When my Father returned home to Canada after serving overseas for six years with the Royal Canadian Artillery in the autumn of 1945, he and my splendid English War Bride Mother moved to Kingston.

Whilst there they made many lifetime friends, in Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, and Prince Edward Counties. I have wonderful summer memories of idyllic holidays as a young boy.

I vividly remember John Stirling, the Captain of the Amherst Island Ferry, allowing me to take the helm as we departed the Millhaven dock and headed over to Stella.

The Dutch/Canadian apple farmer who insisted on hosting our family every summer for a bountiful farm dinner in the County.

My Dad’s dear friend, too old to serve in WWII, but who as a naval engineer assisted in the building of many ships for the Canadian Navy in Trenton. He taught my dad to sail and single hand the Lightning sailboat.

The County fishermen who made sure we would not return to shore devoid of a catch. They shared their secret shoal in Hallowell Bay and coveted cove off Bygotts Bay. 

Conversations were warm and easy, suffused with laughter, kindness, directness and honesty. 

It wasn’t until many years later that I realized that the people, the land and the sparkling waters of this bucolic part of the world were embracing my parent’s journey, helping them to re-orient; whilst at the same time memorializing their own losses.

The Ferry Captain had lost two cousins in the War; the Dutch Apple farmer’s family had come from one of the towns in the Netherlands that my Dad’s regiment liberated; the Lightening instruction was meant to divert my parent’s minds from the war they had endured, and the fishermen….well they believed Henry David Thoreau: “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

When it was time for my wife Kirsteen and I to turn our family business over to two of our three sons, we purchased a home in the County. We found the same generous spirit of kindness and openness that I had first known in my youth. I don’t just mean those County drivers who slow down to wave you across the road, or the pedestrians who smile when passing on the street; but also the thoughtfulness of neighbours when you need a hand or the concern of citizens in support of those sparkling waters that surround Prince Edward County and all its treasures.

Which brings me to a confounding mystery. 

Over four years ago, and after five years of uphill slog, Council reached a unanimous decision to oppose the threat of a container and cruise shipping port with all the environmental and recreational dangers it would entail. Councillors were in clear support of the citizens they represent. This was democracy in action, the people speaking. But then suddenly, with no warning, a recent secret Council voted 7-6, with no public discussion, to settle with the very outfit its predecessor Council had unanimously opposed.

That doesn’t seem like the County Way as I have known it 

Brian Etherington, CM, Picton

Too Little Too Late

Re: Settled (August 1). Karen Valihora has perfectly summarized the outrageous lack of democratic process for which Prince Edward County Council and Mayor Ferguson are responsible. They should all be ashamed that they have allowed Picton Terminals to hoodwink them. The Terminals is interested only in lining its pockets. Its owners have little or no regard for this beautiful county or the people who reside here.

I do hope that there is another avenue to pursue that will rescind the “behind closed doors” deal that Councillors and the Mayor have been party to and at the outcome of which they claim surprise.

The North Marysburg Councillor, Dave Harrison, should have been obligated to recuse himself from voting on the issue since his son stands to benefit from the acceptance of the deal with PT.

This deal is so wrong on so many levels. Perhaps it is time the Provincial authorities were made aware of the incompetence of our local government.   

The failure of our lawyer and fourteen elected representatives to ensure a just and democratic process is inexcusable. Their surprise at the outcome after the fact is directly related to their not having done the work necessary to protect the County and its citizens.  

Shame on all those who are complicit if the bullies eventually win.

Vera Bratten, North Marysburgh 

A KNIFE IN THE BACK

Old News — The majority of Picton’s population expected its Council to back the 2018 Superior Court decision that did not permit container storage or traffic at Picton Terminals.

Current News — Council certainly stood behind the backs of citizens.  The anticipated support arrived in the form of a knife at the ready. That covert decision will change the lives of Picton’s inhabitants as well as the appearance and ambiance of this extraordinary country town. The majority of the Council has successfully achieved a well-deserved “badge of dishonour.”  How sad for them. The pejorative will never be forgotten by those who have loved the soon to be  “Late Beloved Picton.”  Shame on those Councillors. You will deserve the intense dislike that fellow citizens will bestow upon you.  You will not be forgotten until Picton’s present supporters are six feet under and the new order has accepted your betrayal as the norm.

Janet Bingham, Picton