Posted on October 31, 2015 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Two of the finest people you could meet

“So far away … doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore…”

So Far Away – Carole King

Some folks, by fate or by choice, remain in the same town or city their entire lives. Some people, especially this latest generation of youngsters, have a severe case of wanderlust and live nomadic existences.  Work forces many to travel across the country and indeed around the world.  Many of these individuals eventually find the gravitational pull of home so strong that they pack up and head back, trading big wages for family and perhaps the chance to live near the ocean.  A small handful of people move somewhere else for employment for a couple of years and a community discovers them.  Roots are planted and giant trees of connectivity grow.

Such are the lives of Dr. Ken Murray and his wife, Linda, who moved to South Harbour, Cape Breton in the mid 70’s and remain there to this day.

You would never know that you are on your way to paradise when you come off the Cabot Trail just beyond Neil’s Harbor and head down the Old Road Loop. The first few hundred yards are fairly non-descript until you come to the end of the driveway and gaze out at South Harbour and the grandeur of the mountains as its backdrop.  Ken and Linda have spent their entire lives in the same house, although it has undergone many changes and additions over the years to accommodate a growing family.

Ken discovered the magic of the area during his university years when he found summer employment at Keltic Lodge. At the behest of Dr. Ron Stewart, Ken decided to do a two year stint at the Hospital in Neil’s Harbour.  It turned into forty three years … and counting.

As newlyweds, Ken and Linda bought their first home and it was anything but palatial. It was sitting on the ground with no basement and no insulation.  They had to be careful in the winter not to leave the cat’s milk dish in the kitchen overnight as it would freeze.  The house became a home.

Despite shepherding four small children, it didn`t take Linda long to get engaged within the community. She became involved in a myriad of activities including the home and school association, the hospital auxiliary and the local ski club, to name but a few organizations.  Over the years she gained the reputation as a consummate organizer.  When something needed doing, Linda had the capacity to marshal the resources to get the job done.

As the children got older, Linda became more involved in Ken`s practice. Back in the 80`s at the clinic, Ken did a bit of everything and Linda kept things organized and efficient.  There was no dentist in the area at the time so it was not uncommon to see Ken pulling teeth.  Eventually the Murrays led the drive to have a community dental clinic.  There was even an on-site pharmacy.

Over the years, Ken had many opportunities to go elsewhere to work or to further his education and acquire a specialty. This corner of Cape Breton had grown on them and they saw no need to go further afield.

When asked what has kept them in a somewhat remote location for so long, they both mentioned the allure of winter. Now most folks above the 49^th parallel will do almost anything to avoid the snow and cold.  Ken and Linda are outdoors people and the region serves up between 10- 20 feet of snow each winter.  You can see why they love the place.

Besides providing the climate for some of the best cross country skiing imaginable, the weather has made for some challenging situations for Ken, who did home visits for many years. Late one stormy night, he received a call to go to the home of an elderly person who was acutely ill.  He didn’t even make it out of his own driveway before getting stuck in a huge drift.  He extricated himself from the car through the driver’s side window and woke a neighbor to borrow his vehicle, after going back to the house for a pair of X-country skis.  He encountered another massive drift a fair distance from the patient’s home.  He strapped on the skis and made his way to her house, in the pitch dark.  Such is the life of a country doctor.

Ken and Linda’s hospitality is legendary, highlighted by their annual Canada day “fish fry” when 100 or more friends show up for a feed of barbequed seafood served with large doses of friendship. They are a wonderful team, having provided a nurturing environment for their children and unstinting time, talent and resources to the betterment of their community.

There are a lot of hidden gems in the Highlands of Cape Breton, including pristine beaches, skiing and hiking trails and world class golf courses. None shine more brightly than Ken and Linda Murray.

And even though they look forward to a river cruise on the Danube at Christmastime, you can be sure that they’ll be counting the days and hours until they get back home to the Old Road Loop.

“The whitecaps on the sea of blue Sparkled like diamonds in the night …”

Gillis Mountain – The Rankins

Advertisement

Posted on October 30, 2015 under News & Updates with no comments yet

Former Marian Boychoir members gather for coffee. Mike MacDonald, Angus MacIsaac, James MacPherson, Rev.John Barry, Alex Chisholm and Bobby Kell ( Bobby was a member of the very first choir in 1953 ).

Judging from the response to my story about the Marian Boychoir, there are still lots of people who remember them. In due course, I will try and get the names of every person in the picture that went along with the story. The picture above was taken several weeks ago when some of the former choir members got together for coffee to share some of their memories.

Ok. Every writer has one of those “ oh crap” moments, ( I have other words that better describe this! ) when something that they print, has a factual error. Yesterday was one of those instances. I published a story in the Cape Breton Star about a good old fashioned country doctor who lives in the Highlands of Cape Breton. ( It will be published tomorrow on week45. )

I made reference to the fact that Dr. Ken Murray accepted a job in Neil’s Harbor “ at the behest of the late Dr.Ron Stewart.” Shortly after the paper was published, I discovered that reports of Dr.Stewart’s demise were greatly exaggerated! I’ll give you more detail in my Monday Morning Musings but safe to say, I felt somewhat sheepish. I quickly got his e-mail address and sent an apology. Some of you will remember Ron as a former Minister of Health back in the mid 90’s. Needless to say, he took some serious ribbing from friends and colleagues and I am pleased to say that he too, got a great chuckle out of it. We exchanged a few e-mails. He obviously has a great sense of humor himself and I think I have a new friend… and week45 follower. Ron will “rise again” tomorrow.

I will be somewhere in the New England states tomorrow morning but keep your eye out for “ Hidden Gems.”

Good thing it wasn’t Hallowe’en last night!!!

Happy Friday.

