JoAnne Sharpley’s Source for Sports closing

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September 9, 2020

JQ - Sharpley closing - 2-web — Haliburton hockey players will have to find a new place for equipment with the closure. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

JoAnne Sharpley said customers are sad and disbelieving as she prepares to close the shop for good.

JoAnne Sharpley’s Source for Sports is closing after 29 years. With no buyer coming forward, Sharpley is working to sell off remaining stock before retiring, targeting Nov. 1 as an end date.

Sharpley said when long-time employees left two years ago, it felt like the right time to call it a career.

“I was tired, and I wanted to spend more time with my grandchildren,” Sharpley said. “That’s when it went on the market.”

Sharpley said she and ex-partner, former NHLer Glen Sharpley, bought an existing sporting goods store in 1991. They moved it around downtown Haliburton over the years, going from a 600-square-foot space to 6,000-square-foot today.

“We just grew it and grew it,” Sharpley said. “We offered always really great customer service. Our selection was always amazing … It was like a city store in a little, little town.”

The Haliburton Village BIA presented flowers to Sharpley Sept. 1 to recognize her forthcoming retirement. President Luke Schell said the store filled an important niche in the community, supplying hockey players.

“We’ve always been quite well-known as a hockey town,” Schell said. “Might quite possibly have been the top supporter of hockey in Haliburton. I think when it comes to the people who are going to miss the business, it’s going to be minor hockey.”

“You can buy clothes online, but you can’t buy a pair of hockey skates online,” assistant manager Cindy-Jo Nesbitt said. “It’s a terrible loss for Haliburton.”

Sharpley has tried to sell the store for two years but has only received two offers, neither of which has worked out. She added she does not know why there is not more interest.

“I wish I could answer that question,” Sharpley said. “Everybody wonders the same thing.”

The life of the store is winding down and though November 1 is the target, Sharpley said it may stay partially open past that to clear inventory.

“I still have that little glimpse of hope that somebody’s going to say ‘this can’t happen’,” Sharpley said. “We still hope there’s a buyer out there.”

Schell said Sharpley has made a huge contribution to the community over the years.

“All the members of the BIA certainly wish her the best in the future. It’s a sad farewell but we want to part showing our appreciation, not our regret,” Schell said.

Sharpley said she has made many great relationships through the store and is appreciative of all the support she has received.

“Thank you for 30 really great years,” Sharpley said. “To all the people that I’ve met that care for me.”

Abbey Retreat challenge raises $50K

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Lisa Gervais

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September 9, 2020

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LG-Haliburton Highlands challenge — Participants in the Haliburton Highlands Challenge. Photo submitted.

Twenty-two people gathered on the grounds of the Abbey Retreat Centre Aug. 27, walking the last few hundred metres with drums and umbrellas to mark the windup of a summer-long program to generate funds for the cancer support programs of the centre.

The Haliburton Highlands Challenge was a choose-your-own-adventure program inviting participants to walk, cycle, paddle, practice yoga or move in any way they wanted to reflect the importance of physical exercise in maintaining health and especially in recovery from cancer or cancer treatment symptoms.

Executive-director Doug Norris said 26 participants took part through July and August, locally and as far away as Montreal and Vancouver. As of the last day of the program, he said the goal of raising $50,000 had been met with more than 350 donors involved.

“These funds will underwrite the costs of cancer support programs through the next year, both once on-site programming can begin again and in the meantime through a growing curriculum of online programs with some 50 people in recent months served by five of the retreat centre personnel and further sessions beginning in September,” Norris said.

The Abbey Retreat Centre is a registered charitable organization located on the grounds of the Abbey Gardens Community Trust and exists to support people with a cancer diagnosis and their caregivers in finding life-enhancing choices on the cancer journey as well as offering meaningful program and a facility for the use of the Haliburton community. Programs are offered free of charge. For more information see abbeyretreatcentre.ca.

Curling Club sweeps through pandemic

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Lisa Gervais

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September 8, 2020

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JQ - Curling season pandemic - 2 — The Haliburton Curling Club is planning to start back up in October with new health protocols. File photo

The Haliburton Curling Club is planning to carry on its season even with the pandemic taking its toll on how many people are willing to play.

The club is working with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR) to start its season in October with new safety precautions, according to president Kent Milford.

Milford said after putting a vote to members, 54 per cent said they were willing to curl even with the additional necessary restrictions. With just over 100 members confirmed, the club’s board decided they had enough to go forward.

“The board has really been put in a difficult position,” Milford said. “We’ll do whatever it takes. We want those people who feel they still wanted to curl to have an opportunity to curl, but not at the expense of safety.”

