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June 26, 2014
Vol. 14, No. 25
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Hope looms large at 2014 Relay for Life
4317 Colebrooke Rd Harrowsmith 613-372-2662
by Julie Druker
I
f one had to pinpoint one singular theme at the 2014 North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life, which took place at the Parham fairgrounds on June 20, it would have to be hope. Relay chair Lesley Merrigan highlighted that idea after the Friday night opening ceremony, saying, “This community really needs to feel a sense of hope at this time; there have been so many close to home cancer diagnoses in this community recently that hope is really what we need now.” It was with hope in mind that Merrigan invited cancer survivor Tammy Horvath to speak at the opening ceremony about her own personal battle with cancer. “I invited Tammy to speak because nobody gives hope like she does”, Merrigan said. Tammy was diagnosed in 2004 at the age of 34 with a stage four uterine sarcoma and doctors gave her just two weeks to live. She was then a young wife and mother of two, and she told the doctors to do “whatever they could”. After undergoing an aggressive new treatment, she much more than beat the odds and now, 10 years later, she is happy to tell her emotional story to others, especially to those who have been recently diagnosed. “Cancer is a roller coaster ride with many highs and lows and you really need a boat load of determination to get through it,” Horvath said in addressing this year’s Relay participants. She spoke of the term “survivorship” saying, “People become survivors the very day they are diagnosed.” She also spoke of how the funds Tammy Horvath raised from Relay are so important. “I would not be here if it were not for the research dollars made possible through the Relay for Life.” Heather Gray, director of the Canadian Cancer Society in Eastern Ontario, also spoke at the opening ceremony, citing how the Relay for Life especially helps rural communities by
Cancer survivors at the 2014 North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life release balloons at the Parham Fairgrounds on June 20 securing funds for transportation services that enable those diagnosed to travel to larger centers for treatment. She spoke about the CCS’s peer support program and their cancer information service, both of which can be accessed by rural residents by phone. She also spoke of the importance of cancer research. “If you happen to be standing beside someone who was diagnosed with cancer, the fact that they are still with us today is because of research. We have gone from a 25% survival rate in the 1940s to a 63% survival rate today and for children, the survival rate is even greater, where youngsters now have an 81% survival rate.” Gray said the goal of Relay is to continue to increase those percentages. Cancer survivor Marcel Giroux also spoke, highlighting how the Parham relay event, which began in 2006, not only helps by providing funds for important research and services but how it also brings the community together. “This event
Randy Hillier comes out of his shell A
nyone who thought Randy Hillier would remain quiet about the fate of his party, and the province, after the recent election saw him returned as an opposition Conservative MPP, would have been mistaken. He stayed loyal to the party message during the campaign, but now that is over, he has become more vocal in his critique of the leader and the party. It all seems to have been kicked off by an Op-Ed piece in the Toronto Star by Geoff Owen of H&K Strategies, a volunteer who rode the bus and planes with Tory leader Tim Hudak during the election campaign. The article, titled “Why I’m proud of Tim Hudak” includes the claim that after losing the election fingers are pointed and accusations are made largely by people who were solidly behind Tim and his plan until the votes were counted”. Describing this comment as “pathetic attempt at spin” on his Facebook page, Hillier went on to say that “not one PC candidate was informed of the 100,000 job cuts until it was announced. How could we be behind something that was purposely kept from us?” He has since given newspaper and radio interviews in which he said that most of the Tory caucus wanted Hudak to leave immediately after a caucus meeting that was held four days after the election, but Hudak did not do so, although he has subsequently succumbed to the pressure and will be leaving when house comes back into session in July. In a telephone interview this week, Randy Hillier told the Frontenac News, “I spent most of the campaign convincing people that Tim Hudak’s name was not on the ballot here; that they were electing a local representative who is going to advocate for their concerns.” This, even though as he said during the campaign and he
represents how we started together in fear and eight years later we have ended in glory,” Giroux said. After the speeches the survivors’ walk began, with close to 50 local cancer survivors lapping the track while troubadour Shawn McCullough’s original tune “Fight”, which was inspired by his father’s battle with cancer, was played. McCullough penned the song especially for the Relay and copies of it were available for sale with all proceeds going to the cause. Emcees Jim MacPherson and Lindsay Fox manned the mikes for the entire event, which included a wealth of musical entertainment and numerous games, contests and activities until the following morning when the sun came up. By the end of the event participants had raised over $45,000 (and still counting) for the cause.
by Jeff Green
repeated this week, Hillier is supportive of most of the thrust of the Conservative campaign, which fits with his own positions on many issues. The promise of 100,000 job cuts was hard for him to explain, however. “The general thrust I absolutely agree with. Do we need to reduce our overhead? Yes, but we should not do it in a vindictive manner but rather in a thoughtful and reasonable way that is not detrimental to families and people in the province,” he said. Now that Mr. Hudak will be resigning, rather than focussing on leadership, Hillier says the party needs to look at the way it operates rather than simply selecting a new leader. He has written a letter to the president of the party, Richard
Ciano and all the riding presidents, asking that they consider making changes in the name of democratizing the way policy decisions are made and allowing for a greater role for local MPPs. In the letter he says that since 2003 when they lost power to the Liberals the party has moved to the left and to the right without success, suggesting that something more fundamental must be attempted. “There are other challenges we face as we rebuild, and one of those will include defining who we are as a party. I believe our brand should be simple and clear, that we as
Continued on page 20
Septic inspections in Central Frontenac by Jeff Green ince February a committee of volunteers, Councilor Jeff Matson, and staff from the septic office of Kingston Frontenac Public Health have been meeting regularly to talk about how to set up a program to inspect all 4,000 or so private septic systems in Central Frontenac over a 10-year period. John Duchene, retired township Chief Administrative Officer and Kennebec Lake resident, presented an interim report from the committee at the council meeting this week (June 24). Duchene said that the committee looked at a number of other jurisdictions who have implemented similar programs, which have become permissible with changed in provincial
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legislation in recent years. Currently the township employs the Mississippi-Rideau septic office to conduct voluntary inspections, and Duchene said, “Really we see this as an extension of that process.” The first step in establishing a program would be an information gathering process, updating information about systems that are over 15 years old. “Public Health has good data for those systems that were installed in the last 15 years, but the data deteriorates for the period before that,” said Duchene, “so finding out what is out there is a big first step.”
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