It’s been a long time coming but, last Thursday night, Dunvegan won the Glengarry Soccer League’s (GSL) senior women’s championship by trouncing the Vankleek Hill women’s team 8-1 in the final game of the best-of-three series. This followed upon their 4- 2 win on Tuesday.
The last time Dunvegan won this title was about 20 years ago and coach Marc DeRepentigny is deservedly proud of his championship team’s effort. “We’ve been trying for this title for the past three years,” said Marc when I reached him on the road, “but, in 2014 and 2015, Laggan outplayed us, plain and simple.” This year though, explained Coach DeRepentigny, the Dunvegan team’s hard work and experience finally paid off. On top of the Senior Women’s title, the Dunvegan Senior Women were also named Best Defensive Team in the GSL. And Marc’s daughter, Celine DeRepentigny, was awarded the Most Valuable Player honour.
Ten years ago, Kenny MacLeod, Dunvegan’s GSL Soccer rep at the time, recruited Marc as a Dunvegan coach. Kenny had seen him coach in Greenfield and was confident that Marc would bring home the wins. And he was right. In the years that Marc coached Dunvegan’s U8 to U19 girls, his players earned seven well-deserved championships. When I asked Marc what the key was to forging a championship senior’s team, he said, “Bringing in a few young players each year… they can help add the speed and endurance that are so essential to winning big.”
Congratulations to Marc and the entire Dunvegan Senior Women’s team.
Harbinger of autumn
It’s hard to believe, but summer 2016 is over. How do I know? Because, it’s only about a week and a half until the Glengarry Pioneer Museum hosts its 17th annual Harvest Fall Festival on Sunday, September 11 from 11:00 to 4:00. Usher in autumn by celebrating how Glengarry’s early settlers lived and worked. Over 25 artisans and craftspeople will demonstrate how the pioneers made butter, ice cream, harnesses and saddles, leather boots, spun thread and weaved, quilted and made rugs.
I’ll have many more details on this year’s Fall Festival in next week’s column. However, to whet your whistle, here’s a peek at what organizers have in store. From rooster crowing contests (for birds AND humans) and old-fashioned races involving stilts, sacks and other paraphernalia to day-long entertainment featuring Leo Paquette & Family, the Glengarry Girls’ Choir, Aaron Pritchard, the Caddell Family and Doug MacPherson & Co., this event is the highlight of Dunvegan social calendar. Why some Glengarrians (and Dunveganites) still find excuses not to attend is beyond me. The Harvest Fall Festival even boasts one of the largest horse-drawn wagon and carriage parades in Eastern Ontario… led by the Quigley Highlanders Pipe Band… and a Harvest Sale Tent that offers delicious home-baked goods, preserves, plants, produce and much more.
Admission for this daylong festival of family fun is only $10 per person… or the equivalent of about three Iced Capps from Tim’s. Kids under 12 are free and admission for families is just $25. Plus, if you’re a member of the museum, admission is only $5. This year’s festival is co-sponsored by The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group, Caisse Populaire de la Vallée, Alexandria, and many other local businesses.
Calling the “givers” amongst us…
Regardless of which city, village or hamlet you put under the microscope, there’s always one small segment of the population that I label as “givers.” They’re the glue that holds the community together… volunteering and donating whenever and whatever they are able so that others (the “takers”) may benefit. This appeal is aimed at the “givers” out there… and anyone on the “T” side of the ledger who would like to sidle on over.
As I mentioned above, the Fall Festival’s Harvest Tent will hopefully be awash in goodies for sale on Sunday, September 11th. However, these piles of baking, plants, produce and preserves don’t appear magically as manna from heaven. People donate them out of the goodness of their hearts. “It’s a chance for members of the community to share preparations from their old family recipes and to bring their heritage plants for the gardens of others,” says Linda Fraser, the Harvest Tent coordinator. Since the Festival first was held in the fall of 1999, the Harvest Tent has played a critical role in raising funds for the museum. I hope YOU will help keep this tradition of giving alive. Donations can be dropped off at the museum (613-527-5230).
