The Scoop August-September 2012

SCOOP august-september 2012

The

www.thescoop.ca

celebrates rural life

The Groenewegens

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By Angela Saxe

Founded in 2005

by Richard Saxe

Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth The plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

Jeremiah 14, verse 4, Old Testament

A newsmagazine that celebrates rural life in the communities north of the 401 and south of Hwy 7.

Published six times yearly by Stone Mills Scoop 482 Adair Road Tamworth, ON K0K 3G0 Voice: 613-379-5369 stonemills.scoop@gmail.com

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Circulated for free to about 7000 households.

Subscriptions by mail: One year: $30 + HST = $33.90 THE PUBLISHER / DESIGNER Karen Nordrum stonemills.scoop@gmail.com THE EDITOR Angela Saxe angela.saxe@gmail.com THE ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER Barry Lovegrove barrylovegrove@bell.net All photographs are by Barry Lovegrove unless otherwise noted.

THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Sally Bowen, Lillian Bufton, Carolyn Butts, Terence Dickinson, Beverly Frazer, Mel Galliford, Andrea Hilborn, J. Huntress, Thomasina Larkin Barry Lovegrove, Cam Mather, Blair McDonald, Blair Richards, Angela Saxe, Linda Selkirk, Grace Smith, Terry Sprague, Merola Tahamtan, Holly Tousignant, Annette Uens, Solomon Woodland Copyright©2012.

Articles may be reprinted only with written permission from the publisher and author.

The Scoop is an independent publication and is not affiliated with nor funded by any corporation or interest group.

Letters and submissions are most welcome and encouraged. This is your community newsmagazine devoted to celebrating the stories and lives of the folks who live here. Get involved! Let us know what’s happening in your area.

Cover photo: (L-R): Olivia Groenewegen and her mother Kathie, grandmother Lilliane Groome and Olivia’s father Francis.

Photo credit: Barry Lovegrove, 2012.

The Scoop’s looking for Writers!

Are you a community-minded person who loves to write?

Well then join our team and have fun writing for the best little newsmagazine in the area!

Contact Angela Saxe: angela.saxe@gmail.com

roughts have affected humans as long as we’ve walked the planet and it has terrified us because of what follows – famine.

According to the Old Testament the traditional triad of catastrophes were: pestilence (infections), sword (war) and famine. Of the three, famine was the most feared - the greatest evil of them all. No wonder that the recent drought has been on many people’s minds and the constant topic of conversation this year has been the weather and rainfall – or lack thereof.

This winter saw a below average snowfall and mild temperatures. The first six months of the year have been the warmest on record with multiple heat waves starting in March. The rainfall in eastern Ontario’s growing season has been 40 – 60% below normal. Rivers and lakes are experiencing low levels and there are fears that many wells will go dry. Now the Ontario government is asking the Federal government to conduct assessments under the agrirecovery framework for disaster relief.

Even though 85% of Ontario farmers have crop insurance, the impact goes beyond loss of a single crop. Corn and soybean yields are extremely low, not only here but also in the US; this impacts on feed, which leads to many ranchers having to reduce their herds. When animal feed becomes more expensive, prices all along the food chain rise.

Because the drought is occurring in the US as well, food prices are predicted to rise 2.5 to 3.5% this year and 3 – 4% in 2013.

Ottawa area restaurateurs, who buy food locally in the summer, report that tomatoes, corn, strawberries and eggplant, are not as bountiful or as tasty. Meanwhile, wild mushroom hunters report a lower yield of morels and chanterelles. Home gardeners are struggling to keep their vegetable plants alive; many are reluctant to use their wells fearing a drop in the water table.

My flower garden (which I never water) is dismal with withering plants straining to

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flower while I scan the weather channel hoping that it will rain before I have to water my tomato plants. Apart from everyone talking about the effects of the drought (golfers declaring that the parched greens are hard as cement), the other topic is - what’s causing this drought?

In the Book of Jeremiah, the people attributed the droughts and famine to God’s wrath for their wickedness. But if you listen to meteorologists and other scientists, there may be other reasons.

Is it the fault of La Nina which has been blowing over cooler-than-normal water in the tropical Pacific thereby bringing less moisture when it hits land? Or, it may be the stable, high pressure dome that has kept the jet stream in northern Canada therefore contributing to drought conditions in the eastern part of the country. Or as many theorize – it’s due to global warming.

There is much discussion about our impact on the weather of the planet and how global warming is causing extreme, erratic weather conditions. Floods, droughts, snowstorms, wildfires are the result of record breaking increases in rainfall, heat and snowfall throughout North America. If you’re like me, you probably wonder what you can do about it.

On one side there’s the government that seems to be more concerned about development of resources (carbon producing resources) instead of environmental policy – the don’t worry about it approach, while at the other end there’s Lester Brown’s book Full Planet Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity warning us that we’re closer to an unmanageable world food shortage than we realize.

These extreme viewpoints paralyze us into taking no action – which is a mistake. We are capable of reducing our own carbon footprint: buying smarter cars and making our homes and offices more energy efficient. We can also find out more about the impact

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of our government policies on the environment and raise our concerns with our MPs. The summer heat is producing extremely sweet melons this year; the swimming has been fantastic and today the much anticipated rain will help to quench the earth’s thirst. Yet I know that this year’s drought will have a direct impact on many people this year – humans have always feared food shortages (and rising costs) for very good reasons.

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

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RR 6 Napanee

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Letter to the Editor First off, kudos to the Scoop for providing the opportunity for a wide range of rural dwellers to voice their opinions and interests. I am writing in regards to the “Letters to the Editor” submitted by a couple of readers last issue. Sounds like a classic case of what biologists commonly refer to as “Bambi syndrome,” when a person believes that all the animals with humanistic qualities are in the forest living in joyful bliss getting along with one another until the big bad human comes along and kills them. As more humans spend less time with nature, they are losing touch with it. People treat their pets better than other humans, you know, the ones who write an obituary in the paper when “Fluffy” dies. If these people spent half as much time in the woods as a trapper, they would learn that nature can be what they would call inhumane. Have you ever watched coyotes take a deer down? Running it to exhaustion, biting at it until it collapses, then feeding on it while it is still alive.

Or watch a fox toss a live rabbit in the air for its young to play with and learn to kill? Some would call this cruel, but of course it is just nature’s way.

Native Americans trapped animals for food and clothing. Europeans picked up on it and it has continued until today with the Ministry of Natural Resources setting seasons, limits and quotas. The ministry counts on trappers to keep fur bearing animal populations in check, reducing long drawn out deaths due to starvation and disease. It’s actually against the law to dispose of a fur bearing animal without making use of its pelt. The ministry also regulates which traps can be used, and in what manner.

A long time trapper told me he was checking his foot traps once when he caught a neighbour’s dog in one. He released the dog, gave it a mild scolding and re-set his traps. The dog was so traumatized by the event that he got caught a couple more times with its tail wagging, waiting to be released. That

was before rubber padded jaws on foot traps was mandatory.

No doubt there is the odd unprofessional, unethical or lazy trapper out there who doesn’t check his or her traps in a timely manner, and they should be ashamed and fined for their actions and for giving the majority of responsible trappers a bad name. But to say that trapping should be abolished because there aren’t enough game wardens to enforce the regulations is like saying we should all stop driving because there aren’t enough police officers to catch all the drunk drivers.

Trappers do get to interact with many animals while they are in the woods, and not just target species. It’s not uncommon for a trapper to have “deer rescue stories” or something similar. I suppose the anti’s never use a mouse trap (beavers are a large rodent), or ever wear leather, or eat a poor fish that has been dragged by its lips to a boat only to die of lack of oxygen. Or is it only the animals that they deem to be “cute” that matter? As our fossil fuels dwindle, a renewable resource such as fur just makes more sense, rather than the synthetic oil based products so popular today.

Informed people are starting to see through the spin. Justin Trudeau was recently in the public eye when he and his family wore some beautiful coyote fur in a post-card that he sent out to his constituents. He responded to a negative comment by stating that he was proud to wear sustainable Canadian fur: Brave man considering all the “civil” people throwing paint on fur these days.

I could go on, but I’ll just say that trappers are growing in numbers as more Canadians appreciate their heritage, staying in touch with nature, and keeping up with a sustainable growing market.

The Tamworth Book Shop sponsored two poetry readings this summer: Susan Gillis (The Rapids) and John Donlan (Spirit Engine) read outside to an appreciative audience during a hot, July afternoon and Geoffrey Cook (Postscripts) and Harold Hoefle (The Mountain Clinic) read on August 4th. Copies of their poetry are available at The Book Shop.

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The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

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Heroic Acts of Kindness

Lessons Learned

By Grace Smith

By Blair McDonald

W

ith the release of several blockbuster superhero movies this summer, I started to wonder about the origins of their enormous success. Why are they as popular? But more importantly, why do we stand in line for hours on end just to watch them?

You know what movies I am talking about. They are the ones that crush box office records, the ones that everyone must see. Just this summer, we’ve seen The Avengers, The Amazing Spider Man,

and The Dark Knight Rises hit the theatres with an absolutely astounding boom.

All three of these movies have had astonishing success, but they also have many differences.

One follows the formation of one of comics’ greatest superhero teams of all time. The second chronicles the webslinging hero’s high school days. And the last gives its audience the final chapter of Gotham’s silent protector.

Despite these differences, the idea behind all of these movies is very similar: each film tries to convey that there is hope, that there is someone out there willing to put others first, willing to put their wants and needs last—a concept almost unknown in present times.

Not that I am saying there aren’t decent people in the world, because there are, but random acts of kindness aren’t as common as they used to be.

Because of this, people can’t help but be drawn to the selflessness presented in many superhero flicks.

And boy, are they selfless. Peter Parker jeopardizes all of his personal relationships when he runs off with no excuse to rescue anyone in danger near him, even when he is in danger of losing someone close. Every single member of the Avengers risks injury or even death when fighting for the safety of others.

But perhaps the most heroically selfless act occurred in Christopher Nolan’s last Batman flick, The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne takes the blame for Harvey Dent’s actions, sacrificing the character and integrity of his beloved alter ego, Batman, and in turn, making all of Gotham City hate him for crimes he did not commit—all for the sake of the citizens of the city he silently protects.

They do all of these acts based on what is right morally and for those around them. They never consider the consequences or implications their actions might have for them. That is why we all flock to the nearest movie theatre when one of these films is playing there; we go to watch altruism in its purest and most entertaining form.

But the kindness d o e s n o t have to stop once the popcorn is gone. We should be taking what we have seen on the screen and applying it to our own life. No, we do not have to strap on a cape and save the world from lizard men, crazy brothers, or mask wearing psychopaths, but we can start thinking about others.

You’ve heard it all before: hold the door open; offer a hand when someone needs it; respect everyone, especially your elders; and always treat others the way you want to be treated. They’re all simple things, but in the end, they will make all the difference. By acting for others, even once in a while, we can all be our own superheroes and create a world where kindness is subtly heroic and very common place.

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person from the inside out. We leave for exotic locals expecting revelatory changes of heart but most often we stay who we are uncertain as to why we don’t feel as new as our destinations. We expect a lot from our travels, and I think we should simply because it shows that we are living with an open heart and a genuine excitement to see the world with new eyes.

I recently had a discussion with an Australian friend who was visiting me for a couple of days. As we were driving home from Niagara Falls, I mentioned that sometimes one needs some distance from one’s experience for it to mean something in the long run.

Change that is instantaneous is too traumatic to be properly understood anyway. It’s only over time that you’ll get the change in perspective and/or maturity that you’re looking for from your experiences. But then again, who’s to say? I guess I’ll have to read this in a couple of years to see if I’m right.

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he last time we spoke I was getting ready to embark on a cross-Canada trip back to Tamworth from my point of departure, Kamloops, BC. I wrote about the mixed reaction many had about the virtues of the prairies and I was excited to form my own impression about Canada’s own heartland. I must say that over the past month I have enjoyed being approached from readers asking me: What I now thought of the prairies having crossed them for myself? And, because of my Jason Aldean reference, when did I start listening to country music? To be honest, all I can say is that my Saskatchewan key chain from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina might be a better indicator of my feelings than any string of adjectives, and as for country music, my family and friends are equally convinced that I must have fallen and hit my head while I was out there. Nonetheless, my journey was a success that took me just under a week, with overnight stops in Banff, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. It was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone interested in the towns, cities, landmarks, and peoples that are spread across this great country.

As for what I’ll remember, it’s the little things that’ll stick: the sign leaving Revelstoke, BC saying ‘No Gas for the Next 150kms’, the ice in Lake Louise that lacked any resemblance to the postcards for sale in the gift shop, my shock and horror that you can rent bathing suits at the Banff Hot Springs, changing a headlight in Swift Current, seeing Louie Riel’s tombstone in a Winnipeg cemetery, two Moose sightings south of Kenora, the highway standoff with a wolf outside of Marathon, learning that Chris Pronger is from Dryden, discovering a Lakeview Tavern in Wawa, forgetting to buy dutyfree in Sault Ste. Marie and realizing that besides hockey, Tim Hortons and the TransCanada, the thing that really unites Canada is Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” (every FM station in Canada must play that song ten times a day).

If you’ll allow me to get abstract for a second, I think the thing we learn most from our travels is that we don’t always change as much as we think because of a trip. It would be nice but in my own experience, it takes a lot to change a

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AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 4

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What a Waste

Spreading Concern Over Human Fertilizer Story and photo by Carolyn Butts

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thought the Richmond Landfill and its expansion into the proposed Beechwood Road Environmental Centre (BREC) site was only an issue for Greater Napanee and its environs until I recently discovered sewage sludge is being collected from septic lagoons next to the closed landfill and spread on farmland in the region. It has been discovered that this septic sludge comes from the same source that processes leachate from the Richmond landfill.

The septic lagoons are next to the early Richmond landfill site that started life as a burn pit on a farmer’s field in the mid-1950’s. In 1988 the landfill was well established and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) approved an expansion, even with some concerns over the fractured limestone beneath.

This type of geology makes it easy for leaks escaping the landfill to travel underground, undetected, potentially showing up in wells and nearby creeks.

After 10 more years of operation, Waste Management took over as the final proprietor of the Richmond landfill and in 1998 the company began an application to expand. In 2010, after a failed Environmental Assessment (EA) and incredible public pressure, the expansion was refused and the dump ordered closed by the MOE. By 2011, the landfill was finally closed and capped. Many in the area believed this was the end of landfill expansion

threats but in 2012 the region is once again under siege.

Today, that original burn pit sits under 3 million tonnes of waste accumulated during times of more lenient collection guidelines. A disturbing detail is much of this dump is unlined and now shows signs of contaminating nearby test wells, reports Waste Management at their information evening in Napanee on June 27.

Fluid arriving at the bottom of a dump is called leachate. Since 2005 an average of 70,000 litres of this dark, toxic liquid is collected each day from the Richmond landfill and released into Napanee’s sewage system. Solids are removed and the treated fluid is released into the Napanee River. The solid sludge-like material is delivered back to the septic lagoons near the Richmond landfill to wait for delivery. In July, many large tanker trucks were observed pacing highway 41 delivering this sludge and spreading it on local farmland as fertilizer.

