The Scoop February-March 2012

february-march 2012

SCOOP The

www.thescoop.ca

celebrates rural life

Skater Girl Skating

Birding

Christmas Parade

Coyotes

THE

SCOOP Founded in 2005

by Richard Saxe

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 Circulated for free to about 7000 households by Canada Post.

Subscriptions by first class mail in a plain brown envelope: 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, Jean Clair, Kate Clarke, Dalton Cowper, Andrea Dingwall, Jane Foster, Beverly Frazer, Mel Galliford, Judy H.A.T., Susan Howlett, Judith Huntress, Thomasina Larkin, Barry Lovegrove, Cam Mather, Blair McDonald, Blair Richards, Anne-Shirley Salmond, Angela Saxe, Linda Selkirk Grace Smith, Terry Sprague, Linda Williams 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: Anna Hagerman, youngest member of the Recreational Figure Skating program at the Stone Mills Recreation Centre in Tamworth.

Photo credit: Barry Lovegrove

Here’s The Scoop...

By Angela Saxe

W

hile what a female chooses to wear in public has always stirred interest it has recently become a hot topic, not only in the media, but also in our schools.

The cover of a recent Maclean’s magazine featured a woman wearing a niqab (totally covered except for a slit revealing the eyes), juxtaposed with the image of a naked woman with a black bar across her eyes, hiding her identity. The cover certainly caught my attention!

Two extremes. In certain situations, women who cover up from head to toe will have to give up their right to wear a niqab because they will be contravening laws and bans in Canada, France and other parts of Europe.

These are countries where women had once fought for and earned the right to wear or not wear, whatever they want. For example, Topfree Equal Rights Association fights for the rights of women and girls to be topless in public. One group of women is fighting for cultural freedom, the other is fighting for gender equality and individual rights. In an open, secular society how do we accommodate both of these extremes?

Since I work in a high school, I’m on the front lines of fashion-minded teens who believe they are entitled to wear whatever they want to school. I can sympathize since I grew up during an era when students had to wear a uniform to school; a white blouse, navy blue tunic that covered the knees and black or brown shoes for girls and grey, navy or black trousers, a shirt and tie and a dark sweater for the boys. For the months of September and June, we were “free” to wear anything we wanted…within reason, of course!

Most schools have a dress code that prohibits clothing deemed

inappropriate: t-shirts with offensive slogans, and clothing that “can be seen up, seen through and seen down” which is supposed stop girls from wearing skimpy tank tops and blouses with plunging necklines.

Undergarments should not be seen; so all those boys with pants that hang halfway down their backside are sent home to change – or at least asked to put on a belt! But supervising the dress code is a big job; teachers are reluctant to say anything to a teen either because they are embarrassed or they dread the confrontation. Students wearing shorts that end at the very top of the leg (if you can visualize it) is a shocking sight in a crowded hallway.

Call parents and they either don’t see a problem or they feel helpless because their daughter put them on when they got to school.

Just recently an Ottawa high school banned female students from wearing yoga pants unless they have a long shirt over it. Wow, what an outcry! Student walkouts, petitions, demonstrations, phone calls from irate parents! The cry of “I have my rights!” seems to supercede any discussion in society today, because after all teens only mimic the current styles that they see in the media and in the world around them. Meanwhile, a school in U.S. is promoting gender equality by banning skirts in the belief that if everyone wears pants then the students are equal. So, little girls can’t wear frilly skirts in order to be equal!!

Years ago, I had my senior class read the essay: My Body Is My Own Business by Naheed Mustafa who argued that wearing a hijab, a scarf that covers her head, neck and throat, was liberating because “I am a Muslim woman who believes her body is her own private concern.” Unfortunately,

in our post 9/11 world, the hijab and its extreme form, the niqab, “symbolizes either forced silence or radical, unconscionable militancy.”

To Mustafa, the western pursuit of beauty forces young women to being constantly scrutinized and judged according to some abstract notion of physical attraction. “Women are not going to achieve equality with the right to bare their breasts in public… that would only make us party to our own objectification. That is not true equality.” Well, what a reaction!

Students both female and male had very powerful reactions to her comments and after much discussion, we did arrive at some notion that there must be a middle ground, a place in the continuum between these two extremes that will allow for dignity and personal freedom.

It’s the middle ground that I seek when contemplating the Shafia case.

It’s understandable that the Shafia parents wanted their children to follow the practices of their culture when living in a society that allows for greater personal freedoms, especially for women. But the notion that the parents were so threatened by the actions of the females in their household that they would murder them reveals a deep-seated patriarchal need to control women. Countless females are abused verbally and physically when they do not conform to someone else’s idea of correct behaviour.

We don’t want women walking around half-naked or completely covered head to toe. We want a world where women respect their own bodies and where others respect their rights to dress as they please - it’s the middle ground.

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Letter to the Editor I would like to thank the wonderful community of Tamworth for their warm welcome at their Santa Claus Parade Craft Fair, 2011. It was the first time that I had ventured afield to sell my Bird-Friendly Shade Tree Coffee to persons unknown and I must say that the interest in my coffee presentation was very encouraging.

The library was so well organized that all I had to do was set up my display and talk to friendly, interested shoppers.

Many interested citizens of Tamworth and area were eager to support the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory by purchasing my Nicaraguan Direct Trade Shade Tree Coffee and seemed pleased to find out that the aromatic beans where grown under the canopy of

the rain forest rather than in a fullsun fields where acres of rain forest have been destroyed for higher yields. They willingly listened to my story of the war torn Fiallos family and how the two daughters in London, Ontario (The Coffee Chicks, LasChicasdelCafe.com) receive beans once a year from their father whose coffee plantation is in the mountains of Nicaragua.

I appreciated your community’s receptiveness not only to a stranger selling wares but in supporting an organization that helps protect our birds and their natural habitat. I hope I will have another opportunity to spend time in your lovely community.

Sincerely, Kathy Felkar, www.peptbo.ca

Remembering Harold

Congratulations Barry!!

Our roving, intrepid photographer, Barry Lovegrove, won the Best in Show award for his photograph: Storm Over Leonard Farm and he also won The People’s Choice award from the Napanee Photo Club this past December.

“I was driving home after photographing a Tamworth softball team, when I saw these black billowing clouds quickly approaching. I stopped the car and took a couple of photographs. I was in the right place at the right time.”

Harold Flanagan Aka Pepsi-Cola Pete

BUNGALOW IN ENTERPRISE

I

t was a testament to the man and to the way he had touched so many lives, that when Harold Flanagan died at the age of 83, articles were written about him in the Kingston and Napanee papers.

Everybody knew him.

Harold loved to walk and hitchhike up and down the highways and he was regularly spotted in towns from Marmora and Madoc all the way down to Napanee and beyond. Always a familiar sight to local commuters for many years, he was often seen sitting quietly on the bench in downtown Tamworth after buying his favorite drink.

One day, I was driving north along Highway 41, when I saw him leaning on a guardrail. He gestured to me so, thinking that he wanted a lift, I stopped the car and invited him in. When I asked him where he was heading he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and a little smile and said: Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I was just sitting there

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enjoying the day when you stopped.

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We will miss your gentle spirit, your curiosity about people and your love of the road.

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From Queen to Serf

Lessons Learned

By Linda Selkirk

By Blair McDonald

O

nce upon a time in Time Management Land I was a Queen, but now I’m a lowly serf in the world of electronics.

2012 has started out for most of us like so many other years with much to do and seemingly less and less time in the day to get all things done. I suspect that for some people, checking for e-mails every ten minutes tends to be a distraction as is texting or twitting everyone to ensure that your breakfast menu is widely distributed to all your friends.

In the real (vs. online or virtual) world, we also have to eke out time for all the demands for work, housework, shopping, cooking, chauffeuring (kids), catching our favourite shows or renting a movie.

The list is endless and unforgiving.

Procrastination becomes Enemy Number 1.

Not so long ago (in quantum physics years) I attended a couple of “Train the Trainer” workshops with respected time management companies which provided not only the expertise but all the paraphernalia for the magical day planner that would help me to change and improve the work habits of the employees of the company I worked for. The downside was that I would have to become a role-model at the office….sigh.

After selling tons of these planners and the numerous add-ons: address book, contact lists, expense pockets and sheets, project management tracking sheets, birthday pages, et al, and conducting seminars that would have made Billy Graham proud in their religious fervour, I was known as the Queen of Time Management.

This somewhat mystified my family who looked at my “home office” with its every growing piles of receipts, articles, recipes, photos and gadgets!

Customized stickers promised to make life easier!! If writing “Taking Fido to the vet for his rabies shot” was too daunting then a cute little sticker with a vet and a dog would be much simpler. Birthday balloon stickers negated the need for writing down birthday reminders and they were much cuter. Even taxtime stickers were there for the tax completion- challenged!

Some systems had a simple chronological list to note anything and everything that might need to be recalled or scheduled. When time permitted (and of course if you were a righteous student of the art of time management, there will always be time) these notes could be transferred into their correct “place” in the time management tab system.

Slackers need not apply.

Once fully trained in several time management systems, I installed an early warning system. As soon as I was alerted of an impending visit by a supervisor I jumped up and did my best Tasmanian devil imitation grabbing errant loose papers off

floors, bookcases, and, heaven forbid, on my desktop. The desktop is sacred and should only have on it the singular task that one is working on at that one moment (another sacred rule is that one should never handle a piece of paper more than once – decision-making should be fast, accurate and never wrong. File trays served a specific purpose – in and out…period. They also had to rest on a credenza (hopefully behind the desk) where they were not a distraction lest precious minutes be lost peeking at newly arrived “inbox” material. By the time the top brass arrived, my office was spanking clean.

Now this Queen of Time Management has moved into the era of gadgets with which to perform these tasks. I no longer have a Mother Ship (read big budget corporation) to send me to far away vistas to learn how to manage these tools. There are now online tutorials with help lines. Calling the help lines makes one feel technically incompetent and perhaps a lost cause; this is especially devastating to the former Queen, now a mere serf. I have occasionally wondered if I pushed 2 on my touch-tone phone as directed by “Emily” or one of her robotic relatives to speak to a techie in French (Canada) or Spanish (US) I might have a built-in excuse: my weak language skills would excuse my ineptness.

So to all of you who coveted and received time management software, i-Pads, i-Phones, Blackberries etc., I still know of one or two firms from the Jurassic period who could supply a paper system. I, meanwhile, am still looking for the video button on my new Blackberry – oh, and of course, in my quest for this technological necessity of life, I briefly became the proud owner of an older Blackberry Curve, until I found out that only Rogers can set this up and I live in a Bell Mobility world (sigh). Offers will be accepted for this lovely white phone with charger for those who live elsewhere in Rogers-land.

Oh, and did I mention an e-reader still in its original box? I am quite terrified at the thought of further damaging my ego when I try to use this device! I suspect that my first attempt to downloading a book may result in a re-reading of Animal Farm versus a tome on animal husbandry.

I

t’s a funny thing how certain conversations stay with us over time, while others simply fade from memory. Recently, when I was home over the winter break I was reminded of a night from a few years ago, when a friend said to me in a matter-of-fact way, “Well, you can tell you grew up in the country.”

At the time I laughed, even though I was confused by it. “How’s that?”

I asked. He continued, “Because, you talk to strangers in public like they just live down the road from you.” Again, I laughed. Whether or not it’s a country thing or a personality thing, I’m not sure.

Nonetheless, there is some truth to it. It reminded me of that scene in Crocodile Dundee when Mick visits New York for the first time and says hello to everyone who passes him on the street. It was funny and proved a great point: Sometimes the way we get by in one world doesn’t always work in another.

I would have forgot all about this story had it not been for my flights to and from Kamloops over the Christmas holidays. Thankfully, I don’t fly that much, but when I do, it’s usually solo, and sometimes, a whole day of travel can be draining.

