The Rails End Gallery in Haliburton currently Recto Verso: Stories Visible and Invisible, an exhibit by Bel Angeles, is on display until Aug. 26.

Angeles is a feminist artist who believes in equality, social justice and creativity. Angeles integrates her life experience, background, ethnicity, culture and passions to create powerful acrylic paintings and collage. Her studio is currently near Perth, Ontario and she is a member of the Global Art Project, curated by Carl Heyward. She is also a part of the Ottawa Mixed Media Artists Association.

Curator Laurie Jones said it’s quite different from most art that comes through the gallery.

“I call her an emerging artist, her philosophical views are very well formed. She’s worked all over the world on humanitarian projects.” Jones said.

Visitors are encouraged to interact with, and respond to, the artwork, some of which is presented “recto verso” and intended to be viewed front and back.

In an audio recording accessed by QR code, Angeles says, “Recto Verso is a style of creating art, extremely rarely used by artists around the world to portray images, feelings, and stories on both sides of the panel. I use this method to demonstrate the physical, emotional, and physic energies needed to discover stories hidden, untold, unasked, and unexplored.”

One of her strongest pieces, ‘Power of the normal’ features a white canvas on one side and a collage of photos and words on the other “It addresses a lot of the things that we view as normal,” Jones said.

She added she’s watched people come into the gallery and just sit with one or two pieces and really try to experience the full meaning. Many are conversation starters, such as the degree of privilege scale, which allows people to place a pin on a scale of one to 10 to rank their privilege, whether it be with education, housing, work, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, travel, accessibility, or family support.

Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.. For more information on Bel Angeles and the Rails End Gallery visit railsendgallery.com/ exhibitions-6.

This August, Highlander Katie Woodward is aiming to ride her bicycle 500 kilometres around the County to raise money for SickKids cancer research.

It’s Woodward’s second fundraising summer, and she has increased her goal since last year. In 2022, she set out to pedal 200 kilometres and raise $2,500. This summer, she hopes to generate $6,500.

“I have had family members with cancer as adults. It’s such a horrible thing to go through when you’re older. I can’t imagine kids and their parents and their families having to deal with that,” Woodward said.

She will also be entering a race in September at Haliburton Forest.

She plans to continue her ride past August in hopes of being able to raise more money.

“This is something that anybody can do. I know kids who are actually doing this, and of course adults all the way up to seniors, and you don’t have to ride 500 kilometres. I’ve known people with a goal of 50 kilometres,” Woodward said.

For more information on how to donate to Woodward, and more information on the Great Cycle Challenge: greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/katiewoodward.

The once vibrant and busy Hollow Valley Resort was left to be reclaimed by nature more than 10 years ago, but Shaun Pennell, and his partner Chris Skrzek, saw something in it, bought it in 2021, and have brought parts of it back to life.

“It has had a long and storied history,” said Skrzek. “It was built as a hunting lodge back in the 40s, and then the 80s and 90s was its heyday as a family campground with the lodge and a tavern at the front of the property.”

The tavern was built in the 30s and people remembered it, according to Pennell. “We hear all these wild stories about, back in the day, what a great place, and stuff like that.” However, the original tavern was slowly sinking into the ground and the previous owners had it torn down approximately five years ago. “Apparently it was a sad day for the community, but it was time for it to go. Our goal is to try and start something new, create new memories,” said Skrzek.

The 10-acre waterfront property is on the Gull River fed by Kawagama Lake that has access to the Lake of Bays at Dorset. “We have seven rooms in the lodge, available since May long weekend,” said Pennell. “Right now, we have cabins that came with the property that we are looking to renovate and/or replace over time. The end goal is to have 33 cabins, the lodge, a live music venue, and then, down the road, we have approvals to build a 20-room hotel with restaurant.”

Pennell and Skrzek are passionate about live music, and that was the shared goal when they became partners in the venture. “An environmentally-friendly, sustainable resort with a major focus on the arts, primarily live music,” explains Pennell. “We are building this in stages. We focused on the lodge first because we wanted to get it up and running as quickly as we could.”

There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the opening of the lounge and bar in February. “We wanted to get the snowmobiling crowd,” said Pennell. “In the 80s and 90s, this used to be a happening place – sleds, cars, music.”

