The SCOOP // February / March 2020

SCOOP The

February – March 2020

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Almost Over Winter’s Hump Barry Lovegrove | A Natural View Stone Mills Identity | Thunderbird Matters Thomasina Larkin & The Health Hut | LDSB Update

The

SCOOP Founded in 2005 by Richard Saxe

PUBLISHER & AD SALES Karen Nordrum stonemills.scoop@gmail.com

CONTRIBUTORS Katherine Burrows, Dianne Dowling, Todd H. C. Fischer, Glen Goodhand, Alyce Gorter, Roberta Lamb, Susan Moore, Angela Saxe, Terry Sprague, Amanda Tracey, Tim Yearington All photos contributed, unless otherwise noted.

Here’s The SCOOP at the time of writing, wiarton

Willie has just predicted an early spring. For most winter-weary residents, this news should be cause for celebration. However, the pugnosed prognosticator and his cousins Punxsutawney Phil and Fred la Marmotte do not have a great track record when it comes to long-term forecasting.

So, it is probably safe to assume we still have many more weeks to enjoy (or endure) the snow and ice of the great outdoors. If your winter plans include a visit to the frozen shores of the Great Lakes, however, it is important to do so from a safe distance. In this issue, Terry Sprague

urges readers to stay on the shore, and far away from any slippery surfaces near the water. And never, ever walk on the shelf ice. It is beautiful but potentially deadly.

Many lakes are of course perfectly safe for all sorts of winter activities, but more active bodies of water can be treacherous.

Late last year we lost the wonderful and talented Barry Lovegrove. As Angela Saxe fondly remembers, Barry was many things to many people: a musician, photographer, visual artist, poet, and songwriter, but to us – he was a great friend, and Mr. SCOOP!

HOW TO CONTACT US 343-363-8088 stonemills.scoop@gmail.com thescoop.ca facebook.com/thescoop.ca Please write to us at: Stone Mills Scoop 482 Adair Road Tamworth, ON K0K 3G0 The SCOOP is published six times a year. We mail The SCOOP for free to more than 6600 households in Tamworth, Centreville, Enterprise, Erinsville, Camden East, Newburgh, Colebrook, Yarker, Verona, Hartington, Sydenham, Roblin, Selby, Parham, Kaladar, Stella, Godfrey, & Marlbank. We also arrange with local retailers to display 1000 additional issues of The SCOOP in Napanee, Cloyne, Flinton, Kaladar, & many other locations.

Reader Photo Snow rollers on Inglesby Lake, observed January 6. For more snow roller photos or to submit your own photos or videos, visit The SCOOP website at thescoop.ca. (Photo by Lareina VanKoughnett)

Do you love connecting with nature?

Susan Moore and Amanda Tracey suggest trying your hand at iNaturalist, an online citizen science project. Everyone can use it to share observations and help each other learn more about nature. The phone app is very easy to use.

On the topic of apps, have you visited The SCOOP website recently? We have updated the design, so it is easier to read on mobile devices, and have added new features including a community calendar and video gallery. You can now comment on articles, and easily share your great photos and videos. Plus, we now publish every weekday! Whether you are on your phone, desktop, or tablet, we invite you to try out our new and improved website at thescoop.ca.

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We are pleased to debut the first article in a new, regular column called “Thunderbird Matters” by Tim Yearington. As a Métis-Algonquin writer, he intends to bring awareness to the Indigenous worldview native to this township and help us see “the land” in a new way.

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This mound of ice along shore looks inviting, but it’s very dangerous to explore.

In this issue, read Terry Sprague’s article “A Natural View: Flirting With Danger” to find out why!

(Photo by Ian Dickinson)

Also in this issue: Katherine Burrows interviews true nomad and entrepreneur Thomasina Larkin, owner of the Health Hut in Enterprise, Alyce Gorter shares with us her secrets to a long marriage, Todd H. C. Fischer traces the fascinating history of the

new year’s tradition of wassailing, Glen Goodhand recalls the famous late winter storm of 1947, and Roberta Lamb updates readers on what is happening in the Limestone District School Board and why we should care.

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What Is Happening in LDSB & Why Should You Care?

Roberta Lamb

Here is a summary of some other issues that are leading many people from Education Advocates and Rural Schools Matter to join with other like-minded parents to request an independent investigation into the LDSB. Veteran Trustee David Jackson passed away suddenly in spring 2018.

It was necessary to find someone to take his seat for the rest of the term.

Many community members put forward letters of interest in the position but to no avail. The LDSB Trustees, advised by the Director of Education, met in private session and secretly hand-selected a replacement who had not applied for the position to operate as an elected Trustee: globalnews.ca/video/4288591/ limestone-district-school-boardmeetings-under-the-microscopein-beyond-the-headlines-withbill-hutchins

Do you have, or might you be at risk for

Public outrage over the censure of Trustee Robin Hutcheon for sticking up for a parent and student in 2019 saw the previous LDSB Chair of the Board speak publicly about the culture of fear Trustees experience at the Board: globalnews.ca/news/6199478/ trustee-chair-fear-limestonedistrict-school-board/ At the end of 2019, Global NewsCKWS interviewed education expert Paul Bennett about the silencing of elected officials and improper practices at LDSB. He concluded the Limestone District School Board warrants an independent investigation: globalnews.ca/news/6278217/ education-consultant-provincial-

review-limestone-district-schoolboard-kingston/ Over two dozen residents sent official complaint letters to the Chair of the LDSB. These included letters from the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and two City of Kingston municipal councillors. Her response? These letters do not represent the LDSB community at large; no further action necessary, case closed: globalnews.ca/news/6418192/ trustee-limestone-school-boardtransparency-probe/ What now? Education Advocates requested a deputation to the February 12 LDSB Trustees meeting to present our request for an independent investigation of LDSB. We hope supporters will attend this meeting and sign our petition to the Chair of the LDSB, the Premier, the Minister of Education, and all MPPs, requesting an independent investigation.

Let the Board and Minister know that corruption, the unwise and improper use of Board Policy to muzzle dissent, meetings and communications that are not transparent and accountable, and a general culture of fear will no longer be tolerated.

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everyone in stone mills Knows

that the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) closed Yarker Family School after the 2016-17 school year.

Many people know that the Loyalist/ Stone Mills Trustee was censured last autumn. But outside of these two cases, what is there for local residents to be concerned about?

In 2018, the Board exceeded the limits prescribed in the Education Act of banning a Trustee for one meeting.

