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By Tim Ruhnke - Journal Staff Writer
PRESCOTT Voters in Prescott will have two or three decisions to make when they go to the polls in next month's municipal election.
Three candidates for mayor had come forward prior to the end of nominations Friday afternoon. But only five people had entered the race to fill six councillor seats.
The three mayoralty candidates are Craig Worden, Robert Lawn and Kelly Benish-Lennox. The winner will succeed Doug Hayes, who is completing his second term as mayor and opted not to seek re-election.
The five candidates for councillor were acclaimed. Incumbent Jo-Anne Beckstead will be joined at the council table by Garry Dewar, Jim French, Terry McConnell and Nancy McFarland.
The nomination period for the remaining vacancy reopened this morning and closes today at 5 p.m. If one person files for the position, he or she will be acclaimed; if more than one person files, there will be an election for that position.
Beckstead and Worden are the only two members of the current council who are running in this election. Councillors Evelyn Dales and Frank Whiten were the last two members to indicate they would not be running.
Whiten, who has served on four municipal councils, said in an interview Monday that it is time for other things, although he noted he did recently have some thoughts of staying. He said serving on council has been a learning experience that has been enjoyable.
"I wish the next council all the best," Whiten said.
In announcing her decision not to seek another term, Dales told council Monday that she has experienced an increase in family obligations during the past few months. "For my family, this is a decision I have to make at this time," she said.
Dales was appointed to council in September 1999 following the resignation of Coun. Jim Knudson.
Councillors John McAuley and Michael Berrea are the other two councillors who will not be seeking re-election.
In addition to selecting a new mayor and possibly one councillor, Prescott voters will also be asked at election time whether they approve of a charity casino being located in the town. The winning side (yes or no) will require a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one.
Returning officer Andrew Brown reported Monday that the chamber of commerce and the business improvement area have registered as parties in the referendum. Party status can be obtained after the nomination period has ended, according to Brown.
By Jeff Lee - Journal Staff Writer
JOHNSTOWN The Township of Edwardsburgh now has ownership of the Port of Prescott.
The transfer of the port's facilities and property to the township from the federal government was completed at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The township paid $10. The transfer includes the grain elevator, wharves, marina, cottage and residential sites.
The agreement includes two equal contributions totalling $2.7 million from Canada Ports Corporation in working capital to the township. The municipality will also receive a yearly $350,000 grant in lieu as long as it owns the property.
Township Reeve Dave Dobbie said council is quite pleased now that the municipality finally has ownership of the port facilities after four years of negotiations. The Port of Prescott was the last port site directly administered by the Canada Ports Corporation. The transferred facility includes approximately 162 hectares of land and a water lot on the St. Lawrence River.
"It just seemed like we were on a roller-coaster ride and it was good just to get off," Dobbie said.
In a released announcement, Leeds-Grenville MP Joe Jordan congratulated the township on its acquisition of the port. He added that having the facilities run by people who know their role best in the community and the potential for growth will allow the port to function and develop in the best interests of the community.
Of the two equal contributions totalling $2.7 million from CPC, the first $1.35 million is for repairs and maintenance of port facilities during the next four years.
The second will provide necessary security for the township to obtain a Canadian Grain Commission licence to operate the port's grain elevators. CPC has also provided an advance of $150,000 to the township to cover some of the pre-transfer professional service costs.
Dobbie said that the port and its facilities are good for the township, not only as a business that has been profitable but also for the grants in lieu and the people it employs.
He said when the government was divesting itself of ports, few private businesses could afford the more than $1 million in taxes with the land assessed at full market value. To be profitable, Dobbie said, they had to be run by government agencies.
The port facilities will also continue to employ the 37 part- and full-time employees for the foreseeable future. Dobbie said that some changes in staffing can be expected and added that the majority of changes will be in the office side of the port's operations.
The port can now continue to be an outlet for local grain, the reeve said.
When Dobbie was recently at the elevator, it was full of grain, although the product was from Western Ontario, which had a stronger season.
The facilities include about 162 hectares of land and water lot on the St. Lawrence River.
There are three wharves, a 154,000-tonne grain elevator, related buildings and equipment, a number of cottage and residential sites, a marina, roadways and railway spur-line.
By Monica Whitney - Journal Staff Writer
MAYNARD The Maynard landfill site will be closed, Augusta Township councillors decided during a meeting Monday.
The resolution was passed despite the plea by 200 petitioners, led by resident Mary Daw, to keep the site open and functioning.
Council directed the landfill site supervisor to have the township's consulting engineers complete the final design plans for a raised-platform transfer station at the Maynard site. The station is to be equipped to handle the compaction and transfer of domestic waste.
The council also accepted a quote by Canadian Waste of Brockville for $65 per metric tonne of domestic waste to be transferred from the Maynard site for three years.
"We have no choice" but to close the site, said Reeve Adrian Van Schie. "The licensed portion is full at the present time and we're getting very close to capacity. We need to provide closure. We need to provide a seamless transition for the residents of the township by putting in a transfer station."
Options for increasing the licensed portion will still be available to future councils, Van Schie noted. The North Augusta site will receive all industrial, commercial and institutional garbage from the municipality. The life expectancy of that site with 30 per cent of the households using the facility is about 12 years.
Daw, owner of the Maynard General Store, told council she obtained 200 signatures within five days to keep the site open. She said she believes the Maynard site is an asset worth keeping. "If we maintain the garbage dump, it is going to be an asset to us. It's almost a natural resource."
While Daw suggested there could be funding available for the site, Deputy Reeve John McCrea said "government funding would be hard-pressed to support something that's built on a gravel pit beside a creek that's obviously polluting.
"One would think with Walkerton and everything else that if this municipality was contaminating the ground water that he (Leeds-Grenville MPP Bob Runciman) would be hard-pressed politically to throw his support behind that for funding. I would suggest (the dump) is a liability and not an asset."
Daw said she was not advocating carrying on the same type of dumping procedures as in the past. "Let's look at how do we line the dump site now to prevent a leaching? We need to do research to try and save this dump, because it's not business as usual any more.
"We've got to change the way we think and the way we do things, and it's right here at the municipal level," Daw said, suggesting that the site be properly prepared for years of future use. "We haven't looked at those possibilities.
"Look at how dumping and landfill sites are at a premium now," Daw told the large delegation at the meeting.
"Look at how the business of dumping has changed. There's all-out wars. There's people who don't know what to do with their garbage and we're going to close a landfill site that's been there... Why can't we look at doing a better job of looking after our own garbage?
"We're not being very far-sighted," Daw said. "It's very near-sighted. She predicted that in 10 years, the township would regret its decision to close the site. "We're giving our garbage and our problem to somebody else at cost."
"The ministry is telling us to shut this down now," McCrea said.
"They're saying it's full. They're saying we're contaminating the groundwater... we're polluting. I just can't see keeping this open."
The township owns about 100 acres at the site, about 12 acres of which are licensed to hold waste. Extra land was purchased as a buffer because it was contaminated with leaching, Van Schie explained.
An expansion of the licensed portion of the dump to the north would require a material liner with a leachate collection system.
"You could spend millions of dollars" just getting the licence and the proper studies done, Van Schie said.
"For $87,000 to $90,000 a year, you can take the waste material that's being generated at the Maynard landfill site and transport it to another landfill site," Van Schie said. "It just seems cost-effective to me to move that garbage and not have to buy additional land, not to go through all the hardship unless you were expanding your licensed area to include more than just Augusta Township residents in other words, creating a mega-dump of some nature.
"The council of the day will have the opportunity to review all the plans for the future and to have discussion," said Van Schie, who is stepping down as reeve. "I'll even come back and offer my services free of charge to this township to give them the past 12 years of my experience with that landfill site."
Coun. Doug Barton noted it may be feasible for the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville to open discussions on the landfill site ED-19 located north of Crystal Rock and east of County Road 44 in about four years.
"When it's decided it's feasible to open ED-19, the United Counties has the power to tell the rest of the communities that aren't ready to use it to close down their landfills and everyone will use ED-19.
"If 10 years from now Brockville, Prescott and Augusta make it cost-effective for them to open that landfill site, some other communities will be sitting with dumps that aren't full but will have to cap them and stop using them and start using ED-19," Barton said.
