The Haliburton County Snowmobile Association (HCSA) has called time on the 2024/25 snowmobiling season, with president Neil Vanderstoop reporting a “huge bounce-back” year.

Trails across the Highlands have been busy from late December to early March, with Vanderstoop saying multiple heavy snowfalls and timely response from HCSA groomers resulted in one of the best seasons in the organization’s 53-year history.

He said the HCSA maintained approximately 370 kilometres of trails and sold over 1,600 season trail passes and 150 multi-day passes.

“It was a super comeback from two hard years… last year wasn’t the worst in HCSA history, but it wasn’t great. Definitely a shorter season. This has been more a return to the norm,” Vanderstoop told The Highlander. “Trail conditions were great – the snow started off really sugary, but once we got out there and packed them down, it made for awesome riding.”

He said volunteers working on popular trails over the Family Day long weekend counted more than 1,000 sleds. “Just awesome numbers – and I think the following weekends too, after the really big snowfalls, were probably even busier.”

After reporting an economic impact of around $7.5 million to County businesses following the 2022/23 season, Vanderstoop said he’s hoping for an even better return this year.

Mike Rae, owner of Boshkung Smokehouse at Haliburton Forest, said this has been his best winter season since purchasing the business in 2021.

“Last year was a short-and-sweet season – we were really busy for a few weeks in January and February, but it came and went pretty quickly. This has been three months of madness, easily the busiest I’ve seen things at this time of year,” Rae said.

He’s estimating a 30 per cent boost from last year, with his busiest time coming over the Family Day long weekend in February, where he fed about 500 people per day.

Rae said this will be his first winter season where he turns a profit.

“That’s what’s going to take me through the next couple months as we ramp up for summer.”

He reckons about 80 per cent of his clientele since December have been snowmobilers. Many of them are visiting from outside the County, using HCSA trails to pass through.

“Trail 11 is a huge traveling artery – it’s basically the shortcut that connects Dwight to Haliburton. It didn’t open last year, which definitely hurt, but this year has been great. Without that trail it would have been a completely different season,” Rae said, crediting HCSA for maintaining the route. “They do an unbelievable amount of work and it’s appreciated – without them, a lot of businesses would be in trouble this time of year.”

Harsha Manani, co-owner of Lakeview Motel in Haliburton, said she’s seen a huge influx of snowmobilers again this year.

“The snowfall has absolutely translated to more business for us. We’ve seen a steady increase in visitors, with more people staying longer and supporting local,” Manani said, saying snowmobilers accounted for 52 per cent of the motel’s winter business.

“I’d rate this winter tourism season as one of the best in recent years… it’s a big boost for the local economy,” she added.

Taylor Pridham, owner of Hook, Line and Sinker in Haliburton village, said his restaurant has seen business improve 20 to 30 per cent from last year, with at least 60 per cent of patrons sledders.

Vanderstoop said volunteers broke several records this year, including one for grooming on the rail line that had stood for 54 years. “We put in over 700 hours there alone.”

The organization will be donating money raised by HCSA members and the community for trail grooming to the Haliburton Emergency Rural SafeSpace (HERS), operated by YWCA Peterborough Haliburton.

Workers will spend the next few weeks removing around 600 trail markers from 18 lakes. Over the summer, Vanderstoop said the focus will be planning for upgrades at the Anson Creek bridge and improving its digital records. He said HCSA partnered with over 140 private landowners this season, but wants to add more.

Have you ever wished there was a splash pad in Haliburton village? Or more soccer fields where you can play the beautiful game? Then Dysart et al wants to hear from you.

The municipality is hosting an open house inside council chambers March 27, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., looking for public feedback and ideas that staff can work into the township’s first parks and recreation master plan.

Approved by council last spring, the document will help to shape priorities in recreation for the next 10-to-20 years, said Andrea Mueller, Dysart’s manager of programs and events.

