This coming Saturday and Sunday, December 7th and 8th, the hamlet of Dunvegan will be abuzz with two Christmas markets. Firstly, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum will welcome shoppers with complimentary hot chocolate served by a roaring bonfire and provide two Kodak-moment portrait settings: on the veranda of the Star Inn or in one of the museum’s antique sleighs.
Then, when you’re ready to shop, you can head over to the Orange Lodge Visitors Centre. There, you’ll find purveyors of fresh Christmas greens, wreaths and swags, woodworking, natural beauty products and more. The museum gift shop will also be open.
And if you’re planning on purchasing a real Christmas tree this year, Glengarry Evergreen Farm, a local grower from Highway 43, will be on hand with fresh cut trees to grace your home. These are NOT trees cut and packaged in August like so many commercial lots. Choose from their selection of 5’ to 8’ trees that range in price from $30 to $60… a portion of which Glengarry Evergreen Farm will donate to the museum. If we fully support the museum’s Christmas tree lot, and this vendor is convinced to return in coming years, we may never again have to leave Dunvegan to find the perfect tree. Hurrah… a win-win-win for all.
Your second shopping venue in Dunvegan next weekend will be the Historical Crafter’s Fair and Christmas Marketplace on Saturday, December 7th from 10 to 5 and Sunday, December 8th from 10 to 3. Just a short walk down the road from the museum, it’s being held in the Dunvegan Recreation community hall, 19053 County Road 24. There you’ll take a shopping trip back in time with vendors in 19th century period clothing, including woodworkers, a blacksmith, knitters, jewellery makers and other crafts people. Raffle tickets for great door prizes will be on sale, with all proceeds going to benefit the Dunvegan Recreation Association.
Ho-Ho-Hold the date
Big box and chain stores have been playing “Jingle Bells” music since the clock struck twelve on All Hallow’s Eve. You know the mix: Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee, countless covers of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeerand their fellow travellers. All in a soul-destroying loop designed to get you into a holiday-buying frame of mind. I’m more of a traditionalist. While I give a pass to local craft fairs to jump the gun, my Yuletide start date (albeit arbitrary) is December 1st.
As we’re one step over the line, I’m delighted to report that the Dunvegan Recreation Association will be hosting its popular “Visit with Santa” event again this year. So, if you have youngsters who are clamouring to meet with Old St. Nick, save yourself a trip to a big-city mall. Just head on over to the DRA Hall, 19053 County Road 24, on Saturday, December 14th at 10 AM. Santa, Mrs. Claus and three of their elves from the North Pole will be on hand to listen to the wee ones’ Christmas wishes.
DRA Committee member, Laurie Maus, also tells me that a Gingerbread House Competition is being introduced for the first time… and there will be prizes involved. I know from experience that many families are devoted gingerbread house builders. It will be interesting to see the entries on display. As well, the event will feature new games and activities and perennial favourites like the Rudolph’s Antlers Ring Toss, Snowman Stacking and Candy Cane Fishing… plus a station devoted to decorating sugar and gingerbread cookies. If you’re a parent or grandparent with children in that “I believe” sweet spot, make a point of saving the morning of Saturday, December 14th for family fun.
Belated Lisa’s list
I apologize to the thousand’s of euchre fans who have been anxiously awaiting the results from last months DRA Euchre Luncheon. Lisa herself was unable to attend. She had to be in Ottawa with Thom Pritchard who is not well. However, unbeknownst to me, some very kind soul took her place as recording secretary and slipped the tally sheet into the cash box.
Our “50/50” winners were Rolland Paquette, Susan Latreille, Helen Bellefeuille, Susan Baxter and Ginette Lecuyer. Joanna Van Loon and Rolland Paquette, both of whom had 80 points, shared first place. Isabel Maclean came in second with 81 points. And Margot McQuaig won the third place prize with 77 points. On a hot streak, Joanna Van Loon won the “Most Stars” prize. And Susan Latreille took home the door prize.
You’ll note that Joe McDonell’s name is absent from the above list. He had a bout of flu and wisely declined to attend. However, we hope to welcome Joe back at 19053 County Road 24 (with many other euchre enthusiasts) on Friday, December 20th from 12:00 noon to around 3:30 PM. This, the last get together before we take a winter break, will feature hot soup, sandwiches and sweets… with a bit of a Christmas thematic.
What real transparency looks like
Robert Campbell from the hamlet kindly lent me the collection of annual reports from the Kenyon Presbyterian Church that his mother, Hilda, had collected and put away in the attic for safekeeping. The collection spans the years from 1899 to 2002, and provides a fascinating snapshot of life in our little hamlet. Each report records the birth, deaths and marriages in the community. In today’s Dunvegan, many of these milestones occur outside the purview of the church. However, this was not the case in years past. While I glanced quickly through the reports, I chose the one from 1919 to examine in detail, one hundred years being a nice round interval. Over the course of that year, the Dunvegan congregation witnessed eleven baptisms, celebrated only two marriages (held one after the other on September 23rd and 24th) and mourned the passing of nine parishioners.
If you’ve never read a Presbyterian annual report (at least an old-school one) it can be a real eye-opener. They are the touchstone for the concept of “transparency.” By comparison, the Federal Liberal’s approximation of transparency in government is a London pea-soup fog. In the case of the 1919 report there are eleven pages detailing, in fine print, the exact amount of each and every person’s financial contribution and the various funds to which it was apportioned. The Privacy Commissioner’s office would have withered and died on the vine a hundred years ago.
But it was the list of Expenditures that really caught my eye. Rev. W.A. Morrison was paid a stipend of $1,425, or $19,465.50 in 2019 dollars. The Maxville Printing Company was paid $31 ($423.46) to produce the reports. Insurance on the Church cost $28.50 ($389.31) and the brick manse $19.50 (266.37). While I have no proof, the accounts suggest that the Church was heated by wood. Hugh MacCrimmon was paid $40 ($546.40) for a year’s supply of firewood. It also appears that the Manse, a more ‘modern’ structure, was heated using coal. Cameron & Campbell invoiced $21.15 ($288.91) for this fuel. But the big surprise to me was the amount that was spent on carbide. The church in Dunvegan paid $30 ($409.80) to the People’s Gas Co. for calcium carbide and $2.40 ($32.78) in freight. That’s close to what was spent to heat the stone building for a year… and for what? My guess is that the carbide was used to light the Church, it being the wonder technology for lighting in non-urban areas. You have to remember that rural Ontario wouldn’t see electricity for a number of decades.
For those unfamiliar with carbide lighting, it uses acetylene… a gas that is released whenwater is dripped on calcium carbide. Acetylene burns with a bright white light, and is vastly superior to the illumination from kerosene lamps and even contemporary electric lights. While the chemical reaction was well established, it was a little-known Canadian inventor from Ontario who, in 1891, developed an inexpensive process for making calcium carbide. I’ll continue this fascinating story in next week’s column.
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