countylive.ca year in review photos – October 2017

Countylive thanks our readers and advertisers for continued support of community news and we look forward to an interesting and informative new year!

Countylive is on holiday this week and will be updating at a minimum. Please enjoy exploring the site, and the year-in-review series of photographs from 2017.

Picton’s Bird Loreto was just 10 minutes away from being the first local man to win the County Marathon. Instead, John Bauer, 23, of Hamilton crossed the line first in 2:50, followed by Loreto in 3:00. Gilles Gobeil, of Gatineau, was third across the line a minute later.

The trek toward a smooth, more user-friendly 46km Millennium Trail through Prince Edward County is under way. The County is carrying out a three-year upgrade project in partnership with the PEC Trails Committee, an external citizen group dedicated to expanding and promoting the trail network. The municipality has committed $370,000 to the project, while the trails committee has fundraised $110,000, far surpassing its original goal of $80,000.
Panther pride was in full force as just under 800 students and staff were invited to participate in the annual Terry Fox Run at Prince Edward Collegiate Institute, supporting the Canadian Cancer Society. They raised $1,918.

A fire at a barn on County Road 49 is considered to be suspicious. The Ontario Fire Marshall’s office is assisting in the investigation. Megan Hutton, who took this photograph, said she was sad to see her late grandfather’s barn burn to the ground. She was on the scene for a few hours sad to watch many great memories go up in flames.

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Craft Group continued its efforts this year to ensure County kids can be warm this winter. The volunteer group presented Prince Edward OPP Sergeant Reema Abdo with 496 handmade items to be added to the annual Adopt A Child snowsuit campaign. The program supports working families and those in need of assistance. Above, Joyce Minaker, manager of the Auxiliary Craft Group, Denise Linnett, Jack Starkey, OPP Sergeant Reema Abdo, Rosemary Moore, Ann Brown, Linda Jenkins and Angie Hall at Tuesday’s presentation of the knitted goods. Missing from the photo are Bill Walby, Diane Splaine, Nancy Hicks, Dorothy Vincent, Kathy Watt and Willa Buckle.

Four prestigious Vimy Oak saplings were planted throughout the Bay of Quinte region. MP Neil Ellis presented Prince Edward County with one of the four saplings, honouring Canada’s role in capturing Vimy Ridge, during the First World War. The other saplings will be located in Quinte West, at Bain Park near the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial; at Albert College and in Belleville’s Memorial Park.

Peter Lockyer, of History Lives Here, presents two new videos.

Good food and great company celebrated Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors’ 40th year of helping seniors live at home. A sold-out event at Rotary Hall in the Prince Edward County Community Centre saw more than 150 people gathered to celebrate with a roast beef dinner and special presentations. Sharon Harrison photo

Bystanders could hear hundreds of voices chant “We will, we will, stop you!” as opponents to the wpd Canada industrial wind turbine project paraded down Main Street Picton. The rally continued with a town hall style presentation at the Regent Theatre. – Olivia Timm photo

The Give Where You Live tour brought in upwards of $20,000 – double the initial $10,000 goal of the tour. All of the funds this year will be used to support local children attending Camp Trillium’s OuR Island, located off the shores of Wellington. Over the course of four days police officers and teams of community volunteers cycled to 12 schools across Hastings and Prince Edward counties to play host to special assemblies that include ice-cream eating contests, music and fun. Formerly known as Pedal for Hope, this is the sixth year officers have participated to raise funds and awareness supporting childhood cancers.

Connor Black with his watermelon that weighed in as Canada’s heaviest for 2017.

Pumpkins were well off the mark for world record weigh-ins, but a young Prince Edward County farmer has grown the heaviest watermelon Canada has seen this year. In his first showing at Wellington Pumpkinfest, soon-to-be 11-year-old Carter Black, of Ameliasburgh, was proud of his 152-pound watermelon at the Pumpkinfest weigh-in Saturday in Wellington. His was three-times the weight of his competitors. Black, a PEC 4H member for the past two years, wanted to test his skills at Pumpkinfest after a successful run with plenty of ribbons earned at the 4H competition at the Picton Fair in September.

