Levee-lovers will have to wait until 2010
From The Guardian
"Islanders who look forward each New Year’s Day to participating in the grand old tradition of the New Year’s levee will have to wait until next year to make their rounds. Thursday’s blizzard forced the cancellation of virtually all of the major levees in the province and indications are that only one is being rescheduled."
Merde! I have never been to the PEI levees, and suddenly I wanted to go to see what they were like -- free food and drink sounded good too! On PEI, all of the bars, legions, social clubs, and major gov't bodies open up for a few hours to welcome everyone into the New Year - they are usually open to all who venture in. Micheal, my Ontarian fiancé, had never heard of them so I suspect this is another regional thing.
I poached the following from Peter Rukavina's site, Ruk.ca:
If you are a levee virgin, here’s a friend set of pointers that you might find useful to get you over your own fears and into the levee habit:
* While children generally aren’t taken to levees, everyone else is welcome, regardless of religion, gender, social class, noble rank, etc. Certain levees may feel unusual for certain people for different reasons, but I’ve yet to see anyone not warmly welcomed at each and every levee I’ve attended.
* The proceeding is the same at every levee: you show up at the appointed time and get in line (the later you show up, the longer the line will be). Sometimes you’ll be offered the opportunity to check your coat, sometimes not (it will be obvious). The line generally leads to a receiving line of Important People - the Mayor and Councillors, or the President, or the Premier or the Bishop - who shake your hand and wish you a Happy New Year. At the end of the line there are refreshments on offer.
* The refreshments are vary greatly from levee to levee: sometimes there’s alcohol on offer, sometimes not. Some levees have sandwiches and snacks, some just sweets. You don’t have to pay.
* After milling about for what seems like an appropriate amount of time, you gather your coat if you’ve checked it, and head off to the next levee.
* The role of the “calling card” is to allow the person running the receiving to whisper your name into the name of the Important People (or, sometimes, to just hand them the card so they can greet you by name). Some levees have blank cards and pens available for those without; if you end up without a card, fear not, as you can simply introduce yourself in person.
I was hoping to hit a few of the following:
THE LEVEE OF… HELD AT… STARTS ENDS
Campbell Webster Timothy’s World Coffee 9:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.
Lieutenant Governor Fanningbank (Government House) 10:00 a.m. 11:30 a.m.
Polar Bear Swim Foot of Pownal Street 10:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m.
City of Charlottetown Charlottetown City Hall 10:30 a.m. 12:00 Noon
Canoe Cove Community Association Old Canoe Cove Schoolhouse 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
HMCS Queen Charlotte 10 Water Street Parkway 11:30 p.m. 1:00 p.m.
Haviland Club 2 Haviland Street 12:00 Noon 1:00 p.m.
Town of Stratford Stratford Town Centre 12:00 Noon 1:30 p.m.
University of PEI McDougall Hall (at UPEI) 12:00 Noon 2:00 p.m.
Queen Charlotte Armouries Foot of Haviland 12:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m.
Seniors Active Living Centre CARI Pool Building 12:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m.
Masonic Temple 204 Hillsborough St. 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Diocese of Charlottetown Holy Redeemer Parish Centre 1:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m.
Town of Cornwall Cornwall Town Hall 1:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Royal Canadian Legion 99 Pownal Street 2:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Benevolent Irish Society 582 North River Road 3:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
Premier Robert Ghiz Confederation Centre of the Arts 3:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m.
Charlottetown Curling Club 241 Euston Street 4:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
Charlottetown Firemen’s Club Charlottetown Fire Hall 6:00 p.m. onwards
Well, next year I guess...
"Islanders who look forward each New Year’s Day to participating in the grand old tradition of the New Year’s levee will have to wait until next year to make their rounds. Thursday’s blizzard forced the cancellation of virtually all of the major levees in the province and indications are that only one is being rescheduled."
Merde! I have never been to the PEI levees, and suddenly I wanted to go to see what they were like -- free food and drink sounded good too! On PEI, all of the bars, legions, social clubs, and major gov't bodies open up for a few hours to welcome everyone into the New Year - they are usually open to all who venture in. Micheal, my Ontarian fiancé, had never heard of them so I suspect this is another regional thing.
I poached the following from Peter Rukavina's site, Ruk.ca:
If you are a levee virgin, here’s a friend set of pointers that you might find useful to get you over your own fears and into the levee habit:
* While children generally aren’t taken to levees, everyone else is welcome, regardless of religion, gender, social class, noble rank, etc. Certain levees may feel unusual for certain people for different reasons, but I’ve yet to see anyone not warmly welcomed at each and every levee I’ve attended.
* The proceeding is the same at every levee: you show up at the appointed time and get in line (the later you show up, the longer the line will be). Sometimes you’ll be offered the opportunity to check your coat, sometimes not (it will be obvious). The line generally leads to a receiving line of Important People - the Mayor and Councillors, or the President, or the Premier or the Bishop - who shake your hand and wish you a Happy New Year. At the end of the line there are refreshments on offer.
* The refreshments are vary greatly from levee to levee: sometimes there’s alcohol on offer, sometimes not. Some levees have sandwiches and snacks, some just sweets. You don’t have to pay.
* After milling about for what seems like an appropriate amount of time, you gather your coat if you’ve checked it, and head off to the next levee.
* The role of the “calling card” is to allow the person running the receiving to whisper your name into the name of the Important People (or, sometimes, to just hand them the card so they can greet you by name). Some levees have blank cards and pens available for those without; if you end up without a card, fear not, as you can simply introduce yourself in person.
I was hoping to hit a few of the following:
THE LEVEE OF… HELD AT… STARTS ENDS
Campbell Webster Timothy’s World Coffee 9:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.
Lieutenant Governor Fanningbank (Government House) 10:00 a.m. 11:30 a.m.
Polar Bear Swim Foot of Pownal Street 10:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m.
City of Charlottetown Charlottetown City Hall 10:30 a.m. 12:00 Noon
Canoe Cove Community Association Old Canoe Cove Schoolhouse 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
HMCS Queen Charlotte 10 Water Street Parkway 11:30 p.m. 1:00 p.m.
Haviland Club 2 Haviland Street 12:00 Noon 1:00 p.m.
Town of Stratford Stratford Town Centre 12:00 Noon 1:30 p.m.
University of PEI McDougall Hall (at UPEI) 12:00 Noon 2:00 p.m.
Queen Charlotte Armouries Foot of Haviland 12:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m.
Seniors Active Living Centre CARI Pool Building 12:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m.
Masonic Temple 204 Hillsborough St. 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Diocese of Charlottetown Holy Redeemer Parish Centre 1:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m.
Town of Cornwall Cornwall Town Hall 1:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Royal Canadian Legion 99 Pownal Street 2:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Benevolent Irish Society 582 North River Road 3:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
Premier Robert Ghiz Confederation Centre of the Arts 3:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m.
Charlottetown Curling Club 241 Euston Street 4:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
Charlottetown Firemen’s Club Charlottetown Fire Hall 6:00 p.m. onwards
Well, next year I guess...