Instead, they banned a Trustee for six months, the rest of his term. His district was effectively deprived of elected representation. He could not receive documents, attend meetings, or vote on matters of importance to his district: globalnews.ca/video/4448620/ dozens-call-for-moretransparency-at-kingston-regionschool-board

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Wassailing the Orchard: A New Year’s Tradition Todd H. C. Fischer i stand in the darK, under bare

branches, while around me stand figures, cups in one hand, axes in the other. Voices are lifted in song, our billowing breath blowing through the orchard like Yuletide phantoms.

Haunting, no? This year I was a participant in the ancient rite of the apple wassail, held in the orchard of friends who live in Gananoque.

The word wassail comes from waes hael, meaning “good health” in Anglo-Saxon. The act of wassailing was a wish of prosperity and fertility.

The proper response to being wished wassail is drinc-hael (“drink well”).

People would wassail their neighbours, beehives, cows, and apple trees.

Wassailing was observed in England since at least 1555, with apple wassailing attested by at least 1585 (in Fordwich, Kent). These are the oldest recorded dates so far found, but the act harkens back to traditions practised centuries earlier (at least as far back as 600). Certainly, the apple

held deep significance to the ancient Celts who saw it as a symbol of magic.

During the medieval period, wassailing was done on any of the twelve days of Christmas, but it usually occurred on the Kalends of January (January 1) or 12th Night (January 5 or 6). (Our modern date of January 17 is also still observed as a day for wassailing, as it marks when 12th Night fell on the old Julian calendar adopted in 1582.)

To wassail, one carried a drink (such as apple cider, hot spiced ale, or punch) in bowls that were often decorated with ribbons. These bowls were usually made of wood (ash and maple being popular choices), but some were made of metal (such as silver). When wassailing a neighbour, wassailers might expect their hosts to refill their bowl.

There were professional wassailers who would travel about with a wooden bowl (often made of ash) filled with hot ale, apples, spices, and sometimes cream or beaten eggs.

(The addition of the latter two ingredients created a foamy layer that led to the wassail brew also being known as “lamb’s wool.”

These wassailers collected alms (donations for the poor) in exchange for their services.

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The traditions associated with wassailing varied from place to place and from time to time. With apple wassailing, certain elements always are present. Trees would be threatened or beaten, and in later years had (unloaded) firearms shot into their branches. This was done as a symbolic whipping to awaken the trees’ power of fertility and to scare away evil forces. Cider was then poured on the roots and sometimes songs would be sung to the trees. For instance, the following is a wassail song from Buckinghamshire: Here’s to thee, old apple tree, Whence thou may’st bud and whence thou may’st blow.

And whence thou may’st bear apples enow.

Hats full, Caps full, Bushel, bushel sacks full, And my pockets full too!

Huzzah!

In Somerset, England, one tree was chosen to be “The Apple Tree Man” and it was this specific tree that was wassailed. This happened at noon. As well as pouring cider on the roots, cider-soaked bread or cake would be hung from high branches, while the tips of lower branches would be dipped in cider. Sometimes when making their ruckus, participants might strike or split the bark of the tree to release evil spirits. As well as singing to the tree, they would call “Huzzah!”

In Devon and Cornwall, among other places, all the men of the party would

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bow three times to the oldest tree, an act said to encourage a large crop. In other places, a small boy would sit in the tree-top, representing a bird, and be fed cake and cheese.

In the West Country, if it was oxen being wassailed, the wassailers would go into the stalls and drink from the wassail bowl. They would then take a cake from a basket decorated with greenery and place the cake on an ox’s horn. If the ox remained quiet, it was thought to be good luck. In Hereford, they also stuck cake on an ox’s horn, the task falling to the oldest person present who would chant: Here’s to thy pretty face, and to thy white horn, God send they master a good crop of corn, Both wheat, rye and barley, of grains of all sort, And next year if we live we’ll drink to thee again.

At some point, wassailing incorporated the art of Morris dancing, an English folk dance incorporating bells, ribboned shirts, and costumes.

Wassailing found itself abandoned during the 1640s and 1650s in England when Christmas celebrations (considered by the Church to be too rowdy) were quashed. Puritan leaders in America likewise tried to curtail the Old World’s winter celebrations. In both cases, these attempts failed, and versions of wassailing survived. It is uncertain when wassailing came to Canada, but it is interesting to note that Canadian wassailers will also wassail maple trees (hoping they will produce much syrup). Today, wassailers in Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia still congregate on winter days and nights, to wish each other well, and to reach back into the past and carry on a tradition that our ancestors engaged in for generations.

To all of you, I wish you waes hael!

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Sweet Speakers: From Maple Syrup to Cannabis Susan Moore

springtime tradition yourself.

the hastings stewardshiP

Council have kick-started their immensely popular Winter Speaker Series 2020. On January 16 in Ivanhoe, Queen’s professor Warren Mabee spoke on “Climate Change: Are There New Ways of Living?”

There was a lively discussion of the attempt to balance new technologies such as lithium batteries and online order services (think Amazon) with the footprint of resulting contamination or emissions.

Coming up are five presentations on sweet AND practical topics.

On February 13, Gareth Metcalfe, a maple syrup producer in Hastings, will address “Maple Syrup: Sustainable Harvesting Then and Now.” Gareth will lead us into syrup production through the ages – including the first inhabitants and the early settlers – and how techniques and equipment have evolved and will finish with an instructional overview to allow you to participate in this wonderful

The Winter Speaker events are on Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm at the Huntington Veterans Community Hall 11379 Hwy 62, in Ivanhoe (between Belleville and Madoc) An entrance fee of $5 or a donation, helps cover the costs. Children and students are free.

For information, contact Ray Wellman, 613-848-7697 rwellm2007@sympatico.ca hastingsstewardship.ca

On February 27, see “How Ruminants Fit in the Ecosystem: Grazing Animals and Soil Health.”

Sebastian Belliard is a soil management specialist with OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs).

Katherine Fox is a Workers in a maple syrup camp, around the turn of the twentieth century. senior policy (Photo source: Library of Congress) advisor with the Beef Farmers of Economics at Queen’s University. co-author of “A Field Guide to the Ontario. New research shows the Steven Moore will show how to build Dragonflies and Damselflies of importance of grazing animals and a low-maintenance house that Algonquin Provincial Park and the symbiotic relationship between features energy efficient and Surrounding Area.” The beautiful cattle and grassland. Belliard will recovered materials, passive solar dragonfly or damselfly, silently explain what makes up a healthy heating, a green roof, and more. skimming the surface of the water, is grassland soil and the role of Come and ‘pinch’ some ideas about enchanting. Both play vital roles in livestock in improving soil health how to adapt your own house without terrestrial and aquatic habitats as and carbon sequestration. Katherine building a new one. Steven says, predators feeding on a variety of Fox will discuss the real cost of “We’ve built an earth-sheltered mosquitoes and biting flies, and as cutting out beef and dairy products. house, hoping to be more prey for birds. sustainable, on the wooded banks of the Salmon River where we live a On April 9, enjoy “Practical On March 12 is “New Roles for low-maintenance life, listening to Solutions: Building an Earth Cannabis and Hemp.” Josh Powles, the roar of the rapids.”

