The Haliburton County Master Gardeners (HCMG) are inviting the public to step into nature at the Minden Riverwalk, a popular walking path in the heart of downtown Minden.

The HCMG said that by May 26, people will see more than 20 orange and green signs along both sides of this section of the Gull River.

According to Master Gardener member Shelley Fellows, “this free, self-guided walking tour of the Minden Riverwalk documents the flora and fauna on both sides of this section of the Gull River. Called ‘stepping into nature,’ the multi-media walking tour includes photos, detailed descriptions of plants, insect information and gardening tips, along with audio stories. Everything is accessible via a smartphone app called PocketSights,”

In 2009, the shoreline was restored, and a pathway and pedestrian bridge installed. Fourteen years on, the place looks very different, said Master Gardener Carolyn Langdon. “Erosion has been stopped, native plants have matured, and the animal, bird and insect species have returned to nest, to feed and to pollinate the trees and flowers,” she said. “The tour documents this story of biological restoration, and we hope that it will inspire people to take steps to renaturalize their own property.”

The public is invited to join the opening of ‘stepping into nature’ with a community launch, May 26 at 10:30 a.m. on the trail at the corner of Invergordon Street and Bobcaygeon Road. The formal program with a “unique” ribbon cutting will be addressed by mayor Bob Carter, County warden Liz Danielson, U-links executive director, Andrew Gordon, and Haliburton County Development Corporation program and operations coordinator Heather Reid. Each attendee will receive a free native plant and Master Gardeners will lead free tours of the Riverwalk.

The walking tour was supported by a Local Initiatives Program grant from HCDC. The HCMG and entomologists from Trent University conducted insect research along the Riverwalk. The project was also supported by the Township of Minden Hills and local businesses.

HCMG is a community service organization. Members are certified Master Gardeners, with expertise in horticulture, botany and gardening in harmony with nature. They are celebrating 21 years in the Haliburton Highlands

A who’s who of the Highlands will be gathered under one roof next week as the Haliburton Home and Cottage Show returns for its “biggest ever exhibition” June 2 to 4.

Celebrating its 44th anniversary, the event will feature more than 170 vendors at the Haliburton Curling Club and A.J. LaRue Arena. Organizer, Andy Glecoff, is predicting a record-breaking year, with thousands expected to attend.

“People are just chomping at the bit – we’ve never had an early sellout [of vendor spots] like we had this year, we’ve never had this many people reaching out, asking questions about who will be there,” Glecoff said. “This is a chance for businesses to showcase themselves to our community, and for people to come out and see all the amazing things in our County.”

A wide range of exhibitors include those with products and services in home décor; furniture and appliances; docks, decks and hot tubs; heating and cooling; landscaping; construction and renovations; automotive; agriculture; real estate; alternative energy; the arts, and more.

Over a dozen non-profits will have a presence too. The Haliburton Highlands Museum and Rails End Gallery will have booths promoting their summer activities; Haliburton County Master Gardeners will provide horticultural tips and tricks; Abbey Retreat Centre will have information on its free cancer support programs. Haliburton Lions and Rotary service clubs will be attendance, while the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation and Environment Haliburton! will also be represented.

Canadian paralympic curler Mark Ideson is appearing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 3. The quadriplegic won gold with Team Canada at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and will be available for photos and to discuss his career.

Complimentary doggie daycare services will be provided by local businesses Tails and Trails and I Love Your Dog, free hearing tests conducted by Hear Canada and Hometown Hearing, while young guests will be able to meet fire mascot Smokey the Bear.

Glecoff said all attendees will have an opportunity to fill in a ballot at the Haliburton Curling Club booth for a chance to win one of three door prizes – a weekend for two at Buttermilk Falls Resort, a patio fire pit supplied by Glecoff’s Family Store, and a paddle and two rental vouchers provided by Algonquin Outfitters.

The show serves as the curling club’s primary annual fundraiser. It supports several endeavours, including the youth curling program, and subsidizing fees for new members.

“In a lot of communities, curling is getting very expensive… it’s a very social sport, we like to make sure anyone who wants to curl in Haliburton, or try it out, has the opportunity to do so,” Glecoff said, noting the club has around 240 members.

The benefits to the community are farreaching too, Glecoff said, with the show traditionally bringing more than 3,000 people to downtown Haliburton.

“These people spend money on meals, gasoline, accommodations and all the other things they need. It’s a huge economic driver for the town,” he said.

Admission is $3 for adults, with children admitted for free. The show opens June 2 from 4 to 9 p.m. and runs June 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and June 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit haliburtonhomeandcottageshow.com.

When Luba Cargill moved to Haliburton County from Niagara-on-the-Lake about 20 years ago, she was surprised to see apple tree orchards in the Highlands.

“I thought, ‘this can’t be, because we have a very short growing season in Haliburton and the winters are very, very harsh’,” she recalls thinking.

It sparked a curiousity about how the apple trees managed to survive locally.

