For all those Dane Lanken fans out there, please take note that he will be the keynote speaker at this Friday’s Glengarry Pioneer Museum Annual General Meeting and Potluck Supper. The topic of his presentation will be the life and legacy of Velma Franklin… a fascinating individual who was so important to the growth and development of the Museum.
According to the blurb on his publisher’s web site: “Dane Lanken was born in Montreal in 1945. He worked at the Montreal Gazette as a film critic and feature writer from 1967 to 1977, and thereafter as a freelance journalist, most regularly for Canadian Geographic magazine. He and his wife Anna McGarrigle live near Alexandria, Ontario.” But that just skims the surface. The author of Montreal Movie Palaces: Great Theatres of the Golden Era 1884-1938, Dane is also extremely well versed in the history of Glengarry. And he has shared this knowledge over the years in the Glengarry Historical Society’s Glengarry Life publication and through countless presentations like one on Friday evening.
This year’s AGM will feature two awards.
The first will honour Harold MacMillan with the Glengarry Pioneer Museum’s coveted “Pioneer” award. Harold, formerly of Lochiel and now a resident of Vankleek Hill, will receive the award in recognition of his years of dedicated work to preserve the heritage and enhance the cultural life of Glengarry. Known for his wealth of knowledge about local residents and their history, Harold has been the co-leader of the Museum’s Heritage Driving Tour since its establishment nine years ago.
Born on the family farm in what was once Quigley’s Corner, now Lochiel, Harold’s love of history was sparked by research into his family’s genealogy at the age of 18, an interest he pursues to this day. He left Lochiel in 1948 to work as an accountant with Canadian International Paper (CIP) in Hawkesbury and worked there until the plant closed almost 35 years later. This gave time to become more actively involved in the Glengarry Historical Society and the Glengarry Pioneer Museum.
The second award of the night will be a Certificate of Appreciation. This well-deserved honour will go to a hard-working volunteer who I cannot name. I am sworn to secrecy. But all will be revealed on Friday, April 17.
The evening usually gets underway around 5:30 with a “grip & greet” cocktail hour… that is really a half-hour, as the potluck dinner bell traditionally rings at 6:00 PM. One hour later, as dessert and coffee are being enjoyed, a short business meeting will be held to approve the budget and Board of Directors for 2015.
The meeting is open to anyone who wants to attend. All they ask is that you bring a main dish, salad or dessert. In case I didn’t mention it before, the event will be held at the Dunvegan Recreation Hall, located at 19053 County Road 24.
Cards & camaraderie this Friday
It’s hard to believe, but this coming Friday is the April installment of the ongoing Dunvegan Euchre Luncheon program. Sponsored by the Dunvegan Recreation Association, admission is only $5 and includes TWO lunches of homemade sandwiches and sweets… one pre-game and the other post-game. This gives everyone plenty of time to visit with old friends and make new ones.
Last month, one of our regular players, Winston Van Putten, was obviously having some difficulties with his health. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to join us this month, but I wanted him to know that we are all thinking of him and wish him well.
The event is held in the DRA Hall at 19053 County Road 24 and starts at 12:00 noon. Things wrap up around 3:30 PM. Everyone is welcome to join us.
Dunvegan column now on-line
I’m pleased to announce that the Dunvegan column will now be available on the web as a blog entitled “Dunvegan; now & then.” To access it, simply go to www.DunveganTimes.ca.
Obviously, there will be a week’s delay in posting each column. It wouldn’t be fair to steal the Glengarry News’ thunder. But once a column has ripened for a week, up it goes.
When you visit the site, please keep in mind that this is a work in progress. To date, I’ve only had time to upload the columns from 2015. But the rest will follow in time. This new venue will also allow me to enhance the columns with photos that I’ve come across and that readers have lent me. Be forewarned, however, that the columns I’ve posted so far are devoid of pictorial support. I’m still spreading my WordPress wings and experimenting with the software.
Someone finally agrees with me
On March 11 of this year, I opined that Royce MacGillivray deserved of some sort of formal recognition his Dictionary of Glengarry Biography.
Allan Macdonell, a Director with the Ontario Historical Society and past president of the Glengarry Historical Society, wrote to tell me that Mr. MacGillivray “was the winner of the Ontario Historical Society’s 2011 Fred Landon Award for the best book on regional history published in the prior three years.” Allan went on to say that, “…the 2011 awards ceremony was held in Waterloo, near the university where Professor MacGillivray spent his full career and conducted his research in history.”
I’m told that the first edition of Royce’s book, published in 2010 by the Glengarry Historical Society, was sold out. However, the 2013 reprint edition of the dictionary includes an acknowledgment of this award. Just my luck to have one of the old 2010 editions.
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