Sheltered Home” with Steven Moore, PhD., is a professor and coordinator Professor of Sustainability/ at Cannabis Applied Science, Loyalist Sweet. Come early to get a good seat.

Environmental Policy/Ecological College. John Baker is president of CBD Baker Inc. Josh Powles will describe the role of cannabis in society: recreational, medical, and potential future applications. He will also explain how agriculture and applied industries could benefit from the cannabis sector. Expert plant breeder John Baker will describe how the current hemp industry relates to cannabis. He will explain the many varied uses of hemp and the role of hemp in soil improvement.

On March 26, Colin Jones will present “Dragonflies and Damselflies: Guardians of our Wetlands and Creeks.” Colin Jones is the provincial arthropod zoologist at the Natural Heritage Information Centre, dealing primarily with rare species. He is

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For Better or Worse Alyce Gorter PeoPle sometimes asK how long

Mr. Wonderful and I have been married. “Twenty-five happy years,” I tell them, “forty-seven altogether.”

The unmarried questioners laugh.

The married ones nod in understanding. Marriage is not for the faint of heart. The Bible says that “If you marry, you WILL have tribulation.” Since there is no “maybe” about it, it should come as no surprise that the marriage relationship demands more than the usual amount of love, patience, mildness, and self-control to stand firm through the years. There are no exceptions. That may not have been so clear to me once upon a time. It is now.

But for those who have been married for any length of time — if “live and learn” is your motto — then it’s probable that you have learned some skill that will help your marriage survive. Since no two marriages are alike, what you have learned for your partnership to continue until death do you part could be vastly different from the training needed by anyone else. In fact, for one person it might be a tactile skill like learning how to drive a standard transmission or how to dance. In another case, it could be a diplomatic skill like learning when to say nothing or refraining from bad-mouthing the in-laws. In other instances, it could be a quality that you have had to develop. So far, my marriage has forced me to major in resourcefulness.

So, let me explain the need for my Marital Resourcefulness for Survival (aka MRS). Over the years I have had many excellent ideas. It’s true that for most of them to be realized, they required some type of investment by my personal J.P. Morgan/Tim the Toolman of either money, labour, or both. However, I need you to know that they have all been top-of-theline, Cracker-Jack ideas. Mr. Wonderful, although not blessed

• • • • •

with the foresight to immediately recognize these gems for what they are, has been equipped from the start with the uncanny ability of knowing instantly (1) Four reasons why it isn’t a good idea in the first place; (2) Six reasons why it can’t be done; and (3) Eight reasons why he wouldn’t be able to support the project any way anyhow. All delivered within three minutes of hearing my plan. At this point, I used to reconsider the idea to determine whether I was convinced of its merit enough to proceed on my own. Of course, I always knew it would work. I just never knew how well. So already, you can probably see the need for resourcefulness on my part. The challenge has been to prove (a) that it is a great idea, (b) that it can be done, if not in its entirety then at least to some point, without him, and (c) that his life would be improved by helping out in some way before it’s finished, even if it’s just so he can assume bragging rights.

Here’s a case in point. My family name is Ackerman (Acre man = acreage = agriculture = farm = animals). Farming is part of my DNA, it’s in my blood. Or so I claim.

However, any mention at all of owning a farm was always met with objections (see points #1, #2, and #3 in above paragraph). Rethink merit of idea. Still love the thought.

Develop and apply resourcefulness lessons. One month before retiring from a much-loved career, I bought a vacant farm WITH support in money (and subsequently labour) from my personal Dragon’s Den sponsor. My beloved herd of Scottish Highland cattle was beautiful and contented, the government seemed pleased with my farming efforts, and, although requiring much hard work, the farm gave me many happy hours.

However, after some years, it was decided that we could not realistically provide adequate time and effort to maintain two demanding properties and the farm was sold. That did not change my desire to have a farm. In fact, having

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tried my hand at it, I found I loved it!

Just had to rethink the matter a bit more, bide my time, and… be resourceful.

So, this December was a busy month.

First, we took a three-week holiday.

Then we had to run like fury when we got back home to catch up on everything before businesses were impacted by shortened hours and holiday closures. This meant that one of us had to drive somewhere for some reason each day. No big deal.

The other didn’t need to be told the destination. Details of the trip were neither expected nor required. Nor was there ever any reason for the other to go along. However, when I mentioned I would be gone all day Thursday, suddenly it was like being interviewed for the National Enquirer — including where was I going and why? “To Vankleek Hill to pick up two Scottish Highland steers,” I said.

“It’s a long trip, but it’s cheaper for me to go get them than it is to have them Purolated.” He was shocked. “I know,” I said. “You would think Purolator would have competitive shipping rates for cattle. They don’t.”

Apparently, that wasn’t the reason for his surprise.

However, one chapter of my Marital Resourcefulness for Survival course covers the importance of Timing. You have to ensure that the project is not introduced until you’ve moved it past the point where all the reasons why it isn’t a good idea, and the reasons why it can’t be done, appear to be untrue. If you can get the project this far, then in all likelihood you’ve won your case. It’s either that or wait until you’ve gone too far to turn back and then ask for forgiveness — and some help to bail you out. But the way I see it, if the hole is already dug, you might as well put in the pool.

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As for my current project, it looks like we’ve bypassed #1, #2, and maybe even #3, as he has already helped set up the round pen in which to put my new herd and even filled their hay feeder. He’s also going to go to help get the animals. But keep in mind, this kind of success doesn’t happen overnight, I’ve had a lot of years to hone my skill.

And there is the possibility that he could still be in shock.

Call me if you want a copy of my MRS manual.

Alyce enjoys hearing from SCOOP readers. Please email her at alyce@ gorter.ca.

Have you visited The SCOOP website recently?

We’ve updated the design so it’s easier to read on mobile devices, and have added new features including a community calendar and video gallery.

Plus, there’s new content published every weekday!

On your phone, desktop or tablet, take a look at:

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Journey to The Health Hut and Follow the Path to Pain-Free Living Katherine Burrows an entrePreneur’s Journey

requires resilience, adaptability and creative problem-solving.

