Scotch Line landfill now accepts card payment

By

-

June 7, 2022

Minden Hills’ Scotch Line landfill now accepts payment by debit and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard or American Express).

As of June 7, the payment system will be available full-time at the Scotch Line landfill only. The Iron Mine, Ingoldsby and Little Gull waste disposal sites continue to be cash only.

Receipts can be sent via text or email, or printed upon request.

After July 1, all charge accounts will be moved online, rather than provided in a paper format.

The Township said all users of waste disposal sites need a landfill card. To acquire a new card contact the public works department at 705-286-3144.

Sedgwick bridge construction to close portion of rail trail

By

Sam Gillett

-

June 6, 2022

0

A portion of the Haliburton County Rail Trail will be closed as of June 6 due to Sedgwick Bridge construction.

Motorists will be directed through the nearby rail trail during the anticipated three-week construction period.

The detour will follow the Haliburton County Rail Trail from Gelert Road to Francis Road and back on to Sedgwick Road.

Since motorists will be traveling the trail, it will be closed to all pedestrians, cyclists and ATV riders.

In a June 6 media release, Minden Hills urged motorists in the area to watch for detour signs and expect construction vehicles to be present.

Take the brakes off public transit

By

Lisa Gervais

-

June 2, 2022

0

The County of Haliburton has recently committed $40,000 towards transportation pilot projects. As a story in today’s Highlander details, they are giving Point in Time $20,000 to help it get more youth to and from the Haliburton County Youth Wellness Hub in Haliburton.

Point in Time executive director Marg Cox made the ask at a May 25 County council meeting. They have a fleet so the money will go towards wages and benefits for a driver.

This follows a decision from an April 13 meeting, in which SIRCH made a similar ask for $20,000 for a pilot project involving it, City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL) Human Services and Fleming CREW.

The money will help people get to and from SIRCH for training programs, and people on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Programs to meetings and appointments. The partners have already leased an eight-passenger van and hired a driver.

Again, the money is for wages and benefits for a driver.

First off, we applaud Point in Time and SIRCH and its partners for coming up with a creative solution to an identified problem. In the case of the youth hub, while the local school board has been generous with a late bus a couple of nights a week, it isn’t enough.

So, they’ve gone out and purchased vehicles to transport their clients. Same with SIRCH. A lack of public transportation is a huge barrier to employment in Haliburton County.

This is particularly true at a time when gas prices are averaging about $2 a litre. Further, people on low income in this County can’t afford to live in town centres so are on back roads many miles from town.

Many can’t afford a vehicle, certainly not a taxi with fares in the $2.50 per kilometre range, and certainly not gas.

The lack of public transportation was identified in the County’s recently-completed community safety and well-being plan. County CAO Mike Rutter has been very supportive of both pilot projects.

He noted the County has about $200,000 in a transportation reserve as past councils had identified public transportation as a challenge, and need, but had been waiting for a model that would work in the County. He said they are continuing to investigate that.

Other money could come from provincial Safe ReStart funds. First-year projects are not eligible for provincial gas tax funding but they are in second and subsequent years. It’s too bad it takes organizations such as SIRCH and Point in Time to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to our County’s public transportation woes.

Coun. Brent Devolin lamented that two terms of council have been unable to deliver some form of public transportation. He’s right and Rutter hopes the County is finally heading in the right direction by at least doing something.

He mentioned that he and director of economic development, Scott Ovell, met with a group piloting on-demand transit services based on sophisticated algorithms and technology that predict routes and demand.

He thinks there’s potential to see a real evolution of transit in the County using all of this as a springboard. We can only hope so. It was only in 2019 that the County decided to wait and hope rather than do anything substantial on transportation.

After the end of the transportation task force and the hiatus of the volunteer Rural Transportation Options, the County’s anticipated decision on transportation was to not make a decision. It opted to keep its $50,000 in budgeted funding parked.

After years of consultations, meetings, efforts by volunteers and spending more than $46,000 on an implementation plan, the decision was lacklustre.

Let’s hope these recent partnerships with SIRCH and Point in Time as well as staff talks with other transportation providers finally delivers a real solution to this County’s public transportation woes and that new councils sworn in in the fall finally take their feet off the brakes.

