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Watershed Magazine

Watershed Magazine celebrates life in Northumberland, Prince Edward County, Belleville and Quinte Watershed is your Community Voice.

Watershed focuses on life in Northumberland, Quinte West, Belleville and Prince Edward County – the cultural and physical landscapes, the people, their stories and their histories. Now in its 24th year, Watershed’s unique editorial blend of rural charm and urban sophistication has earned the magazine an exclusive, loyal readership. Each issue of Watershed comes with new insight on a diverse and cu

rated range of topics. Our large format and beautifully designed pages are welcomed in 25,000 homes, businesses, cultural venues and restaurants in the region, and throughout southern Ontario, each and every issue.

10/08/2025

Joie de Vivre with Jeanne Beker

Photography by: Laura Berman

Dorothy Caldwell

Her art is world famous, yet she finds inspiration looking out her window.

For many who came of age in the 1970s, the romance and idealism of the era has long worn off. But for internationally renowned fibre artist Dorothy Caldwell, the topography and spirit of Trent Hills – a region she first fell in love with back in 1972 – have been a constant source of solace and inspiration, informing her work and keeping her idealism wonderfully intact. Dorothy’s painstaking, artful works are considered masterpieces not only for their meticulous craftsmanship but for the way they convey a sense of place, from her arrestingly earthy colour palette to the grounding effects of her gentle, abstract imagery.

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/dorothy-caldwell/

10/07/2025

Autumn at Presqu'ile

Story by: Norm Wagenaar
Photography by: John Ootjers

If you prefer the peace and quiet of autumn to the clamour of summer, then the best time of year to visit Presqu’ile Provincial Park may be right about now.

Located just south of Brighton, the park juts out into Lake Ontario as an L-shaped formation that contains surprising geographic, plant and animal diversity in just under a thousand hectares. Eons ago it was a limestone island, but over the millennia, sand collected to form a spit and connect it to the mainland. Hence the name Presqu’ile, meaning “almost island” or peninsula.

During the spring and fall migrations, Presqu’ile provides birds and butterflies with a convenient take off and landing point that reduces the energy they require to cross the lake. The park’s ecological values are compounded by undisturbed wetlands – a rarity on the lakeshore – and a mix of sand dunes, marsh and forest cover.

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/autumn-at-presquile/

10/06/2025

Watershed is Lovin' the Local with Small Batch Soap PEC

Naturally clean, handmade cold-processed soap lovingly poured in Prince Edward County.

– Instagram: –

This is Watershed's showcase of locally made and locally inspired products that reflect the heart and soul of entrepreneurs rooted in Watershed Country... and our way of giving back to local businesses.

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/lovin-the-local-fall-2025/

10/03/2025

A screening of the classic Mary Poppins movie promises to be a true community event as this year’s Vintage Film Festival ramps up for its 32nd edition.

A Spoonful of Sugar

by Tom Cruickshank
Illustration by Carl Wiens

Don’t look now, but everyone’s favourite cinematic nanny has been making her presence known in Port Hope and area in recent weeks. This past summer, none other than Mary Poppins – the very English governess with the umbrella and the magical powers from the 1964 movie – was seen with her chimney-sweep sidekick, Bert, riding the painted ponies on the Roseneath Carousel. Later, they walked together in the Canada Day parades in both Cobourg and Port Hope and only a couple of weeks ago, a throng of kids joined the arts group Critical Mass to make and go fly a kite, just like in the movie. And if you were in earshot of the Jack Burger rink a few weeks ago, you’d have been singing along to the voices of S.O.N.G., as the local music-education troupe belted out “Chim Chim Cheree” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” among other familiar tunes from the film, still quite hummable after 60-odd years.

All the ado is to bring attention to a special event at the coming Vintage Film Festival – affectionately called the VFF – which will be held October 17, 18 and 19 at the famed Capitol Theatre in Port Hope.

https://watershedmagazine.com/features/a-spoonful-of-sugar/

10/02/2025

Cultural Currents with Garrett Gilbart

by Will McGuirk

It takes a true artist to transform a discarded car hood into something spiritual. Through methodical, contemplative interactions, sculptor Garrett Gilbart gives voice to his chosen material and to his audience.

“For me, the act of making isn’t just about producing an object; it’s about restoring a kind of dialogue between the maker, the material and the viewer,” says Garrett.

Besides the car hoods, amongst the objects given voice by this Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University graduate are garden tools, metal canisters, rusted machines and canoes. Canoes are familiar to our area as carriers of people and goods, but Garrett sees them as the front seat to history and geography.

“I wanted to work with the actual canoes that had wear, damage from use, and reframe them as vessels of memory,” he says.

Metals too carry memories. While walking along the shoreline in Iceland, he was fascinated by the decay of rusting oil cans and the lichens that grew around them. His large scale lichen compositions are the result of that natural relationship. “I think of these works as part of a similar collaboration, between the steel, the climate and myself in the act of carving,” he says.

