The record, 14 décembre 2021, mardi 14 décembre 2021

[" T H E V O I C E O F T H E E A S T E R N T O W N S H I P S S I N C E 18 9 7 T H E Passing of Peggy Munkittrick Page 5 National Assembly Report Page 3 $1.00 + taxes PM#0040007682 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Townships groups called on to start a revolution of community development Townships reports 561 new Covid cases By Gordon Lambie There were 561 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the Eastern Townships over the weekend, bringing the average number of new cases per day in the region to 169 over the last week.As of Monday\u2019s report the total number of active cases in the region was 1,572, with 70 active outbreaks being tracked across the territory.The number of people hospitalized in the Townships increased by eight to 32, eight of whom were in intensive care.This accounted for 40 per cent of all Covid hospitalizations in the province outside of the greater Montreal area.Asked about the threat of a rising number of Omicron cases in Ontario on Monday afternoon, Premier François Legault said that there has not yet been a change to the recommendations from the provincial public health department, although he was due to meet with Public Health Director Dr.Horatio Arruda on Monday night.The Province of Quebec reported 1,628 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number of people infected to 467,609 with 14,251 active cases.There were 1,081 outbreaks being tracked across the province on Monday, and the number of hospitalizations increased by six compared to Sunday, reaching 268 with 73 in intensive care.The province also recorded three new deaths, for a total of 11,611 since the start of the pandemic.As of Monday, 272,246 young people aged 5 to 11 had received a ?rst dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 and 52,256 were awaiting their appointment.That amounts to 42 per cent coverage in that age group across the province, and 42.9 per cent in the Eastern Townships.The Record\u2019s E-Edition allows you to read the full edition of the paper without leaving your home 24/7.The best way to stay abreast of local news.To subscribe, go to www.sherbrookerecord.com.Click on E-Edition and follow the simple instructions.And then start enjoy The Record for as little as $9.78 plus tx per month.Enjoy The Record online Already a print subscriber?Get the E-Edition free! Contact: 819-569-9528 billing@sherbrookerecord.com View issues of The Record, Brome County News, Townships Outlet and our special sections with just a click of the mouse! GORDON LAMBIE Émilie Drouin, Charles Lamontagne, Vicky-May Hamm, Claude Belleau, Émanuele Lapierre-Fortin and Christian Bibeau at the launch of the Estates-General on community development launched in the Eastern Townships on Monday afternoon By Gordon Lambie On Monday representatives of a large number of organizations, municipalities, and institutions in the Eastern Townships gathered at the Jouvence retreat centre in Mont- Orford Provincial Park to begin a new conversation about how to move forward as a society when it comes to community development.Coordinated locally by the Observatoire estrien du développement des communautés (OEDC), the Estates-General on community development makes up part of a province-wide effort begun last May to establish new priorities for community development and better understand the work that is already being done.\u201cWe cannot continue to do things the way we have before,\u201d said Claude Belleau who, along with former Magog mayor Vicky-May Hamm, was asked to be one of the spokespeople for the new initiative.Although the process of the Estates-General began with a call for identifying priorities and sharing CONT\u2019D ON PAGE 3 PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 2 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Ben by Daniel Shelton The Record e-edition There for you 24-hours-a-day 7-days-a-week.Wherever you are.Access the full edition of the Sherbrooke Record as well as special editions and 30 days of archives.Renew or order a new 12-month print subscription and get a 12-month online subscription for an additional $5 or purchase the online edition only for $125.00 Record subscription rates (includes Quebec taxes) For print subscription rates, please call 819-569-9528 or email us at billing@sherbrookerecord.com 12 month web only: $125.00 1 month web only: $11.25 Web subscribers have access to the daily Record as well as archives and special editions.Subscribing is as easy as 1,2,3: 1.Visit the Record website: www.sherbrookerecord.com 2.Click e-edition.3.Complete the form and wait for an email activating your online subscription.Weather TODAY: SUNNY HIGH -1 LOW -8 WEDNESDAY: CLOUDY WITH SUNNY BREAKS HIGH 2 LOW 1 THURSDAY: LIGHT RAIN HIGH 11 LOW 1 FRIDAY: SCATTERED FLURRIES HIGH 3 LOW -4 SATURDAY: SCATTERED FLURRIES HIGH -1 LOW -7 The Missisquoi North Volunteer Centre (CABMN) a non-pro?t charitable organization is busy