News

Who does not have a vision of the stern and unsmiling Victorian staring out of a black and white photograph?  

Coping with the rigours of 19th century life sure seemed to have taken a toll on people’s sense of fun.  Or did it?  

Visitors to Upper Canada Village on July 28 and 29 will find out that our ancestors enjoyed many diversions and pastimes, from puzzles, baseball and parlour games to cricket, croquinole and croquet.

It’s a chock-a-block weekend, with lots of opportunities to pitch a hand-sewn baseball, compete in the three-legged race, solve a riddle, make a whirligig and play a game of fox and geese. 

“The 1860’s were a much simpler time with less technology, so people played games for recreation,” says Dave Dobbie, manager of Upper Canada Village. “We hope that our visitors will rediscover how much fun you can have without technology.”

Visitors will be encouraged to roll up their sleeves and join in the fun.

Highlights include:

• Chess tournament – Saturday 1-3:30 p.m.  Please pre-register through website www.audiapason.ca.

• Crockinole party, dominos and skittles tournament – Saturday and Sunday all day at the Family Activity Centre.

•Massachusetts baseball – Saturday and Sunday 2-3 p.m.  Discover the distinction between this and modern baseball, especially in regards to scoring and layout of the field.

•Cricket – Saturday  and Sunday 11- noon and 4-5 p.m. with Tom Melville.  Tom is from Wisconsin and is an expert in all things cricket.  He will instruct novices and umpire matches between teams of visitors.

•Lacrosse – Sunday 1- 2 p.m.  Watch the Cornwall Celtics demonstrate this fast-paced traditional game.

•Croquet – Saturday and Sunday 2-3p.m.  Very popular in the 1860’s, croquet involves hitting wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded in a grass playing court.  It was made famous when Alice in Wonderland played a very special version involving live flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls.

•Children’s games – Egg races, sack races, wheel barrow races and the always exciting tug-of-war are on the program on Saturday and Sunday 3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.

•Riddles, conundrums, singing games – Join the Upper Canada Village musicians and learn a few songs that accompany games.

•Card games – All day Sunday.  Whist, a classic trick-taking card game which had its heyday in the 19th century and Euchre which is responsible for introducing the joker into modern card packs will be played.  Everyone is welcome to join in!

• Parlour games – Sunday 3- 4 p.m.  “Hide the Thimble”, “I love my love with an A”, “Ring String” and “In my Lady’s Toilette” will show that sometimes mild-sounding games can be deceivingly rowdy.

•Garden syringe – Saturday.  Cool off with the “super soakers” of the past.

The weekend of July 28-29 has also been marked to celebrate the  anniversary of the Young Interpreters’ Program.

Since 1982, the Young Interpreters Program has given youth, between the ages of 10 and 15, an opportunity to experience 19th century life first-hand.  

Young Interpreters learn traditional skills from professional historical interpreters and take part in a host of typical 19th century activities.  

Hundreds of children have spent many of their formative years at Upper Canada Village and the program is still going strong!  

On July 28 and 29, it’s time to celebrate. 

“Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Young Interpreter’s Program is a perfect fit with this event (Games People Played) as many of the games featured will be familiar to anyone who was a Young Interpreter.” 

Former Young Interpreters are invited to re-explore their favourite Village hang-outs, chat with costumed villagers, and attend school or Sunday school.  Interpreters are invited to bring a brown-paper lunch and join other former Young Interpreters for a picnic with cake and lemonade at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 29.  

Former Young Interpreter who have not received an official invitation are invited to contact Gabriele.thomas@parks.on.ca. 

For more information on the above events please call 1-800-437-2233 (543-4328 locally) or buy your tickets online at www.uppercanadavillage.com. 

[…]

In recognition of their many years of contributions to the community, to the Morrisburg and District Lions Club and to Lionism, longtime Lions Les Cruickshank and Glen Cunningham were recently made Life Members. Following the announcement made by Lion Wayne Domanko, they were joined by Morrisburg and District Lions Club president Bob Bechard for the above photograph. From l-r, are Lions Bechard, Cruickshank, Cunningham and Domanko.  

