Arts council keeping stable in pandemic

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April 15, 2021

The Arts Council Haliburton Highlands opted to keep its board steady for another year as it maintains programming amidst the pandemic.

Members voted at an AGM March 30 to extend chair Kate Butler and secretary Renée Woltz to serve an additional year, past the two-term, six-year maximum set out in the society’s bylaws.

The move came because of a board proposal to modify those bylaws to allow for three terms, given the difficulties of the pandemic.

Attendees balked at the bylaw modification but instead to give Butler and Woltz another year. Woltz said stability was important at this time.

“The board really feels this is not the time to be losing some experience on the board, given the challenges,” Woltz said. “And the fact with less social interaction it has been a little more difficult than usual to recruit new board members.”

Woltz said the two-year term limit was meant to keep the board fresh with new ideas and energy. But members said it did not make sense to change the bylaw or to provide an extra full term, which usually lasts three years.

“The bylaws are the backbone of the organization and you don’t go making adjustments annually,” Rails End Gallery curator Laurie Jones said. “That doesn’t mean that this has not been an exceptional period.”

Butler said she is willing to carry on for one year as an exception. She added she would be willing to provide advice beyond that.

“Hopefully, by that time, we’ll have a handle on what things are looking like as we’ve gone through this COVID-era,” Butler said. “And we’re coming out the other side and we’ll be in a better position.”

The society also voted to add Sophie Creelman and Danielle Martin to its board, joining Butler, Woltz, treasurer Pat Martin, Chris Lynd, Pat Jones and Scott Walling.

Programming carries on

The arts council reviewed its past year, how COVID-19 impacted the scene and what art programs have carried on despite that.

The organization had a 2020 deficit of $2,532, compared to a $1,642 surplus in 2019. Its general fund had $40,356 at the end of the 2020 fiscal year.

Martin said the board has worked to get more grants and donations to keep programs going.

“Your board has been working hard to ensure the financial viability of the organization,” Martin said. “While the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge we have been able to initiate several new programs.”

Some of those new initiatives include a promotional video, a remote reading event called 6-Minute Escape, a monthly social media feature on local artists, an online artist course and a new radio play which premiered April 7.

“The resilience and creativity of our arts community here is remarkable,” Butler said. “We always find a way to make things work … Looking forward to another great year ahead.”.

Supporting families through trying times

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Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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JQ - Pregnancy Centre - 1 — Pregnancy Care and Family Support Centre’s Leanne Young and Julie Goodwin. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Haliburton’s Pregnancy Care & Family Support Centre said the pandemic is putting a strain on young mothers and families.

The Christian-based charity said pandemic isolation has taken its toll on the health of clients, both old and new to the County. Client services director, Leanne Young, said though the centre is still offering services, young families and new parents are missing group connections.

She said they are reaching out, but with new families moving into the community, they face difficulties maintaining public awareness.

“People are emotionally struggling with feeling isolated,” Young said. “As a young mom, I’ve learnt so many techniques with my kids from being – in the past – in mums’ groups.”

The pandemic has caused parents to spend more time with children, navigating home-based education and lockdown. A December 2020 study from Cambridge University found both Canadian men and women with children in their household are spending 37 per cent more time in childcare throughout the pandemic.

Centre executive director, Julie Goodwin, said they find clients often need someone outside their household they can vent with.

“It’s hard for clients to reach out for help when they’re struggling. To say, ‘I want to come and talk about this concern’,” Goodwin said. “Just a listening ear. A lot of people just don’t have that person to listen.”

The centre offers free support to struggling families, including parenting programs, supplies and pregnancy education. The pandemic has curtailed its group programming, but Goodwin said it has remained open to provide individual services.

Though its supports are not exhaustive, Goodwin said they can refer people to organizations addressing any issues they cannot cover.

“It’s not the same as mums being able to physically gather with their children and gain that peer support,” Goodwin said. “We’re just trying to look for ways to say, ‘we’re here, we care.’

“This is a great community that we live in and there are lots of good resources that we can help people navigate,” she added.

The charity is 100-per cent donor-based and has been unable to hold its usual fundraisers, Young said.