Thomasina Larkin has demonstrated these and more during her journey as owner of The Health Hut in Enterprise.

Working as a journalist in Japan during the early 2000s was an adventure, but a high-stress one.

Long hours sitting at a desk combined with vacation time backpacking around Asia and weekends spent dancing all added compressive force to her spine, which eventually led to extreme pain and a diagnosis of severe disc herniation.

Instead of surgery and morphine, Thomasina adapted her schedule to include yoga five days per week at a local studio. “After just a few months none of my symptoms remained,” Thomasina says of her decision to use yoga to heal.

At the same time, Thomasina read a book about three people who quit high-stress jobs to follow passions, creating jobs for themselves doing things they loved to do in their free time. Knowing she needed a change for the sake of her health, she was inspired to create a career doing what she loved – yoga – while helping others become pain free as she did.

Returning to Canada, she became a yoga instructor for two years. After that, she went to massage school, as a single mom with a two-month-old, and fast-tracked her completion of a three-year massage program in eighteen months.

Opening her own business was a risky venture, especially in such a small town with a limited population to draw clients from. “But there’s a real community feeling – everyone who comes to the classes becomes

friends and gets to know and care about each other,” she notes with a little awe.

Thomasina had always wanted to live in a yurt, a home designed for travel and exploration, used by nomadic peoples since before written records began. Parenthood and the need to maintain a reliable business location for her clients led her to a creative solution. She bought the family home where she grew up and built a yurt in the yard where she could spend her days teaching yoga and doing massage. As her massage clients increased, she decreased her yoga classes and made a conscious shift to focus on pain management.

“When people come to the yurt, it’s my goal for them to have an experience.” Natural light and year-round heat provide a cozy warmth to the space. Relaxing, uplifting music from off the beaten path and creative decorating that continues to evolve combine to stay true to the structure’s nomadic roots.

The next adventure in Thomasina’s journey is Myoskeletal Alignment Therapy (MAT). After completing the Master diploma program in six months, the MAT creator and the education director approached her about becoming a teacher. She travelled the states for six months and has just signed a contract to become the first Canadian MAT instructor in the program.

Proving that no experience is ever wasted, Thomasina will draw on her journalism background when picking out details to explain simply. She is thrilled to teach her first course on May 2-3 at the Ambassador Hotel, Kingston and hopes a lot of local therapists will take the classes.

There is a huge educational component to all the work that Thomasina does. She listens 100% to each client, combining their

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Thomasina Larkin, owner of The Health Hut in enterprise.

(Photo by Katherine Burrows) information with her assessment to identify the root cause. Pain may result from an injury or the nervous system or a combination of both.

“It’s important with clients to explain in a way that’s easy to understand why they’re feeling pain and how I will provide a customized solution. No two people require the same treatment. Even the same individual has different treatment needs from visit to visit as the client changes each time.”

Mindfulness (think yoga) plays an important role to help clients identify what factors in their daily life are affecting their pain. People feel their bodies moving in ways they never paid attention to before. Now they consciously use the correct muscles for the correct jobs. Once they are more aware and understand why it is happening, then they can take control. Empowerment leads to faster, more effective healing.

“It’s such rewarding work to see people go back to their jobs and hobbies, to see them enjoy a better quality of life with their family, and sleep through the night without pain.”

the creator of PhysioKinetix and the most senior Myoskeletal alignment instructor. She has also trained with Erik Dalton, creator of Myoskeletal Alignment Therapy.

Most recently, Thomasina has enrolled in a program at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts to become a Yoga Teacher Trainer (YTT) by 2022.

Based on MYoga, she will create a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training course and plans to offer it in modules both here and abroad. After that, she plans to pursue full designation as a Registered Yoga Therapist, for which she must complete 1000 hours in total of training.

Like the round yurt, Thomasina’s energy continues to flow and circulate, in with the good, out with the old, as she works in this tangible symbol of her journey and the journeys of her clients.

Looking ever forward, she explains, “I feel like every experience is worthwhile and building you up to be the person you are meant to be.”

Spoken with the resilience of a true nomad and entrepreneur.

To help her clients achieve a painfree lifestyle, Thomasina will now focus on three angles for treatment: 1) MYoga – her own creation based on MAT training; 2) MAT; and 3) PhysioKinetix – pain management and mobility progression for people with pain.

By combining her 10+ years of experience teaching yoga with MAT and PhysioKinetix, Thomasina has created her own brand (based on what she learned in MAT training and a deeper understanding of how yoga works), which she named MYoga.

Thomasina’s mentor, Paul Kelly, is

Do you love to write?

We’re looking for contributors.

Interested? Email us at: stonemills.scoop@gmail.com

February / March 2020 • The SCOOP

7

Thunderbird Matters: Being Loyal to the Land Tim Yearington

otherwise even though the land itself is still “Mother Earth” to us all.

this article is the first in a

regular column. As a MétisAlgonquin writer, my intention is to bring awareness to the Indigenous worldview native to this township and help you see “the land” in a new way. Traditional Indigenous teachings are rooted in the importance of “land-based learning.” Our view is the more we participate with the land, the more we can learn from the land: Our shared Mother Earth.

Although the Township of Stone Mills is home today to many people from various parts of the World, this land is still the traditional “shared territory” of various local Indigenous Nations. These include the Wendat (Huron), Mississauga (Ojibway), Haudenosaunee (Mohawk), Anishinaabeg (Algonquin), and Métis (mixed-blood).

Some of the Loyalists who came here to settle in Stone Mills had Indigenous blood in their family lineage. For example, some Loyalist people, who came from New York State and the Mohawk Valley, actually had Mohawk ancestry.

Others married people who were descendants of the first Indigenous peoples living here.

When European explorers, colonists, settlers, and homesteaders laid down foundations here, the hope was that our good-hearted Indigenous mindset of “shared territory” would remain a constant. But unfortunately, history proves

Indigenous people had no choice but to share the land with the Newcomers. Sharing the gifts of the land was required because this very spirit is our Way of Life. To this day we Algonquin understand we cannot “own” the land: How can you own your Mother?

A long time ago, our prehistoric Algonquin ancestors lived throughout the wilderness lands, forests, and lakes of Stone Mills. We know this because our Elders say, “We’ve been on the land since the beginning; since time immemorial.”

Nobody really knows for sure how long that is. But when we do the Ice Age math and merge the numbers with our own “flood story” – native to this territory – it was likely 14,000 years ago. This is believed to be the time our own Creation Story emerged: the creation of “Turtle Island.” But before I tell you about that, let’s take a look at the original stone foundation.

