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Ten teams took part in the annual Curling 4 Heart&Stroke Bonspiel held at the Morrisburg Curling Rink on Saturday, February 18. “The participants all seemed to be really enjoying themselves,” said Greta McGann, organizer, for the third year, of the event. “We were able to raise $1,014 for Heart&Stroke. We had great support from our community and from businesses in Morrisburg and Williamsburg, who donated team prizes.” “All the funds raised go to research and to seeing that defibrillators are available in public buildings,” said Lise Kosloski, volunteer for the Heart&Stroke Foundation. New to this year’s event was a just-for-fun skills competition set up by Jack Barkley and won by Kathy Norg and Wendy Casselman. Pictured above, with Foundation representatives, are the members of the ‘Pas and Daughters’ team (l-r) Dave King, Becky King, Kosloski, McGann, Laura Barkley and Jack Barkley. 

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Iroquois Legion, Branch 370, was the site of the “hotly” contested great chili cook-off on Saturday, February 18. The impartial judges for the annual event, who sampled 16 delicious pots of chili, definitely had their work cut out for them. Judge Brian Clifford (l), Cardinal Branch 105, Judge Sharon Murray, (c) Legion Zone Commander for G3 and Danny McLauglin, local businessman, were ready to take hearty helpings at the fund raiser for the Legion Ways and Means Committee. “I like a little spice, mushrooms and something other than just hamburger,” said Judge Clifford, while Judge Murray wanted “a little spice, not too much, and limited mushrooms.” As for Judge McLaughlin, he looked for “hot and spicy.” “This meal, open to the public, is a great way to start shaking off the winter,” said Vicki Tetley, past president of the Iroquois Legion.

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The Township of South Dundas and the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre have joined forces in an effort to provide “interactive training experience addressing the fundamentals of on-line business” for local businesses.

The first three seminars planned focus on e-business topics. Each seminar begins at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast and networking opportunity followed by an informative presentation on the topic of choice, ending at 10:30 a.m.

While the first seminar, How You Can Profit from E-Biz, has come and gone, there are two more left in the series: February 28th, Social Media Marketing; and, March 27th, Increasing Traffic to Your Website.

The first session, according to South Dundas Economic Development Officer, Nicole Sullivan, “was very informative. It provided a blend of practical information for businesses looking to create a website as well as those looking to improve their current site.”

“Of particular interest to attendees was the pattern in which users read websites and how that determines the way a website should be laid out.”

She explained that the seminars are part of a “larger goal of being able to offer initiatives that support the business community as a whole and build partnerships and networking opportunities.”

“The next seminar will be led by the same presenter as the first. I have no doubt it will be of equal quality and encourage all businesses interested in increasing their presence on the internet to attend.”

At the February seminar, Sullivan is hoping to distribute a survey to determine what other topics might be of interest to the business community in South Dundas.

“If successful,” she said, “hopefully we’ll be able to continue on” with the seminars.

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South Dundas council passed a by-law on February 7th to enter into a Site Plan Control Agreement with D.E.S. Environmental Services Inc.

According to paperwork submitted by Manager of Planning & Enforcement Don Lewis, the landowner wanted “to construct a building which will alter the current site plan.”

Council members were told that the Ministry of Environment had already given their approval.

D.E.S. Environmental Services Inc. is located in Iroquois.

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A letter from the city of Kingston was received by South Dundas on January 11, 2012, requesting “support and endorsement of the $100 Healthy Food Supplement.”

At the February 7th council meeting, South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “I was the one that asked for this to be pulled out and for council to look at it for consideration.”

The call for support came from a motion passed at the city of Kingston’s December 6, 2011 council meeting. The motion included the following statement: “That Kingston calls on the government of Ontario to immediately introduce and fully fund a $100 per month Healthy Food Supplement for all adults on social assistance as a first step toward meeting basic needs.”

Byvelds reminded council, “as we’ve been told in the past by the House of Lazarus, there’s a lot of poverty in South Dundas.” 

“This,” he continued, “is a fairly easy way to get the province to take a look at this.” 

Council was unanimous in their support of the request.

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On February 11th, the Morrisburg and District Leos held a food drive at Riley’s Valu-Mart in the Morrisburg Plaza. The Leos, a youth division of the local Lions Club, “has been a group for almost two years now,” said Katie Prevost (right), President of the Leos. Both Prevost and Leos Secretary Sheldon Dunkley (left) arrived at the store before 8 a.m. in the hopes of collecting as much money and food for the Dundas County Food Bank, as possible. “People have been donating a lot,” said Prevost, “they’ve been really generous.” Someone even donated $100, said Dunkley. In total, the Leos collected 203 items and $447 for the food bank. According to Prevost and Dunkley, the Leos keep very busy fundraising, doing clean-ups and helping out wherever they can. Their next big project? A talent show in March. Prevost said the group is looking for anyone between the ages of 7 and 18 to sign-up for the talent show. Contact the Morrisburg and District Lions Club for more information.