But she added they have gotten by with generosity and successfully shifting their main fundraiser – a baby-bottle drive – online.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support of our donors,” Goodwin said.

Young said the centre has health protocols in place and is ready to help anyone, regardless of background.

“Everyone needs support and you’re not alone,” Young said. “If you feel like, ‘I’m alone in this,’ that’s not true’.”

The centre is available at 705-457-4673 or haliburtonpregnancycentre.ca

Barbecue and brisket specialty of ‘crazy’ Hunter/Gatherer

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Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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JQ - New takeout business - 2 — Jason Lougheed and Allana Ziorjen have launched a new takeout business focusing on smoked meat. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Jason Lougheed said people have questioned him and his partner Allana Ziorjen for starting a takeout business in a pandemic.

The two launched Hunter/Gatherer, a new takeout business out of Minden’s Wintergreen Maple Products in March. The smoker-based establishment serves brisket, meatloaf, and pies made-to-order, with a clothing line to go with it.

Ziorjen said the pair have known each other for a long time and reconnected recently over a mutual love of barbecuing. The takeout idea unfolded quickly, and they got a business licence in November. The location came about because Ziorjen has worked at Wintergreen periodically for 17 years.

“Everything just kind of came together beautifully,” she said. “The beauty of this is we’ve been able to set it up in the midst of the pandemic. So, we’ve been able to tailor how we operate to the rules.”

“Everybody thinks we’re crazy,” Lougheed said. “And it makes sense. We are crazy.”

The service currently only operates one day a week on Friday, though plans to expand to lunch service on the weekends over the summer. It also planned to be out of a food truck on Easter weekend, though the provincial shutdown April 3 dashed those plans.

The business centers around the barbecue and brisket specialty, which Lougheed said requires 12 hours to cook using a smoker. They said they are looking to introduce it to the area and elevate more homely dishes such as meatloaf.

“People in this area aren’t as familiar with what brisket is because it’s more of a southern thing,” Ziorjen said. “It kind of changes barbecuing because it is such a long process.”

Wintergreen owner Tom Dawson said the relationship is a way to maximize the operation.

“We have facilities, they have skills and we’re trying to put them together,” Dawson said. “Very symbiotic relationship … In one essence, we’re trying to put wind under their wings.”

Lougheed said the Hunter/Gatherer name came from their philosophy on food and the community. He said they want to use locally-sourced products as much as possible.

“Our brand is we just kind of do what we have to do to get by. We use what’s readily available to us,” Lougheed said. “We are survivors.”

Ziorjen said they have kept a slow, but steadily increasing pace – 20 meals on a first week and more than doubling that over Easter weekend.

“I have been blown away,” Lougheed said. “It’s great. Everybody seems to be just loving it.”

The two are unsure of the long-term future, with their own building a pipedream. For now, they are taking it one summer at a time.

“The restaurant industry right now is so unstable. We’re coming in at a really interesting time where we’re able to sort of adapt,” Ziorjen said.

“We have to be realistic about what will happen in the next few years, with the restaurant industry as it is.” The service is available at huntergatherfood.com

Mobile phones and COVID control

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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by Dr. Nell Thomas

Vaccines are making their way through our community.

More of us are feeling that cloak of protection start to form around us after getting the shot. It sure does take the edge off the constant feeling of vulnerability and the vigilance we have all been burdened with. But until vaccination coverage helps us to reach herd immunity, nonpharmaceutical interventions remain the primary means of preventing virus spread. In some countries, such as Taiwan, for example, population behaviour has been the key to controlling spread of the virus.

Border control and compulsory mask wearing on public transit was imposed at the outset in Taiwan. Therefore, this island nation (population 23.6 million) had no locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 for the 253 days between April and December 2020. As of February 28, 2021, there had been 955 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan, with only 77 (8.1 per cent) locally acquired.

Adherence to social distancing and face masking, plus quarantining and contact tracing. These are the techniques that have made Taiwan a country with one of the lowest per capita COVID incidence and mortality rates in the world. They have not had to close schools or use strict lockdowns.

