May 18, 2017 Vol. 17, No. 19
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Ompah mural unveiling brightens up rainy Saturday
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dedicated crowd defied some rainy weather on Saturday to celebrate concurrent events, the ribbon cutting of a newly constructed rest stop in Ompah and the unveiling of 5 murals painted by North Frontenac artists Fred Fowler, Marlene Leeson, Cathy Owen, Linda Rush and Katie Ohlke. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, flanked by Council and resident members of the township economic development task force, welcomed everyone and presided over a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of a modern, aluminum enclosure that is one of the key elements to the rest stop, which also includes a porta-potty and a gravel parking lot. The lot where the rest stop is located is steeped in recent North Frontenac history as it was purchased by the township several years ago as the preferred location for a new township fire hall/Frontenac County ambulance base. That project went to tender, but the projected price for the fire hall portion was higher than North Frontenac Council were prepared to go. The ambulance base was built at Robertsville, and a set of upgrades were done to the existing Ompah fire hall across the road. The towsnhip did have to invest more into what is now the rest stop lot because of soil contamination from a former gas station on the site. As part of the ceremony, committee member Darwyn Sproule recalled the history of the site, which was originally the location of a primary grade school which burned down, then a store and service station, which also burned. “It’s a good thing the structure we put up
Cathy Owen's mural is a tribute to the township motto - "4 seasons, more reasons". here is made of metal,” Sproule said. The project was completed with support from a number of groups, organisations, and businesses, including; Hydro One, the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation, Francis Manion Construction, and West Palmerston Cottages, the Easter Ontario Trails Association, and the Ottawa Valley ATV Club among others. “Providing a welcome place to stop while driving along one of our scenic roads is part of our econom-
ic development strategy,” said Higgins. “You can see how much community involvement it takes to make things happen.” The second part of the ceremony was certainly more colourful, as the five murals, which were leaning against pickup trucks in the lot, were unveiled one by one by the artists who took up the challenge to create them. Sgt. Sharron Brown, detachment commander of the Frontenac OPP supervised a lottery of sorts, as the location where each of the mu-
rals are being installed was determined by each of the artists pulling the name of a township hall out of a hat. The results were as follows. The Fred Fowler mural is going to Snow Road, Marlene Leeson’s is already installed at the Ompah Hall, Cathy Owen’s will go down the road to the Clar-Mill Hall in Plevna, Linda Rush’s is bound for the Barrie Hall, and the Harlowe Hall will be the home of the Katie Ohlke mural. The murals will be installed on outside walls of the halls for maximum exposure to the viewing public. The project was inspired by Arlene Uens of Mountain Grove who initiated and completed her own mural project, putting hers up on private property throughout Mountain Grove. Uens was on hand at the unveiling and said it is nice to see how North Frontenac Township has supported the local project. With the work all done, the crowd headed over to the hall for a free BBQ courtesy of the fire department, and cake and coffee in the hall.
Fieldwork adds sound installations for 2017 Wild Parsnip in Frontenac County exhibition season
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nlike Lanark and Lennox and Addingotn, there is not a countywide spraying plan to deal with Wild Parsnip along public roadways in Frontenac County. Since there is no county roads department in Frontenac, it is left entirely to the townships to determine what action they would like to take. In South Frontenac, some of the more highly infested areas have been dealt with through targeted use of Roundup, applied directly on the plant. Local beekeepers have been notified before the applications have occurred to enable them to keep their swarms out of harm's way. This year, however, the public works department is going to tender for some more extensive herbicide use, which will cover larger sections or even entire roads if necessary. “I do think the problem is real and needs to be addressed,” said Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth. “We decided to go to tender
and then bring a concrete proposal to Council for debate. That way Council will know exactly what they are being asked to approve and the public will as well.” Segsworth said he has heard the arguments about the dangers of herbicides as they are being applied in neighbouring municipalities, and about wild parsnip being less of a threat to human health as some people claim, but feels it is a real danger to public health. “I’m concerned about what would happen if a dog or a young child ran through a thick patch of it,” he said. Segsworth said he approached the public works departments in North and Central Frontenac about a joint tender to deal with the problem but they both declined. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins posted a tweet last week saying he “opposes the use of herbicides to combat invasive plants.” He referenced the position taken by ecologist Gray Merriam (see page 3)
by Craig Bakay
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or its 10th edition, the Fieldworks installation ‘gallery’ on Old Brooke Road southeast of Maberly decided to explore the world of sound, adding six new interactive installations by artists Jesse Stewart & Matt Edwards, Hilary Martin & Ranjit Bhatnagar, Annette Hegel & Deborah Margo, Matt Rogalsky & Laura Cameron, Doug Van Nort and Nicola Oddy. “We’d like to begin by acknowledging that this is on traditional Algonquin land,” said Susie Osler, one of the original four collective members in her opening remarks. “And we pay homage to one of the four Algonquin elements, the air, with sonic representations.” As such, this year’s edition is entitled Soundwork — An exploration of sound in art. For those unfamiliar with the Fieldworks concept, it’s essentially an ‘art walk’ consisting of various ‘permanent’ installations, augmented with yearly theme shows such as this year’s Soundwork. It was begun 10 years ago by Osler, her brother Chris Osler, Erin Robertson and Chris Grosset and since 2008 it has been funded by the Ontario Arts Council and donations “of any size” by visitors and supporters. They’ve also received support from businesses in the area including Tackaberry Construction, who donated stone for one of this year’s installations. It’s open to the public all year round free of charge.
“It’s important that it’s free and generally accessible so that people can wander around and be surprised,” Osler said. “We’re not looking to grow and grow and grow. “It’s a gift to the public that grew out of the ’70s land art movement . . . only different.” They encourage people to come and have a picnic with their family. “It’s an interesting public space that happens to be on private property,” she said. Osler is particularly pleased to have attracted “artists who are highly regarded in their field” this year and for the unique pieces they’ve designed as “site specific” just for this venue. For example, Hegel and Margo, inspired by the “1,200 kinds of bees in Ontario” created an interactive walk through bumble bee nectar pods while solar powered audio players generate a variety of bee sounds. “It’s based on the flight path of these bees and features local bee sounds,” Hegel said. “It will change through the summer as we collect sounds from bees visiting the installation. And then there’s Singwalk!, a project designed by music therapist Nicola Oddy to express her love of interacting with the environment through her voice. Participants are invited to stroll along a predetermined path stopping at various points
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