Site News
-Phil Aylesworth

As reported last month, KCC has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a fantastic piece of land in the city of Peterborough. This choice site spans about an acre and a half, nestled in a cozy residential neighborhood, with the added convenience of a nearby supermarket.

On March 22, our group of equity members met with a talented architect to ensure we bring the best possible design to life. It’s not a completion, but a good start! Together, we'll be approaching the city for a pre-consultation, and we're also conducting Geotechnical and Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) studies to make sure everything's in tip-top shape.

We'll be working on rezoning the property to accommodate a multi-unit residential complex. We're currently evaluating various design features to strike a balance between features and cost.

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project! We can't wait to see it come to fruition and bring even more life to the lovely Peterborough community!

These Kids Rock!
-Len Buchanan

It all started with the Walker Mineralogical Club in Toronto. It formed in 1936, comprising (mostly) academics from the Royal Ontario Museum and Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto. After some years, it moved to a diverse membership of people interested in mineral collecting. I was Vice President for a few years.

In 2000, Walker had a think-tank meeting to discuss how to widen the Walker Club’s membership and promote the hobby. At 40+, I was the youth-wing! One of the members suggested we form a club for kids interested in minerals from a scientific view. In the 60’s and 70’s, there had been a club called The Scarborough Rock Kids. Some of us were once members; it would make a good model for the new club. With support from the Walker Club, we let a few teachers know about our plans.

In September 2001, we had our first meeting of The Young Toronto Mineralogist Club. About 25 parents and kids aged 8-15 showed up. The Ontario Science Centre offered meeting space. The club is run by a dedicated team of collectors. There are seven of us now and many have served and moved on; we also recruit the high school kids to help with administration. We meet monthly and the kids do some public engagement as quid-pro-quo for the space; they set up a table in the Science Centre after our monthly meeting and “show and tell” with the public.

We get a lot of material and financial help from the senior collectors and “grown-up” clubs like The Walker Club, The Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough, the Kawartha Rock and Fossil Club, and mining-related industry associations. The kids get a lot of take-aways from our meetings; hey, there’s nothing better than a new rock for these kids! We are now at 50 children and many active parents. We have a wait list too. During the COVID-19 lockdown, we moved to Zoom and kept many of the members active with presentations that worked online. We also arranged for a quarterly pick-up of material that the members receive each meeting and any prizes. Putting specimens in the child member’s hands was a priority because there’s only so much fun you can have via Zoom.

We had our first in-person meeting since the lockdown in late September. About 100 people showed up. It was remarkable to see these kids suddenly 2½ years older - they grew a bit! Our topic for that day was a field trip that the club had done in late August to the Bancroft area. We had 75 people out to collect at four sites over three days. About half the families camped together at Silent Lake. We planned meals together in the evenings (BBQ, potluck, and pizza night). The kids (and some parents) collected at an amazing rose quartz locality near Quadeville. Near that town is a place to collect beryl crystals. The next day we went to Tory Hill to collect titanite and other associated crystals. The final location was the CN Rock Dump in Bancroft. This is a spot CN used to store road-bed material for a rail line that no longer exists. The town maintains the rock dump for collectors. It is full of fluorescent minerals so the collecting was done at night with UV flashlights.

Our monthly meetings include a mineral ID contest, a speaker, lots of hand-out specimens, show and tell, micro-mounting, some workshops, a newsletter, and a quiz. The speakers are wide ranging with travelogues and talks of mineral properties and formation. Lots on geology and fossils too.

Altogether this is a club full of bright kids, some of whom have gone on to earth science careers; I regularly get letters from former members. Lots of friendships form between kids with similar interests. Some have even joined the Walker, Scarborough, and/or Kawartha clubs as adults - the original objective back in 2000.

One of the kids, Alex, is an amateur videographer. He made a video, including some drone footage of the collecting in Bancroft. Here’s the link on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OHII8Xxxb_8

Interested in a club? Here are links to clubs:

WMC: www.walkermineralogicalclub.org/
GMCS: www.scarbgemclub.ca/
KRFC: kawartharockandfossilclub.com/
YTMC: ytmc.org

Easy African Sweet Potato Peanut Soup
-Linda Herold

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (2-3 medium sweet potatoes)
1 lb carrots, peeled and diced (5-6 medium carrots)
2 small onions, peeled and diced
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cumin seed
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
salt and pepper
Sriracha or other hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Put the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic in a large soup pot and add enough water to barely cover them. Add turmeric, cumin seeds, and salt. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are completely soft.

Using a food processor, blender, high-speed mixer, or old-fashioned potato masher, blend the vegetables until smooth. Add peanut butter, salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Stir in cilantro just before serving. Can also be refrigerated and served hot the next day, to let the flavors mellow overnight.

Optional Additions: Add a can of diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger, and/or a diced bell pepper to the vegetables before cooking. Stir in a tablespoon of ground spice mix (Indian garam masala, Chinese five-spice blend, or American pumpkin pie spice) at the end for a more curry-like taste. Blend with additional milk, coconut milk, or soy milk at the end to produce a thinner, creamier soup.

