Every year, folks come from all over to attend the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s Annual General Meeting. Alexandria, Vankleek Hill, Laggan, Dalkeith and all points in between. But one couple at last Friday’s do had everyone beat: Paul and Tina Summerskill. They travelled 600 kilometers from St. Catherine’s, Ontario to attend the event. As regular readers may recall, Paul Summerskill was part of a column I wrote late last December. Paul used to go to high school in Cornwall and take the train to Alexandria for painting lessons with renowned Glengarry artist, Stuart McCormick.
As a part of exploring his roots, Paul had contacted our museum’s curator, Jennifer Black for information on his former art teacher and was so impressed by her expertise that he signed up for a lifetime membership to the GPM. Membership meant he was alerted to the AGM, so he and his wife decided to make the six-hour trek to Dunvegan. “Paul and Tina were amazed by the community atmosphere at the AGM,” Jennifer told me. “On Saturday, they went to the Spring Breakfast at the church and then came over to the museum and did some raking. They seemed to fall in love with the place. They were full of compliments.”
In addition to the Summersills, over 50 other interested parties attended the annual event, a total that was down from the typical turnout. But what the AGM lacked in quantity, it more than made up for in quality… starting with a potluck buffet that overflowed with delicious platters of food.
Lindsey Howes was Mistress of Ceremonies and Chair of the meeting and kept things rolling along very efficiently. And North Glengarry’s mayor, Chris McDonell, was also on hand to bring greetings on behalf of council.
The business meeting got into high gear with Matt Williams (the new Chair for 2016) and his overview of some of the highlights of 2015, including the new “Edukits” outreach initiative and the strategic planning session. He also touched on the tremendous contribution of the museum’s many volunteers, Jennifer Black’s upcoming maternity leave and Renee Homiak’s return as interim curator.
Following Marlie Tilker’s financial report (she is taking over from Kent MacSweyn and Terry Sweitzer as treasurer), Jennifer gave the room a glimpse of what’s in store for 2016. Some of the new events will be “The Bagpipes: Music & History” on May 22nd, “Trees, Bees and Weeds” on June 19th, the “Blacksmith Festival” weekend, June 25-26th and the “Fibre Art” weekend July 16-17th.
The evening also featured two award presentations.
The first was the “Volunteer Group” award to the Twistle Guild of Glengarry. Vivian Franklin prefaced the presentation ceremony with a very touching speech, and a small contingent of current and past members were on hand to accept the award.
The second was the “Volunteer Couple” award… presented to yours truly and my wife Terry Sweitzer. Regrettably, we were unable to attend the ceremony after having spent a large part of the day in the emergency waiting room of our local hospital. However, Alyson Graham (AGM organizer extraordinaire) dropped in the next day. So we did get to read Linda Fraser’s extremely flattering (and in the case of me, largely fictitious) presentation. We are both very touched by this recognition.
With the help of North Glengarry’s County Archivist, Allan J. MacDonald, 17 members were elected to the museum’s 2016 Board of Directors, including: Matt Williams (Chair), James Prevost (Co-Chair), Vivian Franklin (Secretary), Marlie Tilker (Treasurer), Michael Cowley-Owen (Member at large) and Karen Davison-Wood (Past Chair).
Before moving on, I also wanted to mention the tremendous, behind-the-scene contribution made by Alyson Graham to the success of this and a number of previous GPM AGMs. I know from first-hand experience that juggling the demands on one’s time from business, family and volunteer commitments can be a challenge. Yet Alyson continues to excel and is a perfect example of the adage: “if you want something done, ask a busy person.”
Happy birthday, Ann
One of the reasons behind the success of the popular DRA Euchre Luncheon program is all the work volunteer Ann Stewart puts into it. At the last minute, I was unable to attend last Friday’s event. But Terry tells me that the full house of players joined forces to wish Ann a very happy 75th birthday. And so do I. Many happy returns, Ann… and thank you for keeping the Dunvegan tournaments on track.
Two hearty “thank you” messages
In conclusion, I’ve been asked to pass along words of appreciation to all those who participated in Dunvegan’s two key Saturday events… the Annual Clean-up Day at the museum and the Spring Breakfast at the Kenyon Presbyterian Church.
Jennifer tells me that over 35 volunteers and their kids showed up to help get the museum ready for opening day. No doubt the beautiful weather was a factor, but I suspect many would have still lent a hand, even if the sun hadn’t been shining so gloriously. Regardless, Jennifer was thrilled. “I couldn’t do it without them,” she e-mailed me.
And Dona Addison from the Kenyon Presbyterian Church Women’s Association wanted me to thank everyone who supported Saturday’s hugely successful church breakfast. She tells me that over 140 hungry citizens enjoyed a first-class morning buffet. I also wanted to thank the many volunteers from the congregation whose hard work made this delicious event possible. PS: the church’s Women’s Association has an old-fashioned Ham Supper in the offing for May 14th. I’ll have more details for you shortly.
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