Humm Online Exclusives - October 2014

Rob's Deadline Bike Crash

Just for a change of pace, Rob decided to try getting through deadline time for the October Humm with one hand tied behind his back. Well, actually it was in a sling at his front, because he pitched off his bike and fractured his collarbone three days before we had to send our files to the printer. He did manage to do quite a bit of graphic design one-handed, and he is very glad that he always wears his helmet...

Menopausal Woman of the Corn

Don't miss this hilarious installment of Linda Seccaspina's Menopausal Woman of the Corn column (which we couldn't fit in because Linda wrote such a wonderfully detailed article about upcoming fundraisers at Lanark County Interval House (see page 7 of the paper this month.) Read on >

Featured Artist - Linda Manzer

Read the profile, view the photo gallery, and see the video clip for an interview on The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Read more >

Recipe for Sweet Potato and Acorn Squash Soup

This velvety soup recipe from our resident food blogger Rebecca Eide is perfect for fall days. Read on >

La Pura Vida

An invitation to hear from artist Margaret Ferraro about her creative trip to Costa Rica, on October 8th. Read More >

Making the Most of Farmers' Markets

Rona Fraser's tips on how to make the most of lollygagging at area Farmers' Markets. Read on >

Apple Day in Middleville

Looking for something to do with your family on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend (October 11th, 2014) — a day or so before the big meal? Visit the Middleville & District Museum on their last weekend of the season: they're having an Apple Day, with events for all ages. And there'll be apple-based desserts to tempt you!

There will be draws for each of three pairs of hand-quilted log cabin pillows. The museum's quilt, by the way, was won at the Fall Fair by Freda (Yuill) Maloney, who grew up in Middleville.

At 2PM, Bill Barrett, of the Lanark Wild Food Club, will talk about the role apples played in the lives of settlers — and also about the harvesting of wild foods: what's available, where to find it, and how to prepare it. You might find something unusual to add to your Thanksgiving dinner! Meanwhile, from noon on there will be a working cider press on the museum grounds — free tasting available. For kids, we'll have apples-on-a-string (less mess than bobbing for apples, and just as difficult).

There's one thing you'll have to make, and you'll need to get started on it right away, as they are running a Dried Apple Doll contest. Have you ever made a dried apple doll? No? Now's the time: there are great prizes in each of four age categories (under 6, 6–10, 11–15, 16 and over). Bring your doll to the museum by 1PM, don't forget to label it with your name (and age group).

Want to know how to make one? Click here for a link to directions for making dried apple dolls.

North Lanark Historical Society's Fall Speakers Series (Oct 15th, Nov 2nd)

What We Lost, to the Seaway and to WWI

Looking for something to do this fall? The North Lanark Historical Society is launching its 2014 Fall Speakers Series with two sensational speakers.

The series starts off on Wednesday, October 15, with Jennifer DeBruin giving her presentation “The Lost Villages” based on her 2012 novel A Walk with Mary. Her presentation will give a history of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the lost villages it created. The building of the Seaway changed the landscape of the St. Lawrence Valley in 1959, with entire villages being relocated. Original homesteads were moved or lost, fields were flooded and families forced to start anew. Jennifer is also author of a 2013 novel Shadows in the Tree, based on her Loyalist ancestors who settled in the same area. The North Lanark Regional Museum will open at 6PM and the presentation will start at 7PM.

Next up in the series is “The Lost Generation” on Sunday, November 2. In conjunction with the launch of a World War I exhibit of the same name, researcher Brian Tackaberry will speak about the soldiers of Almonte, Ramsay and Pakenham who served and died in the Great War. The exhibit will include many original artifacts connected to those who lost their lives. Artifacts will come from the museum, as well as many more borrowed from descendants of the deceased. In addition, there will be a button display featuring military and civilian buttons from the period, courtesy of the Ottawa Valley Button Club. This presentation is a great opportunity to introduce children to the meaning of “service” and “honour”. The presentation will take place at the museum starting at 2PM.

And don’t forget the North Lanark Regional Museum is still open for the 2014 season. From September to November 15, the museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, 1–4PM. Check out the brand new blacksmith exhibit or travel back to the 19th century in the pioneer log cabin. Also coming up is a Genealogy Workshop on November 12 to 16. The workshop includes access to Ancestry.ca. Please check our website for registration details.

Article contributed by Sarah Chisholm

Nature Is Sense-Sational! (Oct 18th)

Taking Your Five Senses for a Walk in the Woods

On Saturday, October 18, Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust invites you to the High Lonesome Nature Reserve to let your five senses guide you through the woods. Feel the furry fungi. Listen to the pines whispering to you. Reach out and touch the rough bark of the tree and you may just want to give it a hug. Admire the last fall colours contrasting with the deep greens of the spruces. Smell the fallen leaves. Just stop, close your eyes and breathe it all in. Feel your cares drop off like those autumn leaves.

While the woods will be full of opportunities for many rich sensory experiences, mushroom expert George White and other knowledgeable naturalists will focus on fungi, with all their wide array of colours and textures — woolly, slimy, velvety, crisp or shaggy. They will not only help you find, identify and admire the various mushrooms but also explain how amazing mushrooms are and what an important role they play in determining what plants grow in the forest. That mushroom on your plate in future will get much more respect.

Immersed in the woods, the quiet is soothing. But wait, there are birds and frogs singing, the trees are creaking and whispering to you. Some of these sounds of nature are so soothing that they are imitated by white noise machines to mask offensive sounds. To enhance the listening experience, MMLT’s Soundscaping expert Chad Clifford will provide opportunities to hear nature’s sounds amplified in new ways with enhanced audio recorders and headsets. Not only will you be encouraged to detect the differences between the smell of twigs of distinct trees, the soundscaping equipment will focus your attention on how firs sob and moan, ash trees hiss, beech trees rustle, some evergreens whistle, and then there is that strange animal sound that in fact is tree branches rubbing together. Soon you will not only be hugging trees but talking back to them!

High Lonesome Nature Reserve is located in the Pakenham Hills. The 200-acre property is legally protected forever by Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust.

Registration for this journey of the senses begins at 9:30AM with the guided outings leaving the trailhead at 10AM and lasting approximately 2 hours. Bring your lunch and dress for the weather. A $10 donation to the Land Trust will go towards the maintenance of the property and its 8kms of trails, and help the MMLT acquire other wilderness properties for the benefit of nature and your well-being.

Click for more information and directions to High Lonesome Nature Reserve.

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theHumm is a free, monthly, independent newspaper covering Arts, Entertainment and Ideas in the small towns and communities of the Ottawa Valley. Circulation ranges from 7,000–9,000 copies, depending on the season. Read more >