While he now spends much of his workday surrounded by food, Boshkung Brewing owner Mathew Renda remembers what it was like as a kid struggling to get by on an empty stomach.

The Minden entrepreneur launched a new breakfast program at Archie Stouffer Elementary School (ASES) recently, providing a free hot meal for between 50 and 75 young students.

Renda, his wife Deborah Banks and several Boshkung staffers, who volunteered their time, pitched up at the school March 21, serving bacon, scrambled eggs, muffins, yogurt and fruit salad to those most in-need. He said the food was prepped in the kitchen at Boshkung Social.

“What a morning – we were in there for about 8 a.m. and were serving kids until about 9:15. Just seeing the kids be so excited, they all came in and had little breakfast coupons the school has had made. The smiles and joy on their faces, it was awesome,” Renda said.

The program will run weekly, every Friday morning, adding to the ‘healthy snack bin’ program the school currently provides.

ASES principal Mike Gervais said ASES has had other food programs in the past, supported by Food for Kids Haliburton, President’s Choice Power Full Kids, and local donors, though noted this new offering is hitting a specific need.

“This initiative targets students who would benefit most from a healthy meal… the goal is to provide nutritious options that fuel students for the day ahead,” Gervais said. “The school recognized some students could benefit from a proper breakfast, especially those who may be skipping the meal.

“On the first day, the program saw a noticeable increase in attendance from the students it was designed to support,” Gervais added, noting studies show children who regularly eat a balanced breakfast perform better academically, are more alert in class, and exhibit improved problemsolving skills.”

Renda said he regularly used his school’s breakfast program when he was a student in Durham Region. With the cost-of-living crisis impacting many County families, Renda said he felt a calling to give back to the community.

The idea came about after a conversation Renda had with one of his workers at the Social, who has a child enrolled at ASES and felt an enhanced breakfast program would do a lot of good.

“So, we jumped right in – we do a lot with our food banks and other organizations, but nothing that directly helps and impacts students. As someone who has been there – my dad was a shift worker with Toronto Transit, my mom stayed home, so we didn’t have a ton of money. Now that I’m in a position to step up, it’s something I want and need to do,” Renda said.

There are dishes lined up throughout April, with French toast, waffles, and pancakes on the menu.

Renda plans to run the program as long as he’s in business in the County and hopes to expand in future. “If we can progressively build this program so that we’re feeding 100 kids, that would be awesome. I want to feed as many mouths as I can.”

For feeding up to 75 kids, he estimated it will cost around $5,000 to run the rest of this school year and about $11,000 for a full year.

The County of Haliburton is celebrating all things maple this coming weekend. The County of Haliburton has put together the following list.

Colour of Wood

Hosted by: Wendy & Rick Wood

Rick and Wendy started making Maple syrup on their 25 acres of managed forest in 2015 with 90 taps on buckets. They now have almost 1,000 taps on pipeline. It all flows downhill to their sugar house. Just sap, gravity, lots of firewood and the help of Mother Nature. Their syrup is known for its unique label and wonderful taste. They are located at 1255 Peterson Rd. Minden Hills, 249-993-0134, colourofwood@ gmail.com

Wintergreen Maple Products

People are invited to tour the bush on self-guided tours. Phone ahead to book an appointment. 705-286-3202.

Esson Creek Maple

Tours of the sugarbush can be booked all year, and during syrup season will end with a “sugar on snow” experience. The tour includes the forest, the minerals, and the entire syrup-making process

Yours Outdoors Maple Magic

Ready to make maple memories with your loved ones? Then this experience is for you. Maple Magic is geared towards families, kids of all ages and anyone who has a sweet tooth. During this two-hour experience, you’ll hear the ins and outs of maple syrup production, follow the impressive journey from sap to syrup, check out a real sugar shack, and eat a pancake meal.

Dominion Hotel

Special maple entrees and drinks made with local maple syrup will be added to the menu on April 5 and 6. try a maple glazed salmon, sugar maple pulled pork sandwich with maple BBQ sauce, sugar shack poutine with pulled pork and maple BBQ sauce… as well as try a beverage like a maple hot chocolate.

Hook, Line & Sinker

Special maple entrees and drinks, made with local maple syrup will be added to the menu on April 5 and 6. Try the maple dusted wings or the maple mustard salmon bowl… finished off with assorted mini maple cake… and if you’re thirsty, try the maple Bourbon fizz cocktail.

Abbey Gardens

Special maple menu items and treats, made with local maple syrup will be added to the menu on April 5 and 6. Try the ham and Swiss sandwich with a maple mustard sauce… finished off with assorted butter tarts, maple cookies and cupcakes.

With a snap federal election just 32 days away, Jamie Schmale, three-time MP and the Conservative candidate in the re-jigged Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes riding, said his party will prioritize investing in housing, natural resources, and the trades to bolster Canada’s economy.

With Liberal prime minister Mark Carney, on March 23, calling an election for April 28, Schmale said it’s been a whirlwind few days as he prepares to launch his re-election campaign. He was previously elected to office in 2015, 2019, and 2021.

As of press time, he’s the only declared candidate for the riding.

“I think it was a smart move for the Liberals to call an election in such a short period of time… I think Canadians have been wanting an election to help give some certainty dealing with the United States,” Schmale told The Highlander March 25.

