Next Event: Port Hood in the 1950’s Slideshow

As part of Chestico Days, the Chestico Museum will present a slideshow that will look back at Port Hood in the 1950’s. The people, places and events of this time period will be featured.

The slideshow will take place on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 7:30 PM at the museum.

Admission is $5/person. Tea and refreshments will be served following the presentation.

PLEASE NOTE: This replaces our Thursday evening ceilidh for this week only.

July 28th, 2011 Ceilidh

The fourth ceilidh of the Chestico Museum’s 2011 summer ceilidh series was held on July 28th.

We were pleased to welcome back Dara Smith-MacDonald who was also part of last week’s ceilidh. This time she brought Adam Young along as her accompanist. They certainly had everyone’s toes tapping!

Nancy Hilton, Andrea Currie and Rose Sylliboy played together as a group. Their rendition of Hey Good Lookin’ had everyone singing along!

It was a wonderful evening of entertainment! You can view photos on our Facebook page.

Next Ceilidh: July 28, 2011

The fourth ceilidh in our 2011 summer ceilidh series will be Thursday, July 28th at 7 PM at the museum.

This week will feature:

Dara Smith-MacDonald – Fiddle

Adam Young – Piano

Andrea Currie – Guitar, Drum & Vocals

Nancy Hilton – Guitar & Vocals

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Tea and light refreshments will be served following the show.

Hope to see you there!

Miners Memorial Weekend Recap

The Miners Memorial weekend that was held in Port Hood from July 21 to July 24, 2011 was a great success!

The weekend kicked off on Thursday evening with a slideshow and ceilidh at the museum. The slideshow, entitled Coal Mine Disasters in Port Hood, was produced by Marina MacIntyre and was greatly enjoyed by all.

Following the slideshow we were treated to an excellent ceilidh. Starting things off were Lynn Chisholm and her Dad, Duncs MacDonald and John R. Fontaine. They performed a selection of mining songs.

Next, we had Port Hood native Mae (Dan Martin) MacDonald who accompanied her friend, Hristiana Iotzova who played the fiddle. Hristiana is formerly from Bulgaria and was trained in the classical violin. She only recently began playing the Cape Breton fiddle and does so like a true Cape Bretoner! Mae and Hristiana perform together as Celtic Wave.

Closing out the ceilidh was Dara Smith-MacDonald who was accompanied by Mae. It certainly was a lineup of excellent talent!

Friday evening Charlie (Lewis) MacDonald spoke of Port Hood coal mining history and everyone met back at the museum for tea.

Saturday afternoon we had the dedication of the Miners Memorial Monument at the Port Hood Day Park. The monument was unveiled by John Archie MacDonald (representing a miner) and Olive Hawley (representing a miner’s wife). Remarks were made by MLA Allan MacMaster and Gordon Gillies. The Men of the Deeps performed three selections and Neil MacInnis was our piper for the event.

After a delicious dinner at St. Peter’s Hall, the Men of the Deeps performed at Strathspey Place. The performance was enthusiasticly received by all in attendance.

Sunday morning was the final part of the weekend with the blessing of the tombstone of the four Bulgarian miners. Again, we had a good crowd in attendance for this long overdue event.

Thank you to all who took part in the weekend – it certainly was a fitting tribute to our mining heritage!

To view photos. please visit our Facebook page here and here.

Next Event: Mining Slideshow & Ceilidh

The Chestico Museum will kick off our Miners Memorial Weekend with a slideshow documenting Port Hood coal mine disasters and a ceilidh. The slideshow will begin at 7:00 pm and the ceilidh will follow.

Our ceilidh performers will be:
Lynn Chisholm & Duncs MacDonald – Guitar & Vocals

Dara Smith MacDonald – Fiddle

Hristiana Iotzova – Fiddle

Mae (Dan Martin) Obladen – Piano

 Hristiana is a native of Bulgaria. She and Port Hood native Mae Obladen perform as Celtic Waves.

We hope to see you at the museum Thursday evening!