The challenges of farming with its escalating input costs, especially fertilizer, are well known in the country.

Many farmers respect their land and water and I wonder if they would spread this cheap alternative if they knew exactly what was in it; many thousands of chemicals, too many to test for.

What happens when these chemicals combine? Consumers need to know

Corporation Of The Township Of Stone Mills 4504 County Rd. 4, Centreville, Ontario K0K 1N0 Tel. (613) 378-2475 Fax. (613) 378-0033 Website: www.stonemills.com

if these chemicals enter the meat and fat of animals being fed from this land. There is so much not known and will probably never be known.

Waste Management and the MOE made their first appearance June 25 at the Environmental Review Tribunal in Selby to establish responsible monitoring practices and plans for the Richmond Landfill in cases of land and water contamination.

Waste Management has applied again for an Environmental Assessment to open a new and much larger, 3 times larger, landfill next to the closed Richmond landfill. Only 1 percent of the waste would come from the Greater Napanee area. To put this into perspective, the amount of garbage Napanee produces in one year would be shipped into town every two days. The new proposal promises environmental protection by installing a double layered 2 metre liner of plastic, gravel and .75 meter of clay. So far the only record of similar liners being used has been in the US and for only 20 years. Waste Management admits this is not a very long time in order to test the long-term effectiveness of this system. What I need to know is if there is a leak, how do you fix it under 10 million tonnes of garbage and how will a leak be contained in fractured limestone?

PROPERTY TAX DEPARTMENT Please be reminded of the due date for the next installment of property taxes for 2012 is: SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 ADJUSTMENT TO YOUR PROPERTY TAXES FOR 2012 Adjustments for Request for Reconsiderations, Section 357 Applications, Farm Tax Rebates, Amended property tax notices will be processed and mailed out in August. If you have not received your adjustment by the end of August please contact the property tax office.

For those awaiting a tax bill for a new house or renovations, supplementary or omitted assessment or apportionment due to severance/consolidation your property tax bill will be processed later on in September or October.

GENERAL INFORMATION Please be reminded that effective in 2012, payments for your property taxes can be made at all financial institutions. Please ensure that you present the entire tax bill at time of payment.

Other methods for payment of taxes the Township offers include debit, telephone and internet banking, cash, cheques or a pre authorized payment plan. Our drop box is located on the south side of the municipal building.

Please note that failure to receive your property tax notice does not exempt you from paying penalty and interest charges. 1.25% of unpaid taxes will be added as penalty on the first day of default and/or on the first day of each calendar month thereafter. For more information regarding your property taxes, please check our website at www.stonemills.com or call the municipal tax office at 613-378-2475 or email taxes@stonemills.com.

TOWNSHIP OF STONE MILLS COMMUNITY CENTRE The Community Centre is open for business commencing September 16th, 2012. You will notice some changes. Bryden Weese has been appointed as the new Manager/Caretaker so if you are looking to rent ice or need any information with regard to the arena, contract Bryden @ 613 483 7924. Brian and Marg Weese from the Five Corners Café were successful in their bid to operate the canteen for the 2012-2013. We are looking forward to a successful season and hope to have one of our best years ever.

RECREATION AREAS Two of the Municipalities playgrounds are getting a much needed facelift. With the assistance of funding from Hydro One and C.P. Rail, the help of some community minded volunteers, and support from Council the communities of Camden East and Enterprise will benefit for years to come. Once again, our volunteers are making the difference between wanting things to happen and having them happen. GREAT JOB! Check out the DARK SKIES VIEWING AREA just south of the entrance of the Sheffield Conservation Area 12 kms. north of Erinsville or at www.DarkSkyViewing.com It is going to be amazing.

REMEMBER: If you need anything Township related, give us a call at the Municipal Office and we will do our best to help. 613 378 2475.

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 5

Biosolid sludge truck leaving a farm

We all make garbage and we know that it has to go somewhere but the discussion must include much more than the land it sits on. A mountain of garbage will have a far reaching effect on this region’s water, soil and air.

Some people believe an expanded landfill will provide jobs and bring prosperity. True, but will the short term benefits to the Napanee community be out-weighted by the long-term harm?

The County’s reputation for local food production, securing new medical professionals, property values and tourism may be at risk. An economy based on landfill has a very short future, 25 years. The negative impact could last 300.

At an event hosted by Waste Management in June, an audience member said, “People in Napanee don’t care. They put their tags on their garbage bags and leave them at the curb and forget about it.” Is it time for all of us in the region to care? Would we care more if we knew we could be eating and drinking from our landfills?

For more details about the Richmond landfill and to sign a petition against the BREC landfill expansion visit www. leakyland.com.

Measured Out in Coffee Spoons Peaches are Here!!

Story and photo by Cam Mather

I

n my on-going “life as a song lyric” series, where I live vicariously through music, I was recently taken back to my previous suburban life. I used to love the TV show Northern Exposure which featured a cast of eccentrics in a small town in Alaska and their daily antics. I wanted to be there. My musical preferences reflected this idyllic country life. I never got into poetry, but I love lyrics which I suppose, really are just another form of poetry.

I read that Leonard Cohen had been desperate to be a poet, and no one paid any attention to him until he started putting his poetry to music.

In 1991 a Canadian band called The Crash Test Dummies came on the scene with “Superman’s S o n g ” questioning just how committed S u p e r m a n really was about fighting crime.

Well at least it suggested that he could have broken into any bank he wanted and yet he just worked as a humble newspaper reporter to pay his rent.

Michelle loved The Crash Test Dummies because lead singer Brad Roberts had this unbelievably deep, baritone voice.

Even though I got my diploma in radio broadcasting from Loyalist College, I could never compete with him. I would have needed a lifetime of cigarette smoking and whiskey drinking to even be in his league.

The album had a song entitled “The Country Life” where Brad laments how great it would be to live in the country: We would spend so many lovely days We’d have chickens and cows and corn and whatever it is farmers raise At breakfast each morning we’d fry up our own hand-picked eggs We could be happy in the country.

As our desire to leave suburbia grew I found this song entering my psyche more and more. And now that we have chickens I’ve got to say, there is simply no greater luxury than cooking up eggs from the happy chickens that wander outside our backdoor.

Brad had a wee bit of an idyllic view of country life, which is good to help get you there. He sings: “We’ll just sit right back and watch while our crops grow.”

My experience is that farmers with tractors who plant 200 acres of crop do sit and watch while it grows. And when it doesn’t rain, they sweat the outcome of their investment. Can there be anything as stressful as watching a field of corn bake in a drought? In my world, planting my crops is the easy job. Watering and weeding and tending them is a full time job. The best full time job you could ask for. Oh, I often walk through those rows and absorb the positive energy they’re giving off, but they are high maintenance.

Their second album God Shuffled His Feet has a song called “Afternoons & Coffeespoons.”

Someday I’ll have a disappearing hairline Someday I’ll wear pyjamas in the daytime Afternoons will be measured out

By Beverly Frazer Measured out, measured with Coffeespoons and T.S. Eliot

Well so far I’ve kept my hair, but now that it’s getting grey I keep it as short as possible. And I get dressed pretty early but there is the odd winter day when I might not be dressed for that mythical 9 am business-world start. We do have one coffee in the morning, but if we’re both working on books and websites on computers for the day, our afternoons are more likely to be measured in teaspoons, since we switch to tea.

I have never read T.S. Eliot and even though I like lyrics, I don’t think I’m likely to read his poetry. But at least I CAN now read T.S. Eliot in the afternoon. I have that option.

I don’t do it often, but reading in the afternoon is an option that’s always there in the winter when you are a farmer. I have traded that 9 to 5 city work mentality for a country farming mentality. I can work whenever I want. I can sit and read whenever I want. I will never have that retirement option of just sitting around reading fulltime but I know too many people who seem miserable in their retirement.

The downside to this chosen life is that I don’t go to a cottage for my holidays. I work long weekends during the growing season. And I won’t retire.

Just keep cutting firewood and growing food. And after a drought like we had this summer and the exhausting days of watering, sometimes suburbia looks good again.

These songs remind me of the days when I used to dream of living in the country, and now I’m living the dream, and it’s pretty awesome. And even though they take me back to a time when I was miserable living in suburbia, the bad moods quickly dissolve away.

Wailing away with an axe in my hands, chopping firewood helps. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

We’re booking now for our fall, Living Sustainably and Independently, Ready for Rough Times, Hands-On, Solar-Powered, All You Can Grow Workshop at Sunflower Farm. For more information or to follow my blog visit www.cammather.com

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n t a r i o farmers, who produce 82% of the total Canadian peach crop, are currently producing their finest peaches for pies, jams, tarts, and many other peach inspired foods.

Peaches are low in calories and fat, sodium free (Health Canada) and contain vitamins A and C that help to maintain a healthy lifestyle - and they are great tasting too! The two most familiar varieties of peaches are SemiFreestone and Freestone. The flesh of the semi-freestone peach partially clings to the pit of the peach and is excellent for eating out-of-hand. The flesh of the freestone peach separates easily from the pit, making it perfect for both eating fresh from the tree or fruit stand and for baking and preserving.

TIPS • Look for creamy or yellow background

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on the peach, not green. Try to choose peaches that are firm and fragrant. The blush of the peach does not indicate ripeness, but is a way to identify the variety.

Remove fruit immediately from the container and sort according to ripeness. Enjoy ripe fruit immediately or store in the fridge for up to week.

To ripen firm fruit, store at room temperature and out of direct sunlight in a loosely closed paper bag for a day or two. Plastic is not recommended as the fruit cannot breath and will cause premature spoilage. Fruit is ripe when it’s sweetly fragrant and gives slightly when gentle pressure is applied.

To peel: Dip peaches in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds; immediately place in ice water. Rub peach skins off by hand.

To freeze: Peel, pit and slice peaches.

For four (4) cups of sliced peaches, mix peaches with ½ cup white sugar and ¼ tsp fruit preservative. Pack tightly into plastic containers or plastic freezer bags, leaving 1 inch air space at top. My mother always topped the peaches with crumpled sheet of wax paper (as my Grandmother did) and then sealed the bag or container tightly.

Growing up in the Niagara region, peaches were plentiful this time of year. We always made our annual trip to Onzlo’s Farms and picked our own peaches. One of my favourite desserts growing up was the fragrant and tasty Spiced Peach Squares my Mom made during peach season and again during the winter with peaches she preserved.

Enjoy!

SPICED PEACH SQUARES 1 cup 1/3 cup 2x 1 and ½ cup 1 tsp. ½ tsp.

1/3 cup 1 tsp.

Few drops 2 cups 1 tbsp. ½ to 1 tsp.

1/3 cup

Sugar Shortening Eggs, well beaten All-purpose flour Baking powder Salt Milk Vanilla Almond extract Sliced peaches Butter or margarine Cinnamon Sugar

1. Cream sugar and shortening until fluffy.

2. Add eggs, beating well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add to creamed mixture alternating 4.

5.

6.

7.

with milk, vanilla and almond extract.

Spread batter ½ inch thick in greased baking dish (8” square).

Cover with overlapping rows of peaches; dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixed together.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Try serving the squares with whipped cream flavoured with cinnamon.

Beverly Frazer runs the The River Bakery Cafe & Patio in Tamworth. You can follow her on Facebook @ The River Bakery Café & Patio LLBO.

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The Wonderful World Inside Your Gut!

T

produce some vitamins, they prevent bad bacteria from taking root, and they Top photo: Dalton and Bev. interact with our immune systems.

Bottom: Dalton, Anita, and Bev. Usually we get out gut bacteria Photo credits: Barry Lovegrove. naturally through our environment.

As newborns, breastfeeding provides bacteria from Mother’s skin. When we are older, we get our bacteria from the surfaces of the food we eat, or from eating foods that are made with and by bacteria- dairy products like yoghurt and some cheeses. Now you can buy bacteria: probiotics are supplements that may contain only one organism, while others contain a spectrum of them.

When we are ill, we take antibiotics that work by killing all the bacteria - the good organisms along with the bad. Taking probiotics when you are on antibiotics helps to reduce the side effects ( like stomach upset and yeast infection) and it helps to reduce the risk of contracting C. difficile, which is an antibiotic resistant bug found in hospitals.

Taking a probiotic supplement has been found to be beneficial in a number of different diseases: • Common cold - Taking a probiotic when you have a cold can reduce the

severity and duration of the cold.

• Irritable bowel syndrome - Taking probiotics can decrease abdominal bloating , cramping and stool frequency.

• Eczema Most of the research looking at eczema and probiotics has been done on children.

5 billion organisms twice per day in children aged 2-10 reduced symptoms of eczema after twelve weeks in one study.

• Weight management - Some evidence is showing that probiotics can help you lose weight!

Sometimes people tell me they are eating yoghurt in place of taking a probiotic supplement. Unfortunately,

gar & a W

yoghurt does not have enough of the bacteria in it to make an impact on disease symptoms.

Probiotics have so far been shown to be very s a f e .

Case repor ts of dangerous effects have come from people who have had severely compromised immune systems and infectious diarrhea.

As an aside, those of you who raise birds might be interested to know you can buy probiotic supplements

specifically for them! My husband and I tried them out on our meat chickens this summer. The birds had some sort of respiratory infection that was causing a snick. It cleared up shortly after we started administering the probiotic.

We also judged the birds to be more heat tolerant, which could be because the probiotic increased the health of their lungs, allowing for more efficient panting.

Scientists continue to research the organisms that live inside us and how we can manipulate them to improve our health. There is a lot more to learn about the varieties of organisms, the locations in our guts that they like best, and how they interact with our own cells.

I expect we’ll be using probiotics in a very targeted way for many disease processes in the future. For now, we know they can help with infections, atopy (allergies, asthma and eczema) and auto-immunity. See a healthcare provider if you would like help selecting the right probiotic for you.

Andrea Hilborn (previously Andrea Dingwall) is a Naturopathic Doctor licensed through the Board of Directors of Drugless Therapy – Naturopathy. Her practice is in Sydenham.

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One way I can enjoy both

By Andrea Hilborn their businesses is when I go to purmicroorganisms chase iny freshone-celled bread, smoked almonds have been found living or specialty cheese, I bring one of everywhere - from deep inside my dogs, to sitthe onthick the patio andArctic. talk volcanoes ice of the It should come as no surprise that “dogs” with Dalton. Sounds likeour a bodies are covered with them, but it new show: Dogs with Dalton… nevmight be alarming to find out that we er a dog’s have thembreakfast! living inside our bodies as website forourthe Rewell- all The the way through digestive tracts.Beagle www.regalbeagleungal We provide a lovely, warm, moist leashed.com offers a wealth of inenvironment for these bugs to live formation dog lovers. in and, inforexchange, they perform somewebsite very important us: The for thefunctions Bakery for is in they digest some carbohydrates, they progress: www.riverbakery.com

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WritersFest Focuses on Kids

Yes, You Can Write!

Tomato Sandwiches

By Annette Uens

Story by Holly Tousignant

A

sk any passionate reader what sparked their love of books, and they’ll probably tell you it began in childhood, with stories read aloud by parents before bedtime, picture books examined on a grandparent’s knee, or a new series devoured in the school library.

