Well done, U-Links

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April 1, 2021

Over the past year, like many of you, I’ve attended numerous online meetings and events. I love the platform because I can cover these events from home. I hate it because you don’t get the personal touch and hours behind the screen are mindnumbing. I find them challenging when my internet, or my host’s, isn’t up to speed. Council meetings, for example, are often paused for 10 minutes so that someone who has dropped out can re-connect or call back in by phone.

I attended the virtual U-Links celebration of research this past Saturday, March 27 and I can honestly say it was the best online presentation that I have seen to date. The folks at Trent University in Peterborough really strutted their stuff in a seamless two hours that attracted more than 100.

The introductory speakers were brief. Three students were chosen to share their research projects with the entire audience. Then there were three sessions of breakout groups whereby attendees could pop into a research project of their choice and listen to a short presentation from the student before being able to ask questions.

There was not one glitch in the entire operation. My only complaint – and it is a mild one – is that I wish the breakout sessions were longer than 15 minutes because I had to pick one, and maybe two projects at most, to pop into.

I was disappointed by that aspect since, as usual, I was overwhelmed by the number of very good projects that students from Trent and Fleming College worked on with Haliburton County organizations.

There was a decided focus on the environment in a lot of this year’s projects.

Lots of people popped into the ‘benthic’ presentation. Benthics are aquatic, spineless organisms that live on the bottom of water bodies. The use of benthics as an indicator of water quality is now used throughout the world. The students looked at a number of County lakes.

Other topics included: biodiversity planning and protection in The Land Between; Planet Haliburton radio show ideas; a Kennisis Lake history book; a number of projects with the Land Trust, including GIS database migration and development, and bird, frog, moss, dragonfly monitoring; natural shoreline stabilization and shoreline stewardship and blue-green algae mitigation strategies. There was research into a composting project at Abbey Gardens.

There were also a few social servicetype projects, including sustainable procurement and factors securing employment in Haliburton County and the City of Kawartha Lakes as well as diabetes and dental decay.

It wasn’t just the technology that blew my mind (and I have to say, I liked the midway mark stretch). The work the students do with County partners provides valuable information every year that can lead to real change in the Highlands to make this a better place to live, work and play.

So, we congratulate the U-Links team, including committee members, faculty and students for the work they continue to do and offer kudos to the first-ever virtual celebration of research, the 30th, for tackling the challenges of delivering students’ finding in a pandemic world – and acing it.

Creating a comforting space for victims of crime

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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A former Toronto police officer is now using her design expertise to help victims of crime and the people investigating them.

Andria Cowan Molyneaux of ACM Designs is currently working on a “passionate project” to redesign the soft interview room at the detachment in Minden.

ACM Designs is donating the $15,000 project.

They have created a storyboard and are now working to complete the space.

“After 22 years of policing in Toronto, a large portion as an investigator, I remember how uncomfortable, non-functional and unwelcoming those spaces are,” Cowan Molyneaux said.

“I think they rarely get a line in a budget and I remember sitting on furniture that someone dropped off because they were throwing it out.

“It is difficult enough for a victim to tell their story in a comfortable space, let alone one that looks like an afterthought.

“Then you add the detective’s experience, trying to write notes during the interview on whatever they can find as a tabletop or sit in a chair that you can barely get your firearm into.”

She and detachment commander, Liane Spong, were on the same page.

“The OPP promotes the use of a soft interview room as a means to make the sharing of difficult, often embarrassing or traumatic stories less challenging,” she said. The commander added one of the steps in ensuring trauma-informed care and a victim-centered approach to investigations is that the room “will have a more comfortable environment to help make the process easier.”

Cowan Molyneaux said the overall intention of the project is to make the very important space feel safe and comfortable for the victims and witnesses retelling their stories and making the same space functional for the investigators while they are conducting those interviews.

First, they used the science of colour to help them with picking the right hue and that took them to blue. She said the colour blue makes people feel safe even though it is a cool colour. Next, they looked to the outside and the beautiful countryside and by using browns were able to create a serene complimentary colour scheme.

