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August 2019 • Vol 2 • Issue 17

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On the Cover: David & Emilee Skrabek, left, with their children, Georgia & Sawyer, and Pat & Henk van der Veen, right, on Deer Run Farm. Cover Photo: Sienna Frost

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Printed by Maracle Inc. OUR PRIVACY POLICY The Lindsay Advocate is independently owned and operated. The opinions expressed herein are the views of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine. Photos, text, and art work contained in The Lindsay Advocate are copyrighted and may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without the express permission of the Publisher.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, and without notice. The Publisher has made every effort to ensure information contained herein was accurate at press time. The Publisher does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for damage, loss, or disruption caused by errors or omissions.

CONTENTS KAWARTHA LAKES’ FINEST MAGAZINE 4 6 7 9 15 17 18 23 26 28 29 30 32 34

Letters to the Editor UpFront Benns’ Belief: This Land is Our Land Drugs in Public Housing Local Farmers Struggling with Mother Nature Readers Spotlight Remember your Rural Neighbours Catherine Cadigan Wins Scholarships Local Heirloom Recipes Dining Review: Olympia Restaurant Friends of the Lindsay Library Friends & Neighbours with Jamie Morris Just in Time with Ian McKechnie Trevor’s Take: Let’s Just Talk

OUR STORY It’s hard to believe that it’s just been one year since I moved back to this amazing community, along with my wife and daughter. Joli and I have been made to feel very welcome and all of us have tried to get involved as much as possible in the community, whether personally or professionally. We’ve shopped almost 100% locally and we love to connect with the small business owners, the linchpins of our local economy. We were also humbled to win the New Business of the Year award through the Lindsay + District Chamber of Commerce. In short, we’ve been made to feel like we belong. That’s what the Advocate was always meant to be about – to help create a more cohesive community where we work together in common cause for our mutual betterment. Thank you, readers, and thank you, advertisers, for supporting such a vision for Kawartha Lakes. ~ Roderick and Joli

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DSAY A TE

LIN

The Pollinators

AD O C V

Advocate read cover to cover Just a note to say that my wife and I are very impressed with your magazine. Picked it up at the Kinmount LCBO. Great design and fine editorial approach. We read every word. We definitely enjoy the analog version. Wishing you well deserved success. - Douglas Rodger and Barbara Gordon, Highlands East

The Village Doctor? What happened to the village doctor of 60 years ago? People get sick. They have a strange pain, a feverish temperature, an ugly boil, perhaps a cut that needs stitches, and a host of other problems that need attention right now. They went to the surgery, as it was called back then, not to the doctor’s office. The change in words is significant. In modern times we must make an appointment. The “I need a doctor now” cases end up in the walk-in clinics; either at a hospital or at a community clinic run by a nurse practitioner. These community clinics are supported largely by donations. In a sense they are ‘private medicine’ paid for by the public which, in return, gives free medical service to the public. And they are excellent! This is a strange situation in which the first medical port of call has become the community walk-in clinic. The Nurse Practitioner has assumed, by default, the role of the old time village doctor. Another unexpected result is that the nurse practitioners see a greater number of non life-threatening ‘emergencies’ than do the GPs. Medicine is a mixture of knowledge, and experience. Personally, I put my money on experience. I feel that these community clinics should be funded as part of the medical system. They could be an echo of the village doctor, and even the village hospital, that worked so effectively for many generations. In addition, the GP’s could allocate time for these more urgent, but non life-threatening cases. These windows of time would need to be billable, whether they are fully used or not. In the meantime, we should support fund raisers for these clinics. They are worth every penny, and then some! - Peter Weygang, Bobcaygeon

Bee City Kawartha Lakes (Advocate, June) encourages those who have many native pollinators around, to “get on the map.” The variety of pollinators at our smallish place is further evidenced by attraction of bears digging up bee burrows, parasitic beeflies, and so on. Love of berries doesn’t even lead to removal of a huge wasp nest hanging in the midst. Perverse, redundant land use all around, ever more space suburbanized for the likes of lawns, makes for pollinator deserts. But the gravest problem of late for airborne insects worldwide is from air filled with pollution from the concurrent rise of wireless usage. Pollinator refuges can be created but the air also needs to be cleared. There’s plenty of research that should encourage creation of zones of greatly reduced manmade electro-pollution. CKL is a good place, and now a good time, to start, especially as current low radiation zones are threatened by expansion of wireless services, much touted by Mayor Letham and the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. As final funds come through for wireless expansion, the clearer-air zones are apt to narrow considerably more.

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With decline of flying insects has come decline of creatures depending on them. Birds and bats ultimately fall prey to the pollution doing in their own prey. But proximate rather than fundamental cause has been the focus, such as fungal infection for weakened undernourished bats. Consult the work of Panagopoulos (on flies), Cammaerts (ants), Favre (bees), Balmori and Kavokin (birds), and so many more alarming scientific findings of the effects on wildlife (let alone on us all!) of wireless pollution. This should persuade of the necessity of protected areas, certainly as already exist in the vicinity of CKL. Who will step up to get these protected zones on the map? Daryl Vernon & Lorraine Penner, CKL

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Brownfield article showed two problems can be solved The (June) edition of the Lindsay Advocate (including its) Senior Services section was outstanding. Loved the brownfield article, how it pointed out solving two problems was possible: environment and housing. Also liked Trevor Hutchinson’s thoughtful opinion piece E AT C VO D A on the last page. Keep up Y THE LINDSA the good work! ew - Dana Bachman, vi e ey bird’s IAL A ON EXPERIENT Fenelon Falls TOURISM STURGEON POINT | CHERRY TREE LODGE ON CELEBRATES POLLINATOR WEEK BEE CITY: KAWARTHA LAKES