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Census results are in from Statistics Canada.

Population in South Dundas has grown 2.5 per cent between 2006 and 2011. In 2006, South Dundas reported having 10,535 people and in 2011 there were 10,794.

On February 10th, South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds said his initial reaction to the news “is it makes you feel good. There’s some apparent growth in South Dundas.”

As for where in South Dundas the growth has occurred, Byvelds said, “from what I see of the situation, we’ve had some nice growth in Morrisburg and Iroquois and there’s been some growth in rural areas.”

Surrounding municipalities  also saw some changes, some were dramatic and some were not.

North Dundas increased its population by 1.2 per cent, with a 2011 total of 11,225. 

Both North Stormont and South Stormont increased by less than one percentage. North Stormont went up by only 0.1 per cent with a 2011 total of 6,775 and South Stormont went up by 0.8 per cent with a population total of 12,617 in 2011.

North Glengarry’s population decreased substantially by 3.6 per cent going from 10,635 people in 2006 to only 10,251 in 2011.

South Glengarry’s population change was closest to that of South Dundas in that it increased by 2.2 per cent with a total population of 13,162 in 2011.

Overall, SD&G’s population increased by 0.7 per cent between 2006 and 2011. According to the census profile provided by Statistics Canada 2012, SD&G’s 2011 population is 111,164.

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The first annual Riverside Heights Winter Carnival continued its second weekend of activities with a “3 on 3 hockey tournament” on February 11th at the George Jowett Recreation Hall.

While the planned toboggan races and snowman building contest were a bust thanks to uncooperative weather, the breakfast, hockey and supper events went forward as planned.

The hockey tournament had four teams of three. These hearty hockey lovers braved the freezing temperatures and had lots of fun doing it.

Each player contributed $20 to join the tournament, which included a Saturday morning breakfast. Jamie Robinson and Joey Dufresne, organizers of the event, have earmarked the money raised from the event to help a local resident in need.

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“Last night was amazing,” said Iroquois Public School (IPS) Principal Kelty Grant.

She was referring to the February 8th Digital Literacy event sponsored by IPS Parent Council. 

The event, the first of its kind at IPS, offered parents a chance to learn how they can use technology and the Internet to help their children’s learning.

Grant, who was on hand to greet parents and usher children to the free on-site childcare, said “we had a really good turnout – about 40 parents and about 12 children.”

Interested parents were given the opportunity to attend any two of the four offered presentations, all of which were free, while their children were safe and having fun with some local high school volunteers.

According to Grant, the high school students “set up tables with games and activities in the gym.” 

Among the seminar presenters were Mike Singh, teacher with Soft-Where to Learn; Laura Oliver and Candy Campbell, Regional Student Engagement teachers; Elaine Gribbin, Regional Speech Language Pathologist; and, Alison Sutherland, Learning Resource Coach and teacher at IPS.

Grant reported that all four seminars were “well attended.”

“Parents who didn’t have a chance to get to the iPad/iPod technology seminar have been asking if that one will be offered again,” she said.  

“We had borrowed enough iPads for all parents to get a chance to try out some apps, and then at the end of the session they had an opportunity to show what they had discovered on the SmartBoard, which was plugged into an iPad.”

“Parents also seemed to love testing out the educational websites that are available,” said Grant, adding that “the evening was a result of our Pro Grant. We are using the Pro Grant money to purchase a membership to an educational website that parents and students will be able to access at home.”  

Iroquois Public School’s Digital Literacy event was such a success that they’re planning to do it again. Grant indicated that while a date had not yet been set, late March looked like a definite possibility.

“It is well worth the time and effort when you see our school community coming together like this,” said Grant. “We have some pretty amazing parents at IPS!”

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 One of the many concerns held by South Branch Wind Opposition Group (SBWOG) is that Prowind Canada’s proposed 14-turbine wind farm will be but the first of many.

Reports have surfaced that another company has been scouting for land in South Dundas. Invenergy Canada’s Director of Business Development, James J. Murphy, confirmed the report on February 9th: “Invenergy has been working with some landowners to investigate the potential for a wind energy project, but these efforts are very preliminary.”

“As per company policy we do not identify landowners by name who have signed agreements with us,” said Murphy.

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, Councillor Archie Mellan declared a conflict of interest when it came time to discuss requests made by SBWOG. In an e-mail to The Leader on February 11th, Mellan explained the conflict of interest.

“As to your questions, I will not go into details as it is a private matter of my personal business. It is a land lease agreement for a possible project. We, my brother and myself, decided to go ahead after much research and questions before I had decided to even run in the last municipal election. Invenergy  was the only company that approached us as they are the ones who are looking at this area for their proposed project.”

Invenergy, one of the largest companies of its kind in the United States, has a headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and local Canadian offices in both Toronto and Montreal.

According to their website, “Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation facilities in North America and Europe.”

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