For the past few years, Ontario’s Festival of Small Halls has partnered with the Dunvegan Recreation Association (and thirteen other community groups across Eastern Ontario) to bring “big music to small places.” The idea originated in Australia, then popped up in Prince Edward Island and from there migrated to Ontario. Simply put, instead of rural music lovers having to travel to the city to enjoy big names acts, the Festival makes it possible to see them, live, in their local community hall.
If 2020 was a normal year, I’d be plugging our hamlet’s 4th annual Small Halls concert at the DRA Hall, coming up sometime in September. Alas, COVID-19 has killed this year’s festival, just as it’s plucked much of the joy from our lives. However, the organization’s web site reports that they’re working on a special series that will capture “the spirit of live shows from Small Halls.” If I were to guess, I’d say one possibility might be a virtual live concert via a Zoom webinar link. The performance could be simulcast to all of the participating Small Halls and could even feature more than just one group or performer by having multiple input feeds. In the meantime, you can always check out the online archive of past shows at www.ontariosmallhalls.com.
Over the summer, the Festival of Small Halls team has also been hard at work recording some of the oral history of the communities they serve. for a project they call “Small Hall Stories.” The festival set out to discover tales of “past events, historical or recent; of a defining moment, of an occasion, or of a person.” And they found them… from the yarn about Red George MacDonnell from Prescott and the account of tree fishing from Chaffey’s Lock to stories featuring the Morton Pimple and the Pakenham Whale. My personal favourite is the story of Gaelic ghosts from Dunvegan. Written and narrated by a member of each community, the dozen tales from across Eastern Ontario can be found on the Festival’s web site and social media. They’re also broadcast online as a podcast through Spotify.
Cotton Beaver on the block
Cotton Beaver, or Kenyon School Section #2 as it was known officially, is up for sale. If you’ve ever driven west along Dunvegan Road from Highway 34, you’ve passed SS #2. It’s on the north side of the road at the crest of the hill, a few lots east of Janet MacCrimmon’s farm and directly across from MacMaster Road. Alternatively, you could keep an eye out for the Century 21 For Sale sign out front. For many a year, the former schoolhouse, which I’d guess was decommissioned in the 1960s, has sported a coat of lightish blue paint. Local artist Brenda Kennedy captured the spirit of the structure perfectly in a wonderful oil painting that used to grace the late Amelia Ayre’s home. Set in the dark of night, the focal point of the work is the skewed light beam cast by the yard light above the front door. A fixture that was, and still is, cocked at an oddly rakish angle.
I must admit I was surprised when I read the agent’s listing. It claims the building was “originally built in 1835 and moved to its current location in the 60s.” According to the land records, though, the Crown didn’t grant the patent to James Ferguson, the land’s first-ever owner, until 1862. And it wasn’t until two years later, 1864, that Mr. Ferguson signed over a 36’ x 36’ square parcel of land on the southwest corner of Lot 6 Kenyon Concession 9 to the school trustees of School Section #2. As for “ being moved in the 60s,” it may have been; I wasn’t here then. But if it was moved, it was returned to its original foundation because it’s still located on the same lot where it was built in 1864 or 1865. I’m wondering if the real estate agent confused Cotton Beaver School with Skye School. The latter was closed in 1965 and I believe it was sold, moved to the southeast half of Lot 16 Concession 9 and, coincidentally, formed the backbone of the new home the late Dr. and Mrs. Ayre built when they bought the farm (in the ‘property acquisition’ sense of the phrase) in December of 1974. However, Skye School wasn’t built until the summer of 1896.
No doubt the new owners will apply exterior paint or siding of their choosing and will probably straighten the light fixture, or even remove it entirely. Regardless, it will always be the “blue schoolhouse” to me.
Keep on trucking
One of my all-time favourite columnists, the late Margaret Wente, wrote an article entitled: When work quits before you do. The thrust of the column was that, when the clock strikes 60 for the self-employed, their phone suddenly stops ringing. To their chagrin, they find “that work is quitting them long before they’re ready to quit work.” Many of the clients they’ve built relationships with over the years have either retired or up and died. And their younger replacements don’t want to send work to someone the age of their parents. I found this true in my career. As have other freelancers I’ve spoken to who have passed the six-decade milestone.
The concept also resonated with an amazing person I encountered the other day: Shelley Carrier. When growing up, Shelley had always wanted to be a nurse, but life got in the way. She had to put her dream on the shelf, and spend her entire career working in the family business. Don’t get me wrong, she enjoyed the job and its challenges but, at age sixty, she felt she had reached the end of the road. So she decided to travel down a different one.
Shelley went back to school and obtained her Registered Practical Nursing (RPN) certification. After reinventing herself, she is now doing work that she loves. And it shows in the friendly, energetic, professional way she deals with her new clients. A relative newcomer to the area, Shelley doesn’t live in Dunvegan, but she did know where it is when I quizzed her. You’d be amazed how many Glengarrians don’t. She often passes by the Dunvegan museum on the way to one of her work gigs. It was so nice to be reminded that we old-timers need not go quietly into the night. We can still contribute. Thank you Shelley.
Blank screen
If you, like me, were hoping to see the return of the Dunvegan Recreation’s Saturday Night at the Movies event this month – now that indoor gatherings of up to 50 people are now allowed – I’m sorry to say I’m the bearer of bad news. There will be no movie in September, at least at the DRA Hall. It’s thought wise to wait and see how the back-to-school experiment goes before we take any chances.
Tribute closing soon
My thanks to Ronna Mogelon of Fiske’s Corners for reminding me to remind you that the collaborative tribute to Peggi Calder at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum will soon be coming to a close. Ronna and Richard Mahoney visited the GPM this past weekend to add a few items to the display in the Roxborough Hall. If you’d hoped to drop in and sign the Book of Memories (or even contribute a story or photo of your own), you don’t have a lot of time left. As of today, I believe the museum is only open on weekends… and that’s just for the month of September. There’s also a video on YouTube with a touching collection of family photographs that celebrates Peggi’s life. Just search for “Tribute to Peggi Calder.”
-30-