The Lindsay Advocate - April 2023

68 Lindsay Street North: One year later, are things any better?

Empty pews: How linking to the community may save the church from decline

Simon Ward's trek for Star Wars memorabilia

Kawartha Lakes’ Premier News Magazine * April 2023

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The Advocate is published monthly & distributed through diverse businesses & locations throughout Kawartha Lakes, North Durham & southern Haliburton County.

We are a proud member of the Lindsay & District, Fenelon Falls & Bobcaygeon Chambers of Commerce.

our vision

April 2023 * Vol. 6 * Issue 59

The Advocate cares about the social wellness of our community & our country.

Our vision includes strong public enterprises mixed with healthy small businesses to serve our communities’ needs. We put human values ahead of economic values & many of our stories reflect the society we work to build each day.

Publisher: Roderick Benns Editor-at-Large/Business Development Rebekah McCracken Contributing Editor: Trevor Hutchinson Contributing Writers: Kirk Winter Ian McKechnie Geoff Coleman Ginny Colling Trevor Hutchinson Roderick Benns Art Direction + Design: Barton Creative Co. Christina Dedes Photographers: Sienna Frost Web Developer: Kimberly Durrant Published By Fireside Publishing House Printed By Cofax Printing

Cover Image: Rev. Linda Park of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Lindsay.

Photo: Sienna Frost.

Please send advertising & editorial inquiries to Roderick Benns at: The Lindsay Advocate 1 Russel Street E. Lindsay ON, K9V 1Z7 PRIVACY POLICY: The Lindsay Advocate is independently owned & operated. The opinions expressed herein are the views of the contributors & do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine.

Photos, text & art work contained in The Lindsay Advocate are copyrighted & may not be published, broadcast or rewritten without the express permission of the Publisher. Liability for incorrectly displayed advertising is limited to publishing corrections or advertising credit for subsequent issues. The Publisher reserves the right to reject, revise, cancel, omit, discontinue or even decline to print advertising without reason or liability, & without notice. The Publisher has made every effort to ensure information contained herein was accurate at press time. The Publisher does not assume & hereby disclaims any liability to any party for damage, loss, or disruption caused by errors or omissions.

12 feature

18 cover

28 feature

Finding silver linings at 68 Lindsay St. N.

Growing individualism is part of the challenge to churches across the city and Canada.

Simon Ward used The Force (or at least force of will) to make his Star Wars collection a reality.

every issue Letters to the Editor 4 * UpFront 6 * Benns’ Belief 9 Cool Tips for a Hot Planet 41 * Just in Time 42 The Affordable Kitchen 44 * Trevor’s Take 46 To advertise in the Advocate please contact us by telephone at (705) 341-1496 or by email at kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com

“Like locks of hair, letters encapsulate some essential element of the personality of whoever holds the pen.”

- Charlotte Gray

Order of Canada recipients story idea Congratulations on the Advocate. The writing and whole production is well done. The late Roy Thompson was just being nasty when he said that writing was what came between the ads.

A suggestion – why not do a series on area members of the Order of Canada?

– Michael Barnes, Bobcaygeon

Physically challenged need access to downtown, too In the last few issues where I have read the letters to the editor, the subject of downtown parking has come up. While I agree these are innovative ideas, there is one element being ignored and that is the handicapped. I for one would not be physically able to walk the distance being suggested in order to explore Lindsay’s heritage area. Personally, I go downtown to shop on a regular basis but I park in front of the store where I want to shop in order to do so. If there is no parking space available, then I go back another day. Lindsay is trying it’s best to accommodate everyone and it is an impossible task but perhaps in the city’s next phase of improvement some of these issues could be taken into consideration.

– Dolores Rodnick, Lindsay

More parking needed to encourage downtown traffic, says reader Once upon a time Lindsay was proud of being noted as the town with the widest street in Ontario. People from many of the nearby villages and farms were happy to come downtown to the wonderful stores to shop. Now it seems many of those people only came to the outskirts and the western end of town.

Why would they come downtown when so much of the parking has been lost? Unless you live within walking distance it’s pointless. To many of us Lindsay has not made use of it being built along the river. Why is there not a marina for gas and a restaurant with patios for people to enjoy? Why are there not more picnic tables at the parks on the river for families to enjoy?

– Eileen Cockburn, Lindsay

Underlying reasons for doctor shortages must be addressed The solution to the family doctor crisis in Kawartha Lakes referred to in the February Advocate (Doctoring a solution) lies not so much in determining how Kawartha Lakes can attract more doctors, but in how to address the underlying shortage of family doctors in the country.

The reason for the family doctor shortage is complicated and not easy to solve locally. More family practice graduates

are opting to work in a focused practice in such fields as hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine, general practice dermatology and walk-in clinics and not in the typical office-based family practice.

Most of these focused practices are very necessary but the number of doctors working in those fields reduces substantially the number of family doctors available to do typical office-based family medicine. The reasons for this shift are varied but the big ones are the burden of paperwork which affects family doctors more than others and is a big contributor to burn-out, the long-term commitment that a family doctor must make to his or her patients and the overhead that office-based family doctors must bear.

The first two reasons are the most important.

All the solutions suggested in the article, although laudable, will make little difference if the underlying reasons for the shortage are not addressed. In truth, they are beyond the capacity of local authorities to solve. It is more in the purview of legislative and regulatory bodies to help address this problem. Increasing medical school enrollment to increase the pool of graduates would help as would better compensating family doctors for the paperwork burden. Also introducing rules to decrease or limit the number of forms and paperwork thrust onto family doctors might make such a practice more attractive.

– Peter Petrosoniak, Lindsay

The Advocate welcomes your letters. We do not publish anonymous letters unless it’s a matter of public importance and/or someone risks harm by writing us. We publish under strict guidelines & only if we can verify the person’s identity. Simply email kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com.

Keep your letters to 200 words or less.

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Strategies for getting more doctors Re: Your article (Doctoring a Solution, February Advocate.)

Attracting family physicians to open a practice in Kawartha Lakes can be a complex process, but there are some strategies that city governments can use to make our area more appealing to physicians.

Build strong partnerships: City governments can build partnerships with local colleges, medical schools and residency programs to create a pipeline of new physicians, nurse practitioners, and paramedics who are familiar with the area and may be more likely to open a practice here.

Improve quality of life: City governments can work to improve the quality of life in Kawartha Lakes by investing in things like parks, community centres, and of course public transportation. By creating a more livable city, they can attract physicians who are looking for a great place to raise a family.

Provide support services: City governments can offer support services to help physicians navigate the process of setting up a new practice, such as help with licensing, permitting, and zoning.

Promote the area: City governments can actively promote the benefits of Kawartha Lakes to physicians, through marketing campaigns, online presence, and by hosting events that bring together healthcare professionals and community leaders.

Offer incentives: While city governments can’t offer direct financial incentives, such as tax breaks or subsidies to physicians to open a practice, they can do so indirectly, as the CAO mentioned, by supporting community organizations and lobbying the provincial government for help.

Overall, attracting family physicians requires a comprehensive approach that involves a variety of stakeholders, including city government, healthcare providers, and community organizations.

– Frank Morris

Lindsay resident thanks healthcare professionals for help

Global hunger should matter to us, too, says reader We have all felt here in our own community the supply chain issues caused by the global pandemic, and more recently by the conflict in Ukraine. We live where there are organic beef farms, rich cabbage and grain fields but many of our citizens feel the pinch.

However, let's not forget our wider world community.

COVID and the war in Ukraine has show us how interconnected we are. The global hunger crisis is directly related to poverty and inequality, climate change, armed conflicts, and food system failures. Economic impacts stemming from the global pandemic and, more recently, the conflict in Ukraine, as well as supply chain disruptions, have added even more pressure and created political instability.

I sincerely hope that Canada will once again demonstrate international leadership by providing an ambitious investment in the new federal budget to help turn the tide on this humanitarian crisis and keep its promise to increase aid to the world's poorest countries every year. We should put pressure on the federal government so that in the upcoming budget they will address the issue of global hunger.

