Branch Activities - 2010
The St. Andrew’s Ball, held at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, was again a great success. It was a great occasion for us to spend some time with members of Clans Campbell and Sinclair.
Book launching of A Bard of Wolfe’s Army, edited by Earl John Chapman and Ian Macpherson McCulloch. Anecdotes relating events in the life of James Thompson, a Sergeant of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Regiment, who arrived in Quebec in 1759. He was born in Tain, Scotland in 1733 and he died in Quebec City in 1830.
Quebec Celtic Festival - Quebec QC September 10-17 Website: http://festivalceltique.morrin.org
The 5th edition of this event was a great success. For the first time, our committee decided to extend the festival for more than a weekend. Festivities started with Scotch Whisky Tasting on the evening of September 10th in the College Hall of Morrin Centre and it was repeated the following Wednesday. The varied program of the Festival included a parade in Old Quebec, clan and commercial booths, musical presentations of different types and some workshops. During the week, the activities in the pubs were very popular and the final attraction was a concert by the Irish singer Meav who performed before a large audience at the Palais Montcalm concert hall.
The North Lanark Highland Games - Almonte ON August 21 Website: http://www.almontehighlandgames.com/
The Saturday weather was not the most pleasant and we had rain showers in the afternoon. We had a few visitors at the tent including some friends who dropped by to see us. However, we were disappointed with the overall number of people who visited the Avenue of the Clans and also the fact that there were not many clans in attendance.
Almonte is an old but interesting town and we enjoy going there. My grandma Gunn in Scotland was a Fraser; she had a cousin named Alexander Fraser who lived in Almonte and operated a woolen mill there in the mid 1800s before moving to Cobourg, ON. Today, that building is home to an art gallery and a good restaurant that is our favorite place for dinner. Almonte is also the birth place of Dr. James Naismith (1861-1939), the inventor of basketball. The Naismith Foundation operates the Naismith Museum & Hall of Fame in the former Almonte Town Hall. I found this rather intriguing since basketball was my favorite sport for many years (1952-1970) when I was a player, manager and sometimes coach the Quebec YMCA men's basketball team and also coached the lady's team on occasions - great times.On Saturday morning, the weather was fine and we arrived early to prepare for the expected crowds. In addition to the normal setup, we were offering a wee dram of single malt whisky and thereby fulfilling the conditions of the whisky decanter prize that we won in 2008 as the "Die Hard Clan of the Games" (see the 2008 ACTIVITIES section of our website). This turned out to be rather popular and the whisky we served was Old Pulteney (12 years) that is produced in the town of Wick, Caithness where my father went to school.
There were about 40 clans present at Fergus this year. The crowds were large and our tent was a busy place most of the time; and we met several people with Gunn connections. Passports for the children were on the program and it attracted many youngsters and their parents to the tents. We were very pleased to have some members with us at various times during the day they were most helpful. Helene (Wylie) Lukkarinen and her daughter Lisa were there and Helene handled the tent while we participated in the midday parade of the clans and the opening ceremonies. For this activity, our son Ken and Gina joined us, as did new member Ken Fowler and three potential new members. Some good photos can be seen on Alastair McIntyre’s website http://www.electricscotland.com/gatherings/fergus2010.htm .
On Sunday morning, we drove from Guelph to Fergus for the service at the local Presbyterian Church that included a Kirkin' O' the Tartans ceremony and then we returned to the festival grounds for a few hours. There was less activity on the Avenue of the Clans and the weather was less pleasant and, although we got a few showers during the afternoon, we still had a reasonable number of visitors at the tent.
Sunday was another nice day and a pleasant change from the previous two years. The crowds were not huge but a fair number of visitors stopped at our tent. The festival was special for us this year as we were the featured clan in the program. We were asked to submit an article for this occasion; we called it Clan Gunn and it can be viewed in the ARTICLES section.
On the eve of the festival, we attended the Tartan Ball and spent a pleasant time in the company of friends. On the Friday, we played the role of tourists and visited the festival grounds. The next morning we prepared our booth for the arrival of visitors, and they were numerous throughout the day; many of them had a Gunn connection. Maxville attracts about 30 clans, so there is good variety of information for the visitors. The weather was very pleasant for the first time in a couple of years.
It was our first experience at these games and members Ian and Sharon Gunn from Moncton NB joined us. This event is located on the beautiful grounds of historic Government House that is the residence of New Brunswick's Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Graydon Nicholas who is also the Patron of the Highland Games Festival. The Avenue of the Clans is well located near the main entrance to the grounds. There were about 20 clan tents and another seven tents of associations, in addition to commercial booths, so visitors had a variety of attractions. The opening ceremonies on the Saturday included a parade during which the clans were presented to the spectators. The Sunday Church Service included a Kirkin' O' the Tartans ceremony; it was well attended and quite impressive. The crowds were good and many families visited the tents as their children presented Passports to be stamped or signed by clan or association representatives. On the Sunday, there were fewer visitors as the day started with rain, partially cleared before noon, but a late afternoon rainstorm soaked tents and equipment. Overall, our weekend was pleasant. Our thanks to Ian and Sharon for their presence and help.
Quebec City - Burns’ Night January 23rd
As in previous years, our Burns’ dinner was held at the Garrison Club in Old Quebec and was well attended. Under the patronage of the 78th Fraser Highlanders’ Quebec Garrison, commanded by Major Erik Plourde, the evening started with a cocktail hour during which we had the pleasure of welcoming Quebec City Hall representative, Michelle Morin-Doyle. MacKenzie Stairs was our roving piper for this evening and Major Plourde presided over an official ceremony regarding St. Andrew’s Garrison inductions and promotions. I (Ted) had the honor of being promoted from Lieutenant to Captain-Lieutenant and members Marc Lestage & Hamish Williamson were promoted from the rank of Ensign to Lieutenant. Our MC, Ensign Simon Farnell-Morisset, then invited everyone to follow the piper to the dining room for a lovely dinner, complete with haggis. CGSNA members and Garrison officers were featured in the program with Lt Hamish Williamson addressing the haggis while Lt Marc Lestage performed with much gusto the toast to the lassies. Céline Couture, wife of Volunteer Sergeant Pierre Drouin, retorted in a very amusing way, sometimes in English, sometimes in French. Everyone had a great time and this fund-rising activity was profitable.
