Fair warning. It will be a short column this week. I’m on a train to Toronto… and it’s not one of those sleek European or Japanese bullet trains where the ride is so smooth nary a ripple appears on the surface the Zinfandel. This holdover from the last century shakes and shimmies down the track, making writing an exercise that requires the manual equivalent of sea legs. That said, at least the seats on this grand old coach are comfortable; unlike the plastic torture devices one finds on Via’s more modern rolling stock.
“Dunvegan Disruption”
Such is the title of David Anderson’s talk at this month’s meeting of the Glengarry Historical Society. And it promises to be a controversial one. David’s lecture will look at the late Reverend John Mackechnie’s relatively short tenure as the minister of the Kenyon Presbyterian Church in Dunvegan from about 1972 to 1974. A renowned scholar of the Gaelic language, it was MacKechnie’s academic activities and the openness he showed a band of young people who had taken up residence in the hamlet in the late 1960s and early 1970s that put him at odds with the majority of his flock.
Last week, I travelled back in time while compiling excerpts from the 1974 program that the CBC’s Mary Lou Finlay produced on the affair. I spent hours with ghosts from the past, including Dr. MacKechnie, Velma Franklin, Marion Loewen and Malcom Grant, the only member of the congregation who would speak publicly with Finlay. These were the days when the Greenfield Road was not yet paved, the old brick hotel across from the museum still had its wonderful veranda and the hamlet boasted a store, a barbershop and a post office. Today, all that’s left is the museum and the memories. The assemblage of video clips runs about 11 minutes and provides the perfect introduction to David’s lecture. The meeting is open to all. Just show up at Dunvegan’s DRA Hall, 19053 County Road 24 on Thursday, April 13th at 7:30 PM with legal tender in your hand (Members $5, welcome guests $10). Refreshments will be served.
His master’s voice
You only have one chance to make a first impression…. an expression that came to mind as I spoke with Steve Merritt about those turbulent times a half century ago. I had called Steve to check a few questions that occurred to me while editing the video.
It was a warm Sunday in July of 1967 and Steve was busy getting the white house he had purchased from Irene MacLeod ready for his wife to join him. The house, which had stood empty since 1952, used to stand on the lot where the present church parking lot is located. It had originally belonged to Irene’s father, Donald Keith MacLeod, who had owned the general store on the north east corner of the crossroads.
A knock at the door interrupted Steve’s labours. And when he opened it, one of the parishioners from the church across the road stood before him with a pained expression. Apparently, Steve’s dog “Poo”, an allegedly harmless German Shepard/ Rottweiler mix, had mistaken the church’s open doors as an invitation and settled down in the shade of the lobby. The problem was that the dog refused to allow the worshippers leave after the service. Steve’s caller had been elected to sneak out the back and seek help. Needless to say, this was not an auspicious start to Steve Merritt’s move to the sleepy hamlet of Dunvegan. By the way, the house is no longer with us. It burned to the ground in 1982.
Sign of the times
There’s a wonderful photograph in the Pioneer Museum’s collection that shows D.K. MacLeod’s general store taken back in the late 1800s. It is a straight on view from across the road and features the front porch that is still there today and a large hand-lettered sign on the roof of the porch saying simply “D.K. MacLeod.” If I’m not mistaken, Mr. MacLeod and one or two others are standing on the steps leading up to the porch. I have long wondered whatever became of that sign, and now I know. Steve Merritt has it at his place in St. Isidore.
When Steve bought the MacLeod house in Dunvegan, he came across the sign stored high in the rafters. He was looking for something he could use to make a sign for the coffee house he and a group of friends started at the old brick hotel. So, he turned over the D.K. MacLeod sign and used the back. When you come to David Anderson’s GHS lecture and watch the “Crossroads at Dunvegan” video, keep an eye out for “The Greening” sign. On the other side is the original MacLeod General Store sign.
New faces at Margaret’s place
The handsome antique brick farm house at the east end of Dunvegan Road near Highway 34 has changed hands. Now, this isn’t news. We’ve talked before about the fact that Bonnie Laing and Greg Byers had sold the classic rural Ontario home they purchased from Margaret MacCrimmon. What’s new is that I finally have accurate information about the new members of our community who plan to make the old MacCrimmon place their home.
Their names are Michael Bertrand and Anne Forrester. Both still work in the financial services sector, but retirement is in sight. For the past twenty-two years, they’ve made Mississauga their home and raised two children. Michael and Anne spent two years exploring the back roads of Glengarry looking for the retirement home of their dreams… and they finally found it in Dunvegan East. ” We both grew up in the Montreal area and wanted a place to retire that was close to friends and family in Ottawa and Montreal,” Anne told me. “We fell in love with Bonnie and Greg’s place… especially the kitchen and the wrap-around porch.”
The couple’s first priority will be sprucing things up and making it their own. After which, they want to meet their neighbours, make new friends and settle in. “Then we’ll see where life takes us,” Anne said.
-30-