To the surprise of many, one of the things I look forward to on long flights is the ‘mid-air conversations’ from whoever happens to be seated next to me.

If I luck out and get the right person, I’d rather converse with them–where they are going or where they are coming from, what kind of work they do–than plug my headphones in to the latest in-flight entertainment. If anything, it usually makes the trip go faster, but more importantly, you get a window into a life entirely different than one’s own. Luckily, over the break I was seated next to some really interesting people: an Engineer in the oil and gas industry, a Climate Change researcher and

even a businessman from Australia.

But apparently, conversation is a dying art. Not, I should add, because I didn’t have some great conversations, but more so because of the reaction I got from others about my in-flight behaviour.

Recently, I started to recount a story about the guy who was sitting beside me on the plane and how we chatted about this and that, when a friend sitting across the table chimed in with a confused look, “You talked to the person beside you on the plane?

Don’t you know you’re not supposed to talk on planes?”

I looked at her equally confused, responding, “I guess I didn’t get the memo.” From there the conversation moved on to other matters.

However, it left me thinking: When did casually conversing with strangers become such a bad thing– especially when they are sitting next to you for five hours? I hope it’s not a sign of the times, but maybe it is.

Perhaps, sometimes we focus too much on plugging in to the latest entertainment when the people sitting right next to us can be equally entertaining. In my experience, they were just waiting to be learned from.

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Stand Straight.

Sit Straight.

By Thomasina Larkin

A

re you sitting down while reading this paper? Each day Canadians sit for about 13 of our 16 waking hours. We sit in our cars; we sit at work; we sit while we eat; we sit to read, watch TV and surf the net. All this sitting takes a toll on our bodies. We are meant to move.

When we don’t, our muscles adapt by shortening into the positions we stick them in.

Sitting usually compromises our posture so the pecs (pectoralis major muscles), abs (abdominal muscles) and hamstrings get shortened. Take a moment to stand up, but stand so you are halfway in a sitting posture: knees are slightly bent, shoulders are rolled forward, the tummy is compressed and the low back is rounded. Not a pretty picture, but this is what sitting for long periods of time does to our body.

Poor posture contributes to a number of conditions. It causes poor digestion, constipation and heartburn.

It fatigues muscles and creates aches and pains. It encourages a potbelly, can cause shallow breathing and can interrupt the efficiency of blood flow through the body.

Doesn’t that just make you want to stand up and have a good stretch?

If you’re thinking of adding a few simple stretches to your daily routine, consider tackling posture first.

But before getting started, there are a few important things to note.

Always warm up the area with some light movements or a shower.

Breathe throughout all exercises.

Stop what you’re doing if you ever feel pain. Hold all stretches for at least 30 seconds.

The Hamstrings The hamstrings are three muscles on the back of your upper legs. Their main action is knee flexion, and

when we sit we keep them shortened more than half their length.

Sitting on the floor, extend one leg straight in front of you and bend the other leg so the foot comes close to the groin. Turn your body slightly so your torso is facing your extended leg. As you inhale, make sure your spine is straight. As you exhale, tilt your pelvis forward so the pubic bone inches downwards, the buttocks inches upwards your chest relaxes closer to your thigh. Make sure your extended leg is completely relaxed.

The Abdominals The abs consist of several muscles that line the abdominal wall and produce flexion of the torso. Other than possibly giving you a nice six pack, the abs help to make up your core muscles, they protect your internal organs and they stabilize your trunk and spine.

Lie on your abdomen on a yoga mat. Your legs should be straight behind you on the mat. Raise your chest off the ground, bringing your elbows under your shoulders and resting your forearms and hands flat on the floor in front of you. Draw your shoulders away from your ears.

If you feel compression in the low back, back off a little.

The Pecs Pectoralis major and minor make up the bulk of your chest. They are in their most shortened position when your arms are reaching forward – for example, when driving a car, typing on a keyboard or holding a baby.

When pectoralis minor becomes tight it can compress the neurovascular bundle that supplies the arm and can lead to numbness and tingling in the fingers, which often leads to a misdiagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Stand in a doorframe and reach your arms up on either side so they’re at a 90-degree angle. Hold the frame and slowly walk your body forward until you feel a stretch in your chest.

Repeat a second time, but with the arms higher, at 135 degrees.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of these stretches, it would be a good idea to add some strengthening exercises to your regime.

When the hamstrings, abs and pecs start to relax and lengthen, it’s time to strengthen the antagonist muscles, which have likely become overstretched and weakened. For the following exercises, do three sets of 10 – 15 repetitions, with a short break between each set.

The Quadriceps The quads are the four muscles on the front of your upper leg and their action is to straighten the leg from a bent position – the opposite action of the hamstrings. Having strong quadriceps is key to helping prevent knee injuries.

Stand with your back against a wall and your feet hip-width apart. Walk your feet out from the wall about a foot or so, bending your knees and gliding your back down the wall. Do not lower more than 90 degrees and make sure your knees do not go more forward than your ankles. Then raise yourself back up.

To target strengthening your knees, only lower yourself 15 degrees and then raise back up.

The Low Back Low back pain plagues millions of people. Keeping your low back strong can help prevent a number of painful chronic disorders. If you have a back condition, it is important to know the proper exercise to treat it. The exercise below is indicated for relieving pain from chronic disc herniations in addition to improving posture.

Lie on your abdomen on a yoga mat.

Your legs should be straight behind you on the mat, but this time your arms should be reaching above your head, like superman. Begin with your chin on the mat. As you inhale, use your back muscles to slowly raise everything – head, chest, arms and legs – up off the mat. As you exhale, slowly lower back down to the mat.

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The Rhomboids The rhomboids attach the shoulder blades to the spine and can easily be dubbed “The Poor Posture Muscles.” When we slouch our shoulders forward, the rhomboids get overstretched and become a breeding ground for knots.

By strengthening the rhomboids we sit more upright and help to prevent pain between our shoulder blades.

Stand with your back to a wall so that your buttocks, shoulder blades and back of your head are touching the wall. Your feet should be hipwidth apart and about three inches from the wall. Hold your upper arms against the wall, at the level of your chest and inhale. Then as you exhale press your elbows back into the wall as if you’re trying to touch your elbows together but the wall is stopping you.

For more information visit www.thomasina.ca Thomasina Larkin, RMT

Parsley, Sage…

GrassRoots Growers – What’s Coming Up

By Susan Howlett

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”-Hippocrates

By Blair Richards

I

n our current culture we’ve become accustomed to the endless claims about the hot new supplement that will cure everything.

Yet I’ve learned to ignore most of this preferring to consult the ageold remedies that our grandfather’s grandmother used. Many of which are in our houses right now.

Simon and Garfunkel sang about these old remedies in their song: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

Those dusty old jars that get pulled out every Thanksgiving contain not only the makings for great stuffing but they’re also herbal medicines that have been trusted for thousands of years.

Parsley is one of the most ironrich leafy greens and it also contains more vitamin C than citrus. This is a great combo because our bodies absorb iron better when Vitamin C is present. Also those frilly green leaves contain Vitamin A&B, key in maintaining immunity from cold and the blues.

Parsley is also known as a diuretic with the ability to help your body filter out impurities from your blood, kidney and from your urinary tract.

So add more fresh parsley to your salads, soups or any other dishes.

A good reference book to consult when using parsley beyond its nutritive attributes, I recommend, The School of Natural Healing,

by Dr.Christopher for doses and cautions.

Sage or Salvia, a word meaning “to save”, is a plant long revered in old gardens. Said to be a gift directly from the Virgin Mary it was also valued by Chinese traders: three chests of tea was seen as equal to one chest of sage. Today we mainly use it in turkey stuffing but it was once used as a tea to promote longevity. Sage is considered a powerful antioxidant that supports the liver and is used to treat respiratory infections and sore throats. A steaming cup of sage tea may be just the ticket for drying out that stubborn winter cough that has been driving you insane. Believed to have a beneficial affect upon the spirit, sage was traditionally used to treat symptoms of depression especially during the long winters.

Rosemary is referred to as the herb of remembrance. It was worn around the heads of ancient scholars to improve their memory during exams. It was also a favorite remedy used for headaches, nervousness, colds and in reducing inflammation.

This herb was traditionally used for treating animal and insect bites.

There’s some research today that suggests that rosemary has anti-cancer properties and may lessen the spreading of certain types of cancer. It can be used externally as a hair rinse or as a gargle for teeth and gums.

Thyme “a true love of mine”. As a girl I would rub my hands in the Mother of Thyme that grew in our front yard and drink in the fragrance, which to me was the finest perfume. Thyme was once used to ease whooping cough in children and for ridding children of intestinal worms and belly aches. A gentle nervine, thyme was also used as a remedy to nightmares. Thyme tea tastes great with a spoon of local honey but long-term use of thyme, in large doses, is not recommended.

Sage, Rosemary and Thyme are all considered to be emmenagogues and should not be used by pregnant women. Sage was known to dry up mother’s milk when drunk cold and was used as a weaning aid. All three herbs contain essential oils that will evaporate, lessening the potency if not covered while steeping. I usually put 1 teaspoon of herb in a 1 litre mason jar and cover it with a saucer while steeping.

I hope you will be inspired to learn more about the herbs in your cupboard. It is so tempting to look to the latest supplement for help with treating and maintaining our health, but as far as I know every herb and spice that is used in cooking has been and continues to be used as medicine. Do some research, speak to your doctor if you are taking medications or have serious health issues and see if you can use some of these herbs beyond their common culinary uses.

Blair Richards is a Chartered Herbalist and Plant Geek who lives in Marlbank.

N

ow that Christmas is over and the days are beginning to lengthen, colourful seed catalogues are arriving in the mail with promises of a new season of beautiful flowers and perfect vegetables. The catalogues brighten dreary January days when freezing rain and wind often assault the garden, and remind us that soon it will be time to start seeds indoors.

With gardening in mind, GrassRoots Growers have lined up three events to help you plan and plant this year’s garden.

On Tuesday, February 21 GrassRoots Growers will be holding a sweet potato workshop featuring Brian Burt of Burt’s Greenhouses and Ken Allan, author of Sweet Potatoes for the Home Garden.

The workshop will take place at the Tamworth Library at 7:15 p.m. and everyone is welcome. Come and learn how to cultivate these healthy, delicious tubers.

Next, on Monday, April 23, our guest will be Ed Lawrence, the very popular master gardener who answers gardening questions on CBC’s Radio Noon phone-in show. Ed will give tips, tricks and techniques for gardening without pesticides; he’ll discuss the do’s and don’ts of pushing climate zone boundaries;

and he’ll answer audience questions pulled from a hat.

Ed’s talk will be held in the Tamworth Legion Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets will be available after February 22 for $15 at selected locations (watch for posters with details). If we’re not sold out beforehand, tickets may also be available at the door for $20.

Finally, on Saturday, May 26, we will be holding our annual plant sale starting at 10 a.m. sharp at the Beaver Lake Lions Park. All plant material is grown and donated by local supporters and sold at very reasonable cost. In the past we have sold vegetable, herb, and flower seedlings, rooted cuttings, houseplants, and shrub and tree seedlings. If you are starting seeds or thinning out your garden beds this spring, please consider donating extras to the sale. We hope you will come out and support the sale and go home with some garden treasures. The proceeds are used

by GrassRoots Growers for future speakers, projects, and events.

By the way, did you see the GrassRoots Growers’ entry in the Tamworth Santa Claus Parade? We were the jolly fruits, vegetables, and farmers tossing Brussels sprouts to the kiddies and urging spectators to eat their vegetables. What fun!

Corporation Of The Township Of Stone Mills 4504 County Road 4 Centreville, ON K0K 1N0 Tel: (613) 378-2475 Fax: (613) 378-0033 Website: www.stonemills.com PROPERTY TAX UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2012 The 2012 Interim Property tax notice was mailed out the second week of January 2012. Due dates for this billing are: February 29, 2012 April 30, 2012 If you have not received your Interim billing, please contact the tax office and a copy will be provided to you. Failure to receive this notice does not exempt you from payment or penalty charges. To ensure prompt delivery of your property tax notices, please provide the tax office with your current mailing address including any post office box number, civic address, etc.