Only a few kilometres north of the village of Tamworth the land rises in elevation. Old fields and farms give way to the ancient bedrock of the Canadian Shield. When the over two-kilometre-thick Laurentide Glacier of the last Ice Age began melting away 18,000 years ago, an immense melt-water lake was formed. Glaciologists call it Lake Iroquois. But since time immemorial our Algonquin ancestors called it “The Great Water.”

With so much fresh meltwater, most of it eventually flowed downhill and mixed into the oceans. The resulting global rise in sea level around the whole World was motivation enough to give rise to all the ancient flood myths told by every culture on planet Earth.

Guided Medicine Walks on the land – upon the back of the Great Turtle’s shell – are an experiential way to help people learn the wisdom of Algonquin Worldview. Traditional knowledge and important spiritual teachings are shared through participatory storytelling at various sacred sites on the land. Some sacred sites are secret; hidden for shamanic use.

8

Millennia before the first European colonists and settlers arrived the region north of Tamworth was a relict shoreline of that ancient glacial lake. A professional archaeologist confirmed to me that the stone highlands above Tamworth were once the shores of glacial Lake Iroquois – The Great Water – and is Ontario’s oldest relict shoreline.

Waves lapped against a resistant bedrock shoreline that composed a post-glacial scene; a

The SCOOP • February / March 2020

barren stone landscape of inlets, bays, points, and rocky islands.

Stretching northward, this land is where our Algonquin ancestors walked, paddled, fished for trout, trapped rabbits, hunted caribou, slept in wigwams, told stories, lived life well, and prospered.

As the glacier melted it weighed less. The land rebounded above the level of The Great Water. Our ancestors were present here at that distant time and over many generations experienced the rise of bedrock over water. The land was growing!

Tim outside on the land beside a small stone turtle petroform used to share teachings.

Petroforms of animal shapes and natural landscape features are used as mnemonic devices to transfer knowledge. Here the ancient creation story of Turtle Island is being taught. The land itself is our greatest teacher so its important to be connected to it in a healthy way.

Our people remembered and repeated an oral account of it. They told a flood myth – our Algonquin Creation Story – to make sense of the matter. This ancient story speaks of a time when the shell of a turtle rose from the depths of The Great Water to save all the animals and people who survived the Ice Age. All the beings – crawlers, walkers, swimmers, fliers, and humans – each tried to dive to the bottom of The Great Water to get some mud.

Each tried and each failed. Except for little Muskrat. She dove all the way to the bottom! Muskrat retrieved a tiny pawful of mud. The mud was spread over the back of Turtle’s shell. The winds of the Four Directions blew turning the old mud into a new earth.

The earth on Turtle’s shell grew bigger until a massive island – Turtle Island – formed. A new home now sat upon the solid stone foundation of the Great Turtle’s shell for all the animals and humans.

And we’re still here! Even though many of us today are Algonquin descendants, we do our best to embrace the tales and teachings of our ancestors because there’s medicine in them.

To help us feel better we go and

walk upon the land: the shell of the Great Turtle. It’s here we can still learn the land-based wisdom of our ancestors. We visit them by visiting the land. By being loyal to the land everyone can gain good medicine: We’re all native to the Earth.

Tim Yearington is a mix of Irish, French-Canadian and MétisAlgonquin heritage. He is a thunderbird (traditional shaman), teacher, artist, storyteller, writer and is the author of the book “Quest for the Thunderbird Nest: Returning to Algonquin Spirituality.” Tim explores Turtle Island and leads medicine walks on the land.

For more information, please email him: timyearington@gmail.com or visit: www.timyearington.com.

Barry Lovegrove Angela Saxe barry was many things to many

people: a musician, photographer, visual artist, poet and songwriter, but to us – he was Mr. SCOOP! Together with publisher Richard Saxe, they created a rural “People” magazine that celebrated the people in our community through in-depth interviews, interesting and amusing stories, and first-class photography.

Richard and Barry were among a group of community volunteers who attended a meeting in 2005 with the purpose of promoting our rural communities, specifically Tamworth and Erinsville. Barry had put together and distributed a community newsletter while Richard was publishing Complete Health magazine among others. The group brainstormed and came up with many ideas but the question remained: how were they going to communicate their plans to the public? They needed a vehicle. It was at this point that Richard stood up and said: “I’ll do it. I’ll publish a magazine but only if Barry agrees to work with me. Barry has to be the public face of the magazine!”

The first copy of The SCOOP featured the Burns Beef Farm and on the front cover was an 11x17” photograph of Terry Burns standing in front of a herd of cows. The opening lines reflected Barry’s folksy, signature style: It was a beautiful, early spring morning as I drove up the Balahack Road just north of Tamworth, to visit Terry Burns of Burns Beef. The drive was slow; the snow was melting leaving huge puddles and soft deep ruts in the road making the steering tricky. The day was cloudless with a temperature hovering around the plus two mark; the sun’s heat felt so good.

Richard and Barry worked together until Richard sold The SCOOP to its present publisher, Karen Nordrum.

“We had a lot of fun together,” said Richard. “We talked daily; choosing people to interview and local events to promote. We shared the same vision: Celebrate Rural Life and the people who live in small communities in our area. Everything had to be positive. Never critical or political, always respectful – even though at times, we were irreverent and poked fun at things. And Barry was always game for an adventure.

For our story on Hunting, Barry spent a couple of nights at a hunting camp and his photograph of a deer kill was our most controversial cover – but it was an honest photograph.

This is what our rural neighbours have been doing every autumn for generations.

ready for print. But I always made sure that we heard Barry’s voice: the voice of a curious man who was genuinely interested in people, in their history, in their professions, and in their passions. It didn’t matter whether they were old or young, male or female, his gift as a writer and photographer was that he was considerate and respectful; people felt safe with Barry and so they opened up and told him their story.

Soon everyone knew Mr. SCOOP. He appeared and recorded many community events: Hay Day, Santa Claus Parades, celebrations of the 175th Anniversary of Erinsville, fundraising events – the list is long.

His interviews included farmers, hunters, small business owners, municipal workers, sports teams – ordinary people, young and old, who contributed in their own unique way to their communities. As community organizer Mark Oliver remembers: “Barry was a The SCOOP was fixture in the Richard and community; Barry’s project, always there, but I agreed to always reliable serve as editor. and always The cover of the first issue of Barry quickly ready to give The SCOOP, shot by Barry. told me he was more of himself dyslexic and to help.” that he found writing very difficult, but he was willing to give it a try.