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UPFRONT

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BENNS’ BELIEF

RODERICK BENNS, PUBLISHER

This land is our land

“We no longer see the world as a single entity. We’ve moved to cities and we think the economy is what gives us our life… without regard to what it does to the rest of the world.” – David Suzuki It’s a privilege to be able to drive across Canada, not the least of which is because it helps one understand the essence of the country better than dropping in on big cities by plane. However, the cost of lodging, gasoline, and time away from jobs makes it next to impossible for too many Canadians. So, it was indeed a privilege for us to be able to travel over 12,500 kilometres to the Yukon and back a few years ago for over a month, seeing this great country in a way that few of us do. Writers have spent their entire lives trying to get Canadians to understand the depth and breadth of the nation they live in, especially the extent of our wilderness. Nowhere is that more clear than in the Yukon. Its breathtaking landscapes sear into the memory. Bald eagles hunt urgently along moving waters; bears lumber through long, grassy spears; bison walk along subdued highways, unencumbered by human expectations. These are all scenes I saw for myself and yet I also saw more along our journey as we spent time in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C. before ever reaching Yukon. I saw formidable natural gas development, massive mining operations, and great resource exploration. In short, I saw economics, inch by inch, mile by mile, triumphing over nature. And I saw myself as a part of that system. A new report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says the federal government must commit to protect and restore 30 per cent of all the country’s land and inland waters by 2030, or about 330 million hectares. The report notes that biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, with more than one million species worldwide facing extinction. Canada has a particularly key role to play. Across six time zones, we have an incredible 20 percent of the world’s fresh water – in fact 250 of those lakes are in our own City area.We have the longest coastline of any nation on earth. Our Boreal forest is one of the world’s largest ecosystems, making up 10 per cent of the globe’s forest cover. In Kawartha Lakes it’s great that we’re talking about a Healthy Environment Plan for our own future and development. As much as our complex socioeconomic system requires so many things to function, in the long run it is the land that makes everything possible in the first place. How we use that land – how we see ourselves as part of the biosphere instead of apart from it -- should be the defining question of our lives.

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Needle and the Damage Done

}} Drugs in Public Housing For the last five months the Lindsay Advocate has been talking with concerned residents at a few different community housing units in the City of Kawartha Lakes about the issues of drug-dealing in their communities. Several residents were interviewed and all of them, out of fear for their own safety, requested anonymity. Residents were interviewed in person and given the opportunity to provide written submissions. The City of Kawartha Lakes and both police services in the City were asked to comment. I am sitting at the kitchen table in a social housing apartment with Carl, Estelle, Dorothy and Jack. Carl’s unit looks like it could be in a design magazine.The decor is stunning; the attention to detail clearly demonstrating a pride of place. I find myself wishing that my rental house could look this nice. But I’m not here to get design tips. I’m here to hear the stories and struggles these people are having with active drug dealing in their complex. The stories -- and the frequency with which they happen -- seem overwhelming. Overdoses. People jumping out of windows. Johns and tweaked-out junkies looking to score, pacing furtively around the complex. Strangers coming to the wrong door or wrong yard looking for their dealer. Old, creepy ‘johns’ coming in and out of the complex. Being asked if they want to buy drugs as they are taking their kids to the school bus in the morning. People shooting-up in cars. Discarded needles, mere steps away from where their kids should be playing.

TREVOR HUTCHINSON

In April of 2019, residents of one complex arranged a meeting with housing to discuss the issues of drug dealing and prostitution. The City organized a meeting to discuss the issues. The meeting was held on a weekday morning. Jack, Estelle, Dorothy and Carl could not attend because they work full time. I asked Hope Lee, manager of housing for the City of Kawartha Lakes for comment. Lee stresses that “drugs and drug dealing is a societal issue overall, not just in affordable or community housing.”

That is an important point. One would have to live under a rock or be blinded with classist hatred to think that community housing is the only place where there is

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CONT’D ON PAGE 10

DRUGS

CONT’D FROM PAGE 9

drug dealing. But according to the residents, these issues happen at levels above societal averages. Unfortunately, getting actual statistics from the Kawartha Lakes Police Service (KLPS) would have required a freedom of information request and “a considerable fee” so we cannot statistically verify such claims. Jack says at the moment that there are only four known units selling drugs in his 50-unit complex. “The problem is, we get rid of one and two more move in,” he adds. Lee does agree there is a problem though: “Drug dealing does occur in KLH communities as in many other communities. KLH takes considerable concern with it. It is certainly not regularly occurring in all communities where we provide housing but happens more often than we would like. It spirals into many aspects of life when it does occur; the vulnerable are preyed upon, the entire community experiences impacts including increased traffic and at some points even result in violent incidents occurring.”

“Tell him about the chainsaw incident,” says Carl. Estelle goes on to describe something that should be part of a fictional scary movie, not in a CKL neighbourhood of families and kids.The details are a little confusing, and could not be independently verified. But the story involves the alleged goings-on at one of the units these residents are convinced is a drug den. After hours of a loud altercation, a woman chased two men in a car with a large, running chainsaw, attacking the car with it. This happened around Noon. A couple hours later, someone high on drugs at the same unit fell out a second floor window. Jack then plays me a recording he made of a neighbour freaking out on some sort of drug. I can’t describe the sound other than to say it was demonic. “The screaming went on for hours,” he says. While he’s in his phone, he shows me pictures of vomit and urine on his front steps. Jack says that he’s lived in community housing for 20 years and he’s never seen things this bad. Estelle actually moved from another complex because of drug dealing and prostitution only to find the same issues at her new complex. The stress is starting to affect all of them. “This affects my quality of life. My health has been poor the last seven to eight months. I’m always scared. My nerves are bad and I feel stressed out,” says Dorothy. “My home was once a happy safe home, now it’s ‘lock the doors as soon as you get inside.’ We don’t go out after dark alone. We are trapped in our own homes.”

