It’s been 56 years since the decommissioning of the Essonville Anglican Church, but Phil O’Reilly believes the local landmark still plays a vital role in the community.

While other staples of the hamlet have faded into history, the old church building – now named Essonville Historic Church – remains as the sole reminder of the farming and logging community that thrived from the early 1870s into the mid-to-late 1900s.

“This is the history of Essonville. There’s not a whole lot left in terms of buildings – the old schools, the post office, the store, they’re all gone,” said O’Reilly.

He’s one of about a dozen people actively working to keep the structure’s spirit alive. Now owned by Highlands East township, it’s considered a community space – one that people can rent for weddings and other private functions.

It recently reopened, hosting a Decoration Day event in August – following a $82,300 foundation repair covered by the township.

“There were all sorts of conversations last year – what was the need for the church? What’s its purpose? Some were really pushing for [it to be demolished], turn the space into a monument… but this is like the last thread of what this place once was,” O’Reilly said. “That’s the kind of history that should be maintained.”

The congregation – the first in Monmouth township – was established in 1888 after Rev. Arthur Watham purchased a 100-acre property off what is now Essonville Line. The building was constructed using three pine trees sourced from a nearby forest, which were milled at the Dunford sawmill at Lake Brigadoon.

The church’s pews were moulded from the same lumber, while the original bell and stained-glass windows were imported from England.

“It was the hub of the community for a lot of years,” said Carman Coumbs, who has been visiting the church his entire life.

He was baptized there in 1950 and recalls attending dozens of nuptials and funerals, communions and Easter services.

As work at the 12 sawmills that once served the area dried up, people moved away, and attendance dropped. By the mid-1960s, there was only a handful of regular parishioners, Coumbs recalled. After the Anglican Church of Canada opted to close the site in 1969, Coumbs said he, his mother, father and two sisters were the only people in attendance for its final service – led by the site’s last minister, Church Army Capt. R. Sims.

Back in its heyday, the building was only open for half of the year, Coumbs said.

“You couldn’t heat it enough for people to stay there, so we’d go from house to house for services. Folks would take turns hosting – I remember us having lots at the farm. But, slowly but surely, interest went away,” Coumbs noted.

O’Reilly has strong ties to the building, too. His in-laws, Larry and Ruth Strong, were the last couple to be married there, in 1965, before it ceased to be a church; while he and his wife, Kelly, said their ‘I dos’ in the striking white building in 1993.

It’s been a lot of work maintaining the site, Coumbs said – in the 1980s, it took five years to raise enough money to replace several broken stained-glass windows.

“That’s how the committee that oversees the church today was formed,” Coumbs noted, with the start-up group boasting six members.

Since then. The exterior of the building has been repainted three times, the interior plaster repaired and repainted, the steel roof painted, organ pump and belfry rebuilt, propane heating installed, and new parking lot and walkway constructed.

The committee is looking for new members – it meets four times per year and takes charge in organizing the annual Decoration Day and Christmas concert. Anyone interested in helping can contact O’Reilly at essonville17@gmail.com.

The newly-renamed United Way Haliburton Kawartha Lakes launched its annual campaign at Carnarvon Family Golf Sept. 5.

Executive director Shantal Ingram said the event was partially to introduce the new name. It used to be called United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes.

“It was really important for us to include ‘Haliburton’ because it is an important part of the work that we do,” she said.

Ingram added it is traditional for United Way to kick off its fundraising campaigns with a lunch event and they were “excited to get the campaign off and running.”

They have a community capacity grant with recipients changing every year, depending on who applies. However, they have funded Point in Time, SIRCH meal programs and EarlyON. Haliburton Highlands Health Services volunteers bring a van to Edwin Binney’s community farm and education centre in Lindsay every couple of weeks and fill it with fresh produce. The food is dispersed to five different locations.

One recent change has seen the LCBO move away from United Way as its recipient of the LCBO at the till program, which has impacted fundraising. Ingram said they’d ike to get it back.

“You’ve got to just make the best of the situation because we know the programming we’re funding in both locations is doing really amazing work, and the agencies are really amazing.”

Pippa Stephenson, executive director of EarlyON, said, “for decades, United Way has supported us, here in Haliburton it’s probably been more so since the pandemic, with the LCBO at the till.”

She said the money has enabled them to bring different programs to the community; such as stroller-size, baby and mom yoga, and the use of Abbey Gardens for some outdoor programming for families.