– Dana Bachman, Fenelon Falls

Coboconk Advocate fan I faithfully pick up your magazine from the Coboconk Foodland, and from the very first time I flipped through one, I was hooked! I love the stories you publish showcasing local businesses, the human interest stories and opinion pieces that are very thought provoking.

Everything from the glossy pages (who likes newsprint style where you have to wash the ink off after reading?) to the content, I love everything about your magazine and wish you continued success in the future. I very much look forward to continuing to read it on my deck, overlooking the lake in the summer, and from the inside looking out during the winter months. Happy 5th birthday and here’s to you celebrating many, many more!

– Darlene Brant, Coboconk

After waiting in the cold outside at the Lindsay walkin clinic I fainted and cut my head. Doctors and nurses, paramedics and police all helped and I was taken to Ross Memorial Hospital where the paramedics stayed with me until I saw a doctor. All the help was wonderful, including the x-rays and scans I received. I thought how fortunate we are, living in Kawartha Lakes, with all this good help and I wanted to say thank you.

– Robina Duncan, Lindsay

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Therapeutic horse-riding organization needs volunteers

Omemee Swans continue to soar in support of their village

This relatively new group has been working hard for Omemee and area.

THRIL is actively looking for volunteers.

THRIL -- Therapeutic Horse Riding in Lindsay – is preparing for its ninth year of providing adaptive horse-riding sessions for people with special needs – but they need help.

The volunteer-based program helps people have a positive experience on horseback, including “moving their bodies, encouraging their minds and growing self-esteem,” according to a media release from the organization. However, more volunteers are needed.

“THRIL’s goal is to make space for as many children, youth and adults with special needs as possible, however we are very much in need of volunteers to assist with the program,” the release states.

For over two years, the Omemee Swans have been making a difference in the life of their community – as per their motto, “volunteering for better communities.”

Beginning with four members in 2021, the organization has grown to 17 members spread across Omemee, Downeyville, and East Emily Township. According to current President Jill Cockerell, the organization emerged after the Lions Club International announced that local Lioness Clubs would be disbanded worldwide. To carry on the good work begun through the Lionesses, communities across Ontario formed the Swans – a name derived from Service: We Assist, Nurture, Support.

Volunteers are needed to “sidewalk” (walk beside the horse that has a rider), and help groom and prepare the horses and ponies. Volunteer training is happening now and forms can be found on thril.ca or by emailing info@thril.ca.

The Omemee club has busied themselves with a number of fundraising events, ranging from craft shows and banquets. They ensured that Omemee’s Beach Park had a new bench, and that the Omemee Legion had a defibrillator.

They have coordinated a harvest supper at Trinity United Church, and in 2022 they served 400 ice cream cups and five gallons of iced coffee to Canada Day revellers in Omemee.

The non-profit is also hosting an inaugural golf tournament to be held June 28 at the Lindsay Golf Club, with details on its website.

“We’re very community-oriented; doing things for the community that bring people to create and encourage better communities,” says Cockerell.

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On the Go Acu now offering massages, with plans for qigong in works

Lori Mitchell demonstrates a Qigong movement, something she hopes to be teaching this spring. Photo: Sienna Frost.

Now in its new location at 223 Kent St. W., Lindsay, On The Go Acu is also adding several new services to help you feel better.

Lori Mitchell, owner and acupuncturist, says her clinic is now offering registered massage therapy and herbal foot soaks “for those who are not crazy about needles,” she says, in reference to acupuncture.

This spring the clinic is adding a detox foot soak “and we are hoping to add qigong classes once the weather is nicer.”

Qigong is great for those looking to combine exercises, breathing work and meditation, says Mitchell. “It helps restore and repair the body. I have often recommended it to clients but will now be teaching it.”

Visit onthegoacu.com or call 705-341-8830.

Country Living Show returns to Fenelon Falls this month

Admission is free, thanks to area sponsors.

The Fenelon Falls Country Living Show will be held at the Fenelon Falls Arena & Community Centre from April 21-23. With over 100 booths, this show is a must-see for anyone looking to enhance their farm, home, cottage or garden, according to organizers.

Booths will be set up with local businesses showcasing their unique products and services, and local artisans and service providers will also be on hand.

This year, the Country Living Show will also host workshops, family fun activities and giveaways, say organizers. Admission is free thanks to area sponsors.

Located at 27 Veterans Way, Fenelon Falls, the show is the perfect opportunity to start planning your next renovation, add some charm to your home, or improve the health of your garden.

Visit countrylivingshow.ca or their social media pages for all the latest updates and news.

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Smoked and Cured

Our turn to grow

By Roderick Benns Publisher

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When I was a child growing up in Lindsay, the smallest number I recall seeing on our town’s population sign was 12,000. And I’m just a 35-year-old — can you imagine what low population numbers older people may remember? (Okay, one of the sentences above just isn’t true…the population sign actually read 12,500.)

Now, Lindsay hovers around the 21,000 mark and Kawartha Lakes as a whole is about 76,000. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, it’s clearly evident this city is growing.

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In Lindsay, where I live, massive subdivisions now ring the town, with much of their growth sustained by a steady stream of people from the Greater Toronto Area.

Some are buying here and commuting south, but many are staying, thanks to hybrid working options.

It’s obvious there is more diversity across Kawartha Lakes.

In the way the province defines things, we are in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and we are expected to grow — a lot.

An Ontario planning document (which compels our city to make official plans and bylaws around those targets) is something contributing editor Trevor Hutchinson analyzed in a feature article for the Advocate in 2019. It calls for a 32 per cent increase in our population in just 22 years, with more growth predicted after that. More than 11,000 new residents in Lindsay

by 2031; over 1,700 new residents for Bobcaygeon; over 1,300 for Fenelon, almost 800 for Omemee; and 360 for Woodville.

It’s not like we have a choice. We’re too close to the GTA to attempt to stall the growth, even if we wanted to do so. An obvious upside for us is a larger tax base with the ability to then fund more amenities which most of us want. Better or new parks. Improved libraries. Fixed roads. More culture.

So many new people will certainly change the make-up of our city and we will most certainly have growing pains. We cannot be Pollyanna in the belief that all growth will be good; it will only be as good as the planning and care we take as a municipality. It is imperative that we set ourselves up for success in several ways, including preserving the character of our downtowns, increasing our healthcare capacity and creating more housing density with vertical dwellings where we have been only used to seeing residential homes.

The Advocate is publishing Kawartha Lakes Relocation Guide in the month of April, with some of the distribution for this magazine in the GTA’s Durham Region. We’re doing our part to entice people to move here, providing a snapshot and manual for what Kawartha Lakes offers.

I'm looking forward to responsible, well-managed growth that will see our city thrive.

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Recasting 68 Lindsay Street North As one of our feature stories this month attests, the oft-maligned 68 Lindsay Street North supportive housing unit has been undergoing a positive transformation.

Granted, it may feel like it’s in slow motion, especially for the building’s adjacent neighbourhoods.

For nearly a year this supportive housing unit has undergone many changes, all of which were desperately needed.

Since its inception in 2019 it was plagued by ineffective policy, lack of funding, not enough support for its residents, and a lack of political will on the part of politicians to even acknowledge the challenges.

When the municipality and province finally got together to figure out how things could change, by then any good will the public had toward the supportive housing unit when it was first built had vanished under a steady wave of drug abuse, vandalism and other crimes.

Today, there are clear reasons to believe the changes are at least helping. Fewer police and paramedic calls. Better security. More mandatory buy-in from residents who must take part in transition programs to get better. An easier time evicting tenants who are not complying with the rules.

Yes, crimes are still happening and yes, 68 Lindsay Street North is often a part of the equation. But not always. And yet when it is not a factor in a crime, the public perception seems hellbent on tying this supportive housing unit to every negative thing that happens in our community.

We would like to point out that the residents who live in this building would still exist, with or without the four walls and the warm room they can now call home. And if they do not live there, then they will live somewhere else.

Perhaps couch surfing. Perhaps in a nearby park or in a building’s foyer for as long as they can get away with.

