prince edward county and quinte region · 2020. 7. 24. · fnl version a-5 north star has earned an...

SPRING 2018

P R I N C E E D W A R D C O U N T Y A N D Q U I N T E R E G I O N

INSIDE: Stars shining bright above us, greener grass under foot, adopting a County lifestyle, unplanned steps of the chiropodist farmers, and so much more. . .

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4 COUNTY & QUINTE LIVING SPRING 2018

8Chris Braney’s County roots by Catherine Stutt

18Dark skies Play among the stars at Lennox & addington’s Dark sky Viewing areaby Jennifer Shea

26 Dan & tammy’s iVanLeigh FarmsThe path not taken is the most fulfilling for these Quinte Chiropodists.by Catherine Stutt

36the grass is greener in the CountyWillowlee sod Farmby Catherine Stutt

44BeLLeViLLe’s Vantage Point meDia houseby Cindy Duffy

53signPostsBongarD Cornerby Lindi Pierce

54CQL @ home With aLan gratias From the Farm Cooking schoolby Alan Gratias

58graVitasmiChèLe hozerby Alan Gratias

IN THIS ISSUEEach issuE availablE onlinE at: www.countyandquinteliving.caPRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND QUINTE REGION

ON THE COVERCover photo: Dan Tolj and Tammy Keller at Ivanleigh Farms in Smithfield.Photo by Daniel Vaughan

5COUNTY & QUINTE LIVING SPRING 2018

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REVISIONS

FNL

VERSION

A-5

North Star has earned an enviable reputation for producing high-quality and energy effi cient windows and doors.Tested and certifi ed by both the Canadian Standards Association and American Architectural Manufacturers Association, all of North Star’s windows and doors not only meet or exceed all industry standards, they meet our own high standards. And we back them with a transferable, limited lifetime warranty to prove it.

A QUALITY GUARANTEE THATLASTS A LIFETIME

DEALER INFORMATION

QUALITY WINDOWS & DOORSGREAT SERVICE. EXCEPTIONAL VALUE.

©2016 North Star Manufacturing (London) Ltd. All rights reserved.

CLIENT

SIZE

Metroland – One-Quarter-V(5.145” x 5.71”)

North Star Windows & DoorsJOB DESCRIPTION

Co-op Print Advertising

– Overall

PRODUCTION NOTES

This ad scales at 88.67% to fi t a 4 column broadsheet size (4 column x 71 agates = 284 lines = 4.5625” x 5.06”)

COLOUR

CMYK

DATE TIME DESIGNER ACCOUNT REP

April 7/16 5:30 cf SL/NG

DOCKET #

129-301

519.439.8080 866.439.8080 TMD.CATHE MARKETING DEPARTMENT 457 King Street London, Ontario, Canada N6B 1S8

REVISIONS

FNL

VERSION

A-5

North Star has earned an enviable reputation for producing high-quality and energy effi cient windows and doors.Tested and certifi ed by both the Canadian Standards Association and American Architectural Manufacturers Association, all of North Star’s windows and doors not only meet or exceed all industry standards, they meet our own high standards. And we back them with a transferable, limited lifetime warranty to prove it.

A QUALITY GUARANTEE THATLASTS A LIFETIME

WHY NORTHSTAR?• Best -in-class Manufacturing Technology• High Quality Workmanship• Lifetime Transferable Warranty• Energy Efficient

General ManaGer Seawayadam Milliagan

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editorCatherine Stutt

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Cindy duffyalan Gratiaslindi Pierce

Jennifer SheaCatherine Stutt

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For diStriBution inquirieS Call 613.966.2034

County & quinte living is published quarterly and is available free of charge through strategic partners, wineries, golf courses, real estate, and chamber of commerce offices, retail outlets, and advertiser locations. County & quinte living may not be reproduced, in part or whole, in any form without prior written consent of the publisher. Views expressed by contributors are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of County & quinte living. County & quinte living is a division of Metroland Media Group ltd.

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PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND QUINTE REGION


Catherine Stutt, Editor, County and Quinte [email protected]

Six degrees of SteveMy Favourite Cousin

Steve, was a paramedic for 35 years. I’ve known him for all my 55 years, I still don’t know how he ended up being a paramedic, although helping others is part of his DNA. He met the love of his life, Henrike, married early, started a family early, and one of my first memories is of my parents coming home from Steve and Henrike’s wedding, when I was four.

I remember my father coming home after visiting the hospital, reporting the safe and healthy arrival of Kevin, their first child, with a full head of Steve’s red hair. All was well in the family. Alisa followed Kevin, and now there are four grandchildren. This is a family with three living generations responding to world crises. Steve served at Ground Zero just days after the towers fell. Alisa is a traumatologist and between dispatches volunteers at an organic farm in Prince Edward County. Her daughter Marita is currently building schools with the Salvation Army (and Alisa) in Guyana. It’s not the first tour for any of them.

When I started working at the OPP, I was thrilled to learn we had a hotline to the ambulance base, about a half mile north of the detachment. I was 19, and in the middle of a barren February midnight shift, I could lift the handset and My Favourite Cousin Steve would answer. That is the kind of comfort he bestows on people.

When Darryl and I moved to Brighton, my Mom called one day and said Steve and Henrike were visiting friends in the area and he wanted to drop in. As a surprise. Which was kind of blown. That’s Mom. Steve showed up at the door, that smile, that hug, and somehow our hometown was part of our new town.

Last September, Steve and Henrike brought friends from New Zealand. They were on their way to Halifax from Bracebridge, via the Codrington Farmers’ Market and Amherst Island, hoping for a stop at Ivanleigh Farms in Smithfield, since Ivanleigh has lots of New Zealand Kunekune pig breeding lines.

Paddy Ann and Rod, cattle farmers in New Zealand, visited with Justin and Jennifer Dorland, whom we profiled a year ago, stopped by Dahlia May Flower Farm’s stall and met Melanie, whom we profiled last spring, and Henrike spoke with Lynn VanderHerberg, whom we profiled in the Autumn 2017 issue. The artists had quite a talk.

As I write this, our heritage writer Lindi Pierce is in New Zealand, with her husband Denis Curtis, who replicates vintage racing motorcycle chasses, and

whom we also profiled. During a six-week work trip/vacation, one of their destinations is Lindi’s Crossing, an hour or so north of Teviot, where Paddy Ann (a world class town crier) and her husband Rod live. My Favourite Cousin Steve and Henrike, his wife of 50 years this month, visited there recently. Paddy Ann and Rod visited the Codrington Farmers’ Market. Steve and Henrike love Brighton. Lindi and Den are hoping for a visit to Teviot, and since Den is from Bracebridge, Lincolnshire, England, and took his family to Bracebridge, Ontario when they visited, and where My Favourite Cousin Steve is a councillor, and where Henrike, one of the most remarkable women I have ever met, is a talented artist, it all comes together.

I cherish these incredible coincidences and connections. They make the world smaller. And happier. And livable. Just ask Bill Murtha, whom we also profiled. He’ll tell you a thing or two about connections. Oh yes, he will. He should meet my Favourite Cousin Steve and his amazing wife Henrike. They’d all have another story to tell.

Enough with the philosophizing. I have tomato and pepper seeds to start. Like relationships, they respond well to nurturing, and the results are worth it.

Thanks for turning the page.

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On a nasty winter day, rife with weather warnings – the kind where the locals take the backroads rather than being part of a parking lot on the 401, Chris Braney isn’t thinking of snow. He’s Canadian, so of course, the requisite weather conversation occurs, along with questions about the road conditions, and polite concerns about traffic and caution, but his mind is on music and friends and his newly adopted Hillier community, where he knows in his heart he has always belonged.

Growing up in the small neighbourhood of Highland Creek, he found solace in the rural community between Scarborough

Story by Catherine StuttPhotography by Daniel Vaughan

An old soul moves house and home to

Niles Corners

Chris

Cold Creek

from


and Pickering. Working in an apple orchard when he was eight, he quickly recognized a tendency toward farms, falling in love with old barns.“I’m an old soul,” Chris admitted. “I seek and

appreciate the simplicity of life and connect with the land.” In his mid-teens, two pivotal events occurred. The federal government was expropriating land in advance of a planned local airport, and more importantly, Chris met Silvia when he was 16.

