County Closeup

For the first time ever, Culture Days are coming to Haliburton County. And thanks to its already thriving arts and culture community, Haliburton has been recognized as one of 16 provincial hubs featured during the celebration.Ontario Culture Days is an annual, multi-week festival highlighting local arts, culture and heritage in several communities across the province. This year's Culture Days run from September 18thto October fourth. The festival encourages people to discover and explore local arts and culture experiences. Given the depth of opportunities here in Haliburton, hosting Culture Days helps showcase everything the region has to offer.Sharon Kennedy is the Vice-Chair of the Arts Council of Haliburton Highlands and part of the organizing committee bringing Culture Days to Haliburton County. She's hard at work promoting the three-week festival and wants artists of all kinds to take part by hosting experiences for the public.Kennedy sat down with CanoeFM recently at Castle Antiques to talk about the upcoming festival and how people can get involved.

If there's one thing Ron Parkinson believes, it's that democracy is a gift – one we all should honor by voting. That's why he's doing all he can as the President of the Cedar Lake Association – an organization that connects about 300 cottage owners on vital issues, to vote in the upcoming municipal election on Monday, Oct. 26th.Like hundreds of others, Parkinson is a cottager and has been coming up to Haliburton County for more than 40 years. He believes that information is power and that taking part in the electoral process is vitally important.This is Part One of what will be a multi-episode series on the voices of Haliburton County as we inch ever closer to the upcoming municipal election. The series, entitled,WHAT MATTERS HERE:Listening to the voices of Haliburton County,will cover the issues that matter to various demographic groups in our region.In this, Part One, we'll hear from Parkinson, who's mission is to motivate cottagers to become informed about the candidates and their platforms, then cast their votes. As Parkinson stipulates, this is not an attempt to choose specific candidates, but to let members know who's running for what roles and what they stand for.Many of his members, who own cottages here but live somewhere else, are unaware of their right to vote in an election for an area that's not their primary residence. That's precisely why Parkinson is launching an information campaign to understand the local municipal scene, specifically in Highlands East, where his cottage and his members own their secondary properties.But first, let's clarify the term‘cottager'. Ontario law allows anon-resident electorto vote in a municipality if they own or rent property there (or are the spouse of someone who does). So, a person who lives in Toronto but owns a cottage in Haliburton County can be on the municipal voters' list here.

The Dysart Fire Department plays an important role in our region. They're there for all kinds of emergencies and perform difficult work to save lives and property. But with more than 8,000 properties in the Haliburton Highlands across often challenging rural and seasonal cottage country terrain, they need the flexibility to use whatever equipment helps them get to calls the fastest.That's why Dysart et al Deputy Chief Stacey Parish, and volunteer firefighters Spencer Mitchell and Steve Potalivo came into the CanoeFM studio recently, to talk about the new vehicle they hope to purchase and why it's so important. They're hoping that as many people can come play in their inaugural golf tournament on August 30thto help raise funds for the new off-road vehicle.

Are you 55+ and looking to bring more meaning into your life? Haliburton's SIRCH is looking for you!April Austen is looking for a few good men and women. Moreaccurately, she's looking for 10 kind-hearted people who want to share their life experienceand caring nature with young families in Haliburton County as part of SIRCH's new GrandFriendprogram.The concept is simple; matching those aged 55 and up with young, single mothers or families tooffer a listening ear and meaningful connection through activities, encouragement andfriendship. It's the first time SIRCH has offered the program, and Austen is excited for this newopportunity.Austen says the program will support both the parents, the kids andthe GrandFriends themselves. And because Haliburton County is a supportive community, theprogram is a perfect fit here for anyone who just needs someone in their lives who cares.