She added the space is pretty small and they were limited with furniture options. Two things they knew were that the textiles had to be able to be cleaned and very durable and that the investigators are usually wearing all their use of force options when sitting in the chairs taking notes. She said the seating for the detectives is generous and swivels so that they can reposition during the interviews without being imposing. “We actually had them come into the studio and try the chair out,” Cowan Molyneaux said. She added the acoustics were extremely important in the project because generally speaking, the interviews are video and audio recorded and the furniture plan had to support that critical element.

The designer said many other people and companies are saying thank you to our first responders, and this is ACMs way.

“Everyone at ACM Designs played a role in this project and even had to consent to criminal record checks. They were committed to making a difference for both the officers and victims.”

Spong had a huge thank you for the ACM team.

“They worked with our crime unit to meet specific needs in relation to the acoustics during an interview. I think it is a wonderful testament to the talent and compassion found within the County of Haliburton Highlands. We thank Andria and her team for greatly enhancing our safe place for victims and witnesses.”

Haliburton entering four-week shutdown

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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A poster outside a retail store in downtown Haliburton. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

The County of Haliburton is going back into a shutdown alongside the rest of the province April 3 for four weeks.

Premier Doug Ford announced the move April 1 in response to rising cases of COVID-19 cases and people going into intensive care units. Measures include: prohibiting indoor organized events; limiting outdoor public events or social gatherings to five people except within the same household; implementing a 50-per cent capacity for food stores and 25 per cent for all other retail; prohibiting personal care services; closing all restaurants except for takeout and drive-through; prohibiting the use of sports facilities with limited exceptions and requiring day camps close.

“We are facing a serious situation and drastic measures are required to contain the rapid spread of the virus, especially the new variants of concern,” Ford said.

The province said case rates rose 7.7 per cent between March 26 to 28, to 101.1 cases per 100,000 people. ICU admissions are over the peak of the second wave and are projected to exceed 650 beds in a few weeks. The province said the rise is driven by more infectious COVID variants.

Other measures include limiting capacity at weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies to 15 per cent indoors. Museums and cultural amenities, theatres will also close. However, schools will remain open, with spring break still planned to happen April 12. Childcare spaces will also remain open during the shutdown.

Minister of Health Christine Elliott said the province wanted to avoid the same stay-at-home order from Dec. 26 due to mental health harms. She said the province wanted to encourage people to enjoy the outdoors while still following public health protocols.

“Implementing a province-wide emergency brake was not an easy decision to make and is not one we take lightly,” Elliott said. “As we continue to vaccinate more Ontarians, the end is in sight, but right now these necessary measures will help to stop the spread of variants.”

Vaccinations ongoing

Government officials say the local region will continue to receive a steady supply of vaccines in the coming weeks.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has received 26,910 Pfizer vaccines and 4,800 Moderna vaccines to date, with more than 28,000 doses administered.

Another 11,700 Pfizer and 5,900 Moderna doses are expected from April 5 to April 12.

Haliburton’s COVID vaccination clinic at the Haliburton Highlands Health Centre has closed. Acting medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill said mass vaccination centres will open at the S.G. Nesbitt Arena in Minden April 6 and A.J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton April 12. Appointments are available for anyone 70 and older.

To book a vaccine, use Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or call 1-888-999-6488.

Region remains steady on cases

Haliburton County has one new COVID-19 case April 1, the only confirmed active case.

Colour-coded restrictions are on hold during the shutdown. The district was in a yellow zone under the provincial COVID-19 response framework, the second-least restrictive. Gemmill said that was probably correct based on the local data.

“I’m hearing people say the pandemic is out of control in some parts of Ontario, it’s not true here,” Gemmill said. “But I still want to reinforce over and over again anything can happen.”

He said people need to understand the importance of the measures – and that just because vaccinations are starting, does not mean people can be lax.

“One dose of vaccine, it’s a great first step, but it doesn’t mean we necessarily got the population base protection. We got to get enough people immunized to do that,” he said.

Storm’s ‘most challenging’ season ends early

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 31, 2021

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JQ - Highland Storm returns - 2 — File photo.

The Highland Storm announced March 18 its season would be ending prematurely with the A.J. LaRue arena due to become a COVID-19 vaccination centre.

The Storm announced that with the arena becoming a clinic at the start of April and bookings closing, the second part of the season would close more than a month early. This came after the organization had already put hockey on a two-week pause March 15 due to rising COVID-19 cases in the area.

