Haliburton Highlands OPP said on Feb. 12 they’d made an arrest, and seized a firearm, in connection with a Feb. 7 assault and robbery on Floralan Park Drive in Minden.

Last Wednesday night, police said their crime, community street crime, tactics and rescue units, and emergency response team, executed an arrest warrant for a wanted person at a residence in Minden Hills.

“The individual was located and arrested without incident and a firearm was seized,” provincial constable Michael Melnychuk said.

He added the suspect was charged with two counts of assault, two counts of choking, careless storage of a firearm and possession of a firearm without a licence.

Melnychuk said the person was held for a bail hearing and no further details will be provided “in order to protect the identity of the victim.” Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Feb. 9, on Parkside Street in the village, an apartment building at the corner of Bobcaygeon Road was surrounded by police vehicles with caution tape around the entrance throughout the day.

Sources stated paramedics treated a man who had been stabbed, before transferring him to Haliburton hospital, though police have not confirmed those details.

OPP say incidents unrelated

They did say on Feb. 11 that a warrant for arrest had been issued for 28-year-old Michael Gunn of Minden. He is suspected of robbery using firearm, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes in connection with the ongoing investigation in the township.

OPP said that last Friday, shortly after 4:30 a.m., they responded to an assault and residential robbery with a weapon on Parkside Street and the victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

They said Gunn “is believed to possess a weapon and is considered a potential threat to public safety. If seen, call 9-1-1 and do not approach.”

He is described as 6’1” (185 cm) with a thin build, short brown hair, light-brown partial beard, and blue eyes. He has a tattoo of the Canadian flag with a cross on the right forearm, and a tattoo of a female on the left forearm.

Business and residences in the area were being asked to check dashcam and security camera footage from early Friday morning for any suspicious activity.

Melnychuk indicated this incident had nothing to do with the police raid on Floralan Park Drive.

School in hold and secure

Meanwhile, Archie Stouffer Elementary School was in a hold and secure for much of the morning Feb. 9. Carolynne Bull, communications manager for Trillium Lakelands District School Board, sent an email to media at 10:36 a.m. confirming the school had been partially locked down as a precaution due to the robbery and assault.

In a hold and secure, exterior doors are locked, while students are not permitted to go outside and cannot be signed out, or picked up, by parents or guardians. Regular classroom routines and lessons continued through the hold and secure, which was lifted shortly after noon.

“A hold and secure is initiated when it is desirable to secure the school due to an ongoing situation outside the school and not necessarily related to the school,” Bull said.

She noted an email was sent to parents Friday afternoon informing them about the hold and secure and the protocols followed.

Melnychuk said investigators are asking anyone who has information on the incidents and has not yet reported it to police to contact Haliburton Highlands OPP at 705-286-1431, or the OPP provincial communications centre at 1-888-3101122. Information can also be provided anonymously by contacting Kawartha Haliburton Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477.

Allan Bagg’s mom worked with a young lady named Ellenor at a Bell Telephone office in Maple.

Allan had met her a couple of times and says with a cheeky grin, “and I thought, oh boy, because she was a looker then.” He didn’t think he stood a chance.

Allan’s mom invited the 17-year-old home for dinner one night. After eating, Allan, who was 21, and Ellenor were left alone on the verandah, chatting. When it came time for Ellenor to be driven home, Allan said “we stood up, and I don’t know what happened. We just kissed each other. That was it.” On the way home, he asked her out on a date that Saturday night and she said yes.

It was 1955, and they dressed up to visit Casa Loma. There was a big band playing, and dancing. After a short courtship, Allan said he knew he wanted to get married. He went to Ellenor’s mom and dad and asked for her hand. They said yes.

They married June 9, 1956 and have not looked back, celebrating 68 years in 2024.

“Allan’s been my only sweetheart,” Ellenor says.

The two lived in southern Ontario for years. They settled in Eagle Lake and are now at the Gardens of Haliburton. People would know them from the Eagle Lake Country Market.

The two waited four years to start a family, as they were renovating their home and enjoying summer at the lake.

“To me the secret of a good marriage is to honour your wedding, don’t be doing anything you shouldn’t do,” says Allan. “Be true to your partner and do things together.”

He adds, “everywhere we could, we went together. We always went to church together and any dances or anything like that. I was not the kind of man who went out with the boys and things like that. It wasn’t my thing.”

He says as a result “they have never had a hard word together, disagreements, but no hard words.”

For her part, Ellenor says it seems like her mother-in-law chose her for Allan. The couple think she was a matchmaker. Both families befriended each other. Despite the distance from Maple to Woodbridge, they made it work. Allan had a car and would go for Sunday dinners to Maple.

Ellenor believes “joining things together, going to church together, families getting along well together” contributed to their success. “I think the backbone of a marriage is being able to go to church together and feel comfortable. Have faith.”

The two were also active in the community. Allan added she was, and is, a good mother.

When Allan was in hospital in the New Year after a fall, and needed surgery, Ellenor said she missed snuggling with him. It was weird sleeping alone. She hadn’t done it since 1956.

“We’ve had a good marriage,” Allan says. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better in our marriage. And I love her today as much as I did when I got that first kiss.”

Highlands East taxpayers, and council, got a look at the township’s draft budget at a Feb. 6 special council meeting.

CAO and treasurer, Brittany McCaw, said they are looking for a $569,154 increase in 2024. That equates to a first round 6.83 per cent municipal tax rate increase. It would mean an extra $35.91 per $100,000 of assessment on the municipal tax. That is in addition to County and school board rates.

