Time to rock the Land Trust’s world

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August 8, 2019

Chair of the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust board Marie-Lou Gerstl said the fundraising dance started as a way to attract younger generations to the organization.

“We went from a sit-down dinner buffet, no live entertainment, enviro-hero awards night to a more lively, fun evening which would attract some of the younger generation,” she said. “After all, it is the younger generation who are going to have to ‘pick up the torch’ for the Land Trust in the future.”

The Rock our World fundraising dance was started last year as a replacement for the gala that had been held for 10 years.

The evening’s goal was to bring in more money for the organization’s stewardship fund.

“It’s used to help finance our day-today operations as well as provide the funds necessary to maintain trails, mow grasslands, pay insurance expenses, taxes on the lands and acquisition costs pertaining to new land donations,” said Gerstl.

The Land Trust currently owns five properties in Haliburton County: Dahl Forest, Barnum Creek Nature Reserve, Norah’s Island, Smith Forest and The Fred and Pearl Barry Wetland Reserve.

Last year’s dance sold 110 tickets and raised $10,200 and gained three new members. This year, the Land Trust is hoping to sell 130 tickets, gain five members and raise $12,000.

Gerstl said the community supports the Land Trust because they understand the importance of donated properties and the endangered species they house.

“The properties that were donated were donated to our community, for their enjoyment and for future generations to enjoy,” said Gerstl. “They understand that the people who donated the properties were and are long-time residents and early settlers of the area who nurtured and loved the land enough to want it conserved.”

The dance will feature a silent and live auction, 50/50 draw, door prizes, food and live music from Jamie Williams.

“This year, we have Raptors tickets, Toronto Maple Leaf tickets (both sets coming with a hotel stay in Toronto), jewelry, a fabulous hand-made basket that incorporates deer antlers, and a funky hall table made from an ‘old forest’ tree,” she said.

The dance will be held Aug. 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Haliburton Legion.

Tickets can be bought online at haliburtonlandtrust.ca and are $30 before the date and $35 the day of.

Playing Kawartha Dairy ice cream on the cake

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Meagan Secord

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August 8, 2019

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MS - Kawartha Dairy Music — Photo Submitted

Kristy Hagerman, a 23-year-old singer/ songwriter based out of Toronto, is excited to play at Kawartha Dairy because she loves the small venue scene.

“I got really used to playing in smaller-sized venues,” she said. “For me to build up a fan base in Toronto … It was a lot easier to look for venues where people were already there as opposed to fighting my way into the bar scene.”

Hagerman will be coming to Minden’s Kawartha Dairy August 11 as part of her first cross-Ontario music tour.

She will be performing hits from her new album Right Now, which is a collection of iconic covers of 80’s songs such as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun as well as some newer covers and originals.

Hagerman is excited about the tour because it is another step forward in her music career.

She has been playing music for as long as she can remember and graduated from The Harris Institute with a diploma in audio engineering.

She said music is her full-time profession and although she has big dreams for it, her main goal is to always feel like herself and not lose sight of what’s important, connecting with people.

“Music has this ability to go right past someone’s mind and thoughts and preconceived ideas and just get them right in the heart,” said Hagerman. “I love music because it allows you to connect with people in a very genuine way, that’s why I am touring across Ontario and finding alternative venues because I really just want to connect with people.”

Her concert at Kawartha Dairy will feature not only her live music but a chance to buy a $20 package that includes a T-shirt, CD of her Right Now 80’s album and a pre-order of her 10-song album coming out later this year, called Right.

The performance in Minden will start at 2 p.m. More information on the cross-Ontario tour can be found on her website kristyhagerman.com.

Going to dark places spurs poet’s creativity

By

Meagan Secord

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August 8, 2019

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MS - DOUG SMITH1 — Photo by Meagan Secord

A new book of poetry by Doug Smith leads readers down a path into his subconscious and shows his perceptions of one of the hardest topics for people to think about, death.

The writer recently released his newest collection of works called ‘Songs of Extinction,’ which focuses on death and the possible extinction of species.

“It’s hard to hold it (death) in one’s own mind,” he said. “So, I embarked upon the book in order to see what would come up in terms of poetic work if I held the thought of near-term extinction as a general theme.”

