If, after reading the Glengarry Soccer League’s ad in the Glengarry News, you concluded that the soccer program in Dunvegan had been cancelled, you wouldn’t be alone. The absence of a listing for the registration day at the Dunvegan Recreation Hall didn’t augur well for the fate of the long-running program.
Nevertheless, I have been assured that soccer in our fair hamlet is safe, for at least another year. A few weeks ago, I wrote that the DRA was desperately searching for someone to volunteer as the Dunvegan rep to the Glengarry Soccer League… a job that entails organizing the annual registration, attending the GSL meetings and recruiting coaches for the teams.
Unfortunately, no one has stepped forward so far. Instead, as is the case so often these days, the same old tired volunteers have taken on even more responsibilities. In this case, Bob Linney (who hasn’t had a child in the program for many, many years) has agreed to sit as the Dunvegan GSL rep at meetings and organize the registration days. “This will at least let get the 2015 season off to a start,” says Mr. Linney. However, he doesn’t have time to take care of the coaching side of things. For this, the DRA is searching for someone to take on this half of the role. The hope is that, by splitting the rep’s job in two, the Dunvegan program will be able to squeak by for another year.
While I commend the DRA Executive Committee for coming up with this work-around solution, part of me wonders if it might have been better to simply cancel the 2015 Dunvegan program. Doing so might have sent a message to those players and parents who are too lazy to help out.
But such is not the case… this year, at least. Registration in Dunvegan will take place. The only question is when. The registration process has to be completed before the end of March, so my best guess is the 21st and the 28th, but there are still details to be hammered out. I hope to be able to confirm these dates in next week’s column. In the meantime, you can register on-line; so far over 200 families across Glengarry have done so. To register using your computer, go to the GSL’s NEW web site — www.glengarrysoccerleague.ca — and follow the instructions on the home page. Don’t do what I did and go to the old GSL web site. I’ve also been told that the on-line payment system is still in the process of being set up. So, if you do register on-line, you’ll have to send the League a cheque.
Not surprisingly given the League’s near bankruptcy last fall and their need for a bridge loan from the Township of North Glengarry, soccer fees will be going up this year. From the Coed to U19 levels, there’s been an increase of $10 per player. And for Senior and Tier2 teams per-player fees have been increased from $100 to $125… and the “per-team” fee is now $355. This latter per-team fee is to help the League offset the extra costs associated with coaching and officiating senior teams.
There’s also been a change to the GSL’s Field Maintenance surcharge. Introduced a couple of years ago at the request of the Municipal Recreation Advisory Committee, a group representing all the recreation associations in North Glengarry, the fee is intended to help the recreation groups cover the cost of field maintenance items like grass cutting, lining the fields, electricity for the lights, rental of portable toilets and much more. In order to streamline the registration process, the “family” option has been eliminated. Starting this season, the Field Maintenance fee will be a straight $10 per player.
“Hopalong” Chisholm Redux
Back towards the end of January, I did a piece on John James “Jack” Chisholm. Born in Dunvegan just before the start of the 20th century, Jack fought in World War I, graduated from the Ontario Agriculture College in Guelph and promptly moved to Hollywood. There he ended up appearing in over 500 silent films as a stunt double. I had stumbled across the story of Jack’s career in one of the Tweedsmuir Diaries. However, lacking background on his younger years, I put out an appeal for more information.
Just last week, I received a call from Marianne “Marion” MacDonald a retired teacher who now resides in Ottawa. When very young, Marion’s family had farmed just east of Laggan on the Kenyon’s 8th concession, but ended up moving to Vankleek Hill. It was there that they made the acquaintance of Roderick “Rory” Chisholm. Marion told me that she believed Jack was the son of Rory Chisholm. And she was right.
The proof was right on the bookshelf behind me all along, in that fascinating book by Royce MacGillivray Dictionary of Glengarry Biography. I have no clue how Mr. MacGillivray managed to find the time and energy to research and write this incredible tome; the breadth and depth of the entries are simply astounding. If he didn’t earn some sort of formal recognition from the provincial (or at the very least, municipal) government for his achievement, he should have.
There, on page 55 of the Dictionary, in the entry MacGillivray wrote on Roderick John Chisholm, it states: “About 1888 he returned with her [his wife, Mary Burke] to Canada, where his employers over the years included the Donald R. Mcdonald construction company, and where Chisholm and his wife had a home at Vankleek Hill. They were the parents of the celebrated filmmaker and stuntman, John James (Jack) Chisholm.”
Unfortunately, I still lack details of Jack’s early home life. While Jack Chisholm does have an entry of his own in the Dictionary, it says little beyond the fact Jack was born in Dunvegan and lived for a few years on the 9th concession of Lochiel Township.
Nevertheless, it was delightful making the acquaintance of Marion MacDonald. I hope to continue our conversation in the near future. Marion tells me that she was a good friend of Mrs. Clara Baxter — the lady who sold us our farm just east of the Dunvegan crossroads. Small world.
Daylight Savings WEEK?
This past weekend marked the start of daylight saving time once again. The simple act of turning the hands of your clocks ahead by one hour (assuming your timepieces have hands) may seem fairly benign. In effect though, it erases an hour of sleep and, for many, can throw off the body’s internal clock.
I came across an interesting quote in an article in BP: Hope & Harmony, a magazine for persons dealing with bipolar disorder. Jeffrey P. Barasch, M.D., Medical Director of The Valley Hospital for Sleep Medicine is quoted in the article as saying, “An hour seems like a minor change, but moving the clock ahead one hour can be very stressful or disruptive for some people, particularly for those who are already sleep deprived.” Dr. Barasch further explains that, “the problem goes beyond just the loss of a single hour of sleep on the night of the clock change… (it) also plays havoc with the body’s circadian rhythm, or biological clock.”
While I’ve never found the changeover to be all that disruptive, I know that it can affect others adversely, including my wife Terry. That’s why I was intrigued by her suggestion late last week that we ease into daylight savings time. “Why don’t we adjust the clocks a few minutes each day,” she asked.
And, upon reflection, I thought it was a very interesting idea. It would no doubt be fraught with problems if one had to intersect with the world at large… getting school kids on the bus and the like. But, if one’s dealings with time slaves were minimal, why not take an entire week to gradually do the circadian shift? All it would take is six increments of ten minutes each. You would start on the Tuesday before DST weekend and advance the clocks ten minutes a day, for six days. By the time DST Sunday dawns and the final increment is done, you’re back in step with the rest of the world.
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