I apologize for the brevity of today’s column. Hopefully, I will have more to share with you next week. It’s a slow time in Dunvegan. Normally, the hamlet would be abuzz with preparations for the annual winter carnival that — for over three decades —has traditionally been held on the first Saturday in February. However, for the second year in a row, this popular community event has been shuttered by you-know-what. The carnival is so ingrained in our family’s routine that, last weekend, Terry felt compelled to bake a couple of dozen butter rolls. It was a far cry from the 24+ dozen she usually bakes, but it scratched the itch. It will be interesting to see what Saturday’s weather holds. If it’s perfect, say thanks to the Carnival gods and tell them “same again next year, please.”
Surreal estate
About the only divertissement Dunveganites have these days is trying to imagine what the two strange looking dwellings being built on Dunvegan Road will look like when completed and landscaped.
While on the topic of real estate, the tiny brick house at the eastern end of the hamlet that has been home to the likes of Joan Owen and Bonnie Laing has been sold yet again. The grapevine also tells me that the new house with the wooden floors of many colours at the corner of Alice Street and Dunvegan Road has finally found the right buyer. While the lot boasts one of the most expensive residential septic systems in North Glengarry (thanks to the largesse of previous Councils), the water supply was contaminated by the unlicensed mini-scrap yard that operated there for years. As a result, the owners to be will shortly drill a new well.
Merci, danke, tack
Since there’s room, I wanted to thank readers Sherrill Johnson and Wendell Duffy of Alexandria. They sent me a much appreciated note saying how the Dunvegan column “makes for enjoyable reading and learning.” Thank you for your kind words. It’s nice to know there are actually people out there reading this stuff. Although I’m a not entirely sure folk from the other side of the Dunvegan border are allowed to access the content.
Numbers in her blood
I’m excited about the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s push to entice new volunteers into the fold. Terry and I are getting old and worn out, but I know we got far more out of our involvement with the GPM over the years than I ever imagined possible. As I mentioned last week, the Dunvegan museum is looking for people with fresh ideas to help shape the organization’s future. Enthusiastic men and women, girls and boys who want to experiment with innovative ways to make Glengarry’s history sing.
As an example of this new generation of volunteers, I mentioned Debbie MacFarlane from L’Orignal who has taken over as treasurer. I had hoped to let Debbie tell the story in her own words. Unfortunately, she was swamped and was only able to respond this past weekend.
When I asked what attracted her to the museum, she replied, “… the ad. It was very catchy.” Debbie’s was referring to an advertisement in local print and social media that was aimed at someone who had recently retired with accounting or bookkeeping experience. “It was that simple,” Debbie explained. “I’ve always said to family, friends and colleagues, that numbers are my thing.”
Now Debbie knew nothing about the museum. However, she had stepped away from volunteering for personal reasons and was missing it. So as she told me, the stars aligned. “I love to volunteer,” Debbie confided. “I have done so since I was a teen.” The museum offered her the opportunity to give back in a way with which she was comfortable: finance.
When I asked if she would recommend getting involved with the Glengarry Pioneer Museum to others, she agreed wholeheartedly. “I’ve had great support from all members of the board and exec… and was welcomed with open arms,” Debbie said, jokingly stressing that this was done in the virtual way, via Zoom. “There is always a willingness to help one another,” the new treasurer said with pride.
If, like Debbie, you would like to get more involved in the community, visit GlengarryPioneerMuseum.ca for more information. Or call the museum’s curator, Jennifer Black, at 613-527-5230.
Time travel map
As I mentioned recently, Jim Fletcher of Kanata grew up in the Dunvegan area in the 1940s and 50s. In fact, he lived almost across the road from us, on the farm that was owned by the late René Fliegans when we moved here. Jim has very kindly offered to help me fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of Dunvegan of yesteryear. As a starting point, I gave him a blank map of the hamlet containing nothing more than the lot lines and the streets. He then numbered each of the lots and put together a legend with the names of the people who lived and worked on these properties when he was young.
We’ll get into more of the details of this snapshot in time in subsequent columns. However, next week, I’ll start with a tiny house that once stood on Dunvegan Road, right across from the south end of Pendleton Street. The house is no longer there. In its place is a mobile home owned by Remi and Claudette Paquette. However, when Jim was a wee lad, his granduncle, Donald Fletcher, lived there. And if you think the Donald Fletcher of Côte St. Luc fame was interesting, this Donald F. was astounding. A Gaelic-speaking stonemason who loved to play the violin, Donald was born a year before Confederation and died in his 100thyear upon this earth.
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