TTHEHE PPARARTICIPTICIPAPERAPER AN INVERNESS COUNTY PERIODICAL John Dan (Smokey) MacNeil of Creignish Volunteer of the Year 2006 Vol 27, No 2 April/May 2006 The Participaper Page 1 FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK The Participaper INVERNESS COUNTY RECREATION, TOURISM, Editor, Graphic Design and Production Marie Aucoin CULTURE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICE PO Box 43, Cheticamp, NS, B0E 1H0 Phone: (902) 224-1759 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION email: [email protected] This year the Municipality received (for subscription requests see below) over 30 nominations from organizations The Participaper is published five times a year by the Inverness County Department of Recreation and Tourism: throughout the County wishing to honour John Cotton, Director. Contributions of information and their hard working volunteers. Congratulations to all! articles, photos and artwork are welcome. We also welcome For more information on the volunteers who received your letters and comments. This publication is a service for the residents of Inverness County. Others may subscribe at awards at this year’s ceremony, see inside this issue. the following rates (postage included): $8.00/yr in Canada or $9:00/yr in the US. Send subscription request, with payment, to the attention of: JUNE IS RECREATION MONTH – Marie Cameron STAY ACTIVE AND HEALTHY YOUR WAY Recreation and Tourism Department PO Box 179, Municipal Building In Nova Scotia, June is proclaimed Recreation Month, Port Hood, NS, B0E 2W0 a celebration in which we recognize and celebrate the Email: [email protected] contributions recreation makes to the quality of life in Copyright 8 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be used or reproduced in any Nova Scotia. manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Publisher. Printed by: The Pictou Advocate Inverness County has boundless sources of recre- Vol 27, No 2 ational opportunities - from school gymnasiums, playgrounds, dance halls, hiking trails, and horseback riding, to ballfields, boardwalks and beaches, to beach- TABLE OF CONTENTS combing, sailing or fishing – it doesn’t matter what Director’s Desk ........................................... Page 2 recreation means to you, the important thing is to get Ancestors Unlimited ................................... Page 3 out, have fun and make the most of life! Be active and Travel in the Early Days .............................. Page 7 healthy, your way, every day! Volunteer biographies and photos .............. Pages 8 - 19 Centre For the Arts Exhibit Schedule ............. Page 19 Trans Canada Trail Update ........................ Page 20 SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAMS “Trail Mix” - Inverness County Trails ............ Page 21 INSTRUCTORS NEEDED! Show Off Students Exhibit .............................. Page 24 Inverness County Recreation/Tourism Department is Old Traditions Made New .............................. Page 25 currently planning summer recreation programs for Tips on Composting ................................. Page 27 Inverness County children/youth and adults. These ECRL ...................................................... Page 28 programs include recreational day camps for children; Seniors’ Games notice .................................... Page 29 morning and evening recreational classes for youth and Crib Championship results .............................. Page 29 Municipal notices ........................................... Page 30 adults; as well as sports clinics and workshops. If you Municipal Contact Information ................. Page 31 are interested in instructing any of these classes, be sure to check out page 30 of this issue for more information. The Participaper is in its twenty-seventh year of publication and is distributed free of charge, as a SENIORS’ GAMES service to residents of the Municipality of Inverness On Saturday June 3, the 2006 Seniors’ Games will County. Non-commercial advertising is accepted for take place at the Inverness Academy in Inverness. The publication at no charge. games are open to all county residents 50 years+. Lots of activities and time to socialize. Registration for the Seniors’ Games is being taken by DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT local Seniors’ clubs throughout Inverness County. See ISSUE OF THE PARTICIPAPER page 29 of this issue for more information on the 2006 Seniors’ Games. IS JUNE 2, 2006 Director’s Desk continues on page 31 Page 2 The Participaper ANCESTORS UNLIMITED HELPING TO FIND YOUR INVERNESS COUNTY ROOTS By Dr. Jim St. Clair For a quarter of a century, this column has been published through the support of the County of Inverness, the encouragement of the staff of the Department of Recreation and Tourism and the assistance of the Editors of The Participaper. May I express my appreciation to all of these people and to those readers who have answered queries, sent in questions and