By reporting the following item, I am told that I am taking a big risk. Apparently, the couple that will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on October 23, 2015 instructed their daughter not to do anything that would draw attention to this milestone event.
Well, I would like to reassure former Dunvegan residents, Donnie and Jean MacLeod, that their daughter Wendy had nothing to do with this. The blame actually belongs to the late Hilda Campbell and her son. It was Robert Campbell who recently shared with me one of his mother’s fascinating scrapbooks on life in Dunvegan. There, in black and white, on a page of clippings from 1990 was a 25th anniversary notice for the young couple who were wed in the fall of 1965. I simply subtracted 1965 from 2015 and, voila, I arrived at 50 years married. This newspaper gig isn’t rocket science.
According to sources that will remain unnamed, Donnie MacLeod’s father was posted to western Ontario as an agricultural representative after he graduated from Guelph with a BSc Ag. It was there that he met and married Donnie’s mother. When the wee lad was but nine years old, he and his kinsfolk moved back to the family farm at Skye, north of Dunvegan. It’s the first farmhouse on the west side, just past the road to St. Isidore.
Meanwhile, his prospective bride, Jean MacLeod was growing up in MacCrimmon on her family farm: Lilac Brae. My source isn’t exactly sure how they met, as they went to different high schools. But, given that Donnie was a prominent fiddle player and Jean performed Highland dancing at many socials, this may have factored into it.
The couple was married at Kenyon Presbyterian Church in Dunvegan on October 23, 1965. It was a small ceremony with only immediate family and a few close friends. Donnie and Jean lived in Alexandria for a few years. But life in the big city was not for them. So, in 1971, they bought a house on Murray Street in Dunvegan… and seven years later daughter Wendy joined them.
When I spoke with Wendy, she was of the opinion that being married for 50 years is great news, especially in this day and age. However, she did emphasize that her parents were not “centre of the spotlight” people. So I’ll have to ask anyone who reads this part of the column to destroy it as soon as they are finished.
Congratulations, Donnie and Jean!
Halloween at the Hall
I was always a bit sad that Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin figure never caught on. However, a Halloween “good guy” along the lines of Santa and the Easter Bunny never stood a chance against hordes of ghosts, ghouls, goblins and the like.
Living on the “dark side” is the whole point of the bewitching evening. And the Dunvegan Recreation Association will be adding to the Night of Black Magic by hosting their annual Halloween Party again this year. “It promises to be better than ever,” says DRA president, Ben Williams, “given that Halloween lands on a Saturday this year!”
Held October 31st at 19053 County Road 24 in Dunvegan, the party will start at 6:00 PM and rock until 8:00 PM. There will be snacks and treats for the kids, prizes for the best costumes and plenty of interactive games with lots of prizes to be won.
As well, it looks like the 2015 Halloween Bash will see the return of the Pumpkin Carving Contest. This used to be one of the highlights of the event in the early years, so I’m glad to see that it’s back for a return engagement. It should be stressed that this is a judging of pre-carved or pre-decorated pumpkins… not ones created at the party. So bring along your best effort. The winning Pumpkin Artist will take home some extra goodies.
While it wasn’t included in the news brief I received from the DRA, I strongly suggest that you write your name with a black Sharpie on the bottom of your entry. And, speaking from experience, please take your pumpkins home after the party. The task of de-Halloweening the Hall is daunting enough for the volunteers. They don’t need a pile of carved pumpkins to dispose of on top of this.
Appeal for Halloween Donations
DRA director, Kim Raymond, asked me to mention that the Association is once again counting on the generosity of the community to help them fill the free “loot” bags that every child takes home. If you have some spare candy you’d like to contribute, please drop it off on Kim Raymond’s porch. Her civic number is 1701 County Road 30. Or, if you prefer, you can leave it with Terry or me at 19314 County Road 24, just as you did back in the day when the Post Office was here.