When Kingston WritersFest kicks off September 26, its new children’s programming will aim to ignite that Sydenham high-school student Sebastian Back, is one of the finalists of the Think You Can Write spark in young readers. contest. Photo : Bernard Clark “We’re concerned with recent statistics that show reading among children and in families is on the picture books or novels, a “make your decline,” says Merilyn Simonds, artistic own book” table, and word games such director of the Festival, now in its as Find-a-Word and Madlibs featuring fourth year as a revamped, four-day the Wally Edwards and Kevin Sylvester literary offering. “One of our goals is books. At 10 a.m., Wally Edwards to encourage reading, and the habit will draw and read from his new book of reading starts when kids are very Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe, especially young.” geared to 4-8 year-olds. Then at 11 To achieve this goal, WritersFest is a.m., Kevin Sylvester will show how launching Authors@School, which will he brings his super-chef detective Neil bring celebrated children’s writers into Flambé to life. local elementary schools to share their ”We hope to engage families and books and their passion for storytelling. children under the age of 13 as Participating writers include Yarker’s effectively as we’ve reached teenagers,” Wallace Edwards, Kingston’s Sarah says Simonds.

Tsiang, and Robert Priest and Kevin Each year, teens are invited to Sylvester, both of Toronto. participate in the WritersFest Think The festival already offers Festival You Can Write? Contest, writing a Field Trips that connect hundreds of poem, story, or memoir around 5 high school students with writers, designated words. This year’s finalists but elementary schools presented include Sydenham High School student a logistical challenge. Rather than Sebastian Back. The winner will be bringing the children to the authors, announced onstage at the International festival planners decided to bring the Marquee, the festival’s opening night authors to the kids. event featuring Michael Ondaatje and A notice was sent to all elementary Teju Cole. A web contest this summer schools in the Limestone District and sponsored by the US Embassy will give Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic away 50 tickets to the Ondaatje/Cole to District school boards inviting teachers High school students. to request one of four authors on a Teens with aspirations of one first-come, first-served basis. Within a day seeing their own name in the day, nearly 30 schools had responded.

WritersFest program can attend Of those, eight were chosen. To any of the festival’s Writers Studio ensure the program reaches as many master classes, including three that students as possible, festival organizers are specifically designed for them At encouraged teachers to invite nearby Damian Rogers’ free master class, teens classes to attend. According to Youth will receive tips on how to take home Coordinator Anne Powers, some the $5,000 prize at the Poetry in Voice schools have even invited schools National Finals; at Kelley Armstrong outside their own school board to join and Christopher Morris’ respective in their presentation. events, they will learn what goes into Festival organizers hope the school creating a fantasy world and how to visits will help make young people and write authentic characters. their families aware of festival events, Armstrong’s class is one of six especially Kids on Sunday, a morning Festival Field Trips for high school of free festival fun for kids. “This year students, where they will also have we’re offering an entire morning of free the opportunity to hear about Andrew activities,” Simonds says.

Westoll’s Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary Beginning at 9:30 a.m. kids can join and Marina Nemat’s Prisoner of Tehran, a book swap of gently used children’s among others.

All of these events reflect Simonds’ vision for the festival.

“We want to do everything we can to show families and show kids how fabulous reading can be; how provocative and delightful it can be to enter into the world of a book.”

Children’s writer Kevin Sylvester.

Photo credit: Bernard Clark.

Kingston WritersFest runs September 26 to 30. Tickets go on sale August 16. For more information about authors and events, see kingstonwritersfest.ca.

The Scoop

O

h for goodness sakes... there he is again. She sighed and tried to concentrate on how settled the sun looked in the sky this morning. Spring was certainly in the air and the flowerbeds along the driveway whispered to Matilda, begging her to make knee prints and paw around in the dirt recently freed from its winter blanket. It was her favourite time of year, but just like in the fall before the cold sequestered her indoors, every time she stepped off her front porch, Gerald had to find a reason to come out too. Although she hated winter, at least it had been a break from his relentless visiting.

On Monday when she was dragging her garbage to the curb, he hastened over to help her. On Tuesday when she tried to sneak out to get the mail, he met her on the lawn and made her late for her favourite program. Wednesday, when she was pulling weeds, he leaned on the fence behind her and seemed happy enough to chat at her backside while she went on about her work.

It wasn’t that he was an unpleasant fellow. He just couldn’t seem to leave her alone when a little solitude was all she wanted at this stage in life.

She’d been forced to live in the city close to her husband’s work for years, but longed daily for this little cottage where they used to take their vacations.

Martin hadn’t been gone six months before she sold the house in the city and escaped the noise and congestion.

She left four grown children and a half dozen grandchildren behind, and now wanted nothing more than to listen to her own breathing, the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds catering at the feeder in the backyard.

But Gerald seemed determined to defy her plans. She was seventy years old and beyond the welcome visits from her family, she wanted only to melt into the countryside and return to the quiet roots she’d abandoned years ago. There was a stream behind the house that she longed to explore, all sorts of flora she needed to be reintroduced to. Even the feel of the sun on her face felt different here - when she could stand beneath it without fear of Gerald spotting her and sprinting to her aid with sunscreen and a hat.

Honestly what did the man want?

He was a reasonably handsome fellow, still had a fine head of grey hair and laughing blue eyes. Why wasn’t he chasing some of the ladies in town that drove by daily to see if he was home and in need of any cookies or company? Her city neighbours had never been this troublesome.

Peeking out the window, and believing she was in the clear, she tiptoed out to the garden and began immediately to pull debris from the earth, already picturing the neat rows of peas and beans. She was only a few minutes into ecstasy when her shovel hit something hard. Scowling, she dug some more, and then on her knees, traced the edges of the rock that was attempting to foil her plans. It was at least two feet wide and likely as deep. No amount of prying or wiggling dislodged it. Falling back on

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 8

her haunches and wiping sweat from her brow, she groaned. As beautiful as this area was, the one thing that grew better than anything... was rocks, and this one wasn’t going anywhere easily. She supposed she could move the garden a few feet to the right, but then the shadow of the big oak would inevitably provide too much shade.

Glancing at her watch she decided to get a drink and maybe a pick axe from the garage. Five minutes later when she returned, she felt for a moment like Mary must have standing before the empty tomb. The crater that remained was huge, the rock that had rested there, rolled neatly to the edge of the patch. On top of it sat a perky tomato plant. The excavator was nowhere in sight but she assumed her grey haired stalker was the culprit. He’d mentioned tomato sandwiches were his favourite.

She sighed and supposed by midsummer when the fruit was ready, she’d have to offer up an invitation as a thank you. Still, a man that could move a rock like that could be useful. And truthfully she kind of liked tomato sandwiches herself.

The Lucky Fishing Spot

By Solomon Woodland

O

ne hot summer day, my brother, my two cousins and I were spending some time at the family cottage. We were playing cards on the picnic table and we decided to go fishing. We gathered our gear and packed a lunch and climbed into the paddleboat. My cousin, Rachel and I sat in the back while my brother, and cousin Caleb pedaled at the front.

It took about ten minutes to get across the smooth, calm lake to our lucky spot.

When we got there, we threw the anchor in the water. We baited our hooks and waited a while, getting no bites at all. Then finally something grabbed my line. I fought furiously and then my line went loose. I reeled it up and my bait was gone, hook and all.

I had barely settled back down when suddenly, the same large-mouth bass leaped straight out of the water and smacked Rachel square in the face. It landed in the boat, right between my feet. I grabbed it as quickly as I could and hooked it on my chain. Everybody was laughing so hard, except for Rachel.

When we got back to the cottage we put it on the scale. It weighed four pounds; not bad for a large-mouth bass.

A Natural View

A Jurassic Park Right Here in Our Back Yard Story and photos by Terry Sprague

P

opular legend says that Satan ahead of us! Even early in the afternoon, routinely visited this spot which it is dark down here, the layered rocks might account for the name of the in places appearing stacked as though rugged terrain just a few minutes south intentionally stratified that way. Some of Tamworth. The sign identifies one are covered in a powdery dust as time cavern as the Devil’s Horse Stable Cave and elements continue to work away at and it is here where Satan had stabled these massive structures. his horses. There is even another legend Other formations like the Pillar Rock that tells of a headless horseman seen seem ready to collapse at any moment, here on a moonless night in November but has stood there, unchanged, for seeking a new head to replace the one thousands of years. Midway along the Nola Sprague pauses at the Devil’s Horse Stable Cave with Nipper, our Sheltie/Terrier. he lost to the Devil. At one time, this rock, there is a fracture, so perhaps cave reached far underground but was in another thousand years or so, the Christmas card setting, we were Road residents Evelyn and Ron Storring dynamited shut for safety reasons when wording on the sign identifying this understandably overcome by its who have done an admirable job of it collapsed in the early 1900s. rock will need to be altered. The trail sudden appearance. The abstract and creating and signing the self-guiding The location of this unexpected in nature does trail and providing amenities such as infamous cave is the that to naturalists, and my a gift shop, playground, mini golf and Hell Holes, located friend was certainly among a picnic area, and just a year ago, an off Centreville Road. the most passionate about enormous Inukshuk. Whether one It parallels the nature, and well known in is interested in geology, spectacular Salmon River, and the local community for wildflowers and ferns, birdlife or other from one lookout his volunteer work with creatures, this is truly one of the most point, a silver maple environmental causes. amazing areas I have visited to date. swamp can be seen, He passed away not long The popular destination is open daily the same swamp we after that hike, and I was during the peak operating season and paddle beside on grateful to have been along weekends during much of the colder our canoe trips from to share in his emotion season. You can phone them at 613Roblin to Croydon. when we stumbled across 388-2284 for more information, or go The trail here winds the fern. to their website at www.ruralroutes. its way through Only a few years later, com/hellholes. a natural, if not I was walking here with somewhat mystical another dear friend. This For more information on birding and A ladder descends into the 8-metre deep Hell Hole, large enough to wonder, dating back close companion was my nature and guided hikes, check out the accommodate up to a dozen cave enthusiasts. to the glacial period.

Sheltie/Terrier dog who, NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.

In fact, it is believed the Salmon River eventually levels out a bit, passing in her lifetime, missed only a handful net. Terry Sprague lives in Prince once gouged a route through here through a swamp-like valley where water of guided hikes that I had conducted Edward County and is self-employed as a millions of years ago, forming the disappears inexplicably underground over the years. At the age of 15 and professional interpretive naturalist. present day flowerpot formations, through sinkholes, possibly finding its with a growing respiratory ailment, she gullies, spectacular overhanging ledges, way to the Salmon River. was determined to complete this hike towering cliff faces, and caves. One I have conducted hikes at this location at her own speed and under her own can’t help but envision an earlier time, several times, and in different seasons. terms. Somehow we both knew that and imagine what this area would have I would be hard pressed to pick a this would be her last hike with me over been like thousands of years ago and season that didn’t offer something a rocky, challenging sort of terrain that Tea Room the processes that took place to create remarkably interesting, even in winter. had always been among her favourites. what it is today.

A good friend who was dying of cancer She passed away two weeks later, as With no particular fondness for accompanied me on one of those trips, overjoyed, I would like to think, as my entering dark, seemingly unstable after an unexpected 15-cm snowfall human friend who had also challenged 2810 Bridge Street, Yarker, ON recesses where the region’s first ever in November had turned the area into these same trails only a few years earthquake might occur that very a winter wonderland. We had been earlier. So, the famous Hell Holes fill me Chicken & Ribs moment, hesitantly, I have descended talking about a rare fern species only with great emotion every time I visit – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights the Hell Hole Cave, a narrow, formidable moments earlier, and while the difficult of special friends, special plants and a shaft dropping down some eight metres hike had been challenging for him, we special kind of terrain that can be found Come and enjoy our vegetarian and widening into a cavern. It is dark, both agreed this was prime walking fern nowhere else in eastern Ontario. I plan lunches and our wonderful home moist and decidedly cooler in there. On habitat, known for its ability to climb to be there again this fall, likely with made pies. my last visit, I took a few photos, and and colonize rocks, by laying down new a large group of hikers as we discover On weekend evenings, eat in or take then scurried back up the ladder that tendrils as it “walks” its way up the hard even more new things in this incredible out our own slow-smoked ribs and has been provided for visitors. surface. landscape. our delicious rotisserie chicken.

There are other temperature changes Suddenly, there it was, completely The property is owned by Centreville Enjoy the view of the spectacular too after emerging from the Hell Holes enveloping a huge Cave. An interesting, natural marvel is limestone pillar, Yarker Falls. a linear stone bridge, part way along, the rich, leathery descending deep into a valley where green fronds offset Chef: Eric DePoe right away cooler temperatures are by a thick blanket www.waterfalltearoom.com noticed as moss covered limestone of November’s first boulders, and shelves with small major snowfall 613 377-1856 grottos, tower high above you. It is like of the season.

Lamb and The Wool Shed stepping into Jurassic Park, and we While we both on Amherst Island shouldn’t be surprised at all if a small didn’t go so far as pack of tiny Deinonychus dinosaurs to openly weep Email: info@topsyfarms.com 613 389-3444 Web: www.topsyfarms.com were to suddenly dash across the trail over the idealistic

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Page 9

The Groenewegens: A Farming Family

By Angela Saxe “The most insistent and formidable concern of agriculture, wherever it is taken seriously, is the distinct individuality of every farm, every field on every farm, every farm family and every creature on every farm.” Wendell Berry

A

griculture once employed most of the population in Ontario and farming families formed the backbone of the communities in our area; now only 1% of the population is involved in agriculture. Land was cleared of trees and rocks to make room for crops and pasture for animals; now houses sit where cows once grazed. Yet farming is experiencing a renaissance as new markets appear and customers are demanding better quality food.

Encouraging the next generation to invest their time, energy and education to help build and expand the family farm seems to make good sense and the Groenewegen family is doing just that.

This summer the Limestone Organic Creamery opened its doors to the public selling high quality organic milk as well as a variety of other organic and locally-grown food. It is located on the Groenewegen farm just north of Elginburg on Sydenham Road where parents Francis and Kathie Groenewegen have been joined by their daughter Olivia, a recent graduate from Guelph University with a Science degree in agriculture and son Patrick, who apprenticed at Steens Dairy in Guelph and is now certified as a Milk and Cream grader and processor. Together they farm the land, raising cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens and now processing the milk from their dairy herd and selling and delivering, a variety of milk products.

The Groenewegen family has deep roots in the dairy business. Checking out the Album section on their website and you’ll see a photograph of Francis’s father, Henny, who delivered milk in a horse-drawn cart in his native Holland. He, his wife and three children emigrated to Canada and eventually settled in Harrowsmith where they operated a dairy farm. His family grew to include 11 children, many whom went into dairy farming as well.

Francis’s brother Martin and his son Dave now run their parents’ original farm. On Kathie’s side of the family, her parents Gerry and Lilliane Groome left Montreal in the mid-60s, buying a farm north of Eliginburg and in 1989 Kathie and her new husband Francis took over the farm. With Olivia and Patrick joining the family business, another generation of Groenewegens are now working together to build a local, sustainable organic farm that provides people in the area with tasty, milk and meat produce.

A farm family can only be successful in today’s highly competitive marketplace if they share the same vision and contribute their individual skills and knowledge as equal and important members of the enterprise. As selfemployed entrepreneurs, they have to be efficient and pitch-in to help when a job needs to be done. Olivia’s description of how it all works reflects this formula.