The township could expand its site then again be forced to close it down in about 12 years, he noted.
An open house and public meeting held Oct. 5 to discuss the dump issue and options attracted about 55 people.
PRESCOTT Jack Walsh, clerk-treasurer of the Village of Cardinal and the municipality's director on the newly established Rideau-St. Lawrence Utilities, has been appointed CEO of the new corporation, effective Nov. 7. Until then, he will be assisting with Cardinal's transition to the new utility service. Allan Beckstead, manager of the Prescott Public Utilities Commission, has been named chief financial officer of the new company, also effective Nov. 7.
PRESCOTT "Getting the lead out" is proving to be costly in Prescott. Work crews uncovered a four-inch water line under George Street that has lead joints. Town engineer Clyde Solomon said during a committee meeting Oct. 10 that the line will have to be replaced at an estimated cost of $39,850. The municipality is finding that the cost of replacing old water lines and connections as part of the ongoing infrastructure project is higher than what had been anticipated. "The good news is we are starting to run out of streets," Solomon remarked.
Town officials reiterated that a base coat of asphalt will be applied this fall to streets dug up during the infrastructure project.
A second coat will also be applied to most or all streets; weather conditions will determine how much of the work can be completed this fall.
Deputy Mayor Craig Worden reported the town has received calls from residents concerned about the state of some sidewalks. Worden noted the project is ongoing and will continue over the next couple of years; the town is aware of the problems and will get to them, he added. He pointed out that the town is carrying out more road work than originally planned.
PRESCOTT A special children's Hallowe'en party will be held at the Prescott Public Library this Saturday, Oct. 21 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Children ages three to 12 are welcome to wear a costume, enjoy crafts, snacks and punch. There will be prizes for the best costume. Call the library at 925-4340 to sign up.
HECKSTON The Spencerville Worship Team with minister Doug Warren will provide a selection of music and song at Heckston United Church this Sunday, Oct. 22. The program will get under way at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.
MAYNARD The annual fall amnesty day at the Maynard landfill site will be held Saturday, Oct. 28. Two appliances and four tires from each household can be dropped off at the site free of charge.
PRESCOTT Town council has begun preliminary work on a tender for the construction of a new town hall, but it will be up to the incoming council to finish the deal.
Council agreed during a committee-of-the-whole meeting held Oct. 10 to adopt a tentative schedule for opening, closing and awarding the tender to build a new town hall on the site of the parking lot at the corner of King and Centre streets.
Pre-qualified tenderers are to be selected Nov. 6. Tender packages would be ready three days later, and bids would be accepted until Nov. 30.
Analysis of the bids would be completed by Dec. 15, after the new municipal council takes office. Council would then be in a position to award the tender on Dec. 18, according to the schedule developed by town officials.
Council decided earlier this year to proceed with a plan to construct a 12,000-square-foot, two-storey municipal building downtown. However, council later consented to having a feasibility study done to determine the cost of renovating the existing municipal building on Dibble Street West.
The study indicated that the estimated cost of renovations would be in the range of $1.1 million. The estimated cost of constructing a new building at the downtown site is $1.5 million
Council members indicated after the meeting that they had looked at the numbers and decided that the town could afford to proceed with the original plan.
"This is long enough," Coun. Jo-Anne Beckstead said.
The town has shown it can go ahead with the project without having to raise taxes, according to Beckstead. The project will have a positive effect on the town, she predicted.
Earlier this month, council decided to file a request by the chamber of commerce to delay making a final decision on the town hall issue until the incoming council has taken office following the Nov. 13 municipal election. It was acknowledged last week that the new council could decide not to award the tender and choose some other option.
But Beckstead and other council members insisted that the town has done its homework and can justify a new building. They cited figures prepared by town staff which show the municipality is almost debt-free and can afford to proceed with the town hall project without having to raise taxes.
The annual cost of financing the town's sewer project and municipal building over a 15- or 20-year period would be well within the maximum allowable annual debt payment set by the province, town officials said. Municipal reserves would increase from $1.43 million at the end of 1999 to more than $1.61 million at the end of 2002, according to projections provided by town staff.
"The bottom line is we can carry on business as usual and we can handle the debt load," Beckstead said.
As for parking-related concerns associated with the proposed location of a new town hall, council indicated last week that a potential solution to the problem was to be discussed. However, no additional information was provided during the council meeting Monday.
Mayor Doug Hayes pointed out that council is finding a solution to the problem of having municipal staff work in a building which does not meet fire and building-code standards. The mayor said council never really got off the trail as it dealt with the town hall issue, even though there were "a few mud holes along the way."
By Monica Whitney -Journal Staff Writer
ALGONQUIN A long-time businessman and area resident has declared his candidacy for Augusta council in the Nov. 13 municipal elections.
Morris Stark, who recently retired as a real estate broker and agent following a 30-year career, is seeking the deputy reeve's chair. He will be running for the position along with Dwain Swerdfiger.
A township resident for most of his life, Stark grew up in the village of Algonquin and attended Maitland Public School and South Grenville District High School. He is married to Dorothy and is the father of two girls.
"It's time to give something back to where I live and the community," Stark said. "I have the time, energy and business experience to offer the residents of Augusta Township. I can offer competent representation."
Stark sees the closing of the Maynard landfill site and the future of waste management as the most pressing issues for council. The licensed area of the Maynard site will be exhausted by spring 2001, and Stark said he would like to look at all the options and costs, including keeping the site open.
Preventive maintenance for roads is a must, he said. "Don't wait until roads are in poor condition before doing anything. You have to keep up what you have."
Ditching is also an ongoing concern, he noted.
The Augusta Fire Department is one of the best, Stark remarked, and he said it is important that it be always properly equipped. The library, playgrounds and recreational facilities also need regular maintenance, he noted.
Stark hopes to develop and maintain Augusta's industrial park. "We have one of the best locations and no one to promote it," he said. "We have to get involved and promote our park to new industry."
Stark said the industrial park would be ideal for high-tech firms, and this development would enhance the tax base and create employment for youth.
Working co-operatively with neighbouring municipalities as a team "for the betterment of all" will also be a priority for Stark. Communities helping each other attract industries instead of losing businesses to another area of Ontario and sharing responsibilities in day-to-day operations are ways co-operation could be explored, he said.
He would also like to see a simpler process for obtaining a severance to build on non-agricultural land.
Stark resides near Glenmore in the centre of Augusta, northeast of Algonquin.
He is the former director and past chairman of the Brockville-Leeds Business Development Corporation, which created employment by providing federal financing to assist new and existing small businesses with start-up and business plans.
Stark is the former director and president of the Rideau St. Lawrence Real Estate Board and a former director of the Real Estate Institute of Canada (St. Lawrence-Quinte Chapter).
He has also been a member and chairman of the South Leeds Economic Development Commit-tee and a member of the committee of adjustment and chairman of the Economic Development Commit-tee for Elizabethtown.
Stark noted he has always had an interest in Augusta politics and has attended council meetings since about 1959, when they were held in Glenmore.
MAYNARD - There will be a race for all seats on Augusta council for the Nov. 13 municipal elections.
Filing nomination papers for councillor before the 5 p.m. deadline last Friday were William Buckler, Wayne Reid, Douglas Barton, Kathleen Thur and Jane Fullarton. Voters will have a chance to elect three councillors.
Vying for the reeve's position are George Vail and John McCrea, while Morris Stark and Dwain Swerdfiger will contest the chair for deputy reeve.
MAYNARD The recycling depot in Riverview Heights will be closed immediately due to abuse of the facility.
During its regular meeting Monday, Augusta Township council decided to close the site indefinitely.
Reeve Adrian Van Schie commented that both residents and non-residents of Augusta had been misusing the facility for some time, dropping off non-recyclable waste material.
The area has also experienced vandalism and an influx of rodents, he said.
The site is located on Merwin Lane in front of the former Churchill Public School.
"We recognize it will be an inconvenience to some residents to take those recyclables to the Maynard landfill site, but we do have better control at that site," Van Schie said.