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Lee explains that “KLH Housing Corporation houses many of the communities most vulnerable or higher needs population, those often not welcome in the private market. KLH Housing is a landlord with a social focus and a mission to provide good quality and safe housing with a priority focus on low income, the homeless and people with special needs.” She says that KLH operates within a ‘Housing First, Harm Reduction and an Eviction Prevention approach.’

“In the last year and a half I have called the police and housing about 50 times. Of course we are happy to help but we are the ones that have to deal with it.” In that April, 2019 meeting held by KLH, residents were advised in a PowerPoint presentation that complaining that “a tenant having 30 short term visitors in a 12 hour period will not be sufficient” for getting a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Tribunal. When Estelle provided pictures of a drug deal happening in her complex, she was told by a housing staff member that ‘they could be selling Tupperware.’ The pictures didn’t show the drugs. They just showed a known drug dealer selling to a known drug user. And anyone who watches police procedurals on television knows that’s not enough proof.

”

Buddy takes me around a different complex in the city and matter-of-factly points to the units where you can buy drugs. “There’s crack in that one. That one down there has oxys sometimes but usually purple heroin. And everyone knows there is no such thing as purple heroin. That’s just fentanyl. That guy got raided last month but he’s back.” “A guy in that unit OD’d a couple months ago,” he adds, nonchalantly. Buddy is on ODSP and has, much earlier in life, struggled with addiction. “This is a hard place to stay clean.”

“There’s crack in that one. That one down there has oxys sometimes but usually purple heroin. And everyone knows there is no such thing as purple heroin. That’s just fentanyl. That guy got raided last month but he’s back.”

I ask Lee how KLH Housing deals with complaints of drug dealing. She explains they turn to the police, noting that drug dealing is a criminal matter of which the police have responsibility for. They also assess the situation because sometimes a vulnerable tenant can be taken advantage of by a drug dealer, forcing that person to use their unit. KLH also uses the Landlord and Tenant Board process to deal with this issue. Without charges being filed, this process can drag on for several months and require tribunal appearances for witness residents. The KLH encourages residents to always call the police and not take matters into their own hands. They further suggest that they follow-up by reporting to the KLHS office. When I relate this to Carl, he audibly sighs.

As KLH notes, drug-dealing is a police matter so I contacted both police services that service the CKL. PC Carrie Lanning, media relations officer of the KL OPP explained that in 2017, the OPP created the Community Street Crime Units “that operate at the detachment level to investigate community level drug and property crimes. The focused enforcement can assist with increased disruption of the local street level crime.” The OPP uses a community policing model which stresses engagement, education and mobilization of the community to address crime. Lanning adds that “frontline officers routinely conduct foot patrols in the communities within assigned zones, including walking through the hallways and common areas of community housing buildings.” Sgt. David Murtha, administrative sergeant of the KLPS says that his force “believes in the four pillar approach to addressing drug use in our community; 1. Harm Reduction, 2. Prevention and Education, 3. Treatment and

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CONT’D ON PAGE 12

DRUGS

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CONT’D FROM PAGE 11

4. Justice and Enforcement.” The KLPS is working in partnership with an agency in Lindsay that offers support to those struggling with addiction. Explains Murtha, “One day each week, a dedicated officer accompanies an addiction counsellor into the community to offer support and services to those affected by addiction. This support could involve liaising with other service providers to secure housing, health care, mental health treatment, etc., assisting a person to enter drug treatment, distributing naloxone kits or addressing any other needs that are identified.” Such progressive approaches to policing should be commended. But that approach is only as strong as the societal policies and programs that underpin it. Increased access to comprehensive addiction treatment, supportive housing for people with addictions, creative approaches to sentencing of non-violent drug offenders, increased mental health resources, addressing the root causes of both poverty, mental illness and addiction: all of these are needed for this approach to work. Without these supports, it is just a repeating cycle. “The cops are great but they can’t do anything,” says one resident. “I’ve watched them take someone into custody in the morning and drop them off here at night. And then it happens all over. Sometimes the very same night.”

The recently passed provincial omnibus Bill 108 contains changes to the Housing Services Act that would allow a tenant (in this case KLH) to refuse to rehouse a household based on a previous eviction for a serious criminal offence. Lee notes that this is only after an eviction but she would welcome that change. It is true this might address a certain number of situations but one could suggest that without increasing other supports, this could lead to more addiction-related homelessness -- which is by no means an improvement for community safety. But it would help people like Carl and Estelle. When asked what else could help KLH address this problem, Lee stated that streamlining the Landlord and Tenant Tribunal process would be helpful. She also advocates for increased resources for the police, noting, “KLH has an excellent working partnership with the police [but] they only have so many resources available to them.” For its part, the KLPS is trying to address this situation.As Murtha explains, “Until recently, the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service has had one detective constable dedicated to drug enforcement investigations. However, we are in the process of adding a second investigator to our Criminal Investigation Branch to assist in this area.” Murtha notes that the paperwork for obtaining warrants is time-intensive. He adds the police are out there, noting “undercover police operations, surveillance and other forms of information gathering during drug investigations are not always obvious to the community.”

In the meantime people like Dorothy live in fear, afraid to let their kids play outside. She points to a unit under construction. “Maybe someone from housing or city council or MPP Laurie Scott should come live here for a month and live in our complex, see what we see and feel the fear that we fear.”

