Covid-19 Operations Update

Defined as an essential service by the province of Ontario, The Holy Cow Canoe manufacturing and repair facility remains operational.

To: Holy Cow Canoe Family & Friends;

This current unprecedented situation has proven to be challenging for everyone. Outside of creating major changes within our normal daily lives covid-19 has also changed what we have always known to be part of our basic freedoms. While the current situation is challenging, it is not impossible to overcome. With patience, compassion, and consideration for others we will get through this together. In keeping with this mindset, our primary obligation is to protect the health of our friends, customers, staff, and any/all others that we consider part of our extended family. Paramount is our collective understanding that we have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of all persons within our community.

With that in mind we have limited production operations to a minimum with reduced hours and the bare minimum number of staff. Additionally we have also made some policy changes designed to limit contact and the potential of community spread. Effective immediately we will be initiating the following changes to ensure all who enter our facility remain safe, healthy, and remain comfortable when working or visiting. (Applies to all visitors, staff, delivery personnel & couriers, sales agents, contractors, incl any/all govt agency representatives.)

·         If you are feeling sick, or you have traveled to another country within the last 14 days you are not permitted to enter regardless of  signs of illness, or lack of any/all physical symptoms. (Stay Home)

·         Any and all visitors to the facility are requested to call or e-mail in advance. This allows us to safely answer any questions you may have , avoids having multiple groups within the same area, as well as ensuring adequate space to allow 2 meter spacing.

·         You are encouraged to delay any visit until it has been deemed safe, and the isolation order has been lifted.

·         You may request for staff to meet you outside upon arrival to avoid entering the building if desired. 

·         You may request “no contact” pick-up and/or drop off for boat repairs, scheduled orders, and parts orders if desired

·         For your safety you are encouraged to wear disposable latex gloves which will be provided upon request.

Please note that hours of operation for this manufacturing facility are limited during this time and may change from posted hours without notice.

We continue to remain flexible and able to accommodate special requests that help minimize the potential of exposure, and/or ensure your safety. We encourage you to remain vigilant and follow the rules & advice of the federal and provincial health agencies. Stay Safe!

For more information on the journey check out the Twitter moments

Fairy Lake Dock #Acton

September 16th and Sept 17th, will be our last weekend at Fairy Lake during the 2017 Acton Fall Fair. We are excited to see the ground break for the new wheelchair accessible dock that will hopefully be ready (fingers crossed) for the 2018 season.

Please join us at the Paddle House! See you on the water.

Photograph by Ann Vanderlaan Adema

Concept Drawing

Halton Hills is conducting a public consultation survey and are interested in knowing more information regarding the current uses of the Fairy lake dock, and what you would like to see in the future. In response to your feedback from this survey, the Town of Halton Hills will be refining a concept and seek further input from interested residents before finalizing a plan.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact:

Mark Taylor – Senior Landscape Architect
Town of Halton Hills
Recreation & Parks Department
1 Halton Hills Drive
Halton Hills (Georgetown), ON L7G 5G2
Tel: 905-873-2601 ext. 2267
Fax. 905-873-1587
email: marktaylor@haltonhills.ca

Independent Free Press

Susan Jerome and her granddaughter Madison Jerome are pictured at Fairy Lake in Prospect Park in Acton recently, renting a canoe from Naomi McQuade.

Planning is underway to renovate the dock at Fairy Lake in Prospect Park in Acton so that people with wheelchairs or other physical disabilities can access the water safely.

The updated dock comes as a result of an awareness campaign led by Naomi McQuade, the Holy Cow Canoe Company’s general manager of Canoe Rentals.

The Holy Cow Canoe Company offers watercraft rental services at Fairy Lake, and McQuade was made aware of the issue in summer 2015 when a wheelchair-bound patron was unable to participate in canoeing with his family because of the dock’s rundown state.

“That was a turning point for me,” McQuade said. “Everyone needs to enjoy the water. He shouldn’t be left behind.’”

McQuade’s awareness of barriers facing people with physical disabilities is heightened because she is a Lyme disease sufferer, which can leave her needing a cane or wheelchair for mobility.

“Knowing the barriers in front of myself, I can really see and reflect on what other people see,” McQuade said. “If I do end up in a wheelchair, I want to still enjoy working here as a disabled person.”

In summer/fall 2015, McQuade started a social media campaign and wrote a letter to the Town of Halton Hills concerning the declining state of the dock, which attracted the Town’s attention.

“What they’re looking for as well is the ability for people in wheelchairs to be able to get into their canoes or kayaks, and do that either on their own or with minimal aid,” said Mark Taylor, Senior Landscape Architect with the Town of Halton Hills. Taylor is leading the Town’s Fairy Lake’s dock renovation project.

In the past, Fairy Lake’s dock would have been more accessible seeing as, instead of having steps, it features an asphalt ramp leading down to a flat dock at the waterline. Today, however, both the dock and ramp have deteriorated so much that they are becoming unnavigable for people with physical disabilities.

The Town is already planning more than a renovation, however.

In addition to modifying the shoreline and improving access to the dock via the parking lot, Taylor also talked specifically about building a ‘launching ramp,’ a device that would improve safe access to the lake for people with physical disabilities.

“It’s trying to look at alternative styles to just the traditional dock that you’d see up in cottage country,” said Taylor. “We’re trying to find something that works much better than what’s there right now, and certainly serves to make the area accessible, wheelchair accessible, and then also serves to give the waterfront area there a facelift,” Taylor said.

Some of this research has included looking at examples of other accessible docks, especially the new dock accessible dock/kayak launch in Beaverton, Ont.

Taylor is planning for the new dock with McQuade and Holy Cow Canoe because the company has interests in the project, but the Town is also open to working with other people or organizations and financial partnerships with interested parties.

Taylor says the town could begin construction in spring/summer 2017, but planning is still on-going.

For more info email marktaylor@haltonhills.ca

http://www.insidehalton.com/community-story/6795340-accessibility-planning-renovation-underway-on-acton-s-fairy-lake-dock/

“Soldier On is a Canadian Armed Forces program that supports currently serving members and veterans to overcome their physical or mental health illness or injury through physical activity and sport. The program is a highly visible and integral component of the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces’ commitment and priority towards providing a comprehensive approach to care for ill and injured members.

Since its inception in 2006, Soldier On has helped more than 1,300 ill and injured members to obtain sporting or recreational equipment, gain access to high-level training from world-class instructors and supported their participation in a wide range of structured activities from alpine skiing to fishing to adventure expeditions. Although Soldier On events are primarily focused on sport or other physically challenging activities, promoting an active lifestyle is only part of the mission.  Soldier On not only supplies members with equipment and coaches to meet their needs, they also provide members with a safe environment to challenge themselves to get inspired in ways that they may not have thought possible.

Serving members and veterans who acquired a permanent physical or mental health illness or injury while enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces, regardless if it is attributable or not to service.  

Funding