BARRHEAD-It isn't how the Martin family planned it.
On July 22, a crowd of about 50 people gathered in the Barrhead Agrena's Charles Godberson Rotary room to celebrate and honour the legacy of Cecile Martin and the 41st anniversary of the park named in her honour.
Originally the event was supposed to be held at the park, but due to inclement weather, the family, with the help of the Town of Barrhead, moved the celebration indoors.
Cecile Martin died in 1980 from breast cancer. In addition to being an active member of Barrhead's arts community through the community theatre, she was a driving force and fundraiser for improvement of the amenities at what then was Barr Manor Park.
Shortly after her passing, Barrhead resident Wilma Thompson urged Town of Barrhead councillors to name Barr Manor Park after Marin due to her fundraising efforts to build a children’s playground in the park.
Her husband, Richard Martin, said in Cecile's short time in Barrhead, 10 years in total, she made an indelible impression on the community as it did on her.
The couple moved to Barrhead in 1970 with their children, Caroline, Michelle and Jacquie, and lived in a home kiddie corner to the southern boundary of the park. Later the couple would go on to have two more children, Paul and Monique, both born in Barrhead.
Originally, Cecile hoped to build a hill in the park that children could use to slide on in the winter and add a children's playground.
"She was very passionate about the park," Richard said. "She wanted a safe and exciting place for the children to play.
To help realize her vision, she started to organize fundraisers, one of the more successful one's was an annual walkathon.
"Some of you younger people might not know what that is ... you pay someone to walk," Richard joked.
Cecile was fortunate to see her vision completed, he said, adding she would have been proud to see the improvements the town continued to make in the park that bears her name.
In 2006, a one-kilometre walking path encircling the park was added, followed by a basketball court in 2011, solar lighting in 2013 and a frisbee golf course in 2019. This is in addition to two playgrounds, a soccer field and a seasonal outdoor ice rink.
"Cecile said her legacy was bringing five healthy children into the world," Richard said. "However, that is only part of her legacy. The other, which did not know about, is that she would have a beautiful park, named in her honour in her beloved Barrhead."
He added he tried to convince her that they should move to Los Angeles, New York, or another centre where she could pursue a professional acting career.
"I had that much faith in her and her talent, but she didn't want to leave her beloved Barrhead and the Community Theatre," he said.
Cecile's daughter Michelle, who followed in her mother's footsteps becoming an actress, and appearing in several Canadian stage and television productions, said her mother's first love was the theatre.
"She was a natural-born performer and gifted singer who starred in many fabulous Barrhead Community Theatre productions," she said.
Some of the productions Cecile appeared in includes Blithe Spirit, the Sound of Music in 1975 and Fiddler on the Roof in 1977. She also played the title roles in Annie Get Your Gun, in 1978 and Irma la Douce in 1979.
"I remember everything," Michelle said. "Her learning her lines while she ironed, folded clothes or cooked. I knew all the words to all the songs in all the musicals before they opened because she sang them constantly. It was joyful and intoxicating ... and it was a great gift to me that she brought it home so I could be an enthralled witness to her creative process."
Michelle would go on to speak about her mother's love of the park and her courageous battle with cancer.
"[It is our family's] hope that you keep her in your heart as you walk the paths of her beautiful park and enjoy the natural beauty that it has to offer," she said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
