Celtic Colours 2014 Storytelling

StorytellingIn conjunction with Celtic Colours , the Chestico Museum will host a Storytelling Session on Tuesday, October 14th from 2:00 until 3:30 PM. This afternoon of stories and tea, will feature local tales of family life in Port Hood as well as interesting characters from the past and events of note.

Among our storytellers will be Anne Beaton who will share memories of Dick & Flora Anderson, Hughie John Beaton will entertain with songs and stories and George Goodall will have tales of Colindale. Admission is $10 and tea and oatcakes will be served.

Prior to our Storytelling, you can begin your day with a Chestico Breakfast at St. Peter’s Parish Hall. A full breakfast with choice of beverage is available between 8:00 and 10:00 AM at a cost of $8.

Beginning at 11:00 AM, you can purchase a delicious soup and sandwich lunch for just $7 at St. Stephen’s Church Hall. After lunch you can browse their sale of assorted local crafts.

A roast beef supper is available that evening at St. Peter’s Parish Hall beginning at 4:30 PM. The meal is sponsored by the Port Hood Knights of Columbus. The cost is $15 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under.

We look forward to seeing you this year during Celtic Colours!

September 2014 Slideshow Series

SlideshowthThis September, the Chestico Museum will present a series of narrated slideshows on Thursday evenings beginning at 7 PM. These slideshows are encore presentations as we have had requests to repeat them.

Our schedule is as follows:
Thursday, September 4th at 7 PM :
Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1940s

Thursday, September 11th at 7 PM:
Father Donald MacPherson: The Man, The Soldier, The Priest

Thursday, September 18th at 7 PM:
Lofty MacMillan AND Chestico Stone Builds Fortress Louisbourg

Thursday, September 25th at 7 PM:
The 4-H Movement in Port Hood

The first presentation in our September Slideshow Series, Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1940s, is an examination of life in Port Hood in the 1940s. A few of the topics covered are how WWII affected Port Hood, schools and businesses of the era, the Town Fire of 1942, the Upper South West Fire, the Little Judique train derailment, the wreck of the Sorel and the operation of Hardy’s mill in Dungarry. Running time is 77 minutes.

The second presentation, Father Donald MacPherson: The Man, The Soldier, The Priest, is a look at the life and times of Father Donald MacPherson. The story begins with his birth in Boisdale parish, follows through his youth in Sydney Mines, his years at St. F.X. and the Grand Seminary in Quebec, his first pastorate in Glendale parish, his time as army chaplain during WWI and his many years as parish priest in Port Hood. Running time is 88 minutes.

The third presentation, is a double feature. Lofty MacMillan focuses on the involvement of Port Hood native John Francis “Lofty” MacMillan in the Canadian labour movement. Running time is 20 minutes.

Chestico Stone Builds Fortress Louisbourg is an overview of how the French quarried stone in Port Hood to build Fortress Louisbourg. Running time is 27 minutes.

The fourth presentation, The 4-H Movement in Port Hood, was completed by 2013 Chestico Museum summer student Emily MacNeil. 2013 was the 100th anniversary of 4-H in Canada and this video looks at the Port Hood Island View 4-H club. It includes interviews with Doris Carver, Clare Gillies, John Gillies, Lorna Poirier, Jack Redden and Joanne Schmidt. Running time is 67 minutes.

Admission for the slideshows is $5 and refreshments will be served.

We hope to see you at the museum this September!

 

August 28, 2014 Ceilidh & Book Launch

Ron Caplan introduces his book.

Ron Caplan introduces his book.

The final ceilidh of the Chestico Museum’s 2014 summer ceilidh series was held on Thursday, August 28, 2014. The evening was extra special because we also had Ron Caplan of Breton Books on hand for the launch of his latest publication Cape Bretoners in World War One: In Their Own Words.

Stuart Cameron was our fiddler for the evening and he was accompanied on piano by Cathy Hawley. Lots of wonderful tunes!

Lauchie Beaton brought along his guitar and treated us to a number of songs including Kilkenny Ireland and An Old Log Cabin for Sale – lots of people were singing along on that one!

KC Beaton was with us and performed a selection of beautiful Gaelic songs and KC’s daughter Siobhan was on hand to step dance. Certainly a lot of talent in the family!

As we moved into the book launch portion of the evening, Cathy Hawley accompanied Cathy Gillies and Phyllis MacDonald as they sang a number of songs that were popular during WWI. The ladies were dressed in period costume and performed beautifully.

John Gillies introduced Ron Caplan and Ron spoke very movingly about the stories that he had included in the book. As John Gillies pointed out, the stories are not told by Ron Caplan – they are told in the words of the men and women who went overseas and experienced the horrors of war first hand. Ron was available for questions while people had their tea and many took the opportunity to have their copy of Cape Bretoners in World War One: In Their Own Words signed by him.

And so we ended another year of Chestico Museum ceilidhs. This year, our ceilidhs were organized by Clayton MacDonell who was one of our summer students. Anne Beaton, President of the Chestico Historical Society, took the opportunity at the ceilidh to thank Clayton for all his hard work.

And thank you as well to everyone who so generously gave of their time to perform at our ceilidhs, to all who baked for our ceilidh teas and to everyone who came out to support us on Thursday evenings this summer. We hope to see you all again next year!

As always, photos of our can be found on our Facebook page.

Final Ceilidh & Book Launch: August 28, 2014

Aug 28thThe final ceilidh in our 2014 summer ceilidh series will be Thursday, August 28th at 7 PM at the museum.

This week we will feature:

Stuart Cameron – Fiddle

Allan Cameron – Piano

KC Beaton – Vocals

Siobhan Beaton – Step Dance

Cathy Gillies, Phyllis MacDonald & Cathy Hawley – Songs of WWI

The evening will also feature an appearance by Ron Caplan who will launch the latest publication of Breton Books – Cape Bretoners in World War One: In Their Own Words. The book features rare interviews with survivors of World War One as well as diary entries, letters and news accounts of Cape Breton’s participation in the conflict.

Among the veterans of local interest included in the book are Thomas Langley – Port Hawkesbury, Gwen LeFort – Cheticamp, Hilda MacDonald – Glendyer, Angus J. MacDonell – Port Hood, John Angus MacNeil – Inverness, Father Donald MacPherson – parish priest in Port Hood from 1919 until 1957, Dan E. MacQuarrie – Middle River, James Murphy – Margaree and Perley Smith – Port Hood Island.

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

Hope to see you there!

August 21, 2014 Ceilidh

10516766_761965290508241_1923335245903604309_nThe 7th ceilidh of the Chestico Museum’s 2014 summer ceilidh series was held on August 21st. The evening was dedicated to the memory of renowned Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster who passed away on August 20th.

Dara (Smith) MacDonald was our fiddler. She reflected on how she had played once with Buddy and it was at the Chestico Museum. She felt it was fitting that she return to play in his memory.

Dara was accompanied on guitar by Marcellin Chiasson. Marcellin also performed a very amusing song “Tessie’s Wedding Gown” that was very well received!

We were pleased to have Hughie John Beaton back with us for a second ceilidh this summer. Hughie John had the crowd singing along to such favourites as “Out on the Mira”, “A Daisy a Day” and “I’ll tell My Ma”.

You can view some photos of the evening on our Facebook page.

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