Country Roads Fall 2012

FALL 2012

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VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3, FALL 2012

Off-Grid Living Solutions • solar systems • propane appliances • wood & gas heating

Contents 8

16

24

30

Sun at work FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

8 GET READY FOR FREDDY

6 EDITORIAL

Music star keeping rock and roll roots alive

16 ALL ABOARD! Bancroft’s station still brings people together after all these years

24 TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM

13 years experience Design•Sales Installation•Service www.downundersolar.ca

613-583-0139

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Tripping this Fall

6 CONTRIBUTORS 15 JUST SAYING

Back to School for Who?

23 HASTINGS TASTINGS

Fall Favourites

An Oak Hills B&B by Shakespeare

29 CROSSROADS

30 AGING GRACEFULLY

On the buses - School bus driver won respect of students

Local paper still going strong at 125

34 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 35 MARKETPLACE 36 COUNTRY CALENDAR

SCAN TO VISIT COUNTRY ROADS WEB SITE FOR CURRENT STORIES, WEB CONTENT, BACK ISSUES, EVENTS LISTINGS, AND MORE.

38 BACK ROADS

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 5

e d i t o r i a l

Tripping this fall

Photo: Haley Ashford

We believe one of the driving forces behind every publisher, writer and photographer is the desire to take the reader on a journey. And as such we’ve wrangled up a batch of stories that we hope will do just this.

Sound the whistle – ‘Choo Choo’ – the train station will re-open soon.

Bancroft and community have worked tirelessly to breathe new life into their heritage train station. Set to open in 2013 the newly restored building will serve as home base for the Chamber of Commerce, a tourism office, a state of the art Mineral Museum, office space and community and educational facilities.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to the Freddy Vette CJBQ radio show, well man, you know it’s quite the trip! Country Roads Co-Publisher John Hopkins had the pleasure of experiencing a Freddy Vette radio show live in the station and his story tells the tale.

It’s Fall, and in rural Ontario that means it’s time to get on the bus! The school bus that is. If you, your kids or grandkids grew up in South Hastings then chances are you know Doug Detlor. The Stirling resident held the school bus wheel for over 50 years. How many miles and how many kids is that?

A visit to Anne Keefer’s heritage home is definitely a trip back in time. In the 1970’s reclaimed building expert Mel Shakespeare married an Ontario sheep barn and a blacksmith shop to create the special residence. As of this fall it’s a trip anyone can take as Keefer has just opened her residence as a B&B. Tweed has its own time capsule. Independently owned from day one, The Tweed News has been the storyteller for the community for the past 125 years.

Enjoy the trip!•

Nancy & John Hopkins Ad - Country Roads_Layout 1 5/18/12 10:44 AM Page 1

contributors Angela Hawn thanks her lucky stars for landing in Hastings County after years of an ‘on the road’ lifestyle teaching ESL in Asia, Europe and the Canadian Arctic. Although she loves to travel, some chance meetings here with a few people in the publishing business finally allowed her to put to use a few things learned long ago at Carleton University’s journalism school.

When not writing or travelling, Angela enjoys the inspiration and humour consistently delivered by the nine- and 10-year-olds seen in her day job as an elementary school teacher.

Her dream job? Why, travel writer, of course. Interested parties take note: for the right assignment, she’d work cheap. Closer to home, Angela seeks editorial advice and often, just plain old validation, from fellow travelling companions, husband, Mike, and their two incredible daughters, Maddie and Isobel.

There's an easy way to find artists, artisans and galleries across Hastings County.

Visit ArtsRoute.ca for a smartphone friendly website with downloadable maps, profiles and links to painters, potters, musicians even an artisan welder!

Just choose your artists, then follow the Arts Route signs on a trail of discovery that you can travel at your own pace.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Lindi Pierce, of Prince Edward County UEL stock, enjoyed life in Vancouver, Grand Forks, BC and North Bay before settling on Hastings County as her adoptive home.

Lindi compensates for her deficits in local history by volunteer work at Glanmore National Historic Site and at the Community Archives of Hastings County. She indulges her passion for heritage architecture with her blog at ancestralroofs.blogspot.ca and by writing and photographing for ‘Country Roads’, Hastings County Historical Society’s ‘Outlook’ and other local publications.

In her spare time, this nature-nut joins her husband Denis, a vintage motorcycle frame designer/builder, on their camping, hiking and cycling expeditions, always on the lookout for another good house to snap.

A resident of the Belleville area for 15 years, Country Roads Account Executive Jennifer Richardson has had a varied business career. She has a background in real estate selling/ acquisition and commercial real estate development, and has owned a variety of small- to medium-sized businesses. Her career path has helped her develop her strengths and passion for helping people, and she has a first-hand appreciation for the challenges facing business owners. Jennifer gets great pleasure out of meeting so many wonderful and interesting people when she’s on the job and helping advertisers reach Country Roads readers.

Jennifer’s romance with this area began when her family camped at the Sandbanks when she was a young girl, and she always believed it was her destiny to one day make Belleville her permanent home.

Her heart and life is her family, and Jennifer feels blessed that her two children have decided to relocate to this area. The absolute joys of her life are her three grandchildren.

Country Roads

discovering hastings county

Country Roads

discovering hastings county

CR Country

CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR Nancy Hopkins 613 395-0499 CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR John Hopkins 613 395-0499

Roads

Celebrating 50+ years in

Beautiful Comfort Country!

Your One Source for Home Decor & Gifts for Every Occasion

discovering hastings county

SALES DEPARTMENT Jennifer Richardson jennifer@countryroadshastings.ca 613 922-2135 ART DIRECTOR Jozef VanVeenen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Orland French Angela Hawn Gary Magwood Lindi Pierce Michelle Annette Tremblay Shelley Wildgen

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jozef VanVeenen 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: $14.69 2 years: $27.13 3 years: $35.03 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 2012/13 issue is October 26, 2012.

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437 Front Street West, Stirling, ON K0K 3E0 For info and tickets contact info@agmuseum.ca • www.agmuseum.ca 613.395.0015

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 7

Get ready for Freddy!

Music star keeping rock and roll roots alive

BY JOHN HOPKINS

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Freddy has taken his musical passion to radio station CJBQ, where he spins tracks from the Fifties and Sixties on weekday afternoons. Photo: John Hopkins

It is just after 3:00 on a Monday afternoon and I’m in a chaotic radio studio at ­Belleville’s CJBQ. I’ve come to see Freddy Vette put on his weekday four-hour show and already I’m starting to wonder if this was such a good idea.

F

reddy has just come off a grueling weekend on the road with his band, Freddy Vette & The Flames, which saw the group perform about 130 songs over three nights. His voice is hoarse and he is running on about four hours of sleep after rolling home at around 4:00 that morning. To make matters worse, his sidekick, Russell, is already at odds with flower child-in-residence Zero over the hippie lifestyle, and one of the crew, John Goodvoice is overseas providing coverage of the Olympics, a fact that provides further ammunition for Russell’s ill-temper.

Freddy: “John’s abroad.”

Russell: “Oh, I didn’t think he was going through with that operation.”

But as the afternoon rolls along I realize this controlled chaos is a pretty typical afternoon for

the Freddy Vette Show. If I want to get the full experience, I’m going to.

To hear the music he plays, and see his on-stage persona, one would think that Freddy Vette (aka Scott Haggerty) was a bit older than his 40 years.

So how does a guy who was born well after the heyday of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry become such an aficionado of rock ‘n roll’s early days?

“I heard it in the house and I think we all grow up with our parents’ music,” says Vette, who grew up on a farm just outside of Stirling, and whose parents were country music performers. “I also think that music is timeless. The kids I meet know it all. The radio show appeals to all ages. The audience is primarily baby boomers but I even hear from listeners under 40. It’s the same with the live shows.

“To me the music hasn’t aged. It doesn’t sound 50 years old. It means different things to different people. To some people it’s a memory, but whatever their exposure to the music, it interests them in that way.” Given the high regard with which he holds the music, it is perhaps no surprise that Vette feels a certain responsibility to preserve and promote it through his radio show and live performances.

“Everything springs from it,” he points out.

“It’s the first teenage music and everything that teenagers listen to today can be traced back to Elvis and performers of that era.”

Despite his deep music roots and early experience in the world of radio, it wasn’t always clear to Vette that he would be able to make a career out of his passion. He completed the broadcast journalism program at Loyalist ­College Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 9

Betty Vette (Joanne Hartman) and Sara Wright make up two thirds of the female segment of the band, covering the “girl group” hits of rock and roll’s early days.

Photo courtesy Freddy Vette & the Flames

and landed a radio gig with a Country station in Timmins in the early 1990s. However, the creeping influence of automation led to the station downsizing its on-air staff, and Freddy was soon back home in the Stirling area, working on the family farm and playing music here and there. Vette’s persistence and his devotion to reproducing the music of the Fifties as authentically as possible found a following, however, and by 2002 Freddy Vette & The Flames was a full-time, seven-musician rock and roll band.

The current roster includes Freddy playing guitar and piano, Ken Globe playing upright bass, drummer Gary Buffett, Kevin Crotty on guitar, and Wayne Mills on the saxophone. Freddy’s wife Betty Vette (Joanne Hartman, who works at the Stirling Festival Theatre), Sara Wright, and newcomer Debbie Collins cover “girl group” classics from the era.

A name change for the leader completed the rock and roll puzzle.

“A friend said that Scott Haggerty didn’t sound much like a rock and roll name,” Freddy recalls.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

When the band plays the aim is simple – take fans back in time to experience rock and roll the way it was in the Fifties.

“He said I needed a ‘Y’ name to start, and my last name should be a type of car.”

When the band plays the aim is simple – take fans back in time to experience rock and roll the way it was in the Fifties.

“Everything about our performance is very authentic,” Freddy says. “Why try to improve on something that’s already perfect? Changing it would be disrespectful to the music.

“The essence of rock and roll has always been loud, wild and fast. That part hasn’t changed

over the years; kids love it and parents hate it.

We don’t sugarcoat it. This was the devil’s music for a reason and we want to keep that element, that this is sexy, supposedly dangerous stuff.”

It’s 4:30, about an hour and a half into the radio show, and Freddy is doing what he often does – thinking on the fly. He plays the original recording of “I Think I’m Going Out Of My Head” by Little Anthony and the Imperials and then, to give his audience a bit of a history lesson, he follows it up with a little known cover of the song by the English band The Zombies.

