Lucy Maud Montgomery

A benefit concert on May 6 in the Historic Leaskdale Church will feature the Tudor Singers, the Bella Nove Singers, and the Uxbridge Youth Choir, under the direction of Jennifer Neveu-Cook, accompanied by Carol Gibson.  The Tudor Singers sing medieval church music a capella, a style difficult to sing, but wonderful to listen to.  The concert is at 3 p.m.  Admission is $10, children under 12 free.

March 28, 1912   The Manse, Leaskdale

“Oh how besottedly happy I was to get home tonight!  The peace and rest of my own room seemed like a haven of Paradise to a storm-tossed soul.  And  I am thankful that “visiting” has come to an end for a time.  The spring break-up is on and I shall have a vacation.”  (The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume II)

Hi Gwen,

I had to write, however briefly, to say thank you so much for the wonderful tour of Maud’s house that you gave to my husband and I this morning. I shall remember this forever and will now be able to read Maud’s diary of her days living in the Manse at Leaskdale with even more understanding and feeling. She was such a special lady and I wish I could have known her personally because I like to think we would have been friends. But I think the work that you and the others are doing is truly wonderful as all of your efforts keep her alive in a certain way. The work you have done on her home in Leaskdale is incredible ! The way in which you have paid attention to the smallest details to make a visitor, such as myself, feel as though we have really taken a step back in time and entered Maud’s world. Thank you so much for making my dream come true !

Regards,  Kathleen.

The morning of December 30th brought a blanket of snow and four kindred spirits to the Leaskdale site.  Nathalie, who celebrated a birthday in September, treated her friends to a special morning tour of the Manse and Church – all the while imagining Maud’s life – especially without electricity or plumbing!  They told Anna, Nathalie’s mother, and myself, what they “liked” after reading Maud’s entries in her own “I’ll tell you what I like” scrapbook.  And when they left, each carrying a miniature of Anne Shirley, similar in age, I knew I was witnessing the departure of four of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s kindred spirits.

Seated in Maud’s church pew are Nicolle, Nathalie, Bianca and Zoe

The Christmas Night

Wrapped was the world in slumber deep,

By seaward valley and cedarn steep,

And bright and blest were the dreams of its sleep;

All the hours of that wonderful night-tide through

The stars outblossomed in fields of blue,

A heavenly chaplet, to diadem

The King in the manger of Bethlehem.

Out on the hills the shepherds lay,

Wakeful, that never a lamb might stray,

Humble and clean of heart were they;

Thus it was given them to hear

Marvellous harpings strange and clear,

Thus it was given them to see

The heralds of the nativity.

In the dim-lit stable the mother mild

Looked with holy eyes on her child,

Cradled him close to her heart and smiled;

Kingly purple nor crown had he,

Never a trapping of royalty;

But Mary saw that the baby’s head

With a slender nimbus was garlanded.

Speechless her joy as she watched him there,

Forgetful of pain and grief and care,

And every thought in her soul was a prayer;

While under the dome of the desert sky

The Kings of the East from afar drew nigh,

And the great white star that was guide to them

Kept ward o’er the manger of Bethlehem.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

We’ve had a number of tours lately, and the people who came were as interesting as what they came to see.
A group of volunteers from Parkwood National Historic Site in Oshawa came last week. They stayed for lunch, and then toured the manse and church. We were able to compare our sites: our problems, successes, activities and goals. The Parkwood volunteers are just as passionate about preserving the McLaughln Estate, former home of the founder of General Motors, as we are about the Leaskdale Manse. They were impressed with the progress we’ve made, and loved the stories of L.M. Montgomery’s life in Leaskdale.
Another group was from the Uxbridge Heritage Committee, who of course were familiar with LMMSO activities. But they hadn’t seen the manse since the refurbishing, and some had never been to Leaskdale. They were fascinated by the photos and displays in the church. We served them tea and we all talked about Montgomery’s life and work.
A young writer from Toronto had seen us on Breakfast Television, and was inspired to give his wife a surprise birthday present: a trip to Leaskdale. He got our number from the web site and called for a personal tour. His wife, a grade seven teacher, has been a longtime reader of the Montgomery books, has toured the sites in PEI, and was overwhelmed and emotional as she walked around Montgomery’s house and contemplated the author’s life there. Over tea and scones we discussed how her grade seven students would react to the Anne books, and she went away determined to read Anne of Green Gables to them. She might even arrange a class trip to Leaskdale.
That’s what we want to hear!
If you’d like to come for a tour, please just call us. One of us will be glad to meet you in Leaskdale and will proudly show off the church and manse historic sites. We will even serve you tea!

