Since leaving her hometown in Veracruz, Mexico 15 years ago, Miriam Echeverria said she has had three primary life goals – move to Canada, become a Canadian citizen, and score herself a spot on TV with Top Chef Canada.

The 11th season of the long-running Food Network Canada show premieres Oct. 14 with Echeverria, until recently the executive chef at Dimensions Algonquin Highlands, one of 10 confirmed contestants. She’ll compete for national excellence in a series of gruelling culinary challenges, with the winner declared the country’s best chef and earning $100,000.

Echeverria, who specializes in French and Italian cuisine, said it’s been a surreal year. After celebrating her second anniversary with Dimensions last winter, she received an invitation to apply for Top Chef Canada and jumped on it.

“I was working in Toronto when the first season aired [in 2011], one of my good friends, Rob Rossi, was on it. He finished in second place, and I remember following the whole process – him being away for filming, then watching the show with him and the rest of the team once he was back, it was very inspiring,” Echeverria said.

She went on to have her first taste of TV a few years later, appearing on Chopped Canada, and while that experience helped to prepare her for the stress and pressure of cooking in front of a live camera, it was small fry compared to Top Chef.

Echeverria said she used her big opportunity to try and set an example for change in an industry renowned for brash personalities and toxic workplace culture.

“I was most excited to just show up, meet the other competitors, create new bonds and friendships – to me, that’s the important thing,” she said. “This is personal for me, but I wanted to show that as a chef you can also be human. A lot of time we normalize bad environments and abuse in the industry – I think you can be a great chef without having to minimize people.

“That was my contribution to the show, as well as my cooking. Just being positive and showing you don’t need a big ego to be in one of the best competitions. You can just be yourself,” she added.

Honing her skills at Toronto restaurants such as Greta Solomon’s, Lunita, and Mercatto, Echeverria said her approach to cooking is “very humble, not pretentious at all” and that she likes to showcase different vegetables. She said her time at Dimensions, where she would often forage the forest for mushrooms and other edibles, helped her on the show.

She left her position with the resort, located on Maple Lake, in June – returning home to Mexico to care for her ailing mother.

Echeverria visited this past weekend to say goodbye to a community and friends she says she’ll cherish for the rest of her life.

“It has been a blessing to be part of this community… Dimensions was like my own healing retreat too,” she said, noting prior to moving north from Toronto she was considering leaving the industry. “I’m now looking forward to getting back at it with a different mentality, with different skills as a chef that I learned by being in a place as welcoming, as full of nature as Haliburton.

“Now I can say I’ll always carry a piece of this community with me,” Echeverria concluded.

United Way City of Kawartha Lakes teed off its annual Haliburton region campaign launch at Carnarvon Family Golf Sept. 26.

Co-executive director, Shantal Ingram, said it’s important for them to have a presence in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

She said in the last year, or so, they had supported programs in the Highlands through their community capacity grant, as well as from their food security farm.

They have supported SIRCH and Point in Time, and noted an LCBO campaign is underway for donations at the till – until the first week of October. The four Haliburton County stores raise money for children and youth through Point in Time, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and EarlyON programs.

Co-executive director, Emily Beall, said some of the fresh produce from Edward Binney’s community farm and education centre in Lindsay is distributed through Haliburton Highlands Health Services, to the Minden Community Food Centre, some community housing sites, and Meals on Wheels programs. “The health services help us distribute it to as many clients as possible in the region,” she added.

Ingram said in 2022 and 2023, more than 3,000 pounds of food had been donated into Haliburton County.

The agency recently had a name change approved – to United Way HaliburtonKawartha Lakes. Beall said they are just waiting on the logo from United Way Canada, “then we’ll be a better representation of the region.”

The afternoon offered people a chance, for $15, to try out the mini putt and driving range, and sample Boshkung Brewing’s Paddle with Purpose beer, with the label specifically made for United Way CKL.

Algonquin Highlands public works manager Adam Thorn told council at a Sept. 19 meeting that data collected from electronic traffic signs along North Shore Road this summer showed most travellers in the area drive under the posted speed limit.

He was following up on a presentation made by Rae Mavor earlier this month, who, as a resident of the road, said she and many neighbours no longer feel safe walking the busy thoroughfare. Some, she claimed, have had to take evasive action to avoid oncoming traffic, with one neighbour reportedly forced to jump into a ditch earlier in the summer.

Mavor presented a petition to the township, signed by 99 people, calling for the implementation of a community safety zone. Council has stopped short of doing that, with Thorn saying all evidence suggests speeding isn’t a major issue on the road.

Signs were displayed in two locations – near the intersection with Dawson Road and by 1256 North Shore Rd. It was at Dawson Aug. 7 to 22, capturing 2,471 vehicles travelling west with 94.71 per cent driving under the limit, and 2,983 vehicles headed east with 87.79 per cent in line. It was there again Aug. 23 to 28, with 950 vehicles travelling west and 92.85 per cent driving under the limit. Thorn said 1,014 vehicles were clocked heading east with 87.47 per cent under the limit.

The signs were at 1256 North Shore Rd. Aug. 7 to 22, clocking 5,127 vehicles heading east with 72.55 per cent within the posted limit and 5,630 vehicles travelling west, 33.79 per cent under the limit. Between Aug. 23 and 28, of 2,628 vehicles travelling east, 69.72 per cent were under the limit, while only 34.09 per cent of 2,018 westbound vehicles were driving within the limit.

“Data shows the majority of traffic is going under the speed limit,” Thorn said. “If you’re standing on the road, you can think someone is doing 80 km/h, but they’re only doing 45 km/h. I’ve had three people come forward to say they were waved at to slow down despite them all doing under the speed limit.”

He said of vehicles caught speeding, most were within 10km/h of the limit.

Thorn added there’s no evidence suggesting the road has gotten busier this year following the upgrades to the Maple Lake landfill, in fact he said traffic stats from 2016 showed there are fewer cars on the road today.

“We found in our files that on one day in September 2016, there were 899 cars on the road. That’s more than I was able to track in a two-week period this summer,” Thorn said.

Mayor Liz Danielsen felt the numbers, “do not indicate we have a serious speeding problem.”

There was no appetite among council to create a community safety zone – Thorn indicated the stats don’t justify one and CAO Angie Bird said she broached the idea with Haliburton Highlands OPP recently and was told it was a bad idea.

Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux enquired about painting lines to establish a hard shoulder and give people a safe space to walk. Thorn said the road is too narrow for official lanes and that even creating a marker may have little impact. He estimated there would be 1.5 feet between the white line and the slope of the ditch.

He said widening the road could be an option in the future but would be costly.

Dailloux seemed uncomfortable doing nothing – asking Thorn what measures could be taken to alleviate “problem spots” on the road. He suggested installing signs on sharp turns warning drivers to be mindful of pedestrians. Thorn also felt installing flashing lights on existing signs could help.

No action was taken at last week’s meeting, with Thorn directed to come back with another report looking at how to improve safety in problem areas.