Country Roads Winter 2011

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COBBLESTONE ARCHITECTURE AUCTIONEERS PUT ON A SHOW AND SALE THE VIEW FROM ABOVE BOOKSELLERS’ BEST BETS

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Country Roads

discovering hastings county

Country Roads

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4, WINTER 2011/2012

Contents

discovering hastings county

CR Country 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 discovering hastings county 613 922-2135 ART DIRECTOR Jozef VanVeenen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Angela Hawn Gary Magwood Lindi Pierce CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS 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 Spring 2012 issue is Friday, February 24, 2012.

COVER PHOTO: The owl is a regular winter visitor to Frankford photographer’s backyard.

Photo by Irene Van Rompaey

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

6 - CLASSIC ROCK

4 - EDITORIAL

Coblestone Buildings in Hastings County

12 - HASTINGS COUNTY READS

Books Bound to Please

16 - GETTING HIGH Country Roads Takes to the Skies

20 - GOING ONCE,

GOING TWICE Auctioneers find homes

for ‘other people’s stuff’

High praise, indeed

4 - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 5 - GOING GREEN

Kermit Wasn’t Wrong After All

26 - CROSSROADS

Hockeyville

28 - COUNTRY CALENDAR Things to see and do in Hastings County

29 - MARKETPLACE 30 - BACK ROADS

Stirling Hockey Club - 1905-1906

Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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KERMIT WASN’T WRONG AFTER ALL

BY GARY MAGWOOD

The Madoc Performing Arts Centre is a straw bale building. It was constructed by students of Fleming College’s Sustainable Building Design and Construction program and opened in 2008. Photo courtesy Fleming College

“Bein’ Green,” the song first performed by Kermit the Frog in 1970, began by lamenting his green colour and concluded by embracing his greenness.

It would seem that western civilization’s attitude to green has followed a similar trajectory over the past 45 years. The song’s signature line, “It’s not easy being green,” is a phrase that has reflected the growing usage of “green” as a reference to environmentalism; the phrase (or its counterstatement) is often used in that context.

The newest iteration of this iconic song could be titled, “It’s actually easy to be green.” To be considered “green” in today’s communities is a compliment. Over the past 10 years a tsunami of green initiatives and projects has engulfed North America. Hastings County is no exception.

At last count around 20 straw bale houses and public buildings have been built over the last 20 years; at least half are not connected to the electrical grid.

If you’ve not seen a straw bale structure, check out the “almost off the grid” Arts Centre Hastings building in Madoc. It is an acoustic delight according to the many musicians who have performed there. I can’t imagine, even 10 years ago, attempting to explain such a radical concept.

In addition, structures built from discarded car tires, Geodesic domes, earth berm houses and other experimental buildings have become part of the landscape. Even current, conventional houses and industrial buildings are vastly different from those built 20 to 25 years ago.

I would be surprised if most of you reading this have not either updated your own residences by reinsulating, installing double glazed windows and insulated doors, and purchased energy efficient appliances or commissioned a new house with an EnerGuide or an R2000 rating.

Since 2001, Canada has adopted the EnergyStar program that qualifies a wide range of products including major appliances, heating and cooling equipment, lighting equipment, office equipment, and home electronics as being energy efficient choices offering savings of about a third on energy bills with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort. Just by purchasing an EnergyStar rated product you have made a “green” choice.

Residents in this part of the province can’t drive too far without seeing arrays of solar panels in fields or on rooftops or even a few wind turbines.

The many stacks of split and carefully stacked firewood to burn in hopefully extremely efficient air tight wood stoves are also indications of “bein’ green.”

Urban gardening is taking on a new lease on life with several initiatives in the planning stages. Recycling has become almost second nature for most of us. Composting is becoming a daily routine. Lowering thermostats, turning down hot water heaters and flipping off unnecessary lights are easy and effective measures. How about solar bottle lights made from recycled materials with no operating costs or making light bulbs from water?

Scoot around on the web to find hundreds of creative ideas and projects that save energy and reduce our individual and collective carbon footprints. It’s not hard to add to your green credentials.

Sustainability workshops, conferences and trade shows have proliferated. Book stores like Ashlie’s in Bancroft stock an extensive selection of “back to the land” guides that cover everything from how to build that off-grid house to maintaining backyard chickens. Titles such as “Backyard Homestead” and “The Art of Natural Building” move off the shelves at a steady rate.

Local food advocates have Harvest Hastings, established in 2002, to thank for focusing on increasing the supply of local eatables, educating citizens about agriculture and the role farmers play environmentally, and encouraging tourism based around agriculture and food.

Even the Walmart in Belleville has adopted a companywide “Associates’ Personal Sustainability Project” program through which, according to their website, “...associates have chosen to adopt habits that positively impact the environment, their communities, and their own personal health and well-being, as well as the health and habits of their families.”

By the end of the song, Kermit embraces his greenness, “It’s beautiful! And it’s what I want to be...” How are you embracing your greenness? I’d guess that there are a bunch of inspiring and creative ideas and projects out there in reader land.

How about sharing them?

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Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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The Parry House was in ill repair when the Robsons came upon it in 1999. Their dedicated restoration has returned it to its original glory.

Cobblestone Buildings in Hastings County STORY AND PHOTOS BY LINDI PIERCE

Paris, ON has 14 of them – in fact they are the town’s claim to fame. Northern New York State has them in abundance, with 90% of the state’s 600 to 900 examples within 70 miles of Rochester. A voyage of discovery in our own Hastings County reveals that we have them – in substantial numbers. What are they? They are the rare and unique cobblestone buildings.

Hastings County has 14 remaining cobblestone structures (13 houses and one church), according to research done by Lois Foster, long-time heritage building researcher, with 11 in Sidney township and three in Thurlow, most built between 1850 and 1860.

Cobblestone building has its origins in the retreat of the great glaciers that covered the area millions of years ago. Palm sized, rounded sandstone, limestone or granite stones or “cobbles”

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were readily available in the glacial moraines in Hastings County, or along creek-beds and the shores of Lake Ontario.

The history of cobblestone building is a short one. The method arose in New York state and moved west following settlement patterns. The cobblestone structures of Paris and of Sidney Township are all associated with settlers, United Empire Loyalist in most cases moving north from New York. Cobblestone building died out

after the American Civil War; new industrial methods and the increasing cost of workers rendered the labour-intensive craft obsolete.

Building with cobblestone was a painstaking process. It began with the collection of the stones from fields or shore, which were sorted for size and colour, sometimes by women and children at neighbourhood ‘bees.’ Building methods varied. Cobblestones were interlaced with rubble walls, tied to a stone wall using elongated stones

CLASSIC ROCK

This magnificent Georgian house on Roblin Road, north of Belleville is the well known food and country decor business Taste of Country. Built in 1830 the cobblestone veneer was applied in the mid to late 1850’s.

Voussoir is the term for wedge-shaped stone used in arches.

Quoins are the emphasized blocks at the angles of early buildings, used to strengthen the angles.

The Fretz House is a typical Ontario farmhouse design with the familiar central gable. The Williamson family from Toronto purchased the home five years ago and are working on restoring it to its original condition.

as anchors, or applied simply as a veneer. The long-lasting soft lime mortar, which in the finest examples shows the characteristic V-joint shape, was created from local limestone following carefully guarded recipes.

