22 : BOLTON ROTARY CHARITY GOLF CLASSIC All net proceeds go back to the community! 11am7:30pm. Fee. Caledon Woods Golf Club, 15608 Hwy 50, Bolton. Rotary Club of Bolton, boltonrotary.ca

MAY 24 : JACK RIDE 2025 Canada’s Ride for Youth Mental Health. Jack Ride fuels Jack.org’s Jack Talks, Jack Chapters and Be There. 7:30am-2pm. Fee. Caledon East Community Complex, Caledon East. 416-425-2494; jack.org

MAY 25 : IG WEALTH MANAGEMENT WALK FOR ALZHEIMER'S Music, activities, food, prizes, giveaways and more! 9am-2pm. Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. Alzheimer Society of Dufferin County, 519-941-1221 x104; alzheimerdufferin.org

MAY 31 : NORTH89: GREAT MANSFIELD OUTDOORS 2025 A 5km, 10km, 25km and 50km trail race on single track with a beer festival finish! 8am-5pm. 937365 Airport Rd, Mulmur. 705-4354479; @mansfieldoutdoorcentre.ca

JUN 4 : SENIORS' DAY AT ISLAND LAKE Enjoy nature, music and free refreshments at the amphitheatre. Beautiful surroundings and good company! 9am-noon. Free. Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. Friends of Island Lake, 1-800-367-0890; cvc.ca

JUN 5 : SHELBURNE EDC/ROTARY GOLF TOURNAMENT Annual golf tournament with proceeds to community projects in Shelburne. 10am-9pm. Fee. Shelburne Golf & Country Club, 516423 Cty Rd 124, Melancthon. Rotary Club of Shelburne, 519-2784578; shelburnerotaryclub.com

JUN 7 : COME & TRY ROWING DAY

OPEN HOUSE Join us for a onehour orientation to rowing for youth and adults. Free, register online. 8am-1pm. Free. 673178 Hurontario St, Mono. islandlakerowing.com

JUN 14 : COMPASS RUN FOR FOOD

A local race supporting food banks and schools identified as at risk. Run our 10.5km or run/walk 5km around the beautiful Island Lake trails. In-person or virtually. Register online. 8am12:30pm. Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. compassrun.com

JUN 14 : VELOCITY Fundraiser supporting Caledon seniors. Scenic rides for the whole family with four routes catering to various experience levels. Register online. Caledon East Park, 6101 Old Church Rd, Caledon East. CCS, ccsvelocity.ca

THEATRE & FILM

MAR 14 : QUEERIAHCITY A multidisciplinary and cabaret-style show creating space for 2SLGBTQ+ communities, artists and supporters. 8pm. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. The Rose Brampton, 905874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAR 15 & 16, 19 – 23, 26 – 30 : BED AND BREAKFAST Two-man heartfelt comedy about "being out" in a small town and finding home. Sun Wed 2pm. Thurs-Sat 7:30. Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-3423; theatreorangeville.ca

MAR 15 & 16, 21 – 23 : 7 STORIES: A DARK COMEDY A man about to jump is unexpectantly set free. Wed Fri Sat 8:15pm. Sun 2:15pm. Please bring food drive donation. 17272 Mt Wolfe Rd & Hwy 9, Caledon. 905880-5002; blackhorsetheatre.ca

MAR 15 & 16, 21 – 23 : TWIST An accountant realizes his book will do better if his wife is murdered first. Fri Sat 7:30pm.

Sun 2pm. 72 Trafalgar Rd, Hillsburgh. 519855-4586; centurychurchtheatre.com

MAR 26 : ERIN AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY HORSE HERITAGE MOVIE NIGHT Somebeachsomewhere – Horse of a Lifetime. A Canadian documentary about a champion racehorse known as The Beach. Proceeds to Erin Fair 175th Anniversary Celebration. Doors open 6pm, film 7pm. Film, popcorn and drink included. Tickets at Sharpe's in Erin and email to partnershiperinfair@ gmail.com. 6pm. Centre 2000, 14 Boland Dr, Erin. Erin Agricultural Society, 519-833-2808; erinfair.com

