KIRKLAND, New Brunswick — St. David’s Presbyterian Church and St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Kirkland have joined forces this year to celebrate their history and Canada’s 150th anniversary as a nation.
“Both churches were established shortly after the time of Confederation,” said Judy Cole, secretary-treasurer for St. David’s. “With support from the Government of Canada, we are working to bring more people together, foster a greater sense of belonging in the community, and mark this important moment in our history.”
Activities get underway on Sunday, August 27, at 2 p.m. with St. David’s annual gospel concert where Centreville’s Mitch McMillan and the new style southern gospel band, Never Too Late, will be performing outdoors under a tent in the church yard.
In honour of Canada 150, visitors, relatives, members and friends of St. David’s are encouraged to wear bonnets, hats or fascinators and bring along their lawn chairs for the concert in case of a capacity crowd. Refreshments will be served and a free will offering will be received. Rev. Anne Boudreau of Harvey will serve as master of ceremonies.
Special guests include Tobique-Mactaquac MP T.J. Harvey who will bring congratulations from Ottawa, while Town Crier Lance Minard will deliver the official welcome and the Woodstock Christian Academy children’s choir will open the program with the singing of O’ Canada and God Save the Queen.
Following the concert, events continue at the nearby Kirkland Community Hall with a cake and pie auction. Competitors are encouraged to enter their favourite baking recipe (along with their name) in this fundraising event. Top bids will be recorded and announced by local auctioneer Tom Collier. All funds raised from the auction will go toward maintenance of the hall.
After the auction, Ron Brown and the Happy Foot Cloggers dance troupe will perform at 4 p.m. on a trailer set up outside the hall. Members of the public are welcome to drop by for the auction and the entertainment.
On September 17, St. Paul’s Anglican Church will host its annual memorial service at 11 a.m. with special music by Tracey and Emily Burkhardt. Canon Jim Irvine of Fredericton will officiate. The service will be followed by a barbecue in the church yard.
A fireworks display will take place in the evening beginning at 9 p.m. at the Kirkland Hall.
“We are working together to make these events a homecoming and a celebration of Canada 150,” said Patricia Walker, treasurer for St. Paul’s. “This is a special time in our history for the church community and for the entire community as a whole.”
St. David’s Presbyterian and St. Paul’s Anglican were both built by the community in the late 1800s, primarily by Scottish, Irish and English settlers who came to the area as pioneers. The community of Kirkland is named after St. David’s which was once referred to as the Scottish Kirk. St. David’s was proclaimed a provincial historic site in 2005.
The history of the community runs deep into the woods at Monument Brook in Kirkland where Monument 1 stands, a marker erected in 1843 during a survey of the border between New Brunswick and the State of Maine. The marker has a four-foot cement base and perched on top of the base is a cast-iron obelisk about 10-feet high. The spot was first marked by surveyors for the international border in 1817.
