If you’re a local resident concerned about homelessness in Haliburton County, a business owner wondering how improved transportation options could bolster the region’s dwindling workforce, or a waterfront property owner worried about the long-term health of your lake, U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research wants to hear from you.

Since launching in 1999, the organization has facilitated hundreds of research projects in the Highlands between area residents, organizations and student researchers from Trent University and Fleming College. It’s all about helping to provide insight and information on various social, cultural, environmental and economic issues facing the community.

Earlier this month, U-Links put out a call to the community seeking ideas for future projects.

“We’ll do this once a year, typically, connecting with our community to try and find out what they want to know. If the community says ‘I want answers to A, B and C’, we’ll do our best to go away and make it happen,” said Daniela Pagliaro, logistics coordinator with U-Links.

Once a project has been formulated, U-Links staff post details to its website and reaches out to contacts at Trent and Fleming to see if there are any students interested in taking them on.

It isn’t as simple as finding someone, though. There is an extensive application process, Pagliaro said, that’s designed to find “a perfect match” between student and project.

“Because these projects are so important to us, we want to make sure that the student we’re trusting to take it on is committed and understands exactly what’s expected of them,” Pagliaro said. “We want the projects to be good so that they benefit our community.”

At the end of each school year, U-Links hosts a celebration of research, where students have the opportunity to present their work to the community. At the most recent event, held virtually in March, U-Links featured 18 completed projects.

Among them was a report on food waste reduction strategies for Dysart et al, benthic assessments of more than a dozen area lakes and a study of existing supports for people with eating disorders in rural communities.

Pagliaro noted around 80 per cent of the projects U-Links has on its books are environmentally focused, but that isn’t by design.

“We would love to see more sociocultural projects come our way… We would absolutely welcome a project, for example, that looks at housing and homelessness in Haliburton County. That would be a perfect fit for the issues we’re presently seeing, and for connections we have,” Pagliaro said.

Other non-environmental projects U-Links is looking to move forward include delving into the history of the old Mountain Street Red Cross Outpost (now the CanoeFM building), the viability of a virtual adaptation of Abbey Gardens’ on-site Sprouts to Snacks program, and a programming evaluation assessment for the Abbey Retreat Centre.

The organization is asking that people reach out with project ideas by mid-August, to give staff enough time to finalize things and get in touch with schools. For more information, contact Sadie Fischer at environment@ ulinks.ca, or call the office at 705-286-2411.

Elvin Johnson Park was a hive of activity this past weekend as the Halls & Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association (HHLPOA) marked its diamond anniversary with a community celebration more than 12 months in the making.

Hundreds of cottagers and permanent residents pitched up along the shore of Halls Lake July 16, enjoying the festivities put on by the association. There were games and birdhouse painting for children, while adults enjoyed music provided by Nick and Benton, and catching up with friends and neighbours.

It was an emotional day for some, noted HHLPOA president Peter Dadzis.

“This was our first real community event in three years, our first time seeing familiar faces in a long, long time,” Dadzis said.

“There were lots of smiles, but there were some tears too as people reunited… It’s been a very special day for our community.”

Since its launch in 1946, the HHLPOA has been responsible for the protection and stewardship of Halls Lake, Little Hawk Lake, Big Hawk Lake and the Kennisis River. Today, the association boasts more than 200 members.

Among them are the Greenhow family. Patriarch Abiathar Carey is the first known cottager to frequent Halls Lake, having built a cabin on the water in 1919.

Ninety-one-year-old Dorothy Watts still spends time at the place, albeit updated, her grandfather built all those years ago. She and her sister, Trish Greenhow, are two of seven siblings to have spent almost their entire life cottaging in Algonquin Highlands.

The family is now fifth generation at the lake. Rob Greenhow and his wife Angela, who live in Colorado, make a point to visit Halls Lake every summer. The couple’s two children, Ella and Adam, are regular visitors of nearby Camp Kandalore.

“This is a special place for our family. Most of us grew up on Halls Lake during the summer,” Greenhow said. “Now we’re introducing the next generation and hoping they’ll carry the torch forward.”

Joan O’Halloran and her late husband, Jim, bought their property on Big Hawk Lake in 1953. She has spent nearly every summer since visiting the area.

“We had to come in by boat for a lot of years… The road only extended out to our property in 2010,” Joan said. Her son, Regan, and his wife, Carol Foderick, took ownership of the one room cabin in 2013. They recently completed construction of a brand-new cottage, and spend seven or eight weeks of the year there with children, Katie and Ben.

“I remember back when I was a kid, we’d get in a boat and head out with a quarter in our back pockets, wondering what the day ahead would bring. Those were some of the best days of my life. I had so many amazing times finding fun places on the lake,” Regan said. “Those are the sort of experiences I’m hoping my kids will make coming up here.”

The Greenhow, O’Halloran and dozens of other families’ history on Halls and Hawk lakes are outlined in the recently published Lure of the Lakes. Written by cottager Joan Hamilton, the book captures the HHLPOA’s 75 years, and shares stories of some of the area’s earliest settlers.

“This book ensures that the history of this lake and the people that make up our community will be remembered forever,” Dodzis said. “We owe an awful lot to the people that came before us and helped to settle this community.”

