Over the years, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum has had its share of rainy days for its annual harvest celebration, but nothing that compares with the foul weather Mother Nature threw their way this past weekend. Even after over 24 hours of straight rain, Lindsey Howes and her FallFest team refused to be cowed.
I am loath to use the word “heroes.” It is a term that has been so cheapened over time it no longer has much meaning. Instead, I will say that last Sunday’s Harvest Fall Festival was a day of paragons… one full of shining examples of selfless volunteerism and community spirit.
Ducking downpours, volunteers like Ernie MacMillan, Allan J. MacDonald, Laurie Maus, Bob Garner, Alyson Graham and Matt Williams — to name but a few —set-up exhibition tents with a quiet determination. And it’s a good thing because most, if not all, of the artisans and vendors who had pledged to come, did just that.
From the rope maker, butter maker and beekeeper to the leather worker, blacksmith and a bevy of fibre artists, there were way too many plucky exhibitors to mention them individually. Save for one: amateur sign maker, Ken Acton.
For the past eight years, Ken and his wife, Hélène Laliberté have shown up at the Fall Festival with their whimsical garden signs… driving all the way from their home in Ile Bizard, Quebec. As Ken passed by the Orange Lodge early Sunday morning, I overheard him declare, “I’m here to make money for the Museum.” And that’s exactly what he did by contributing every penny he took in to the Museum’s coffers. Curator, Jennifer Black, tells me that Ken is an avid motorcyclist and stops by the museum several times over the summer. When I dropped by his display, I could see that his folk art signage brought smiles to passers-by, many of who took one or two home to grace their lawn or garden.
I was also amazed at the bounty displayed on the Harvest Sale tables… tables that were decorated with an incredible artistic flair by Dunvegan West resident, Nancy White. Once again, generous people far and wide contributed an amazing array of jams, jellies, pickles, vegetables, plants, baked goods and more to the cause.
Despite the poor weather and reduced attendance, Barb Newman and her team of volunteers (some of whom, like the Maxville Horticultural Society, have been helping out for years) converted these items into over $1,500 for the Museum. As Barb said following the event, “This morning, I wondered how am I go to get rid of all of this? What soup kitchen can I take it to? But people came through. Imagine if we had 1,000 people? I wouldn’t have had enough stuff.”
Special words of praise were also well earned by parade organizer, Henrietta MacSweyn, and the folks who helped her ensure that the festival’s horse-power tradition remained unbroken. True, this year’s parade was but a shadow of other years. But a number of hardy participants did come out despite the poor weather, and they are to be commended, including: Denvan Farms from Greenfield, Larry Bilmer from Lunenburg, Jim Currie and Kash Anderson, Alfadore Acres Farm from St. Isidore, Cory Mayer, Amy Hughes, Jackie Nadeau and Double L Ranch from Fassifern with Louise Paquette, Tristan, Jenelle, Manon and Joel Lacombe.
Last but not least, the brave souls who set out to attend this event on a dark and dreary morning deserve a round of applause. While they only numbered around 350 (a quarter of the attendance in a typical year), they made all the volunteers’ hard work worthwhile.
“For the weather and the crowd, I was super impressed,” wrote Fall Festival organizer, Lindsey Howes, in a post-event e-mail to her team. “We were also very fortunate to have great sponsors (like Alexandria’s Caisse Populaire and Commonwell Insurance… plus a host of others) which really took the pressure off because we were able to cover our expenses before the day began.”
Bouncing baby boy
While I lack any real details, I was told that Miranda Burgess and Andrew McCormick became the proud parents of a healthy baby boy last Friday. Congratulations. With three sisters, the tiny newcomer made a wise gender choice; it’s almost guaranteed he’ll get his own room. Unless, of course, Andrew and Miranda try for number five.
The big “six zero”
I was told that the birthday celebrations staged by the Franklin clan in honour of Eileen’s sixtieth birthday could be heard over at Jack and Linda Fraser’s old farm, now owned by their son Mark.
Party organizer, Vivian Franklin, explained that it wasn’t because the family was being raucous (they are traditionally a very soft-spoken lot). It’s just that the party was being held in a coverall building, which served to amplify the sounds of good cheer.
Eileen’s brother, Mark, offered the use of his coverall once the size of the guest list emerged. I’m told family came from near and far to help Eileen celebrate her special day. Sister, Jennifer from Sioux Lookout even surprised Eileen by showing up unexpectedly.
While the group family photo taken at the shindig had 27 people in it, the final head count topped 80 when you included neighbours and friends from work, church, soccer, high school and Eileen’s various hobby groups. I’m told everyone brought food, to the point where the two 16-foot tables could just barely hold it all.
“It was a great social party,” sister Vivian Franklin e-mailed me. “Eileen was thrilled with the number of people who turned out on such a busy weekend and would like to thank everyone for making her day extra special with their presence.”
Vivian told me at the Fall Festival that even the neighbourhood raccoon dropped by… albeit after the party to break open the trash bags and feast on the leftovers. It’s interesting to note that “Rocky” refused to eat the commercial blueberries that remained on a fruit platter.
Congratulations Eileen!
“In a little place…”
At the beginning of September, Terry and I took a little time off to catch the Alex Colville exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada. I had assumed that by leaving it until just a few days before the exhibit closed, we’d beat the worst of the crowds. No such luck. The exhibition was still attracting very respectable numbers, even on a Wednesday afternoon.
I have loved Coleville’s work from the time I first saw a print of his haunting Horse and Train painting, no doubt during my hippy days. But this was my chance to see the original, along with a goodly number of his other works.
While I took issue with the way the curator Andrew Hunter attempted to add peripheral audio-visual materials to the exhibit, I did appreciate the artwork’s accessibility. There was absolutely nothing between you and Coleville’s brushstrokes. This was especially evident with Coyote and Alders. From a distance, the alder thicket is an almost homogeneous backdrop to the coyote’s stealthy form. And yet when viewed from inches away, one can see the painstaking, almost monochromatic detail that Coleville used to paint the bushes.
However, for me, the gem of the exhibit was not a piece of his artwork, but one of his quotes displayed on a supporting graphic panel. It read: “Only by living in a little place for a long time can one build up sort of an extensive body of complex knowledge and understanding of what goes on.”
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