There is live music, on Friday and Saturday nights, on Sunday an open jam night, which has become very popular. “People wondered, why Sunday?” said Pennell, “The locals, and local musicians are the ones that are enjoying that night the most. This room is full of musicians, both performing and in the audience. One night we had about 10 players on the stage having a great time,” said Pennell.

Pennell said that they are building things up slowly, hoping to work on a cabin or two per year. “It’s going to take us a long time to build this thing out to fully realize our dream. But that’s okay with us.”

Highland Hills United Church is making its space more accessible by putting a new elevator in the sanctuary.

“We have been looking into this for a few years. We actually had some plans, but then COVID happened and it put the brakes on everything,” Rev. Max Ward said.

Not everyone attends church services, however at some point in life people have walked through the doors, be it a wedding, a funeral, a concert, a community rental group,” the church’s Deanna Wruth said.

“So when you see people that have to go home because they don’t have enough energy to go back to their car, drive around to the lower level and come in there, well, it is going to be a great gift for them to be able to take part in the function.”

Since people have been coming back to the church, things have started moving forward again on the new elevator. A volunteer committee has been hard at work to put everything in place for the project to commence on Aug. 14. “We have hired a local contractor, James Baldry, to install the lift,” said Wruth. “And the fundraising started on Sunday, July 9.”

The goal for the fundraising campaign is $80,000, and there are several ways that the community can donate as explained by Wruth. “We are organizing a few fundraising opportunities.” She also went on to say that during the month of July, Molly’s BistroBakery has a special $20 meal ticket from which the church receives $8. “In the month of August Mulligans Pub & Patio is offering a $25 meal ticket from which we receive $10, and another in October for $40 and we receive $20.”

Both Rev. Ward and Wruth are pleased with the support they are receiving from the business community and individuals so far however, every little bit helps. “Shout out to everyone who is helping,” said Rev. Ward.

“It is nice to see people get involved,” said Wruth. “We have had one gentleman who has sold over 60 tickets for Molly’s. We also have the option to donate online by going to the church website and clicking on the Lift Us Up tab.”

The completion of the lift is slated for the end of November to mid-December. “We are crossing our fingers,” said Rev. Ward. “There is a lot of work to do, and the committee has been instrumental in moving this along.”

This new lift will ensure that all who visit the church, for whatever reason, have the ability to access both levels of the church for all the events and activities.

For more information, or to donate to the Lift Us Up campaign visit www. highlandhillspc.ca or call 705 286 1470.

Minden Hills director of community services, Craig Belfry, is leaving the township.

Mayor Bob Carter confirmed the news July 24.

He said the circumstances are similar to the pending departure of CAO Trisha McKibbin

“He’s been around for two-and-a-half years or so, got the department built, got the arena opened, which was a huge feat,” Carter said.

The mayor added, “if you’re upwardly mobile, you use that on your resume to go to bigger centres.”

Belfry started with the township on Nov. 2, 2020, coming from the Township of Brock. Prior to that, he had worked at Springwater, and for Scugog. He replaced former director Mark Coleman, who resigned in January 2020 to go to Brockton.

At that time, McDonald Bros. Construction Inc. was finishing the multi-milliondollar S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena and Community Centre project. Belfry was also responsible for brokering the deal that brought the Haliburton County Huskies to the arena.

“It’s a bigger job and it’s hard for us to compete,” Carter said.

Belfry did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.

As for public perception of a revolving door at the township, Carter said in the last week, they had hired six new people, with another two or three expected to be hired soon.

“We’re filling up staff, which is great. But you’re going to have these types of things. Again, if you hire good people, they’re going to be recruited. And right now, in municipal jobs right across Ontario, there’s dire shortages in almost every one of those municipal jobs.”

Recent hires

Carter said some recent hires due to seasonality, retirements, resignations and leave-of-absences include: a director of building/bylaw/planning or CBO, casual planner, manager of parks, recreation and facilities, planning technician, manager of planning services and manager of waste facilities. He added they have offer letters our to two more and are recruiting for five to six other positions.