Artists drape Wild Woods in textiles

By

Sam Gillett

-

June 2, 2022

0

A rickety chair reclaimed by the forest sits amid the spring growth along the Wild Woods walk at the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife preserve.

Nearby, yellow sundresses adorned with flowers gently sway on a clothesline.

Both works of textile are part of Art in the Forest, an art installation along the Forest’s Wild Woods interpretive nature trail. The exhibition was organized by Connections Fibre Artists, an Ontario-wide collective.

Group member Wendy O’Brien, who has a cottage nearby, came up with the idea.

“I was looking for a project for the rest of the members to be sort of a challenge,” she said.

“Each person was left up to their own devices.”

They have been creating work for the exhibit for the past two years since the show was delayed multiple times due to COVID-19.

O’Brien’s three-dimensional wool art blends into the forest landscape. Her chair is covered in funghi and a crow perches on the top.

“It’s nature taking over,” O’Brien said, “We all return to nature at the end of the day.”

Helen Hughes, a textile artist who has exhibited internationally, said she didn’t feel engaged with the show until arriving at the Forest. “There are a number of [collective members] located in southern Ontario. We couldn’t visualize it, we couldn’t imagine it,” she said.

She also hadn’t seen the other artists’ pieces.

“I just couldn’t believe how awesome they looked,” she said.

Once she and other Connections members arrived to hang the work in mid-May, she was impressed with the variety and natural landscape they had to work with.

“We had a riot,” she said.

Hughes often works on large projects, her energetic use of colour and shape combined in two-dimensional sewed cloth scenes.

This was the first time Connections artists had pursued a fully outdoors show, with their work set to endure rain, snow and sun.

“It will probably disintegrate. There is something quite assuring knowing we are giving back to the environment,” said Hughes.

Art in the Forest will be available to view along the Wilds Wood walk for the rest of 2022.

Table was set for Matt Duchene to succeed at Nashville Predators

By

Submitted

-

June 2, 2022

0

Haliburton native Matt Duchene said he’s still feeling the sting of being the first team ousted in this year’s NHL playoffs.

His Nashville Predators fell in four straight games to the Colorado Avalanche. Duchene had a strong playoff, with three goals and one assist, however the Avalanche were too much for the Preds.

“I wouldn’t say (the sting) is gone, that’s for sure,” Duchene told The Highlander.

“I think as long as teams are still playing, it’s hard to put in the rear view. At the end of the day, we didn’t have Saros, who’s one of the best goalies in the league, and against a high-octane offence like Colorado has, you need your starting goalie.

“I think that we were exposed in some other areas that needed to be exposed for us to take the next step so I think that long-term, the loss can benefit us,” Duchene added.

Goalie Juuse Saros was sidelined with a lower body injury, forcing backup David Rittich into the series. The loss of Saros, who won 38 games and had a .264 goals against average and .918 save percentage, cost the Preds against a team Duchene skated with for nine seasons.

Despite the playoff loss, Nashville finished the 2021-22 regular season with a record of 45 wins, 30 losses and seven overtime losses for 97 points to finish fifth in the NHL Central division.

While he does not like the term “bounce back season,” Duchene had a strong year, with 43 goals and 43 assists for 86 points. By contrast, he only scored six goals and seven assists in a COVID-shortened 2020-2021. It was a big jump on 2019-2020 as well, when he had 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points.

“Just being put in the right places to succeed,” Duchene said of the turn-around.

“I felt that since I got here, there were some exterior things holding me back and this year, between my minutes, linemates and how great our powerplay was, the table was set for me to succeed as long as I brought my best. Some conversations were had in the off season between myself and our coach and myself and our GM and I think those were pivotal in my success this year.”

Duchene said he is already excited about next season.

“I think we were exposed in the first round and I think that really showed our management, our coaches and us, as players, where we need to improve to get to the next level. Our style of game can change in some ways to make us more dangerous offensively throughout the lineup and I think management sees some roster changes that could help us going forward. Losing exposes weaknesses, which, if looked at the right way, can ultimately lead to winning and that’s what excites me going forward.”

