It’s been three months since we took the box of euchre paraphernalia out of the cupboard in Dunvegan. But this Friday, April 26th, we’re back in business. Phase one of the hall renovations is complete and the euchre drought is over. We invite all our regular players to rejoin us for cards and camaraderie. We also hope we’ll see some a few new faces.
Sponsored by the Dunvegan Recreation Association, admission is only $5 and includes pre- and post-game lunches of homemade sandwiches and sweets. The bookended refreshment breaks give everyone plenty of time to visit with old friends and make new ones. The event at gets under way at 12:00 noon in the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24 and wraps up around 3:30 PM.
Cleaning conundrum circumvented
To avoid any scheduling conflicts next Saturday, April 27th, the Kenyon Presbyterian Church has kindly moved their cleaning bee to the afternoon. It’s now from 1:00 to 4:00 PM, instead of in the morning. So, if you still have energy left after helping de-mothball the museum before noon, the folks at the kirk would love it if you could help out there for a wee while as well.
While no one will turn you away if you just show up, Jennifer Black at the museum would appreciate you contacting her at 613-527-5230 or info@glengarrypioneermuseum.ca. That way she’ll have a rough idea of how many loaves and fishes will be needed to feed the hungry hordes. The cleaning bee at the museum starts 9:00 AM and wraps up in time for lunch (which the museum will cater).
YouTube in GPM’s future?
At the Dunvegan museum’s recent AGM, curator Jennifer Black mentioned that one of the goals this season will be to invest more time in the Glengarry Oral Histories project that Lindsey Howes worked on as a summer assistant in the early part of this century. In all, Lindsey videotaped more than 30 interviews with Glengarrians of note over the course of two summers, 2005 and 2007 as she recalls.
I’m not sure what Jennifer has in mind when it comes to tying a bow around this project. However, I hope it involves recording a brief biographical introduction for each. This need not be elaborate; a still shot of the subject with a voice-over would suffice. (Perhaps our local radio station on the hill, VankleekFM 88.7, could be convinced to help out with these intros.) As the interviews are packaged, they could then be uploaded to a Glengarry Pioneer Museum “channel” on YouTube. In addition to making these important oral histories more accessible, it might serve to fill the hole that’s left now that Game of Thrones has left the building.
Honouring George Fleming
I mentioned the plight of “British Home Children” last August when I talked about a lecture on the topic at the museum. For those unfamiliar with the movement, from the 1870s to the 1930s, over 100,000 British children were relocated in Canada. For the most part, these children came from families who had fallen upon hard times. There was no social safety net back then, so families reluctantly surrendered their kids in the hope that the program would keep them safe and healthy. When the boys and girls arrived in Canada, they were sent to receiving centres. From there, they were shipped off to farmers who had applied to the program for help around the farm. More often than not, the children were given a one-way train ticket and sent off with a cardboard sign around their necks.
In a testament to the human spirit, many of these new Canadians went on to lead very productive lives and raise families of their own. Nevertheless, they never forgot being made to feel inferior for being a Home Boy or Home Girl. And this stigma meant many Home Children, and their offspring, remained silent about their backgrounds. However, in recent years, in concert with the growing interest in genealogy, families of British Home Children have begun to celebrate their heritage and form associations.
This year, one such group — Ontario East British Home Child Family — is holding their Annual General Meeting in Dunvegan. The AGM is slated for Tuesday, May 14that the Kenyon Presbyterian Church. There will be a tree dedication ceremony in the graveyard at 5:30 PM in honour of Home Child George Fleming, who is buried there. A Ham Supper in the church hall, with all the trimmings, will follow the ceremony. Tickets are $18 and the general public is more than welcome to come. However, if you’d like to attend, you must reserve a seat by calling Peter Jack at 613-6527-5596 or Walter Hambleton at 613-346-5606.
PS: If you know of another Home Child who is buried in Dunvegan, the OEBHCF would like to know about him or her. Please contact Peter or Walter.
DRA’s shiny new web site
I’m pleased to announce that the Dunvegan Recreation Association has a brand new web site… at a brand new address: www.dunveganrecreation.ca. Webmaster Laurie Maus has done a wonderful job of putting together a clean, simple and eye-catching site to reflect the Association’s activities and promote up coming events. So now you’ll have two ways to follow the DRA: on their Facebook page and at their new web site.
New “old” pix
And while we’re on the subject of web sites, a new photo of 19thcentury Dunvegan Road has been added to the Home page banner rotation on the www.dunvegan-times.caweb site. The shot, which was generously supplied by the Glengarry County Archives, started out as a severely faded snapshot. I was able to restore some of the information in the original image, but was unable to correct for the fact the original is out of focus. If you know of other images of Dunvegan (or life in and around the hamlet) from the 1800s and into the 1900s, please e-mail me. I would love to add a copy to my extremely skinny database of Dunvegan imagery. When you look at how few pictures of our little corner of Kenyon exist, it’s almost as if the age of photography passed us by.
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