MAR 27 : PAULY SHORE – STICK WITH THE DANCING: FUNNY STORIES FROM MY CHILDHOOD The Comedy Store, Beverly Hills High School, MTV days, Sam Kinison and the Playboy Mansion. 8pm. The Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAR 29 : IMMIGRANTS WITH ATTITUDE CURATED BY SUNNY DEEWANA OF LAAL BUTTON Hilarious comics who have fully lived the immigrant experience in Canada. 7:30pm English, 10pm Desi. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905-874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAR 29 & 30, APR 5 & 6, 11 & 12 : THERE'S NOTHING TO TELL...(IF IT ALL GOES WELL) Embrace the unexpected, messy and wonderful world of travel. Fri Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. $25. Mar 29: Dinner theatre 6pm; show 7:30pm. Fee. Proceeds to Knox United Church. Inglewood Community Centre, Inglewood. Inglewood Schoolhouse Performers, 905838-2874; inglewoodperformers.com

APR 3 – 6 : ONE STEP AT A TIME – A FATHER'S JOURNEY OF HOPE Original songs, improvisational tap dance and multimedia video, Andrew Prashad shares about raising son with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, while raising two daughters and working in the arts. Fri Sat 7:30pm. Sun Thurs 2pm. Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-3423; theatreorangeville.ca

APR 10 : CIRQUE KALABANTÉ: AFRIQUE EN CIRQUE High-level acrobatics, innovative choreography, all to the sounds of Afro-jazz, percussion and Kora. 7pm. The Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905-874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

Jude Griebel, Ice Cap, 2018

APR 11 – 13 : ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

– CREATIVE PARTNERS ON STAGE Peaceful Piper Reef gets swept up in a surge of competition and “selFISHness.” Part of our 2025 Creative Partners on Stage Festival! Fri Sat 6:30. Sun 1pm. Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. Community Living Dufferin, Theatre Orangeville, 519-942-3423; theatreorangeville.ca

APR 11 – 13 : CRUISE CONTROL –CREATIVE PARTNERS ON STAGE Love, adventure and rough waters, this comedy will have you singing and dancing. Part of our 2025 Creative Partners on Stage Festival! Fri Sat 8:30. Sun 3pm. Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. Community Living Dufferin, Theatre Orangeville, 519-942-3423; theatreorangeville.ca

APR 23 : ARTS INSIDE WORKSHOP: IMPROV WITH SUNNY DEEWANA –AGES 14+ Creative games and exercises, acceptance, offers and more. No experience required. 7pm. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

Visit us online

For up-to-date listings between issues, and for more details, go to inthehills.ca/events.

To submit your community, arts or nonprofit event:

Select “What’s On” from the menu bar at www.inthehills.ca.

That will take you to the listings page. Select “Add Your Community Event” and complete the easy form.

Submit by Friday, May 9, 2025 for the summer (June) issue.

We reserve the right to edit submissions for print and web. www.inthehills.ca

APR 26 : STAND-UP STITCHES CURATED BY KEESHA BROWNIE Side-splitting performances by talented stand-up comics from here and around the globe. 8pm. The Rose Studio, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905-874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAY 1 – 4, 7 – 11, 14 – 18 : I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR SISTER World Premiere Comedy by Norm Foster. A man falls in love with the sister of the woman he is living with. Sun Wed 2pm. Thurs-Sat 7:30. May 16: 11am. Town Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-3423; theatreorangeville.ca

MAY 3 & 4, 9 & 10 : GIBSON & SONS Harry Gibson's new bride and her sister are shocked and dismayed at their new home – a funeral home! Fri 8:15pm. Sat 2:15 & 8:15pm. Sun 2:15pm. Dinner theatres May 3 & 10, 6:30pm. 18365 Hurontario St, Caledon. Caledon Townhall Players Theatre, 519-9275460; caledontownhallplayers.com

MAY 11 : THE JAY MARTIN MOTHER'S DAY COMEDY CLASH Clean comedy show honours all mothers, especially from Africa and the Caribbean. 2 & 7pm.

The Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton. Brampton On Stage, 905874-2800; tickets.brampton.ca

MAY 25, 31, JUN 1, 6 – 8 : THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Cast and crew battle hilariously together to make it through to their final curtain call. Fri Sat 7:30pm. Sun 2pm. Fee. 72 Trafalgar Rd, Hillsburgh. 519-8554586; centurychurchtheatre.com

JUN 4, 6 – 8, 13 – 15, 20 – 22 : DELVAL DIVAS Four professional women in jail have to save their glamours lifestyle in prison before being moved. Wed Fri Sat 8:15pm. Sun 2:15. Please bring food drive donation. 17272 Mt Wolfe Rd & Hwy 9, Caledon 905-8805002; blackhorsetheatre.ca

Greystones Restaurant & Lounge

Maddie Hatter Tea Shop & Cafe

71 Mono Cliffs Inn

Peter Cellars

Pia’s

Rustik Local Bistro

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery 61 The Busholme Gastro Pub

71 The Craft Pizza Bar & Italian Eatery

76 The Globe Rosemont

7, 71 Two Brothers at Osprey Valley EVENTS

73 Albion Hills Community Farm Spring Festival & Plant Sale

109 Alton Mill Arts Centre Open House

60 Erin Agricultural Society 175 Years Best in Show

18 Friendship Gardens Annual Perennial Sale

73 HFFA Spring Dinner

105 Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival FARM RECREATION

61 Erin Hill Acres

FASHION & JEWELLERY

26 A.M. Korsten Jewellers

60 Amorettos

52 Gallery Gemma

61 Hannah’s

61 Naturally Rugged

27 Scented Drawer Fine Lingerie Boutique

27 Seconds Count Hospital Thrift Store

FENCING

68 McGuire Fence

FINANCIAL SERVICES

78 BMO Nesbitt Burns Wealth Management, N. Meek

9 RBC Dominion Securities, S. Roud

FIREPLACE SALES & SERVICE

92 Caledon Fireplace

FLAGS

61 Kennedy’s Flags FLOWERS

16 Orangeville Flowers

26 Suzanne Gardner Flowers

61 Village Green Florist

FOOD, DRINK & CATERING

23 Adamo Estate Winery

73 Albion Hills Community Farm

73 HFFA The Granola Project

61 Holtom’s Bakery

73 Lost Bear Market

73 Ontario Honey

73 Orangeville Winter Farmers’ Market

65 Rock Garden Farms

76 Rosemont General Store and Kitchen

26 Son of A Chef Bakery

73 Spirit Tree Estate Cidery

27 The Chocolate Shop

73 Wicked Shortbread

76 YF Patissier Chocolatier

GENERATORS

54 Tanco Group

BASKETS 27 More Than Just Baskets

30 Golf Canada 45 Hockley Valley Resort

ENERGY 49 Whitfield Green Energy HEALTH & WELLNESS 92 Dr. Richard Pragnell

Omega Alpha Pharmaceuticals HEATING & COOLING

Cairns Roofing

Caledon Timberframes

CBG Homes

Celtic Carpet

CM Roofing Solutions

Culp Restoration

Escarpment Contracting

Floor Plus

Jesse James Roofing

Karry Home Solutions

Kinetico Home Water Systems

Kurtz Millwork

Local Tile Co. 53 LS Custom Contracting

Manax Plumbing

NAK Cabinetry & Tile

North Terrain Gravel Driveways

Orangeville Building Supply

River Ridge

Roberts Roofing

Synergy Exteriors

DECORATING & DESIGN

JDC Janssen Design

CAMPS 37 Teen Ranch 37 Town of Caledon Summer Camps

TRCA – Albion Hills Field Centre LANDSCAPING & GARDENING

GB Stone

Headwaters Landscaping

Hill’N Dale Landscaping

It’s In The Shed

Leaves & Petals Garden Maintenance

Peel Landscaping 19 Randy Tumber Consulting

River Ridge 89 Sinovi Masonry & Stonescapes 62 Stephanie’s Country Greenhouse

The Growing Season

Tumber Landscape Design & Build

MARKETPLACE

CONTROL 68 Environmental Pest Control

SUPPLIES & SERVICES 59 Animals in Motion

Rehabilitation Services 59 Erin Trailside Veterinary Services

100 ReMax In The Hills

62 July Ponds & Landscaping 18 Pond Perfections 24 Silver Creek Aquaculture

POOLS & SAUNAS 22 D&D Pools & Spas 51 New Wave Pool & Spa

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

81 Carters Professional Corporation

REAL ESTATE

59 Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, West Realty, Barwell Real Estate