Olivia and her mother Kathie share many of the same tasks. Olivia usually milks the cows while her mother takes care of the heifers. After opening the store, she may spend time serving customers or doing the paper work: invoicing, ordering, purchasing – tasks that she again shares with her mother.

Kathie can often be found in the new commercial kitchen in the main section of the store baking cookies or scones with plans to make soup and sandwiches for take- out. When the store and the office upstairs closes at six, (four on the weekend) they go back to the barn to milk and feed the cows.

Meanwhile Patrick is busy helping his father feed all the animals, clean out stalls – all the farm chores that need to be done. Summer, of course, brings the additional task of cutting, baling and storing the hay. On Thursdays he does the retail and home deliveries in an old milk truck. On days when they will be processing the milk, he oversees the facility and ensures that the milk meets the family standard.

The milk processing takes four people to do, so Olivia may join in to help. They don their clean white high rubber boots and sterilized coats and head into the processing facility. The first thing they must do is pasteurize the milk – heating it at a high temperature for a short period of time. Patrick prefers the taste of the milk when he pasteurizes it at 76 degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

There are three basic processes: pasteurization, homogenization and bottling. All the milk at the Limestone Creamery is homogenized except for one. For those readers who remember the old days, this is the milk bottle where the cream rises to the top and the skim milk sits at the bottom. Many people still enjoy scooping the cream out for their coffee. At this time they sell: 2%, 1%, skim, 3.8% homogenized and 3.8% unhomogenized, as well as 3.8% chocolate milk.

Deciding when to process the milk is something they are still working on.

Currently all the milk that is processed is bottled with an expiry date of 14 days.

But as Patrick continues to test the milk he hopes to improve the shelf life to 20 – 25 days. It is only at that point that they will know how much milk they can store before having to process again.

Olivia assures me that even though everyone has their specific areas of responsibility; it’s really her father Francis who oversees the farm, making sure that everything runs smoothly so as to allow them the time to focus

The Scoop

on the milk processing and the retail outlet. “We rarely see him except when he sneaks in for a bottle of chocolate milk.”

Labeling their milk and meat products “organic” requires that they meet specific criteria: the land must be herbicide and pesticide free.

No chemical fertilisers can be used – only manure and Olivia Groenewegen and her mother Kathie compost. The animals do not receive any antibiotics or hormones a time and their water recycling system and the cows must be taken out into the minimizes the amount of water used. pasture where they graze and socialize Home deliveries are transported – an important condition for being in an old milk truck and the order is identified as organic. placed in an attractive porch box made The successful farm today has to be of insulated, galvanized metal with a totally self-sufficient, especially if it lid that protects the milk from heat wants to minimize costs and ensure and cold. A deposit of $45 is required a healthy, safe agricultural product. and there’s a $3 delivery charge. Right The Groenewegen farm grows all its now they distribute to the Kingston own feed: organic area, north to Petworth Road, east to peas and corn (to Battersea and all the way to Gananoque. supplement the Not only can you order include cows’ diet) and Limestone Creamery milk but also any hay are grown in of the Organic Meadow products, Reinik their fields that Organic Eggs and prepared products are fertilized from Pasta Tavola. by manure and As I was leaving, Kathie, who was busy compost from the making chocolate-chip cookies and farm. “The organic serving customers, confirmed that they feed helps all our enjoy and get a great deal of satisfaction animals not only from working together as a family. grow but also “It works well for us. Our children are stay healthy,” says still living at home and they are just as Olivia. “We rarely committed to our vision of providing call or use a vet healthy, safe food not only for ourselves and when any of the animals are sick but also for our community.” or hurt, we use homeopathic remedies.” Olivia echoed her mother’s words: “I Olivia and Kathie have attended courses love that we are self-sufficient; I know on homeopathy, read widely and they where everything comes from. We are have the support and expertise of a grateful that we have the opportunity veterinarian in Eastern Ontario who to offer fresh, organic food and milk to has taught them a great deal and helps so many people.” them to make their own tinctures. “Like The man in the parking lot who had cures like and it works. We use arnica just picked up a couple of bottles of for bruises or cuts and the animals milk, quickly responded when I asked respond quickly.” him what he thought of the milk: “Not The Groenewegens are not only only is the milk really delicious but I marketing a quality product but they are love the fact that I know that the milk doing it by embracing the philosophy of I’m drinking came from cows down the a small-scale, sustainable, local farm road from me. That’s the best!” business. They use glass bottles which keeps the milk colder and tastier, are reusable and prevents any type of leaching Stone Mills Massage Therapy from plastic bags or Carrie-Lee Jeffrey, RMT cardboard containers.

There’s a one-time $2 2 Concession St. South Tamworth, ON deposit for each bottle (Located at the five corners in the old Village Video) of milk which sells for Phone: 613-877-4050 $2.99. Their bottle carrieleejeffreyrmt@gmail.com washing machine can handle 600 bottles at

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 10

REAL ESTATE Robert Storring

Jack Green and Sharon Moorcroft

Broker

Sales Representatives RE/MAX Finest Realty Inc., Brokerage Each office independently owned and operated Office: 613-354-5435

Jack: 613-328-8250

Sharon: 613-329-5772

MLS # 12605164 $294,900 WATERFRONT HOME, BEAVER LAKE

Well maintained 4 season, 3 bdrm cottage/ home located on Neville Point. Attached sun room. Private setting with mature landscaping.

Large deck with walkout from bdrms. Gradual sloping to dock. Hardtop maintained road.

MLS # 12605185 $399,000 LAKEVIEW TAVERN, BEAVER LAKE

Built in 1871, the 217 seat Tavern has been a traditional gathering place for residents & cottagers. A variety of events have made it a 4 season destination. 5 bdrm apt over Tavern reno’d 2011. Good investment opportunity.

MLS # 12604846 $119,000 GONE FISHING, SHEFFIELD LAKE

2+ acre lot with 203 ft of w/f is a great rustic retreat. Lots of Canadian Shield & well treed for privacy. Great dock & deep clean water.

Included is a 30 ft trailer, gazebo, storage hanger & pontoon boat w motor. Build potential.

Offices

Contact

44 Industrial Blvd.

Napanee

Direct: Office: Toll Free:

14 Concession St. Tamworth

613-379-2903 613-354-4347 1 866-233-2062

storring@kos.net robert.storring@century21.ca

TRAVEL BIG WATER

Access the world by water from all brick home on the Bay of Quinte. Extraordinary views of the bay from dining area, master bdrm, recreation rm & family rm. 2 ½ baths, oversize garage, large deck. Price includes unlimited boating, fishing swimming, boat lift & aluminum dock. $459,900 www.Obeo.com/710698

COUNTRY ESTATE

52 Acres in wine country. 875 ft. waterfront, vineyard, horses or hobby farm. 5000 sq. ft. Residential. 3 + 1 Brdm., 3 Baths, 3 F/Ps, gourmet kitchen, theatre rm. Open land for crops, grazing or grapevines, mature maples, cleared area to natural waterfront. $1,290,000 www.Obeo.com/725664

REDUCED, DUPLEX MLS # 12603958

$54,900

17 ACRES VACANT LAND near SHEFFIELD LAKE Lovely rustic setting just north of Tamworth. This property offers a hill top wooded retreat with lots of Canadian Shield, a large beaver pond and trails. Bonus: deeded right of way access to Sheffield Lake.

Live in one side & let the other pay the mortgage. Each side has 2 bdrms, eat-in kitchen, good sized living room, 4 pc bath & laundry room. Recently repainted, new click & ceramic flooring. Each side separately heated & hydro. Currently vacant & ready for immediate occupancy. $115,000 MLS # 12604600

DARREN HILL - SALES REP EXIT REALTY ACCELERATION 32 INDUSTRIAL BLVD NAPANEE, ON K7R 4B7 613-532-2275 (DIRECT)

MLS# 12604436

Sue Rankin Sales Representative Wagar & Myatt Ltd 112A Industrial Blvd.

Napanee, ON

Toll Free: 866-461-0631 Office: 613-354-3550 Cell: 613-536-8589 suerankin.homesandland.com suerankin@kos.net

Beautiful backsplit ideal location and great family area - ‘West Park Village’. This home is immaculate inside & out! Many features; like a 3 season sunroom off liv rm/din rm area leading out to a patio, observe the huge fenced in backyard. Gleaming hardwood floors, a/c. Rec rm with gas fireplace and a 3pc bath, high efficiency gas furnace 2006, roof 2004 and much more. All appliances are included.

FIRST TIME BUYERS!

MLS # 12604414

Very nice Century 2 + 1 bedroom home on large lot in Erinsville, walking distance from Beaver Lake. Home has new paint throughout, tastefully decorated with newer windows & furnace installed 3-4 years ago. Beautiful pine floors in living room.

Landscaped with very nice flower & vegetable gardens. A must see! 20 minutes North of Napanee in the Village of Erinsville. 5991 County Road 41.

Asking $147,500

MLS # 12606186

Perfect water view home for entertaining. 2000+ sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is the place for your growing family. Formal dining room, huge rec room with bar, attached garage. Central Air. Many extras. Country setting just minutes from Pickerel Park. Go out to your large back yard with mature trees, large garden, & berry bushes. Plenty of room to play on this 1 ½ acre property. 1438 South Shore Rd. Napanee

MLS # 12602724

MLS # 12604917

Enjoy your summers and or winters on White Lake.

Watch the view from your covered deck. Become a joint owner of Cedar Cove Estates. Own 3 sites on this lot complete with mobile home & bunkie so you can bring the whole family. White Lake is known for its excellent fishing, swimming and boating. Your escape from the city. 181 White Lake Road, Erinsville. 20 Minutes North of Napanee.

MLS # 12605622

28 Rose Street, Stone Mills $25,900

Great size lot in the village of Tamworth located at the end of a dead end street. All within walking distance to all the amenities of town.

MLS # 12606137

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

25 Lenid Way, Greater Napanee $144,500

Beautiful waterfront lot located on Adolphus Reach (Perch Cove). Nice open lot with minimal clearance needed to build your cottage. The property has hydro, septic and a shore well. A 20 x 12 building (09) is on site as well. Great swimming, fishing and boating. How would you like to call this home for the future?

SUMMER AT ITS BEST!

The Scoop

14222 Highway 41, Cloyne $349,900

Family owned business for 24 years. Popular spot with so much to offer.

High volume traffic, Land O’ Lakes region (Cloyne). Good sized store, makes greco pizza and has many other necessities for the everyday customer. 5 Bedroom residence attached with spacious living with updates over time to: wiring, plumbing, furnace and most recently the kitchen, & flooring. Two other detached buildings currently being used as a bait shop (1440 sqft) selling fishing and camping equipment and fireworks. The other building is an arts & craft studio (960 sqft) being rented out to a local artist who sells her goods. Tremendous potential for other uses of those buildings and more.

SIMPLY SENSATIONAL! REDUCED!

Asking $109,000

13 Linton Park Rd, Belleville $187,900

Nice bungalow ‘east end’ location. Close to all amenities. Features 3 bedrooms, a/c, hardwood floors, eat in kitchen, nice bright living room area with vaulted ceilings, 1 1/2 baths, lower level walkout, high efficiency gas furnace (2010) a/c (2012). Fenced in yard with a good sized deck.

MLS # 12605550

Asking $289,900

93 Village Drive, Belleville $229,900

Page 11

Peggy Collins Creating a Child’s World Through Books

By J. Huntress “The children are the hope that will lead us to a better place.”-- Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray, 2011, Philomel Books (USA)

I

felt wonder, happiness and a lot of admiration for Peggy Collins after meeting her on a July morning at her home on the banks of The Salmon River. She and her friend Jessi Lalonde (a multimedia artist/ Special Education teacher from the Newburgh area) were helping five excited children to prepare lemonade for a roadside stand. The two mothers had taken some delicious scones from the oven and the children grabbed some as they ran outside. I sat down in Peggy’s kitchen filled with children’s toys, art on its walls, and cooking utensils. The kitchen adjoined a lovely new studio/playroom which Shaun Tokonitz, Peggy’s partner for fifteen years, recently built from a former mud room; and I began to ask questions of this mother, teacher and author/illustrator with an international reputation in children’s book publishing.

Peggy was born in 1975 in Ottawa and her family soon moved to Lindsay, Ontario where summers were spent between her grandfather’s home and bakery in the Algonquin Park area and summer art classes for kids at the Lindsay Art Gallery. Her father and mother passed onto their three children the family’s historic love for the arts, and her mother created and bound her own books of stories which she illustrated for her children. These books and her mother’s nightly readings to her children made a permanent imprint on Peggy and helped determine her goals in life. “She was showing us how words and pictures connect and it was an early way for us to start to see the world.

I read books into the night until the batteries in my flashlight went dead. I especially liked the Kids’ Chapter Books, the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren; my favorite book was called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst with illustrations by Ray Cruz.”

Peggy attended Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario for three years, specializing in Interpretive Illustration and Graphic Design. Upon graduation she was awarded an Internship at Owl Magazine where she learned a great deal about producing a magazine for children. In the 1990’s she traveled West to work during the spring and summer, planting trees in British Columbia and cooking for tree planters in Alberta and Saskatchewan. On one trip in 1997 she met Shaun Tokonitz, another tree planter, and in 1998 they jointly decided to move back to the east specifically to Kingston where Shaun took Advanced Carpentry at St. Lawrence College. Peggy during this time did graphic design at Your Workplace Magazine. In 2001 she was offered a teaching position as Graphic Technician in Graphic Design at Loyalist College in Belleville. For more than ten years she has commuted and taught conceptualization of characters, figure

drawing, colour theory, etc. for 35 hours per week, doing her own writing and art late into the evening after her two children were asleep.

In 2004 Shaun and Peggy bought their home in Forest Mills. Peggy was pregnant with Mowat (b. 2005) and wanted to have her own storybooks published before he was born. On maternity leave she wrote and illustrated In the pupil would take a portion to illustrate. and other detail. She hopes to use this Garden and In the Snow (both listed in She, much like her mother, then took equipment to create animations for the Canadian Children’s Book Council’s the children’s story and artwork and children. She smiled and exclaimed, Best Books for Kids for 2010) and bound them into a permanent book “It is amazing to have this career. I can she illustrated three other books for for the school to keep. She felt that the work here in my studio and the children authors. In the seven years since then children’s united effort gave each of can play around me. As Mowat and she has done collaborative illustration them memories and creative ideas to Azalea grow I can spend more time with for twelve children’s storybooks and use in their lives. my art -- I feel I haven’t done my best readers, published by Scholastic Press, This coming September excites her work yet and I can soon begin to try and Simon and Schuster (USA/Canada), because her teaching hours will be make this happen.”