Hastings County’s cobblestone buildings illustrate the different levels of sophistication of the art: from uncoursed unsorted stones , to uniform courses or patterns, to the use of a veneer of very small same-size single-colour stones.

Partial cobblestone buildings exist, and many homes display differing degrees of sophistication from the front to the side and back elevations.

Hastings County’s cobblestone buildings represent a range of architectural styles, from Loyalist Georgian with Neoclassical refinements (Roblin house), to Ontario farmhouse with the familiar central gable (Fretz house, Sharp house, Chisholm house) to Regency (Parry house), to that happy combination of local taste and artistry

that constitutes the vernacular. Many homes have been in the same family for generations.

Divine intervention might be ‘blamed’ for the good fortune that led Dennis Noble and Brigitte Kortright to their cobblestone home/yoga retreat centre/art gallery in 1997, when their quest for just the right space brought them to Hastings County’s only cobblestone church (and one of three in the country), situated on Vermilyea Road just east of Tucker’s Corners. The former Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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CLASSIC ROCK

Built in the mid 1850’s this is one of only three cobblestone churches remaining in Ontario. Today it is the home/yoga retreat centre/art gallery owned and operated by Dennis Noble and Brigitte Kortright.

­ esleyan Methodist church, built in 1853-56 on W land donated by Mr. John Fretz, has found new life as The Stonechurch Museum of Art. The discovery was fortunate for the structure as well as for the couple; the church had closed in 1968 and by 1969 Verschoyle Blake in his classic Rural Ontario described it as “no longer in use and threatened with destruction.” Despite the attention garnered by the 1977 dedication of an Ontario Heritage plaque, the church was in dismal condition when the couple first viewed it. Ice-filled tarps were suspended beneath the church roof to catch leaks, the adjoining community hall, which was to become a light and art-filled living space, was a storage and boatbuilding shed, with leaking roofs and hanging electrical cords.

Dennis Noble and Brigitte Kortright inside their Stonechurch Museum of Art gallery in the former Wesleyan Methodist Church.

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CLASSIC ROCK

The couple immediately conceived a vision for the space, and of “what a heritage building can be,” Brigitte recalled. “Never mind that it looked like the depression, it spoke to us, it had a presence we both tuned into…we never got overwhelmed by the work.”

Undaunted by the enormity of the task, and buoyed by “small celebrations” at milestones throughout the project, the couple has created a strikingly beautiful and restful environment both in their home in the former church hall and in the adjoining church gallery/ yoga/ performance space. They had to create a door to the church, as the two areas were unconnected due, Dennis suggested, to the fact that very non-Wesleyan dances and card-playing took place in the hall.

The church’s fine cobblestone work is attributed to a Mr. Wickett of Foxboro, about whom little is known but whose name appears often in connection with the township’s best cobblestone buildings. One of the features distinguishing this building is the fine quality of the dressed limestone work in the quoins and the limestone voussoirs around the pointed arch windows and the front door.

Those who love old houses are familiar with the feeling of pining for a closer look at a beautiful old home but remaining, respectful of the owner’s privacy, at the edge of private property. Not so with the magnificent Georgian house on Roblin Road just north of Highway 401, Belleville.

The student of cobblestone is free to wander the lovely treed lawn, to study the home’s dignified exterior and superb cobblestone work, and even to admire the fine wood trims of the interior rooms.

In fact, one is enticed to enter by the smells of home baking and the profusion of country décor items on the homey front porch, for one of our finest cobblestone homes is now the popular ‘Taste of Country’.

Owners Karen and Tony Nelson had been drawn to the house for several years as they planned an expansion of their food and country decor business, started in the Somerville Plaza in 1993. Karen attributes their 1997 purchase of the Roblin house to her husband’s vision for the property.

The couple wanted to put their personal touches on a place of their own, and although the home was out of their price range, and not large enough for the baking business Karen envisioned, they made the purchase. Tony developed plans for the 1998 addition, worked with the designer to transform the property into a busy yet beautiful country store, and the vision became reality.

The house had been well maintained and sympathetically restored by Glenna Brown, the owner from 1965 to 1997, who operated a bed and breakfast. A gifted landscape designer repaired the stone foundation and expanded the plantings. Karen maintained the beds of spring-blooming irises and loves the massive honey locust trees outside the original front door. Old horse-drawn conveyances from Pennsylvania grace the front lawn, adding to the charm. A local company replicated the awning-roofed verandah, and the original treillage and shutters were maintained. The roof needed replacement, so Taste of Country’s trademark red steel roof was installed. The cobblestone

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Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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CLASSIC ROCK

Belleville’s last original cobblestone home, known as Watson-Leeming was demolished in December 1991.

Photo by Lois Foster

The deterioration of the unoccupied Gilbert- Nobes home on Wallbridge-Loyalist Road north of Belleville is evident to passers by.

veneer is of the highest quality workmanship, the stones sorted by size and laid in straight courses with v-shaped mortar. The stone quoins and the circular louvre in the eaves lend dignity to a fine house in a fine location.

Should customers manage to look past the tempting merchandise inside they will see ample evidence of the home’s age. Despite some modifications required by fire regulations, the wide sixpanel front door with side-lights, elegant centre hall, broad staircase with banister, original board floors, wide baseboards, deep window and door trims, and many original sash windows with old glass offer a taste of the way things used to be.

The ‘Yellow Room’ (featuring kitchenware and giftware) was created from the Browns’ modern

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kitchen and the old woodshed/summer kitchen with its dirt floor. The small doorway leading into this part of the store is the old back door, unchanged from its original size so that the stone wall could be left intact.

This house and property are associated with many important Hastings County pioneer families.

The land was granted in 1803 to Samuel Birdsey Gilbert, later sold to Asa Warden, then to Shubael Foster. Mr. Foster built a stone house in the Loyalist Georgian style in 1830. In 1842 the property was sold to Philip Roblin, whose wife Abigail Gilbert came from an important United Empire Loyalist family, and in the mid to late 1850’s the house received the cobblestone veneer that we see today. A framed history of the property on Lot 38, and the

Esther and John Robson and their Great Danes on the front lawn of ‘Over the Hill Farm.’ The home sits on a 148-acre property with trails, a pond and grove of mature spruce trees reminiscent of an English countryside estate.

Roblin family tree are proudly posted in the store, and handouts are available for interested customers. The Roblin house is a fine marriage of an historic building with contemporary commercial use.

It should be an inspiration for the adaptive reuse and salvation of other significant old buildings in Hastings County.

The realtor’s sign in front of the Harrington Road property of Esther and John Robson reads “an exceptional property”; the first glimpse of the expansive lawns behind the split rail fence, and the cobblestone house at the end of the tree-lined driveway evokes richer superlatives. A visit to ‘Over the Hill Farm’ (“you come upon the property over the brow of the hill, and we’re over the hill ourselves,” Esther explained) reveals one of Hastings County’s true cobblestone gems. We toured the property in the company of the Robsons’ two regal Great Danes, one a former Canadian champion, the other a most fortunate ‘rescue’. As John and Esther explained the story of their love affair with this grand house, it became clear that the home was a fortunate rescue also.

The turn in the fortunes of Parry House began in 1999 when the Robsons were looking for a stone house for their move from the Toronto area. A sidetrip en route to Montreal led them to the property.

