Mysterious oil spill causes driving chaos Rain puts damper on IPM Quilt Tent

by Brandon Mayer by Brandon Mayer

On September 27, motorists using County Road 43 between Kemptville and Winchester had to take alternative routes, owing to a mysterious oil or hydraulic fluid spill on the roadway. The spill was causing the roadway to be slick, with the resulting safety concerns leading to emergency road closures in some spots.

Officials from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry identified the problem on social media, but gave little details as to the cause. Motorists were advised to avoid both County Road 43 and County Road 1, though in the case of the ladder road, it was not clear whether it was the Reids

Mills Road section or the Mountain Road section affected, or both.

It is unclear exactly where the spill came from, but the scope of the spill suggests that the fluid was leaking from a moving vehicle. Motorists within the village of Kemptville reported experiencing slippery road conditions on that stretch of County Road 43, possibly originating near a gas station at the intersection of County Roads 43 and 44. Slippery conditions were also reported closer to Winchester, with reports of cars in the ditch along that stretch of County Road 43 after encountering the slick road conditions.

“I was turning into [St. Michael Catholic High School] and was wondering what the heck was going on with my brakes. It felt like ice,” wrote one social media user. “As I was braking, I noticed I was sliding a bit and I was like it’s too warm to be icy. The road had a bit of a rainbowy glisten to it,” another user wrote. Yet another chimed in with a harrowing story, writing “I came close to clipping 3 cars after fishtailing back and forth between my lane and oncoming traffic twice. The guy in front of me slammed his brakes and when I hit mine, I was going to smash right into him, so I swerved left into oncoming traffic, then back into my lane fishtailing then left again, into oncoming traffic again, came 2 inches from a head on collision with a 5 ton truck, swerved back into my lane... It was nuts! I did this all in front of the firetruck, too, that was pulled off onto a side road so they saw firsthand how slippery it is. Close call. I feel very lucky to have made it!”

Roads were open again within a day as crews worked to make the roadway safe again by spreading sand to absorb the spill. Environmental spills can often be met with heavy penalties, but as of the time of writing, there is no word on who is responsible or what exactly happened.

Positivity shouldn’t hurt

submitted by Elaine MacNaughtan

The 2022 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo, which was held in North Grenville September 20 -24, has come and gone. It was five very busy days showcasing agriculture and Rural living.

Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on the Quilt Tent and the IPM Quilt Committee had to make the difficult decision to not display the majority of the quilts. Using the entry area of the tent, it was possible to display the smaller items on wire frame racks along with the three quilts made from the 2022 IPM Quilt Block Challenge. The barn quilts were also displayed on fence railing. Inside and outside the tent, there were beautiful displays of autumn flow- and Teresa were ers, pumpkins and corn stalks. Planters, which were made with barn quilts on all four sides, were filled with marigolds and strategically placed. Kudos to the volunteers who made this happen.

The Kemptville District Hospital Auxiliary and Victoria’s Quilts Canada, Kemptville Branch, each had a display where they were able to promote their cause. These two groups along with The Kemptville Quilters Guild, The Thousand Island Quilters Guild and The Upper Canada Quilters Guild came together to plan, organize and execute both the August Show and IPM Quilt Tent. They were under the leadership of cochairs Teresa Harrison and Nancy Grundy.

During the week, there was a running photo slide show of the quilts that were in the August IPM Quilt Show and should have been hung in the tent. Also shown was a video of the August quilt show which was produced by Betty Cooper. The quilts not hung were kept in a safe dry place offsite.

The raffle quilt, which was one of the three quilts made from the quilt block challenge blocks, was won by Margaret Ruppel. The other two made from these blocks were given to the 2019 Queen of the Furrow and the 2022 host family, Charles, Rosemary, Zachary and Kirsten Bennett.

Stitch by Stitch Quilt Shop from Kingston had a display and a draw for a Brother SE600 Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery Machine. Anyone entering the quilt tent could fill out a ballot for a chance to win.

The winner of this machine at the IPM was Yvonne Lindfield. The quilt shop also held a draw at the August Quilt Show for the same make and model of sewing machine, this one was won by Bernadine Lavers.

Many good memories were made at the Home on the Farm Quilt Show & British Tea and at the IPM Quilt Tent. The IPM Quilt Committee would like to thank everyone involved for contributing to those good memories with your creative talents and fellowship.

by Brandon Mayer

The simple idea that “positivity shouldn’t hurt” could apply to many, many situations. Is it ironically negative for me to point out in an argument about positivity that people are often unnecessarily negative? Well they are, particularly when it comes to municipal affairs. I have my reasons to both like and dislike the way Council represented our municipal interests over the last four years, but I won’t get into it here, just to give us all a break.

Several months ago, I wrote about just how expensive it is to repair roads.

I was surprised myself when doing the research, and feedback from readers indicated much surprise as well, in addition to a newfound understanding of why sometimes roads are badly patched or left in disrepair for a while before being properly cared for. Around that same time, I had a phone conversation with a gentleman who was raising valid concerns about the state of the roads in his area of the Township. Not being on municipal water or sewer services, or having a public recreation facility anywhere near his home, this gentleman was thoroughly annoyed that the relatively high property taxes he pays seem to only fund waste pick up and quite frankly nothing more, since his road has been left in total disrepair for some time. I felt for this gentleman. I pay property taxes too, and sometimes I question why some seem to get more than others. We got along great and vented our frustrations over the phone.

Now, I must admit that in the past month or two, I have been impressed by the Township taking on the proj- ect of paving Development Road in the Mountain/South Mountain neck of the woods. I’m sure the work had been planned for months or even years, but seeing such a large project be undertaken is great. This comes soon after Clark Road and two other Township roads were paved, and in recent years, Levere Road and Cameron Road were both beautifully paved as well. These things clearly take time, but I don’t want to be one of those people who looks the other way when they do happen.

Did that note of positivity hurt coming out? Actually, kind of. But alas, I shall march on feeling like a decent human being!