Lions donation helps secure park riverbank

June 14, 2020

The Haliburton & District Lions Club is celebrating the Canadian centennial of the organization by funding six trees to help with erosion at Head Lake Park.

The six, mature willow trees cost $2,500 and were requested by Dysart et al park staff. The club met June 4 to dedicate the trees, with a plaque marking the club’s commitment to be installed later.

The club said the gesture contributes to their commitment to the environment.

“We were looking for something to donate that would be rather permanent,” treasurer Betty Mills said. “We also have a passion for the environment and trying to do things that maintain the environment.”

The Lions began in Canada in Windsor in 1920. Mills said the club has continued for so long because of people’s natural desire to help others.

“We tell little children in daycare centres, in kindergarten, ‘who wants to be a helper’ and they all come running,” Mills said. “We all like to help other people in some form.”

Dysart council approved the gift at its May 5 meeting. Recreation program coordinator Andrea Mueller said the trees are part of the park rehabilitation and will help secure the riverbank.

“We’ll send a letter to the Lions club and thank them,” Mayor Andrea Roberts said. “It’s really good news.”

Mills said fundraising is difficult for the club with the pandemic. They had to cancel their annual craft brewing festival and other fundraising efforts will be hampered.

“The fundraising is a huge challenge,” Mills said. “I think we’re going to end up with less to give … We can hope for a break.”

But despite the challenges, the club will still do what it can. The club also helped refurbish Abbey Garden’s Enchanted Forest children’s play area June 3.

“Even in these challenging times, we continue to meet online and carry on with our service work,” the club said in a press release.

Excitement builds for business reopenings

Lisa Gervais

June 12, 2020

Barber Cody Nasby says he’s excited to get back to work June 12.

He is just one local business owner who’s ecstatic they’ve been included in Stage 2 of reopenings across the province.

Other allowances announced by the Ontario Government this week, and effective Friday, include: gatherings of 10 people, up from five; places of worship; outdoor dine-in services at restaurants and bars; hair and beauty salons and tattoo studios; tour and guide services, including brewery tours; beaches; camping and outdoor recreation.

The province also announced that staff can re-enter child care facilities and begin preparation for reopening and some post-secondary education will reopen July 2.

Nasby was in his Traditional Barber Shop May 10 getting ready. He has masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. He said he’s been closed about three-and-a-half months so, “I am extremely happy we are back in the shop chopping mops.”

He added that due to COVID-19, he can only take clients by appointment and can only do hair-cutting, not facial hair. He told The Highlander bookings are coming in fast and furious and “it’s going to be madness.”

The government put into action its plan of a regional approach to Stage 2, including Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit communities, saying it’s based on lower rates of transmission, increased capacity in hospitals and progress made in testing.

“We are able to make this announcement today (May 8) because of the extraordinary effort of our frontline workers and every other person in the province who helped to stop the spread of this deadly virus,” Premier Ford said. “Entering Stage 2 means parts of the province will see more people back on the job and an opportunity to get back together with friends and family. Although this is extremely encouraging, I urge everyone to exercise caution and continue to follow public health advice as we are not out of the woods yet.”

Ford said the province will soon release more details on: summer camps, post-secondary education, training centres and public transit.

Rhubarb Restaurant and Boshkung Social co-owner Terri Mathews-Carl is relieved at the news. “We’re definitely excited to welcome back our staff, locals and cottagers,” she said, adding their phone had been ringing off the hook. They have set up their inside patio at the Carnarvon restaurant to seat 24 people, in two sittings. They plan to open Friday and Saturday for dine-in and takeout and delivery. They will see how it goes before committing to opening other days. The Social, meanwhile, will no longer have long, communal picnic tables, but individual tables to ensure people are six feet apart. The food truck is also reopening.

As for Nasby, who said he’s social by nature, he missed his clients – though he has run into regulars on the street who look like completely different people to him. He anticipates correcting a lot of bad haircuts rendered by girlfriends and wives, and boyfriends and husbands. Nasby said he was worried that barber shops wouldn’t be part of Stage 2 and that would have been trouble.

“If it went too much longer, I was going to start getting worried about my shop, and if I would be able to reopen.”

Folk society concert music to ears of food banks

Lisa Gervais

June 12, 2020

The Haliburton County Folk Society helped raise more than $2,000 for County food banks with an online concert fundraiser June 6.

