There were no on-site lunch options for Hal High (HHSS) students when they returned to school last week, with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) confirming there will be no functional cafeteria until further notice.

Carolynne Bull, TLDSB spokesperson, said HHSS is one of five schools in the district without a running cafeteria, alongside Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School, Gravenhurst High School, Huntsville High School, and Lindsay Collegiate and Vocational Institute.

“There are no requirements [to serve food in schools],” Bull said. She noted TLDSB has a contract with food service supplier Aramark to operate the HHSS cafeteria. The company notified TLDSB in August it’s experiencing staff shortages and does not have enough workers to man the cafeteria.

Snack-tacular chef offers cafeteria fix

This isn’t the first time the cafeteria has been closed, Bull confirmed.

“There has been a few times over the last handful of years when the food service was not available, for reasons ranging from staff shortages to COVID-19 restrictions,” she said.

The school board said families were informed about the situation prior to students returning to school, with notices going out Aug. 28. Bull said the cafeteria space remains open for students to use throughout the day.

When asked what options students have for lunch, Bull recommended they bring food from home. She said students get a 55-minute break so they can also leave the school grounds and venture into nearby Haliburton village to get lunch.

The HHSS early morning breakfast program, run by volunteers, is not impacted by the cafeteria closure.

Bull said the cafeteria may reopen if Aramark is able to hire the necessary staff.

Aramark did not respond to questions by press time.

Solution denied

Chef Lisa Rowden said she was very disappointed to find out the cafeteria didn’t reopen when schools did. She said her daughter, who is in Grade 10 at HHSS, had to put up with multiple closures last year too.

Wanting to come up with a solution for the kids, Rowden said she offered to reopen the cafeteria last week but was turned down.

She’s spent the bulk of her career in a kitchen, running the West Guilford Snack Bar for several years, managing a cafeteria at a factory in Penetanguishene, and working as a sous chef at Dimensions Algonquin Highlands until her recent retirement. Rowden confirmed she has all the necessary food safety and sanitation certificates.

“I’m more than qualified to run a school cafeteria,” Rowden said. “I’m not doing this for the money, this is not a lucrative business. I just want the kids to have the option of getting food at school. They’ve lost so much already because of COVID, I think they should get to have a cafeteria.”

Rowden said she could have the cafeteria open within a couple of days, promising fresh baked goods like chocolate chip muffins and cinnamon rolls, homemade soups, salads, wraps, and a fluctuating hot menu.

Teri Guthrie, executive assistant to TLDSB superintendent Tim Ellis, in an email to Rowden indicated the school board could not take on another vendor due to its agreement with Aramark. She said Rowden was welcome to apply for a position working in the cafeteria through Aramark.

The local mom won’t be doing that – though said she won’t give up the fight to reopen the cafeteria.

“Days when the weather is really bad, what are kids’ supposed to do? My daughter called [on Monday] to say she didn’t get to walk to town because it was pouring rain, so she went hungry. That shouldn’t be happening,” Rowden said. “And maybe there are kids out there who aren’t in good situations and can’t take lunches to school. It feels like some kids are falling through the cracks.”

Algonquin Highlands resident Rae Mavor is calling on council to address safety concerns along North Shore Road by introducing a community safety zone along its busiest and most dangerous stretch.

She and husband, Ken, have lived on the road for 53 years and say they’ve never seen things as bad as they are now. They appeared before Algonquin Highlands council Sept. 5 to deliver a petition, signed by 99 other people, demanding the municipality take action.

“People are terrified to walk the road no matter what time of day it is – when there’s two cars on there, there’s no room for anything else,” Mavor said. “And the speeds people are travelling at makes everything that much worse. The road is for everybody – drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, dogs. We all have to respect one another.”

Mavor said there has always been problems with the road, but things took a turn four or five years ago. After hearing how a neighbour, out for an afternoon walk, had to dive into the ditch to avoid an oncoming vehicle earlier this summer, and seeing her daughter-in-law clipped by a passing car’s wing mirror, she decided enough was enough.

Her first step was to walk every inch of the approximate 3.6 kilometre stretch of North Shore Road from Hwy. 35 to St. Peter’s Bridge to note any danger she encountered or concern she had. Next, she drafted her petition, which she said has been supported by all but three residents of the road.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take to have people realize they need to slow down. There are mothers with babies walking down the road. Most residents have given up walking on the road completely. We’re almost prisoners on our lots,” Mavor said.