“We knew as soon as we saw it that it was the one,” Esther said. “We tried to remain calm, we’d seen so many. We talked about it all night, came back the next day and bought it.” At the time, they had no knowledge of cobblestone building. Now they are experts, informed by many reference books, travels to other cobblestone communities and knowledge gained from hard experience.

Parry House is a three bay, one and one half storey limestone building with Regency features.

Outstanding wood craftsmanship shows in the massive eaves returns, deep cornice, the wide doorcase with paneled reveals, sidelights and transom,

CLASSIC ROCK

the interior’s 18-inch deep baseboards and wide door and window mouldings. The exterior’s finely dressed limestone quoins, window sills and lintels, and the graded, coursed cobblestone veneer have been meticulously maintained. The house originally had Regency style awning verandahs around three sides; the Robsons chose to savour the wonderful light from the large 12 over 12 Regency sash windows and have resisted recreating them.

The renovation is superb, the feeling is authentic.

One has the feeling of walking back in time. “We tried to keep everything original,” John explained, “ worked hard to maintain the integrity of the interior.” Signs of former residents are preserved: jottings in pencil on the old pine walls in a back hall, grooves in a pine floor created by the legs of an iron cot, moved for daily bed-making over many years. A kitchen with warm vintage cabinetry was created from two store-rooms, and an inviting sunroom was built on part of the foundation of a cobblestone wing, demolished earlier.

The ‘perfection’ of the house and property belies the struggles of restoration. The crumbling cobblestone wall on the east side of the house was meticulously restored by Tweed stonemason Ed Moseanko, who also reproduced missing woodwork and doors. The couple worked on one plastic-sheeted room at time while they repaired walls (“when you’re removing 13 layers of wallpaper, you may discover that the first layer is holding up the plaster”), removed pink shag carpeting and ‘Persian carpet’ linoleum to reveal pine floor

boards, sourced door hardware and coped with surprises from snakes to the stone sink subsiding into the cistern below.

The property was farmed over the years by a succession of families, some still living in Hastings County. The Honourable William Powell received the Crown patent in 1803; William L. Perry (spellings change over time in old records) acquired the land in 1831. The house is listed in the 1861 census as a one-and-a- half storey stone house, but there is evidence to suggest the date may be closer to 1843. A 1950’s Harry Oakman aerial photo shows the Armstrongs’ large farming operation (19191954); the Loney’s tree farm accounts for some of the many mature trees on the property. Today, 72 acres of the property is tended by an organic farmer.

A new board and batten drive-shed replaces a former steel utility building, and a very old shed was restored and moved to a tree-sheltered corner near the kitchen garden. The footprints of many farm buildings can still be found.

And the realtor’s sign? Yes, Esther and John are looking for someone who will love the house as much as they do, for they are off to rescue another worthy heritage property. This will be restoration project number six, “the worst house on the best street” in Cobourg. Lucky house.

Unfortunately, not all stories of Hastings County’s cobblestone heritage are so heartwarming. In December 1991 the century old Watson-Leeming house (1852), “Belleville’s last original cobblestone house” was demolished. Sears Canada’s new Cata-

logue Distribution Centre, a most welcome new Belleville enterprise, had leveled the house without consultation with local heritage groups. Attitudes of the time (less common now) were apparent in quotes in the Intelligencer attributed to a Sears spokesman: “We saw no value in it at all…we saw that as an old farm building – not from an historical aspect…it was just an old house.”

Perhaps the Watson-Leeming story can serve as a cautionary tale. A very significant cobblestone house, the fine Caleb Gilbert house (185051) stands on commercial-industrial land north of Highway 401 at Wallbridge Road. Its future may be uncertain; although the lawns are mowed, the property is unoccupied and the house is deteriorating. Can we hope for sympathetic restoration or adaptive reuse, or will we lose another important piece of Hastings County’s cobblestone history?

Our county’s rich cobblestone heritage relies on informed owners and an appreciative public.

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These words are attributed to Baba Dioum, a Senegalese poet: “In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.”

For additional information: Hastings County Historical Society www.hastingshistory.ca or 613 962-1110

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SPECIAL PRODUCTS ~ EXTRAORDINARY SHOPKEEPERS Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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Hastings County Reads Books Bound To Please COUNTRY ROADS turned to five local independent booksellers for their recommendations this holiday season and winter and the list they came up with has it all. Debut novels, local authors, young readers, family farms, families reconnecting, one man’s journey, mysteries, humour, and even a ferret! These are the books the booksellers (and in one case their 12 year old son) are excited about so you know they will be good reads.

B O O K S & C O M PA N Y ( P I C T O N )

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Requiem

By Frances Itani Harper Collins, HC $32.99

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern Doubleday, HC $32.00

Bin Okuma, a Japanese-Canadian, embarks on a road trip across Canada to the site of an internment camp in the interior of British Columbia, where he was incarcerated as a child during the Second World War. Frances Itani’s story of Bin’s personal journey and the experience of Japanese Canadians in 1942 is told in accomplished and lyrical prose. A poignant tale of loss and redemption.

Picture a meadow in the countryside filled with black and white striped tents of varying sizes.

The tents are home to an unusual circus that opens at dusk and closes at dawn. Within this circus a game is being played out between two young illusionists that affect the lives of all who are involved: the eccentric circus owner, the elusive contortionist, the mystical fortune-teller, and a pair of red-headed twins.

Magic, intrigue, and romance combine to make The Night Circus a spell-binding debut by a writer and artist who describes all of her work as “fairy tales in one way or another”.

Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

HASTINGS COUNTY READS

KERR’S CORNER BOOKS (CAMPBELLFORD)

The Virgin Cure

By Ami Mckay, Knopf, $32.00 HC

Canadian Pie

By Will Ferguson Penguin Books, $32.00 HC

Following the success of her powerful debut novel, The Birth House, Ami Mckay’s second novel The Virgin Cure cements her place as one of our bookstore’s favourite storytellers. Ms.Mckays new novel grabs our attention right from the open lines of her novel” A am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slumhouse mystic and the man who broke her heart.”

The book opens on the year 1871 in a tenement in lower Manhattan. Moth fights for survival in a time and place that values willing and clean virgins as a cure for the incurable and tainted.

The prose and character sketches of the people in the book together with the description of Moth’s surrounding give this tale a dimension missing from many other novels. If you want a great read, get yourself a libation of your choice.

Snuggle down and enjoy.

Our much beloved and totally irreverent Humorist is in fine form. With the same sort of satirical wit found in his previous novel, How to be a Canadian, he once again makes you laugh so hard you will be crying. Mr. Ferguson’s travels take him from the Yukon to Quebec City and on to P.E.I. He is poking fun at our cherished Canadian Icons for the whole journey. His description of his misadventures working at the Vancouver Olympic’s Closing Ceremonies is worth the price of the book. This book is a wonderful gift for anyone you know who enjoys a good laugh.

HEARTS T O G O D C H R I S T I A N B O O K S A N D G I F T S ( S T I R L I N G )

A Lancaster County Christmas Suzanne Woods Fisher Published by Revell $16.99 HC Suzanne Woods Fisher has authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books about the Amish. Her novel The Choice was a popular gift selection last Christmas. Fans of the author will be delighted to know her latest novel, set at Christmastime is available this holiday season. It’s a touching story of hope and renewal when two couples from different worlds come together during a winter storm.

The author’s grandfather was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Pennsylvania.

Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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HASTINGS COUNTY READS

GREENLEY’S BOOKSTORE (BELLEVILLE)

Up Before Five: The Family Farm Terry Sprague SC $19.95 Local author reflects on life on the family farm, Big Island, Prince Edward Country A humorous and heart-warming story of everyday farm life, sure to bring back memories for all those who grew up on a County farm, keeping animals, baling hay, and having good, oldfashioned fun in the evenings. Terry’s memoirs have been hailed as accurate portrayals of what it was like to grow up on a farm and continue the family tradition. If you loved the Wingfield Farm stories by Dan Needles or Iain Reid’s One Bird’s Choice, you’ll enjoy this one.

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PASSING THROUGH David Penhale Cormorant Books, SC $22.00 Nominated as a People’s Choice for the 2011 Giller Prize While visiting his daughter and granddaughter in Toronto, Daniel Foster learns that his milliondollar savings are lost when the bank that houses them crashes. With nothing left and outdated skills, Foster has no choice but to get used to sharing in his family’s life, having a job at a box-store, riding the bus, and a thrift-store budget. More than this, he learns that while it’s one thing to be there for his family, it’s another to allow them to be there for him. A humorous, poignant debut novel.

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

An original, magical novel about familial love and obligation, history and myth, mystery and wonder. Téa Obreht’s first novel manages to capture the reader from the very first sentence, and the skill of her writing makes you wish the story would never end.

In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia is compelled to understand the circumstances of her beloved grandfather’s death. Searching for answers, she turns to the stories he told her over the years, stories of his life, wrapped in the myths and legends of his homeland. One of the best and most original novels to come out in years, The Tiger’s Wife is the perfect gift for the reader in your life.

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HASTINGS COUNTY READS

WEST WIN G S E S P R E S S O B A R – B O O K S – C LO T H I N G ( S T I R L I N G )

K AUTHOR BOO SIGNING ; December 10 on 10 am -12 no

THE SISTERS BROTHERS Patrick deWitt House of Anansi Press $22.95 With The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humour, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love. This book is bold, original, and more than worthy of its praise as both a Man Booker and Giller prize finalist. By far the best book of the season!

FERRET GIRL Colin Haskin Illustrated by Gerry Brophy DBR Publishing $14.00 Reviewed by Hayden West - age 12

Ferret Girl is a very interesting book about a girl that likes her ferret a lot, and has always dreamed of shrinking down to the size of a ferret and seeing if it’s a better life than a human’s.

Maybe she likes living in this other dimension, and maybe she doesn’t -you’re going to have to read the book to find out. If you like a little bit of mystery, some action and a lot of adventure I strongly recommend that you read this book. I am certain you will thoroughly enjoy it.

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g n i t t e G h g i H 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

Country Roads Takes to the Skies

“You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.”

— Amelia Earhart Farrell’s 1947 Piper PA-11 is hangared on his property. To take a flight he taxis around the barn to his runway. The Piper is what’s known as a VFR (visual flight rules) aircraft. It doesn’t have instruments for night flying and in the daytime the pilot must rely 100% on vision — especially important when fog, clouds, or bad weather are factors.

Kevin Farrell flies a 1947 Piper two-seater plane. A removable control lever allows the pilot to fly from either the front or back seat.

Take a trip with us 1,000 feet above the beautiful county of ­Hastings aboard a 1947 Piper PA-11 airplane.

This past summer and fall Moira pilot and farmer, Kevin Farrell, and Stirling photographer, Anna Sherlock took to the skies. Their flights took them over the communities of Stirling, Madoc, Marmora, Tweed, Springbrook, Deseronto and Belleville. These stunning photographs confirm Hastings County is a beauty any way you look at it.

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

GETTING HIGH

Photography by Anna Sherlock

The meandering Moira River south of O’Brien’s Bridge north of Belleville.

The Farrell Piper airplane is what’s known as a taildragger – with two wheels at the front and one in the back as opposed to the tricycle model with the reverse layout. The winged beauty operates without electrics and is hand-started. The 90 hp engine cranks out a maximum cruising speed of 100 mph and has a fuel range of two hours and weighs in around 1200 lbs.

According to Farrell the 1947 Piper is a “really rare bird.” Most people are more familiar with the Piper Cub model, which has a smaller engine.

Farrell has being observing Hastings County from the air since childhood. His father, Doug, and Uncle Don purchased the Piper in 1971 and Farrell fondly recalls being strapped in the back with his brother Cameron for many outings over Hastings County and beyond.

Farrell attended the University of Guelph and is a trained landscape architect. He applied this trade at various locations in the United States before returning to his hometown of Moira, north of Belleville. A licensed pilot since 1999, farming pork, beef, and grain keep Farrell busy. But when time, weather and other factors permit he heads to the barn, releases the Piper and together they taxi along the farm’s grassy runway strip and take off.

Farrell particularly loves flying in the winter. The Piper has skis that replace the wheels, allowing him to land almost anywhere. Maybe we can entice him to let us onboard once again for some winter shots?

Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

I 17

GETTING HIGH Chisholm’s Lumber location in Roslin at Shannonville Road. Farrell says it is a prominent landmark when he’s flying in the area.

Trillium Woods Golf Club on Highway 37, Corbyville.

Most fairways are flanked by stands of trees.

This shot is taken over top the Deseronto Bridge.

Prince Edward County is on the left.

A shot of Highway 401 east of Belleville.

The Bay of Quinte can be seen in the top right.

A long and colourful freight train east of Belleville.

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

GETTING HIGH

Black Bear Ridge Golf Course off Harmony Road north of Belleville is carved out of the surrounding woods.

One of Hastings County’s many waterways winds through the landscape.

Local pilots use the identifiable Highway 401 as an important landmark to confirm their location.

Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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d i s c o v e r i n g

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE “You guys must be hard up for stories,” is auctioneer Boyd Sullivan’s self-deprecating response when I call up to ask for an interview. He drawls out directions to his next gig at a farm near Wooler so that I can see him in action (“Take the sharpest curve in Canada until you come to a little jump in the road, turn 90 degrees to the left, follow that road and you’ll see a grey barn and a little house with an oxbow creek running along behind it on one of the most beautiful properties you’ve ever seen....”) I am madly scribbling all of this down with a lump of fear in my throat - how does one program ‘grey barn near creek’ into Google Maps - when Boyd ends with a 911 number and a street name. Thank goodness - I might get to meet the man after all.

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

h a s t i n g s

c o u n t y

Auctioneers find homes for ‘other people’s stuff’

BY ANGELA HAWN

The October auction near Wooler contained an extensive collection of Blacksmith’s tools, ­vintage farm related hand tools, antique wooden machines, tables and boxes. A barn full of a lifetime’s collection. Photo Angela Hawn

Boyd’s welcome to Wooler is warm and genuine. Gallantly slinging my purse over his own shoulder and taking my camera so that I can manage notebook and pen more easily, he gestures expansively at the beautiful autumn sunshine and surrounding hillsides with a smile.

“My office changes everyday. Today it’s Wooler.”

A typical day for Sullivan brings him to many places, preferably by his newest mode of transportation, a motorcycle, but generally he stays close to home. For example, the other day business carried him from Madoc to Napanee to Picton and then back home to Plainfield in the evening.

“I might travel 250 miles in any given day, but I’m rarely more than 50 miles from my own door,” he says. “I make a good living at it.”

