Scotiabank South Mountain generously agreed to match all proceeds raised from Community Living Dundas County’s annual Ladies Night Out on October 13th. CLDC’s Debbie Boardman, Marlene Lewis, and Amber Rothwell accepted a cheque for $4,924 on October 28th from Karen Thompson, Branch Manager along with the Scotiabank ladies who volunteered at the event.
Matilda Hall in Dixon’s Corners was the place to be on Saturday morning.
The Brinston United Church held their 20th Annual Fall Craft Show at Matilda Hall on October 29th.
Organizer, Leslie Disheau, confirmed that “the proceeds from the admission and vendor registration go to the general fund for the church to pay our monthly bills. The luncheon proceeds go directly to the Sunday school for their operational cost.”
The show boasted “lots of new vendors, great gift items and door prize draws” as well as a luncheon.
Also, for those interested in shopping whether for themselves or for “early” Christmas gifts, there were lots of handmade items including clothing, blankets, decorations, and baking.
As of October 31st, Disheau said, “I don’t have a total yet of how much we made, but I do know we were down by 100 people coming through the doors this year. Last year we were over 300 people (and) this year it was just over 200.”
She acknowledged that there is “so much going on (and) people can only be in so many places in one day.”
“I do a satisfaction survey with the vendors and all of them were super satisfied with the luncheon and love the fact the kids are servers. They also were satisfied with how the day went,” she added.
“This year I had nine new vendors, so people would have seen some new products.”
As for success, the Craft Show boasted a full parking lot, a full hall, and lots of satisfied visitors.
In support of their 14 year old teammate, Nash Nesbitt of Iroquois, the South Dundas Bantam B Rep Lions are organizing a fund-raiser ‘teen dance’ at the Iroquois Legion on Saturday, November 12.
Nesbitt was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphoid tissue, in late August. He is currently undergoing cancer treatment in Ottawa.
“When we found out about Nash, we knew we wanted to do something, and we wanted the kids to be involved,” Lions team manager Rondalyn Jarvis said Friday night at the arena, where the Lions had gathered to launch the dance promotion.
“The support we’ve been getting is unbelievable,” said Jarvis. “People have been calling and wanting to donate.”
“These kids have been together since novice hockey (about 10 years) as well as at school and in other sports,” said Jarvis. “We’ve all been together for so long, it’s a family…this is our hockey family.”
The benefit dance is planned for Saturday, November 12, at the Iroquois Legion. Open to all area youth in grades 7 to 12, it will be chaperoned by the hockey team parents. The cost is $10 per person.
The event has received huge support from South Dundas businesses, organizations and individuals who have donated either money or prizes. Team parents are providing food donations, and the hockey team will be selling pop.
“The Legion has been donated to us, and the DJ has given us a really good deal,” said parent rep Cassandra Barry who is helping with the event organization.
In addition to his hockey teammates, other friends of Nash, are also on board to help out, as are other teams in the South Dundas Hockey Association who have found various ways to help raise money. Members of one team are donating a ‘loonie’ every time they score a goal.
Nash is the son of Tammy Johnston and Earl Nesbitt, and, according to Jarvis, he is doing well. He was preparing to enter grade nine at Seaway when he received the diagnosis.
“His last chemo treatment is November 3, and once his doctors determine its success, they will decided where to go from there. He just received approval to come out in the general public, and if all goes well he could be back in school in about a month. They caught it early, so everyone is very hopeful.”
Jarvis explained that the dance is to help raise money for expenses not covered by insurance.
“The travel and the parking is expensive, and Tammy’s been off work to care for Nash,” said Jarvis. “We want to make it a little easier for them financially.”
To help kick off the Lions’ effort on Friday, longtime family friends, David Lapier and Danny McLaughlin, dropped by the arena to hand over a $250 donation.
“We’ve known Nash’s parents our whole lives, and Nash since he was a baby. This is a tough situation, and we hope all goes well,” said Lapier.