In a community safety zone speed limits are lowered, usually to 40 km/h, signs are erected encouraging people to slow down, and fines for those caught speeding are doubled. Mavor said many communities are opting for them to address problem areas.

They’re littered across major cities like Toronto and Ottawa, while Niagara Region has 12 community safety zones. Minden recently introduced one on Water Street and Bobcaygeon Road. There’s one in Ingoldsby, too.

Mavor contests there are more cars on the road, due to the expansion of the Maple Lake landfill. She’s also seen an increased presence of transport trucks.

“They’ll use North Shore Road as a shortcut to get to Haliburton from Huntsville. With the turn at St. Peter’s Bridge, trucks have hit and damaged it. I’m hoping if the township lowers the speed, the trucks will stop coming down here,” Mavor said.

Algonquin Highlands’ previous council turned down a request to lower the posted speed limit on the road in 2022. Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux, presiding over the meeting in the absence of mayor Liz Danielsen, said council would consider the request.

Public works manager Adam Thorn said he’s working on a report for an upcoming meeting filling council in on statistics gathered by a digital speed sign that was placed on the road earlier this year. As an early teaser, he noted 70 per cent of vehicles tracked by the sign were travelling less than 50 km/h – the posted limit.

He worried designating the entire stretch of road as a community safety zone may be ineffective. Councillors Lisa Barry and Sabrina Richards agreed.

Thorn said the answer may be requesting extra patrols from Haliburton Highlands OPP.

“I’ve sat on North Shore Road and watched cars go by. I lived on the road from 2010 to 2017, I still run down [the road] regularly. There’s good days and there’s bad days,” Thorn said. “If we reduce the speed limit, is that going to stop traffic? Is it going to slow them down? It’s enforcement [that changes behaviour]. Staff are doing what we can to help reduce speeding, but at the end of the day it’s enforcement of the law we need to curb it.”

It’s been a busy, and sometimes emotional few months for Highlands veteran Nick Bryant, who has been overseeing the summer restoration of the Haliburton Legion’s M4 ‘Easy Eight’ Sherman tank.

The Second World War-era machine has been missing from its usual home beside the legion building since June, though Bryant promised it would be returning soon.

“We’re aiming to have it delivered for early October – way in advance of Remembrance Day,” Bryant said. “It’s important to us, to the legion, that it be back then.”

For the past three months, the tank has been sitting at the Haliburton Crane and Concrete property on Gelert Road. Bryant said around 30 community members had contributed approximately 750 volunteer hours to give the vehicle a much-needed facelift.

The project has been extensive. To start, the tracks and turret were removed to allow for the main body to be stripped and sandblasted, both inside and out. While that was happening, Bryant said representatives from Base Borden visited, collecting some of the tank’s workable parts that are to be displayed in the military camp’s museum.

The Sherman has been painted a deep shade of green, while stencils to re-inscribe Haliburton and the CFR title number have been ordered.

A new set of rubber tracks have been ordered and will soon be installed, Bryant said. Several volunteers, including members of the Haliburton Army Cadets, were on-site Aug. 30 assisting with the rebuild.

Jackson Trautman, 13, and Tristan Humphries, 14, were busy reinstalling the tank’s road wheels last week, under Bryant’s guidance. The pair told The Highlander they felt it was important to help as they’re preserving part of Haliburton’s history. They also thought it was cool to see the inner workings of a tank up close and in-person.

The tank arrived in Haliburton from Base Borden in 1970, Bryant said, serving as a local memorial to Highlands’ veterans in the years since. A plaque installed on its side reads, “through the mud and the blood to the green fields beyond,” in reference to its use in multiple war efforts. Bryant confirmed that plaque would be reinstalled.

The M4 Sherman was constructed by Fisher Tank Company in the 1940s and used predominantly by the U.S. in the Second World War, and by Canadian troops in the Korean War. It was named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, a celebrated American Civil War general.

According to online records, the Haliburton tank was constructed in 1945.

“The tank will be 80 years old next year… it’s an icon of the town and of the legion. I’m happy to see it in better shape,” Bryant said.

