Goodbye snow. Hello green grass. Goodbye cold temperatures. Hello warm breezes. Join me in giving three cheers for the arrival of spring, while bidding farewell to our rather lacklustre winter.
While some of us hibernate during the long, dark days of the past season, others embrace it. As you’ll see within the pages of this issue of Sideroads of Dufferin County, there’s no shortage of adventurous and talented people roaming local streets.
Meet David Pomeroy. He is a 36-year-old singing sensation who graced the stage of New York’s famous Metropolitan Opera House in December.
Schooled as a child by his grandfather, Newfoundland musician and educator Ignatius Aloysius Rumboldt, David formed a heavy metal band in his teens before being inspired by opera great Luciano Pavarotti in college.
Also catching inspiration from a passionate awakening is Skeet Sutherland, an Orangeville native and owner of Sticks & Stones Wilderness School.
He started the school so he could spend his days working with his first love – nature – while also teaching and sharing his passion for environmental stewardship with his students.
While classes in bow making, tracking, survival and many other wilderness-based skills are part of his regular curriculum, Skeet will soon offer an extended residential program at a Honeywood-based school.
If Skeet’s story inspires you to head out into nature, even if only for a day-long hike, don’t miss N. Glenn Perrett’s account of exploring the Hockely Valley Nature Reserve.
Visitors to Mono's natural jewel, which is also a World Biosphere Reserve, can enjoy 378 kilometres
of spectacular forests, valleys, ridges, streams, rivers, swamps and meadows.
Or, sink your hands into the earth, as popular greenthumb Trish Symons offers a wonderfully colourful vegetable gardener’s primer.
If you want to add a little pizzazz to your garden, local artist Gary Wright creates beautifully intricate bronze sculptures of fairies to add a little magic amongst the greenery.
Also a familiar site in many gardens is the prickly porcupine, an often misunderstood rodent, which incidentally is the third largest in the world, next to the South American capybara and the beaver. Writers Andrew Hind and Maria Da Silva shed a little light on the spiky creatures, including how and why they throw their quills and mating habits - ouch!
Tired from all the hiking, gardening and other wonderful spring activities, then kick back and enjoy a leisurely read of articles featuring yummy barbecue recipes provided by Fatboys Cuisine, marvelous martinis or details on nearby places where you can enjoy a proper English high tea.
Take care. And, as always, we welcome feedback on this edition of Sideroads of Dufferin County and ideas on topics you’d like to see covered in future ones.
Send an email to sideroads@orangevillebanner.com or write Sideroads of Dufferin County, c/o The Banner, 37 Mill St., Orangeville, ON, L9W 2M4.