preparing for its Annual Christmas Baskets for needy families and individuals that will be delivered on Dec.15 in Potton and surrounding areas.Gathering food, traditional Christmas dinner items, and small extras makes for a busy few weeks for volunteers and CABMN staff.The CABMN recently received a visit from the Administrative Assistant for the Yamaska Literacy Council, Amanda Patch, who delivered new books (in both French and English) for each child whose family is registered to receive a basket this year.These beautiful books will be added to the baskets giving the special gift of reading to children in need.The mission of the Yamaska Literacy Council (YLC) is to identify and respond to evolving literacy needs in Brome-Missisquoi & Haute-Yamaska regions, to help English speaking adults and older youth improve their literacy skills in order to reach their goals, to provide training and support to literacy volunteers and to increase public awareness of literacy issues and solutions.Their services and programs deliver community- based literacy programming including: one-to-one tutoring, lifelong learning, youth and family initiatives and promotion, outreach and advocacy.The YLC is overseen by a Board of Directors and the staff team is made up of: Executive Director, Wendy Seys, Administrative Assistant, Amanda Patch, Development Agent, Cindy Elston and Learning Hive Agent, Kayla Colosimo.The YLC of?ces are located at: 505 Rue Sud in Cowansville, 5403 Rue Foster in Waterloo and 5 Rue Academy in Stanbridge East.To reach the YLC call: (450) 263-7503.Since 1981 the Yamaska Literacy Council has provided literacy services in the area and with initiatives like providing books for children in need they organization has truly become instrumental in ?nding ways to bring the wonder and joy of reading to all.The CABMN staff was extremely touched by Amanda Patch\u2019s visit to the organization and the show of community support and kindness displayed by the YLC group.Patch who is also the book keeper for the Avante Women\u2019s Centre in Bedford and President of the Reilly House in Potton also took the opportunity during her visit on Friday, December 10 to present a cheque issued to the CABMN Partage/Share Christmas basket initiative as a donation from the Reilly House (Association Culturelle, Sociale et Recreative de Potton) in the amount of $500.00 from the sale of Cookbooks held in support of the cause each year.Yamaska Literacy Council brings reading to CABMN Christmas baskets Mable Hastings The Scoop Amanda Patch, Reilly House President, and Debra Harding KRYSTEN VANIER Amanda Patch-Administrative Assistant with the Yamaska Literacy Council KRYSTEN VANIER PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW The Record newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 3 Local News \u201cI think what ordinary people want is affordable rent.They want accessible mental health care\u2026 and they want us to deal with climate change.\u201d \u2013 Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois information during Monday\u2019s gathering, Belleau called on those present to recognize that they are at work in a time when great change is possible.\u201cWe\u2019re at a junction point in society,\u201d the spokesperson said, describing the world as being at the meeting point of two tectonic plates.Although such a location is one of great tension and uncertainty, he pointed out that it is also a location from which great change can be carried out.\u201cWe need to reach beyond the group of people that we typically work with.\u201d Hamm addressed the gathering from a less revolutionary point of view, but she argued that groups who take the time to establish community priorities now will be better placed to get those priorities built into political platforms in the lead-up to the 2022 fall election.Organizations present at Monday\u2019s meeting were invited to take the questions asked and conversations started back home with them in order to build as large-scale a picture as possible of what is going on in the region over the coming months.Once that gathering process is complete, the group plans to come back together in the Spring of 2022 for a larger gathering in Sainte- Camille where, hopefully, ideas will be developed into action plans and shared.That initiative is then to be followed by a province-wide event in October of 2022.CONT\u2019D FROM PAGE 1 Community development revolution #NewsMatters: The National Assembly Report By Raquel Fletcher Bill 21 at centre of controversy again at National Assembly Politicians react to story broken by The Low Down Quebec\u2019s religious symbols ban, Bill 21, was at the centre of controversy once again as the National Assembly wrapped up its fall session last week.As ?rst reported by The Low Down to Hull and Back News, in a story that garnered national attention, a grade three teacher in Chelsea, Quebec was removed from her classroom and reassigned other duties because she wears a hijab.Premier François Legault said the Western Quebec School Board should never have hired teacher Fatemeh Anvari.