commented on items. Please continue to send contributions and responses and suggestions for future columns. I. LAST WILLS AND TESTAMENT 4. To his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Poigndestre, his REVEAL FAMILIES AND CULTURE. mother, and his brother Philip, all remaining A. In Will Book A in the Inverness County Probate proceeds of real and personal estate “when Records, number l8, the wishes of David Gruchy collected.” of Port Hood are recorded in the presence of The Last Will and Testament of David Gruchy witness: Archibald MacQueen, was probated in August of 1836, so he died between May of 1836, Mathew Hawley and Thomas “Everyone has ancestors and it Perry. The will is dated 28th day is only a question of going back when will was signed, and that of May in 1836. Gruchy was a far enough to find a good one.” date. native of the Channel Islands, a — Howard Kenneth Nixon Gruchy reveals in his will, in the member of a family long settled in amount of his bequests, that he had Guernsey, some of whom came to considerable assets. He also shows Massachusetts in the 1600s. that he was in touch with his Others came to Cape Breton in the late 1700s and relatives in Jersey, and, that he had a social early 1800s. Gruchy was apparently a fish buyer conscience in his gifts to “poor widows” (one of the and seller. very few wills of that time which recognized the He appointed James Bull, Archibald MacQueen needs of those people, in the days before a social and Edward Joseph Perry of Port Hood to be the safety net to take care of those living in poverty). executors of the following bequests: It is interesting to note that he believed he 1. To his wife, Margaret Gruchy, all of the wearing owned his wife’s clothes and could leave them to apparel which she has in her possession, a feather her. He appears to have had no children. bed, two pillows, a pair of sheets on the bed in the Four properties are recorded as having been sold back room, a pair of blankets, a counterpane and after his death by his executors. In contrast to thirty pounds of legal money of Nova Scotia, in many other wills of the time, he makes no mention lieu of her one-third dower rights. She was to pay of leaving his soul to God. Other information all of his debts. about him can be found in the MacKeen Papers at 2. Executors to sell all of his “real estate, premises the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University. and tenements” and to “distribute the proceeds to B. Also recorded in Will Book A, are the wishes of the following:” a. to his sister-in-law of the Island John McIsaac of Low Point, Inverness County. Jersey, Elizabeth Poigndestre a widow, five- This will is dated 6 February 1838 and witnessed hundred pounds of legal money of Nova Scotia. by Archibald Cameron, Donald McDonald and b. to “my dear mother” twenty pounds. Angus McDonald. He appoints his sons John c. to his brother, Philip Gruchy, one hundred McIsaac and Alexander McIsaac to be his sole pounds. and, d. to “poor widows of Port Hood,” executors. The following are the items in his last ten pounds of legal money. will and testament: 3. Executors to buy and set up a tombstone over 1. He leaves his soul to God. his grave - twenty pounds. Continued next page...ANCESTORS The Participaper Page 3 Continued from previous page...ANCESTORS 2. He leaves his body to be buried in the earth write his from which it came. name. He 3. To his wife, Margaret, her “livelihood all the obviously days of her life”, out of the proceeds of his estate, had much and also, one third of the household furniture and trust in his one-half of the dwelling house. two sons, 4. To “well-beloved” son, John McIsaac, the north John and one-half of the farm at Low Point, and, one-half of Alexander, the stock and one-third of the household furniture. to provide 5. To “well-beloved son, Alexander, south one-half for their of the farm, the other one-half of the stock, and, mother and one-third of the household furniture. to divide 6. John and Alexander are to determine on whose the side of the property the dwelling house stands. property The son, on whose side of the property the and the dwelling house stands, will assist the other son to stock construct buildings which are as good as those now equitably. At the turn of the century, pictures on the farm. It was were enlarged from a tintype to make 7. To each of the other children one-shilling generally a "parlour picture" as seen above. sterling - and nothing else: believed that Pictured is the first ordained Presbyte- a. son, Donald McIsaac. b. son, Robert McIsaac. by leaving rian Minister to settle in Cape c. daughter, Margaret McIsaac. d. daughter, Mary the other Breton. Reverend William Millar, McIsaac. children one- the first Minister of the Mabou-Port John McIsaac Senior signed his will with an “x”, shilling, the Hood Presbyterian church, b. Scotland indicating that he was either illiterate or too ill to will could not be 1787. He came to Cape Breton in contested.