McCoy, played by Prince Edward County’s Paul Massey. Photo courtesy of The Woodsmen.

Bigfoot was not only spotted in Prince Edward County, he was filmed here as well.
The ‘best Bigfoot ever’ is proposed in The Woodsmen, created by Belleville filmmakers Five Year Plan. “Bigfoot has always been exciting for me. I have loved Bigfoot films since I was a little kid, even Harry and The Hendersons … they had a great Bigfoot that looked real and was convincing,” said director Victor Cooper. It is soon to be released free of charge on multiple platforms.

At the welcoming of the delegation from Kouga Region, South Africa, from left, are: James Hepburn, the County’s CAO; Edith Gingras, Manager, Building Inclusive Green Municipalities (BIGM) program, Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Basildon Perils, Project Co-ordinator, Kouga; Krishen Moodley, Director of Corporate Services, Kouga; Tebogo Matlou, BIGM Project Manager with South African Local Government Association (SALGA); Bryan Dhludhlu, Mayoral Committee Member, Local Economic Development, Kouga; Gord Fox, PEC councillor; Horatio Hendricks, Councillor and Speaker for Kouga; Robert Quaiff, Mayor, PEC; Treat Hull, PEC Councillor and Neil Carbone, PEC’s Director of Community Development.

Prince Edward County is more than 13,400 kilometres (8,300 miles) and a 17-hour flight away from the Kouga region in South Africa, but there will be similarities, and differences, noted in discussions, as the County hosts a delegation of six from the Eastern Cape. The County is one of six municipalites from across Canada to participate in the exchange program aimed at finding solutions to common challenges such as economic development, youth empowerment, service delivery and climate change mitigation.

The undead surfaced from the Picton Library to shamble through town for the seventh annual Zombie Walk. Participants laughed and moaned as they helped each other with makeup and accessories in Zombie Central, downstairs at the library. – Olivia Timm photo

Residents of H.J. McFarland Memorial Home and members of the Canada 150 and Prince Edward County 225 Celebration Ad Hoc Committee planted a commemorative tree on the grounds of the home. In celebration of Canada’s 150th and Prince Edward County’s 225th anniversaries this, a commemorative tree will be planted in each ward of the County this fall. Mayor Robert Quaiff planted the first tree, a sugar maple, this week in Benson Park. Trees will be planted in each of the other wards throughout the fall. Each tree planted will be accompanied by a plaque commemorating the anniversaries.

Before a full gallery at its Committee of the Whole meeting, council unanimously showed support to CCSAGE (Concerned Citizens for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy) in its early stages of legal proceedings. CCSAGE seeks a Judicial Review in Divisional Court to challenge the Green Energy Act and how it relates to the Renewable Energy Approval (REA) issued for wpd’s project in South Marysburgh. Above, activity at one of the turbine sites earlier this month.

An answer as to whether Picton Terminals is allowed to continue operations under “legal non-conforming agreement” zoning won’t come until 2018. The citizens’ group Save Picton Bay has engaged environmental lawyer Eric Gillespie to challenge language in an old zoning bylaw to see if it allows the business to continue shipping and storing salt, bauxite, petcoke and strip mine the limestone. The case was adjourned to Feb. 28, 2018.

A banner will be hung downtown Picton honouring Canada’s most famous racing boat setting the world speed record at Prince Edward County 60 years ago. Miss Supertest set the World Water Speed Record on Nov. 1, 1957. The Unlimited Class Hydroplane ‘Miss Supertest II’, and driver Art Asbury, set the record of 184.494 mph (296.914 km/h), on (Hayward) Long Reach 60 years ago. “While it did not stand for that long before being bettered by an American boat, it still stands as the Canadian Water Speed Record for the last 60 years,” said Picton’s John Lyons. “An unimaginable feat all on it’s own.”