“This year, we’re excited because what we’ve decided to do is put together some packages with activities, and books for children, a gift card, those are going to be distributed with picnic blankets through the food banks in Wilberforce, Cardiff, Minden and Haliburton.”

The United Way Haliburton Kawartha Lakes helps tackle challenging problems through financial support for agencies and programming. They address what they call the “three pillars of poverty to possibility, all that kids can be, healthy people, and strong communities.”

Programming is about accessing food, maintaining housing, accessing safety equipment to help children have a safe start in life; finding safe spaces to connect; receiving mentorship; and making connections to feel at home in the community.

The community farm provides fresh produce to 30 food banks and organizations, donating nearly 85,000 pounds of produce since 2019. Nearly 2,400 people have been served through food distribution programs annually. An average of $50,000 of food is given out for free to 13 community food agencies every year – equal to approximately 4,500 meals each season. Ingram added more than 700 kids and youth attend the farm for educational programming every year.

A Minden Hills council decision not to support a cell tower on Bobcaygeon Road will result in reduced coverage for homes, and service gaps along major roadways, the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) has told the township.

In a letter dated Aug. 27, which was tabled at a Sept. 11 council meeting, EORN’s CEO Jason St. Pierre, said Rogers would not be pursuing an alternative tower site within the municipality to replace the one council would not sign a letter of concurrence for.

While saying EORN respected council’s decision, St. Pierre outlined the technical impacts of the stance on mobile service in the area.

He said the site council knocked back was based on detailed engineering analysis to address service gaps.

Without implementation, he added “approximately 200 homes in the surrounding area will remain underserved or experience intermittent service, limiting residents’ access to reliable voice and data services, including for emergency communications.”

St. Pierre added, “coverage improvements along Hwy. 35 will not be realized, leaving connectivity gaps that will have impacts to those travelling along Hwy. 35, including residents, visitors to the area. and emergency responders.”

He said they won’t be looking for a new site, since the proposed location of Bobcaygeon Road and Scotch Line Road was identified as the most technically viable solution when evaluated against the project’s scope, timelines and budget.

St. Pierre thanked township staff – who recommended the letter of concurrence.

He added, “EORN remains committed to collaborating with the Township of Minden Hills wherever possible to expand and enhance mobile services. However, the absence of the C8590 tower will limit the improvements achievable in this part of the municipality under the current project.”

Upon receipt of the letter, coun. Tammy McKelvey tabled a motion to reconsider the July 31 knockback by a majority of councillors.

“I just felt that the EORN correspondence that we received did provide some new information with regard to the cell tower on Bobcaygeon Road and I’ve asked that council consider reconsideration of that issue and that is the reason for my resolution under our procedural bylaw,” she said. Her notice was seconded by deputy mayor Lisa Schell.

Schell said, “I’d like to know why EORN didn’t mention Hwy. 35 before, if it was their intent that they would cover Mountain Lake, after six months of discussion; and why the Rogers map does not show Hwy. 35 getting the improved service if it actually does. Because all of these people sitting in this room (the gallery and some councillors) have every reason to be concerned if they weren’t contacted and it would change the cell service there. So, I think it’s important that consultant Spectra Point Inc. comes back with EORN and Rogers, and maybe the CAO can check in with that.”

However, council did not get that far as the motion failed to get a two-thirds majority vote for reconsideration. Council stuck with its original decision and there will be no tower sited at the location.

EORN did not respond to a Highlander question about whether Hwy. 35 and Mountain Lake were discussed in their dealings with residents and council.

The Municipality of Highlands East has put some churches, legions, and private road residents on notice they will need agreements, and insurance, as of Nov. 1 if they want the municipality to continue to maintain these properties.

The program is going to be reviewed in 2026. At a Sept. 9 council meeting, public works manager, Perry Kelly, raised the issue.

He said the municipality had historically provided maintenance services, including snow removal, on properties not under its ownership, and with no formal agreements in place.

He said it included private property, roads, and land under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

“While these services were provided with good intentions, they now present significant concerns regarding liability, cost, and resource allocation,” Kelly said.

He added, “the expectation from private and non-municipal property owners for continued service places undue pressure on municipal staff and resources. This diverts attention from municipally-owned infrastructure and compromises service quality and efficiency.”

Staff consulted with their insurance provider and solicitor. While the municipality has a duty to maintain public highways in its jurisdiction, diverting resources to private and Crown land puts them at risk of being unable to fulfill that duty, Kelly said, putting them in danger of negligence claims.