The young couple spent dates exploring the charming abandoned farm buildings, and he

fell in love with the architecture, the details, the feeling. He fell harder for Silvia, whom he credits with always encouraging him to follow his dreams. High school sweethearts, they married and are parents to Erin, 17 and Madeline, 20.

In his 20s, Chris was elected as a schoolboard trustee. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Durham District School Board. Silvia is a teacher with a neighbouring board. During this time, Chris became passionate about wine and started looking for a way to bring these interests together. In the late1990s, he headed east, looking around Port Hope and Grafton, seeking the perfect soil, the perfect

farm. He looked for several years without connecting with the right property.

After a while, a friend mentioned Prince Edward County’s excellent soil and weather, so conducive to a vineyard.The County was still a well-kept secret, so the response can be forgiven. “Where’s Prince Edward County,” Chris asked his friend. “I’d never heard of it.”

Off he went, following a new lead. It took one drive down Danforth Road to seal his fate.

“I saw the barns and fell in love. I had a dream and vision of trying to save something. Silvia tells me I’m the champion of lost causes, but I

knew this one wasn’t lost. It spoke to me, and then I saw the sale sign. I was holding the peg to the barn door and I promised the barn I would bring it back.”

Chris bought the Niles Corners property before Silvia had a chance to see it, with her full encouragement. It included a large barn and another smaller barn, but no residence. Chris hoped to be able to build a new home in the style of the area’s original houses, or preferably, move a house that was already part of the community.

That first year was for the barn and the land. Chris estimates the barn was built in 1892, and he was determined to save it. Protected

with a new roof, he sought advice from County legend Ernie Margetson on how best to proceed. While those discussions ensued, Chris turned his attention to the land.

“I knew what I was looking for in terms of soil,” he explained. “I wanted a nice slope, because pinot noir varietals like that for air flow and disease resistance. This has the north-south exposure, a gentle slope, and the soil is absolutely perfect.”

When the contractor came to plant the first vines, he arrived at dusk, and told Chris the soil was so good he’d take 10 truckloads back

to Niagara if he could. “It was such a relief,” laughed Chris. “I was so happy. I called my Dad to tell him. When he and my father-in-law first saw the farm, they questioned my sanity. The soil was horrible. Unless you’re planning to grow pinot noir. This is probably the only place in the New World identical to the Burgundian soil. It’s a magical spot. We have a true offering of Burgundian Chardonnay.”

It would be a while before Chris could enjoy that first vintage. He spent the first year reclaiming the property, getting it back to workable land. He exposed the topography around the barn and delighted in the

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discoveries. “I found an abandoned rail fence and used it at the front. The rails were more than 100 years old, and when I cut into them, the red cedar was vivid, just waiting.”

He planted sugar maples and burr oaks, agreeing when his neighbour noted Chris was planting them for his grandchildren to enjoy. “That’s the point,” he smiled. “The farm is important to the community and I wanted a gathering place to continue for generations in the family. I want our daughters to experience the rural life and small-town living. The farm is a legacy.”

Early in this project, Chris felt a reaction from the community. “We have terrific friends and neighbours, and they were happy

I was preserving the heritage of the property. I didn’t come to the County with the intention of changing it; I came to embrace the values I cherish. This is the kind of place where neighbours mean something. We help each other. It reminds me so much of growing up in Highland Creek.”

The draw deepened. Friendships were forged, music was made, more vines were planted, including three more acres of pinot noir. Chris admits he doesn’t want to be a winemaker; he just loves growing things – grapes, friendships, legacies. He sells his grapes to Jonas Newman at nearby Hinterland Wine Company, who uses them for his sparkling rosé.

The grapes are grown with typical Braney flair, soothed and coaxed by the old jazz and Sinatra Chris plays over the vineyards. “Jonas tells me the vines love Sinatra,” assured Chris.

Music is vital and natural to Chris, developed through centuries of family history and lore. Chris’ great grandparents settled in Lanark County, Ontario, immigrating from Ireland. They were known far and wide as the Marks Brothers Repertoire Kings, Vaudeville performers in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“People came from miles around to sit on their porch and listen to them perform.”

Chris is part of a band at home – What the Funk – and it wasn’t long before the Niles Corners Band formed, with Ernie Margetson,


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Drew Dick, Steve Spicer, Geoff Heinricks (author of the County classic a Fool and Forty acres) and CQL’s own Daniel Vaughan. Once in a while they are joined by Juno award winning Justin Rutledge, who shot a video at the barn. Each year, Chris hosts a corn roast, and he and the band perform for friends, family, and neighbours.

His Irish roots run deep. One day, Chris decided, without any experience, to build a drystone wall. “It came naturally to me,” he recalled, with surprise. “I’ve always loved limestone, I’ve always been drawn to Ireland, and I started one morning. It was like I was in a trance; I felt like I’d been doing it all my life, yet there was no sense of time. When

Silvia called me for dinner, I wasn’t aware I’d been at it the entire day. When we finally visited Ireland, I felt such an attachment.”

Even with the vineyards, the restored barn, the repurposed fence, and new wall, there was still a large element missing from the property. Cold Creek Vineyards was well underway, but the Braneys were still living in a converted shed when they visited. The property needed a house.

Ernie and Chris talked over the years, and early on, Ernie asked Chris what style he wanted. Chris was adamant it fit the community and complement the property. They were standing at the top of the rise, and Chris pointed to the old Christ Church


parsonage about 200 yards away, across the road. “That’s exactly what I want,” he said. Ernie, renowned in the area for his expertise with heritage homes and known for saving seemingly lost buildings, and moving more than a few, was looking for candidates, eventually finding a suitable building in Consecon.

Before that was finalized, Lee Nurse moved in next door and introductions were quick. Chris soon learned the Nurse family needed

to remove the old parsonage to grow their robotic dairy farm. Lee asked if Chris had an interest. He did. “The exact house I’d wanted for seven years was now available. I called Ernie, who came over right away.”

Ernie recalled how it all came together. “It was good karma, fate worked in our favour,” adding he was baptized in the former Christ Church, which was now part of Closson Chase, just up the road. Ernie had helped move it, making it accommodations for the

workers. “We moved the church in five pieces, and we oriented it the same way, with the stained glass catching the sunrise.”“In the past, buildings were moved with

much greater frequency. There were no utility lines in the way, they didn’t need permits and police escorts. They’d just lift and roll it down the road. Moving this one was almost as easy, because it was such a short distance.”

The parsonage was built circa 1850. Chris places it around 1857, and Ernie thinks it’s


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a bit older. An engineer with a degree in architecture, Ernie sees elements of an earlier design. “The Gothic gable was a post-1850 fad in vernacular architecture, but there are hints of Regency architecture. There were large garden doors at the front, going right to the floor, and lots of openings to the outside. It probably had a veranda at one point,” he mused, suggesting perhaps it was built in the 1840s, and may not have been originally owned by the church.

It is a proud house, 30 by 40 feet of timber frame construction in almost pristine condition. It boasted beautiful detail, although some original elements were missing. Ernie lauded the various owners over the years for their restraint. “The fenestration hadn’t been dramatically altered, and fortunately no one had modernized it to any significant degree.”

The architectural salvage Chris accumulated over the years suddenly came into play. A large Gothic window had been removed,

“I’m an old soul.

I seek and appreciate

the simplicity of life

and connect

with the land.

”


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and finding an original would be challenging and expensive, except Chris had one in his collection. It fit. Exactly.

The house had beautiful trim, but some was missing. Finding an exact match would require a good deal of luck, and having it replicated would be expensive. Chris has some in his collection. On a whim, he tried it. It was a match. Exactly.