It is incumbent upon as a society – as a moral imperative, if for no other reason – to address their needs as best we can so we can move forward together.

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Women in glamour or women in business?

Hello, I enjoyed reading about the many women who run businesses in the Kawartha Lakes, as well as those in non-traditional roles (March Advocate.) However, I am puzzled by the photo on your front cover as I feel it depicts women in a glamorous manner and seems to contradict the content in your magazine. I am interested in hearing your thinking about choosing that cover.

– Cynthia Sneath, Fenelon Falls

The most important element of a cover is visual impact. We agree with you, though, that any cover image must speak to the content inside. For us, the image of the woman on the cover conjured feelings of strength, artistry, audacity, and independence, more so than glamour. We believed this represented the many courageous women in our city. We also wanted to choose a Black woman this year as we thought that it echoed the International Women’s Day theme, Embrace Equity.

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– The Advocate

The empty pew and the radicalism of faith

By Brian J. Walsh, a farmer and theologian living at Russet House Farm in Cameron.

He is the co-author of Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement.

“I remember when this church was full, and we had 100 children in the Sunday School!” The statement could be offered with a sense of nostalgic sadness, but often it is delivered with both a self-justifying pride and a combative rebuke of the present leadership of the church. Those were the good old days, so why can’t it be like that today?

Usually, the context is a congregational meeting considering some kind of change, or innovation, and the implied point seems to be, “This is the way we’ve done things around here for as long as any of us can remember, and it once filled the place.”

Of course, that was then and this is now. And Ian McKechnie’s feature in this edition of the Advocate outlines the kind of cultural and demographic changes that have contributed to the emptying of the churches.

But I have another question. What happened to those 100 children? And what happened to their parents? If they all went to church, why did they leave? Why wasn’t the experience of church compelling enough to become a lifelong commitment?

If the churches want to understand why they are in decline, they need to look within. Indeed, they need to look at the kind of spirituality and practices that characterized those churches back in the heyday of full pews. As McKechnie reports, individualism is part of the problem, because the solitary individual has little need for community. But that individualism wasn’t imposed on the church from the culture at large. Rather, the piety of the church has predominantly been all about “me and my personal relationship with Jesus.”

It is a religious practice, and a Sunday School teaching that seldom went beyond the need to be nice so you can go to heaven when you die. This was a self-centred devotion that was so heavenly minded it was of no earthly use.

I became a Christian through a gritty, inner-city ministry in 1969. I met Jesus reading the Bible in the company of drug addicts, winos, angry and disaffected youth, and folks who lined up at the soup kitchen. Having thrown in my lot with Jesus, I went to church and immediately found myself in a spiritual crisis. I couldn’t for the life of me see how the faith I saw being practiced in downtown Toronto had anything to do with the formality, niceness and social conformity that I met at church.

Forgive me if I am preaching here, but there is a messiness, an engagement with pain, a profound authenticity, a throwing-over-the-tables radicalism and a wide-open hospitality about Jesus that the churches of Christendom have never been comfortable with.

The “cultural Christianity” of those churches is dying.

And that death — that abandonment of the church by those hundreds of kids in Sunday School back in the day — has everything to do with a faith that was too comfortable, too safe, too accommodated and too stuck in its rigid traditions.

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Homelessness is not always a choice Almost one year ago, the reset button was pressed at 68 Lindsay Street North in Lindsay.

Have things changed for the better?

By Kirk Winter

The city and local police force believe things are improving at 68 Lindsay Street North (LSN) after a slew of policy changes were made in the past year. But some people who live in nearby neighbourhoods aren’t so sure it’s working well enough for them to feel safe and secure.

A complete reset on how the programming for high-risk addicts is being delivered at the supportive housing unit was made about 11 months ago, including mandatory participation in transitional support services. It was supposed to be a change for the better – and numbers from both emergency and police visits seem to support that assertion.

In 2021, there were 106 paramedic calls to the property. That went down to 48 calls in 2022. And the head of Kawartha Lakes Police Service, Chief Mark Mitchell, says calls to 68 LSN have dropped from 716 police visits in 2021 to 529 visits in 2022, a 26 per cent reduction which he called a “positive step” thanks to the reset program adopted by the housing unit.

But exactly what steps have been taken in the past year, and just how did the community get here in the first place?

That’s the kind of background information City Housing manager, Michelle Corley wants people to understand, so they can see the evolution of the property.

The building is managed by Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation (KLHHC) and Corley points out the city is responsible to the province for preventing, addressing and reducing homelessness, including chronic homelessness.

Initially, the 24-unit residential wing of the building was occupied in 2019 as the city’s first purpose-built supportive housing building.

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“It was funded to serve those experiencing homelessness with the most complex needs, many of whom are at high risk of death without the right interventions.”

Corley said that since its opening, 68 LSN has faced many challenges. Those problems included receiving less grant money than was expected, which impacted the kind of help that would be available at the building.

Calls to 68 LSN have dropped from 716 police visits in 2021 to 529 visits in 2022, a 26 percent reduction.

“This meant that on-site intensive case management services could not be provided 24/7 as originally planned,” Corley says. “The supports also did not include (expected) dedicated clinical level mental health and addictions treatment.”

Director of Human Services Cheryl Faber says the pandemic was also a large negative factor in the launch of 68 LSN. “During the pandemic, gaps in primary health care and mental health and addiction treatment widened,” Faber said. “Access to services became much harder for those with complex needs.”

She says social isolation, withdrawal of services, high levels of stress, lack of daily activity and (availability of) CERB payments worsened the opioid catastrophe.

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“Ongoing outcomes of the pandemic included worsening addictions, drug-related criminal activity, poisoned drug supplies and drug overdoses.”

Faber made it clear that before legislation was changed in 2022, the city did not have the ability or legal right to control the behaviours of tenants. The provincial ban on evictions during the pandemic also slowed the city in removing tenants who were behaving in a negative manner, Faber said.

Tenants and their guests Neighbours of the property who have dealt with years of petty vandalism, theft, drug dealing and random acts of violence say their quality of life has been impacted in a negative way because of many of the challenges highlighted by Faber and Corley.

Bill, who wouldn’t share his full name for fear of retribution, works in the building trades. His family has been living in the east ward since 1946.

He says the tone of the entire neighbourhood has been changed by the building, its tenants, and the people who visit them.

“Nothing seems to happen until after the city staff (in the adjoining building) go home about 5 pm,” Bill says, and that’s when the trouble begins. It’s been like this since the beginning, he says.

“Under the RTA, if a tenant invites someone in, regardless of the circumstances, that person could not be refused entry.”

For neighbours of 68 LSN, the opening of the unit in 2019 immediately and negatively impacted their tightknit community beyond what any could have imagined -- and still does today, say neighbourhood residents.

Like Bill, Daniella -- who was also not comfortable sharing her real name for fear of retribution -- moved to the east ward in 2005 after growing up in Durham Region.

“I used to love walking through Rivera Park at almost any time of day or night,” Daniella says, referring to the city park near 68 LSN. “It is now worth your life to go through there much after dusk. There are needles everywhere. The folks from LSN are there to sell their stuff and buy drugs away from the lights, cameras and security officials at 68.”

“Unless something disappears that is really expensive, we don’t call or report it anymore.

The cops are sympathetic, but short of something we are going to claim, we don’t call . . . police anymore.”

“Overnight (after the building opened) cars started being broken into . . . change, tools, portable GPSs . . . everything was fair game. Then when they had rifled all the cars within staggering distance, they were into backyards taking bikes, power tools.”

While he says he knows the people who lived at 68 LSN “need real help,” it’s still difficult to be living in the same neighbourhood. “Unless something disappears that is really expensive, we don’t call or report it anymore. The cops are sympathetic, but short of something we are going to claim, we don’t call…police anymore.”

Corley told the Advocate that the city is aware that many of the problems both inside and outside of 68 LSN are caused by guests of tenants, who are not always invited, but that their dealings with these guests are limited by the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).

“We are aware that guests (create) significant difficulties in KLH communities,” Corley said. Other than calling the police, if warranted, the only remedy if a tenant’s guest causes issues is to start the eviction process against the tenant, she says.