Storm president Jason Morissette said it was bittersweet.

“You have to look at the positives. You can’t be entirely negative about it,” he said, adding local hockey players got to be on the ice far more than any others in their region. “We really were kind of looking out for each other and making sure we tried to do the best job we could to keep kids on the ice as much as we could.”

The Storm faced plenty of hurdles operating amidst COVID-19. Only inter-league play was possible, with the pandemic disallowing travel. The pandemic forced reductions in the number of players on the ice. A December-February lockdown shortened the season. Finally, the second session ended well short of its April 17 end date.

But Morissette said it was worth it to give youth something to do in a difficult year.

“Just the mental health side of our youth, our community. It’s been a real, real struggle. We heard time and time again from parents, a lot of thanks for providing something for the kids to go to each week, a distraction that was good for their physical and mental wellbeing,” he said.

Storm player Darian Maddock said it was a choppy year with the stoppages due to lockdown, but added it meant a lot to get to play.

“I would have just been sitting at home, doing nothing really,” Maddock said. “It was nice to have something to look forward to after school.”

Morissette said there is planning to come. Besides the pandemic, the league faces challenges such as a shortage of referees.

But he said after weathering the past year, the executive will have the experience to draw from for whatever restrictions could remain.

“It has been the most challenging of seasons in the history of Highland Storm, without a doubt. But we have strong numbers, we have strong volunteer numbers, we have strong parents that are supportive and our executive is very united.

“We did it because the truth is, we really, really are passionate about the Highland Storm,” he added. “But we’re also really caring about the health and wellness of our kids.”

Firefighters get training in frozen lake rescue

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 28, 2021

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JQ - Ice rescue course - 1 — Firefighters carry a raft onto Grass Lake for an ice rescue training course March 20. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

After years of delay, Highlands East and Dysart et al fire departments received ice and water rescue training at Grass Lake March 20.

The Algonquin Highlands Fire Department taught the course. A handful of firefighters – four from Highlands East and six from Dysart et al – were instructed on how to conduct rescues on frozen lakes.

The course is required for the departments to perform such rescues should someone get in trouble on the ice. Instructor and Algonquin Highlands firefighter George Sharp said it is an important skill for County departments given the number of lakes in the area.

“We’ve got people, ratepayers and visitors spending time out on the ice,” Sharp said. “Need to be able to support the visitors and the locals when they get into trouble.”

The training comes after the Office of the Fire Marshall announced Jan. 13 it was closing the physical Ontario Fire College building to push a locally-based online model. The college had also stalled for years putting out an approved ice-and-water rescue course over a 2017 inquest into two Ontario firefighters who died in that type of training.

Departments such as Highlands East waited for an approved course before proceeding to train. That college course was set to go in spring 2020 – the first since 2014 – but was sidelined by the pandemic. But the course became deliverable this year and firefighters organized an in-house course, using instructors from Algonquin Highlands who had maintained training, Highlands East fire chief Christ Baughman said.

Highlands East is covering ice rescue costs using a community GoFundMe from 2017, which raised more than $20,000 after the death of cottager Bob Bell, who fell through the ice on Dark Lake. Baughman said they plan to train four more personnel in the fall so that each station would have one or two capable of starting a rescue before more backup arrives. After that, he plans to have the municipality modify its bylaws to include ice and water rescue by next winter.

“It’s a great success for us to be able to add this service, not only for the safety of our firefighters but the community,” Baughman said. “Something we weren’t able to do in the past. Now with the proper training, a firefighter won’t have to make a difficult decision or do something uninformed and ill-equipped.”

Dysart et al fire chief Mike Iles said his department has maintained ice rescue in its service, but it had been many years since it had been able to get new training while it waited an approved course.

“It was great to be working with several departments. The training itself was very informative and very worthwhile,” Iles said.

Sharp said the course included classroom time for theory, as well as practical time on the ice. Participants wore wetsuits and entered the icy waters of Grass Lake, performing different techniques.

Algonquin Highlands has maintained the rescue training for years, Sharp said. But he added it is more cost-effective to study with other departments, which is happening more often.

“The municipalities in the last two or three years are working more cooperatively than they have in the last decade. Things are going in the right direction,” Sharp said.