It is a regal home, and livable, but it Chris promised it more. With Ernie’s help, it found it’s new home, and the neighbours say it looks happier there, it’s exterior painted Hawthorne yellow from the period, it’s presence overlooking the vineyards. “The story of saving it, keeping it close to it’s origins, looking out the front door to where it used to be. There is a narrative there that will go on,” noted Ernie.

The interior restoration is well underway, with help from Drew Dick, who like Ernie has become one of Chris’ closest County friends. Typical to the story, things fell into place, quite literally. Chris and Drew were removing plaster and lathe from the ceiling, and hundreds of newspapers fell. A few days later, Drew went back on his own to continue the job, and more papers fell, including one that drifted right to his feet. Staring up at him,

from the cover, was Drew’s father, accepting an award when he was 17.

This history, these connections, are integral to Chris. He is the first to say he has always been fortunate, surrounded by great family and friends, but his voice suggests something extra special is happening in Niles Corners.“The farm is a way to turn down the taps, to

spend more time with family and community,” he said. “The more time I’m there, the more stories I hear about how the community embraced and supported each other during tough times. Even with all the changes in the County, it’s still a small community.”

Each year, Christ Church hosts a commemoration at the cemetery. Chris attended last year and spoke with many people, including the church historian. “He gave me copies of great old photos, including one of the first family to ever live in the house. They’re smiling in the photo. That’s rare for a picture of that era. Maybe it’s the house. After that, more people came by, sharing their connections with the parsonage.”

The old home is invigorated, and the property is following suit. Last year, Chris planted 100 apple trees for cider production

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Spartan. “I grew up in apple country and I love the look of the orchard when it blossoms in the spring.”

Neighbours have become used to Chris making a run to Wellington for supplies in his 1966 GMC, bought after he watched The bridges of Madison county and fell in love with Clint Eastwood’s truck. When he learned it was a model from his birth year, he knew he had to find one. It goes well with his Royal Enfield motorcycle, similar to Steve McQueen’s in The Great Escape.

Life in the County is a work in progress, with a solid five-year plan. Chris is still very committed to his work on the school board. “It’s like motherhood and apple pie,” he stressed. “I see my success and the things I have as a direct result of my public education. Schools are the last safety net we have across Canada.” While he hasn’t decided if he’ll run for re-election this year, he acknowledges Silvia has five years left to retirement, and then the family will move full time to the farm.“We want to be part of the community, not

just live there. The sense of belonging, the warm welcome, the acceptance is more than I envisioned, more than anyone could ask. My heart and soul are already part of Prince Edward County,” smiled Chris.

Lennox & Addington’s Dark Sky Viewing Area

Story by Jennifer SheaPhotography by Cindy Conlin

The beauty of the night sky as it was meant to be seen

It seems there are increasingly more celestial events encouraging us to look up to the night sky. At the end of January, sky watchers were treated to a Blue Moon (second full moon in a month), a Blood Moon (total lunar eclipse) and a Supermoon, (when the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its orbit). The lunar event was promoted as a Super Blue Blood Moon, a rare event not seen in North America for more than 150 years.

Terence Dickinson is a Yarker-based astronomy expert who has been watching, photographing, teaching, and writing about the night sky for 50 years. Ask him about these seemingly increasing celestial phenomena and he chuckles. “Media more and more are

latching on to these celestial events that seem to be of public interest. They do get people out to look, but they’re based on astrological mumbo-jumbo.” In fact, many of the recent events featured in the media are regular occurrences in the night sky. A Supermoon, for example, appears once every year.

That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t take the time to look up at the night sky. Unfortunately, for a large part of the population, light pollution from highly populated areas prevents a clear look at the sky at night. “The light-pollution-free night sky is now something that 80 per cent of the population of Canada has never properly seen,” said Terence.

“Because they don’t know where to go; they don’t know what to look for.”


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For sky watchers in the County and Quinte area, there is a solution – the Lennox & Addington County Dark Sky Viewing Area, the most southerly dark sky site in Ontario. Located a 30-minute drive north of Napanee on County Road 41, the Dark Sky Viewing Area (DSVA) offers a night sky experience similar to what was available a century ago. The site opened in 2012 and is available year-round with no admission charge. The DSVA attracts sky watchers from all over, including a large number from the Greater Toronto Area. “It’s as dark there (at the DSVA) and astronomically excellent as it is about three hours north of Toronto,” promised Terence.

Terence discovered the site by accident in 2010 as he was driving on County Road 41 to Pembroke where he was teaching evening enrichment classes in astronomy at Algonquin College. At the time, the DSVA site was a gathering spot for construction equipment and materials for crews working on roadway reconstruction. “One time when I was driving back from Pembroke, I stopped about halfway,” recalled Terence. “It’s just a hamlet. I got out and it was a really nice night. I thought this would be a perfect spot because it’s just on the edge.” As he said this, Terence flipped through a large hardcover book, The backyard astronomer’s Guide, which he co-authored with Alan Dyer. He pointed to an illustration depicting light pollution over North America. The edge referred to by Terence is the most southerly spot north of Lake Ontario where true dark


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skies emerge and is the precise location of the DSVA.

Armed with his ever-present enthusiasm for the night sky and his desire to share it with others, Terence approached Lennox & Addington County. He pitched the idea of a viewing area to Stephen Paul, Director of Community & Development Services, who embraced it almost immediately.“I’ve gone to places before where there’s

a possibility of doing something and they don’t know what I’m talking about,” said Terence. “Whereas Stephen, right away, he understood the implications if you have something special within the County and you let people know it’s there and you spruce it up a little bit, it would be a good idea. At least that’s what I was telling him. We were about 15 minutes into it and he said, ‘Stop. I like it. I like the idea.’ They invested in making it a nice site for people to go in. They cleared the construction stuff and put a concrete pad in to put up telescopes.”

Rob Plumley, Community Development Officer with Lennox & Addington County, described the site, “It’s a big concrete platform contoured with the land. We had a local designer help us with that. The lines in the concrete point to true north, which helps people setting up their telescopes. The interpretive signage tells why that location was chosen and a little bit about what to potentially look for.”

The viewing platform accommodates about 40 people at a time and there are

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30 parking spots, with an expansion planned. Many visitors bring lawn chairs or blankets to be comfortable as they gaze upward. Individuals can set up their own telescopes if they have them, or they can take advantage of those set up by more experienced sky watchers.

Terence was a frequent visitor to the DSVA in its early days and conducted guided tours of the night sky, pointing out celestial objects of interest to other sky watchers. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, he had to cut back on many activities. He passed the night sky tour guide responsibilities to Joe Gilker and Tim Trentadue, two local amateur astronomers and astrophotographers with great interest and enthusiasm for the DSVA and the night sky in general.

“In 2014, the DSVA had a photography contest,” said Joe. “I was taking photos all the time – mostly from the DSVA and from around the area. It was a Lennox & Addington County-wide photography contest. I entered a bunch of my photos and the judge of the contest was Terence Dickinson.”

“He is indirectly the guy who got me into all this. I used to watch him back in the ’90s on the Discovery Channel; he had a weekly or bi-weekly appearance where he would talk about the night sky. I used to make it a point to watch his appearances on the show. Then eventually I stumbled across one of his books called nightWatch and I bought that. It was such a great book. I loved it so much. Shortly after, I went out and bought my telescope and started. I kept getting his books because I liked his style and his way of explaining things. Fast forward 15 years and he’s the guy who’s judging this photo contest. I ended up winning the contest.”

When Joe received a call from Rob Plumley asking him to meet with him and Terence, Joe didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation. “Terence had been looking at my pictures online, reading through my blogs. They were looking for somebody to do monthly presentations at the DSVA and asked me if I would volunteer to do this. I thought about it for 30 seconds or so before accepting and I’ve been there since. I’m going on my third year.”

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Joe considers himself more of an astrophotographer than an astronomer, but taking effective pictures of the night sky involves knowing what he’s looking at, so he has learned a lot over the years and continues to learn. He thoroughly enjoys sharing his knowledge as a volunteer tour guide at the DSVA. “One of the most fun parts of doing it for me is seeing the sky with people who aren’t used to seeing it. Sometimes more than a

hundred people show up at that tiny little site and probably at least two-thirds of those people have either never seen this at all or haven’t seen it in decades.”