Garrett’s work draws inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement, specifically William Morris’s belief that meaningful, attentive labour could be a way of reconnecting people to the world and to each other.

The interplay of all the elements of life fuel Garrett Gilbart’s works. As the world tumbles into discord, he quietly gathers the discards, forging connections, creating the world anew.

garrettgilbart.com

You can see Garrett's work at Melt Studio at Base 31 in PEC until October 26th

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/garrett-gilbart/

10/01/2025

An East Lake couple are embracing the architectural heritage of their farm while bringing history to life with innovation and imagination.

Heritage Redefined

by Karin Wells
photography by Ian Brown

It was, at a guess, a cold day in the fall of the early 1550s when the tiny pine seed was pushed into the dirt by the back hoof of an errant deer. Or perhaps it was the heel of a passing hunter. Favourable rains fell and the seed took root, growing slowly in the dark pine forests. Wars raged in Europe. French and English settlers got off the boat in Quebec. And a couple of centuries later United Empire loyalists fleeing newly formed America marked off farms in Prince Edward County. Buildings went up and the massive old pine tree was felled.

Nearly five hundred years after that seed was pushed into the dirt, an audience sits in plastic chairs in a Prince Edward County barn. They bend their necks back, tilt their faces up and gaze almost reverentially at the barn’s huge ridge beam high above their heads – the beam hewn from the massive white pine that had grown from the same seed. What they see is not the familiar grey reclaimed rustic barn wood. This is wood scraped down to its beginnings, clear, bright and golden.

The occasion is the 2025 annual Ontario Heritage Society conference, and the location was Sarah Crawford’s barn, her pride and joy. She has spent the last year and a half repurposing this piece of Prince Edward County heritage. “This is built heritage. It’s not restoring history,” she says with conviction, “it’s adaptive reuse,” a phrase reflecting changing attitudes to “heritage” in this province.

https://watershedmagazine.com/features/heritage-redefined/

09/30/2025

Must Stand Proud

We’re all shaken by Trump’s tariffs, and everyone’s looking for ways to support producers and services here at home.

Northumberland County has come up with a unique Buy Local campaign to encourage all of us to shift more of our everyday spending to local businesses – groceries, services, restaurants, gifts and most everything you need to buy. It’s a powerful hands-on way to keep our communities strong and resilient. You can also support the campaign by sharing your insights in two brief online surveys, one for consumers and one for business owners. The aim is to gather thoughts and ideas for planning future programs and boost support for local shopping in Northumberland. joinin.northumberland.ca

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/must-must-must-fall-2025/

09/29/2025

Watershed pays tribute to Jane Kelly and her vision to create a regional lifestyle magazine; a magazine that has grown over these past 24 years into a polished, respected and award-winning publication.

"Twenty-four years ago I wrote in first words: “There is a bittersweet quality to the fall…” Those words ring true today. The school buses are back on the road and there is definite change in the air, especially for me. I have finally responded to the voice that has been whispering in my ear, telling me that it’s time to step back from my beloved Watershed.

Over the years Watershed has been more than just words on paper; it’s been a reflection of my love for our community, its landscapes, its history and its people." Jane Kelly

And now we welcome Karine Ewart as the new Publisher, who will be working alongside Jane to ensure that the magazine you love, trust and share continues to grow, succeed and bring you the stories of community.

"I want to thank Jane, whose vision and dedication made Watershed a trusted voice and a gathering place for creativity and community. I am also so grateful that the team she chose to help build this nationally recognized, award-winning magazine have welcomed me with open arms, warm hearts and tons of patience. (I ask a lot of questions!)

In the months ahead, you’ll continue to find everything you love about Watershed, along with new ways to meander, follow the food, go beyond the garden gate and love the locals.

I can’t wait to share it all with you." Karine Ewart
Karine Ewart
https://watershedmagazine.com/first-words/first-words-fall-2025/

09/26/2025

Beyond the Garden Gate with Micol Marotti

Pickle Fall

There is something magical about twisting open a glass jar of pickled vegetables and savouring the bounty of your harvest. With a good brine mixture, almost any vegetable can become a delicious addition to the charcuterie board.

Many Europeans have a tradition of making giardiniera, which means “from the garden” in Italian, essentially a pickled medley of produce in a jar. Carrots, florets of cauliflower, celery, tiny sweet onions, green beans and sweet bell peppers are first blanched and then preserved in a tangy brine of white wine vinegar, salt, water, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns and sugar. Try eggplant (aubergine), button mushrooms, artichokes, green beans, radishes and even day lily and zucchini flower buds.

https://watershedmagazine.com/departments/all-things-nature-inspired/

09/25/2025

Thank you for sharing Experience Cobourg

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9692 Danforth Road
Cobourg, ON
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http://www.watershedmagazine.com/

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