In PC times (that’s ‘pre-Covid’, not ‘politically correct’), November is the season of Christmas craft fairs. Or “one-of-a-kind” shows as they’re called in the big city. Church halls and community centres from one end of Glengarry to the other, Dunvegan’s included, typically boasted one of these weekend precursors to the holiday season. But not this year. We’re on a war footing to beat the bug. All you’ll find in most halls these days are cluster flies and cobwebs.
So, if you’re a craft fair fanatic, you’ll want to know about the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s latest fundraising initiative: an online Christmas Arts & Crafts auction. To help the museum get through these tough times, many local artisans have generously donated one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts to the cause. Just a few of the contributors include: Dunvegan’s Sandra MacPherson and her three-penny-rug inspired bunting; Isabelle Perdigal from Les Belles Bouclettes and her skeins of hand-dyed Mohair Skeins; and Brenda Sutton Mader who donated a stoneware vase and porcelain bowl from her studio on Marcoux Road. And this is just a smattering of what you’ll find up for auction. From ‘barn quilt’ paintings, wooden bowls and boards and handmade soaps to repurposed antique silverware, hand-crafted Christmas ornaments and syrup from a Dunvegan maple bush, you may be able to snag a unique gift for that special loved one on your list. There’s even a beautiful green, knit cowl made from a mix of homespun merino, cashmere, silk and baby camel. Sophisticated, warm… and it can go for days without water.
To see the complete slate of items on the block, just click the Auction tab on the museum’s web site: GlengarryPioneerMuseum.ca. The online auction will start accepting bids at noon this coming Friday, November 20th. Each item listed will have information on the person who created it and how to get in touch with them to find more of their creations. The auction will close at noon on Friday, December 4th, and the winning bidders will be contacted immediately to arrange for pick-up or delivery.
It’s too bad that Scotiabank’s “Matching Funds” program has gone the way of the Dodo bird. It couldn’t last forever. However, if it were still in place, it would have really helped amplify the funds raised by this virtual auction.
Mission accomplished
For those of you keeping score, you no doubt noticed that I never resolved the story I started back in July about the book Eunice MacGillivray was awarded as a Grade 8 student at Cotton Beaver School (S.S. #2) in 1943. Janet Brodie, a reader from Cornwall, had come across the handsome, leather-bound volume entitled Life & Literature Book 2, Grade 8 at a yard sale a number of years ago. And she asked if I could help her find a good home for Eunice’s book.
Thanks to another kind reader (from Maxville this time), I learned that Eunice was born on October 7th, 1929, the third child of Donald Rory and Mary Olive MacGillivray. After completing high school in Glengarry, she moved to Ottawa and graduated from the Civic Hospital School of Nursing in the spring of 1953. There, she met and married Garth Watchorn and planted a family tree that grew to include two sons and five grandchildren.
My first step was to reach out to her sons with this kind book offer. However, I never talked with them directly and could only leave a voicemail message. I had no response. (Have you noticed how few people under the age of fifty answer the phone these days? But that’s a whole other topic.)
By way of explanation, I had gone the offspring route because Eunice Watchorn died in 2009. I foolishly assumed her husband had predeceased her. When Janet Brodie called to check on my progress, I figured what the heck and plugged Mr. Watchorn’s name into the Canada 411 web site. In the blink of an eye, up popped his address and phone number, both of which I passed along to my reader in Cornwall.
As a result, I can now close the loop. Janet did reach Garth Watchorn and he was thrilled to hear about this memento of his late wife’s childhood. So Janet took it upon herself to take the book all the way to Ottawa. While she couldn’t put it in his hands directly — Mr. Watchorn lives in a seniors’ residence — she could witness his delight through the front door as the nurse passed him the parcel. As Janet said to me this morning when reporting on her weekend book run, “Mission accomplished.”
Where’s the accountability?
I received a letter the other day in an unmarked window envelope addressed to “Dunvegan Recreation Hall” at our home’s civic number. I opened it, assuming it was advertising from the Quebec water park we used decades ago; they still send me advertisements. However, instead of a friendly flyer, it was a dunning notice from Elections Canada demanding repayment of an overpayment of $175.00 they allegedly made to the Dunvegan Recreation Association when they rented the hall for the Federal election on October 21, 2019. The letter also laid claim to its being the “second notice.”
It would appear the first notice was sent to the DRA’s correct mailing address because, when I checked with treasurer Sean Burgess, he told me the Feds had been reimbursed months ago.
It’s interesting to note that this 2nd notice for a repayment of their mistake included an accumulated interest charge of $4.05. With the way our 43rd Canadian Parliament is shovelling money out the front door by the billions, I guess every penny they can bring in through the back door counts. Now I have no quibble with the primary request. If they overpaid us, we should refund the excess payment. But not the interest. I’d like to know what happened to the government employee who made the overpayment error in the first place. Surely the interest penalty should be deducted from his or her pay packet.
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