An estimated 55 per cent of their infections occurred during the presymptomatic stage. A combination of early diagnosis of cases, plus contact tracing, plus 14-day quarantine of close contacts (regardless of symptoms) was estimated to decrease the reproduction number from 2.5 (each infected person infects 2.5 other people) to 1.5 people. (Remember, to stop spread, it is necessary to have the infection rate less than one.)

The effect of social distance and face masks reduced the reproduction number to 1.3, meaning that voluntary populationbased interventions, if used alone, were not enough to stop spread. Combining quarantining and contact tracing plus social distance and masks reduced the reproduction number to 0.85, successfully stopping spread.

Taiwan demonstrates that stopping the COVID-19 pandemic requires the collaboration of public health professionals and the general public. Either strategy alone would be insufficient.

The behaviours that are most effective at reducing spread in Taiwan are also effective in Canada. We are just not applying them strictly. But if we did, we would see the benefit. A study that tracked peoples’ movements using smartphone data from March 15, 2020 until March 6, 2021 showed that average time spent outside the home in a three-week period predicted the increased spread of COVID-19. It showed that low levels of mobility will control disease spread. (I doubt any of us is surprised at this, as we have witnessed the numbers go up when our activity is less restricted and fall again after lockdowns curb movement in our community.)

This study measured weekly growth rate – the ratio of cases in a given week compared to the previous week – and evaluated the effects of average time spent outside the home in the previous three weeks. The researchers tracked variation from week to week among regions and provinces.

Across the 51-week study period, 888,751 people were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Each 10 per cent increase in population mobility was associated with a 25 per cent increase in weekly case growth rate. Before the pandemic we had no restrictions on our movement, so mobility at pre-pandemic baseline was 100 per cent. Mobility measured during the study was highest in the summer (69 per cent) and dropped to 54 per cent in winter 2021.

The study concluded that use of smartphone data can be used to guide provincial and regional loosening and tightening of physical distancing measures. Mobility strongly and consistently predicts weekly case growth, and low levels of mobility are needed to control COVID-19.

All-ages volunteer army needed

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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I attended the orientation session for Rotary Club of Minden volunteers for the S.G. Nesbitt arena COVID vaccination clinic.

According to Rotary, in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean Islands, 71 per cent of Rotarians are more than 50 years of age. Only 12 per cent are less than 40 years old.

The local Rotarians attending last week’s session included some people much older than 50. While I admire all of them, I do worry about the burden of potentially months of volunteer work to support the cause when they are a vulnerable demographic.

I can only hope their ranks have been, and will be, bolstered by volunteers of younger demographics in the days, weeks and months to come.

According to the Government of Canada, Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) and Matures (born between 1918 and 1945) are more likely to be top volunteers in Canada.

In 2018, Statistics Canada found Matures (40 per cent) and Baby Boomers (31 per cent) were more likely than iGen (born 1996 and later) – at 18 per cent – to be top volunteers.

StatsCan rationalizes that with many Baby Boomers struggling to keep businesses afloat, working from home, and in some cases caring for elderly parents, they likely have less time for volunteering during the pandemic.

At the same time Matures are among those at highest risk of COVID-19 and may be self-isolating.

So, the most dedicated unpaid workers in the charitable sector going into the pandemic are now among the most impacted by the current situation and in need of support themselves.

But StatsCan doesn’t know the mettle of the Rotary Clubs of Minden and Haliburton and the army of Baby Boomer and Mature volunteers in the Highlands. It is in some cases the busiest and most at-risk who are showing up to staff the clinics at the A.J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton and the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena in Minden.

However, their ranks should be bolstered by iGens, according to StatsCan. Although less likely than other generation to be top volunteers, they were involved in quite a bit of volunteer work going into the pandemic.

Further, as schools have transitioned to online learning and extra-curricular activities have been cancelled, some iGens may be in a better position to up their community contributions through formal volunteering.

They are actually known for more informal giving. The StatsCan paper said the informal volunteer rate for iGen (78 per cent) was actually higher than Baby Boomers (73 per cent) and Matures (58 per cent). This likely reflects different volunteertype preferences for younger versus older generations.