However, Cargill said she did not do anything with her intrigue for a long time until she read a story in The Highlander about U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research looking for ideas for its students. She offered up a study of the County’s apple trees.

In the meantime, she wanted to plant an apple tree of her own, so reached out to the Haliburton County Master Gardeners to find out what variety of apple tree grows best in the Highlands climate. She said the Master Gardeners were in the midst of their Heritage Apple Project, whereby they collected DNA samples from leaves of existing apple trees and sent them to the University of Guelph for identification. She said the Master Gardeners are still working on that project and also looking for orchards in the area.

U-Links then got back to her about a Haliburton County Apple Blossom Tour 2023. “I thought, ‘oh, good. Let’s go for it’.” That was in April.

“I got restarted and said, ‘you know, identifying trees by their blossoms might be the easiest way to find out where they are’.”

They have since produced a brochure with a driving map that encourages the public to follow the trail and be a part of the apple tree identification process. It has a number of stops, stretching from Highlands East, to Dysart et al, Minden Hills and Algonquin Highlands.

Meanwhile, the apple tree identification project, inspired by U-Links, is collecting information on Haliburton County apple orchards, both old and new, different species and locations.

If you have apple trees on your property, and would like to get on the location tour map, ask questions, or just provide information of photos, you can contact appletreeshaliburton@gmail.com

Cargill said the project has four stages.

The first is the apple blossom tour. The second is for arborists, foresters, and Master Gardeners to assist in improving productivity of existing apple trees. The third is planting new apple trees. And the fourth is an apple press for local apple tree owners and production of local apple cider, dried apples and other apple products.

“It helps with food security in the area,” Cargill said, referencing other projects, such as SIRCH’s apple sauce project. She added it’s good for the climate, as it reduces the need for shipping fruit from outside the area.”

Cargill said she’s received a “very positive” reaction to the tour, and the next stages. “So, I’m really happy about that. It’s neat.” She added with the other apple-related projects, “this is a nice extension of that.

“The idea is just for us to have better selfsufficiency in terms of food production, new opportunities for businesses in terms of product line, and also in terms of tourism.”

Cargill is excited to see where the research leads.

“I think the scientists and Master Gardeners, in the end, will probably figure it out. And, then, if we can find that variety, or that DNA, and continue with it somehow, we might have a really good apple industry in this area.”

Haliburton’s Corner Gallery kicked off its season May 20 with something different, according to manager Pamela Brohm.

“We’ve got wonderful artists in the area. We all recognize and know that, and it tends to be what we see exhibited here,” Brohm said. She added that often means landscapes because of the majesty of the Highlands.

“But we felt that it was time that there was something different offered in town, especially if we’re trying to build Haliburton as an arts destination. So, if you want to attract people who collect and are truly immersed or involved in art, then you have to offer them some variety.”

She believes between Evergreen CSD Gallery of Fine Art Photography, Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre and the Ethel Curry Gallery, along with Corner Gallery, there are four varied locations for people to visit now.

Brohm researched artists for their seasonopening exhibition in the hopes of bringing three artists together that complement each other.

“I arrived with these three artists for the first show.” They include David McClyment, Carol Forbes and Alyssa King.

McClyment has been showing his drawings professionally for almost 40 years. Forbes is a painter. King is a contemporary mixed-media artist.

Walking through the gallery, Brohm stops at one of King’s works, and says “she’s doing this kind of punky stuff. She told me ‘I like to create art with a message, and I like art to be inspirational’.”

Brohm added, “we have a really interesting collection of art work here. The prices are very reasonable for the size and the talent and the inspiration they have. For people who are really interested in art, developing their collections, or spreading it into different areas, they really should come and see what we have.”

There are another five shows slated for the season, and Brohm said they are, again, quite different.

“Our next show does have two local artists, and it does tend to be landscape, but a little bit different. And my third artist is doing landscape of a sort but in a totally different way. After that, it’s more abstract, more impressionistic.”

The Corner Gallery will also feature Rob Croxford. “He’s a very well-known sign artist. He travels around and collects pictures of vintage signs and then paints the vintage signs with added messaging.

“I looked at his work and I thought ‘I’m going to contact him but he’s probably not going to come here’, but, yes, he is.”

Beyond the Tradition ends June 19; followed by Landscapes from a Woman’s Perspective (Susan Hay, Wendy Wood, Ashley Turner) June 21-July 13; 2 Part Harmony (Blady & Van Mil) July 14-Aug. 10; Wild Water II (Byron Hodges) Aug. 11-31; Haliburton Art Blast (Croxford, Vanya Ryan) Sept. 1-20; and Mother Nature: We Share the Earth (Carole Finn) Sept. 22-Oct. 16.

For more information, visit the cornergallery.ca.

Ball Real Estate’s executive vice-president, Gareth Jones, said moving into Haliburton County “was a logical extension” of the business they already do across a large swathe of the region, from Lakefield, to Apsley, Norwood, Hastings, Peterborough and Bobcaygeon.