Duchene said he is also looking forward to getting back to Haliburton County this summer. He plans to be home mid-June.

“Really excited for lots of time at the lake, on the golf course and with family. Obviously, I’m still training and skating throughout the week but it’s always nice to come home to my hometown.”

He will also be back for the Matt Duchene charity golf classic, a major fundraiser for the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation that has been grounded by COVID-19. It is scheduled for July 22.

“The golf tourney is always a highlight and it’s an honour and a privilege to be able to raise money for such an awesome cause to make the town that I love so much a better place.”

Haliburton’s Home and Cottage show to bring people face-to-face with contractors

By

Mike Baker

-

June 2, 2022

0

Property owners looking for a capable contractor to handle their latest reno project, or an interior designer with a keen sense of style to assist with a home makeover, should block off their weekend and plan to attend the Haliburton Home and Cottage show, said organizer Dave Taylor.

Running June 3-5, the show will be taking place at the Haliburton Curling Club and A.J. LaRue Arena.

There will be more than 130 vendors featured over the course of the three days, with more than a dozen of those from the building and reno segment.

“Because our contractors are so busy, I’ve had so many that usually attend the show tell me they can’t make it… But we do still have some good representation,” Taylor said.

“We have some good, established companies and then some smaller ones too. There’s a nice mix there.”

All of those in attendance are willing to discuss, provide quotes and possibly even take on projects, which should be music to the ears of local homeowners given how backed up many local contractors are this season.

Many are already booking into 2023 and beyond. A.J. LaRue Arena will host Log & Wood Colour Restoration, Minden’s Country Contracting, and Cottage Revisited, a décor company that specializes in rustic designs.

There will be a slew of contracting and home decor vendors on show at the curling club, with Emmerson Lumber, Northern HVAC, NZH Contracting Inc., Gliding Shelf Solutions, Brock Pascoe Construction and Landscape, Highland Technical, The Dock Spot, Wood Restorations, Leaf Filter Gutter Protection, Home Hardware and Bradstone Stonerox registered.

Nortech Home Improvements, Floe Docks and Golden Lake Rustics will have stations outside in the parking lot.

“People are desperately looking for professionals to do jobs, there’s no doubt about that… That’s one of the great things about hosting a home show like this, it brings our local people face-to-face with the businesses that can help them,” Taylor said.

The Haliburton Home and Cottage Show has been a community staple since 1977.

The event has typically drawn between 2,500 and 3,000 visitors in years past, though Taylor expects to blow that number out of the water this weekend given the recent influx of new residents to the Highlands.

“We’re just excited to be putting on a show again… We strive to make sure this show has variety, that there’s lots of different things for people to check out and I think we’ve been successful in doing that again this year,” Taylor said. “Having something like this to look forward to again is really nice.

Show hours are 4-9 p.m. June 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 4 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 5. Admission is $3 for adults, while kids can get in for free.

Puzzle fundraiser to benefit school in India

By

Mike Baker

-

June 2, 2022

0

A group of local high schoolers are sending love from Hal High all the way across the world.

The HHSS Interact club is working on its annual international fundraising campaign, collecting money for the Mahatma Gandhi Sishu Siksha Sadan School in northern India. The Highlands group has fostered a partnership with the institution for several years, providing money to support the infrastructure of the school and purchase much-needed supplies.

In 2021, through sales of its From the Heart of Haliburton cook book, the Interact club sent approximately $3,500 to the school, located 200 kilometres north of New Delhi. This year, they’re hoping to go one step further.

Interact has developed a pair of puzzles, which they’re selling to the community for $35 each. One is a depiction of a mural located at the school, titled ‘With Love, Hal High’, while the other is a picture of a lake in Haliburton County appropriately named ‘Morning Reflections’.

After selling 50 puzzles already, the club has put in a second order to receive another 100. The fundraiser will run throughout the summer, with a goal of raising in excess of $5,000.

“Every year we do something a little different, but we’ve found that it’s worked well making things that we can then sell to the community,” said Sophie Longo, a Grade 11 student at HHSS and Interact club member. “We’re really happy with how this fundraiser has started. We just want to send as much money as we can to school, because they really need it.”