That informal volunteer includes things such as helping people outside of the household and community improvement not on behalf of a group or organization.

So, while it appears Baby Boomers, Matures and iGens are stepping up to the plate, The Highlander is putting out a challenge to others to step forward, including Millennials (those born 1981 to 1995) as well as GenXers (born 1966-1980) to help staff the clinics.

Each clinic will be running three days a week – Haliburton on Monday, Thursday and Sunday and Minden on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The Haliburton clinic is also running on Fridays in at least its first two weeks.

Anyone can volunteer for the Haliburton clinic by contacting haliburtonrotary@ gmail.com. The Minden effort can be reached at volunteer@mindenrotary.ca or 705-286-4922. Shifts are four hours, with two blocks each day. People can only sign on up to two weeks in advance.

Minden to begin septic reinspections in the south

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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Property owners of North Pigeon, Little Bob, Gull, Black and Moore Lakes can expect letters from the Township of Minden Hills and contractor WSP Canada soon regarding the kick-off to the septic reinspection program.

About 1,071 non-vacant properties in Zone A will be done in year one of the anticipated five-year program.

WSP’s Paisley McDowell updated council at the April 8 meeting.

“The program is proposed to begin in 2021 with Zone A and be completed in 2025 with Zone E,” McDowell said.

She added that WSP was planning to send program information letters to all property owners in April/May 2021 to introduce the program.

She added a modified version would be sent to property owners from Zone A that includes more details about the inspection process and the information on how they can contact WSP to book an inspection.

She is also looking to council to set up two virtual public information sessions that were postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and are now proposed to take place this spring.

“In WSP’s experience, these initial information sessions are a critical part of the program to allow owners to engage with WSP directly, learn about the program, understand their responsibilities and ask questions,” she said.

Coun. Bob Carter said he’d like to see an accompanying letter from the township, to point out that it is not an optional program; outline the costs associated with it; and information on what will happen to people who do not comply.

“Let’s get it out there right up front so that everybody understands what’s going on here because this is a very important program,” Carter said.

He asked McDowell why it is fiveyear program, and she replied that WSP normally recommends about 1,000 properties a year as a “doable” number.

Carter also asked if they could do inspections during a stay-at-home order and McDowell said they are an essential service that can guarantee safety as it is outdoor work with employees and homeowners wearing masks and social distancing.

Carter further asked when inspections would commence and McDowell said within the month of May. She said they know seasonal residents are often not at their properties until the May long weekend.

The five-year plan

• 2021: North Pigeon, Little Bob, Gull, Black and Moore lakes.

• 2022: Duck, Horseshoe, Mountain lakes.

• 2023: Soyers, Kashagawigamog, Canning lakes.

• 2024: Little Boshkung, Twelve Mile, Brady and Bob lakes.

• 2025: Davis, Bat, South and Bow lakes.

Minden to begin septic reinspections in the south Minden is expected to kick off its septic program in May

Citizen calls out long-term Dysart oil spill

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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JQ - Oil seepage - 2 — Brian Johnston sits next to an absorbent boom placed to deal with an oil seepage on the Drag River. Photo by Joseph Quigley

Brian Johnston said the sight of oil spilling into a Drag River stream where Walleye spawn is “sickening.” The avid fisher called out the decades-long problem in a viral Facebook post March 30.

Johnston said a small stream of oil, the result of an old gas station near the locale, has continually poured into the river since the 1980s. The post had been shared more than 120 times as of April 12.

Johnston said he was glad to bring the problem to light.

“It’s kind of embarrassing it’s not been cleaned up,” Johnston said. “How many times does this have to happen before this gets fixed?”

Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks district engineer Kelly Andreoli said the leak is coming from an underground storage tank of fuel oil, which she said the province confirmed in a 2012 drilling program. She said the oil was initially sporadic but is appearing more frequently in recent years due to fluctuations in groundwater.

Andreoli said the province plans to remove the buried oil tank and install a barrier along the shoreline to prevent any residual contamination.

She said a work plan and site investigation are likely to begin this spring.