Locals Gord Kidd, Shawn Chamberlin and Thom Lambert performed from the Dominion Hotel, live-streamed via Facebook as part of a concert series. Artists’ fees and donations for the show all went to the County’s three food banks.

Society member Don Gage said it was successful other than a couple of technical hiccups.

“A number of our local musicians, of course, don’t make a living from music, they do it as a hobby,” Gage said. “Instead of helping the musicians, help the community instead. That’s what we decided to do.”

Central Food Network chair Carol Greenwood said the support is much appreciated. She said food banks are bracing themselves for a difficult winter when they expect a spike in demand for their services as food prices increase due to pandemic-caused production issues. Haliburtonians will also be struggling with depleted savings and a decline in summer employment, she said.

“We’re expecting all of Haliburton to be in extreme crisis through the winter, so food banks now are already forward planning in terms of what we’re going to do,” Greenwood said. “So, we’re not taken by the same surprise as we did when COVID
hit us.”

Kidd said he was honoured to be invited to perform and was happy with how it went despite the unusual circumstances.

“Just felt like I was doing a normal show with a good friend,” Kidd said. “I felt very comfortable.”

Gage said the society is one of the few organizations across the country who has still been organizing live concerts, with most other live-streamed shows being purely artist-driven. They have another concert planned for June 20 and though they would normally not do much during the busy summer, they are considering more with local concert series getting cancelled.

“We’ve been very happy with it,” Gage said. “The support has been great from the community, the donations, the tips that come through for the artists have been very good … Gives people a bit of a night out, see some of these folks without leaving their home.”

Governments speed internet connectivity plans

Lisa Gervais

June 11, 2020

COVID-19 is causing governments to accelerate plans to improve online connectivity, according to the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN).

With the provincial and federal governments both more invested in internet improvements due to the pandemic, EORN is working on speeding up its own future projects, board member and Minden Hills Mayor Brent Devolin said. The potential cost of EORN’s new projects could total over $1.2 billion, with plans to significantly improve internet speeds throughout the region.

In May, the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus (EOWC) approved EORN to continue conversations with upper levels of government on those projects, Devolin said. EORN will look to do them concurrently with the already-underway $213 million cell gap project.

“We all need connectivity of reasonable quality and we need it as fast as we can,” Devolin said. “Federal and provincial governments have asked anybody that’s in this business how can we leverage and do these things in a more accelerated manner.”

The province announced the rollout of a $150 million fund June 3 to help unserved and underserved areas. The funding was not brand new – it was initially announced for this year with the unveiling of the $315 million Ontario’s Broadband and Cellular Action plan in July 2019.

But the announcement came with the province renewing calls for more help from federal partners. MPP Laurie Scott said with broadband being federally regulated, the feds need to come through.

“We need them to step up to the plate to help us deliver these dollars in order to get us all wired into the 21st century,” Scott said.

The federal government has yet to announce details on any plans to accelerate broadband funding. With 84 per cent of households at 50/10 Mbps speeds, the federal government has previously committed to bringing that to 90 per cent of households by the end of 2021 and 100 per cent by 2030.

Devolin said the governments will continue to have talks. What plans move ahead – and how much money will be involved – will depend on the results of those conversations. He added he thinks they will conclude before the end of the year, which should lead to more announcements.

“It might be both scale and speed are absolutely going to be accelerated,” Devolin said.

As projects get underway, Devolin said he will lobby for Haliburton County to be at the front of the line, given it is one of the most underserved areas in the Eastern region.

“For many of our residents within Haliburton County that have really either limited or basic dial-up, it feels like we’re in the Stone Age and it cannot happen fast enough,” he said.

I am racist

Lisa Gervais

June 11, 2020

I am racist and that is not okay.

It is not something I am proud of. Now, I am not a foul-mouthed bigot. I believe in equality and justice for all. I do not think anyone should be advantaged or disadvantaged in society based on race.

Nonetheless, I am racist, for it is virtually impossible to exist in our world as a white person today and not be.

Our system struggles when it comes to educating on racial injustice. The full scope of how prevalent it is today is rarely highlighted and the bad parts of our history get downplayed. But we cannot erase that history, nor can we ignore the racism of today. This fight may seem far from Haliburton, but it is everywhere.