Built in 2003, the Indian school has grown from having 65 students in its first year to more than 500 today. As well as academics, students are taught yoga, while they also receive a daily meal.

Longo said it’s initiatives like this that sparked her interest in joining Interact.

“Just wanting to do a little good, give back to the world where I can,” Longo said. “We have supported so many great causes [in the two years I’ve been involved] … It can be hard planning sometimes, but once you see things unfold, how our members interact with one another and the community, it’s really nice to know that the work pays off.”

The club has completed several projects during this school year. Over the holidays they ran a shoebox drive, providing gifts to underprivileged teens for Christmas. Recently, they held a week-long fundraiser for Ukraine, raising $3,000.

Anyone interested in purchasing a puzzle is asked to send a direct message to the HHSS Interact page on Instagram, or contact the school at 705-457-2950.

‘Outstanding’ carpentry grads nail jobs

By

Sam Gillett

-

June 2, 2022

0

One hundred per cent focus, and 100 per cent employment. That’s the result of SIRCH’s Basics of Carpentry pilot program

All graduates of the 12-week course are employed, nearly all using the skills they picked up under the guidance of instructor Doug Norris.

Dan Jenkins got a job in carpentry before the program finished.

“Coming out here, getting involved in the community, it seems carpentry is really in demand,” Jenkins said at a May 19 graduation celebration.

He said the program was a chance to “polish up” his skills, securing him full-time work this spring.

He wants to build his own home one day, with the carpentry skills helping him know how to navigate the process.

Diane Woodcock, SIRCH Community Services’ training coordinator, said she was excited by how the participants embraced the skills.

“The group we appealed to has been just outstanding.”

She added it shows there’s a need for more training like this.

“The problem in Haliburton is that getting this training is very difficult, you have to go very far away. We’ve touched on something that suggests how, as a community, can we satisfy the need for this kind of training?” she said.

Norris said he’s found teaching the program rewarding too.

“Just as a group, just as a community of people I’m really going to miss them. I’d work on a job site with any of them anytime,” he said.

“I can look at a number of them, and remember what skills I saw 12 weeks ago, and remember what I’ve seen in the past few days and it’s really gratifying.”

The group’s final project was a finished bunkie, which is now up for auction on shopclosebuy.ca

Emergency departments get summer reprieve

By

Mike Baker

-

June 2, 2022

0

Emergency departments at the Haliburton and Minden hospitals will remain open throughout the summer, according to HHHS CEO Carolyn Plummer, with the organization preparing to keep up with increased demand brought on by seasonal residents.

During her report to the board May 26, Plummer said it was “critical” that the local health service maintain its two emergency departments throughout the summer.

“We’ll continue to use nursing agency staff to support [our emergency departments]… We recognize with the increased volume that this community sees over the summer, that we see every summer, that there’s merit in keeping them open. It’s critical, in fact, for us to do that, given that we don’t have any other alternatives in place,” Plummer said.

It was first reported in November 2021 that the hospital was struggling to staff both emergency departments. In a new update, Plummer noted HHHS continues to experience a 40 per cent shortage in coverage for all emergency department and hospital nursing shifts, and a 25 per cent shortfall in coverage for emergency department physician shifts.

Positions are being filled temporarily by non-local nursing agency staff and HealthForce Ontario emergency department locum program physicians. While this is putting additional strain on the hospital’s finances, Plummer said it’s a tough pill the organization is having to swallow to maintain its current service levels.

Previously, Plummer told The Highlander that HHHS is relying on eight full-time nurse equivalents (40-hour weeks) staffed through third-party bureaus across its two hospitals. This is costing the organization around $20,000 more a month than if they had an additional eight full-time staffers of their own.

It was noted that the hospital may be forced into temporarily closing one of the departments in the event of a last-minute shift cancellation or emergency situation.

Back in black

Finance committee chair David O’Brien delivered some “much needed” good news to the board, saying the organization finished its 2021/22 fiscal year with a surplus.

“I usually come to this point in the agenda somewhat depressed because I’m reporting a deficit, but I have some exciting news for everyone today. We have finished our year with a $71,013 surplus,” O’Brien said. “I would be remiss to say that we’re not out of the woods yet, but this is certainly encouraging.”