Cemetery in grave straits
A few weeks ago, after dropping off supplies for the August euchre luncheon, I noticed Margaret MacLeod putting out her trash. I went over and offered to help, but she insisted on doing it herself. “I need the exercise,” she said. And I understood. However, she did take a break during which we talked of many things Dunvegan… including the Kenyon Presbyterian Church’s graveyard. Margaret is the church’s Caretaker/Cemetery Record Keeper. Has been for many years.
“This year alone,” Margaret told me, “$6,000 was spent on fixing twenty gravestones and bases in the older, south end of the cemetery.” They apparently were in desperate need of repair. She also mentioned that the church only got to keep a percentage of the sale of each plot and none of the fee that is charged for each headstone. This was news to me, but when I asked for details she said that the church’s treasurer, Laurie Arkinstall, would be in a better position to answer my questions. And she was.
However, before approaching Laurie, I decided to read up on Ontario’s Cemeteries Act (Revised)… not light reading, even at the best of times. There I discovered that every Ontario cemetery (church owned or otherwise) is required, by law, to have a Care and Maintenance Fund administered by an official Trustee with no connection to the church or cemetery. The Care & Maintenance Fund for the Kenyon Presbyterian Church Cemetery is held in Trust by the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT).
“40% of the selling price (of the plot) and 100% of the marker (tombstone) fee must be submitted to the Trustee within 60 days and is added to our Capital account,” Laurie explained. These amounts are held in an Income Fund that is managed by the OPGT. The only money paid out to the cemetery for care and maintenance are the investment dividends earned (minus management fees) in the income account. This, in today’s world of ultra-low returns, is a very serious problem. “The interest earned has definitely gotten smaller and in no way even begins to cover the cost to maintain the graveyard and tombstones,” said Laurie. “Kenyon Presbyterian Church Cemetery is very much dependent upon it’s very generous donors!”
That’s why the church’s annual Memorial Sunday is so very important. This year it will be held this coming Sunday, September 4th at 11AM with Rev. Julia Apps Douglas officiating. This will be followed by lunch and fellowship in the church hall. The cost for adults is $8.00. Children five years old and under are free. Please give generously. The stock market isn’t.
Three Generations of Elopers
I just learned that on Wednesday, July 20th, Allison MacLeod and Jason Leroux snuck off to the church in Dunvegan to be secretly married by Reverend Julia. The only other people in attendance were the couple’s two children, Abby (9) and Jesse (8), and witnesses Steven Peters and his girlfriend Laura. It wasn’t until the following Saturday night at a small family dinner for Allison’s parents and Jason’s mother that the couple’s two youngsters proudly announced the marriage of their mom and dad.
Allison’s parents, Annette and Kenny MacLeod, told me that their daughter was the third generation to elope in this way. “Both my mom and dad… and Annette and I… were married in this way,” Kenny told me. Both of the older MacLeod couples tied the knot in the Dunvegan manse. However, because the manse was sold a number of years ago, Allison and Jason had to use the church.
One month later, on August 20th, the happy couple celebrated their vows with family and friends at an outdoor pig roast at the couple’s home on the corner of County Road 24 and Pendelton Street. Luckily, they had borrowed a gorgeous canvas hay tent from a friend for the reception; the same deluge that descended at the close of the Glengarry Wood Fair hit one block over as well.
Congratulations Allison and Jason on your marriage… and to Abby and Jesse for keeping the ceremony a secret from their grandparents.
When did Hendelton become Pendelton?
Does anyone know when Hendelton Sreet in Dunvegan become Pendelton Street? In the 1879 Belden Historical Atlas of SD&G, the street that runs north from County Road 24 and turns into Murray Street is clearly marked as “Hendelton.” However, the street sign that marks the road today says “Pendelton.” Human error? Or the work of 1984’s Ministry of Truth?
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