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MADOC FILMMAKERS KEEP AN EYE ON NATURE HORSING AROUND IN HASTINGS BALLERINA’S DANCE DAYS HONOURING SOLDIERS
C O V E R I N G T H E A R T S , O U T D O O R S , H I S T O R Y, P E O P L E A N D P L A C E S
Bancroft Theatre District North of 7 Film Fest viewings of the tiff movies held at the Bancroft village playhouse 4 & 7 pm shows tickets SEP 13/11 – The Bang Bang Club South Africa as seen by four photojournalists….a $10 each time which led to the country’s first free, or Season’s Pass multiracial election in 1994 and the end of of 12 shows apartheid- in vivid, often bold , but never for only $110 overpowering strokes. oct 11/11 - oranges & sunshine The true story of a social worker who learns that thousands of children in the care of British Social Services were illegally and silently deported from the UK to Australia in the 1940’s. Nov 08/11 – potiche A sly feminist comedy that tells the story of a housewife that is forced to take over the family business and how life will never be the same again. dec 13/11 – the first grader An inspiring true tale of the human desire to improve ourselves as a 84 year old man who has never had the opportunity…goes to school. New movies aNNouNced quarterly…keep the 2Nd tuesday eveNiNg of the moNth free!
Visit our wine bar before the show!!! Tickets available at the door and for the week prior to the shows at Ashlies’ Books, Hospice, Ink N’Things, Posies & Zihua. Call 613 332 8014 to reserve tickets.
All Occasion Event Rentals 613-332-8014
Meanwhile… Why not take advantage of our spectacular fall colours on one of the North Hastings Scenic Tour Routes? Fall is a perfect time for mineral collecting – no bugs, no heat, no sunburn! Get out and explore on foot, bike, by paddle or ATV – see us for ideas, maps and all the tools you’ll need to be amazed at what our region has to offer! We are here to help with your business and tourism information needs!
Monday to Friday 9-5 Saturday 9-2
Bancroft & District
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Box 539, Bancroft, ON K0L 1C0 Tel: (613) 332-1513 Fax: (613) 332-2119
chamber@bancroftdistrict.com www.bancroftdistrict.com
BANCROFT COME VISIT SOON!
• Tents • Tables • Chairs • Linen • China • Flatware • Stemware • Games • Décor…and more!
Check out our
“Web Shopping Site” www.aoer.ca
Alive with entertainment, first class shopping, and dining.
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VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3, FALL 2011
Contents
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CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR Nancy Hopkins 613 395-0499 CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR John Hopkins 613 395-0499
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SALES DEPARTMENT Jennifer Richardson jennifer@countryroadshastings.ca 613 922-2135 ART DIRECTOR Jozef VanVeenen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gary Magwood Shelley Wildgen CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Janet Foster John Foster Anna Sherlock HOW TO CONTACT US Telephone: 613 395-0499 Facsimile: 613 395-0903 E-mail: info@countryroadshastings.ca Website: www.countryroadshastings.ca For written enquiries you can reach us at: PenWord Communications Inc. P.O. Box 423, Stirling, ON K0K 3E0 COUNTRY ROADS, Discovering Hasting County is published four times a year by PenWord Communications Inc. Copies are distributed to select locations throughout Hastings County including the communities of Bancroft, Belleville, Madoc, Marmora, Stirling and Tweed. Copies are also delivered to select homes within southern Ontario. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year: $10.50 2 years: $18.90 3 years: $27.30 All prices include H.S.T. The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. Reproduction of this publication in whole or in part without prior written permission of PenWord Communications Inc. is prohibited. The advertising deadline for the Winter 2011/2012 issue is Friday, October 28, 2011.
COVER PHOTO: Janet Foster
ANNOUNCING COUNTRY ROADS, Discovering Hastings County ‘new and improved’ website www.countryroadshastings.ca. The site is a vehicle for your thoughts, comments, and insights about the stories you read in COUNTRY ROADS. It also contains new web exclusive articles about Hastings County. Join us on Facebook or visit www.countryroadshastings.ca on a regular basis for the latest postings.
Check us out and please let us know what you think about our magazine.
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
6 - John and Janet Foster WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
4 - EDITORIAL
12 - CANADIAN HEROS: PAST & PRESENT
12 - A New Canadian Tribute 13 - Monument Returns Home 14 - Private James John Nash
Passion on the page
4 - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 5 - CROSSROADS
How sweet It Is! Grandpa Ellis Taffy
26 - HIDDEN HASTINGS
16 - GOOD HORSE SENSE
Riding Opportunities abound in hastings
28 - COUNTRY CALENDAR
22 - AFTER THE APPLAUSE Gifted ballerina explores life beyond dance
After The Fire
Things to see and do in Hastings County
29 - MARKETPLACE 30 - BACK ROADS
Madoc Art Centre
We’d love to hear from you.
Fall 2011 • Country Roads
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• Shops • Hiking • Heritage Sites • Accommodations • Sumptuous Dining • Live Entertainment • Antiques • Artist Studios & Tours • Lakes and Rivers to Explore September 24
MADOC
Madoc Rib Fest
11 am til Dusk Centre Hastings Skate Park, Madoc
www.centrehastingspark.com
MArMOrA
October 31
Spooktacular!
Have a ghoulish good time trick or treating at Memorial Park
www.celebratemarmora.ca
stirling
November 24 , 4 - 9 pm
Star Lite Christmas House Tour Tour 6 lovely area homes, and stop for refreshments. Tickets $20.00 For info:613-395-0015 or 613-395-2976 Funds raised to support the Hastings County Museum of Agricultural Heritage.
tweeD
14th Annual Tweed & Area Studio Tour
33 Artists, 22 Studios Free Admission. Free Draw Prizes in Most Studios.
www.tweedstudiotour.org
Deseronto TO OTTAWA
Tyendinaga Township Come visit Tyendinaga Township in Hastings County and experience our exceptional agriculture, recreation, and history – or just take a quiet ride in the countryside.
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MADOC 7
MARMORA
TWEED
14
deseronto
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...and more.
STIRLING 14
BELLEVILLE
TO TORONTO TRENTON
For more information on events, attractions, places to dine, accomodations, shopping and more.
www.comfortcountry.ca
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RE: AT HOME IN QUINTE - PETER C. NEWMAN: Excellent article, I enjoyed reading about the Newman family move and the reasons for it. I hope that they enjoy living in the beautiful Quinte area as much as I have these past seven years. We have lived in Montreal, Kingston and Kitchener. I feel very fortunate to enjoy my days in such a picturesque area amongst the hills and fields and with such easy access to water. Carol Martin-Desaulniers (comment from www.countryroadshastings.ca) Re: WE WERE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, LITERALLY! So true! It is too bad we have lost our train tracks, and therefore a unique form of public transportation, especially in these expensive times and the fuel monopoly! Great story. Johannes Pronk (comment from www.countryroadshastings.ca)
TO KINGSTON
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Wow, that was some summer! Day after day of what seemed like non-stop sunshine, flip flops, barbecues, immersing in water to cool off and so much more of the things that made the season a winner with us. It was the kind of summer that helps us more comfortably appreciate the leaves changing and the earth making its journey to a new season. And as it should be, where all things will ‘Fall’ into place. We hope you have time to sit back and read this issue – cover to cover we hope. It’s got a good lineup of stories. It occurs to us that there is a common thread throughout this issue. It’s dedication. To a dream, a belief, a passion. Janet and John Foster are as passionate today about capturing nature for posterity through the lens of a camera as they were over 40 years ago. They have had a base near Madoc for many years. We didn’t mention it in our article but I have it on good authority that they love to follow a good storm. I guess the clouds make for some spectacular photography and as luck would have it Mother Nature has obliged over the last while. If you’ve ever known even one ‘horsey’ person then you will know they are a determined and passionate breed. Their love of horses and riding is not for the faint of heart. If you catch horse fever it’s more of a lifestyle choice than a mere hobby. There are many opportunities to learn to horseback ride in Hastings County – all brought to you by the passionate folks who can safely assist all ages to ride. Our feature on ballerina Donna Webb highlights the importance of good old fashioned hard work, determination and making the most of what is presented before you in the pursuit of a dream. Good lessons to learn we think. We are honoured to bring you a Remembrance Day tribute to our armed forces, past and present. They represent dedication of the highest order. We hope that a bit of our own dedication will come through as well. It’s our job to provide you the reader with quality stories that inform, entertain and give voice to Hastings County.
letters
October 1 & 2
www.deseronto.ca
Passion on the page
Photo: Haley Ashford
ComFort Country
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Fall In love WIth
Experience Deseronto’s specialty shops, restaurants | & charming accommodations, scenic waterfront parks, boating facilities, and unique heritage.