Carter added “it’s going to be this way. You hope to be able to keep them for three years or so and get the best you can out of them and continue to build on that. But it’s not necessarily that Minden’s a terrible place to work or anything. It’s not.”

Carter said with local government in small regional areas, townships are fortunate to get someone like a Mike Rutter (The County of Haliburton CAO) who is highly-qualified and truly local.

“Unfortunately, when you have the County and four townships, we don’t have enough locals to fill all of those positions so you start hiring from outside and those people, they don’t have the ties to the community that others might.”

He acknowledged there are municipal headhunters looking to poach staff.

“There’s probably half-a-dozen headhunters in Ontario who basically recruit for all of the municipalities and they know the list of people and they keep track. They place somebody in town, they’ll know that three years from now, all of a sudden that person is a potential recruit for another position.”

He added because the OMERS pension is transferrable, municipal employees can move around. “You can look at every municipal job in all of Ontario as being one of the positions.”

If the County’s four municipalities were to implement a municipal accommodation tax (MAT), it could generate more than $3.4 million in revenue annually, director of economic development, Scott Ovell, told County council July 26.

In a written report, Ovell based his projections on a calculation of 1,300 short-term rental hosts being charged a four per cent MAT. He said 80 per cent would have to remit the tax with a medium nightly rental rate of $348, and based on an average occupancy rate of 65 per cent.

The director said it would more than cover some preliminary items in the 2023 economic development and tourism budget, such as wayfinding signage, marketing, Hike Haliburton programs, economic development strategy works and web design and maintenance.

“The savings created by this approach could then be redirected towards other programs and/or services provided by the County,” Ovell said.

The County is considering implementing a MAT along with short-term rental licensing. Both items were on the agenda for discussion.

A MAT is a tax imposed on accommodation rentals, and in the Highlands would only be applied to STRs.

Ovell prepared an updated report for council Wednesday. He was involved in the implementation of a MAT when he was economic development officer for the Town of Huntsville.

He was asking council for the green light to prepare a bylaw for the lower-tier municipalities. They are the only ones who can implement a MAT tax, not the County.

He added staff would need to create a Municipal Services Corporation, which would handle the money collected to go towards things such as destination marketing.

In his report Ovell said, “based on staff’s research, we have identified some key areas the townships and County council will need to consider prior to adopting a MAT bylaw.” He also encouraged Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al, Highlands East and Minden Hills to be “consistent” if they go forward with the initiative.

With reference to collection, he said in regions such as Haliburton County, where there are potentially 1300-plus Airbnb and VRBO hosts, the administration of the program could become a challenge and may require dedicated staff.

His recommendation is to use the same third-party provider potentially to be used for the STR program. He also said both programs should be implemented simultaneously.

Ovell further cautioned in his report, “the collection of the MAT tax on short-term rentals has proven more challenging. In the fall of 2019, most third-party online hosts, Airbnb, VRBO indicated to municipalities they would no longer collect and remit this tax on behalf of their guests, citing inconsistencies in taxation rates, licensing programs etc.”

He said his research has found the majority of municipalities have implemented a two to four per cent rate, with four per cent being most common. That’s the rate in Barrie, Brockville, Cornwall, Huntsville, Gravenhurst, Greater Sudbury, Mississauga, Ottawa, Toronto, Prince Edward County, Waterloo, and Windsor. He’s recommending four per cent here.

As for where the money goes, Ovell said a township must provide at least 50 per cent of the MAT revenue collected, after reasonable administrative costs, to an “eligible tourism entity” for the exclusive purpose of promoting tourism. He said it must be a non-profit or government entity whose mandate includes the promotion of tourism in Ontario or in a municipality

He said it can’t go directly to the County. “This challenge is not uncommon and other municipalities have looked at alternative organizational models to resolve this issue, to ensure financial transparency, accountability, and that the funds are used appropriately,” Ovell said.

He recommended a municipal services corporation be incorporated by the County, similar to what has been done in Prince Edward County. He further suggested the board consist of County councillors. He added they could include industry representation.

As for how the money would be used, he noted the Town of Gravenhurst designates 40 per cent to the town and 60 per cent to a yet-to-be-determined tourism organization. In Huntsville, it’s 30 per cent to the town and 70 per cent to the Huntsville Municipal Accommodation Tax Association

Ovell added the money can be spent on municipally-owned tourism assets, such as visitor information centres and museums, economic development programming, parks, trails, marketing, local events and organizations, and even affordable housing.

