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Drummond Day at Orono United Church By: Myno Van Dyke When I saw Newcastle's Don Brown at Stapleton's Grist Mill Auction in Newtonville, I had a sinking feeling that, again, he was there to buy the same item I wanted. "The Drummond painting?" I asked. He nodded in the affirmative affirmative and simply said, "You too?" So there we were, both ■ of us standing on the stage, side by side, while Frank Stapleton began his World Championship auction chant. Frank's assistant, Irwin Colwell, held the framed painting up high for everyone to bid on but after $100, it was just Don and I alternating nods. The price got to my spouse-promised amount quicker than I thought and my head continued its uncontrollable uncontrollable nods a few more times before I finally gave in. Again. As usual, polite guy that he is, Don thanked me. I reminded him that all I did was cost him money since it was only the two of us bidding bidding anyway. Now that the smallish oil painting of a lakeside lakeside Muskoka scene was in his hands, it looked a lot better better than I first thought. The great thing about going to a local auction every week for many years is that you get to know a lot of people people that know a great deal about antiques and special items. Soon, two of them sauntered over, perhaps feeling feeling sorry for the retiree. They both quietly mentioned that they had a "better" Drummond that they would sell me for less money. And, sure enough, thanks to Tom Henderson, we now have a very special Drummond painting hanging in our home. My interest in Drummond art started with the passing of the late Jennie Bowens of Orono last year. Her estate left Orono United Church a beautiful painting by Arthur A. Drummond. We hung it in a room with two other large Drummond paintings and suddenly, after walking by them for fifteen years, I paid attention. Like good art, the longer you look, the more you appreciate. I started asking people about the Drummonds and it turned out there was a lot more to them than just paintings. I couldn't believe how many people had one (or more) in their homes. Arthur A. Drummond was bom in Toronto in 1891. He was the son of the Chief Inspector of the Standard Bank and the grandson of Rev. A.A. Drummond, a former former Presbyterian minister in Newcastle. After he graduated graduated from Upper Canada College in 1909, he obtained employment with his father's firm, the Standard Bank in Toronto and eventually became a manager in Alton. While he was in Toronto, from 1909 to 1923, he studied landscape painting under the artist William Cutts. He attended evening classes at the Ontario College of Art and studied under well known Canadian artists such as William Cruikshank, C.M. Manley, J.W. Beatty and George Reid. Arthur won a number of awards for pictorial pictorial composition and a scholarship scholarship for figure painting. He is listed in Who's Who in American Art. In September, 1926, he became the bank manager in Orono. In 1930, he won the Jessie Dow Award for painting in watercolor and also that year he was the first Canadian elected to the American Watercolor Society. Arthur also played with the Toronto Conservatory Orchestra and it was here that lie met another talented musician, musician, Luclla Buchanan of Mount Forest. Luella had been the principal of Orono High School from 1921 to 1928. They married in 1931 and moved to Orono. They had one child, a son, Alexander Reesor Drummond. From 1918 until 1937, Arthur's works were exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy, the Art Association of Montreal, the Canadian National Exhibition and the American Watercolor Society. The Drummonds were very musical. Arthur could play the violin and Luella could sing and play piano. They often performed recitals together. Arthur played as first violinist with the General Motors Symphony in Oshawa and also played violin in Andrew Knox's Orono band. Arthur and Luella had a strong association to Orono United Church. Arthur was Clerk of Session there for 22 years. He was on numerous committees and was involved in the fund raising for the new church building after the disastrous disastrous fire in 1950. Luella, sang in the church choir, was President of the W.M.S and was Sunday School Superintendent in the 1930's and 1940's. In 1975, Arthur had a one- man travelling exhibition of some 55 works spanning his career at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa. That year his art was also on display at the Clarke Public Library in Orono and the community had a big party for him Unfortunately, Luella, stricken stricken with Alzheimer's, was unable to be there with him. Arthur died in 1977 and Luella followed in 1981. They sold his paintings from their home studio at the south west comer of Main and Sommerville Streets in Orono for over forty years. "Art brings people together together and reveals things about the human soul," says Alla Rogers. "There's a spiritual necessity to art." On Sunday, April 28, starting starting at 11:00 a.m., Orono and Kirby United Churches will celebrate the lives of Arthur and Luella Drummond. Their son, Alex and his wife, Carolyn, will be there along with special music and dedication dedication of "The Drummond Room". There will be a spe cial display of Dmmmond paintings in the lower hall and a lunch after. So, please feel free to come to church that day and if you have a Dmmmond painting please we hope you can bring it down to the lower hall before Church. If you wish to bring your Dmmmond. painting, we would like you to fill out a form ahead of time describing it. . Please call Myno Van Dyke, 905- 987-5482 Help us prevent poaching. 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