Joe fondly recalls an East Indian family visiting the DSVA from Toronto. Four generations gathered to look at the night sky together, with the younger generation translating for the elders who did not speak English. “At the end of it, the elderly gentleman shakes my

hand,” said Joe. “One of his grandkids is translating and saying his grandfather had been in Canada for about 40 years and had never seen skies like this since he was a little boy growing up in India. It was so nice to see that kind of reaction from someone.”

The DSVA now hosts regular events during moonless weekends beginning in May and continuing through September. Two nights per month, visitors can watch a 90-minute, laser-guided tour of the


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night sky (check www.DarkSkyViewing.com for this year’s events). Joe and Tim set up their telescopes and show sky watchers what’s happening in the sky, using a laser pointer to highlight constellations, planets, and stars. The tours begin approximately one hour after sunset, with the first half focused on seasonal constellations – explaining how things move in the sky and highlighting any specific activities on that night. The second half is the telescope viewing with

visitors invited to come up to look for themselves.

Even Joe is surprised sometimes at the night sky events that occur. “The first one we did last year in May, we ended up with a surprise show of northern lights. I had never seen northern lights like that from this area before. Literally from before dark, we could see a green glow in the

sky just as the sun was setting and right until I left at 4 a.m., the sky was aglow. I was giving my presentation, but nobody was really paying attention because they were looking at the northern lights. Even I was horribly distracted by it. It was the excitement with people seeing it for the first time. That excitement was palpable.”

Joe, Terence, and Rob all point out special equipment is not required to enjoy night sky viewing. The naked eye

can see a great deal, and binoculars also work well. “People don’t think of looking up with binoculars at night, but binoculars are two small telescopes,” said Joe “In many cases, you actually see things better than with a telescope because you’re looking with both eyes so you’re getting your stereoscopic vision and there are so many things you can’t see with the naked eye that all of a sudden just pop right out with binoculars.”

In the foreword of the third (and final) edition of Terence and Alan Dyer’s The backyard astronomer’s Guide, Robert Burnham, the former editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine, writes, “If you, too, feel the tug of the stars, there’s no better place to begin than here.”

The same could be said of the Lennox & Addington County Dark Sky Viewing Area.

“The light-pollution-free night sky is now something

that 80 per cent of the population of Canada

has never properly seen.

”


IvanleIgh FarmsThe unplanned steps of the Quinte chiropodists


Daniel Tolj had a plan. A good plan. A very solid life plan. It was sensible and logical. A plan to utilize his considerable skills in the medical field. He planned for this plan. He worked toward this plan. He is goal-oriented, and the plan was in reach.

From an early age, Daniel knew he wanted to become a medical professional, and took time to narrow the field while earning a Bachelor of Science. As a student at the University of Toronto, Daniel would commute to Union Station and walk north on Bay Street, taking note of the plethora of dentist offices.

“There were enough dentists; I didn’t want to be lost in the crowd,” he said with his trademark smile.

Degree in hand, he enrolled in Toronto’s Michener Institute – Canada’s English language chiropody school – and upon graduation, planned to continue

his education at Philadelphia’s Temple University. He would earn his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, and practice in large centres, aiming for Boston or Dallas, specializing in foot surgery.

That was the plan for this focused, personable, brilliant city kid.

Which begs the question. Why, as March came in like a lion, was Daniel Tolj walking along the lane at his hilltop farm in Smithfield, heading to the barn to check on spring lambs?

Tammy. She’s why.

Tammy Keller was born and raised in the small village of Denbigh, three hours from the bright lights of Daniel’s Toronto. Her favourite childhood memories involve spending time with her grandmother Anna and hunting and fishing with her father. The family always had vegetable and fruit crops, and raised chickens, cattle, sheep, and pigs to feed


the extended family. It was a way of life Tammy embraced, and she continues to draw inspiration from her 87-year-old grandmother who still farms, and whose gardens are still famous.

Leaving the security of Denbigh was a step for Tammy, made easier by the

urging of her family doctor Russell Scott, who became a friend and mentor. Dr. Scott invited Tammy to work at his Belleville practice, and then exposed her to different medical disciplines. She had options, and one overwhelming motivating factor – her father Dale had

Multiple Sclerosis. “I wanted a job where I had the financial security to do anything he needed and keep him in his home. He loved the outdoors, loved hunting and fishing and taught me that. When he was unable to renovate our home to make it accessible, we did the work while he told


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us what to do. He had so many talents, and he knew how to pass them along.”

After a placement at a chiropody clinic, she found her path. “I really liked it, but it was never on my radar. Dr. Scott encouraged me to pursue a career in private health care, and this

checked all boxes. It was one of the few medical professions where the results could often be immediate. That was so rewarding.”

After two-and-a-half years with Dr. Scott, Tammy enrolled at the Michener Institute. The outdoor girl from Denbigh

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admits Belleville was a big step, so living and studying in the shadow of Mt. Sinai Hospital in downtown Toronto was daunting, and the first few days were filled with once-in-a-lifetime moments.

Tammy remembers the first day, registering for class, seeing a young man half a kilometre away, and a voice saying, “That’s who I’m going to marry.” She laughed it off as another weird city thing, and walked into class, and there was Daniel. That was the first day. The third day was September 11, 2001. “I thought the world was ending. I was already terrified of the bigness of the city but knew I had to be there to achieve my goal. The residence was attached to the school and I didn’t go outside for three months.”

Daniel and Tammy didn’t interact for a while – two years actually – and only then because they both volunteered to do their internship in Ottawa, unbeknownst to each other. Tammy couldn’t get out of Toronto quickly enough. Even then, it was two months before they spoke. “I think we both knew we would be a distraction from our goal,” laughed Tammy.

Eventually, Tammy took Daniel to Denbigh to meet her parents. “Dad really like Daniel and knew he was right for me.” Daniel, who had brought a friend along for the weekend, was given a quick introduction to Tammy’s upbringing. “Dad and I were up early, and he told me there was a partridge in a tree and asked if I wanted to shoot it,” recalled Tammy with a laugh. “Daniel and his friend woke up pretty quickly. Apparently, gun shots meant something different to city kids.”

Daniel and Tammy planned to start a practice together and Daniel knew there was absolutely no way he was ever going to convince Tammy to stay in Toronto. They visited Trenton, which was a neutral halfway point, and both came up with the same place independently.

“We knew we were in the right spot,” said Tammy. On March 5, 2005, they opened Quinte Foot Care at 82 Dundas Street in Trenton. Dr. Scott attended the grand opening. He had closed his practice and wanted an office to maintain his WSIB work. For the next two years he worked out of Daniel and Tammy’s clinic, and it’s a time Tammy cherishes.


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“Russell was a huge role model for me,” she acknowledged. “He was so much more than a doctor to his community. He served as coroner for decades, he was the mayor of Belleville, he was a developer and farmer and outdoorsman. He showed me I could do anything I wanted. He always loved animals and raised rare breeds, understanding they are important to our heritage.”

Tammy always knew she wanted to farm and prioritized it on her list. First there was school, then establishing a successful career. Daniel shared that. The idea of a farm, though, that was not really on Daniel’s radar. Even with a growing and well-respected practice, he had not abandoned the idea of pursuing a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine at Temple.

When they bought the building for the clinic, they knew it was a perfect for their plans – whichever route they took. An upstairs apartment served as

home base for a few years. With plans to head south still under consideration, somehow Daniel found himself heading north.

The Nishnawabe Aski Nation oversees programs for First Nations in Northern Ontario, and Daniel and Tammy secured a contract to provide foot care to remote First Nations communities. Daniel, fresh from his urban life in Toronto, found himself flying to Thunder Bay, then Sioux Lookout, then to isolated communities, some as far north as Fort Severn on Hudson Bay, for a week at a time.