Property tax payments can be made through the following options: -

internet and telephone banking at most financial institutions when presenting both pages of your bill cash, cheque or interac transactions post dated cheques or drop slot at side of municipal office pre authorized payment plan

Note: Credit cards are not accepted.

SYDENHAM VETERINARY SERVICES 3050 RUTLEDGE ROAD SYDENHAM, ON K0H 2T0 613-376-3618 www.sydvets.com

Please call the tax office at 613-378-2475 for any inquiries or questions regarding your 2012 Interim billing. st

REMINDER TO PICK UP YOUR DOG TAGS prior to March 31 , 2012, the price goes up from $15 to $25 st

Companion Animal Care including: Laser Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Endoscopy, Ultra Sound Diagnostics & Dentistry A.A.H.A. Accredited Hospital

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Waste Site hours change beginning March 1 Saturday 8am6:00pm, Wednesday 12 noon to 6pm.

We have been making some changes to our WEB Site, take a look and tell us what you think.

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

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Learning about Birds from a Tractor Seat

By Terry Sprague

saw my very first pipit about forty years ago while ploughing down a cornfield on our farm in Prince Edward County. I was barely in my 20s and had a new Massey-Ferguson 65 diesel tractor. I remember it well as this one had “multi-power” shift on the go. At first, I thought I was high on the diesel fumes that were hitting me in the face every time the wind blew the exhaust in my direction.

The little bird I stared at was sort of olive in colour and rather comical as it stood atop a lump of overturned sod, bobbing its tail up and down as though unsure of its balance.

The bird wasn’t alone. Some fifty or so others, cleverly camouflaged by the dark earth, suddenly took flight and soared high into the air, bouncing around and above me like overcharged atoms, before circling around and returning to the ground only a few metres ahead of the tractor.

Stopping the tractor, I grabbed my new Bushnells from the toolbox and focused on what I perceived to be a new species; granted the list I was accumulating was short considering that my interest in bird life was only a few years old. Dad had also seen them and wondered what they were as he ploughed the field just across the fence with his smaller MF 35 tractor and a two-furrow plough.

Father and son birders!

I

content until I had pinned an identity on anything new that came along. It had to have a name. When I was barely thirteen, my father’s old army binoculars had already become an important item, wedged in the toolbox with vice grips and screwdrivers. There were always a few plastic bags in there too, to store weeds until I had a chance to identify them once I got home.

Going from the seat of the tractor to a Massey-Ferguson 300 self-propelled combine, my vantage point was now much higher, and I could enjoy the tree and barn swallows that swooped in front of me, snatching insects disturbed by the combining process.

For two years, an albino tree swallow joined the feeding frenzy and made my days in the dust much shorter as I basked in their expert flight.

Fall ploughing brought the gulls, and spring planting, the killdeers.

During the haying season, it was the meadowlarks, the bobolinks and the savannah sparrows.

I trace my eventual professional pursuit of nature back to a former elementary school teacher, Marie Foster, who made those last three years of public school, some of the most joyous in my youth. She was always pleasant and cheerful, and arrived at school with tales of birds feeding from her hand at her home

American Pipit. Photo courtesy of Tom Grey www.tgreybirds.com

Somehow with the limited resources available at that time, we learned that they were pipits – tiny, sparrow-sized migrants that arrived in our fields in the fall en route to their wintering grounds. They were Hudson Bay lowland breeders, and were quite at home in the ploughed fields, bobbing their tails almost constantly as they searched among the clods of overturned earth for morsels of food.

Always curious about everything I saw from the tractor seat, I wasn’t

only a few miles from where I lived.

She made all subjects a joy to learn, but she really came alive when teaching science. If only she were here today to see how her interest had influenced me to the extent that I made a career from interpreting nature on guided field hikes.

My dogged persistence in learning about nature amazes me considering that in those days there wasn’t a wide selection of field guides to help me identify the wildlife and plants

that could be found all around me. My only “field guide” was an old 1894 Birds of Ontario that had belonged to my grandfather; it droned on endlessly about the author’s exploits in the field with his shotgun since collecting birds for verification purposes was the only way that new species made it to the Ontario checklist.

Today, of course, this is no longer done, since powerful digital cameras and telephoto lenses, Ploughing always brought pipits, gulls and other birds that could be enjoyed from the tractor seat. Photo by Terry Sprague and the acceptance of meticulous field notes describing winged blackbirds and grackles were a new observation, have replaced the always in the oats. In the fall, it was need for physical evidence. the rusty blackbirds that nested Somehow I persevered, and within farther north, seemingly timing their a few years I was introduced to the migration on our farm to coincide famous Peterson Field Guide series with the ripening of the corn. House that used the process of elimination sparrows created an infernal din as a sure way to pin an identity quickly around the buildings as they tirelessly on a new bird. That process is still searched for any gleanings. It was used today, and is the foundation of a difficult to extol the benefits of birds bird identification course that I teach when clouds of blackbirds descended every year at this time, and which is from the skies and starlings painted always filled to capacity. Birding has our vehicles. certainly come a long way in the last Long before I even acquired any 100 years. It now appeals to so many knowledge on ecology, biodiversity, people, from backyard lookers and the web of life, and the balance of listeners, to casual week-enders or nature, I knew that so-called bad birds dedicated lifers who dart by jet all had another side to them and that over the world, building up a life list they were somehow interconnected of species they have seen. and formed an important link in Back on the farm, and even pretty the natural scheme of things. There much today, I stayed away from was more to their existence than an frantic birding, commonly known in outdated Jack Minor attitude about bird speak as “list-hounding”, and good and bad birds, and the belief preferred instead to spend as much that bad birds must be destroyed. time as I could with each species in They had a purpose, and from the an effort to increase my knowledge. I tractor seat, I watched as they gorged spent many an evening after milking on insects and carried huge beakfuls the cows, just wandering back along of grubs and beetles to offspring far our lane and listening to the vesper away. sparrows sing in the evening. I The farm was an outdoor classroom, watched and studied their singing beyond SS #14 Public School, and habits and their nesting behaviour it was in these same fields (that I in the hay fields. I watched, amused, wrote about in my book Up Before as they performed their distraction Five – the Family Farm) where I display whenever I accidentally came became motivated to learn about across their nest on the ground. the natural world and how all living Individuals would spring from their things depended on each other. The nests and actually summersault recollections of those days more than along the surface of the ground, four decades ago are fond memories, ultimately dropping into some tall and I am glad I never gave up my grass where they would hide, hoping thirst for knowledge. It has led to an that their pursuer would be lured exciting career in the field of natural away from their nest. history that I have no plans of My parents enjoyed the presence retiring from any time soon. If only of birds, too, but never really cared Daniel Massey and Harry Ferguson much for the blackbird clan. Red- could know how their tractor seats influenced my career.

For more information on birding and nature and guided hikes, check out the NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net.

Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is self-employed as a professional interpretive naturalist.

The Scoop

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

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The Coyotes

By Mel Galliford

T

he howls, yips, and barks of coyotes are all familiar sounds to readers of this newspaper, as they are to most rural residents of Ontario. Canis latrans, as the animal is known to scientists, or Hungrii flea-bagusis, to less scientificallyminded cartoon watchers (among a long list of pseudo-Latin names for Road Runner’s hapless nemesis), is one of the most common predators in the province, and its habitat is extending to suburbs, cities, and even golf courses. Originally limited to the Western half of North America, coyotes have spread to the entire continent, only recently reaching Newfoundland and Cape Cod. A number of specimens have been captured in large cities, including New York, Toronto, Chicago and Ottawa. They have been unwittingly helped by humans in this process: their former enemy, the wolf, has been either eliminated or restricted to remote areas, and the terrain they prefer, semi-open brush land is also what we humans typically create.

They are also very opportunistic

eaters, thriving on garbage, rodents, and small animals, including an increasingly popular meal some of us unintentionally provide for them: slow, well fed cats. Though they may elicit concern or even fear when they come into contact with people, they are rarely a threat to humans, and no attacks have been reported in Ontario. Which is not to say they are harmless animals: many attacks have occurred in North America, particularly against young children, and there have been two known fatalities.

Feeding them is a very bad idea, as it is with most wild animals, since it only leads to them losing their fear of humans.

Coyotes can be hunted throughout the year in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources further confirms that land owners

can hunt or trap coyotes that are damaging their property (the MNR also provides detailed information on how to live with coyotes and limit unwanted contact).

This time of the year is a good hunting period: the animals are actively looking for rabbits and other prey and they are easy to see and track.

They are easier to lure into brushy openings, like old fields, abandoned roads, or on the edge of woods. They are smart animals, smarter than most dogs, and therefore not easy to hunt.

Wind direction, improper camouflage, and overcalling can all quickly deter a coyote.

And most will only be fooled once (another reason why Wile E. Coyote is not the ideal model from which to learn about the animal).

A number of places run coyote

hunting contests, several in our area are now in full swing. There has been a lively controversy about coyote culls, particularly in the form of organized contests. Their effectiveness at actually reducing the coyote population is uncertain, since coyotes are notorious for simply producing more pups when under hunting pressure. But the animals are clearly not endangered, and active hunting encourages fear of human beings, thus discouraging unwanted contact and potential incidents. It is also a way for farmers to protect their land and animals.

One of the local coyote derbies is organized by the popular Lakeview Tavern, in Erinsville. The owners started the event four years ago when it was brought to their attention how much of a problem coyotes were to the local farmers. The current 2011/12 derby began in September and goes until April 7th at which time the Tavern will hold a draw for a rifle as well as donated prizes from other supporters.

Burn Wood. Keep Warm.

By Sally Bowen

A

wood furnace situated in the basement heats our two-and-a-half story frame house at Topsy Farms. That’s a huge improvement over the early years, when we had only one wood stove in the living room, where everyone, and the laundry, hung out. Each time we filled that less-than-airtight stove, it would belch ash and dust into the room. Our boys were active early, so we built a frame around the stove to keep our little explorers safe. We use to share an old vacuum cleaner between two houses and getting it involved dressing two toddlers and driving a kilometer each way; obviously the dusty house wasn’t vacuumed very often.

Kyle has been the primary wood gatherer for some years, backed up by his dad, Ian. The goal is to have this year’s wood stored in the opensided shed adjacent to the basement door, and next year’s wood already

cut and drying in the back lot. Part of the winter’s work is to begin cutting and gathering the wood for the third year. The quantity required varies a lot from one year to the next.

This autumn, before leaf fall, Kyle marked the dead trees.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a bottomless supply. Many of the dead elms have been taken down, but with the ash borer threatening, the somewhat overcrowded conditions in our bush and limbs threatening our perimeter fence, there is no lack of dead wood to be trimmed.

Some of the pathways through the bush were established years ago, when the sugar shack was in active use. This year Ian’s wonderful gift to us was clearing and extending the cross-country trails giving us skiers greater access to this lovely wooded area. Since we have shallow soil, many of the trees are Eastern Red Cedar, but deeper pockets of soil also

support o a k s , b e e c h , maples, ironwood, Shagbark Hickory, white pine and spruce.

T h e r e is also a disturbing amount of “Super Skid” on the tractor, carrying a load - note the muddy tires. It is prickly ash easy to get stuck before the ground freezes. Photo credit: Sally Bowen. and garlic mustard. Sadly, the deer have grazed perversity of inanimate objects is most of the trilliums and young required.

Most days the men take an armload saplings.

Ian organized a chainsaw safety of wood into the basement storage training session in our home for the area as they come in from work to extended family a few years ago, shed their duds. Fortunately Don is so they have certificates of safety. up early and Kyle stays up late, so the Patience sharpening the chains, fire in the furnace rarely goes out.