“I don’t know if there’s another radio station in the world that would let me do that,” he says.

“Anywhere else, if you played the same song back-to-back the station manager would be all over you. But CJBQ has afforded me a lot of creativity and given me free rein. I think that’s because it’s one of the few family operations left in the business.”

Vette made his return to commercial radio in 2009 and quickly found a loyal audience.

This venerable tour bus gets the band on the road ­virtually every summer weekend. It’s a hectic schedule but Freddy wouldn’t have it any other way.

Photo courtesy Freddy Vette & the Flames

“About the time I came on the air all the oldies stations were starting to fade away,” he explains.

“The music was disappearing but I know there’s an audience for it. I started with a show for two hours, then three, then it went up to four. There are probably less than 40 stations playing this type of music now.”

For Freddy, however, it is about much more than just playing the songs.

“I’m a fan of this stuff,” he points out, “and being a fan, I delve into it. I love finding out how groups came to be and I think the early careers of some of these performers are appealing to learn about. Let’s face it, they didn’t just appear. They’re all imitating somebody else and there’s always a story.

“Music discovery doesn’t end when you’re 21.

People are still interested in hearing new music, no matter how old they are. Who doesn’t get a thrill when they hear a song for the first time?”

Freddy’s enthusiasm is still in high gear, but his voice is fading. He has been popping throat lozenges and drinking water non-stop

since 3:00, and it is hard to imagine him lasting until 7:00.

Naturally, summer is the busiest time for the band, and true to his musical roots, Freddy is committed to putting on a good show.

“Typically we’ll do three sets a night, 5560 songs in total,” he says. “But it’s all fun.

None of it feels like work and I’m incredibly lucky to stay in my hometown and do what I want to do.”

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I 11

6

Freddy sends his piano bench flying while Wayne Mills, Kevin Crotty (guitar) and Gary Buffett (drums) play on. Bringing the wildness of early rock and roll to his shows is a key part of the performance – “This was the devil’s music for a reason,” he says.

Photo courtesy Freddy Vette & the Flames

The band is very much a family affair. In addition to having his wife singing, Freddy’s mom handles the management end of things and his dad drives the tour bus.

Freddy Vette & The Flames play all across Ontario, with festivals and theatres making up the bulk of the work.

“With the economy being the way it is things have become a little tougher,” he admits. “Usually, spending on entertainment is the first thing to go, and we’ve seen our number of gigs drop from about 50 to 25 a year. It’s coming back but it’s still not where it was.

“Typically we’ll play for 500-700 people and that’s a nice number. Every night’s a different crowd and that keeps it interesting.”

It is around 5:30pm and, remarkably, Freddy’s voice is making a comeback, although the chaos and confusion around him has not diminished. John Goodvoice is filing his first Olympic report, not from London, but from Athens, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic movement. While he has enjoyed visiting the Parthenon, he can’t figure out why there aren’t any athletes around.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Freddy listens impassively while John, likely fueled by Ouzo, nervously contemplates getting to the airport and booking a flight to London before Tuesday’s show.

The rich cast of characters has become almost as famous as Freddy himself, especially his loyal sidekick Russell. Like the music, the format of the weekday afternoon show is a throwback to the rock and roll heyday of the Fifties and Sixties.

“In the Sixties it wasn’t unusual for the DJs to have a sidekick,” he explains. “Radio used to be called theatre of the mind, it was all about painting a picture, and you don’t hear a lot of that anymore. Radio’s a little homogenous now, and the only difference between radio and the playlist on your iPod is the stuff that happens between the songs, the sound effects and the characters.”

Russell is the sidekick, and Freddy often finds himself playing the straight man to Russell’s crotchety humour.

Zero is the resident hippie, perhaps a descendant from the Haight/Ashbury days of San Francisco in the 1960s. Being a somewhat staid old man, Russell doesn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with Zero, and at the worst of times will threaten his flowerchild coworker with a punch in the neck.

John Goodvoice is the baritone speaking announcer, a disgruntled ex-CBC employee who boasts of being drinking buddies with Knowlton Nash and romantically pursued by Wendy Mesley.

With my visit to the studio I’m getting to meet the whole gang, everyone anxious to make sure they get a mention in my story. With the warning of “gusty winds” in the weather report, in breezes the actual Gusty Winds in all her glamour. According to Russell she had quite a history at the old Canadiana Hotel in Belleville.

“Isn’t she something else, John?” Russell says proudly.

“She certainly is…” I answer cautiously.

Helicopter Harry makes an unscheduled appearance, as he usually contributes the Friday traffic report. True to form, he and Freddy can’t hear each other over the sound of Harry’s rotors.

Freddy says he was influenced by many of the classic DJs of the Sixties and has practiced their technique. Among his inspirations were “Jungle Jay” Nelson from 1050 CHUM in Toronto and Jack Armstrong, who could be heard on WKBW in Buffalo. According to Freddy, Armstrong had a gorilla as a sidekick.

While the music brings back memories for older enthusiasts, Freddy says his shows attract a number of younger fans as well. “Every night’s a different crowd and that keeps it interesting,” he says. Photo courtesy Freddy Vette & the Flames

In the same way he models his music performances after the stars of the Fifties, Freddy has developed his radio persona through

listening to old radio checks of his heroes on the internet.

Many of his idols, both from the airwaves and

the stage, are no longer around, but even still Freddy is cautious about wanting to meet any of the old legends.

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 13

Freddy Vette doing what he does best, pounding out classic rock and roll with Wayne Mills on the sax and Ken Globe playing bass.

Photo courtesy Freddy Vette & the Flames

“I don’t know,” he confesses. “I think some of these guys in real life perhaps weren’t as great people as you’d like to think. But very few are left now and my goal is to keep the music around. The music has to stay alive.”

Freddy did get a rare treat in 2005 when he had the opportunity to record with the Jordanaires, former back-up singers with Elvis Presley. They contributed on four tracks on Freddy’s CD Let The Good Times Roll and as part of the experience Freddy travelled down to Memphis and spent some time with them.

It is after 6:30 and the show is winding down. Freddy has had a lot of requests and he’s trying to cram them in now. He looks like a technical wizard in today’s computerized world of radio. He has three computer screens around him and he is actively using all three. One tracks the progress of songs and gives him a list of tracks that are queued to

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

play, as well as commercials and other on-air announcements. Another monitor allows him to listen to and edit phone calls from listeners, while the third is used to conduct quick internet research.

Freddy has access to a few hundred songs through the CJBQ electronic database, plus about 1,500 from home that he has on a thumb drive. He makes a point of honouring every request, no matter how obscure the song. Seldom is a caller disappointed.

“Historically, this music is all connected to something that happened somewhere to somebody,” he says.

As usual, however, Freddy is quick to defer praise to his predecessors, “But what I do is child’s play in comparison to the old days.

Can you imagine queuing up records on two turntables, running to the record library to find a song and having all your sound effects on a tape machine?”

Freddy ends the show as he started it, identifying himself to his fans as, “Your Leeeeeaddddderrrrrrr” in a shrill voice, another nod to the late Jack Armstrong. It is 7:00 and it is 2012 again. But there will be another show tomorrow, and on through the rest of the week.

And then the band is back on the road for the weekend. It is a hectic schedule, but it seems to suit Freddy Vette just fine as he continues to do what he does best, keeping the music and the memories alive.

•

Freddy Vette & the Flames will be ­playing at Belleville’s Empire Theatre on Oct. 13.

The Freddy Vette Show can be heard between 3-7pm Monday – Friday on CJBQ 800 AM

JUST SAYING

BY SHELLEY WILDGEN

EXT. SCHOOLYARD – RECESS Lilting, distant voices of children…sunshine glinting as the glass chips fly off the playing marbles. Eight-year-old Jimmy sits on the tarmac, legs splayed and pockets bulging with won and stolen orbs of wonder. Squinting, he boasts loudly…

“Peeeeery bonkers…I got peeeeeeeeery bonkers!!!!”

“Hey, I got two dutchies,” offers the newly brush-cut Ronny, “…and a cat’s eye. I’ll trade ‘em for a peery bonker.”

“As if, kid!” snarls Jimmy. “You touch ‘em and you’ll get it after four!”

Jimmy is all business, as the first bell rings.

There is something about the toasty smell of fall and the sound of school buses braking that causes my 1967 school yard mind movies to start playing. The marble games, dodge ball, boys running and girls squealing. Chalk scraping, the strap cracking and the pitch pipe sounding never quite right. The secrets, the fights, hand-me-down jumpers and Friday assemblies. Every September sends school day memories to our frontal lobes as summer rolls over and the first of fall touches its toe to the floor. ‘Back To School’ is the most wonderful time of the year!

For first ever students, it’s an exciting and scary time, filled with nervous bellies, darting eyes and hidden hugs for everyone. The first backpack is loaded, and with each baby step towards those big school doors, a “Can’t I walk myself home, the school ski trip is tomorrow, where are the car keys?” student begins to take shape.

Those who are already entrenched in their grade school years already know that ‘Back To School’ is a great time for getting stuff, all at once – ipads and gotta-haves like denim leggings, over-sized hoodies, skinny jeans, fat sweaters, boyfriend jeans, but not your boyfriend’s over-sized jeans. As of school day one, the lines are drawn by who holds and wears the most elaborate items. Just as important, the beginning of school means catching up with

Back to School for Who?

friends. Weeks and months have passed since everyone knew who did what with who when and will they do it again with who else where?

College and university students have somewhat bigger fish to fry. They’ve got the ‘F’ word hanging over their heads. No, not that ‘f’ word, although it gets its fair share of play, but the BIG ‘F’ word - “FUTURE”. The pressure. The decisions. Are they the right ones?

Whether to take tech, science or artsy courses, and where’s the best bar, and how to get a job, and is the career path the right one, and who’s

They’ve got the ‘F’ word hanging over their heads.

No, not that ‘f’ word, although it gets its fair share of play, but the BIG ‘F’ word - “FUTURE”. hot, and who’s not, and am I hot enough, and is there enough money to last all year? For the first year post-secondary school students it’s a time of divided brain, an excruciatingly thrilling taste of independence. Lives are launched or not depending on how the balance is managed.

