Glengarry Old Time Fiddlers

2004, Inductee

The Glengarry Old Time Fiddler organization was formed on March 26, 1966 in Maxville. The purpose was to promote and preserve old time fiddle music and its related arts. Ron Clare was the first president and Fred Leroux is the only playing member that has been there since the very beginning.

The Old Time Fiddlers wore blue jackets and Glengarry Highland Games tartan ties or bows.

The organization used to have four dances a year. Often the evening began with a concert, followed by a dance at the Community Hall in Maxville. The bar was in the basement where beer was fifty cents and liquor was eighty-five cents!

In 1991 the group released their first album, 25th Anniversary Tape. It sold out in no time and a second recording, By Request was made in 1995. In 1998 the group released a CD entitled Memories, in memory of the late Beverly MacQueen, Gerald Mackie and Alexander (Sandy) McRae. The latest album, After Forty Years, is a celebration of the group’s 40th anniversary in 2006.

A non-profit organization, the group survived on donations, the proceeds from dances and the sale of tapes and CDs. in the last twenty years alone, they have donated over $40,000 to a variety of groups including the Maxville Manor, After Forty Years Children’s Aid, Baldwin House, the Children’s Treatment Centre, the Apple Hill Medical Clinic, the Dunvegan Museum, fiddle contests and teachers promoting fiddle music. A highlight of the year was their Christmas dinner and dance at which they donated $2000.00 to charities and worthy causes.

In 2011, after 45 wonderful years the group decided to disband. The association has donated its remaining money to Glengarry District High School. A bursary of $200 a year will be given to a graduating student who excels in music, whether by performing in the community, at school functions or participating in the classroom.

A commemorative plaque will be placed in the fiddlers room here at the Hall in recognition of countless hours of volunteering and entertainment.

 

Back row L-R: Yvon Leblanc, Jim Dixon, Dale Miller, Rene Trottier, Murray MacQueen, Donald Besner, Sherrill Trottier, John Eadie, Fred Leroux, Marland Murray, Finlay McDonell, John Paul Vachon. Front row L-R: Albert Seguin, Isobel McDonald, June Raymond, Dorothy Burton, Cecil McDiarmid, Ron Clare.

Glengarry Old Time Fiddlers

Inducted in 2004

Category:   Fiddlers, Performers