Auctioneering is a year-round business, though it slows down in December (“I can’t compete with Santa,” Sullivan grins) and stays quiet through January. However, by the time February rolls around, the phone is ringing again.

Once Sullivan meets with a potential customer, he inventories the goods for sale and determines whether or not there’s enough for an auction. After that, the advertising begins, generally three weeks in advance of the event. Boyd advertises on the Sullivan Auctions website, complete with a calendar of upcoming auctions, as well as lists of the goods available. However, since his customer base is often an older, rural group, who may or may not be comfortable with on-line investigation, he also runs ads in the local newspapers.

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE

(Clockwise from left) Daughter Kate (Sullivan) helps out at the Thanksgiving weekend auction, proving she can really roll with things; The bidding is in full gear for these vintage snowshoes; Vintage farm equipment such as this turnip cutter were on the auction block at the Sullivan Auction; Have you been searching far and wide for a wooden pterodactyl?

Sorry, too late. It sold!; There was an extensive collection of antique farm tools on sale on the sunny October weekend. Photos Angela Hawn

Business finds him, Sullivan assures me, not the other way around. Auctioneer as ambulance chaser? No way. Selling other people’s stuff requires sensitivity and respect, according to Boyd.

When his talents are required, Boyd gets a phone call, generally from someone who has heard of him by word of mouth.

In his 31st year of operation Sullivan, 48, first learned the art of selling from his father Bob, who was in the business for 51 years himself.

Prior to that, Boyd’s father worked for Cameron Bunnett (“the guy at the time” says Boyd.)

Eventually the elder Sullivan and Bunnett parted ways. Then his dad became “the guy”, declares Boyd, adding that he hopes people still think “Sullivan” when they need an auctioneer.

Sullivan Auctioneers will come to an end with Boyd, though. He has no plans to sell the name when he retires much further down the road and neither of his children, a 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son, are interested in follow-

ing in their father’s footsteps. Daughter Kate, home for Thanksgiving and helping out at today’s auction, has come closest. She confides that her choice of work was directly influenced by her dad. It turns out Kate has her Masters Degree in Art Restoration and Conservation from Queen’s University. She has not completely ruled out the possibility of working someday for a large auction house like Sotheby’s in New York.

She would, however, prefer to avoid the merchandise end of things, perhaps preparing reports on the condition of potential sale items. For now, though, she is quite happily employed with the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa.

Her brother Marcus, a fourth year kinesiology student, hopes to attend medical school. Although Boyd jokes ambitious plans like these will keep him in the auctioneering business for years to come, it’s obvious that providing education opportunities for his children plays a major role in what makes Boyd Sullivan tick.

Glowing with pride, he flips through the pages of a gorgeous coffee table book up for sale, stopping to show off a colour photograph of Petra, Jordan. It turns out Kate visited Petra six years ago as a volunteer on an archaeological dig. Tough to let one’s daughter head off somewhere so far away, particularly given some of the security issues in that part of the world. But how can you say no to something like that, Boyd muses and leaves the book open for Kate to see.

Boyd’s own education, under his father’s tutelage, started him officially in the business at age 18. But Boyd had been helping out at auctions for years before that, and the job seemed to come naturally. He learned by virtually shadowing his father, though he admits that being in someone’s shadow all the time could make life difficult.

Sometimes Boyd had a tendency to try too hard.

Fortunately, his father allowed him to grow and the mentorship was always a positive one.

Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

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GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE

Boyd Sullivan is seen here ‘selling the goods’ at an auction over a dozen years ago. He’s currently in his 31st year of auctioneering. Photo courtesy Sullivan family

In answer to the question how do auctioneers talk so fast, Boyd laughs and attributes his sales patter to the ‘magic hat’ he wears. Speed is not really the issue, he says. The words sound like they’re shooting out of an auctioneer’s mouth fast and furiously, but it’s really just about finding the rhythm.

“If you can dance, you can be an auctioneer,” says Boyd, although it becomes obvious moments later when the auction starts that it takes a little more than that.

The crowd, a chatty, excited bunch, falls quiet and gathers closer as Sullivan dons his hat and grabs the cane he uses to acknowledge bidders.

Greetings follow, as well as a general explanation of the rules (“Cash or cheque; be willing to give your name and pay before you leave.”) Boyd gives a little background on the host family, as well as a few words about the man, now deceased, to whom this particular collection belonged.

From here, things slide quickly into a travelling show of sorts, with the assembled “shop-

pers” following Sullivan from one lot of goods to the next. Boyd, standing head and shoulders above the crowd on a small, portable platform, is clearly the star. Even so, he would be the first one to point out the team effort involved in putting together an auction.

‘Handlers’ Maddy Hope and daughter Kate take turns hoisting goods aloft for the crowd to see. The rest of us are both rapt audience and participants, consuming the first table laid out pre-auction like an efficient and hungry assem-

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE

Antiques, collectibles, and a side of beef

BY ANGELA HAWN

If you’re trying to get in touch with Doug Jarrell, good luck. After several phone calls, messages and tentative interview times arranged, Doug and I finally connected. Not that he was deliberately avoiding me; it’s just that, in addition to his job as auctioneer and operator of Doug Jarrell’s sales arena on Casey Rd., Belleville, Doug is a farmer.

The late Bob Sullivan staying on top of things while running an auction. Photo courtesy Sullivan family

bly line. Things move fast. After each round of bidding closes, Boyd turns to Wayne Shaw, with Sullivan Auctions since Boyd’s father ran the business, and Wayne writes down the purchaser’s name and the amount. Winning bidders sweep up easy-to-carry items and head into a barn where Boyd’s wife Cathy and her assistant Ed Smith have set up shop. Cathy writes the names, items and the amounts in an alphabetized book, while Ed makes out the receipts. Once the table is cleared, we move as an eager collective to the

“What about Saturday or Sunday?” I ask hopefully, when Doug already had plans for Friday night.

“Hmm....how about Monday around 12,” Doug counters. “I’ll be busy combining soybeans all weekend.”

On Monday, I managed to get hold of a person instead of a machine, but it isn’t Doug.

“I could have him call you back,” offers one of his very helpful sales staff, Donna Treverton. “He’s in and out all of the time.”

And so it went.

Jarrell raises dairy and beef cattle, a few lamas and a flock of Texel sheep on a large dairy farm north of Belleville. Although he doesn’t ship milk anymore, he sells calves and heifers to dairy farmers throughout Ontario. As well, there are crops and plenty of them. In addition to the soybeans that kept Doug occupied the weekend I tried to connect with him, there’s hay, some grain (mostly barley) and about 60-70 acres of corn.

You’d think that auctioneering would take a back seat to farm life, but it’s the other way around, according to Doug, who estimates 80% of his time is devoted to sales. More often than not, Doug is out on the road, researching and compiling lists of goods for auction. The sales business employs 8-10 people, while one full-time hired man oversees the farm.

Doug’s first sale as a young man was a group of 4H calves. Somewhere in there, he also flirted very briefly with life as a high school science teacher at Quinte Secondary before deciding that farming and sales were the right combination for him. Looking back on a 32-year career as an auctioneer, Doug says he’s in no hurry to give it up.

“It’s been interesting,” he muses. “You meet all styles of people.”