Community outcry alters arena vaccine plan

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 27, 2021

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JQ - Arena clinic - 1 — Local youth gathered outside the A.J. LaRue Arena for a demonstration March 22. Left to right: Chase Winder, Lexie Tait, Autumn Winder, Tyler McGovern, Darian Maddock, Nick Phippen, Colin Glecoff, Tyler Martin, Braedyn Robinson, Benjamin Robinson. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Dysart et al is shortening the amount of time its A.J. LaRue Arena will be used as a COVID-19 vaccination centre in response to public outcry.

The municipality announced the clinic March 18 and said it would close all bookings from March 20 to the end of September. The next day, the municipality changed course and said it would only run from April 5 to June 12 before a new location is found.

The initial announcement prompted community outrage, with people concerned about summer ice and the start of the next minor hockey season. Mayor Andrea Roberts said the initial proposal was accepted at the request of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR).

“We are all trying to do the right thing and get everyone vaccinated, so Dysart’s EOC (emergency operation centre) group said yes. Thankfully, the decision was re-evaluated,” Roberts said.

The health unit is preparing the A.J. LaRue Arena and the S.G. Nesbitt Arena in Minden as the County vaccination centres, with both expected to be ready in early April. The health unit is also working on pop-up clinics, including one for first responders at the Pinestone Resort March 18, which Roberts said could be part of a viable alternative.

“Everyone is working so hard to ensure we have places so we can all get our vaccine. With more temperature-stable vaccines, the possibility of pharmacies administering, and the S.G. Nesbitt centre booked, there are other options this summer,” Roberts said.

Local youth held a demonstration outside the Haliburton arena March 22, initially intended as a protest but shifted to a celebration after the municipality’s decision. Organizer and camp owner Greg Sadlier said people mobilized quickly to respond, with a petition garnering 75 signatures. He added the municipality needs to consider and consult youth more in the future.

“The youth came to me, and they said, ‘what can we do about this? How can we change this’?” Sadlier said. “For the youth to see something work so effectively, to see a way that they could make their voices heard in a substantial way, is really amazing to see.”

Highland Storm president, Jason Morissette, said the next season would be delayed under the previous timeline, which might have meant the Storm would not play against other teams in the region if that becomes allowed.

“Our community, it’s not like we have tons and tons of organized activities that are here for youth,” Morissette said. “We wanted an arena available for everybody, not just for hockey … We really appreciate their (Dysart’s) understanding.”

The initial proposal would have also meant the end of summer ice, utilized in summer camp programming by Hockey Haven. Owner Troy Binnie welcomed the municipality changing course.

“It would have been a tough situation to try to run a hockey camp without hockey,” Binnie said. “We are thankful for all the community support and town council support to have the decision reversed.”

Vaccine rollout creates controversy

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 25, 2021

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Close-up medical syringe with a vaccine. — Vaccinations are underway in the County. Photo via Flickr.

Little Redstone Lake resident David Baker is trying hard to get a COVID-19 vaccination for his wife Linda Guest, a chronic home care patient.

Guest is 76 years old, though cannot attend a clinic in person. Several health units have prioritized home care patients for the first wave of vaccines, but Baker said the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Heath Unit (HKPR) has not and he has been unable to arrange an appointment.

Baker has pushed to get his wife a vaccine sooner, to no avail. With HKPR holding a clinic for emergency responders at the Pinestone Resort and Conference Centre March 17-18, he is questioning how vaccines are being distributed locally.

“I see no reason why patients like her aren’t included in a prioritized vaccination rollout,” Baker said. “Let’s face it, there’s been a lot of confusion in how this vaccine has been rolled out province-wide.”

The province has opened vaccinations to the public for people aged 75 and older, though health units manage the process. The provincial rollout is in three stages, with phase one underway and phase two due to start in April. According to the provincial website, phase one is supposed to include long-term care homes, health care workers identified as high-priority, adults age 80 and over, Indigenous adults and chronic home care patients.

The second phase, due to start in April, includes other seniors and frontline workers ranging from school staff to social agencies to grocery stores.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) president and CEO Carolyn Plummer said clinics for health care workers were held March 6 at the Haliburton Family Medical Centre and March 17-18 at Pinestone. She said after a concerted effort to reach high-priority workers like first responders, some vaccines were offered to the next groups on the list. That included workers at places like grocery stores and banks.