Across the province, curling will be different. Health units are advising limits on cross-club play, with the Haliburton club not allowing any of its members to play elsewhere this season. The pandemic will impact gameplay as well, with the Ontario Curling Association recommending only one sweeper on all delivered stones.

Milford said masks will be mandatory for the most part and curling equipment cannot be shared. Their lounge area will also require social distancing.

The club has an average age of 65, a more vulnerable population for the virus, Milford said. But despite the hurdles and risks, many members are willing to keep curling.

“People have told me ‘I have nothing else I can do this winter, I want to curl, I want to make sure you do it. I’m willing to live with the risk’,” Milford said.

But not everyone is comfortable with that. Minden Curling Club president Robert Peacock said they put out a similar vote and only 40 of their 205 members – about 20 per cent – were willing to curl. As such, they are delaying their season until at least Christmas.

“Just trying to be safe and not cause any problems,” Peacock said. “Average age of our curling club is 67, so I think they’re just being very cautious.”

Clubs are also facing financial losses, unable to run usual fundraisers or tournaments. Peacock said they expect to lose $20,000 in building expenses, though that would have run up to $50,000 if they ran the season without enough numbers.

Milford said his club is also facing a loss, but it should be small enough to manage.

“It’s difficult,” Milford said.

“Thankfully, the balance sheet of our curling club is in reasonable shape and saved for a rainy day.”

Milford said he is confident members will follow the health protocols needed to carry on playing.

“We’re going to have to rely on the community spirit of our curlers to make sure they abide by these protocols,” he said. “I believe all of our curlers will.”

Bob Lake boaters back before council

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Lisa Gervais

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September 7, 2020

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LG - MH Bob Lake - 1 — Council will contribute $5,000 to a study and legal costs. File photo.

Minden Hills council, at its Aug. 31 meeting, approved spending up to $5,000 to assist the Bob Lake Association fund a professional design for its proposed boat launch on Claude Brown Road. The money would also help offset legal consultation costs.

The association’s chair, Laurent Joncas, made a request in writing for the township to fund the entire amount, estimated at $10,000.

Coun. Bob Carter suggested the compromise in a show of “good will” to move the file to the next level. He said it was a difficult situation.

“The location that they have chosen has not only some technical difficulties but also has some difficulties concerning the people who live in that immediate area. I’m a bit concerned that this group does not represent the majority of people on Bob Lake and they certainly do not have agreement from the neighbours who would be most affected by this situation,” Carter said. He added the legal opinion has to do with people launching boats crossing private land.

Coun. Jean Neville noted the township already spent $10,000 to assist stranded boats off of the lake when the historic launch was closed and only 10 boats were removed.

She said she wasn’t in support of the municipality spending money on a future launch “to serve a few boaters on Bob Lake.” She said boats are a luxury and the money could go towards a more deserving project. However, she was okay with the $5,000 spend for now.

Deputy mayor Lisa Schell said council had to consider people living on Claude Brown Road who will be affected to appease the people on Bob Lake.

Coun. Pam Sayne supported the full spend.

She said boaters had used the former launch for generations when it was assumed by all, including the township, that it was on municipal land. It was not until a real estate transaction in 2015-16 that it was discovered the launch was on private land.

Sayne said the municipality had “dropped the ball” and the association had been doing the heavy lifting ever since.

“They’ve emptied their coffers in trying to get this report, hiring consultants,” she said.

She added the location they are proposing is the only feasible site and said access would also be for the OPP and fire department. She said the association had letters of support from anglers and local businesses as well.

“We owe this to the community to follow through with it.”

In reference to Neville’s comment about boats being a luxury item, Sayne said the township supports snowmobiles for tourism and the economy, which is the same thing.

However, a majority of council voted for the $5,000 spend.

Mayor Brent Devolin said, “A file that’s been on my desk for five years. I would like to know whether it’s doable or not. I’m willing to split the cost with them to take it to the next level.”

AH rezones to allow farm, store and cabins

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Lisa Gervais

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September 6, 2020

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LG-Cleroux development 2-web — The site of the development. Photo by Lisa Gervais.

The family behind a plan to build a farm and market, tourist cabins and a store, is one step closer to achieving its dream in Algonquin Highlands.

The township, on Aug. 13, passed a bylaw to allow rezoning of the property to highway commercial-exception from rural zone.

The Cleroux family wants to establish the businesses at 9734 Highway 118, between Carnarvon and West Guilford. During a public meeting, spokesperson Sylvie Cleroux said they would like a market to serve the general public but the convenience store would be for people using their cabins. She said the cabins would be stage two of the development, and not likely for another two years.