For parents, ‘Back To School’ means the sudden absence of offspring and cash. Parents juggle their credit cards trying to get everything needed while sifting through the necessity of each item. And they’re all necessary items. Advertisers base their bottom lines on this predictable spending spree, winding us up in June so we’re primed for purchases in

August. In addition to being broke, ‘Back To School’ for parents usually means peace and quiet. Often bits of both, but that quiet…it sure is quiet.

Then there are the teachers. Those sage souls we entrust to stuff knowledge in without spilling a drop. What do they go through during this transitory time of year? Each September brings a new batch of expectant faces, but what are they expecting? Every teacher has their own internal list of fears and firsts too, because the reality is that no matter how many lessons are planned, the task of engaging those young minds is a constant and ever-changing challenge. Although I do not remember memorizing my multiplication tables, I do remember everything my grade four teacher, Mrs. Sovereign, wore, from her eyebrow high green eyeshadow to her sleeveless shifts festooned with daisies to her matching nylon stockings and patent leather pumps. Mrs. Sovereign was a fashionista, but did she fret that her lollipop earrings would be distracting for her daydream believing charges? Maybe she should have.

The Sixties was a colourful era of visual expression and one that overwhelmed many a young mind. Now, of course, it’s simply called A.D.D. Some of the most poignant ‘Back To School’ memories belong to those who have birthdays at the beginning of September, but it matters when. My neighbour, Liz, felt that her September 9 birthday was like having a birthday at Christmas. Every year it got lost in the back to school shuffle of her large family. Conversely, my son Kyle’s birthday is September 2 and it’s celebrated as a ‘salute to the end of summertime, before the first day of school’ sort of thing. What a difference a few days can make for a ‘Back To School’ birthday baby.

This special time of year is invigorating, hopeful and nostalgic. Students and senior citizens alike move to the rhythm of the season, and whether seen in sepia or HD, ‘Back To School’ is when we wipe the suntan lotion out of our eyes and present our shiny selves to a fresh year of new experiences.

•

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 15

All Aboard!

BY MICHELLE ANNETTE TREMBLAY

Bancroft's station still brings people together after all these years

I

should have worn practical shoes. Don Koppin takes my hand to help me as I awkwardly climb up the dusty little ladder, clutching my camera, and step into the raised doorway of the Bancroft Train Station. The entrance is a foot and a half higher than it was the last time I visited. Just a few months ago, hydraulics lifted the entire century-old structure off the ground, inch by inch, to make room for a full basement where before there was only crawl space.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Still in the process of being renovated and restored, the station won’t be open to the public until early 2013. Koppin has agreed to take time out of his busy day to give me a sneak peek of the station’s interior. As Construction Manager of the Bancroft Train Station Restoration Project he knows the building intimately.

Everyone’s busy in August. Bancroft, celebrated for its arts and known world-wide as the mineral capital of Canada, is a tourism hot spot and August is high season. Visitors walk easy,

shoulders relaxed. This is where they come to embrace summer vacation, spending lazy days at the cottage and warm evenings on pub patios, or catching a live show at the theatre or outdoor band shell. But the locals are in full gear. You ask anyone how their summer is going and you get the same friendly but hurried response. “Busy.” And they mean it.

Yet, when I ask for a tour of the train station, Koppin makes time for me. Kim Browne, General Manager of the Chamber of Com-

Still in the process of being restored, many of the Station's upgrades and improvements, such as new siding and windows, are already visible. The installation of a new basement means the front entrances are now about a foot and a half higher than they used to be.

Photo: Michelle Annette Tremblay

Top: Way Bills, 1938 - The Bancroft Heritage Museum is full of artifacts that disclose details about the living conditions in Bancroft’s early years. This ledger from the Station reveals that most of the trains coming in and out of Bancroft carried lumber and supplies. Photo: Michelle Annette Tremblay

merce returns my phone call immediately.

Chris Drost, the Station Restoration Project Coordinator meets me for coffee. And Chamber board member and station PR rep Greg Webb finds a few minutes, somewhere in his packed agenda, to answer questions via e-mail.

And they all do it for the same reason. Steady,

unwavering dedication to the town, its history and its culture.

Once home to the Chamber of Commerce, art gallery, mineral museum and visitor’s centre, the Bancroft Station has sat vacant since it was condemned in 2006 due to structural problems caused by dry rot. Situated just a couple blocks

Bottom: To accommodate the new basement and floor joists, the entire Station was lifted by hydraulics, and remained suspended long enough for the community to marvel at the sight. Photo: Chris Drost

west of downtown, steps from the York River, its dark windows were a constant stinging reminder of loss to community members who drove or walked past its closed doors each day.

After four years of ongoing grassroots attempts to finance the station’s restoration, volunteer efforts finally culminated in a successful Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 17

Above: Despite the cold weather, young and old alike wait patiently outside the Bancroft Train Station for the arrival of the very first passenger train to Bancroft on Nov. 2, 1900, signalling a new era of prosperity for the town. Photo courtesy of the Bancroft Heritage Museum Left: Life in Bancroft was hard before the new age of prosperity that the Train Station brought. Many residents were malnourished, as evidenced by these tiny gloves on display at the Bancroft Heritage Museum.

Photo: Michelle Annette Tremblay

grant application to Heritage Canada’s Legacy Fund, and the station’s restoration became the town’s official 150th anniversary project. Everyone was on board.

“In 2010, around the same time we were completing our North Hastings Cultural mapping, a number of community minded individuals came together to talk about how we could take a more positive approach to achieving goals in the community, by concentrating less on what

18 I

Country Roads • Fall 2012

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Top right: Maggie Shannick, Assistant Curator of the Bancroft Heritage Museum, poses with an old photograph of an unidentified man who bears a striking resemblance to a bearded George Clooney. Like many of the artifacts in the museum, the photo was donated before the updated archiving procedure was implemented. Unless someone comes forward with information we may never know his story. Photo: Michelle Annette Tremblay Bottom right: Bancroft Train Station construction manager, Don Koppin, talks about the new heavy-duty floor joists during a worksite tour. The original wood joists are being repurposed into a board room table and donor wall, which will be unveiled at the Station’s 2013 grand re-opening. Photo: Michelle Annette Tremblay

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all new paperback books we don’t have, and more on what we already have and can build on,” says Drost. She explains how residents were unrelenting in their dedication to save the station from demolition.

“We had been reading about ABCD, Asset Based Community Development, using existing assets: physical assets, people assets, organization and institutional assets, and the connections between them. We reached out to others with the areas of expertise we did not have, and to

others with the connections to organizations that would help drive the project. We included municipal representation, people with organizational skills, grant writing skills, construction, design, connections to the mineral community and three representatives from the Bancroft and District Chamber of Commerce, the organization that agreed to take the lead for the project.

The Municipality, unable to financially afford to restore the building itself, was able to ­provide

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 19

A

At the turn of the century, the Central Ontario Railroad, and the former Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa Railroad intersected in Bancroft, turning the once-isolated town into a hub for business and transport. Map courtesy www.railwaybob.com

the property towards the project, which in turn was used to leverage funds from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage. This political decision made the project possible.”

Once that happened, and the grant application was accepted, the project was in full force.

Everyone got involved. Fundraisers were organized, along with bees at which volunteers of all ages worked side by side. Some people had read about upcoming work bees in the paper, others just happened to be walking by and stopped to join in.

“People play a very important role in an ambitious project such as this one,” says Drost.

“Countless hours of work go into making something like this happen.”

Koppin shows me the station’s new layout and construction, and how it has been married to the original features, such as the supporting walls, mouldings, wainscoting and beautiful tin ceiling. As he speaks about the restoration, it is obvious he, and the whole restoration team, have a deep respect for the building and its history.

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In the basement, he points up to the unfinished ceiling where we can see the new joists supporting the main floor. They have been designed with the weight of mineral display cases and groups of tourists and students in mind.

They are built to support whatever may come, and they are built to last. They replace wooden joists that bolstered the weight of the station for over a hundred years, joists that supported the building that supported the town.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

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Volunteers of all ages joined in Work Bees, organized by the Bancroft Train Station Restoration Project Committee. The committee also organized other events and fundraisers, giving the whole community the opportunity to get together and take part in the Station’s restoration. Photo: Chris Drost

on the map, so to speak, as a hub - a junction of the Central Ontario Railroad, and the former Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa Railroad. It made the transport of supplies, farm equipment and livestock possible. It supported the mineral and lumber industries that allowed the town to flourish. It brought together families.

Saying life was hard in Bancroft in the early days before the station is accurate, but it doesn’t paint the full picture. Life was exhausting. Heartbreaking. Isolating. Settlers romancing land claims had to clear the rugged terrain

and build homes without machinery; sustain themselves with whatever they could grow, hunt or barter; endure the long cold winters, as well as illness and injury, without electricity or running water. Many farms were abandoned in those early years - too swampy or rocky to support the settlers. Irish immigrants, at first passionate and determined, grew thin, weary, and many were eventually defeated by the land. They cut their losses and left. The Old Hastings Road became known as ‘the trail of broken dreams.’

Those that stayed managed to eke out a meagre living. Medical fees and taxes were paid in chickens rather than dollars. Even those considered ‘well off’ were just getting by. Their bellies were full, but their pocketbooks were hollow. And they were malnourished.

“They just didn’t grow as tall as they should have. They ate a lot of potatoes, but vegetables and fruits weren’t readily available,” says Maggie Shannick, Assistant Curator of the Bancroft Heritage Museum. “They probably ate a lot of moose meat, which is filling but not very nutritious.”

The museum, just steps away from the Station, is a heritage building and the structure itself reveals the settlers’ malnutrition. One of the young tour guides demonstrates. She stands in a doorway. It is barely high enough to accommodate her. Anyone taller has to duck to fit through.

“The people were small,” says Shannick, “even the men.” She shows me a tiny pair of aged vintage gloves. Surely they were for a child. “No,” she says.

Upstairs, in one of the display rooms, she shows me vintage clothes from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. They, like the other relics in the museum, have mostly been donated. We laugh for a moment at a pair of crotchless long underwear. But of course they were practical for settlers who had to pee in the middle of a cold winter’s night. Like the gloves, the underwear is noticeably small. Shannick lets me touch the material. It is utilitarian and rough.