Our home smells and feels good too working with recalcitrant motors on cold days, and just dealing with the and we’re even less grubby.

“THE HANDYMAN” “No project too big & no project too small, Just pick up your phone and give me a call” 592 Carroll Road, Tamworth, Ontario, K0K 3G0

MR. HECTOR GRAVELLE “THE HANDYMAN CAN”

Phone: (613) 358-9375 E-mail: ysgibson@kos.net

“No project to Just pick up y

5 Ta

Phon E-mail:

HE HANDYMAN ” Stuart’s“TFarm Fresh Eggs “No project too big & no project too small, Just pick up your phone and give me a call” 592 Carroll Road, Tamworth, Ontario, K0K 3G0

MR. HECTOR GRAVELLE “THE HANDYMAN CAN”

Phone: (613) 358-9375 E-mail: ysgibson@kos.net

4732 County Rd 41 613-379-2274

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FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 8

“No project to Just pick up y

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Phon E-mail:

“THE HANDYMAN” “No project too big & no project too small,

MR. HECTOR GRAVELLE

“No project to

Local Food and the CSA Solution Story and photo by Cam Mather

R

emember the good old days when gas was 60¢/litre. Or fifty cents! A decade ago oil was about $25/barrel. Today it’s trading around $100/barrel, so it seems pretty amazing that we’re only paying $1.20 at the pumps since the price of the commodity that gas is made from is four times more expensive. If you used simple arithmetic we should be paying $2.40.

Rising oil prices don’t just affect your vehicle fill ups; they affect our lives in a variety of ways, including food prices. It’s not just diesel in farmer’s tractors, it’s diesel in the trucks that deliver the food to warehouses and local stores, and to bring our fresh fruits and vegetables thousands of kilometers from California and Florida.

I find myself standing and marveling at the miracle that is the produce section at Kim and Larry’s Stone Mills Family Market in Tamworth.

It is January, in Canada, and fresh, green and orange and healthy fruits and vegetables that have traveled from not just the southern U.S. but across the whole world, surround me. Traveled with the aid of relatively cheap and abundant fossil fuels, to little old Tamworth. The wonders never cease! Can you image what the settlers who cleared this land a hundred years ago would think of Kim and Larry’s produce section today?

Now that the International Energy Agency agrees that we’ve hit “peak oil” or have extracted all the easy oil, the question becomes how quickly does $100/barrel become $200/ barrel oil? Most of us are already aware of the gradual rise in the price of food, but since food and energy are excluded from the “core” inflation figure that the media reports, it’s just something we notice from time to time when we pick up an item that just seems more expensive.

One of the solutions to food inflation

caused by rising energy costs is to buy more food locally, but that can be a challenge. While we’re surrounded by farms they often produce food on a scale that requires them to sell through established channels that can handle larger producers.

And while Kim and Larry try to sell locally produced food, no one around here that I know is growing romaine lettuce or oranges in January. This means that the local stores have to have relationships with large chains that provide a dependable supply of products, 12 months of the year. If local growers can only provide cauliflower two months of the year, and a store wants to sell it 12 months of the year, it’s easier to commit to the year round source.

So where does that leave someone wanting to eat more locally produced food? Part of the answer involves a gradual movement to eating a diet more in line with the diet of our parents and grandparents.

It means eating in season and freezing and canning as much as possible. There was a time when you were content to eat strawberries for four weeks of the year until you moved onto raspberries and then blueberries. You enjoyed peaches while they were in season and then apples and pears starting in the fall and then you switched to canned or frozen fruit during the winter months.

Farmers wanting to sell their

produce locally face challenges of their own. How do you find people that want to eat locally grown food and are prepared to buy enough of it to warrant the investment of the farmer’s time and energy?

A great solution to these challenges is the concept of Community Supported Agriculture or CSAs. In a CSA, families make commitment to buy a share of the harvest of a local farmer and receive a basket of produce each week during the growing season. The content of the basket varies over the three or four months and is dependent on the weather conditions.

Members of a CSA take on some of the risk that previously was born completely by the farmer.

Basket of veggies. T h e y ’ l l get a great variety of healthy food each week, but some years certain crops will do better than others so they’ll share in that seasonal variation.

Most CSAs charge between $400 and $500 for the season that can stretch 12 to 14 weeks. Members are asked to pay all or part of their membership fee upfront which helps the farmer to pay for seeds and other input costs and know how many families are committed for the season.

Michelle and I have decided to start the Sunflower Farm Organic CSA this year with a real commitment to local food. We’ve got vegetables covered

and we are gradually building up our berry patches but won’t have enough for the CSA this year. So we plan on providing members with local berries as long as the season lasts.

We have always picked strawberries at Wiseacres Farm in Centreville.

The challenge is that while we might do our big picking one week and fill up the freezer and make jam, we still love eating them fresh as long as the season lasts, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to drive all the way to Centerville for a couple of quarts. So what we plan on doing is providing our members with John Wise’s berries for as long as he has them, and this way we’ll be taking one vehicle rather than 12 or 15 if each member went separately. We’ll also be picking blueberries at John Wilson’s Organic Blueberries in Tweed.

As the cost of fuel rises I think we’ll all be attempting to minimize our trips and maximize what we accomplish each time we leave our homes. We hope with our CSA to provide members with fresh, healthy, local, organic fruits and vegetables, most of which have been grown on our farm, or sourced locally in Stone Mills.

In a world of rising energy costs and growing instability in the parts of the world like the Middle East that provide the lions share of the planet’s fossil fuels, we’re going to need new models of feeding ourselves locally.

We have the farmland and expertise, what we’re lacking is the supply chains that will allow farmers to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables for a local market. We think the CSA model is a great start in this direction.

If you’d like more information or to become a member this year, please call us at 613-539-2831 or visit www. sunflowerfarm.ca. Membership will be quite limited during our first year, so please be sure to indicate your interest in being a member as soon as possible.

Back in Time Story and photo by Barry Lovegrove

• GENERAL EXCAVATION • SEPTIC SYSTEMS • LANDSCAPING • TRUCKING • DEMOLITION • SNOW CLEARING & SANDING

L

ast fall I had the pleasure of accompanying John Way into the bush close to where I live west of Erinsville. It never fails to amaze me how beautiful the countryside is as I ride my ATV on old trails through the woods and wetlands in this area. John took me to parts of the bush that at one time had been inhabited by early settlers who had made their homes in what must have seemed like the middle of nowhere.

Irish immigrants arrived, staked out a plot of land and called it home.

John showed me stone blocks that had been used as foundations for their cabins and stone fences built to mark the boundary of their plot as they cleared the land. These were not your average garden fences either.

They were about six feet wide and three to four feet high. He also showed me a hand dug well that was about

Rick Tuepah RR#3 Roblin

613-388-2460 613-561-6585 Remains of a stone fence

fifteen feet deep and four feet wide lined with stones; no backhoes back then! There was a small overgrown field of pine tress obviously sown by hand due to the linear way they were planted. At one point there was a gatepost that had fallen over but still had its hand-forged hinge pin attached. We stopped and sat for a while at that spot.

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I couldn’t help but wonder what life must have been like back then.

The silence that surrounded us was almost deafening, just the odd sound of a curious squirrel chirping as he came to check us out. It was a place of pure serenity. I felt privileged to be there as I listened to John’s stories of his life as a child wandering through this part of the bush by foot. Now he

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takes his grandchildren there and tells them these stories.

Yes Canada is a young country in the big scheme of things but we should remember to thank these early immigrants who came here before us and made this little part of our land what it is today.

Sk8ing 4 Fun!

By Angela Saxe

A

s a young child, I would set off for school during the early winter mornings with a school bag in one hand and with my ice skates, laces knotted securely, thrown over my shoulder. In the emerging daylight, I would join other children my age and together we would walk in pairs or in tight little gangs to our elementary school.

In those days, no parent would ever consider accompanying us and since we weren’t being bussed, we depended on each other for safety and companionship. About midway between our neighbourhood and school was a lovely park where two skating rinks were erected and maintained by the municipality.

One had high boards and was used exclusively for playing hockey and the other, with lower boards, was for the ice skaters. We skidded and slid along the icy surface in our boots as we loitered, delaying as long as possible our entry into our stuffy, over-heated classrooms. All day long, as our teacher delivered our lessons, we waited impatiently for our walk home.

Once we reached the ice rinks the boys quickly retrieved their battered old sticks from the snow banks, quickly picked teams and roared into the game. Meanwhile, the girls donned our gleaming white skates and stepped onto the ice. We practiced our bunny hop jumps, then moved onto our waltz jumps and toe loops; we rotated and spun; we skated backwards and practiced our stops. We crossed arms and skated in unison. Even as the sun disappeared and the frigid temperatures left our fingers and toes numb we continued with our figure eights lifting our back leg higher and higher, dreaming of being the next Carol Heiss or Barbara Ann Scott.

All across Canada, just as we did, young children and teens pick up their skates and head to their local arenas and rinks to skate. The Stone

Mills arena in Tamworth is usually filled with the roar and excitement of a hockey game, but on Wednesday nights, there’s a stillness on the ice broken only by the light, innocent laughter of young children. Parents lean against the glass watching their children struggle onto their feet, intent on standing up and pushing themselves across the ice. The Learn How to Skate program teaches children from three to seven years of age the basic skills of skating, while the Recreational Figure Skating Program teaches other kids how to jump and spin. Neither of these classes would be available without the hard work and commitment of two very special women: copresidents of the Stone Mills Skating Club – Nicole Gullins and Richelle Uens.

“I love skating, it makes me feel like I can fly, even though I’m still on the ground. It makes me feel confident, that I have balance and grace and it makes me feel free!”

So many programs and events that take place in small communities would not happen without volunteers; Nicole has been involved for the past seven years doing everything from registration, fundraising, bookkeeping, administration, and working with a coach. Four years ago, Richelle joined her as co-president to share the responsibilities of running these programs. Both readily confessed that they got involved when their children wanted to learn to skate and if they weren’t going to do it, the program would disappear.

Apart from the yearly membership fees, the program (which costs about $8000 to run) relies on the donations provided generously by the Lions Club and the Quilters Club; the year-end concert, which brings in over $1000, and fundraising efforts of parents who sell fudge or pizzas to help to cover the short fall. It’s a lot of work, but both women agree it’s the best use of their time and energy – just to see the smiles on the little ones’ faces as they manage to glide without falling.

Carly Taylor was hired to coach both classes and it’s obvious from watching her on the ice how much she loves her job. Carly, who has skated for over 21 years, spent two years on the National Synchronize skating team before deciding to focus on coaching Two skaters in the Recreational Figure Skating Program The Scoop

Young children enjoying the Learn to Skate Program

instead of competing. “I want to help children see their own potential,” Carly says. “I break down the skill into small steps, help them through each one, and when they realize they can do it, their faces break into big smiles. I’m so proud of them when they hit that moment.” Helping Carly on the ice with the very young children are her assistants, usually former students or the older students from the figure skating class: Amy and Sarah Gullins, Madison Uens, Sarah Kiar, Ashlee Couvreur among others.

Thirteen year old Amy Gullins takes to the ice helping the children stand up, getting them to practice their skills. “I love knowing all these children are learning a skill. They are all determined to know more and to try; I see it in their smiles when they succeed. When I learned to skate, I had people help me and every week I would ask, when are we going skating?”

Skating classes give the preschoolers confidence on the ice, as well as with other children, as they get the opportunity to socialize with their peers, while the Recreational Figure Skating Program provides young people with an opportunity to learn new skills without the pressure of competition. Competitive figure skating programs are available in Napanee and Tweed where skaters not only take lessons, but they also pay for individual time with a coach.