"Certainly when we start hearing about rodents in the area going over for their nightly meal because there is garbage in that area, we need to close this on a temporary basis."
There is no proof of who is dropping off garbage, he noted, because "they are sorting their garbage well enough that they are not leaving us any identification."
Peter White, who resides across the road from the site, wrote a letter to council requesting action on the facility. He stated those who are able to observe the activity at the depot "are alarmed by the level of abuse occurring."
"It is clear that residents from outside both Riverview Heights and Augusta Township are unloading large quantities of trash and garbage at the site, some literally by the truckload," White stated. "It is often a pile of hideous garbage and refuse shortly after the cleanup" by township works crews.
White noted in the letter that decomposable garbage is being placed inside and beside the containers, creating an unpleasant smell and a large rodent population. "We are seeing for the first time in 13 years the presence of large rats around the Merwin Lane farmhouse and in the field just north of it.
"Rats and other wildlife now cross Merwin Lane regularly for their meals at the depot," White wrote. "I believe it will not be long before this practice results in a health hazard to the local residents."
The site has added to the disorderly appearance of lower Merwin Lane, White suggested, and "is undermining the efforts of the residents in the area to keep the street looking attractive and worthy of Augusta."
The only way to succeed, he stated, would be to eliminate the site entirely. Some garbage abusers may continue to dump there, "thinking it has become their right to do so."
The subdivision "may require a garbage collector... but the residents might be given the option of paying for one or taking their own garbage to the dump. Civic responsibility and public health have their costs, and I believe the residents of Riverview Heights have no difficulty with civil responsibility," he wrote.
Coun. Doug Barton said the residents of Riverview Heights could suggest an alternative site for the depot.
"If there was activity around it all the time, it could curtail the misuse of it and it could get back to its intended purpose.
"(The residents) could still have the benefit of a recycling depot and yet they could monitor and curtail these people who go dropping off ranges and refrigerators and bags of household garbage," Barton said. "It's a situation that some people have to suffer because other people abuse it."
By Tim Ruhnke - Journal Staff Writer
PRESCOTT Robert Lawn believes he has something to offer the residents of Prescott.
The president of the Prescott and District Chamber of Commerce and former principal of South Grenville District High School is a candidate for mayor. Lawn said in an interview that he is committed to the community, and he has the time to do the job. He decided to run for mayor because the position was being vacated.
Lawn has been a resident of Prescott for 34 years. He is familiar with the demands associated with being mayor; his wife Sandra was the town's longest-serving mayor. She served for 15 years.
The Lawns have three grown daughters, Andrea, Kerrie and Julia. They also have three grandchildren, Erika, Peter and Owen.
Lawn worked at SGDHS for 16 years before becoming principal of Brockville Collegiate in 1982; he retired in 1991. Lawn has also been a member of the community advisory committee to DuPont Canada Maitland Works and a member of this year's reverification team.
Lawn has served for nine years on the board of governors of Brockville General Hospital, including a stint as chairman of the board. He has also been a member of the Council of the College of Midwives of Ontario and a director and member of the Prescott Rotary Club for many years.
Economic development is critically important to the future of Prescott, according to Lawn. He wants the business community to know that he will be as supportive as he can. Lawn is prepared to visit each business and seek advice on what the community can do for the business sector.
In terms of the proposed charity casino, Lawn said he "had some real reservations" about the project when it became an issue a few years ago. But Lawn added he has softened his approach because the community will make the decision in a referendum being conducted as part of the municipal election. He said he would go along with whatever the community decides.
Lawn also said he has concerns about the cost of constructing a new town hall. He believes the existing municipal building is still useful. However, Lawn said he does not know all the details and he would like to spend some time reviewing all the information that is available, including coming to grips with the bigger financial picture of the town, before making a decision.
"I think the community would expect that of the new mayor," he said.
Amalgamation is something that has been on Lawn's mind for many months. Municipal restructuring should not be based solely on saving tax dollars, he said. Communities that amalgamate tend to have an advantage when it comes to something for industry and new residents, according to Lawn.
Prescott should be talking to its neighbours about amalgamation, Lawn said. "Not to do it would be the wrong thing," he added.
"I don't think Prescott would stop being a community if South Grenville united," Lawn said. However, he does not know how far the municipality should go on the subject of amalgamation.
Lawn said he has a real interest in keeping the parks in this community "as good as we can," as well as the library and police services.
He would also like to see council take a leadership role in getting more volunteers to come forward and serve their community.
The candidate said he understands various levels of government and how downloading has affected the town. Lawn does not like to make instant decisions; he feels reflecting on issues is a good practice.
"It is not my nature to be flamboyant," said Lawn. "I tend to be a bit introverted. That is not necessarily bad."
Lawn believes that voters should consider his experience and his knowledge of the area, the province and the nation. He said he would never suggest the other two candidates for mayor are less capable of doing the job; voters should look at what each has to offer and then decide.
By Tim Ruhnke - Journal Staff Writer
PRESCOTT Kelly Benish-Lennox acknowledges she may be the "unknown" candidate for mayor, but she believes now is the time for a new face at the helm of town council.
Benish-Lennox conceded in an interview that she may not have the experience of fellow candidates Robert Lawn and Craig Worden; however, she said she takes initiative and is the type of person who will listen to what the public has to say.
Benish-Lennox grew up in Hastings, south of Peterborough. She lived in Brockville for 20 years before moving to Prescott last November. She is married to Tom Lennox, whose family is based in the Prescott-Maynard area. Benish-Lennox has two sons: Nathaniel, 6, and Storm, 2.
The former ambulance dispatcher is now working as a waitress at Papa Larry's Restaurant. Benish-Lennox, who studied computer software design and development at college, has also worked at the Prescott Golf Club and volunteered her time at Riverfest and the low-income restaurant located in Brockville.
The mayoral candidate cited economic growth as her driving force. The town is losing its young people and well-trained individuals, Benish-Lennox said. Prescott must do more to highlight its heritage and promote itself outside the community. By cleaning up the town's core and promoting its attractions, she argues, Prescott could prosper.
In terms of the issues, Benish-Lennox does not support the sitting council's plan to build a new town hall. She favours renovating the existing municipal building and temporarily relocating town staff.
The expense of a new town hall would far outweigh its benefits, according to Benish-Lennox. A new building would not fit in with heritage buildings in the downtown core, she said.
Benish-Lennox would like to see a casino/motel complex built in Prescott. She believes a casino would be a draw if it is presented as more of a tourist attraction and "less of a gambling hall."
Benish-Lennox acknowledged there may be "down points" associated with a casino, but they would be overshadowed by the benefits.
In terms of the possibility of amalgamation with other municipalities in the area, Benish-Lennox said she is not fond of the idea. There are concerns amalgamation could lead to Prescott losing the sense of community it now has, she noted.
However, she believes officials will "have to sit down and see what each municipality has to offer.
"I don't want to see our municipalities fighting," she said.
Benish-Lennox said several friends and family members suggested that she run for the position of councillor. But her initial choice was to run for mayor, and Benish-Lennox is prepared to see it through.
"Once I've set my foot on a path, I have to complete it," she said.
Benish-Lennox said she loves this safe little town, adding the people here are great.
She plans to serve the community even if she is not elected mayor this time around.
GRENVILLE Three of the four school board trustee positions up for grabs in this area have been acclaimed.
The candidates for English public and English Catholic trustee were acclaimed when nominations closed Friday afternoon. Joan Hodge will once again serve as Upper Canada District School Board trustee for Prescott, Edwardsburgh-Cardinal, Augusta and North Grenville. The Prescott resident is completing her first term as trustee with the new district school board; she also served on the Leeds and Grenville Board of Education prior to the creation of district school boards three years ago.
Tony Jozefowicz of the Spencerville area will represent Grenville county at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. He will succeed Tom Beach.
Incumbent Michel Ringuette was acclaimed French Catholic trustee for the counties of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville and the Town of Smith Falls. No one filed papers Friday for French public board trustee.
JOHNSTOWN The 10th annual craft show and sale will take place Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Johnstown Community Centre. The annual event, sponsored by the South Edwardsburgh Recreation Association, will feature a variety of crafts, including woodworking, tole painting, sewing, knitting, jewellery, ceramics and stained glass. The show will start at 9:30 a.m. and wraps up at 3 p.m. For more information, call Brenda Gauthier at 925-5604.