St. John Street at St. Paul Street in Lindsay's east ward.

Photo: Sienna Frost

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Director of Human Services Cheryl Faber speaks with Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Mark Mitchell in front of the supportive housing unit.

Photo: Sienna Frost.

She points out that not everyone has a backyard to which they can escape, making public space that much more important. “Rivera is my happy place, or at least it used to be.

I have talked to the city and the cops…they say they will do a better job cleaning up. I have talked to officers about having a presence in the park so (other) people can enjoy the park again. They shrug their shoulders and say those decisions are beyond their pay grade.”

The police chief says there’s no doubt how challenging the supportive housing unit is for police. “I think it is fair to say that no building in town keeps the KLPS busier than 68 LSN,” Mitchell said in a face-to-face interview.

Corley strongly believes that 68 LSN has become a victim of “considerable misinformation and inaccurate rumours, particularly on social media.”

But he points out that many of the times when neighbours see a police presence there, “we are actually involved in community engagement.”

“We do walkthroughs of the building and our community outreach team is often there touching base with residents, offering services and inquiring about how their treatment is going.”

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Mitchell believes that far too much criminal activity is blamed on the residents of 68 LSN, a point reinforced by both Corley and Faber.

Corley strongly believes that 68 LSN has become a victim of “considerable misinformation and inaccurate rumours, particularly on social media.”

“Incidents taking place at 68 LSN are more likely to garner public attention than similar incidents taking place elsewhere in the community,” Faber said. “Some incidents have been mistakenly attributed to 68 LSN and details have been inaccurate and overblown.”

Unfortunately, she says, for the sake of privacy of the KLH tenants and their situations, KLHHC and the city cannot respond to correct misinformation or rumours that may be stated on social media.

What did the reset look like?

In May of 2022, KLHHC adopted what they called a reset program for 68 LSN. “This is a significantly different service model for existing tenants and new residents,” Corley says.

The reset program focused on better security, changing who might be eligible for an apartment at 68 LSN and worked to connect residents with more community supports.

Importantly, the city received permission from the province to implement a new transition-in-place program that,

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as of the fall of 2022, means the new residents’ housing is tied to their mandatory participation in the transition programs that will help them stabilize. This includes a compliance component where they must adhere to rules during the process.

Another aspect of the reset was eviction of some tenants, says Faber.

“A number of tenants were evicted whose behaviour negatively impacted others, who declined services and supports, or who needed services that were not available,” Faber says.

“Units were held vacant as the program changes were being implemented and are now being gradually filled with reset program participants.”

The councillor says many in the community “want the opportunity to help.”

“I believe that there are many in the immediate community who want to be involved in improving the situation and participating in something positive.”

Something positive is the end goal, although Mitchell is not wearing rose-coloured glasses. He says that social media assertations about guns and gangs at the facility are factually correct, if occasionally overblown.

Corley says that the actions brought about by the changes, “have significantly improved the community of 68 LSN over the last year. It is a more peaceful, positive community.

There are fewer police and paramedic calls to the property and fewer complaints have been received from neighbours.

Mitchell was involved in the reset program from the outset and has been fully supportive of its aims.

“We believe it will provide the housing service with a higher level of control,” Mitchell says, and that the changes “will have an overall positive public effect.”

Not all neighbours are convinced.

Photo: Sienna Frost.

Matt, who feared retaliation without being granted anonymity by the Advocate, is a Fleming student.

“I rent a room off Queen Street, and I pass 68 LSN every day, sometimes twice,” Matt said. “That place is so different once it gets dark and the junkies and their buddies come out. The police seem to be there every night.”

“I grew up in Elmira,” Matt said, “and I haven’t seen anything like what goes on around that building when it gets dark.”

The problems associated with the building were certainly heard by Councillor Eric Smeaton when he was running for his municipal position last fall.

“There is no doubt that the most frequent conversation we had during the campaign in the east ward (around 68 LSN) included an appreciation of mental health issues,” Smeaton said. While the issue of roads was important to voters, he said, it didn’t have anywhere near the “passion” people had for the growing concerns about the increase in opioid abuse, homelessness, poverty “and all associated needs to support our (city) department(s) to ensure a feeling of community security.”

When asked specifically what he heard at the front door Smeaton said the quick answer is that most “were very upset, frustrated and very vocal. Many felt threatened safety-wise in their neighbourhood. Everyone had something to say…so…this was an important issue.”

“We had a shooting there in January 2022. We responded immediately and arrested a guest of one of the residents.

There has not been a shooting since,” he says.

The police chief acknowledges there “has been gang activity in and around the building and we have seized firearms there, but to be fair we have seen an increase of guns in general since 2021, so it is not just 68 LSN.” Mitchell said he “does not want to absolve the residents for the decisions they make because substance abuse is not an excuse for bad behaviour.”

But Faber says people have gone “from being homeless to stably housed, with better lives, because of the housing services of 68 LSN.” “A recent survey of tenants shared that there are activities available on site and the staff are very approachable,” she adds. Corley says that residents of the building are bothered by the public perception around being homeless.

Residents told staff as part of a recent survey, that the public should “make sure to get to know people, know their stories, and know their backgrounds” before passing judgement, and for those who are lucky enough to have a place to live that “homelessness is not always a choice, just because I am homeless, I am not a terrible person.” LA 15

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The uncomfortable pew Declining Church attendance in Kawartha Lakes

By Ian McKechnie

In 1937, the Rev. J. Cunningham Grier gathered on the front steps of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lindsay with members of the church’s Bible class for a group photo.

Save for leaders like Grier himself, most of the 100 or so faces smiling for the camera range in age from their late teens through their twenties and thirties. This cohort represented almost 20 per cent of the congregation’s 520-strong membership in 1937 – impressive, but nothing compared to 1962, when the church’s membership had swelled to 634 and its Sunday School was seeing an average of 150 children every week.

In towns like Lindsay, buildings originally designed to accommodate 600 or more people look sparse on Sunday mornings, and rural churches are now closing their doors on an annual basis. Recently, Kawartha Lakes has seen the closure of Christ Church Anglican in Omemee (2021) and Knox Presbyterian Church in Glenarm (2022), with Peniel United Church scheduled to shutter its doors for good in 2023.

Today, in 2023, the average number of Millennials and members of Gen Zed attending St. Andrew’s on a weekly basis is less than 20, while attendance overall hovers at anywhere from 50-100 people.

Individualism, demographics, and a pandemic

Similar stories of decline are being told across our area.

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Do fewer people believe in God? Or are people simply too busy to set aside a couple of hours on Sunday morning?

According to Dr. Stuart Macdonald, professor of church and society at the University of Toronto’s Knox College, church attendance began a slow and steady decline in Canada after peaking in the early 1960s. In 1961, says Mac-

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donald, census data revealed that less than 1 per cent of the population self-identified as having ‘no religion’ while over 93 per cent of the population identified as ‘Christian.’

This changed throughout the next two decades as the mainline churches struggled to adapt to seismic shifts in the cultural and societal landscape – shifts that led them to reckon with their positions on questions ranging from the role of women in church leadership to human sexuality.

Other factors played a part, as well.

“Where churches were specifically affected was in terms of the growth of individualism,” Macdonald notes. “Churches are about community. They are about joining. But what if you don’t want to join, or commit? This was one of the changes that happened in this period. Fewer and fewer people were willing to commit to organizations, or their commitments changed.” According to Macdonald, it wasn’t just churches that were affected by this, either – political parties, fraternal organizations, and recreational leagues were all faced with the same difficulties.

The larger Protestant denominations (Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, and United) were hit the earliest and hardest by these changes, as were Roman Catholics in Quebec.

“Over the last two censuses, what has become clear is that all identifiable Christian groups are seeing their numbers decline in terms of identity,” says Macdonald. “People might say they are ‘Pentecostal,’ but the census does not measure attendance or belief.” According to the 2021 census, 35 per cent of the population identifies as having no religion, while only 53 per cent of Canadians identify as ‘Christian’ – but they may or may not attend church.