“This was not an easy budget to prepare. Our departments needed to take a hard look at what’s a want, what’s a need, and the priorities for the municipality,” McCaw told council.

She acknowledged the first draft is higher than normal, citing inflation. “The cost of doing business is just seeming to increase.” She noted rises in calcium and surface treatments, building products and insurance fees, “so these are just drivers of our operating and capital expenses.”

McCaw noted capital projects and transfers to reserves are necessary to avoid large expenditures in future.

On the revenue side, Highlands East is seeing a decrease of $24,600 in OMPF funding, down to $1,950,500. McCaw noted they are getting more than $120,000 in former gas tax funding.

The township is applying for $90,000 in grants for EV charging stations. If they are successful, they will top the grant money up. They’ll go to reserves, including $250,000 for a municipal office design and engineering, and $30,000 to complete the corporate strategic plan.

McCaw said insurance is going up 12 per cent, and benefits three per cent. They’ll spend $5,000 on municipal surveillance projects. Another bigger ticket capital project is $55,000 for an asset management plan.

The fire department would see fire hall upgrades, a fire master plan, and hydrant maintenance. The service will get some new bunker gear. The cost of policing is going down. The township will pay $1,137,660 in 2024, a decrease of nearly $95,000 from last year. Highlands East will pay seven per cent more in conservation authority costs.

Councillors will need to discuss upping some user fees, such as for building permits.

McCaw has factored in some costs if the township goes ahead with a short-term rental bylaw. They are looking at more than $32,000 in expenses, in addition to $25,000 for compliance software.

As for roads and bridges, they’ll take $300,000 of OCIF funding to put towards the McColls bridge project.

Under public works, McCaw said the focus will be on Gooderham Dam ($55,000), Hadlington Bridge ($20,000) and Donroy culverts ($25,000).

Capital projects for 2024 include: $90,000 for repairs to the works garage, $10,000 to conduct a needs assessment for the salt tent, $50,000 for a float trailer, $22,000 for a new CSA-approved steamer, $50,000 for a Hybrid SUV, $1,167,575 for the McColls bridge replacement, $162,225 for Clement Lake Road, $355,000 for Irondale Road, $50,000 for Upper Paudash, $15,000 for a generator for the roads garage, $30,000 for a poly water tank, and $10,000 for a roads’ needs study.

Staff are recommending a four per cent user fee increase for water, and another four per cent increase for wastewater.

They’ll spend north of $285,000 on Herlihey Park and more than $15,000 on two new dog parks in Gooderham and Cardiff. Money is going to Essonville Church ($30,000) and $50,000 for a trails master plan.

Budget talks are continuing.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation has announced a new lead for its $4.3 million CT scanner and mammography unit fundraising campaign.

Executive director Melanie Klodt Wong said she is excited to welcome Tayce Wakefield, an experienced campaign volunteer and long-time resident of the Highlands, to the team. A cottager for more than 30 years and full-time resident since 2010, Wakefield said she’s looking forward to the challenge of leading local fundraising efforts.

“I have grown to love this community, but, like many people, I know there are a couple of things that need to improve to allow Haliburton to continue to grow and prosper – health care being one of the most important,” Wakefield said.

A past president and board member of the Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners Association, and founder of the Haliburton Pet Owners Assistance Fund, Wakefield is no stranger to local volunteerism. She has a considerable background in fundraising – in 1999 she served as co-chair of McMaster University’s ‘Changing Tomorrow Today’ campaign, which raised $100 million for infrastructure upgrades, program expansion and the creation of new student scholarships and bursaries.

Wakefield said her first task will be to build a “campaign cabinet” of people she can trust to help with community outreach.

She said for a project of this size in a relatively small community, it’s going to take considerable community buy-in to succeed.

“This is a huge campaign, aiming to raise $4.3 million. We’re going to need everyone’s support to make this happen. Local businesses have long been supporters, as well as groups of local people, but not everyone has been engaged thus far. My remit is to reach out more broadly, to get more people involved,” Wakefield said.

“To me, this is also about broadening the fundraiser base and building the foundation for the future. It’s about positioning the County to take steps forward, to continue to grow and improve healthcare services,” she added.

The Ministry of Health approved HHHS to purchase and operate a CT scanner and mammography unit in July 2023. County EMS chief Tim Waite said the news “was better than Christmas” for his department, noting the local paramedic service transports more than 350 patients a year to other hospitals outside the County for specialized diagnostic care. That represents over 2,000 hours that County ambulances spend outside the community.

Klodt Wong said, given the aging population in the Highlands along with the abundance of high-risk work and recreational activities in the area, having diagnostic services available close by will help provide quick diagnosis of critical illnesses and injuries.

She said information from diagnostic scans is sent to a specialized Picture Archiving Communications System, which stores them and allows specialists from across the province to securely evaluate them and provide diagnosis to staff in the Highlands.

Wong wouldn’t disclose how much had been raised thus far. The County of Haliburton signed off on a $1 million donation in December, while proceeds from the ‘Magic of Giving’ campaign over the holidays brought in more than $238,000.

After HHHS president and CEO Veronica Nelson told The Highlander late last year she hopes to have the machines installed and operational sometime this summer, Klodt Wong said she’d like to wrap up this campaign as quickly as possible. Wakefield said this is going to be her main priority moving forward.

“For everybody whose heart is in the Highlands, this campaign is for you. This equipment will be good for you and your family, and you will be glad to have it here,” she said. “We’re asking for your support to improve health care across the region for everyone.”

To donate, contact HHHS Foundation at 705-457-1580.