I’d like to start this week off with a quick congratulatory message to Dona Addison on her wedding this past Saturday. Before moving to Maxville, Dona raised her family in the beautiful Ontario brick farm house on the 8th of Kenyon east of County Road 30 where she spent her childhood… and where her brother, Jack Fraser, and his wife Linda now reside.
I am untutored in the ways of wedding reportage and can offer none of the usual details in a typical report. I wouldn’t know “chiffon over peau de soie” from a bouffant hairdo. But I do know that the stone church in Dunvegan was packed to the rafters with friends and family — and that the bride and her groom, Keith Urquhart, were smiling from ear to ear.
Keith was raised on Skye Road north of Dunvegan on the farm that is now owned by Thelma MacQueen. An only-child, he attended the Skye Public School and then moved on to the high school in Maxville where, my source tells me, he dated Dona for a time.
When he left Maxville High, his first employer was Wally Hope in Alexandria. After this stint, he left Glengarry to follow a career with Canadian Tire… first in Arnprior and then in Ottawa. It appears to have been an apt vocation, as I’m told Keith is a “car fanatic.” In addition to restoring cars and he brought home numerous drag racing trophies. A few years ago, Keith reconnected with his high school sweetheart, Dona, and returned to Glengarry after being away for over 50 years.
On behalf of the Dunvegan community I’d like to wish the happy couple all the best for the future. May Saturday’s sunny weather be an auspice for their life together. I’d also like to thank Sherrill Trottier for helping me with this report. Sherrill attended high school with Keith; they were in the same class. And Sherrill and her husband René remained close friends with Keith and his first wife. To this day, the Trottier children… including their daughter, Lori MacMaster — refer to him as “Uncle Keith” even though there is no blood tie. Which is the perfect lead into my next item.
Heels & toes for a great cause
I’m going to remind you again next week, but if the Glengarry Memorial Hospital is a cause close to your heart… and you’re fan of the “Ottawa Valley” style of stepdancing… please mark Friday, May 6th on your kitchen calendar. That’s the day, or evening to be more precise, that Lori MacMaster and her stepdance students will be holding their annual recital in Laggan Public School gymnasium at 7:00 PM sharp. There’s no charge to attend. But there will be a donation jar at the door, with all proceeds going to our local hospital.
In the nick of time
A number of years ago, I wrote a lives-well-lived segment about Allen Prebble, an itinerant carpenter and stone mason from Moose Creek. A “have tools/will travel” kind of guy, Allen worked on projects all around the world. But in the latter stages of his career, say from the late 1980s until his passing in 2012, he stayed much closer to home. While Allen’s handiwork can be seen in all corners of North Glengarry, the bulk of his clientele was in the Maxville and Dunvegan area. Which is how we made his acquaintance.
Allen had come to Dunvegan to help Bob Linney with major revisions to the big orange garage at the east end of Murray Street, and add a front porch to the old log manse. When Allen was ready to move on, he came to live with us, off and on, over a three-year period while we were doing some renovations to our home. It was during one of these stays that he asked to store a unique piece of folk art in our brand new (and then empty) basement… a scale model of the early Glengarry Pioneer Museum exquisitely handmade from wood right down to the cedar shake shingles on the roofs of the buildings.
Allen had been given the rustic model of the museum by George Dixon of Maxville, in trade for the construction of a fireplace. And Dixon had, in turn, acquired it from the artist who had created it — his drinking buddy, Alphonse Guidon, also from Maxville. The model was probably crafted sometime in the 1960s and originally depicted just the Star Inn, the Campbell log barn and the drive shed. Allen designed and built the model’s base and added a to-scale windmill, sign and fence.
In 1999 or 2000, when Brenda Kennedy was curator, Allen donated the model to the museum. But where the model went from there, I’m not really sure. I believe it was on loan to the North Glengarry Tourism Office for a number of years, which was located in the former Alexandria Post Office building. And this makes sense given the next chapter in the model’s story.
In November or December of 2011, Robin Flockton was checking out the basement of the old redbrick post office on Main Street in Alexandria. The Township was going to send whatever was there to the dump the very next day and he had been told there might be some “museum” stuff hidden in the refuse.
As he went through the piles of junk, Robin noticed a wooden model of the Star Inn. He rooted around some more and found the model of the Campbell barn, the drive shed, the windmill and a cardboard box with bits of fencing, carts and sleighs… all broken. The box also contained a “provenance” document with some background on the treasure he had discovered. Here’s an excerpt:
“Alphonse ‘Cin’ Guindon was born on February 6th, 1940 to Alphonse Sr. and Ethel Sauve. He was the oldest of nine children and lived with his parents and siblings in a log house at the north end of Maxville. He was very proud of his French, Aboriginal Indian and Scottish ancestry. At an early age he moved in with his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Sauve. His grandfather (1896-1973) was a renowned artisan who made intricate crucifixes, musical instruments, whirligigs and other folk art sculptures. Examples of his work can be found in Blake McKendry’s Canadian Folk Art. Alphonse worked hard in the bush, on the CN railway and on farms until he developed severe back problems that left him physically disabled. With time on his hands and an inherited artistic talent, he began making miniatures of furniture, tools, buildings, holiday scenes and animals, working with only the most basic equipment: a pocket knife, hand-drill, coping saw and sandpaper. Alphonse died suddenly at the age of fifty-four on October 31st, 1994.”
Thankfully, Robin took the various components he had found back to his workshop and repaired as much damage as possible… just in time for the model to take pride of place at the museum’s Pioneer Ball in February 2012. The model is now safely stored in the museum’s archive building. Although, I hope it will once again emerge to see the light of day at off-site events around the region. It could help entice people to visit Dunvegan’s little museum, which is no doubt why Allen Prebble donated it in the first place.
Bringing music to the people
This past week, Ian MacLeod of Dalkeith alerted me to an interesting opportunity for Ontario towns and villages that boast a small community hall — like the hamlet of Dunvegan. Aptly named the “Festival of Small Halls” (FOSH), the initiative is being organized by the Team Behind Bluesfest, a dedicated group that has spent decades organizing high‐quality concerts.
Here’s how it works. Throughout September, FOSH will help organize concerts in participating communities with musical artists chosen for their musical talent and captivating stage presence. They’ll even include a local musician or group as an opening act. On top of this, FOSH shows up with professional sound equipment, technicians and a stage manager to ensure that the concert comes off without a hitch.
In return, the host community is expected to provide the concert venue and a team of enthusiastic volunteers who will help with local advertising, decorate the hall, provide a late lunch or early supper for the musicians and crew and arrange for light refreshments for the audience at intermission.
In addition to returning 15% of gross ticket revenue to the hosting organization, FOSH has a long list of suggestions as to how communities can use the event to create additional fundraising opportunities.
What’s the catch? Even though it sounds too good to be true, I’m not sure there is one. At the very least, I think it merits further discussion… perhaps even as a joint venture between the Glengarry Pioneer Museum and the Dunvegan Recreation Association. One idea that comes to mind is to expand the Harvest Fall Festival and turn it into a weekend event… with the concert on Saturday and the FallFest on Sunday.
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