With a new snowmobiling season about to commence, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), thanks the Government of Ontario for its support of winter tourism and snowmobile trails.
Thanks to the McGuinty Government and Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Ontario snowmobilers, along with snowbelt communities, local residents and businesses, will experience the benefits of the many upgrades and improvements to the OFSC trail infrastructure that will help boost winter tourism during the coming season.
With 229 community based clubs and 168,000 family members, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs is a volunteer led not-for-profit association, which through strong leadership, provides a wide range of quality programs and services to, and on behalf of, its member organizations. Our 34,262 kilometre provincial network of organized snowmobile trails connects Ontario communities, providing responsible riding experiences that are safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sustainable.
By-laws get broken everyday and, for the most part, go unnoticed. Even more irritatingly for some, these “crimes” go unpunished.
At the October 17th public meeting in Dixon’s Corners, a concerned citizen had inquired as to whether we actually have a by-law officer and whether or not anything might be done about the illegal parking in front of the Bank of Montreal in Morrisburg.
This inquiry brought up a few more examples of parking infractions in other South Dundas communities as well.
The consensus of the council appeared to be no, nothing can really be done.
Another citizen wondered aloud as to why council bothers to make by-laws if they don’t intend to enforce them.
This left everyone a bit puzzled. If agreed that by-laws are necessary, how can council enforce them?
A by-law, by definition, is a municipal, local or corporate rule or regulation. The township’s website claims that “these by-laws often regulate lands, the use of lands, health and safety and environmental protection.”
It further states: “In most cases, the public complies with the Township’s by-laws. However, from time to time the Township must enforce its by-laws. Offenders are often given a first-time warning or order, depending on the type and seriousness of the infraction.”
At the public meeting Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke remarked: “most bylaws are enforced by complaint.”
The complaint process is outlined on the township website complete with instructions and a handy form to fill out.
“The township has a number of regulatory by-laws it is permitted to enforce under the Municipal Act. They include: property standards; animal control; noise; illegal dumping; fire control; building and construction; signs; garage sales; pools; smoking; and, parking on public streets.”
“Should you wish to register a complaint with the Township about a perceived infraction on any of the above by-laws you must fill out a complaint form.”
In doing so, will anything be done to rectify the situation? The answer is unclear.
For those interested citizens, the Building Inspector/ By-law Enforcement Officer for South Dundas is Dan Tessier. He works out of the township office in Williamsburg.
When contacted for input into South Dundas by-law enforcement, Tessier replied, “I was advised not to comment.”
“Writing is something you either want to do, or you don’t want to. I have to write. It’s a passion, one that isn’t going away,” said Brian Howald, home in Morrisburg to discuss the launch of his new novel, Inside Looking Out.
Howald, a graduate of Morrisburg Public School, and, in 1982, Seaway District High School in Iroquois, talked about his writing career on October 31.
He originally studied broadcasting at Loyalist College, then lived for a time in Toronto, working for a casting/modeling agency and taking part in the Toronto music scene.
A move to Kingston in the late 80s led to work with Theatre 5, and some writing of music and film reviews for a small independent newspaper. He also took a full time writing course at St. Lawrence College, an option he found very valuable.
Eventually, however, Howald was drawn to writing full time. In 1993 he formed a company called Bookworm Literary Productions. For him, it was the best of both worlds; publishing books, with ample time to work on his own writing.
His first book, The Chopper of Lucy Electra, appeared in 1996.
It was “ a murder mystery which was set in both the Seaway of the 1950s, and partially in modern times.”
Other articles and books followed since Howald does not restrict his writing to one particular genre. What ever strikes him as interesting, with potential as story material, that is what he will write about.
His 2011 novel, Inside Looking Out, is being launched at Bookworm in Kingston on November 11. Inside Looking Out, is set in the very early years of World War II.
“I began exploring a lot of historical accounts of World War II, researching military engagements and doing a great deal of reading,” Howald said. “My story and characters grew out of this.”