There are competitions, routines to learn and costumes to buy, but for skaters like Amy, who do not want that kind of pressure, the program in Tamworth is very welcome. “I don’t do well under pressure and I like being able to just enjoy myself,” Amy says. “I know it’s okay to make mistakes, I like knowing that I’m not being judged.”

Her sister Sarah echoes her feelings: “Skating is always something I look forward to. I can skate and whatever is worrying me will leave my mind.

While exercising and socializing with friends, I can learn a new skill. When I land that jump or perfect that spin, it always makes me happy to hear my coach say, ‘great work!’”

Away from the competition and the pressure to perform, recreational skating offers something

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

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that is very precious and special. “I love skating,” says Amy, “it makes me feel like I can fly, even though I’m still on the ground. It makes me feel confident, that I have balance and grace and it makes me feel free!”

“Unfortunately,” says Richelle, “the skating program in Tamworth is dwindling. Girls are opting to play hockey or if they want to skate competitively, they go to Napanee or Tweed. Our numbers are dropping and that’s a pity; we provide a great program for kids who just want to have fun. The ironic thing is that the Learn to Skate program is in fact producing strong little skaters so that when they go into hockey, they have a distinct advantage.”

For more information about the Learn to Skate Program and the Recreational Figure Skating programs, please contact Nicole Gullins at 613-379-5757 or Richelle Uens at 613-379-9971. Private donations from individuals or from a community group are always welcome.

“There were about ten men skating, part of a game. One chased the others and as soon as someone was touched he became the chaser. Each man held in one hand a sheaf of cattails and the tops of these were on fire. This is what lit the ice and had blinked through the trees.

It was not just the pleasure of skating. They could have done that during the day. This was against the night. The hard ice was so certain, they could leap into the air and crash down and it would hold them. Their lanterns replaced with new rushes which let them go further past boundaries, speed!

Romance! One man waltzing with his fire…..

In the Skin of the Lion by Michael Ondaatje Scene describes loggers skating on Depot Creek

The Heritage Quilters Guild

By Linda Williams and Jean Clair

T

he Heritage Quilters’ Guild celebrated its 15th anniversary at its December 2011 meeting.

It was established in 1996 by a small group of women who were members of the Napanee Piecemakers. These women were meeting as a group for fifteen years in a private home but they felt the need to expand and open up the quilting experience to more people in the Napanee area. On October 15th 1996 a public meeting was held to see if there was enough interest to form a guild. Forty-four people showed up to show their support. It was decided that the meetings would be held on the third Tuesday of the month.

The first meeting was held in November of 1996. On June 17th 1997 the first general meeting was held and 23 of 38 paid up members attended. The meeting included a potluck dinner followed by a

membership vote for the guild’s logo from nine submissions: Earla Welsman’s design won.

The meetings consist of various quilting experiences.

Sometimes there are guest speakers with Trunk Shows (which inspire us to try something new), Mini Workshops to learn new techniques, local quilt shops showing new tools, and our wonderful Show and Tell that we have at every meeting. At our November meeting we donated quilted placemats and napkins to the SOS for the Meals On Wheels and doll quilts, dolls and toys to the Salvation Army. We have various quilting challenges and this year it was handbags. Some members are participating in a quilt block exchange.

The Farmhouse Quilters all Heritage Quilters’ Guild began in 2010. We have donated quilts in

Quilt by Brynhild Hansen

various sizes to the L&A Interval House, John M. Parrott Center, Foster Parents, Friendly Manor, Orphanages in Chernobyl, Stone Mills Fire Dept. and fire victims in Verona, L&A Community Mental Health and Addictions Residential component, Village Green Nursing Home and at present planning quilts for the Napanee Fire Dept. In 2011

the membership has increased to 80 members. We are planning our fourth Quilt Show on May 4th and 5th 2013.

We would like to welcome all to attend any of our meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month from September to June at the Strathcona Paper Center at 7pm.

Looking Back: Frederick Richardson

By Jane Foster

D

uring Heritage Week 2012, the Lennox and Addington County Museum will open a guest exhibit of the works of English born landscape artist, Frederick Richardson, active in Napanee and Belleville from 1864-1913. A public reception will be held Tuesday February 21 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fourteen works, including two large oils and twelve watercolours will give viewers a glimpse into the idyllic world of late nineteenth century artists. Richardson’s paintings followed the style and technique of the British landscape artists of the late 19th century. These artists rejected their modern industrialized world and focused on landscapes in a poetic manner. Their works provided a romantic look at the landscape as a “source of timeless values which could be enjoyed by anyone.” (Tate Britain) Richardson’s artworks reflect the idyllic landscape style in the Bay of Quinte area.

Frederick Richardson was born in 1829 at St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. In 1850, 21 year old Frederick Richardson, a painter, was living in the United States, with the family of Jonathan and Ann Powell.

By 1860, Frederick and Sarah Richardson and their children, Frederick S. and Eugene, were living in Rochester Ward, Monroe, New York where Frederick worked as an “ornamental painter”.

By 1864, Frederick and his family had located to Napanee, Canada West. Frederick purchased property on the south side of Bridge Street between Robert and West Street, and another lot on the north side, from James and John Cartwright.

On the 1866 Napanee Assessment Roll, 8 people were living at this location.

Richardson was listed as a carriage painter. On the 1871 Census, Frederick and Sarah and children Frederick S., Eugene Ed, Gertrude and Ida, along with Lizzie Woods, a domestic, were living here.

By July 1864, Richardson had

opened a photograph and ambrotype gallery over Grange’s Drug Store at John and Dundas Streets in Napanee. Entrance to the studio was from John Street. The same year, he formed a partnership with H.O. Judd, a photographer, in this location.

Messrs. Richardson and Judd advertised a “new kind of photograph called the pearl tint, for which Judd had the patent for Canada”.

In the 1871 Ontario Directory he is listed as a painter and photographer, operating a photo gallery above the store of George Dunning on the

Sheep grazing beside the creek, by Frederick Richardson

In 1865, he formed a new partnership with Albadore Foster, located two doors west of Bob Downey’s.

Their studio was fitted with an improved sky-light to take “pictures in the best style of Art”. The 1865 Directory gives his address as Centre Street.

By December 1868, he was once again in partnership with Judd.

south side of Dundas.

Richardson first described himself as an artist in 1876. In 1881, Frederick, his wife Sarah, son Eugene and daughters Gertrude and Ida, located to Belleville where he opened a studio on Campbell Street. His son, Frederick Samuel, who had married Hattie Daly, daughter of Edward Daly, tea merchant in 1878, remained in

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Napanee.

In the 1885, Belleville Directory, he is listed as a frescoe painter with his son, Eugene, as a painter. An ad placed in Morrey’s Directory in 1889, described Richardson as “an artist, landscape, figure and frescoe painter, and a teacher in these branches”.

His studio was on the 2nd floor of the “Metropolitan Block”.

Frederick Richardson exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists 18941904 and the Royal Canadian Academy 1880 – 1895. In 1891, Frederick Richardson exhibited, “Interrupted Siesta, Mexico” in a show at the Toronto Art Gallery sponsored by the Most Honorable Marquis of Lorne and Her Royal Highness Princess Louise, His Excellency Lord Stanley and His Excellency the Marquis of Landsdowne.

In 1898, Frederick and his wife sold their Napanee home to son F.S. Richardson. After the death of Sarah Richardson in 1907, Frederick returned to Napanee to live with his son. He passed away October 8, 1913, in his 84th year, at the residence of his son, F.S. Richardson, Napanee.

He was remembered as “very smart and active, a familiar figure on the streets of Napanee”. The funeral was under Masonic direction with burial at Riverside Cemetery.

The Richardson exhibit will continue at the Lennox and Addington County Museum, Napanee, until April 28.

The Biggest SantaFest Ever

By J. Huntress

O

n Sunday December 4th, which was an overcast and windy day, four of the seven members of The Christmas Committee assembled at noon at the Firemen’s Field in Tamworth to organize the formation of the annual Tamworth Legion’s Christmas Parade. The Committee’s founder, Marilyn McGrath, had composed a mission statement in late September to which all the members had agreed: We exist to bring the community together to experience the joy and nostalgia of the holiday season, to strengthen family bonds, to create lasting memories for children and to support community spirit.

Committee members, who had assembled at the field for the parade’s startup time of 1 p.m., thought they knew for sure what would take place that day. At 12:15 p.m., as they looked towards County Road 4, Marilyn and her committee were astonished to see a line up of decorated flatbeds, trucks, cars and trailers waiting to register in The Stone Mills Fire Department’s parking lot. There were so many children, animals, floats and marchers and so much excitement and joy that within half an hour the organizers had to quickly adjust their planned procedures since the OPP had just arrived to close off County Road 4 to traffic. Mark Oliver of the TECDC consented to direct traffic and bring order to the parade procession while Barb Pogue, Marilyn McGrath and Peg Campbelton tried to organize the floats and vehicles into an orderly parade line. The spectacle of organizing 35 floats, nine horses, decorated trucks and cars along with children and animals “to march and drive out” onto the new parade route to the main village shopping street and south was an amazing sight to watch. The members of the Christmas Committee soon realized that their plan to organize a modest village parade was exceeding their dreams. They couldn’t believe their eyes!

The Tamworth Legion Colour Party with the Boy Scouts carrying Legion flags started the procession, followed by the new fire truck purchased by SMFD and then by Agnes Hagerman of Mountain Road Simmentals and her grandchildren. She proudly wore the banner of Honorary Parade Marshall. Meanwhile Mark Oliver waved on the remaining floats as an OPP helicopter cruised overhead, monitoring the parade’s flow of floats and people.

Committee members who stayed behind to help were in a state of amazement.

The committee had agreed that the presence of animals was important to the parade, especially for the children. That Sunday there were four horses from the Dressage Club,

authentic fencing, hay bales, and farm furniture atop their float.

Judges for these three certificate awards were Tom and Liz Weir and Wendy Russell. The judging was not easy, considering the high level of creativity and the hard work of all the parade participants.

Township, A-One Corner Store and Hardware, and The Devon Cafe/Tea Room and The River Bakery/Cafe.

The Tamworth Legion and Lions members, the area fire departments and OPP, and local churches and schools and organizations all contributed to make this one of the best and biggest parades ever held in Tamworth. The wonder and happiness people felt on that December day will not be forgotten for years to come.

FOOTNOTES 1. The Christmas Committee hosted a “Tree Lighting Ceremony” at the Cenotaph on November 26 at 5:30 p.m.

Carolers from United Pentecostal Church sang carols with onlookers. After the trees were lit, those in attendance went into the Library for hot chocolate and cider (donated by Robert Storring) and cookies baked by committee members.

four horses from Mark Youmen’s Classic Creek Ranch, and one Standard bred horse pulling an antique doctor’s buggy, driven by a modern Dr. Clancey and his wife.

There were many wonderful goats with decorations around their horns and necks, miniature horses led by young 4-H members and dogs dressed by The Regal Beagle Hotel for Dogs and other pet owners.

The groups of people, farmers, and children were equally delightful: TECDC Grass Roots Growers each dressed as a vegetable or fruit and one of their members handed out Brussels sprouts to the crowd.

The young people on The United Pentecostal Tabernacle float were dressed in costumes from the Holy Land based on the dress of the original participants of The Nativity and their float was awarded the Best Theme float certificate. The Legion and Tamworth Lions’ Club members collected food donations from onlookers and the Line Dancers of Tamworth danced along the route.