This marks the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that HHHS has ended its fiscal year in a positive financial position.

Golf classic returns

Golf enthusiasts will have the opportunity to hit the links for a good cause once again this summer after the HHHS foundation announced the return of the Matt Duchene Charity Golf Classic.

The event will take place July 22 at the Blairhampton Golf Club.

“We’re very pleased that our Matt Duchene classic will be returning after a two-year hiatus due to COVID… Things will be a little bit different for us in terms of the day of the week and the location, but we’re so excited to bring this popular event back to the community,” said HHHS Foundation executive director Lisa Tompkins.

Tompkins noted the foundation was in the process of finalizing its funding commitments for the 2022/23 fiscal year. The organization has already given the green light to purchasing new IV pumps for both hospitals’ acute care and emergency departments.

The foundation donated just over $413,000 to fund equipment and program upgrades during the previous fiscal year.

Quest to perfect the game of golf ‘keeps driving all of us’

By

Lisa Gervais

-

June 2, 2022

0

Chris Near was 13 when he played his first round of golf. It was at Blue Springs Golf Club in his hometown of Acton and he was smitten from the first swing of the club.

Soon after, he played a round at Muskoka’s Rocky Crest.

The challenge of the game combined with the picturesque surroundings of that course captured his imagination, “and immediately I was like ‘I have to find a way to work up there’.”

He became the operations manager at Oak Bay Golf & Country Club in Port Severn in 2014 and was then hired as the head professional at Rocky Crest before becoming director of operations at The Lake Joseph Club and then moving on to the Port Carling Golf and Country Club.

He was doing some research on the PGA of Canada website one day, when he noticed an ad for Carnarvon Family Golf.

“That looks pretty cool,” he recalls thinking.

He chatted with wife, Kelsey, and the two drove from Orillia to have a look at the business that had been run by the Kent family for 14 years. They decided to take the plunge.

“I’ve got a bit of entrepreneurial spirit so when you can tie business and passion into a package, that really triggered the curiousity,” Near said. “I’m not afraid to try things, take chances, introduce new things and if they latch on, amazing, and if they flop, no worries, we’ll just trudge on to the next thing.”

It’s a big change from his previous job when it was not unusual to field 250 emails a day from members of one of the most prestigious clubs in Canada. Near’s new domain includes a small pro shop, driving range, 18-hole mini-putt and nine-hole, par-three golf course.

The change from head pro at Port Carling to proprietor of Carnarvon is not lost on the longstanding Class A member of the PGA of Canada for 20 years. “Am I crazy?” he asks. “You leave the security of a nice job at one of the finest clubs in the country to take a leap of faith where you have to make it yourself and you have to do some cool stuff to put money in the bank.”

There it is again, that “cool” word. Coming from a corporate entity and perspective to sole ownership of a truly private club has been an interesting journey. Near said he is taking what he has learned from those larger clubs – such as exemplary customer service – to his family’s new enterprise. He is also looking forward to less of the operations and more of the hands-on side of the business, such as teaching.

“I thrive on being able to have conversations with people and there is nothing more gratifying than seeing a young junior latch on and love the game and have fun. Golf is such a good game to bring some strong core values in life and leverage those forever.”

Near said they are not planning to make major changes but are removing the batting cages and looking to reinvent that space.

They were surprised how popular the mini putt is, so have plans to freshen it up. They are planning to fix up the tees and add new bunker sand on the short course.

The pro shop has had a facelift and Near is selling golf products. They’re hosting their first private club fitting experience with TaylorMade June 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

They are also hoping to introduce glow in the dark night golf on the par three course.

For now, they are also listening to what the clientele is telling them, “as to what they might like to see.”

But so far, Near said, it’s “amazing. I did not expect to see the traffic and traction this early in the year.

“Golf is a game that you’ll never, ever perfect and the quest to get there is what keeps driving all of us.”

Carnarvon Family Golf is located at 9145 Hwy. 118 behind Jug City. Visit carnarvonfamilygolf.com or call 705-489- 3473.