Looking around the room, I am suddenly struck by two pieces of needlework hanging on the wall. On the first, embroidered flowers are accompanied by the words, “I slept and dreamed life was beauty.” On the second, the same detailed flowers are joined by, “I awoke and found life was duty.”

I ask Shannick about the needlework. She knows the pieces are at least a hundred years

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 21

An excited crowd gathers outside the Bancroft Train Station in March 2011, waiting not for a train, but rather for the announcement that Canadian Heritage had approved $345,000 in funding toward the beloved station’s restoration. Photo: Drew Hosick

old, but she doesn’t know who made them.

Likely someone used to know, but the people who remember the early days of Bancroft, who have stories of the railroad and the station are dying off.

Shannick is kind enough to pull out old framed photographs of the town, including one of a crowd of people standing outside the station, waiting for the arrival of the very first train to Bancroft. She takes it out of the frame and lets me photograph it with my Canon DSLR. It is marked November 2, 1900. Later I am able to use photo software to enhance and zoom in on the image. Little details I didn’t notice before emerge. A trumpet tucked under a tall man’s arm.

A bemused expression on a young boy. A proud lifted chin and smiling face under a fancy hat.

By 1975 many of the mining operations along the rail line were long gone, and the communities that once flourished were dwindling. The rail line, and stations, were closed. Suddenly isolated from other centres, many of the small communities along the tracks became ghost towns. Bancroft carried on though, and through community support, the station was renovated.

No longer a transport centre, it evolved into a cultural hub, housing the chamber, art gallery and mineral museum. In the 1980’s it was re-

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

When the station doors reopen in spring 2013, it will certainly be to fanfare.

Despite the construction and fundraising that still need to be done to complete the project, plans for a celebration are already in the works.

stored, and again the community rallied around the station in 1995, when fire ravaged the building. Volunteers worked together to save art from the gallery. Decade after decade the community has united around the Station, protecting it, honouring its place in the town’s collective heart. The tradition of the community embracing the station is just as historically significant as the station itself.

When the old floor joists were removed, the crew was careful not to damage them, and

they will still have a place in the restored station, which will once again house the Chamber of Commerce, a tourism office, and a state of the art Mineral Museum, as well as offices on the upper level, and community and educational facilities, including a board room, in the basement. The old floor joists are being repurposed into a custom made boardroom table, as well as a wall of honour, with plaques of gratitude and distinction for the many donors that made the train station’s restoration possible.

When the station doors reopen in spring 2013, it will certainly be to fanfare. Despite the construction and fundraising that still need to be done to complete the project, plans for a celebration are already in the works. Maybe like that November day in 1900, someone will bring a trumpet. Surely there will be proud expressions and smiles. There may even be a fancy hat or two. Over the years much has changed.

And much has stayed the same. Once an industrial mining and lumber town, Bancroft is now a quaint tourism destination. Its station, once brimming with hurried business people and travellers, will again be open, once again bringing people together, as it has throughout its well-loved history.

•

HASTINGS TASTINGS

Fall Favourites Strattons Farm, Stirling, runs an 18-week CSA vegetable box programme from its two-acre market garden and pasture. It also raises Berkshire pigs, chickens and Orlopp Bronze turkeys. Michael and Sally Knight care for a small herd of Nigerian dwarf goats and an apiary.

The farm is powered by a team of Suffolk Punch Draft horses. Their motto: “Look to the past for a greener future”.

Cooney Farms is located north of Stirling on Highway 14 at Wellmans Road. Celebrating its 29th anniversary, The Apple Store carries over 15 kinds of apples and fresh pressed cider. You can also purchase its own all natural (no medicated feed or hormones) homegrown beef.

Lynda Cooney’s Favourite Apple Recipe: Apple Cake 4 cups chopped apples 3 cups flour 2 cups white sugar 1 cup oil 3 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt

• Mix ingredients, put into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup butter • Mix together and bring to boil. Pour over baked cake and return to oven to brown top.

Lisa Cooney’s Favourite Recipe: Upside Down Apple Cake In a 9x9 dish mix: 3 tbsp butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 3 cups peeled and chopped apples In another bowl mix to make cake batter: 1 egg beaten 1 - 3/4 cup flour 1 tsp vanilla 2/3 cup white sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup milk 3 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup butter

Slow Roasted Berkshire Pork One 4-5lb Joint of Berkshire Pork - shoulder, ham or even the hocks.

Garlic cloves - whole and skinned 1 large glass white wine or water 1 tsp fennel seeds Olive oil Balsamic vinegar Salt & pepper • Preheat oven to 350F. • Place roast in a dutch oven.

• Make a few slits in the roast and stuff with whole cloves of garlic.

• Sprinkle the roast with fennel seeds, some olive oil, salt and pepper.

• Pour the glass of wine/water over the roast.

• Put lid on and cook for 4-5 hours until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone.

• Remove roast from oven.

• Turn oven up to 450F. • Splash some Balsamic vinegar over the roast. Return to oven for about 15-20 minutes until the outside starts to sizzle. Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes

Roasted Beetroot 2 large cooked beets (Boil beets until soft before roasting in the pan) salt & pepper 4 tbsp of groundnut oil or sunflower 200g feta cheese Salad leaf Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar • Preheat oven to 375F. Cut each beet in and half, then into six wedges. Lay flat on a tray just large enough to hold them. Season and drizzle with oil. Roast for 15 minutes on each side.

• Serve on their own or tossed into salad leaf with chunks of feta and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic.

• Cake batter will be thick. Spread batter over the mixture in the 9x9 dish.

• Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes.

Brown Sugar Sauce

• Melt: 1 cup brown sugar • 2 or 3 tbsp butter • 2 tbsp corn starch (tip, mix brown sugar and corn starch together before adding butter) • Add 1/2 cups to 2 cups water • Heat to a boil and add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp butter.

• Cut cake to serve and flip “upside down” onto dish.

Spoon warm Brown Sugar Sauce over top.

Did you know?

3

B etanin, obtained from beet roots, is used industrially as a red food colorant to enhance the colour and flavour of tomato paste, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, and breakfast cereals.

3

An apple usually has five seeds. An old wives tale claims when you cut an apple in half and count the seeds inside, it predicts how many children you are going to have.

3

A full bushel of apples weighs 40 lbs. The big apple bins that are now in use for apple storage hold 20 bushels of apples – adding up to a whopping 800 lbs.

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 23

To sleep, perchance to dream

Two pioneer log buildings found in Lanark and Renfrew Counties, joined by a central two-storey section were used to create this Stirling area home. Photo: David O'Keefe

An Oak Hills B&B by Shakespeare

BY LINDI PEARCE

A

nne Keefer has a good eye for idyllic country retreats. Her first trip up the winding forest lane in the Oak Hills told her she was onto something. The moment she stepped out of the car in front of the rambling log house she knew she was home. Keefer waited for her kids to finish high school, packed up her home office, and has never looked back.

24 I

Country Roads • Fall 2012

That was 11 years ago. These days she is making a few changes around the place, readying it to share with visitors to Hastings County in its new life as Acmneh Drumlin, a rustic country bed and breakfast. What a treat her guests are in for!

There’s something about log buildings – the beauty of natural materials, the appreciation of the skill of the builder, the links to our pioneer heritage – that stir the soul. This home has all of

that and a very significant amount more. The log home was created in 1977 through the building restoration genius of Mel Shakespeare. Already well-known for his uncompromising and passionate dedication to preserving our log-built heritage, Shakespeare was commissioned by young professionals Lois and Conrad Kuebler to create a country home using traditional methods and materials on their wooded property in the Oak Hills.

A wander round the home and property on a hot summer afternoon conjures thoughts of moving in and living here forever.

Top Left: Mel Shakespeare of Tradition Home has been rebuilding log homes for over 50 years to fulfill his passionate dedication to preserving our log-built heritage. Photo: Courtesy Mel Shakespeare. Top Right: The Keefer living room housed in the former sheep barn creates the archetypal cottage ambience with oriental rugs on painted wood floors, dark log walls and a ceiling of unfinished planks and handhewn beams.Photo: David O’Keefe. Bottom Left: Walls of exposed white-painted squared log topped with fresh white plaster are home to dozens of original artworks, and antique furniture and textiles create a soothing oasis in a guest bedroom. Photo: David O’Keefe.

Historic building purists, the couple travelled to Williamsburg, Va. to study historically accurate décor, paint colours and stenciling. Over the years they filled the log house with primitive antiques and Canadiana décor. Now, several owners later, Keefer has recreated historic authenticity with her unique artistic flair.

Keefer’s home is not reproduction log construction; it was created from two pioneer log buildings found in Lanark and Renfrew Counties, which were disassembled, transported and rebuilt in this location. The two buildings were sited at right angles to each other, creating a cozy L-shape, and

joined by a central two-storey section. Ironically, two early family homes now suffice to create one house, respecting our modern need for space and amenities. Each of these two well-crafted structures would once likely have been the homes of pioneer families.

The adze-marks on the massive squared timbers remind us that home building of that era began with ‘mano a mano’ conflict between a settler and a forest giant; felling a tall pine with simple tools, then shaping the log before construction could begin.

Later, as settlement history unfolded, this hardwon home would have been replaced by a more

highly-valued frame, stone or brick dwelling, the little log house repurposed as a barn or shed. Before their rebirth as Anne’s home the log buildings had served as a sheep barn and a blacksmith shop.

The next stop would likely have been oblivion, but for Shakespeare.

A wander round the home and property on a hot summer afternoon conjures thoughts of moving in and living here forever. A drystone wall graces the approach to the log house via rustic steps and along a flagstone path leading to the ranch-house style porch. Folk art and found objects, Muskoka chairs, white wicker and inviting striped Mexican Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 25

Keefer’s home was created in 1977. Lois and Conrad Kuebler commissioned Mel Shakespeare to construct a country home using traditional methods and materials. Photo: Courtesy Anne Keefer

The shell of an historical log home is stored by Tradition Home. Shakespeare’s expert team dismantles, moves and reassembles the structures for new owners.

Photo: Courtesy Mel Shakespeare

hammocks in the sun-dappled shade invite solitary drifting or convivial chats.