EDWARDSBURGH Frank E. Noccey, a lifelong resident of the Township of Edwardsburgh, has entered the race in the November election for a seat on council of the new municipality of Edwards-burgh-Cardinal.
Noccey, who retired last November from Rehau Industries as the assistant plant manager after 30 years with the company, stated he is running for one of two seats available in Ward 3 so he can provide his time, knowledge and experience to the municipality. He said that now that he is retired, he is in the position, if elected, to give back to the township in such a way that wasn't possible while he was working full time.
"I believe that you do a job right or you don't do it at all," Noccey said.
One job to be done right Noccey said is to work with the Town of Prescott and various government agencies in order to upgrade the Prescott's sewage treatment plant. An upgraded plant, he added, would facilitate the further development of industrial park land along County Road 2, near Johnstown, and encourage new industries to locate there.
With the acquisition of the Port of Prescott by Edwardsburgh, Noccey said he could use his extensive business knowledge to promote and further develop the use of the elevator and its other services.
Noccey's career has included five years as a production/maintenance supervisor with Ferrox Iron Limited in Prescott. He was also a lab technician for nine years with the Department of Mines and Technical Survey, Energy Mines Division in Ottawa. He is married to Marion and has a daughter, Lynda, who lives in Calgary, plus two sons, Steven and Allan, both of whom live in the Prescott area.
For 12 years, Noccey served on the board of directors of Kemptville District Hospital in various positions such as chairman of public relations, finance and management committees, and as the representative for the Township of Edwardsburgh. He has also served on the Edwardsburgh Township Committee of Adjustment (1995 to 1997). Since 1998, Noccey has served on the township's Planning Advisory Committee. He is also an executive member of the Nation River/LGSA Snowmobile Club.
Two other issues that Noccey would focus on are taxes and roads. Noccey stated that he would work at controlling costs to avoid any unnecessary tax increases. In terms of roads, Noccey said he can't be critical of the job done by council but he would continue the current program of improving the roads.
EDWARDSBURGH With the last three years on the Township of Edwardsburgh council being busy but interesting ones, Peter Martin said he would look forward to being a councillor in the new municipality of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal and working under "normal circumstances," which would allow the municipal government to be more pro-active in protecting the quality of life of its residents.
Martin noted that the present Edwardsburgh council not only performed its regular duties but also accomplished the amalgamation of two municipalities the Township of Edwardsburgh and the Village of Cardinal and the acquisition of the Port of Prescott in Johnstown.
Martin said he has much to offer the voters of Ward 2, including his past experience, which includes three years as an Edwardsburgh councillor and more than 20 years as municipal and consulting engineer.
"When I think about what I know now, compared to three years ago," he said, "I certainly understand the working of municipal government a lot better, especially in rural municipal government."
Martin said if he is elected in November, he would like to re-focus on revitalizing economic development within the municipality. In order to do this, Martin's plan calls for the protection of existing businesses and as well as helping to expand these businesses; taking advantage of the Highway 416 and the telecommunications available in the area; marketing Pirelli Drive, Windmill Point and Cardinal business parks; and extending municipal services from Cardinal to Prescott.
Another issue, Martin stated, is the establishment of a nutrient management policy that would ensure the "right to farm for the many families that make a living in agriculture, as well as ensuring the health and safety for all enjoying rural living."
He also said that the municipality should continue its effective representation and participation at the United Counties council.
Martin, who lives in Johnstown with his wife Judie, has two grown children: Ryan, who is an engineer, and Aryn, who is a doctoral student at Cornell University in the United States. He has 22 years of experience as a municipal and consulting engineer and has been a high school guidance counsellor at St. Mary's in Brockville for the past eight years. He said by being a councillor, he tries to set an example of community involvement for his students.
Martin also said he would work to establish an organized, efficient municipal government, which he admits will take a bit of time, requiring the restructuring of council committees and staff. He also said another way municipal government could be more pro-active rather than reactive is to re-establish council/citizen committees to deal with such issues as social programs dealing with health and safety; roads and municipal infrastructure; fire and police protection; recreation, including arenas, pools and parks; property standards to retain community pride; economic development including tourism; and land-use planning.
Martin stated that council should explore opportunities to share services with neighbouring municipalities to cut costs. Further amalgamation with other municipalities should not be ruled out by further governments, he added.
Martin said that council should encourage more public involvement, adding that while there are certain issues that need to be discussed in-camera during meetings, there is room for more dialogue between the people council represents and council itself.
By Jeff Lee - Journal Staff Writer
EDWARDSBURGH Diane McKee says she decided to run for a seat on council in the amalgamated municipality of Edwards-burgh-Cardinal because she would be a representative who is accountable to the residents.
McKee said that a councillor needs to be accountable as an elected representative, and this, she said, is simply not happening.
"You are their representatives," said McKee, who will be running for a seat in Ward 2 in the Nov. 13 municipal election.
"I don't want to see things done behind closed doors. Council has to be accessible and accountable to its residents."
She added that taxpayers would have her phone number.
"I will be accessible to anyone in Edwardsburgh-Cardinal," she said.
Another reason why McKee decided to run is she doesn't want the township of Edwardsburgh to be run roughshod in the amalgamation process.
"I would like to the amalgamation go as nice and smoothly as possible," she said.
However, McKee said, taxpayers should not be held responsible for the debt of others.
"I don't think debt should come with amalgamation," she said. "Any debt should be cleared by the township or village that incurred it."
Another amalgamation issue for McKee is how to police the new municipality. She said that she would like to see a system set up using the Ontario Provincial Police.
"I can't fathom that a municipal police force could cover the village and the township," McKee said. "You get a lot of resources at your fingertips with the OPP that you don't have with a municipal police force."
She added the OPP also have more expertise on which to call.
McKee also said she would like to see the municipal government provide more for the youth in the community. McKee said that the municipality could, for example, sponsor teams. If elected, she would explore resources that can be tapped by the municipality.
"[Municipal government] should see what grants are available. A lot of kids would like to play sports, baseball or hockey, but can't afford the registration fee or the cost of equipment."
McKee said that she worries about youth not having enough positive opportunities in the area. She cited the recent seize of marijuana by police as cause for concern. She said she worries about the effect that an increase in availability of drugs has on youth, as well as its impact on crime. She said the challenge is to give youth positive outlets within the community.
She also said that she would like to see a complex strictly for senior citizens. McKee, who is a part-time nurse at Brockville Psychiatric Hospital in Brockville, is opposed to having seniors being housed with other groups. "They deserve the peace and quiet. They have earned it."
McKee was an operating nurse for 23 years at Brockville General Hospital in Brockville. She was also the chairperson of the Dundas County Association for the Mentally Handicapped from 1983 to 1986.
Between 1990 and 1995, she was the chairperson for Cardinal's policing committee, which was set up by the Ontario Provincial Police.
She was also the Leeds and Grenville representative on the SPCA at the provincial level from 1985 to 1992. McKee was also on its executive board from 1988 to 1992 and served as the Leeds and Grenville investigating agent for the SPCA from 1984 to 1992, winning the provincial investigating agent award three times.
McKee was also chairperson of the parent-teacher association at Benson Public School between 1977 and 1980. She was a co-founder of Block Parents in Cardinal.
By Monica Whitney - Journal Staff Writer
If Leah Baynham and her family could have a wish come true, it would be to discover a cure for the disease that forces her to inject her arms, legs and stomach with a needle three times every day.
The nuisance, as Leah calls it, began three years ago when the 13-year-old Johnstown girl was diagnosed with Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes.
Only 10 years old, Leah was rushed to Brockville General Hospital after a family doctor visit determined she had a blood-sugar level of 33.8. A normal sugar level for this age would be between five and seven. While on the verge of lapsing into a coma, it was through her mother's and grandmother's diligence that her one-week hospital stay started in time. The family had noticed marked weight gain, a thirst impossible to satisfy and frequent trips to the bathroom at night.
