Minden Hills firefighters will be busy over the holidays educating the public about important fire safety guidelines they should be following through the festive season.

Chief Don Kruger said the department recently launched a ’12 Days of Holiday Fire Safety’ campaign, with staff covering several safety topics in a series of social media releases and in-person demonstrations from Dec. 12 to 23.

“This is a campaign the Ontario Fire Marshal has been running for several years and I have always participated everywhere else I have been chief, as I think public education should be a priority,” said Kruger, who joined the Minden department in summer 2024. “Any time of year is devastating for families to have a fire, but Christmas time is especially sad.”

Already covered so far, Kruger said, are tips and advice around installing holiday lights, tree watering, using candles and decorations, and the importance of having working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed.

Still to come Dec. 18 are pointers on kitchen safety for children; home fire escape plans Dec. 19; cooking Dec. 20; heating sources Dec. 21; smoking Dec. 22; and lithium-ion batteries Dec. 23. Kruger said volunteers have provided personal testimonials for each daily theme, grounding the safety advice in real-life, frontline experience

With OFM data indicating the highest number of residential fire deaths occur between November and January, Kruger feels it’s important that people take notice and keep safety top of mind over the holidays. During the 2024 holiday season, there were 24 fatal residential fires in Ontario, resulting in 26 deaths.

“There are a number of things happening during the holidays that can lead to fires that the campaign touches on – the increased use of extension cords, having the tree inside and forgetting to water them, strings of lights everywhere, and increased consumption of alcohol while cooking,” Kruger said.

“The campaign also includes topics we promote all the time, such as working smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, having a home escape plan, and having two ways out always,” he added.

Kruger said all alarms should be tested monthly, batteries replaced annually and the alarms themselves replaced after 10 years of service.

For more than a century, Haliburton’s Cec Bailey lived life to the fullest.

The Second World War veteran passed away Dec. 4 aged 101. His daughter, Pearl Wood, said Bailey suffered a fall at a care home in Gananoque on Nov. 18, injuring his hip. He was rushed for emergency surgery, which Wood said was successful, though Bailey never recovered his strength.

He had moved to Gananoque from the Gardens of Haliburton in August. Wood said it was one of the few times in his life that Bailey resided outside of Haliburton County.

“He was starting to need a little more care, coming into his 101st year, so we looked into where he could go. There were nine options, but thankfully he ended up in Gananoque, which is where I live,” Wood said. “I got to see him every day after he moved here.”

She said her dad was suffering with a chest infection in the days leading up to his death.

He moved to Haliburton as a teenager in the 1930s, relocating from the city with his family. His father, W.O. Bailey, operated the sawmill in town throughout Cec’s formative years.

Mike Waller, president of the Haliburton Legion, said he met Bailey about 15 years ago.

“He had some great stories, especially about growing up in Haliburton. When he was younger, Cec used to take his dad’s car all the time,” Waller said. Driving a luxury 1939 Chrysler Royal, word always got back to Bailey’s father.

“He’d tell me about how frustrated his dad would get – he didn’t know what to do, so, one day, he decided to take the distributor cap off every night so that it wouldn’t drive,” Waller said. “So, Cec would go down the street to a neighbour’s car, borrow that distributor cap and put it on his dad’s car so he could take it out.”

Bailey, who served in Europe from 1942 to 1945, was a staple at the Legion for years. Waller said he was a fixture at the Friday night meat draw every week well into his 90s.

Only 15 when the Second World War began, Bailey watched as his older brother, Merrill, and several of-age friends enlisted. He wrote them regularly and, four years later, followed in his brother’s footsteps when signing up for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Bailey was a crash tender, driving an ambulance during missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. He participated in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, part of the forces who took Juno Beach.

Wood said her dad didn’t share many of his war stories – he never considered himself a hero, saving that distinction for his brother who flew in 19 missions before his plane was shot down and he became a Prisoner of War (PoW). The pair were reunited in 1945, once the war ended.