Three dormers clad in rustic board and batten, painted barn-red, peek above the porch roof; dark log walls contrast with wide bands of white mortar. Massive stone chimneys of random-coursed granite sourced from old barn foundations grace the gable ends. A bird’s nest in the eaves return gives its blessing to nearby modern conveniences – air conditioning unit, propane tank, satellite dish and antenna - contemporary necessities that show the log house and its inhabitants are not reluctant to enjoy comforts unknown to those who built the original structures.

Only at the back of the house is its substantial size evident. Eight squared timbers from an old Toronto railway bridge were added to the original log building to provide upstairs ceiling height; dormers ensure that bedrooms are bright and roomy.

Split granite fieldstone appears in the foundation, the entry, and the garage wall.

Anne prizes a black and white archival photo of the blacksmith in front of his log smithy. She points out the Roman numerals chiseled into the hand-adzed logs on the porch wall, position markers created during the 1970’s dismantling of the log building. The massive hand hewn logs with their masterful dovetailing remind us of the backbreaking work of creating pioneer homes; now they break our hearts with their nostalgic appeal, their continuity with long-ago pioneer history.

The house rests on a sun-bleached island in a sea of pine forest. As traffic from the house flows naturally to the outdoors, so the domestic space blends into the forest surrounding it. A rain-barrel by the porch and the crunch of dry grass underfoot speak to the summer’s stinginess with rain, yet the young orchard thrives in the gentle shade of mature trees above it. A mighty blue spruce shades the house and luminescent white pines inch up to

Shakespeare is holding a retirement sale - of pioneer log houses and barns. If you don’t wish to be tempted do not visit his website, where he is offering his inventory of period log buildings dating from 1780 to 1860.

Tradition Home has operated since 1969. Shakespeare, founder and designer, has lost count of the number of homes he has created, “maybe 100 for all I know. The bigger ones take up to a year but we can usually do three a year”. The company grew out of Mel’s own log house project - he found a pile of 1830 logs about to be destroyed and rebuilt the log house on his property. This led to a project for friends and before long Tradition Home was formed.

Mel began rebuilding log homes like Keefer’s, then branched into rescues of fine early post and beam homes hidden by “Victorianizing” and diminished by neglect. He rescues old barns, and the occasional stone house (“I buy them and take them down; they’re happy to sell them to me”) and does some new builds using traditional post and beam construction and reclaimed materials such as flooring, ceilings, beams, doors and hardware in a range of styles from Quebecois habitant to contemporary. Tradition Home has even built a museum in Houston which involved “dealing with people in four different states” to create a traditional Texas dog-trot house. But the farthest project is the current one; Mel has worked for a year on an 18th century stone house destined for New Zealand, for former Meadowvale Village clients wanting another Shakespeare house. Shipping “is not as much as you might think – a container-load runs $12,000. They go by ship. I have 5000 square feet of shingles ready to go.” But it’s been slow work. One of the area’s devastating earthquakes occurred right under the couple’s property, which delayed plans somewhat.

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

the borders of the clearing. Keefer has the original receipt for the purchase of the 3000 white pine seedlings planted by the Kueblers. The forest begins at the edge of the lawn; casual plantings of black-eyed susans and hostas mingle with saplings and wildflowers at the border of the pine needle carpet beneath the trees. In the pines, light filters down onto a rope hammock which offers a place to dream. Beneath a weathered pine, Anne has created a sacred space denoting the Medicine Wheel teachings, a reminder of the creative act of living in harmony with nature and history. Beyond, the forest of spruce, pine and maple deepens.

Muskoka chairs around the firepit at the back of the house conjure story-filled evenings under velvet summer skies filled with stars. At the edge of the clearing, mirage-like, glimmers a surprising feature – a cool and sparkling swimming pool. A twenty-first century sleight-of-hand has dropped a pool, a thoroughly modern pool-house and deck furniture and umbrellas into a sheltered corner beneath tall pines and oaks.

Anne’s house is like Anne - warm and welcoming, casual and confident, creative and intelligent.

On one hand, absolute fidelity to historical style is evident in her choice of many fine early pieces of Canadian furniture. On the other, a quirky originality shows in the exuberant two-storey display of bright paintings and eclectic finds gracing the dark old logs. The mood of the home is harmony – the play of old and new, exotic and domestic, light and dark, energetic and calm energies in balance.

Somebody should write a book about Shakespeare. Or better yet, they might stage a career retrospective as we do for visual artists, featuring work from all stages of their oeuvre, accompanied by an intelligent commentary – the artist’s inspiration and his passion, style and technique, the evolution of his body of work. As anyone who has visited his website recently will tell you, Mel

A guest bathroom of unpainted log walls, clawfooted tub, a painted primitive cupboard, and a large watercolour and ink seascape creates a spa retreat.

Photo: David O’Keefe

“You don’t want a stone house on a fault line” he comments wryly.

A barn home in Virginia, four or five projects in British Columbia, a massive log lodge in Wyoming, a log rescue in Campbellford, a Gothic log church in Rye, a log house of French piece-sur-piece in Rimouski, and many others represent a substantial body of work for the retrospective. Shakespeare’s favourite building is L’Atelier, his own rubble-stone studio built in Quebecois style in Roseville near his former Uxbridge home. “It has so many associations. Artist friends came once a week, we’d

Merle and Don Chant’s home near Queensborough was rescued from the Bolton area by Shakespeare. Photo: Courtesy Mel Shakespeare

paint then take a break for hand-caught trout and a swim in the pond.”

Shakespeare created a second fine home in Hastings County. He recalls noticing a “brick Victorian monstrosity” being dismantled near Bolton decades ago. He spotted Georgian proportions and clapboard beneath the brick veneer so he acted quickly to save historic doors, windows and intact flooring – “they wanted it off the lot to build something new; I bought it on the spot.” This fine post and beam structure was repurposed as the dignified home of Merle and Don Chant near Queensborough. Mer-

le speaks of a long friendship and mutual respect spanning 22 years; she called Mel recently for advice about reshingling the roof. Mel recalls the couple, “they had great taste, purchased the right furniture, and had local Grant Eskerod create fine built-in cabinetry.”

Tradition Home, despite its international reputation, does not inhabit a sprawling industrial complex. Instead, the phone rings regularly at the 1840 frame Brandon Manor, an old inn on a large property along sleepy Lakeshore Road west of Port Hope.

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 27

Top: The substantial size of the house is evident when viewed from the back. Photo: Lindi Pierce. Bottom Left: The family/dining room of Anne Keefer’s home will remain her personal space once the B&B opens. Photo: Lindi Pierce. Bottom Right: Anne Keefer has owned the Kuebler home, south of Stirling for the past 11 years. This fall she begins sharing the home with guests in its new life as Acmneh Drumlin, a country bed and breakfast.Photo: Lindi Pierce.

replacing the flushboard cladding marked to resemble ashlar stone blocks, building the replacement door-case with pilasters, cornice, Chinoiserie sidelights and transom, interior mouldings, mantel, and sash windows from historical records. Indoors, he opens a hidden door in an exquisite panelled wall to reveal a simple staircase to the guest-rooms, a stroke of genius that was needed to gain access to a sealed off second storey on the east side. (As a former inn, its unsavoury upstairs rooms had been accessed only by a staircase from the tap-room, with no connection to the family’s private secondfloor quarters on the west side of the house.)

An Apple notebook computer rubs shoulders on the dining table with hand-built architectural models, drawings, and reference books in the former bar-room. A Georgian mantel is propped against the parlour wall; a dignified moulded door with

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

hand-wrought hardware rests in the front hall (“I’m saving this door for somewhere really special”).

A tiny rebuilt log structure serves as garage and a workshop nearby houses the manufacturing area.

Samples of traditional windows assist clients to order that most important of restoration features; Mel’s team manufactures them to order. Interior paneling is milled to historic precedent, and original woodwork and hardware are refurbished. In a compound on a concession road nearby, shells of log houses sit in a field of wild-flowers, waiting for upcoming projects which will see Mel’s expert team dismantle, transport and re-assemble them into a home with the uncommon appeal of Keefer’s place.

And retirement? “It isn’t going to be easy” says Mel. “A great couple to work for” is thinking about doing another project, and you can

be sure that Mel will find that difficult to resist.

And then there’s that special little log house sitting in the compound waiting for a rebuild. He would like that one for himself - “that’s all I really need.”

And that’s all Anne needs. She loves living in close contact with nature, the silence, the trees, the scent of pine and the sound of breeze in the branches. Mary Jo, one of Anne’s sisters, is a busy Toronto realtor. She agrees. “I love coming down here for weekends, it’s an antidote to the city’s frantic energy.” She sees Hastings County growing to accommodate the world-weary, preparing to welcome retirees from the city, artists, businesses and those who love nature and space and serenity.

Ready, just as Anne is, preparing to share her sanctuary with guests at Acmneh Drumlin.

•

C r o s s r o a d s

On the buses School bus driver won respect of students

BY JOHN HOPKINS

If you went to school in the Stirling area over the past 50 years, chances are you spent some time on a bus driven by Doug Detlor. And if you were on Detlor’s bus, you probably remember it.

Detlor retired from the driver’s seat last September after 52 years of safely getting kids to and from school, as well as taking them on field trips and other special events.

“I put on a fair number of miles,” says Detlor.

“I couldn’t even guess how many, but probably up in the millions.”

The 74-year-old Detlor started shuttling kids when he was 21.

“That was the youngest you were allowed to start at,” he explains, “but I had the paperwork all ready done. I was ready to go.”

Detlor started with Franklin Coach Lines out of Marmora, where he stayed for 13 years, then spent a couple of years with County Bus Lines of Foxboro before finally settling in with Tucker Bus Lines in Stirling. He saw the job partly as a way to supplement his farming income but his interest went much deeper than that.

“I always liked children,” he points out. “I was always interested in working with young people and I was involved with the 4H Club and things like that. I also liked driving, and I drove transport for a few years as well.

“I enjoyed the children and it keeps you feeling young when you spend that time with them. You don’t realize how old you’re getting.

Although when you start seeing the kids and grandkids of folks you used to drive to school getting on the bus, it catches up with you!

“The kids seem the same to me today as they did from day one. Other things have changed, unfortunately. It seems parents don’t have as much time as they used to, which is too bad.”

Detlor certainly made an impression on the children he drove and he is often recognized by former students.

“I’ll see somebody across the street and they’ll holler at me, and I’ll remember exactly where I used to pick them up with the bus,” he says. “It may take me a day or two to remember the name, but it will come to me as well.”