We learn racism from a young age. From the disproportionate abundance of whiteness in our stories and media, and how they neglect colour. From others, passing it along in a never-ending chain. From social media, where vile rhetoric is always two clicks away. From our rules and laws, made by overwhelmingly white people, to benefit white over all.

Privilege is a word that has become scary and charged because of how frightening it is to whites. It is not easy to recognize our advantages. We tell ourselves we worked hard to get ourselves through all the open doors of our lives, even if they are closed to so many others. Nonetheless, we must recognize it, call it out, fight against it and ourselves. We are the upholders of racism. We must join in tearing it down.

Racism can disguise itself, but it is always there. Maybe it appears in a cognitive bias we are not fully conscious of, which makes minds overvalue whiteness. Maybe it is in how willing we are to be complacent with these ongoing injustices when they are not in the news because they do not impact us regularly. Maybe it is an error in this opinion, where we can pursue truth but not reach it, for we will never fully experience racism.

Maybe it is in reading something like this and rejecting it, or thinking it does not apply, to protect a fragile ego.

Maybe it is in a call for justice and unity that falls short of calling out the police. We must do better and say it: police killed George Floyd because of his race. Police brutality on both sides of the border against Black, Indigenous and other peoples of colour must end.

There is hope. It is a myth that Canada is woven with a beautiful, equal, multicoloured fabric. But it is a myth we may be slowly working towards. It may not be a real tapestry yet, but perhaps we have a few pieces.

We have seen local organizations recognize this moment in time and sincerely reflect. Trillium Lakelands District School Board, the Haliburton County Youth Hub, even a small restaurant like Nourished. This is positive and we need more of it.

There is no magic divide between being a racist and “not racist.” It is a spectrum – and our privilege pushes us away from the right side. I want to be anti-racist and that must be a constant fight against me, and the society that made me.

So, I am racist. That is not okay. But I am working on it. Listening. Learning. I always will be.

How about you?

Hosts welcome opening of short-term rentals

Lisa Gervais

June 11, 2020

Short-term rental businesses and hosts are welcoming the province loosening restrictions on them June 5.

The province announced June 4 that short-term rentals could resume with proper health and safety guidelines followed. The province had limited rentals since April 4 to only be allowed for emergency housing due to the pandemic.

Howard Hicks owns a cottage rental in the County and uses Airbnb. He said he is glad for smaller hosts being able to have guests again.

“I feel happy for a number of owners who are the small potatoes, they own maybe one cottage and they need the income to help with taxes and expenses,” Hicks said.

The change encompasses short-term rentals at lodges, cabins, cottages, homes, condominiums and bed and breakfasts.

“This decision follows additional actions the government has taken to support our provincial seasonal travel and tourism in Ontario,” MPP Laurie Scott’s office said.

Cottage Care Rentals (CCR) co-owner Cheryl McCombe said the professional rental agency is not yet taking bookings but is working towards that and getting guidance from the local health unit. She said they had more than 100 new inquiries come in within a day after the announcement.

“We are really pleased with the cautious, staged open of the province,” McCombe said. “We are proceeding cautiously.”

She said the bulk of their business is in July and August, giving them time to work out proper protocols and communicate with their hosts. Rentals opening is an important reprieve for city dwellers, McCombe said.

“The need for Ontarians to vacation is paramount for their mental health, for their kids that have been stuck at home,” McCombe said.

“I don’t anticipate a family with young kids is going to arbitrarily decide to expose themselves aggressively in this community,” CCR co-owner Don Critchley said. “I fully expect families will act responsibility, just out of self-preservation and respect for us.”

As far as public concerns about larger gatherings or parties at rentals, McCombe said the agency screens guests to avoid that. Hicks said he shares concerns about large gatherings, both in rentals and non-rentals.

“If people break the rules that are in place, and have more than 10 people, then I think there should be consequences. Because this is a serious situation and obviously the rules have to be adhered to strictly,” Hicks said. “If a cottage owner or a short-term rental has a party, they’re breaking the protocol that is keeping us safe.”

“We’re just cautiously moving forward and waiting till we get all the protocols that we need. We will follow all those protocols,” McCombe said. “That’s really important.”

Harp on the Water: chapter 4 – The Curse

Lisa Gervais

June 9, 2020

At the end of the Mackenzie-Wilson interview, Constable Terry Becker had taken their phone number and advised them to stay in place until further notice. Bob wasn’t interested in being told what to do, not even by the police, so Detective Harry Harp took a chance and told him the murderer would be in custody by the end of the day. That bit of news quieted him and made Harp pray his gamble would work.

