John Teljeur is hopeful he’ll have the opportunity to bring “pondemonium” back to Haliburton in the new year.
The 2022 Canadian Pond Hockey Championships are slated to begin Jan. 28. The annual event has been held on and off in the community since 2013, with games taking place on the pond by Pinestone Resort.
The championships had to be postponed in 2021 due to provincial restrictions brought on by the pandemic, and Teljeur is keeping his fingers crossed that history doesn’t repeat itself after a recent spike in COVID- 19 cases saw Premier Doug Ford usher in new restraints Dec. 19.
“I don’t know if it’s just my luck, but nothing ever seems to go the way I plan it,” Teljeur said. “With the whole virus
situation happening, that’s been a thing we’ve always worried about. Now there’s a different version coming along that seems to be spreading, we definitely have to keep an eye on that.
“Right now, we’re still planning on holding the event. We have a Plan B and Plan C in place if we need them. If we have to defer, we will, but we’re not going to do that until we know there’s no chance of it happening safely or responsibly,” he added.
Between 70 and 80 teams have registered to take part in the event, which draw as many as 500 tourists to Haliburton County over the two championship weekends. Games are scheduled to take place Jan. 28-29 and Feb. 4-5.
Visitors are welcome to watch the games on the ice, with 18 rinks of action on the go at any one time, but access to Pinestone
for any indoor event will be reserved for participants only.
The championships have been a great revenue generator for local businesses in the past, Teljeur said, with restaurants and hotels usually packed across both weekends. It’s also helped to put the Highlands on the map.
“We did a survey in 2020 where we asked people ‘do you come back up into the area after the games’, most people have never been up in the area before coming for the pond hockey event, and about three quarters said they’d be interested in coming back
up here again for something other than hockey,” Teljeur said. “It’s really been a great advertiser for the community, and it doesn’t cost anyone a thing. In fact, the local economy thrives when these championships take place.”
Pond hockey on thin ice with COVID
Woodland healers weather COVID
Don Ross’ grandkids spotted the loon first, huddled on the sand of the family’s Grass Lake cottage.
“They didn’t want to leave it. It was not well, it was lethargic, it was in some distress,” said Ross. “I’ve never seen a loon on a beach … just sitting there.”
Nora, seven, and her brother Lukas, nine, helped their parents put the loon in a box dotted with holes. Then they drove it to the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden.
The diagnosis? The loon was starving, said Monika Melichar, sanctuary founder and director.
After spending two weeks nursing the loon back to health, Melichar dropped the loon back off at the Ross’ cottage, where the family was able to send the loon, healthy, on its way.
“It was quite a learning experience for the kids,” said Ross, “teaching them about stewardship and conservation.”
It’s likely the teenage loon, about to fly south for the winter, would have died if not for the Ross family and Melichar’s expert care nursing it back to life.
Don Ross said the situation “says something about the condition of our lakes or our environment.”
For Melichar, rescuing loons and other animals is a 365-day career, with funding and food shortages meaning it’s been difficult to keep up with the demand for her services.
She’s seen 12 loons come through the doors this year, compared with two or three on a usual year.
“It’s been quite the year for loons,” said Melichar.
At the sanctuary, she opens a cage where a loon, full-grown, sits on clean and thickly- padded blankets. It’s severely malnourished as well.
It’s difficult to tell why.
Melichar said high water levels might mean loons have trouble finding fish to eat in deep waters.
Another explanation could be a depleted fish supply, with the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association reporting a depleted walleye population in the Kash chain of lakes (which includes Grass Lake).
Haliburton’s lakes are under increased stress due to increased nutrient loading.
A 2015 lake health report showed 48 per cent of properties on Grass Lake have mowed lawns bordering the water, which is shown to allow sediment and other harmful chemicals to flow into the lake.
For Melichar and her volunteers, the reason why animals are being brought to the sanctuary is secondary: they never refuse them. The important part is caring for them, a task made difficult by funding and food shortages.
For example, loons only eat full fish.
“We can manage that, but finding them is a challenge,” Melichar said. She invited any generous anglers to get in touch.
“Anybody who’s out there fishing and they catch sunfish or something, absolutely;we don’t need them live, they can be dead or frozen.”
And as the winter sets in, birds such as mergansers and grebes still have a dire need for food.
“This is just the situation now. The situation gets worse later on in the year.”
This year was also the first year in the sanctuary’s history that money ran dry.
“Normally in the summertime, we’ll have garage sales or people coming into our
gift shop to purchase items, we weren’t able to do that,” Melichar said. She added infrastructure upgrades, such as bringing running water into the building and creating a cage for birds of prey, took up a lot of funds.