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There was some nervous peeking through the curtains, and some very excited whispers backstage. Occasionally teacher Kate Veinotte’s calm voice could be heard quieting  pre-show jitters.

 However, when they finally stepped on to the Playhouse stage Friday, July 20, the 27 children who took part in the 2012 Junior Drama School class at Upper Canada Playhouse behaved like seasoned troupers. They put on a great show. 

“Welcome to the first ever Upper Canada Playhouse Olympics,” said senior students Conor Veinotte and Grant Wells, who assisted with the junior school last week. The two narrators introduced the participating nations, cheered on the determined competitors and (tongue in cheek) praised the sponsors of the wonderful UCPO.

“We have had a very busy week,” teacher Kate Veinotte told the large crowd of parents, grandparents and friends who came out to see the culminating performance of the drama school.

“This was an incredibly creative group we had this year. We decided that the Olympic Games were going to be the theme of this year’s school, and we brainstormed a lot of ideas for the play. I asked the kids, if you could come up with Olympic events of your own, what would you put in the games? What you are seeing is their ideas, complete with commercials.”

Of course, every Olympics must begin with the parade of nations. And if the nations at the UCPO were a little unexpected, well, that was just part of the fun.

The nation of New Yolk solemnly promised to “scramble” its opponents. Spudland swore its team would “mash these guys.” Limbotania defiantly vowed their athletes would “go low” while Seekey Land expected to be the craftiest contenders for the hide and seek competition. And Alphadopia made it clear that its team members were utterly confident of capturing s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g bee gold.

The Games were naturally thrilling, with loud cheers from the audience.

When they won the egg-and-spoon race, New Yolk stood for their anthem The Chicken Dance. Spudland won the potato sack race and proudly sang their anthem “One potato, two potato, three potato…”

After their sweeping victory in  the limbo, Limbotania’s anthem, The Limbo Rock, had everyone toe tapping while Seekey Land’s dynamic gold in Hide and Seek led to a proud chorus of “Where is Thumpkin?”

As for Alphadopia’s taking of the laurels in the spelling bee, well, the whole audience could join in their national anthem “A B C D E F G, H I…”

Everyone knows how important commercial spots at the Olympics are to advertisers, so it was no surprise to see these young actors present some priceless ads.

Sweet Dreams Energy Drink guaranteed that athletes drinking it would get ahead. Cloud Shoes promised to be both “heaven on your feet” and “good for your soles.” The bilingual ad for Mattress Mart Shoe Depot claimed shoes so comfortable “they’re like mattresses for your feet.” And Zipster Drink declared its enormous benefits to athletes and “only $2.99!”

The show ended with the five teams, in the spirit of true sportsmanship and global friendship, passing around the  coloured hoops and creating on stage the proud symbols of the modern Olympics.

Jackie McCormick, stage manager at Upper Canada Playhouse, worked with the class, teaching how props are made, and ran the lights for the show. Rosemary Laurin came to help  for the week, and arrived with treats for the young actors at the end of the play. 

Artistic director Donnie Bowes made sure that everyone went home with a certificate of accomplishment, telling the children they had created a “wonderful, wonderful show.”

“The kids had so much fun,” Kate Veinotte said. “They came up with everything, the sports, the ads, the countries and the anthems. They were incredibly hard-working and very creative. I found myself wishing there really was a Kids Olympics.”

[…]

While many area residents were relieved to see a little rain on Monday, some were faced with the inconvenience of a prolonged power outage. 

Due to the July 23 storm, several homes in South Dundas powered by Hydro One lost power early Monday evening, including sections of Church Road, Glen Becker Road, Dunbar Road and County Road 31.

According to Hydro One Winchester, 1,842 customers were without power in the areas served by the Winchester location, including residents of South Dundas.

Hydro One crews were dispatched to several locations to investigate. As of mid-morning on July 24, a direct cause had not yet been identified. 

It was suggested however, that with a storm similar to the one on July 23, there is usually a ‘laundry list’ of possibilities including branches on lines and downed poles.

It was estimated that power would be returned by 6 p.m. Tuesday night, leaving some without power for almost 24 hours.

