I just had a call from Kim Penner to say that the Dunvegan Sweet Corn stand will be open as of this week. The enterprise is a partnership between her son Zoran and his pal Caleb Jalbert. The two young men have been cultivating the cobs of sweet golden goodness since the spring and the crop is finally ready to be picked. If you’re looking for fresh corn grown right here in Dunvegan, stop by 18805 County Road 24. The stand is located west of the hamlet at the entrance to the farm formerly owned by the Colquhouns.
Entrepreneurial power
Debbie Ranger, who lives just north of Dunvegan Road on Highway 34, has temporarily closed the doors of her popular “Thrift Shop Junkies” shop in Alexandria and is looking for a new location. For me, the news that the former Stedman’s department store building was empty once again (the dental clinic that had shared the space closed quite a while ago) was the sound of opportunity knocking… loudly.
For as long as I’ve resided in this area, each successive clutch of local politicos has promised to transform our region into a tourist mecca. I believe “destination” is the term that has been repeatedly used by their Economic Improvement gurus. Unfortunately, like Samuel Beckett’s Godot, this much-ballyhooed prosperity has failed to materialize. Which isn’t surprising. As the late Lang Hancock, an Australian iron ore magnate, repeatedly said, “Governments consume wealth — they do not create it.”
It is entrepreneurs who create jobs and revitalize economies. And if you’d like to see this process in action, visit the north end of North Glengarry’s capital and see what a small group of independent business women and men are doing to revitalize things. Once the vibrant heart of Alexandria, the area around the intersection of County Road 43 and Main became an economic wasteland in the 1980s as more and more commerce fled to the south end of town. However, progressive (in the non-political sense) businesses like the new Glengarry MarketVendors Cooperative, Quirky Carrot, La Belle Sorrel, Priest’s Mill Glassworks, Agga Café, Glengarry Custom Furniture, North Glengarry Restaurant, Left & Write Stationery, Christine’s and others are slowly, but steadily, rescuing this neighbourhood and transforming it into a real shopping and dining “destination.”
If our North Glengarry Council would like to help with this transformation, I’d suggest they give these forward-thinking business owners the one thing they can’t create collectively: customer parking. I urge Mayor MacDonald and the rest of his team to act quickly and expropriate the old Stedman’s building (an architectural eyesore if there ever was one) and demolish it. And while they’re at it, grab the burned-out hulk of a restaurant next door. (Why this site has been allowed to remain un-remediated for over 30 years is beyond comprehension.) Tear the whole mess down and create a municipal parking lot… Joni Mitchell, be damned.
PS: In case you’re wondering, I do not want the historical mural painted by Alexandria high school students to be crushed in the excavator’s maw. I envision it being set aside and proudly reinstalled on the north wall of Christine’s Restaurant, overlooking the new municipal parking lot.
No place in the Inn
Two Sundays ago, residents along Dunvegan Road East were treated to a parade of more than a dozen antique threshing machines heading towards the hamlet. A decree had gone out from St. Albert that, on August 11, the town would attempt to reclaim its rightful spot in the Guinness Book of Records. The goal was to better the upstarts in Manitoba who had usurped them in 2016 with a threshing bee that boasted 139 machines. And better them they did. In fact, St. Albert crushed them, with 243 threshers in action at one time.
Understandably, antique threshers don’t move very quickly, so the journey to St. Albert took time. Not wanting to travel after the sun set, the group that was passing through Dunvegan had hoped to stop overnight at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum. But when they reached the museum’s gates, it looked for a while they would be turned away. Fortunately, GPM Chair Matt Williams stepped into the fray, sanity prevailed and the threshers found room at the Star Inn to rest their weary wheels.
“His voice is friggin’ perfect.”
This is how Newfoundland singer-songwriter Alan Doyle summed up Matthew Byrne, the headline act at this year’s Small Hallsconcert in Dunvegan on September 27th. To be honest, I had never heard of the young man. So I sought out one of his performances on YouTube and was blown away. Not only is the lad an accomplished storyteller, he can really sing. As Brian O’Donovan of WBGH Boston wrote,“It’s increasingly rare to find male traditional singers who are not just good, but GREAT! Matthew is certainly in that truly great category.”If you want to be assured a seat, head to the Small Halls web site (www.OntarioSmallHalls.com) and purchase your ticket… soon.
And if you want to really make a night of it, the Dunvegan Recreation Association will be serving a Roast Beef Dinner with all the trimmings, before the concert, for just $20. A vegetarian alternative is also available. The only catch is that you can’t buy your dinner ticket on the Small Halls web site. But they are available by phone or e-mail. Contact Ben Williams at 613-525-4006, or wood_guy_ben@yahoo.ca.
Burgers are back!
My bad. I neglected to mention the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s annual Volunteer Appreciation BBQ in a previous column. It’s happening this coming Sunday August 18th at 12 noon. The GPM has been holding this event for ages as a way of recognizing the many volunteers from the community who make events and programs at the Dunvegan museum possible. I’m pleased to announce that the triumvirate of burgerdom (beef, chicken and plant-based protein) will be sizzling on the grill. Accompanying them (on a side table, not the grill) will be an assortment of salads and desserts. I’ve also been told fun activities for kids and the young at heart have been planned. The RSVP date was August 12th, but if you’re a volunteer in good standing and were to call today, there’s a good chance they’ll squeeze you in. Just blame me for your tardiness.
Gravel roads and steel towers
Further to last week’s item on Stewart’s Glen Road, reader Robin Flockton has provided a possible explanation for its sudden appearance on topographical maps of the region after 1927. Robin emailed to say that from the mid-1920s, the principle function of the Royal Canadian Air Force was aerial surveillance for map making. He went on to say that if it had not been for this role, the RCAF would never have got off the ground following WW1. Robin also passed along a rather disturbing report from a Hydro employee who wishes to remain anonymous. He or she says that the current metal transmission towers are the original ones erected in the early 20thcentury. If true, that would make the ones indicated on the 1937 map over 80 years old. Perhaps I can find a photo in the Glengarry News from when the line was opened to see if this rumour has any basis in fact.
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