But Plummer said HHHS was asked to hold off on this approach, as not all communities in the health unit district had completed phase one vaccinations.

“All parties are learning and improving processes as we proceed in order to ensure that all priority populations have access, in priority sequence, as directed by the Ministry of Health,” Plummer said.

The health unit said the vaccine priority list is decided by the province, with medical first responders on a high priority within phase one. Chronic homecare patients are the last group on the phase one list and the health unit said it is working to reach them.

“As the HKPRDHU covers a large geographic region, there may need to be a variety of options provided to meet the needs of residents,” the health unit said in an email.

Acting medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, said the Pinestone clinic giving doses to people further down the list was a minor error. But he added no one will be left behind in getting a vaccine.

“People are kind of overly sensitive about what might be called queue-jumping, but I can honestly tell you that I am not aware of any situation in which this would have been done intentionally,” Gemmill said. “I am completely willing to forgive people and to say let’s just get on with more immunization rather than fuss or worry about it … Everybody is headed to get vaccine if they want it and it will only be a matter of a few weeks.”

With respect to homecare patients, Gemmill said they will be able to contact the health unit for a link to book with the provincial system. A step-by-step guide is being added to the health unit’s website.

But Baker said his wife should not have to wait.

“She should be getting it now,” Baker said. “She should be prioritized.”

Vaccination appointments are currently available for people born in 1946 or earlier using the provincial booking system. The system is available at Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or call 1-888-999-6488.

Trusting the science

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 25, 2021

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by Dr. Nell Thomas

I’m looking around the world and see vaccination rates vary from country to country. More than 448 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, equal to 5.8 doses for every 100 people, globally.

But there is a large discrepancy among countries. Israel continues to be vaccinating faster than any other country, with 109 vaccines delivered per 100 citizens as of March 22 (58 per cent have received one shot and 50 per cent have had both shots and are fully vaccinated). Canada has given 11.74 shots per 100 people (9.9 per cent have received first dose, and 1.9 per cent have received second dose). While some countries have not yet given even a single dose.

Most countries seem to be prioritizing fully vaccinating people. For example, the US has given 38 shots per 100 people, with 25 per cent having one shot and 13 per cent having had two shots. Britain has had a different approach, focused on broadly vaccinating the population with one shot. They have completed 41 doses per 100 people, with 38 per cent having had one shot and only 2.6 per cent of the population fully vaccinated. By maximizing the number of people with one vaccine, and delaying the second shot by three months, they have broader mass protection.

What our science tells us so far is the second vaccine will increase your immunity by only about 10 per cent in the first few months. The purpose of the second shot is to provide longer immunity. How long, we don’t know. But we do know that a single shot provides strong protection now, and for at least a few months. Experts are in agreement that delaying the second shot will diminish the ultimate effectiveness by only a negligible amount.

Is Britain’s approach working? Since early January, the daily number of new cases in Britain has fallen by more than 90 per cent. This is a larger drop than in almost all countries. Especially impressive given that the B.1.1.7 variant is their dominant strain and is more contagious than the original strain. Deaths continue to plummet in Britain. And they are using the Astra Zeneca vaccine, with no increase in diagnosed blood clots, and despite its slightly less effectiveness than Moderna and Pfizer, the British population is clearly reaping the benefit.

In contrast, worldwide, the number of confirmed COVID cases has increased 21 per cent in the past month.

People who study disease transmission use a term called the “R nought” (R0) to describe how contagious a disease is. It refers to the reproduction number of a disease. The number placed behind the R indicates how many people are likely to be infected by one individual with the disease.

For measles, the R0 is 12-18, meaning it is very contagious, as one individual can infect 18 others. If the R0 is greater than one, then each person is infecting more than one other individual and the disease will continue to increase in the population.

In Britain now, the R0 for COVID-19 is less than one, meaning the infection is no longer spreading. (Annual influenza has an R0 of 0.9-2.1).

In Ontario, as of March 18, the reproduction number (R0) for the new COVID variants of concern (the more contagious strains with the N501Y mutation) is 1.25, and the R0 for other variants without this concerning mutation is 1.07. Anything above one indicates exponential increase in growth, and the higher the number, the faster the infection will transmit. We are in a race to get as many people vaccinated as possible before these more contagious variants are widely circulating.

