Gentlemen of the nearly three decades old Quyon Breakfast Club gathered at the Clarendon Street Café on Highway 148 on Wednesday in a grand return to their hometown for their breakfast meetup.
The monthly gathering, which normally takes place at the Local Heroes Sports Bar in Ottawa, is organized by Donald Foran as a chance for men who grew up in Quyon to catch up once a month over a cup of coffee, and a little live music played by some of the group’s members.
“It’s a beautiful moment, because you learn a lot from older people. They have a lot of history, knowledge of Quyon and they grew up here, so they pass that on,” said Foran, who joined the group in 2006.“It’s just a wonderful moment to get together and discuss how people are, how you’ve been lately, things like that.
”The return to Quyon for the summer is an annual tradition, giving members who still live in their hometown a chance to save a few dollars on gas to enjoy a breakfast among friends.
According to Foran, the group started in 1995, when five men from Quyon – Des Keon, Michael O’Shaughnessy, Jimmy O’Shaugnessy, Don McLean and Edward McColgan – decided to start a tradition to meet together once a month to catch up.“Attendance started to roll and more people heard about it and more people retired and were able to go to these breakfasts. So now we’re up to 25 to 33 people at a time,” Foran said.
Gary Cummings, a retired musician, appreciates the chance to get together with longtime friends to share memories from their hometown, as well as a few tunes.“
It’s important to keep in touch with the guys and just have fun,” Cummings said. “Talk about old memories and everything.”
The group of 30 or so Quyon natives will be back at their usual meeting spot at the Local Heroes Sports Bar in Ottawa for the month of June, but will return to their hometown for the July and September gatherings.
Foran says anyone is welcome to join the Quyon Breakfast Club, but that most of the discussions happening centre around growing up in the town.
