I’m sorry to report that the Dunvegan Recreation Association will not be flying in Count Dracula for their annual Community Halloween party next Monday, October 31st. They inquired, but the Count is booked for a fundraiser for the Canadian Blood Services organization. Nevertheless, the evening promises to be a hoot.
From old-time favourites like the Kreepy Kitchen, Ghoul Pool, Pumpkin Bowling and Witch Hat Ring Toss to relative newcomers such as Catch the Ghost, Pumpkin Hop and Drenched Pumpkins… the hard-working DRA volunteers have planned a party you and your small fry will remember. Children will also be invited to make a simple Halloween craft, dance in the “Monster Mash” costume parade around the Spooky Tree, eat party treats and take home a loot bag. There will also be prizes for the scariest, funniest and most original costumes.
If you’ve never taken part in this decades-old tradition, it’s a terrific night of family fun. So plan on heading over to the DRA Hall on All Hallows Eve (19053 County Road 24), from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. There is no admission and everyone is invited.
PS: I’d like to thank everyone who donated candy to the Dunvegan Recreation’s “Loot Bag Candy” appeal. I’m not sure how much they’ve collected so far but, in my experience, they can always use more. Just drop them in the orange Halloween bag on Mona Jerome’s front porch. Mona lives on the northeast corner of the Dunvegan crossroads. Her civic number is 19083 County Road 24.
Divide and conquer
In recent days, I’ve been asked for my prediction of how the Glengarry school closures situation will play out. I don’t have a crystal ball — at least not one with soothsaying capabilities — but here’s how I see it unfolding.
Let’s start with the sad news. Maxville Public School may well be toast. I’m not saying it should be. And closing its doors will seal Maxville’s fate as a slowly declining retirement town. With little to attract young families with children, the village’s homes will morph into waiting rooms for the Maxville Manor (or more likely, once the LHIN gets their fingers deeper in the pie, seniors’ residences far from friends and family in some distant county). The reality is that the Upper Canada District School Board apparatchiks are out for blood. They need to slash expenditures to justify their existence and you can be darn sure these cuts won’t be at the Board management level. Someone has to keep the Brockville Starbucks® in business. They know that Glengarrians will be hard pressed to fight on two fronts at the same time.
Where does that leave Glengarry District High? I figure the powers that be will let the community pot come to a roiling boil, at which point the politicians will ride into town declaring they have slain the head of the dragon. Who knows… Mitzi Hunter, Ontario’s Minister of Education, might even find a big enough hole in her busy schedule to put in an appearance… assuming she can find a Queen’s Park map of Ontario that extends past Kingston. Their rallying cry will be that they have listened to the wisdom of the electorate and “saved our school.” A more credible explanation is one I heard over the weekend in which Wynne was told that, if GDHS was shuttered on her watch, the Liberals could kiss seats in rural Ontario (at the very least, the one in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) goodbye.
Given the above scenarios, one wonders if the SOS Committee might look more closely at broadening their protest strategy to more aggressively recognize the plurality of the threat. Maxville Public School is in the Board’s crosshairs today. And Laggan Public School could soon follow. The tagline Committee’s signs clearly states: “save our schools.” Beware of the enemy’s divide and conquer tactics.
A “rare” opportunity
Back during the Williamstown Fair, I encountered Dunveganite Laurie Maus at the popular Heritage Livestock Club of Eastern Ontario tent. The club is committed to the conservation of heritage breeds, as well as public and farmer education. Laurie and her partner Bob Garner are both active members. They raise rare, heritage breeds of livestock on their hilltop farm just west of the Dunvegan crossroads. The couple chose this route because they believe the conservation of farm animal genetic resources is necessary to ensure our future food security. “We also think these breeds have a great deal to offer contemporary agriculture,” Laurie told me. “Plus chores are a whole lot nicer when you work around beautiful animals.”
A few weeks ago, Laurie was invited to speak at the Ban Righ Centre at Queen’s University. The Centre provides support services to mature women returning to university or continuing their education. The Centre also runs a ‘Lunch and Learn’ program for academic and community members. Laurie’s presentation was on the importance of heritage livestock and a proposal to set up permanent breeding programs.
Laurie tells me that the federal government has made all the right noises about protecting the diversity of farm animal genetic resources… signing international treaties, drawing up plans, making commitments and the like. Beyond the occasional photo op, of course. Politicians love to be photographed with cute farm animals (as long as they are not of the porcine persuasion, naturally.) However, no actual progress has ever been made. While breeders like Bob and Laurie work like dogs, federal breeding programs have quietly slipped beneath the bureaucratic waves.
To right these wrongs, the Heritage Livestock Club is proposing that the federal prison farms be reopened and that permanent breeding programs for the conservation of heritage breeds be established on these farms. I never understood why these farms were closed in the first place. Even if they cost us a few dollars, I saw them as being much more worthwhile than grandstand plays like sending planeloads of political cheerleaders to Paris. The Club has already met with Francis Drouin (our local MP for those who have never come across him). The group will also be meeting with the Kingston-area organization that has been working tirelessly to have the farms reopened ever since their closure. If you’d like to help with this initiative, Laurie invites you to contact her at info@hawkhillfarm.ca.
For those of you unfamiliar with Laurie and Bob’s Hawk Hill Farm, it focuses on quality over quantity. To this end, they are in the process of converting their flock of sheep to purebred Tunis. They sell premium Ontario lamb, mutton, chicken and eggs direct to consumers. If you’d like to inquire about purchasing their products, visit their web site at: www.hawkhillfarm.ca.
Dunvegan Lock & Load
Firearms instructor, Pam Fidler with On The Mark Outdoors Training tells me that people take her Canadian Firearms Safety Course for a host of reasons. The obvious ones include hunting, target practice, skeet shooting, vermin control and work. “As well, some of our students have inherited firearms or just want to reassure themselves that others (who are using firearms) are learning how to use them safely,” reports Pam.
On Saturday, November 5th, she and her husband, Glen, will be teaching up to ten students everything they need to know to qualify for a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL). The daylong course at the DRA Hall starts at 8:00 AM and costs $150, plus $21 for the course manual (or you can download a copy of the manual for free). While there is an hour-long break for lunch, the meal is not provided. You can bring your own or head down the road to Tim’s.
I’m told there is no minimum age to attend the course but, that said, in order to get a ‘Minor’s Licence’ they must be 12 years of age. Just before their 18th birthday, the minor can convert it to the regular Possession and Acquisition Licence. And lest you think that firearms are a young person’s activity, Pam and Glen recently had someone in their mid-seventies take the course.
In closing, I asked Pam what the strangest reason was for attending the course. She replied, “We had one person who teaches in Nunavut who needed to have a firearm for protection from polar bears.” It turns out that, up in the Artic, you’re not allowed to go more than 30 meters from a building without carrying a firearm.
If you’re interested in attending the course on the November 5th (or November 26th; a second course is planned for that date), call or e-mail the Fidlers at 613-453-4495, 613-387-8602 or otmot2@gmail.com. A non-refundable deposit of $50 is required to reserve your seat, with the remaining $100 payable on the day of the course. As seating is limited, they advise you register early.
-30-