Maxville Messenger, by The Review - April 6, 2016

CELEBRATING THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE IN JUNE
MaxvilleMusicFest.ca
May 6 8
MAXVILLE MUSIC FEST
THE MAXVILLE MESSENGER
VOLUME 1MAXVILLE, ONTARIO
APRIL 6, 2016 NUMBER 1
Maxville will celebrate past, present and future in June
PLANNING FOR MAXVILLE’S 125 anniversary is well underway, says Carma Williams,
chair of the celebration committee. “It’s a very
involved community with a great deal of volunteerism,” she says. “It is a celebration by the
community for the community.”
The celebration will begin on Saturday, June
11, with the Maxville and District Chamber of
Commerce’s Village Sidewalk Sale at 8 a.m., followed by a “Past, Present, Future” parade. The
day will culminate with a variety of activities at
the fairgrounds, including old fashioned games,
musical entertainers, a pig roast, a fireworks display, and more.
The parade will highlight not only Maxville’s past, but its future as well, says Williams.
“We all know Maxville has a rich history,” she
says. “In a small community in rural Ontario,
you need to celebrate the future. You need to
plan for the future.”
That said, Maxville’s rich Celtic history will
be a big part of the celebrations. The village
was a hub for Scottish settlers – “Maxville” was
originally spelled “Macville”, says Williams.
The committee has organized a caber decorat-
ing contest, in which individuals and groups
are invited to pick up a four-foot caber from
Maxville Home Hardware and decorate it,
keeping Maxville’s “Past, Present, Future” in
mind. Entries are due by June 6 at the Metcalfe Centre and prizes will be awarded for both
individuals and groups. There will also be a
mini-caber race on June 11. Mini-cabers for
the race, which will be similar to a duck race,
will be sold for $5 at various locations in Maxville: Country Girls Café, Debbie’s Country
Corner, Kilted Canuck, Maxville Home Hardware, Maxville MacEwen Gas Station, and
Waikato Pizza. The winner of the race will win
half of the proceeds. The mini-cabers will be
engraved with Maxville’s 125 anniversary logo,
and will be a kind of keepsake, says Williams.
The celebrations are sponsored by the Township of North Glengarry, MacEwen and various
community members and organizations. The
aim is to provide “entertainment and enjoyment
for everybody in the community,” says Williams
– many of the events will offer free admission,
shirts and hats will be sold at cost, and dinner
will cost $10 per plate.
Some of the members of the Maxville 125 Committee (above) include Elaine Shields, Loretta
Landmesser, Carma Williams, Kelly Zollinger, Jeff Manley, Ann Stewart and Lois MacLeod. In
front are Ben Rozon, Jamie MacDonald and Olga Ferrier. The group is seen at the recent unveiling
of the Maxville 125 logo. The logo, created by Dunvegan resident James Joyce, uses a St. Andrew’s
flag to represent the Scottish roots of Maxville’s settlers. To join in the anticipation of celebrations,
visit “Maxville125” on Facebook. FACEBOOK PHOTO
SHOP LOCAL IN MAXVILLE . . . A THRIVING AND CARING COMMUNITY!
Celtic Treasures
MUIR’S BAKERY
Ron & Cheryl Latimer
Steve Rolland
613-551-0940
Haggis - Scottish Meat Pies - Sausage Rolls
Scones - Birthday Cakes - Empire Biscuits
rollandsplumbing@gmail.com
Chris Rolland
613-551-0390
6 Main Street South
Tel.: 613-527-1806
Maxville, Ontario
Toll Free: 1-888-869-4999
K0C 1T0
Email: muirsbakery@xplornet.com
rollandplumbing@hotmail.com
8 Main Street, Maxville, On 613 527 1555
Tartan By The Yard
Sweaters, Jewellery & Gifts
Dancers’ & Pipers’ Supplies, etc.
Made-to-Measure Kilts and Skirts
Rent-A-Kilt Service
Maxville
In celebration of
Veterinary
Maxville’s
125th Anniversary
Clinic
SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE
MACEWEN AGRICENTRE INC.
Dr. Ingrid Bill DVM • Dr. Erin Rumke DVM
www.maxvillevet.ca
T: (613) 527 1444
2477 County Rd. 20,
1 (888) 927 1444
P.O. Box 9
F: (613) 527 1333
Maxville, Ontario K0C 1T0
P.O. Box 580
40 Catherine Street West
Maxville, ON K0C 1T0
Tel.: (613) 527-2175
Tel.: (800) 267-2430
TOWNSHIP OF
NORTH GLENGARRY
CANTON DE
GLENGARRY NORD
we invite everyone to share in
the many wonderful events,
activities and memories.
www.northglengarry.ca
Come celebrate with us!
SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2016
At the Maxville Fairgrounds
Parade, Games, Community Pig Roast, Musical Entertainment,
Caber Decorating Contest, Mini Caber Race, Fireworks, Musical Entertainment
For more details: Facebook……Maxville125 or www.northglengarry.ca (follow “Things to do”)
Maxville
MusicFest
Saturday, May 7
May 6 8
CLASSICAL/FOLK
MCM MUSICAL SHOWCASE
MaxvilleMusicFest.ca
Saturday, May 7
CELTIC -
THE BRIGADOONS
Friday, May 6
10
$
Sunday, May 8
BLUEGRASS - GOSPEL UNION DUKE
12
$
Individu
al
5+ ticket
s
At the do $
or... 15
EAST HAWKESBURY GOSPEL
The Maxville Messenger is brought to you by The Review, 76 Main St. E., Vankleek Hill, Ontario
Tickets at Scotiabank in
Maxville, Alexandria or
Cornwall... Maxville
Home Hardware... and
The Review in Vankleek Hill.
Highland Dancing, Piping & Drumming, Fiddling, Heavyweight Events, One of Canada’s Largest
Highland Games and
Massed Pipe Bands, Games Tattoo, Tug of War, Concerts
Home of the North American
The Best In Celtic Entertainment!
Pipe Band Championships™
Syrup producers striving to keep up with busy season
NOT ONLY IS Glengarry County experiencing one of the best maple syrup seasons in
years, but so is Maxville’s Joe McDonell who’s
been tapping trees, gathering and boiling sap
every spring for as long as he can remember.
The 84-year-old explains this is one of the
best seasons he’s ever seen, adding that he’s just
so happy to be part of another syrup cycle.
McDonell spent over a week in the hospital
battling pneumonia this past winter and the day
after he returned to his country home, his wife
Colleen, who’s been confined to a wheelchair for
many years was rushed by ambulance to the hospital due to a knee concern.
“I really felt rejuvenated when we started
tapping,” says McDonell, who’s pleased that
both he and his wife are now home and relatively healthy.
He adds another log to the evaporator fire:
“After all of this, I knew I just wanted to be back
doing what I love. I couldn’t wait for the sap to
start running.”
And run it did.
“And it’s still running,” says Garry Howes
who taps 200 trees west of Fassifern where Mc-
Donell worked the evaporator this year.
“It’s surprising all of us,” says Howes of many
of the producers in Glengarry. “At the beginning
of March, we weren’t sure it was even worth tapping because of the warm weather.”
But Howes did and he enlisted McDonell
who was thrilled to be back in the run.
Eastern Ontario is seeing an incredible year,
not just in syrup quantity but in quality: “The
syrup seemed a bit dark in the beginning and
there were moths in the buckets,” Howes states,
explaining that the temperature is too warm for
quality sap when moths are found floating in the
sap pails.
“That’s never a good sign. But the weather
changed, the nights got very cold and the days
were warm. The sap started and never stopped.”
Rose Huxted of Havencrest Farm near Dalhousie says they can’t keep up. “We tap as late as
we can so we don’t affect the trees. We weren’t
sure about this season, but now we’ve had to stop
collecting even though it’s still running. We’re
out of manpower, out of room, out of steam.”
Huxted’s not alone. Many other producers
in the area are running out of wood and help in
the bush.
Brian Lawless, who worked at Upper Canada
Village for many years, went out and purchased
buckets twice the size, moving up to two-litre
containers partway through the season.
Others north of Vankleek Hill had to quit
because they ran out of storage capacity.
“It’s a great problem to have,” says McDonell, who’s seen the sap-collecting process go
from the horse and wagon days to tractors and
pipelines.
“And the conditions were near perfect because there was next to no snow in the bush. It
was easy to get from tree to tree and gather sap.”
Howes agrees it was easier on gatherers who
didn’t have to snowshoe and easier on those using horse and wagon like Joe remembers.
“I’m happy to be here and doing it, but now
I’m tired,” he says leaning against the sugar shack
wall. He takes another sip of the magic elixir that
he believes helps keep him going.
“I’ll be glad to be back next year, but right
now we need a break.”
– BY LYNN MACNAB
The Maxville Messenger
SOMETHING OLD AND something new. The “Maxville Messenger” that you hold in your
hand began as a conversation about getting the word out to everyone in Maxville about the fun
Music Festival that takes place in town every May. That conversation grew to include Maxville’s
125th anniversary and other community information. The idea of publishing a special news sheet
just for Maxville residents, emerged. We decided to call it the Maxville Messenger, borrowing the
name of a newspaper published long ago right here in Maxville. (Thanks to James Joyce for this
suggestion.) And so: something old and something new. Watch for the Maxville Messenger inside
a free copy of The Review in your mailbox during the month of April.
Please visit and support the community-minded businesses who made this project possible.
We have lots more stories coming your way in April, but in the meantime, if you have news
that you would like to share with your neighbours, email your stories, pictures or ideas to Review
publisher Louise Sproule at lsproule@thereview.ca. See you on Main Street!
Joe McDonell is seen here at work during the maple sap boiling season.
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