LMMSO is Honoured

Members of the Board of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society were invited by Uxbridge Councillor Pat Mikuse to the Council meeting on November 28, to receive some very special honours.

First, a letter of congratulations and a citation from Bev Oda, MP, who outlined some of the achievements of the LMMSO over the years she has been acquainted with our Leaskdale projects. (At one time she called us “relentless”, and I guess we are).

Next came a long congratulatory letter from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who seemed to know all about the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society, and about L.M. Montgomery’s arrival in Leaskdale one hundred years ago, and about her life in our community during the following fifteen years. With his letter was a special citation to the Society, recognizing our achievements in preserving an important part of Canadian heritage.

Last, but not least, were the kind words from Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor about Council’s pride in our work and successes, along with an exhortation to all assembled to go up to Leaskdale and have a tour of the manse.

Vice Chair Melanie Whitfield replied to all the accolades on behalf of the Society. Melanie has been an integral part of the group for many years; her involvement began when Councillor Bev Northeast headed up the movement to get the Leaskdale Manse recognized as an important historic site in our community.

Many volunteers have been working over the years toward these ends. Wilda Clarke, Pat McMillan, Gayle Clarke, April Watson, Pat Milner — these and many others should share the accolades the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society received Monday night.

Saturday, November 26 was our annual Christmas concert at the Historic Leaskdale Church. Barb Pratt was responsible for organizing yet another memorable event, complete with exceptional local entertainment and a surprise visit from Santa! Pictured in the photo are the Luke Damougalls, a talented ensemble of three musical families from Uxbridge.

Friday, November 25, the LMMSO travelled to the Durham Art of Transition Tourism Summit at U.O.I.T. in Oshawa.  We were proud to witness the award of Best Collaboration between Business, the Arts and the Community accepted by Uxbridge’s own Shelley Macbeth, Fly Freeman and Lynn Bishop.  Congratulations!

Our booth was located beside the new National Basketball League of Canada’s team from Oshawa.  In the photo, Gwen and Pat Mikuse, our Uxbridge Heritage Councillor, pose with EJ, Omari, Tut, Larry, Akeem, Marcus and Brandon of the Oshawa Power. Best of luck in your inaugural season!

L.M. Montgomery somehow always found time in her busy life to organize scrap books. From the time she was a young girl she clipped news articles, pictures, and kept mementos that could be pasted into an album.

During the Celebration weekend the L.M. Montgomery Archives at University of Guelph kindly loaned the two scrapbooks she had kept during the years she lived in Leaskdale. It was touching and significant to turn the pages of these large tattered volumes and see all the bits and pieces she had clipped from not only Toronto and Charlottetown papers, but from the Uxbridge Times Journal too. Many familiar names and places popped out — Leasks, Harrisons, Oxtobys — people she knew and and events that interested her. Included were all the Hypatia Club programs from the years she was a member. She saved photos and illustrations, programs from concerts and plays, invitations, birth and death notices, and stories and incidents she might have woven into a book some day.

And Mary Beth Cavert sent an electronic version of a scrapbook compiled by Margaret Leask Mustard, who was a young girl during the time L.M. Montgomery lived in Leaskdale.  Margaret was a member of the Young People’s Guild led by Mrs Macdonald (L.M. Montgomery). The Leask scrapbook contains clippings from Toronto papers about other authors (Stephen Leacock, Mazo de la Roche), books, poems, and musical events and musicians, but the predominant items are about Montgomery. On one of the later pages appears an account from the Toronto Star describing the village of Leaskdale on the day the Historic plaque in front of the manse was unveiled, when 750 people “swarmed over the broad lawns of the manse and across the road and the adjoining houses for the unveiling”.

It’s a good thing there was no road construction on that day!