The restoration, including moving the tank and purchasing materials, is expected to cost around $24,000, though a Canadian War Memorials grant covered a good chunk – the legion and community donations too care of the rest.

Bryant said without the community’s support, including from Total Site Services, Haliburton Crane Rental, and Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association, the project never would have happened.

“The community has been outstanding. People, when they knew something was needed for this project, have been really stepping up,” Bryant said. “We’re getting down to the short strokes now. We need to install the turret again, focus on some decals, and we’ll be done.”

Workers were outside the legion last week preparing the site for the tank’s eventual return.

“Seeing the transformation, it’s been amazing. We hope people will appreciate it, stop and check it out, once it’s back,” Bryant said.

Two-and-a-half years on from Russian forces invading Ukraine – a war that continues today – and Highlands resident Jennifer Mykolyshyn is continuing to fight for her ancestorial home.

While her grandparents left Europe following the Second World War in search of a better life in Canada, Mykolyshyn has maintained close ties with Ukraine. She still has family there, forced into fighting for their freedom after Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated the years-long RussoUkrainian War in February 2022.

“I’ve been following this every day since,” Mykolyshyn recently told The Highlander.

Her cousin, in his 50s, left his adopted home in Italy within days of the invasion, returning to Ukraine to re-enlist in the military.

Mykolyshyn said she has a close bond with her cousin and regularly communicates over the phone and online. She visited Italy in 2017 and had organized a trip to Lviv with her far-away family before a combination of COVID-19 and the invasion scuppered plans.

She’s spent that money – and a little more – supporting her cousin, estimating she’s given between $10,000 and $12,000 for things like a generator, a military-grade radio, and other supplies over the past 18 months.

It wasn’t easy getting things over to Ukraine though, she recalls.

“Most people wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for this stuff, but you learn all sorts of new skills when your family is threatened,” Mykolyshyn said. “When the full-scale invasion happened, I realized I could buy this stuff, but I couldn’t ship it.”

She joined Twitter and got involved with the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO) – an online movement dedicated to countering Russian propaganda and disinformation about the most recent war. There, she connected with volunteers based in Europe who found ways to move much-needed equipment over the border.

Mykolyshyn is at it again now – raising money to purchase a $4,700 pair of night vision goggles to send to her cousin. As of press time, she needs about $750.

“Ukraine always needs support. Governments are giving money, materials and weapons, but it’s not enough. The people on the frontlines are missing a lot of the things they need to keep them safe,” Mykolyshyn said. “The goggles will benefit my family member, but also the other guys in his unit.

“Things are getting very difficult over there. Sometimes you’ll hear of successes in the news, but Ukraine is losing territory as well as gaining territory every day,” she added.

Anyone who donates will be entered into a raffle, with the winner choosing between pieces of original art completed by Mykolyshyn or eight hours of custom design work. To donate, contact jmykolyshyn@ gmail.com.

After everything she’s seen, and the stories she’s heard from previous conflicts, Mykolyshyn said she feels the intergenerational trauma deep within. She feels it’s important for the rest of the world to continue pushing back against Russian aggression.

“History shows us that isolationism and appeasement leads to an emboldened aggressor and the spread of war and tyranny to other nations, leading to our involvement on a grander scale down the line,” she said. “I think it’s extremely important for people across the world to keep speaking out and fighting until the war is over, hopefully with Ukraine having all of its sovereign territory returned.”

SIRCH held its School’s Cool graduation recently at the various schools in Haliburton County, Kawartha, and Muskoka.

SIRCH marketing manager, Laurie McCaig, said 66 children registered and graduated, including 20 in Minden.

“This is a school readiness program to help children ease into the transition of starting JK in September,” she said.

McCaig added, “these children were born during the COVID years, so many had very limited opportunities to socialize outside their immediate family members.”

She said parents had prioritized reasons for children taking part in the program as socializing, being able to be separated from parents or guardians, and self-regulation.

“These goals, and skills were practised during the six-week program using the School’s Cool curriculum, which is designed to prepare children for the routines of kindergarten in a fun and exciting way. The children also developed their skills in understanding numbers and the early stages of reading and writing,” McCaig said.

Many of the children were in the school they started on Sept. 3, alongside their classmates. McCaig said the program has a great record when it comes to successfully preparing kids for school