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!

 

July 14th, 2011 Ceilidh

The second ceilidh of the Chestico Museum’s 2011 summer ceilidh series was held on July 14th. We were excited to have Kinnon and Betty Lou as our fiddler and piano player. They were certainly enjoyed by all!

Stanley MacNeil played the harmonica and was accompanied by Bill MacDonald on guitar. Stanley also showed off his step dancing ability, walzed with Marie  Aucoin and he and Bill had us all in stitches with their comedy routine!

Marie Aucoin, accompanied by Bill, treated us to some Irish and Cape Breton songs and Hughie, who accompanied himself on guitar, also impressed with his fine voice.

With such a strong group of talent, our ceilidh ran a bit long – but no one minded a bit!

Our Facebook page has an album of photos from the evening. You can view them here.

There is also a video.

Next Ceilidh: July 14, 2011

The second ceilidh in our 2011 summer ceilidh series will be Thursday, July 14th at 7 PM at the museum.

This week will feature:

Kinnon & Betty Lou Beaton – Fiddle and Piano

Marie Aucoin – Vocals

Bill MacDonald – Guitar

Stanley MacNeil – Harmonica

Hughie MacDonald – 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!

July 7th, 2011 Ceilidh

The Chestico Museum’s 2011 summer ceilidh series kicked off on July 7th! We had a great line up of talent with Wendy MacIsaac on fiddle, accompanied by Cathy Hawley on piano, Hughie John Beaton on guitar and vocals and KC Beaton performed some Gaelic songs while her daughter Siobhan step danced to some of Wendy’s tunes.

We had the largest crowd we have ever had for a first ceilidh and everyone certainly seemed to have enjoyed themselves. We even had a group treat us to some impromptu highland dancing! Our season is certainly off to a wonderful start!

Our Facebook page has an album of photos from last night. Check it out here.

There is also a short video clip.