Floats were either on flatbeds, trucks, trailers towed by lawnmowers or ATVs; Centreville Public School had a big float with many students, two of them sitting on the hay bales inside the Principal’s Penalty Box. Their float won the certificate for Most Enthusiastic Float. Greg Storring and family had a float with Greg transformed into a green-faced Grinch, laughing and throwing candies to the crowds. Waylen Car Wash was awarded a certificate for Most Original Float--they used

Children participating in the parade 2. The Village Christmas Craft Fair

Realtor Duaine Presley actually had a small campfire at the back of his float while another realtor, Cindy Haggerty, placed a small hot air balloon at the side of hers. This year Santa’s float was very special because Mrs. Claus joined him for the first time in his vintage Diplomat buggy, drawn

by Brian McGrath. Committee members later heard that Santa, after the parade, went to Tamworth Legion to hear children’s wishes and to distribute gifts--he was alarmed when the Legion doors opened and nearly 100 excited children rushed in to see and be with him. Barry Lovegrove, photographer for Santa (and The Scoop), was very busy taking pictures of each child Santa met. Another Santa, Santa Paws, was present at River Bakery/Cafe and handed out treats to children and pets.

While the memories of the parade were still fresh in their minds, a follow-up meeting of the Christmas committee was held. The Committee: Marilyn McGrath, Barb Pogue, Peg Campbelton, Kathryn Hutcheon, Lorraine Prue, Judith Huntress and Tracy Snow plan to meet again in 2012. At that meeting Marilyn McGrath said: “Thanks to all of you. It is the PEOPLE who made this parade.” The team knew the parade was a culmination of countless hours spent working hard to ensure that one woman’s vision for her community at Christmastime came true. Volunteers who helped them were TECDC, Stone Mills

was held the day of the Parade from 10:00 a.m.--3 p.m. in the Library and in the A-One Corner Store. Kathryn Hutcheon and Peg Campbelton organized twenty-three vendors/ artisans from the area to display and sell their wares. There was a small cafe at the back of the Library, run

by Marg Weese of Devon Cafe/Tea Room, where people could purchase refreshments.

Open all year 11 am - 5 pm / Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun

The Scoop

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 12

Now, who tae invite tae Tea…

Beagle Bagels

By Dalton Cowper

I

f your pal is bored of his usual dog treats these just may become his favourite new treat and they are really easy to make. This particular recipe can be easily changed to suit your dog’s likes and dislikes. If your doggie is a cheese hound instead of a peanut butter and honey type of dog, you could use apple and cheese in its place or maybe add in some bacon bits. For even more flavour, substitute chicken or beef stock (low sodium) instead of water. The trick to baking really great dog cookies is drying them out completely, so after they have been baked I usually slip them back into the oven while it is cooling off. This will help to dry them out even more. The crunchier the treat the better: it cleans their teeth. Making your own doggie treats is a great way to save some money this winter and at the same time you’re making homemade quality treats for a really deserving friend. So the next time you get a snow day, just hunker down and treat your pal to something more than usual.

After all, real loyalty should be rewarded!

By Beverly Frazer, The River Bakery Café & Patio

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

M

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone-baking mat.

In a large bowl combine wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon until well mixed.

Add peanut butter, honey, oil and water to flour combine and knead until dough is formed Roll dough into balls about 1-2 inches in diameter. Poke a hole through each ball with the end of a wooden spoon.

Bake on prepared baking sheet for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool and refrigerate

rs. Janet Keiller made marmalade for the first time in Dundee in 1797, when her husband bought a cargo of oranges for their preserve shop. A Spanish ship carrying them had been forced into the harbour during a turbulent North Sea storm. Her husband like any good Scot bartered a great deal for their little preserve shop. Her ‘Marmalade’ was an immediate hit and has since made Dundee famous for the tart condiment. It is proudly steeped in Scottish history as being one of the best deals any Scotsman had ever made! In Scottish kitchens everywhere you’d hear “Thenk Gawd that Mrs. Keiller’s guidman gawt that deal fur th’ oranges frae Spain ur we may hae naethin’ fur mah toast!” It is not surprising that marmalade features in a number of Scottish recipes. Here is one for a Scottish Marmalade Cake.

tablespoons) 1 drop vanilla essence (vanilla extract) 2 tablespoons orange marmalade 1 teaspoon orange rind, finely grated 2 tablespoons milk Pinch of salt

1. Sift the flour and salt into a

2.

3.

4.

Scottish Marmalade Cake Ingredients (with US conversions in brackets): 8 oz self-raising flour (One cup allpurpose flour with baking powder) 2 beaten eggs 3 oz caster sugar (Three rounded tablespoons granulated sugar) 4 oz margarine (4 rounded

Ingredients 1/2 cup Chunky Peanut Butter 1/4 cup Honey 1 teaspoon Vegetable Oil 1 cup Water (more if needed)

5.

6.

bowl and rub in the margarine until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar, half the orange rind and then add the eggs, marmalade, milk and vanilla.

Mix well to achieve the consistency of thick batter.

Grease a 6 inch round cake tin and bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 350F/175C for around one hour and twenty minutes or until golden brown.

Insert a skewer, or toothpick, until it comes out clean.

Sprinkle the rest of the orange rind on top and allow to cool for a few minutes before you turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy with your favourite tea!

D for When the Sun Don’t Shine

By Andrea Dingwall

I

f you follow the latest health news, you have probably been inundated with headlines about all the wonders of Vitamin D. Scientists have discovered connections between vitamin D deficiency and depression, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and many other conditions.

The hype about Vitamin D got so big and so many Ontarians were requesting that their blood vitamin D levels be checked that OHIP wound up de-listing it. Now anyone who wants this test has to pay out of pocket: $35 at the lab I use.

So what is the real story behind vitamin D and are you getting enough?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin.

Most people have heard that we get it from sun exposure, but we also get it in fat from animal products. Many fish are high in vitamin D; one can of salmon has approximately 3000 IU s (international units). Whole milk (3.25% milk fat) has about 100 IU s per cup and one scrambled egg has about 75 IU s. The amount of vitamin D varies depending on how the animal was raised and whether or not Vitamin D was added during processing.

The ideal blood level is 40-60 ng/ dL or 100-150 nmol/L. However, the experts are not in agreement about who should have a blood test done.

The current guidelines say that ‘at risk’ people should be tested. But who is at risk? Evidence is mounting that everyone living in cold climates is at risk for vitamin D deficiency

because when the cold weather hits, we cover up and stay indoors. That certainly applies to everyone in our area, despite the mild temperatures we’re experiencing this winter.

The approach I take in my clinic is to say that people from a highrisk group should definitely get tested: obese people, black people, pregnant and lactating women, and people with mal-absorption. I recommend but do not require all other people be tested, in order to ensure that they are supplementing at the correct level for their own

body. If they don’t get tested, they can still safely supplement at the level of the recommended daily allowance, which is 2000 IU for adults. But here’s the kicker: if you are deficient and you supplement at the recommended daily level, you will not be getting enough Vitamin D to correct your deficiency.

Since Vitamin D is fat soluble, it’s important to make sure that you take your supplement with fat.

Many supplement brands now offer a Vitamin D liquid supplement, with the fat source already included, so

that you don’t have to worry about what you’re taking the supplement with.

We don’t know everything about Vitamin D yet, but we definitely know enough to confirm that being aware of your Vitamin D status is part of a good preventative health strategy.

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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FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 13

Morning Routines

Why I Need Ellen DeGeneres in January

By Grace Smith

E

ver wonder what it would be like to grow up in a big family?

What it would be like to be one of many children in a household?

Well, here’s your chance to find out.

I belong to one of those said families.

I am the eldest of six children in a family of eight. That’s right, people - I said six. I have five siblings: three sisters and two brothers.

At the top, there’s my twin, Megan, and me. We’re 18 and starting to think about venturing off into the world. Next is my 16-year-old sister, Erin. Following her is eight-yearold Danielle—who growing up with teenage girls now believes she is one.

And finally, bringing up the rear, are my six-year-old twin brothers, Jack and Evan.

All of us live with my mom, Sherry, and step-dad, S h a w n .

While we are far from a perfect family, we certainly are a happy one. So now that I’ve introduced you to everyone, I’m going to lead you through a typical albeit slightly hectic morning in our house.

At about seven in the morning, Erin’s alarm clock goes off, waking those who have yet to join the land of the living. Megan, who needs all the time she can get in the morning, rises shortly thereafter. Erin and I, who share a room, hear the surrounding sounds but we quickly ease back into sleep. There’ll be plenty of time to get ready later.

Normally, around 7:30, little people, as we like to call the three members of our family with a height disadvantage, emerge from their rooms and proceed to make as much noise as they possibly can. We ignore them for as long as we can, but it’s unavoidable - we know that

we have to get up. Most mornings Erin and I exchange a quick glance and then hop out of bed in a race for the bathroom. As her bed is closer to the door, I almost always lose.

By this time, everyone is up, scurrying around, and Shawn is just getting home—he works nights. And see, here’s the problem: there are seven of us getting ready and only one bathroom. Yes, you just read that right. One bathroom.

It’s not a small bathroom, there’s some room for movement, but it can get quite crowded. This is one of the reasons I put off getting out of bed. I’m hoping that if we stagger our wake up times, one day I’ll find a deserted bathroom. But it hasn’t happened yet.

We all seem to be reaching the finish line at the same time.

After we twirl and twist our way around the bathroom, we run around the house collecting what we need: backpacks, l u n c h e s , r u n n i n g shoes, and computers. The list goes on and on.

And on most days, somebody forgets something.

Since the high school is just a few minutes walk away, we older girls walk to school on our own leaving as soon as we’re ready. Normally, Megan leaves with plenty of time to spare, I get there just on time, and Erin either squeezes in right before the last bell or arrives late.

Shawn rounds up the little people after we leave. He gets them ready for school and my mom drops them off on her way to work—they work as a tag-team, executing the last leg of our race.

Though not the most organized system, we all get where we need to be and we do it as a family. And that’s what’s really important.

By Judy H.A.T.

A

part from some memorable storms in Toronto when I heard thunder during a snowstorm, there is little to compare with howling night winds followed by a morning sighting of three partridges foraging for food during a snow squall in Tamworth.

There are also the sounds of ice pellets falling on a tin roof, the snap of tree limbs in the yards, and the ocean-like roar of the snow plowing machines at four in the morning.

January is the time when nature clears her forests of old and dead debris, preparing for new spring growth.

In January, when everyone should be prepared to adapt to all sorts of things (especially power outages, school closings, etc.), it is reassuring to have power and to value technological devices upon which we rely. It is also nice to have a soft bed piled high with blankets and pillows where one can go when desperate --the Victorians did this often, retiring and taking vapours when they did not know what else to do.

Each weekday I watch an afternoon American TV show - The Ellen Show.

I love to watch this woman Ellen Degeneres dance and I remember her jokes: Why can’t the pony sing?

Because he is a little hoarse. If I am feeling glum I tune in to her show and her laughter, hope and optimism carries me through the rest of the day.

I find it amazing that several years

ago she survived Puritanical wrath from the American media and public and now she has become a light (even a role model) in many viewers’ lives.

She genuinely loves her audience and guests and performs some real acts of charity for underprivileged schools and people.

The month is nearly over and there is suspicion among meteorologists that an early spring may come-we must wait for the groundhog’s verdict. Some robins are still here despite the ice storms and with luck the farmers may get two growing seasons. Start Dancing--There may be only six weeks of winter left.

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Open mic - everyone welcome!