Smith said the project took him to some dark places but it only spurred his creativity to dive into the topic more.

He wrote on the back cover of the book, “as if I had managed to pass through the shadowland, accepting not only my own end but that of the bewildering species to which I belong.”

Smith started the collection last September and it was published in May of this year. He said he is very picky about his poetry and although the writing happened quickly, he always went back to double check everything and make sure it was how he wanted it.

“I might have to come back to it and revise, I tend to fuss right down to the kernel of a poem,” He said.

This is the sixth book of poetry Smith has published, his first being a collection called Spokes published in the 1980’s.

Smith joked about how his next steps in his writing career would be to bring him straight to the grave, very fitting considering the theme of the poems.

His previous professions include being an anthropologist, massage therapist, astrologer and homeopath. He said throughout his education and careers, poetry is something he’s come back to.

“It’s been an area of discourse that I would turn to again and again over a stretch of time. It must be from the mid-60s till now,” said Smith.

The vast amounts of freedom partnered with the dip into the imagination is why Smith keeps coming back.

“You have the greatest degree of freedom in organizing your narrative,” he said.

Folk Society lineup appeals to diverse audience

By

Meagan Secord

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August 8, 2019

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MS - FOLK CONCERT — Photo by Meagan Secord

Sue Shikaze, an artistic director for the Haliburton County Folk Society, said the concert series is trying to broaden how people see the folk music genre.

Details of the 2019/2020 season were released Aug. 1 and committee members are excited about this year’s lineup.

“It’s not always one person standing up at the mic with a guitar, singing songs,” said Shikaze. “It (folk music) really encompasses all different genres and I think our lineup for next year really focuses on that.”

The concert series consists of: Danny Michel performing at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion on September 20; Irish Mythen on November 9 at the Highland Hills United Church; local band Homemade Stew at the Northern Lights Feb. 1, 2020, My Son the Hurricane at the Haliburton Legion on April. 18, 2020 and Big Little Lions May 3, 2020 at a location still being determined.

Shikaze said the artists and bands are chosen by the concert committee. Members make suggestions and pick their top favourites. The committee then tries to book them.

Recently, the folk society has been trying to choose artists and bands that are not only different but will attract a diverse group of people.

“The folk society made a very conscious decision a few years ago to increase diversity in our audience especially,” said committee member Walter Tose. “In that vein we’ve increased diversity both on what we offer and where we offer it. A few years ago, all of our venues were sitdown venues … last year we did the legion for the first time and half of it was a dance floor and that was a sellout for us.”

Last year’s series had three concerts sell out and the other two had a large crowd, according to Shikaze.

Tickets for this year can be bought online at haliburtonfolk.com or at On the Spot variety in Minden or Halco Electronics in Haliburton. Prices for individual concerts are $25 for non-members and $20 for members.

My Son the Hurricane tickets are $35 for nonmembers and $30 for members. Series tickets are 60 per cent sold out according to the committee but cost $110 for non-members and $85 for members.

The Haliburton County Folk Society is also looking for hosts for their Homeroots Concert series. Volunteers would have to be open to the idea of hosting a musician for a night and allowing them to hold a small concert (approximately 30-40 people) in their home.

Anyone interested in hosting a Homeroots Concert can contact the folk society by email at info@haliburtonfolk.com.

Just another plant

By

Meagan Secord

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August 1, 2019

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MS - WILD EDIBLES 6 — Photo by Meagan Secord

Owner of Wild Edibles Haliburton Carolyn Langdon is teaching people about cannabis plants and how to grow them.

For the amateur botanist, cannabis plants are just another plant to grow in the garden and learn about.

“To gardeners, the marijuana plant is just another plant in the ground,” she said.

The eight-person group spent the afternoon of July 13 learning how to “cut” or “clone” the clippings of cannabis plants in order to grow more.

“It’s really a question of are you able to grow your own and get a better quality? The answer is yes,” she said.

That’s not all attendees learned. Discussions were also had around eating plants, weeds and roots from the natural environment and what plants are good for the human body.

John Dynes, one of the attendees, commented on how pharmaceuticals are a new addition to the health field and should not be used as frequently as they are.

“One thing people forget is the main medical establishment has only been around for 100 years or so,” he said. “But natural medicine has been around a lot longer than that.”