After returning to Canada, Bailey returned to the family home in Eagle Lake and went to work for his father. He met his wife, Irene, at the old Golden Slipper dance hall. The pair were married in 1949 and had two children – Wood and Clark Bailey, who died in 1990.

After the sawmill closed, Bailey took lots of odd jobs around the County. He got into construction, working with Don McFadden, and also spent time as a custodian at Hal High. While Bailey liked people, Wood said, he was happiest working alone. He specialized in home construction – building every house he ever lived in.

“He liked to call himself a jack of all trades, master of none. He did a lot of stonework – he built the wall that still stands today by [Halco Plaza],” Wood said. “He liked it best when he was his own boss and could work to his own schedule.”

He was lively right until the end – Wood said staff at his new care home told her how he’d dance with them daily, using only his arms, and was always quick to crack a joke. While he was in the hospital for his hip surgery, he constantly had the nurses and doctors chuckling, she said.

“He was my last parent, my dad. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but I’ll really miss him.”

Wood said her father has been cremated. She plans to bury him at St. Stephen’s Cemetery, beside her mother, in Algonquin Highlands next spring. There will also be a celebration of life at the Haliburton Legion.

Haliburton County’s non-profit affordable housing advocate is turning to the community this holiday season, asking for donations to help keep a warm, dry roof over the heads of low-income locals.

Places for People (P4P) launched its ‘Shingle All the Way’ campaign in early December, asking County residents to dip into their pockets to purchase symbolic shingles, priced at $25 each. The non-profit’s president, Susan Tromanhauser, said this is a great way to give back to the community, noting a donation could be the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person on your Christmas list.

Each shingle purchased will directly support ongoing and future roof maintenance at P4P’s 21 rental units, Tromanhauser said.

The non-profit has housed more than 100 people since its launch in 2005 and is preparing for expansion. This past fall, the group announced a partnership with Habitat for Humanity Peterborough-Haliburton, committing to purchasing 15 units in a new 35-unit complex slated for Peninsula Road in Haliburton village.

“Through the generous contributions of our donors we have been able to continue providing housing for our current tenants. And, moving forward, we have the opportunity to grow our inventory of non-market rental units,” Tromanhauser said. “We can’t do it without the continued support of this amazing community.

She said the need for under-market rental housing in the Highlands continues to grow, with rising real estate prices over the past five years pushing many towards housing insecurity.

“Many local residents – individuals, families, single parents and seniors – are finding it harder than ever to afford market rents, or aspire to home ownership, as prices rise beyond reach,” Tromanhauser said.

Last year’s holiday campaign brought in nearly $20,000 and was used to repair/replace windows and ensure units are heated appropriately. This year, P4P is hoping to raise $30,000. Purchases can be made online at www. placesforpeople.ca.

“Help us reach our goal and give a gift of conscience. By purchasing a $25 shingle, you directly help maintain essential, safe shelters for our tenants – a gift that goes far beyond the holidays and delivers tangible change year-round,” Tromanhauser said.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated Haliburton Highlands Land Trust was paying around $820,000 for the 200-acre property. They aren’t. They’re paying $498,000, with the money coming from an $820,000 grant HHLT received from Parks Canada. We apologize for this error.

The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust (HHLT) is closing the book on its 20th year in the County with some major news – it will soon be adding a seventh property to its portfolio of protected local nature reserves.

Sheila Ziman, a founding member of the group, said HHLT will close on a 200-acre property north of Minden in late January. The property is being purchased from County-based realtor Andy Campbell for $498,000. The money will come from an $820,000 grant HHLT received from Parks Canada to support its work across the Highlands.

Ziman said the land is located along Plantation Road and serves as a buffer to the Highlands Corridor – a 100,000-hectare strip of unceded Crown, municipal and public land that connects Silent Lake, Kawartha Highlands and Queen Elizabeth II provincial parks. The Highlands Corridor intersects with both the Frontenac Arch and Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative – key natural pathways that allows wildlife to move throughout southern Ontario.