Stay tuned to all the fact-based resources for how to get swabbed (tested) and how to get vaccinated.

Don’t confuse Facebook with fact

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 25, 2021

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When it comes to vaccinating Haliburton County residents against COVID-19, public health must not only follow all provinciallymandated guidelines but must also be transparent so there is no opportunity for members of the public to cast aspersions on the rollout.

There have been grumblings among the masses about a perceived clandestine clinic operating out of the Pinestone Resort and Conference Centre. We received one letter from a reader complaining it was done under the radar with no public announcements.

He was not wrong as we have only had official word this week about so-called popup clinics, including at places such as the Pinestone.

This led the letter writer and others to speculate. While surely for frontline workers, they heard of non-frontline workers being vaccinated, including two retirees and two in their 40s who weren’t even residents.

Others grumbled upon hearing bank workers were getting the jab and employees of some social service agencies.

Unfortunately, it is the type of speculation that will occur when health officials are not completely transparent about what is going on locally. There are accusations of queue jumping, and questioning local officials.

Other stories of some local seniors being offered appointments in Peterborough, Lindsay and Bracebridge are concerning.

It’s a tough one. Local health officials are in a flux position. They are making plans that are literally changing all of the time. Informed about a batch of expiring vaccines, they have made quick calls to volunteer firefighters for example. Some get a call about availability and are vaccinated within a few hours. Publicly advertising what they are doing isn’t always front and centre in their minds.

In a similar vein, likely no one predicted the backlash that would occur over the announcement that the A.J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton would be used as a vaccination clinic from March to September. However, youth proponents quickly said this was not a good idea. With ice out it meant a delayed start to the Highland Storm Minor Hockey Association season and threated Hockey Haven’s summer camp. Why not use the Haliburton Legion they asked. In the end, Dysart et al listened to the concerns, spoke with the health unit, and scaled back the clinic dates so as not to be so disruptive of the summer ice season. They will find an alternate location.

While we implore public health to do its best to anticipate public reaction and factor that into its decision-making, we also appeal to the public to be patient.

Public health officials are making decisions dayby-day based on circumstances largely out of their control. They are doing their best to get needles in arms in hopes of having all of us vaccinated by the end of summer. They are not sitting about scheming how they can get their friends and family vaccinated before everyone else.

Under the leadership of acting medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, the health unit has done a very good job of getting its message across. Gemmill has hosted public forms and holds a media briefing once a week. It’s the best press access we have had in my time with The Highlander.

We encourage the public to go to him and other trusted sources to get their information, including mainstream media locally, rather than riding the rumour train and confusing fact with Facebook.

It’s been a very long year for all of us and once again we have to pull together for the betterment of the community.

Fridays for Future makes a stop in Minden

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 25, 2021

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Members of Concerned Citizens of Haliburton County (CCHC) gathered in Minden March 19 for a Fridays for Future (FFF) global day of climate action.

Brandishing signs, they stood on the town’s main bridge over the Gull River and also walked into town.

Spokeswoman Bonnie Roe said it was part of worldwide activities with the theme of ‘no more empty promises’ from governments.

“All we hear is what will be done in 10, 15 and 25 years from now but that is too late. To quote the founding young activist of FFF Greta Thunberg, ‘listen to the science, act on the science’.”

Roe said they chose Minden to bring awareness to a different community in the County. They usually stage their events in Haliburton near the high school.

“The support was amazing with horns honking, street traffic thanking us and stopping to chat and some staff at Pharmasave coming out on the street to applaud us,” Roe said.

She said that this year, due to COVID19, many individuals and groups are also demonstrating virtually online.

She said people can place a sign on Facebook, in front of their home or at the end of their driveway.

“CCHC decided to be more visible but also follow current protocols for our yellow zone, which meant having only 25 participants, wearing masks and standing six-feet apart.

“We notified the municipality of Minden Hills and detachment commander of the OPP, Liane Spong-Hooyenga.

“We had 12 participants, Douglas the dog, and 15 regrets so the interest is there. Previously we have had 25-40 attend so COVID-19 has definitely affected our turn out.”

If anyone is interested in further demonstrations or CCHC they can email info@concernedcitizenshc.ca.