“The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks takes all spills and threats to the environment very seriously,” Andreoli said. “The ministry anticipates that implementation of the various stages of the remediation project will require approximately five years.”

Andreoli said although there may be some localized impacts from the seepage, the environmental impact appears to be minimal. But Johnston said it is still important to get the spill fixed. He noted how area municipalities have prioritized waterway protection with laws such as septic tanks being set back from shorelines.

“It’s just as bad as littering. If I went to your property and spilled a bunch of diesel fuel on your property, how would you feel about it?” Johnston said. “A waterway is public property.”

Johnston said there is difficulty determining who bears responsibility for the underground tank, but the solution is likely to come from taxpayer dollars.

Dysart et al Mayor Andrea Roberts said the ministry cleaned the area in the past, but she does not have further information on the spill. Andreoli said the township has assisted by maintaining absorbent booms in the area to help mitigate the seepage.

Johnston said he was not out to point fingers at the municipality but would like it addressed. He noted how the section of the river can teem with Walleye at this time of year. He said the absorbent boom is not enough and more needs to be done.

“As long as we are aware and spread awareness of the issue, hopefully, the faster this will be dealt with,” he said.

Residents peck at bylaw blocking backyard chickens

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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Matt and Alex McWilliams hope Minden Hills council doesn’t chicken out on their request to have a long-standing township bylaw revisited to allow them to have backyard chickens in their residentiallyzoned neighbourhood.

The McWilliams made a virtual presentation to the April 8 council meeting.

Matt McWilliams said they grow food, tap Maple trees, pick apples and have backyard chickens – all deemed in contravention of a 15-year-old bylaw that says farming must not occur on land designated residential.

He said the delegation wanted to clarify wording in the bylaw on what exactly constitutes farm land use.

He added he had more than 50 signatures of households in his neighbourhood overwhelmingly supporting the idea.

“What we wanted to address is that according to the zoning bylaw 06-10, farm use is not permitted in a residential zone. We’re in a residential zone but the definition of a farm is land used for the growing of crops, nursery or horticultural, raising of livestock, agri-forestry or maple syrup production.”

He said they had received a complaint that their land was being used as a farm due to their homesteading on their acre.

“In the trend of green and climate action, why wouldn’t the township be encouraging the growing of backyard food production, including and not limited to eggs from chickens, rather than discouraging food security in the wake of a pandemic?” he asked. He noted Ontario farmers have forecast upcoming food shortages that will hit later this year due to COVID.

In a time of environmental pressures and food insecurity, the McWilliams think residential zones shouldn’t have such high restrictions. They noted that Harvest Haliburton had identified the benefits of having backyard chickens for improving food security, environmental and health benefits and social well-being.

Alex McWilliams said reasons given against backyard chickens in residential areas include attracting predators. However, “there is zero evidence of this potential claim.” She said they had bears and foxes long before fencing the yard and introducing hens. Nor is there a smell, she added.

Dysart et al allows backyard chickens and Algonquin Highlands is looking into it, they said. Metropolitan areas such as Kingston, Kitchener, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver have also recognized the benefit of this type of land use, noted the McWilliams. Matt McWiliams said it becomes an issue of discrimination.

“At the end of the day, we are two of thousands of up and comers that townships like Minden will be seeing trickle in more and more as the months progress. For people moving this far, urban farming is one of the biggest draws to such a quaint rural community. We hope we’re not forced out due to the unwillingness of recognizing the ever-changing landscape of the economy and food security rights. We hope the bylaw would be changed to allow growing of horticultural crops, agriforest, maple sap production and backyard chickens to be allowed in residential zones.”

Coun. Jean Neville, a self-described “poultry fancier,” said she had been fighting for changes during her entire time on council.

She said one of the issues cited is chickens spreading viruses to humans. “I have not yet known anybody to have caught a disease or died from a chicken.”

She added chickens, hens and the raising of chicks has proven to contribute to social well-being and decreasing anxiety during COVID. “They are the best mental therapy ever.” She added she lives in a residential area and people tap their Maple trees for home use.

