COMMUNITY

AAKASH P. DESAI

Deputy Mayor Municipality of Grey Highlands deputymayordesai@greyhighlands.ca

DISCLAIMER: This article is not meant to act as a majority or dissenting opinion on matters discussed and decided at Council of the Municipality of Grey Highlands or the Council of the County of Grey. It is an honest effort to present facts, thoughts, rationales, and debates surrounding those items. And in some cases, it is just good news and celebrations.

The last couple of months have been packed with very interesting meetings at the municipal level. Grey Highlands Council has spent upwards of 30 hours in meetings to deliberate on the 2021 municipal budget. Maybe by the time the deliberations are finished, we’ll be able to gather with our friends and family. The endgame for Council is to ensure that the budget we pass adequately responds to the needs of the population amidst the pandemic today, and one that will build a Grey Highlands that future generations can be proud of.

Usually, Council directs staff to present a budget that will accurately represent the cost of doing everything we discussed during the year. In November staff tabled a budget which proposed an increase of 14.8% to the levy. Following heated debate, Council voted, in a 4-3 decision, to send the budget back to staff. In doing so, I believe, Council failed to discharge one of its key duties. It is, and should always be, Council’s responsibility to pick which expenditures remain on the draft budget that is taken to the public for input. In this case, Council asked staff to bring back a leaner budget. Effectively we said, “Do our job for us.” I doubt any member of Council was happy to see a 14.8% increase, but it is our job to make hard decisions. Despite what many have criticized as extremely high tax increases, I am proud of the fact that Grey Highlands remains the most affordable municipality in Grey County. Based on 2020 numbers, the average assessment of a single detached residential property was $262,308, which was the fourth highest in Grey County. The average local levy collected by the municipality was the lowest in Grey County at $1,449. I remain proud of being on councils that have provided relatively higher levels of service while maintaining an affordable cost to the taxpayers.

The proposed budget that will go to the public includes $12.4 million to be collected in property taxes for 2021. The total capital expenditures are budgeted to be $4.61 million. About a quarter of that, $1.02 million will be funded by taxes collected this year, while the remainder, $3.59 million, will come from grants, reserves, and debentures.

By the time you read this piece in February, Council will be a lot closer to passing a budget for the coming year. I have received feedback from several people and to those who took the time to do their research and provide positive feedback and constructive criticisms, Thank You

Aakash P. Desai

Deputy Mayor

Municipality of Grey Highlands deputymayordesai@greyhighlands.ca (519) 477-0732

That’s why we do what we do. And what we do is publish this magazine as well as produce hyper-local apparel to celebrate Grey County!

We want to give a shout-out to the great folks at the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for all you do to support our local business community. Hello Country Magazine & Grey County Apparel Co. are proud members of the Chamber and we encourage all local businesses to become members. It’s worth it! Your one stop shop for Breakfast Essentials!

Hello Country Magazine and Beaver Valley Apparel Co. have also become proud corporate members of the Kimberley Community Association - a wonderful group of like minded folks with much love for local.

Since 2013

A Truly Ontario Grocery Store

Celebrating local Entrepreneurs & Products at: 7 Toronto St. South, Markdale

519.986.4144

Check out their amazing newsletter on our website and consider joining the Association yourself. You don’t have to live in Kimberely to join. Contact Denise Hall for membership info :kcainfo2@gmail.com

KIMBERLEY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

Photo of group taken February 2020

REUBEN MCCALLUM

Sales Representative RE/MAX High Country Realty Inc., Brokerage facebook.com/reubenmccallumrealtor www.reubenmccallum.com (519) 477-0418 Have you ever tried to make maple syrup at home? I remember making maple syrup when I was a kid. We made the best ½ cup of syrup ever made but you will have to take my word for it. It was a week of waiting impatiently for the sap to drip and an afternoon making a small batch with the help of Dad. We only did it once though…not sure why but I am sure it had nothing to do with the mess we made, the hours it took to boil down while making sure it didn’t burn, short attention spans or the disappointment of a full pot turning into just about nothing.

Could someone tell me what happened to January? At the risk of sounding like a parrot, the real estate market has churned on and presented us with some truly staggering numbers - again. Finding the balance for clients hoping for top dollar in this current climate can be complex. I continue to work hard in a responsible way and am dedicated to my client’s safety and success.

I am REALLY looking forward to Spring. I am excited about the prospect of warmer weather, longer days and maybe even more than that; fresh, local maple syrup. It’s almost the season! It was a fun project we could do as a family. I am going to make it corny by telling you it taught us life lessons I did not appreciate at the time. It certainly gave us an appreciation for the time and effort local producers put into every bottle. Hard work, patience, and dedication can lead to a sweet reward and make everyone better as a result.

Keep looking forward, be patient, make local business your Valentine, and check in on your neighbours. Keep working hard and stay dedicated, soon we will all be hanging out at the next community event... how sweet will that be?

www.apparelco.ca

In my house, the sandwich (pronounced: sang-wich) is a staple. Mama Country makes her own bread and I dress it up with all of life’s good things. The only problem is, they never taste as good as the sandwiches from Susan’s - not even close!

My entire sandwich world spun out of control the day I tried my first sandwich from Susan’s.

It went like this...

“Hi, Papa Country!” Catherine said as she greeted me. “What can I get you today?”

