By Jenn Watt Dec. 20 2016 Christmas tends to bring out the best in us. The month of December in the Highlands is always a time of incredible joy and charity and this year has…
Let’s get moving
By Jenn Watt Dec. 6 2016 About a month ago I was at a gathering in Bancroft where I met an older woman who used to live in Wilberforce. While she enjoyed living in the…
A life well lived
By Jenn Watt Published Nov. 29 2016 Gerald Irish local educator lifelong Highlands resident and prolific writer died Nov. 17. Irish had been contributing a “senior’s moment” column to the Echo for years which encouraged…
Making appointments
By Jenn Watt Nov. 22 2016 Back in April of 2014 the Echo reported that Andrea Roberts would be joining the race for deputy-reeve of Dysart et al. The field had two candidates: Roberts a…
Don't veer for deer
By Jenn Watt Nov. 15 2016 Fire prevention advocates came up with a brilliant association when they coupled checking your smoke detector when Daylight Saving Time is observed twice a year. That easy connection likely…
New generation remembers
By Kate Butler Special to the Echo Nov. 8 2016 Every year it seems that a debate takes place about Remembrance Day. I often hear people express fears that it’s no longer as important an…
A dog's life
By Angelica Ingram Published Nov. 1 2016 It started out just like any other journey. I was heading home on a Friday night after a long day of work. With a hot take-out pizza resting…
From Syria with love
By Jenn Watt Oct. 25 2016 Last week a few journalists got to sit down with Yousef and Ghiyab Wiso and their two youngest children to hear about their experience as refugees from Syria who…
Volunteering makes us better
By Jenn Watt Published Oct. 18 2016 This weekend is the Volunteer and Wellness Fair in Haliburton combining the Lions Club wellness event and the volunteer fair and for those with a bit of spare…
Butting out takes time
By Jenn Watt Published Oct. 11 2016 If at first you don’t succeed try try again. Or in the case of quitting smoking try try try try try … you get the picture. According to…
The Hateful Apple
By Jenn Watt Oct. 4 2016 The saying goes that one bad apple can spoil the bunch. We often say this when we don’t know what else to do. When one person or a small…
Trafficking solutions
By Jenn Watt Published Sept. 27 2016 Aside from giving the provincial government a chance to press the reset button on its flagging poll numbers the prorogation of the legislature earlier this month had another…
Take back the night
By Jenn Watt Sept. 20 2016 Five days after last year’s Take Back the Night walk against sexual and domestic violence the region was shocked by a triple murder in Wilno about an hour and…
New normal
By Jenn Watt Published Sept. 13 2016 E lizabeth May made her way to Haliburton County just as the rains started falling again. One of Canada’s best known environmentalists the leader of the Green Party…
Stop for school buses
By Jenn Watt Sept. 6 2016 Friendly bright yellow school buses have returned to our roads filled with kids still sporting their summer tans nervous about the first days of school. The process of returning…
Keeping lakes clean
By Jenn Watt Aug. 30 2016 Without thoughtful planned constant action it’s highly likely the health of our lakes would degrade rapidly. Given the population pressures on relatively small water bodies throughout the Highlands it…
Generally speaking
By Angelica Ingram Published Aug. 23 2016 Next week the final installment of a three-part series on general stores will be published in the long-weekend issue of this paper. The series which was penned by…
Homeless count needed
By Jenn Watt Published August 9 2016 Haliburton County and City of Kawartha Lakes are examining an important and often overlooked issue in rural Ontario: homelessness. During the week of Aug. 22 a count of…
Things we throw away
By Jenn Watt August 2 2016 A side effect of not having municipal garbage collection in Haliburton County is the confrontation we have each week with the things we throw away. Every Sunday as I drive…
August in the Highlands
By Jenn Watt Published July 26 2106 The civic holiday long weekend is here marking one of the busiest times in the Haliburton Highlands. The summer is half over but there’s still much to look…
What grad teaches
By Jenn Watt Published July 5 2016 The high school graduation ceremony is an established tradition choreographed down to the smallest detail repeated year after year. You’d think after so many renditions the players would…