Advertisement

Posted on October 28, 2015 under Storytelling with one comment

Boychoir Christmas dinner 1960

“I have a dream …” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

And so did Father Terrence Lynch.

A Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Lynch was a Cape Breton native who grew up in a musical household.  In June of 1951, he was appointed Choir Master of St. Ninian’s Cathedral in Antigonish by the Bishop, Most Reverend John R. MacDonald.  At the same time it was requested that he start a boys’ choir.  At Christmas of the same year, the Marian Boychoir made its debut in conjunction with the St. Ninian Senior Mixed Choir.

Fr. Lynch approached the Bishop with the idea of founding a choir school. The project was given the green light in the spring of 1952. The St. Ninian Council of the Knights of Columbus provided seed money of $4000 for the construction of a building.  The remainder of the money was borrowed and the debt was retired through the generosity of some benefactors.  The project started in November of 1952 and was completed in April of 1953.  Among the many superior features of the building was the acoustics, designed by the incredibly talented Rev. Dr. Ernest Clarke of the St. F. X Physics Department.

And so began the fulfillment of Fr. Lynch’s dream.

A group of former choir members met recently at a local coffee shop to reminisce about their shared experience. To a person, they remarked on the compelling leadership of Fr. Lynch.  They marvelled at the dedication and passion that he had devoted to this endeavour.  In his book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery of a skill.  Fr. Lynch knew this long before Gladwell.  Several members said that practice was paramount.  “Practice, practice and more practice,” was the common refrain.

And how did these young boys become interested in singing? Truth be told, they didn’t have much of a choice.  At a very early age, their mothers gave them a choice of either being an altar boy or a member of the choir.  Many ended up doing both.  And none of them have any regrets, as many of the lessons learned under Fr. Lynch’s tutelage helped form a solid foundation that remains with them to this day.

Through the genius of Fr. Clarke, the choir had a facility that had world class sound. The large sliding divider wall provided an opportunity for different sections of the choir to practice in different locations under the same roof.  The sound equipment was so good, in fact, that a number of the boys who played guitar were able to record themselves at the Marian Boychoir School on reel to reel tape. The result was radio station quality sound.

The building was always spotlessly clean. Every weekend, several of the boys went to the Choir School and scrubbed and waxed the floors.  It would appear that Fr. Lynch took seriously the notion that “cleanliness is next to godliness”.

Fr. Lynch was a strict task master. His goal was excellence.  His dream was to create a choir equal in calibre to the world famous Vienna Boys’ Choir.  He even went to Europe and studied under the direction of one of their choir masters.

Back in the 50’s and early 60’s, multi-day travel was not an everyday thing, so embarking on a road trip was a very big deal. The Marian Boychoir toured extensively throughout the province, thrilling audiences wherever they went.

Fr. Lynch instilled discipline in the boys. There was no such thing as showing up late for a practice.  Many of those sipping coffee the other morning attribute their success in life to the many lessons learned from Fr. Lynch: the importance of punctuality, hard work, perseverance, dedication … and practice!  And there was no such thing as quitting.  The only thing worse than suffering the wrath of Fr. Lynch would have been a fate much worse at home as you tried to explain this to your mother!

For Father Lynch, the music was all for the glory of God. It is not hard to imagine that he might have imparted this classic line more than once: “Qui bene cantat bis orat.”  The rough translation of St Augustine’s words is: “He who sings well prays twice.”

Besides giving these young people their musical start in life, Fr. Lynch also gave them the most important tool that anyone can be given at a young age; confidence. One spring two of the boys, who had received no formal musical training prior to joining the choir, were dispatched to the church in Lakevale to sing for the Easter vigil.  Neither one of them could have ever imagined doing this without Fr. Lynch as their teacher and mentor.  As well as any spiritual rewards they may have garnered from performing these duties, their earthly reward was a gigantic feast at the home of Mrs. Fred Boyd in the wee hours of Easter morning.

Fr. Lynch was an early adopter of community outreach. As well as directing the Marian Boychoir and the choir school, he assisted the parishes of St. Joseph’s, St. Andrews, Heatherton and Pomquet in establishing choirs for their churches.

Fr. Lynch was always quick to point out that the choir would never have achieved its success without the unbelievable efforts of its Ladies Auxiliary. First of all, it was these women who marched their young boys to the doors of the Choir School (altar boy or choir member?!).  They could be found in the depths of the cathedral an hour before Mass helping the boys get ready.  As one of the fellows said, “We wore white cassocks, blue sashes, blue capes with golden tassels and blue skull caps.  And at concerts, we wore our blue sweaters with our crest on it.  We were the Marian Boychoir!” The choir outfits were lovingly prepared by the Sisters of St. Martha.

A young James MacPherson caught the ear of Fr. Lynch. He recognized James’ genius and gave him his first lessons on the pipe organ.  In those days the choir was blessed with the enormous talents of Mrs. W.J. MacDonald, who was their accompanist for many years.  Sometimes she would literally stand up at the great pipe organ in order to hit all the notes with her feet.

In the early 60’s, a young group of mop haired Brits vaulted on to the world stage. One of the choir members recalls Fr. Lynch commenting that the Beatles music would someday form part of the classics. He was a true visionary.

Vatican 2 changed a lot of things, including the introduction of congregational singing which was one of the factors leading to the demise of the Marian BoyChoir.

Poor health plagued Fr. Lynch for much of his life. After many performances, including the Mass for the installation of Bishop William E. Power in 1960, Fr. Lynch would nearly collapse in utter exhaustion.  He gave his all for every performance of the Marian Boychoir.

The profound influence of Fr. Lynch is still very much in evidence in the boys who became men, and who continue to sing his praises.

“Deo per Deiparam canto.”

Advertisement