For more info, visit hallshawklakes.ca.  

Algonquin Highlands fire chief Michael French is close to sounding the alarm, with his department in desperate need of recruiting several new volunteer firefighters.

French said the service is at least 12 members short of a full complement, with four new firefighters required to serve stations in Oxtongue Lake, Dorset and Stanhope.

“Just attrition, I suppose, is why we’re down,” French said. “Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of job opportunities keeping people in this area right now. Usually, we like to carry a complement of 50, but we’re quite a way short of that.”

Volunteer firefighters are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, French said. And, despite being labelled as volunteers, members are compensated for their service. New recruits are paid $20.51 an hour. They also receive complimentary volunteer firefighters’ insurance, meaning if they are hurt on or off duty, they will receive benefits.

Full training is provided, so interested candidates aren’t required to have any experience.

“The main thing we’re looking for in someone is commitment and a willingness to put in the time. Being a volunteer firefighter is a major undertaking. It’s a second job,” Shelly said. “The term ‘volunteer’ really is a thing of the past. You will be paid, and there is an expectation that recruits will attend all training sessions… It takes real dedication to become a successful firefighter.”

French said existing members will get together to train one night per week. New recruits that don’t have any firefighting experience can expect to log approximately 150 hours of training, all paid, before they can be considered qualified.

Training for new recruits will begin in January and typically takes place on weekends.

“We’re putting out the call now and trying to bring people on in the fall to see if they like the position, then that gives them time to get to know the other firefighters and learn about our practices,” French said. “The training they get and certificates they receive can then act as a stepping stone if the recruits ever want to look into going full-time. We find that once someone gets a taste for this, they start to love it and want to do it more and more. So, it could definitely open up a door to a whole new career.”

Volunteer firefighters in Algonquin Highlands will be expected to carry out the same jobs as full-time firefighters in places like Toronto, French confirmed. “They get the same training, so, in essence, they will be no different than a regular firefighter.”

To apply, visit algonquinhighlands.ca and search ‘AHFS firefighter recruitment’. To learn more, contact French at mfrench@algonquinhighlands.ca.

A table at the front of Maple Lake United Church held symbols of 121 years of faith as the congregation bid farewell July 17 to the little church at the corner of Hwy. 118 and Stanhope Airport Road.

Worship leader Debbie Sherwin referenced the baptismal font, communion table, pulpit and worship space marking, “the countless services… and sacraments celebrated in this place, and to bring to mind the ministers and lay minsters who have led worship.”

Council chair Larry Giles placed his hand on a front pew as a reminder of “the congregations who have gathered over the years for Sunday services, baptisms, funerals, weddings, and other celebrations that have taken place.”

There were crafts, pictures, curriculum books, CDs and Christmas pageant clothes honouring, “hundreds of students who began their Christian journeys in the place,” according to Christena Barry.

A serving bowl, coffee carafe, tea towel and Bible symbolized the contributions of United Church Women who brought food, education, shared work, laughter, talk and fellowship, said Shirley Johnston.

A hymnbook and choir gown spoke to the music ministry, Deloris Bailey noted. Looking on was Kathleen Owens, the church’s organist for more than 60 years.

And a hammer, drills bits, and handsaw were representative of those who toiled to maintain the building, Albert Carpenter said.

Rev. Max Ward kicked off of a more informal trip down memory lane when he shared how the congregation used to gather downstairs, since it was easier to heat, for a potluck supper followed by song. At the time his daughter was an infant. She is now 18. He recalled how when they sang the hymn Bringing in the Sheaves, she thought the words were bringing in the cheese.

Ward said the church had not only had an impact on Stanhope, but the country and indeed the world through its ministry. He acknowledged the congregation’s “swirl of emotions.”

A congregation member since childhood, Delores Sawyer Bailey, recollected the annual summer trip to the cottage.

Driving from the GTA with her family, she and her siblings would look for the familiar landmarks on the drive. The last was “the little white church” on the corner as they made their way to her grandparents’ farm.

She first went inside the church when she was eight for Grandma Sawyer’s funeral. When she was 10, her parents moved to Maple Lake. And while her mom and dad didn’t attend church, she went to Sunday school.

“As I sit in the pew on Sundays, I think of all the families, past and present, who have contributed to building and maintaining Maple Lake United Church. It was important for them to have a place to worship. It probably never crossed their minds that 100 years later their descendants would be worshiping in the same place.

“If the walls could talk, I would love to hear of the baptisms, weddings, and funerals that have taken place over the years, as well as the celebrations of Christmas and Easter.”

Commenting on the closing, she added, “like our ancestors, who worked so hard to build this church, they never knew how the story would end, but they had faith. Only God knows the beginning and the end of every story. Here we are 121 years later, and like our ancestors, we must put our faith in God and remember the many Bible teachings we learned in the little white church on the corner at Maple Lake. “

Sherwin told the full church on a hot summer’s afternoon, “We come together with so many good and treasured memories, but with a strong sense of grief at saying farewell to this hallowed place. We come together, also, with great hope for continuing our life of faith at Highlands Hills United Church in Minden.”