Fiddling around in Sharbot Lake

Sep 09, 2010

Stittsville fiddler Don Fletcher

Nothing beats good live music and anyone lucky enough to be passing by the Glen Fossey Memorial Park on Sunday last weekend in Sharbot Lake might have caught the heavenly fiddle sounds of

Don Fletcher of Stittsville. Fletcher has been playing the fiddle for 25 years and camping with his family at the Sharbot Lake Provincial Park for 30 years. In an effort to not disturb other nearby campers he often practices for two, or three hours every morning in the Glen Fossey park's gazebo, something he has been doing for the past 15 years. “There are fiddle lovers and fiddle haters so I try to practice somewhere a bit out of the way.”

Fletcher works for Ottawa Hydro and teaches fiddle privately from his home and also at Algonquin College. He regularly plays around the Ottawa area. On Thursday nights he plays at Dan O'Connell's Irish Pub in Ottawa and at the Royal Oak on Bank Street with a Cape Breton group the 1st and third Sundays of the month from 2-5pm

He says he gets a friendly reception in Sharbot Lake and likes the fact that no one seems to mind or bothers him much. “No one's thrown me out yet and one lady actually put a tooney in my coffee cup because she thought I was busking.”

Fletcher plays a wide range of tunes including Cape Breton, Quebecois, Scottish and Irish tunes as well.

Anyone who missed him this year might consider a regular morning summer walk past the Glen Fossey gazebo. They will be in for a reel treat.