Haliburton’s Pregnancy and Family Support Centre wants to help families as a whole. That’s why they offer the Nurturing Fathers Program.  

The 13-week course is designed to help fathers, grandfathers, step-dads and more learn nurturing and parenting skills in a calm environment. 

 Doug Ross, one of the co-facilitators of the class, said it focuses not only on teaching necessary skills such as patience and emotions.

It also focuses on teaching fathers who didn’t have good examples that they can be good parents. 

 “I grew up without a father,” Ross said. “I absolutely wish there was something like this around when I had my first two boys because I had to teach myself everything.”  

The course has been offered for five years and has had approximately 25 participants see it through to graduation.

The men involved get together once a week and share a meal at the centre before their classes start. Ross said they are more open to sharing once they’ve all eaten together.  

Terry Goodwin, another co-facilitator and former corrections officer, said most of the referrals for the program come from corrections, Children’s Aid or the centre itself.  

He said most of the men who participate see progress not only in their relationships with their family, but outside of it as well. 

 “They’re taking the same stuff they’re applying with their children and applying elsewhere,” he said. “Like with their coworkers and bosses.”  

Lindsay Lester, employee at the centre, said the program was brought to Haliburton because there needs to be courses for both parents to create better communication and help a family.  

“The hope is that more dads that need this program will hear about it and see the end of it,” said Ross.  

The Nurturing Dads Program runs year-round depending on enrollment numbers.

More information can be found at the centre, bottom floor of Stedman’s Mall in Haliburton or by calling 705-457-4673.

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.