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Local farmers struggling with wet spring and overall effects of changing climate MALLORY CRAMP-WALDINSPERGER

Jessica Foote and daugher Jessalyn Foote

After examining her soil-stained hands for a moment, Jessica Foote looks out at the fields of her farm, on which several acres of crops have already been lost this year. “We’re at the beck and call of mother nature,” she says, before wiping some of the soil from her hands. Foote, the owner of Lunar Rhythm Gardens has been working in agriculture since she was nine-years-old, under the guidance of her father. Despite the high elevation of her Janetville property, flooding has already destroyed six acres of alfalfa, along with several of Foote’s lettuce crops. “It’s the extremes that do it,” she says. When it comes to battling against extreme weather, Foote is not alone. The City of Kawartha Lakes is home to approximately 1,265 farms, making up over 165,000 acres in crops, according to the 2016 census. With an extended and unpredictable rainy season, farmers struggled to get their equipment, let alone seeds into the wet ground on time. For many years, Emilee Skrabek’s table at the Lindsay Farmer’s Market has overflown with varieties of freshly harvested potatoes, vegetables and homemade preserves. This year, all that Skrabek can offer to market-goers are last year’s potatoes and the vegetables that she has been able to grow in her greenhouse, along with her usual collection of preserves. Her family was not able to plant a single potato until June 30, which is considered extremely late for the crop, and they wondered if they would even get a chance to plant at all. “We still don’t know what’s going to happen,” Skrabek says, shaking her head.

PHOTO: MALLORY CRAMP-WALDINSPERGER

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CONT’D ON PAGE 16

STRUGGLING FARMERS CONT’D FROM PAGE 15

Skrabek says that an additional 85 acres of previously viable land will be planted with cover crops such as clover to help maintain the soil this year at their Deer Run Farm, but little will be harvested. Foote, however, says that she considers herself grateful for what she has been able to sow. A close neighbour, she explains, has over 150 acres of land that will go unused this year. “I struck out lucky compared to that,” says Foote, who was able to till her fields earlier than most by using a team of work horses rather than heavy machinery. For farmers who were able to get their crops into the soil, the battle has only begun. “Although we have seen the return of the sun, and the extreme heat that has come with it, this does not mean that all is well in the farming world,” writes Kelly Maloney, agriculture development officer for the City of Kawartha Lakes.

Plants that have become accustomed to the wet season will not have had to develop the strong root systems required to survive the heat. Skrabek says that the combination of rain, humidity and heat can be deadly for crops as this increases the likelihood for fungal growth and disease such as blight. Farmers who plant multiple crops in succession will have a more compounded season, meaning fewer but much longer days to harvest and plant. The team at Lunar Rhythm Gardens, for instance has already put in 12-hour work days in order to plant their first crops, and Foote says that she expects longer days moving forward. Although this may be necessary in order to make ends meet, Maloney writes that there is concern for the health of farmers. “The emotional stress and effects on mental health cannot be overlooked for the farm community and the many supply, service, and other support businesses that exist in the agri-food sector,” she explains. CONT’D ON PAGE 25

David and Emilee Skrabek with their children on Deer Run Farm, which has been owned and operated by their family for generations.

CONT’D ON PAGE 25

PHOTO: SIENNA FROST

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The municipality has launched a new online engagement platform called Jump In, Kawartha Lakes. This platform offers a convenient way for residents to become informed and provide feedback via surveys, polls, idea forums and interactive maps! Provide your feedback on the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan now. Join the conversation at www.jumpinkawarthalakes.ca.

ELLEN PATTERSON

CATHY PUFFER

108 Kent St W, Lindsay Ph: 705-324-0500 Fax: 705-324-6837

CLARE MILLINGTON Monday - Friday 9am to 5:30pm Saturday 9am to 1pm

READER SPOTLIGHT Courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Public Library

Ryan Oliver CEO of the Pinnguaq Association

Think Douglas Adams, if he were still alive and wrote exclusively about post apocalyptic America. It’s not perfect but it features a talking goat, and a man named Truckee on a secret mission from the president, and I’ve always got time for books about talking goats.

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NANCY PAYNE

When summer brings day after day of rain, do you think of your fields, your construction contract, your weekend plans or your lawn? The answer to that question probably depends to a large extent on whether you live in town or in the country. While we tend to think of all of Kawartha Lakes as rural, if you live in Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, or even some of the smaller villages, you might be surprised to know that many things you can take for granted just aren’t the same for those of us who live in the country. And if you came here from the GTA, no doubt you’re in for an even bigger surprise.

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Outside town, we depend on wells. You may remember that the summer of 2017 was especially warm and dry. All over Kawartha Lakes, wells simply ran out of water, meaning rural dwellers had to have huge containers of water trucked in—especially difficult and expensive for farmers with livestock. Poorer hay yields due to the drought left many having to buy feed they would normally have grown. I know that was a hard summer for everyone, but just consider what it was like for people with no water in their homes and barns. To hear people in town talk about how brown their lawns were seemed a bit much in comparison. CONT’D ON PAGE 20

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COOL, WET WEATHER DELAY CROP PLANTING CONT’D FROM PAGE 18

Early this summer, of course, the cool, wet weather meant many farmers had to wait much later than usual to get on their land, delaying planting, reducing quality of hay and endangering some crops. Again, juxtapose that with hearing others complain about water levels affecting the dock at the cottage.