Musicians sign up early Open to singers with tracks Limited space available Free will offering - fund raiser for HFMC expansion project Refreshments For more information contact Patsy Schmidt at 613-376-9815

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Serving Pets & Farm Animals Mon, Tues, Thurs: 8:30am-5pm 211 McQuay St. off Cty. Rd. #6 Wed: 8:30am-7pm (between Colebrook & Moscow) Fri: 8:30am-4pm RR#3 Yarker, ON K0K 3N0 Sat: 10am-1pm Emergency Service By Appointment

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The Scoop

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 14

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4930 Highway #38 Harrowsmith, ON Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri 9am-5:30pm Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-3pm Closed Mondays

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Greater Napanee’s Winter Chill Festival – A Day Filled with Winter Fun

By Kate Clarke, Grade 12 student, Sydenham High School

M

any kids my age hold down a part-time job. They work at fast food restaurants, gas stations, and movie theatres. Since August 2010, I have worked as an employee at Trousdale’s General Store. I was just 15 when I started there, and I’ve learned and grown from the experience. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work requires clear communication. I am in a retail setting. As I prepare to lucky to work with two close friends, graduate high school and move on and we all get along well with the in life, I realize that this job is more other employees. While this may than just a pay cheque, it’s taught me not always be the case, effective valuable life lessons and skills along teamwork skills are crucial to making the way, ones I may not have gained the experience run as smoothly as had I not had this experience. possible. It has taught me how to Having a job has taught me deal with people on a professional many things, including: better level. Everyone is unique, which communication skills, people skills, is what makes life interesting, but responsibility, an appreciation of my working with others has exposed village and the people in it. When me to many different types of people I started this job, I was a pretty shy and I’ve observed how people grade ten student. While I’m still interact with others and how they a quiet person, I have come out of create different dynamics. I find this my shell to a considerable extent - a experience useful at school, when I feat I attribute to working in a retail work on group projects and have to environment. figure out where people fit in.

Communicating with people is While working at the store has unavoidable, and no experience helped me work better with others, has forced me to improve those I can see that it’s improved certain skills more than working. I talk to areas of my character. Holding down “Hope, Purpose & Belonging in Long Care” job has made me grow up. I customers in person and on the Term a steady phone: I have to be clear, concise, am forced to manage my time more and co-operative to help them with effectively and fit everything into my whatever they need. schedule. I have learned to complete Part of being more comfortable schoolwork before I have to go to when speaking to people is that I’ve work. Being in the workforce has also learned to listen more attentively taught me to be more responsible. I especially when helping customers have to remember when my shifts find what they’re looking for in the are, and I have to be punctual! I store. This has proven to be the have to manage the money I earn; I favourite part of my job; I really enjoy have learned that a $60 pair of jeans dealing with customers. Many are seems a lot more expensive when return visitors to the store and they I’ve had to work to earn the money. always have fascinating anecdotes to If I have to switch my shifts, I have share. While we have many regular to negotiate with another employee. customers who stop in to pick up There are people depending on me Napanee & District their favourite candy or jam, I really to show up, and I can’t let them Chamber enjoy meeting new customers andof Commerce down, which for most kids my age, watching them experience store St.isEa•fairly foreign concept. Having 47the Dundas Napanee as I do every day. The longer I work 613.354.6601 this job has given me something here the more knowledgeable I am to be responsible for, which in www.napaneechamber.ca becoming about the history of the turn has helped me to mature me store and Sydenham itself, and I more quickly. Overall, my work Networking • Business Seminars enjoy sharing that information with experience has been a happy one.

Programs our customers. That Can Save Businesses Not only $$ do I enjoy it, it’s taught Besides the customers, I work me so many important lessons that Ask Us About Membership alongside co-workers and I’ve I will carry with me throughout my learned that effective teamwork life. I highly recommend it.

Downtown Greater Napanee was the place to be on Saturday January 21, 2012.

The fourth annual Winter Chill Festival featured snow painting, snow mountain, outdoor skating, Beaver Tails, face painting, horse drawn wagon rides, musical entertainment, a snow volleyball tournament and more. The outdoor event held on the Market Square featured something for everyone to enjoy!

“We are extremely pleased with how the event turned out, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.” said coordinator Lyndsay Tee, “It takes a

lot of dedicated people to organize a family fun event and we’d like to not only thank the public for coming out and enjoying the day, but all the volunteers and supporters as well.”

The popular chili cook-off challenge was a big success with 15 participants, double what there has been in past years. The grand prize winner of the day was the L&A Seniors Outreach Services.

“The festival has grown from year to year and we are excited to see it becoming a tradition in the community” said event planning committee member Elizabeth Botting.

Children and families having fun at the Winter Chill Festival

WAYLEN CAR WASH steven@moorepartners.ca susan@moorepartners.ca

www.moorepartners.ca

steven@moorepartners.ca susan@moorepartners.ca

613 • 379 • 5958   

www.moorepartners.ca    

INVEST IN YOUR   VEHICLES... 

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KEEP AHEAD OF THE SAND & SALT!!

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CTY RD 4, TAMWORTH

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FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

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   

The Scoop

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613 • 379 • 5958

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KIDS & PARENTS County of Lennox & Addington Public Library Children’s Programs TAMWORTH BRANCH Kid’s Club- Wednesdays @ 615715pm Come to the Tamworth Branch for an exciting evening of crafts, stories and games.

Registration at 613-379-3082 is appreciated. Drop-in participants are always welcome.

CAMDEN EAST BRANCH Toddler Tales- Mondays @ 1030am A story time for children 1-4 years, and their care-givers a 30 minute program focuses on simple stories,

rhymes, songs and action plays.

Registration at 613-378-2101 is appreciated. Drop-in participants are always welcome.

NAPANEE BRANCH Baby Time- Tuesdays @ 1030am Caregivers and children (O-2 years) will enjoy reading stories, rhymes and simple fingerplays at this program. Literacy information will be provided to caregivers.

Registration at 613-354-2525 is appreciated. Drop-in participants are always welcome.

Puppy Tales- Thursdays @ 1030am Read your favourite stories to Matisse, Child Therapy Certified, Bichon Frise Children will enjoy reading stories, singing songs, and participating in craft activities while interacting with this gentle dog.

Registration at 613-354-2525 is appreciated. Drop-in participants are always welcome.

Homework Help Get homework help at the Napanee Public Library from a qualified teacher!

We can help you with math, writing,

science, social studies and more.

Please call 613-354-2525 for more information.

YARKER BRANCH Bedtime Buddies- Tuesdays @ 630pm This weekly story time program is designed for the whole family. Children, their adults and best “bedtime buddies will enjoy the “pyjama party” atmosphere of this sleepy time activity that includes stories, songs, and bedtime snacks.

This program will restart in the new year.

A New School in Odessa

By Anne-Shirley Salmond

C

alico School – Centre for Literacy, Life Skills and Leisure, opened in early December at Emmanuel United Church in Odessa, on Highway 2.

This is a wonderful program for adults with special learning needs.

This little school may be of special interest to those people living in the area between Napanee and Kingston, running north toward Tamworth.

Often there is no programming available for adults with special learning needs who are over the age of 21 years, especially when you live far away from an urban area.

There are many who have not had the opportunity to go to a formal program for several years. We are hoping to reach out to these people to provide them with an exciting experience with one-on- one structured activities.

Because people come to us with a variety of abilities, we are attempting to build on their inherent skill levels by providing individual programming for each student. Our goal is to teach new skills and provide the opportunity to learn about things which are of interest to each person. In this way,

we will broaden each student’s life experience and develop the ability to carry out a hobby or activity at home.

We will be working closely with parents in setting goals for our students that are achievable and rewarding. There will be many opportunities for our students to feel pride in their accomplishments.

Also, by having a fun social climate to look forward to, each person’s “Quality of Life” will be enhanced.

The school is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 – 4 pm.

We are located in the basement of the Emmanuel United Church, on Factory Street, behind the Sharing Centre, entering on Elgin Street.

We are a community focused school and hope to encourage people in the region to drop by and say hello. We will also be looking for volunteers to come and join us for an hour or two each week.

You can learn more about the program from our website at: www.calicoschool.com. Our phone number is (613) 377-6360.

Anne-Shirley Salmond is Director of the Calico School.

The Hastings Stewardship Council hosts their Winter Speaker Series THE BUZZ ON BEES ALTERNATIVE FOOD SUPPLY & STORIES February 15, Wed at 7 pm. Thurlow Communi- FROM THE LAND ty Centre, 516 Harmony Rd, north of Belleville February 23, Thur at 7 pm. Thurlow Community Centre, 516 Harmony Rd, north of Belleville Peter Bussell: Is it a Bee or Not a Bee: Dr. Peter Andrée: Pollinators and Predator Insects Alternative Food Supply Systems and Skilled Beekeeper and Pres. of Quinte Lessons from Australia: New Marketing ApBeekeepers' Association. Famous for his Bee proaches and Challenges to Farmers Mobile travelling demonstration Professor at Carleton University: Political Science and environmental issues Dr. Susan Chan: Pollinator Conservation on Farmland Dr. Jennifer Davis: and the importance of wild pollinating bees What the Land Teaches us and Susan Chan directs the Rusty-patched Bumthe Value of Using Stories from the Land ble Bee Project for Farms at Work: encourag- Teaches English and First Nations Studies at ing beekeepers, farmers, and the general Bayside Secondary School, PhD in Education, public to participate. Beekeepers can learn and manages a goat operation. how to use their honey sales as an awareness message about native pollinators.

One of the winning floats from the Tamworth Christmas Parade

The Scoop

All welcome free of charge. Hosted by Hastings Stewardship Council 613-478-6875 jim.pederson@ontario.ca

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 16

THE HORO-SCOOP

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 For Sale: Large, four-drawer, metal filing cabinet, $50. Email ekellogg@persona.ca or call 613-377-6406.

For Sale: 27” Sanyo TV, 5 years old, $50.

Four tires, 215-60-16, low profile 90% plus thread, $200. Antique cell phone, $50. DVD & VCR, $50 for both.

Call Ken at 613-378-1501.

For Sale: Two Samsonite attache cases, $40 & $20. Two IBM computers with Microsoft software & disk-burners, $75 & $125. Two electronic scanners, $25 & $50. Laser printer, $200. Two office desks, $30 & $50. Filing cabinet, $25.

Two office armchairs, $40 & $25. Secretary chair on wheels, $25. Stationary cabinet, $25. Phone: 613-336-9063.

Wanted: I am interested in ride-sharing to and from Kingston weekdays (I live in Tamworth and commute to

By the Oracle Cassandra

Kingston for work most days). Email Jim Quinn at Quinn@cmc.ca 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. I’m 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 Wanted: Services for my cabin lot (without electric): One large tree to be felled/ cut/removed (stump OK in place). Will need bucket truck, good access, area around tree cleared; A nursery that can deliver to site 25 of each: 1-1/2 foot blue spruce and 1-1/2 foot red or white pine with root ball loosely wrapped, along with ten or twenty 10” pots of perennials or wild grasses; Handyman to do minor things like frame a window and fix a door, install new door etc, pay by the hour or job quote. Please call Nancy at 613-3423036 or 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. cell 613-391-9382 or email nancyrobertslive@hotmail.ca

W&S ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Snowplowing Grass cutting Large items pickup Seniors receive 10% discount Garbage pickup & recyclables

Phone: 613-379-5872 / Cell: 613-483-8441

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 and now Stella!

We also arrange with local retailers (convenience stores, gas stations, etc.) to display 1000 additional issues of The Scoop in these and 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 and mailing costs.

Answers to the crossword on the Puzzle Page (page 18):

Moonlight and Memories ARIES March 21 – April 19 Moonlight on snow An opaque glow A fairyland below My window Moonlight trysts are coming your way.

Things might look a bit hazy now but you will see a situation in a brighter light soon.

Share your time with friends and laughter will fill your days. Someone you want to spend more time with is willing to listen to your thoughts and ideas. Get out and travel a bit; a change of scenery might just add some adventure to your life now.

TAURUS April 20 – May 20 Sculpted snow waves Ripple across the landscape Land once ruled by margraves Peaceful now beneath snowflakes There is no need to remain under the yoke of oppressive thoughts. What you thought was sculpted in stone has crumbled and you are free to travel the road ahead of you.

Peaceful thoughts go with you. Now is the time to plan a few parties and invite friends and neighbours to share your life.

GEMINI May 21 – June 20 Wind blown snow Everywhere I go A wild white symphony Swirls around me Romance will suddenly swirl around you, perhaps in your workplace or close to home.

Your charismatic ways will pave the way to rewards at work and in your personal life. Do not lose sight of your goals in this whirlwind of good fortune, stay on your chosen path and look beyond the present time.