Batting away a cloud of mosquitoes, Harp stepped onto the dock with the Mackenzie-Wilsons and Becker trailing behind him.

“Do either of you ever use the shore path?” he asked.

Bob spoke first, as usual.

“No way. Too buggy. I take the boat or the car. Why?”

Harp turned to Heather Mackenzie-Wilson. She looked at her husband, then back to Harp.

“What path?”

Bob rapped his knuckles on his wife’s head.

“See what I got to put up with?” he grinned.

Back in the boat, Becker rowed on a course towards the next cottage. He said, “running the fireworks show, that’s a pretty solid alibi.”

The sun was high and Harp wiped sweat off his forehead. Loosening his tie, he considered the Mackenzie-Wilsons’ comments regarding the night of the murder.

“But he could have done it before the fireworks – there’s an hour window. And she could have done it anytime.”

The sudden sound of an accelerating motor made Harp turn. A police boat carrying the Spruce County Coroner, his two assistants – and a small shape on a stretcher – sped across the water towards the boat launch. Harp knew the small shape was the body of Ida Calvert and felt a sudden sadness.

“In the middle of all this natural beauty – murder,” the detective said. Just then, laughter came from another direction and the two men turned. They were approaching a raft, which was anchored off a dock in front of a vinyl-sided cottage. On the floating platform a woman crouched over, fumbling with the straps of her bikini top. Beside her, a man lay on his back laughing. Finally, the woman snapped her top in place and stood up.

“Hi,” she said, eyeing the rowboat suspiciously.

“Spruce County Police,” Harp called as Becker pulled the boat close. “Can we have a word?”

The sunbathers swam to their dock while Becker tied up next to a motorboat and a red canoe. Harp glanced in the canoe and noticed bits of wrinkled plastic. Condoms, he thought. The woman introduced herself as Sally Cutts and told Harp the cottage belonged to her parents who were in Tuscany on a wine tour. She introduced the guy as Lance Niblitsky—or ‘Nibbles”. They were both in their late 20s, tanned and fit in a vacant sort of way. Nibbles rested his arm around Sally’s shoulder.

“So what’s up?” he askd.

“I’ve got this.” Sally cut in.

“Maybe we could talk in the shade?” Harp suggested.

“Sure. You know, I’ve never seen anyone wear a suit at the lake. Hilarious.”

When they were seated in a screened-in gazebo next to the dock, Harp asked, “Do you know Ida and Grace Calvert?”

Sally smirked. “Yeah. I know them. The witches. What about them?”

Harp frowned. “Ida Calvert was murdered last night.” Sally and Nibbles exchanged glances.

“Is that my problem?” Sally said.

“It could be. Where were you both last night between 10:00 and midnight,” Harp asked.

Again Sally looked at Nibbles.

“We were in the canoe – watching the fireworks.”

“Rocking the boat, man.” Nibbles grinned suggestively and Sally shushed him. For a moment, the only sound was Becker’s ballpoint pen scratching the page of his notebook.

Harp said. “Why do you call them witches?”

“No reason.”

“What about the curse?” Nibbles looked at her questioningly. Sally gave him a ‘how could you?’ look.

“Curse?” Harp asked with feigned innocence. Sally sighed loudly like a kid forced to admit that they broke something.

“Ida Calvert put a curse on me. She hates our family! I mean, we just like to have fun, play music, go tubing – everyday cottage stuff, right? But one time, when I was a teenager and I was partying in the boat with a bunch of friends, well – she came out on that point and said …” Sally’s eyes welled up at the memory: “Sally Cutts, I curse you to never know success.”

Becker looked up from his notebook, incredulous.

“From that moment on, nothing, I repeat, nothing has ever gone right for me. So you know what? I’m glad she’s dead.”

Nibbles put his arm around her.

“Hey babe – it’s not so bad. You’ve got me.”

She ignored him and brushed away her tears. The wind had picked up and the red canoe banged against a strip of black rubber that ran around the perimeter of the dock.