h a s t i n g s
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DESERONTO
It is interesting to know that we might have missed the boat when we let our rail lines go to the dog walkers. I enjoyed your view of our rising gas prices and any solution for our future grandchildren. Maybe we might follow the European way and ride our bike to a local train station just to function in a normal days activity. And maybe we will have small towns come alive again. We always seem to circle the globe, so why not history. Mary York (comment from www.countryroadshastings.ca) • WE WERE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, LITERALLY! was posted on www.countryroadshastings.ca
C r o s s r o a d s
HOW SWEET IT IS! Grandpa Ellis Taffy BY NANCY HOPKINS • PHOTOS COURTESY ELLIS FAMILY
What do you get when you heat a large amount of brown ry on the tradition. They will sugar, with more sugar, watravel from May 24 through ter, and oil, let it cool and Thanksgiving weekend - the then place the more than 30 farthest fair being Coe Hill lb. blob on a large hook, put and Millbrook. In between your muscles to work and pull, they are sweetening up the pull, pull? A batch of Ellis taffairgrounds in Belleville, fy, that’s what! Marmora, Picton, Stirling and And if you’ve attended even many other communities. one country fair in this part of “We have two booths on eastern Ontario over the past the go now called Grandpa hundred plus years, chances Ellis Taffy,” Dianne explains. are your taste buds know all Together with her brother about Ellis Taffy. Bob she holds the family In 1895, an entrepreneurial rights to make the taffy. An12-year-old Fred (Gillie) Elother brother Rick has been lis hitched up horse and bugworking the fairs off and on gy and headed to local fairs for over 50 years. to sell his handmade pulled “ To d a y, R i c k ’s s o n , taffy, thus launching a fam21-year-old Richie Ellis is ily business that exists to this our ‘puller’,” she adds. “You day. Born and raised in Trenneed the muscles that’s for ton, Gillie spent a lifetime sure. It takes quite a bit to making and selling candy pull it.” and providing for his family If you’ve had the opportuof 11 children. In addition to nity to see the taffy pulling attending as many seasonal technique it’s quite unique. fairs as possible, in 1910 his The cooked sweet starts out homemade confection could a very dark colour, gradualbe purchased at the Robertson ly becoming lighter and the Restaurant and Candy Store right consistency with muscle in downtown Trenton and his power. Then it’s time for the popcorn cart was a regular family to share a long table summer Saturday night fixas they cut, wrap and bag the ture for many years in front taffy for sale. of Simmon’s Drug Store on For many customers Ellis Dundas St. W. taffy is more than a sumptu“I grew up across the road ous sweet, it’s a fair ritual. from the Ellis family in Tren“Every fair they say, ‘I’ve ton on the corner of John and been coming here since I was (Clockwise top left) 1. For years Fred ‘Gillie’ Ellis could be seen using a tree to assist with taffy Scott Street. I’m 55 years old a little kid and your grandfamaking at his home in Trenton. 2. Dianne Ellis Wilson and her husband Donald travel to numerous eastern Ontario country fairs with the “Grandpa Ellis Taffy” booth. 3. Taffy making and attending now and can remember from ther made and sold the taffy,’ fairs has been a family affair for the Ellis’ for over 100 years. 4. Richie Ellis is one of the fourth a small child Old Grandfaor ‘your aunt was selling it,’” generation family members involved in taffy making. ther ‘Gillie Ellis’ pulling the says Dianne. “And there are taffy from a big hook on the customers who tell us ‘We tree across from the Leavey paid to get into this fair just home,” reminisces Phyllis Leavey. The owner of Granddaughter Dianne Ellis Wilson has lifelong to get the taffy.’” Beams Lighting, in Trenton, Leavey felt privileged memories of the taffy business, always with aunts, The Ellis family doesn’t know what motivated to grow up in the neighbourhood she referred to as uncles, nephews, cousins, her own siblings and her Gillie to begin his taffy making business and head “kind of like Ellisville.” father Arthur involved. out to that inaugural fair but it turned out to be a “On every corner except ours was an Ellis,” con“I love it I do – I believe it keeps all of us [famdecision that has kept this family stuck together firms Leavey. “All of his (Gillie’s) family surroundily] in contact,” she says. ever since. ed the area from Aunt Bets who lived across the In 2011, for the fifth year in a row Dianne and And for countless folks a stick of the Ellis canstreet and was always busy making red taffy apples her husband Donald will attend 22 area fairs where, dy is like unwrapping childhood memories of the for the many neighbourhood kids, to Uncle Fred with the help of many other members of the Ellis wonderful lazy days of summer and an outing to who assisted and attended the fairs.” clan and the same secret family recipe they will carthe local fair.
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Iceberg, Baffin Bay. Photo by Janet Foster
John and Janet Foster
Where The Wild Things Are BY SHELLEY WILDGEN
“No one bathes like a robin!” Had I known this is how my conversation with John and Janet Foster, two of Canada’s finest nature cinematographers, would begin I’d have done more homework. As it is, what I learned just from watching the aforementioned robin splashing about in his birdbath was scintillating. John Foster explained how “successful” robins are – hatching two or three broods a year. He also praised them for their thorough use of the birdbath. It’s true, the splashing, grooming and feather swishing went on for well over 10 minutes. And so began our visit. I nestled in with a cup of tea and absorbed the happy ambience of the Foster home, a much loved log cabin in the Madoc area. 6
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Canoe reflections, Smoke Lake, Algonquin Park. The Park has been an important destination for the Fosters for many years. Photo by Janet Foster/Masterfile
ometimes when worlds collide, an extraordinary world emerges. John and Janet Foster have created just such a place…..a home that is abundant with wildlife and enveloped in nature’s harmony. In addition to the squeaky clean robin, a male bluebird sat solo on an evergreen branch. It turns out that the Fosters have crafted 40 nesting boxes for their bluebirds and swallows. John said the handsome bird was bereft since his five chicks and his mate, this season’s one, of only two breeding females were killed, possibly by a weasel, a few weeks earlier. I wondered aloud if the bird would be forever widowed. “Just till next spring,” assured John. John and Janet Foster themselves seem perfectly mated. Although they’ve been together for over four decades, many of which were spent writing, editing, filming, as well as starring in their own TV series and nature documentaries, John and Janet’s early lives were as dissimilar as, well, a bluebird and a robin. According to Janet, “Luck, timing, and chance” have followed them along their journey. The daughter of a pilot and aeronautical research engineer for the Canadian government, Janet Green grew up during the 1940s just outside of Ottawa, where she and her sister enjoyed idyllic childhoods, raised by patient parents who allowed them to fill their house with a myriad
Janet and John Foster near Madoc, 2011. Photo by Tracy Winder
of creatures that included guinea pigs, rabbits, duckling, turtles, frogs – even an orphaned starling. Janet’s affinity for nature grew even stronger during summers spent at the family’s cottage on the Ottawa River. Her memories are filled with plenty of fun and parties that included a host of world reknowned guests such as Canadian bush pilots Punch Dickens, Romeo Vachon and Wilfrid R. “Wop” May – all pioneers in Canada’s early aviation history. Another notable houseguest was the notorious Dr. Werner Von Braun, the German
scientist who developed the V1 and V2 rockets that peppered Britain during the war. Janet has often wished, “if only I had been older when I was younger.” The opportunity to interview any one – or preferably all - of the icons she met as a child would have been amazing. Eventually, the Green family followed Janet’s father’s career by moving to Washington D.C. After seeing a live performance of Swan Lake featuring Dame Margot Fonteyn, young Janet was inspired to follow in the footsteps of the grand dame and convinced her father to send her to Elmhurst Ballet School in England, where she attended school with young film stars, Hayley and Juliet Mills. By 1958 Janet joined the Canadian National Ballet for two years, and as much as she loved to dance, Janet explains, “I knew I wasn’t going to be a prima ballerina, but I always had a camera, even when I was with the Canadian National Ballet.” After performing in a few ballet productions for Norman Campbell at CBC, Janet was asked by a CFTO director to become his Production Assistant. She later became a Network Coordinator at CTV, where she remained for eight years. Her thirst for knowledge prevailed and Janet left her fulltime job in television, going on to become an undergrad at York University, while continuing to work at CTV during the summers. Janet’s keen interest in Canadian history drew her to Fall 2011 • Country Roads
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(Clockwise from top left) 1. Thin polar bear on thinning arctic ice, Baffin Bay, Arctic Canada. Photo by Janet Foster/Masterfile 2. The Foster Homestead – a log cabin near Madoc. Photo by John Foster 3. A Bull Moose in spring, at Hailstorm Creek, Algonquin Park. Photo by Janet Foster 4. Wintering Bald Eagles in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley fight over the opportunity to feast on recently expired chickens provided by local farmers. Photo by Janet Foster
earn her MA at the University of Toronto and lured her back to York for her PhD in 1971. John Foster was born in England but grew up on a farm in Paris, Ont. and attended Ontario Agricultural College, now the University of Guelph. John was the last to leave his family’s farm and his initial plan was to return to farming with a university education under his belt. He attempted to stay true to the family business, but after a stint being employed at York Farms and then working on the pipeline in North Bay, John decided to contact his alma mater and investigate what he really wanted to pursue - writing. His timing was impeccable because while he was visiting the university, a fledgling producer was also at the school looking to hire staff for a new television show called ‘Grassroots’ at CFTO where, it turns out, a young former ballerina was also making an impression. “Have you ever seen a ballet dancer walk?” asks John. Janet’s captivating gait, combined with her “swishing ponytail” caught the eye of the new television writer/commentator, and after a memorable visit to the Royal Winter Fair, where “farms boys always take a first date,” a match was struck.