“I’d say with COVID-19 the last two years have been severely challenging,” she said.
Her and a greatly reduced team of volunteers had to put in even more work caring for the 150 birds, skunks, raccoons, porcupines, squirrels and others who come with car-inflicted injuries, diseases and any number of other maladies. This year, the sanctuary estimates they’ve saved more than 700 animals’ lives.
“We have been overwhelmed with animals because we’ve been lacking volunteers,” she said.
That means they sometimes work 24-hour days; tough cases take extra time, such as a skunk with neurological damage. Melichar and a volunteer massage and move his arms and legs to help get him used to walking again.
“It can take a volunteer a good hour to work with the skunk. And there are only so many hours in the day,” Melichar said.
Despite difficulty sourcing affordable food for the animals, landing volunteers or even keeping lights on, Melichar said she’s passionate about the work.
“Wildlife is really on their own. Generally speaking, it is through some sort of human action that wildlife gets injured or orphaned,” she said. “We caused this to happen and we really need to fix it and make it better.”
The sanctuary launched an online auction this fall, “Bid Wild 4 Wildlife” where local art, tickets and other gifts were up for auction.
Holiday market hits social media site
A group of local creators have taken craft markets online this year and Highlands shoppers have joined them.
The Haliburton Holiday Market Facebook page started in late November and now has more than 700 members.
Monica Miles Keefer said she started the group after local markets she usually helps organize seemed too difficult to pull off under COVID-19 restrictions. “I started it because I wanted to shop,” she said. “I like to give gifts that aren’t commercialized, whether I make it or someone else makes it.”
After contacting about a dozen local artists, she created the page and it “took off.” Now, about two dozen artists post images of handmade jewelry, wooden decor, glass ornaments, knitting, pillows, locallyillustrated books and hand-spun rugs.
“Not everyone gets in the shopping spirit on the same weekend,” Keefer said. She’s received some feedback too, from people with accessibility concerns who appreciated the chance to shop from home.
“It just showed up on my Facebook to join the group,” said Nancy Lowes of Haliburton. She soon found exactly what she was looking for: customized height rulers for her grandkids from Sarah CorbyEdwards.
Lowes and Corby-Edwards communicated via Messenger through the design and creation process.
“She did so well with one I ordered two,” Lowes said. Lowes said it’s been a good spot to discover artisanal talent, “definitely if you’re looking for something locallymade.” Keefer points to artisans who seem to be thriving on the platform.
“A lot of them are enjoying it, and are getting sales. If they’re not getting sales they’re getting exposure for future events,” she said.
Darlene Phibbs Johnston, who helped start the group, said she’s enjoyed selling her handmade wreathes to a new audience.
At her home in Carnarvon, she points to a cellphone photo of an intricate silver wreath. “That one went up and in 30 seconds, boom, it was sold,” she said.
Besides selling wreathes, she said it’s been a way to get to know people in the community. “I love that,” she said.
Keefer and Johnston said the page will likely keep going after the holidays.
“My plan was to get it going,” Keefer said. “I hope that the artists will continue it year-round. It’s not just Christmas-related products they create.”
Birders flock to Christmas count
Ed Poropat looks up at the frosty evergreens lining the Haliburton County Rail Trail. With binoculars in one hand, he makes a “pish pish pish” sound that carries through the trees.
With any luck, the birds will answer.
An avid bird watcher, Poropat administers Haliburton’s portion of the 55th annual Christmas Bird Count. On Dec. 18, birding experts and novices gathered south of Haliburton to record the bird population.
The results aren’t tallied yet; but in some respects the year was already a success. “We had more field counters than we’ve ever had,” Poropat said. This year, there were 32 field participants, along with many others who recorded winged visitors to their bird feeders in the area.
He said there were quite a few new birders this year, paired up with one of the many experienced birders who have made the Christmas bird count a yearly tradition. “We try to build confidence and familiarity with the protocols,” he said.
The Christmas bird count is Canadawide, with Birds Canada tallying up the total results from each 24-kilometre-wide monitoring zone. “Over time you get a picture of what’s going on, because of counts like this,” Poropat said.
For instance, he’s seen an increase in the count of birds of prey in recent years, however overall counts dipped last year to 3,724, down from the 20-year average of 4,280. Some bird populations, he said, are more flighty: depending on the quality of food, such as pine cones, the populations of smaller birds can fluctuate year to year.
Where it gets tricky, said Poropat, is determining how to count birds only once.
Depending on a birder’s location, on which side of the Gull River, for instance, they might accidentally count a bird that is in another counter’s section.