Harp said, “When did you finish in the canoe?” Nibbles laughed and made air quotes, “We finished – .” Sally kicked his foot and again he stopped talking. Harp suddenly thought of his own dismal love life. Then he recalled how Grace Calvert brushed her hair away from her face and how the light caught her features – then he remembered the pine needles in her hair. Sally’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“After the fireworks, we drifted around the point then came back here. About 1:00.”

“Why go to the point? Why not watch from your end of the lake?” Becker asked.

Sally smirked. “To bug the old witch, that’s why.” Then a panicked look spread over her face. “Look – I didn’t do it. I may be cursed but I’m not a murderer.” Nibbles nodded to some internal beat and Harp wondered if he was high.

“You two ever use the shore path?” the detective asked. Sally shook her head and Nibbles looked confused. Sally said, “I told you, the path around the lake.” Nibbles nodded some more then suddenly blurted out, “wait – I saw a light.” Sally turned to him. Gone was the crying, cursed child; her face was all business now. “What – are you talking about?” She demanded.

Nibbles squirted some lotion into his palm and rubbed it slowly over his chest. “When we were in the canoe, I saw a light in the trees. Just for a minute. Then it was gone.”

Harp leaned forward. “What time was this?”

Nibbles shrugged. “I’m not great with time.” He massaged the lotion. “Wait – it was during the fireworks. Yeah.” Sally looked out at the water. Her face was set hard but she forced it into a smile.

“Are we done here?”

Becker said, “Did anyone see you in the canoe? Did you speak to anyone?”

“No, but we saw people arriving – so they must have seen us, right Nibbles?” Nibbles put down the lotion and turned to Sally.

Her eyes flashed. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?

“The curse,” he said slowly. “That’s why these men are here. Ruining everything for you. I’m just like – thinking this through now.” He rubbed the blonde hair over his temples. “You really are cursed.” Sally let out a short, sharp cry, jumped up and ran out of the gazebo. A moment later, the sound of a slamming door echoed over the water.

Five-generation family split by pandemic

Lisa Gervais

June 8, 2020

Ashley Hunter can only imagine what it would be like to get a proper, fivegeneration, family photo after the birth of her daughter.

Annalise McPhail was born February 29, three months premature, requiring an extended stay at hospitals. By the time she could finally go home, the world had changed because of COVID-19, meaning much of her family could not meet her in-person.

Hunter planned to get a photo of five generations of women from the Gooderham-area family – including her mother, her 77-year-old grandmother, Sharon Stoughton-Craig, and her 94-year-old great-grandmother, Myria Stoughton. For now, it’s impossible due to COVID-19, and she’s left with attaching separate photos together.

“My great-grandma’s 94 now. Time’s ticking,” Hunter said. “She’s pretty special in my life.”

“We’re all a very close-knit family and a lot of people don’t have that today,” Hunter’s mother, Shelly Hunter, said. “People are busy. They live here, they live there, and they don’t have the connection that we have in our family because we all live here in this area.”

The new mother said it was difficult to go through the weeks visiting the hospital for her daughter as the pandemic hit. They started out in the Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto before being moved to Peterborough, where she experienced the beginning of new safety protocols, including more limited visitors.

“It was hard because you want your mother there, you want the baby’s father,” Ashley Hunter said. “You heard about the first patient coming into the building, there’s somebody with the virus … It was super crazy.”

“It’s a miracle she survives coming into the world a few months soon,” Shelly Hunter said. “And to survive this nasty virus.”

They came home April 24, but social distancing measures were well into place. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has advised all people over age 70 to selfisolate. McPhail had to meet her great- grandmother and great-great-grandmother through windows at their respective homes.

“It’s just hard. The first person I wanted to take her to is my great-grandma and I can’t,” Hunter said. “I just wanted them to touch her … You want to touch her; you want to kiss her and hug her.”

“She (Stoughton) wanted to come right out,” Shelly Hunter said. “It’s hard for her to realize what’s going on. She still lives in her own home.”

For now, the family is taking photos apart. But as soon as possible, they plan to take a proper photo together.

“First thing on the agenda, that’s for sure,” Ashley Hunter said. “When you can’t see them and you want to, it’s pretty hard.”

“What a lot of people are learning over the course of the virus is how important family is,” Shelly Hunter said. “Maybe a thing coming out of this virus, people may get closer with their family members. They’ll realize how important that is, because they could be gone tomorrow.”

