Patriarch of UCDSB Politics Art Buckland honoured at Roast

The patriarch of school politics in Upper Canada was feted Friday night at a roast in his honour. Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) Trustee Art Buckland, who represents the Stormont and Glengarry areas, was celebrated by politicians, teachers, school directors and old school chums during an entertaining evening at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall.

PHOTO CREDIT - Submitted Photo

Cornwall - November 12, 2012 - The patriarch of school politics in Upper Canada was feted Friday night at a roast in his honour.

Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) Trustee Art Buckland, who represents the Stormont and Glengarry areas, was celebrated by politicians, teachers, school directors and old school chums during an entertaining evening at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall. Buckland has spent his life serving public education and his community through agencies ranging from the Cornwall Township Historical Society to the Martintown Goodtimers. He is also one of the longest-serving school trustees in Ontario, having worked in that capacity for 37 years. He was a member of the old Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry board before coming to the Upper Canada District School Board following amalgamation in the late nineties. A highlight of the night was a passionate performance by Buckland himself of Ode to a Haggis, the famous poem by Robbie Burns.

The evening attracted 250 people to hear everyone from Upper Canada District School Board Director David Thomas to childhood friends praise and needle Buckland for a life well-lived. The event raised $2,500 for charity, with proceeds to be split between the Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada and the Upper Canada District School Board Champions for Kids Foundation.

Friend Claude McIntosh commented on the number of people who came to honour Buckland.

“There’s a strong message here Art - a lynching can draw a crowd,” said McIntosh.

Bob Taylor, a former teacher at Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School, needled Buckland over his rendition of the classic Robbie Burns poem.

“This is the fifth time that I’ve heard you recite Ode to a Haggis and I still can’t understand it,” he told Buckland to laughs from the crowd.

Thomas took a playful jab at Buckland’s lengthy record in school politics. He jokingly talked about touring schools in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties with Buckland when he first arrived at the Board.

“We drove to visit a school that was 700 years old and I looked around and Art’s picture was up on the wall,” said Thomas.

Buckland also received several gifts in appreciation for his service including a painting of Sheek’s Island - part of the Lost Villages - silver cufflinks and more than one bottle of fine, single-malt Scotch whisky.

Buckland expressed gratitude for the evening during a speech at the end of the night.

“This has been the highlight of my life,” said a smiling Buckland.