Fitzhenry and Whiteside (Canada), much reduced and she will have more I left this encounter feeling great hope and Red Robin Books( U.K). She time to spend with her family. She will for the future of children everywhere collaborated with British author Neil be able to escort her children to the as it will be guided by mothers and Griffiths on Fatou, Fetch the Water - this school bus, and she and Shaun will be artists such as Peggy Collins. It is up book was shortlisted for the Dundee, able to relax and enjoy the two hours of to the children to ask adults the hard Scotland Picture book award in 2011. “quality time” they set aside each night questions about our present world and With Brian Cretney, (also from U.K.), to read and play with Mo and Azalea. it is up to adults to show them the better she illustrated the story: Tooter’s Stinky “I understand how today’s parents are places to which all people can go, either Wish, which was nominated for The insanely busy, with little time to spare; in imagination or reality. Suddenly World’s Storytelling Award in 2011. their children have so many distractions the kitchen door bursts open and the Her lovely daughter Azalea was born in in their lives, but I believe reading a children ran into the house, happy with 2012. book to a child will give that child a way the news of their successful lemonade Peggy is proud of her ideals and to make sense of the world.” sales. her independent attitude about In September she will join other copyright problems facing artists in Professors of the Faculty of Animation See www.peggysillustration.com and the marketplace. She is fortunate to and Digital Media in Public Relations www.pegg ydrawsandwrites.blogspot. own copyrights for much of her work; at Loyalist College. She will teach com to find updates of future work, and infrequently does she sign “work story boarding, conceptualization, Peggy andxJessi SpindleTreepublications.

Gardens Ad 3.4 2.25Lalonde inchesalso for hire contracts” with a publisher animation and drawing twelve hours a design and sew tutus for little girls. The for a lump sum payment entitling the week. tutus are marketed on www.Etsyshop.com. publisher to buy and own the copyrights In the studio she has a new and amazing for her story and artwork. She told Wacom Cintiq Visit our 20 acres of gorgeous me that by buying her copyrights tablet attached to a gardens, water features, she becomes legally entitled to earn computer and she is architectural elements and charming tea room. royalties from the work for the future: “I developing computer don’t believe artists can give everything graphic applications away.” to layer on top of Last year she gave two “Artist in the scanned drawings.

Open daily (except Tues. & Thurs.)

School” workshops at Selby Elementary This drawing tablet from May to October.

School and she hopes to do more also scans wool felt workshops in 2013. She asked a class to shapes of characters compose a group story for which every and adds line, texture, • •

6248 County Rd. 4, Tamworth, ON 613-379-5898 spindletree.ca

Andrea Hilborn, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine 613-876-2855 info@natural-route.com www.natural-route.com 3161 Rutledge Rd Sydenham

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NOW OPEN IN NORTHBROOK ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 12

L&A Dark Sky Viewing Area in Stone Mills Now Open to the Public Story and photos by Terence Dickinson

Native stone • Native plants • Water gardens • Consulting

dark-sky friendly, like the big new Stone Mills maintainence vehicles building in Centreville (take a look at the glarefree lighting next time you drive by at night).

Now, back to my first statement about Stone Mills’ unique distinction.

A few years ago, while I was writing a chapter on light pollution for my book The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, I was studying a map compiled from satellite images taken of the Earth at night. The images clearly revealed the glow from Napanee and even smaller communities like Tweed and Sharbot Lake that was visible from 400 kilometres up in orbit.

Even more interesting, areas of Ontario not yet affected by light pollution from the combined glow of larger communities was just as obvious on the map as was the staggering amount of night lighting pushing out in a belt from Oshawa to Toronto to Hamilton and on to Kitchener. Another corridor encases Highway 11 from Toronto to Barrie, to Orillia and north through Muskoka to Huntsville. To reach a zone north of Toronto as dark as the northwest sector of Stone Mills around the Sheffield Conservation Area (near Mellon Lake), you have to drive 220 kilometres north, to Burks Falls.

The astonishing reality revealed by the light-pollution map is that a pocket of exceptional nighttime darkness exists

abovethewaterline.ca

S

tone Mills Township has a new and unique distinction that I would like to share with you. But first, a little background.

When I was very young, I realized that I had a deep fascination for the stars.

Not rock stars or famous celebrities, but the real stars of the night sky.

At age 5, I remember asking my parents about the stars as they became visible one evening from our back porch in a Toronto suburb. This was 1949, well before the glare of city lights made the nighttime sky over urban areas a permanent nocturnal twilight, obliterating all but a handful of the brightest stars.

A recent photo of southern Ontario at night taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station shows the entire Greater Toronto Area awash in the amber radiance thrown up by street lights, security lights, parking lot illumination, advertising signs, building lights, porch lamps, and so on. It’s modern civilization, and it has beaten back the stars to such a degree that young people now grow up largely oblivious to the starry night.

Except for a lucky few—those who live in rural areas beyond the tentacles of urban light pollution. Like here, in Stone Mills. Our low population density means fewer outdoor lights at night.

And sometimes those that do exist are

landscapes by

James Birmingham 613.561.4233 master craftsman and horticulturalist

water ine

water ine

428 Buttermilk Falls Rd.

RR# 3 Roblin Ontario K0K 2W0 james@abovethewaterline.ca

in northwest Stone Mills. That location boasts the southernmost pristine dark sky in southern Ontario.

Armed with this information, I began a search for a site in this area—and in the equally dark Addington Highlands, the next northerly township in Lennox and Addington—that could be used by amateur astronomers, naturalists and anyone else who appreciates still relatively unspoiled natural environments. I selected a possible site on the edge of the Sheffield Conservation Area 36 kilometres north of the 401 (12 km south of Kaladar), just off Highway 41, Lennox and Addington’s main north-south artery.

I mentioned the site as a possible public dark sky viewing area to Stephen Paul, economic development manager for Lennox and Addington. With a little work, I suggested, the site could become an inviting and unique attraction, low maintainence and open year-round.

Stephen was immediately interested in the idea, especially when given the news that more than half of Lennox and Addington is potentially first-class dark-sky territory of the type that would attract stargazing enthusiasts from all over southern Ontario and beyond as well.

Convinced that this is a long-term draw for naturalists and astronomy buffs, Stephen provided county support in the form of signage and construction equipment to prepare the site for a large concrete pad for telescope setup or placement of lawn chairs that people might bring along for general stargazing. Hans Honegger and Carolyn Butts of Tamworth’s Bon Eco Design have done a beautiful job on the design concept and signage for the site.

Now that the Lennox and Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area is complete, enthusiasts from as far away as Hamilton and Toronto are planning to use the site. If you are inspired to take a look, here are a few tips.

• If you don’t have a telescope, you

Top: Starry night 80km north of Toronto.

Bottom: Starry night taken from L&A Dark Sky Viewing Area. Same part of the sky using the same camera.

probably have binoculars, which are small, easy-to-use telescopes.

• Although the full Moon sounds like the best time to come, it is actually the worst, as moonlight washing the sky dims the stars. Try an evening within a week of the new Moon to really see the glory of the starry night sky.

• Try to avoid humid nights because the warm, moist air is hazy air—you will see more on a dry, cool night.

The site officially opened in August and will be available all year. For more details, go to darkskyviewing.com Terence Dickinson is editor of SkyNews magazine, available on the newsstands in L&A County in WalMart and Shopper’s Drug Mart. He was formerly a staff astronomer at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto and the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, N.Y. He and his wife have lived in Stone Mills Township for 26 years. He can be reached at skynewseditor@reztel.net

11 Concession St. S., Tamworth, ON K0K 3G0

Homemade soups made fresh daily Fresh baked items ready in the morning when you are:

FREE COFFEE

Muffins •Cinnamon buns •Scones Bagels •Chocolate croissants • Breads

Organic free trade coffee, locally roasted We have what you need to get a fresh start Plenty of vegetarian items available as well We are the only place in town serving tarts & squares Need an event or party catered? Call now!

Follow us on Facebook @ The river bakery café & patio llbo We look forward to serving you!

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 13

When you order a BREAKFAST BAGEL or WESTERN BAGEL

Office: 613-354-4213 Cell: 613-453-4347

BOOK SHOP

Bill McCutcheon Broker of record

26B Richmond Blvd. Napanee

Follow us on

BROKERAGE

&

Quality Second Hand Books: Bridge Street East at Peel, Tamworth Fri-Sat-Sun, 11 am - 4 pm 379-2108

Lovely Duplex or single family residential home overlooking the Napanee River. 5 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, 2 Kitchens. Located on a very quiet street on the edge of town. MLS ® 12602573

Great family home only 10 minutes north of Napanee. Very well maintained home on treed lot. Custom kitchen 4 yrs old, large living room with propane FP overlooking quiet farm land. Finished basement with 2 beds, 4pc, rec room. 2 car att garage plus second det garage 24’ x 32’ for your toys.

Above ground pool, 27’ with large deck.

Updated windows, shingles, furnace, central air. Take a look, you won’t be disappointed.

MLS ® 12602660

Fantastic country property. 45 acres mostly treed with pine, spruce and natural hardwood. Abundance of trails through the property and along the creek that runs across the property. All brick home with part finished basement, 4 beds, 1.5 baths, updated windows, 2 woodstoves. Reshingled with fibreglass shingles in 2012, windows replaced in 2007, septic and tile bed replaced in 2005. MLS ® 12603005

This year we decided to purchase a building lot for our8-PLEX new home in a nice area of Napanee. Well and had Bill McCutcheon of McCutcheon Heritage maintained andRealty easily rented.Ltd. All 2 bedroom apartments. Great Brokerage to act as our buyer’s agent. Upon successfully purchasing investment! MLS ® 12601698 the lot, we then had to sell our house.

We listed our home with DOWNTOWN NAPANEE Bill McCutcheon COMMERCIAL of McCutcheon Heritage Realty Ltd. Brokerage Large commercial building located and numerous with high had visibility on busy corner in showings resulting in a firm offer within a downtown core of Napanee. The buildshort period of main time. ing has over 7000 sqft with floor We were also able to negotiate a closing date DENRIDGE RD, NAPANEE having a long time restaurant.

There is us to build our new home. with enough time for Wemany have maturebeen trees.

SALMON RIVER BUILDING LOT 10 Acres with a large open area on second floor and Surveyed, drilled well 5 gallons 428 Feet Waterfront on the lovely 2very Apts on pleased third floor. Listing price with with the service provided by Bill McCutcheon and Salmon River, near Forest Mills. Good lot /minute, hydro, driveway, paved road. all restaurant equipment is $299,900 MLS ® 12602603 for walkout basement.

New drilled well at real or $279,900 without equipment.

Call would gladly recommend him for all of your estate needs.

8.79 GPM. Very pretty setting for your today for full details.

MLS 12603513

new home. MLS ® 12601063

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AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 14

KIDS & PARENTS County of Lennox & Addington

Public Library Children’s Programs NAPANEE BRANCH

CAMDEN EAST BRANCH

Summer Reading program runs every day but special programs are on Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 1:30 -3:00pm

Toddler Tales, Monday 10:30 -11:00.

Story, puppets, and flannel board stories.

Programming List for the Fall for the Napanee Branch: Monday 6:00 - 7:30 Wii night Tuesday – 10:30 – 11:30 Baby Time Tuesday – every other week – 2:00 - Writer’s Group Tuesday 6:00 – 7:30 Teen Zone Wednesday 1st & 3rd of the month 10:30 – 12:00 Book Club Wednesday 6:00 – 7:30 Wii night Thursday 10:30 – 11:30 Puppy Tales Thursday 6:00 – 7:30 Teen zone

TAMWORTH BRANCH Summer Reading Buddies Program, Wednesday 5:30-7:30. July 4-Aug.22

AMHERSTVIEW BRANCH • Avid Readers Adult reading group, third Thursday of each month

• Summer Reading Club (reading

books at home and then getting rewards at the library) • Summer Reading programs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

YARKER BRANCH

Kids’ Fishing Day

By Barry Lovegrove

T

here was another successful Kids, Cops & Canadian Tire Fishing Day at The Lions Park on Beaver Lake this past July. Over 86 children registered; lots of fish were hooked by the young fisher girls and boys. Two year old Nicholas Tsoublekas visiting from Montreal caught his first fish and was awarded a new fishing rod and reel that was presented to him by Kendall Young, one of the Tamworth Lions.

Well done Nicholas - maybe you can come back next year and try your luck again. Thanks again to all those who participated and the helpers for making this year’s Kid’s Fishing Derby the fun day it was.

Nicholas Tsoublekas from Montreal being awarded his first fishing rod by Kendall Young from Marlbank

• Craft and story time, Wednesday

1:30 to 2:15, July 11 to August 8.

• Summer Reading Buddies program, Monday 6:30-7:15, July 9-30 and August 13- 20.

Summer Water Safety for Kids

By Lillian Bufton

I

t’s August, and that means hot weather and family fun outdoors. With so many rivers and lakes in our region, many of us enjoy a variety of water activities with our families to beat the heat. Our family is lucky to be living right on the Salmon River, so we’ve been having lots of fun this summer with our two young children splashing around together in the river almost every afternoon. My husband and I are also teaching our kids how to swim - a lifeTHE EARLY YEARS CENTRE PLAYGROUP HAPPENINGS saving skill that has become harder for 1178 County Road 8, Napanee, ON many rural children to learn, now that Tamworth Playgroup the indoor pool is closed in Napanee, T EAAlphabet Soup Fr and the nearest pool is a 45-minute RS C 9:00am 12:00pm A e I C e IN Mondays at the Tamworth Arena from BB car CL drive away in Amherstview. But h 11 Q Wit S .

12 Th 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. On Sept 10 T is is a program being offered in .A. a whether it’s swimming in a pool, p E . m S Everyone Welcome! nad meet with the Public Health Nurse Ca partnership with our Early Literacy boating on a lake at the cottage, or Specialist. The program focuses on at our Baby Talk Drop-In. She will playing in an inflatable pool in your Active Play, Literacy, and Family Eating answer questions on your child’s backyard, it’s important to always keep principles. It engages families in health and development. safety in mind. active play concepts through the love Did you know that drowning is All parent Chat with of reading, rhyme and songs with an Yarker Playgroup the second leading cause of death packages Early Literacy emphasis on families eating together. & resources Specialist for Canadian children? Most deaths will be Program starts Tuesdays October 16 – Wednesdays at the Yarker Free Susan Ramsay of children aged 1 to 4 are in home November 20, 9:30 – 11:30 am. Space Methodist Church 2841 VanLueven available pools. 58 children under the age of 14 is limited please register in advance at St. Yarker, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Check out will drown every year. Another 140 613 354-6318 ext. 34 our NEW SPACE Beginning Sept. 5 will nearly drown, which can lead to permanent brain damage. Drowning e For playgroup times in other parts of C se Kids in the Kitchen can happen quickly and silently, and e r m Co Lennox & Addington County check outot aftsoften & & the child just slips under the h joy e our website at www.larc4kids.com orfun st er water. Many young children drown en In ac this program, parents will come p uf rs f together in the kitchen with their child call us at 613 354-6318 ou when they are not meaning to swim 1178 County Rd 8 Napanee, ON and we will focus on the importance they fall in when they’re close to the of selecting nutritious foods that fit TAMWORTH BEFORE & water. A young child can drown in as their budgets. Children will experience AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM little as 5 cm (2 in.) of water in just multi-cultural foods, fresh foods that seconds.