The group spoke about their experiences with main stream drugs and some of them started taking the course because of bad memories with pharmaceuticals.

Others took an interest as gardeners. The next Wild Edibles session is about cannabis harvesting and curing on September 7.

People who are interested can contact Langdon at windfallfoodforest@gmail.com.

Haliburton writing collective poem

By

Meagan Secord

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August 1, 2019

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MS - HAlls island1 — Photo by Meagan Secord

Toronto based artist Brooke Manning is encouraging the community to write down their thoughts as part of a county-based poem for her Halls Island Residency.

“I like the idea of randomness that this provides, and I really enjoy seeing different perspectives from different humans move in flow with each other,” she said.

Six journals are placed in libraries throughout the county for people to write their own poetry, thoughts and anything else.

The journals will be moved to new locations at the beginning of August and then collected so Manning can write a community poem using the material.

“When brainstorming ideas for my Halls Island community project, this one came very quickly and naturally,” said Manning, one of 11 artists coming to the island this summer.

As part of the residency, artists must hold a community session to share their art or poems with locals to give back for the two weeks they’ve spent here.

“Several years ago, I did a few projects that were similar in nature (to the journals) though for one evening only, and only in galleries,” she said.

The final poem will be Manning’s community session.

“Each artist comes up with their own idea for the community sessions,” said Joan Duhaime, arts administrator for the residency. “So, I’m not sure what the poem will look like when she’s done and in book form.”

The program invites artists to the Highlands and encourages them to recharge their creativity and get inspired by the location.

“We want to give artists an opportunity to expand or reflect,” said Duhaime. “Use the time to attempt, whatever their artistic practice is, and also give back to the community and make that connection with Haliburton.”

The guests stay at a cottage on Koshlong Lake’s Halls Island that was donated by a local family.

All types of artists, writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, poets, etc., are welcome to apply.

“The nature was idyllic and very moving. It felt very powerful to be creating work with my partner, Viktor Cahoj,” said Manning about her time in the residency program. “We used the residency to create a book of poetry and photographs that speak to one another.”

Red Wolves carry spirit of Special Olympics

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Lisa Gervais

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July 30, 2019

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The Haliburton Red Wolves showed their fire is still burning strong through the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics July 20.

Haliburton Highlands OPP and red wolves team members paraded through Haliburton, Kinmount and Minden as part of the national campaign, raising funds and awareness for the local Special Olympics.

“The day was very fantastic. Very good people who always support,” athlete Trevor Bauer said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to come out.”

Team members carried “the flame of hope” throughout the parade, symbolizing courage and a celebration of diversity, according to the run’s website.

“Anybody that partners is blazing the way to help (people) be included,” Red Wolves bowling coach Rick West said.

Const. John Fountain said it was wonderful to support a great cause.

“It’s good to give back to the community,” Fountain said. “We had a great time, we collected lots of money for the event planning they’re doing. It was a good turnout.”

The Red Wolves had plenty to celebrate and fundraise for at this year’s run. The group’s bowling team – composed of Casey Healey, Kim Buie, Andrew Bourgeois, Marianne Stammers and Lucas Anderson – won gold in their division at the provincial 5-pin bowling championships June 6-7.

They earned a chance to play at nationals in Thunder Bay next February.

“All they want to do is practise,” West said. “We practise really hard and on the day of … everybody just took turns bowling really well.”

Now, the group is raising money for the trip. But West said he has little doubt they will be able to, given they were successful when the team last went to nationals in Prince Edward Island in 2018.

“This area is fantastic for giving,” West said.

He added it is meaningful for the athletes to compete and be successful.

“It’s the best,” West said. “It’s just seeing them with a smile on their face, it makes everything worthwhile … when they’re successful at it, they just want to do the best they can.”

Cats, memories and the world of film

By

Lisa Gervais

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July 30, 2019

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All summer, Highlands Cinemas owner Keith Stata walks through the theatre he built to turn on projectors and bring the world of film to hundreds of patrons.

It is a journey with as much character as the building itself and the 72-year-old does it solo. He stops in at part of his cat sanctuary to manage air conditioning, pausing to pet some of his 42 felines surrounding the facility. There is another stop to check his facility’s security cameras. He pauses there to let out a werewolf call into a microphone, laughing as he delivers a scare to visitors surveying his hall of movie monsters.