They held a grand opening at their new digs, at 199 Highland St. in downtown Haliburton, May 20.

Owner Greg Ball started Ball Real Estate Inc. Brokerage in Lakefield in 2017.

“My mother and I sold real estate out of another brokerage for 55 years together, 30 years for her, and 25 years for me,” Ball said. “And then we decided it was time to try it on our own. I have daughters coming up through the pipeline, and I thought I really don’t want to have to work for anybody except us, so we took the plunge.”

The real estate rush then saw the other offices open between 2017 and 2023.

Jones said the reason Haliburton County makes sense is, “we are extremely well known in the Kawartha area for waterfront, recreational, rural properties so it is a natural extension for us to come further west and further north.”

Ball said they had already been doing a lot of business in Haliburton County without a storefront.

“We’ve been actively looking for an office in Haliburton for four-plus years. It had to be the right location for us. It had to be from the lights (at Hwy. 118 and Highland Street) to the pizzeria.” He joked that, as the fourth real estate office on the main street, “you have real estate row.”

They have put together a team that includes some local faces with some local expertise. They include former JDH occasional teacher, Todd Sayles; long-time realtors Dagmar Boettcher and Donna McCallum, Dianne de Savoye, Adele Barry, and Jason Jarvis.

Jones said, “we don’t go into locations with the intention of getting agents to fill our office. We’re very selective about who we bring in.

“Our culture is very important to us. If you’re not into that fit whatsoever, chances are you are not going to be productive, and then you get a bad apple. We work very hard to protect that culture. My term is ‘playful professional.’ I think it’s so important our clients enjoy their experience with realtors.”

Ball and Jones said they love having offices in smaller towns and are always keen to be part of the communities they service.

“We’re always looking for communitybased participation,” Ball said. “We do make ourselves a presence everywhere we go. We are always looking for other opportunities to engage with the community. If events are coming up, we want to be on the mailing list, and check the list to see if it’s something of interest to us.”

Ball said they are also 100 per cent local. “We are not a corporation. Our money doesn’t go to the U.S. head office. Our money stays right here.”

Jones added, “we’re very proud 100 per cent of our dollars spent stay right here in our communities.”

Haliburton County non-profit Places for People (P4P) is turning to a tried and tested, old school fundraising formula to address new world problems surrounding housing affordability and availability across the region.

The organization is rolling out a community bonds program next month, with president, Jody Curry, recently telling The Highlander P4P is hoping to raise $850,000 to clear a handful of outstanding mortgages and private loans.

“This is a really big deal for us. While it would be a first-time thing in Haliburton County, non-profits the world over have used community bond initiatives to address issues in their communities,” Curry said. “This is not a donation, it’s an investment. Anyone who pays in will get their money back.”

There are three options for would-be lenders – investing a minimum of $1,000 locked in for three years, earning three per cent interest paid annually; $5,000 locked in for five years, earning four per cent interest; or $10,000 locked in for seven years, earning five per cent interest.

Curry said the first two options would see principal investments returned in full upon expiry of the bond, while the third option has a portion of the principal paid out annually.

“We wanted to include different options so anyone who wants to invest with us can do so. We’ve had a ton of interest already from people who want to form part of the solution to one of our community’s biggest problems,” she said, adding early commitments as of press time were around $70,000.

Curry noted the bonds would be secured by P4P’s existing assets, which she says are valued at around $2.5 million

The non-profit is partnering with Torontobased Tapestry Community Capital, which will manage the investments. Tapestry has more than 20 years of experience in the community investment space and has helped raise more than $100 million to support 59 projects nationwide, mostly in the renewable energy sector. Curry said they also have experience working with groups on affordable housing initiatives.

The bonds proposal has been in the works since 2018. Curry said P4P will be hosting several community workshops in June to float the idea to potential investors and explain the process. She’s hoping to reach the $850,000 goal by the end of September.

“This reminds me of what Haliburton County used to do – when the kids wanted an ice rink, the community came together to make it happen. Governments haven’t appropriately funded housing for 40 years, so we have to try and follow in those footsteps and do it ourselves,” she said, adding “buying into this program ensures your money stays right here in Haliburton County.”

P4P owns and operates five properties across the County, with 12 affordable housing units. While potential projects in Minden and on Wallings Road in Haliburton have fallen by the wayside in recent years, Curry remains hopeful at least one substantial development could soon be moving ahead.

Paul Wilson, owner of Harburn Holdings, pledged one of four lots fronting Grass Lake to P4P last year. Curry said it would come with commercial and residential components, totalling 16 units. A proposal to develop the property has been supported by Dysart et al and Haliburton County councils.

“We want to be ready… we hope this first offering will provide proof of concept for when we come to build. The Grass Lake development is going to be a multi-milliondollar project. We’re going to need to raise a lot of money to make that viable,” she said.

To learn more, visit placesforpeople.ca, email invest@placesforpeople.ca, or call 705-306-9191.