” You may remember that

the summer of 2017 was especially warm and dry. All over Kawartha Lakes, wells simply ran out of water, meaning rural dwellers had to have huge containers of water trucked in—especially difficult and expensive for farmers with livestock. The contrast really hit home, though, when the provincial government announced a cash injection to improve rural internet and cell coverage throughout this area and eastern Ontario. I was genuinely surprised at the backlash—many online commenters seemed to feel this was a frivolous expense when compared with the needs of students, children with autism, people in need of medical care and so many others harmed by cuts resulting from the government’s spring budget. In reality, outside town, reliable cell service and highspeed internet are elusive at best. It’s come a long way, but internet coverage in the country can’t begin to compare with the fast, consistent service available to those with cable. Our coverage is typically more expensive and is almost always capped. Internet and cell access isn’t a frill; it’s a basic requirement for the thousands of local citizens who run businesses from their homes (as my husband and I do), including farmers, contractors and the many

other self-employed people who’ve chosen to make their homes in our beautiful area. The same is true for reliable cell service—imagine being in the middle of a crucial conference call and your cell phone just drops out, something that’s commonplace in rural areas. It’s human nature to generalize from our own circumstances. And of course, we who live in the country need to remember that people who live in town have problems we don’t: homelessness, noise, higher house prices. We’ve all made choices to live where we do, and yes, we know that means living with the consequences. We rural dwellers understand that our gravel roads may be—should be—lower on the snowploughs’ priority list and that the Wi-Fi will be spotty. What would be really nice, though, is a little more consideration of the effect of weather, government decisions, the economy and more on your rural neighbours’ lives and livelihoods. At a time when public figures and political leaders seem intent on encouraging citizens to reduce the world to a grim state of “us” versus “them,” we can instead insist on being respectful of people in different circumstances, and recognizing that we all have a lot to learn about how other people live and work. The more we know about and can sympathize with each other, the stronger our community will be.

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MONUMENTS, INSCRIPTIONS, RESTORATION & CLEANING

Be A Friendly Visitor Community Care is currently recruiting volunteers to be Friendly Visitors, who have some time to keep in touch with clients through regular home visits or telephone calls. Friendly Visitor volunteers are carefully matched, screened and trained for their service. The program provides much-needed social contact and a check on individuals’ safety and wellbeing.

ts now? a Lakes residen th ar aw K er rm e fo Where are thes name: Greg MacArthur age: 49 high school: L.C.V.I. family: Pete & Sandy (parents in Lindsay), 3 sisters lives where: Lethbridge for past 5 years, previously Montreal occupation: Dramaturg (works with playwrights, creators), currently has projects in Toronto, Montreal and South Africa. Next gig: Writer-in-residence at Berton House, Dawson City a favourite ckl business: White’s of Lindsay; Dairy Barn 3 favourite ckl places: Locks in Fenelon Falls, Academy Theatre, Mustang Drive-in great memory: Academy and Lindsay Little Theatre productions during high school years chances of moving back one day: Remote, theatre work takes him elsewhere (10%?)

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TAKE-OUT AND DELIVERY

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NATURE NOTES WITH SUZANNE ALDEN

BUSY BEAVERS

COFFEE with the CHIROPRACTOR BY DR. ASDHIR

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Dear Doc: Can I Plant and Rake without Pain?

Next to humans, beavers manipulate their environment more than any other creature and are considered a “keystone species” around which entire ecosystems revolve. This is a marked contrast to old-school thinking where beavers and their ways are a nuisance. The dambuilding can prevent floods as well as cause them: wetlands that are dammed soak up floodwaters, prevent erosion and create an ecosystem that breaks down pesticides, as well as providing habitat for insect, fish and bird species. The largest dam in existence is in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta & stretches for 850 metres, visible from space!

tunities. One Exceptional Library.

KLPL

KAWARTHA LAKES PUBLIC LIBRARY

1. Warm up and stretches

Take a small walk before you start to rake leaves. Let your body warm up and be prepared to bend and stretch to warm up your muscles. After a short walk, move from side to side to stretch your back. Bend forward and try to touch the ground. Hold it for 10 seconds before slowly lifting up. Do this 5 times, then take a water break. Rotate your wrists as if you’re twisting a door knob. Do this clockwise and counter clockwise, 5x each to help prepare for digging!

3. Bend your knees

While picking up the gathered leaves bend your knees and your hips so that you’re close to the ground. A knee pad can soften the pressure to the area. This can be a great way to work that core as well!

4. Keep things close to your body W

R VE EW CO ’S N IS T D HA

KLPL

This is one of the best times of the year to get active, but even in the garden injuries can occur. Here’s how to have fun in the sun and still stay injury free:

When you gather leaves, weeds, and plants from the ground, hold them up close to your body. That way the weight gets balanced and there is no extra load on muscles and joints.

5. Work at the correct height

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Instead of bending for a long time, keep your back straight and face down from the neck while you’re raking. While tending to plants sit in a chair at the equal height of the plant and work at it. Don’t bend for more than 20 minutes at a time and remember, you need that water break.

6. Take frequent breaks

Instead of bending for a long time, keep your back straight and face down from the neck while raking. While tending to plants sit in a chair at the equal height of the plant and work at it. Don’t bend for more than 20 minutes at a time and remember water breaks. Gardening and planting are extremely therapeutic as well as a good form of exercise for mind and body. If you do experience an injury, your chiropractor is here to help! We want you to get back to doing what you love.

