By all measures, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum Victoria Day weekend was a resounding success. For starters, Mother Nature provided three days of splendid weather. Plus, the two events organized for the Sunday were extremely well attended by museum standards.
Allan Walker, the volunteer from Dunvegan East who helped organize the History of the Bagpipes presentation told me “the little school house at the museum was packed to the rafters. Fifty people would be a good round number.” I’ve since learned that the official count was 52. And by all accounts, those in attendance weren’t disappointed. The presenter, Alan Jones from Montreal, obviously knew his subject matter inside out. The world-renowned expert even revealed that he stores some pipes from his collection overseas so that when he plays there, he doesn’t have to worry about the humidity changes between the continents. “Large humidity swings are really hard on bellows-blown bagpipes,” Allan Walker told me.
When I asked Mr. Walker if the question of who has the largest collection of bagpipes had been resolved, he said that the topic really didn’t arise. “As far as the ‘mine is bigger than yours’ discussion,” Allan explained, “I’ve never heard him bring it up in the years I’ve known him. Not sure if he cares.”
Following right on the heels of the bagpipe lecture was the Victorian Tea Party held next door to the Big Beaver schoolhouse, in the Williams pavilion. No doubt the event’s organizer, Linda Burgess, was extremely pleased with the turnout. A total of 61 tea party enthusiasts turned up to raise their pinkies and enjoy Linda’s assortment of dainty sandwiches that included traditional cumber, watercress and cream cheese with raisin fillings. Also on the menu was an impressive selection of sweets, from chocolate-dusted cupcakes and apple cake to squares and scones with whipped and lemon curd (the best, Terry tells me, that she has ever tasted).
I’m told that volunteers Jean Williams, Sean Burgess, Lindsey Howes, Erica-Rose Bugera and her mother, Jocelyn MacGillivray and Terry Sweitzer were rushed off their feet keeping the sandwich and dessert platters stocked, the teacups filled and the tables cleared. As for where Linda found the time — on top of organizing the desserts and putting together the tiny sandwiches — to festoon the outdoor venue with apple blossoms on the tables and hanging from the rafters, I have no idea. And that’s in addition to her normal duties as a Super Nana and helping me with the DRA’s euchre luncheon on Friday.
Big brother now Sky High
I learned last week that the Township of North Glengarry has added a “virtual employee” to its staff roster: Google Earth. I have it on reliable authority that our municipal building officials are using the Internet-based satellite imaging technology to ferret out building code scofflaws and bring them to heel.
Not so long ago, high-resolution satellite imaging was the exclusive domain of the military and 007 types. But these days, with the advent of low-cost (and now no-cost) apps like Google Earth about ten years ago, a bird’s eye view of terra firma is available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection.
While the imagery in Google Earth is not real time (the data is updated on a periodic basis), the aerial view it provides from about 800 to 1,500 feet above ground level is a treasure trove of information… as municipalities across North America have been quick to exploit. For example, in 2010 the town of Riverhead, New York was thrust into the national spotlight when its Chief Building Inspector admitted that his department had used Google Earth to catch 250 homeowners who had installed swimming pools without the proper permits.
According to the article in Newsweek magazine, Riverhead had to manually compare the pools it found on Google Earth to the list of pool permits it had issued. This made me wonder if Google has spotted the same business opportunity that I did. With the enormous computing power at its disposal, it would be a piece of cake to compare aerial images over time and identify new buildings. This information could then be offered to municipalities for a fee that would be easily recouped by prosecuting building codes violators.
In the United States, this Big Brother in the Sky approach for keeping citizenry in line has sparked a huge debate around privacy and Fourth Amendment rights. However, I doubt this will happen in Canada. As countless officials responsible for federal, provincial and municipal government mismanagement can attest, Canadians are reluctant to band together and raise their voices in protest.
Former Resident turns 97
Amelia Ayre, who lived in the Dunvegan area for many years, celebrated her 97th birthday on May 16th at the Haven Hill Retirement Centre in Penticton, British Columbia. However, due to Amelia’s advanced dementia, the occasion escaped her notice. “We took her a cake and presents yesterday, but unfortunately she slept through the whole visit,” Amelia’s daughter Zoe said in an e-mail sent to some of her mother’s old friends in Glengarry.
In her e-letter, Zoe asked that her message be passed along to all those who knew Amelia… and that’s what I am doing. “I’m sure people wonder if she’s still alive and she is… but she doesn’t recognize anyone. Spends most of the time sleeping. I think she has a private unspoken goal of living to 100. And if she does, I’ll bet she makes it! She’s so stubborn. That hasn’t changed.”
Amelia and her husband, Dr. Burton Ayre, bought the fifty acre property on the east side of the Trottier’s farm. When they purchased the farmland, there was an abandoned building on it; the log schoolhouse that had been moved there from Skye Road. Sherrill Trottier tells me that the structure was in poor condition. As she recalls, it served as a skidoo shack for a few years.
Burt and Amelia used the old Skye School as the anchor for the house they built on the site. At the time, Burt owned a medical clinic in the Town of Mount Royal and the couple’s Dunvegan home was a weekend retreat. Amelia soon became a driving force on the local social scene, especially for the back-to-the-landers and other from-away folks who trickled into the area during the 1980s.
Burt eventually retired and the couple moved to Dunvegan full-time. It was here that Burt turned 80 on July 4, 1995, only to die less than a year later at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Cornwall.
Three years later, Amelia’s unique home was razed by fire in the fall of 1998. It was heartbreaking to watch her witness the destruction of the extensive and eclectic collection of art, sculpture and antiques that she and Burt had amassed over their lifetime.
Amelia rebuilt almost an exact replica of the house that had been destroyed. She even used the same foundation, but it never had the “soul” of the original one. In 2006, Amelia moved to Vankleek Hill and then, a year or so later, to British Columbia. In the intervening years, three families have called Amelia’s house their home: the Pacauds in 2006, the Abrams in 2012 and the Menards in 2015.
Happy birthday, Amelia.
Calling all Classical Music Lovers
Rosemary Chatterson recently alerted me to the Amaryllis Choir’s Spring Concert. On Saturday, May 28th at the Knox Presbyterian Church in Vankleek Hill — and Sunday, May 29th at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Cornwall, the Amaryllis Women’s Choir and the Amaryllis Men’s Choir will be performing Vivaldi’s Gloria and other choral selections that celebrate the advent of spring. An orchestra of sixteen musicians led by renowned Cornwall cellist, Therese Motard, will accompany the Amaryllis choirs.
Admission is $20 per person; children 12 and under are free. If you’d like to attend, tickets are on sale at the Scotiabank and The Review in Vankleek Hill, as well as the Scotiabank and Grind Cafe in Cornwall. Or, you can call Rosemary at 613 525-1336.
Where’s the Dunvegan connection here? Rosemary is the honourary Dunveganite who organized last year’s immensely successful Dunvegan Recreation Christmas concert: Music & Mayhem.
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