Caboose supporters dine in style

Mar 31, 2011

Photo: Sally Angle, Ann Walsh and artist Jim Keirstead

Close to 90 guests at a fundraising dinner for the renovation of the Sharbot Lake caboose enjoyed a candlelit evening of fine Italian dining at St. James Major hall on March 26. The event put on by the Central Frontenac Heritage Railway Society was headed by Ann Walsh and Sally Angle. Andrea Dickinson provided the hors d'oeuvres and Wayne and Allison Robinson prepared a sumptuous homemade three course Italian meal of minestrone soup, Caesar salad, cannelloni and tiramisu.

Guests included well-known artist Jim Keirstead, who supported the society's fundraising efforts by offering sales of signed limited edition prints of his original painting titled “The Kick and Push”, which depicts a train on the tracks in front of the old Sharbot Lake train station and Allen’s store, where Keirstead lived for a time after his parents bought the store in 1949. After a stint in the army, and after serving in the Korean War, Keirstead returned to Sharbot Lake where he worked as an OPP constable one summer.

A portion of the proceeds from Keirstead's print sales will go to the society. He said he was pleased to offer his support. “I've always been a big fan of Sharbot Lake.”

Garry Giller, president of the society, was very pleased with the turnout and said, “Community support for our endeavours has been terrific.”

At the end of the day $3,000 was raised to restore the caboose and heritage park. This summer the caboose will be sandblasted and then painted with the aim of opening it to the public sometime this summer. A framed print of “The Kick and Push” will be hung at Pillar Financial Services in the Simonett Building on Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake for those interested in purchasing a piece of Sharbot Lake railway history.