And what’s for sale? The goods available through Doug Jarrell’s auctions range from antiques and collectibles to farm equipment, livestock and parcels of land. Looking for a little meat with your pinwheel crystal set? Come to the Wednesday night sales and you can pick up beef and lamb, straight from Doug’s farm via a local abbatoire. If you can’t find Doug at the sales arena, you can buy meat at the farm, located right across the road.

And if you do see Doug, tell him I said “Hello.” He’s an awfully difficult man to pin down.

next set of goods, carefully arranged earlier on the ground that morning by Boyd’s ‘lugger and slugger’, Andy Hunt.

Boyd’s auctioneering style, liberally peppered with humour, never misses a beat. Occasionally, the jokes verge on the bawdy, but Boyd knows

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He holds high a basket filled with tools, then promptly empties it when a woman standing nearby implores him to sell the basket solo.

When Boyd starts the bidding off at $5, the

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discovering hastings county

For the love of the game

BY ANGELA HAWN

Oscar White’s website ­proudly ­proclaims, “We love what we do” and when you talk to Oscar in ­person, that enthusiasm rings out loud and clear. In the auctioneering business since 1986, White’s ­Auctioneering Services sell everything from real ­estate and antiques to farm and ­industrial equipment. Working with a part-time staff of four, Oscar ­sometimes conducts auctions on site, but more often sales take place at a facility on Paudash Road in Bancroft.

“We do what we do for the entertainment value,” declares White, noting that he’s never worked at a job he didn’t like. “There’s no point to it. You’re miserable and everyone around you is miserable.”

Born and raised on a farm, Oscar got his first taste of auctioneering following his dad around the cattle barns. At age 16, he got a job as a drover, performing the grunt work of getting the cattle into the sales arena. That’s when he became fascinated by what auctioneers do and he’s been doing it himself ever since.

A thorough primer on White’s website gives auction initiates the low-down on what to expect at one of his sales. If you’ve ever wondered about the meaning of terms such as ‘one money’ (a single winning amount takes all of the items currently up for bid) or ‘job lot’ (a collection of items put together and sold at once), this is the place to go. On his site, Oscar also prepares potential customers for the fact that you might see his own employees bidding on items from time to time.

“If a staff member goes home with a great find as the highest bidder, we are doing our job,” says Oscar and urges buyers to treat all bidders the same. Everyone is entitled to the excitement of making and purchasing a great find, according to Oscar, staff included.

In the meantime, Oscar will continue to revel in the thrill of leading the auctions themselves. “It’s the challenge,” he says, noting that he still gets butterflies sometimes. “If you don’t get butterflies before you go into a big sale, something’s wrong.”

At “50 odd years” of age, Oscar doesn’t foresee any quick end to the career he loves and which draws customers from a 2 1/2 hour radius around Bancroft. He claims he will be doing the work until he is old and worn out. That day could come as soon as tomorrow, he jokes, before adding cheerily that auctioneering will be the job he does when he retires.

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

Boyd Sullivan, the late Bob Sullivan, and Wayne Shaw have a combined approximately 100 years experience in the auction business. Photo courtesy Sullivan family

Boyd Sullivan learned the art of auctioneering from his late-father Bob (right) who was ‘the guy’ for 51 years.

Bob is seen here with Wayne Shaw, who has been working alongside both the father and son auctioneers for many, many years. Photo courtesy Sullivan family

Cathy Sullivan takes care of the all important ‘paperwork’ side of running the many auctions the family conducts. Photo courtesy Sullivan family

woman raises her eyebrows and remains silent.

Boyd threatens to put the tools back in the basket, but suddenly the bidding is going strong.

The basket sells for $20 to a man in front, who promptly tries to give it the woman who had eyed it in the first place. Boyd grins and comments on the man’s novel courting approach.

“Usually I just buy them a drink and ask them to dance,” he teases.

Assorted axes, hatchets and mallets go up with Sullivan’s announcement that we have more “break and enter tools for sale.” A wicked looking machete is on sale next and Boyd tells his eager audience it was once used by Wooler residents to defend themselves against an invasion by neighbouring Frankford. “They were trying to steal their women,” Boyd jokes, “all two of them.” More good-natured laughter follows and the bidding begins again.

Boyd’s general rule of thumb is ‘live bids only,’ although he once made an exception for a painting discovered while emptying a house in Trenton. The owner, the only child of wealthy parents was headed to a nursing home. Her engineer father had travelled the globe during a lengthy career and brought back a number of souvenirs. Among the African artifacts and various trinkets, the painting stood out and Boyd knew he’d found something special. He immediately began researching internet art sites to get an idea of the painting’s value.

“I know a little about a lot of things,” claims Boyd. “Not a lot about a little.”

A Scottish art expert spotted the painting on the Sullivan website and asked if he could place a bid from overseas. True to the adage ‘the customer is always right’, Boyd sought permission from his regulars first. Fortunately for the Scot, the other

discovering hastings county

customers were all for it and Boyd conducted that particular part of the auction with wife Cathy taking the long-distance bids by landline. The work, by 19th century European artist Richard Ansdell, brought in $29,000, though the winning purchaser was not the Scot, who stopped at 28.

Sullivan assumes the overseas bidder wanted to ‘flip it’ to make a profit and the extra thousand pushed it out of his price range.

One of the things Doreen Gordon, long-time auction attendee, likes about Boyd’s style is the pace. “He doesn’t drag things out, trying to get more money for something,” she says. She also notes that Boyd is quick to group items together when a solo piece of merchandise doesn’t ap-

peal. If no one will bid on this vase, how about the vase, a pot and a tea kettle? It works. There doesn’t appear to be anything left unsold. This is very important to the host customer, who will have to pay the auctioneer’s commission (a percentage of the sales), no matter what.

“The goal,” Boyd says, “is to get it gone for maximum dollars.”

Doreen also reports that she knows of other auctions where buying is a much more formal affair.

Driver’s licenses are requested as I.D. before numbers are assigned. Here, a hand held aloft is good enough. Boyd seems to know everyone by sight anyway and if he doesn’t know your name, he seems to know the face. Strangers are welcomed

with a congenial, “Thanks for coming out” and soon Boyd knows them, too.

There’s a comfortable, old-timey feel to things.

Although it’s hard to imagine someone scooping up a butterchurn and making a break for it, there’s still a sense the honour system is very much at work here. Once you’ve bought something, you pay for it. Why would anyone do anything else?

Boyd’s entire sales philosophy revolves around a simple respect for the customer. He refers to his regulars as patient and knowledgeable. When I ask if he has any funny stories about auction attendees over the years, he nods with a wide smile. But he’s not telling. That just wouldn’t be right.

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Winter 2011/2012 • Country Roads

I 25

C r o s s r o a d s

PUCK DROPS IN HASTINGS

BY NANCY HOPKINS

On ice at the Stirling & District Recreation Centre (aka ‘The Rink”) Photo courtesy Stirling Hockeyville Committee

It’s called Kraft Hockeyville and if you’re a Canadian and haven’t heard of it we’re very sorry for your plight. You’ve obviously been stranded on a desert island for a good length of time, but thank goodness you’re back and safely reading this article.