He suggested if a MAT were to be implemented, it consist of a 50/50 revenue split between the townships and eligible tourism organizations.

As for the STR file, director of planning, Stephen Stone, presented a refined bylaw to council with additional considerations, renters and licensee code of conducts, and an example of a STR application.

See what’s been decided at thehighlander.ca and in next week’s Highlander

CLARIFICATION: A story headlined Neighbour dispute descends into slurs and an editorial Just a little respect in the July 27 issue indicated neighbours of Matt Saade in a Maple Lake, Algonquin Highlands neighbourhood were caught on camera uttering a homophobic slur. The person who said the words is Roy Halstead, of Kitchener. He does not own property in the neighbourhood. He was visiting his mother-in-law, a neighbor of Saade, at the time of the July 8 incident. He, as well as his wife, Katrina Halstead, were subsequently charged with criminal harassment. The Halsteads have nothing to do with a dispute over the shore road allowance. The Highlander apologizes for any suggestion that neighbours in the community are homophobic, or have vandalized Saade’s property.

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A neighbourhood dispute on Maple Lake in Algonquin Highlands has escalated, with Matt Saade saying he and his family are victims of homophobic hate crime.

Saade, his partner, Filipe Santos, and their young son, moved to the Highlands in November 2020.

Saade concedes relations with some neighbours have been strained over work the two have done on their property. Those works have also attracted attention from the Township of Algonquin Highlands, the County of Haliburton, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Saade further admits he has been “reactive” to his neighbours’ complaints, but it’s now gone to a whole other level.

Saade installed security cameras, and shared a recent video clip with the paper. In it, an adult male, who appears to be carrying a can of alcohol, is wearing a sign on this chest partially reading, ‘hey asshole…go away now’ while extending his middle finger and saying ‘f* you, you faggot.’ An adult woman, also drinking, says ‘f* you.”

There are two, what appear to be, teenagers, and another woman in the frame as the couple proceed to sit on a bench across from Saade and Santos’ driveway.

Saade said it’s bad enough it’s homophobia, but the fact it appears it was witnessed by children, is “terrible. It’s a terrible message.”

Saade shows a text from Haliburton Highlands OPP Const. Matthew Taylor. It says a male and female had been arrested and charged for criminal harassment. It says the two were released on an undertaking not to communicate with Saade or Santos directly or indirectly, and not to attend within 200 metres of their address…”

OPP Const. Michael Melnychuk confirmed the text was from OPP following a July 8 complaint.

Danielsen says slur ‘crosses a line’

Saade added he is in the midst of seeking a restraining order against nine of his neighbours.

He further claims he and Santos’ property has been repeatedly vandalized over the past two-and-a-half years.

“They’re trying to intimidate us because they don’t want us here,” Saade said.

“They’ve told us numerous times ‘we don’t want your kind in this community’.”

‘Will not be tolerated’

The township has so far denied Saade’s request to purchase the shore road allowance in front of his property

On April 25, 2022, it e-mailed Saade referencing the ongoing matter of disputed property boundaries and structures on the township shore road allowance fronting his property. It added it was writing, “to bring to the attention of both property owners involved that there are major differences between what is considered an OPP, civil and township matter.

“A significant amount of staff time has been devoted to this escalating neighbour dispute for which a number of the events the township has no jurisdiction over and cannot resolve,” planner Sean O’Callaghan wrote.

The letter said allegations of threats to personal safety, trespassing and destruction of private property are police matters, while accusations of works being completed without permission on a person’s property, or the removal of survey stakes, are considered a civil matter.

The township said its only jurisdiction is shore road allowances. It added in past issues involving irregularly-shaped shore road allowances, council has encouraged those involved to come to an agreement. That has yet to happen.

The letter goes on to say, “the disturbing and escalating behaviour occurring on township property will not be tolerated.”

‘Line has been crossed’

Mayor Liz Danielsen said disputes between neighbouring property owners are always unfortunate and can become extremely challenging, particularly when police and bylaw enforcement are called in on a regular basis. “Strong emotions come into play and often result in inappropriate action being taken by the parties involved,” she said.