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Lorne Greene, Janet Foster and John Foster, in Los Angeles. The Fosters co-hosted the To The Wild Country television series and famed broadcaster and actor Greene added narration.
John moved to CBC in 1962 where he became host and writer for ‘Country Calendar’, ‘This Land of Ours’ and ‘This Land’. Janet continued studying and wrote her doctoral thesis about the origins of Canadian wildlife preservation, while also pursuing her career in television. The Fosters married in
1969 and their first experience co-hosting a television series was ‘To the Wild Country’, which also featured famed broadcaster and actor Lorne Greene as, what John refers to as their “third voice.” By the late seventies, the CBC wanted to counter the separatist threats of Rene Levesque with a Canadian series, and when the Fosters suggested ‘Wild Canada’, they were told their timing couldn’t be better. The eighties brought a different economic climate to the CBC, filled with a re-shuffling of jobs and massive layoffs but, undeterred, John and Janet focused on their strengths. Consistently true to their brand as naturalists who could do it all from writing and hosting to producing, shooting and editing, the couple went on to form their own production company where they continued to create documentaries, independent of the network’s constrictions and large budgets. They still like to keep contracts simple and, because they do all the work themselves, they’re able to do so without a lot of extraneous conditions. Although their television production talents are immense, both John and Janet are also gifted writers, producing an impressive body of literary work
Where the Wild Things Are
John filming Antarctic King Penguins in 2007. Photo by Janet Foster
dating back to ‘Working for Wildlife: the Beginning of Preservation’, Janet’s l978 doctoral thesis which was then published, followed by the couple’s joint projects, ‘To the Wild Country’ and ‘Adven-
Star Lite Christmas House Tour Thursday November 24th, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. 6 Stirling and area homes - all decorated for the holidays. Plus refreshment stop
Tickets $20.00 each
Tickets available by calling the Museum office 613-395-0015 or Sandy Donnan 613-395-2976 437 West Front Street, Stirling, Ontario. A fundraiser for the Hastings County Museum of Agricultural Heritage.
tures in Wild Canada’ based on their two TV series. Janet has also enjoyed success with three children’s books, ‘A Cabin Full of Mice’ and ‘The Wilds of Whip-Poor-Will Farm’, followed by ‘Journey to
the Top of the World’, an adventure travel book for young readers, sharing the Fosters’ filming adventures and introducing them to the Arctic’s beauty and wildlife.
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The Village of Ummannaq, Disko Bay, Greenland. Photo by Janet Foster
Now semi-retired, the Fosters are able to work on their own schedule for stock agencies, doing what they love best, and continuing to build up a library of high definition images targeted to become another television documentary in the very near future. Their hope is that it will be seen on Oasis HD, a visually beautiful new channel based in Toronto. With programs having aired on the Discovery Channel and TVO, as well as networks in Japan and Britain, the Fosters’ intuitive sense of luck and timing guided them through their busiest professional years from the late eighties till 2007. Leaving very little ground untravelled, they appeared as comfortable scaling the high arctic islands as they did exploring the majesty of the four seasons in Algonquin Park. Their cinematic and still photographic accomplishments are unique and diverse – from shooting the quiet interruption of a canoe paddle on a shimmering Canadian lake, and the splendour of a windswept wheat field to having captured an astonishing mass of Mexico bound Monarch butterflies, and a starving polar bear stranded on a rapidly melting chunk of ice. So how then, with such rugged adventurous spirits, did John and Janet Foster land in Central Hastings County? Well, says John, “We were on an assignment for CBC’s ‘This Land’, looking for beaver dams and ponds. The MNR said come to Tweed and we’ll fly you around. Looking down on the transition between granite and limestone in
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Janet with camera, l991. Photo by John Foster
the Tweed area we were struck by the landscape of little fields and rough woods, slightly more than two hours east of our Toronto apartment.” Not only does their log house provide a perfect home base for travel, it’s a “quiet back door to Algonquin Park, just two hours away. The land was inexpensive, I was raised on a farm — and both of us felt comfortable in a rural landscape.” What began as a simple 20 by 36 foot log cabin has grown to include a scenic windowed addition along with outbuildings that serve as an office, library and guest space….and of course, because they built their home well off the road they are
surrounded by what they admire daily – nature at its most natural. Recently, a black bear escorted her two cubs through their backyard and instead of causing alarm, the small bear family was welcomed and watched respectfully. With the exception of a chipmunk who regularly scuttles to his dish of peanuts in their kitchen then heads right back outside, there are no domestic animals living in the Foster abode; but with the quiet attention given to the wildlife, it would seem that house pets would only disturb the harmonious relationship John and Janet share with the wild and wooly outdoor personalities. It’s hard to imagine what John or Janet would do if they hadn’t followed “the song of the paddle.” As John explains, “Janet was offered a career teaching Canadian history at York U, which didn’t appeal to her, and I might have become a farm writer. My farm background convinced me I never, ever wanted to find myself sitting behind a desk or working 9 to 5. In retrospect, milking cows seven days a week wasn’t exactly freedom.” Fortunately, neither took the path of least resistance, and their tenacious appreciation of our great world has certainly impacted nature lovers everywhere. In addition to their documentaries, and stunning still photography, both of the Fosters have educated the masses and written books covering a host of topics appealing to children and adults. Janet’s childrens’ books were born from the couples’
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Up close with Humpback Whales, Baffin Bay, Arctic Canada. Photo by Janet Foster
true life adventures, which had in turn been made into slide presentations for school kids. After one such presentation in Edmonton, an eight-year-old boy told Janet, “Mrs. Foster, I’ve always had a big problem in my life. I’ve never known what I was going to do.” Then his eyes lit up with certainty. “But now I know. I’m going to write about animals!” One only has to peruse their words or become transported through a Foster video production to
wonder if at least some of their motivation comes from John’s definition of life’s legacy - which he states simply as “the impact you’ve had on others.” When you’ve covered as much North American ground and Arctic ice as John and Janet Foster have, it could be difficult to recall a favourite place, however they both beam when describing a fantastic photo opportunity that occurs during January’s two ‘Eagle Weekends’ in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. That’s when the winter-
ing population of ravens, black backed gulls and bald eagles appear before an audience of cameras, swooping and soaring over fields of recently expired chickens provided by local farmers. As the pair are describing this awe inspiring tradition, which they’ve attended three other years, it becomes very clear that the all consuming passion they share is for everything that nature displays; not just the pretty…but the real and the wondrous, where true beauty is found.
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These are just a few of the many ways Independents Matter.
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CANADIAN HEROES: PAST & PRESENT A new Canadian tribute
Canadian Forces Base Trenton Wing Commander Dave Cochrane at the July 12 ground breaking for the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial. Photo by Emily Mountney/Trentonian
By next Spring Canadians will have an outdoor spot where they can sit, reflect and pay respects to those soldiers who gave their lives in Afghanistan. On July 12 Quinte West Mayor John Williams announced a nation-wide campaign to raise $1.5 million for the creation of an Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial to honour the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who were killed while serving in Afghanistan. Sadly, 157 Canadian service members have fallen to date in this conflict. “It is a great honour to spearhead this important initiative for all Canadians,” Mayor Williams said. “As our troops now return from active duty in Afghanistan, we must celebrate and honour the lives of those who gave so much to all of us.” “The monument will be located in Trenton, Ont. located on the beautiful Bay of Quinte and close to the 8 Wing/Canadian Armed Forces Base, not far from where Canadian repatriation ceremonies occur and at the beginning of
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our fallen soldiers’ journey along the Highway of Heroes.” The Memorial site will be approached by a walkway from a dedicated parking area off Highway 2 on the east side of Trenton at RCAF Road alongside the base. A walkway will lead to the low walled area with its two large granite maple leaves -- one red and inscribed with the Canadian Forces emblem and Provincial shields, the other black and etched to depict a family’s loss. A solitary soldier in black granite depicts a fallen comrade and contains the names of those who have died in the conflict. The site will sit in harmony with its surroundings and provide a reflective and contemplative space for all to visit. Two granite benches will provide seating for those who come to reflect and enjoy the peace and beauty of the memorial site and park. In addition to
Mark Freeman and Kathy Bulger who both lost sons in Afghanistan spoke about the importance of the monument to them at the ceremony. Photo by Emily Mountney/Trentonian
the monuments, flags and walkways, the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial will be professionally landscaped with shrubbery, plants, flowers and trees. It will also be lighted and maintained year round. The July 12 groundbreaking ceremony was hosted by Dave Devall. Mark Freeman, the father of Michael Freeman, and Kathy Bulger, the mother of Nick Bulger, spoke about their sons who were killed while serving their country in Afghanistan and what this monument meant to them. Other speakers included Hugh O’Neil, Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial Committee member, Wing Commander Dave Cochrane and Padre Sid Horne, who conducted the blessing of the monument site. Help is needed to build the memorial. Donations can be made online at www.afghanistanmemorial.ca or by mailing a cheque made out to: The Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial Fund. PO Box 490 Trenton, Quinte West, Ontario K8V 5R6.
