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Hello everyone! Here is an update on happenings at the cemetery.
September 2023
Paul-Andre ran a bicycle shop out of his house on Main St. Gatineau for many years. Many local hockey players, young and old, would have their skates sharpened at his shop in the winter. For 65 years, Paul-Andre and Lily shared their lives together.
See headstone NP79 ⇗
The Purvis headstone gets the prize for 'best dressed' this spring.
We have had many dedicated cemetery maintenance keepers over the years but perhaps the one that sticks out in our archives is Malcolm D MacCallum.
We have a number of letters on scraps of paper from Malcolm. In one letter from 1925 he talks about needing to be paid for sharpening the blade of the lawnmower (one dollar please). In another letter from 1963 he tells us that it's getting hard for him to cut the grass and perhaps we really should find someone else to do the job .. but if we can't find someone, maybe he could do it for one more year. (After doing it for 46 years!)
Then there is an earlier letter from Percy Campbell to Bill McLachlan telling him that we owe money to Malcolm and to please make things right with new found money during the revival of the cemetery in the 1950s.
You will see a small plaque close to the west gate of the cemetery in Malcolm D MacCallum's memory for donating land to the cemetery.
Malcolm is buried along with his brother Thomas in plot I5 ⇗ and of course has many relatives buried at the cemetery.
We owe alot to these un-sung heros of our past!
We are lucky to have as our caretaker Vincent Boucher. He has helped us with a number of headstone projects and of course he does a great job cutting our grass. Vincent also does the trimming our hedge - every second year (can't afford yearly).
This year is a hedge-trimming year so donations appreciated!
We have no plans for any work in 2023. We have made good progress on straightening headstones in the last couple of years. We also installed a number of headstone markers for our Sands Of Time Headstone Marker Project ⇗ and produced a Headstone-Reference-Booklet ⇗ which lists who is buried at the cemetery and where. (You can find a copy of this booklet with the guest book in the south-east corner).
You can learn more about work at the cemetery from past News Letters ⇗.
As you know, we installed a log book in 2022 and we encourage visitors to record comments and leave a hint of who they are and why they are visiting the cemetery.
We have learned that, to no surprise, many visitors are paying homage to family and friends that are buried here. We also get a lot of visits from hikers, cyclists and pilgrims who love to relax in our space sitting on the green benches!
benches - on a cool day in October!
Bill showing off our log book stand.
Many thanks to everyone that visits and leaves a message. It enriches our cemetery greatly.
Donations to the Lochaber Bay Cemetery are always welcome. Our investment fund is small (from donations dating back decades!) which provides an income stream that almost pays the grass cutting - but not the hedge trimming nor other maintenance.
Our big need this year is to keep up with inflation (lawn cutting) as well as trim our cedar hedge and put some money aside for future fence maintenace.
Donations by cheque can be made to:
Lochaber Bay Cemetery Company
c/o William Lamb, Treasurer
246 Wall Rd
Navan, Ontario
K4B 1H9
Donations by e-transfer can be made to:
donate@lochabercemetery.org
Enter your email address or mailing address in the message window so we can send you a receipt!
Do you have some ideas you think we should pursue?
Maybe something you would like see 'fixed' at the cemetery?
Do you have suggestions for Memorial Service? Date, frequency etc.?
Let us know by sending us a message on our contact form here.
The Lochaber Bay Cemetery Company was established in 1936 with letters patent signed during the reign of King Edward VIII (see Letters-Patent-01 ⇗).
We have an opening for a Director and if you are interested please let us know!
We meet by zoom at least once a year for our AGM and organize a memorial service usually every 2 years. We also organize a work day (or two) periodically to do maintenance at the cemetery which usually involves fence work (replacing boards, painting).
If you would like to become a board member and contribute to the longevity of the cemetery use our contact form here.
Special thanks to Devon Purcell for agreeing to be our auditor!
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Headstone photos mostly by Elaine Howes - copyright © 2010-2021