He has made as many as 18 trips in a year, and as few as six, has been delayed due to blizzards in the north while Tammy tended the farm back home. He typically spends a full day heading north and another coming home, if the weather is in his favour and there are no mechanical issues. He lives in the clinics, which are primarily nursing


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stations staffed around the clock by registered nurses. Physicians visit monthly, optometrists yearly. There are 49 communities on his roster, ranging from 300 to 3,000 residents. Some have road access, some are fly-in only.

The kid from the city loves it, embracing the new opportunities and experiences, including landing in Fort Severn and being told to stay inside because of the polar bears. Ultimately, he appreciates the opportunity to provide care where it is desperately needed. “Diabetic foot care is the major mandate, and diabetes occurs in First Nations people at five times the national average,” reported Daniel.

Daniel treats wounds, performs regular maintenance and minor surgery, and assesses needs. At times, he’ll have to make the call to medivac a patient facing amputations. It’s remote, it’s the Canadian frontier, and often hospitals are many hours away.

Daniel enjoys the clinical work, and the cultural exposure. “There are language barriers, and although most residents speak English, some of the Elders have only limited English. Everyone is respectful of the visiting clinicians. I love going north. I love the change, the work, and the experience. It’s very different with a wide scope of practice. I see a lot more wounds, I do a lot more surgery, and it has helped me perfect the technique.”

He appreciates the landscape, too, seeing the land open beneath him, and realizing in all that vastness, there is an incredible amount of life. Wildlife is still part of the communities, and Daniel is thankful he has been able to witness some of the traditional lifestyle and sense of community. “A successful hunt is followed by a huge celebration, and the harvest is shared among the entire community,” he explained. “Going north is the different pace I need. Even the travel days force downtime on me. We all need elbow room, and I find mine in the north,” Daniel said, perhaps a little surprised at that.

Tammy has found her own escape – one that is quickly consuming every spare moment. In 2009, looking for a weekend retreat, the couple fell in love with a 115-acre farm with a run-down house in Smithfield, with a panoramic view of Brighton Bay.

Daniel and Tammy thought it would be a nice weekend retreat, and maybe eventually they’d plant a few trees, have a vegetable garden, and eventually a few chickens for eggs and a couple of sheep to keep the grass under control.

That was the plan.

After extensive renovations, the weekend getaway became home. The seven sheep grew to a larger flock of White Dorper sheep, co-pasturing with four Sharplaninac livestock guardian dogs, and the single most diverse herd of Kunekune pigs in the world. To Tammy, it was just a natural progression. She always wanted a farm, loves working with animals, and with Dr. Scott’s mentoring and guidance, looked to rare heritage breeds.

Besides, Daniel wanted to plant fruit trees, so technically, it could be his idea. “We bought the farm and planted


cherry trees, and I came across an ad for orchard pigs. Every orchard needs pigs,” she laughed, knowing Daniel probably isn’t going to buy this theory.

More research quickly had Tammy falling in love with the Kunekune breed. They are small, they graze without rooting, they are an old breed from New Zealand. They are friendly, absent of aggression, and easily managed. The sows are naturally good mothers and the boars respectful and docile. They are perfectly suited for small farms, and their meat is prized around the world

– lauded for its flavour, marbling, and texture. They were everything Tammy wanted and more, because they were extremely rare in Canada – only two bloodlines at the time – and quite new to North America. This was Tammy’s chance to put her science to work to improve the breed and fulfill her lifelong dream of farming.

They started with Martin from Alberta. He was to be half of a breeding pair, but his lady friend didn’t arrive. Tammy turned to the United States Kunekune Pig Registry, sent an email, and heard back from its president, Lori Enright, who has a Kunekune farm in California. With Lori’s help, Tammy found friends for Martin, who quickly became comfortable in his new home. “He was spoiled rotten,” Tammy and Daniel agree. Martin soon had seven new friends. “I was still trying to figure out if this was for me,” she admitted.

It was. Last year, Lori visited Ivanleigh Farms to examine Tammy’s herd. By the time she left, she and Tammy decided to rewrite the confirmation guidelines for the registry. Before long Tammy was the president of the American Kunekune Pig Registry. Ivanleigh now has pigs representing all 24 bloodlines in the world, which is remarkable. In 1979, there were only 18 Kunekune pigs left in the world. Anywhere. Total. Now there are more than 200 at Ivanleigh Farms alone, and the breed is healthy, regulated, and in high demand.

The farm and clinic are both full-time vocations, and although Tammy has reduced her clinic hours slightly, her commitment to the practice is unwavering. Time spent away from the farm is easier, knowing Daniel’s father

Mike is there most of the week, looking after the animals. A retired transmission technician, his expertise with equipment and unstoppable work ethic are very much appreciated by his son and daughter-in-law. When Daniel is in the north, Mike is with Tammy at the farm, and there is immeasurable comfort there, too.

Tammy’s dream of a few animals has grown into an internationally recognized operation with the largest and greatest variety of genetics on the planet. “It’s developing very quickly, and the opportunities presented are unbelievable,” she said, glowing as she explained there is a new colour recognized in the registry

– the Ivanleigh blended belly band.

The coalition also resulted in the Kunekune Preservation Project, tracking markers for the breed, from birth and weaning weight to loin thickness and back fat. Tammy, naturally, is the director.

Not content to simply develop the best Kunekune genetics in the world, Tammy was driven to find ways to farm better. It stared with the dogs, which are natural deterrents for predators, including the coyotes who eye her sheep on a regular basis. Imported from Serbia, Austria, France, and Alberta, she is considering a breeding program for them. For now, they are an integral part of the herd, guardians and friends.

Seeking natural options, such as providing grazing space, co-pasturing, and sustainable and environmentally-friendly breeds caught the attention of several agencies, who provided a stamp of approval after a thorough audit of the operation. Ivanleigh Farms is certified Animal Welfare Approved (AWA), and raises Certified AWA Kunekune pigs and Certified AWA and Certified Grassfed by A Greener World White Dorper sheep. Ivanleigh is also certified predator friendly and wildlife friendly, the first in Ontario and the second in Canada to achieve that designation. “Animals raised outdoors on pasture are stronger, more resilient to disease, bright eyed, and alert

– just as they should be,” Tammy added.

High-welfare, pasture-based management is central to the ethos at Ivanleigh Farms.

“Our practices are neither conventional or standard, nor large-scale commercial. We take time and care to ensure the production

of our products satisfy the needs of our livestock and ideals of our customers,” explained Tammy. “Striving to achieve the best, we always ensure our animals come first. We breed and raise our animals in a stress-free atmosphere and provide a natural environment so they carry out their normal instinctive animal activities. We are strict from the standpoint that our animals must be raised with the dignity, respect, and the high-welfare treatment they deserve while also caring for the environment and wildlife that surrounds us.”


Ivanleigh Farms choose to pursue AWA certification because they felt it was a way to validate and confirm their farming practices, “We do not always have the pleasure of knowing all our customers on a first name basis, although those who know us know how we operate,” says Tammy. “AWA certification opens a whole new world for potential customers to get to know us while having the peace of mind that our product and livestock are certified and raised according to the highest standard of care. After initially reviewing the AWA standards, we saw

many of the areas of focus were things we had implemented in our management program from its inception. It is the perfect fit for us.”

Finding a perfect fit is a recurring theme at Ivanleigh. While Daniel thought city life and advanced research in his chosen field was his future, Tammy showed him a new path, and it’s one he acknowledges is the culmination of their families and their future.“We both grew up with fathers who

sacrificed financially, spiritually, and

physically to help us,” noted Daniel. “We wouldn’t be here without them.”

He knows, too, what the animals mean to Tammy. “I see the joy it brings to her, and that makes it my joy. I’m always going to be here for Tammy and her dream.”

Daniel paused for a second, needing to share one more thought. “This isn’t what I planned, but I don’t think my life would be as complete and enjoyable had I followed my original path. This is enchanting; it’s fulfilling.”

The grass is greener in the County

Willowlee Sod


The diversity of Prince Edward County’s agrarian economy is evident as travellers cruise the historic roads, named for kings and queens and early settlers.