“However, when people decide to lower themselves to shouting cruel and homophobic taunts at their neighbours, a line has been crossed. In addition, it is certainly counterproductive to reaching any resolution to the initial dispute. The most recent incident is nothing short of disgraceful and the folks involved in this totally unacceptable behaviour should be ashamed of themselves.”

Minden Pride chair, Allan Guinan, said they were “saddened and sickened” by the video.

“We obviously condemn those kinds of actions. What we want to do is just lead our lives openly, truthfully and with happiness without any fear. It’s those kinds of incidents that reiterate the need for Pride and the need to be able to stand up and say, ‘we want to just be a respected and welcome part of the community’.”

This summer, Dorset social service groups are joining forces to celebrate community volunteers and attract visitors to the hamlet.

The Dorset Community Partnership Fund (DCPF), a local community charity, is joining with the Dorset Lions, Dorset UCW, Dorset Fire Department and local business to host a family-centred musical evening with the Shipyard Kitchen Party July 22, at 5:30 p.m.

Collin Reaney, a board member for the DCPF, said the Shipyard Kitchen Party, with American heart and East Coast soul, blends strong storytelling, vocal harmony, and crowd–pleasing love of entertaining into a fresh take on the singer-songwriter genre.

“They’re Gordon Lightfoot having a dram too many with Great Big Sea, Stan Rogers crossed with Who’s Line is it Anyway. With traditional instrumentation, catchy pop hooks and sly humour, they get the audiences stomping their feet, laughing and sometimes shedding a tear.”

The event will be held at the Dorset Pavilion Park. The park was developed more than 12 years ago by the community as a DCPF project.

The Dorset Lions will do a summer BBQ from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Proceeds will go towards the Dorset Community Health Care Hub, related programs such as Food Security (Dorset UCW), the pharmacy support program, and park upgrades (Children’s Park and Cedar Narrows).

The Dorset Fire Department will have volunteers to help out. At the intermission, they will be honouring multiple community volunteers.

Reanney said, “Dorset has had a couple of years of depressed tourism activity due to a number of factors including COVID, less travel to the community, and fewer visitors.”

An anchor feature, the SS Bigwin, was not sailing due to a major investment in repairs and refurbishment, but will be sailing this season. Robinson’s General Store was also closed for several months.

“Now under new management, we want to call out loud and be clear – we are open for business,” Reanney said. “We are re-engaging our community volunteers and working to build hope and pride in our community. This will go a long way to instilling community pride and social responsibility going forward.”

He said that is why the project is dubbed “Declaring Dorset a Vibrant Community. “We want to encourage visitors to witness all of our unique attractions, like our nature trails and the Dorset Tower. We want to profile all of our community amenities as we have done in the past.

“We see this event as a celebration – a demonstration that the community is strong and welcoming to visitors. We want to sustain the emergence of this community momentum.”

The penny raffle returned to Wilberforce arena July 15 after being impacted by COVID. It’s been going on for the last 20 years and is a huge fundraising event for the community.

Kathy Rogers, of the Wilberforce FUNraising group said, “it’s amazing how many items were donated this year to the penny raffle.” Donations came from community members and businesses.

People were able to purchase a card of tickets for $25, go around to all the different items, and place their tickets in the bucket for a chance to win that item. There was also a snack bar with cotton candy, children’s games and a hat-making station. Another big hit was Pockets The Clown, making balloon animals for the children.

All of the profits will be going to The Red Cross Outpost and The Wilberforce Agricultural Fair Board. Rogers said their proceeds will go towards community development in the Wilberforce area.

She added they don’t have an exact number yet but can guarantee, based on previous years, that each organization will receive at least $1,000.

Some big prizes were won Saturday night. A Grade 8 grad placed $90 worth of tickets to win a bike. Unfortunately, none of his tickets were drawn. However, the winner donated the bike to the student.

Another big win was for a first time visitor to the event, who won Toronto Maple Leaf tickets. Anyone attending the penny raffle was also encouraged to go across the street to the Lloyd Watson Centre to enjoy a spaghetti dinner.