But Barry wasn’t just interested in Barry’s wife June was his first editor, people – animals, especially birds, translating his words into a rough were also his subjects as well as draft and then I would smooth it out photographs of landscapes that captured the beauty of our rural environment: old barns, sunsets, and storm clouds in the horizon. He loved nature and was willing to sit patiently waiting for the good shot.

“Barry loved to make people smile.

His photographs often showed them smiling, waving or laughing. ‘Jump in the air,’ he’d tell the kids of a soccer team.” But Richard was always impressed by his portraits.

“Barry’s close up portraits revealed his skill as a good portrait photographer. Each photograph was warm, personal, and intimate. You can only get a photograph like that if it reflects the way the photographer interacts with his subject. Barry had that magic quality, and it showed in his photographs.”

Barry at work in his office.

Many people knew Barry through his music. He joined the after-hours jam sessions at Marie’s Music Store in Napanee making friends and playing with a whole variety of people. When he heard that a ukulele group had formed he joined that too, but after getting frustrated playing in a 30+ size group, he approached a couple of players and together they formed the group SMILE. Gloria Gonin, Ruth Allen, Peter Tylus and Barry practiced their routine and went on the road: playing at the Senior Outreach Service centres in Napanee and Amherstview. “We had a lot of

Barry, aka Mr. SCOOP. (Photo by Richard Saxe) fun,” Peter told me, “We would start playing old tunes and then we’d get the residents to join in: they would sing along and before long, they were up dancing.”

Barry’s passion for making music goes back to his roots in England where he was a member of the band, the Jet Blacks during the 1960s. The band toured and opened for headliners that included Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Del Shannon, and as Barry loved to tell everyone, “We once shared the stage at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool with a band called The Beatles. The rest is history.”

Barry was a “Renaissance man” – someone who is very good at many different things. Barry’s creativity was not only in his music and in his photography but also in the visual arts. He was a watercolourist. He took commissions, taught watercolour painting courses both in Montreal, where he settled after immigrating to Canada, and later in Napanee. He hosted his own television show, “Painting for the Fun of It” and he had many exhibitions of his paintings and his photographs. I know that many families in the Stone Mills area have a Barry Lovegrove family portrait or a scene from the countryside hanging in their living room.

No one will miss him more than his wife June, his daughters Karen and Kimberly, and his grandchildren; they were his number one priority, his greatest source of pride and joy, but, he was a big man, with a big heart and his impact on his neighbours, friends, and community was no small thing. He leaves behind a legacy of creative work, but most important the memory of a wonderful human being.

So long mate, we’ll miss you!

February / March 2020 • The SCOOP

9

Township of Stone Mills Identity: Is There Purpose in a Community Voice?

Katherine Burrows in a country that has

celebrated 152 birthdays since Confederation, in a province that was included in the original British North America act, and in a county that is fast approaching 220 years of incorporation, where does the Township of Stone Mills fit in?

In 1998, the several municipalities in Lennox & Addington County were reorganized and amalgamated to create Stone Mills Township and three other townships. Although there is significant history in the area and in the former townships, Stone Mills is still in its infancy and its character and identity are still being defined.

Residents who are alive right now have a unique opportunity to have our say in how Stone Mills grows.

The Community Voice is a small group of people who responded to a poster inviting concerned citizens to a meeting in early 2019. We have given this opportunity a lot of thought and discussion. We realized

that in the past year there are issues of concern that affect all residents, whether we live in the villages or on rural roads — things that could bring us together and foster a sense of belonging to Stone Mills.

We are excited and inspired by the possibilities. We are curious to know what other Stone Mills residents think. We hope that a Stone Mills identity matters to the people of this township.

If Stone Mills had an identity, what would it be?

There are positive things in our township we want to carry forward.

Why do residents choose to live here?

What attracts newcomers? What keeps those who grow up here rooted in the area? What are the strengths of our community? What assets do we have (agriculture, local businesses, natural resources, etc.)? What do we love about living here?

There are things that need improvement or a start that will shape the direction of Stone Mills now and in the future. What could be

improved? What do we do well that we might do more of? What new direction would you like to see Stone Mills take? What values do we want to embody in the future? What legacy do we want to leave for future generations?

best of our individual differences, combining them in a way that creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Residents who are part of a town or hamlet, and residents who live in our rural areas, could all identify with this common ground.

Many existing groups have already accomplished much in promoting local history, culture, and tourism.

What if we viewed all these existing efforts as valuable pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that adds up to a Stone Mills identity? What if we combined the current efforts with new ideas to create a solid identity that Stone Mills residents can support? An identity that allows both current and future residents to see themselves reflected in the distinct personality that is Stone Mills, an identity that all residents could share with pride.

Who we are cannot be found anywhere else. We are the one and only township of Stone Mills.

If the jigsaw puzzle that is Stone Mills was laid out on your kitchen table, what would you see? There has already been a lot of valuable work done. But maybe some pieces are still missing. Maybe the overall picture is still unclear. The Community Voice group is interested in helping promote a Stone Mills identity.

Is there purpose for a Community Voice in Stone Mills?

Like any true collaboration, a Stone Mills identity would celebrate the

In the Township of Stone Mills Identity, where do you fit?

Please take some time in the next few days to think about what a Stone Mills identity looks like to you. What picture do you see when you look at that puzzle? What do you appreciate about living in Stone Mills? What changes would you like to see? What values do you think Stone Mills should represent? Where do you want to see our township in the next five/ ten/twenty years? What are you willing to do to make that happen?

The Community Voice group wants to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Live in Stone Mills? Have concerns?

Want to connect? Stay informed by attending the Community Voice meetings on the last Wednesday of the month. We meet from 6:30-8 pm at the Bookstore Café in Camden East. Our next meeting is Wednesday, February 26 at 6:30 pm. We look forward to hearing from you.

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A Natural View: Flirting with Danger Terry Sprague about

30 years ago, staff with

local conservation authorities travelled their area school circuits every year in March with a presentation called the Spring Water Awareness Program (SWAP). The four main warning components of the presentation were thin ice, fast-flowing water, flooded fields, and slippery banks. When I took over managing and delivering the program for our local conservation authority in Prince Edward County, I revamped our entire presentation and included an important element for the area where I live – shoreline ice. The idea came to me after hearing about a group of friends that winter who were wandering along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Prince Edward County, exploring the array of caverns, ice mounds, and miniature volcanoes created by the wave action. They were drawn to the spectacular ice formations, some of them several metres high. One person either broke through, or lost his balance, and slipped into the icy water below, far beyond the reach of his friends. He succumbed to the frigid temperature within scant minutes before help could arrive. I have since heard or read about two other incidents, one of them involving a small child.