Surprised she recognized me behind my snowmobile helmet, I answered:

“Ah...how about two hot chocolates and some treats?”

To which she replied: “You got it. But how about a sandwich?”

Well, I hadn’t even considered the option of ordering anything but treats from Susan’s.

Brownies, doughnuts, chocolatey things and other sweets have been the mainstay of my purchases thus far.

“Ah...ya. A sandwich sounds fantastic,” I said while pointing to the biggest sandwich I could spot - the Stromboli (a delicious

SUSAN’S DELICATESSEN

15 Main Street West, Markdale (519) 270-1520 www.susansmarkdale.com Instagram: @susans.deli

combination of all the Italian delicacies I grew up eating). “I’ll try one of those.”

“Just one?” Catherine asked.

“Ah...better make it two,” I said knowing that I’d be extra hungry after my trip back down the rail trail with Big Brother (pictured above). Maybe Mama Country would like some, too.

After downing our hot chocolates and scarfing back a few pre-trip Portuguese tarts, we got back on our snowmobile and headed home with food for the fam.

Easily accessible by snowmobile! Upon our arrival, the Stromboli made its appearance and after a (very) brief inspection was consumed with great speed and enjoyment, and a lot of happysounding mumbling. I ate mine, too :)

So, if sangwiches are your thing, you know where to go to get lost in the wonderful world of all things delightful and yummy!

By: Papa Country

The pandemic has been going on since March 2020, and seems that it will continue to have an impact on daily life for the foreseeable future. Home, work, and social routines have been thrown for a loop and many of our usual distractions, past times, hobbies, and escapes have been affected. From time-to-time, even before COVID-19, we had started to hear about how taking care of our mental health is so important. Throughout the pandemic, this message is coming more frequently, but reading articles and getting quick tips don’t always have the lasting impact.

The intention of this series is to help you, not only during pandemic times but at any time, begin to understand some simple principles to guide you in better self care. I will be using the example of home schooling/virtual schooling throughout this series, but you can generalize the principles to any situation in your life.

So let’s begin with a discussion on the broad topics of “mental health” and “self care”. These terms are almost nebulous and have different meanings to each person. In their entirety, they can cover subject matter that can fill many volumes. My focus here is how you can apply this to your own life.

The first place that I will point you to is the work by Ivan Tyrell and Joe Griffins of the Human Givens Institute. They are psychotherapists from the UK that have summarized all the basic human needs in a concise list of “human givens”. These are innate needs that drive our behaviour as humans. Below, I have listed the 9 ‘givens’:

• Security • Attention • Sense of autonomy or control • Emotional intimacy • Feeling part of a wider community • Privacy • Sense of status within social groupings • Sense of competence and achievement • Meaning and Purpose

In the case that any of these needs are not met, our emotional well being can be compromised. While any of these can be affected at any time, I’d like to focus on ‘sense of autonomy or control’ and

JONATHAN NHAN

Co-Founder, Curate and Upgrade

‘privacy’.

Sense of Autonomy or Control

In this current climate, is an aspect of autonomy or control that is lost. There are recommendations and restrictions that change depending on the local situation and it may seem that there is little that can be done to regain this control. Even within the new recommendations and restrictions, there are still elements that you can control, and exercise that autonomy to make decisions. For families that had to make the decision of whether or not to send children to school - it seemed the two options were in-person school or virtual school - both options that come with their pros and cons. Of course, there were other possible options as well - hiring a tutor for home and bubbling with some other families, or homeschooling as options. Of course there are factors that influence what is possible, but creativity and opening up to possibilities can help to identify new areas where you can regain autonomy and control in your life. The key is to be open to any possibilities rather

than closing yourself off to options without really considering them. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of taking control, and keep ourselves stuck just on the strength of our self-belief that things can only be a certain way. Really evaluate this and see if something is truly impossible, or if it is just something that you don’t want to do.

Privacy

The easiest way to think about this is “alone time”. Pre-pandemic, we all had our own little escapes in the day - whether it was a quiet lunch hour by yourself, or enjoying your own company on your drive home from work - there were moments in the day that you would take for yourself. With all the pandemic recommendations, many households are spending a lot more time together, and that togetherness can be a great opportunity for Attention, Emotional Intimacy, or Sense of Status in a Social Grouping, but it can make privacy a challenge. Recognizing that it is okay to want time for yourself, and even more than that, it is necessary to take time for yourself, is the first step to meeting this need. Being alone gives you the opportunity to process and recharge without having to give attention and energy to anyone else. Allow yourself to seek these moments. Know that it is okay to want some time away from your family, spouse, or kids. When you take this time for yourself, you’ll find that you can be present for those around you in a much more resourceful way.

This is a fascinating list of innate needs to explore, and I encourage you to read up more on it if it piques your interest (link below). Understanding that you have innate physiological and emotional needs is a great first step to self care. Make sure that you take the time for yourself. If you are feeling “off”, there may be a human given that needs some attention.

https://www.hgi.org.uk/human-givens/introduction/what-are-human-givens

Jonathan Nhan Co-Founder Curate and Upgrade www.curateandupgrade.ca

Listen to the Podcast noW on

“ “ Life is more than a series of destinations. Every step on the journey is a moment to savour. Knowing the destination gives you something to aim for, and taking step after step will get you closer to that goal. Let’s walk together.