D. Fraser Symington

One could not help but view Donald Fraser Symington as a distinguished man. Even in his senior years, he maintained a very healthy head of hair, on the longish side, which gave him an aristocratic look; and, because he was tall and relatively slight, he always appeared a bit of a rake, aided in no small measure by the perpetual twinkle in his eyes.

I really hadn't much to do with Fraser except professionally, and he was not one of those persons to linger in my office talking about himself or anything other than the legal matter at hand. However, I believe he was involved considerably in the machinations of the Town in his earlier years. I first met him when he was beginning his decline in society, at the juncture when he and his late wife, Sheila, were selling their grand stone home on Union Street North and moving to a more modest place on Country Street.

Fraser, like I, had great admiration for the vast resource of talent within the municipal boundaries; and, he never shied away from distinguishing Almonte from its more blue collar neighbour, Carleton Place.