FIREWORKS CAUSE COMPLAINTS IN RIDEAU LAKES

A celebration of life that included fireworks caused undue stress and complaints in Rideau Lakes Township on Saturday, May 7.

Margaret Rose Woolfrey died in March, just a few weeks shy of her 90th birthday, and a celebration of life was held on Saturday evening in Newboro.

Woolfrey was known for her fun-loving, generous, and outgoing nature and could always be counted on to be the life of any party.

"Marnie always said you can't spell funeral without FUN," said the notice, adding friends and loved ones could help "send her out with a bang," from 7 to 9 p.m. on May 7, at Stirling Lodge in Newboro.

During the Monday,

May 9 meeting of municipal services in the Township of Rideau Lakes, Coun. Joan Delaney said she'd received a complaint about a "full-blown unannounced" display of fireworks, of which many people were unaware.

Her neighbour (near Chaffey's Lock) was outside with his elderly dog, "and everybody was frightened," Delaney said. "They didn't know what was causing it ... they didn't see anything. They just heard explosions."

Delaney said she, and "some of my colleagues," have heard concerns of ongoing fireworks displays from cottages, (not just from Saturday evening), not sticking to traditional or regulated holidays.

"These things are just going off all the time. I've got a feeling that other jurisdictions have had to deal with this prior to us, and it's something to think about," she said.

Mayor Arie Hoogenboom said he's heard concerns from residents as well and tasked staff to check in with other municipalities to see what they do.

"A lot of people think that if someone is having an anniversary or it's somebody's birthday, they shoot off 20 minutes' worth of fireworks and disturb the wildlife and disturb the neighbours," he said.

Hoogenboom said it was the township's best interest "to put some level of control on this to maintain a little bit of community peace and quiet, particularly on the waterfront because the noise does carry so far across the water." He was not suggesting stifling fireworks displays on Canada Day, Labour Day or

Victory Day, "but perhaps all the others need to have some sort of harness put on them."

Coun. Bob Lavoie said the fireworks were some of the loudest and best fireworks display I've seen," he said. "I'm amazed at how far it travelled, down to Chaffey's ... but it did upset a lot of animals in the area.

He shared that he knew they were coming from Stirling Lodge as a memorial tribute.

This article sparked online debate on a Rideau Lakes social media page, prompting an email from Marnie's great niece, Jessica Hill, who said her great aunt "was always a bit of a rebel, who no doubt would be enjoying the 'controversy' surrounding her memorial fireworks display."

Hill added that it was not an impromptu fireworks display, but one licensed by a pyrotechnics company and had all the required permits, insurance and approvals in place before the show.