Rednersville Road is home to orchards – many dormant, most still very much an ongoing enterprise. Loyalist Parkway is home to a significant percentage of the County’s newest agriculture – wineries, with patches of hops as a reminder of a crucial crop of the 1800s. There are fields of barley, thriving almost 130 years after the McKinley Tariff tacked a 48 per cent tax on the County’s exceptionally good grains.

On Victoria Road, another prosperous crop grows alongside this historic route, on property owned by three generations of the same family. That’s a good start, in an area where fifth and sixth and seventh generations of the same family have tilled the land for more than two centuries.

Although the Vanclief family has only called the County home for 73 years, it has made in an indelibly positive mark on the regional and national agriculture industry.


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Kurt Vanclief, owner of Willowlee Sod Farms, appreciates his grandfather Clarence Vanclief ’s decision to relocate to what is now one of Canada’s most popular destinations. “He came from Coe Hill in 1945 and bought property on Victoria Road. I’m really grateful he chose this location. I’m fortunate it has good soil, stone-free fields, and good access to water, which is not always the case on the County,” said Kurt.

When Clarence arrived, he farmed in a more traditional manner. He grew cash crops, had some livestock, and grew fruits and vegetables. When his son Lyle took over the farm, he did mostly the same, scaling back when he entered federal politics, representing the riding of Prince Edward – Hastings. From 1988, when he was first elected, to 2004 when he retired from political life, he held several portfolios in Jean Chrétien’s cabinet, most relating directly to agriculture, ultimately serving as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food from 1997 to 2003.

Following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, Kurt planned a career as a farmer, loving the land, and appreciating the family farm. He attended the University of Guelph to study in its respected agricultural program, with plans to get his degree, and continue the legacy. In 1988, Kurt learned his parents were selling the farm. He was 19, had a year of university, and in 1989 bought 160 acres on the north side of the farm while the south side was sold out of the family. Kurt sought financing, getting a real-life lesson in farming. “My parents couldn’t afford to give me the farm or hold a mortgage, so I had to get financing, and no one in their right mind would give a 19-year-old kid money to by a farm. I was fortunate and

secured private financing and was able to keep a good piece in the family. My goal was to take a year off school, get the farm established, and finish my degree. I’m still waiting for that,” he smiled.

Kurt followed tradition, planting cash crops, growing market vegetables, raising livestock. It worked for a few years until the weather inspired him to make a change. The 1992 season was cold and wet. It was the year after Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines and the North America was under grey skies and constant rain for months. “Nothing matured,” remembered Kurt of this disastrous year. “I had to adjust the business, which meant getting an off-farm job to maintain it. My goal was to farm full-time. That wasn’t going to happen immediately.”

He sought new revenue streams, working shifts at a local paper mill and operating the farm when he had time off, and he did it with help.

“My parents have always been incredibly supportive, and the business grew and is successful because of my extended family.”

He was able to recover, and by 1994 purchased the 100 acres his parents sold several years earlier. “We looked for ways to make is sustainable,” he explained. “We planted cash crops, we did custom harvesting for other farmers, we plowed snow, and built up clientele across the board.” He is proud to share, “We still have the very first customer from 1988.”

By 2000, his dream came true. He gave notice at the paper mill and walked away from a good job with predictable income and benefits. He took another direction and planted 35 acres of sod. From the first harvest, the transition was


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inevitable. Sod was working. Sod was predictable, and the quality of Willowlee’s sod, along with the work ethic and customer service led to a constant demand.

The company now has 400 acres of Kentucky Bluegrass, the most popular sod. Kurt recently introduced 18 acres of rhizomatous tall fescue and is one of only five licenced growers in Canada. “It’s a small niche market,” Kurt explained. Because it roots deeper, it consumes less water comparatively once it is established, and is sometimes specified on LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects.

Kentucky Bluegrass is more common, and Kurt is conscious of growing it in a sustainable manner. In the mid-2000s, he presented an idea to the Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario for a green certification program. “We want to be responsible and sustainable, and we wanted independent verification of our process. In agriculture, land is the biggest asset, so the last thing I want to do is devalue that asset by applying chemicals or having a fuel spill. We want our customers and the public to feel good about our products, and we want their trust.”

At Willowlee, sustainability is paramount. “We build ponds for water retention, and we only water the sod about four or five weeks before harvest, if necessary. We manage our crops so we always have lush green grass available for our customers, but a lot of our sod is dormant,” explained Kurt. “Our Bluegrass is rated by the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance, and we are producing top varieties for reduced water consumption.”

Quality service and products take a team effort and a long-term vision. “We look after our sod through soil quality, environmental awareness, watershed management, fuel storage, minimal fertilizer and herbicide use, and well trained dedicated employees.”

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crop to avoid wind and water erosion. When we harvest, we leave behind an immense mass of fibrous roots, which keeps the soil stable.”

A typical harvest starts at 4 a.m. Landscapers – one of Willowlee’s biggest sectors – can call in orders up to 6 p.m. the day before and are guaranteed next day delivery. “They expect it first thing in the morning. They don’t want their workers standing around waiting for us. We respect that. We’re in the fields early and will have 1,700 rolls loaded by 5:30. We’ll hit Kingston by 7, and two hours later five customers will have their sod.” The average order is 400 to 600 rolls, some are as high as 2,000, and most days see the company harvest 6,000 rolls.“We cover from Port Hope to

Gananoque. There are a lot of sod farms around Toronto and Ottawa. We’re in a small market in between and that caused us to diversity. We are somewhat unique in that regard, and we’re well-positioned, geographically,” he added.

“New home construction is a significant portion of our business, and it’s important for local economies. In the County, the wineries have created a lot of interest. People are coming here to build their second and third homes, creating a lot of work for contractors. That allows us to keep people employed all year. Our key people have lots of opportunities, and we want to keep them happy; keeping experienced staff is key to our growth,” he acknowledged, adding a busy snow removal service keeps more than 30 workers employed during the winter.

Although Willowlee is defined as a sod farm, it has a much bigger scope. “Half of our work is in seeding and erosion control, and some of it is on high profile sites.” Kurt and the Willowlee team worked with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change at the Deloro Mine Site Cleanup Project on erosion control, where the team worked to a high degree of specifications. On the Madawaska Mine Cleanup Project in Bancroft, Willowlee helped develop plans pertaining to its area of expertise.

They worked with a solar farm on the side of hill in Northumberland County, where erosion was imminent.

In all these industrial applications, Kurt and his team used a combination of hydroseeding and emulsions to stabilize the soil and get roots established as quickly as possible. Once the ground cover takes hold, they return with nutrients and fertilizer.

The company helps municipalities, sports fields, school boards, and colleges with turf grass management plans, and upgrades. The new fields at Albert College and Loyalist in Belleville and St. Lawrence College in Kingston are proud achievements for the company. “They’re high profile in terms of use and location,” said Kurt. “Our work is pretty visible at times.”

Offering solutions for many sectors keeps the company growing.

“Our industry needs people to keep digging holes,” he simplified. “Whether it’s remediating a contaminated site, water and sewer work, ditches, road construction, or home building, getting a ground cover established as soon as possible is important.”

The benefits of a healthy lawn are equally important in a residential setting. “There is more surface area on an acre of lawn than on an acre of trees,”


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Kurt explained. “Grass grows April to November; trees are in leaf from late May to October, and 2,500 square feet of healthy turf grass produces enough oxygen for a family of four. A healthy lawn produces a lot of benefits.”

Working in the industry his entire adult life, Kurt credits networking for the level of service he offers his clients. He is a member of the Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario, serving as president for three of the nine years he has been on the board, Turf Producers International, and Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance.“We learn so much from

other growers; we network and study how each other works, and we help each other with solutions for our clients,” said Kurt, recently returned from a tour of Florida turf farms. “The association with other

growers is incredibly helpful and we have a network across North America. We can find a solution for a lot of challenges.”

Kurt values relationships, particularly those with local contractors. “We have a lot of close personal relationships with our customers. We’re friends when the work is done.”