“We’ve never had a long-term plan, taking a step back and looking at things from a top-down approach across all of parks and recreation,” Mueller said. “We want to establish short, medium and long-term goals that reflect the changing nature of our community. It will guide suggestions for future programming, identify spaces that are underutilized, and be a platform for us to plan for major projects down the road.”

Dysart has contracted Fergus-based consultants pl.ural for $27,480 to assist with its development. Mueller said their staff will be available at next week’s session to update people on what they’ve heard so far – a community survey wrapped last week – and take down new ideas.

She noted nothing is off the table – whether it be a new arena, or even a swimming pool.

“Some people want a splash pad for their kids, others want a new pool or arena so their children can play hockey in a new, updated rink. There are some who think we should have a performing arts centre – there’s so many different ideas… it will be interesting to see what the number one item is that people are recommending.”

While there has been a lot of talk about new recreational facilities being constructed on land the township recently acquired along County Road 21, largely from members of Dysart council, Mueller said nothing concrete has crossed her table.

More important than identifying wants and perceived needs, she said, is figuring out if they’re feasible. That will all be covered in the final report, expected by late summer or early fall.

“You could have a beautiful building, but if it’s not going to be functional then it could be that we’re better off putting our money elsewhere. It’s easy to say ‘we want this’, but if it’s going to cost $25-30 million, then we have to think about how we achieve that. That’s why it’s important to do the research, talk to people and make as informed a decision as possible.

“The more people we hear from, the better. This is going to be for the entire community. It’s important we include voices from all ages and demographics,” Mueller said.

Another feature of the plan, Mueller says, is it would allow the township to quickly formalize applications for government funding when available. “If we’re shovel-ready with our plans, that could push us to the front of the line.”

Head Lake Park

Mueller said there are several enhancements planned for Head Lake Park this summer.

The previous council adopted a master plan for the park in December 2020. In the years since, there has been a new welcome centre constructed, a full replacement of the main playground, and investments to the dog park.

This year, the township is partnering with area businesses to install benches and a new sunshade at the dog park, a sunshade at the playground, and for tree planting. There’s also a planned $500,000 reconstruction of the bridge connecting Head Lake and Rotary Beach parks.

“We’ve been working towards different aspects within the plan for Head Lake Park for the past four years, chipping away year-by-year and making great progress,” Mueller said, noting that document will be absorbed into the wider parks and recreation master plan when completed.

The door is open – a sliver – to there ever being a public boat launch on Bob Lake once again.

In the spring of 2016, after decades of uninterrupted use, the only public boat launch on the land-locked lake was barricaded. While advertised as a public launch, and maintained by the township, it turned out the launch was located on private land. The owner wanted to sell and decided to block access, citing liability concerns.

It resulted in the formation of the Bob Lake Association, which has been trying to get a new launch ever since.

Minden Hills CAO Cynthia Fletcher told a March 13 council meeting that at the Bob Lake Association’s request, she and clerk, Vicki Bull, met with members to hear their latest ask.

Fletcher said, “the representatives were very clear on their current position, that the township expropriate land from the private property owner [on Claude Brown Road] to affect a recreational boat launch.”

The municipality sought a legal opinion, and “the township’s legal counsel has characterized expropriation as an ‘extraordinary power’ that should rarely be used,” Fletcher said, adding it’s “fraught with risks, liabilities, and significant costs. The action would bring tremendous reputational, financial and resource risk to the township and council.”

Coun. Shirley Johannessen commented on the nine-year-old file.

“Just this last summer, I was asked ‘what is happening with our boat launch’? I wouldn’t be doing my job as a councillor if I did not speak on the matter and be a voice for Bob Lake.”

She said a public boat launch wouldn’t just be for Bob Lake residents, but the Ministry of Natural Resources, Parks Canada, the police and first responders, and commercial users, delivering new docks and other materials.

However, Fletcher and mayor Bob Carter said MNRF, Parks Canada, police and fire have no issues accessing the lake.

Johannessen then said nothing in the report spoke to other options, including negotiating with the property owner. ‘Bob Lake Association residents believe that the Township of Minden Hills has been opposed to every possible solution.” She said they needed to keep the door open.