The Rev. Linda Park has had a front-row seat to changes in church attendance over the last two decades. When she was first appointed as associate minister at St. Andrew’s in 2002, about 320 people were attending on Sunday morning. That figure later slipped to about 175, but rebounded as the church expanded its facility in 2009 and celebrated its 175th anniversary the following year. “There was a real rallying around the building of our new addition, because we wanted our space to be accessible for everyone,” says Park. Sunday morning attendance increased again, with well over 200 people warming the pews – but this has since plateaued and declined.

The Rev. John Boyachek has noticed similar trends in his 15 years as pastor of Lindsay’s Fairview Baptist Church.

Above: Rev. Linda Park of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Lindsay.

Right: Scenes from St. Andrew's Church.

All photos: Sienna Frost.

“We were probably pushing 280-300 on a Sunday morning when I started; now we’re probably around 200,” he says.

Like his counterpart at St. Andrew’s, Boyachek points to demographic changes as a possible reason – not least an aging population that is not being supplanted with younger members.

“I’ve buried a lot of people over the years,” he said. Although Fairview continues to have a vibrant youth ministry, Boyacheck also takes note of how church attendance figures can take a hit as young parishioners grow up and move out of the area.

Jurgen Rausch, the senior pastor at Calvary Pentecostal Church in Lindsay, has noticed that weekly attendance is no longer something he can take for granted as people come to his church every two or sometimes every three weeks. Echoing Dr. Macdonald’s observations about the trend towards individualism, Rausch explains that “on any given Sunday, we have about 60 per cent attend – none of which takes away from the commitment but is reflective of competing interests.”

Church attendance is occasionally boosted by transfers of membership from one congregation to another, as has been the case over the last five years at Seagrave United Church, southwest of Lindsay. Even so, says the Rev. Stephanie Richmond, “our numbers are in decline, and we have people who have died or who for health reasons are no longer able to attend services.”

Richmond has also observed that requests for baptism – the sacrament through which infants are welcomed into the church – often are now initiated through a child’s grandparents. “In many cases, parents are not regular attendees (at) church. They may have attended church as a child with their family, but have ceased to attend for various reasons,” says Richmond. “They feel that baptism is an important sacrament, but attending church on a regular basis is not something that is a priority.”

Shifting age demographics have been observed and studied by church leaders for decades. However, the widespread introduction and ongoing impact of online services during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to all sorts of questions about church attendance that can’t easily be answered, says the Rev. Bonnie Skerritt, rector at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Lindsay.

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Rev. John Boyachek of Fairview Baptist Church, Lindsay, says his church has around 200 people attend on a Sunday morning.

Photo: Sienna Frost.

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Like their Presbyterian neighbours a few blocks away, St. Paul’s enjoyed considerable growth through the early 1960s. (In fact, the Anglican Diocese of Toronto bought land at the corner of Dominion Drive and St. George Street in Lindsay for the possibility of a second Anglican church in town during that period. Nothing came from this plan, and the land was sold in 1964.) Today, St. Paul’s maintains a parish register of over 400 individuals – but only about 50 have been attending weekly services, while some 200 watch online. The difficulty here, says Skerritt, is that this latter number may not be an accurate reflection of reality. Apart from the fact that some may not watch the entire duration of a service, the stats provided by YouTube don’t account for the possibility that there may be more than one person sitting in front of a computer screen or mobile device.

“There are too many variables,” Skerritt observes. She also points out that some of her parishioners are still uncomfortable with attending events in public spaces.

What turns people away from church?

Individualism, demographic changes, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic are among the factors affecting church attendance from the outside. Yet as clergy will attest, the Church as an institution has a lot to answer for when people have been deeply betrayed or hurt within or without its walls. This can thus be an uphill battle in a culture already suspicious of traditional institutions.

Asked what the church has done to betray its mission, Park points to the abuse scandals that have rocked the Christian church across denominational lines – not least through the Indian Residential School System. (The Presbyterian Church in Canada operated 11 of the schools from the 1880s through 1925, when the United Church of Canada assumed responsibility for all but two of these 11.) “Very rarely will the church be in the news for doing good in the community,” Park laments. Skerritt agrees and says that there has long been a problem with inclusion and ‘othering’ in her own denomination. (Othering is a form of exclusion and stereotyping.) “There is still much work to be done on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, with other cultures, with other religions, and with other denominations,” she states.

Rev. Stephanie Richmond of Seagrave United Church says it is vital the church be seen as critical to the community in which it operates.

There is more. “The very loud voice of American rightwing Christians, which Canadians are very aware of, has 21

St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Lindsay.

led many outside the church to an even stronger opposition to churches and what they think all Christians believe,” notes Macdonald.

Whether this has had a direct impact on church attendance here in Kawartha Lakes can’t readily be ascertained. Still, Rausch, the Pentecostal pastor, agrees that hypocrisy in all its forms permeates questions of declining church attendance. “People are interested in message clarity and gracefilled outreach,” he says. “Anything that takes away from that reduces the effectiveness of the church.”

Purpose and hope That effectiveness (or lack thereof) impacts not only those who attend church on a regular basis, but also the broader community – whether or not it identifies as Christian.

“What is sometimes missed is all the work that churches do at the local level,” says Macdonald, when asked why non-churchgoers should care about declining membership in local churches. “Foodbanks, homeless work, providing a meeting space for community groups, supporting the local community – these are all important parts of the fabric of local communities, and in particular small towns and rural areas that don't have the kinds of resources that larger urban areas do.”

This point is vitally important for Richmond, of Seagrave United Church. “When the Church becomes focused only on Sunday worship and sustaining itself, the walls close in and it is no longer seen as a viable church in the community,” she explains. “When the church reaches out, the community around it sees it as their church and will help support it and relationships will grow.”

Faced with shrinking attendance in their pews, what signs of hope do church leaders see in this season of challenge and change? “I really think it is this generation that is seeking truth and looking for depth in a world where everything is so transient,” says Park. “This generation is more open to conversation and is a little more philosophical.”

Boyacheck agrees, saying that “almost weekly, I have people seeking spiritual help – they’re seeking something more foundational and firm.” For Skerritt, the church should not expect to bask in days of endless sunshine.

“It is during the storms that people will come together and work together, making room for the Holy Spirit to move in new ways.” LA lindsayadvocate.ca

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New lawyer at Wards has Kawartha Lakes connection

Jessica Bolla is excited to live and work in Kawartha Lakes now.

Jessica Bolla has joined the Wards Lawyers’ team.

Her areas of interest are corporate law, alternative dispute resolution, estates, and fertility law with an aim to making the process understandable to clients.

Taking a position at Wards was something of a homecoming for Bolla.

“Although I grew up in Toronto, my family has always called the Kawarthas home. My great grandparents built a cottage on Balsam Lake and later my family put down roots on a farm outside of Fenelon Falls. My husband proposed to me on the farm, and we ultimately held our wedding there too,” she says.

Bolla says she gets to immerse herself in the natural beauty of the area while working for a firm that she says embraces a “culture of excellence.”

“I want to do more than practice law – I want to give back.

Wards lets me do that. I am grateful to be a part of the team.”

Bolla says she is excited about the opportunity to live and work in a community that means so much to her.

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Toy story Lindsay’s Simon Ward and son Theodore leave no stone unturned in their quest for Star Wars memorabilia

By Geoff Coleman

The Hero’s Journey as a formula has almost been done to death by Hollywood screenwriters. It appears in films like Avatar, The Karate Kid, and anything starring Clint Eastwood. As you probably have already guessed, the hero is a regular guy who gets called to adventure, often meets a mentor, takes on a challenge, makes rivals and friends, suffers some ordeal, is rewarded, and returns with a victory or an object.

In the film The 40 Year Old Virgin, Steve Carrell has a massive collection of toys – and that’s where Lindsay’s Simon Ward can relate.

The former Strumbella’s front man and his son, Theodore, have a passion for collecting toys, and they recently completed a Star Wars series. This is not to say they have every single piece of Lego or every video game related to the iconic films, but as Ward explains, they do have a complete set.

