By Tyler J. Moffitt The Safety Advocate

As a volunteer firefighter, I wish I never had to respond to a fire. When fire strikes, it is accompanied by destruction of property and, far too often, can lead to serious injuries or death to people.

Seeing a neighbour from down the street dead was an ugly scene. Helping to carry a co-worker’s son out of a burning home was tragic. Entering a burning home and finding three people dead was heartbreaking, especially when two of the victims were children.

So many years of potential life lost!

By Melanie Mathieson The Gardening Guru

Although spring is many months away, this is the time of year that gardeners must think ahead to spring if they want to be rewarded with the first flowers of the season from bulbs that are planted in the fall.

Spring flowering bulbs consist of many species, such as tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops, daffodils, crocus, and even irises. These bulbs must endure a period of cold (winter season) while in the ground in order to activate their growth pattern when the soil warms.

By Gary Sliworsky Ag rep, Emo

Cattle producers make a valuable contribution to Canada’s economy and environment. Their good management practices maintain wildlife habitat and contribute to reducing greenhouse gases.

Canada’s cattle producers manage 167 million acres of native grasses for livestock and wildlife, comprising about a quarter of Canada’s total agricultural land.

I took in the all-candidates’ meeting out in Hooterville the other night and it was predictable to say the least. Obama and McCain were at their best (whoops, sorry, wrong election).

The candidates visiting Drizzle Creek District were arrayed across the front like a bunch of convicted terrorists awaiting the firing squad. The assassins were scattered throughout the audience trying to get their jabs in at the victims they didn’t support while deflecting criticism from their own favourite.

Bombast and hyperbole were rampant. Even the candidates were slinging a bit of mud.

The cry of the loon. That haunting call coming across the lake in the evening.

No sound represents Northern Ontario better.

The loon, however, is not confined to us here in the north. It breeds all across Canada, except in the really far north and the great plains of the Prairies.

It also breeds in parts of Europe, where it is called the Great Northern Diver. But about 80 percent of these loons nest in Canada.

Wherever it nests, it is always close to the water, usually in a small lake in the woods or in a bay of a larger lake.

I look forward to fall every year because now that the bass tournament season is over, I get to spend some time chasing other species around.

We’re blessed here in Sunset Country to have a world-class fishery for walleyes, crappies, pike, musky, lake trout, and, of course bass, not to mention some of the other less popular fish that inhabit our lakes.

October may provide some of the finest crappie fishing of the year and anglers can take advantage of high activity levels to put a few fish on the table.