As the story goes, a man was walking along the shores of a lake when several boys ran to him shouting that their young friend was in trouble and needed help. The man followed the boys and saw that the children had been playing along the shore and had climbed the ice mounds. He scrambled to the top for a better look and saw that the young boy had slipped off and into the crashing waves. The water was only up to the boy’s waist, but because the wave action had washed out the underside of the ice build-up, there was no way the boy could climb out. The man stretched out on the ice and reached

down to the child. The boy tried to reach, too, but he was already feeling the effects of hypothermia and soon slipped away under the water. The man knew he could not get the boy out without going into the water himself, but doing so would mean death for two as there was nowhere to clamber back onto solid ground.

The boy soon slipped away out of sight under the ice shelf. Yet another victim.

It seems that every winter we need to circulate this stern message to all those who like to explore these tempting ice formations along the shores of our lakes and bays. Along Lake Ontario especially, windinduced wave action can build spectacular mountains of ice, some of them containing miniature ice volcanoes that shoot a spray of water with each incoming wave.

In the accompanying photos, we see several adults on a buildup of ice along the shore of Lake Ontario. With them, about seven young children in total. When these photos were taken, there was also a narrow ice bridge that arched from one ice hump to another similar in size. Below, was open water churning with floating pancake ice. Although not depicted in the photograph, one small child had tried to cross over the bridge, but thought better of it and retreated, according to the photographer.

What is really disturbing, are the adults standing beside the children, seemingly oblivious to the danger around them, only a few metres from the open water. One photo depicts a small child kneeling in a sinkhole beside a noticeable fissure. Although difficult to tell, it appears this activity was occurring some distance from shore, over deep water. The photos were taken at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, but it could be a lakeshore anywhere as this reckless behaviour occurs all too often.

These mounds of ice along shore look inviting, but they are very dangerous to explore. (Photo by Ian Dickinson) The point I am trying to make is that this ice, no matter how thick it appears to be – and at Presqu’ile it was reported to be several metres in thickness – is never uniform, and the ice itself is not solid. It is a buildup of icy spume, snow, and frazil ice that forms a crusty, and sometimes porous structure made unsafe because of the constant wave action underneath. Several metres thick in one spot and barely a crust over the frigid water elsewhere.

These formations and ice volcanoes are spectacular some winters, especially in February and even extending into March, but we must

avoid the temptation to take our families and friends out there for a closer look. Park employees at Presqu’ile warn against climbing the formations and ice volcanoes as fragile formations can, and often do, collapse.

It’s not a question if another death will occur; rather, it’s a question of when.

Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is a retired interpretive naturalist and hike leader. See his website at www.naturestuff.net. He can be reached at tsprague@xplornet.com.

Reader Photo The ice on which these adventurous visitors are standing might be only a few inches thick and very porous and unsafe.

(Photo by Ian Dickinson)

A curious fox in the Forest Mills area. For more fox photos from this shoot or to submit your own photos and videos, visit The SCOOP website at thescoop.ca. (Photo by Lisa Ireland)

February / March 2020 • The SCOOP

11

Do You Remember: The 1947 Late Winter Storm?

Glen Goodhand i vividly recall the late winter

snowstorm on the first weekend in March 1947. I was twelve years old and lived in the country, with the nearest store (and other benefits of civilization) being five miles (8 km) away.

Various estimates of total accumulation were bantered about rather freely—the high winds forming drifts complicated accurate measurements—but two feet (62 cm) was the commonly concluded figure.

Over 300 schools in Eastern Ontario’s towns, villages, and rural areas were closed “in order to clear the two feet of snow which blanketed the area.”

It was reported that 73,000 miles (110,000 km) of the province’s roads were blocked when the winter storm finally blew itself out after 48 hours.

In some areas, road crews didn’t turn a wheel, because the road superintendents maintained that 21 feet (630 cm) was much too much snow to deal with.

Train travel was at a virtual standstill. Five trains got stuck in

drifts, while five others were blocked into sidings and went nowhere. Near Ottawa, dozens of passengers were put in limbo when the engine derailed because of ice on the tracks.

This had a domino effect, stranding 200 other riders, with their train trapped on a siding.

The Toronto Star published an aerial photo of another train stuck tight, unable to move the huge bank of snow, which was piled so high on either side of the engine, higher than the cab.

In the Napanee area, motorists braved the storm in an attempt to get home, taking eight hours to crawl through blowing snow before finally reaching their destinations. Tractortrailers were in “dry dock” both here and in Belleville. It was expected to take days to open the roads for safe travel.

In the Picton area, 75 men shovelled ahead of a snowplow for seven hours, to transport a doctor to the home of a young girl who had accidentally fallen on her tricycle and severed an artery.

One newspaper headline humorously noted that “only the stork was on schedule.” Several babies entered the world at an inopportune time—one (near Cobourg) in the back of the expectant parent’s car.

Near tragedy struck in the Pickering area. A man abandoned his stuck car and took off across the fields, only to fall into a snow-filled gully, sinking until the white stuff was nearly over his head. He was fortunately rescued by two young men who discovered his plight. Others were not so lucky, as at least six perished from varying hazards caused by the blizzard.

Inconvenience reigned supreme, with food and fuel supplies out of reach. Rural mail was curtailed for more than a week. Fortunately, temperatures were not extreme, hovering slightly above the freezing mark.

I have four personal memories of the storm of ‘47. First, being able to stand on the snowbanks on our County road, able to touch the top of the telephone poles poking through the drifts. Second, accompanying my father along with two dozen

neighbourhood men, to shovel ahead of the plow, to free a family for the funeral of a loved one. Third, there was a drift that reached from the centre of our farmhouse front lawn right up to the floor of the balcony that was 12 feet (360 cm) above ground. Finally, two men from the next farm down the road skied five miles (8 km) to the village store to get supplies.

Could anything good ever result from such a crisis? For kids, there was no school for at least a week. For adults, there’s the saying that “crisis brings out the best in us!” That was indeed the case in March 1947, as our community spirit flourished.

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Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis Dianne Dowling the national farmers union has

released an in-depth report on the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Canada, and the opportunities that agriculture provides to become part of the solution.

“Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis: A Transformative Strategy for Canadian Farmers and Food Systems” analyses the impacts of the climate crisis on agriculture and the realities of the vulnerable financial situation of farm families.