94 Bosley Real Estate

Velvet Alcorn, Lindsay Alcorn

98 Century 21 Millennium Inc.

Mary Klein, Kaitlan Klein

98 Century 21 Millennium Inc.

Michele Skawski

TO PLACE AN AD IN THE SUMMER

ISSUE CONTACT 519 216 9894

OR CINDY@INTHEHILLS.CA BY MAY 9, 2025 MOVING SERVICES 18 Downsizing Diva Dufferin-Caledon OFFICE SPACE 61 Rural Commons

100 Chestnut Park Real Estate

Sue Collis, Sarah MacLean

99 Coldwell Banker, Ronan Realty

Britton Ronan, Marc Ronan, Sarah Lunn

92 Cornerstone Realty Brokerage Nancy Urekar

69 eXp Realty Brokerage

Gary Mackin, Sonya Mackin

98 Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.

Hilary Matthews

97 Moffat Dunlap Real Estate

Moffat Dunlap, John Dunlap, Nik Bonellos, Elizabeth Campbell, Courtney Murgatroyd, Sean Wynn, Mark Campbell

Chris Richie, Karen Caulfield, Carmela Gagliese-Scoles, Sean Anderson, Dale Poremba, Jennifer Unger

96 ReMax Real Estate Centre

Ann Shanahan, Betty Hunziker

89 ReMax Realty Specialists Inc.

Sigrid Doherty

95 Royal LePage Credit Valley

Rita Lange

96 Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty

Denise Dilbey

101 Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty

Paul Richardson

67 Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty

Tom Linkletter

82, 101 Royal LePage RCR Realty

Doug & Chris Schild

100 Royal LePage RCR Realty

Kelly McCague

79, 94 Royal LePage RCR Realty

Suzanne Lawrence

17, 95 Royal LePage RCR Realty

Wayne Baguley

34 Sutton-Headwaters Realty

Jim Wallace & Rebecca Wallace

SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

20 Brampton Christian School

SECURITY

54 Commissionaires Great Lakes

SENIORS’ SERVICES

10 Avalon Retirement Lodge

87 Headwaters Home Care

TOURISM & TRAVEL

61 Cruise Holidays

26, 27 Orangeville BIA

62 Town of Caledon

60, 61 Town of Erin

TREE SERVICES

61 Elliott Tree Farm

93 Lloyd Brown Tree Services

87 Nortree Arborists

WEDDINGS

38 Alton Mill Arts Centre

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD

“I THINK I CAN. I THINK I CAN!” REPEATS THE HEROIC little engine of the classic children’s story as it struggles to pull a stranded train over a steep hill. And “I think I can” could also have been the mantra of the modest woodburning steam locomotive pictured at Melville Junction, aka Melville Cross, in about 1900.

The “James McKay,” named for a prominent Métis citizen of Manitoba, was always destined to be a workhorse. Its first assignment was to help build the CPR’s transcontinental line across the Prairies.

But when much bigger and flashier locomotives on the CPR’s Toronto to Owen Sound line faltered as they tried to haul their loads up Caledon Mountain’s notoriously tricky Horseshoe Curve and onward into the highlands of Dufferin County, the humble woodburner became an unsung hero. Transferred to Headwaters, its job was to give an extra boost to trains chugging upward toward the height of land near Dundalk.

The fancily dressed man and the little girl in the photo are

not identified. Perhaps he is a CPR official? But engineer George Newman stands on the left. On the right is the fireman, also unidentified. His hot, dirty and exhausting job was to transfer wood from the tender behind the engine into the locomotive’s firebox through a hatch at the front of the cab. The fire heated the water in the boiler, creating the steam that turned the James McKay’s wheels.

By 1900, coal had become the fuel that powered most steam locomotives, though some, such as the James McKay, continued to use wood. Providing the necessary wood to stations such as Melville Cross provided extra income for nearby landowners clearing land for agriculture. But as the forests of Headwaters disappeared, a ready supply of wood became scarce, and the James McKay was scrapped in 1909.

The heyday of steam trains – indeed, all trains – is now a distant memory in Headwaters, but this doesn’t diminish the importance of locomotives such as the James McKay in shaping the history of communities in these hills.

— DYANNE

RIVERS