Seventy-one years ago, when the Dunvegan “Church Social” was first introduced, this type of gathering was all the rage — assuming the Glengarry News archives accurately reflect the zeitgeist of this region in the late 1940s. The pages of the News were awash in ads for “socials” being held everywhere from St. Finnan’s in Alexandriato the Church of St. Catherine of Sienain Greenfield. Even normally frugal Dunvegan shelled out for a small display ad that invited readers not to “miss this grand evening of Scottish music and fellowship.”If the size of the advertisements were any indication, Dunvegan’s social in those early days was a more modest affair than its competitors. Nevertheless, accounts in the “Dunvegan” column of the day sung its praises… a tradition that continues to the present.
If you’d like to lay your finger on the pulse of this community, I heartily recommend stopping by the 6thAnnual Dunvegan Social to be held Tuesday, July 9thfrom 6:30 – 9:00 pm on the grounds of the Kenyon Presbyterian Church. There, you’ll enjoy entertainment by talented local performers of all ages, a bake table with homemade goodies (prepared in real kitchens beyond the control of the Eastern Ontario food police), sinfully indulgent snacks, and a Bouncy Castle and other activities designed to tire out the young ‘uns. I believe the line up of performers includes the MacLeod Fiddlers, Fridge Full of Empties and the Brigadoons, but I’m not 100% certain. Unfortunately, the poster on the Church’s web site is very low resolution… or my eyesight is fast failing.
Not a member of the Dunvegan congregation? Worry not. This event is open to one and all… the blessed and the fallen alike. So bring a lawn chair and enjoy a “grand evening of Scottish music and fellowship.” Admission is only $12.00 person, and children under 12 get in for free. Proceeds from the event will go towards the upkeep of the church.
Why is this the sixth annual Social if the first one was held in 1948? Because the clock was reset when there was a hiatus from 1973 to 2014. This happens to events like these, which run on volunteer power. Volunteers burn out over time, which is why new ones are always welcomed. Hint, hint.
Euchre crows
Friday was one of those days when you get everything ready and then watch the clock tick down to the 12 noon start time without a single soul passing through the portal. By 11:45, we were really getting worried. Then the floodgates opened and, in the blink of an eye, we had five full tables of eager players, including a delightful group of ladies from the Laggan area led by Donna McMillan (apologies if I got the name wrong).
As promised last week, I have the results of the tournament, thanks to Lisa Chapman who has volunteered to record the scores. Our “50/50” winners were Don Lapierre, Lorraine Lanthier, Isabel Maclennan, Margo MacRae and Tigger Benson.
As for top scores, Jenny Laforest captured first prizewith 86 points. Rolland Paquette came in second with 79 points. And Fred Robillard and Geraldine MacKinnon tied for third place. Each had 78 points.Don Lapierre, Margo Bellefeuille and Helen Bellefeuille shared the “Most Stars” prize. And the door prize went to Fred Robillard.
If you’d like to climb aboard our Euchre Express, head for the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24 on Friday, July 19thfrom 12:00 noon to around 3:30 PM. Admission is only $5.00 and includes great food and very cordial company.
Need a helping hand?
As I’ve mentioned before, I volunteer with the Cornwall & District Family Support Group, which now has groups in Alexandria and Cornwall for families dealing with a mentally ill loved one. As well, once a year, we offer a Family-to-Family Education course that, over the years, has helped hundreds of families come to grips with their loved one’s illness… and take better care of themself.
Developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in the United States, the course provides families with the practical knowledge they need to help a loved one struggling with bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, borderline personality and other serious mental health problems. One of the things that make the NAMI Family-to-Family Education course so unique is that the volunteers who teach it have personal experience dealing with a family member who is struggling with a serious mental health issue.
Our next course starts on Tuesday, September 10thin Cornwall. Classes are held one night a week from 6:30 – 9:00 pm for eight weeks. During this time, you’ll learn how to: improve communications; set behaviour boundaries; handle crises and avoid relapses; take care of yourself; advocate for your loved and more. The course is FREE. However, you must commit to attend all eight classes. To register for the next F2F course, call 613-527-1201 and leave your name and the best phone number to reach you at. One of our facilitators will return your call.
Unintended consequences
I revisited the photo Evan McIntosh sent me of the narrowing the paved shoulders of the County Road 24 and discovered that I was wrong. The width of the existing shoulder on the road west of the crossroads has been slashed by 66% not 50%. As Garth Franklin from GT Custom Work pointed out when he stopped by last week, what’s left isn’t worth the asphalt that will go into its repaving.
Garth is a bicycle enthusiast and he used to enjoy the wider paved shoulder on his excursions. It was a bit of a psychological buffer zone between him and the Grand Prix-like traffic that speeds along 24. He thinks turning the paved shoulder into a death strip might put a bit of a damper on bicycle tourism in our neck of the woods. Or is tourism now a dirty word? I can’t keep up.
He also worries that when his wide agricultural machinery has to pull to the side of the road to allow traffic to pass, it will impact visibility by generating more dust than ever before. It will also hasten the crumbling of the paved margin of the shoulder. And the fun won’t end with the onset of winter. When snowplows drop their wings to clear the road’s shoulder, they’ll send volleys of expensive gravel into the ditches and on to front lawns along the route.
It remains to be seen what the contractor will do east of the hamlet. It appears that the road surface to the west will only receive a thin top-dressing of new asphalt. Given the extremely poor condition of the road east of the crossroads, I really hope that the remediation will go beyond just putting lipstick on a pig. But we shall see.
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