St. Patrick’s Day provided the Pontiac with no shortage of events celebrating the Irish holiday last weekend, leaving pubs and recreation centres packed to capacity, from across the region.

Tea Party in Quyon

The St. Patrick’s Day Tea was organized by the young women of the Quyon Pastoral Charge. Pictured: from left, Kara Young, Lindsay Hamilton, Kerry-Lynn Campbell, Danica Provost, Stacey Johnston, Bernice Hickey, Rebecca Nugent, Lisa Hammond, Madyson Belland and Jillian Young

On Saturday at 11 a.m., around 100 grown-ups with their children covered in green and gold from heel to toe, convened in the Quyon United Church Basement for the ninth annual St. Paddy’s Day Irish tea party.

Organized by the young women of the Quyon Pastoral Charge, the event provided guests with all sorts of sweet treats like brownies and rice krispy-squares, as well as tea, coffee and Irish-themed music and decorations, making St. Patrick’s Day feel as close to Ireland as it could.

Kara Young, one of the 12 people behind the party, said the event was a great excuse for people to congregate in the midst of the cold, icy weather, no matter where they’re from.

“Winter is a long time of the year, so it’s something that all walks of life can come and enjoy and from all over,” she said. “We draw people from the city, actually.”

Organizers sold tickets at the gate for admission and also for a draw for a gift basket aptly dubbed the Basket Full O’ Irish Fun.

With so many people flooding the gates in non-stop fashion, Young joked that she felt worried that the event was perhaps getting too popular.

“I’m already scared today,” said Young, with a laugh. “Because there’s just so many people and just making sure that we have the quantities and everything is fine.”

The winner of the Basket Full O’ Irish Fun was Diane Drummond and all the funds raised will go back to the church, according to Young.

St. Paddy’s at the Baie Inn

Doreen Lafleur and Bill Campbell dressed in their best green attire.

Over 100 adults packed the Baie Inn, in Campbell’s Bay on Saturday to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

A full house with Irish decorations pervading everything from the walls to the ceiling, the party brought in people from all across the region.

Socializing, dancing and cold beverages, accompanied with live music from various performing acts, including DJ Maestro Joe, the event was definitely the place to be for beer drinkers from 2 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Denise Geremian, the hotel’s operator and organizer of the event said it was one her busiest days of the year, as she expected.

“It’s probably our biggest day of the year,” said Geremian. “It has to be close to it. I mean, there’s so many people coming in and out and we started at 2 (p.m.) and we close at three in the morning.”

St. Paddy’s Day dance at the Shawville United Church

Greg MacIntosh poses wearing a green and gold hat.

At around 6 p.m., over 100 people crowded the auditorium, at the Shawville United Church for its first ever St. Paddy’s Day dance, hosted by members of the church’s choir.

Welcoming people of all ages, grandparents and little children alike, the event provided a wedding reception-like atmosphere.

With Irish-themed food from the kitchen, non-alcoholic beverages and live music from Ottawa-based western swing band. The Telegrams, guests danced in their green and gold attires well-suited for the occasion.

Greg MacIntosh, the dance’s main organizer, said it felt necessary to host such an event, as there wasn’t much around town for families to do for St. Patrick’s Day that weren’t alcohol-related, where people can bring their kids.

“I think Shawville’s glad that something’s happening right here,” said MacIntosh. “You don’t have to go to Quyon or to Bryson. I know there’s a dance going on there, but I think it’s more for grown-ups – alcohol’s being served. So, we’re the family kind of event.”

After the first St. Patrick’s Day event of its kind at the church, MacIntosh hasn’t clarified whether or not the dance will become an annual event, but he certainly hopes he can keep it going.

“Hopefully, there will be more of them,” said MacIntosh.

St. Paddy’s Day dance at the Bryson R.A.

At 8 p.m., at the Bryson R.A., around 50 people, mostly seniors, put on their best St. Paddy’s Day clothes, as they gathered for the annual dance at the club.

Drawing in people from across the Pontiac all the way to Southern Ontario, the annual event has become somewhat of a tradition, among guests at the R.A., according to Betty Leach, the event’s main organizer.

“I think it’s just like a tradition,” said Leach. “They just wait for the dance to come like if you don’t have one, they’re wondering why or something. Some people have been coming year-after-year, after year. They just look forward to it.”

