We joined four longstanding comrades for breakfast this morning at the Centennial Restaurant in the Village of Pakenham. The venue was chosen as a mid-way point for us all. We two were first to arrive (having had the least far to drive) and conveniently parked immediately affront the restaurant. The two who organized the get together came from their cottage in Norway Bay. They were the second to materialize and parked further up the road. We greeted them affably as they approached on the sidewalk partially obscured in the early morning shade, one them limping and carrying a stick. The other two from Smiths Falls were the last to appear. They joined us others already seated inside at table. Once assembled we all quickly fell into animated conversation. This was catch up time. We hadn’t rallied for a while.
Turning over of Stewart House at Pakenham to United Church. Sunday took place when Mrs. Elsa Stewart, left, hands Rev. Murray McBride case containing golden key, while he already holds deeds given to properties.
Photo by Peter Greene
Mrs. Elsa H. Stewart Deceased Pakenham, Ontario, Member of the Order of Canada Awarded on June 20, 1983. R. ARTHUR STEWART, C.M. Operators of a model livestock-breeding farm, the Stewarts have been active in many farm organizations, founded university entrance bursaries to the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph for local students, and donated and worked in a United Church retreat house. They have also been major contributors to the restoration and revitalization.
Our confab this morning was infused with the predictable news of the wearying weight of real estate and proposed irresolute ambitions for change. The indelicate subject of hoarding surfaced along with its sequel of storage. Issue also surrounded whether to downsize the house and keep the cottage. The nexus of social and proprietary significance was an inescapable ingredient.
As we two constituted the eldest of the three couples, our perspective was mostly from a knowing and presumptive distance although it amused us as always to dwell upon riparian alternatives with acreage or bungalows or a condominium on the St Lawrence Seaway. Each of us agreed unanimously that Mississippi Mills is an ideal location; and it won’t flabbergast me to learn that the others choose to settle here as well.
In the interest of fulfilling the unwritten mandate of gossip I made a point of interjecting the very latest intelligence (as recent as yesterday) I had by coincidence from and about other historic associates and friends who already have died or are on the fringe of disappearing from remembrance. These sparing moments of conviviality require attention to the theme of tittle-tattle howsoever elevated or mundane their production may be. Time is running out for us all. In my opinion today’s convocation will be of notable import upon later reflection. For the moment however it served to function as an accommodation of what earlier had been an inexplicable corruption of communication (either electronic or telephonic) between the parties. It speaks to the solidarity of our fellowship that we have responsibly survived the diverse obstruction. It also worked to recall a similar instance of camaraderie about 40 years ago in Ogunquit, Maine about which we all concur is a superb location and to which I would happily welcome a fraternal revisitation.
Do you ever watch a movie, set in a small town where people go into a restaurant or pass each other on the street and greet each other? You wish for instant that you lived in a town like that and Almonte is that with the Superior Restaurant and Pakenham is that sort of town with the Centennial. That is what these restaurants should be best known for. It is the place where families gather, where people go after church, where the guys gather before they go hunting. It’s where people greet one another when they walk in the door. For a moment you can feel like you belong and just take in the laid-back friendliness.
The news was peppered with brief accounts of health and travel. And a losing battle with the edge of a bedroom furniture. There was an unanticipated reference to Dymon Storage which uniquely provides Boardroom Rental useful for business meetings for government and large corporate organizations. Not unsurprisingly the conversation lapsed into assessment of the upcoming American election about which all agreed the the outcome is consuming. Moderately heated opinions arose regarding the international fallout of American politics covering not only Canada but Europe and North Africa. And upon our retirement from the restaurant we spoke at length with the owner who recalled the memory of legal representation I had afforded 40 years ago for a family relation who owns the apartment building in which we now reside. And also connected the dots to a lawyer in Ottawa who once formed part of our consortium but who is now estranged from us all.