Leah now manages a delicate balancing act, ensuring her diet and level of activity are in check. She keeps a journal of her blood-sugar levels as well as a daily meal plan, charting the amounts of fruits, vegetables, proteins, starches, milk, fats and oils she eats.
There is no known cause or cure for diabetes, but Leah hopes to receive some relief from the disease next year when she is fitted with a newly-developed, $5,000 insulin pump that she will wear all the time. The MiniMed pump, which acts like an artificial pancreas to better control the highs and lows of blood sugar levels, will replace the daily injections.
Leah said she always needs to be prepared for changes in the blood-sugar level by travelling with a supply of food for the lows, and a needle for the highs. Two years ago, she blacked out at the Johnstown pool after a strenuous bicycle ride on a hot day. She lost all balance control and became confused.
Leah can now recognize the signs when the blood-sugar level is not right. She becomes shaky and weak and experiences mood swings and a dry mouth.
Besides the three daily needles, Leah must check her blood-sugar level by pricking her finger four times each day.
Leah's mother, Karen Lavery, said the family is fortunate to live in a community where her friends and teachers care. Her sisters, Amelia, 10, and Sarah, 9, know what to do in an emergency, and Leah also wears a medic-alert bracelet.
Her condition is monitored every three months at the diabetic clinic at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.
Thankfully, Lavery has a benefit plan through her work that pays for 80 per cent of Leah's drugs and medical supplies.
When Leah was first diagnosed, she said she was angry and upset.
"I wanted to blame somebody else," she said.
She also wondered, "Why me?"
Now, Leah calls having diabetes "a nuisance."
Lavery said Leah now understands "she's not the only one out there. She might not be alive. There's no cure, but I think we're very lucky. It could be a lot worse."
This past summer, Leah was able to attend Camp Banting on Christie Lake near Perth, a medically supervised camp founded in 1953 for children with diabetes. Leah said she was able to share experiences with other campers like herself, and even some of the camp counsellors had diabetes. Half of the program cost was paid by the Canadian Diabetes Association, a non-profit voluntary health organization with a mandate to promote the health of Canadians through diabetes research, education, service and advocacy.
November is Diabetes Month, and Lavery is hopeful the Canadian Diabetes Association will someday find a cure for her daughter and the other 1.5 million Canadians who have diabetes.
"The sooner they find a cure for this, that means these children will not have to take needles for the rest of their lives," Lavery said. "There's so many complications.
"Who would ever think a child would become diabetic? It would be nice if we never had to do it," Lavery said.
"But you can't think that way. You have to live with it."
The fundraising goal for the Tri-County Branch of the association, which takes in Lanark, Leeds and Grenville counties, is $20,000, while the Ontario division goal is $900,000.
Diabetes is a lifelong condition in which the body can not properly use and store the fuel (sugar) it takes in from the food eaten. Insulin is needed to help the body use sugar energy.
When a person has diabetes, the pancreas either does not produce or produces very little insulin, or cannot use the insulin that is produced.
When insulin is not available, the sugar from food stays in the blood stream, causing blood sugars to rise.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure and is a leading cause of death by disease. If left untreated or improperly managed, the high levels of blood sugar associated with diabetes can slowly damage both the small and large blood vessels in the body, resulting in a variety of complications.
The disease is a leading cause of adult blindness; heart disease is three to six times more common in people with diabetes; and half or more of all non-accident-related leg amputations are due to diabetes. Diabetes accounts for 25 per cent of all new cases of serious kidney disease.
The formation of the Canadian Alliance seems to be leaving some people confused about conservative political parties in Leeds-Grenville. I would like to take a moment to explain what has occurred.
On the provincial side, we have the provincial Progressive Conservatives. This is the party that forms the government in Ontario and our sitting Member of Parliament, Bob Runciman, represents this party in Leeds-Grenville. The President of the Leeds-Grenville provincial Progressive Conservative Association is myself, Jo-Anne Best, and the Secretary is Eleanor Kingstone.
Leeds-Grenville also has a federal Progressive Conservative Association. Although some members overlapped, this is a distinct and different party with it's own executive. Their function is to nominate a candidate to run federally and serve in the House of Commons, Ottawa.
Until earlier this year Leeds-Grenville also had a federal Reform Party. It too had an executive and nominated a candidate to run in the federal election.
For the past two federal elections, the Reform Party and the federal Progressive Conservatives split the small-c conservative vote in our riding allowing the Liberals to claim victory with just over 30 per cent of the vote.
The federal PC leadership, under Joe Clark refused to put Canada first and talk to the Reform Party to find ways of ending the vote splitting and the election of Liberal governments.
This year saw the creation of the Canadian Alliance. Small-c conservatives across the riding are rallying behind this party in an effort to end the vote splitting. When the Reform Party dissolved, their members joined the Canadian Alliance, as did many "federal" Progressive Conservatives.
The Alliance recently nominated Gananoque's Gord Brown as its candidate to face Joe Jordan in the upcoming federal election. Along with myself, such prominent conservatives as Bob Runciman, Bill Code and Eleanor Kingstone have joined the federal Canadian Alliance.
The provincial Leeds-Grenville Progressive Conservative Association remains unchanged, active and doing well in our riding. I am still the president and Eleanor is still the secretary.
I hope this clears up some of the confusion.
Jo-Anne Best
Lansdowne
Mother and baby raccoons are back in Centennial Park after being missing for months. It was a statue created by E.B. Cox and dedicated to the "Children of Prescott" by the 7th Prescott Brownies in May 1962. Through the years, the statue did not weather well. Someone's good deed was to repair it. We thank them.
The Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and all the people who walk in our riverside park will appreciate the restored beauty of it.
Marion Dixon
South Grenville District Guiding
By Willy Sieling Heuvel
There is a flu clinic today (Wednesday, Oct. 18) from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Over the noon hour. Everyone is welcome. There is no charge. It is suggested that all age groups get flu shots this year, so come on out.
I've been made aware of a trip to the Toronto Winter Fair on Nov. 4, a Saturday. If you are interested call 926-2662 for more information. The deadline is October 27.
The roast beef dinner scheduled to take place Oct. 28 has been cancelled.
Winners at the card tables last week were: Monday bridge cancelled, Thanksgiving holiday; Tuesday cribbage high hand, Jean Annable; high score, Eleanor Gilligan; 2nd, Jean Annable; 3rd, Jeannine Marion; Wednesday bridge 1st, Sam Covey; 2nd, Eleanor Gilligan; Bruce Woods won the door prize; Thursday euchre 1st, Marie Shahan; 2nd, Alice Crowder; 3rd, Myrtle Shahan; Eleanor Gilligan won the door prize.
PRESCOTT The first concert in the 20002001 season of the Prescott Fort Town Concert Association will be held next week.
The season will open Monday night at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church with a performance by Trio Contrastes, a group consisting of pianist Stéphan Sylvestre, violinist Olivier Thouin and clarinettist David Veilleux. The Prescott visit is part of the group's 30-concert national tour.
The trio's goal is to explore the 70 or so works, many neglected, which were written specifically for their trio formation. The pivotal work for such a trio is Contrastes by Béla Bartók.
Each award-winning artist has an individual style and leads an active career; the meeting of these three artists produces a surprising array of contrasting sounds. The musicians also perform works for two players, and will on occasion invite other musicians to perform with the group in works from the broader chamber music repertoire.
Trio Contrastes will offer an exciting program of unusual works by Bartók, Glick, Milhaud and Katchaturian, as well as an original work by Canadian composer Justin Mariner.
The concert series is co-sponsored by Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, a non-profit organization which helps bring musicians and singers to small and large communities. The organization's main objective is to help young people discover the joy of music.
The concert begins at 8 p.m.; refreshments will be served during the intermission.
Members of the South Grenville Guild of Fine Arts exhibit their works in the foyer during the concerts.
For more information, call 925-3200 or 925-5050.
This is the Prescott Fort Town Concert Associations's eighteenth concert season.
The next concert in the series will take place November 21 when violinist Judy Kang and pianist Pierre-Richard Aubin appear at St. Andrew's Church.
SPENCERVILLE This year's Centennial '67 Public School student council, which is comprised of both junior and intermediate grades, was recently selected.