- December 2011 are in season October as well as something Located at Tamworth School, Lennox So what can we do to help keep our special for Thanksgiving. This program & Addington Resources for Children kids safe while they’re having fun in the is sponsored by a grant from The offers an exciting Before and After water this summer? Here are some tips United Way’s Success by Six. Program School Childcare Program. Our hours from Safe Kids Canada: starts Mondays 9:30 -11:30 a.m. Oct. of operation are: 7am until school 15 – Dec. 3. **New day & time! There commences and school dismissal until ● Stay within sight and reach of your will be room for 12 children and their 6PM. Stimulating programming as children when in, on, or around adults. Register 613 354-6318 ext. 34 well as a nutritious snack is provided. water: 42% of all children who Cost is $15 per day for both before drowned in the past ten years did not This program is also available at the and after. Before only is $7 and After have an adult watching them.

Flinton Township Recreation Hall on only is $9. For more information or ● If you don’t know already, it’s a Thursdays from Oct. 4 – Nov. 22 from to enroll your child(ren) today please good idea to learn how to swim or 10 am. – 12:00 pm Register 613 336contact Karen Dunlop 613-354-6318 have an experienced adult swimmer 8934 ext. 257 supervise your children.

Upcoming Programs at LARC

Saturday October 15th

NEWSLETTER

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 15

● Learn First Aid and CPR. ● Know how to call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

● Put young children and weak

swimmers in lifejackets, when in, on, or around water. ● Teach your children the pool rules, and about currents and water safety on rivers, lakes, ponds, and at the beach. ● Put your children in swimming lessons, but don’t assume it will prevent drowning. Even good swimmers are at risk of drowning.

In addition, if you have a pool at home, install a 1.2 m (4 ft.) high four-sided fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate around it. Research has shown that a fence that goes around all four sides of the pool could prevent 7 out of 10 drownings in children under the age of five. Children should not be able to reach the pool directly from the house, and keep safety equipment by the pool.

If you live on a lake, pond, or river like we do, fence-off an outdoor play space for children away from the water on your property. Always wear a life jacket when boating - nearly 90 per cent of recreational boaters who have drowned in Canada were not wearing lifejackets.

When visiting the beach, only let your children swim where you know it is safe, and keep safety equipment close by.

Swimming and splashing in the water are great ways for you and your kids to have fun and cool down in the summer.

But always remember that where there’s water, there’s risk. Arm your family with the skills and knowledge they need to be smart swimmers, and make sure you’re always watching in case they need help.

Meet the Hannah Family of Stone Mills

By Linda Selkirk

T

he Hannah family reflects not only the history but also the landscape of our rural communities of Croyden, Tamworth, Erinsville and Enterprise. Their name can be found on street signs and appears frequently in local phone directories to this day. Eight generations of their family have lived and worked in the area and fortunately they have held onto family records that not only contain their family’s history but also the history of this area.

Robert and Arlene live in the Hannah homestead Robert and Arlene Hannah (seated), son Derek and his wife Michelle, and grandchildren Liam and Olivia May which is located on the northwestern side of the Croydon Road where it intersects and that could derail the train, can do Highway #4. Currently, their sons, only so much. Finally “Casey”, perhaps Derek and David (twins) and Don with the aid of some “spirits” finally still reside in the area and Derek still plowed through some cows when they runs the family farm. Derek’s children didn’t make way. That was the end of represent the 8th generation of this Casey’s engineering career, much to the family: Liam Robert and Olivia May. joy of local cattle farmers.

The farm for many years was home to There are many details along the registered Shorthorn cattle but now way of land handed down from one they are primarily Charolais. As you generation to the next – the detail is drive down Hwy. 4 you will often see outstanding. One of note is as follows: a pastoral scene of cows resting under John Adair Sr. (1804-1888) married the large shady trees.

Eliza Hannah and the event was noted Family records reveal that William in the society papers of the day. A bond Hannah, the patriarch of the Hannah of William Hannah was offered when family, fought with the 1st (Irish) Eliza and John Adair traded with S.F. Dragoons against Napoleon at Waterloo Taylor their house at Newburgh for crowning a long history of service. He their farm at Tamworth in 1848. Along and two other brothers, Robert and with ten other siblings, John Adair is Jack, left Ireland for Canada while noted and is Reg Adair’s grandfather other brothers stayed behind. William (Reg still residing here). initially purchased 100 acres of land It was so interesting to meet with for $50. (Lot 23, Concession 8) from Bob and Arlene Hannah and to see the Canada Company of Our County the wonderful historical documents (1827-1836) on October 2, 1830 retained to this day (even accounts and began to prepare his land in this showing all expenses, including a somewhat unforgiving and often rocky pew fee, which was a new one on me). terrain in what is now Stone Mills. As if What treasures these are for future the tilling, seeding and harvesting was generations. I can only hope we all are not enough, the members of his family reminded to retain our family records would depart early in the morning from for those to follow.

Reid’s Corners (near the RR tracks) and trek on foot to Kingston each one carrying a 60 pound sack over his shoulder! Somehow they would return late the same evening- not for the faint of heart.

In the early days, Croyden was a hub of activity. There were five hotels, logging Tamworth Arena on the river, a cheese factory and more.

In the early days people traveled by Sunday, August 19 stage coach; across from the current 4-7pm location of The Regal Beagle on Hwy 41 is a home that was once a stop on Music by the route of the stage coach. The coach service was eventually replaced by the Land O’Lakes Cruisers railroad that called on Tamworth and (music starts at 3pm) Erinsville. An amusing aside retold by Bob Hannah was that of an engineer in Adults $13 • Children $6.50 those days nicknamed “Casey Jones”.

Children under 5 Free He was quite a character and known for his dislike of cows especially when they Enjoy lots of fish & corn were on the train tracks. Cowcatchers, a Dance to good country music device that was mounted in the front of the locomotive to push away or “catch” The Lions appreciate your support! any obstacles that were on the track

Meet John DuChene

By Barry Lovegrove

O

ne of the things that I love doing is working for The Scoop because it offers me the opportunity to meet fellow artists.

Angela, The Scoop’s editor, suggested that I check in with John DuChene.

She visited his art display at the Art Among the Ruins show in Newburgh and thought that I would like his style of art. Angela was right on. I had a great visit with John at his home just north of Arden. We sat in his screened-in porch overlooking Kennebec Lake and watched as red-breasted nut hatches, chickadees and female grosbeaks visited the bird feeders. It was a warm day but there was a nice cool breeze blowing through the screens as we talked about this area and what it has to offer in the way of artistic subject matter.

John talked about himself but more about the art he creates. I asked John if he had always been a full time artist.

“Not really, it has always been a hobby.

In the mid-seventies I did a bit of sketching and pen and ink drawing but I always had a fulltime job. Both my wife Charlotte and I are originally from South Western Ontario and when we first moved to the East I took a job with the Napanee Regional Conservation Authorities and worked there for about five years. Then the opportunity arose for me to buy a picture and framing business in Sarnia which was my home territory. We went back to Sarnia for a little over two years but, (a big But) both of us missed Eastern Ontario.

My wife Charlotte who had once done a little bit of work with Harrowsmith Magazine (which was then located in

Tamworth Lions Club

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Camden East) received an invitation to be involved in the production side of the magazine. We talked about moving back here and thought that if we could sell the framing and gallery business in Sarnia we would move back. We were surprised that the business sold quickly and so we moved back to this area. I managed to get a job as Clerk Treasurer with the Township and since then I have worked primarily in local government administration. During all this time I continued to sketch and paint as a hobby but now that I have retired from my position at Central Frontenac I have much more time to devote to my art and I am enjoying every minute of it.”

It was the first time that I had seen John’s work and I now know why Angela had suggested that I go to see him. John works primarily in pen and ink on acid free board. His attention to detail and perspective is phenomenal.

John showed me a pen and ink drawing of a barn that he was working on. He certainly has more patience than I have - each stroke and dot from his ink pen was carefully placed rendering a beautiful image. He often enhances his artwork with soft pastel colour using watercolour or acrylic. If you are ever up Arden way drop into Judith Versavel’s Gallery on the Bay. It’s on Big Clear Lake and the street address is 101 Willett Lane about one mile south of Hwy 7 on the Arden Road. Website: www.galleryonbay.com. John exhibits his work there and if you’re looking for a lovely drawing for a gift or to hang in your home, it’s worth the drive to go in and see his artwork.

PUBLIC NOTICE Waste Management and the Ministry of the Environment are ordered to appear before Ontario's Environmental Review Tribunal about the closed Richmond Landfill site.

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

We need to protect our land and water.

This is the right time to show your support.

Second Preliminary Hearing: Tuesday, September 11, 10:00 a.m.

Strathcona Paper Centre, Napanee Public is welcome.

LeakyLand.com A BAD PLACE TO HAVE A DUMP Page 16

The Marigolds

By Barry Lovegrove

A

nother great musical performance in Tamworth!

The TECDC (The Tamworth Erinsville Community Development Committee) with generous support from the Ontario Art Council, has been able to present some great performers these past few months at the Tamworth Legion.

The evening of July 14th was no exception. Canada’s Juno Award nominees, The Marigolds put on a show that will be remembered by all who were there. Their tight harmonies blended their voices extremely well and their guitar playing and original songs were fantastic.

Gwen Swick played bass guitar and sings with a very soft smooth rich voice. Caitlin Hanford played a beautiful Gibson Hummingbird guitar and has a voice with a pure, Appalachian quality, perfectly suited to the high, lonesome sound of traditional

L-R: Gwen Swick, Caitlin Hanford, and Suzie Vinnick

country and bluegrass. Suzie Vinnick has many awards under her belt and plays a mean blood-curdling, bluesysounding Larrivee acoustic guitar. Her voice is tender and yet has that great blues edge that blended great with the other two Marigolds. We mustn’t

forget Randall Coryell - his drumming and percussionist skills formed the backbone of the band. Sometimes it was hard to take your eyes off him as he blended rhythms to go along with each song.

Three very talented singer-songwriters

and a steady rhythmic drummer added up to one word - perfection. Next time they come through town, make sure you don’t miss the pleasure of seeing and hearing The Marigolds!

Stalking the Lowly Burbot

By Mel Galliford

W

hile peering under rocks and logs in the fast-disappearing, drought-stricken Salmon River a few days ago, my fishing party (this writer and sundry children) caught a half-dozen small burbots, along with the numerous crayfish, frogs, and other critters we were actively pursuing with dipnets and plastic buckets. They were all juvenile fish, and were quickly released unharmed, although had they been larger, they would have likely ended up in a frying pan. The elusive burbot is a fish that has long intrigued this outdoorsman: the only freshwater cousin of the much-better known saltwater Cod, it has a reputation for being the best-

tasting freshwater fish there is (poor man’s lobster, some call it, though that title also applies to a few other fish), and one of the most difficult to catch. But it is also the object of disdain and even revulsion, largely because of its eel-like appearance. The descriptions one reads in books and online may have something to do with the lowly reputation of the burbot. One writer describes the fish as “An ugly, eel-like freshwater cod of deep waters and nightmares”! Those who do catch it tend to do so in the winter, when ice fishing, usually angling for other fish.

Winter is also when their flesh is reputed to be at its finest, and a number of places in North America and Europe organize

burbot-themed ice fishing festivals for that reason. Some countries h av e e v e n placed l o t a lota, as the burbot is known to science, on their stamps.

Not bad for a nightmarish bottomfeeder!

The ones we caught were neither difficult to land nor particularly homely (I have seen uglier catfish or even carp), but they did seem sluggish, likely because of the unusually low and warm water conditions. Now that I know they live in our lakes and rivers in

apparently fairly large numbers, I will try and catch a few eating-size specimens, from a boat or on the ice. The Ministry of Natural Resources even encourages anglers to catch more burbot, along with other so-called “alternative species”, partly to ease pressure on other fish, and to diversify fishing practices. It’s always good to have alternatives!

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Tamworth, ON The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 17

Plantain, Plantago major

By Blair Richards

F

olk herbalists often say that the herb you need most is usually growing all around you.

This has been the case with plantain, the ultimate bee sting remedy. More than once I have seen my children grab for plantain even before they shed a single tear. The incredible drawing power of plantain usually takes out the pain of the sting within two minutes of applying a poultice. We make a spit poultice in this case, which means that you chew up some of the plant and then place the wad of broken up plant matter on your sting. Crushing the leaves and applying them also works.

Plantain or white man’s foot print, is a travelling plant; native to England, it has travelled everywhere the English have. Placing the herb upon sore feet was said to sooth soreness caused by long distance walking. This is one of the nine important old world herbs and it is associated with an abundance of old world lore - even Shakespeare speaks of its merits in Romeo and Juliet. Also called way bread, the seeds were added to porridge and breads. This plant is not particular about its growing conditions and can happily survive on compacted soil, in the shade or sun. My daughter loves this plant and successfully transplanted it into a pot during the drought after unceremoniously ripping it out of the ground.

Plantain is a low growing plant; the leaves grow in a basal rosette, and range in size from 5cm to 30cm long. The leaves are ovate, with veins emerging from the stem that gently curve with the shape of the leaf. There is one perfectly straight vein down the middle; each of these veins has a thread that runs through them that you can gently pull out. Multiple rodlike flowering spikes come out of each plant. The rod has many pinkish-white flowers that travel up the stem leaving seed to mature below. This whole stem will eventually turn brown when the seed ripens. One plant can produce up to 1500 seeds.

Belonging to the classification of plants known as alteratives, plantain is known for cleaning the blood. In herbal medicine impure blood is seen as the root source of many illnesses, like

WAYLEN CAR WASH

The Hat is Where it’s At

By Barry Lovegrove

I

skin problems, rashes, kidney and liver problems, fevers and cancer. Alteratives work like little vacuum cleaners that over time collect toxins and help your body eliminate them.

Plantain can be used in many ways, the fresh greens can be added to salads, when young they are tender and mild tasting, mushroom flavour, or you can make your own green drink with other healthy herbs, like dandelion and nettle.

The whole plant can be dried and used for tea. The fresh greens are used for poultices or made into a salve for skin complaints. The dried seeds can be stored and used like phyllium husks, soaked in water over night, to relieve constipation or to aid with diarrhoea.

Not only useful for bee stings, plantain has also been used for snake bites. A friend of mine swells up horribly from deer flies and found that drinking the tea took the swelling down noticeably within two hours and completely by morning.

There are so many things I could write about plantain. It’s worth finding out more about this often looked down upon herb that I bet is growing somewhere in your back yard, or in the side walk crack in front of your house. I had a hard time finding side effects for plantain.

Although I did find some claims that it is not advisable to take while prescribed lithium or carbamazepine. And that it may cause hay-fever-like symptoms in some people. This herb is generally considered very safe. I don’t believe it would be a replacement for an EpiPen for those horribly allergic to bees, but it would be much better than nothing if someone were to be caught unprepared in that circumstance.

Last year, while my son was two, whenever he hurt himself and I asked him if a kiss would make him feel better his response was “No, I want plantain.”

Blair Richards is a Chartered Herbalist and Plant Geek who lives in Marlbank. You can reach her at blisstian@gmail.com.

call Joan Whalen of Erinsville “The Hat Lady” and if you have ever had the opportunity of meeting her you would know the reason why.

I have bumped into her on numerous occasions, at funerals, the grocery store, the Lakeview, the Legion, parish dinners and out and about in Erinsville and Tamworth. At each one of those occasions Joan has been wearing a different hat. Out of curiosity I thought that I would give her a call to ask how many hats she had. She told me she had sixty-four hats that she wears and another twenty-two that she just uses as decorations around the home. “Why don’t you come over and I’ll show them all to you,” she said with excitement and authority in her voice.