CANCER June 21 – July 22 Gaslights with caps of snow Tipped at a jaunty angle Stand on Snowflake Row Where sleigh bells jingle jangle New people are coming into your life, someone as artistic and nurturing as you are will come into your social circle and bells will start to ring for you. Do not put limitations on your imagination, let it roam about the landscape and you will find solutions that will make problems melt like snowflakes on your outstretched hand.

LEO July 23 – August 22 Firelight flickers on tinsel And a silver candlestick On a window sill By the fire wine glasses click Flickering images fill your days and a candle burning in a window beckons you. Perhaps it is time to return to a place where you will get some ideas for possibilities that do exist.

A short trip may be all it takes to get you back on track. Someone or something is urging you to return to your starting point and travel a different path to what could be great success.

VIRGO August 23 – September 22 Poems by bards On valentine cards Written with care For you’re truly fair Tradition and innovative ideas are causing a bit of chaos for you. Life does have room for both and you just have to decide how to combine commitment and retain your independence. Things may get a bit intense but with patience and care you will manage to move in the direction that benefits your desires.

LIBRA September 23 – October 22 The night unfurls Above dusk’s horizon The night sky hurls A star into an ocean Things are a bit unpredictable now. Words are being hurled about and what was supposed to be set in stone has skedaddled over the horizon. Not to worry, peace and harmony will be restored as soon as your unfurl you new ideas and just push the dark side into the light. You will attain a happy compromise soon.

SCORPIO October 23 – November 21 The twinkling lights Are all packed away Ready for another day When snow fills the nights Home and chores are on your agenda. It’s time to pack away all the baggage you have been carrying around for past month and look toward the new days with hope and optimism. There is someone that is willing to share your load, let them into your world.

Focus on partnerships, dialogue is important but don’t be pressured to make a snap decision that could wait for another day.

SAGITTARIUS November 22 – December 21 Winter time is here Gentle breezes blow Huge amounts of snow Around the atmosphere Good fortune is blowing your way and will drift into your life soon. Meet and greet friends and while you are out and about you may find romance. Be more positive in your thinking and things will come easier to you.

You are feeling fortunate but look before you leap.

CAPRICORN December 22 January 19 After wandering thither and yon A rainbow-seeking leprechaun Spied one through the mist Does his pot of gold really exist?

Everything seems difficult until the mist clears and you can see the whole picture.

Love, harmony and understanding are just around the corner; your long search is almost over. Your long-term goal is within your reach, don’t leave things to chance, and be prepared to change your course if necessary.

AQUARIUS January 20 – February 18 Snowflakes swirl around A lonely lighthouse Murmuring waves surround A ship that’s too close Focus on change. You have choices to make that must be right for you. Try to remain grounded even though you may be riding high on a wave of luck right now. Do what feels natural toward those who deserve your kindness; your assistance with someone’s problem will be beneficial to you.

PISCES February 19 – March 20 Fly away with me To love evermore land I’ll forever hold your hand If you will only agree Communication is important now if you want to solve an emotional problem. Make plans to spend more time with someone you want to be with. Sharing your future plans will bring about interesting decisions.

Don’t let anyone intervene in your affairs take the time to make personal changes that will enhance your life.

RURAL WOMEN’S GROUP Open to all women wishing to make connections in their community Last Wednesday of every month 2-4pm at Southern Frontenac Community Services

4419 George St, Sydenham, 613-376-6477 The Scoop

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 17

PUZZLE PAGE New York Times Crossword

by John R. Conrad / Will Shortz ŠThe New York Times 1

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73. Hankerings Down 1. In the 80's, temperaturewise 2. Sheltered, at sea 3. X-ray units 4. Stamen's counterpart 5. Have a bawl 6. Derriere 7. Ski resort near Snowbird 8. Scottish caps 9. Strange and rare 10. Span longer than an era 11. Use FedEx, say 12. Sonar sound 13. Lotus position discipline 18. Dish on a skewer

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24. Lambs' ma'ams 26. Some college tests, for short 27. Offspring 28. Cartoondom's ___ Fudd 29. Run out, as a subscription 30. Cheer for a diva 31. Archaeologist's find 32. "No problem!"

33. Newsman Roger 34. Pet protection org.

35. Dissuade by threat, maybe 40. Leave in, as text 42. Hawkeye player on "M*A*S*H" 45. Symbol of slowness

47. Prefix with logical 50. Time capsule event 51. Stahl of "60 Minutes" 54. Employs 55. Ollie's partner in comedy 56. ___ Nostra 58. Taj Mahal site 59. Those guys 60. Sicilian volcano 62. Valuable vein 63. Leprechaun's land 64. Jet-setters' jets, once 66. Vim 67. Train unit

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FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

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

Across 1. Problem with an old record 5. Jalopy 10. Glimpse 14. Jai ___ 15. Chill out 16. Buckeye State 17. Sailor's meteorological concern, in a saying 20. Classic party host Perle ___ 21. Bob Marley fan 22. Links org.

23. "Where would ___ without you?"

25. Gerund's end 27. "The Wizard of Oz" route 36. Suffix with pay 37. Frenchman's topper 38. Taste or smell 39. "Steee-rike!" callers 41. Latin dance 43. Labor Day mo.

44. Egg sites 46. Six-stringed instruments 48. Berg composition 49. 19th-century U.S. money 52. Letter after sigma 53. Trick winner, often 54. The Trojans of the N.C.A.A. 57. Steamed 61. The British ___ 65. Starts of 17-, 27- and 49-Across, collectively 68. "___ on Down the Road" 69. Atlanta's Omni 70. Rewrite 71. Go bananas 72. Tennessee senator Alexander

WOOD PELLETS now available.

We Deliver

TCO 1 Dairy Avenue, Napanee

613-354-4424

18262 Telephone Road, Trenton

613-394-3371

3 Mill Pond Dr., Tamworth

613-379-2307

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

Submit a piece of ORIGINAL writing in any genre: fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction (essay or memoir).

Only one entry per person The submission must be no more than 750 words in length.

Contest is open to residents of Lennox & Addington, and Frontenac Counties only Submission must include a completed entry form Submission must follow one of the two formats: a. Digital copy of the submission is to be sent to: stonemills.scoop@gmail.com Subject Heading: The Scoop Writing Contest Please send submission as an attachment.

Format: Include a cover page with writer’s name, the title of the piece and the word count Submission is to be double-spaced for prose, single-spaced for poetry Please use Microsoft Word, Times Roman script, pt. 12 ** Do not put your name on the manuscript pages.

SUB MEGA MEAL DEAL: CheCk Us OUt fOr All YOUr Buy a 6” or 12” SUB sandwich and for justNeeds $1 extra get GrOCerY & you MOre! 2 COOKIES plus a DRINK!

Fresh Bakery • Deli • Produce • Meats 672 Addington St., Tamworth

Contest Rules: Topic: Rural Life The entry must focus on life in a rural environment in the countryside or village Enter one of the two categories based on age. Teens (13 – 18) or Adults (19 + )

613-379-2440

b. Hard copy of the submission is to be mailed to: 482 Adair Road, Tamworth, ON, K0K 3G0.

Format: Send two typed copies of the entry, printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, one side only, double-spaced for prose, single-spaced for poetry.

Include a separate cover page with writer’s name and the title of the piece. ** Do not put your name on the manuscript pages No hand-written copies will be accepted!

Deadline for final submission is March 1, 2012 Late submission will not be accepted. Submission that is incomplete will not be accepted.

Prizes will be awarded on the basis of originality and quality of writing. There will be one winner in each category. Each winning writer will receive $100. The winning submission will be published in The Scoop and on-line. A photograph of the winner will be published in The Scoop as well. There will be three judges: 1 from The Scoop, 1 from T/ECDE and 1 from the community.

Only the winners will be contacted before the publication of the next issue of The Scoop.

The SCOOP Writing Contest is Sponsored by the T/ECDC The Tamworth/Erinsville Economic Development Committee

Entry Form: Please complete the form and attach to submission.

A digital version can be found on the website: www.thescoop.ca

Category: Teens: ______ Age______ Category: Adults: ________ Age ______

Name____________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address________________________________________________

Home phone ________________________ Cell_______________________

Email:________________________________________________________

The Scoop

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012

Page 19

Congratulations to our Volunteers! l i v s i m p l e farms

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The Township of Stone Mills believes that volunteers are an integral and significant part of rural life and the they live in, so liviacommunities simpson they established The Community Recognition handcrafted goat’s milk Recognition soap & lotion . is given Program for Volunteers. lavender products . gift buckets . to those who have consistently demonstrated a soap making classes . wholesale . signifi cant contribution to enhance the quality (613) 358.5835 livsimplefarms@gmail.com of life withinwww.livsimplefarms.com the Township.

On January 30 the following members of the community received The Volunteer of the Year

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Award in their category from the Reeve and Members of the Council and the Recreation Co-ordination Committee. A social was held after the ceremony at the Township Hall in Centreville.

YOUTH – MATTHEW THOMPSON CITIZEN – CHRISTINE HEAL SENIOR – VICTOR SMITH GROUP – L & A 4-H CLUB

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simpson Land O’liviaLakes Veterinary Services

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NOW OPEN IN NORTHBROOK l i v s i mNEW p lPATIENTS e farms ACCEPTING

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REDUCE YOUR PROPERTY TAXES

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MANAGED soapINCENTIVE making classes PROGRAM . wholesale .

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Sat, livia February simpson 11

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St. Alban's Odessa 67 Main St lavender products . gift buckets . soap making classes . wholesale .

If you own a woodlot – this workshop is for you.

(613) 358.5835 livsimplefarms@gmail.com Landowners who register their forest management plan are eligible for a reduction in their tax assessment. In some cases,www.livsimplefarms.com this has saved up to 70% in property taxes. Our forestry professionals

Volunteer of the Year Award winners

Growing Sweet Potatoes Tamworth/Erinsville

GrassRoots Growers

Tuesday, February 21

9-3

will present the whole picture.

Hosted by Ontario Woodlot Assoc, Limestone Chapter

7:15 pm Tamworth Library All Welcome Brian Burt of Burt’s Greenhouses on propagating sweet potatoes from cuttings and Ken Allan, author of Sweet Potatoes for the Home Gardener dishes up the dirt on how to grow these babies successfully

Pre-register by Feb 6: Dave Sexsmith 613-373-9334 or owalimestone@gmail.com $25 includes lunch

Refreshments and lots of fellow gardeners to hang out with for more info: Colleen 613-379-5959

Tamworth Tunes Story and photo by Barry Lovegrove Once again Tamworth was the place to be if you wanted to spend the evening listening to an exceptionally talented young musician. Jadea Kelly who performed at the Tamworth Legion in January is young, beautiful, charming, talented, and has a contagious bubbly giggle.

Jadea has always loved to sing: she sang around the house, in the Church choir and in some musicals.

At seventeen she made her first major recording with a metal band called Protest The Hero. Now she writes and sings her own songs that have a mixture of folk and country sound classified as Canadian Roots music. She has been touring for the last two years and selling her CD Eastbound Platform and she is now in the process of recording another CD. She sang one of the songs titled

Clover that will be on her new CD. One of the many highlights of our conversation was how excited she was about performing on Stuart McLean’s CBC radio show, The Vinyl Café, in Morrisburg. “That will be one of my career highlights”, she said. In February she will be touring Ontario and the Maritimes with Catherine MacLellan the daughter of Gene MacLellan who wrote the famous song, Snow Bird.

Her performance was casual and relaxed and you could see that she was in her element on stage. Jadea has a beautiful clear and unique voice reminiscent of fellow The Scoop

Jadea Kelly performing at the Tamworth Legion

Canadian singer-songwriter, Leslie Feist. Once again Tamworth and area was fortunate to hear such a talented, emerging artist. For those

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who didn’t get to the show, go to You Tube and iTunes and hear what you missed.