The Inverness Oran

-by Frank MacDonald

The love she shared so freely continues to connect our family and her friendships, and stands as a reminder that a life lived with such richness of artistry and compassion leaves a lasting imprint on the hearts of so many who continue to miss her every day.

                                                                                             -Stacey McEachern Waugh (niece)

                Inverness artist Virginia McCoy (1948-2022) was an admired creator of hundreds of works of art. Her exhibits included Becoming White (University of Cape Breton Gallery), Monumental Artifacts (Baddeck), and also included a retrospective of her work at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts. Her work had also appeared in numerous exhibitions across the island and throughout mainland Nova Scotia.

                Virginia’s talent, turned to illustration, enrich three children’s books, TR’s Adventure at Angus the Wheeler’s (story by Frank Macdonald), The Rabbits’ Race (story by Deborah Delaronde) and Christmas LaPouchine (story by Deborah Delaronde). For The Rabbits’ Race Virginia was presented with an award for illustration.

                When illness brought her creative life to a close, she was happy with the reception as Cape Breton Island welcomed her work. But Virginia had one longing, one hope, that was unfulfilled.

                Virginia McCoy was born in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) of Ojibwa and English parents, Neil and Violet McCoy. Her Ojibwa blood gave her family connections to many, if not most, of the families living in the Fort William First Nation. She had nursed the hope that she could make contact with a Thunder Bay gallery and arrange to an exhibit there. That contact never materialized while Virginia was alive.

                But it was neither ignored or forgotten. Two of her cousins, Celina Reitburger and Elysia Petrone, worked towards helping Virginia’s dream come true. It took a couple of years, but eventually the Thunder Bay Art Gallery showed an excited interest in Virginia’s art, and exhibiting it.

                It took the gallery and curator Penelope Smart two more years of planning and preparation in acquiring through loan a large number of Virginia’s original paintings. From family members, from friends who patronized the artist, and especially Rolf Bauman of Friends United, who possesses the largest collection of Virginia McCoy paintings.

                Earlier this month, over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery hosted the opening of Holding Up the Sky: Virginia McCoy, A Retrospective and Homecoming. The title, along with the write-ups accompanying each painting, were also there in the Ojibwa language.

                The opening of Holding Up the Sky began with a drumming group. The group explained that with their music and songs they were “calling down the grandfathers, including Virginia.”

                Janelle Pelletier, Chief of Fort William First Nation, spoke of the stories that existed in so many of Virginia’s paintings, “stories not told in history books.”

                Virginia and her family did not live on the First Nation land because their grandfather in the 1930s had allowed himself and his family to be disenfranchised...surrender their First Nation status.  In exchange for this sacrifice he was given land along Lake Nipigon. Consistent with the history of betrayals, the land upon which he planned to raise his family and operate a farm, was a useless, stone-filled and meaningless piece of real estate.

                The family eventually found itself in Fort William where Virginia grew up, aware of her Ojibwa heritage but because of Canada’s Indian Act was unable to claim her status.

                Following high school, Virginia attended the University of Toronto. Later, she went to work for Manulife Insurance. She had a degree, spoke four languages, worked for a corporation that offered lots of opportunities. None of these accomplishments settled the restlessness that governed her life.

                One vacation, she took a trip to Cape Breton to visit a friend, After crossing the Canso Causeway, she stopped her car beside the road and watched the sunset. “I felt like I had just come home,” she said of that moment.

                A year later she left Manulife and returned to Cape Breton to stay, with the intention of becoming an artist. Except for a couple of weekend instruction courses, she had no art experience but was irrelevant. She settled near Inverness and began to paint. It was successful in a minor way, but the experience told her she was a long way from her dream, to become an artist.

                She quit painting for two years, survived on minimum wage employment but was intent on remaining on the island. Then a friend gave her several tubes of gouache paints. It became the medium that would define all future Virginia McCoy paintings. Their bright, joyful colours allowing her vision of her subjects to unfold fresh and original.

                In the 1990s, the federal government introduced changes to the Indian Act that allowed Virginia McCoy to claim her place as a status member of the Fort William First Naion. It also inspired her to gather the family stories she already knew, to research documents and to interview  family and First Nation people. It culminated in the 2004 exhibition at the University of Cape Breton Gallery of her Becoming White series.

                That collection, although it name may suggest something accomplished, was a tracing down through the generations from the Hudson Bay era through to the 20^th Century. Painting to painting, Becoming White traces how her immediate family eventually became disenfranchised. The series documented what was culturally lost to herself and her family because of effectively and lawfully “becoming white.”

                A cultural benefit of her genealogical research, noted Chief  Janelle Pelletier, was that the information Virginia McCoy had accumulated  also touched many other families living on the Fort William First nation land.