I planned my visit allowing for enough time because, like me, Joan loves to chat. When I arrived at her home on White Lake I knew that I was at the right place as there was a hat on the side of her powder blue house. Inside her home hats are on the walls, on stands, on chairs and on the sofa. If there was a space where a hat could be hung, there was one hanging. She had arranged an assortment of hats that we wears most frequently on the living room table. “Make yourself at home” she said, moving a couple of hats aside making room to put a soft drink down.

“Everyone calls me Joan but I was christened Mary Helena Joan: Mary after my aunt, Helena after my mother and Joan is my given name, I prefer Joan so that’s what everyone calls me.

My mother Helena was very stylish and always wore hats. I was about twelve when I first started wearing hats. I can remember my first one like it was yesterday. It was light gray with little blue flowers on it. I just loved that hat.

There was a time that I didn’t wear hats, then one day at a wake Lindsey Hannah said to me, “Where is your hat?” so I made sure that the next wake I attended I had a hat on and have been

wearing them ever since. Mind you, it’s quite a job. I have to remember which hat to put on and where it is amongst my collection and also what to wear with it. I like to be stylish but when I go to church I’m careful as I don’t want to be too stylish in church as that is not what you go to church for, is it?” she said looking right at me.

Joan picked up one of her hats from the table and I watched the expression on her face change passionately. She said, “O my Goodness I just love this one, I wear a pink jacket with blue miniature poke-a-dots, I just love it, I just love it.” Just then in came her four granddaughters - Shae-Lynn, Jenna, Kallista and Taylor. They came bouncing in filling the room with love and excitement. “Hi Nana Joan,” they all said making their way to the table full of hats and within seconds they were checking them out, trying them on, one by one and modeling them around the room.

I’ll give you a tip, if you’re out and about and run into a colourful lady wearing a hat and recognize her from this Scoop article, go and say hello. She would love that “BUT” make sure you have a bit of time to spare because as I said before Joan likes to chat.

Now there is a lady in England that you always see on the telly wearing hats, shaking hands and she has a special wave. I wonder if there is any connection between them. If there is it must be the hats because... “The hat is where it’s at”.

Joan Whalen and granddaughters Shae-Lynn Way, Jenna Whalen, Kallista Way and Taylor Whalen, modeling hats from her collection

Keep those recreational vehicles SHINING! CTY RD 4, TAMWORTH The Scoop

Joan Whalen, Hat Lady

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 18

Toning the Body

By Thomasina Larkin

S

econd to Christmas holidays, the back muscles to slowly raise everything (away from middle of summer is the time of -- head, chest, arms and legs -- up off the ears). year when I put on some extra the mat. As you exhale, slowly lower K e e p i n g Gordon McDiarmid weight. It’s usually too hot for long runs back down to the mat. After three sets, the elbows Lawyer f i x e d outside, and going to the gym is often stretch with Child’s Pose.

3 Rideau St. Kingston against replaced with lounging at the lake... But 546-3274 gmcdiarmid@on.aibn.com the torso, wading around and jumping off docks is Butterfly Crunches (Abs) Call us today to reserve your space: 379-1128 with curl the exercise, right?

Lie on your back with the soles of your one leg, Ththe e increased practiced law in areas of consumption Family Law, of beer feet together and the outer edges of dumbbells up landing andEstates ice cream often goes hand-in- your feet on the floor. Your legs should until the elbows tate, Wills and andthat Small Business on the with but summer “leisure” activities roughly be in a diamond shape and are fully flexed r more than hand 30 years, mostly I want to 39 BUCKS FOR BIZCARD AD. $110 heel then andFOR the 3dumbbells cancommuity start to take a toll on the waistline JUST upport this fine newspaper. your knees are out to A the side. Regular “Hope, Purpose & Belonging in Long Term Care” the forefoot. as the summer weeks breeze by. But crunchesISSUES. CAN’T BEAT THAT!are in front of the are hardYOU because you’re using Lower your at least the sadness of a disappearing your psoas, your primary hip flexor, chest. Then lower the body by flexing the summer can be brightened with which is already pretty tight in most dumbbells to starting position anticipation of getting gung-ho about a people. Butterfly crunches lets all your until the elbows are slightly bent. After knee and hip of the front leg until the new fall exercise routine. focus be on the abs. Hands can be behind three sets, stretch by clasping hands knee of your back leg is almost to the floor. Watch that your front knee does In case we forgot during the whirlwind your head or crossed over your chest. behind the back. not extend further than the ankle of summer, Health Canada recommends From here, it’s just like a regular crunch.

Add to your business. because this will stress the ligaments 60 minutes daily of accumulated Concentrate on contracting the abs to Seated Lateral Raises in the knee. Return to the original activity, which can be a combination bring the bottom of your breastbone (Deltoids) Vicki Harrison endurance, strength and flexibility toward the top of your pubic bone. After Certified of General Accountant Sit with your feet firmly on the standing position by pushing off and training.

Endurance and flexibility are three sets, stretch with Cobra Pose. vharrison@omniglobe.ca 613-379-9041 ground. Elbows should be at about 90 extending the forward leg. Repeat on recommended four to seven days a week degrees and the dumbbells should be the other side. After three sets, stretch and strength training two to four days FOR TONED UPPER ARMS toward the outer part of the upper leg, by holding knee to chest, then heel to a week. palms facing inward. While keeping the buttock.

Napanee & District Zumba, kickboxing or swimming Floppy arms are usually a result of elbows at 90 degrees, lift the dumbbells laps – anything that gets the heart under-toned triceps.

Kicks (Glutes, lower Chamber of Commerce ButMcClellan working the by abducting the upper arms (bringing Donkey John going, are great examples of endurance biceps and deltoids will give your arms them away from the body). Lift the back) 47 Dundas St. E • Napanee training. Flexibility includes any kind a more cut look. Chartered Accountant weights until the dumbbells and elbows Start on all fours (hands and knees), 6661 Wheeler Street, are parallel to the ground and are in with your wrists under613.354.6601 of stretching, which is best done after your shoulders www.napaneechamber.ca some movement to warm up the K0K 3G0 line with one another. Then lower the and knees under hips. Keeping your Overhead Tamworth, Extensions ON (Triceps) muscles. bent at 90 degrees, squeeze After right• knee While standing, hold a dumbbell (try weights to the starting position.

Networking Business Seminars 613-379-1069 While it may be easy to find ways to three sets, stretch by reaching one arm your glutes and slowly lift the leg Programs That Canyou Save Businesses $$ mniglobe.ca get the heart pumping or to feel a good starting with 2 lbs) over your head with at a time across the chest and holding it. behind until the sole of the foot both hands. Keep your elbows pointing stretch, determining which strength Ask Usis About Membership parallel to the ceiling. Return to the up the entire time and slowly lower training exercises are best for you can start position and do the same leg for all behind the head by flexing the elbows. FOR BUNS OF STEEL be a little more daunting. The following reps, then repeat on the other leg. After esbusinesshelpers.com Then raise the dumbbell overhead by is an easy guide toward getting the look eesbusinesshelpers.com Solid Gold Organic straightening, or extending, the elbows.

A perky bum is never out of season, three sets, stretch with Child’s Pose. you want.

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Dumbbell Curls (Biceps) Tel: 613-379-9906 Lamb and Fish/ steven@moorepartners.ca break; do 10 more then stretch. When P.O. Box 386, Grasp dumbbells (2 – 5 lbs to start) with Lunges (Glutes, hamstrings, susan@moorepartners.ca Vegetarian Formulas. this becomes too easy, either increase Tamworth K0K 3G0 Thomasina Larkin is a RMT and Fitness your knuckles facing up. While standing, hip adductors, quadriceps, the weights a little or increase the Pick-up or delivery Instructor based in Enterprise. She has a maintain a neutral spine with your knees spinal extensors) repetitions to 12 or 15. Always give the website at www.thomasina.ca. available.

Please call slightly bent. Shoulder blades should www.moorepartners.ca 613 • 379 • 5958 Stand with dumbbells (5 lbs) grasped muscles you worked 48 hours to recover for more information be retracted (together) and depressed at your sides. Take a large step forward before working them again. If you’re and catalogue.

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Living and the muscles in the your mid and open concept - 12 windows with low back. All strengthening programs ul views. Private andIt provides shouldentrance, begin with yard the core. ay. Bell Satellite TV included. the balance, stability Refer$550 plus and heat. strength 613-478-6349 to

power all our movements. A solid core means less risk Cumann na Gaeltachta cur of injury during uil féilirí pleanála le fáil ar workouts scadal tiomsú airgid Éand faoi daily life activities. aeltacht Bhuan Thuaisceart

The Stone Mills Fire Department is holding a Blanket Drive. We are looking for blankets to use at emergency calls. If you have any blankets you would like to donate please drop them off at the Township of Stone Mills municipal office. Thank you, Stone Mills Fire Department

W&S ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Approved by the Ministry of the Environment

PLEASE TELL

• Grass cutting OUR ADVERTISChrist Church Tamworth invites Phone: 613-379-5872 • Seniors receive 10% discount ERS THAT “I Cell: 613-483-8441 • Large pickup you toitems a YULETIDE LUNCHEON ir. Taispeánann grianghraif SAW IT IN THE • Garbage pickup & recyclables Superman dhreach Cheanada agus (Mid and BAKE SALE atsadie40039@hotmail.com the SCOOP” AND háirithe áiteanna sa Ghaelto Low Back) Tamworth Library Tuesday, THAT ADVERe S2 Architecture, faoi Lie stiúir on your chú, an dearadh mar dheonTISING WORKS. abdomen on a yoga December 14 from 11:30 a.m. $20 an cóip mat. an costas (nó Your legs móide $5 postas should(Ceanabe straight to 1:30 p.m. A homemade lunch iriceánach). behind Thig ordaithe you ona the will served with loving Openhands 7 days a week hphost do: mat and your arms 6:30 am - 9:00 pm should be reaching and there might even be some Gaeltachta isinpleased front toof your entertainment•• Gas for your •• Ice hat 2011 planning calendars Diesel Coffee head, like superman. ilable for order. This is a • Propane • Hot dogs enjoyment and pleasure.

Begin with your project for the Permanent • Soft ice cream • Groceries Quality Second Hand Books chin on the mat. As So come on down bring a can Gaeltacht. Photographs you inhale, focus scape in Canada and Ireland, 6682 Wheeler Street, Tamworth friend to help kick off this 613-379-2526 on contracting your aeltacht areas. The calenfestive season. een generously designed ecture in Calgary, under the The Scoop AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 Page 19 Linus Murphy. The cost is an (or $20 American), plus $5

Tamworth Variety & Gas Bar

book s h o p www.tamworthbookshop.com

Bridge Street East at Peel, Tamworth

Sheep Have Bad Press

Applique Apron Simple Sewing Project

Story and photo by Sally Bowen

H

ow many disparaging phrases have you heard about sheep?

Led like sheep to the slaughter, The black sheep of the family, A wolf in sheep’s clothing…

“Not fair,” says our shepherd Christopher, and we agree.

Sheep’s instinct to herd is simple common sense defense. Lacking speed, teeth or claws, hiding in a group is smart. It follows that when shepherds want them to go into a pen or through a narrow gate, the sheep understandably feel less safe, and simply don’t want the same thing the people do. That does not mean they are dumb.

They are individuals. A stranger looking at a flock might think they are all alike, but those of us close to the animals can clearly see their personal characteristics. Some mothers are more skilled than others; there are confident leaders and obedient followers; some who know the guardian dogs are to be obeyed fast while others are mavericks; there are steeplechase jumpers who challenge all fences…

Some breeds have certain predictable traits. A black-faced Suffolk ewe or lamb will be more calm and steady, whereas a lamb bred by a Border Cheviot will be feisty, almost high strung, with great survivability skills.

Personalities vary also. We fostered twins from one hour old, and one was far more skilled than the other at finding the food source. It was first born, probably by just a few minutes, and was more playful and clearly the leader of the two.

Lambs being fostered have a high learning curve. Their instincts say to go under a warm belly and feel for a firm warm teat, then drink milk of a certain flavour. When they are fostered, they have to learn quickly to seek a hard black rubber nipple up high, with reconstituted powdered milk that doesn’t taste quite right. A lamb who has been with a ewe for a few days will initially say ‘ptooey’ to the taste. However, survival instincts rule, and usually by the second feeding they will move toward not away from the person with the bottle, thumping energetically at knees, seeking food.

Our two older foster lambs know the phrases “go for a walk” and “into your pen”. (They like the first.) I started to save the last bit of milk in the bottle to reinforce the latter directive. After one repeat they knew what to expect, and now enter eagerly.

The next time you hear someone disparage sheep, do challenge it. Come and visit Topsy Farms and see for yourself.

Story and photo by Merola Tahamtan

W

h e r e has the summer gone? Seems like the last day of school was just here and my kids were home for two months and I’m thinking that it’s going to be a long summer but now it’s August and soon they’ll be getting ready to go back to school.

I love this time of year because it’s the beginning of harvest time. We have a large vegetable garden, and the kids have been a great help with the planting and now they get to enjoy the fun part - collecting our goodies. With all the harvested vegetables and fruit, the kitchen will be a busy place with baking, canning and hearty meals. A pretty apron with a fun cow motif is perfect to wear while working in the kitchen.

Here’s a do-it-yourself project that is easy and fun to make; the iron-on appliqué technique creates a pleasing patchwork look.

To get started you will need: striped fabric for the apron, patterned fabric for the patchwork, paper for patchwork templates, tailor’s chalk, double-sided fusible web, matching thread and tacking thread.

Step 1. Using the striped fabric, cut

out a 96cm x 75cm panel for the main piece and one 173cm x 15cm strip for the tie. You can join the pieces together if necessary for the tie.

Step 2. For the appliqué pieces, use the illustration as a guide to make two cow templates. To do this, draw the cow shapes onto the paper, one for just the main outline of the cow; the other for the main outline including the patch shapes. They can be as large as your fusible web sheets will allow. Cut out the main cow shape from one template, and the patch shapes from the other.

Step 3. Pin the cow and patch templates to the patterned fabric, alternating between colours, draw around them with tailor’s chalk and cut out leaving a 1cm excess all round. Remove pins and

John McClellan

Chartered Accountant 6661 Wheeler Street, Tamworth, ON K0K 3G0 613-379-1069 Alan Warren

Sales & Leasing Agent

Cell: 613-583-2141 Hwy 41 & 401, P.O. BOX 40 Napanee Ontario K7R 3L4 Office: 613-354-2166 FAX: 613-354-2229 alanw@boyergm.com

www.boyernapanee.com

“We Beat City Prices!”

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 20

templates.

Step 4. Hem along each short edge of the main apron piece by turning under 1cm then 2cm, pinning and machine stitching. Remove pins and press.

Step 5. Hem along one long edge of the apron, by turning under 1.5cm then 2cm and pinning and machine stitching.

Remove pins and press.

Step 6. Take a sheet of fusible web and remove the paper backing from one side. Lay sticky side up and centre the main cow fabric piece on top. Cover with a towel and press with a steam iron.