Stata is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the five-screen Highlands Cinemas. The structure is filled to the brim with history, with a built-in museum featuring thousands of items highlighting film, popular culture and Stata himself. It’s world-famous, one-of-a-kind and has stayed situated in Kinmount, a village which has historically had a population of around 300 people.

The man paused when asked if anybody had ever called him crazy.

“I think everybody thinks I’m crazy,” Stata replied. “They’re entitled to.”

The theatre has run since 1979. Stata said he had a passion for films and initially sought to get into filmmaking, but went into construction to do something “practical.” That led to him building the cinema. Nestled in a forested area, the exterior was designed to resemble a house, which Stata said was needed to get a mortgage. What started as a one-screen theatre slowly expanded to five throughout the 80s and 90s.

Stata’s business partner, Roland Hamilton, credited the business success to that willingness to expand.

“There’s a lot of people’s effort that went into that building,” Hamilton said. “We’ve had challenges with the building department, but it’s always been fun to solve.”

Highlands Cinemas has achieved a lot of notoriety, with dozens of news articles over the years, tens of thousands of visitors and celebrity appearances. A documentary film about it is in the works. Well-wishes and compliments from the likes of the actor Rick Moranis and the Barenaked Ladies are preserved in the museum.

“The Highlands Cinemas is simply the coolest theatre in the world,” the famed Canadian rock band wrote with an autograph.

The museum is also filled with dozens of historic projectors dating back decades, which Stata said connects us to the past.

“I don’t look at them as rusty pieces of metal. I look at those as memories. You stop and think of all those machines, millions of people sat in the dark and had that special moment with that special movie,” Stata said.

But running a small-town movie theatre is difficult, Stata said. Although he and Hamilton utilize summer students, the workload is still heavy.

“The biggest problem is here we are and I’ve got less energy, less physical ability and still the same amount, if not more, work as when I was younger,” Stata said. “The maintenance on this building is massive.”

Cat Sanctuary

Adding to the workload is something even more important to Stata than the cinemas; his cat sanctuary. Stata has 42 cats across 11 custom houses, nestled together around the facility.

With local shelters overflowing, all of them were bound for death. Stata took them on as a last resort.

“I don’t look at animals or people any differently,” Stata said. “Just because the animal may not be as smart in our eyes as we think it is, maybe we’re not thinking right.”

He is outspoken that owning a cat is a lifelong responsibility. He believes there should be a licence to own a pet, with $1,000 fines for abandoning them.

“Stupid people,” he said. “I’ve had cats here because the boy had a girlfriend who was allergic to cats, dump the cat. Well, that’s not the way it works. You dump the girlfriend. You figure out what you’re going to do and you make it work.”

Looking after the animals is demanding, taking up 42 hours a week, Stata said. When it comes to succession planning, he said they come first.

“The cats are the priority. The business is secondary,” Stata said. “If I live long enough, maybe most of them will be gone … but there’s no guarantees. You get a one-way ticket, and nobody knows when you’re going to punch it.”

Whenever the day comes, Stata has entrusted the cats and the theatre to Hamilton, who has worked there since it opened.

“I want to run the theatre as a theatre,” Hamilton said. “When I go to leave it behind, I want to leave it with somebody who’s going to run it as a theatre. I don’t want to just see it all sold off, because then what was the point of what we did?”

But despite age and the occasional injury, Stata is still going strong, trekking to take care of movie-goers and felines alike. He even tries to take care of local wildlife, tossing out food for a neighbouring family of bears.

As the facility recognizes its 40th anniversary, Stata said he has had some discomfort with the praise heaped upon him.

“Getting a little much. A lot of people are coming up to me and saying, ‘thank you for building this place.’ It almost makes you think, ‘okay, am I going to die tomorrow or something’?”

But he is satisfied looking back at what he has accomplished with the Highlands Cinemas and the people it still brings in year after year.

“It’s gratifying it has done what it has done. It’s gratifying that people enjoy it. It’s gratifying that some people have been coming here for 34 years.”

Closing landfill the right decision

By

Lisa Gervais

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July 29, 2019

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Since I was writing about it in today’s Highlander, I took a trip to the Hawk Lake waste disposal site this week.