Looking over his fields on Victoria Road, over the land his family has called home since the Second World War ended, Kurt smiled. “We see some beautiful homes, beautiful spaces, and we see the difference our work makes to a property. We’re just digging dirt; it’s not glorious or glamorous, but it makes a huge difference.”

On this historic property, the sod isn’t Kurt’s favourite crop. “What I love growing most? Customer relationships.”


Story by Cindy DuffyPhotography by Daniel Vaughan

It could be said Vantage Point Media House was founded on fishing stories. For a little more than a decade the company has had a part in telling many other kinds of stories too – adventure stories, stories of people breaking world records, and even mythical stories.

Their own story is one of a successful hometown business, doing very well from their modest location in downtown Belleville. The company is growing, even though the service they offer – state of the art video and film production from the shooting to post production phase – is usually associated with larger urban centres like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, New York, or Los Angeles.

The company’s story began when Belleville native, Nick Pujic, an avid angler, was approached by cable television’s World Fishing Network to shoot some video. As co-owner of The canadian Fly Fishing magazine at the time, Nick was already travelling the country to more remote areas taking photos for his magazine, so it made perfect sense for him to shoot some video for a television show at the same time. Thus, Flymax Films was born, eventually becoming the series Fly nation and laying the foundation for what would become Vantage Point Media House.

Senior producer Victor Cooper began working with Nick as an intern in the

Vantage Point Media’s local talent gains international acclaim


Loyalist College television and film program. At first it was just the two of them and they outsourced the editing. Specializing in outdoor production, the company now owns all their own equipment, including 8K Red cameras, capable of 17 times the resolution of high definition. They also have aerial cinematography ability, either using drones or by shooting from helicopters, and have a resident photographer, and six fulltime staff, most of them graduates of the same Loyalist program as Victor.

“There is a lot of good talent coming out of Loyalist College and we’ve tapped into it,” said Victor.

As the business grew, Victor said the decision was made to expand the sort of work they do. A year ago, the company moved its operations to a larger space above Capers restaurant on Front Street

in downtown Belleville to accommodate this new work. The new headquarters includes a reception area, offices, editing suites, and a new sound studio with 5.1 surround sound and closed captioning services (closed captioning is now required in both the United States and Canada for broadcast programming).

The new space will also accommodate an entirely new venture. This winter VP Academy launched with three video and film production workshops, offering participants the chance for professional instruction and hands on experience with their high-end equipment.

In the middle of the offices and editing suites is an open area filled with what, at first glance, appeared to be an art installation but as it turned out, the stage-like structure was actually the set from The Woodsmen, a short horror film

featuring legendary Bigfoot as one of its characters. Shooting had just wrapped up and the set had yet to be torn down. Victor and his wife Jodi Cooper, self-described horror movie junkies, wrote the screenplay, and Victor directed and plays Bigfoot in the movie, which was shot locally and featured all local actors. The only thing that wasn’t local in the movie was Victor’s suit, which was custom made for him by a Hamilton special effects company.“The Woodsmen to date has been the

most fun I have had at work, but maybe period. It was just a ton of fun. We spent eight days lost in the woods being tracked down by Bigfoot and came out the other side unscathed.”

The couple wanted to produce a horror movie without the computer-generated images prevalent in today’s movies. “It’s


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neat to flex our muscles on something like this and show we have some pretty talented people locally,” he said.

The Woodsmen was originally written as a full-length movie but that proved too costly, so they shortened it, and launched a very successful Kickstarter

crowd funding campaign last fall, raising enough money to produce the shorter version. Victor describes it as a passion project, but the hope is it will be picked up and maybe serialized.

The Woodsmen is not the couple’s first foray into horror. They wrote, and Victor

directed Mercy: The story of the artist, a short horror film also staring Kirsten Wight which came out in 2015.

In order to pursue these types of projects they formed a group called The Five Year Plan made up of Victor, Jodi, Kirsten Wight, and her husband


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Rob Howsam, also a Vantage Point producer. “It’s basically a creative group willing to spend some extra time or our off time creating these concepts then joining together with Vantage Point to actually pull them off.”

There are obvious differences in making a documentary, a television series, or a movie, but for Victor the similarity is more important – all of them are about telling stories.

“At Vantage Point we specialize in outdoor production. It’s what we are good at. Most of us here are hunters and anglers, so being outdoors isn’t new for us. We’ve spent a lot of time filming in the outdoors and it’s its own craft. To be able to deal with weather

or all the other things you may have to deal with when you’re out on a boat in the middle of a lake, in a tree stand in the middle of a forest, or on the back of a snowmobile when it’s 30 below, that’s our specialty. Within that I think the reason we’ve done so well is we are good at telling stories. That transitions into anything.”

Specializing in outdoor production has meant a lot of travelling and adventures. The Vantage Point Media House website is filled with stories too numerous to mention. They have shot documentaries about sharks for Discovery Channel, and they were in the Nevada desert when Aerovelo’s Eta broke the human powered speed record three times in September of

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2015. Even their commercial work gets accolades with their HUK fishing gear advertisement winning the Videographer Award of Excellence for best product commercial in 2017.

Although Vantage Point’s work takes them around the globe, they are busy locally, too. The company has worked with Gray Brothers Films, Belleville General Hospital, and Quinte Craft breweries. “There’s a lot going on here, under the surface that most people don’t necessarily see. It’s a pretty busy little town,” says Victor.

At the end of the day Vantage Point Media House and the Bay of Quinte region have proven to be a good fit. They are close enough to international airports for all the travelling, there is a growing demand locally for their services, and the popularity of events like The Belleville Downtown Docfest and Trenton’s Hollywood North film festival suggest there may even be a growing local interest in the sort of work Vantage Point Media House does.

Finally, as Victor points out, the fishing is great. “We really like it here. We’re

outdoors people, and it’s amazing to be able to leave the office and literally walk to the river and go fishing at lunch, or at the end of the day to still have enough sunlight to go sit in a tree stand and hunt. If you were living in the big city, you would have to take some time off to go do those things because just getting to them, there are just not enough hours in the day.”


Bongards Corners sits at the intersection of County Road 7 and Bongards Crossroad, North Marysburgh, in Prince Edward County. Here a cluster of houses hints at a once-thriving community. Only a few locals recall when Bongards was a hub of commerce and industry, 19th century style.

Ask Viola McCornock, born here in 1891. When Ola travelled to Picton for her music, she took the steamer from Bongards Landing, walking the mile from her father David’s home, down over the edge of the escarpment to the shore of Adolphus Reach. From this wharf, in 1879, her future mother-in-law Mrs. Levi Pierce recalled taking her Methodist Sunday School class for an excursion on the steam cruiser SS Reindeer.

The hamlet of Bongards Corners was established by Conrad Bongard, a Hessian who had fought for the British during the American Revolution. Son John cleared the lot at the corner and built a home, store, and post office. The house still stands, but is uninhabited.

By 1863, Bongard senior established a steamboat landing at the foot of the government road, with storage sheds for grain, Waupoos cheese, and local apples awaiting shipment to Montreal and faraway England. Bongard’s wharf was a regular stop for passenger boats.

At the top of the hill, in 1872, son Deacon built his fine house of 10,000 bricks said to have been brought from Picton by horse and wagon. The large frame home opposite served as post and telegraph

office in the early 1900s. Beside that house stands a tilting two-storey board and batten shed which once housed a barrel factory. Barrels for shipping apples from David McCornock’s pioneer orchards were manufactured here; a shed next door housed the delicate work of apple-packing.

The plain red brick Wesleyan Methodist Church, centre of community life, was built in 1873 on land owned by Deacon Bongard. It served as the United Church from 1925 until 1961 when it was decommissioned, and later demolished. A story persists: on the reverse of the date stone above the door workers found an 1869 tombstone inscription. The unused stone, a bargain, had appealed to the thrifty Methodists. The church property still stands empty.

Further east stands the stylish David McCornock house, where Ola and her siblings grew up. The photogenic red-painted board driveshed, target of many drive-by shootings, once housed brother Clair’s boatbuilding shed.

