To say that this year’s DRA fundraiser for the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Alexandria was a triumph would be a bit of an understatement. Thanks to the efforts of Rosemary Chatterson and her Music & Mayhem gang — along with the support of Alexandria’s Caisse Populaire Desjardins, 300 or so of you out there who purchased tickets for one of the three performances and one last-minute anonymous donor — I was able to put cheques totaling $4,751.50 In Claude Brunet’s hands.
For those of you who don’t know him, Mr. Brunet is the driving force behind this region’s St. Vincent de Paul Society. When I dropped by Sacre-coeur’s basement hall before Christmas, Claude and a small army of volunteers were handing out hundreds of Christmas “baskets” (in reality, the containers are banana boxes from our local Independent store; baskets are too expensive) to needy households that had requested one. While he was too swamped to pause, Claude did call the next day to express the charity’s gratitude. “This makes a huge difference to our outreach program,” Claude told me.
Everyone involved in this resounding success — in alphabetical order, Elizabeth Caddell, Rosemary Chatterson, Flip Flockton, Alyson Graham, Scott Graham, John Macaulay, Wendy Macleod, Allan MacDonald, Jim McRae, Audrey Nixon, Gerry Schmidt, Nancy and Gord White, snd Shashtin and Jim Winchester — deserves a huge thank you.
Woman behind the curtain
A number of people have asked me about the talented woman responsible for the DRA’s Music & Mayhem phenomenon. So I thought I’d devote a few column inches to her story.
Rosemary grew up in Brantford with her parents and three brothers and went to work with the local Cooperators Insurance office as a clerical assistant. The company soon recognized her organizational skills and promoted her to a series of supervisory positions at the head office in Guelph a few years later. At the time of her retirement in 2010, she was a Desktop Services Consultant in their Information Technology (IT) department. In 2011, she and her husband Allan J. MacDonald and moved back east to his family farm on the 4th of Kenyon.
When I asked Rosemary where the idea for Music & Mayhem came from, I was told that it had deep roots. Rosemary took singing and piano lessons as a child and was involved in solo and choir work throughout her working life. “I had no background in drama, but in the mid-80s my son encouraged me to audition at the Galt Little Theatre, an amateur production company that was looking for singers and actors.” This was her first foray into the world of theatre and she was soon hooked. “I became a regular,” Rosemary told me, “and I was also involved in a dinner theatre production at my church for many years.”
By the mid-90s, Rosemary had talked four other people into forming a troupe to entertain the seniors’ group at her church, Wesley United in Cambridge. Originally called “Music & Madness”, the show’s formula evolved: a fast-paced show with songs, skits, on-stage costume changes and a narrator to tie it all together. The all-volunteer group went on to entertain service clubs, churches and fund-raising organizations across Southern Ontario. “The highlight of our fifteen years together,” said Rosemary, “was a December trip to Sugar Creek, Ohio to entertain the local Amish Community.”
Despite the move to Glengarry, Rosemary couldn’t escape her love of the stage, so she reached out to the Dunvegan Recreation Association. “I was hoping to find a way to bring a similar production to the local community,” said Rosemary, “and when the DRA’s Celtic Christmas took a break for a year, I saw an opportunity.” Luckily, she was able to convince some talented friends that this was a good idea. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“I already have songs and skits lined up for next year’s show and the cast and crew appear willing to put themselves through the rigors of rehearsals again,” reports Rosemary.
And it’s no light commitment. The troupe will practice the music and lyrics throughout the summer, then the skits in September. In October, the accompanist joins the rehearsals. And, by early November, they add in the narration and stage crew. “Props and costumes gradually come together as we go along,” adds Rosemary. “The DRA is an ideal venue for this kind of production and the audiences have been the absolute best.”
Carnival’s around the corner
Wow… believe it or not the DRA Winter Carnival will take place on Saturday, February 4th. (One more nail in winter’s coffin, yeah!) As always, the day will start with our world-class Country Breakfast down at the Hall, 19053 County Road 24… from 8:00 to 10:00 AM. The price is just $7.50 per person (kids 5 to 12 – $3.00) and includes homemade pancakes drenched in sweet butter and pure maple syrup, crispy bacon, fluffy scrambled eggs, melt-in-your-mouth muffins, hot coffee, juice and, of course, the new “apples & links” side dish introduced last year.
Proceeds from this year’s Breakfast will go towards the DRA’s new community park. If you want to see what they have planned, I’m told there will be a model of the new park on the stage (created by Heather Raymond), as well as a colouring table for the kids and a Comments Chart where everyone (children included) can make note of their suggestions for the new recreation area.
And talking about “new” items at the Carnival, folklorists Carole Pagé and her husband, Eric Charbonneau will be giving a Living History demonstration of Indian and Métis life in the woods of 19th century Ontario. I’ll have more details next week, but I know they’ll be bringing their tepee and snowshoes and will be entertaining young and old alike with stories around a roaring campfire.
I’ll have more details next week about this wintertime Family Funfest in Dunvegan. So stay tuned.
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