It has sat at the corner of Irondale Road and Salerno Lake Road since 1887 and born witness two World Wars, the Gold Rush, Canada's Confederation and everything else that brought us all here, to 2026. It's the Irondale Church, a central hub to this small community and generations of families.And now, its future is bleak. Officials there say that unless new members of the Bark Lake Cultural Developments Board come forward soon, the church will be put up for sale this fall.Financed by a Pennsylvania industrialist Charles Pusey, whose dream was to create a mining empire of profitable iron deposits in the community, the church was constructed to create a place of worship for miners and their families. Pusey's dream would never be realized however, since the local iron ore was not commercially viable, so the church is the last remaining part of his investment in the community. It became an Anglican Church and remained so for nearly a century but 18 years ago, when the congregation dwindled, the Irondale church was deconsecrated. BLCD took over the property and has managed it ever since.Douglas Rodger, a new member himself, says that without a new leadership team the church will close, and with its closure, public access to services, concerts, Spring Fling, Fall Harvest, Remembrance Day ceremonies and numerous church suppers there will end permanently.Rodger sat down with CanoeFM recently in the sanctuary of the Irondale Church to explain why saving the it, the hub of the Irondale community, is so important.As a way to generate both interest, funds and motivate people to get involved in saving the Irondale Church, Rodger is organizing a concert on Saturday, Aug. 22ndfeaturing Mystikana, a mother & daughter folk trio of singer songwriters from the highlands of Eastern Ontario. Rodger is hoping this concert will spark interest in saving the church that's been the centre of the community for 139 years.

The veil of secrecy surrounding the planned merger of Fleming College and St. Lawrence College has led the Ontario Public Service Employees Union of faculty and support staff at both colleges to file six grievances for failing to keep all parties informed, a local union president said recently.In April, a press release announced the merger to form a much larger post-secondary institution saying it would allow quote "greater capacity to serve our regions over the long term, while maintaining the local college experience," end quote.Increased financial and operational challenges arising from the capping of international students in 2024 led to massive program and staff cuts at a number of Ontario colleges, including Xavier Massie, Dean of Fleming College in Haliburton in February.Marcia Steeves, President of OPSEU Local 351, sat down with CanoeFM recently to discuss the frustration union members are feeling for being excluded from meetings regarding the merger by college leadership. She says the union is just as much in the dark as the communities the colleges operate in.

Every community has that one person who does all they can to make life better for others. In Wilberforce, that person is Kathy Rogers. She's the type of person who can be called on to take on any initiative that improves her town for those who live there. That's why she's hard at work, with the rest of the Wilberforce FUNraising Committee, getting everything ready for the upcoming annual Gigantic Penny Raffle & Spaghetti Dinner, taking place on Saturday, July 18th.Rogers spoke with CanoeFM recently to talk about this year's event. She says it's a great day of fun, fundraising and fellowship with both locals and cottagers.Rogers says the Penny Raffle is a much-loved event by the community. She says there's never an issue getting donations of specialty baskets and other raffle items. Some people spend all year getting items ready for the raffle and on the actual day, are thrilled to see who ends up with what.

Ask anyone who lives in Minden and they'll likely say the same thing; the Gull River floods out their town nearly every Spring. It did this year, just as it did in 2013, 2017, and 2019, damaging both roads and properties. It's frustrating to many local residents, who were forced to fill and install hundreds of sandbags to keep the water from causing further losses.Some of those residents took to social media during the crisis to complain about the Trent Severn Waterway not doing enough to safeguard communities like Minden from flooding. They asked why there wasn't another dam located nearby to prevent the water from rising, but few can actually say they understand how water management works in the region.CanoeFM sat down with Karen Feeley of the TSW recently to understand how it manages water flows in our region. She said many factors come into play and their responsibility is to mitigate flooding when a perfect storm like the one that came this past April comes into play.Feeley said people need to understand that what happens upstream can have consequences to those living downstream.

Parker Pad Printing was started by Frank Parker Sr. He focused on producing pads of paper for various firms and thus the business became known for it. When Frank Sr. passes, his son, the late Frank Parker Jr. took over the reins for four decades until his daughter Janis assumed leadership following her father's death. For eight decades, Parker Pad Printing has been led by three generations of the family. But as Parker herself easily admits, it wasn't the career she had planned for.When called upon to lead and grow the business, that's exactly what she did, adding a second location in Haliburton and increasing sales beyond anyone's expectations. Now, that commitment to business success is what's led to Parker Pad Printing to celebrate it's 80thyear in business.

The Good Food Box is a community assistance program that provides a box or bag of nutritious fruits and vegetables and it's the answer for those who want to stretch their grocery budget as far as possible. For $20 each month, those who've signed up receive a Good Food Box filled with delicious, fresh produce.The program, originally run here by the Lions Club, started in 2001. The Haliburton Rotary Club now administers the program, and Irv Handler is proud of the work his club is doing to help those in need in the community.Handler invited CanoeFM to come witness the Rotary members prepare Good Food Boxes recently in Haliburton to see the impact for the community.