Planner Sean O’Callaghan said it appeared the land was big enough to accommodate the proposed development within the requirements of the zoning bylaw, including compliance with things such as minimum setbacks and parking requirements.

He said there also appeared to be sufficient frontage and area to maintain a natural buffer between neighbours to minimize any potential impacts.

The Ministry of Transportation said it had no objections in a July 16 letter to the township tabled at the meeting.

MTO spokesperson Laurel Muldoon said the Clreoux’ will need to ask for a formal pre-consultation for their site plan prior to the MTO issuing a commercial entrance permit and building and land use permit. It said it would only issue a building and land use permit for the general store at this time.

Three of Cleroux’ neighbours wrote to object to the development.

Dorothy Robb said she’d been living next door for 25 years, and “I enjoy the peace and quiet, and the very last thing I want is having up to 10 cabins with tourists running around right next door.”

She said she is also worried about traffic on an already busy Highway 118, saying “it’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Resident Doug Olliffe also objected due to traffic concerns.

Muriel Jeffrey said she’s also troubled about disruption of her peace and quiet and traffic but is concerned about hemp production on the farm. While legal, she’s worried it will “encourage an undesirable element that the long-term residents in this area do not want.”

Deputy mayor Liz Danielsen said “overall, I’m not in objection to the application.” She said she’s hearing traffic is an issue, but the MTO has no problem with traffic to a store, and had not yet commented on cabins.

Coun. Lisa Barry wanted to know what the site plan would contain, and O’Callaghan said drawings of parking, septic, well and natural buffering. He said council would have to approve the site plan.

Mayor Carol Moffatt said she understands the traffic concerns.

O’Callaghan said the MTO part of the process will likely entail a traffic impact study and discussion about a turning lane. However, he said the township won’t know until the proponents apply to the MTO.

Moffatt asked O’Callaghan, “Notwithstanding any of the concerns, of which there are a number, it meets the criteria of our planning documents?”

“Yes, that is correct. There are a number of policies in our official plan that do support such a development,” he said.

Getting on with it

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Lisa Gervais

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September 5, 2020

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Resilience.

When I think about Haliburton County, its capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and toughness really stand out for me.

And while COVID-19 is still a clear and present danger, there are examples of Haliburtonians overcoming challenges throughout this week’s Highlander.

Let’s start with Sally Moore. The Sunny Rock bed and breakfast owner courageously sent out a mass email informing people she is battling breast cancer. However, she is organizing a fundraiser for Minden Rotary and, well, to lift her spirits. How about that?

The folks on Black Lake, as well as the family of Anna Andrews, certainly proved their mettle this past weekend. With Anna turning 100, family and friends weren’t going to let a little pandemic get in the way of celebrating her century. Instead, they jumped in their watercraft, grabbed their noisemakers and cruised by Anna’s dock to wish her a happy birthday. Minden Hills Coun. Pam Sayne showed up with a plaque from the township to mark the accomplishment.

Word came in from Doug Norris at the Abbey Retreat Centre. They are the folks tucked up the back of the Abbey Gardens site who offer free retreats for cancer patients and their careers. Earlier this summer, they launched the Haliburton Highlands Challenge. On Aug. 27, they wrapped it up, raising an incredible $50,000. It will ensure the continuation of virtual retreats for now, and many in-person in the future.

The Highlands Hills United Church outreach committee gave me a call. They wanted to share that they are gathering masks for school children. They were purchasing some but also looking for materials and sewers.

The folks at Volunteer Dental Outreach were delighted to announce that their annual golf tournament had raised $40,000. That is going to lead to a lot of smiles at the free-of-charge dental clinic.

Art on the Dock announced its return for its annual art exhibition on Kennisis Lake and they brought in a tidy $5,000.

The Rotary Club handed its prize-winning cheque of $30,000 to Judy Neimann. The fundraiser this year was highly successful.

The Land Between charity has reached the hatching stage of its new turtle incubation program, with the first of its 1,000 eggs hatching Aug. 7. The program has started releasing turtles, which will continue for another few weeks.

We’re starting to see the arts scene return with a vengeance. We have pop-up art taking place this weekend, workshops and exhibitions being advertised for September and October.

In sports, kids are being registered for Highland Storm minor hockey.

Many other families are preparing to return to school.

