Martintown’s homecoming may become an annual event

Nick Seebruch
Martintown’s homecoming may become an annual event
Dale Chisholm pulls along the wagon for the guided tour of Martintown during the Martintown Homecoming on Sunday

MARTINTOWN, Ontario – For the first time in decades, the whole of Martintown was on show to celebrate its heritage.

The Martintown Homecoming was held on Sunday, July 31 and was the first homecoming held in recent memory. Some of the locals in attendance believe that the last time one was held may have been as far back as the 1960s.

The idea for the Martintown Homecoming started with a wagon ride.

“A group of long-time residents got together and first wanted to just do a guided wagon tour,” said Ernie Higginson, the former President of the Martintown Mill Preservation Society. “We wanted to do it the day after the end of the Glengarry Highland Games because we knew how many people come back home for that.”

The tour was pulled along by Dale Chisholm and his tractor while Keith Clingen provided the commentary at all of the sites on the tour.

Higginson thinks that the tour was a hit and would like to see it return next year.

“There were a lot of smiling faces at the end of the tour, so I think they did pretty well,” he said.

What started as a tour, developed into a larger celebration as one major renovation to the Martintown Mill was completed in the week leading up to the Martintown Homecoming.

The Martintown Mill’s new roof has completed, in addition to some outdoor electrical work.

The new roof was installed by Dave Marchand and his team. Marchand specializes with restoring heritage buildings and has done work in Upper Canada Village.

Alongside the events taking place at the Mill, up the road at the Community Centre, even more of Martintown’s local history was being discovered, this time of a more personal nature.

The Community Centre was inviting residents to come in and have their antiques and heirlooms appraised and also to speak with local genealogists to learn more about their family heritage.

The day was capped off with a barbecue at the Grand Hotel with entertainment provided by the James Heath Band.

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