January 11, 2018 Vol. 18, No. 01
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Former Mayors remember the Ice Storm of ’98 by Craig Bakay
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t was 20 years ago today . . . when the skies turned an eerie gray . . . With apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was 20 years ago that Eastern Ontario was hit with a devastating weather phenomenon — the Ice Storm of 1998. Beginning in the evening of Jan. 4, 1998, low pressure, warm air currents from the Gulf of Mexico met high-pressure, cold currents from the Arctic. When the two systems collided, the warm air rose above the cold. Precipitation fell as rain, but as it reached lower altitudes or hit the ground — it froze. And it continued for six days. Coincidentally, January 1998 was significant for another reason. Most of the municipalities in Eastern Ontario had just gone through a restructuring process. Everything was new, the power was out and
all hell was breaking loose. “I had yet to be sworn into office,” said Bill MacDonald, who had been elected Mayor of the newly-created Central Frontenac Township. “I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of tree limbs cracking throughout the sugar bush behind my house. “I had a tough time just getting out of my driveway.” Arriving at the Township office, MacDonald learned communications were sketchy at best. “Not knowing the extent of it all, I told (clerk) Heather Fox and (roads superintendent) Ivan Duffy ‘I think we’ve got something we can’t handle,’” MacDonald said. “I declared a state of emergency.” Further south, in the newly-formed South Frontenac Township, new Mayor Phil Leonard was in a similar boat. For Leonard though, things were even worse because as Warden (actually Chair of the new Frontenac Management Board), he was responsible for the entire County. “When it started, we had the trucks out right away,” Leonard said. “But it just kept coming and coming. “We didn’t have an emergency plan for the Township yet, but Portland Township (Leonard had been Reeve when Portland merged with Loughborough, Bedford and Storrington) was the only one of the four
previous townships that did have one. “I read the first page and immediately declared a state of emergency — which gave me more authority than I wanted.” The Canadian military put a helicopter at Leonard’s disposal. “They picked me up at the Keeley Road offices,” Leonard said. “(CBC reporter) Adrienne Arsenault was already on board.” Their first destination was Camden East to see the western end of the devastation, Leonard said. The second stop was Tichborne, then Plevna, then back to South Frontenac where they landed at the Burridge Firehall. “While we were there, a 911 call came in,” Leonard said. “An elderly gentleman had had a heart attack and they used the helicopter to airlift him to KGH. “He survived but I had to hitch a ride back to Sydenham.” Meanwhile, back in Central Frontenac, things were going from bad to worse. “It seemed like all the roads were impassible,” MacDonald said. “You’d get a road cleared and next thing you’d know, it would be blocked by fallen branches again.” But, Central did have a few things going for it. First of all, like South, one of the former townships (Oso) did have an emergency plan and they wasted no time putting that into action. Second, the Road 38 corridor still had power. “It went from three-phase to two-phase but at least the high school had power and served as a shelter,” MacDonald said. “And we had the Township Hall as a command centre and the gas stations. “That was a Godsend.” And they had another resource to draw on — the people. “I know it’s a bit of a cliché but we do have the pioneer spirit here,” MacDonald said. “I always thank the service clubs, the high school, the fire department — everybody.” By way of example, MacDonald used this anecdote. “Lindsay Burke lived at the end of Burke Settlement Road,” MacDonald said. “He needed medicine so Vern Crawford set off to get it to him. “Vern was only able to drive partway down the road, so he walked the rest of the way to get Lindsay his medicine.” Leonard echoed MacDonald’s sentiments. “Ten minutes after I declared the state of emergency, the OPP came through the door saying ‘whatever you need, just tell us,’” Leonard said. “I can’t say enough good things about those people and especially Dave Willis.”
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Linda Bates and Sue Clinton adding fresh vegetables to the South Frontenac Christmas baskets.
Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Committee by Wilma Kenny orking with a core board of five: Sue Clinton, Bev McNeill, Jim Kelly, Katie Koopman, and Coleen Ure McCulla-Grant (long-time member Peter Stewart’s in England this year) this small group of very well-organized volunteers helps connect those in our community who have plenty with those who need a helping hand, by raising funds and donations to create generous Christmas baskets for seventy South Frontenac families and individuals. Throughout the rest of the year, as the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Committee, they help provide relief to local families in times of distress. The Christmas ‘baskets’ include boxes
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of food, age-appropriate books for children, toys and bright hand-knitted mitts, scarves and toques. “We live in an incredibly generous community,” says Clinton. The last week before packing, shoppers are dispatched and on packing-day a small well-organized auxilary army of volunteers and family members come to help. Grace Hall is crammed with rows of tables and numbered boxes, van-loads of food arrive, are carried in, and somehow the whole huge task of filling the boxes is accomplished in a few hours. Fresh produce is added on the morning of pick-up and delivery. To respect confidentiality, only the core group is present when the boxes are collected or delivered.
Vandewal, Higgins, and Smith are all running again. Hogg, Doyle, are mulling their futures
Municipal election watch by Jeff Green aybe they are gluttons for punishment, or maybe it is the awesome power of the office, or maybe it takes two kicks at the can before fatigue sets in, but all three one term mayors in Frontenac County have decided, barring anything unforeseen, that they will run again when the municipal election rolls around in October. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, announced a year ago, half way though his mandate, that he intended to seek a second term, and he confirmed that decision this week.
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South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal made his decision over Christmas, with a little help from his wife Nancy. “I had been saying I’m 50-50 on it for a while, and then over Christmas Nancy said, ‘why don’t you make up your mind one way or another’ and so I thought about it and I’m ready to stand for a second term,” he said, when contacted early this week. Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said she is also running again. In Frontenac Islands, two time Mayor Dennis Doyle is undecided.
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