Teacher representative Sean Mehmet said he has found the students on council to be "high octane" and full of energy. He said he is looking forward to a dynamic and productive year.
The council is comprised of two co-leaders and 10 councillors. Two representatives were chosen from each class. Classes with split grades chose a representative from each grade. This year, both junior and intermediate students make up the council.
Mehmet said with all grades represented on council, the hope is to foster greater cohesion and stronger solidarity throughout the school, which has 217 students.
The council will be organizing a number of school activities and fundraising events throughout the year, including five school dances. The dances will not only benefit the school but also the community because students will be encouraged to bring canned goods, which then will be donated to charities.
The council has earmarked money to go toward the purchase of a new digital scanner for the school, which will allow students to produce the yearbook in a completely digital format.
A longer-term goal, said Mehmet, is to sponsor up to two children from developing countries.
"We are working towards that," Mehmet said. "If we get enough fundraising done, we would like to start this year. That's the goal. But if not this year, then definitely next year."
SPENCERVILLE Nov. 4 is the deadline for the second annual Valley Writers' Guild contest for the Ray Burrell Award for poetry.
Unpublished English poems in any style up to 60 single-spaced lines are being accepted. A grand prize and two secondary prizes will be awarded, as well as five honourable mentions. There is no entry limit.
The winning poems will be published in the guild's annual literary anthology, The Grist Mill, Volume 10. Winners will receive a free copy of the anthology and a year's subscription to the guild's newsletter.
Two copies of each entry one with the author's name, address, etc., and one without are to be sent to The Ray Burrell Award, Valley Writers' Guild, Box 33, Spencerville, Ontario, K0E 1X0. There is an entry fee.
Call 658-5245 for more information.
PRESCOTT The Prescott Police Service investigated 37 general incidents between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15.
Prescott police require the public's assistance in solving a hit-and-run accident which occurred sometime over the weekend. An unknown vehicle travelling eastbound on King Street just east of Boundary smashed into a hydro pole, causing considerable damage to the pole. Debris consisting of broken window glass was located at the scene. Hydro One employees were to replace the pole this week.
The investigating officer, Const. Darren Davis, believes someone may have noticed a vehicle in the area at the time of the mishap or stopped to assist the motorist and could have information which could lead to the apprehension of the responsible driver. If you can help, call Prescott Police at 925-4252.
On Oct. 9, police arrested a male young offender for breach of an undertaking. He was held in custody for a bail hearing. At the hearing he was released to the custody of his mother and ordered to appear at a later date in Brockville court.
Prescott police were on patrol Sunday at approximately 2:30 a.m. when they found a man bleeding on the sidewalk at King and Centre streets.
An investigation revealed that the man had been involved in an altercation with another man. Prescott police officers interviewed a suspect. The investigation is continuing.
Prescott police participated in a child car seat safety clinic on Saturday.
Eleven vehicles and 25 child seats were checked. Anyone who missed the clinic can still have their seats checked at the Prescott Police Service.
PRESCOTT Council has selected the town's first appointee to the board of directors of Rideau-St. Lawrence Utilities.
PUC board chairman and long-time commissioner Don Gibson was named to the position Monday at a Prescott council meeting.
Coun. Evelyn Dales said there were two applicants for the job.
She added that Gibson was the more qualified candidate and he would represent the town well.
Rideau-St. Lawrence Utilities is the product of a merger of municipal utilities in Prescott, Cardinal, South Dundas and Westport in partnership with Canadian Niagara Power.
BENSON PUBLIC: The senior boys and girls soccer teams are at Maynard Public School competing in a mini-tournament. On Saturday, Oct. 21, school council members will hold a rummage sale in the school gym, starting at 8:30 p.m. From 10 to 11 p.m., Kelly Tillo, a confections expert, will hold a session on how to make a gingerbread house. Donations for the rummage sale can be dropped off Friday, Oct. 20 between noon and 4 p.m. Money raised will be used to purchase extras for the classrooms such as books, software and other supplies.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Grade 7 students will participate in the Hepatitis B clinic.
There will be a Terrific Kids assembly Friday, Oct. 27 at 9 a.m.
BOUNDARY PUBLIC: Our students had a successful cross-country meet in Brockville last Friday. On Tuesday, Oct. 17, there will be a school council meeting at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 18, is Picture Day at the school. Also Wednesday, Grade 7 students will receive their first Hepatitis B needle.
On Friday, Oct. 20, the hot lunch is chicken nuggets.
On Monday, Oct. 23 and Tuesday, Oct. 24, there will be a bus evacuation drill at the school. Also Monday, Mr. Powers' soccer team will travel to Kemptville to participate in a tournament. Good luck team!
CENTENNIAL '67 - NORTH EDWARDSBURGH: A team of parent volunteers attended a head-lice-check training session Monday given by a public health nurse. Head checks for lice are held periodically throughout the school year.
On Wednesday, Oct. 18, our senior boys soccer team is competing in a tournament at Nationview school.
Our cross-country team placed third overall in the regional championship meet at Memorial Park in Brockville on Friday, Oct. 13. The novice boys captured first overall. Well done team!
CENTRAL PUBLIC: Our senior girls and senior boys soccer teams are participating in a tournament Wednesday, Oct. 18 in Maynard.
Our hot lunch program begins Wednesday, Oct. 18 with hot dogs.
Central will host two dances for Boundary's and Central's Grade 4 to 8 students on Friday, Oct. 27.
MAYNARD PUBLIC: There will be a four-school soccer tournament at Maynard on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Both senior boys and girls teams will compete in the tournament. A school advisory council meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the school. The junior students will take a trip to Fulford Museum in Brockville this week.
ST. MARK CATHOLIC: Interim reports were sent home Monday, Oct. 16.
Bus evacuation drills will be on Thursday, Oct. 19 and Friday, Oct. 20.
The hot lunch for Friday, Oct. 20 is chicken.
The St. John Bosco Church 4th Annual Craft Show will be Saturday, Oct. 21 in Brockville, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
SOUTH EDWARDSBURG PUBLIC: A school committee meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the school's library.
The Learning Lab community usage hours are as follows:
Ivy Melson Brown, 43 Sunset Drive, RR 1 Prescott, died Oct. 10, 2000 at Brockville General Hospital. She was 77.
Mrs. Brown was born Oct. 6, 1923 at Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, to Thomas Williamson Brookes and Gertrude Melson Harpham, who predeceased her.
She graduated from the Barnsley High School for Girls in 1939, and was employed by the Strand Library and Empire Theatre Group in Barnsley until the age of 19, when she joined the Royal Women's Air Force. She served in Balloon Command in Birmingham and was then transferred to Bomber Command at the Six Group Canadian Base Station at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. From there, squadrons 426 Thunderbird and 408 Canada Goose flew their operational sorties.
She met Douglas Arthur Brown and married him on March 31, 1945.
Following an Honourable Discharge from the W.R.A.F. (W.A.A.F.), Mrs. Brown joined her husband in Canada on her birthday, Oct. 6, 1945. They resided in Sutton, Que., where their children Ralph and Kathryn were born. She taught Sunday School for 20 years and organized the Church Library, which later became the Sutton Library. She was active in the Sutton High School Parent-Teacher Associa-tion and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 158.
After moving to Prescott in December 1967, she volunteered for the Ladies Auxiliary of the Brockville General Hospital for 18 years and for the Advisory Board of the local CNIB until the Prescott branch was closed.
She was a member of St. John's Anglican Church and the Monarchist League.
Mrs. Brown is survived by her husband, Douglas Brown; her son Ralph and his wife Christina; her daughter Kathryn Bruce; grandchildren Kenneth, Brooke, Graham and Bryan; a brother, Alfred Watson; and several nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her brothers Arthur, George and Harry, and sisters Hilda, Lucy, Gladys and Alice.
Visitation was held at the Chris Slater Funeral Home, Prescott. The funeral service was held at St. John's Anglican Church on Oct. 13, 2000, at 2 p.m., with Rev. Gerry Ring officiating. A committal service followed at the Blue Church Cemetery.