This story was ongoing and not yet resolved as of press time.

[…]

South Dundas council approved the removal of the Morrisburg tennis courts and the Iroquois Haldane Park East ball diamond during the July 17th council meeting.

According to chief administrative officer Stephen McDonald, the recommendation was “based on the usage and the cost it would take to bring them up to standard.”

The fact that the township doesn’t own the land on which the tennis courts are located was also a major factor in the recommendation and, in turn, a major factor in council’s decision to go ahead and dismantle the structure.

The Hartford Retirement Centre and the Upper Canada District School Board each own sections of the land where the tennis courts are located.

The main Haldane Park ball diamond will remain in use. It is the East diamond that is to be removed.

Dates have not been set for the removal of either recreational structure and the cost to remove both is estimated to be between $7,500 and $10,000.

[…]

If all goes well, residents of South Dundas will be able to use a new Morrisburg Dock beginning next season, in 2013.

During the July 17th council meeting, South Dundas chief executive officer Stephen McDonald recommended that council go ahead and retain Kehoe Marine of Lansdowne, Ontario to complete construction of the new dock and council agreed.

While the final report from Ottawa-based engineering company J. L. Richards was not ready at the time of the meeting, McDonald did say that, based on the draft report received in June, the entire dock would need to be replaced.

“The dock, as it is now, will not be there again,” said McDonald. “It’s lived a good life of 50 years.”

He suggested that council sole-source the project, hire Kehoe Marine immediately, and “get in the queue.” 

He pointed out that Kehoe already has several jobs lined up. If hired immediately, however, then the Morrisburg Dock would get into priority sequence permitting construction to start in September or October, depending on the time required to get the necessary permits.

Deputy-mayor Jim Locke agreed, saying that “timing is of the essence. If we don’t get at it this fall, there will be no dock there next year.”

“We look at this as a priority,” said mayor Steven Byvelds, agreeing that it would be best to have the dock reconstructed before the 2013 boating season begins. He offered apologies to residents for the loss of the dock for the current season.

According to McDonald, the dock will be reconstructed to match existing dimensions.

Thanks to last year’s surplus, it was agreed that financing for the project will come from the working reserve.

[…]

The Morrisburg and District Lions Club has offered to purchase and install portable finger docks at the Morrisburg Waterfront, east of the Docksyde, and the Township of South Dundas has accepted.

Morrisburg Waterfront Committee chair Doug Grenkie made the offer in a letter written to the township on July 11th.

Several questions arose in relation to the offer, which was addressed at the July 17th South Dundas council meeting. Council inquired as to who would be responsible for acquiring permits, for instance. 

In addition, council wanted to know if the Lions Club planned to take responsibility for installing the docks and then removing them at the end of the season. They also wondered about storage of the docks during the winter months.

As there were no representatives from the Morrisburg Waterfront Committee or the Morrisburg and District Lions Club, staff agreed to look into council’s concerns following the meeting.

Realizing the importance of having some sort of dock arrangement at the Morrisburg Waterfront this season, it was agreed that staff would “reconvene council for a brief session” should the need arise.

The next regularly scheduled council meeting is August 14th.

[…]

While recent rainstorms have been a welcome sight, they have not been enough to officially change the drought status or lift the fire ban in South Dundas.

On July 24, Sandra Mancini of South Nation Conservation Authority (SNC) confirmed that the Level 2 Low Water Condition remains in place.

“The recent rainfall was very localized,” said Mancini. “Some areas got a lot of rain and some had nothing at all.”

“It had little impact on the watershed. The river flows at well below average for this time of year.”

She reported that while Ottawa received 13 millimeters of rain on July 23, Cornwall received 17.4 millimeters and Brockville none.

Mancini further explained that it would take one full week of very steady rain of long duration and low density to make any positive impact on the current drought situation. 

She pointed out that, unfortunately, the July 23 storm was very high in density and low in duration.

The Ontario Low Water Response program, implemented in 2000, has three levels and according to Mancini, “we are really close to a Level 3 right now.”