Coun. Bob Carter said he was on the planning committee before becoming a councillor when the issue was put up for review, so it had been extensively reviewed in those 15 years. At the time, he said it was decided not to proceed.

“I don’t think we should just make changes because – even though it seems like the right thing to do – all changes have consequences so we should at least review the research that was done.”

Coun. Pam Sayne said she recalled the main reason a change was not made during the review was based on Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) input, and concern about viruses being spread to large chicken operations. She said she agreed with the McWilliams’ direction and politics, but wanted to check with OMAFRA.

Mayor Brent Devolin said the issue would be discussed along with other bylaws needing possible updating before the end of this term of council.

Family comes to terms with dog attack

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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Sadie Lester is just like any other seven-year-old Haliburton County kid, enjoying jumping on her trampoline during Spring break.

The bespectacled girl with the long blonde hair pulled pack into a ponytail briefly joins a Zoom call to say “Hi,” adding she likes going to Stuart Baker Elementary School in Haliburton with her friends, rather than virtual learning. She then runs off to play.

It’s a far cry from a year ago when she was at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto following a vicious dog attack.

Her mom, Lindsay, also suffered non-life-threatening injuries on that fateful April 12, 2020 day. The events of a year ago have naturally affected Sadie’s father and Lindsay’s husband, AJ, as well as elder child, Addison.

“I would say that this past year, there’s been ebbs and flows,” Lindsay said in an interview. “There’s certain times when we felt like it’s been years since it happened and other weeks it just felt like it happened the day prior.”

An anniversary date is a natural trigger. Lindsay says the smell of spring brings it back. On Easter Sunday, she and Addison were out for a walk and got cornered by an off-leash dog on a public dock. That brought it back, too. Lindsay admitted to an hour in bed crying in the aftermath of that. However, overall, she said the family “is definitely in a good place.”

Physically, Lindsay has long since healed. Sadie has had several trips to Sick Kids for follow-up treatment after a week-long stay last year. There has also been physiotherapy, speech therapy and scar therapy. However, Sadie has just one more major procedure remaining.

God ‘never left us in the ditch for a second’

The Lesters said surgeons will take fat tissue from her buttocks to help rebuild her right thigh. They will also do something called revision, to lessen the scarring in 14 places on the young girl’s body, including her face. Then she’ll need laser therapy. It’s hoped the revision will make a 75 per cent improvement to the visual scarring.

AJ said his daughter is self-conscious about her scars. Tucking her into bed at night, he said she’s commented, “I wish I didn’t have these scars. She calls them the cracks on her face.”

Lindsay added that in some ways having to wear a mask due to COVID has helped ease Sadie back into normalcy.

Mentally, the work continues as well. Lindsay has had counselling and said she has tools in her toolbox to talk herself through her triggers.

Sadie has also been under the care of a child trauma counsellor, who is pleased with her progress. Lindsay explained kids like Sadie are “puddle jumpers” so they will talk about their trauma and then quickly move on to something else. That’s normal. It’s when children aren’t talking about it that counsellors are more concerned.

The family said they also want the public to know that dogs running off leash in public places are not helpful to them, or others that have experienced dog bites or similar trauma.

“We want to remind people of the importance of keeping their dogs on leashes in public places … especially the park in town as numerous times when we’ve been there with Sadie, people have let their dogs run free,” Lindsay said.

Throughout it all, AJ and Lindsay said they have been blessed with solid people in their lives, from family, to friends, to complete strangers who donated towards a $40,000-plus GoFundMe which has helped immensely with the medical expenses.

Both said they would like to thank each and every person in the Highlands who either donated money or sent cards or presents or helped welcome Sadie home April 17, 2020 upon release from hospital.

They also couldn’t say enough about Addison, from the time Sadie came home from hospital to today.

“She was great. She was an amazing older sister. She was a champ,” AJ says.

A test of faith

The Christian family admitted the ordeal has been a test of their faith.

Lindsay said, “AJ and I had to ask ourselves this question, are we going to judge God by the circumstance or are we going to judge the circumstance in light of who God says he is? Because it’s great to say God is this wonderful, loving God and then all of a sudden, your kid gets ripped apart by dogs. It’s natural to question is he really good, is he really loving?”