Remove towel and, once cooled, use finger to roll any excess adhesive. Cut along tailor’s chalk lines.

Step 7. Remove the second paper backing from the reserve and position cow piece centrally on the apron. Press to secure once you’re happy with the position.

Step 8. Repeat step 6, this time with the patch fabric pieces, fitting as many on to one sheet of fusible web as possible. Then repeat step 7 carefully positioning each patch in place on top of the main cow fabric piece before ironing to secure.

Step 9. Right sides facing, fold the tie piece in half along the length and press. Taking a 1.5cm seam, stitch along the two short edges and part way along the one long edge, leaving a 60cm unstitched section in the centre. Trim seam allowances, turn through and press raw edges under.

Step 10. Work a line of running stitch 1cm from the top raw edge of the main apron piece and gather evenly to a width of 60cm. Tie the thread to secure the gathers.

Step 11. Lay the tie out flat and insert the gathered edge of the main apron 1.5 cm into the opening. Pin and tack in place. Remove pins and machine stitch in place 1mm from the waistband edge.

Remove tacking and press.

There you have it; a pretty, fun apron to wear while baking a splendor of homemade goodness in the kitchen this fall. You can use any motif on this apron. If you like the cow, send me an email and I can forward the template to you. mnibourg@hotmail.com Merola Tahamtan is an Interior Stylist in Home & Business Design, Home Staging, Painting and Window Draperies. You can reach her at 613-561-0244 and follow her on Twitter @MerolaDesigns

THE HOROSCOOP

Free Classifieds Free to private individuals or not-for-profit community groups. Ads are accepted by phone at 613-379-5369 or by email at stonemills.scoop@gmail.com CORRECTION: Please note the following error in the 2011/2012 Tamworth and Erinsville Telephone Directory: The phone number for “Gillan, A” should be 379-2393.

Apologies for this error. Please report other errors by email at michelle@aztext.com FOR SALE: Meat lambs ready in August.

We also have Ewe lambs, Ram lambs, and some 5-year old ewes for sale. Gary & Denise Frizzell 613-379-5171.

HELP WANTED (part-time): Involves evenings and weekends (days or evenings) Must be friendly, mature, and able to work with the public. This would be suitable for students. Send resume to: Part Time, Box 68, Tamworth, ON K0K 3G0 HELP WANTED: Secretary-Treasurer for the Tamworth & Christ Church Cemetery (Anglican) You will need to provide space at your location for book, maps and records which will take from 1 to 2 hours per week on average. Also two meetings a year with the combined board usually in the spring and fall. An honoraruim yearly if you are interested. Call Garry Bradshaw 613-

379-2228 or send us a letter to Box 382 Tamworth Ontario.

WANTED: Looking to purchase 5 full cords of wood at good price. Please contact us at gagreen1957@yahoo.ca WORK WANTED: Secretarial, micropublishing, bookkeeping, etc. Contact Jeannette at 613-358-9173.

WANTED: French-speaking family with young children (under 6 yrs old) for playdates and/or playgroup. 613-379-5369.

FOR SALE: To place an order for your Living Dande: A Green Cookbook for only $20.03, contact Debbie Richmond at livingdande@ yahoo.ca or go to www.greencookbook.ca for more details.

WANTED: Blacksmith looking for donations of scrap metal of any shape, angle iron (old bed frames), old tools, etc. I can pick up on weekends. Also looking for old sheet metal, old scrap barn roofing (holes are OK). Phone Jonathan Leonhardt at 613-378-6089 after 6 p.m. or 613-540-3124 during the day.

Email: dragonforge@xplornet.com

By The Oracle Cassandra

Remember September

ARIES March 21 – April 19

I’ll remember Come September How we became one Under an autumn sun Events from the past occupy your thoughts and you realize that making an impulsive move will put distance between you and a memory best left behind, don’t labour over things you can’t change. A new relationship is on your doorstep and you will make many happy memories. Perhaps a betrothal is in the picture or an autumn wedding. A happier atmosphere surrounds you now. Business opportunities are hovering on the horizon.

TAURUS April 20 – May 20

Water spirits flutter above the pond In my serene fairy garden A fairy waves a wand I see the pond widen Your horizons will suddenly expand in the coming weeks. A carefree moment may lead to something magical. Don’t flutter around concerning business opportunities, think things through and decide whether you want a bigger challenge with more work. You are on track to meet someone interesting either in your workplace or personal life.

GEMINI May 21 – June 20

Pirate ships were known As vagabonds of the sea Sometimes docking at a quay Then leaving, always alone You have wandered near and far, new places are indicated and friends are standing by to assist you in your search for a new start.

Opportunities are being presented to you, do not ignore them. A little soul searching and making some special plans will help to make your life better. Relax and let things fall into place, remember, life is what you make it.

CANCER June 21 – July 22

SCOOP Distribution We mail The Scoop for free to 6000 households in the communities of Tamworth, Centreville, Enterprise, Erinsville, Camden East, Newburgh, Colebrook, Yarker, Verona, Hartington, Sydenham, Roblin, Selby, Parham, Kaladar & Stella.

We also arrange with local retailers (convenience stores, gas stations, etc.) to display 1000 additional issues of The Scoop in these & many other locations.

Subscriptions to The Scoop cost $30 + HST annually by first class mail ($33.90). We encourage you to subscribe; your subscriptions go towards our print & mailing costs.

Answers to the crossword on the Puzzle Page (page 22):

In twilight’s descent I see a grass tree White fragrant blossoms scent The night for you and me Enjoy the sweet smell of success, your hopes and dreams have come out of the darkness and are blossoming. Shake things up a bit in your personal life. Add some spice to your life.

Focus on what you can accomplish and share your ideas, you could pick up some valuable information.

LEO July 23 – August 22

The wind sneezed Scattering fall seeds Covered by snow Come spring, they’ll grow You have planted the seeds of success, be patient, you will reap the benefits soon. Don’t stand around wasting time, keep moving and do the things you have to do. Take the initiative and do whatever it takes to make you stand out and take control. New ideas will pop up and might cause you to make a change in some plans.

VIRGO August 23 – September 22

A full moon rises Over the apple orchard Nocturnal creatures look skyward Then crouch in long grasses Someone is hiding something from you. You see beyond what others see and will find a solution when you step back and gain a better perspective. Sit on your haunches and wait a while before making any decisions. You may hear special news from a friend at a distance.

LIBRA September 23 – October 22

An August sunset Sets the sky ablaze That night’s moonset Brings soft silver rays You are fired up and after working day and night can now bask in the glow of success.

Negotiate and make clear what you have to

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 21

offer and what you expect in return. Keep your emotions in check and focus on how you can make your life better. Do what needs to be done and the outcome will surprise you. All your clouds seem to have a silver lining these days.

SCORPIO October 23 – November 21

September’s full moon Will shine for us soon Halloween will come and go Then we’ll wait for snow You will reap the benefits from the good things that are lining up for you. An opportunity will arrive and like freshly new fallen snow will brighten your outlook. Make sure your plans are realistic before you present them to someone else or put them in motion for yourself. A change of scenery will be good for you so consider a weekend trip.

SAGITTARIUS November 22 – December 21

The cloak of darkness settles Across the landscape Flowers fold their petals And drift in to a dreamscape Make adjustments that will change or alter your lifestyle, consider ways to update your image or talents. A different geographical location will benefit you; consider a weekend trip or vacation. You may meet someone who reminds you of an old dream, perhaps looking back will help you move forward. The darkness that has enveloped your cash flow will soon drift away.

CAPRICORN December 22 – January 19

Fishing from a boat Watching the line float This way that way A perfect lazy day A carefree moment may lead to a last minute change in plans. Don’t sit back and let an opportunity slip away. Don’t waste time trying to change something that is already settled, focus on what you can accomplish and follow that path. Good times with friends and family are rippling toward you, enjoy fun and friendship.

AQUARIUS January 20 – February 18

Summer is gone I know I watch the willow tree Outside my window It weeps with me You have gone through a multitude of changes. It is time to consider what path you want to walk while letting go of past struggles and remember the old adage, don’t cry over spilled milk. Move forward, opportunities and new friends await you. Recognize when it would be best to abandon old ideas that do not seem to work. Doors will open for you, take a chance and go through them.

PISCES February 19 – March 20

Walking by a field Of new mown hay With joy unconcealed I begin my day Don’t follow the crowd, assess your situation and start moving forward to find a less stressful lifestyle. You will be rewarded in many ways if you add some spice to your recipe for life, only you can create this change.

It is time to believe in yourself and walk in the sunshine. Be willing to explore different paths to achieve the goals you have set.

PUZZLE PAGE New York Times Crossword

by Janet Bender / Will Shortz ŠThe New York Times Across

1

1. Base on balls

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

14

15

16

9. Afro-Brazilian dance

17

18

19

14. Nastase of tennis

20

21

22

23

24

25

5. Lowly chess piece

15. Feel sore 16. "___ Gold" (1997 film)

28

17. See 18-Across

29

18. Grand ___ (annual French auto 17-Across)

31

19. "Carmen" composer

37

20. "The Breakfast Club" actor

40

41

23. Preceder of com or org

45

46

24. Desperately needing a map

48

32

33

34

58

29. Officer's honorific

12

13

26

27

53

54

36

35 39

42

43

44

47

49

50

55

28. Donkey

11

30

38

25. Dangerous person

10

59

51

52

56

57

60

61

30. '60s war site

62

63

64

31. More work than required

65

66

67

36. Lyricist Gershwin 37. "Um, excuse me" 38. "Foucault's Pendulum" author

63. Brilliant display

12. Spell-off

43. Second airings

39. The "A" in ABM

64. Bath fixtures

13. Winter hrs. in Bermuda

44. Topic of gossip

65. Philadelphia N.H.L.er

21. Ingrid's role in "Casablanca"

49. Thomas who wrote "Common Sense"

67. Radiator output

22. Ruler of Qatar

50. Corn or oat

26. ___ blanche

51. Pear variety

Down

27. Communication that may have an attachment

52. Tickle, as one's interest

41. It may come as a shock to a diver 45. Put to a purpose 46. Accomplished 47. French vacation time 48. Argentine grassland 50. Be wide-open 52. Salary 55. Domain ruled from Constantinople 58. Actor John of "The Addams Family" 60. ___ California 61. Pastel shade 62. Michaels of "S.N.L."

66. Burden of proof

1. Sent by telegraph 2. 1836 battle site 3. Permissible 4. Part of a hull 5. Native American baby 6. Farm units 7. Early form of bridge 8. Cry at a motor vehicle bureau 9. Undermine 10. Green card holder 11. Floor between first and second

28. Sleeve filler

53. Dutch-speaking Caribbean island

29. Chimney sweep's target

54. It makes dough rise

31. Devour hungrily

56. Spanish river to the Mediterranean

32. South African native 33. Rocket data

57. Trail 58. TV extraterrestrial

34. Nourish 35. TV watchdog: Abbr.

59. Note between fa and la

39. Good card to have "in the hole" 41. Lou Grant portrayer 42. Santa checks his twice, in song

9 8 4 3 1 6

8 4 5 5 8 6 3

1

4 9 8

2 1 6

1 2 5

The Scoop

Daily Sudoku: FriPage 27-Jul-2012 22

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

7 2 5 4 9

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.

40. "My mama done ___ me"

aAbBcCdDeEfFgG THE EGG BASKET

The official opening of the Tamworth Parkette was well attended by members of the T/ECDC, the GrassRoots Growers and the general public.

ALMOST TIME FOR

ALWAYS FARM FRESH EGGS

Back to School

240 Embury Road, Newburgh • 613-378-0407

Reg. White Eggs $2.10 Reg. Brown Eggs $2.40

CLASSES BEGIN TUESDAY, SEPT. 4TH

Jumbo White Eggs $2.55 Jumbo Brown Eggs $2.65

TRY OUR TENDER TOP GRADE BEEF

Bring this ad in to receive 10% off your beef purchase

NEW STORE HOURS!

MON - SAT 9:30AM TO 4:30PM • SUN 11:00AM TO 3:00PM

DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS

If you have not been out our way before, we carry fresh eggs daily, top grade beef & other local products, jams, jellies, honey & Wilton cheese & curd.

Come take advantage of our great deals!

RIVER VALLEY POULTRY FARM

Schools are open the week of August 27 to assist you.

Classes begin Tuesday, September 4.

Visit our wagon at the Napanee Canadian Tire and at the Farm 7243 County Rd 9

Registration is under way for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12.

613 354-1452 vfoster@kos.net

The Limestone Board offers unique programs for students in the Arts, French Immersion or for the academically advanced. Whether it is our Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten, Science Fairs, Athletics, or Apprenticeship programs the LDSB offers students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 an education that is enriched, with program choices and activities to complement the provincial curriculum and develop the whole child.

Sweet Corn Tomatoes Melons Onions

Potatoes Beans Beets And more

Watch for the Fall Vegetables!

What you’ll need to register for Kindergarten: Children must be four or five years old by December 31, 2012 Proof of your child’s age (a birth certificate, a baptismal certificate, a passport, etc.)

Your child’s Ontario Health Card (optional) Your child’s immunization record

•

Visit our website at www.limestone.on.ca to find out more!

Contact your local public school today!

Helen Chadwick, Chair of the Board | Brenda Hunter, Director of Education LDSB Education Centre, 220 Portsmouth Avenue., Kingston

• • • •

General excavation - land clearing, basements, retaining walls, trenching, etc.

Septic systems - design and licensed installer Landscaping Trucking - sand, gravel and topsoil Demolition - buildings, barns, etc.

For all your excavating needs call RICK at

Phone: 613-388-2460 Cell: 613-561-6585 Email: rick.tuepah@gmail.com

613-544-6920 or 1-800-267-0935

The Scoop

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 23

OPEN: Mon. - Fri. 8 - 7 Sat. 8 - 6 Sun. 11 - 5

Literacy & Art Enrichment Workshops

with author, illustrator & educator Peggy Collins

Peggy Collins is an author, illustrator and college professor with a passion for instilling creativity. Children and adults alike can benefit from the wide variety of workshops available – individually or in a group.

Workshops include: • Book visits – including book readings and related activities • Picture book creation (ideation, writing and illustration of story, in the classroom or one-on-one) • Drawing & painting workshops (perspective, people, costumes etc.)

• Create a picture book dummy (online only, 18+) • Develop your illustration portfolio (online only, 18+) • Customized workshops developed for your needs and/or enhancement of your curriculum.

• COMING SOON – Stop motion animation (story creation, story boarding, character development and production)

Please visit peggysillustration.com for details, availability, pricing and testimonials.

The Scoop

Annual Customer Appreciation BBQ CHECK US OUT FOR ALL YOUR Saturday August 18, 11am4pm FREE hotdogs, hamburgers, drinks, FREEMORE! draw prizes, balloons GrOCerY Needs & ice cream, cake, coffee & much more!

& games for the kids!

Back 40 Cut Meats Fresh BakeryLIVE • DeliBAND! • Produce • Fresh

with Jeremy Clement & Andrew Richmond are being accepted for the L&A Hospital 672Donations Addington St., Tamworth 613-379-2440 672 Addington Street, Tamworth 613-379-2440

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012

Page 24