With live music played by Dennis Harrington, dimmed lights and shamrock garlands dangling from the ceiling, couples eagerly hit the dance floor to square-dance, a staple of Saturday night dances at the R.A., for the over 40 years.

“It’s nice to see everybody having fun, especially, when they get up to square-dance,” said Leach. “I think they come because we have square-dancing all the time, and the older ones enjoy that.”

Underwhelmed by the overall turnout, Leach said it reached around half the amount of people as last year’s event, which sold 103 tickets.

“I was sure we’d have more people,” said Leach. “Last year we had 103. We’re only half-way yet, tonight. There’s a few other things going on.”

All the money raised from the event will go towards keeping up the Campbell’s Bay R.A. hall.

St. Paddy’s Day party at the Campbell’s Bay R.A.

Fiddler Paulette Gauthier performs on the stage at the Campbell’s Bay R.A.

People seated amongst the crowd at the Campbell’s Bay R.A. St. Paddy’s Day party.

On Sunday, around 125 people filled the room at the Campbell’s Bay R.A. to celebrate its third annual St. Patrick’s Day gathering.

Organized by members of the Campbell’s Bay Legion, the event was intended as a fundraiser for the legion in order to keep it alive and thriving and also to contribute to charities, such as the Poppy Campaign.

Delighted with the turnout and the atmosphere of the event, Ron Woodstock, president of branch 162 of the legion, said he wasn’t surprised considering all the Irish blood that flows through the Pontiac.

“In this part of the country, there’s a lot of Irish descendants, myself one of them” said Woodstock. “And we just love to party on St. Patrick’s Day. The hall is full, so it’s working out.”

In its three years of existence, the event’s growth in popularity has been remarkable, according to Woodstock, stating that it’s been one of the main reasons why legion memberships have surged, especially in the last year.

“In the last two years, we’ve gotten 13 new members,” said Woodstock. “We were pretty stagnant for a lot of years. And now, we’ve got this new group of people going here and it’s working. Each year it’s been better and this year alone, we’ve got seven new members.”

St. Paddy’s Day celebration at Gavan’s

Nadine Peters dances to the music at the Gavan’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration

People seated amongst the crowd at Gavan’s.

On Sunday, hundreds of people dressed in green and gold, many with their faces painted, packed the pub at Gavan’s Hotel for its 72nd annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

With live entertainment from the stage, shamrocks and Irish flags hanging from the walls to the ceiling, men and women socialized, drank beer and sung along to familiar Irish jingles.

All around the room, people standing shoulder to shoulder, with barely any space to move even on the dance-floor, the crowd looked like an inseparable sea of green with seemingly no way out but to get swarmed in.

For Gail Gavan, daughter of Lennox Gavan, the original owner of the hotel, the celebration was special, as it made her realize just how much Pontiac residents and Irish descendants are connected to their roots and proudly so.

“You see how much people appreciate their Irish roots,” said Gavan. “They really do. Yes, they like to party, but they know all the words to all those songs. When I look out into the crowd, everybody’s singing along. And they value the fact that they can celebrate that.”

According to Nick Matechuk, the owner of Gavan’s, the celebration was the hotel’s most successful night ever, in terms of popularity and sales.

“This is the best one ever,” said Matechuk. “Crowd-wise, beer sales-wise – everything. It was the best ever. I guess they knew it was going to be my last one.”

Since Matechuk plans on retiring later this year, the turnout felt very apropos to him. Considering the history of the hotel, as a staple in the Pontiac and the countless relationships he’s accumulated operating it over the years, he was pleased to see so many people celebrating alongside him.

With no official bouncers at the doors Matechuk said he felt fortunate to see everything go smoothly.

“It went good,” said Matechuk. “There was no arguments, no nothin’. I had to throw one guy out, because he was getting pretty drunk, so he had to leave. And I got some relatives of his to get him out of here, so everything went well.”

Drawing in people from all over Quebec, Ontario and even Nova Scotia, Gavan noted how significant the event was, in terms of making Quyon relevant to outsiders as well as those living in the Pontiac.

“It’s pretty heart-warming to see that many people in a little, tiny town,” said Gavan. “It’s great for the town of Quyon – it puts it on the map. And there’s not a lot left in the Pontiac, so when people have destination in the Pontiac, it’s great for the whole county.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!