“I have two truths that exist,” she added. “The mother in me, if we were to rewind and he were to say, ‘this is what Sunday’s going to look like,’ no earthly mother could ever say ‘okay.’ But now being able to have experienced how he’s revealed himself through this, and that he is trustworthy and he is kind and he is gracious and never left us in the ditch for a second, I would say that I am at peace with what has happened because of the gains that we’ve experienced from God showing us who he is really is.”

AJ adds he has learned that bad things happen to good people.

“At the end of the day, you realize there is going to be purpose to all this stuff. And if you can’t bring some kind of hope through the situations you go through, then it will probably just make you a bitter person. And I could sense that very strongly and so I thought, you know, I have the tools from going to church for years. I know all the things I’m supposed to do.”

AJ said there are still ebb and flow days for him as well, and days when he is frustrated and angry.

“Our life has changed in the past 12 months. These things happen because we live in a world that isn’t perfect and it’s not meant to be perfect. If it was, then bad things wouldn’t happen. But if you allow him, he can take those bad things and bring good to it and that’s where we’re at.”

AJ said since last year, there have been more good days than bad ones and there has been progressive healing.

One thing AJ said on Facebook last year at this time was that when it was all over, the family wanted to take Sadie to Disneyland. He said a vacation remains on the cards, post-COVID.

Lindsay added, “I’m going to be a puddle when she’s there riding on the rides. I’ll be doing the ugly cry. It’s going to be just horrific to look at.”

But that’s the kind of horrific image this Haliburton County family can live with.

Historic building becomes modern art studio

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 15, 2021

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JQ - Heritage House artist - 2 — Artist Tiffany Howe is hosting an online open studio event April 17-18 at her new locale inside the former site of the Heritage House Café. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Multidisciplinary artist Tiffany Howe said it is hard to visualize how her latest studio space was once the general store she would visit regularly as a kid.

The long-time local artist recently moved from her Redstone Lake studio into the former site of the Heritage House Café on Pine Street in Haliburton. The locale has undergone many transformations over the years – once one of Haliburton’s first general stores, before turning into different iterations of shops and cafes before Howe moved in. Now, it is her art studio. Howe, also a curator at the Ethel Curry Gallery, said she knew the house as both a store and café.

Now, she is ready to give the public limited access to the structure again through workshops and an online open studio event she is planning April 17-18.

“I feel really, really fortunate,” Howe said. “It’s a strange sort of serendipitous thing. Now, I end up getting to live here and getting to create here all the time. It’s just been part of my life since birth.”

The building has plenty of history behind it, with a store dating back to at least 1881, according to Haliburton Museum curator Kate Butler. It was owned by lumbermen and managed by Frederick Freeman, who took over the premises. It would eventually become Banks’ General Store, operated by Don and Jacquie Banks from 1978-1995, which is how Howe remembers it as a child living nearby.

“It’s really hard to visualize it,” Howe said. “Thinking about being this tiny kid, wandering up and down the aisles. It’s really hard to even picture it.”

Howe also said she knew it as the Wild Oak Café, featuring a stage with open mic nights. The stage area still exists, though is now part of her living room. But she said she hopes to bring the public in once again.

“I just feel like I really need to take advantage of how accessible this space is,” Howe said. “I also know that because so many other people have a lot of personal history in this space, they’re going to be curious about what’s going on here now.”

Howe has filled the walls with art and said she uses much of the space to create, making project such as mixed media paintings with recycled materials. Beyond the studio event, Howe said she plans to host art events and workshops in the future.

“I’d like to do life drawing sessions,” Howe said. “And art discussion and critiques. I know that’s another thing that people in the arts community have been asking for.”

The April 17-18 online open house will feature work from herself and artists Noelia Marziali, Andrew Laughlin Brown, Talitha-Litha Marie and Jennifer Seward, with everything available for sale. It will use photos and video with curbside pick-up.

“It was an essential hub of the community, especially back in the early 1900s,” Howe said. “Its importance to the community, has kind of waxed and waned, but it’s a landmark.”