The Campbell lands, as they’re currently known, is a major wetland area, with roughly a quarter of the property swamp-like, Ziman said.

“We’re always interested in wetlands, especially around Minden, because they act as nature’s sponge. They suck up water and then release it slowly… which helps with flooding. Protecting wetlands is a win-win for the community and for nature,” Ziman told The Highlander Dec. 9.

It’s the land trust’s second addition this year, following the purchase of the 40-hectare Hadlington Reserve in Highlands East in February. While the Hadlington parcel is inaccessible to the public, with no trail system, Ziman said the new property will be different.

Currently, there’s an approximate one-kilometre walking trail at the site, though Ziman said HHLT wants to add more, seeing the reserve as similar to Barnum Creek and Dahl Forest – two of the land trust’s other properties, which are popular among hikers.

“One of the most important things to me and the entire HHLT is to get people out on the land… we want to enhance the trail system at this new property, we would like to try to get out onto the wetland in a sustainable way… to see if we can put in a boardwalk or a viewing platform,” Ziman said.

Plans in place for parking lot and trail system

“Wetlands are so important and we want to increase people’s appreciation and understanding of their value. So, we intend to put a nice system in there and create some good hiking for folks. It’s only a 10-to-15-minute drive from Minden,” she added.

It will be some time before hikers can be accommodated, Ziman admitted, likely a year at least. The work is time-consuming and expensive, she said. First, there needs to be a management plan conducted to determine what species frequent or reside there, a parking lot will need to be developed and then trails mapped out.

Ziman said HHLT is looking to raise $75,000 to complete the work.

“We’re setting up an endowment fund to try to live as much as possible off the interest of that. We’re already at $10,000 raised,” Ziman said. “We’ve had some wonderful support from big environmental foundations and it’s really important now for them to see that the community is behind what we do, that our efforts are supported.”

Ziman noted a similar effort with the Hadlington property brought in $85,000 in a few months.

Natural features

HHLT board chair Todd Hall said the property is a great addition to the land trust’s portfolio.

“The property stands out for its sheer diversity of terrain… 15 unique habitats can be found here, from open meadows, pine plantations, fens, swamps and a sugar maple forest,” Hall said. “Our preliminary research already shows the property protects six regionally-rare or at-risk species, including snapping turtles, Midland painted turtles and Black Ash trees.”

After conducting a preliminary inventory in September, HHLT found 256 species on the property. It also features a large meadow that has been regularly maintained by the previous owner.

“Grassland habitats like these are rare in Haliburton and are some of the most threatened in Ontario,” Hall said. “By continuing to maintain this meadow, HHLT can provide vital habitat for grassland birds like the Meadowlark and Bobolink, whose populations have declined by 67 per cent, on average, since the 1970s.”

Ziman visited the property over the summer and marveled at its potential. She sees it becoming a popular self-guided hiking destination once the trails system is complete.

The next step, she said, is to have biologists come in and do some testing through winter. There’s also the little detail of coming up with a name – Ziman said HHLT is hoping the public will assist with that.

“There will be a naming contest – our other properties are often named after some type of geographical or historical feature. Barnum Creek was named after the watercourse that flows through the property, Dahl Forest was named after the family who donated it to us,” Ziman said.

“There is a creek that flows through this property, but it’s unnamed. There’s a history of plantations and old farms there,” she added, noting the contest will launch early in the new year. Ziman said HHLT also wants to do a guided interpretive walk with the public, likely in late winter.

Now that the deal has been made public, Ziman said she’s excited to tell people about the new addition – and why she feels it’s so important.

“We don’t want to get to where southern Ontario is. They’ve lost so many wetlands and so much forest that now they’re scrambling trying to recreate them,” Ziman said. “It’s practically impossible to create a wetland once it’s gone. They’re often thousands of years old. They can’t just be replaced. That’s why it’s so vital that we protect what we have here before it gets lost.”