Darts 4 Hearts at Iroquois Legion

Serving members of the SD&G Highlanders stopped off in Morrisburg November 5 to see the new South Dundas Community Playground named in their honour by the Playground committee in September. On hand to greet the soldiers and to share something about the construction of the Playground were committee members Rosemary Laurin and Mike Domanko. The Glens had also spent some time at the memorial honouring the Battles of Crysler’s Farm and Hoople Creek with former honorary colonel, Bill Shearing. “You have a beautiful park here,” said Lieutenant Alain Grenier. “We wanted to learn more about our regiment’s history as part of our professional development. It is important to stay in tune with our past.” “I hope these visitors spread the message about what a group from South Dundas can do and how they honoured the Highlanders,” said Shearing. Left to right, at the Playground, are Shearing, 2nd Lieutenant Matthew Eamer, Captain Jean Tessier, Major Jim Mills, padre Captain Andrea Harrison, Lieutenant Grenier and Rosemany Laurin. 

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UPPER CANADA VILLAGE – The Friends of the Crysler’s Farm Battlefield, a group of volunteers dedicated to preserving the memory of this important military action, invites the public to a bicentenary remembrance service on November 11 at the battlefield memorial adjacent to Upper Canada Village. 

Residents from throughout the district are invited to attend  and are asked to assemble at 12:30 p.m. at the Battlefield Memorial adjacent to Upper Canada Village.

Taking part in the ceremony will two Canadian Forces reserve units, the SD&G Highlanders, along with their regimental pipeband, and les Voltigeurs de Québec – both of which received battle honours earlier this year for their ancestral units’ role in turning back the American invasion of 1813.

Also to part of the commemoration are the The Canadian Fencibles, 49th Regiment of Foot and the 1st Grenville Militia – re-creations of regiments that fought at Crysler’s Farm and First Nations representatives, to commemorate the participation of these allies of the Crown.

Long before the eleventh of November became an international day of remembrance, it was a sombre anniversary for those in Eastern Ontario – and indeed Canada. 

On that day in 1813, British and Canadian forces numbering 1,200 defeated an invading American force of some 4,000 men on the muddy fields adjacent to John Crysler’s farm, near present day Morrisburg.

If we had not won at Crysler’s Farm, Canada would not be the country we have come to know.

Combined with a British victory at the Battle of Chateauguay two weeks earlier, Crysler’s Farm put an end to the campaign to attack Montreal by the largest concentration of American forces prior to the U.S. Civil War. 

It was by far the most important event locally in a war that eventually ushered in an era of peace that has lasted for 200 years.

The Friends of Crysler’s Farm Battlefield will bus hundreds of grade 7 and 8 students (The War of 1812 is part of the Ontario Grade 7 history curriculum) from across Stormont and Dundas Counties to attend the service and a special presentation by Major General Lewis MacKenzie (ret) to immediately precede the remembrance service. 

Major General MacKenzie will present to local students using Crysler’s Farm as the starting point for his presentation entitled “Beware of the underdog”, focusing on flexibility, stealth and the motivation provided by defending one’s homeland, and then moving on to other Canadian examples where we were the underdog –but prevailed. 

These include Vimy Ridge in World War I, the Italian Campaign in WWII, Kapyong in Korea, the Medak Pocket in the Balkans and Madussa in Afghanistan. 

Major General MacKenzie is best known for commanding Sector Sarajevo in 1992, as part of the United Nations Protection Force  (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia . He is also well known as a media commentator on military affairs.

The public is invited to Major General Mackenzie’s presentation as well as the subsequent memorial service. Visitors are asked to assemble at 12:30 PM.

The presentation and memorial service are made possible through support from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage.

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Local Branches from Chesterville, Finch, Ingleside, Newington, Williamsburg, Winchester and Riverside Heights enjoyed the theme Aloha, “From Hawaii” at the Stormont-Dundas Women’s Institute’s District Annual Meeting at the Allan Hall in Morrisburg on May 23. 

Guests were present from Prescott, Prescott County and Glengarry.

Florence Hoople and Betty Wheeler were presented with Life Memberships for their dedication and work with the Women’s Institute and Elaine Hutchinson received the Women of Excellence Fair Award for the years of work at Stormont County Fair and in the community.

Elaine is the mother of seven children, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She helps raise money for her church and attends all WI meetings. 

When the Forbes library in Newington, was closed, Cathy Cloutier,  Alin Dingwall and Elaine  petitioned the then Osnabruck Council to use the building for community activities. 

Later an anonymous donor gave $20,000 to have the building moved to The Lost Village site. 

Elaine is on the executive of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Retired Teachers of Ontario, District 25 and previous to her retirement she had been on the executive of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Womens’ Teachers Federation. 

She was also on the Steering Committee of the Early Childhood Learning Centres.

Back in 1981, while teaching at Newington Public School,  Elaine was approached by Reta Raymond who had drawn up the first prize list for school children to enter their work in Stormont County Fair, under the supervision of the area school teachers. 

Shirley Aitken and Elaine with this initial help from Reta started the first Educational Department at the fair. Shirley helped until she retired a few years later, but Elaine continued for several years.

Elaine has been Vice President of Stormont County Fair, member of the Photographic committee and in 1992 she created the first Donor Appreciation Display to show the prizes donated by area businesses, and the lists of sponsors to the fair.

After greetings from South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds, the Chesterville Branch conducted the Memorial Service in memory of seven highly esteemed  members: Margaret Casselman and Betty Forward from the Chesterville Branch: Eileen Gallinger and Muriel Kenward from the Riverside Heights Branch; Iva Eamer Wylie and Louise Tait from the Newington Branch and Joyce Patterson from the  Williamsburg Branch.  

In the afternoon Jim MCDonell brought greetings from Toronto.

The guest speaker W. Shearing of Morrisburg enlightened the group about the local plans to celebrate the War of 1812. 

New signs are coming for the roadways along the St. Lawrence River to indicate where encounters with the Americans took place. 

The area has its own local hero, John Locke, who risked his life to inform the British that an attack was coming. Locke avoided detection by climbing a tree until the troops had passed.  

Florence Hoople and Ruth (Hoople) Szini dressed in 1812 attire to show their part in the Battle of Hoople Creek video created by teacher Wes Gosling at Rothwell-Osnabruck with students Nolan Thompson, Zach Murphy and Jessica Wilson. 

The report is that in 1812 the Americans crossed the border at Hoople Creek to move on to Montreal and capture Canada. Our Canadian militia were outnumbered, but the delay meant that the British supplies were saved. 

After the battle Elinor Hoople found a serverely wounded soldier near her cabin. The children fetched Mary Hoople who tended him but he died the following day. The Americans retreated back across the border the following day. 

The meeting closed with Lynn Gilmour inviting everyone to District Annual to be held in Williamsburg next year.

Photos & story contributed

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