The pallbearers were Omeo Chatterjee, Shawn Connors, Paul Irvine, Gregory Coutu, Gerald Curtis and James Montroy. Kent Gilder was the honourary pallbearer.
Donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, St. John's restoration fund or the charity of your choice would be appreciated.
PRESCOTT In celebration of Ontario Public Library Week from Oct. 16 to 22, the Prescott Library is holding a book sale beginning this week. There will be a selection of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction books, as well as paperbacks.
All proceeds from the sale will go to the library. The book sale will last about one month.
BROCKVILLE A Health Action Line for answering a variety of general health questions is available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Callers to 345-5685 at the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit can receive information on a variety of health topics.
Augusta Reeve Adrian Van Schie, on the closure of the recycling depot in Riverview Heights.
A MORE FITTING MONUMENT: If Prime Minister Jean Chrétien really wants to pay an all-inclusive tribute to his hero Pierre Trudeau, then he should look closer to home for a mountain to name after him rather than one way out near the west coast. Instead of riling the majority of western Canadian residents by re-naming Mount Logan, Mount Trudeau, Chrétien could have saved his western votes and picked up some much-needed support in Quebec if he had said he was considering changing the name of Montreal's Mount Royal to Mount Trudeau.
This would have satisfied Trudeau's contempt for the royal family and what it means to the majority of Canadians, and it would have satisfied the wishes of Quebec's sovereignist majority by having Mount Royal removed from their midst. Don't rule out the possibility, however, of Chrétien getting a HRDC grant to have Mount Logan moved to the outskirts of Shawinigan which would beget more grants to build new resort hotels, ski runs, golf courses and night clubs.
TOWN HALL FEVER DIES: The present Prescott council seems to have washed its hands of its own proposal to build a new town hall on the municipal parking lot, or at least we hope it has. Not a word about this proposal was spoken at Monday night's council meeting and the fact that only two of the seven members of the present council sought re-election (Jo-Anne Beckstead is already elected by acclamation) seems indicative of a project that has lost its appeal.
The fact that the entire town hall project was ill-conceived and ill-planned right from the start was evident when council, even with constant prodding from the Chamber of Commerce, would not, or could not, come up with firm prices for any of the many facets of their proposal. Final proof of this came last week when they suggested that the new town hall be built on the municipal parking lot, and that the town would buy the vacant Daniels Hotel lot on King Street and build a new parking lot. Build a new parking lot so that a perfectly good one could be torn up? Our thoughts on this were that the dumb just got a bit dumber.
Making the best sense out of this entire issue is mayoralty candidate Bob Lawn who wants to see a proper long-range plan for King Street refurbishment implemented. Building a new town hall on the municipal parking lot is not high on his list of priorities.
END OF AN ERA? While the Provincial Progressive Conservative Association in Leeds-Grenville stays intact, its officers and many of its members have shifted their federal support from the PC Association to the Canadian Alliance Party. This strips the riding's federal PC Association of most of its active members and leadership, with the likelihood of the party not being able to field a candidate in the next federal election. If this happens it will be the first time since Confederation (1867) that Grenville voters will not have a Conservative or Progressive Conservative on their ballots in a federal election. It's sad to see the Tories die without even a whimper.
Monica Whitney
It was suggested this past weekend that I stop thinking about work for just a bit and take a day for some real family time.
The thought in itself was enough to send my mind in a whirl, and make me jittery. How could I do that, especially on my weekend to work?
It was going to be my day to plan and write this column the one where I vowed to myself and a co-worker I would not write about my family and kids anymore, but comment on an actual news issue.
But Sunday morning dawned, as it usually does before the sun at our house, and I gave not a thought to going into the office. That didn't stop my mind from wandering down there, though.
With the van packed with fishing gear and coolers, we made a quick stop at Valu-mart for the wienies, marshmallows and obligatory traditional family picnic lemon tarts. The fall day rolled perfectly along and I know I was doing double duty as I thought about the best lead for an election story, and if I would have enough time in the office the next day to type out all the stories I wanted to write.
And I wondered if I could weave my son's prize pike and bass catches into this column. Or could I spin a tale out of a bird's nest discovery (with an exciting bit of egg shell still in it), the chips of wood left by beavers or crispy and charred black marshmallows?
Maybe relaxing under the garnet reds, fiery oranges and butternut browns of autumn by the rush of the St. Lawrence was the fodder for my column. Clearly, I was not all together where I was supposed to be.
Luckily, no one could see what was really going on inside my head (I hope) as the day moved lazily and peacefully along. But it was a much-needed and perfect time spent in my favourite season of the year. The day ended flawlessly, with hugs and a chorus of "I love you, Mom and Dad" to make the outdoor fall adventure day truly time well spent.
*****
A recent conversation about The Fiddler on the Roof, a film that's always been close to my heart, stirred pleasant memories for me. Fourteen years ago this month, my husband and I signed the marriage register to Sunrise, Sunset, taken from that film.
I hummed the tunes from the Fiddler's songs all weekend, trying hard to remember the words. The best I could do for Sunrise, Sunset, however, was "Swiftly fly the years. One season following another..."
It was enough words, though, to drive home a powerful message. It is possible to have the best of both worlds.
*****
Dear garbage snatchers: We hope you enjoyed our bag of household garbage we left on our front steps Monday night for Tuesday morning pickup. Next time, could you please take it before we put it in a town trash bag that we paid for?
John A.H. Morris
We said goodbye this week to Louis Williams, the founder of the Gran-View Restaurant in Ogdensburg, who had been a good friend, a buddy and confidant of ours for over 40 years. Louis died Oct. 16, just a month shy of his 88th birthday, in Media, PA, where he and his wife Tina had lived for the past couple of years.
Although we had discussed it with Louis on several occasions, especially in the last 20 years or so, we were never able to fully understand why we were such good friends.
There were over 20 years' difference in our ages, yet he was not a father figure. Yes, he dished out good, sound, fatherly advice to us on many occasions, especially when discussions centred around business; but we also passed along to him plenty of fatherly advice on how to stay on the same page as his teenage children when they were testing the waters of maturity.
Our relationship was not always as smooth as Louis' favourite Rob Roys. We could argue on almost any subject but not get mad enough at each other so that our relationship would cool. We both knew each other well enough to bury our differences and keep them out of our conversations until the air was clear.
As much as we argued, there was never a disagreement that didn't get settled, because we just liked each other's company too much. There would be times, however, especially after Louis retired about 20 years ago and took up winter residency in Florida, that we would not see or hear from each other for five or six months at a time, but our friendship continued.
Probably the activity we enjoyed the most together was skiing; the mountains we conquered included major and minor hills in the Laurentians and Vermont. Louis and his wife Tina introduced Beth and me to Aspen, Col. and for years we enjoyed weekends at Big Tupper. It was after a strenuous day on the ski hills that we discovered the mellowing effects of a Courvoisier or two. And there was a brief chastisement when we introduced Lou Jr. to the therapeutics of cognac. Father Louis felt that his son's allowance as a college student was more in keeping with beer tastes.
Although there was a full generation between us, we found ourselves in the same class one afternoon in a grocery store in Aspen, Col. One of his daughter's boyfriends, a music major at Potsdam, rushed up to us and told us he had just met somebody he wanted us to meet. He pulled us down the aisle and introduced us to a rather skinny kid he called Johnny Denver, and the name meant nothing to either of us at the time.
What we admired most about Louis Williams was the fact that he and his brothers and sisters were raised "immigrant poor" in Carthage, NY, and all became very wealthy citizens of the U.S.A.
Louis' story is of Horatio Alger proportions.
His family eked out a meagre living as market gardeners in Carthage during the depression, but not enough for Dominico and Maria Cascalda Gugliemetti and their seven children. When President Roosevelt started the giant Tennessee Valley Authority project in the early 1930s as a way to create work for thousands of unemployed Americans, Louis, almost penniless, hitch-hiked to Tennessee to work in one of the army type camps.
Most of his meagre pay of about $10 a week was sent back to his parents in Carthage. He survived the back-breaking work of planting trees in the Tennessee valleys and as the depression receded he returned to the Watertown area and found work as a machinist's apprentice.
