With more than 200 people present at last night’s debate at Gananoque Secondary School, it seems that everyone got to know the town’s 14 councilors and 2 mayor al candidates quite well.

The debate, hosted by the Gananoque Rotary Club, who also provided questions for the electoral candidates, got off to a lively start. Aside from the Rotary Club, the public also had the opportunity to ask their own questions, allowing them to get to know the candidates and their platforms a lot better.

Among the issues tackled during the event included discussions on taxes, the Town of Gananoque’s image, the Textron building, a new public pool, the antique boat museum and the candidate’s vision for the community. Needless to say, all of the candidates had strong views on local issues, and they certainly grabbed the chance to explain why they were fit for council with gusto.

The two mayoral candidates got to discuss their vision for Gananoque, a question thrown in by the Rotary Club. According to incumbent Mayor Jim Garrah, his vision isn’t just a dream, it’s very achievable. He adds that he knows what path they are taking, and how to reach their goal.

Challenger Erika Demchuk stressed that while she may lack experience, she has the resolve to fix what’s wrong with the town, beginning with downtown Gananoque. She comments that revitalizing the area and making it busier and more active is one of her priorities.

While the Gananoque Veterinary Clinic’s Farley Days fundraiser ran into bad weather and only got halfway through their goal of raising $5000, one local pet owner thinks the veterinarians still put together a largely successfully event.

According to Peter Christie, who hails from the Lansdowne area, the fact that people with disabilities and seniors living on fixed incomes received any attention at all, much less donations, is a great thing. He’s thankful for all the hard work the local veterinarians have put into organizing the Farley Days fundraiser.

Christie, who’s also on disability, keeps a companion dog named Harley. She’s a collie, Labrador retriever and greyhound mix, and was very active until suffering from a tear in her right knee that left her disabled.

Christie knew that Harley was in pain after the accident, as she was panting heavily and wetting herself. After getting her checked up, the veterinarian told him that the only way she could walk again was to have surgery on her knee muscle. The surgery would cost $1500, but Christie knew there was no way he could come out with that kind of extra money.

This lead Christie and his dog’s doctor, Dr. Barb O’Neill to seek help from the Farley Foundation. Thankfully, the foundation was quick to lend assistance, and now Harley is recuperating from the surgery.

Sunday’s event was just one of the activities that help people like Christie with animal companions. The local veterinarians hope that they can raise awareness on this issue, prompting others in the community to lend a helping hand of their own.

In a meeting that took place last week, the Gananoque Police Services Board went over the issue of paid duty officers, with questions arising about their fee structure.

Police Chief Kai Liu introduced a new payment scheme which would now come with administration fee. According to Chief Liu, it’s common for third parties to hire the services of officers for paid duty. In previous years, these officers were paid directly from the organization. With the new payment structure, Liu says that everything will now go through town hall.

Third parties hire officers for a number of purposes, including providing security during private functions, school events, sports events, funerals, concerts, private parties, and grand opening celebrations of establishments and the like. Additionally, officers are also paid to control traffic and act as traffic escorts. Officers are paid for a minimum of 3 hours at the first class constable rate of $258. If a vehicle is required, then that will cost another $28.25.

Also discussed was the Police Services budget and the proposition to purchase BlackBerries for officers. With the service hitting a snag with their IT budget amount, the purchase of the smart phones will have to be delayed until next year.

After years of hard work, Bunny Randall and her friends have finally done it.

Since 1998, Bunny Randall has regularly hosted the Gananoque Terry Fox Run, and after more than a decade, she has finally reached her goal of cracking the half million dollar mark.

The run got off to a modest start 12 years ago, raising $4,000 during the first ever run. Fast forward to today, the run’s yearly haul has improved significantly. Thanks to all the hard work Randall and her team of volunteers have put into having a successful event, this year’s run drew in $21,361.81 in donations.

Here’s a quick breakdown of that number:

• $17,895.38 in pledges from the community
• $800 in miscellaneous donations
• $746 from the raffle
• $745 donated by Carveth Care Centre
• $606 coming from buttons and t-shirt sales etc.
• $474 form the silent auction
• $464 in proceeds from the Gary Burtch Memorial Golf Tournament

Randall says that their team’s success is thanks to the people who’ve been with them since the very beginning of the effort. Over the years, volunteers have come back regularly to help Randall with the run, making it easier for her to improve it and get the community interested.

She’s looking forward to next year’s event, and hopes that it will be better than ever.

The Gananoque Police Services Board met on Friday and on their agenda once again was the issue of graffiti that can be seen all over the town.

In a meeting that took place last Friday, the Gananoque Police Services Board had the problem of vandalism in the town on the top of their agenda. Not surprisingly, this wasn’t the first time the problem was discussed.

To address the issue, the police service recently put up posters of the “tags” and street signatures used by local vandals. These posters were displayed for the public to see throughout the town, with police asking residents if they recognize any of the tags.

So far, the problem seems to have diminished after the posters were put up and the public was informed, with fewer graffiti reports coming in, this according to Gananoque Chief Kai Liu.

Aside from this measure, teachers in local schools have also been meeting more to share what they know and see if any of the tags are familiar. The primary suspects are speculated to be youths, so seeking them in schools just might work. Those selling spray paint have also been notified to request identification from customers who purchase them.