Inside Looking Out follows two young men, one a civilian pilot contracted to the R.A.F., the other a soldier who did not make it out during the hurried evacuation of stranded British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in early June of 1940.
The two men ultimately meet in a German prisoner-of-war camp, eventually taking part in a daring and desperate escape across occupied Europe to Denmark, and then Sweden.
“The characters of Pete and Terry came out of my research. They are as real as I could make them. For young men in their 20s war is a kind of ultimate adventure,” the author said.
Howald stresses that his German characters are not “stick figures. This is a time when the Germans are at their most triumphant. They expect to win the war. I would call this story a dramatic thriller in the old style meaning of the term.”
He did not deliberately set out to release the novel on Remembrance Day, but it is perhaps fitting that it will be available starting November 11.
Brian Howald is an old fashioned writer in one way.
“When I write, I use traditional, spiral notebooks and I write long hand,” he laughed. “I do not like the “box”, my word for the word processor. I have people who are much better at processing my work than I am.”
His preferred writing venue is also a little unusual.
“I am far more comfortable writing in restaurants and coffee shops,” he said. “I actually prefer the noise and music that forms the background in these places. I think I got used to that kind of ambiance when I was writing in Toronto.”
Howald is currently at work polishing a new novel called The Spot Marked X, also tied into events of World War II, which should be coming out in 2012.
In the meantime, he continues to devote himself to a challenging but ultimately rewarding career.
“Writing is not an easy choice in life. There are years spent writing a book, not to mention the endless editing and rewrites. But if this is what you love, you have to write,” he said.
Howald’s original novel Inside Looking Out should soon be available at the Seaway Pharmacy and the Basket Case, Morrisburg. Contact Brian Howald at brianhowald@rocketmail.com.
They offered a helping hand, and Morrisburg Legion Branch 48 president Maurice Praine was willing to accept it.
Saturday, four members of the Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Unit (The C.A.V.), were out and about in Morrisburg to assist the local Legion Branch by selling poppies. They were easily identified as they were wearing their black vests which, according to their website, are worn “in mourning of those who have fallen in securing our Peace.”
CAV Motorcycle Units were started in 2003, and are active in Charity Event Riding and Community Support Events across Canada.
They support charity events locally, provincially, nationally and internationally.
Saturday, four members of the nine member local CAV Unit, Sicily, were in Morrisburg. They included Jeff Betts, John Kennedy, Bill Aitken and Reg Anderson all of whom have served in the Canadian Military.
The Unit was formed this past summer and according to Betts, is based out of Morrisburg, because it is central to the members. Betts is from Winchester and other members are from Morrisburg, Cardinal and Cornwall.
“We are teamed with the Morrisburg Legion only in the sense of developing a mutually beneficial relationship,” explained Betts. “We have the same goals of helping our veterans and our community.”
The CAV is a national brotherhood of Canadian Army, Air Force and Navy Veterans who are motorcycle enthusiasts.
There are three regions: 1st CAV which covers central Canada (Manitoba to Quebec), 2nd CAV in Eastern Canada and 3rd Cav in Western and Northern Canada. Members gather in units named in tribute of Canadian Battle Honours.
The local unit is in 1st CAV and is named for the 1943 Battle of Sicily when the Allies launched one of the largest combined operations of WWII for control of Sicily.
“Our mission statement is to ‘ride and have fun, while helping others’,” said Betts whose nickname is Lurch and who was an Administrative Clerk in the military for 14 years.
CAV does have several charities of choice, such as “Ride for Dad”, an annual ride for prostrate cancer and ICROSS, International Community for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering of the world’s poor. It also supports a number of military organizations including Soldier On and the MFRC (Military Family Resource Centre).
At the local level they support community events and the local Legions, or they may run their own event in support of a cause they choose.
Betts also explained that members don’t have to own motorcycles. Those who don’t can come out and assist in fundraising events, travelling to the event as they choose.
The CAVs ‘Honorary Rider in Chief to Veterans’ is Rick Hillier, past Chief of Defense Staff for Canada’s military.