282 Kent St W (Beside Ross Memorial Hospital) 705.878.8558 | kawarthacare.com

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DINING REVIEW

Olympia Restaurant RODERICK BENNS

It’s hard to imagine Lindsay without the Olympia. A fixture in town for an incredible 113 years, this is a dining experience with an unbroken legacy of excellence. Proprietors Nicki and Costas Dedes have ensured the tradition of amazing Greek cuisine remains alive and well in Kawartha Lakes. Complete with a great downtown patio experience and attentive, top-notch service, this is a must-experience restaurant. Start off with Saganaki cheese for an appetizer, a Greek cheese called Kefalotiri, served hot with a lemon wedge and grilled pita bread. Mild on the flavour scale but deliciously satisfying. Alternatively, Melitzana is pan-fried, breaded eggplant slices with the Olympia’s homemade tomato herb sauce, topped with crumbled feta. Could there be a more satisfying way to eat eggplant? When it comes to dinner you’ll encounter a problem – deciding what to order. But surely one of the best choices on the Olympia’s menu is the Chicken Souvlaki. It’s 100% gluten free and 110% delicious, with two chargrilled, marinated souvlaki skewers, served on a bed of herbed rice, the Olympia’s signature lemon-oregano roasted potatoes, Greek Salad and Tzatziki sauce. Stunning flavours. Get it with pork or lamb as alternatives. Another superior option is the Chicken Parmigiana. Breaded chicken breast, grilled, and topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella. The accompany pasta is tossed with either marinara or alfredo and topped by parmesan. Outstanding freshness. Desserts range from light and refreshing to deeply decadent. The Olympia’s ever-revolving line of LaRocca handmade cakes will ensure satisfaction on any given day. The key lime pie is in the refreshing category, a perfect end to a great meal. In the decadent category, the chocolate truffle cake is powerfully satisfying. If you’re just passing through the area drop in and see the Olympia difference. For those who reside here, consider rediscovering one of Lindsay’s signature restaurants.

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Friends of the Lindsay Library

}} 20 Years of Service

The Friends of the Lindsay Library group can trace its origins back to March 4, 1999, when a group of library supporters met to discuss the possibility of forming the supportive network. No time was wasted in getting the group up and running, and the Friends have been working hard on multiple fronts ever since. The organization has been ably served by a number of members over the years, and this was evident when Debbie Bloom distributed pins at a recent event to honour their 20-year history in the community. Recognized were Dianne Lansdell (20 years), Noreen Brasier (19 years), Fred Martell (17 years), Rodger Smith (17 years), Inger Lindsay Library receives Jensen (13 years), Janet Smith (13 years), and Linda Long (10 years). Mary Benson is the current chair of the organization. At the event to recognize the twentieth anniversary, Rodger Smith spoke about some of the ways in which the Friends of the Lindsay Library have reached out to the community to promote literacy among local residents young and old. Among these are the Home Book Service program, where books are delivered to to homebound patrons, and Readers Corner, where Friends of the Library read to residents at the Extendicare nursing home. Perhaps the best-known undertaking of the organization are the monthly book sales which take place in the Carnegie Room of the Lindsay library branch (and yours truly has picked up at least a few used books over the years courtesy of this initiative!)

IAN McKECHNIE Members testified to what their membership in the Friends of the Lindsay Library has meant to them over the years. For Karen Magee, the organization afforded her the opportunity to become better acquainted with her community after moving here some years ago. “I came to the library and ended up doing volunteer work,” she recalled, as she reminisced about finding books for her grandchildren while sorting through donated tomes. For Mary Benson, involvement in the Friends of the Lindsay Library is directly related to her own experience in a remote community with no access to television. “I grew up in northern Ontario, and used to go through a stack of books a week,” she says. “I love libraries and all that they $12,000 donation offer.” The highlight of the 20th anniversary festivities came in the form of a presentation of a $12,000 donation to the City of Kawartha Lakes Public Library, which was gratefully accepted by Jamie Anderson, CEO of the library system. “The Friends group has always been a strong cornerstone at the library,” he says. “They do a lot of work for us through their book sales...it’s very heartening to see such a strong volunteer organization active in the community.” The Friends of the Lindsay Library are always looking for new members. Membership is free, but an annual donation of $10/year (Individual), $15/year (Family), or $5/year (Student) is greatly appreciated. Application forms can be picked up at the Lindsay branch, at 190 Kent Street West.

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FRIENDS & NEIGHBOURS

Mike Puffer a big part of our caring, supportive community Think about what contributes to a caring, supportive community. Any list would include the service clubs and the churches. Arguably, the press belong there. Near the top would be agencies like United Way and Community Care. For decades Mike Puffer has played key roles in all of these. Later this month, after 11 years as Executive-Director of the United Way and 14 years as Communications Officer with Community Care, Mike is “retiring” (more about the quotation marks later). When I sit down with him it’s to hear some reflections on his professional and volunteer services. We meet upstairs at Remedy’s RX on Kent, the independent pharmacy owned and operated by his wife, Cathy. Ten years ago, it was Cathy I interviewed. She was born and raised here. I assumed Mike, was, too, but he sets me straight. He was a Ryerson journalism student when his father was transferred here as branch manager at Victoria and Grey Trust in 1981. “I was a pissed-off 19-year-old,” he tells me. A few months later, though, he met Cathy, and began to warm to the town.

JAMIE MORRIS

Mike progressed from reporter to sports editor to managing editor. (Advocate Publisher Roderick Benns remembers selling his first story to Mike -- for a princely $25). After the Post, a small independent daily, was sold to the Thomson conglomerate, it wasn’t the same. Mike moved on in 1992, taking a position as Resource Development Coordinator for Community Living. Two years later, United Way created a full-time Executive-Director position. Mike applied and was hired. It was a dream job. “There was involvement in the community, fundraising, dealing with people, and encouraging others to support the community in many different ways.” This is, after all, the umbrella agency that provides financial life-blood to everything from EarlyON Child and Family Centre and Big Brothers and Big Sisters to Community Care.

