On Saturday October 17, more than 100 guests stepped forward to support the Canadian Canoe Museum while also stepping back in time as the museum hosted its second annual Beaver Club Gala. The event began with a traditional procession led by piper Helen Batten, closely followed by a wild boar’s head (generously loaned by Sean Kelly of Black Angus Fine Meats and Game) and 4 voyageurs carrying a bark canoe. Host Seamus McCastor, a Scottish fur trader conjured up from the past by Canoe Museum Executive Director James Raffan, then took the stage to offer traditional toasts and tell those attending about the origins of the Beaver Club, a fur trade gathering which began in the late 18th century. One could only join the Beaver Club after spending a winter in the North Country, or pays d’en haut, and paying to have a gold Beaver Club medal struck with the date of their first visit there. The membership of this club included some of the towering figures from the glory days of the fur trade in Canada, such as James McGill and Simon McTavish, and their boisterous off-season celebrations in Montreal became legendary.

Guests at the Gala placed bids on live and silent auction items, watched traditional artisans at work and enjoyed period music from the Beaver Club Orchestra while they dined on roasted wild boar. There was even an opportunity to learn to dance a traditional queue du loup, or “wolf’s tail.” The evening raised more than $33,000 for the Canadian Canoe Museum, a unique heritage institution which preserves and celebrates the history and culture of the canoe, a national treasure and one of the wonders of Canada. The Canadian Canoe Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 5:00, and Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00. Learn more at www.canoemuseum.ca.