As for the private and Crown land, he added, “in the event of a slip, trip, fall, or motor vehicle accident, a claimant could pursue legal action against the municipality, irrespective of legal ownership.”

He said the average unit cost per winter event is more than $1,300 during regular hours and more with overtime. Kelly was further worried that continuation of the maintenance activities may set a precedent leading to further requests from other private property owners for the same service.

He presented four options to council for their consideration: stop the maintenance immediately and tell property owners to make other arrangements; do Crown land only, with agreements and insurance; continue but get agreements and insurance; or maintain the status quo. Council opted for a slightly revised option three.

Coun. Cam McKenzie said he’d had some residents, particularly from churches and legions, express concerns about the impact.

“Financially, probably most of them are on thin ice. If this comes to pass, some may close.” He said that would impact the work they do in the community. He added the timing was not great, soon going into the winter season. Coun. Angela Lewis agreed.

Deputy mayor Cec Ryall commented, “it’s a service that we don’t have to supply but morally should be supplying.” However, he shared liability concerns. He was not in favour of the status quo, thinking option three was the way to go.

Mayor Dave Burton said with tight timing, he’d prefer status quo this year, moving to option three in 2026.

CAO Brittany McCaw suggested they still try to get agreements in place this year, with a minimum $5 million liability. “Then we can review this program again next year to decide what it is you decide to do moving forward.”

The decision impacts four churches, two legions, five roads and a staging area, two MNRF properties, an MTO property, and one unassumed laneway.

Jennifer Downham has been involved in several strike actions during her 36 years of working at the Haliburton School of Art + Design (HSAD), but she feels this latest one, launched Sept. 11, is different.

More than 10,000 full-time college support workers are striking across Ontario, impacting operations at 24 publicly-funded institutions. Here in Haliburton, about 15 HSAD support staffers are picketing daily off-campus on College Drive. They share a united voice, Downham said.

“This is about protecting schools, protecting local education,” Downham told The Highlander during a Sept. 16 interview. “Over the last couple of years, there has been over 10,000 people laid off [and 650 program cancellations] across Ontario. Things are shifting… I’m worried about the future of public post-secondary education.”

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), representing the workers, claims provincial funding for colleges has dropped 30 per cent since 2013/2014. It further claims that per-student funding in Ontario is the lowest in Canada, at approximately 56 per cent of the national average.

JP Hornick, president of OPSEU/SEFPO, believes this is a “government-led agenda to systematically defund Ontario colleges.”

They claim investments in non-college private training programs, through the province’s Skills Development Fund, has increased by 800 per cent since 2020, with $2.5 billion spent thus far and another $1 billion committed over the next three years.

Full-time support staffers saw their contracts expire Aug. 31. OPSEU Local 351 president Marcia Steeves said, provincially, 77 per cent of employees voted in favour of a strike mandate last month. Across Fleming College, which employees 250 support staff, including 15 at HSAD, 79.8 per cent were in favour of striking.

“This is a fight not just for an improved contract – it is about the future of student supports at colleges across Ontario,” Steeves added.

“This is a fight not just for an improved contract – it is about the future of student supports at colleges across Ontario,” Steeves added.

Since 2020, she confirmed HSAD had lost four full-time staffers, dropping from seven academic support roles to three.

Downham was one of 29 Fleming employees to be informed in July that their positions were being terminated. A coordinator for the arts certificate program, her last day is Oct. 9, but there’s no guarantee she’ll be back on campus before then.

Joining HSAD when courses were run out of the old schoolhouse in Haliburton village, Downham said she’s watched the school blossom and grow in her three-plus decades of employment but is now fearful for its future.

“It would be like one of my children being harmed in some way [if it were to close]. It breaks my heart to see the way things are going… the arts are woven into the fabric of this community and HSAD plays a major role in that.

“I feel like if we don’t do something soon, our public college system is going to completely dissolve,” Downham said.

A Fleming College spokesperson said classes at HSAD are continuing to run as scheduled, though would not comment on the strike action.

Deal ‘not close’

The College Employer Council (CEC) is ready to negotiate, its CEO Graham Lloyd said, though he has labelled the union’s response to the latest offers “unacceptable.”

He told The Highlander the CEC had offered a package totalling $145 million in increased benefits over three years, but that the union’s counter would set colleges back about $400 million – at a time when, he claims, enrollments are down by about 50 per cent compared to 2023/24.

The offer includes a two per cent wage increase per year; a 75 per cent increase in on-call premiums; enhanced vision and hearing benefits; improvements to job security from AI; and 50 per cent increase to severance packages for employees laid off due to the current financial crisis.