THE CAREER

When Mike graduated from Ryerson he was hired as a reporter by the Lindsay Post; ironically, Cathy was in Toronto, completing her degree in Pharmacy. “It was a fantastic job for an energetic young man with a girlfriend in Toronto and nothing else to do,” he tells me. He didn’t mind 18 hour days and enjoyed covering high school sports, Homecoming celebrations and elections. “I loved the way the daily paper would come together,” he says. “Early in the morning we’d be banging away on typewriters in preparation for paste-up and typesetting. At 11 am the paper would roll off the presses. There was always a jolt of adrenaline. We could revel for a minute. Then we’d go out and start all over again.”

Mike Puffer

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

In 2005 he moved to Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes (later Community Care Health & Care Network) as Communications Officer, overseeing all the organization’s communications and marketing efforts, and supporting fundraising and development programs. When Mike arrived everything happened out of small offices above the Canada Post office on Russell Street in Lindsay and the focus was on Mealson-Wheels and other seniors’ services. Since then the organization has mushroomed, responding to emerging and growing needs. There are currently 180 employees and no fewer than 500 volunteers offering a broad range of services from cradle to grave. These include food and nutrition programs; health, wellness and dental services offered at the Community Health Centre on Angeline; supports for seniors and special needs adults at home; rides and transportation to, for example, cancer treatments; and a hospice for those approaching death and those grieving a loss. In any given year around 7000, clients are assisted. Part of the satisfaction in the work for Mike has been being part of that growth. Another part has been being associated with dedicated staff and selfless volunteers.

YOURSURANCE FOR YOUR FARM.

VOLUNTEERING

Yes, he gives at the office, but from childhood Mike was taught the importance of volunteer work. His Dad was a Rotarian and on any number of boards, including the Academy Theatre and United Way. Listing his involvement yields a catalogue of community groups: 19 years as a Kinsmen and now a Rotarian, on the boards of the Cambridge Street United Church, Boys & Girls Club, Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce, and Food Source; and one of the 100 Men Who Care. Volunteering is something he’d encourage others to do: “It’s good for the community; it’s also good for the volunteer -- an opportunity to grow, to learn, and to make lifelong friends. It gives a sense of belonging.” He’s worried, though. The volunteer force is aging and can’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting; recruiting new volunteers is a challenge. Service clubs, churches, the Legion, all face dwindling membership. (One group he feels could be engaged are recent retirees relocating to the area).

WHAT’S NEXT

Mike is looking forward to more time with Cathy and there will be some travel. When we talked the pair had just returned from a 3-game weekend in Baltimore (Mike’s a lifelong Oriole’s fan.) But he’ll continue his involvement with Rotary Club, Cambridge St. United Church, 100 Men Who Care, and the Food Source Board, and he plans to do some volunteering for Community Care as well, maybe as a volunteer driver. There’s a new job, too (hence the quotation marks around “retiring.”) He’ll be assisting Cathy at Remedy’s, handling administration and health care promotion and education. He’ll also continue to do what’s he’s happily done from Day One at the pharmacy, serving as custodian, mopping floors and tending to recycling. If you go by the dictionary definition of custodian -- “a person with responsibility for protecting or taking care of something” -- that’s just what he’s been doing, not just at Remedy’s, but for decades around our community.

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SWITCHING IS EASY. STEWARTMORRISON.CA/FARM

Fenelon Falls|Lindsay|Bobcaygeon Port Perry|Peterborough 705.324.6681|1.800.811.5841 stewartmorrison.ca

JUST IN TIME

‘Raise the Song of Harvest Home’ September 17, 1997. A terrifying sight is bringing up the rear of Lindsay’s annual Fair Parade. An 80-year-old steam engine (more properly called a traction engine), complete with a water wagon and antique threshing machine in tow, inches its way up Kent Street. Terrifying, you say? Yes, indeed. To a six or sevenyear-old child, the column of grey smoke rising from the chimney of this fire-breathing monster built by George White & Sons Co. of London, Ontario, means only one thing: its whistle will soon be shrieking like a banshee as it passes by on route to the [old] Lindsay fairgrounds. You close your eyes for a few minutes – if only to shield them from the smoke! – and imagine that you have travelled back eight or nine decades....It’s a warm August day, sometime in the early 1920s, somewhere in Victoria County. Harvest time. You are standing at the side of a dirt road, looking out across a farmer’s field. In the distance, you can see a traction engine, a water wagon, and a threshing outfit. A dozen or so men are gathered around this assemblage, straining to hear each other over the cacophony surrounding them. Curious, you hop over the cedar rail fence bordering the property and make your way across the field. As you approach the threshers, you are overwhelmed by the pungent (or aromatic!) smell of wood smoke, which envelopes all and sundry. A young man is methodically adding wood to the engine’s firebox. His face and forearms are blackened with grease. Standing alongside him is a thickset man with a sunburned nose and a heavy Scottish accent, manipulating an elaborate assortment of valves and levers as he works up a head of steam. Some distance away, a gang of men are crowded about the threshing machine, which shakes and rattles as sheaves of grain are separated from stalks of wheat.

