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economist suntribune xommu nity saturday march 18 2000 ii dads can find focus at support group participant in course returns as volunteer to help other dads byjoanransberry staff writer helping a man become a father is no easy task a markham architect is learning ken chow is one of a dozen men to recently fin ish a sevenweek parenting program designed exclusively for fathers chow was so impressed with focus on fathers hes returning to the spring program as a volunteer chow 40 and his wife nancy 37 welcomed baby michael to the family almost two years ago like all new dads chow wondered if the new merrygoround life would be a chal lenge attending the fociis on fathers program last fall strength ened my relationship with both my wife and son chow said focus on fathers is a free program designed to give dads insight information and strategies on parenting children from newborns to six year olds its a joint project of the catholic community services of york region and york region early intervention services this course is unique chow said while there are plen ty of support groups for mothers there are none for dads fathers need support too fathers need backandforth dis cussion fathers need to get things off their chests fathers need anger management we need information on child development and yes we need stress management focus on fathers does a great deal to help fathers last week chow returned to act as a host for the sessions offered in markham focus on fathers is also available in woodbridge and keswick focus on fathers is gaining popularity according to pro- gram director george glover we are exceeding our expectations and were now offer ing it at three locations he said the sessions will be pre sented by a family therapist an educator a dietitian and by three family physicians as a volunteer chow will encourage the men to talk about the unique and sometimes scary situations in which fathers find themselves as well chow hopes to get the participants to pick up useful parenting skills doctors in york region are invited to refer patients to focus on fathers the markham program which began march 9 runs from 7 to 9 pm at pathways parent and child resource centre at 70 main st markham the program is offered in woodbridge starting on march 22 from 7 to 9 pm at the market lane child parent resource centre at 166 woodbridge ave beginning april 1 from noon to 2 pm the sevenweek focus on fathers program gets underway in keswick for more information on focus on fathers call 18002632075 volunteers follow the amphibious call of the wild in york region a gray tree frog left and a blue spotted salamander are native to the rouge watershed volunteers will be looking for these and other species this spring music of the night bymikeadler staff writer in the middle of a rainy night this week driving slowly with her flashers on natalie helferty recognized tiny outlines by the road spring peepers tan frogs barely an inch long were mov ing across leslie street it was warm enough for frogs to migrate and it was nice and rainy said helferty a biologist and member of the richmond hill naturalists amphibian life is stirring again in york region as frogs and salamanders leave winter holes for the wet places they will inhabit in spring and summer frogs are calling for mates and scores of people trained as volunteers will be stand ing beside wetlands linked to the don humber and rouge river watershed listening for the strangely beautiful sounds of male frogs calling to mates next week groups working along the rouge and in richmond hill are looking for more frogwatchers who will observe the migrations or record the calling frogs last year volunteers for the first year of the rouge river watershed amphibian monitoring program heard more than expected armed with a tape of calls from 12 frog species they rec ognized the sounds of all nine who historically inhabited the greater toronto area the ecological survey of rouge park in 1991 had found only six i think everybody has been shocked by what weve got dan casselman coordinator of the rouge frogwatch said this week beside the pond at bruces mill conservation area in stouffville a marsh with shallow areas and vegetation frogs use to hide here the programs dedicated listeners heard distinct sounds of the wood frog spring peeper american toad green frog pickerel frog and the northern leopard frog which casselman said kind of clucks like a chicken at first and then sounds like a balloon being rubbed with wet hand salamanders inch their way along somewhere the mysterious salamanders slowmoving in the cold were also inching their way along the program a project of the rouge river restoration committee will also be searching for signs of them on wednesday helferty saw two frogs one northern leopard and one green cross bathurst street in richmond hill she also counted 13 dead ones at the same spot studies she added suggest traffic kills 30 per cent of migrating frogs the diversity of frog species in the gta appears in decline dan casselman coordinates the frog watch along the rouge with areas on the oak ridges moraine being an exception said helferty i definitely think urban sprawl has had an effect most frogwatching along the don and humber has focused on toronto not the headwa ters of those rivers in york region there has also been no formal survey of frog haunts in richmond hill helferty said frogs seen moving this week were males she said the next rainy night the females will be moving to follow them because they hear the calls the amorous males may cauin daylight but the most intense calling is usually between dusk and 10 pnx last year amy darker volunteer frogwatcher for the toronto and region conservation authority learned to dis tinguish and record the frogs calling from the pond in her rural vaughan backyard frogwatching isnt a hard job if youre prepared to listen regularly she said its peaceful its quiet youre hearing noises you never noticed before lionel normand a trca biologist who coordinates the don and humber frogwatchers said the authority is working on a program to monitor all terrestrial life in the region and will not train new volunteers this year train to be a frogwatcher 7hese are free frogwatch training sessions set for next week on tuesday in stouffville 730930 pm at bruces mill conservation area on stouffville road on thursday in markham 79 pm at the markham community library on hwy 7 at hwy 48 on friday in richmond hill 730930 pm at sl johns anglican church on yonge streel for more information call dan casselman at the rouge river restoration committee 416 2840257 tub distinctive alterniivt mm visit om showrg torn htm e it n hwss wsm fiipi ii sim a antiques b hfetej beyond compare jj wm 158 main street kmfi- 0054749677 3 six ifarveibqiiecn anne chairs jj ibf ffe bbs mm vc ki niirknfrv inhtn tan wild rlmilitn b lefe mw m loht jcrabj- fejitad 4 pedestal legs matching buffet iliil f 1 imcand hutch x j w vjaijj4i