Tourism sector seeks more from County

Lisa Gervais

June 7, 2020

The Haliburton tourism sector is seeking a recovery plan from the County, but council is not going in that direction for now. Council discussed a repositioned tourism marketing plan May 27.

Director of tourism Amanda Virtanen presented the plan, shifted due to COVID-19, to advertise the County for tourism whenever it is safe to do so.

But Virtanen said many tourism stakeholders are looking for more than marketing efforts. Yours Outdoors owner Barrie Martin said although the County’s efforts are positive, the industry is in danger and needs more support.

“A recovery plan that addresses challenges beyond marketing is necessary to ensure that our tourism industry survives,” Martin said. “Such a plan would continue to foster more collaboration, help stakeholders access supporting grants, and help re-orient the industry to be more successful, sustainable and community-based.”

“We need to move quickly to save our industry,” he added.

Virtanen reported many stakeholders have asked for a working recovery plan. But she said the tourism department’s mandate is “to focus on demand generation through marketing tactics” and that council has not asked to change that. She also noted it is likely prohibited under the Municipal Act for the County to provide financial assistance under a recovery plan.

Instead, the tourism department is planning to push back media campaigns until it is safe for more travel and focus
more on audiences within a three-to-five hour driving range. Marketing will also highlight the open space.

“We’re looking at pivoting our messaging toward really leveraging our accommodation as a focus,” Virtanen said. “That cottage resort, cottage lifestyle experience.”

Haliburton Forest general manager Tegan Legge said although a recovery plan would be nice, the County is in a difficult position and it is important to be adaptable. She added praise for the tourism department’s efforts so far.

“As long as they keep focusing on promoting what can be open and reminding people that we’re here when we can be fully open, I think it’s a great (marketing) plan,” Legge said.

Although council discussed the idea of centralized recovery efforts April 22, it did not get much traction. Warden Liz Danielsen said May 27 it seemed the townships wanted to go their own way.

“There seemed to be a drive by individual municipalities to take care of their own and not see anyone overstep their bounds,” she said.

Coun. Brent Devolin said economic development not being present at the County level is an issue.

“Post-COVID, this is one of at least a half-a-dozen things we need to change with our five levels of government,” he said. Danielsen said that it would be addressed in an upcoming service delivery review.

Council voted to accept the repositioned tourism marketing plan.

County cancels Hike Haliburton, reserving funds

Lisa Gervais

June 6, 2020

Haliburton County council voted May 27 to cancel the 2020 Hike Haliburton Festival due to the pandemic.

Councillors expressed concern with spending more money planning the September event given the public health restrictions that may still be in place.

The event has a $46,500 budget, with only $7,107 spent so far. Council also voted to put the remaining budget into a reserve for future Hike Haliburton events.

“I’m not in favour of spending any more money for something that really just won’t be what our event should be,” deputy warden Andrea Roberts said.

Director of tourism Amanda Virtanen presented council with three other options besides cancelling.

They included trying to proceed with a full-scale festival, running a smaller-scale version, and “packaged” version with local businesses, providing visitors with the option to get a hike as part of their stay.

But Virtanen also highlighted challenges. With the need to finish most planning in June, it is difficult to know what the restrictions would be and whether the event might have to get cancelled closer to the date. The average hike has 20 participants and Virtanen said those sizes might not be possible. She also noted it is difficult to know the availability of all spaces needed, and restrictions around administering first-aid could create greater liability.

Virtanen also said businesses would likely not be in a position to provide sponsorship this year, leaving the County with more of the cost. The sponsorship target was $25,000 for 2020.

She added cancelling the festival would be an economic blow to businesses. A total of 2,790 people participated in 2019.

“Cancelling the festival will have an impact but we do need to keep in mind that it’s likely they may not be able to stay in those accommodations or spend in the way they were able to in prior years,” Virtanen said.

Coun. Brent Devolin said he might favour trying for a smaller-scale event, depending on stakeholder feedback.

“If there’s some light at the end of the tunnel, I’m more supportive,” Devolin said, adding the smaller version might still have to get cancelled closer to the date. “I would rather have circumstances dictate that to us.”

Coun. Cec Ryall said informal hikes could still go on, promoted by the County. Virtanen noted the event’s social media feed posts year-round and could continue to promote hiking

“We really don’t want to spend a lot of money on something that is so way up in the air at this point,” Ryall said.

“We can possibly make next year’s bigger and better,” Coun. Dave Burton said.

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