The reaction to the DRA’s new “library on a post” beside the community mailboxes seems to be positive. When I stopped by the on the weekend, I noticed that people have added books to the collection… as well as a small selection of DVDs. The other enhancement has been a sturdy bracket to hold the Ad Bags that are dropped off at the community hall every week.
If the Hall’s a ‘rocking…
If you’re into live music (I’d love to know what dead music sounds like), don’t forget that the Ontario Festival of Small Halls is hosting a Jenn Grant concert on Saturday, September 16th at 7:30 PM in the Dunvegan Community Hall. Jenn Grant is a Canadian folk pop singer-songwriter from Halifax. Jenn will share Dunvegan’s great little stage with singer-songwriter Jasmine Bleile, a founding member of Ladies of the Canyon.
A word of warning, though. By the time you read this item, the concert could well have a “sold out” sticker on it. I spoke with Small Halls general manager, Kelly Syms, and she reports that only a few $25 tickets are left. So the sooner you call (613) 402-1425 or visit the Festival’s web site at www.thefestivalofsmallhalls.com, the better your chances. BTW, the DRA will be serving an outdoor chilli dinner across the road from the hall beginning at 6 PM. The cost is just $7 for adults or $4 for children and includes fresh bread and desserts.
Ready, set, deal
Since September is one of those weird Five-Friday months, the one at the end of this week, September15th, is Euchre Day in Dunvegan. Admission is only $5 and includes freshly made sandwiches and a sinful sweets tray from Sandra Daigle’s kitchen. Held in the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24, the card-based social event starts at 12:00 noon and wraps up around 3:30 PM. Everyone is welcome.
Patrick Who?
While helping Terry set up the Penny Candy table at last Sunday’s Harvest Fall Festival in Dunvegan, I ran into Laurie Maus and Bob Garner. The couple is actively involved in the Heritage Livestock Club of Eastern Ontario, a group that’s passionate about the preservation of, you guessed it, heritage livestock. The two were setting up a Rare Breeds exhibit, which included their bellwether Tunis ram named Dodge. Laurie and Bob tell me that, as lowly shepherds, it’s the only way they can afford a Dodge Ram.
I was fascinated to learn from them the origin of the term “bellwether.” I had always assumed (incorrectly as it turns out) that the word had nautical roots. Not so. It actually refers to the animal that shepherds use to lead their flock, called the bellwether. The word is a combination of two Middle English words… belle (meaning the bell the animal wears around its neck) and wether (a ram, i.e., a male sheep, that has been castrated). Over the years, the word has become a synonym for “harbinger,” a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another. For example, in recent months, the news has been chock-a-block with “bellwether” stories that suggest Wynne’s liberals are shifting into full election mode.
In June, Ontario offered our impoverished public servants a four-year contract extension whereby Ontario Public Service Employees Union workers would get 1.5 per cent on July 1, then one per cent on January 1, 2019 and another one per cent every six months for the life of the contract… a raise totaling 7.5 per-cent in all. This comes on top of buying off Ontario’s elementary school teachers and the French teachers’ union with two-year contracts. Take that, labour unrest!
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the primary industry in this province has become “bureaucracy.” In fact, according to a recent Fraser Institute study, the public sector now accounts for 23 per cent of ALL employment in the province, and it’s getting bigger every day. To quote an article from a Globe & Mail article by Livio Di Matteo, Professor of Economics at Lakehead University, “…From 2003 to 2013, public sector employment growth in Ontario (27.6 per cent) dramatically outpaced private sector employment growth (5.6 per cent) by a whopping 22 percentage points.”
And the provincial pool of public sector workers is poised to bloat once again, as Wynne sets her sights on another voting block: potheads. Just in time for next year’s election, our government will open the first 40 of their new, stand-alone “smoke” shops across the province. No doubt these first outlets will be in marginal ridings where this demographic could help them gain or retain seats. And, for tokers in the hinterlands, their on-line wacky-tobaccy store will throw open its portals on July 1, 2018.
Rather than being fiscally responsible and carving out a small niche in the 600+ existing LCBO outlets for this new product line, the government will hire hundreds of new “budmeisters” housed in 150 separate storefronts across the urban landscape. Not surprisingly, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is giddy with joy.
If we only had a bellwether ram to lead us out of this morass. Someone offering a bit more hope than Patrick “Who.”
Wood turner erratum
I apologize to Harvest Fall Festival visitors who, having read my recent column, were expecting a demonstration of an antique foot-powered lathe. Robin Flockton, a skilled wood turner, was on site explaining the process from start to finish using a borrowed electrically powered lathe. But he was unable to bring the pedal-powered apparatus. Nevertheless, visitors seemed to enjoy watching Robin transform round blanks into lovely bowls.
Bump Blues – Part II
Back in October of 2014, I gave voice to the complaints of Dunveganites motoring up and down the Greenfield Road and contending with a nasty unpaved bump. The good news is that Deputy Mayor Jamie MacDonald stepped up and set things to right lickety-split. The bad news is that the bumpy, gravel-filled slash has returned (albeit in a different location) to vex travellers on County Road 30. A prominent Dunveganite approached me at the Fall Festival and asked if I could stroke my magic keyboard and make a County paving crew appear… sooner rather than later. I said I’d try.
Last minute report
Before signing off for this week, I wanted to report some raw data that I just received from the organizers on last Sunday’s GPM Harvest Fall Festival.
In terms of attendance, it’s estimated that 827 people passed through (or around) the gates. The way the museum phrased it in their e-mail was “827 paying visitors.” But this isn’t quite true. Only 747 folks paid their admission and were recorded on the gatekeepers’ counters. The remainder is an estimate of the number of people who snuck in for free. I myself photographed a number of couples who, rather than lining up at the admission gate simply walked on by while the ticket sellers were distracted.
When you add in all the volunteers, artisans, agricultural demonstrators and parade participants (which are estimated to total around 175, the picture-perfect day saw the population of our sleepy hamlet swell by over 1,000. And, if the shots on my trusty Nikon are any indication, all had a smashing good time.
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