The County of Haliburton is replacing the worn down 94-year-old Little Hawk Lake Road bridge in Algonquin Highlands after confirming over $1.8 million in funding for the project.  

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott announced the province would commit $750,587 to the project June 1, representing one-third of the approximately $2.252 million total cost.

The county anticipates the federal government will cover half the funding at approximately $1.126 million.  

The single-lane bridge was last rehabilitated in 1993 and has an average of 230 vehicles per day.

However, the county said it has significantly deteriorated. The load restriction also prevents firetrucks from crossing, requiring them to take a 12-kilometre detour.  

“We really need it,” Warden Liz Danielsen said. “We can get firetrucks over the bridge, the plows can travel easier, quite a bit better water flow here. It helps in so many ways to get this project done.”  

Scott said this was a major priority.

 “The bridge is desperate, it had to be replaced. It’s very hard for small municipalities to do all the projects that they have to do,” she said. “Haliburton County has been asking for help for several years because it is a large amount of money. Two million makes a big difference for a budget of this size.”  

The new bridge will remain single-lane but be widened to better accommodate plows.

The structure will also be elevated by half a metre to provide for greater water capacity beneath it.  

“It really is such an important part of our sustainability,” county chief administrative officer Mike Rutter said.  

The federal government has not yet confirmed its contribution to the work but Scott said she expects their funding will come soon.  

The county plans to tender the replacement structure in the summer, with construction taking place in the fall.  

“I’ve crossed this bridge all my life. I know we have very big routes in this part of Haliburton County,” Scott said. “I’ll feel more secure when we get a new bridge.”

Haliburton School of Art and Design 2019 valedictorian Taylor Luecke did not expect to deliver a speech as the voice of more than 35 graduates.  

The school hosted its annual commencement ceremony May 31.

The graduates of 12 different art and design programs were honoured as they received their diplomas in front of their peers and families.  Luecke said graduating as her class’s valedictorian was a surreal experience.  

“I love that school so much and I never thought I’d find a place as cool as that. I feel super proud to be that person,” she said. “I am one of the first in my family to graduate from post-secondary school, so I feel like it’s a big thing.”  

The Millbrook native graduates with an alternative design diploma and a digital image design certificate.

Although she said she always knew she wanted to create, she did not always know she wanted to graduate from college.  

“It brought me a lot of joy and it eases a lot of my anxieties,” she said about her art. “I saw lots of doctors about it (anxiety) and all they wanted to do was prescribe me medication.”  

Instead, she looked inward for solutions. After high school, she travelled to British Columbia, moving from place to place and doing odd jobs to connect with herself. She found that connection through her art. 

 “It was kind of like my way to take a feeling, freeze it in time and explore it and understand it. Be able to work through it,” Luecke said. “That form of therapy has always come natural for me.” 

She came back home and soon after accepted an offer to attend HSAD.  

“The community is really my favourite thing,” Luecke said. “I was able to be completely myself and create from my soul. Be able to dance down the halls and people would dance with me. It was just amazing, the support that runs through that school.”  

Fleming College president Maureen Adamson said the school’s experience leaves its mark on students.  

“The relations you already made in your time in Fleming will enhance your future in ways you may not even recognize just yet,” she told graduates. “You are a part of our Fleming and our future.” 

Fleming College professor of Indigenous Studies Liz Stone told students there is more to life than the pursuit of wealth.  

“Oftentimes we’re asked ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’” Stone said. “Initially we think, ‘I’m going to have a big, big house. I’m going to have a big, big bank account’… We have to get out of our head. We have to be aware of what’s going on around us and we have to live within our heart.”  

In her commencement speech, Luecke said for her and her classmates, art is the way they tackle tough subjects.  

“It’s difficult to tell someone that art is your therapy, your drive and your passion,” Luecke said. “For us, art is a form of communication. A way to translate our ideas into reality.”

As the years have rolled on, Willie and Jack Cox have never stopped their tradition of competing at the Ontario 55+ Summer Games.  

The couple have participated in them for more than 20 years, most recently taking part in the Haliburton/Muskoka District summer games underway May 2 to June 20. Willie, 85 and Jack, 88, have played together every step of the way, racking up a long list of awards and titles at both the provincial and national levels.  

The elder Cox said for them, the event is successful in doing what it is designed for.  