And, of course, Minden Pride celebrated its fifth annual event in the County. Like many, it had to hold the bulk of its activities online. However, it staged an inclusive flagraising, a drive-in movie night and a show your Pride colours day. The iconic Pride flag was flown from houses, businesses and vehicles as people did not allow COVID-19 to dampen their week-long celebration.

While the experts are telling us this bug is going to be around until the end of 2020 and into the beginning of 2021, it would seem Haliburton County residents are starting to well and truly get on with it. After all, we are known for our resiliency.

Salute our courageous educators

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Lisa Gervais

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September 5, 2020

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It is not an easy time to be working in the education sector.

With a return to school, we are asking these people to safely plan to take care of our children in a fundamentally unsafe scenario. We are asking our educators to risk their health and safety to take this on, much like we did our health care workers when the pandemic began. The difference is, this is not something educators signed up for when they started their careers.

With that in mind, we need to be kind and celebrate our education workers in the months to come, just as much as we did our health care professionals when the pandemic began.

The provincial government’s back-to-school planning is facing a lot of justified criticism about class sizes. Education unions have filed a labour board complaint that the province is violating workplace safety laws. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton compared school openings to the successful ones at retailers, grocery stores, construction sites and more, but none of those spaces equate to having 20-plus children in a room for hours on end. But our local teachers and boards can only deal with the hand they have been dealt in this case. They cannot necessarily openly criticize the provincial plan if they want to, though Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) trustees have made their umbrage with parts of it known.

Online learning is an option for students, but not necessarily for educators, with only so many online spots to go around. Getting online schools running well will also certainly be a challenge and it remains to be seen how well they will work over a full year.

So, our local educators must make the best of what is frankly a bad situation. In many respects, they have done that, with clear plans and regular updates across the board. Mandating masks for younger grades was also a strong step for safety. Teachers and administrators are hard at work planning, regardless of any anxieties they have.

There have undoubtedly been hiccups. It would have been nice for the expanded mask mandate to come before parents made their decisions on online versus in-person learning. A switch from taking two credits at once to one at secondary schools in late August was positive for safety but probably led to some confusion. Details on plans are coming much later than ideal given how close we are to opening, though the provincial rollout is more at fault for that.

But I am willing to give administrators and teachers a lot of leeway given this difficult situation, especially considering the risks we are asking them to take. To get parents back to work, we are asking educators to take greater risks to their health than most other occupations. We are tasking elementary educators to figure out how to teach while enforcing social distancing with young children and asking secondary educators to navigate radically different scheduling.

So, let us cheer our educators on as they face these challenges for our sake. We may not agree about the quality of the back-to-school plans, but regardless, educators deserve a lot of credit for the courage they are showing.

Kudos to them and let us all hope back-to-school unfolds as well as it possibly can.

Finding a new use for an old church

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Lisa Gervais

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September 5, 2020

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LG-Zion sale-web — The former Zion United Church in Carnarvon will be converted to a restaurant, antique shop and community meeting space if the conditional sale goes through in the fall. Photo by Lisa Gervais.

If the conditional sale goes ahead, the former Zion United Church in Carnarvon will give way to a bakery and cafe, antique store and community meeting space come this fall.

The final piece of the planning puzzle fell into place for Highlands Hills United Church Aug. 13 when the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) gave their blessing to a proposed zoning bylaw amendment.

Algonquin Highlands planner Sean O’Callaghan’s report said, “The MTO is aware of the parking situation and have expressed no concern with the new owners continuing to use the parking area.” There are 15 parking spaces for the building on East Road.

Following a public meeting, the township rezoned the land from community facility exception three to general commercial exception five.

At the meeting, no objections were tabled.

Deputy mayor Liz Danielsen said, “I’m really pleased to see the proposal for this building. I just hate to see churches being sold and then just sitting unused.”

Coun. Jennifer Dailloux said she breathed a sigh of relief at the planned usage.

“I know that in our planning documents, we stress the importance of maintaining the rural nature of our township and keeping that character. And, when I think about little villages across rural Ontario, this is the kind of thing that a lot of rural villages are finding to do with their previous spaces of worship. It’s the little antiques place, it’s the little café, it isn’t become something else. It’s very much in keeping with how Ontario seems to be evolving in its rural spaces where places of worship are coming to an end. And I honestly couldn’t be more delighted. I think that does keep very much in tune with our rural nature and I’m looking forward to visiting the space.”

Mayor Carol Moffatt also paid tribute to the Zion church community.

“I’m glad for the church folks that this portion of their lives is being tidied up. It’s been a long haul for them.”