“There’s a lot of phone calls and emails,” he said, as he sorts through the results of the study. It’s a lengthy process and Poropat estimates he’ll be able to paint a clearer picture of the Highland’s count results in January.
He’s noticed an influx in birding interest over the past two years. “Especially during COVID-19, people want to find ways to be outside,” said Poropat. On the rail trail, he points ahead off the trail; a warbling call echoes from the thick bush.
“We’ve got a raven there,” he said. Poropat loves birding for “a whole bunch of reasons. I love being outside; the challenge of looking for stuff and finding things that are unusual,” he said. “I love the camaraderie, the guys that I go out with.
And from the other perspective, it’s citizen science, it contributes to science.” Poropat also leads birding excursions through the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust.
It’s a way for people, Poropat said, to “make a connection with the land around them, and what lives there. Once people develop that connection, they’re way more apt to connect with it.”
HHSS going back to regular semesters
Regular four-class semesters will be reinstated across all TLDSB secondary schools in February, says the board’s director of education Wes Hahn. The decision was announced Dec. 9, with Hahn providing additional details at a Dec. 14 organizational meeting of the board.
He said strong vaccination rates of secondary school students was a key factor, with a significant number of the board’s Grade 9-12 student body having received a first and/or second dose of the vaccine.
While students have been engaged in the quadmester system since September, Hahn noted co-horting at the secondary level has not been taking place.
Students have been mixing, and participating in extracurricular activities – sometimes with students from other schools and boards.
Despite this level of interaction, TLDSB has had only five cases of COVID-19 across its seven secondary schools and six alternative and adult education centres between Sept. 1 and Dec. 14. Superintendent Kim Williams said principals and teachers have been engaging with students since the start of the year over the pros and cons of the quadmester system. “While many students enjoyed quadmesters, many others preferred the semester system where they could spend more time learning key concepts to help with the retention of material for future use. The benefit of having more time to learn and retain information was echoed by teachers and principals,” Williams said.
“Our principals work with students and staff every day in our schools. They believe the semester system is best for student learning.”
A quadmester is a condensed schedule where students participate in two classes daily over a 44-day period. Regular semesters see students engaged in four classes over the course of several months. Haliburton trustee Gary Brohman supported the decision.
“I think students in Grade 9 and 10 that have never felt semestering will love it. They will feel it’s like a high school,” Brohman said. Williams noted lockers will be made available to secondary school students beginning Feb. 7.
Annual report
Despite challenges over the past 12 months, Hahn said TLDSB had made “great strides” on several fronts in 2021.
Continued investment in technology ensured all students from Grade 7 to 12 had access to a device they could take home for virtual learning, while around $17 million has been spent bringing school facilities up to new health and safety standards, with the installation of HEPA filters in classrooms and improvements to central ventilation systems taking centre stage.
TLDSB’s four-year graduation rate increased by one per cent, while the graduation rate for students enrolled in “specialist majors” increased from 48 per cent in 2019/20 to 58 per cent in 2020/21.
Each department head provided updates, with Williams saying the board is expecting to see a decrease in credit accumulation rates for students from Grades 9 to 11. “Despite a strong start, students struggled as the year ran on and COVID fatigue settled in,” Williams said.
“Although we have a number of credit shy Grade 9 and 10 students, we are confident we will be able to help them graduate on time through programs like School Them in a College, dual-credits, specialist high skills majors, Ontario Youth Apprenticeships and summer school co-op.”
Director’s update
Hahn said the board has yet to receive any information from the ministry regarding potential school closures in the wake of a fifth COVID-19 wave.
The provincial government announced new restrictions Dec. 17, with the number of daily cases exceeding 4,000 for the first time since April.
The Omicron variant, considered to be a super spreader by health care professionals, is prevalent in many parts of the province, including the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district. Should there be any changes to the school schedule, Hahn said TLDSB staff will be ready. “If there are changes over the holidays, as we have done in the past, we will take a very measured approach to allowing people to come back into the building, get what they need to ensure we can start up in a different mode of learning,” Hahn said.
“There is no panic here. We are going to continue on in the way we’re doing things right now, and hoping we will be back in-person after the holidays. But if there are changes, we are ready to go.”
Handing the mic to Highlands stars
Penny Randall-Mowbray wants to play your music on her new show, Locally Sourced, which landed on CanoeFM airwaves the first week of December.
Airing each Wednesday from 7-9 p.m., Randall-Mowbray features local music and musicians who visit the studio to play live. “If you look locally in every small town, in every hamlet, there are musicians; there has always been musicians,” she said.