\u201cI want to remind everybody that Bill 21 became a law in June 2019.It was voted democratically by the National Assembly.\u201d He added the secularism law, which prohibits public employees in positions of authority, including teachers, from wearing religious symbols while at work, is \u201creasonable\u201d and \u201cbalanced.\u201d The Parti Québécois agreed with the premier.\u201cWe\u2019re in a democracy\u2026.When a law is enacted, it applies,\u201d said leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.However, the other opposition parties said there\u2019s nothing simple about ?ring a teacher, especially when Quebec is facing an acute labour shortage.\u201cFundamentally, we don\u2019t think it\u2019s right,\u201d said Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade.\u201cIt\u2019s very sad.We cannot afford in Quebec to lose teachers,\u201d added Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson for Québec Solidaire.End of session and Christmas greetings The party leaders expressed their views as part of their year-end press conferences Thursday and Friday in Quebec City.As is the custom, the leaders exchanged Christmas greetings to one another and a few light-hearted jokes.Anglade presented the other leaders with Christmas gifts, including a toy backhoe for the premier, needling him over his controversial plans to build a $10 billion tunnel between Quebec City and Lévis.\u201cI took the time myself \u2013 myself - to paint it green so he could say it\u2019s carbon neutral,\u201d she said to laughter in the house.During his speech, Legault was also good-natured, noting that: \u201cDespite all the tough debates that we can have here, I think that I want to say a big thank you to all the MNAs for the work that has been done during the pandemic.\u201cIt\u2019s been more than 21 months that we have been trying, each one of us, in our riding of?ces to reassure citizens, to face, in certain cases, major frustrations.\u201d It was a rare moment of levity and cordiality in the National Assembly, where debate has become increasingly tense in recent weeks.Legault admitted he has a short temper when he feels provoked by the opposition.When a 65-year-old man died earlier this month after the emergency room was closed in his town due to staff shortages, Anglade accused the premier of being personally responsible.\u201cI\u2019m strong, but it\u2019s tough to hear things like that,\u201d the premier admitted with a heavy sigh.Anglade also revealed how the pandemic has been taking its toll.She broke down in tears in front of reporters while talking about people who lost their lives in the province\u2019s long-term care homes during the ?rst wave.\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to lose somebody you love in a terrible situation,\u201d she said, referring to her own parents\u2019 deaths in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.Reading the ?nal report about what happened to them gave her closure, Anglade said.\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily something you really want to ?nd out.But when you do ?nd out, you\u2019re capable of moving on,\u201d she said.Next year\u2019s election While leaders called for a more respectful tone, next year\u2019s election is only 10 months away and they hinted at the type of campaign rhetoric to come.The Liberal leader said she doesn\u2019t believe recent polls that show the CAQ could win close to 100 seats, including more seats on the island of Montreal.\u201cNext year, there is going to be a clear choice that Quebecers are going to have: they\u2019re going to have a choice between a government that is paternalistic, that doesn\u2019t anticipate, that doesn\u2019t have a vision for society, versus a government that is progressive, inclusive, federalist and that has a vision for the future,\u201d she said.\u201cI think what ordinary people want is affordable rent.They want accessible mental health care\u2026 and they want us to deal with climate change.So, when we ask those questions, François Legault reacts, he loses control, because we are putting the ?nger on his contradictions,\u201d said Nadeau- Dubois.The PQ leader currently does not have a seat at the National Assembly but said he doesn\u2019t feel left out of the debate.\u201cWe will jump into 2022 on the right topics and with people that deserve the trust of the population,\u201d said St-Pierre Plamondon.The former lawyer still struggles with name recognition but said he won\u2019t drop one of his surnames to make it easier to say.\u201cI don\u2019t think I could come to Christmas this year saying: Mom, I just deleted your name,\u201d he said.\u201cSo, we\u2019ll stay with PSPP.