In addition to the charity assistance, Betts says the group gathers to “have fun and reminisce about our military experiences.”
Saturday, John Kennedy, nicknamed Saddle Tramp, was doing just that as he pointed to the picture hanging in the Morrisburg Legion lounge of the HMCS Haida, the last remaining example of the 27 Tribal Class destroyers built between 1937 and 1945.
“I served in peace time, (1959-63), and I was the last to sail overseas on the Haida. They took it out of service in 1960.”
Kennedy says he has logged over 200,000 km on his 1996 bike, and he has enjoyed all of his experiences. He recalls travelling with a group out of Ottawa to participate in a parade in Washington. “I’ve been all over. I really enjoy it.”
“We are always looking for new members,” said Betts.
Information on The CAV can be found at www.thecav.ca
Singer/song writer Del Barber blew in from Winnipeg, Manitoba, like a warm prairie wind on Saturday, October 29, and won a lot of Ontario hearts.
Barber was the headliner at the second concert of the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage winter series: he definitely lived up to critical praise that has described him as “sincere and heartfelt” and “electric” on stage.
Winner just last week of two Western Music Awards, Barber was completely at ease in the intimate St. Lawrence stage setting. His songs ranged from the jaunty Walking Down Town with a Country Girl to the poignant and memorable Home to Manitoba.
Barber is a born raconteur.
His songs are introduced with anecdotes and stories that serve the narrative flavour of his music well. Although he is a proud Westerner, he understands the ambivalence about the west many prairie people have.
“Western Canada is young, I guess, and it just hasn’t laid down the roots it needs,” Barber told the audience. “So many young people just dream of leaving their small towns.”
His song about a waitress who spent all her young years believing that she needed to “escape” the prairies to find her “perfect man and perfect kids” touched a chord.
“Her dreams fell asleep on the top bunk/And woke up on the floor…”
He sang of the eternal hold the land has on Western Canadians in the touching Home to Manitoba.
“There’s a piece of land still holds/The shadow of my name..”
Barber also has a gift for sharing with listeners the hilarious, the ironic, the unexpected fun of every day life.
The crowd roared with laughter as he described in wonderful songs his misadventures as a travelling artist in the wilds of northern Manitoba, as a teenager driving his first blind date Jasmine in his mom’s 1992 Dodge Colt, as a secret lover of Archie comics.
Barber sings with passion and humour. His guitar doesn’t just accompany him, he makes it sing along with him. There is a lot of the poet in his song lyrics: he has a way of finding just the right way to say things.
When he completed his set audiences left the concert hall literally grinning.
Opening for Del Barber was Carleton Place artist Brea Lawrenson.
Only in the early days of a promising musical career, Lawrenson is still developing the polish, and the on-stage ease, that are so much the elements of a seasoned musical performer. However, as she grew more comfortable with the Saturday night audience, her lyrics became clearer, her singing more controlled. When she and brother Sean sang together, her talent was evident.
There is a lot of passion and power in this emerging young artist. Her deep love of family and her dreams for the future colour the lyrics of her songs like the touching Hold On (written about her mother’s support) and Somewhere to Go, her determination to make it in the musical world.
Brea Lawrenson will be an artist to watch as her career unfolds.
The audiences at the Saturday concert certainly enjoyed a memorable concert evening.
Del Barber, who told the Leader in an earlier interview that he likes to “read,” to “get the feel of his listeners” when he performs, found a whimsical and typically humorous way to tell Saturday’s concert goers how much he was enjoying his South Dundas reception.
“Sometimes when I perform, I feel a bit like a man wearing a hot dog costume trying to sell hot dogs to people who really want burgers. But here in Morrisburg, I kind of feel I’m a man in a hot dog suit selling hots dogs to people who actually want hot dogs.”
The next concert in the St. Lawrence Stage series will take place on November 19, an evening of Intimate Acoustics.
At what age should children begin learning and, more significantly, participating in social justice issues?
