Manotick Saturday Night
An RTHS event held at the Legion’s Harmony Hall – October, 2009. Event report by Lucy Martin.
At the risk of sounding immodest, that went well!
Starting with a suggestion from the irrepressible Katherine Killins, RTHS members pulled off a fine little community party on October 3rd, to mark Manotick’s 150th in an oldfashioned, folksy, family way.
Starting something new from scratch did require a number of meetings and several months of planning. But kudos all around for a job well done. One of the project’s real pleasures was the easy, cooperative spirit everyone brought to the effort.
As a matter of fact, the whole thing proceeded a little like the old folk tale about stone soup. It’s a busy world and many are hard-pressed for time. In this case, everyone who stepped forward had some talent, item or energy they felt willing to contribute, until the collaborative whole quickly exceeded the sum of the parts.
For those who missed it, what was the party like? The Legion’s Harmony Hall was handsomely decorated to evoke the harvest season. Over eighty attended, wearing a wide and impressive array of period costumes, including some vintage originals, such as the 103 year-old wedding suit worn by Richard de St. Croix’s father. The Legion’s crack Anne Padgham catered a simple, but satisfying spread of sandwiches made on Watson’s Mill bread, along with veggies, pickles, beverages and apple or pumpkin pie. (Accompanied by fresh whipped cream or good cheddar cheese, naturally.)
Greely’s Mel and Eleanor McDougal rounded up fellow musicians from the Rideau and Osgoode area. They cheerfully played all night and bravely attempted to teach us some square dancing. (Note to self: learn some basic dance steps besides the rock & roll flailing about that passed for dance in my youth.)
If chatting or dancing did not suffice, lovely old crokinole and checker boards were also available for entertainment.
As demanded by party-goers, President Mark Jodoin’s address was fulsome, yet brief. Jodoin was ushered in by piper Scott Cameron and his sister Margaret a new student on drums. Though still in high school, Scott is a fine piper with quite a lot of experience. I was astonished to learn Margaret was giving her first public performance, which she did with great style. Clearly, poise and musical talent run in the family.
Katherine’s niece Rachel provided photographic talent with posed portraits and casual shots. These will be presented as part of the October meeting “What They Wore”.
It’s possible people were just being polite, but the most repeated comment as smiling party-goers departed was, “That was fun!”. Also heard over and over again were variations on two thoughts: “Those musicians were great” and “We should do this again”.
It remains to be seen if that happens, but our heartfelt thanks go out to all who made the night both happy and memorable.
