If you’re looking for a fun night out for you and the kids (or grandkids, or just on your own), the annual Dunvegan Recreation Association’s Pizza, Crokinole and Taffy Party this coming Friday, April 5this it. To begin with, it’s easy on the pocketbook. Admission is free, the pizza is only $2 per slice and soft drinks, juices, water and coffee will be available at no charge. It’s also more fun than a barrel of rambunctiouskittens. (I’ve never considered monkeys all that amusing. Or clowns for that matter. But that’s a story for another day.)
If you’re in for the Pizza part of the evening, you’d best show up at 6:00 PM. That’s when the piping hot pies will show up — pep & cheese, all-dressed and vegetarian — ready to be dished out by the slice. Once dinner is done and the detritus cleared from the tables, the crokinole boards and buttons will be set out ready for the tournament to begin.Pronounced “croak-i-know”, the game is similar to shuffleboard and curling. Players take turns shooting wooden discs called buttons across the circular playing field with a flick of their finger. The goal is to have your discs land within the higher scoring rings, while knocking your opponents buttons off the board. Sound complicated? It isn’t. Even if you’re a crokinole virgin, it only takes a few minutes to learn this fun, invented-in-Ontario game. And who knows, perhaps beginner’s luck will have you taking home one of the cash prizes up for grabs.
To top off this evening of family-style fun, the tournament will take a break when boilmeister Vivian Franklin determines that it’s taffy time. That’s when the new-crop maple syrup (generously provided by Dunvegan’s own Erabliere Souligny) reaches 115 °C (238 °F) on her trusty candy thermometer.That’s whenthe thickened syrup is ready to be drizzled on the pans of pure snow that have been tucked away in the freezer. As the steaming liquid hits the bed of snow, it instantly turns to maple taffy. And he moment it does, young and old alike roll up the ribbons of sticky goodness on a wooden stir stick and pop it in their mouths. It’s a delicious way end to a perfect evening. So why not make 2019 the year you become a Pizza, Crokinole and Taffy Party regular by showing up Friday, April 5that the Dunvegan Recreation Hall, 19053 County Road 24?
A really sweet deal
I’d like to note here that, in addition to donating the maple syrup for the upcoming Taffy Party, Laurent Souligny from Erabliere Souligny on Blythe Road west of Dunvegan has also pledged to provide free syrup for the DRA’s 2020 Winter Carnival Breakfast. To thank him for his generous contribution to the community, I hope you’ll stop by his sugar shack on April 6thor 7thfrom 10 AM to 4 PM when he throws open his doors as a part of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association’s “Maple Weekend” event.
Through the Eyes of the Children
The Kenyon Presbyterian Church in Dunvegan has a very special Easter Sunday planned for the entire family. They’ve arranged for puppeteers Karen and Les Schwabe to perform their rendition of The Easter Miracle – Through the Eyes of the Childrenas a part of the regular service. Written by Sue and Mike Gay, the 40-minute musical is published by Cedarmont Music, a leading producer of Christian music products for kids. This year, Easter falls on Sunday April 21stand the service starts at 9:30 AM. All are welcome to come to the stone kirk in the heart of Dunvegan for this unique telling of the Easter story.
Same same, but different
The above is an expression that is used a lot in Thailand and Vietnam, especially when attempting to sell something. For example, when asked if the proffered watch is a real Rolex, the reply might be: “Yes… same same, but different.” It would also be my response if you were to suggest that my presentation at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s AGM and Potluck sounds suspiciously similar to the one I gave at the DRA’s AGM in January.
While much of the content is the “same, same”, I believe there is enough that is “different.” By incorporating new research, including my grand old talk with John Chalmers,the Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada, I hope to entertain and inform even those who were party to the original lecture. I’ll have more details on the AGM as a whole, and hopefully some background on this year’s award recipients, in next week’s column. In the meantime, I wanted you to save the date: Friday, April 12th. And start planning what fine victual you will contribute to the serving table.
Wages of sin?
Last week, I mentioned an item I had come across in the July 22, 1892 issue of the Glengarry News.Neil McLean of Baltic’s Corners was reported to be starting stagecoach service from there to Dunvegan every Wednesday evening. The item encouraged “pleasure seekers” to take advantage of the cheap fare.
In case you were wondering, the service appears to have been well received… if the Dunvegan column in the Glengarry Newsof September 2, 1892 is to be believed. The columnist of the time wrote, “The Baltic Corner buss (sic) made its last trip for the season to this place on Saturday evening last. The proprietor is well satisfied with the season’s returns.” I too was puzzled by the “buss” reference. All I can conclude is that it is a misspelt contraction of “omnibus,” which was defined at the time as a horse-drawn vehicle set up to carry many people. The word omnibus is also the root of today’s motorized conveyance: a bus.
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