“The model of the senior games is to stay active physically and mentally and the games are designed to help do that,” Cox said. “I feel very fortunate to be able to do this at my age.”  

The pair have continued a run of success this year. In the early rounds of competition, they qualified for June’s regional finals in euchre and bid euchre.

They also plan to compete in the walking event in Haliburton June 5. 

 Willie Cox credited their card game success to both practice and a little luck.  

“You got to get the cards and it depends on who you’re playing against,” she said. “Haliburton has fantastic bridge players. If you can do well in Haliburton, you can do well anywhere.” 

 The couple is no stranger to success. They said they have competed nationally at least five times, including a second place finish in bridge in 1998. The pair have also earned awards at the winter version of the competition, participating in events such as skiing and Nordic walking. 

 Jack Cox said although it is nice to win, it is not the be-all and end-all of participating. 

“It’s just another game to me,” he said. “I don’t feel better than anybody else.”  It is the social aspect of the sporting event that’s the biggest appeal, Willie Cox said.  “The people we meet, the friendships we’ve made … people are just so good.”

OSGA 55+ Haliburton/Muskoka media relations Bev Kerr said the spirit of camaraderie is on full display when the games are underway.

“I looked around the room (May 6) at the Minden Legion to see 44 people talking, laughing and enjoying playing euchre,” she said. “The Ontario Senior Games 55+ is about active living, meeting new people and having fun.”  

The pair is driven to keep playing for their physical and mental wellbeing. 

 “I’m just happy we’re well enough to compete,” Willie said. “Our age is not getting any younger.”

Elderly residents forced from their home in the Highland Wood Long Term Care facility in February are finally able to return. Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) announced the facility will be re-opening June 3.  

The organization has repaired the leaky roof which resulted in all 28 of the facility’s residents relocating Feb. 7.

President and CEO Carolyn Plummer reported to the HHHS board May 23 that staff are contacting former residents and their families and plans are underway to transition them back. 

 “We’re very excited to be in this position of bringing our residents back home,” Plummer said. “We do have plans being prepared right now, and many plans already in place, for how we’re going to bring residents back in a way that’s going to be minimally disruptive to them.”  

“We’re very happy with how the work has progressed in terms of the roof replacement and the internal repairs,” she added.

Since the evacuation, HHHS has transferred people to other long-term care homes in the region.  

Peter Brogden’s wife, Margaret Brogden, was living in the facility.

He said HHHS moved her to Extendicare Haliburton and the process went smoothly.  

“It was really very straightforward,” he said. “It was really a very low-impact disturbance. To go and visit her in Highland Wood or Extendicare is really no different, one from the other.”

He noted his wife’s mobility made the situation easier for her compared to others but added staff performed well throughout.  

“The staff did a very good job of accommodating all the residents for the move which was bound to be awkward for some,” Brogden said.  

Judy Johnson’s mother was in Highland Wood.

She was moved to a facility in Lindsay for a short time but was then offered a room at Hyland Crest in Minden.

She said the family naturally jumped at the chance to have her back in Haliburton County.

In her case, she is opting to stay at Hyland Crest and not move back to Highland Wood.  

“My mother-in-law and my mom’s sister also live at Hyland Crest and my sister lives and works in Minden so it was a win-win all the way around. Mom was given the opportunity to return to Highland Wood but declined as she is very comfortable in her new home and enjoys the staff and residents alike. She also commented that she could not handle another move,” Johnson said.  

The roof of the facility was assessed in 2017 and was already scheduled to be replaced this spring.

However, the roof failed “suddenly and without warning” in winter due to snow and ice buildup, according to a preliminary report from the HHHS’s insurer’s roof inspector.  

Brodgen said there was nobody to blame for what happened. 

 “Sometimes circumstances work the way you don’t want them to work out,” he said. “The test is really how well you can adapt to it. Fortunately for us, it was not particularly difficult for the adaptation.” 

In a May 23 press release, HHHS said the Highland Wood information hotline remains open and can be reached at (705) 457-1392 ext. 2400.

Family members with questions are also encouraged to contact the Central East LHIN Long-Term Care Placement Team at (705) 310-2222.  

“We look forward to welcoming our long-term care residents back to Highland Wood,” the press release said. 

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit is pushing against amalgamation out of concern it could reduce its ability to effectively deliver services. 

 As part of a mass reduction of Ontario’s health units from 35 to 10, the province has proposed merging the HKPR health unit with ones in Peterborough and Durham.