The Town of Gananoque runs into problems—both administrative and having to do with its residents—every now and then, but one particular problem has bothered the town for years, and that’s the number of  unlicensed dogs in the community. This past Tuesday night, measures have finally been taken to address this issue, with the council approving a proposal for staff to visit homes in town as part of a dog licensing campaign.

A few months back, a local newspaper put up an ad that called on non-profit and animal welfare groups to take charge of the dog licensing campaign and help raise funds. Since no applications were submitted, planning approvals coordinator Brenda Guy took matters into her own hands and had bylaw enforcement officer Rick Kemp take charge of the program.

It may seem like a daunting task for Kemp, what with the high number of unlicensed dogs in the city, but he definitely gets something from his hard work. Kemp will be paid an initial amount of $2,832, and for every dog he tags as part of the campaign, he gets $6.00.

The dog licensing campaign kicks on the 1^st of August this year and is estimated to last until October.

Gananoque Secondary School’s students definitely caught the attention of the folks who were at the national and provincial eliminations of the Skills Canada competitions.

Doing the school proud were Peyton Campbell, who took home a provincial gold and a national silver for the restaurant service event; Tyler Carr, who bagged a silver for the job interview event in the provincial level; and Jeremy Nichols, who took gold for the job skills event in the provincial level. Nichols also won the Dickies Award of Excellence, and an added cash prize of $1,500 for getting the best results at the provincials. With a perfect score of 1,800 points, he easily beat out the other participants. Both Tyler and Jeremy are employed in the kitchen at the Gananoque Inn and are found to be remarkable and very talented young men and well appreciated by the owners and their fellow workers.

Campbell, who joined her 2nd provincial level competition, met her goal of improving last year’s provincial silver win. Her silver at the nationals was unexpected, especially after how she was so nervous competing in such a big stage.

Carr also felt the same way, but kept to what he knew, pulling off a silver in the process.

For Nichols, hardly anything could’ve been sweeter than his silver win in the cooking event. Aside from being busy with school, both Tyler Carr and Jeremy Nichols are working at the Gananoque Inn. They are remarkable and very talented young men and well appreciated by the owners and their fellow workers.

Their teacher Diane Kirkby could not have been any prouder of them. She adds that watching her students win is no doubt the highlight of her career.

In an effort to have some of the community’s questions answered, Eric McElwain, owner of Gananoque Pharmasave, requested the presence of Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark for a meeting in town last Friday.

This was done because of the government’s recent decision to end the old system of providing professional allowances and reduce the prices of generic drugs by up to 25% compared to the drug’s brand name equivalent. These professional allowances used to be given to pharmacies by generic drug companies as a way of compensating them for selling their products. Surprisingly, this system was implemented by the government itself. It was ended due to alleged abuse by some pharmacies.

According to local health manager Chris Couper, most of the public only hear about the reduced generic drug prices, but that’s not all there is to it.

McElwain added that the drugs will indeed cost les, but his store will have to jack up their fee rates as a way of compensating for the elimination of professional allowances. Other generic drug stores will be hit harder, he pointed out. They will most likely have to reduce their store hours, lay off people, and maybe even close down, he said.

This problem prompted McElwain to invite MPP Clark and see what he has to say. After touring hundreds of pharmacies, Clark understands that this recent development will have a devastating impact on these small-town businesses. He promised to work things out.

In an effort to have some of the community’s questions answered, Eric McElwain, owner of Gananoque Pharmasave, requested the presence of Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark for a meeting in town last Friday.

This was done because of the government’s recent decision to end the old system of providing professional allowances and reduce the prices of generic drugs by up to 25% compared to the drug’s brand name equivalent. These professional allowances used to be given to pharmacies by generic drug companies as a way of compensating them for selling their products. Surprisingly, this system was implemented by the government itself. It was ended due to alleged abuse by some pharmacies.

According to local health manager Chris Couper, most of the public only hear about the reduced generic drug prices, but that’s not all there is to it.

McElwain added that the drugs will indeed cost les, but his store will have to jack up their fee rates as a way of compensating for the elimination of professional allowances. Other generic drug stores will be hit harder, he pointed out. They will most likely have to reduce their store hours, lay off people, and maybe even close down, he said.

This problem prompted McElwain to invite MPP Clark and see what he has to say. After touring hundreds of pharmacies, Clark understands that this recent development will have a devastating impact on these small-town businesses. He promised to work things out.

Gananoque’s elections are getting pretty exciting, and with the addition of a third candidate running for councilor, it looks like things are going to get even more tense.

Joe Jansen recently threw his hat in the ring and announced his candidacy for Gananoque Town Council. The 48-year old said that his desire to be in public service was first sparked when a subdivision near his neighborhood was proposed. After working together with a group of residents who took their concerns and questions to council, Jensen admits that the process piqued his interest.

It was during that time, he said, that his interest to work for the town was really developed. He’s done other similar work shortly afterwards, including a stint with town planner Brenda Guy. The two worked on a couple of projects, such as the installment of a new sign at Dreams in Motion Performing Arts School.

Aside from working in the development and planning sector, Jansen works at the Portsmouth Community Correctional Center as a parole officer, and has also been a hostage negotiator at one point. However, it’s with the youth that Jansen places his real interest in. He points out that the only way the town can flourish in the future is if council pays attention to its youth.