Makes six servings

Equity Member Interview – Marg Holland

I would say that Marg has always been into community. And not just in community, but caring for the members of her community. She has always been concerned about children, poverty and marginalized people, both in her work and in her free time.

Marg’s maternal grandparents were one of the founding families of Edmonton, Alberta and her fathers’ parents were farmers in Barrhead Alberta. Marg’s maternal grandfather was a mechanic and generous with his mechanic skills during the war when money was scarce. Her mother told stories of individuals paying off their bills years later, when they could.

Her mother was a polio victim at age 3. Marg’s grandfather made Marg’s mother's braces so she could walk, since none were manufactured at the time. Her mother managed to live a very active life, swimming, teaching crafts, engaging in church work and Woman’s Institute, and establishing a senior centre in a rural school house. Marg’s father acquired a PhD in Agricultural Economics and worked for the federal government. He had a love for gardening and international affairs.  It was not uncommon for him to bring home international students to her family home for a meal.

Marg and her younger brother and sister grew up in Ottawa. Marg achieved her Child Care Worker training – the equivalent to the Child Youth Worker today -- from George Brown College.  Stew picked up Marg at a dance because he liked her blue dress and walked her home. (Fifty-one years later Stew still likes blue -- however, Marg's wardrobe has varied!) She worked in a residential setting for children at Thistletown Regional Centre.

Marg and Stew were married in 1971. Stew went to the University of Guelph, and their son, Timmy, was born there. Marg was running a group home. The family moved from Guelph to Ottawa.  They became houseparents to a CAS assessment home, for a year and a half. Heather was born in 1979 and Karla in 1982.  The family was complete.  It was at this time that Marg became involved in the La Leche League – a 22-year commitment where she learned and grew in her role as a mother supporting women in their wish to breastfeed their babies.  Their now-grown children have blessed them with 6 grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 12, 3 boys and 3 girls.

While raising their three children, managing an active home daycare for 22 years and volunteering, she took numerous parenting programs. She added a grief counselling course through Bereaved Families of Ontario, a teaching adults course at St. Lawrence College, and Restorative Justice at Queens University.

It was important at this time to have family close by to support Marg’s widowed mother, so they purchased a townhouse. It was a great community with lots of children. There were lots of community gatherings and sharing of resources, and you could feel fairly safe supporting your child’s independence as they ventured from home and explored the area.

In 1984 Stew got a job in Kingston and they moved again. While in Kingston, she did a lot of volunteer work. Marg ran groups for the La Leche League. She was on the Board and ran children’s groups for Sunnyside Children’s Centre, for example, teaching kids communication skills through games and activities. She was involved in starting midwifery work. She worked in a Perinatal Death Support group and initiated it into Bereaved Families in the Kingston area. She also volunteered in the Human Justice Coordinating Committee. Whew!

In 2000, Marg began her second career, which is she is still doing. She works for the Canadian Families in Corrections Network, with families who have members in prison. Reintegration for offenders works best with support from their families – and her organization supports those families. She has written resources, such as “How to Talk to Children about Incarceration”. She continued working for them after she and Stew moved to Peterborough, though now she is not doing as much as she once was. It is a small organization and she is the Ontario Coordinator. She is still running some groups and doing one-on-one counselling, but it is at-home work for the most part. Marg is looking at retirement, hopefully soon.

In 2018 they had moved to Peterborough, where their son and one of their daughters live, to be near their children and grandchildren. Their other daughter lives in Westport (about 2.5 hours away) with their 2 children; they live off-grid. It was very hard during Covid, not being able to see their grandchildren.

When they moved to Peterborough, they joined the Unitarian Fellowship. Marg says her mother was a Unitarian and her father a Baptist, which was an interesting combination. She and her siblings were raised in the United Church. She says they had good, healthy discussions about religion in her family household and she credits her parents for giving them the freedom of choice and making their own decisions. In Kingston, she and Stew attended the United Church.

Marg loves to read. She knits and is a novice quilter – she and a friend in Kingston quilt when they can get together, and are figuring it out with books. She is an adventurous sewer. Her son has a teacher’s degree and teaches French, but for the main part he made a living as a ventriloquist! Marg says he is very good at it and he marketed himself well until Covid put a stop to all that. Marg sews his performing costumes – they figured out how to do a pair of light-up pants, a tubby man costume and a chef outfit. She made a brain puppet because he goes into schools and teaches about looking after your brain and staying away from drugs. Her son has suggested that she should open a shop for costume-making, but she is happy to do it for him, not the rest of the world.

Marg and Stew learned about KCC through Sheila Nabigon-Howlett, who they met at a gathering. They went to a KCC meeting and started attending sporadically at first, but made the commitment over time. From the very first, they noticed the respect shown at meetings; they felt everyone was getting a say and everyone was acknowledged and they really valued that. They also appreciate the learning opportunities that have come their way through KCC such as the Nonviolent Communication workshop.

Wise words
When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

-Alexander Den Heijer

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