County councillors opt to keep pay for cancelled meetings

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Lisa Gervais

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September 5, 2020

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JQ - County pay - 1-web — County councillors opted to keep pay for cancelled committee of the whole meetings. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

County of Haliburton councillors have opted to receive pay for cancelled meetings during the pandemic due to additional workloads.

At the Aug. 26 meeting, council discussed how staff kept up their per diem payments for the monthly committee of the whole meetings during the pandemic, even though the meetings were cancelled from April to July.

CAO Mike Rutter said council directed that pay continue as normal for staff and he applied that to council as well. He said he understood even though those meetings were not happening, councillors were working.

Warden Liz Danielsen said although there have not been committee of the whole meetings, the past few months have required more work than normal.

“I’m not complaining because it’s all been good work,” she said. “An awful lot more work in the last few months than I’ve ever done before. That probably stands for all of us.”

Although Coun. Carol Moffatt said she had discomfort getting paid for a meeting she did not attend, she decided she did not feel bad about taking the $80 per meeting.

“It’s important for us to acknowledge that, put that out there in the public forum,” Moffatt said. “We’ll keep the money in our bank accounts because of the amount of work we did, but acknowledge we’re not trying to rip off the taxpayer … We worked way harder than the $80 we get for a meeting we didn’t attend.”

Moffatt said no councillor is in the job for the money and it may be worth it to change pay.

“Just because we didn’t go to a meeting doesn’t mean we weren’t working,” Moffatt said. “It’s an opportunity to once again think about how much the positions are paid because they’re pretty darn poorly paid.”

Coun. Lisa Schell said Minden Hills councillors are paid on a salaried system which she said could be worth considering.

“It’s kind of just flat across the board, with the acknowledgement the job is technically – I don’t want to say 24/7 but it pretty much is,” Schell said. “My home is my office and my house phone rings constantly.”

Danielsen said councillors could individually work with staff to return part of their paycheques if they felt uncomfortable.

Organic waste the biggest polluter: Neville

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Lisa Gervais

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September 4, 2020

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LG-MH climate change plan-web — Scotch Line and other waste disposal sites and transfer stations in Minden Hills are the biggest polluters. File photo.

Minden Hills Coun. Jean Neville said she wants the County’s climate change coordinator to look into the possibility of getting a biodigester.

She made the comment after County climate change coordinator Korey McKay outlined her plan for the township to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

McKay’s report outlined a number of mitigation measures, including electric vehicles, reducing the garbage bag limit, and installing scales at the Scotch Line landfill.

She also revisited how 81 per cent of the municipality’s emissions come from landfills. She spoke of exploring the potential for food and yard waste diversion; completing a waste composition study at the landfill sites and implementing a backyard composting program.

Neville replied, “You said that you’re going to determine how much organic waste was at the landfill? You already know that 81 per cent of our emissions is coming from the landfill and so I’m thinking that is organic waste. I think that time and money and effort should be put into investigating a biodigester of some sort … even if it was County-owned or purchased, I think that would be a lot more value.”

A biodigester is like a mechanical stomach. It is fed with organic material, which is broken down by micro-organisms in an oxygen-free environment to produce a renewable energy called biogas and other material that is mainly used as fertilizer.

McKay said she had noted Neville’s suggestion for the implementation stage of the project. Coun. Pam Sayne, who is on the Minden Hills climate change committee, thanked the County for hiring McKay. She also thanked the many community volunteers who have been, and will continue to, work on the portfolio.

“We know that our targets that we need to meet are certainly not where we want them to be in this report but I think it’s open to improving,” she said. However, “I’m excited about this direction. I think there’s options to even do better. But it’s on the table and we’re moving in the right direction.”

McKay said the township’s corporate emissions come largely from its landfills (81 per cent), followed by fleet (12 per cent) and buildings (seven per cent). The GHG reduction targets are to cut corporate emissions by 20 per cent; 10 per cent for fleet and 10 per cent for waste from the 2018 baseline by 2030. Coun.

Bob Carter said he’d like to see more of a focus on diversion and public education.

“From my perspective, you’re not going to change the output without changing the input. So, reducing garbage bags to two per week is going to probably lead to more garbage on our roads and streets. Without doing something to help the public to reduce, educate them and reduce the amount of garbage, it doesn’t help just to do it at the end,” he said.

McKay said she will support each municipality to implement the suggested actions. She said a joint municipal climate change working group should be created for county-wide collaboration and ongoing input and support for the adoption of practices and policies designed to reduce GHG emissions.

As for monitoring, she said she will complete corporate GHG inventories annually and report to councils to track progress.

“The plan is a living document that should be updated when major changes occur or at a minimum of every three years,” she said.