The $50 Billion Volunteer
As regular readers will know, I’m an ardent supporter of volunteerism. While I was searching for an estimate of the dollar value of time Canadian volunteers contribute, I came across a 2012 paper co-authored by TD economists Craig Alexander and Sonya Gulati: An Economist’s Case For Volunteering.
“To illustrate the economic value of volunteering in more concrete terms, let us quantify the sum for Canada. In 2010, more than 13.3 million people completed volunteer work. Counting up the hours rendered, these Canadians devoted 2.1 billion hours to their activities… Based on the hours volunteered and an imputed average hourly wage ($24), the economic value of volunteering in Canada is in the ballpark of an astounding $50 billion each year.”
But, in addition to the pure dollars & cents perspective, the two Toronto-Dominion Bank economists also succinctly summed up the impact volunteers have on our society.
“… volunteers are the life-blood that keeps these enterprises running: their actions and efforts effectively turn the gears of the non-profit turbine. Through their volunteer efforts, these individuals grow their communities, enhance community and civic engagement, and generate positive meaningful change in the social, political and environmental arenas… Volunteers bring about continuous societal change one hour, one service, and one activity at a time.”
Where am I going with this? Well, I was asked to by the Dunvegan Recreation Association to formally thank the volunteers who had helped with this past summer’s fund-raising efforts. I wanted to put the contributions of our local volunteers into a somewhat larger context.
The volunteers who staffed the DRA’s tents at the Battle of Glengarry event were Ben Williams, Sean Burgess, Vivian Franklin, Laurie Maus, Kim, Heather, Caleb & Donnie Raymond and Marianna Odermatt.
At the DRA’s Harvest Fall Festival food concession, the intrepid force who braved the deluge comprised of Patrick Senn, Sara Hay, Tyler Hay, Ken and Annette MacLeod, Evan and Heather McIntosh, Mike Hall, Mona Andre, Ben Williams, Sean Burgess, Rory MacDonald, Heather, Kim, Caleb & Donnie Raymond, Marianna Odermatt, Vivian Franklin and Bruce MacGillivray.
To these… and all the other volunteers who make the various DRA programs throughout the year possible… THANK YOU! The DRA also wanted to thank the public in general for their support — and the Glengarry Pioneer Museum for all the effort their volunteers put into organizing these large events.
Of Tents & Fridges
While we’re on a DRA roll, I have two other small items that the Dunvegan Recreation volunteers asked me to pass along.
First of all, the DRA is looking to sell one of its 10′ x 10’ pop up tents: they’ve graduated to the 10’ x 20’ size. It’s used, but in good condition and would be perfect for backyard BBQs and parties. They are only asking $25, so it’s a tremendous value. If you’re interested, please call Ben Williams at 613-525-4006.
Second, to keep their pies and other goodies cool when serving food from the museum’s Cheese Factory, the DRA has to keep two fridges running. Unfortunately, one of them has finally quit, so the Association is looking for a replacement — hopefully one that some kind soul would be willing to donate. The only wrinkle is that space is an issue in the Cheese Factory. The “new” fridge can only be a maximum of 71” tall by 31” wide. If you can help them out, please call Ben Williams at 613-525-4006.
Fiske’s Corners Phoenix
I am pleased to announce that early Sunday morning, Fiske’s Corners was blessed with a brand new pair of place-name signs… albeit only semi-official.
As you may recall, the original Fiske’s Corners sign finally bit the dust this past spring. The place-marker had been erected in 1986, after Alex and Lila Mogelon and an ardent committee of neighbours successfully lobbied Noble Villeneuve, MPP.
It should be noted that these 2015 replacement signs honouring this historic crossroads would not have been possible without the assistance of a number of key individuals, including: Benjamin de Haan, Director of Transportation and Planning Services, Dave Bourbonnais, the East Patrol Supervisor with SD&G’s Transportation and Planning Services, Brian Campbell who helped dig the post holes “by hand” (however, we did use Brian’s backhoe to backfill the new posts) and Ron Aubin from Alexandria Building Supplies who donated the two 8” x 8” treated posts. Thank you gentlemen!
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