\u201d Raquel Fletcher is Global News\u2019 National Assembly Reporter Trudeau won\u2019t rule out federal intervention in challenge to Quebec secularism law The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he\u2019s still not ruling out federal intervention in a legal challenge to Quebec\u2019s secularism law after an elementary school teacher was recently reassigned because she wears a Muslim head scarf.Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Trudeau said he deeply disagrees with the law, which bans certain government employees from wearing religious symbols, noting that the possibility of someone losing their job because of their religion is no longer \u201ctheoretical.\u2019\u2019 Quebec Premier Francois Legault responded by saying he doesn\u2019t understand how the federal government could intervene to challenge a bill that is supported by the majority of Quebecers.Legault says the bill does not target people because of their religion but only bars government employees deemed to be in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols while they are working.Legault says it\u2019s important for government employees to appear to be neutral, adding that a teacher would not be allowed to wear a shirt advocating their support for the Liberal party.It was revealed last week that a Grade 3 teacher at Chelsea Elementary School, just north of Gatineau, Que., had been reassigned to duties outside the classroom because of her hijab.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 4 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Eyes wide open Simon Roy has his work cut out for him.Newly elected mayor of the small municipality of Ayer\u2019s Cliff, his ?rst order of business was to look at the ?nances.\u201cIf you don\u2019t know what you have to work with, how can you make your plans?So the ?rst thing I did was to look at the budget and the bank account.\u201d It was not a pleasant surprise.Within a month of his election, Roy had organized a public presentation to tell his residents.\u201cThere\u2019s a shortage of approximately $2 million due to the failure to index the tax accounts between 2012 and 2021.\u201d That\u2019s a pretty big oversight.Asked who\u2019s to blame, Roy sensibly points to nobody \u2013 he\u2019s new, he has to work with his councillors, he has four years to make things better.\u201cEveryone involved on the Council has good intentions, but no one has the ability to work endless hours scrutinizing every detail.There are no lawyers on the council, no accountants.If I had any criticism at all, it would be that perhaps the council would have been wise to ask for some expert advice in the area of budgeting, since none of them are accountants.\u201d Preparing the municipal budget is a year-long process of oversight by the Town manager, the auditors of the accounts, the assessors who evaluate the properties and the municipal councillors.At least, best practices do it this way, culminating in the fall council sessions to prepare the ?nal budget to be presented to the public in late December or early January.Says Roy, \u201cI came into this position with my eyes wide open.I am a process guy \u2013 I like to know the rules and how things work.Frankly, there are very few rules and processes here that are transparent.I hope to change that \u2013 for example, by having separate bank accounts for infrastructure, for special projects, and so on.\u201d All municipalities are faced with the challenge of balancing the budget, as mandated by provincial legislation.While a municipality can incur debt to pay for large capital projects, it cannot incur a de?cit to fund day to day operations the same way the province or the feds can.That\u2019s why the Ayer\u2019s Cliff de?cit must result in a whopping tax increase, whether done in one year or over a few years.Seventy or eighty people came out to hear Roy\u2019s presentation on December 7.\u201cNobody is happy about it,\u201d he says.\u201cBut they seemed to understand that drastic measures need to be taken.We cannot continue to leave it to the next Council and the next Council.\u201d The drastic measures he outlined in his presentation include cutting expenses by 15%, going full steam ahead with development projects, boosting property valuations to make up the shortfall.(Also included is doing nothing, which he says is not an option.) Roy is taking the bull by the horns and taking it in stride.\u201cNobody is happy about the situation.And some people will remain unhappy.But the composition of Ayer\u2019s Cliff is changing, with people retiring from Sherbrooke and Montreal and coming to Ayer\u2019s Cliff, where tax rates are half what they are in the cities they are leaving.They understand that building valuations will have to increase.There will be solutions for everyone.If a person is not planning to sell their property in the next few years, they will have to pay more, but they will have a more valuable asset.Older people have the option of a reverse mortgage on their property if they don\u2019t have the cash.\u201d Roy made sure that the provincial government grant to seniors to cover a tax increase was posted on the Ayer\u2019s Cliff website and Facebook page.