One student who spent time as a passenger in Detlor’s bus was Martin Littkeman, currently the proprietor of the Ontario Water Buffalo Company, just outside of Stirling.

“For one thing, Doug was an exceptional driver,” recalls Littkeman, who rode with De-

Detlor was so popular with his students, he received a cake one year from a Grade 8 class. Photo courtesy Doug Detlor.

tlor in the early 1970s. “I don’t think he ever had an accident. But he also had fun with the kids. There was no kid he couldn’t handle, and he just had a way with them. I don’t think he ever raised his voice. If there was a problem he just looked at you and you got the message.

He was fair, and I think he was very well respected.”

Indeed, Detlor prides himself on the way he conducted his bus and handled the kids under his care.

“I never had any serious problems on my bus,” he points out. “There was never anything I couldn’t handle myself. If I had a problem I would give the parent a call myself and 99% of the time it was all dealt with. Now it’s more complicated and these things go through the school and I think it’s harder to deal with them. Most of the time when a child’s acting up they’re just looking for attention. It’s as simple as that.

“I can’t remember any child having a problem with me. I think that’s because when I made a mistake I didn’t mind apologizing. If I accused someone of making trouble on the bus, and they came up as they were getting off and

said it wasn’t them, I’d say ‘I’m sorry’, and that meant more to that kid than anything. You gain a lot of respect right there.”

Littkeman also remembers Detlor having a bit of fun with the students he took to school.

“We lived on a long lane and we had to ride our bikes down to the road to catch the bus,” he says. “Doug would be stopped there and honking his horn, kind of egging us on. We’d get on to the bus huffing and puffing and he’d just have a big smile on his face.

“The buses would get pretty cold in the winter and I remember Doug would have one of the older kids scraping the ice off the windshield for him. Sometimes there was a kid sitting behind him combing his hair. He wasn’t reckless; he just let the kids have some fun.

“I think he loved the job, and the most important thing was he really liked kids.”

Detlor took a lot of pride in his success with the bus evacuation drills that schools used to run in the area.

“It was quite a competition for a while,” he says. “I got it to the point where I could get 60 kids out of my bus in under two minutes. The kids had roles to play and responsibilities, and they always did a great job.”

Detlor probably could have kept driving for many years but it was his own personal decision to retire from the driver’s seat.

“Arthritis is setting in, although that isn’t a big problem,” he says. “Ever since I’ve turned 65, I’ve been tested every year and passed every time, and I still felt comfortable driving. But you never know what your ticker will do, and if something happened while I was driving, well, I don’t think my family or I could have lived with that responsibility. So I thought it was time.”

It is clear Detlor’s role in the lives of the kids under his care extended beyond getting them to school and back home. He made it his job to instill a sense of respect and trust in the children on his bus. While students will no longer have that positive influence guiding them on the way to school, three generations of local kids did get the opportunity, and that should ensure that Detlor’s legacy is preserved.

“When you’re driving kids to school and back every day from the time they start kindergarten to the end of Grade 8, you end up spending a lot of time with them,” he points out. “You can end up being a very important influence on that child’s life.”

•

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 29

Aging gracefully Local paper still going strong at 125

BY ANGELA HAWN

There are birthdays and then there are BIRTHDAYS! Anything over 80 and the birthday celebrant gets whatever they want, at least in my books; more power to you!

But when you’re turning 125, like The Tweed News, there should at least be cake and plenty of candles. And when every one of those candles represents a year of glorious independence, break out the band! In an age rife with Rupert Murdochs and Conrad Blacks, when the voices of so many are too often concentrated in the hands of so few, that rarity itself rates a party.

There was lots of exciting local news in this recent issue of The Tweed News. This year marks their 125th anniversary as an independently owned community newspaper. Graphic courtesy: The Tweed News

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

“I think ‘the girls’ were talking about putting something together, I don’t know,” Rodger Hanna says bashfully when I ask what’s happening. “I really don’t like to be ‘out there’ (meaning, in the spotlight.) I think I’m in the wrong business.”

Hanna is joking, but there’s more than a grain of truth to what he says. Clearly uncomfortable with attention, the publisher of The Tweed News might actually be blushing when I introduce myself. He comes around from behind the counter separating newsroom from its business twin, a stationery store, and sticks out a welcoming hand.

“The girls” are Roseann Trudeau, Lacy Meeks and Shannon Binder Bray, all members of the busy crew responsible for getting the paper to the news stand each week. If you had

For most of its 125 years the newspaper’s offices have been on Victoria Street in Tweed. Originally on the second floor of what is now Dellar’s IDA. In 1906 they moved to their current location at 242 Victoria Street. Photos courtesy: The Tweed News

to break things down by specific job description, Trudeau is the accountant while Meeks and Binder Bray pull reporter/photographer duty. Everyone, including Hanna, chips in with layout and design. But titles really don’t carry much weight around here. On a small town paper everyone does a little bit of everything, pitching in to do whatever it takes to ensure the news makes it to press on time.

Cheerfully conducting a brief tour of the operation, Hanna points out a storefront entirely devoted to an office supply business. Up and running since the mid- Seventies, the stationery store stocks everything from computer cartridges to shredders to paperback novels.

The paper couldn’t survive without the store and vice versa, explains Hanna. Each makes enough revenue to help keep the other afloat.

Beyond the counter it’s pure newsroom, a series of desks leading back to an area where gigantic printing presses once reigned supreme.

These days computers rule, rendering the inkstained, stone-topped layout table where editors once sliced stories into columns with exactoknives pretty much obsolete. But it’s one gorgeous antique.

“I’m really more comfortable asking the questions than answering them,” Hanna smiles, as we settle at a desk to make note-taking easier.

And he’s been at it a very long time. The 47-year-old reckons his journalism career goes back at least 25 years. His dad, Bob, bought The Tweed News along with partner Clyde Bell in 1964. Spurred along by some previous experience with freelance writing, Bell was keen to run a newspaper. His enthusiasm soon convinced Bob (also his first cousin’s husband) to get on board. Both families moved from Perth to Tweed and the paper soon became a family affair. Clyde did the reporting, Bob ran the business side of things and Ivy (Rodger’s mom) kept the books.

Sam Curry owned and operated the newspaper for an impressive 30 years. A staunch Tweed and area promoter, he was credited with christening the surrounding tourist area “Land o’ Lakes”. Photo courtesy: Tweed & Area Heritage Centre

In the thick of things himself since childhood, Rodger’s journalistic roots started with newsroom “grunt work.” As a teenager, he swept the floors and ran a sheet-fed press, cranking out flyers, business cards and envelopes. He even delivered papers, although not much has changed in that regard. Grinning, Rodger notes he still delivers papers today!

But 125 years is a long time. Many publishers captained The Tweed News prior to the Hanna family’s arrival in town. Founded in 1886 by Jas. A. Orr and W.W. Little, the weekly started out 35km away as the Tamworth News and Addington Reporter. Five months later, the entire enterprise moved to the second story of Dr. Leslie Tuttle’s Drug Store (now Dellar’s IDA) in Tweed. A series of name changes, relocations and owners followed. By 1906, the paper had settled in its present day location at 242 Victoria Street. Various monikers along the way included The Tweed News and Addington Advertiser, The Tweed News Weekly and Hastings County Advertiser and The Tweed Advocate.

There were at least 10 owners, chief among them Sam Curry, widely credited with christening the surrounding tourist area “Land o’ Lakes” during his 30 years at the helm. All are long gone now, including Bob Hanna and Clyde Bell, but the paper lives on.

So how does an independent paper stay independent all these years? Rodger jokes no one is exactly breaking down the door offering to buy the business. If someone came along with the right deal, he’d happily retire tomorrow. But that prospect seems unlikely.

Left: An archival copy of The Tamworth News and Addington Reporter. The newspaper was first published on March 18, 1887. There were a number of name changes over the years and today it is known as The Tweed News. Photo courtesy: Tweed & Area Heritage Centre

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 31

The Tweed News 125th Anniversary celebrations were held on July 6th, at their Tweed location. L to R: The Tweed News Publisher, Rodger Hanna, Daryl Kramp, MP, Prince Edward-Hastings, Ivy Hanna, and Don DeGenova, Councillor, Municipality of Tweed. Photo courtesy: The Tweed News

In the meantime, The Tweed News faces competition from two other weeklies in town, both owned by enormous, multi-paper conglomerates and both available for free. Customers pay $1.25 for the privilege of reading The Tweed News each week. Not able to write off a loss quite as easily as the media giants with whom he shares neighbourhood space, Rodger explains charging for the paper is key to its survival.

What about competition from on-line news sources? Rodger shrugs. He’s quite confident people looking for local news don’t seek it online. If you want to know the time and location of the town’s upcoming charity golf tournament, you don’t go to your computer, Rodger explains. You comb the pages of a newspaper you can hold in your hands instead.

That said, The Tweed News maintains a small online presence itself. Its website features a little history about the paper, a link to a weather website, some nature photos, subscription prices and a brief mention of the office supplies sideline. There are no news stories, but Rodger maintains the site’s primary role is simply to let “out-of-towners” know The Tweed News is there. Should someone in British Columbia with a Tweed connection want to place an obituary or a wedding announcement, the website provides a handy venue for contact.

Gratefully acknowledging the paper’s loyal readership, Roger specifically credits strong community support and regular subscribers for keeping the paper alive. Rodger’s customer base stretches from Belleville up through Northbrook and Cloyne. There are even some subscribers in the GTA, western Canada and parts of the

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

While the bigger papers might send reporters further afield, covering events in Madoc or Marmora, The Tweed News focuses its attention in a much more concentrated area. Coverage is very local, looking much as it did in rural Ontario communities a hundred years ago.

United States, all undoubtedly possessing some link to Tweed. They might read the “freebies”, too, but it seems customers will always be willing to slap down their change for a copy of The Tweed News.

“Competition is good,” assures Rodger. “It keeps us on our toes.” Reporters from all three papers regularly run into each other in the field and the atmosphere is collegial. In the end, Rodger explains, “we all have to live here.”

While the bigger papers might send reporters further afield, covering events in Madoc or Marmora, The Tweed News focuses its attention in a much more concentrated area. Coverage is very local, looking much as it did in rural Ontario communities a hundred years ago. However, if something really big were happening in Madoc, Rodger insists The Tweed News would send a reporter.

