Last Saturday, Mat Williams, chair of the Glengarry Pioneer Museum, and his team of volunteers crossed off a number of items on Jennifer Black’s museum maintenance to-do-list. For example, broken windows in the second story Orange Lodge office were reglazed. A ladder to the loft of the Drive Shed was strengthened and relocated. The small storage shed to the east of the Campbell Barn was de-junkified. And minor cracks in the Olivier Hamelin forge were put to right. And that’s just to name a few.
The highlight of last weekend’s Maintenance Bee though was the impromptu archeological dig undertaken by Bob Garner and Gwen Barrett. In the course of cleaning up the walkway that leads to the Star Inn from Greenfield Road, they hit rock. Now this isn’t surprising given that we’re in Glengarry. But as Bob and Gwen removed more and more of the overlying sod, they gradually uncovered a lovely stone pathway. Jennifer isn’t sure if this path was laid in the 1990s after the Star Inn was raised and moved to a new foundation further from the road. Or perhaps it’s the original pathway that can be seen in photos of the Star Inn from the early 1960s. More research is required. Regardless of its genesis, it immediately caught my eye when I stopped by the GPM on Monday to take a photo. Thank you Bob and Gwen.
Dad’s Day outing
If you’d like to try out the Dunvegan museum’s newly discovered stone walkway, use the Star Inn gate when you visit the 4thannual Smith-in blacksmithing festival this coming weekend. The event is open to the public from 10 AM to 4 PM on both Saturday and Sunday and is an excellent destination for a Father’s Day outing. It will feature blacksmiths from Ontario, Quebec and the United States forging everything from gun barrels and other tools to a ship’s anchor.
While armies may march on the stomachs (a saying attributed to both Frederick the Great and Napoleon), they relied on the skills of the blacksmith in order to fight. Before each skirmish, smiths would sharpen swords, repoint lances and bayonets and shoe cavalry horses. The museum has a replica of the portable forges used during the American War of Independence and it will be in operation much of this weekend.
In addition to blacksmith demonstrations, on Saturday, a country market will showcase the wares of artisans and other vendors. And on both Saturday and Sunday, the scale-replica Cheese Factory will be pressed into service as a canteen serving chilli, chilli-dogs, snacks and beverages. Admission is only $5 per day for members of the museum. For non-members, the cost is $10 per head or $25 for a family of four. Children under 12 are free.
Travel interruptus
Motorists to and from Dunvegan take heed. At the start of this week, work began on the resurfacing of County Road 24… starting at the eastern end of the hamlet. While it should be nowhere near as disruptive (or lengthy) as the Big Digs in Vankleek Hill or Maxville, the project will still have an impact on residents and commuters alike.
Personally, I’m of two minds. It will be nice to no longer hit one’s head on the car roof navigating the rollercoaster that has been Dunvegan Road in recent years. However, out-of-towners know our little hamlet rarely appears on the OPP’s radar and treat the road as their own personal speedway. Just this past Saturday, Terry and I witnessed a motorcyclist fly by at what must have been close to 150 kph. What’s in store when joyriders discover an unblemished ribbon of fresh tar?
Upon learning that construction had begun, Jennifer from the museum asked me to reassure you that they will remain open. To avoid problems, she encourages visitors to use the Greenfield Road entrance and park in the “special events” parking lot at the south end of the site.
Dunvegan Jam II
Not being even remotely musical, I stayed away from Denis Lavigne’s inaugural Dunvegan jam session back in March for fear of jinxing it. So I had no idea how it had gone until Vivian Franklin contacted me recently about mentioning the date of a second one in the Dunvegan column. When I asked about Jam I, I learned there had been about 20 people. Which isn’t too shabby for a first time out of the gate.
Dunvegan resident Denis Lavigne is holding his next musical free-for-all at the DRA Hall this coming Saturday, June 15thstarting at 6:30 PM. If you’d like to meet other musicians and play a little County, Blues or Rock & Roll, Denis would love it if you stopped by. There’s no admission and everyone is welcome to bring his or her instrument and jump in… or just come and listen and mayhap, dance. The DRA Hall is located at 19053 County Road 24. If you want more information, give Denis a call at 613-363-8562.
End of the line
I always relish receiving e-mails from loyal reader Ken McEwen. Mr. McEwen was raised on Concession 7 Kenyon south and west of Dunvegan and left the farm in the early 1950s to serve with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His most recent communication concerned the photograph of the Maxville train wreck on the inside back cover of the latest Discover Glengarry tourist booklet.
Mr. McEwen was stationed in Ottawa at the time (1955). While driving a friend to Montreal, he visited the wreck that had occurred the previous night. Here is his first-hand account of the accident.
“The engine is slightly west of the Maxville station, at the rail siding for Osie Villeneuves’ cattle yard. Oise shipped cattle to Montreal once or twice a week and, in order to pick up his cattle car(s), the eastbound freight had to be broken, Oise’s cars added at the end of the train and then the caboose re-connected. The eastbound line was uphill, so once the train was moving again, the engineer wanted to keep up the momentum. As a result, the brakeman (who had the job of closing the switch to Oise’s siding) had to run and climb on the increasingly rapidly moving train.
To get around this, an unofficial arrangement was made whereby the station agent would close the switch after the eastbound freight departed. On this occasion the agent forgot, and when the next westbound freight hit the switch, the engine followed the siding briefly then jumped the track. The remainder of the cars piled up going every which way, and were three deep in front of the station. Fortunately there were no injuries. Had it been a passenger train, it would have been a tragic disaster.”
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