County Closeup

There’s nothing like the cozy feeling you get when you heat your home with a wood stove or a pellet stove. Beyond the radiant warmth, modern-day stoves have a higher efficiency than any other heating method on the market today. That’s why they’re to go-to system for the majority of rural community residents.

Ian Myers has been a chimney sweep in Haliburton County for 17 years and says these stoves are safer than baseboards and masonry fireplaces.

By ensuring your system is properly installed and regularly cleaned, wood stoves and pellet stoves are an economical choice – especially if there are frequent power outages. The growth in their popularity is proof positive more people are buying in to the many advantages they offer. Ian recommends reading and following the best practices outlined in manuals and monitoring the system to maintain peak efficiency and safety.

For 36 years, a solid concrete cow has been keeping watch over customers at the Kawartha Dairy’s Minden store. The cheerful bovine has been a constant in the community and at Christmas, residents there can’t wait to see it decorated for the holidays.

CanoeFM visited the store recently and spoke to third generation owner, Terry Crowe who says the cow is part of his family’s dairy legacy and his mother’s love of them. There are other smaller cows on display at Kawartha Dairy locations, but the Minden one is a part of the community and a special piece of history there.

Christmas is supposed to be a time for togetherness, joy and wonderful meals shared with loved ones. But for those who live on the margins or are alone, Christmas can be a dreaded time of year. That’s why, for the first time in its 35-year-history, SIRCH — which stands for Supportive Initiatives for the Residents of the County of Haliburton — will serve up a Christmas dinner with turkey and all the fixings and dessert for anyone who comes to the bistro.

CanoeFM spoke with Laurie McCaig, Marketing Manager of SIRCH, who says the dinner is just another way to make sure everyone enjoys a nutritious meal over the holidays.

It’s a time for getting together with friends and family, but it’s also prime time for crime. Shopping in crowded stores, lengthy Christmas lists, presents to wrap, dinners to cook and planning trips to relatives mean we’re all quite distracted. Constable Joel Imbeau, Community Relations Officer for the Haliburton Highlands detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police says a safe and happy holiday is possible if everyone follows a few simple tips to protect themselves.

Constable Imbeau recommends simple things like ensuring your car is locked when shopping, keeping your driveway plowed, asking your neighbor to watch over your home if you’re away visiting relatives and investing in cameras on your property.

Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere or RIDE is a sobriety testing program used by police since 1977. So far, in this year’s Festive RIDE program, police have stopped more than 1,000 vehicles. The RIDE program is designed to keep impaired drivers off the road, but many are still not getting the message

Canoe FM recently spoke with Constable Joel Imbeau who says arriving on the scene of an accident caused by a drunk driver takes its toll since accidents like these are 100 per cent preventable. Constable Imbeau adds that new legislation allows police to request a breath sample at any time now, not just during RIDE checks.

It’s that time of year again –- flu season, and as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

According to medical experts, our best bet to prevent a severe case is to roll up your sleeves and get a flu shot, but less than half of Canada’s population chooses to do so.

Dr. Norm Bottum is a family physician in Haliburton and he’s been kept busy lately giving flu shots to his patients. He recommends everyone gets a shot, especially if you have underlying health conditions or spend a lot of time with the elderly or children.

Given the wide range of nasty symptoms; fever, chills, cough, nausea, headaches and body aches, Dr. Bottum says the shot will keep you on your feet this winter. He also says COVID is making its presence known once again and suggests rolling up your other sleeve to get the COVID shot as well.

For Keli Schmidt, the month-long postal strike hasn’t been an obstacle for her business – Haliburton Clothing Co. The clothing designer makes comfortable, casual clothes and sells them mostly online. While other local businesses are feeling the strain of the strike by Canada Post union employees, Keli says it’s business as usual for now.

A strong believer in a fair wage, Keli supports the postal employees in fighting for livable wages here and across the country. She points to the corporate giants, like Amazon, who are granted generous discounts for shipping, while smaller businesses like her face inflated costs. Recently, she paid $40 to ship an order to a customer by courier, spending more than double her normal shipping costs.

CanoeFM visited Keli’s sewing studio recently where she was busy trying to finish off a few pre-Christmas orders to learn more about how the strike is affecting her business.

For 21 years, Environment Haliburton has been doing all it can to raise awareness about the threats of climate change. They’ve written op-eds, held webinars and other events and written articles and letters to local politicians about the very real impacts of a warming planet. While in the past, there were more naysayers than believers, that’s finally changing. The group is seeing more buy-in by both residents and local government who now understand that climate change isn’t on its way – it’s already here.

That’s why Environment Haliburton recently hosted a webinar entitled “Stormy Weather – Can We Adapt to a Changing Climate?”. More than 100 people registered for the event, which focused on practical steps that can be taken to lessen the impacts of more frequent and severe storm events, drought and wildfires.

CanoeFM spoke with Susan Hay about why the work of Environment Haliburton is so crucial and the importance of collective action both locally and around the world.

A giant snowstorm that brought travel in many northern Ontario communities to a stand-still late last week also cut short the Ontario Health Council’s Trojan Horse Tour. After visiting both Minden and Haliburton on November 28, the threat of blizzard conditions caused organizers to call off visits to both Bracebridge and Midland.

The 15-foot-tall Trojan horse has been touring the province to raise awareness about the threat of rising healthcare costs by funding private clinics. Representatives of the Ontario Health Council and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of CUPE spoke to residents of both Minden and Haliburton, imploring them to speak up, take action and let their vote say far more in the next provincial election.

Bonnie Roe, Co-Chair of Aging Together as Community in Haliburton rallied the crowds and insisted that universal healthcare is the right of all Canadians. She urged everyone in attendance to fight for the healthcare we deserve.

Dogs may be man’s best friend, but they’re not disposable. That sentiment is what drives Kristyn Begbie to rescue and care for stray and abandoned dogs in Haliburton County. Snowflake Meadows, a rescue shelter located just outside of Lochlin, focuses on trying to give dogs a better life. Recently, 47 dogs came to the shelter in one month, and now Snowflake Meadows is bursting at the seams.

CanoeFM visited the rescue shelter recently and learned about the challenges and rewards of taking in unwanted animals in an environment where care comes first.