Asked about the near $60 billion in tariffs the Liberal government has imposed on the U.S. as a response to president Donald Trump’s threats to impose additional 25 per cent charges on all Canadian imports, Schmale feels Canada is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“We would like to see a normalization of this relationship. I think it’s damaged right now… it probably has been forever damaged,” Schmale said.

He believes the answer is breaking down inter-provincial trade barriers and developing new agreements with other countries, saying the Conservatives would like to revive the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipeline projects to ensure Canadian oil and gas can be sold and shipped to Europe and Asia.

‘Canada is never going to become 51st state’

Schmale said a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would continue to stand up to Trump.

“For me, Canada is never going to become the 51st state. We will fight with everything we have to ensure that does not happen,” he said.

Election promises

With the Conservatives promising to reduce income tax rates for Canada’s lower and middle class, Schmale said the savings would equate to about $1,800 a year for most families.

If elected, he said a motion to reduce the lowest income tax bracket rate from 15 to 12.75 per cent would be tabled “as soon as we can get it out”, likely during 2026 budget deliberations. It will be funded through right-sizing government, he said, with the Conservatives planning a review of staffing levels across all departments.

Schmale added the Conservatives would “axe the [carbon] tax completely,” going one step above Carney, who last week said the Liberals would scrap consumer-facing charges but maintain taxes for industry.

He said housing has to be a priority, with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimating 3.5 million homes need to be built by 2030 to restore affordability and address the current housing gap.

“We still have a housing crisis. We’ve had 10 years now where house prices have gotten out of control for many people… it’s beyond time for action. We have talked about selling off federal buildings to turn into affordable housing, about incentivizing municipalities to accelerate building permits, about removing the sales tax on the construction of new homes.

“Another side of this is looking at increasing our labour pool. We have a severe shortage in the skilled trades, so we need to put some focus there, on training more workers,” Schmale said.

Last week, Poilievre announced plans to offer apprenticeship grants up to $4,000, fund training halls for skills development for up to 350,000 workers over five years, and work with provinces to harmonize health and safety regulations to allow tradespeople to work anywhere in Canada.

Asked if he would support a trades school coming to Haliburton County, something Dysart mayor Murray Fearrey and others have long advocated for, Schmale said, “if there is demand to expand to Haliburton, absolutely, I would support that.”

In 2021, Schmale secured 52 per cent of the riding’s vote, ahead of Judi Forbes (Liberal, 23 per cent), Zac Miller (NDP, 14 per cent), Alison Davidson (People’s Party, seven per cent), Angel Godsoe (Greens, 2.5 per cent), and Gene Balfour (Libertarian, 0.68 per cent).

The Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes Liberal Association, NDP Canada, and Green Party of Canada did not respond to questions as of press time.

Saying “it’s the voices of your community,” consultant Andy Mitchell, of Arising Collective, delivered a community engagement report to Minden Hills council at its March 13 meeting.

The document will form part of the municipality’s strategic plan that is currently underway, CAO Cynthia Fletcher said.

Commenting on a process that saw more than 700 people take part, “was a pretty significant response rate, speaking to the passion of the community for the community,” Mitchell said. “This engagement was successful because the people of the community were willing to engage.”

Summarizing key observations, Mitchell said they were told people are the foundation of the community. “It came out in our conversations, people are generous, caring, come together in crisis, and are willing to help each other out. People feel passionate about Minden Hills, its history, their connection to the community, and values of the community.”

As the township considers its strategic plan, it must keep those things front and centre, Mitchell said.

He added Arising Collective was told protecting the rural nature of Minden Hills in the face of growth is important. “People live here because it is a rural community, the lifestyle, set of values. People recognize there will be growth and changes, but don’t alter the fundamental reality of what community is,” he advised council.

The public also spoke to getting over the fear of change and embracing the future. Mitchell said with post-COVID weariness, “there is a tendency to stay with what you know, as opposed to taking a chance on what you don’t know.” He said the public was clear in saying, “we just need to get on with it.”

Mindenites also spoke to the need to revitalize the downtown, to launch a spirit of renewal in the community; and further that, “council needs to both govern and lead the community.”

He said ratepayers recognize the township cannot afford to do everything and must prioritize two-to-three things and just start.

In discussing opportunities, Mitchell said four key themes emerged: strengthening the small business, tourism, and local food sectors as a means of creating additional wealth and jobs; return to some things done well in the past; pursuing innovative approaches to community and broader challenges, such as multigenerational housing; and reinvigorating the downtown.

As to where the community wants to go, the consultants summarized what they heard from people.

“Minden Hills wants to build on its natural and built assets as it renews itself in an inclusive and comprehensive manner. Building on the diversity of its residents’ talents and through an invigoration of volunteerism, leveraging of social networks, and with the leadership of council, it intends to establish community priorities that address all segments of the community, while contributing to an increased standard of living and a better quality of life. The journey may be long, and it may be challenging, but it needs to begin now.”

Coun. Pam Sayne, who sits on the board of ROMA, said some of the challenges residents spoke to them about are shared across regional and rural Ontario.

“Housing, healthcare, internet, transportation, cost of living, food prices.” She said she “appreciated we have a creative community here to solve those problems. We need to make sure we are interacting in a way that allows creativity to come forward.”

Mayor Bob Carter said doing the community engagement as part of a strategic plan is leading the community.

Fletcher said staff will present a report to council in April recommending the next steps and processes for completing the work to develop a strategic community priority plan.