SD&G seem to be taking this issue very seriously with groups participating in events like Light Up Your World (LUYW), “We Day,” and “Step Up to Leadership.”
“Light Up Your World”
Lisa Sanchez and Miguel Sanchez, creators of LUYW, visited the area on October 29th at the Morrisburg Pentecostal Tabernacle. They have also visited Morrisburg Public School and Seaway Intermediate and District High School in the past year.
At Saturday’s session, the pair began explaining that while this program was originally designed for grade 7 and 8 students, “the message is good for everyone, kindergarten and up.”
The LUYW seminar has three sessions, each between one to two hours in length. The message for each session is delivered through stories, short film clips, lots of games, demonstrations, discussion and fun.
The first session introduces the concept of lightness versus darkness with lightness being the spread of positivity and darkness being the spread of negativity. The Sanchez’s demonstrate that every choice made, big or small, has a consequence. The choice will determine whether the consequence is positive or negative.
The second session devotes itself to helping participants realize and accept their own value, as well as the value of others. The Sanchez’s assured the children that “you can’t do anything to lose your value” because it is intrinsic.
They pointed out that while other people, situations, or events can “affect our sense of value, they can never affect our true value.”
The final session brought everything together, showing children how to become a “world changer.”
“Each of us is just one person, but we can have a big effect,” they said.
“You have the power to make a choice, therefore you have the power to bring change.”
The Durham region couple first designed LUYW in response to the need in their local school. Lisa told the Leader that the venture was successful; they had impacted “kids lives in a positive way.”
News of the seminar’s effectiveness spread and, in a short time, the Sanchez’s reach had stretched outward to their school district and, eventually, to the world.
LUYW is not the Sanchez’s first contact with social justice work. It has been a way of life for the couple for years. They’ve also instilled their values and sense of justice in their own children, who have also made “spreading light” a part of their lives.
Lisa told the Leader, “change the heart, and your behaviour will follow.” As she explained to the group, every thought creates a ripple effect by informing our actions, which eventually become habits and then, in time, become our character.
Schools or groups interested in bringing the program to children in their care can either have a LUYW representative come in to conduct a seminar or they can take training sessions to learn how to do so themselves. Their website is www.lightupyourworld.org.
“We Day”
The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSB) is also getting children involved in social justice.
Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Cornwall has a “Trinity Justice League” led by Gordie Van Putten, Chaplaincy Leader.
Van Putten told the Leader that they are a mixed group of both boys and girls from grades seven to twelve and they meet every Wednesday at lunchtime.
This year they had an exciting “kick-off” to their social justice year with a trip to “We Day” in Toronto in September. This was the group’s first year attending the event.
Van Putten said there were approximately 20,000 students in the Air Canada Centre. Holy Trinity received 15 free tickets to attend.
According to their website, “at We Day, youth from across North America join together to celebrate the positive actions they are taking and to build the momentum of the movement of young people making a difference in their communities and around the world. Through We Day, youth learn that it is cool to care.”
We Day began in 2007. It is an initiative of Free the Children.
“Free the Children was founded on the understanding that by awakening the spirit of activism in young people, anything is possible – injustices can be stopped, our local and global communities can be transformed for the better, and hope for the future can be sustained.”
The website, www.weday.com, provides a wealth of information for teachers, students and parents. In order to apply to participate in the event, school’s must take part in a major project of their own.
On November 1st the Trinity Justice League gave an “all school presentation” about their current project of bringing clean water to Haiti.
The first fundraiser for the cause will be St. Albert’s Cheese sales. In this way, other students, not currently members of the League, will have an opportunity to help out and make a difference. As Van Putten pointed out, it’s the “power of we: we can’t do things alone.”
He also reported that the group has grown in number since he first started at the school four years ago. He said that other students see what the members of the League are doing and they think, “Oh, wow, look what they’re doing!”
“Step Up to Leadership”
Step Up to Leadership (SUL) was created by the Rural Ontario Institute, 4-H Ontario and the Foundation for Rural Living.