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CANADIAN HEROES: PAST & PRESENT Monument returns “home”
BY JOHN HOPKINS PHOTOS BY BRAD DENOON / COURTESY NATIONAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM OF CANADA
Currently the Camp Mirage Memorial is located just inside the visitors’ entrance to the National Air Force Museum of Canada. Efforts have been made to replicate its outdoor setting at Camp Mirage.
Peter Dawe (right) speaks with Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay at the Air Force Museum ceremony on July 6. Dawe placed a poppy on the plaque honouring his son Matthew, who died on July 4, 2007.
For about five years, those Canadians who were lost during the Afghan mission were remembered thanks to a special monument erected at Camp Mirage, the military’s forward operating base in the Emirate of Dubai, located in the Middle East. But this summer the Camp Mirage Memorial Cairn arrived in Canada, and is now located safely inside the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, allowing visitors a chance to pay tribute to the 157 Canadian victims of the conflict in Afghanistan. “We are very pleased and honoured to have been chosen,” says Chris Colton, executive director of the Museum. “The families of the soldiers appreciate having the Memorial back in Canada and seeing it accessible to the public, with no restrictions.” Camp Mirage was a critical hub of the Canadian military program in Afghanistan from 2001 until it closed on Nov. 3, 2010. Troops and supplies travelling from Canada to Afghanistan would generally stop at Camp Mirage to be transferred to smaller aircraft for the journey to the Canadian base at Kandahar. In excess of 78 million lbs. of cargo and 244,000 passengers were transported through Camp Mirage during its time in use. The ideas for the monument came from members of the Engineer Flight Services (EFS) and developed between June and December 2005. A pyramid-type structure was designed with brass plates showing the name of the fallen and the
crest of the unit they belonged to, along with the date. A spotlight was installed inside the pyramid, shining upward. As the number of fallen increased new structures were added. Additionally, Toronto artist Silvia Pecota donated the bas-relief Fallen, which illustrates a guardian angel. Two bronze castings of the sculpture were created, one sits in the chapel that serves the International Forces in Kandahar and the second is bolted to the Camp Mirage Monument. Due to the sudden nature of the closing of Camp Mirage last year the military didn’t have a firm plan for the Monument when it returned to Canada, Colton explains, and initially it was held in storage in Trenton. “There are two large monuments, this one from Camp Mirage and one in Kandahar,” he says. “The Kandahar one is larger and more elaborate and will probably go to Ottawa, or somewhere else. But since there was such a close connection between Trenton and Camp Mirage, since so many soldiers started their journey here, it seemed appropriate that that Monument should stay here.” On the recommendations of Campbell Monuments the Air Force Museum decided to keep the Camp Mirage Memorial Cairn inside rather than
expose it to the elements outdoors, and it currently sits just inside the visitor entrance to the Museum. Efforts have been made to reproduce the setting that the monument would have had outdoors at Camp Mirage. One distinct difference is that visitors can elect to place poppies on the plates recognizing the fallen. In October, 2012, however, construction is due to begin on a redesign for the Museum and the Camp Mirage Memorial will go back into storage for about nine months. After construction is finished it will be relocated to its permanent home at the southwest corner of the Museum, overlooking the Highway of Heroes. While the Camp Mirage Memorial Cairn provided a moving tribute for those soldiers stationed in the Middle East, its arrival back in Canada has been seen as a fitting development. “I am pleased that it is returning here to Canada,” said Canadian Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay at the unveiling of the monument at the Air Force Museum on July 6, “and that many more of our citizens will have an opportunity to reflect on what Canada’s sons and daughters have sacrificed in the name of freedom and democracy, and human rights and values that Canadians hold so dear.” Added LCol Tom Dunne, the Camp Mirage commander, during the monument departure ceremony last November, “Nearly every soldier, sailor, airman and airwoman who has worked in support of this mission has walked this path and laid eyes on this monument. It will return to glorify them on our native soil.”
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CANADIAN HEROES: PAST & PRESENT Private James John Nash: A life changed BY JOHN HOPKINS
One of the most critical confrontations of the Second World War was launched in the summer of 1943, when Allied troops commenced a large scale effort to liberate Italy. Fighting in this period was particularly bitter, and Canadian soldiers were in the thick of it. A pivotal first step in the Allied assault was the Conquest of Sicily, which was launched on July 10, 1943 and ended in success 38 days later. Canadians undertook a large share of the fighting, however, and suffered significant casualties. A total of 562 Canadian soldiers were killed, 664 wounded and 84 taken as Prisoners of War. Among the Canadian casualties was a labourer from Marmora, Private James John Nash. Nash served with the Hastings and Prince Edward Eastern Regiment, popularly known as the Hasty Pees. The Hasty Pees were part of the Canadian Army, 1st Division, which landed on Green Beach, Sicily on July 10. Like many young men who enlisted to fight in the Second World War, there appears to have been nothing remarkable about Nash or his life before September, 1939. He was born in Bath, England, but immigrated to Canada as part of the Barnardo Homes scheme, which attempted to place disadvantaged children from England in homes overseas. One such operation was the Annie MacPherson House in Belleville, and Nash arrived there in the early 1920s, when he probably would have been a young teenager. (According to a profile of Nash in the Nov. 7, 1998 Marmora Herald he was born April 17, 1908,
but there appears to be some question of the accuracy of that date.) Apparently Nash was sent to a farm in the Campbellford area, and on Dec. 4, 1929 he married Lena Mary Wells in Campbellford. They had three children, two daughters and a son who died very young. Nash worked as a labourer in the Marmora area and reportedly helped on the construction crew that built Highway 7 through the village. On Sept. 1, 1939, German armies moved into Poland, and two days later Britain and France honoured their commitment to Poland by declaring war on Germany. On Sept. 9 the Canadian Parliament agreed to support Britain and France. On Sept. 11 Nash and joined the Hasty Pees for overseas active duty. By early 1940 Nash was stationed in England. Interestingly, during his time there he re-established connections with his family, visiting his sister Gertrude and officially changing his name from James Albert Nash to James John Nash, which appears to have been his father’s name. According to the Marmora Herald article Nash deplored violence and volunteered to act as a stretcher bearer during the war. A letter he wrote on April 19, 1942 was printed in the Marmora Herald, where he expressed his appreciation for parcels sent overseas.
“I can tell you when everything is rationed like it is here just now, everything that you have sent to us will be very useful,” he wrote. When Nash was sent to Sicily in the summer of 1943 he was part of a significant milestone for the Canadian military in the Second World War. The Mediterranean campaign that led to the liberation of Italy was the first large scale land operation in which the Canadian Army stationed in Great Britain took part. According to his Service and Casualty Form, Nash went missing on July 22, 1943, 12 days after the landing in Sicily. His disappearance was reported in the Marmora Herald on Sept. 2, and on Dec. 23 the newspaper reported that Nash had died of pneumonia on Oct. 29 while a Prisoner of War. Nash was initially buried in Austria, but eventually was interred in the Villanova Canadian War Cemetery in Italy. Two hundred and six of the 212 graves in the cemetery are for Canadians. Nash’s legacy lives on in two respects. The campaign in Sicily that was to lead to his capture and death nevertheless was a great success for the Allied military. The conquest of Sicily secured an air base for the allies to support the liberation of Italy, freed Mediterranean sea lanes and contributed to the downfall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Closer to home, Nash’s sacrifice was recognized in 1953 by a street being named in his honour on the south side of the village, not far from the highway that he helped build before his life took a dramatic and tragic turn with the start of World War Two.
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Good Horse Sense Riding opportunities abound in Hastings BY SHELLEY WILDGEN
Horse’s head in barn window - Photo by Anna Sherlock
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Lee Cheese has been attending Quinte Therapeutic Riding Association (Quintra) for three years. Chris Hyderman, Terri Hayder and Tanya Lewington act as sidewalkers while Lee is aboard the horse. Photo Shelley Wildgen
A former student competing at an international competition on Spirit of Sauterelle, a homebred horse of Ashtone Farm in Stirling. Photo courtesy Ashtone Farm
Barbara Davis, owner/operator of Quinte Therapeutic Riding Association (Quintra). Photo Shelley Wildgen
Why drive, when you can ride…a horse. Whether you’re a parent contemplating lessons for your kids, or looking to hoist yourself into a new hobby, Hastings County is a perfect place to start.
Horseback riding isn’t just downright fun, it’s an excellent way to unplug from the tangled technology-riddled lives most of us lead. With land prices still relatively affordable, horse farms and farmettes (small farms) are plentiful throughout our picturesque county, but even if you don’t own a parcel of land, access to such a farm is never far away. Luckily for curious, would-be riders, the horse experts residing here are a generous breed of folk who love to share their knowledge and their horses. Beth Bouma, of Ashstone Farm in Stirling, is not only an understanding and caring riding teacher, she’s a very accomplished horse woman. A qualified Equine Canada Level 2 instructor/ coach and active member of the Ontario Equestrian Federation, Bouma has trained in Wales at Derwen International Stud Farm, the world’s largest of its kind, and she’s ridden with such notable clinicians as Ian Roberts, Laurie Smith and Jackie Paige.