Bongards Corners children walked the two miles west to S.S.#3, a one-room stucco clad schoolhouse. From its unpainted belfry a ghostly bells rings to signal the end of play in the fields beyond. One of those children, great-grand-daughter of David McCornock, still runs the family farm at Bongards Corners.

Credit: The McCornocks from Ireland, by Clara E. Thompson

signpostsBongards Corners

Story and photographyby Lindi Pierce

Bongards Corners


Brian and Cynthiaat h me with ’s Alan Gratias


Richard and VidaBrian and Cynthia

We are in explorer mode as Joanie and I set out to Willow Hall on the Burr Road on a winter’s night that holds the promise of spring. Exploring, because I had recently sold my own Cressy House and wanted to reconnoitre other possible home sites in the County.

We have been invited to a Banish January Blues dinner at the home of Cynthia Peters and her husband Brian Ford. She, of From the Farm Cooking School fame, and he of financial wizardry reputation.

We leave early to allow for running some of the back roads in Ameliasburgh to scout possible rehabilitation projects for ourselves. Cynthia has promised a Jamaican food theme in anticipation of warmer weather, and knowing the delicacies that wait, we want to arrive hungry and on time. From the Farm Cooking School is reputed to have the finest table in the County.

The handsome red brick farm house, Willow Hill, stately in its classic Ontario gabled silhouette, sits nicely off the Burr Road, separated by a dry-stone wall Brian built himself. A wrap-around galleria gives the home a look of rural gentility. Brian and Cynthia are house proud and everything about the property reads loved and looked after. It is one of those homes, English country style, that reveals itself slowly with room after room of surprising depth and design flourish. Surrounded by fields and undulating pastures, the home reeks of serenity. The original section of the heritage home, built of board and batten, was built by Lemuel Pearsall in the 1830s as a homestead for his family and their hop growing business. In the 1850s a red brick centre hall addition was added to the front of the house. Brian and Cynthia made Willow Hill their own in 2004.

If you live anywhere in the County you are a neighbour and think nothing

at h me with ’s Alan Gratias

Photos courtesy

Alan Gratias


When asked the secrets of a successful marriage...“sharing laughter every day, and respecting each other’s differences.”


of traversing several townships for good food and good company. Cynthia greets us in a chic black dress and red sandals

– her nod to our Caribbean aspirations. The other guests arrive, Jonathan and Corrine from Milford, James and Suzanne from the Quaker Road, and Judith from Waupoos, as Brian prepares champagne and pineapple cocktails at what I like to think of as the longest bar in the Quinte – a 20-foot counter rescued from a general store in Napanee.

As a previous visitor to Willow Hill I ask for an immediate tour of the kitchen, which is traditional and modern at the same time. Bursting with bubbling pots and primitive antiques like old butter churns and a Mennonite wood bake oven, the worksite is anchored by a professional gas range and shelves overflowing with books and recipes, including copies of Cynthia’s own The art of herbs cookbook. As a food writer and critic, Cynthia is a regular contributor to numerous publications and websites.

A back-to-the-wall pine cupboard with a collection of Royal Doulton coffee sets inherited from Brian’s family stands proudly in the corner.

Cynthia started her From the Farm Cooking School when she and Brian first moved to the County. Building on her experience as founder of The Spice Sisters, a personal chef business in Toronto, the school focuses on small groups in her kitchen learning the art of seasonal cooking using fresh local ingredients. From the Farm is a sort of gateway for city dwellers seeking culinary adventures in the County, and typically includes tours of local farms, producers, and wineries.

Brian assembles the guests around the harvest dining table as Cynthia serves red lentil and carrot soup with curried sweet potato and phyllo bundles. He welcomes us by recounting the story of how he wooed Cynthia while living in Toronto. He is very much the romantic at heart. Turns out they are both accomplished piano players and they played their favourite pieces to each other over the line on their first phone conversation. His Gershwin, hers Carole King. After a 30-year career as an Ernst

and Young partner, Brian, a chartered accountant, reinvented himself as a business-risk-services gun-for-hire, most recently as CFO of a public life sciences company based in Montreal. Nowadays he hangs out his shingle as Petersford Consulting and is often seen at the Belleville train station commuting to Toronto.

Well past the scallop and shrimp cake second course and into the braised oxtail with pearl onions main course, James, who has known our hosts the longest, stands to toast Brian and Cynthia. “I live in the rear-view mirror,” he says by way of introducing the story of how he first met the couple 20 years earlier at a Crescent School reunion where he was the long time academic director.

Throughout the evening guests pepper Cynthia with questions about the preparation of the Caribbean dinner menu which never strays far from the limelight. Especially the dessert - a banana cake with butter rum sauce under a scoop of coconut and pineapple ice cream.

We all shift into the living room where Cynthia takes up the keys at the baby grand piano. Brian, who has been tending the fire all night, throws extra logs into the open hearth. We are engulfed by wave of apple scented warmth. We all join the lyrics to Carole King’s Will You love Me tomorrow, some more lustily than others. In full throat, James announces, “Food is great but music essential.” Jonathan, Irish to the core, starts dancing in a syncopated rhythm somewhere between Riverdance and Bruno Mars.

Fresh snow has started to fall. On the way out, I ask our hosts what secrets of a successful marriage they would like to share.

“Sharing laughter every day,” Cynthia offers. “And respecting each other’s differences.”

“Good five-year planning,” Brian adds. “And let it evolve.”

As I bid adieu, he adds, “We aren’t so good at short term planning like what we’re having for lunch.”

With two films on the Oscar short list, Emmy-nominated, and Gemini-winning Michèle Hozer has been working as a filmmaker and editor since 1987. Her work has received accolades from the most prestigious film festivals in the world, including the Sundance Film Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. shake hands with the Devil won the 2007 Emmy for Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Promise to the Dead picked up her first International Emmy nomination as an editor. Her directorial debut with Genius Within: The inner life of Glenn Gould won the coveted spot on the Academy Award short list as well a Gemini for Best Biography. In 2012, Michèle was awarded The Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary for West Wind: The vision of tom Thomson. In 2015, Michèle completed her first solo feature length documentary in the combined roles of director, editor, and producer for sugar coated probing the role of sugar in a global healthcare epidemic. sugar coated was honoured with The Donald Britain at the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards.

Michèle has just completed the feature length doc sponsorland for TV Ontario on a Syrian refuge family with 11 children resettling in Prince Edward County. She and her husband Russell Walker have recently purchased a waterfront farm in Waupoos after years of badgering by Russell.

I asked her about her secret of a successful marriage.“Daily walks together with our lab Molly and Friday night date

night at home with wine and cheese.”

Sa itarg’SG r a v i t a s Q u o t i e n tG r a v i t a s Q u o t i e n t i s a m e a s u r e o f o n e ’ s r e s e r v e s o f i n n e r w i s d o m .

Name one universal rule of friendship?Laughter.

What are you going to do about growing old?Develop as many laugh lines as possible.

What makes your heart stand still?Newborns from all species (including snakes). And on the flip side those who are dying. The wonder of life and death.

If you knew the truth, how would you reveal it?In a film.

We all hope there will be one more time. One more time for what?One more time to do it better.

Name one secret you do not want to discover before you die?How they put the caramel in the Caramilk.

What are you fatally attracted to? A good story.

Give one example of life’s absurdities?Reality television.

Why do we sometimes crave chaos?I am not sure if I am attracted to chaos as much as chaos is attracted to me.

How do you stay clear of the rocks and shoals?Hire the best navigator around.

When they say, ‘Follow the fear,’ what fear are you following?Fear of being exposed as a fraud.

What is your favourite recipe for unhappiness?Being a control freak.

What takes you down the rabbit hole?Starting a new film.

How can we escape the trap line of our own obsessions?Not to take yourself too seriously.

If we come into this world with sealed orders, what are your orders?Finding the shining light in people and reflecting it back.

How are you different from the way others perceive you?I am prone to giggle fits.

About MichèIe

Michèie Hozer answers 16 Gravitas Questions with alan Gratias

Discover your Gravitas Quotient at www.gravitasthegame.com

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