It’s on Hawk Lake Road in Algonquin Highlands.

Council voted last Thursday to close the landfill at its end of life in 2021.

The four councillors in attendance had a robust debate and in the end made the right decision.

Coun. Jennifer Dailloux was initially worried about cutting any services to taxpayers when the tax levy increases annually in the township, albeit slightly.

Coun. Lisa Barry was also concerned about cuts but also wondered about the impact on good recycling in the township.

Coun. Julia Shortreed listened intently as Mayor Carol Moffatt basically facilitated the conversation. She then recommended the closure with the move from Hawk Lake to Maple Lake landfill.

Moffatt, quite correctly, asked whether the township was going to make a decision based on convenience to its taxpayers or one in the best interests of the entire municipality.

The ultimate decision was to close the landfill or open a seasonal or year-round transfer station.

Convenience-wise, the larger Maple Lake WDS is only about 10 minutes from Hawk Lake. Pine Springs landfill is also not far away.

Further, since Hawk Lake is a small operation, it only takes household waste and recyclables, not all of the other items that people have been taking to Maple Lake anyway.

While I was at the dump, a woman drove in who wasn’t overly phased by the decision. She said her biggest complaint was the illegal dumping of things at Hawk Lake, such as chairs. She commented that if there were more eyes on the dumpers, there would be better recycling practices.

We’re not entirely sure how the Halls and Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association feels about the decision since they declined comment in today’s paper.

The township has five landfills, so will still be well served by four: at Maple Lake, Pine Springs, Dorset and Oxtongue. There won’t be job losses since the minimal staff at Hawk Lake will be needed at Maple Lake. The decision was also the most costeffective for ratepayers.

While no one said it at the meeting, we also see the closure as a message that we need less household waste dumped in our county. We need people to become better recyclers and hope the already strong diversion rate in AH continues.

I came across an article on line this week, entitled ‘China puts small-town recycling in dumps.’

It makes it clear that our goal should be zero waste since there isn’t much of a worldwide market for our recyclables anymore. We should stop with single use plastics, plastic produce bags, and consider bulk buying to cut down on packaging. We are seeing more materials, such as soap bars that can be used to shampoo and condition one’s hair, to cut out plastic.

While that may not have been the intent of the AH decision last week, closing one of five landfills in a small township, necessitating the public to drive an additional 10 minutes, is the right decision. It was democratically made in the way government is supposed to work.

Host honoured for riding free on the airwaves

By

Meagan Secord

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July 26, 2019

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MS - Davis Mais2 — Photo by Meagan Secord

David Mair, host of Tuesday Night Sessions on Canoe FM, said he’s always put a lot of effort into his radio show, so it’s nice to win an award for it.

The best indie/rock show award at this year’s National Campus and Community Radio Associations Conference, was accepted on Mair’s behalf by Canoe employees Ron Murphy and Roxanne Casey.

“The recognition that you get keeps me going but also the recognition for the radio station,” says Mair. “There are plenty of really dedicated and talented people putting out shows and it’s nice that they might get more attention from it too.”

Murphy, Canoe FM’s studio engineer, submitted a montage of clips from Tuesday Night Sessions to the association for Mair to be considered for the award.

Mair has been hosting his show every Tuesday night from 9 to 11 p.m. for six years.

He came to Canoe after retiring to Haliburton with his wife.

The idea for Tuesday Night Sessions came from Mair’s love of session players and record producers. He said he would scour the records for names of bass players, producers and more and noticed the same names kept popping up.

He decided to follow their careers and play the songs they’re affiliated with.

“I thought, I don’t know about anyone else who’s doing this. I’m sure someone is but not that I know of and I just thought that it would be a good idea for a show,” said Mair. “You’re going to play songs that are familiar anyways, but, why not come at it from a different angle.”

Mair hosted a show at a station in Oshawa when he finished school. He said he loved the free radio era when DJ’s had the freedom to play what they wanted and host unique and interesting shows.

This is one of the reasons he likes hosting for Canoe. “

It’s credit to Roxanne, who can keep the reins on when you need, but also encourage and foster that enthusiasm for doing what you do,” he said. “Ron in the same way, helping with production and making it go to air. Both of them have been very supportive of me over the years.”