Bouma is partial to her farm of Welsh cob and Welsh X horses, having trained and worked with her parents’ Welsh Ponies and Cobs for years. Her school ponies are bred to have quiet, pleasing personalities but they aren’t just pretty faces – they’re Royal Winter Fair winners. If all of this sounds a little lofty for someone about to take their first lesson, it’s not. The more years and experience your instructor has had with the horses, the better, and knowing the personality of your instructor as well as their horses is crucial to your riding success. There appears to be no perfect age to begin riding. Bouma herself has had students under four and over 50, noting that if there is a fear of horses, it will be less with a young rider, but ultimately, “You are in love with the animal first, then you begin to learn and fall in love with the feeling of riding.” One of her students was 10 when she started riding and “she reminded me of myself – not outgoing but kind. She loved horses and she was hard-working, quiet but strong.” The girl respected Bouma
Owner Beth Bouma, student Nicole Fry with Ashtone Farm Champion Madoc Reese, a Welsh Cob horse. Photo courtesy Ashtone Farm
as her coach and always tried her hardest, so much so that she is now one of Ashstone Farm’s mentors and instructors, even owning her own farm and five horses. Respect is a key component to good horsemanship, according to Bouma. “I try to teach all of my students to treat others how they would want to be treated and help whenever you can.” The biggest misconception with horseback riding, says Bouma is “that you can just hop on and go, and that it is easy.” The right teacher at the right pace of learning is essential. With a business that Fall 2011 • Country Roads
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Nine-year-old Kiara May fulfilled a dream this summer, learning about horses and horseback riding while participating in a camp at Horsin Around Riding Ranch, north of Marmora. Photo courtesy Horsin Around Riding Ranch
Student Lisa Warriner rides High Tower, an Arabian horse owned for 20 years by Horsin Around Riding Ranch. Photo Anna Sherlock
has literally grown along with Bouma, Ashstone Farms offers lessons ranging from a reasonable $30 an hour for group lessons to $40 an hour for private instruction. A little further north, in Marmora, is Lorrie Tannihill’s farm and business, appropriately named Horsin Around Riding Ranch, offering trail rides, riding lessons and kids’ camps. As playful as the name of the farm is, don’t let it fool you. Raising her 30 horses is very serious business to Tannihill and she leaves nothing to chance. Never allowing her horses out for more than two rides a day, Tannihill says, “it’s important to us that our riders un-
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derstand our horses are the most important thing on our farm.” Horsin Around doesn’t use traditional Western or English saddles on their horses. “We will only use Orthoflex, orthopedic saddles for our animals to ensure they never have a sore back and have complete free and full movement of their shoulders so they are never in any pain. These are also extremely comfortable for our riders. The saddles range in price from $2000 to $4000 each.” She also believes in feeding her horses “free range”, because as Tannihill emphasizes, “it’s important to remember horses were meant to eat small
amounts, 23 hours a day. That’s how their systems are designed. We provide 24/7 hay and pasture as well as a feed program specific to each of our trail horses. Loose salt and minerals are always available free choice and very important during the hottest days of the summer.” Tannihill’s attention to diet even extends to the human food served at her Horsin Around camps. Always “homemade”, featuring fruits and salads, there is “no junk food”, and as stringent as she is with the operations at her own farm, Tannihill loves to exchange ideas with others in the horse riding community. “Horse raising is like raising
Good Horse Sense
Casey Bower of Madoc rides Nappy without a saddle, a practice that improves riding confidence and balance at both a walk and trot pace. Horsin Around Riding Ranch Photo Anna Sherlock
Caring for and riding horses requires the proper equipment. Photo Anna Sherlock
kids – everyone has a different method,” she says. And, everyone has a favourite breed of horse. Tannihill’s personal preferences are Paints or Arabians. “My ‘once in a lifetime partner’, Cinder, was a Sorrel/White Paint mare,” she explains. “Cinder taught me everything I need to know about riding. That mare would breathe fire, would go from 0 to 100 miles an hour in a split second and stop when she felt like it. I would just have to whistle for her and she would call me back and be at my side as quick as she could. That’s not to say the entire Paint breed shares a similar personality, because they don’t. But because of my relationship
with Cinder, they remind me of some of the best times of my life.” Tannihill has definite feelings about Arabians as well. “The Arabians are a breed that can be misunderstood by many people. Show Arabians tend to be bred and encouraged to be very ‘hot’ and ‘flighty’. An Arabian is an extremely loyal horse with the stamina and strength-to-size that cannot be matched, in my opinion, by any other breed. They are majestic, beautiful, and a true ‘thinking’ animal. The Arabian breed is not a breed for everyone and before someone brings this breed into their barn, I would suggest they
do their research or talk to someone who truly understands them.” In addition to horses, Horsin Around has hosted all kinds of kids, and because the need for intense focus is so necessary when atop a horse, Tannihill feels even more kids could benefit from a riding relationship with the right horse, including those with ADHD, even juvenile criminals. Respect for an animal that is much larger than we are automatically puts things into focus and invariably brings on positive challenges. One of this year’s happy campers at Horsin Around was Kiara May. For this nine-year-old Fall 2011 • Country Roads
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A regular student at Maynooth’s Highland Wilderness Tours, Theresa Paplinskie, of Barry’s Bay riding her horse The Chad. After much training Paplinskie showed her horse on the Trillium Circuit in Jumpers this summer. Photo Highland Wilderness Tours
Sisters Anna & Jane Sherlock are all smiles spending time with the pony at Horsin Around Riding Ranch. Photo Anna Sherlock
novice, getting on a horse was just the beginning. As Kiara says, “I have always loved horses and my mom knows I have always wanted to go horseback riding so my mom and dad brought me to the ranch to ride the horses. Horseback riding is a chance of a lifetime. You get to brush the horse and clean out the horses’ hooves. I have learned not to be scared when I walk right behind the horse. I get to walk the horse around before I get on the horse. The best thing about it is riding bare back.”
1985 by a group of dedicated English and Western riders. Its goal is to make therapeutic riding available to disabled children and young adults in the Hastings/Prince Edward area. According to Barbara Davis, owner/operator of Quintra, “Horseback riding has long been recognized as a therapeutic treatment with many physical, psychological and social benefits.” Due to each student’s different ranges of mobility, a lesson starts with the suitability of the saddle.
Kiara’s mom, Chrystal May, enthusiastically agrees, but for different reasons. “Kiara has gained a lot of self confidence from riding. She was very unsure at the beginning and now is able to ride backwards on the horse and trot, she is more thoughtful towards her own animals since she has started riding lessons.” Horseback riding isn’t limited to the able-bodied. Quinte Therapeutic Riding Association (Quintra), just east of Stirling, has been operated since
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Good Horse Sense
“We use English and Western saddles and vaulting girths.” Rings, poles, pylons, bowling pins, bats, balls and stuffed animals are also utilized in a variety of ways. Reaching for a stuffed animal perched on a fence turns into a fun stretching exercise. The vaulting girth is a specially designed piece of equipment that provides two-handled balance while allowing the rider to feel the warmth of the horse’s body. Davis says “riding makes it possible for a disabled person to participate in a healthy, challenging and enjoyable activity. It is an invigorating sport which demands physical, mental and social involvement – strengthening muscles, helping to normalize muscle tone, improving balance reactions and promoting general physical fitness. It is mentally stimulating, confidence building, while creating independence, increased attention span and social skills.” Davis remembers one young boy being somewhat afraid of a pony as he watched it standing by itself. “Until”, she says, “he saw another child mounting the pony and THEN he wanted to try.” Lee Cheese, a young man with cerebral palsy, has been attending Quintra for three years, and according to his support worker, Susan Byers, “balance and flexibility have increased huge for Lee.” Watching Lee navigate the course while riding ‘Sabrina’, with volunteer ‘sidewalkers’, it’s clear that his right side is weaker than his left. As the hour-long lesson progresses with reaching, stretching and throwing exercises going on at all times, Lee seems less aware of his limitations and more intent on his sense of accomplishment. Davis believes every story is a success story – “from someone who can’t throw a ball, finally being able to do so, from not liking to touch the horse, finally wanting to do so, to children that trot around beautifully on their own, and smiles of pleasure at just being on a moving horse.” Since 1999, Penny Nicol has been ‘Riding the Wilderness’ in Maynooth. With over 30 years experience training horses and students, Nicol is proud to now be coaching winners in Trillium Level Jumpers. Having won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in 2003, she and her husband Matt have settled nicely into Highland Wilderness Tours, providing horseback riding camps, trail riding, snowmobiling and dogsledding just east of Algonquin Park. The Nicols have Quarter Horses, Appaloosas and Warmbloods; many of them are homebred from imported semen they obtain from all over North America. According to Penny, “Warmbloods have the talent for the English disciplines at a higher level – they are nice and bulky but very athletic, and if you get a good one, they can be very nice rides. Quarter horses can do it all…and Appaloosas can do it all, with a big splash of color just to make it interesting.” Having shown Quarter Horses in her youth, Penny knows that “riding is a skill that can keep kids very busy – if they want to spend more time at the barn than on a street corner, or the mall, getting into trouble – that’s a good thing. Kids who spend time at barns have a good so-
cial network, and a hobby that can become a real passion.” Taking lessons is a good, affordable way to get acquainted with horses, and if it’s something you want to pursue further, Penny recommends boarding a horse at a reputable barn as a good alternative to keeping one at home. “If you decide to board, you are looking at on average, about $250 - $400 per month depending on the facilities, and what they offer. Often boarding is much nicer, simply because of the social aspect of belonging to a barn.” Young or old, small or tall, most anyone can learn to ride a horse, once you find the right barn with the right horse. Penny advises first time riders
to “explain to the barn you are visiting that you are a nervous rider – ask them to put you on a horse that won’t do anything to scare you. Good stables will have horses available for nervous riders.” Horse farms in Hastings County are plentiful, so if you or your child is chomping at the bit to start riding, or even buy your first horse, you won’t have to look far to ask a man/woman about a horse. Although there is no master list of horseback riding facilities, you can gain more information about good establishments by talking to friends in your community, the happy horsey folk in this story or go to Trentriders.com, OntarioEquestrianFed.horse.on.ca, Wiltontack.com or bridlepathtack.com.