It was about this time that he met his future wife, the former Kathryn Rose "Tina" Pistolese. They were married July 20, 1941, shortly before Louis was shipped out to the Pacific with the U.S. Navy as a machinist.
During the war Tina worked in a war plant in Watertown during the day and then put in an evening shift in her parents' restaurant. When Louis was discharged in 1945 they had enough money saved to buy a property in the west end of Ogdensburg on Rt. 37 near the Acco factory, which they remodelled into the first Gran-View Restaurant.
While the remodelling was taking place they opened a hot dog stand in part of it and Tina did a profitable trade at the Acco plant selling up to a dozen homemade pies every noon hour to the workers.
The first Gran-View burned down Christmas Eve, 1953 and it wasn't until almost two years later that Louis was able to convince the Ogdensburg banking community to help finance a much larger facility. Work started on the present Gran-View, about two miles west of the original restaurant, early in 1955 and it opened Easter Sunday, 1956. A few years later the Anchordown Motel and restaurant were added to the family business along with the Golden Lion restaurant and plaza in Watertown, NY. The family business is now carried on by his son, Louis and his family.
We close with just a bit of Williams family trivia. The Gran-View's staple has always been its open steak sandwich, created by Louis and Tina back in 1956. It is estimated that over 350,000 "open steaks" have been served since then.
Cardinal councillor Dick Willis is running in the November election with a focus of seeing a smooth transition for the new municipality of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal Township.
"We've gone through amalgamation and transition, and I don't feel it's finished yet," Willis said. "I'd like to be there to smooth things out and make it one happy community. I've been involved in it from Day One - for all the work and effort we put into it, I would like to see a smooth transition.
"The main objective is to get Edwardsburgh and Cardinal to gel, so people will consider it one community," he said. "Both (communities) have been well run over the years. By combining our assets - it's a good gel."
As well, he said, "I'll try to make the meshing of the two councils as smooth as possible."
The union of the two municipalities is a good union, Willis said. "Cardinal is a little municipality of 1,500 people in the corner of Grenville County." With a combined population of over 6,000, he said, "We'll be able to hold our own and have a bigger say in what's happening. It gives us a bigger presence. It will give Cardinal a chance to grow a little bit."
Edwardsburgh "is a big chunk of land," he noted, and with Cardinal's water and sewage services, "it could be a booming area."
Willis said he enjoys municipal politics, and in the past three elections during 12 years, he lost only once, by two votes.
He has lived in Cardinal for 25 years, and is now semi-retired from a general contracting business. Willis is married to Bonnie Bell, and he has a daughter, Debbie Johnston, and two grandsons.
Prior to moving to the village, he resided in Belleville, where he was employed by Canadian National.
While Willis voted during past transition board meetings to locate the main municipal office at the existing Edwardsburgh site in Spencerville, he said renovations to the historic building could make the move prohibitive.
Having the headquarters in Spencerville was logical, he said, as it is "the centre point of the new municipality." However, he noted, "I don't agree with a lot of money being spent on it. If the cost of renovating is so high it would not be feasible.
"If the cost is staggering, I wouldn't agree to it."
As an option to major renovations, such as the installation of an elevator, Willis suggested the Spencerville council chambers could be expanded into the existing fire hall at the rear of the building after the new fire station is complete.
If this could not be accomplished at a reasonable cost, he said the new and modern Cardinal facility should be the main municipal building.
Willis has been an active community volunteer as a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and as a charter member of the Cardinal Lions Club. He is now the Lions Club secretary, he is on the board for the Cardinal Community Centre and the Community in Bloom group.
He is a past member of the Economic Development Commission and he was on the steering committee for Rideau St. Lawrence Utilities.
Dan McDonald plans to inject "new blood, new faces, new vision" in the local political scene.
"Tired of the old style" of municipal politics, he said, the village native has announced his candidacy for a seat on the Edwardsburgh/Cardinal Township Council.
While previous governments have done a good job, McDonald noted, he said the time is right to lend his long-time experience as a federal and provincial senior government policy adviser to the local people.
McDonald returned to live in Cardinal in 1991 following a career that began in 1965 as an economist with the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council in New Brunswick.
He is a masters of economics graduate from the University of New Brunswick.
Most recently, he was the Director General for Regional Development with the Ontario Secretariat of Industry, Science and Technology Canada in Ottawa from 1989 to 1994. McDonald has held several government positions in such areas as planning, economic analysis, and regional co-ordination and development in Toronto, Ottawa, Newfoundland, Moncton and Fredericton.
He has been involved in the federal infrastructure program, regional and municipal planning in Northern Ontario, a Greater-Toronto Area development plan and consulting with the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. McDonald has also served as a lecturer for the University of New Brunswick and in Banff.
McDonald said his major project if elected to council would be the redevelopment of the entire canal system from east to west.
"The canal system is part of our heritage," he said. "I like this little place - it's a very comfortable place. I'd like us to reclaim our waterfront a little bit, and redevelop and beautify Cardinal."
While the municipality could not afford such a major undertaking as rebuilding the canal, McDonald said this is a federal responsibility and funds are available.
"There's a ton of money in Ottawa," he said. "It would not be easy to extract that kind of money, but I think I could make it happen. I'm good at negotiating federal funds."
McDonald also hopes to build Cardinal as a riverfront community without trailer parks, but with services for seniors and youth.
"We should pay a lot more attention to our senior citizens. We're an aging population and Cardinal is a nice retirement community." He suggested more affordable housing as being one need of the senior community.
McDonald would also like to see some modest funding allotted for a youth centre and activities.
As Cardinal is the commercial centre for the township, McDonald said it makes sense to have the municipal headquarters in the village. It would be "a shame" not to use the new Cardinal office with its latest technology.
Now that he is retired, McDonald said he is "a free spirit", able to devote full time hours to the councillor's job. "It's a good time to jump in," he said.
"I'm trying to pay back what the community did for me as a kid."
SPENCERVILLE Residents in Cardinal and Edwardsburgh Township will be going to the polls Nov. 13 to elect their representatives who will sit on the new council for the amalgamated municipality.
The mayor-at-large position will be filled by either David Dobbie, of RR 3 Spencerville who is the current reeve of Edwardsburgh, or Jim Pakeman of Centre Street, Cardinal, who is a Cardinal councillor.
Electors will also be able to vote for two councillors from their ward.
Running in Ward 1 (East) are Charles Burrell, a Cardinal councillor, Margaret Taylor, a resident of Chambers Road, Dick Willis, also a village councillor, and Dan McDonald, a Cardinal resident.
Vying for the Ward 2 (West) seat are William Sloan, an Edwardsburgh councillor, Peter Martin, also an Edwardsburgh councillor, and Diane McKee, of RR 3 Prescott.
Running for election in Ward 3 (North) are George Dick, an Edwardsburgh councillor, Marie Thomson, also a councillor for Edwardsburgh, and Frank Noccey of RR 3 Spencerville.
The deadline for filing nomination papers for candidates was last Friday at 5 p.m.
CARDINAL Come out and have fun at the Royal Canadian Legion Hallowe'en dance Friday, Oct. 27 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Entertainment includes band revivals and 1950's and '60's music, and there will be cash prizes and door prizes. Free bus service will be available after midnight.
CARDINAL Everyone is welcome to enjoy an autumn casserole supper at St. John's United Church Thursday, Oct. 19 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The supper is sponsored by the United Church Women.
CARDINAL St. Paul's Anglican Church on John Street is hosting a garage sale Saturday, Oct. 28 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Baked goods, books, treasures and jewellery are among the expected items on sale.
CARDINAL The 48th Armistice Banquet will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion Saturday, Nov. 4. A social hour is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and a roast beef dinner at 6:30 will be followed by honours and awards. Dancing is from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets are available at the bar or from any executive member.
MORRISBURG The Greenland Wailers, a Celtic music group from Cornwall, are coming to the Upper Canada Playhouse Saturday, Oct. 21, beginning at 8 p.m. This special performance is a fall fundraiser for the Playhouse. The Greenland Wailers also play folk and easy listening music, and great stories and music will be the highlight of the evening. Tickets are available by calling the Playhouse at (613) 543-3713, or pick your tickets up at the door after 7:30 that evening.
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