“As of today, some of the conditions have not been met” for a Level 3 Low Water Condition,  but, she added, it’s very close. 

While only the province can officially declare a Level 3 drought, South Nation Conservation’s water response team will meet on August 2nd to review the situation. If conditions, at that time, have reached a Level 3, SNC will recommend to the province that the designation be updated.

In determining the water condition, the water response team monitors water levels within the watershed and tracks any reported water-related issues.

The team at South Nation Conservation ask that anyone experiencing water-related issues contact them at 1-877-984-2948 extension 223 or extension 227.

At this point, no dry wells in South Dundas have been reported, but Mancini pointed out, during the 2001 Level 2 Low Water Condition there were several reports of dry wells in South Dundas.

Contacting the SNC will not only give the water response team the data to support their findings, but it will also give area residents the opportunity to ask questions and find out what to do in a dry well situation.

In fact, those residents whose wells are low, but not yet dry, should also contact SNC for information. Low water levels in wells could affect the quality and safety of the water. 

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) provides free water-testing for wells. More information on this can be found by contacting SNC or by contacting EOHU directly.

South Nation Conservation continues to promote conservation. People are asked to use 20 percent less water than they would normally. Should the drought be upgraded to a Level 3, the province will determine if any restrictions are to be put in place in terms of water usage.

In related news, the fire ban in South Dundas remains in place.

South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services chief Chris McDonough was contacted on July 24, following the previous day’s rainstorm. 

“We need another full day of rain before I’ll even think about lifting it,” he said.

[…]

[…]

 “I’d say this ban is going to be on for the rest of the month, unless something drastic changes,” said South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services chief Chris McDonough.

South Dundas is just one of many Ontario townships with a fire ban in place due to the extreme weather conditions affecting most of Ontario.

In South Dundas, the fire ban means no burning of any kind, except for cooking on a hibachi or barbecue and even that is subject to a possible ban if the situation worsens. 

For now, McDonough suggests that people “be extra cautious of their environment” and if using coals for a cooking fire, “make sure they are extinguished, that they are completely out.”

As for the ‘no burning of any kind,’ this includes, but is not limited to, bonfires, burning in a barrel, chimenea fires (outdoor fireplaces), campfires and any other recreational-type fires. It also includes all commercial burning for agriculture.

“If you’re not sure, you can call,” said McDonough, “It applies to everyone.” 

“I would also caution people on discarding smoking materials,” he said. With conditions as dry as they are, a carelessly discarded cigarette butt could cause a lot of damage. 

As evidence of what a cigarette butt can do when not properly extinguished, McDonough pointed to the fire that overtook the Dunbar Recreation Centre last fall.

Anyone caught violating the burn ban is “subject to being charged,” said McDonough. This includes charges for any fire vehicles sent to the location, hourly rates for manpower, and any applicable fines.

He would also caution that there will be no warnings. If caught, there will be charges.

As for when the ban might be lifted, McDonough suggested that it would take at least a solid, steady two to three days of all-day rain, coupled with cooler temperatures.

Basically, “it depends on the daytime conditions,” he said. When the ban is lifted, notices will be posted. 

Currently, “if the wind catches a small fire, it’ll just take off with these conditions,” said McDonough.

As for laws governing burning when  a fire ban is not in effect, the Township of South Dundas currently has two by-laws. By-law number 99-19 and By-law number 2002-14 outline the rules governing the setting of fires within South Dundas.

It is the most recent by-law, number 2002-14, that prohibits open burning in hamlet areas and requires all other areas to apply for burn permits.

Open burning includes any burning that is not done in a building. For example, an outdoor fireplace is considered open burning because it is done outside.

So, for those people living in areas with housing developments, like Morrisburg or Iroquois, using a chimenea or having any sort of an outdoor fire that isn’t an actual barbecue,  is against the by-law and subject to fines.

According to McDonough, “we are revising our burning by-law this fall.” 

To recap, a fire ban is in place in South Dundas. This means no burning of any kind, except for cooking on hibachis or barbecues.

For more information or to report unlawful burning, contact chief Chris McDonough at 613-543-2333 or contact the township office at 613-535-2673.

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