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BY ANGELA HAWN • PHOTOS COURTESY DONNA WEBB
AFTER THE APPLAUSE Gifted ballerina explores life beyond dance The first thing you notice about Donna Frances Miller Webb is how tiny she is. At 4’11 (she was once a hair over five feet, she jokes), she is a diminutive dynamo, rushing forward to greet me in her beautiful Trent River garden with her two equally diminutive Bijon Frise dogs in tow. 22 I
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Webb describes ballet as a team exercise, frequently demanding improvisation and personal flexibility.
Sitting in her Trent River garden with her two dogs by her side, Donna Webb was a soloist ballerina with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in the 1960’s. Photo Anna Sherlock
A new ballet based on an ancient legend, Rose Latulippe, choreographed by Brian Macdonald was premiered in Stratford and then performed at Expo ’67.
“I thought if they met you, I could put them in the kitchen and they’ll be quiet,” she tells me and then hushes the yapping Bijons, whom she introduces by name: Bravo and Encore. Great names for the stage, and not surprising that Webb has chosen them for her dogs. During the 1960’s, when the rest of the world was focussed on learning dance crazes like the twist and the mashed potato, Webb’s attention was trained on perfecting her own dance style: classical ballet. When asked how she ended up as a young ballerina with the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) in the 1960’s, Webb’s answer is simple: “When you really want something badly, you do it.” Ballet classes with Miss Eleanor started in Montreal at age three, with Webb’s mother taking notes so that she could coach her daughter on correct dance terminology. She also took lessons with Miss Eleanor’s guest teacher, Brian MacDonald. Unbeknownst to young Donna, MacDonald would later choreograph her in professional productions with the RWB. But before any of this happened, 16-year-old Donna flew out to Winnipeg to join the Ballet’s summer school after reading an advertisement in a souvenir program for a dance production she had seen in Montreal. Arnold Spohr, director of the Ballet, quickly offered her a scholarship to continue her studies in Winnipeg that winter, but she turned it down. If it meant just taking classes and not dancing professionally, she preferred to be back at home with her parents. However she stayed in touch with the other dancers and they were quick to let her know when Spohr was holding auditions at a ballet studio in Greenwich Village. When Spohr told her that she had improved since he’d seen her last, the New
York girls began to whisper about the Canadian who seemed to have made quite an impression. Spohr offered her a contract, which Webb wanted signed before she left Montreal, and off she flew to Winnipeg again, this time as a bona fide member of the RWB’s corps de ballet. What followed was a year of hard work, labouring to perfect the tiniest things. “When you’re the new girl, it doesn’t matter how good you are,” she recalls. “They have to let you know you’re new.” By her second year, Webb remembers that Spohr would put the latest recruits into her hands. “Donna will show you how to do it,” he would say and she knew she was well on her way. From 1961 to 1968, the sporty, compact ballerina was a member of the RWB’s elite company, rising to the position of soloist through hard work, determination, a little luck and the ability to make the most of what life offers at a particular moment. A born pragmatist, Webb cheerfully attributes one of the main reasons she became a star in Winnipeg to the fact that the intended female ballerina was too tall for the newly hired male principal. Leo Ahonen, a Finnish graduate of the Bolshoi school, had just contracted with the RWB for the season. But he was too short to reach his female lead and turn her when she stood on point. Enter the solution: petite Donna Frances, just the right size and with just the right
amount of
talent. Both young women were roughly the same height, but when they went up on their toes, Donna’s size 3 1/2 feet made her slightly smaller than her fellow dancer’s size 5 1/2’s. Webb describes ballet as a team exercise, frequently demanding improvisation and personal flexibility. Despite fierce competition for roles, the dancers supported one another like family. When a dancer was sick or injured, the rest of the company rallied to make sure the show still went on. If an ill dancer could not hold a difficult position with her leg held high, the dancers around her were instructed to change their own positions to match the lead. Donna remembers this kind of camaraderie beginning in her early student days, when dancers practised eight hours a day, six days a week, taking five-minute breaks and rinsing out their leotards each night before collapsing into bed. The other girls would often take pity on the petite Donna and offer to help her wring out her tights. Lifelong friendships flourished in Webb’s dance world. She proudly shows off a photo album filled with memorabilia from her ballet days, organized by former Winnipeg room-mate Stephanie Finch for Donna’s 65th birthday. Finch, now based in Vancouver, left dance early to marry but the two have stayed in touch to this day. Fall 2011 • Country Roads
I 23
After the applause
(Clockwise from left) A photo of The Royal Winnipeg Ballet dance company of Les Whoops-de-Doo at Jacob’s Pillow Festival in Boston; Donna in a Royal Winnipeg Ballet production of Les Whoops-de-Doo with Bill Martin Viscount; A successful ballet dancer must training extensively to perform the precise athletic moves required - Webb is on far right; Donna and principal dancer Richard Rutherford in a production of Napoli Act III.
Remembering her RWB days with great affection and respect, Donna pinpoints some of the main reasons for the company’s success. She raves about the versatility of the dancers and the ballet’s varied program. ‘Cowboy ballets’ such as Les Whoops-deDoo sported dancers in cowboy boots, flannelette shirts and jeans. Some of the dancing verged on stunts, wowing audiences from Flin Flon, Man. to London, England. Donna’s career, though relatively short, found her amidst a bevy of famous personalities from the ballet world. Rudolph Nureyev, Margot Fontaine, Agnes de Mille and Richard Rutherford are just a few of the names she recalls from her dancing days. “I’ve had a wonderful life,” Webb assures me more than once during our chat. “I danced every role I ever wanted to dance and I got to travel.” London, Paris, Prague, Copenhagen, Leningrad and Moscow are just a few of the exotic destinations Donna managed to visit during her career. Moscow was particularly exciting, simmering with revolutionary spirit just as the dance company visited in 1968. “We didn’t know if we would be going to Russia right up until the last moment,” explains Donna,
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Country Roads • Fall 2011
alluding to the unstable political environment in a country that would eventually produce one very famous Royal Winnipeg Ballet guest dancer: Mikhail Baryshnikov. It was at the end of her European tour that Webb realized she could no longer ignore some painful trouble with her Achilles’ tendon. She describes it as feeling as though a clothes peg was clipped to the back of her ankle, refusing to let her foot relax after she went up on point. With both her dance career and her physical health suffering, Donna sought medical help. The doctor examined her foot and asked if she’d ever considered giving up dance. At 25, Donna was forced to make a career change. After training her understudy and bidding the rest of the company farewell as they set off on an American tour, she took a good, hard look at her situation and decided to follow her second love: fashion. Landing a job in the teen department of Holt Renfrew, she made the most of her local celebrity status, selling clothes to sophisticated, young, Winnipeg women. Webb likens it a little to a professional hockey player peddling hockey sticks in a sports store. A for-
mer dancer turned sales woman was good for business. However, Winnipeg was not exactly a fashion boomtown in the 1960’s. With nothing tying her to the prairie city except her ballet friends, who were generally on tour elsewhere, she decided to move to Toronto. Almost immediately she had a job in fashion retail, working her way through the ranks to become merchandise manager for Cara Operations, specializing in high-end hotel and airport gift shops. Always the realist, Webb points out that her interest in fashion helped her land on her feet when her dance career ended. Unlike many of her friends with the RWB, she had other interests besides ballet. Donna liked to knit and sew, often designing outfits for herself (including a bikini for a trip to the French Riviera) to pass the time as the company travelled from gig to gig. Along the way she befriended expert seamstress (and eventual RWB Director of Wardrobe) Doreen MacDonald, who often assisted with Donna’s more complex fashion ideas. Later Donna would discover a love for cooking and gardening, two passions that would serve her well when she en-
After the applause
tered her third career as purveyor of Donna’s Country Garden teas. When her mother was hospitalized with congestive heart failure in the early 1990’s, Donna left her condominium in the Toronto area to move to her parents’ house outside Stirling. While her husband Bill stayed on at his job in the city, Donna nursed her ailing parents and took over gardening duties for her father. A new passion for Donna bloomed and she began to sell geraniums and pansies grown in the large greenhouse out back. This morphed into a gardening giftware business and next Donna found herself making elaborate Victorian teas replete with sandwiches, shortbread and pots of Earl Grey. A perfectionist whether on stage or at home in her garden, Donna fussed to make sure her visitors enjoyed themselves. However, the Garden tour and tea business is closed for now and Webb has real doubts about whether or not she will reopen in future. Recently she has decided to slow her dynamo pace a bit and take a little time to smell her own roses. Although she continues to cook and garden with enthusiasm, she prefers to do it as a hobby for the time being. The gardener who once spent every summer tending to her flowers and the visitors who came to see them, is finally free to visit the gardens of others. Gleefully, she describes an upcoming gardening tour to Cobourg, something that would have been impossible during previous, hectic summers. At 67, Donna is philosophical about dance and life in general. “Your life is not a dress rehearsal,” she says, hazel eyes snapping. “It’s a performance
and you just get on with it. You do the best you can do at the time because it’s life.” She reflects soberly on the plight of young dancers who leave home as teenagers to board at prestigious ballet training centres such as the RWB or Quinte Ballet School. Webb concedes that there is a lot of talent out there. However, professional roles are still few and far between. She speaks of her injury almost as a stroke of luck, forcing her to find other interests and seek alternate career plans. Getting hurt while still young was actually a good thing, according to Donna. She knows of ballerinas whose repetitive-style injuries forced them to live in pain throughout their lives. Leaving dance
at an early age saved her from that. All these years later, she cannot remember which leg had the troubled tendon. From the vantage point of her garden bench, Donna has some good advice for young dancers: develop another interest outside of ballet. “What happens to old ballerinas?” Donna once mused as she watched her friends from the audience side of the Winnipeg stage. She knows from personal experience how important it is to have options. Now that both her parents and her husband have passed on, Donna also realizes the value of making the most of what you’ve got: good friends, dogs who love you, beautiful surroundings and great memories.