The show aims to illuminate Haliburton’s talent which many may overlook. “We just don’t recognize it: we think we have to leave our community to find music and we do not: it’s all right here if you just look around,” she said. Local up-and-coming songwriters like Cassidy Taylor belted out original tunes live and Annabelle Craig brought her cello into the studio for a show; their music played right alongside tracks from seasoned voices such as Carl Dixon. Randall-Mowbray said she opens each show with a song by an indigenous artist to honour the original stewards of the land.
“I think people really love it,” RandallMowbray said.
She’s been volunteering at the station for four years. Throughout that time, she said she’s come to appreciate the community of musicians in Haliburton who encourage each other to play no matter their skill level.
“If others in your circle have told you you’re not good enough, you’re not this, you’re not that, you can reach out to other like-minded individuals.”
She’ll play just about any music locals send in, and always is on the hunt for performers who may want to strum a few tunes.
Beginners are welcome. “I couldn’t play ukulele, I couldn’t play anything: everyone starts out at zero but there’s no way to go but up,” she said.
She hopes listeners might be encouraged to pick up an instrument themselves.
“I think whatever age we have playing: somebodies going to resonate with that,” she said. “I’m an older musician and not very good, but people might say ‘hey, she just started playing a few years ago. If she can do it, I guess I can do it too.’”
Hunter Creek rezoning a ‘tearing apart’ issue
Minden Hills council unanimously rejected a rezoning application for a multi-unit longterm residential development on Hunter Creek Road Dec. 9.
Contracted planning consultant Darryl Tighe said that long-term multiple-unit residential use does not conform to the township’s official plan, which directs that planning suit surrounding development and landscape.
While the property is currently zoned as a waterfront, neighbours who addressed council said the property is already occupied by multiple long-term tenants. The commonly accepted definition of waterfront zoning refers to single-occupant residences.
Tighe’s report also claims the property was part of a larger land parcel that was severed with an agreement declaring “that the ‘motel’ was not to be utilized for commercial purposes.” This means the current use seems to be in violation of the township’s zoning rules. The applicant did not submit any technical reports.
Jeffrey Streisfield, a lawyer representing the property owners, said disallowing the rezoning would be “draconian.” He said the plan to turn the building into residences geared to seniors means “long-term residential housing in a county and municipality that has not been able to address the housing crisis that exists.”
Melissa Markham, the applicant’s agent, said evaluations of environmental impact are noted as being the biggest factor in determining suitability. Since the property wouldn’t change if rezoning is allowed, Markham said the environmental impact would be negligible.
She did not provide or refer to an environmental impact report. Luigi Centurami, who said he owns the property, declined to comment.
Mayor Brent Devolin said he was “very comfortable” taking the planners’ recommendation to disallow the rezoning. “It’s not housing under no conditions,” Devolin said.
Deputy mayor Lisa Schell said the applicant “asked for forgiveness rather than permission,” since there are “six units” currently being rented at the property.
Coun. Pam Sayne said she was “very angry” at the divisive situation and that the application represents a “tearing apart issue.” Sayne said “poor landlords can create situations that make the residents look bad.”
Nearby property owner Dan Martel said council approving the rezoning would “portray the wrong message” since a 2016 agreement seemed to block the landowner from using the property for multiple longterm units.
“I think it’s wrong, and I’m definitely against it,” Martel said.
Multiple other neighbours reported deteriorating road conditions, due to increased traffic on the private, unpaved cottage road. Others said they’ve seen trucks parked on septic beds and tenants trespassing on neighbouring properties.
Nearby resident John C. Law wrote in a letter to council he was concerned issues with people who appear to live at the property would only “escalate” if the rezoning was approved. Coun. Sayne said the file points to a much larger issue.
“What we need to do here is address our housing concerns in a much larger way than we have,” she said. Devolin said he couldn’t discuss specifics about how apparent zoning infractions at the property are being addressed but said “there are things going on, on multiple fronts.”
Townships respond to new Omicron business rules
Haliburton’s four municipalities have announced new restrictions and safeguards as COVID-19 cases in the province rise. Minden Hills’ offices closed Dec. 21, with staff booking in-person meetings on an individual basis.
Landfills will operate as usual, and building and planning applications will continue to be processed, as well as building inspections carried out on a case-by-case basis.
The Agnes Jamieson Art Gallery and Minden Hills Cultural Centre are closed until further notice, along with the gymnasium and walking track at the arena. Public skating and ice programs are limited to a maximum of 25 participants.
Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East have announced similar restrictions. Anyone visiting municipal offices has to have an appointment.