Exactly where the first game of ice hockey played out in Canada is cause for debate. Author Thomas Chandler Haliburton spoke of boys in the early 1800’s at King’s College School in Nova Scotia adapting the game of ‘hurley’ to the ice of their favourite skating ponds and creating the new ‘ice hurley’ sport. Kingston lays claim to being the birthplace of ice hockey and this is supported by the journal entry of a British Army officer in Kingston in 1843. He wrote, “Began to skate this year, improved quickly and had great fun at hockey on the ice.” Organized ice hockey, as we recognize it today, has its origins in Montréal in 1875, where a McGill University student established a set of formal rules and the major innovation of substituting a flat, wooden disk (puck) for a ball thus offering players far more control.

Wherever the inception – today ice hockey is frozen solidly into the fabric of small town Ontario and nowhere stronger than Hastings County communities. This winter both Bancroft and Stirling will vie for the title of Hockeyville 2012. The prize includes $100,000 in cash for upgrades to the local arena and the thrill of hosting an NHL pre-season game – home ice advantage for sure!

For Bancroft it’s a second shot at the title but one they committed to when they set out last year.

According to Chairperson Drew Hosick, the contest is “pretty competitive – we had the right idea that is, pay your dues.” As he points out, it took until the third attempt for Navan, near Ottawa to make it to the coveted shortlist.

But one attempt has not dampened Bancroft’s spirits - perhaps the opposite.

After a year of community-wide events Hosick, morning announcer with local Moose FM radio speaks about Bancroft’s trek.

“It’s not the result it’s the journey,” he explains. “We started off thinking what if we won

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Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

The photo says it all!

Photo courtesy Stirling Hockeyville Committee

but learned along the way that it’s more about people coming together. It’s about the community feel. It’s unbelievable, [it] really brought the town together and people told me the town really needed to come together.”

Bancroft has a footprint (or should we say bladeprint) that it intends to build on.

The starting point to becoming a Hockeyville contender is a local letter-writing campaign to reach top 15. Last year Bancroft achieved the third most letters (stories) in Ontario and fourth overall in Canada -- impressive given the population size of Bancroft. And next an impressive 600 plus people showed up at the rink for a Hockeyville event.

“I don’t think there’s been 600 people in that arena since the Junior A Hawks team,” says Hosick. It’s what he calls Hockeyville movement, hockey in movement.

Once again, this winter they will close the main street for a hockey game and Bancroft’s annual Winter Think Snow event will celebrate hockey – or as they like to call it ‘BanKraft Hockeyville.’

Why all the hard work? At the end of the day the Bancroft arena needs a new ice re-surfacer.

The current machine broke down last year during an all important Tri-County game. The arena is 40 years old.

What would Bancroft be like without winter hockey? Adamant, Hosick replies, “I don’t want to think of it – I don’t know what we would do sometimes. It’s like our mall. The North Hastings Community Centre is used by three different areas.”

Visit Stirling in winter, drive past Mill Pond and you’re likely to experience a ‘Rockwell’ moment. Chances are you’ll see kids of all ages exercising their hockey prowess.

Stirling Hockeyville Chair Cindy Brandt took on the head seat for one reason and one only. After attending longtime arena manager Barry Wilson’s funeral, alongside 1,000 others, earlier this year Brandt vowed if she had the energy she’d do it. And in honour of Wilson’s dream of an addition to the Stirling building, the journey began.

“We have been hockey our whole lives in our family,” says Brandt. “But I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it for all those little kids at the arena who want to continue playing hockey. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s unbelievable the number of people phoning and wanting to help.”

Proud of the terrific community spirit, Brandt proudly conveys, “Google Hockeyville 2012 – Stirling fills the first two pages.”

Brandt and all of Stirling are proud of its hockey success stories. Her brother, Rob Ray played with the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators.

These days if you catch his segments on the ‘Off the Record’ TSN show you’ll see a ‘Stirling Hockeyville 2012’ t-shirt posted on the wall behind him.

Hockey celebrities aside volunteers, many of them, are working hard for the local hockey scene. They visited area nursing homes to talk with the residents about their memories of the game. They are shooting to make the rink accessible and put an addition onto the dressing room.

Says Brandt, “they’re too small and we need to add a girls dressing room.”

And the ‘girls’ are once again aiming to be part of the popular January Mill Pond Hockey Tournament.

The Stirling Hockeyville committee and community hit the ice early to increase awareness.

C r o s s r o a d s

Hockey Night in Bancroft was celebrated with a band, skating, the girls Bantam Team skills competition, and radar shooting. Photo courtesy Bancroft Hockeyville Committee

Town staff and councilors are all in support of Bancroft Hockeyville.

Photo courtesy Bancroft Hockeyville Committee

In the letter-writing they’re shooting for 5,000 letters, in a township of the same population.

Is it for the money or the bragging rights?

Brandt doesn’t skip a beat – “sure it’s for bragging rights but I think our attempt has been to increase awareness of folks around us so that they know where Stirling is.” And what would Stirling be like without winter hockey? Well, listen to the Hockeyville song, ’Where the ice

A come one come all hockey game, Saturday morning of the long weekend last February. The BanKraft Hockeyville event was part of Bancroft’s Annual Think Snow celebration. Photo courtesy Bancroft Hockeyville Committee

is your home’, created by local Paul Brogee for the answer.

Want to be part of the dreams of these local towns? Write down your thoughts, your emotions please and submit them before the end of January 2012. Check the web for where to submit or contact them by phone.

So where was the site of the first ice hockey game in our fair land? Hard to say - but it’s prob-

ably safe to say the most recent game of hockey in Hastings County towns such as Bancroft and Stirling is probably going on at this very moment. It’s hockey after all!

To cheer on the teams: www.krafthockeyville.cbc.ca www.stirlinghockeyville.com or Cindy Brandt 613 395-1482 facebook.com/Bancroft Kraft Hockeyville 2012

•

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Winter 2011/2012 • 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 Nov 30 - Dec 23 - Celebrating the Seasons – small works – wee Gems.

An exhibition of small works by local artists. Opening Reception Fri, Dec 2, 7:30 pm Jan 5 – 30 – 2 in the Gallery; Carol Kays & Gail Warnica Feb 2 – 27 – Selections from the Permanent Collection March 2 – 27 – Michal Manson Memorial Student Exhibition

THEATRE/LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Bancroft Village Playhouse, 613-332-5918 www.bancroftvillageplayhouse.ca North of 7 Film Fest - TIFF Movies at Bancroft Village Playhouse, Tickets $10.00 at the door and week prior to shows at Ashlies’ Books, Hospice , Ink N’Things, Posies & Zihua. 613 332 8014 to reserve tickets.

Jan 10 – The Debt - A polished and professional political thriller in which a retired secret service agent (Helen Mirren) is pressed back into service.

Feb 14 – Midnight in Paris - The tale of a frustrated American writer (Owen Wilson) who longs for the Paris of old and at midnight…finds it!! Filled with romance, humor and culture.

Feb 28 – Beginners - A moving and often hilarious portrait of family, love, loss and self discovery between a father (Christopher Plummer) and his son (Ewan McGregor).

March 13 – Sarah’s Key - A journalist is assigned to write a story on the round up of Jewish families in Paris in 1942.

March 27 – Starbucks - At 42, David who twenty years earlier began donating sperm to a fertility clinic in exchange for money, discovers that he’s the father to 533 children…

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Belleville Theatre Guild, 613-967-1442 www.bellevilletheatreguild.ca Dec 1 – 17 - Little Women - Set during the Civil War period, this play follows the “pilgrim’s progress” of four sisters and their mother, from one poverty stricken Christmas to the next.

