Dunvegan’s Kenyon Presbyterian Church will be shuttered this coming Sunday and its members are encouraged to join their sister congregation — St. Columba Presbyterian Church in Kirk Hill — for a Celtic Celebration service to honour the history of the Scottish families who have been stewards of these lands from the 1800s until today. It’s the perfect end to the Glengarry Highland Games homecoming weekend.
The service will be held on Sunday, July 31, at 2:00 pm and will feature Mr. Mackie Robertson as the guest speaker. There will also be generous dollops of hymn singing, anthems and special music… not to mention homemade oatcakes to take home after the service. Rev. Jim urges one and all to, “Come and join in giving thanks to God for our faith and celebrating our heritage.” Note: worshippers are encouraged to wear a mask.
Fab fibre festival
To be honest, the “A Stitch In Time” fibre festival at the museum last Saturday is a bit of a niche event. But there’s nothing wrong with that. So are most of the museum events. When the dust settled, Saturday’s celebration of fibre-based handicrafts was solidly in the black. For starters, admission totalled almost $1,350. Then there was $420 worth of ticket sales in the ongoing Fall Festival Afghan Raffle and over $850 in sponsorship support from SD&G Tourism, Quilty Pleasures, Martin’s Towing, the Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers and a few very generous individuals. The event not only covered its costs, it raised much need funds for our little museum. More importantly, 167 visitors and an unknown number (at least to me) of craft persons, exhibitors and presenters went home with smiles on their faces.
Here comes da judge
As I mentioned last week, two other readers shared fond memories with me after reading about Judge John Matheson, the man who was instrumental in the creation of the Canadian flag and the Order of Canada. For the record, Judge Matheson’s great grandparents were granted Lot 19 Con. 9 by the Crown. (So, there is a Dunvegan connection.)
As a boy, Martintown reader Will Robertson lived next door to John and Edith Matheson in Brockville. Will’s father had served with Matheson during WWII. Will wrote: ” My five siblings and I were friends with the six Matheson children. In fact, my sister would often be at the Matheson’s on weekends when John was home from Ottawa. He would delight in showing them the latest drafts of the flag.” Talk about living history.
Dora Bill, owner of Maxville’s renowned bed & breakfast of the same name, also spoke very highly of Judge Matheson. She said he was a “fine gentleman.” He stayed at Dora’s B&B when he came to town twenty-two years ago to officially open the Glengarry Highland Games. An article in the Glengarry News from that year states that Judge Matheson received a standing ovation. Master of Ceremonies Reg Gamble said this was only second time a guest of honour had been given such an accolade.
Sweet new family event
Before early settlers had access to hives, they would scour the woods for wild honey nests in a hollow tree. Today’s beekeepers no longer chop down trees to harvest honey from the hives. But this all natural sweetener and folk medicine is no less valuable today. If you’d like to learn more about this liquid gold, on Saturday, August 13 from 10 am to 4 pm, the museum is hosting its first annual Glengarry Honey Fair. Eight local beekeepers will be on hand to answer your questions and showcase their products. You’ll be able to take a close-up look at our bee-friendly heritage garden and learn which plants are best at attracting these super pollinators. And while you’re strolling through the exhibits, our children’s’ activity centre will keep your kids occupied with honey-themed games and crafts. Plus local food experts Julia Graham and Ronna Mogelon will be tasked with tasting entries in the honey tasting competition and selecting the winners. Tough job, but someone has to do it. Admission is $10 per person ($5 for museum members) and $25 for families ($15 for member families). Come and make a day of it. As always, the Dunvegan Recreation team will have an on-site refreshment booth offering hot and cold beverages, snacks and delicious light lunches.
Take the Raid® to them
I ran into Steve Merritt at Mac’s commemoration a few weeks ago. When I mentioned the upcoming honey fair, he regaled me with a story about Dunvegan’s ‘Honeyman,’ JohnnyCarpenter. According to Steve, Johnny used to set his hives in Ian Stewart’s clover field north of Dunvegan. The year after Steve bought his old farmhouse south of St. Isidore, Johnny’s bees swarmed and made a nest under one of the windowsills where the bricks were loose. A few days later Steve ran into Johnny at the St. Isidore Co-op. He jokingly mentioned that some of Johnny’s bees were squatting. The Honeyman’s terse reply was, “Take the Raid® to them.” Steve reassured him the bees were welcome. In fact, when Steve repointed the brick, he left a few mortarless ones so he could slide them out and harvest a bit of the honeycomb. He would put it in a pot over an open fire and let the wax melt. And when things cooled down, he’d poke a hole in the solid wax on top and pour out the honey. “Not very professional,” Steve admitted, “but yummy none the same.”
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