                Becoming White was an opening of an art exhibit that also held an emotional surprise for its creator. More than a dozen cousins and her Auntie, Dorothy Forrest, made a quiet trip to Cape Breton, arriving on the island and on the campus the evening of the opening to surprise Virginia. They did!

                Through the next three decades, Virginia McCoy spent most of her time in her studio in Inverness. Other time was spent with her dogs (or her friends) exploring the forests and mountains surrounding the town. She searched out long abandoned farmland and houses. Those empty, collapsing farm houses, Virginia McCoy believed, still contained the energy of the generations of lives that had lived in them. Those searches resulted in an collection titled Monumental Artifacts.

                No subject seemed to dominate Virginia’s output more than her love of horses, and rendering them in various graceful settings. But her entire life’s work spanned an inexhaustible interest in re-creating the world within which she lived, whether as it existed out her kitchen window or took her imagination under the sea in search of breaching whales or the simple beauty of an aster.

                “(Preparing this show) was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Virginia and her work, which incorporated the Woodland style. She always wanted to bring her paintings home,” Penelope Smart told the gathering.

                “Auntie’s work is also a love letter to our family, to the Fort William First Nation, and to the scared spaces that she knows our ancestors are interwoven with,” Virginia’s niece Stacey McEachen Waugh told those gathered for the opening.

                The opening of Holding Up the Sky took place on the Thanksgiving weekend when several relatives of Virginia McCoy were able to attend, coming from as far away as British Columbia and Cape Breton Island on the East Coast. The decision was made to turn the opening of Virginia’s show  into a family reunion, a weekend of food, sweat lodges, food, the climbing of a sacred mountain, food, and through it all the spirit of Virginia McCoy was the guest of honour.

                Holding Up the Sky will be in the Thunder Bay Art Gallery from October 10, 2026 – January 3, 2027.

-by April MacDonald

            Perry Chandler, executive vice president, InRich CBDC, nominated DJ MacLean & Sons as one of four recipients of the Economic Impact Award by the Cape Breton Partnership’s Investor Summit in Baddeck last weekend.

            Chandler explained that for 38 plus years, DJ MacLean, now alongside his son David MacLean, has grown a diversified group that today supports 150 plus jobs across many owned/partnered companies anchored in Inverness County.

            “Flagship builder D.J. MacLean & Sons Carpentry Ltd. operates at premium quality standards and delivers sought-after residential and commercial projects across the county.

            The group’s impact compounds through local procurement and vertical integration: Lake Shore Living adds modular-home manufacturing capacity within Cape Breton; BML Metals/BML Roofing manufactures and installs standing-seam systems serving customers across Atlantic Canada;  Margaree Castle Building Supplies expands access to materials for contractors and homeowners along the Cabot Trail; and new/related ventures in diesel service and automotive keep equipment, fleets, and households working locally – spending that otherwise would leak off-island,” Chandler noted the many interconnected business that David MacLean/ DJ MacLean and Sons are owners or part owners of.

            Chandler mentioned the company’s innovative nature:

            “Industrialized housing: Lake Shore Living (est. 2023) builds customizable, energy-efficient modular homes in rural Cape Breton-shortening timelines and reducing waste on the island.

            Product & process: BML Metals/BML Roofing combines local fabrication with installation expertise (standing-seam systems, siding, accessories) to improve durability and lifecycle value in harsh coastal conditions.

            Quality leadership: D.J. MacLean & Sons Carpentry: showcases commercial and residential builds that have made the firm a builder of choice in Inverness County.

            DJ MacLean & Sons Carpentry Ltd. at the Cape Breton Partnership's Investor Summit in Baddeck,” explained Chandler.

            “It was wonderful to be there to share in the excitement. Congratulations to the other four winners from across the Island,” he closed.

            Taking the stage to the tune of “Build me up Buttercup” was David MacLean. “Thank you to the Partnership and to Perry Chandler for the nomination…Now, I’m going to tell everybody that business is hard, if you didn’t know,” he began which drew a roomful of laughter from the packed house of business owners and organizations that support or sponsor business development.

            “We’re coming on to our 40 years of my main business, DJ MacLean and Sons. For the first 35 years I worked like the devil to try to get it to where it is today and coming on to the last five years, I’m trying to figure out a way not to be needed anymore,” he laughed along with the audience.

MacLean then told a quick side story, speaking to how he believes that Cape Breton is moving in the right direction.

            “I graduated in 1986 from Inverness and when I drove through the streets and it didn’t look too positive. You know, it looked pretty grim, but I wanted to stay in Cape Breton and fortunately I did. Things changed and it didn’t look good. Now I have over 40 carpenters and that speaks to what’s happening in Cape Breton – it is an exciting time. I am accepting this award on behalf of my dad. He wasn’t able to attend tonight but, mind you, he keeps track of me every day. Dad is 90 years old and it’s him and I who started the business in 1987 and he knows what’s going on. He still delivers the mail to all the different little businesses I have in the area… so he knows what’s going on.  Thank you to dad for the start that’s for sure. I also have to thank my wife. Everybody wonders how you do what you do. You know it’s a lot of sleepless nights in tough times and I’ll be complaining and barking and she doesn’t say anything back so that’s really the best support. She just lets me go. (laughter from the audience) We certainly have a partnership and wouldn’t have been able to do it if we weren’t together, so thank you, Barb,” said David MacLean.