Units across Ontario have raised concerns about how this could hamper their ability to do their work.  

Dysart et al Mayor Andrea Roberts sits on the HKPR board and spoke to county council on the issue May 22.

She said the amalgamation will have funding implications for the unit.  

“It is pretty stressful times at the health unit right now because there’s more that they don’t know than what they do,” Roberts said. “I wish there had been more consulting. I wish the timeline hadn’t seemed to be so rushed.” 

 Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Christine Elliott has cited the 2017 auditor general report in defending the move.

The report said there is a lack of co-ordination between public health units and there was “significant duplication” in some of their efforts. 

“The Auditor General also reported since 2014, about one-third of public health units have undertaken research on the same issues,” Elliott said in a May 23 statement. “It’s clear that there are significant opportunities to more efficiently deliver public health while protecting and improving vital programs.” 

 However, the HKPR board has urged the minister to stop the overhaul.

Board chair Cammie Jaquays wrote to Elliott and Premier Doug Ford April 24 about the matter.  

Jacquays told The Highlander she is uncertain about how well the new model will work.  

“There’s a lot that we really do in preventative health in the community,” she said. “Will the new model be able to service the communities in a way they’ve been serviced up to now?”  

She said the HKPR district is more rural than Peterborough or Durham.

The merged unit’s population will also exceed one million. That puts the unit in line for the province’s plans to reduce its share of the funding split with municipalities for larger units from 70-30 to 60-40 come 2021-22.  

“That will put a strain,” Jacquays said. “The changes could have a huge effect on our community. I think people just don’t realize the major variety of the public health office.”  

The provincial government is expecting the changes to save it $200 million by 2021-22, according to an Association of Municipalities Ontario Report.

The report also said the province is telling health units to look for efficiencies rather than frontline cuts. But Jacquays said the units already “run a very lean shift.”  

Maintaining a voice for rural Ontario as part of a bigger jurisdiction is also a concern, she said.  

“We’ve been fighting for rural living for a long time. It is different. The needs of rural communities are different than the needs of Durham.”

The Rotary Club of Haliburton is planning to bring a new $250,000 washroom and welcome centre to Head Lake Park.  

The club presented its plan May 28 to Dysart et al council, who voted to partner for the effort. Besides washrooms, the facility is also proposed to act as a centre to offer tourist information, taking on the role from the CNR Caboose. 

Club director Andrew Hodgson said the idea was a natural fit for a 75th anniversary project.  

“We kept coming back to this beautiful park, that’s a beautiful signature piece of our community, has outhouses,” Hodgson said. “We thought a combined washroom welcome centre would be used for all the different events and also enhance tourism.”  

Rotary is committing up to $75,000 toward the project, with the remaining money coming from any available upper government grants and municipal funding.

Hodgson said the facility details are preliminary and can still be worked out with the municipality.

However, he sought approval in principle to apply for a federal grant which is giving preference for applications made by May 31.

 “As a Rotary Club, we can certainly help lobby in the sense of getting the community behind it,” Hodgson said. “We can help promote this as a good vision for us as a shared community.”  

The club is proposing the facility be fully accessible and have six gender-neutral washrooms.

Hodgson also said the facility would include change rooms, which could potentially be used for a splash pad in the future. 

Coun. Larry Clarke, who also chairs the events and programming committee, said this project would be critical for improving the area for events.  

“What we’re seeing is one of the big impediments we have for Head Lake Park right now is we don’t have proper washrooms,” Clarke said. “This is a key component for us to move forward with the park area.” 

However, Coun. Walt McKechnie expressed concern about costs.  

“It’s a great idea but I think I definitely don’t want to jump into committing to it,” McKechnie said. “It’s going to be a lot more money than we realize to do a washroom. There are horror stories about how tough it is to build.”  

Coun. John Smith said the initiative addresses a big problem but the township would need to consider how the operational expenses are covered.  

“We’re going to have to figure out a model that’s going to allow us to pay for this thing because it’s not going to be cheap,” he said. “There’s a lot of complexities.” 

Deputy Mayor Patrick Kennedy said the details could be worked out between the parties over time.  

“It’s exciting. I think we’re all pretty much in agreement in principle about washrooms and the park,” Kennedy said. “Whether we agree or disagree with the location of it or the square footprint, that’s irrelevant at this time.”