“From 1977 to 1985, Star Wars creator George Lucas had a merchandising contract with Kenner toys. During that time 99 action figures were created, and we have all of them.” So, with apologies to hugely successful screenwriters, here’s how an elevator pitch for this Toy Story could go…

Call to Adventure Simon Ward never planned to spend a small fortune on toys but, when his son expressed an interest in the figures he still had from his childhood, he saw it as a hobby they 28

could undertake together. What began as an inventory of toys already in his possession became a six-month journey that included stops at garage sales and toy stores from Lindsay to Los Angeles. Hours spent in online auctions and combing Facebook groups verged on obsession, but his faith is rewarded, and his entire town could benefit…he just needs one more!

Meeting a mentor Shaun “Boo” Evans is Yoda to Ward’s Luke Skywalker.

He’s the older collector, well-versed in character back stories and obscure details of the Star Wars universe. The two have known each other for years since Evans was a friend of Ward’s older brother, but the shared interest in collecting cemented their relationship. Throughout the journey, Evans could be counted on to answer an obscure question, or alert Ward to a certain toy becoming available on the resale markets. (As long as he himself was not also looking for it.)

Taking the plunge With a friend and son encouraging him, the musician committed to the chase. As Ward puts it, “There is no quit.”

“I’ve been like that my whole life: had to have the Air Jordan 11s when I was 16; had to have my sportscar. My kid wants a 1998 rare Pokémon Charizard? I’ll comb the streets of every major city in America until I find it. I’ve almost missed planes because of it. I just have this little itch inside me that isn’t satisfied until the collection is complete."

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Above: Simon Ward with son, Theodore, were excited to build a Star Wars collection together.

Tickets are $8 per person per day in support of a local charity.

Below: Chewbacca, clearly pleased with the Star Wars collection, joins Shaun “Boo” Evans, along with Simon Ward and son Theodore. Photos: Sienna Frost.

Friends and Rivals It didn’t take long to find some friends who were also collectors. Kyle Hornshaw was a key part of the quest, boasting an encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars films. Down to the dialogue. By character and location. Even minor characters.

Rivalries were almost as easy to develop, but Ward says they are all friendly ones. “It’s like playing with a friend in basketball. You still love each other, but you want to win. It’s a human’s strange desire to be first. That being said, collectors do look out for each other.” (It’s not entirely clear if that is in a protective way, or the way Highlanders look out for each other.)

The Ordeal In all the Hollywood movies following this formula, the hero has an obstacle to overcome. Atticus Finch had a jury to win over in To Kill a Mockingbird. Indiana Jones had the snakes and a few hundred Nazis. Luke Skywalker was tempted by the dark side. (Kyle Hornshaw can tell you exactly when and where.) And Simon Ward’s white whale was the final action figure. He had 98 characters from Klaatu to Chief Chirpa to Ugnaught on the shelf. Only Warok, the eighth Ewok was missing.

Morphy’s Auction House in Pennsylvania enjoys a reputation as one of the go-to destinations for collectable toy auctions. In early February they had a sale featuring an extensive collection of Star Wars toys and action figures which brought in thousands of dollars. A set of four figures (Luke, Leia, Chewy and R2D2) in their original, individual bags with the mint shipping container realized $18,450 U.S., destroying the pre-sale estimate of $5-10,000. These had an early bird certificate that indicates they were pre-orders, purchased before they actually came on the market. Like condos.

Similarly, a Boba Fet figure fetched over $21,000.

It might weigh 50 grams. Gold is selling for about $60/gram. Top dog though, of course, was a Luke Skywalker figure, going for $42,000. Bear in mind, however, that it did have the double telescoping light sabre.

– G.C.

Shaun “Boo” Evans (speaking of To Kill a Mockingbird) sent him a link to one selling for $500.

“I said, ‘No way! I’m not spending $500 on this Ewok. I won’t do it.’ Then for the next six months I lost every auction for him and couldn’t find one with all the accessories.”

Six months later, Ward sheepishly bought the one Evans had sent after all.

The Hero is Rewarded, & Returns with A Victory With the final piece in place, Ward now has the collection on display in his studio, sharing wall space with hundreds of other toys. But this is not where the story concludes.

The musician proposes an ending in which he finds a public space to display the collection so other Star Wars aficionados can enjoy them as well.

Anyone reading who can help should feel free to get in touch and assist in creating what he jokingly calls the cruelest kind of museum: a display area where people can see a complete collection of Star Wars action figures, but never, ever play with them. LA 30

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Canopy Project aims to raise thousands of dollars for trees in public spaces, schools The Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes (CPKL) is launching its 2023 campaign in commemoration of Earth Day, aiming to raise $30,000 to create and rejuvenate the urban canopy at schools and public spaces in Kawartha Lakes. The tree planting program will start at St. Thomas Aquinas and I.E. Weldon Secondary Schools in Lindsay, followed by Dr. George Hall Public School in Little Britain. This is an environmental initiative aimed to empower youth to care for the future of our green space by planting trees and protecting the environment within Kawartha Lakes for generations to come, according to a media release.

John Ireland, a founding member of CPKL and driving force behind this multi-year school canopy initiative noted there’s not enough trees in school yards. “Without trees, our schools are missing out on not only the physical beauty and natural shade they bring, but also the benefits of a thriving ecosystem.”

The Canopy Project is joined by many volunteers including the support of John Bush, co-president of Environmental Action Bobcaygeon and Fleming College, which consults matching trees to a school’s natural environment. With the support of CPKL committee members, Trevor Hutchinson, Jamie Morris, Brian Smith and Paul Langham, John seeks to keep this canopy growth project growing and expanding with every tree that is planted.

With the help of volunteer teams and support of area businesses, the cost of adding a tree is $30. To reach its fundraising goals, CPKL is encouraging parents, local businesses, and all residents to each buy one tree in support of the School Canopy Project. Donations can be made to the Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes Fund held and administered by the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes.

The foundation’s focus is on strengthening local philanthropic network by connecting people who care with the creation of lasting legacies that address gaps in local human services, public infrastructure, agriculture and community economic development.

The cost of adding one tree is $30.

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To consider making a contribution, follow the links to the Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes Fund on www.kawarthafoundation.ca. For more information on how to get involved, contact the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes via info@kawarthafoundation.ca lindsayadvocate.ca

A tale of two cities

London vs Kawartha Lakes

By Kirk Winter

As a media correspondent, with Kawartha Lakes municipal government as one of my key beats, it is all too easy to become immersed in what this local council is doing to solve the problems of the day, forgetting that there are hundreds of other municipal governments across Ontario struggling with the same daily challenges.

Downtown London.

My wife and I and our close friends just returned from London, Ontario, after taking in five days of breathtaking men’s curling. We had ample opportunity to walk downtown London and see its historic and eclectic residential neighbourhoods.

I have come home to Lindsay much more appreciative of some of the municipal services we have that London does not but feeling like I have spent time with the Ghost of Christmas Future. This spirit showed me that all the municipal money spent on beautifying a historical downtown is money wasted if there aren’t the businesses and policing to make a trip to the downtown core secure and worthwhile.

The sidewalk plow

While the streets were efficiently and quickly cleared, the sidewalks were not, making it heavy going for anyone wishing to go for a walk. With no municipal sidewalk clearing equipment, businesses in London, almost to a fault, cleared their sidewalks themselves. Very few homeowners did, though, and that snow was still there two to three days later. I am glad to pay for this service in Kawartha Lakes through my tax dollars.

Infrastructure repairs People from Kawartha Lakes who feel their roads and sidewalks are in a state of disrepair need to spend a few days driving and walking the highways and byways of London and area.

People in Lindsay truly have a love-hate relationship with the city sidewalk plows. On the one hand we are glad to have our sidewalks cleared after significant weather events.

At the same time, we curse the plows for filling in driveways and occasionally wandering off the cement onto lawns and peeling up the grass.

The pothole situation in London is endemic. Our vehicle was bounced and pounded like a ship in high seas by potholes of significant size. It certainly looked like the coldpatch truck had not been out in London for many months.

The sidewalks were no better. Not only were they covered in snow, they were also cracked and crumbling in many places.

