J.D. POTIÉ
SHAWVILLE Feb. 15, 2020
Nearly 100 people filled the Shawville Anglican Church hall on Saturday afternoon, to be regales with a series on songs, stories and food celebrating Scottish heritage.
Featuring local storyteller . . .
Jim Beatty, the event consisted of a sit-down dinner, accompanied by a virtual trip through Scotland via pictures, videos and songs.
Inside the kitchen several volunteers worked hard preparing and serving plates of beef stew, home made buns and pies for folks to indulge while being entertained.
The majority of the food was donated and the beef in the stew came from Les Viandes du Pontiac, according to the event’s main organizer Jeannie Judd.
After dinner, Beatty took the attendees through the Ottawa Valley for another virtual ride through history to teach people a little bit more about where they’re from.
Beatty explained that the church hosted a similar event dedicated to songs and stories about Ireland last year, in honour of St. Patrick’s Day. They didn’t look too far on the map to choose which country to celebrate next.
For Beatty, the event is an enjoyable one to be a part of because it gives him a chance to show people, who have never visited Scotland, a better idea of what it’s about while giving the local Scottish contingent a bit of home cooking.
“There are people who have been to Scotland, people who have wanted to go but never made it,” he said. “A lot of people in Shawville are of Scottish descent and they’d like to see a little bit of the old country.”
Featuring around 25 different songs that people could sing along to, Judd said that the event was very enjoyable because it was equally entertaining and educational.
Considering the wide variety of events taking place throughout the region during the day, Judd said that the event was success nonetheless, despite drawing a bit of a smaller crowd than last year.
“A little bit less people,” she said. “But I guess Ireland is a better place to visit.”
