It’s official. Crokicurl, this year’s new outdoor carnival activity, was a smash hit. It was Jim Tilker who first suggested trying out the pond ice game, after having seen it on the World Wide Web (as we used to say). And what a brilliant suggestion it was. I’m told that a hardy group of carnival goers kept playing until the sun was setting in the west. The only complaint, albeit minor, I heard was that the game’s name was a bit of a mouthful. And, admittedly, Crokicurl does not trip off the tongue easily. If I may, I’d like to propose a possible replacement: Curlinole, pronounced “curl-en-noh.” It still combines the game’s two roots — curling and crokinole — but is a bit less awkward. However, regardless of what the new game is called, I predict it will return for many Dunvegan winter carnival’s to come.
Carnival sights and sounds
Carnival day in Dunvegan dawned seriously cold. This, in turn, had a definite impact on the fundraising breakfast at the DRA hall, where attendance was down from last year’s record turnout. It also impacted morning crowds at the outdoor activities. Instead of the usual rush around 10:00, folks just trickled in. However, as the temperature climbed around the noon hour, so did attendance… to the point where, for most of the afternoon, the crowds were, if not the equal of previous years, very close. Young and old alike came from as far away as Montreal, Toronto and Cornwall to take advantage of what turned out to be a perfect winter day.
Families with young children tended to head straight for Amber Kilgour’s equine-themed scavenger hunt, featuring a pair of re-homed miniature donkeys called Bruce and Willis. Amber reports that it was kind of hard to keep track of numbers “with the boys wanting to walk around everywhere.” Another hitch was that the kids (and some adults) kept returning to visit with Bruce and Willis. “It often took kids a couple of visits to work up the courage to feed treats to the donkeys,” said Amber, “but, as the day wore on, they became more comfortable around them.” Amber also wanted me to thank Leah Hancharuk for helping supervise the donkey play and Bernie St. Denis of Denburn Farms for transporting the pint-sized hay burners to and from the carnival.
Other groups, laden with skates and assorted sliding aids, headed straight off to the pond area where near-perfect ice, a groomed toboggan hill and Denis Cormier’s roaring bonfire awaited them.
Once they had worked up an appetite (or just needed to warm up), they would head to our kitchen for a hot mug of coffee or cocoa, a bowl or two of beef and veggie soup and some fluffy butter rolls. Terry tells me that, up until around 1:00, attendance was so low she worried that we’d be floating in a sea of leftover soup. Then the hordes descended and, by the end of the day, there was just enough left to feed the last guest of the day, Robert Campbell.
On their journey between the outdoor events and the house, the vast majority of families took time to hop aboard Dan Lacombe’s horse-drawn rig and take an old-fashioned sleigh ride across the fields and through the backwoods. Once again this winter, Dan’s friend, Korry Kyer from Headline Road, assisted him. And, as an added bonus, Kory brought along his father, Eugene.
For over twenty years, Eugene has worked as a cheese maker at Upper Canada Village. Eugene followed in the footsteps of his uncle, renowned cheesemaker Wilburn Kyer… the man who, after he retired, built the replica cheese factory that was later sold to the Dunvegan museum. Even though only a scale model, the tiny factory once had a capacity of 500 pounds of milk and was still used for cheesemaking demonstrations as late as the 1980s. Of course, since then the provincial government has shut down the popular exhibition because it posed a serious health hazard on a par with the Black Death. Although, I suspect the real reason it was shuttered is that people were having too much fun.
Before moving on, I wanted to share my favourite Carnival 2018 moment. It was in the still of the warm afternoon sun, while I waited for new visitors to arrive and the sleigh to return. There, for a few magic seconds, I had the stereophonic joy of listening to Steve “Spider” Merritt’s banjo concert from way back at the pond in my right ear and melodious sleigh bells heralding the approaching sleigh in my left.
Thank-you notes
Even a small, one-day winter carnival like ours takes a tremendous amount of volunteer effort to pull off. I would like to take a moment to thank all the generous friends and neighbours who gave so freely of their time to make the event possible.
Breakfast organizers Vivian Franklin and Kim Raymond wanted to thank their long-serving cooks: Bob Linney, Greg Byers and Dennis Ranger. They were joined in the kitchen by sous-chef, Louise Quenneville, who also helped to set up the breakfast earlier in the week. As well, Viv and Kim wanted to acknowledge the volunteers who pre-cooked bacon and supplied delicious baked goods: Laurie Maus, Heather McIntosh, Marlie Tilker, Lynn MacGillivray, Amber Kilgour, Eileen Franklin, Isabelle Campbell, Anne Bertrand-Forrester, Sandra MacPherson and Erica Burgess. Last, but not least, they wanted to recognize the serving/cleanup crew: Innis Kippen, Caleb Raymond and brothers A.J. and Braeden Hay.
Activities at 19314 County Road 24 require expressions of gratitude to the many who pitched in, including: First Nation reenactor, Carole Pagé for demonstrating the native way of life in 18th and 19th centuries; Jim Tilker, Bob Garner, Ben Williams and Jim Tilker for creating the Curlinole playing surface; Caleb Raymond for helping Ben flood the ice; Kenny MacLeod for grooming the sleigh trails and providing transportation logistics using his new Gator-style ATV; and Norm MacLennan for deicing the parking lot and road back to the old house.
Moving indoors, Terry asked me to give a tip of the hat to Heather Bentley, Flip Flockton, Laurie Maus, Leina and Jean Williams, Alyson Graham, Vivian Franklin and Linda Burgess (who also brought tons of delicious cookies which were enjoyed by all). Terry couldn’t have managed without their kind assistance.
An Ecclesiastical “Nope”
North Glengarry Councilor Carma Williams posed a question in a Glengarry News article a few weeks ago about the old log cabin church in St. Elmo. While discussing the fate of the 180-year-old structure, she wondered out loud if the Glengarry Pioneer Museum “has the resources to take on another building.” I have no idea what GPM insiders have to say about this proposal, but my response is a resounding “no.”
Even if it is willing to adopt another structure, the museum doesn’t need another log one. And if it does want to acquire a church (for which I think a business case can be made), my understanding is that the GPM has already made an informal commitment to relocate the Roxborough Baptist Church in Tayside, if it can.
Assuming the Glengarry Historical Society really wants to save the building (which I fully support), I suggest it partners with North Glengarry to move it to Maxville. The Centennial Park at the north end of the village could be one option as its new home. Two other potential sites would be the Maxville Fairgrounds or the King George Park. As for the Dunvegan museum, I thought the Big Beaver School (and its frame and clapboard construction) was such a breath of fresh air; I’d love to see another non-log structure grace the Dunvegan museum grounds.
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