The weekend long program “inspires next-generation leaders (between the ages of 16 and 25) to encourage positive community growth through their involvement and their leadership.”
McIntosh Country Inn and Conference Centre in Morrisburg will be home for the SD&G event from November 4 to 6, 2011.
Alicia Evans, Project Manager for Leadership Programs told the Leader on October 26th: “We have a few people signed up so far and there seems to be quite a bit of interest. But there is still lots of room.” www.stepstoleadership.ca.
What seemed like a simple matter of transferring a contract from one subcontractor to another, quickly became a controversial topic for discussion at the October 18th South Dundas council meeting.
Don Lewis, Manager of Planning and Enforcement for South Dundas, proposed to council that the township consider entering “into an agreement with South Nation Conservation (SNC) to deliver Part VIII of the Ontario Building Code (OCB) pertaining to the design, construction, and maintenance of sewage systems.”
Lewis outlined the situation and reiterated his recommendation from the written proposal presented.
South Dundas, as well as neighbouring municipalities, received a letter from the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) on August 3, 2011 terminating their role as subcontractors for administering Part VIII of the OBC effective January 1, 2012.
Sewage systems became the responsibility of the municipalities in 1997 whereby they were given permission to subcontract to health units or to conservation authorities.
With this new development, a meeting was arranged with the Chief Building Officials of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry on August 11 “to discuss possible options of delivery methods.”
Two options mentioned were contracting SNC or doing the job “in house” whereby the township would hire additional staff specifically for the task.
Lewis believes that “entering into a contractual agreement with SNC would be the most advantageous and create a seamless transition for Municipalities, contractors and landowners.”
“SNC has expressed an interest to administer the program at the same fee structure set out by the EOHU at $650 per new application,” he continued.
Lewis further explained: “When delivering the program the delivering agent must also deal with the complaints pertaining to grey and black water issues as well which are difficult for yearly budget purposes.”
In addition, “SNC currently have staff trained to deliver the Part VIII program.”
Lewis admitted that inspection of new septic systems would be the “easy part,” adding that there “will be the necessity of mandatory inspection of existing sewage systems within the influence areas to be defined by the Source Water Protection Committee.”
“Quite honestly, I’ve had a fairly good working relationship with SNC,” he offered.
In response, Councillor Archie Mellan voiced concern about having SNC showing up on doorsteps unannounced to inspect resident’s septic systems. He wanted to know the specifics behind the mandatory inspection of the existing septic systems in terms of rules, regulations and guidelines.
“I think we (council) should have some say. Who is setting the guidelines?” He continued, saying he doesn’t “want to get into a situation where SNC is calling the shots.”
South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “I do concur with Councillar Mellan” in his concern with a “broad-based mandatory system.”
Following inquiry about the length of the contract, Byvelds asked Lewis: “Are you going to have a clause to get out” of the contract?
South Dundas Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald told council that, if council agrees, staff would ensure that an “out clause” be put into the contract.
Council was informed that the township of South Stormont has decided to enter into a contract with SNC for one year.
Council decided it would be prudent to look at the original contract with EOHU “to get an idea” of how to proceed in designing a new contract with SNC.
Byvelds suggested adding an extra service to the contract with SNC for the rural taxpayers: “an annual or biannual education program on septic systems (outlining) what they should be doing.”
He said that he felt “people need to be educated” on the proper care and maintenance of septic systems including things like what can and cannot be put into a septic system.
He told council, “I’d feel a little better letting them know what’s going on.”
To clarify the situation, South Dundas Deputy Mayor Jim Locke asked, “are we at the mercy of SNC or the province?”
Byvelds replied: “Provincial guidelines interpreted by SNC,” continuing, “they do have a good reputation, but to be fair, it is their interpretation of the rules.
In the end, council agreed to move forward with the proposal. Once staff has negotiated an agreement with SNC, McDonald reported that they will “be bringing the agreement back to council for approval.”
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