Being back in my Island home i.e. the cottage in Prince
Edward Island for the long summer (four + months), I find the differences as
well as the similarities on our home in Ontario and our home here to be very
engaging.
I don’t remember being asked to do an assignment of compare
and contrast when I was in school and I am not going to do a formal one now. That being said, the differences and similarities
between the two parts of Canada were highlighted last week. On last Thursday (June 6th) we went to the
legion in near-by Montague to attend the commemoration of the 75th anniversary
of D Day held at the local branch of the Legion. If I had been in Parkhill, our other home, I would
have attended the ceremony that was held at that Legion. I am still the semi-official chaplain of that
Legion having resigned when I retired from parish ministry. However, that resignation did not seem to take
as I am still called on for Remembrance Day ceremonies and other official functions.
I felt very much at home in the Montague Legion. The ceremony at the Montague Legion Branch 8
was well executed and, I’m sure, would have been very similar to the ceremony at
Branch 341 in Parkhill. There were prayers
by the United Church minister and the Roman Catholic priest which were very appropriate
to the occasion. I do not have a copy of
the prayers said on that occasion. However,
they were very much in line with Legions prayers that I would have used. Here is the Legion Prayer of Remembrance:
O God our Father, we thank you for those valiant
hearts, who at the call of Sovereign and country laid down their lives in the
cause of freedom. We pray that we may uphold the torch entrusted to us so that
their sacrifice may not have been in vain. Unite all the peace-loving peoples
of our world in one holy purpose to defend the principles of freedom and
brotherhood for which these valiant hearts lived and died. Let there be peace
on earth, and let it begin with me. In the name of the great Prince of peace we
pray. Amen.
There were speeches by local officials including the newly
elected Premier of P.E.I. Dennis King. Cadets
were present to escort people laying the wreaths from various organizations. The names on the honour role of residents who
made the supreme sacrifice on that day were read ending with the call to remembrance
for the fallen, “They shall grow not
old, as we that are left grow
old: Age shall not
weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
We will remember them.” The
response of “We will remember them.” was loud and clear. A light luncheon was held after the ceremony.
So much for similarities.
The differences between our two homes came into focus at the luncheon
following the ceremony. Lorna noticed
that Premier King was in conversation with people and decided to talk to him
about the former Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. The Premier did not have any of the entourage
or trappings that would accompany someone in that position in Ontario – just on
his own engaging the people around him.
Lorna engaged him and made a pitch to save the former Holy Trinity Church
in Montague which was deconsecrated some years ago and the building is in
danger of being torn down as it has become more and more decrepit over the years.
The building had been taken over by the province
for unpaid taxed but had been neglected since that time. It has been declared derelict by the local municipality
and it was estimated that the cost to demolish it is $600,000.
The former church (pictured below from better times) is/was
a wonderful example of a wooden Gothic church.
I’m not sure if it is one of a kind but it is a building of historic
significance being built in 1842. Former
parishioners who now meet in a local non-church facility are heartbroken, as
our Lorna and I, whenever we see the condition of this one magnificent
structure.
It turned out that the Premier was an Anglican and formerly
a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church. Premier
King did a very unpolitical thing and declared to Lorna (I was a witness) that
the building would never be torn down as long as he was Premier. No waffling or obfuscation on his part. Well, the next day CBC news had an item that
the P.E.I. government had made a commitment to preserve the building.
In our view it is a propitious start for the new government which
is Progressive Conservative with emphasis on “Progressive” unlike the current
version of Conservatism manifest in the Federal and Ontario Conservative parties. Islands, even when they are provinces, are
truly different than other places.
P.E.I. does feel more like our Island home.
Blessings on your journey.
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