Dysart et al encourages all visiting municipal offices to book an appointment, and will only be allowing one person in the township offices’ lobby at a time. CAO Tamara Wilbee said the arena and Haliburton Highlands Museum will run at 50 percent capacity. There will be no new bookings at the arena auditorium. The Head Lake welcome centre and public washrooms will remain open. The rules come after the HKPR health unit asked businesses to re-instate work-from-home when possible and limit in-person contact.
A different kind of ice at River Cone
This year, winterizing Minden’s iconic River Cone didn’t mean unplugging fridges, locking doors or shuttering windows.
Instead, new owners Monica Bolton and Ben Scott have been hard at work crafting the Cone into a winter destination for locals, snowmobilers and perhaps even skaters.
They aim to open five days a week in January, a first for the location they’ve been operating since May 2021.
That’s in large part due to the heavy snowmobile traffic that runs right by their back door. “We thought if we could somehow serve that community, it would be great for them, it would be great for us, but it meant we had to reinvent a lot of things in the process,” Scott said.
With a background in construction, Scott has been ensuring the fibreglass cone, traditionally just a summer spot, is ready to dish up quality meals in the cold. Scott said they’re excited to offer hearty meals like stews, soups or house-made mac and cheese, “things that really fill you up,” he said.
Bolton presented a vision for a River Cone skating rink at Minden Hills council Dec. 9. She said it could be a big draw for tourists who might hit the ice before grabbing a hot beverage at the River Cone or perusing downtown shops. “Taking a public space like this and offering added features; it’s quite a draw,” said Bolton.
While the rink wouldn’t be operational this year, the River Cone’s received broad support on social media and councillors seemed receptive to the project. “It sounds dreamy, frankly,” said deputy mayor Lisa Schell.
Mayor Brent Devolin called the idea “novel” but cautioned there are “nuts and bolts” associated with constructing and operating a rink on the area, which is an unused municipal road. Bolton and Scott said they’re excited to continue to explore how the project could proceed in future years. “I think this idea has some legs,” Bolton said and addressed the many who’ve voiced support for the project online “don’t lose patience or faith that we can work with the municipality so we can do something cool with these unused spaces.”
In the summer they strung up a pickleball net on the road, and local youth often play basketball there while hanging out around the eatery. “We feel really strongly about the need for kids, and youth especially, to have someplace they can go,” Scott said, “where they have freedom to be themselves but there are lots of eyes on them so they’re accountable for their actions or behavior.” Skating rink or not, Bolton and Scott said creating a community hub is a central value. “We enjoy that sort of vibe,” Bolton said.
Library lockers coming to Dorset
After nearly a year without service, Algonquin Highlands readers will soon have local library access.
Three lockers are being installed outside Robinson’s General Store in Dorset where patrons can pick up reserved library items.
Library CEO Chris Stephenson said he’s excited to have found an interim solution. It’s a fairly innovative service,” he said. “It’s an out-of-the-box solution to a challenge.”
Once the lockers open, likely within weeks, patrons can reserve books and materials online, using combination padlocks to pick them up.
Stephenson said the library is rolling out an educational campaign, letting local users know when the lockers will be usable and how the system will work. Despite a small population, Stephenson said there are many steady users of the library in the area, and there will likely be deliveries to the lockers twice weekly.
“The location couldn’t be any better,” he told the library board in a Dec. 8 meeting. Mold has closed the Dorset community centre since spring and service at the Stanhope branch is still offline, as accessibility improvements have blocked off the front entrance.
Library staff must be vaccinated
HPL workers must soon be vaccinated or face employment termination. The vaccination stance is “based heavily off the County draft policy,” said Erin Kernohan-Berning, branch services librarian. Patrons will not need to be vaccinated.
Warden Liz Danielsen asked how staff felt about serving unvaccinated patrons. Kernohan-Berning said the library lacked human resources to check vaccination status, and the current policies follow suit with libraries across Ontario.
Stephenson said “we just maintain the same practices we supported through other stages of the pandemic but said the library is ready to pivot if things turn for the worse.” That includes plexiglass partitions at counters, sanitizer, mandatory masking and spaced seating areas.
Rebrand coming
The library board approved funding for a HPL rebranding initiative that will result in a new logo, as well as changes to the visual appearance of the library’s literature, website, signs and more. Kernohan-Berning said an “appropriate time to do a rebrand is when you’re rolling out a new look.” Mugo Web, a company hired to build the site, will also be contracted to complete the rebranding at an estimated cost of $5,000. The company will provide the library board a chance to approve designs, fonts and more throughout the rebranding process.