May 9, 2019 Vol. 19, No. 18
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Fiddlers fill up Maberly Hall with music and pies “K
eep calm and fiddle on” was the motto last Saturday as the Blue Skies Community Fiddle Orchestra held its 8th annual Jam-a-thon & Pie Auction fundraiser at the Maberly Hall. The hall was packed with music and musicians, and yes, the great majority of those were fiddles and fiddlers. And right in the middle of it all was orchestra leader Cindy McCall, complete in her Yes (the band) T-shirt, handing out percussion instruments and providing some semblance of organisation to all this (it’s a jam, after all, how much actual structure can there be?). “I’m having a great time,” she said. “It’s our major fundraiser and we have more bands than ever participating — all ages and styles. “There’s a lot of goodwill here — a lot of people brought food and donated things. “Many people brought tunes they wrote and they gave me the music and charts to hand out.” McCall has been leading the Orchestra for 10 years. “There are 53 people in the orchestra right now,” she said. “We’re in a pretty rural area here and there isn’t a lot of arts and music education in the schools. But the tradition of fiddle music is very strong here.” And that’s important, she said, because passing on those traditions is a big part of what they do. “If we don’t pass this on to our kids, it will die,” she said. “The Orchestra is a vec-
by Craig Bakay
tor for musical education. It’s community based and next year will be our 20th year. It’s touched hundreds of lives.” To that end they’re planning a 20th anniversary concert, likely in the late summer or fall of 2020 which will include some of the musicians who got their start in the orchestra: Javier Mullally, who’s studying opera at the Fountain School of the Arts (Dalhousie University) the Sullivan brothers, Japhy (Concordia fiddle student currently studying traditional music in Cork, Ireland) and Noah (sound technician at the Isabel at the Bader Centre in Kingston and musician) and Tichborne’s own Jessica Wedden, There have been plenty of offshoots of the orchesThere is no definitive word for a number of fiddles although online sources suggest either a 'quora' or tra such as Fiddlers and an 'ensemble'. We prefer to call it a 'festivity of fiddles'. Friends and the current trio, The Space Between to put a fiddle in any hands that want one,” which brought in an average of $40 per (Fern Marwood, Sarah Jeffries, Willow McCall said. “And every fall, we start a pie. Marwood) and others like Jerrard Smith, new beginner’s class. “Thank you to the community for all its who’s still a member but on this day also “This has become more than a full-time support,” McCall said. “We couldn’t do this brought his band mates from DLUX (David job for me.” without them.” Pollard, Diana Smith, Vicki Hanes, Marty One of the most successful fundraising Rennick and Larry Hanes) to jam along. elements on the day was a pie auction, “The lending library gives me the tools
AH tax levy increases by 5.6 per cent by Craig Bakay ddington Highlands Township passed its 2019 budget at its regular meeting in Flinton Tuesday afternoon and the net result is that it will be asking its ratepayers for $2,937,616.22, in taxes an increase of 5.6 per cent over 2018’s 42,781,829.30. Reeve Henry Hogg was quick to point out that the increase in the tax rate was 1.8 per cent. Total expenditures for 2019 are expected to be $6,262,871.91 (as opposed to $5,574,53.37 in 2018). Operating revenues are expected to be $1,451,499.57 ($1,021,850.07 in 2018) and its Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund allocation is up slightly to $2,053,400 from $2,040,300 in 2018. One thing that didn’t get added to this year’s budget is the additional expenses accrued due to spring flooding, said Hogg. “We decided not to amend the budget,” he said. Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed said that if expenses from flooding turn out to be more than $79,000, they’ll submit a disaster assistance application to the province. Another option is to take funds from reserves to pay for flooding. “We’ll have to see if, at the end of the year Brett’s (Road & Waster Management Supervisor Reavie) budget is over that,” she said. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” “If it isn’t flooded out,” said Hogg.
A
Christopher and Danielle Hall lead the cast of Boy Wonder, an original musical from writer-director Jeff Siamon
T
Boy Wonder this weekend at GREC Cafetorium
he North Frontenacs Little Theatre production featuring classic theater tunes from the 1930's with an original storyline, runs from Thursday to Saturday (May 9-11) at 7pm, and on Sunday, May 12 (Mothers Day) at 1pm.
False alarm Some recent fire calls were false alarms, Fire Chief Casey Cuddy told Council in response to a question from Reeve Henry Hogg. “Next one they’ll be getting an invoice,” said Cuddy. “(And) we won’t be waiting around for an hour for a keyholder to show up. “They can provide us with one or we’re going through the door. “There’s something wrong with their system.” “Five trucks sitting there for an hour is some pretty expensive equipment,” said Hogg. Cuddy also said they’re will be changes proposed to the wildfire bylaw to cover things like flying lanterns. Washouts Road and Waste Supervisor’s comment on how busy his crews were with washouts: “There might have been a few guys got to have some time off on Easter Weekend.” That prompted Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch to move for an ad in the newspaper thanking the crews for their efforts above and beyond the call of duty. Palliative Care program Compassionate Care Program Co-ordinator Matt Walker has been making the rounds of local Councils (he was at North Frontenac last Friday) explaining the services his organization offers in the way of palliative care including visits from volunteers, consultation, bereavement
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