{"id":713,"date":"2016-07-31T00:34:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-31T04:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713"},"modified":"2016-07-31T00:34:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-31T04:34:45","slug":"two-centuries-of-perth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713","title":{"rendered":"Two centuries of Perth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"perth_8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Graeme McNaughton\/Active Senior’s Digest<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>
John Fenik, Mayor of Perth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It started off as a military base, built because Upper Canada feared an American invasion following the end of the War of 1812.<\/p>\n

Now, 200 years later, Perth is celebrating a big birthday in a big way.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 and would like you to join them.<\/p>\n

With one signature event \u2013 the Fire and Ice celebration in February, which saw outdoor winter activities for people of all ages \u2013 under its belt, Perth is gearing up for more events this summer.<\/p>\n

First up, on May 21 and 22, is the Provincial Town Crier Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in town, we\u2019ve had this town crier, Brent McLaren, and he\u2019s been our town crier for about 15 years,\u201d says Cathy James, the coordinator of the town\u2019s 200th anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows him around town and he\u2019s pretty entertaining. What he\u2019s doing is inviting all the town criers from across Ontario to come to Perth and compete in this annual event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A shot of Gore Street taken from the clock tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially what they do is three separate cries, so it\u2019s essentially like a speech and entertainment. It\u2019s very theatrical. Each cry is themed, so one is going to be about the history of Perth, one is going to be what\u2019s called a promotional cry, so it\u2019ll be promoting a local business, and then the third one is greetings from their hometown,\u201d James says of the downtown event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese criers have to do a lot of research on the Perth area, which is kind of neat because they\u2019ll 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\u2019d tell these stories and share news, so they\u2019re kind of doing that in a different flavour in these competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest event, however, will be the Blast from the Past Homecoming Weekend, currently set for July 22 and 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink like an old homecoming week they did 50 to 100 years ago,\u201d James says.<\/p>\n

\"Big<\/a>
Big Ben statue at Stewart Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the big celebration that we\u2019re doing for the 200th. It\u2019s running over that weekend and we\u2019re collaborating \u2013 it was called the RibFest last year \u2013 and it\u2019s essentially a barbecue, block party at the Perth Fairgrounds. Think rib vendors, live entertainment, children\u2019s activities, a car show, vendors and it\u2019s all entry by donation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Another person excited for the homecoming weekend is John Fenik, the mayor of Perth and a resident of more than three decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a great event with Blue Rodeo playing, and I think that weekend is going to be an epic summer weekend,\u201d he says, adding that representatives from two of Perth\u2019s sister communities \u2013 Perth, Scotland and Asago, Japan \u2013 will be in town for the celebrations.<\/p>\n

Fenik says that despite the 200th anniversary celebrations only taking place this year, that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t come to visit any other time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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,\u201d Fenik says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019ll be haunted forever with the beauty and the majestic quality of our heritage landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fenik himself can attest to what Perth has to offer, based on his tale of him and his wife\u2019s first encounter with the town.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The South Glengarry Pipe & Drum Band.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was in my 20s when my wife and I had the opportunity to do a very short-term contract in Perth for the Children\u2019s 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,\u201d he says.
\n\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the upcoming celebrations for Perth\u2019s 200th anniversary, and to learn more about the town in general, please visit perth.ca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwo centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 […] Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"active\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\",\"name\":\"Active Senior's Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713\",\"name\":\"Two centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two centuries of Perth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\",\"name\":\"active\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"active\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest","og_description":"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 […] Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713","og_site_name":"Active Senior's Digest","article_published_time":"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"active","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website","url":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/","name":"Active Senior's Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg","width":1000,"height":533},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#webpage","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713","name":"Two centuries of Perth - Active Senior's Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-31T04:34:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=713#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two centuries of Perth"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e","name":"active","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"active"},"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/perth_8.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p78TCb-bv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":720,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions\/720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}