•
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Fall 2011 • Country Roads
I 25
H i d d e n
H a s t i n g s
AFTER THE FIRE Destructive blaze altered course for community BY JOHN HOPKINS
Price’s Log Cabin opened on Highway 7 in 1933. In addition to being a popular service station and restaurant it was also known for its unusual residents, black bears Teddy, Buster and Bandy. Photo courtesy Tweed & Area Heritage Centre.
A single, random event can often have far reaching consequences. Such was the case for Actinolite. On May 24, 1889 a fire swept through the community just north of Tweed, then known as Bridgewater, destroying a large part of the village. At the time Bridgewater was a bustling lumber town, but the destruction of the fire played a key role in its loss of stature. But the community did not die, and instead showed great resiliency. While not the economic power it was during the mid-19th century, Actinolite has continued to play a significant role in the health of the region, and in ways many residents probably couldn’t have imagined a century ago. The visionary behind Actinolite was Billa Flint, a Belleville merchant who saw the logging potential of the Skootamatta River, whose waters worked their way down to Lake Ontario. A mill site in Tweed had already been secured by James Jamieson, so in 1852 Flint instead purchased land to build an industrial village north of Tweed, which was named Troy. Flint built a grist mill, saw mill, sash and door factory, tannery, boarding house and general store. He also donated land and $1,000 towards the construction of a church with a seating capacity of 500. The Wesleyan Methodist Church was made of white marble quarried from a site nearby. Built in 1865, it was considered one of the most spectacular churches in Canada at the time. Flint’s community, now named Bridgewater, flourished through a number of boom periods. In the 1870s the quest for gold attracted prospectors and mine workers, and then Bridgewater benefitted from the area’s railroad expansion, as the Toronto-Ottawa Railway laid tracks from Madoc to Bridgewater. In the 1880s there were some signs that the Bridgewater boom may have been fading, especially after the Ontario & Quebec Railway rerouted its
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Country Roads • Fall 2011
line through Tweed. But any decline that may have been taking place was accelerated by the fire of May 24, 1889. The blaze apparently broke out in the hotel while many of the town’s residents were in Madoc for the Victoria Day celebrations. According to a story in the Daily Intelligencer newspaper in Belleville the following day, “the business part of the village was almost entirely consumed.” Only the walls remained of the church. The story of Bridgewater may have ended there were it not for some enterprising and dedicated businessmen and citizens. Joseph James had purchased most of Flint’s property in 1883 and established an industry in the area mining actinolite, which was used as a fireproof insulation or mixed with coal tar for a roofing compound. Perhaps seeing an opportunity to promote his business interests, James successfully had the town’s name changed from Bridgewater to Actinolite in 1895. In 1903 the Bay of Quinte Railway extended its line through the town and in 1932 the construction of Highway 7 from Actinolite to Kaladar further increased the potential for tourist and business traffic. In the summer of 1933 Price’s Log Cabin was opened on Highway 7 and the service station and restaurant became an almost indispensable stop for travelers on the new highway. Part of the Log Cabin’s appeal was its black bears, and tourists would stop to have their pictures taken with the animals, share their lunch or simply take a look. Teddy, the original tenant, was one of two cubs found in the area in May, 1933 while in 1950 Buster and Bandy joined him. When Teddy died in September, 1964
The grounds of the Schneider School of Fine Arts, now known as Bridgewater Retreat located on the banks of the Skootamatta River are a spectacular blend of rapids, cliffs, rock ravines and bridges. Map courtesy Tweed & Area Heritage Centre.
at the age of 31 it was the cause of much sadness in the area. The reconstruction of the church was another feat of great community resolve. Insurance only covered $2,000 of the considerable rebuilding costs, but funds were raised and borrowed to have the structure restored and any debts incurred were paid off remarkably quickly. Later renamed the Actinolite United Church, it continued to hold services until June 26, 2009 when, due to declining attendance, it was amalgamated with St. John’s in Tweed. Once again the community was left with a difficult decision regarding the future of the structure, but it was rechristened as an arts centre and has hosted numerous dramatic productions. Most recently it helped launch the very popular ‘Tweed: The Musical’, which has since started a run in Toronto. While Flint may have seen the industrial potential of the Skootamatta River in the 1850s, a century later people were attracted by much different motives. In 1963 the Schneider School of Fine Arts was established in Actinolite, and it grew into a tremendously popular retreat for artists and art students from across Canada and even the United States. The patrons of the school were Mary and Roman Schneider. Originally from Poland, the couple had endured some traumatic experiences before coming to the Hastings area. Roman Schneider was a highly regarded architect in Warsaw before the Second World War, while his wife Mary was a
Built in 1865 of white marble and originally named The Wesleyan Methodist Church, today the building is named The Marble Church Arts Centre and is the home of the Tweed & Area Arts Council. Photo by John Hopkins
graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and had studied in Berlin and Paris. At the outbreak of war they were taken into custody and placed in separate prison camps, where they stayed for two years. Later they volunteered to serve with the Polish Army and were posted to the Middle East, eventually finding their way to Iran. The Schneiders stayed in Iran until 1951 and Roman reportedly designed a palace for the twin sister of the Shah of Persia. But when the political situation in the region became unstable
the couple immigrated to Canada and joined the staff of Acadia University in Nova Scotia. In 1952 they moved to Toronto and taught at the Ontario College of Art. Roman had become accomplished in ceramics while Mary focused on painting. It was while in Toronto that the Schneiders became affiliated with the Madoc Art Centre, which was located off Highway 7 west of Actinolite. Then, at the urging of some of their students, they established their own facility, the Schneider School of Fine Arts in Actinolite in 1963. “For their school, the Schneiders chose a location that combines a wide variety of outdoor scenery,” said a newspaper article on July 7, 1970. “Located on the banks of the Skootamatta River, it includes rapids, cliffs, spectacular rock ravines and bridges. The surrounding countryside offers lakes, rolling farmlands and old villages. “The Schneiders went to complicated ends to ensure their facilities blended with the surroundings. The school’s main building and studio are century-old pioneer buildings of hand-hewn logs. The Schneiders scoured Hastings County to find the structures, dismantling them for reconstruction at the site. “These are now the centerpiece for a colony of living quarters – individual cedar cabins with modern facilities, which house the students throughout the summer months.”
The school ran from late June until mid-October, offering instruction in ceramics and painting, and attracted artists like Jack Pollock, Rosemary Kilbourn and Carl Alex Millar. Roman died in Toronto in 1969 but Mary continued to run the school, describing it as “a challenge we wanted to carry out.” In 1992 the facility was bought by Judy and Peter Crawford Smith, who operated it as a conference centre and retreat and partnered with Loyalist College in Belleville in art instruction. The legacy of Roman and Mary Schneider continues to this day. The property, now known as Bridgewater Retreat offers art workshops and health and wellness retreats, or visitors can rent out cabins and simply enjoy the beauty that so transfixed the Schneiders almost 50 years ago. The soothing characteristics of the area around Actinolite have inspired those with more spiritual leanings as well. The Venerable Thich Thong Tri found the hamlet an ideal spot to build his Huong Hai Zen Forest Buddhist retreat some 20 years ago. Tri and Huong Hai Zen Forest were featured in the Fall, 2010 issue of Country Roads. From an industrial town to a retreat for artists and those seeking spiritual rebirth, Actinolite has seen it all. But its existence has been characterized by highly driven and inspirational figures, right from Billa Flint, to Mary and Roman Schneider and on to the Venerable Thich Thong Tri. Thanks to people like them Actinolite survives and thrives.