Coun. Tammy McKelvey asked if the township had ever sent correspondence to the owner of the property where the original public boat launch was to see if they were willing to sell, or enter into an agreement.

Bull said there had been emails in the past, but the owner decided not to pursue an arrangement.

McKelvey said she did not support expropriation but wanted council to contact the present owner of the former dam site boat launch to see if they were willing to negotiate.

Bull said staff were happy to contact the property owner and bring back an update to council at a future meeting.

Carter said if the answer is no, “we stop this…we are spending far too much time and money on this. We have other things that have to be done in the township.”

Volunteer appreciation

Minden Hills has decided it will give out six volunteer awards on an annual basis.

Bull said in the past, awards have included: The Good Neighbour Award, for showing initiative through spontaneous, unheralded actions towards another, or others; the Ross Rigney Award, for civic contribution by a youth; The Gordon A. Monk Award for volunteerism; the arts and culture award; sports and recreation award; and Trillium Award, for horticultural efforts.

Bull said advertising would commence in November, with a deadline in March, and awards in April during volunteer appreciation week. Council will also give out a senior of the year award.

Roxanne Casey, station manager at CanoeFM, said she wouldn’t take no for an answer after spending the past two years lobbying the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for an updated broadcasting licence.

The federal body put a moratorium on processing and approving new applications in August 2023, while working to modernize regulatory plans for Canadian broadcasting. Casey was approximately six months deep on a proposal to bolster Canoe’s radio signal across Haliburton County.

Using funds raised through its popular Radio Bingo game, the station wanted to address one of many dead zones across the region where residents struggle to get a signal. Minden, Wilberforce, Gooderham and Cardiff were all considered.

A two-week pilot project in spring 2023 led to Casey applying for a secondary transmitter to be installed on a tower along Scotch Line Road in Minden, with an aim of improving service to people in the southwestern portions of the County. On Feb. 3, the station received special approval from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) after the CRTC ratified an exemption.

“It almost didn’t happen – at the time [of the moratorium announcement] they said there wasn’t going to be any new licences issues period. We had to send a letter to say we had an ongoing application in process, we had gotten prices, done a lot of work and spent a lot of money. It all would have been for nothing if we weren’t able to move ahead,” Casey told The Highlander March 17.

Now, listeners will be able to tune into Canoe on both 100.9 and 97.1. Casey said the licence for the latter runs until 2032.

Testing conducted in 2023 was vital to the project’s approval, Casey noted, with data gathered from specialized equipment revealing much of Minden experienced unreliable reception due to challenging terrain.

“They recognized that rural areas like Minden deserve a strong, reliable signal to access local news, programming, and community information,” Casey said.

All told, the project cost the station just under $43,000. “It’s the biggest project we’ve done for a while.”

Casey said none of it would have been possible without Radio Bingo. Every Tuesday for the past 10 years, the station has broadcast games over the airwaves giving locals a chance to win big. After prizes are dished out, what’s left is split between Canoe and important community causes. To date, around 50 non-profits have benefitted to the tune of approximately $600,000.

“The money goes to our food banks, the Haliburton County Heat Bank – we try to support all the not-for-profits that might need a leg up. Most have received something from us over the years,” Casey said.

She hopes to expand the station’s reach even more in future, mentioning Cardiff and Tory Hill as areas in need of better service. Nothing is imminent, Casey said, with the CRTC moratorium in-place until at least August.

“We will look at something else – it all depends on funding. It’s a really big process, it took us two years to move forward with this project, but the conversations were going on much longer than that,” she said.

Immediate focuses include improving the station’s website and attracting more volunteers. Casey said Canoe is developing an online portal that will highlight available openings and offer tasters on various roles. There will also be a virtual sign-up sheet for those who want to get involved.

“We’ve had people move away, everyone is getting older… we need to look at how we can engage younger volunteers to help out and take more of an interest,” Casey said.

A ribbon cutting will be held in Minden celebrating the improved service in the spring.