OPSEU is asking that CEC commits, in the contract, to maintaining all existing college campuses for the next three years and prohibit any college merger or staff layoffs.

After failing to make any headway Sept. 16, the fifth day of the strike, Lloyd said the union needs to reassess its position if a deal is to be reached.

“Four of their demands, we’ve told them, we could never accept,” Lloyd said. “We don’t know where we’ll be in three years. It’d be fiscally imprudent to be able to guarantee that.

“No college wants to be in this position, but there’s a reality that, for reasons outside the college’s control, they’ve had massive cutbacks and that has had an impact,” Lloyd added, blaming the federal government’s limitations on international student for the current financial predicament.

With no agreement in sight, he suggested the best alternative is going to third-party arbitration – saying that was an effective way of striking a new three-year deal with academic staff in June.

“Spend a few days with a mediator and then, if we still can’t come to a resolution, they will act as an arbitrator and impose [a new contract],” Lloyd said.

Algonquin Highlands council has opted to reduce the speed limit and install speed bumps along the busiest section of Big Hawk Lake Road, from the log chute to the marina, despite recent traffic data suggesting at least 85 per cent of drivers travel under the current 50 km/h threshold.

In July, the township heard from Chris Ewles, general manager of Big Hawk Lake Marina, who pitched lowering the speed limit, establishing a community safety zone and installing speed bumps, cameras, a stop sign and pedestrian crossings to alleviate safety concerns.

Ewles told council he has witnessed many near misses involving vehicles and pedestrians due to speeding and dangerous driving over the past 18 months.

Public works director Adam Thorn, at a recent meeting, said that, in response to those concerns, municipal staff had two digital speed radars on the road from July 29 to Aug. 5 – one just past the log chute parking lot and the other by the marina.

The first sign clocked 872 inbound vehicles, with 90.14 per cent traveling at or under the posted limit, and 899 outbound vehicles, of which 84.98 per cent were moving at an acceptable speed.

At the second camera location, only two of 716 inbound vehicles (99.71 per cent) and one of 737 outbound vehicles (99.86 per cent) exceeded the 50 km/h limit. Most, at 77.23 per cent, were travelling less than 30 km/h, with 19.97 per cent travelling between 31 and 40 km/h.

“I was very surprised by the data, especially around the marina. That 99 per cent of the public are travelling the speed limit or less than, that’s really good to see. I don’t know how you can get much better than that in a rural area,” Thorn said.

He noted the devices clocked between 102 and 125 vehicles per day on average, a significant reduction from the 225 vehicles per day recorded during a 2017 study.

Mayor Liz Danielsen suggested the issue was more about congestion than speed.

“This is something where we have traffic moving in all directions, a public landing, a beach,” Danielsen said, expressing her preference to reduce the speed limit. “We do have a responsibility for the safety of our residents.”

Earlier in the meeting, council heard from Shelley Fellows and Jim Anderson of the Halls and Hawks Lakes Property Owners Association (HHLPOA), who said about 300 people had expressed concern this year over risks to public safety, personal property and vehicles due to congestion and a lack of parking on the lake system.

They asked council to improve parking options – Danielsen said the township has considered adding to the 28 angled spots by the marina, with Thorn saying a proposed redesign of the road could see up to 80 new spots created between the marina and the log chute.

“The road is supposed to be two lanes wide – it will be once it’s rebuilt. Right now, with the parking, it’s only a lane-anda-half wide, and obviously worse in the wintertime,” Thorn said.

Policy needed

Following a hearty discussion, council opted to drop the posted limit to 30 km/h from the log chute to the marina, while also calling on Thorn to investigate installing two seasonal speed bumps in front of the marina building.

“While I’m happy to see the driving stats, it’s clear there’s still fear in the community,” Dailloux said.

Danielsen added, “people are doing the speed limit, but maybe it’s not the right speed limit for the area. It’s truly congested compared to a lot of other areas. It’s rather unique.”

Thorn said the speed limit around speed bumps will likely have to drop to 15 km/h, while he confirmed staff will install signs warning drivers about potential pedestrians ahead.

To ensure fairness and consistency, Thorn recommended council develop a policy for changing speed limits.

“We need to have a wholesome conversation about thresholds and what triggers the response to lower a speed limit. Do we do a traffic assessment like this, where we put signs up, pull the data and anything below 75 per cent we can start talking about it? Should that number be 85 per cent? We need some kind of agreement,” he said.