By Graeme McNaughton/Active Senior’s Digest
It started off as a military base, built because Upper Canada feared an American invasion following the end of the War of 1812.
Now, 200 years later, Perth is celebrating a big birthday in a big way.
Originally founded as the Perth Military Settlement, Perth is the jewel of Lanark County and home to just under 6,000 people. However, despite its small size, Perth is looking to pack the town this summer – and would like you to join them.
With one signature event – the Fire and Ice celebration in February, which saw outdoor winter activities for people of all ages – under its belt, Perth is gearing up for more events this summer.
First up, on May 21 and 22, is the Provincial Town Crier Championships.
“Here in town, we’ve had this town crier, Brent McLaren, and he’s been our town crier for about 15 years,” says Cathy James, the coordinator of the town’s 200th anniversary celebrations.
“Everyone knows him around town and he’s pretty entertaining. What he’s doing is inviting all the town criers from across Ontario to come to Perth and compete in this annual event.”
The centuries-old craft of town crying will be brought to life in Perth just before the start of the Victoria Day long weekend, and will provide a chance for people of all ages to not only be entertained by the town criers, but also to learn about the town itself.
“Essentially what they do is three separate cries, so it’s essentially like a speech and entertainment. It’s very theatrical. Each cry is themed, so one is going to be about the history of Perth, one is going to be what’s called a promotional cry, so it’ll be promoting a local business, and then the third one is greetings from their hometown,” James says of the downtown event.
“These criers have to do a lot of research on the Perth area, which is kind of neat because they’ll be telling stories about Perth and its history, which a lot of us will probably be learning about that day. There were town criers back then, and they’d tell these stories and share news, so they’re kind of doing that in a different flavour in these competitions.”
The biggest event, however, will be the Blast from the Past Homecoming Weekend, currently set for July 22 and 24.
“Think like an old homecoming week they did 50 to 100 years ago,” James says.
“It’s the big celebration that we’re doing for the 200th. It’s running over that weekend and we’re collaborating – it was called the RibFest last year – and it’s essentially a barbecue, block party at the Perth Fairgrounds. Think rib vendors, live entertainment, children’s activities, a car show, vendors and it’s all entry by donation.”
Other things taking place over that weekend include the Canadian Stone Carving Festival, a military tattoo and a live performance by Juno Award-winning band Blue Rodeo.
Another person excited for the homecoming weekend is John Fenik, the mayor of Perth and a resident of more than three decades.
“We’ve got a great event with Blue Rodeo playing, and I think that weekend is going to be an epic summer weekend,” he says, adding that representatives from two of Perth’s sister communities – Perth, Scotland and Asago, Japan – will be in town for the celebrations.
Fenik says that despite the 200th anniversary celebrations only taking place this year, that doesn’t mean you can’t come to visit any other time.
“What strikes me about Perth and resonates for me is the fact that the Scots that settled here built some incredible stone buildings, and the heritage landscape on our main street is just spectacular,” Fenik says.
“I relate to it as a hidden gem because many on Highway 7 just bypass Perth, but if you come down to the heart of Perth, you’ll be haunted forever with the beauty and the majestic quality of our heritage landscape.”
Fenik himself can attest to what Perth has to offer, based on his tale of him and his wife’s first encounter with the town.
“I was in my 20s when my wife and I had the opportunity to do a very short-term contract in Perth for the Children’s Aid Society, and I was on my way to Simon Fraser University out west to do a masters degree. We just fell in love with the town. That was 30 years ago,” he says.
“It was a perfect balance of a very safe community, a historical community, a community loaded with a lot of arts-minded people. The theatre scene and music scene was alive.”
For more information on the upcoming celebrations for Perth’s 200th anniversary, and to learn more about the town in general, please visit perth.ca.