Feb 2 – 18 – Wait Until Dark - A young blind woman is left alone in her Greenwich Village apartment where she is harassed by a trio of criminals in search of a doll filled with heroin. Could her husband be implicated?

My Theatre Bay of Quinte Community Players, Trenton Town Hall, Trenton 613-392-8844 tickets@my-theatre.ca @distributel.net www.my-theatre.ca Nov 24 - 27, & Dec 2 - 4, 9 &10 Pathways by Carl Cashin Cecil Hagerman, an eighty-one year old recluse farmer, is dying. In a rural clinic on Christmas Eve, his spirit watches as the nurse doctor attempt to save his life. Is it worth saving? Have their lives been worth living? Tickets: $15, $12.50 group rate 10+ & Red Hat Ladies Quinte Film Alternative - Great Movie Wednesdays.

- The Empire Theatre 321 Front St. Belleville.

Info 613-480-6407 or visit www.quintefilmalternative.ca Quinte Symphony, Bridge Street Church, Belleville www.quintesymphony.com March 18 - 2:30 PM - Master Works 3 - Concierto de Aranjuez Guest Artist – Jeff Hanlon, guitar, Copland: An Outdoor Overture, Roderigo: Concierto de Aranjuez Solo guitar pieces, Hanson: Romantic Symphony no. 2. Conductor Gordon Craig

The Stirling Festival Theatre, West Front St., Stirling 613-395-2100 1-877-312-1162 www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com Nov 23 - Dec 31 - PUSS IN BOOTS - Traditional Christmas Panto Feb. 11 - 8 pm - iLove … A Romantic Dot Comedy for Valentine’s Day! From The Second City comedy theatre, a play about relationships in the age of social networking. There are Plenty of Fish in the sea, but can we all live in eHarmony? Or are our lives too much of an open (Face) book? Tickets $35.50/Early Bird & Groups 20+ $32.50. Dinner & Show - $67.50 Feb 18 - 2 pm - Babar by Jean De Brunhoff - Babar tells the story of a young elephant who leaves the jungle, visits a big city and returns to the jungle to share his discoveries with the other elephants. He becomes king, and teaches his children his valuable lessons! All Seats $8.00 March 7 - 2 pm - Brogue Toronto’s New Celtic Dance Sensation!

Featuring the musical talents of three sons of iconic Celtic music families and the dynamic drive of four elite members of the world of dance, Brōgue shines light on the Scottish and Irish traditions inherent in its own Maritime Canadian identity! All Seats $32.50 Early Bird & Group $29.50

ar 13 & 14, 11 am; Mar 15, 7 M pm; Mar 16, 2 pm - SFT Young Company - Cinderella ... a new twist on this classic tale! Cinderella has been sent to sleep in the kitchen by her mean step-sisters. She finds some new friends there; Ears, Teeth, Claws, Tail and Whiskers... and they’re rats! All Seats $8.00

For more events listings visit www.countryroadshastings.ca

Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

BELLEVILLE’S DOWNTOWN DOCFEST March 2 & 3 – Over 30 films screened at The Core Centre for the Arts and the Belleville Public Library. Gala evening, Friday, March 2, The Empire Theatre, featuring the film,“Music From the Big House,” followed by a concert with blues singer and star of the film, Rita Chiarelli. DocFest will feature original international, national and community films by highly acclaimed film makers and directors. www.downtowndocfest.ca Gary Magwood, 613 477 1264

EVENTS Dec 1 – 4 – 8TH Annual Tweed Festival of Trees - Agricultural Building, Louisa St., Tweed. A $2.00 raffle ticket can win you one of over 80 decorated items. Draws Sunday, Dec 4th at 3 pm.

All proceeds donated to youth organizations in the area. Admission: Adult $4, seniors & students $2. 10 am – 4pm Dec. 31 - The Commodores’ Orchestra New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance, Ontario’s longest coninuously-operated big swing band. Bay of Quinte Golf & Country Club, Belleville, 613-968-7404.

Tickets $85 incl. 5-course meal, champagne at midnight. Available at the Bay of Quinte Club. andy.sparling78@gmail.com 613-968-8691 Jan 20, 7 pm, Jan 21, 2pm & 7pm, Jan 22, 2pm - Peter Pan the Musical - Centennial Secondary School, Belleville. Come out and support the Centennial Musical Theatre class. Tickets available Nov 1st at Quinte Arts Council, Centennial or Red Ball Radio.

Info 613-962-9233 x3460.

Jan. 23 - Quinte Field Naturalists - Nesting Studies of Songbirds in the Arctic - Speaker: Devin Turner. Sills Auditorium, Bridge Street United Church, 60 Bridge St. East, Belleville) at 7:30 pm. http://naturestuff.net/site/. QFN Membership single $25/family $40.

Jan 28 - 2nd Annual Mill Pond Hockey Tournament- Downtown Stirling. In conjunction with the annual Groundhog Fest! www.stirling-rawdon.com for event details.

Jan 28 – Snowmobiling Ontario Poker-Run with Antique Show and Shine - Madoc Township Hall, Eldorado, 9am start time. Door Prizes, major prizes for poker-hands. All snowmobile manufacturer’s will be present. Direct access to the trails. www.centrehastingssnowmobileclub.ca Feb 3 – 5 - The 34th Annual Marmora SnoFest - A fun filled weekend for everyone. Sled dog races, talent night, food, music www.marmorasnofest.ca Feb 25 & 26 - Canadian Cat Association Championship & Household Pet Cat Show, Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. Over 125 cats competing and on exhibit. 9 am - 5 pm. Admission $8 adult, $5 seniors & children under 12, and $20 family (2 adults, 2 children). www.kingstoncatshow.com Feb 27 - Quinte Field Naturalists Thoughts from the Pied Piper of Nature - Speaker: Terry Sprague. Sills Auditorium, Bridge Street United Church, 60 Bridge St. East, Belleville) at 7:30 pm. http://naturestuff.net/site/. QFN Membership single $25/family $40.

Mar. 26 - Quinte Field Naturalists ON Reptile & Amphibian Atlas Program - Speaker: John Uruquhart/James Patterson. Sills Auditorium, Bridge Street United Church, 60 Bridge St. East, Belleville) at 7:30 pm. http://naturestuff. net/site/. QFN Membership single $25/ family $40.

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COUNTRY ROADS, Discovering ­Hastings County is excited to announce the launch this past June of our ‘new and improved’ website www.sears.ca

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Readers can submit comment(s) on current ­feature articles Y ou can read the comments made by other readers Submit your comments and feedback in general to us via the Letters to the Editor option Read back issues Connect with local businesses and services Check for local events Read NEW exclusive online editorial content – each with a connection to stories from previous issues in our ‘And now for the rest of the story…’ webpage column.

Winter 2011/2012 • 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

Stirling Hockey Club Champions Section “B” J.A.H.A. Season 1905-1906 Front: A.M.S. Foley, A.G. Ritchie, S McCuaig, H.V. Russell Centre: F.H. Benson, J.F Julian, J. Pilon, Captain, W.L. Watson, F.W. Hamilton Back: Geo. C. Fletcher, Sec. Treas., F.E. Ritchie, J. Quinn, Coach, P.N. Foley, H.A. Watson, President.

Photo courtesy: Cindy Brandt

30 I

Country Roads • Winter 2011/2012

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