IAN McKECHNIE

At the other end of the machine, chaff blows out into a growing pile nearby. This machine, about a decade older than the engine powering it, was built in nearby Lindsay by the famous Sylvester Bros. Manufacturing Co.You know from having had conversations with your grandparents that Sylvester Bros. was once an economic powerhouse in Lindsay, churning out threshing machines, hay rakes, and railway jiggers aplenty in its palatial plant kitty corner to Lindsay’s Carnegie library. Linked by a long belt twisted halfway along its length, the steam engine and the threshing machine harmoniously work together, like different sections of an orchestra, making marvelous mechanical music as they hasten the harvest. Late that afternoon, the shriek of the steam whistle brings the day’s work to a halt.The fellows on the machinery climb down from their posts and move off across the field towards a nearby farmhouse.You follow at a distance. You reach an open window at the back kitchen, where the smell of roast beef, mashed potatoes, baked bread, apple pie, and lemonade provides a welcome respite from the smell of chaff and wood smoke. The farmer’s wife, daughters, and members of the local Women’s Institute have been hard at work in preparing this, the second of two large meals for the threshing team. You notice that some of the threshers – along with the young chap who was apprenticing on the traction engine – have washed up, while the older gentlemen sit down at the table still smelling of wood smoke and straw. You think this a bit odd, but then recall that an old-timer you know once told you that “one could tell the single men, by the fact that they usually washed before meals, while the older married ones just wiped off the worst dust.” Through the open window, you can hear a great deal of conversation and laughter. These hardy rural folk, separated from you by more than a few generations, are enjoying a well-deserved rest from their labours.

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Supper over, everyone adjourns to the farmhouse parlour where they gather around an ostentatious-looking pump organ to sing their old favourites:

Come, ye thankful people, come Raise the song of harvest home All is safely gathered in Ere the winter storms begin The sound of singing farm folk drifts off. The distinct smells fade away.... You open your eyes to the 1997 Lindsay Fair Parade, which is just wrapping up. You see the old George White & Sons Co. engine silhouetted in the setting sun as it approaches the end of the parade route. It will be on display at the fairgrounds for the remainder of the week, its signature cacophony capturing the imaginations of all who draw near.

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Today, a giant combine harvester toils in the same field once worked by George White’s engines and Sylvester Bros. threshing equipment. One farmer can oversee the work once carried out by a throng of people. The old cedar rail fence over which you hopped to watch the threshers at work is still there, albeit hidden among the trees and tall grass rustling in the breeze of a late summer’s day. Yet for a rural community like this, the words of the old line which once echoed through that ancient farmhouse parlour still ring true: “Raise the song of harvest home.”

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TREVOR’S TAKE

TREVOR HUTCHINSON, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Let’s just talk

(at the beach)

I don’t own a single centimetre of this city but I still feel pretty lucky to live here. In one of our recent heat waves, it became clear that we had to take the kids to a beach after a hot day in our unairconditioned rental. Living in the middle of our vast city, I could really choose any direction and within a short drive I could be at an incredible number of beaches or splashpads or both. And then it hit me. A sense of gratitude: how lucky I am to be trying to raise a family in our City of Kawartha Lakes. But if you listen to the daily ads coming from the Conservative party you wouldn’t think we have much to be grateful for -- with the possible exception of Andrew Scheer’s unproven brilliance. Not that the Conservatives are the only party resorting to hyperbole. But they are the ones using a big-money, US-written campaign (that didn’t even use Canadian spelling at the start of it.) It’s full of bluster and seemingly indifferent to facts: all dog-whistles and red herrings. And the election hasn’t even formally started. That imported US-style of rhetoric seeks only to divide, to use hot-button issues that pit neighbour against neighbour. You won’t hear mention of a 40year low level of unemployment. Equally absent from this tsunami of negativity is the fact that Canada consistently ranks as one of the best places to live on the entire planet. Is every Canadian enjoying this? Not even close. Are some of our own neighbours in the CKL being left behind? Sadly, yes. Can we do better? Absolutely. We are never going to all agree. What I am suggesting is that we can disagree in a better way. Not too worried about the climate crisis -- the greatest existential threat humanity has ever faced? Speak to a young person whose entire future is threatened or speak to a farmer who is already seeing changes in soil and weather patterns. Think that the government should control more of what businesses do? Speak to a small business owner about the challenges of trying to be competitive. And while we are at it let’s be radically factual. Millions of dollars are being spent (provided in part by foreign billionaires) to appeal to our ‘lesser angels’: our fear of the ‘other.’ We have a month or so before the actual campaign. What if we were all to start with a little gratitude and a little humility? Perhaps then we could debate, argue and even disagree with some measure of civility. Add fact-based discussion and we might be onto something. And the best part is we can do this at the beach or many other beautiful spots in the place we are so very fortunate to call home.

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The premier employment service agency and resource centre in the City of Kawartha Lakes and surrounding area.

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Mickaël’s Café Librairie

A Taste of France in Lindsay

we have seen a high demand for certain products. Below, we have compiled a list of our best sellers: 1)

Pretzels - Is it that authentic German-style crust? Is it the soft and

Sesame, Salt, Rosemary... We can hardly keep up with the demand. 2) Cookies - We started out with Mickaël’s all-time favourite Cranberry Oatmeal, and have since introduced a plethora of new and popular recipes. Want to know our secret ingredient? It’s butter! 3) Bagels - From day one, we have boiled our bagels in water and honey. More than “just bread,” each bagel is a treat, and a perfect choice for sandwiches, for toast, or entirely on its own.

MONDAY 8:00-5:30 TUESDAY 8:00-5:30 WEDNESDAY 8:00-5:30 THURSDAY 8:00-5:30 FRIDAY 8:00-5:30 SATURDAY 8:00-5:30 SUNDAY 8:00-5:30

4) Crème brûlée - Many customers tell us that our crème brûlée is the best they have ever tried. When each cup tastes like velvety vanilla ice cream – without the brain freeze! – we certainly cannot disagree. 5)

Multigrain Country Bread -

This pure sourdough is made with a

bread.

And now, allow us to introduce Mickaels.ca, a simple way to order your preferred products, baked fresh, and ready for pick-up starting at 11 AM, every day.

230 Kent St. W., Lindsay 705.341.4143