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The staff that make it happen getting the paper to the news stand each week. From L to R: Lacy Meeks, Roseann Trudeau, Rodger Hanna and Shannon Binder Bray. Photo courtesy: The Tweed News

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5 miles north of Stirling on Hwy. 14 Big news does happen in eastern Ontario and, unfortunately, not all of it’s good. Neither of us much wants to discuss the recent Russell Williams case, but it’s tough to do a story on small town journalism and not touch on it, however briefly. With obvious distaste, Rodger acknowledges the challenges encountered covering a story with such inherent shock value.

Keenly aware of his reading audience, Rodger closely followed small town diplomacy rules.

When your neighbours read your newspaper, you cover the basics and you don’t sensationalize anything. And you never take advantage of the fact you might possess an insider’s connection to a source. Hounded by national media for information and names of potential contacts, Rodger cooperated to a certain extent, but his top priority remained reporting the facts without harming the town.

“I have to live here,” he states simply, referring to the case as a “once in a lifetime” incident and insisting the small town of Tweed has made every effort to move on. Rodger clearly doesn’t want to give the convicted murderer, once top commander of Canada’s most important air force base, CFB Trenton, any more attention than he’s already gotten. The perpetrator is where he belongs and enough said, according to Rodger.

But there must be other stories that stand out over the years. The entire area is quite a historical place. Officially established in 1792, Hastings County has been around even longer than The Tweed News.

Having arrived a little early for the interview, I had time to stroll around and take note of

a few local landmarks. The inscription on an enormous bell outside St. John’s United Church describes its arrival in 1892. Now that’s old.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian hails from the same year. Even the Tweed Heritage Centre inhabits a house from 1897. A plaque outside the Tweed playhouse honours famed Canadian playwright Merrill Denison, who summered at nearby Bon Echo. And there’s always the province’s tiniest jailhouse (a claim roundly disputed by similar attractions in Creemore, Coboconk and a handful of other small Ontario towns.) Killing a few more minutes before the interview starts, I learn the narrow prisoner section unbelievably once contained three skinny cells.

Forget about history, there’s plenty of current events. An electronic bulletin board flashes at travellers driving down Tweed’s main street. In just a few seconds I know about an upcoming fish fry and a spring Freddy Vette concert. Despite its size, Tweed is a happening spot.

And what about the Elvis sightings? I urge Rodger to tell me more about the rumours after Elvis left the proverbial building for good in the mid-Seventies. Was he really dead or had the rock and roll king simply made Tweed his hideout of choice? Whether you believe the stories or not, weren’t they at least enough to spark a local Elvis festival? The second annual Tweed Tribute to Elvis ran in late August.

“The guy who started all of that was from Ottawa,” states Rodger, but has little more to say on the subject. Hmm, maybe not an Elvis fan.

But I’m not giving up. With a little more prodding, Rodger finally launches into a description of the arrival of Moira Place to town.

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Fall 2012 • Country Roads

I 33

A historical shot of a busy downtown. Tweed has a tradition of being a hive of activity in the region.

Photo courtesy: Tweed & Area Heritage Centre

Surprising Rodger should settle on a Tweed “feel-good” story as his first choice for noteworthy news? Not at all. It’s obvious Rodger celebrates right alongside Tweed every time the town has reason to kick up its heels.

Moira Place is a 128-bed long-term care facility located at Tweed’s southwest end. Up for

grabs in a bidding war a few years ago, most local residents assumed the contract would probably go to Belleville. It’s tough to compete with communities alongside the convenient Highway 401 corridor. Rodger credits Tweed Town Council’s outstanding lobbying job for bringing the facility home. And 100 jobs came right

along with it when the facility opened in 2009.

Rodger knows the positions can’t possibly all go to locals. But, no matter; revenue generated by the property taxes alone might help pave a road in the surrounding countryside and, to the publisher of The Tweed News, that’s reason enough to applaud.

Rodger wishes the town would double in size but realizes that’s not likely to happen. It would be good for Tweed and good for The Tweed News. More people equals more readers. More businesses means more advertisers. Rodger reminisces about the days when Tweed supported three car dealerships, a couple of pharmacies and a host of other small businesses. In an era of shopping malls and big box stores, the little guy often feels the squeeze. Sandwiched between a small pub and a defunct pizza parlour, The Tweed News is one of many local enterprises that’s seen livelier days.

But really, at 125, the old girl is still in pretty good shape. This week’s edition looks much the same as the yellowed copies Rodger showed me from a half century ago. The staff is smaller, the presses are gone and the paper’s name has changed a few times. Sure, there might be the odd wrinkle here and there. But after a century plus covering everything from Elvis festivals to Moira Place, the newspaper has certainly earned them. Happy Birthday to The Tweed News, and many, many more!

•

letters to the editor Dear Country Roads Having recently moved to the area we thoroughly enjoyed the article and the photos on Oak Lake (The Lure of Oak Lake, Spring 2012). What a treat!

The article helped give our current knowledge and experience a little more depth and colour.

Living close to the lake gives us the opportunity to walk and run the lake quite frequently. We already feel a strong attachment and now have a better historical view.

Thanks again.

Diane & Mark McQuillan Stirling Dear Country Roads I have noticed your publication at my dentist’s office and picked up the latest edition.

I have a particular interest in the north end of the County as I was born in Bancroft and raised on the family homestead, on Lot 8 on the 9th Concession of Dungannon. The homestead was located two and a half miles east of Green’s Corners, on the Detlor Road. It is now owned by a

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

nephew of mine. I have three generations buried at St Andrew’s United Church in L’Amable.

As a high school student I rode on the last passenger train that ran from Bancroft in 1967, a very interesting journey, and I greatly deplore the fact that those rail tracks were ever lifted, as I believe they would be a great tourist attraction now.

I greatly appreciate the full map of the County that you published along with the old township names, as well as the new amalgamated names (Let’s Rock and Roll, Summer 2012). A bit of trivia you may not be aware of is who named the townships and why they are mainly Irish in origin. My understanding is that Darby Kavanugh, who was the founder of Umfraville, was also the first warden of the County and he named the townships.

I was most interested in the photo and story on the inside back page about the memorial gates at Trenton (Back Roads, Summer 2012).

I thought I knew a lot about the Royal Family until a fellow employee, a Canadian Navy vet, pointed out that there is a difference between the depiction of the Crown on the shields on the gates and the present one at the main gates.

In other words, there is a difference between a King’s crown and Queen’s crown. You will note that the Crowns over the gates do not have the loops that appear on the Crown on the main gates to the base. The ones over the Memorial gates are King’s crowns and the one of the main gate is a Queen’s crown.

John A.D. McLean Belleville Dear Country Roads Your article on the three young homesteading families (Off the Beaten Path, Summer 2012) took me back to a time to when our three children were young. We had a large vegetable garden and we raised our own pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and rabbits. Many a time we proudly sat down to a totally home grown meal. It was a very satisfying feeling to know we could be so self sufficient.

Love your magazine, keep up the great work.

Lynn Neuman Bancroft

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Heat up your winter sales with an advertisement in COUNTRY ROADS! The advertising deadline for the Winter issue is October 26th Contact jennifer@countryroadshastings.ca or call 613.395.0499

Fall 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 and around 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 Sept 26 - Oct 28 - October “A Reminder of Summer” - Jenny Gordon, Painter Opening Reception Sept 28, 7:30 pm. Sponsor: Sur-Net Barlett Insurance Oct 31 - Nov 24 - November “Early Christmas at the Gallery” plus photos by Gail Burstyn.

Opening Reception Nov 2, 7:30 pm.

Sponsor: Pat Cooke in Memory of Paul David Cooke Nov 28 - Dec 22 - December “Hidden Treasures in Our Community”. (Art work on loan from art collectors in our area.) Opening Reception Nov 30, 7:30 pm. Sponsors: Photo Plus One Hour Photo and York River Co.

John M. Parrott Art Gallery, Belleville Public Library, 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, 613-968-6731, ext.

2240, www.bellevillelibrary.com Galleries One and Two Aug 30 – Sept 27 - Woven Webs - An exhibition of mixed media works by artist Wendy Wallace which examine Belleville’s urban, suburban and rural landscape in relation to the city’s location on Lake Ontario.

Oct 4 – 25 - Perspectives - The Belleville Art Association Annual Juried Show. This year’s theme is ‘Wishful Thinking’. Opening Reception and awards presentation; Thurs, Oct 4, 6 -7:30 pm.

Nov 1 – 29 - TNT: Texture, Needle, Thread - a variety of works in fibre and mixed media. Presented by the members of Studio Inspirations, a fibre arts group from the Ottawa area. Opening reception Nov 3, 2 – 4 pm.

Ongoing - The Parrott Gallery Shop has gifts for any occasion from our area’s finest artisans. Pottery, wood, jewellery, fabric, photography and other hand crafted works are featured.

THEATRE/LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Bancroft Village Playhouse, www.bancroftvillageplayhouse.ca North of 7 Film Fest - Movies at Bancroft Village Playhouse, $10.00 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.

Sept 11 - Albert Nobbs - A moving and effectual portrait of one woman’s struggle with personal identity and self assurance in 19th century Ireland. Glenn Close stars as a butler in a high end hotel in Dublin who must guard a secret that has lead her to live an intensely private and solitary life.

Oct 9 - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Ewan McGregor stars as Fred Jones, an unlikely hero who finds himself the pawn in a political plot, discovers love, and learns to believe in the impossible. A delightful and beautifully shot adventure, one in which theories and doubts are swept aside by a belief in the unattainable.

Nov 13 - Headhunters – A wildly entertaining and darkly comic thriller. Our ill fated and relentlessly vain main character, Roger, is utterly convincing as a man whose entire life is based on a false image of being in control …until he suddenly finds himself on the run!

Dec 11 – Middle of Nowhere - A woman whose dreams have been sacrificed for obligations, must learn to live another life, marked by shame and separation; by guilt and grief. Chronicling her turbulent yet transformative journey, we witness the emergence of a broken women made whole.

