October 4, 2012 Vol. 12, No. 39
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Water - gate in Sharbot Lake? F
by Jeff Green
or years, the Gable family, Greg, Barb, and their daughter Katie, have lived within metres of the Sharbot Lake High School property, at the north end of the parking lot. That will all change when a new 3-storey school is built on that former parking lot, putting them in the shadow of the new building. Changes have come already, however. As the excavation crew from Crains’ Construction has been working away digging a hole for the new school’s foundation, there has been noise and vibration washing over and through their house since Labour Day - something they have borne with good humour. “I’m not against the project,” said Greg Gable. “The kids need to go to school somewhere; they need an education.” What Gable does object to, however, is living without running water. After digging down 15 or 20 feet, the crews seemed to have finished excavating about 10 days ago, but then they started digging further, and last week they hit a vein of water, sending water shooting up from the ground. That vein was also the source of the Gable’s well, which is located upstream from the school. “Our pump started sucking air and running continually last Wednesday (September 26],” said Gable. That afternoon Greg went to the Central Frontenac Township office to report what was happening. Township staff told them that the township was not involved in the construction but that they would contact the school board and someone would get back to them. On Thursday no one called, but something else happened. The water stopped running to their house. Completely. Greg Gable called in neighbour Darren Ferguson, and they did some excavating of their own to pinpoint the well, which is a 21-foot deep artesian well located on the school side of their house. They confirmed that the problem with the water supply was
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From butter tarts to the Blues: Steward‘Grandmothers’ bring new mojo to fundraising ship councils cut loose by MNR
by Jeff Green he Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is ending the Ontario Stewardship Program. The program has provided administrative and staffing support to 46 stewardship councils in all rural counties in Southern Ontario for the past 16 years. In a letter to stewardship council chairs that was sent by email on September 27, Assistant Deputy Minister Carrie Hayward delivered the news that the local councils had been fearing ever since details of the 2012 provincial budget came out last spring, which indicated the MNR will be undergoing a transformation plan. “As signalled in the 2012 Ontario Budget, one element of our transformation plan is to refocus our efforts in stewardship and partnership activities,” wrote Carrie Hayward. Hayward then said that a number of other “stakeholders” have sprung up since the stewardship councils were created and they are capable of delivering some of the “resource management activities” that the stewardship councils have also been engaged in. “Instead of focussing much of our assistance through stewardship councils, we will support a wider range of community groups. The result is that the Ontario Stewardship Program, with a stewardship coordinator dedicated to supporting each individual stewardship council’s work, will end.” Hayward went on to say that 14 stewardship co-ordinators have been notified their positions have been “surplussed” and that 25 new “Partnership Specialist” positions, “working at the district level … with a broader range of stakeholders, are being created.” For Gord Rodgers, the chair of the Frontenac Stewardship Council, the news was as much disappointing as it was expected. “I am really disappointed with the MNR,” Rodgers said. “We have been hearing about this for over a year now, and the budget talked about change and consultation, but they did not respond to any of our requests for meetings. A request that a number of council chairs made to meet with the minister did not even get a response from the ministry.” The Frontenac Stewardship Council has sponsored a number of projects in Frontenac County in recent years, including: tree planting programs; rehabilitating the habitat on Big Sandy Bay on Wolfe Island; providing funding for shoreline rehabilitation projects undertaken by rural landowners; developing a water unit for the grade 8 curriculum; producing the 48-page Naturally Rich Frontenacs booklet; providing financial support for lake management planning and fish spawning bed efforts; and working with foresters on woodlot management plans and on efforts to react to the butternut canker and emerald ash borer. The Council has also sponsored well-attended talks on grey wolves, loons, fishers,
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Adele Colby (3rd from left) with band members and other members of the Grandmothers-by-theLake group by Julie Druker on a number of items generously donated est known for their butter tart and spring by individuals and businesses from Verona, plant sales, members of Grandmothers- Tamworth, Sydenham and beyond, and by-the-Lake, the local chapter of the Ste- guests also enjoyed a midnight buffet. phen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Colby, who has been a member of GrandGrandmothers Campaign, recently busted mothers-by-the-Lake since 2007, became a new move on their fundraising front. On more fervent in her fundraising efforts after a September 29 the group along with 100 plus 2010 trip to Africa where she saw first hand supporters shook their booties on the dance the almost insurmountable challenges that floor at the Rivendell Golf Club in Verona to African grandmothers are faced with daily. the sounds of well known blues band Shaun “That trip totally changed me. I left here Riley and the Chrome Hearts. committed and came back a missionary. I The event was a departure from the group’s was totally won over by the courage, the inregular fundraising themes and as their chair tegrity, the love and the dedication of these Adele Colby explained, was a new, creative African women. I could not believe that they, development. “With this event we were trying who have suffered so much and lost so to attract a different crowd. And we lucked much, were prepared to put that aside and out when we found out that Rivendell wanted say, ‘We have a job to do.’ These women are to put on a blues night of their own. This was the heart, the soul and the spirit of Africa and really a match made in heaven,” Colby said, without them there would be little hope.” adding that club manager Jim Lansdell was The Grandmothers to Grandmothers instrumental in helping to make the event a Campaign supports a variety of grassroots reality. programs set up by the African grandmothBlues front man Shaun Riley and his stel- ers and funds raised here are used to prolar band had no trouble getting the crowd vide food, shelter, transportation, clothing, into the groove. In between songs guests bid health care, schooling, housing, skills training, bereavement counseling, HIV aware-See water continued on page 3 ness training and support groups in over 350 programs and community projects that have been set up on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa to help support the over 14 million children orphaned there by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The campaign is unique in that over 90% of the funds raised here go directly to the African grandmothers. Colby said that the work of her group is definitely gaining recognition in the community and that this event has helped to attract those who might want to help but are not sure how to go about it. “Most people really do want to offer help and this event is a way for those who do not normally get out to our other regular events to contribute.” Judging by the success of the event, this grandmothers group is putting their creativity to good use in coming up with new and inventive ways to help support their fellow African grandmothers abroad. Anyone can make a donation by contacting Adele at 613-375-8845 or donating on-line at www. grandmotherscampaign.org Crews continue work on the excavation site for new school, filling and compacting the lowest spots, where the vein was revealed last week.
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