This Friday night, March 2nd, the “Circa 1812” living history reenactors will be hosting their third annual Steak Night fundraiser. Held at the Windsor Tavern in Vankleek Hill, the dinner will cost in the range of $15-$16 per person (this is still being hammered out) and will be served from 5:30- 9:00 PM. In addition to providing a hearty meal in a cozy, down-home setting, the Windsor Tavern will donate a portion of the dinner proceeds to support the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s War of 1812 Reenactment and Education Day for Grade 7 and 8 students from the region. To spice up the evening, there will also be a plethora of door prizes and a 50/50 draw.
I’m glad the reenactor group listened to the feedback they got from last year’s event and have imposed some much-needed military discipline on the fundraiser. This year, there will be a strict Reservations Only policy. That way the restaurant will know how many steaks to order. This should get around the problems of previous years. To make a reservation — there are two sittings: 5:30 pm and 7:00 pm — contact the Windsor Tavern at 613-678-2122.
To avoid the crush of the tavern, takeout service is available… but you must call the Windsor and place your order in advance. So, if you live on the Hill, you could even hold your own mini Steak Night fundraiser at home. Alternatively, if you drive a motor home, you could park on Main Street, eat in the comfort of your RV and re-watch the firework’s that might be set off in tonight’s second PC Leadership debate.
End of the debate?
While we’re on the topic of debates, was anyone else a little shocked with how far TVO’s first PC Leadership Debate strayed from the inter-candidate exchange format to which we’ve been trained by the media? Instead of the usual inflammatory introductory statements and contrived confrontations, the four leadership candidates took part in what was really a group interview show, hosted by Steve Paikin. It bore about as much resemblance to a “debate” as promises made on the campaign trail do to statements of fact.
That said, I wonder if the approach doesn’t have some real merit. A classic debate framework works best with two opponents. However, our multi-party parliamentary system results in stage filled with a gaggle of competitors, each one vying for attention. Instead of a formal bilateral discussion in which opposing arguments are put forward logically, this results in a frivolous concoction marked by puffery and ad hominem attacks. At least, with Paikin’s “interview” approach candidates can be quickly and publically admonished for slip-sliding away from difficult questions.
The second coming…
Here’s what I said about Celtic musicians Ben Miller and Anita MacDonald when they performed in Dunvegan last March, ”the audience… was blown away with the energy that flowed from the stage. (Ben and Anita) gave an instrumental performance that was wall-to-wall Celtic music for nearly two hours straight. I dare say the concert rivaled anything the small stage has seen in its 98 year-old history.”
If, after reading last year’s review, you were kicking yourself for missing this impressive musical event, I have great news. The Dunvegan Recreation Association is bringing the duo back for a return engagement in a little over three weeks. Friday, March 16th, to be exact. I’ll have all the details — time, ticket price and where you can pick them up — in next week’s column. Stay tuned.
100 on the horizon
History buffs in the audience will notice a very telling clue in the item above. Give up? It’s the reference to the DRA hall’s 98 year-old history. In other words, if our hamlet’s former Orange Lodge hall was 98 years old in 2017, it will be 100 years old next year: 2019. Here’s the first archival mention of its construction that I’ve come across. I found it in the June 27th, 1919 issue of the Glengarry News, “Tuesday, the 24th was a red letter day in the history of Orangeism in Dunvegan, when the corner stone for the new hall was laid by Deputy Grand Master Chas. Lount of Cornwall and other prominent members of the order.” (Wondering how, if Tuesday was the 24th, Wednesday could be the 27th? The explanation is simple. In 1919, the News was published on Friday, not Wednesday as it is today.)
Now, I’m not sure how the DRA, or North Glengarry for that matter, will honour the venerable structure’s birthday. There’s over a year to plan. But one thing I’d like to do is put together a commemorative booklet documenting the hall’s history. So I’m serving notice to all within eyesight that I would love to borrow and scan photos of the hall, old or new. I would also encourage Dunveganites near and far to send me your recollections of the glad, and sad, times you spent within its walls. With this, I hope to weave a memento of the hamlet’s second Orange Lodge hall.
Tales of Upstairs, Downstairs
Late last week, I learned that Royce MacGillivray, author of Dictionary of Glengarry Biography, is doing research for an article he hopes to have published in the Ontario Genealogical Society’s periodical. Its focus will be women from Eastern Ontario, especially the Glengarry area, who were in Domestic Service in Montreal and elsewhere.
Royce’s mother was one of these domestic workers. Montreal in her case. And in his graduate school days, Royce was acquainted with two other relatives who worked as domestic servants in Boston. “I liked and valued them both,” Royce said, “but one, Joan MacLean, was a great influence on my life and we were close friends over many years.”
Royce tells me that it’s very difficult to get information on these domestic servants; families are often reluctant to admit they had relatives who worked away as domestic help. Allan MacDonald of the Glengarry County Archives agrees. “Too often, it’s the political, cultural, military, professional elites — the prominenti — whose documents or papers find their way to an archives. Its their views and stories that prevail,” Allan pointed out. “Too frequently, ordinary folk are forgotten because their stories or papers have not been collected and preserved.”
If you are in a position to help Royce with his article, please share your story with me, and I will pass it on. Or, better yet, you can contact the Glengarry County Archives and deposit any letters, documents or photos from a late relative who worked in the city as a domestic servant for safekeeping. In addition to preserving the history of ordinary working Glengarrians, it will be available to Royce for his research.
Royce also told me that he has come across references to Glengarry women performing midwifery tasks… as well as elderly women being called in to wash the dead and prepare them for burial. (This was in the days before a formal death certification process was in place.) Pity the poor ladies who worked on Royce’s paternal grandfather. He died of a pneumonia-like condition when a young man. However, when the women were preparing his body, they discovered that the rumours of his grandfather’s death were somewhat exaggerated.
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