Sept 12 – The Intouchables Sept 26 – Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster Oct 10 - The Snows of Kilimanjaro Oct 24 - Boy

The Stirling Festival Theatre, West Front St., Stirling 613-395-2100 1-877-312-1162 www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com Sept 28 – The Legend in Black, Johnny Cash Tribute. 2 & 8 pm shows. Tickets $32.50 Oct 19 – 2pm - Jimmy the Janitor. Fun for you, your kids & grandma too! Tickets $29.00 Nov 10 – Elvis Tribute – 2pm Show; Gospel to Christmas, 8pm Show; Christmas to Rock. Dinner & show(s) options also available.

Nov 28 - Dec 31 - PANTO! Alice in Wonderland – Santa opening weekend!

EVENTS

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Oct 3 – Queensborough Turkey Supper - Queensborough’s St. Andrew’s United Church, Queensborough. For more info Elaine 613 473-1458 O ct 6 – 9 am – 5 pm - Creations

by County Crafters - A juried sale

by County artisans, sponsored by the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. Wheelchair accessible. Location: Lipson Room, Books & Company, 289 Main Street, Picton. For more info dorothy. speirs@utoronto.ca and 613 4761008 ext. 4427 O ct 6, 7, 13 & 14 – Colebrook Studio Fall Show, 2570 Marlbank Rd., Marlbank www.colebrookkeirsteadart.com

Quinte Film Alternative - Great Movie Wednesdays. - The Empire Theatre 321 Front St. Belleville. Info 613-4806407 or visit www.quintefilmalternative.ca

Sept 15 & 16 - North Hastings Quilt Club – Bancroft Festival of Quilts Show.

Large & small quilts, Challenge Quilts, Wall hangings, Demonstrations, Merchants Mall, Shop, Bear Paw Cafe and much more. Bancroft Curling Club, 63 Newkirk Blvd, Bancroft. “Watch for Signs” (Sat: 9am5pm, Sun: 10am-4pm) Admission: $5.00 per day

18 Forsyth Street, Marmora 613.472.0999 • www.bmr.co

S ep. 29 & 30 – 10 am – 5 pm - 15th Annual Tweed & Area Studio Tour. Visit 20 artists in 13 locations on a self-guided tour. Fine art, pottery, quilt art, photography, jewellery, stained glass olde world santas and more. www.tweedstudiotour.org.

Sept 22 - 5pm to 8pm – Taste of Britain Culinary Event featuring authentic favourites like Bangers & Mash, Beef & Guinness Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake. Batawa Ski Hill, Batawa. For more info 613398-6568, info@batawaskihill.com or www.batawaskihill.com.

Oct 6 - Nov 2 - Photo Art 2012 Napanee Photo Club’s exhibition of fine art prints. Lennox and Addington County General Hospital, 8 Richmond Park Drive, Napanee, ON. Admission free, daily 9 till 9. For more info Graem Coles 613- 3738810 or http://napanee_photo_ club.tripod.com O ct. 13 & 14 - The County Handspinners Annual Fibre Arts Show & Sale. Foxglove Studio, 30 Wellington St., Bloomfield 10 am - 5 pm. Handknit, woven, felted, hooked items and more. Spinning and weaving demonstrations. Free admission. 613 393-1352

C o u n t r y

C a l e n d a r

Things to see and do in and around Hastings County.

To submit your event listing email info@countryroadshastings.ca or call us at 613 395-0499.

Country Ro

discovering hastings co

Navy during World War II, and beyond. 7:30 pm, downtown Belleville, at the Quinte Living Centre, 370 Front Street (northeast corner door). www.hastingshistory.ca

O ct 14 - 5th Annual Harvest at the Hill including buffet breakfast, chili cook-off, pumpkin carving contest, scenic autumn chair lift rides, a giant inflatable slide with obstacle course and other family fun activities. Individuals or teams are invited to register by October 8th to compete in the chili cook-off.

Batawa Ski Hill, Batawa. For more info 613-398-6568, info@batawaskihill.com or www.batawaskihill.com.

O ct 16 - Hastings County Historical Society Presents: Renowned Royalist, Jane Ann Thompson McCaw, local champion of the Monarchy. She’ll share stories and memories of the Royal Family during this Diamond Jubilee year of the reign of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. See some of her collection and celebrate this important anniversary. Downtown Belleville at the Quinte Living Centre, 370 Front Street (northeast corner door). 7:30 pm. www.hastingshistory.ca

sale, and a visit from Santa. Location: Isaiah Tubbs Resort, West Lake, Prince Edward County. Event sponsored by the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. All proceeds going to support our hospital and community. For more info dorothy.speirs@utoronto. ca and 613 476-1008 ext. 4427

Nov 22 – Starlite House Tour - A holiday tradition tour of some beautiful area homes, including Christmas at Farmtown Park. Tickets will be available in Oct from Edith Ray 613-395-4037, Sandra Lindsay 613-395-6114 or by calling the office 613-395-0015.

O ct 27 - Hastings County Historical Society Annual Banquet – Big Al’s Boitday’- A murder Mystery Dinner Theatre by ‘It’s a Mystery to Me Productions’ of Hamilton, home of Prohibition gangster Rocco Perri. Join Belleville’s rumrunners as they entertain Chicago’s famous mobster - Capone. At the Travelodge ‘Speakeasy’ in Belleville: Cocktails 6 pm, Dinner 7 pm. Tickets $65 each, available at Greenley’s Bookstore (Belleville) in September.

Further info 613-966-7288.

N ov 30 - Dec 2 - County Festival of Trees - A huge array of decorated trees and gifts for silent auction, a bucket draw, the Second Time Around Shop boutique, bake

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discovering hastings county

Nov 30 -Dec 2 – Tweed Festival of Trees, White Building, Tweed.

For more info Barb 613 478-3225.

A fundraising initiative sponsored by the Beta Sigma Phi, with all proceeds to youth activities in the Municipality.

N ov 20 - Hastings County Historical Society Presents: Local Author Roger Litwiller, speaking on his book Warships of the Bay of Quinte. It’s the story of six of Canada’s warships that formed the backbone of the Royal Canadian

Country Roads

discovering hastings county

Nov 22-25 – Christmas at Farmtown Park – Experience the charm of Heritage Village decked out for the holidays and enter the raffle for over 50 gorgeous decorating pieces.

437 Front St. W., Stirling. 613-3950015 info@agmuseum.ca www. agmuseum.ca

N ov 17 - 1 to 3 pm - Country Christmas Bazaar - Albury Church, 2681 Rednersville Road(Prince Edward County Rd. #3). Christmas decorations, crafts, candy, home baking, preserves , produce and quilts. $4.00 admission includes dessert and beverage.

Dec 8 - Maynooth 9th Annual Brighten the Night Christmas Parade & Kids Party takes over the town at 5 pm and there’s a Farmers Market indoors at the Hastings Highlands Centre from 10 am till 4 pm. Forhastings more infocounty www. discovering maynooth.on.ca or 613-338-2862.

Marmora

Madoc

Tweed

Campbellford

Kingston

Napanee

Stirling

Deseronto

Belleville Trenton Brighton Cobourg Port Hope

Picton Wellington

Bloomfield

tudio

*each office is independently owned and operated

613-968-8019

Serving Belleville & Quinte Area

Fall Show

Paintings & Prints by Robert Colebrook Keirstead

6,7,13 & 14

Gallery Open all year

october

• Agricultural Land • Sustainable Farms • Hobby Farms • Residential • Commercial Let Our team HeLp YOu BuY Or SeLL

2570 Marlbank Rd. RR2, Marlbank, ON

613.478.5370

colebrookstudio@aol.com www.colebrookkeirsteadart.com

Kim Hadwen, Sales Rep. 613-969-7591 kim.hadwen@century21.ca

anytime Is the right time to talk real estate

Fall 2012 • Country Roads

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Back Roads

Ormsby Junction Ormsby was a stop on the old Central Ontario Railway line, which reached iron deposits in Coe Hill and stretched north seeking a link with lumber baron J.R. Booth’s Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound railway. The COR was officially abandoned in 1982 and like many communities on its route Ormsby faded in prominence.

Photo courtesy of the Bancroft Heritage Museum

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Country Roads • Fall 2012

Bancroft Theatre District Autumn Wear CliCk • Tribal Color Me CoTTon JoSePH ribkoFF linea red Coral JeWellerY PUrSeS & aCCeSSorieS

Posies Flowers & GiFts

Floral designs for all occasions

3 BridGe st. w. BancroFt, on 613.332.5645

25 Sherbourne St. N, Bancroft Open 362 days of the year

North of 7 Film Fest viewings of the movies held at the Bancroft village playhouse 4:15 & 7 pm shows tickets

September 11 ALBERT NOBBS A moving and effectual portrait of one woman’s struggle $10 each with personal identity and self assurance in 19th century Ireland. Glenn Close gives one of the most celebrated performances of her career as a butler in a high end hotel in Dublin who must guard a secret that has lead her to live an intensely private and solitary life.

October 9 SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN Ewan McGregor stars as Fred Jones, an unlikely hero who finds himself the pawn in a political plot, discovers love, and learns to believe in the impossible. A delightful and beautifully shot adventure, one in which theories and doubts are swept aside by a belief in the unattainable.

November 13 HEADHUNTERS This wildly entertaining and darkly comic thriller comes loaded with visceral twists and it takes devastating aim at modern mores. Our ill fated and relentlessly vain main character, Roger, is utterly convincing as a man whose entire life is based on a false image of being in control …until he suddenly finds himself on the run!!

December 11 MIDDLE OF NOWHERE A woman whose dreams have been sacrificed for obligations, must learn to live another life, marked by shame and separation; by guilt and grief. This movie projects intelligence and backbone into each character, and creates a touching and sensitive portrait of a young woman at a crossroads. Chronicling her turbulent yet transformative journey, we witness the emergence of a broken women made whole.

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.

Coming soon.. www.boxofficebancroft.com for on line ticket sales.

Alive with entertainment, first class shopping, and dining.

IT’S GOOD TO BE SERIOUS. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR ORAL HEALTH. Meet Dr. Kevin Nedamat. He’s serious about maintaining your oral health.

Working alongside our noisy, happy and friendly “A”-Team of Dental Professionals, you can rely on Dr. Nedamat to design a treatment program that is right for you.

After all, you only have one set of teeth. We’ll make sure they’re in good hands.

CHOOSE WISELY. Madoc Deseronto Web Twitter

613.473.2142 613.396.2974 steinbergdental.com @SDCDentalCentre