Please help me spread the word: Friday July 19this DRA Euchre day in Dunvegan. Admission is only $5 and includes a hearty lunch of sandwiches, pickles, sliced beets and homemade sweets by Sandra Daigle. Held in the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24 (which now boasts handicap parking signage, an automatic door and a more accessible washroom), the tournament starts at 12:00 noon and wraps up around 3:30 PM. We welcome folks from near and far… even those from Dunvegan.
Not Basket Weaving 101
Basket weaving has long been a negative meme foruniversity courses that imply a decline in the relevance of secondary education. However, this coming Sunday, the topic of Basket Weaving is no joke. Renowned Mohawk weaver Carrie Hill will be giving a demonstration of this age-old Indigenous craft. Her lecture will start at 2 PM and will be followed by an optional hands-on workshop where participants will weave their own bookmark. Admission for Ms. Hill’s presentation is $10 per person, or $5 for museum members. Alternatively, the cost for both the presentation and the workshop is $30. Workshop space is limited, so sign up today by calling 613-527-5230.
Turtles and fish are to blame
If you’ve been asking yourself why the Counties would spend buckets of tax dollars resurfacing Dunvegan Road only to have an excavator dig massive trenches across it a few days later, I have the answer. The Counties’ contractor is replacing a number of culverts. That’s the why, but it still begs the question “why now?” Why not do the culvert replacements before resurfacing the road? Simple. Environmental regulations generally restrict this type of work from starting until mid-July as a turtle and fish habitat protection measure.
The other part of the answer is that SD&G hasn’t actually repaved Dunvegan Road yet. So far, they’ve just completed the first step. Known as cold-in-place recycling, the asphalt factory on wheels grinds up the existing road surface and reapplies it. The process is said to be one of the most effective ways to “mitigate reflective cracking in cold climates.” That’s what the company selling the service claims in the letter it sent to Dunvegan residents. As Benjamin de Haan, Director of Transportation and Planning for the United Counties explained it, ”If we had just paved over the old road, the cracks would work up through the new surface in a year or two. The alternative treatment (is) to remove the old asphalt altogether… very costly and wasteful.” Time will tell. However, after watching the unit inch its way past our door with its operators sweating buckets, I do question the ‘cold’ part.
I’m assuming step two of this process is to repair the drainage infrastructure. And, after things have had a chance to settle, step three is to top-dress the road. Mr. de Haan tells me the contractor will be returning in about a month to install the final layer of virgin hot-mix asphalt. Last and least, step four will be repainting the lines on the road, which brings me to my next item.
Ontario… live free and die
I wanted to follow up on Gord White’s lobbying campaign to have the United Counties install a double line from the western end of Dunvegan hamlet to the top of the hill. Gord’s admirable goal is to reduce dangerous driving on what has become a rocket catapult for commuters and protect residents leaving the numerous hidden driveways at the crest of the hill.However, my research has revealed that you can paint any type of line on this stretch of road in every colour of the rainbow and it will still be powerless to remedy the dangerous driving scourge.
Truth be told, Ontario is the only province in Canada where ignoring the line markings on highways and byways is not illegal. When it comes to road markings, we’re Canada’s “Live Free and Die” province. To quote from the Ontario Traffic Manual – Book 11 – Pavement, Hazard and Delineation Markings: “In Ontario, pavement markings alone have NO regulatory function (emphasis mine). Pavement markings may be used to provide regulatory information to the road user, but associated signage must be in place as outlined in OTM Book 5.” In other words, by applying a solid double line, the Roads Department is saying, “pass here at your own risk.” Passing is only illegal if they also post a “No Passing” sign at the side of the road.
As Benjamin de Haan explained in an e-mail, “… if the road sign or marking is yellow, it’s just to provide motorists with guidance and warning… one great example are the yellow speed signs at on and off ramp ramps. These just tell you a safe speed to travel – you can’t be given a speeding ticket if you don’t follow what it suggests.” Mr. de Haan went on to explain that it’s the same with road markings. You can’t be charged for passing on solid line. The line is just there to warn you there may be insufficient visibility ahead when making a decision to pass. It boggles my mind when I think of the hundreds and hundreds of hours I’ve wasted over my driving career, waiting for the line to become dotted before pulling out to pass.
You missed a great one
When Frank Schell from Maxville built the Orange Lodge (now the Dunvegan Recreation Hall) one hundred years ago, he really knew what he was doing. At last Thursday night’s classical music fundraiser for the museum there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Compared to so many modern venues in Glengarry, the sound quality in this aged hall is truly amazing. When I closed my eyes, the acoustics made the three very talented musicians sound like a full chamber music ensemble. This was the first time that NoëlCampbell, Anastasia Virlan and Olga Semionova had ever performed together, but such was their level of expertise that one would ever have guessed this was the case. My only regret was the poor weather. Thunderstorms earlier in the day forced the “Music Under the Stars” event to be moved to indoors and resulted in only a third of the attendance at the 2017 concert.
Because of last minute scheduling problems, local cellist NoëlCampbell offered to kick things off with a solo performance while we awaited the arrival of the violinists from Montreal. And I thank our lucky stars that he did. It resulted in what I thought was the highlight of the evening… Noël’s interpretation of Mark Summer’s shape-shifting cello solo entitled “Julie-O.”
Celebrating a trail blazer
Thursday’s concert also afforded me the opportunity to meet NoëlCampbell’s parents, Gabrielle and Scott. In a manner guaranteed to get my attention, Scott Campbell prefaced his introduction with a gift: a complimentary copy of the Celebrating Dorothy DumbrilleCD that his wife was so instrumental in producing. As an Alexandria Bicentennial project, Gabrielle spearheaded a community initiative to invite local musicians to set the poems of the late Dorothy Dumbrille to music.
Born in Crysler, Ontario in 1897, Ms. Dumbrille lived in Alexandria, Ontario from 1925 until her death in 1981. She started writing poetry while employed at the Department of Militia and Defence during World War One. Over the course of her lifetime, Dorothy Dumbrille created more than 25 novels, plays, radio dramas, newspaper serials and books of poetry. Ms. Dumbrille was also a champion of women’s rights and, while married, was the first woman in Alexandria to keep her own surname rather than use her husband’s.
The list of artists who lent their talents to this project reads like a Who’s Who of music in Glengarry. If you’d like to pick up a copy of this unique musical tribute, it’s available for just $20 at a growing list of outlets including, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan; Jean-Coutu, Left & Write and the Quirky Carrot in Alexandria; Glengarry Fine Cheese and Auld Kirktown in Lancaster; The Kilted Canuck in Maxville; and The Review in Vankleek Hill.
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