TLSARL Annual Reunion and AGM
by Elizabeth CampbellSeptember is a busy month for the descendants of Selkirk Settlers! The 2012 Bicentennial Committee (not connected to TLSARL, although we have a representative on the committee) will hold its Annual Selkirk Settler Parade on the 12. The keynote speaker will be TLSARL President Bill Matheson, by the way.
Then on the 27th comes the event that we all look forward to: The Lord Selkirk Association of Rupert’s Land Annual Reunion. This year we are also having the annual general meeting in hopes of getting more input from general membership. So,I thought I’d talk a bit about our Annual Reunion/Meeting this week.
I’ve been going to the Annual Reunions for a long time – more than half my life, although I missed a few when my Dad could not be left at home alone anymore. I always looked forward to them as a youngster, for a number of reasons. First, it was a chance for me to come to the big city for a day. Then there was the opportunity to see members of the family I hadn’t seen for a long time. We never knew who would be there until we arrived. I always like eating. And sometimes the talk or entertainment was really interesting (other times it was just interesting).
When I was in University, I went with the Taylors – Mrs. Gladys and her grandson Ken and his then fiancé Monique. As I recall, the event was usually held at a Church on Bannatyne. I remember other venues, too, including some rural community halls, Government House and Lower Fort Garry, where this year’s reunion will be.
One of the talks I remember best was a slideshow/lecture about the steamboats that used to ply the Red. I remember meeting a new relative at one of the Lower Fort Garry reunions. She was the only one other than my mother and I who stood up when John Pritchard’s name was called on the Roll. I remember how nervous I was when I gave my own presentation in 2006.
I know there are lots of others who have been coming year after year, too. So, I’m opening the forum! What reunions were your favourites, and why?
Tags: Annual Reunion, events, Member Memories
September 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
One of the first dinners I attended at St. John’s Presbyterian Church on Bannerman and Charles was the one when the now late Prof. Hubert Mayes made a presentation on Lord Selkirk’s grave site in France. Prof. Mayes had found the grave in disrepair, wrote an article about it in The Beaver, and then worked to have it repaired. Prof. Mayes was one of my French profs at the UW.
Elizabeth, your presentation in 2006 was great! I had no idea you were nervous.