Last Friday, London received 10 centimetres of snow.

The city of London has recently replaced many of their

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Many Lindsay businesspeople cite the lack of parking in the downtown as reason fewer shoppers are spending their hard-earned cash there.

sidewalks, streets and walking paths in the downtown core with interlocking brick and in places it is an attractive look.

In other places, the brick has started to deteriorate.

As part of the four downtown rebuilds that Kawartha Lakes has spearheaded in the last five to six years, they have made the same decision to replace cement and asphalt with paving stones, and hopefully can avoid the degradation process that is already evident in London.

Slow death of a downtown Despite blocks of beautifully restored storefronts that dot the London downtown, the overall impression to this tourist was one of silent decay, destitution and flight to suburban malls.

Besides a very attractive miniature St. Lawrence Market, a gorgeous multi-purpose sporting facility and several lovely family restaurants, the rest of the London downtown appeared to be dominated by pawn shops, strip clubs, money lending services, cellphone repair businesses and pot shops.

Numerous London storefronts are empty and available for lease. Still active businesses feature the huge roll down steel grates that cover the storefront when closed or additional steel fencing out front protecting their display windows

and stopping the homeless from sleeping in their store front alcoves.

It is hardly a welcoming look.

All the anchor stores appear to have fled for the malls that dot the ring roads surrounding London. We were all stunned when many of the businesses that still make the downtown home did not extend their hours or even open Sunday to accommodate the thousands of out-of-town guests who flocked to the Brier. Some London restaurants closed at 2 p.m. on Saturday, not to re-open until the event was over on Monday. I have heard similar complaints levelled against local Lindsay businesses, too.

I could not shake the sense that I was looking at Lindsay’s downtown in a decade or two as extensive development already approved by the city creates commercial space fronting Highway 36 off Colborne Street and in the east ward, as part of the Flato development near I.E. Weldon S.S., not to mention other massive neighbourhoods by other builders surrounding the town. I am not sure if we are doing ourselves a disservice by encouraging business flight from the downtown core.

Many Lindsay businesspeople cite the lack of parking in the downtown as reason fewer shoppers are spending their hard-earned cash there. While that is certainly something 35

worth considering, one thing downtown London was not short of was acres of above-ground parking and numerous below-grade facilities. We never had a problem finding a spot to park, yet the London downtown continues to suffer.

No visible police presence People will generally go shopping in an area they find inviting, safe and with the businesses and services they are looking for. A big part of that consumer trinity is having a feeling of personal security.

I was very surprised that there was not a much more visible police presence in downtown London. When your city welcomes thousands of out-of-town guests, a much-heightened police presence is to be expected. Apart from the occasional cruiser found on the streets, the law enforcement presence was minimal, leaving those London streets to tourists and London’s small army of street people.

While we saw none of the aggressive pan handling that has caused such problems for some business owners on Kent Street in Lindsay, the sheer number of homeless people in the London downtown core was disquieting.

In something that belongs in a dystopian novel, we passed one man who was warming himself beside a campfire he had started on the city sidewalk.

Most urban planning studies show that police foot patrols in downtown shopping areas build both consumer and vendor confidence. It can contribute to the rejuvenation of a core shopping district. The Kawartha Lakes Police Service has tried experiments with foot patrols on Kent Street and received positive feedback from all involved.

I think London police missed a moment to make city visitors feel more secure with a visible police presence, and the city as a whole may pay the price in fewer return visitors in the future.

While Kawartha Lakes is far from perfect, we discovered on our trip to Ontario’s so-called “Forest City” they don’t have all the answers to many pressing municipal issues either.

I can only hope that Kawartha Lakes has a long-term plan in place to ensure that our downtowns across the city remain healthy and vibrant places. We do not want to make the same mistakes that were evident in London — errors that have made their downtown core an economic afterthought. LA 36

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Believe in the gravity of gravity–and science I clearly remember watching that momentous “one small step” on the moon when I was a kid. The family was gathered around our black and white TV. Neither would have been possible – the TV or the moon landing – without science.

Virtually everything we depend on, computers to cancer drugs, we have because of science.

I don’t step off cliffs because I believe Newton’s theory of gravitation. Yet, scientists don’t know everything about gravity. In fact, it’s been said that they are more certain why the planet is over-heating than they know what gravity is.

When it comes to global heating, the science indeed is settled. Scientists have been analyzing climate studies since 1988, when the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Since then, the IPCC has produced six major reports. For the last one, released last year, almost 800 volunteer scientists and contributing authors analyzed more than 66,000 peer-reviewed studies. Those major reports undergo rigorous scrutiny and must be signed off by all countries and authors involved.

Their latest was unequivocal: we have until 2030 to cut our emissions in half for a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. That is if we want to avert even more devastation – the kind we saw last year with hurricane Fiona on the east coast, or with the heat dome on the west coast in 2021 that killed 619. Or the derecho storm that swept through southern Ontario last May, tearing off roofs and killing 10 people. And that’s with 1.2 C of warming. In the 1970s, Exxon’s own scientists warned the

oil company that its product was harming the planet. Back in 1912, a headline in a New Zealand paper declared Coal Consumption Affecting Climate. The story read: “This tends to make the air a more effective blanket for the earth and to raise its temperature. The effect may be considerable in a few centuries.” Make that one century. There weren’t many gas-burning cars on the roads 110 years ago.

In 1824, French physicist Joseph Fourier described how some atmospheric gases trap heat, making life on earth possible. By the end of the 1800s others had identified those gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, the main one being carbon dioxide.

Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas (which is mainly methane) are to blame for this round of global heating.

Yes, the earth has warmed and cooled before, but this time around we were due for a cooling period. Instead, we’ve been digging up fossilized carbon – those fossil fuels – and burning them, thus annually releasing 50 billion tonnes of pollution that had been safely stored underground for millions of years.

We’re teetering on the precipice of environmental calamity thanks largely to the vast sums spent on propaganda and lobbying by fossil fuel companies like BP, Shell and ExxonMobil. The merchants of doubt first propagandized that global warming wasn’t happening. Then, it was happening, but it wasn’t us. Now, doubt is cast on the solutions to address this massive existential crisis. But we need to embrace and improve those solutions, not delay them. We need to transition off those fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

Transitions are scary, but we have walked on the moon. We can do this.

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Perhaps the most memorable in this trifecta of aerial events transpired that autumn, during the Lindsay Central Exhibition. Captains Dallin, Pearson, and Salter, employed by the Bishop-Barker Company, Ltd. (a Toronto-based charter aircraft company), flew into Lindsay for a few days’ worth of stunt flying in their Curtiss and Fokker biplanes.

For most fair-goers, though, the real highlight was a chance to take a ride in one of these open-cockpit aircrafts.

Young and old alike took to the skies, with Watchman Warder manager J.W. Deyell writing a detailed account of the occasion in the Sept. 25, 1919 edition of his newspaper.

“It was my first trip up!” Deyell told his readers excitedly.

“From the time the propeller first began to churn the air and we left the earth until we bumped along the exact spot where we had left an hour and a half before, the experience was one of surprises and thrills...What a sight our northern country is from a height of three thousand feet!” Deyell wasn’t alone in gushing about the thrills of aviation. According to the Warder, an 86-year-old resident of Victoria County’s House of Refuge “made the remark that he never expected to get so close to heaven before his death, but he was game to the core to take a flight.”

Up and away: The thrills of flight in Kawartha Lakes About 120 years ago, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in what has been celebrated as the first flight in an aircraft. Their primitive machine, known as the Wright Flyer, set the scene for something we all take for granted today: jumbo jets cruising from one continent to another and private planes taking off and landing at the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport on a sunny spring morning. Flight, as we know it, has long since lost its novelty.

That wasn’t always the case – not least in a rural community like ours, where the sight of a plane aroused tremendous excitement on three different occasions in 1919. Aviators who had served during the First World War were in demand as “stunt flyers” following the conflict, and communities clamoured to have these airborne celebrities put in appearances at special events.