            The Oran and Inverness County send our most sincere congratulations for the fine work you all do, the many employees that you help to put food on their families’ tables and for being an honest and dedicated business for close to 40 years. That’s no small feat!

-by Bill Dunphy

Take a bow, Inverness Raceway!

                The 100^th anniversary season was one to remember, both literally and figuratively.

                Along with the great racing and great crowds that took part in the season-long celebration, 100 years of harness racing in Inverness County was remembered fondly.

                “Memory Lane was a big hit. We had multiple families have memorial blankets and bring in memorabilia to display,” said track manager Meagan MacQuarrie.

                “The merchandise was a hit. I have seen many of our hats around the community. And the racing was very interesting, with lots of upsets and lots of big wins for bettors. Our track is known for keeping the betting public on their toes,” she noted.

                “We had a couple of new establishments take on our live feed for HPI betting, one in Maine, which is kind of cool when places like that request your track.”

                But getting back to the many events that were held throughout the summer, MacQuarrie said, “The Veterans Day was my personal favourite. The Legion did a wonderful job remembering the vets. And there was the dance with Get Out of My Yard, Father’s Day and the petting zoo, and Gathering night was amazing. Everything went so smoothly.”

                MacQuarrie said the volunteer turnout was also amazing, with around 50 people helping out in various ways. Knowing that it is impossible to name everyone without forgetting someone, MacQuarrie did single out executive member Patricia Poirier as her right-hand woman.

                MacQuarrie didn’t have the total handle for the season at hand, but she expected it to be down somewhat.

                “It’s not as good as it has been, but that’s at every track. I think people don’t have a lot of extra money these days what with the cost of food, gas, everything,” she said.

                The handle on the last Sunday was $7,567 – not bad for late October, with a good crowd of locals out enjoying a summer-like day.

                Meet-leading driver Redmond Doucet’s Philthy Phil capped off the 100^th  anniversary season of harness racing on Sunday with a wire-to-wire romp in the afternoon’s featured winners-over pace.

                The $2,000 top class closed out the 2026 season as the seventh and final race of the day with Philthy Phil charging out of post five to take a three-length lead into a :28.3 opening panel.

                He maintained a commanding lead to the half in :57.4 with the field tightening up heading into the backstretch the final time.

                But Philthy Phil was just toying with his rivals and took off again after the 1:27.1 third-quarter mark to win by 6-1/2 lengths in 1:56.2. The time of the mile was just two-fifths of a second off his lifetime mark, taken during his last winning effort on Sept. 27.

                The winner returned $4.30 as the slight second choice to Stay Pumped, who was never a factor racing at the back of the six-pack.

                McLand and Danny Gillis chased from the pocket to finish second while La Playa Deo and Andrew MacLean followed back in third.

                Owned by Doucet and trained by Lennan MacIsaac, the four-year-old son of Shanghai Phil-CMR Maybe Loaded has made all but one of his 15 starts this year over the Inverness half-mile oval, winning seven times, including three races in a row in August, and missing the board just once.

                The win for Doucet was his 32^nd of the season at Inverness as he wrapped up the driving title with a six-win lead over Zach Mullins (26 wins) in second place. Rodney Gillis (23 wins) rounded out the top three.

                There was a tie atop the training standings as D.F. Beaton sent out closing-day winner Mojo Beach to push his local seasonal win total to 18 and tie Mullins for first. Walter Walker finished the meet just two wins off the co-leaders, with 16 victories.

• Inverness stock car enthusiast David Timmons keeps on drivin’ ‘er
• Philthy Phil closes out Inverness Raceway’s amazing 100th season
• D.J. MacLean & Sons Carpentry Ltd. wins Economic Impact Award
• Ice problem forces early end to Sr. A Knights game in Inverness
• Macs end U18 Major Islanders six-game win streak with 4-1 win
• No deal reached between government and CUPE school support workers
• The Data Centre debate
• U15 A Islanders start the season undefeated with a pair of draws
• Rehabilitated eagles come home to the Highlands
• Seeking support for the Mabou waterfront development project
• Blood and coal by Alex Phillips
• Government of Canada supports Theatre Baddeck Society’s project to strengthen new permanent home
• Pius MacIsaac Memorial Music Fund Celebrates Third Annual Fundraiser at Glenora Inn and Distillery
• Holding Up the Sky Thunder Bay exhibit is homecoming for artist Virginia McCoy
• Tom Ryan Book Launch