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Fall 2011 • Country Roads
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C o u n t r y
C a l e n d a r
Things to see and do in Hastings County
To submit your event listing email info@countryroadshastings.ca or call us at 613 395-0499. ART GALLERIES/EXHIBITIONS Art Gallery of Bancroft, 10 Flint Avenue, Bancroft, 613-332-1542 www.agb.weebly.com Aug 31 – Sept 25 – Works by Rocky Lawrence Green Sept 28 - Oct 30 - calder & ives – A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE; Works by Laurie Calder & Paul Ives John M. Parrott Art Gallery, Belleville Public Library, 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, 613-968-6731, ext. 2240, www.bellevillelibrary.com Sept 1 – 29, Gallery One – Hooked - The Moira Matmakers exhibit - rug hooking. Styles and articles from Oriental to primitive and geometric to floral. Sept 1 – 29 - Gallery Two - For the Beauty of the Earth - A showing of recent oil paintings by Keltie Ferris. Keltie was raised in Belleville and now lives in Virginia. ‘en plein air’ and studio works. Oct 6 – 27- The Belleville Art Association Annual juried show: “Perspectives” in Galleries One and Two. A wide variety of works in various media will be exhibited. Nov 3 – 24 - The Quinte Fibre Artists exhibition - theme “recycled” and each piece will contain a recycled item. Traditional to contemporary methods are represented in various fibre arts.
THEATRE/LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Bancroft Village Playhouse, 613-332-5918 www.bancroftvillageplayhouse.ca Oct 8 – Gala featuring The Sultans of String a world reknown group. Wine and Cheese party at 7pm Tickets $25.
C
olebrook
North of 7 Film Fest - TIFF Movies at Bancroft Village Playhouse, $10.00 or season’s pass 12 shows/$110.00. Tickets at the door and the week prior to the shows at Ashlies’ Books, Hospice , Ink N’Things, Posies & Zihua. 613-332-8014 to reserve tickets. Oct 11 - Oranges & Sunshine - The true story of a social worker who learns that thousands of children in the care of British Social Services were illegally and silently deported from the UK to Australia in the 1940’s. Nov 08 – Potiche - A sly feminist comedy that tells the story of a housewife that is forced to take over the family business and how life will never be the same again. Dec 13 – The First Grader - An inspiring true tale of the human desire to improve ourselves as an 84 year old man who has never had the opportunity… goes to school.
Quinte Film Alternative - Great Movie Wednesdays. - The Empire Theatre 321 Front St. Belleville. Info 613-480-6407 or visit www.quintefilmalternative.ca Sept 28 - Submarine Oct 12 - The Trip Oct 26 - The Tree of Life
Belleville Theatre Guild, 613-967-1442 www.bellevilletheatreguild.ca Sept 22 – 7pm – 60th Anniversary Open House - Watch short scenes from the upcoming season. Reception to follow.
The Stirling Festival Theatre, West Front St., Stirling 613-395-2100 1-877-312-1162 www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com Oct 5 - 2 pm - Jerry White & the Gentlemen Of Swing Oct 15 – 8 pm – New Jersey Nights Oct 28 & 29 - 6 pm – Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Nov 23 - Dec 31 - PUSS IN BOOTS Traditional Christmas Panto
My Theatre Bay of Quinte Community Players, Trenton Town Hall, Trenton 613-392-8844 tickets@my-theatre.ca Sept 15 - Oct 1 – Touch and Go - A Comedy by Derek Benfield. Director: Len Hirst Prince Edward Community Theatre, Mt. Tabor Playhouse, Milford. 613-476-5925 lynnfennell@gmail.com & www.pecommtheatre.com Oct 21, 22, 28 & 29 – 8 pm - The Melville Boys by Norm Foster
S
The Regent Theatre, Picton, Box Office 613-476-8416 ext 28 or 877-411-4761. Nov 23 - 7:30 pm: An evening with Margaret Atwood - “Bulldozing the Mind: The Assault on Cultural and Rural Heritage” Fundraiser for the Al Purdy A-Frame Trust and Friends of East Lake. Preceded by catered reception to meet the author, 5:30 - 7 pm at Books and Co., Picton. Tickets $40 for theatre or $65 for both. Presented by Friends of East Lake.
EVENTS Sept 24 – 11 am til dusk -Madoc Ribfest, Centre Hastings Skate Park, Madoc. Sept 25 - National Hiking Day 5 km and 10 km Walk on The Lower Trent Trail. Meet at Station Park, Mill & Wellington Streets, Frankford at 2 pm to register. Dogs welcome on leashes. Get some exercise, enjoy nature and have fun with the Friends of the Trail Inc.
Oct 1 - 150th Anniversary of Maynooth. All day celebrations, historic walking tour, family reunions, dinner and dance. For informtion, visit www.maynooth.on.ca Oct 1 & 2 - 14th Annual Tweed & Area Studio Tour, 33 Artists, 22 Studios. Free Admission. Free Draw Prizes in Most Studios. www.tweedstudiotour.org Oct 1, 2, 8 & 9 – Colebrook Studio Fall Show, 2570 Marlbank Rd., Marlbank www. colebrookkeirsteadart.com Oct 1, 2, 8 & 9 – Studio 737 Art Gallery Open House, 109006 Hwy 7, n. of Tweed. www.studio737.com Oct 15 - 10 am- 4 pm - Jewellery Sale Hosted by Trent Hills Grannies for Africa. Admission $3.00 Lunch $6.00 Hourly door prizes. Talented artists and Kenyan Kazuri Jewellery Oct 15 & 16 - 10 am - 5 pm – Country Handspinners Fibre Arts Show And Sale - Foxglove Studio, 30 Wellington St., Bloomfield, Ont. Handknit, woven, felted, hooked items and more. Spinning and weaving demonstrations. Free. 613-393-1352 Oct 22 – 9:30 am - 2 pm - Quinte Grannies for Africa Fall Market. St Thomas Anglican Church, Belleville. Preserves, handiworks, hand knitted items, bags, Kazuri jewelry and more. Exhibit of African artifacts. Tickets for a handcrafted SHONA stone sculpture from Zimbabwe. Proceeds to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
Oct 31 - Spooktacular! Have a ghoulish good time trick or treating at Memorial Park www.marmoraandlake.ca Nov 17 - 4-9 pm – Madoc Christmas House Tour and Tea -$20 (includes Tea). Six lovely and/or unusual homes are being opened for you to view, as well as the historic United Church in Madoc. Advance Tickets only available from Bush Furniture (Tweed or Madoc); Wilson’s of Madoc; or by calling Ron (613) 473-2913. Proceeds to Trinity United Church (Accessible Washroom Upgrade Fund), & The Heart of Hastings Hospice. Nov 18 & 19 - 4 - 9 pm - Fibre to Fabric - 45th Annual Show & Sale presented by the Fibre Artists of the Belleville Weavers & Spinners Guild, Fashion Show Sat 2 pm, Tea Room, Belleville Recreation Centre 116 Pinnacle St. Belleville. Contact: Mary Haggerty 613-689-7105 Nov 24 4 - 9 pm - Star Lite Christmas House Tour. Tour 6 lovely area homes, and stop for refreshments. Tickets $20.00 For info:613-395-0015 or 613-395-2976 Funds raised to support the Hastings County Museum of Agricultural Heritage. Dec 1 – 4 - 8th Annual Tweed Festival of Trees - Agricultural Building, Louisa Street, Tweed. Admission $4 adults, $2 seniors/students. A $2.00 raffle ticket can win you one of over 80 decorated items. Proceeds donated to youth organizations in the area.
For more events listings visit www.countryroadshastings.ca
tudio
d! e v o M e v We’ Fall Show
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Country Roads • Fall 2011
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www.countryroadshastings.ca Fall 2011 • Country Roads
I 29
Back Roads
d i s c o v e r i n g
h a s t i n g s
c o u n t y
Madoc Art Centre Prior to the creation of the Schneider School of Fine Arts in 1963, the Madoc Art Centre was a popular retreat for artists and students. It was located on Highway 7 north of Tweed. Standing at the far left is Mary Schneider who with her husband Roman taught at the Madoc Art Centre before creating their own school. Photo courtesy: Tweed & Area Heritage Centre
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Country Roads • Fall 2011
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Authorized Distributor SNOW PLOWS HOSES & FITTINGS SALT/SAND SPREADERS HYDRAULIC PUMPS PTO’s GENUINE AND AFTERMARKET PARTS FOR MOST MAKES AND MODELS Available CONTROL VALVES FILTERS Leasing Options • Call for Details
The BesT Plows
Open Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm Put steel to snow with our unrivaled top of the line model plows. With a brand like Fisher you can’t go wrong! Genuine and Aftermarket accessories and replacement parts for most makes and models.
Have no fear, everything you buy from us can be fitted by us on the spot by one of our team members.
401 RICHMOND BLVD.
ConTaCT us!
MILLIGAN LANE
443 Milligan Lane, Napanee, INDUSTRIAL BLVD. ON K7R 3Z4
Phone: 613.354.2345 CENTRE ST.
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Web: www.powerdrive.ca ADVANCE AVE. Email: info@powerdrive.ca
Visit www.fisherplows.com