Lindsay was no exception, and Lt. Leroy H. Holmes of Toronto was invited to fly here for that year’s July 1 celebrations. “He gave the crowd many a thrill by performing stunts and flying very low immediately in front of the grandstand,” an impressed Watchman Warder correspondent wrote on July 3, 1919. (Holmes would be back in the area later that month, when he joined another pilot in taking aerial photographs of Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Lindsay, and Peterborough.)

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This biplane landed west of Lindsay in 1919. Photograph: G.W. Hall. Courtesy Kawartha Lakes Public Library.

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The year 1919 may well have marked the beginning of our community’s love affair with the sky.

Photograph: G.W. Hall. Courtesy Kawartha Lakes Public Library.

Indeed, 1919 may well have marked the beginning of our community’s love affair with the sky. “Flying machines are going to become almost as common as automobiles,” the Warder predicted on May 15, 1919. “They will convey excursionists and space will be literally annihilated. What part will the Town of Lindsay take in the development of this great industry of the future?”

Commercial and recreational aircraft were common enough sights in local skies by 1936, when nonagenarian artist W.A. Goodwin watched airplanes soar over Sturgeon Lake from the vantage point of his boathouse, an event he would record in his diary. Alas, the looming clouds of war meant that recreational flying would take a backseat for a few years by the early 1940s. Young men from across Victoria County joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as pilots, radio operators, and tail gunners – some never to return home after making the supreme sacrifice.

The return of peace brought with it a renewed interest in flight, but not until the 1960s would the region have a purpose-built flying field of its own. Starting in 1962, development began on what is today known as the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport. A deed issued on Sept. 5, 1963 reveals that the Town of Lindsay agreed to lease Lindsay Airport Services, Ltd. a parcel of land on Lot 24 in the third con-

cession of Ops Township for use as an airport. (Somewhat ironically, and in a testament to how far transportation technology had progressed, the airport’s runway was built directly over top of the Midland Railway’s right-of-way abandoned over half a century before.)

By 1982, the airport could boast of a runway measuring 3,000 feet in length that was capable of accommodating aircraft as large as the propeller-driven Douglas DC-3. Today it remains one of the busiest airports in central Ontario. Apart from supporting commercial flight, it is also the only airport between Minden and Peterborough used for Ornge air ambulance evacuations.

In addition to these vital functions, the airport is also the place where members of the Kawartha Lakes Flying Club, like Bob Burns, take off in their Cessnas, Pipers, and other light aircraft for the annual Interprovincial Air Tour, or for just a short fly-out to another community for lunch and back again.

Like those early aviators who awed locals more than a century ago, KLFC pilots are keen to share their passion with others. “The wonderful thing about flying is the camaraderie,” says Burns, who spent over a decade doing aerial photography. “You get to know so many people from all over Ontario and beyond.” LA 43

ROASTED VEGETABLES While the weather begins to hint of warmer days to come, we still have some time ahead of us until this year’s fresh vegetables come available.

It’s the perfect time to finish off the last of last year’s root vegetables in a roasted vegetable extravaganza. Garlic powder, paprika and oregano make a delicious seasoning combination, as does maple syrup and cinnamon, or just rosemary on its own.

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5. Roast in the oven until tender and lightly browned, around 30 minutes. Check on vegetables and flip halfway to ensure even browning.

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401 Kent Street West, Lindsay (705) 324-1978

Ruff Life

by Barbara Olson © ClassiCanadian Crosswords

Across

1

1 Having a commanding presence?

6 Puck dropper at centre ice 9 Hit the road

2

3

4

5

6

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7

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17 Opposite of old, in French 18 Straight-legged march

20 Beginning of a quip about a pampered pooch

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30 37 41

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44 47

46 50 54

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30 Did away with slowly, with "out"

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23 Something heaved

27 Canadian songstress ___ Jordan

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19

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24 "As Time Goes By" player

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23 27

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22 Ending with brom- or chlor-

10

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16 Laundry units

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14 Computer code initials

15 Spell dog D-A-W-G, say

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34 Opt (to)

36 Words of woe

38 Farmer's outbuilding 39 Middle of the quip 42 Early Peruvian

43 Farming prefix 44 "Peachy!"

45 Comparatively close

47 Guinness Book suffixes 49 Book end?

50 "___ of the D'Urbervilles" 52 Crazy way to go 54 End of the quip

61 Words after an interruption 62 Fixer-upper's need 63 Less dated

64 Submissions to a publisher: Abbr.

65 Crow or Cree

66 Makes one's way (along) 67 Barstool warmer 68 Cattle man?

Down

1 Mexican peninsula 2 Sugary suffixes 3 Lowly creep

4 Commandments mount 5 Makes way for

6 Signed up: Abbr.

7 Switch add-on

8 Tadpole's parents

9 Yuletide transport

10 Pronto, pretentiously 11 Plaster partner

12 Lightbulb in a strip

13 One-third of a tbsp.

19 Interac actions, at times

21 Perrins's partner in the sauce 24 European finch

25 Flared dress style

26 Islamic holy destination 28 Ratted out, in slang

32 First class group

33 Words with disturb or touch 35 Rented, as a houseboat 37 CATs' kin

40 1955 Pact signing site 41 On and off

46 Moray pursuers

48 "She's So High" singer Bachman

51 Too-good-to-be-true emails, often 53 Use force

54 You of yore

55 Felled, as a fir

56 ___ buco (veal dish)

57 It's shaken in anger

58 Together, in Trois-Rivières 59 Courtroom clothing 60 Belgian river

61 U-turn from ESE

29 Kipling's ___ Khan ("Tiger King") 31 Rope-making fibre

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“Guiding Families Forward”

The lamentable decline of the public house

By Trevor Hutchinson Contributing Editor

It is said that back in the day, Lindsay had more hotels per capita than any other town in Ontario, or possibly Canada. Take a walk in downtown Lindsay, or any of the settlement areas, and at or near any four corners, there was probably a hotel, which was the more common form of the pub (short for public house) at the time.

At one point, Lindsay had at least 13 different hotels operating at the same time. Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon had three, and there were two in both Victoria Road and Kinmount. Sturgeon Point, Dunsford and Downeyville all had at least one pub.

Biddy Young, a woman known to be quite a capable fighter, ran a hotel in Bolsover.

In Lindsay there was The Kent, The Royal, The Benson, The Central, The Grand (Union), the Butler House, The Veitch, The Carr Hotel and The Simpson House — which sponsored Lindsay's championship Red Birds baseball team — to name just a few.

It is possible that the number of bars in town also helped Lindsay with another unofficial statistic — most per capita ‘drunk walking’ or public intoxication charges. Legend has it that to avoid being charged, one of my great uncles borrowed a white cane to explain his gait. That was equally offensive then as it is now, so when my cab driver grandfather saw that on Kent Street, he quickly put an end to those shenanigans.

46

It’s just that there used to be a lot of places to drink in this city. I miss those times, or what I remember about them. And yes, I am keenly aware of the many social harms of alcoholism.

But it's not like addiction issues have decreased as our bars did. Some would say it's worse now.

In western history, the pub is the second oldest type of public structure, second only to the church. So the public house has been part of our culture since we’ve had culture. The development of the public house resulted in people from different classes mingling.

Of course, it would take social change to have all genders from all classes mixing, but that change eventually happened.

And that’s my favourite thing about having a ‘local’ -- meeting people from all walks of life. People from all classes, political leanings and backgrounds, getting together in person. And it doesn’t have to be about alcohol: in fact, non-alcoholic drinks are the hottest trends in the beverage industry currently.

I’m clearly showing a personal bias here, but I really think we would be a little less divided if we left cyberspace and grabbed a pint. Maybe we could have a laugh, throw some darts, play some pool, listen to live music or just sit and solve all the world's problems.

And if we didn’t solve them all we could try again the next day.

Cheers! lindsayadvocate.ca

Chantel Lawton Barrister | Solicitor | Notary Public

Accredited Family Mediation Services & Collaborative Law 189 Kent St. W., Suite 220 Lindsay, Ontario

705-878-9949 www.chantellawton.com

MIKE GALLAGHER Business Manager

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