Key conclusions include:

• The climate crisis is a threat to

Canadian farms, but also an opportunity to re-orient our farms to become more integrated, life-sustaining, and community-

12

sustaining.

• The farm crisis and the climate

crisis share many of the same causes, and many of the same solutions.

• The climate crisis will increasingly impact the ability of Canadian farms to produce food.

• Priority must be placed on incentivizing low-input, lowemission agricultural approaches.

To read the full report, go to nfu.ca and click on the Climate Report button at the top of the page.

Dianne Dowling is active in a number of local farm and food organizations including the National Farmers Union Local 316, the Food Policy Council for KFLA and the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI). Her family operates a certified organic farm on Howe Island, east of Kingston.

The SCOOP • February / March 2020

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Solution to the crossword puzzle on page 13:

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February / March 2020 • The SCOOP

13

An APPortunity to Learn about Nature Susan Moore & Amanda Tracey love connecting with nature?

Here’s a cool way. Try your hand at iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org), an online citizen science project.

Everyone can use it to share observations and help each other learn more about nature. The phone app is very easy to use.

In March, the Lennox & Addington Stewardship Council will host Mike Burrell, project zoologist from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, supervisor of eBird Canada, and formerly with Bird Studies Canada. Mike will explain step by step how to use the amazing iNaturalist program.

The iNaturalist program is an online social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built to map and share biodiversity information across the globe. Access is via its website or its mobile applications.

On iNaturalist, you can:

• Share your observations of wild plants, animals, etc.

• See what other naturalists have found nearby • Get help with identification • Keep a life list

This app is incredibly easy to use.

Take a photo of an organism and iNaturalist gives you its top guesses as to what it is, using its community and image recognition software. The ID accuracy is high, especially for common plants and animals.

From Amanda Tracey, conservation biologist in Napanee, with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC): “Using iNaturalist is SO much fun.

We took a group of 7th/8th graders out to an NCC property and showed them the app. It was fall, so no leaves on the trees, and the plants were done flowering. I showed them a sensitive fern and snapped a photo to iNaturalist, which it quickly identified as sensitive fern. We tried it many more times with leafless branches, lichens, mushrooms and more, and the students were fascinated. It’s an easy way to learn about the natural world around you, without having to tote heavy books.” and “It is always exciting to take a photo of a caterpillar and iNat can tell you what moth or butterfly it will become.”

This app is becoming increasingly important in the field of conservation. People can record observations (with photographic evidence) and submit them to projects for natural areas and properties.

Land managers can use this data to decide how best to steward the land. For instance, tracking turtle mortality helps us to know where to install turtle crossings.

Early detection of invasive species is also a great use of this program.

Prairie Smoke found near Camden east, from the inaturalist website. (Photo by Michael Bauer)

Recently, the Nature Conservancy of Canada added many properties to the iNaturalist database to encourage Ontarians to help monitor and manage some of its key conservation lands.

Visit www.natureconservancy.ca and select: where we work > Ontario > news releases.

For those who don’t have smartphones, you can upload your camera photos to the iNaturalist website (www.inaturalist.org) on your computer, and you’re laughing – and learning.

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eastern Giant Swallowtail observed near Marlbank, from the inaturalist website.

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iNaturalist is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. The purpose of the program is to connect people to nature.

Add your observations to a growing record of Earth’s biodiversity.

So far: over 14 million observations of nearly 200,000 different species.

A March workshop on iNaturalist with expert birder, Mike Burrell will be hosted by the Lennox & Addington Stewardship Council. At the time of publication, the date and venue were not available; (it will likely be in Odessa).

Please see www.lastewardship.ca and The SCOOP’s Facebook page for the date, time, and location.

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The SCOOP • February / March 2020

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462 Adair Road, Tamworth, ON 613-379-5700

Celebrate Seeds at Seedy Saturday • Brockville Seedy Saturday, Mar. 7,

Dianne Dowling by late february or early

March, you might (just maybe...) be looking for a break from winter. It could happen. Really.

And if you are a gardener (or would like to be one), by then you will, for sure, be ‘raring to go gardening.

But it’s too early for planting outdoors.

10 am to 1 pm • Kingston Seedy Saturday, Mar. 14, 10 am to 3 pm • Peterborough Seedy Sunday, Mar. 15 (schedule and location to be finalized) • Westport Seedy Saturday, Apr. 4, 9 am to 2 pm Go to seeds.ca (the website for Seeds of Diversity Canada) for details about Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events across Canada.

What to do?

Well, here’s an antidote to winter, or relief for cabin fever – go to one of the Seedy Saturday (or Seedy Sunday) events in our region:

• Picton Seedy Saturday, Feb. 29, 10 am to 3 pm

Each Seedy Saturday/Sunday event is organized by local people, leading to various forms of programming and features. However, a common aspect is a seed swap, where attendees contribute packages of seeds they have saved. The range of package sizes, shapes, information provided, and varieties of seeds is a fascinating, even charming, part of the process.

There are usually lots of seeds available at the swap table, so even if you didn’t bring seeds to the swap, you can take a package or two. Leaving a

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A Culture of Sharing and Abundance

small donation is a good gesture.

“We can live in a world of

Almost all events have local or regional seed vendors present, offering a wide range of locally grown and locally adapted seeds for purchase. There are often workshops on seed saving or gardening topics, and snacks or lunch available to purchase.

abundance if we choose to garden and save seed. The miracle of life is within each seed. Helping it along its cycle from seed, to plant, to flower, to fruit, and back to seed

The Kingston Seedy Saturday, for example, has a seed swap, about a dozen regional seed vendors, and other local vendors selling products related to gardening, workshops on seed saving, and displays by several community groups related to seeds, food and gardening. Refreshments are available to purchase throughout the event, and soup prepared by culinary students at St. Lawrence College will be for sale over the lunchtime. It all happens from 10 am to 3 pm, on Saturday, March 14, at Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute, 153 Van Order Drive, Kingston (near the intersection of Bath Rd. and Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd.) See you there!

Dianne Dowling is active in a number of local farm and food organizations including the National Farmers Union Local 316, the Food Policy Council for KFLA and the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI). Her family

again – witnessing it all unfold, is a truly enlivening experience. The nature of seed saving is that it perpetuates abundance.

Practicing seed saving and seed sharing produces a culture of sharing and abundance, and that is what the world needs now.”

– Betsy Goodman, Common Soil Seed Library, Omaha, Nebraska (quoted in the Community Seed Network e-newsletter, fall 2019) operates a certified organic farm on Howe Island, east of Kingston.

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February / March 2020 • The SCOOP

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The SCOOP • February / March 2020