(https://www.revenuquebec.ca /en/citizens/tax-credits/grant-for- seniors-to-offset-a-municipal-tax- increase/) Ayer\u2019s Cliff residents will know soon enough what combination of solutions the Council has agreed on.And that\u2019s not such a bad thing \u2013 knowing is better than not knowing, and not knowing for long enough can lead to a much worse situation.The Federation of Canadian Municipalities recently surveyed cities, town and villages across the country to see how the pandemic had affected them.They found a minimum shortfall between $10 to 15 billion.Undoubtedly, as budgets are published across the province, we will hear more distress and unhappiness.The more interesting follow-on will be to watch how many municipalities open their books and their processes to their citizens, the better to be able to monitor their ?nancial well- being.Dian Cohen is an economist and a founding organizer of the Massawippi Valley Foundation.Cohendian560@gmail.com Dian Cohen Year-end tax tips by Diane Cohen There are only a couple of weeks left till the end of the year.If tax- planning is not what gets you up in the morning, this quick read will serve as a reminder.It\u2019s nothing more than that \u2013 you\u2019ll have to look into these suggestions more closely or talk to your tax preparer.There are also a host of online websites, including the Canada Revenue Agency, to offer more detail.Claims for COVID-related work expenses \u2013 If you were employed in 2020 and worked from home, you can deduct up to $400 in home expenses from your taxable income, without the need to keep receipts or get a signed T2200 form from your employer.The federal government has promised to extend the simpli?ed deduction through the 2022 tax year, and to increase the allowable amount to $500.Maximizing Your TFSA \u2013 If you\u2019re planning to withdraw money from this tax-free account for something you will spend it on in 2022, do it now, at the end of 2021, so that you can replace it in 2022 without a penalty.And you get to put an additional $6,000 into it, also tax free.RRSP contribution \u2013 If you\u2019re turning 71 in 2021, you have until the end of December to convert your RRSP into a RRIF.If you\u2019re not turning 71, you can contribute 18% 0f your earned income, to a maximum of about $27,000.RESP \u2013 If you have children or grandchildren who are younger than 15, consider a Registered Education Savings Plan.The Canadian government will contribute at least $500 a year to your plan, but only if it\u2019s opened and has $2,000 in it before the bene?ciary turns 17.Charitable contributions - Both federal and provincial governments offer tax credits for charitable donations.The Quebec tax credit rate is 20 per cent for the ?rst $200 of the donation and 24 per cent or 25.75 per cent for the remainder.The federal tax credit rate is 15 per cent of a donation under $200 and 29 per cent over $200.If you donate shares of stock on which you\u2019re made money, not only do you not have to pay capital gains tax, but you get a deductible tax receipt.Tax-loss selling \u2013 If you\u2019re an investor and you have made some money in the stock market, you\u2019ll have to pay a capital gains tax.You can offset that tax by selling some stocks that at trading at a loss, and you can go back three years to ?nd them.Tax deduction on interest payments \u2013 If you\u2019ve borrowed money for investment purposes, such as a mortgage on a rental property or to invest in the stock market, you may be able to deduct the interest you\u2019ve paid.Expense claims if you rent out your cottage \u2013 You can claim many expenses against any income received from your rental property \u2013 current and capital costs to maintain the property, insurance premiums, property taxes, utilities, travel to and from the property.Dian Cohen is an economist and a founding organizer of the Massawippi Valley Foundation.Cohendian560@gmail.com PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW The Record newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 5 Peggy Munkittrick, 102, had a servant\u2019s heart By Geoff Agombar Local Journalism Initiative Everyone who remembers Peggy Munkittrick starts by stressing they cannot possibly ?nd words to convey everything she touched in her life.But one thing they are certain of, she was the kind of person who made them feel special every time they met.The kind of person who friend Cynthia Drew remembers getting stopped at the U.S.border and asked, \u201cDo you have any jam for me today, Peggy?\u201d The kind of person who brought food and clothes when Ruth Lewis\u2019s parents moved to Lennoxville in the \u201960s.The kind of person who showed up with a fridge to replace their icebox, or co-signed on a loan so her parents could buy their ?rst home.\u201cThey were Uncle Harold and Auntie Peggy to all the kids.The door to their house on Belvedere Street was never locked and there was always people there.\u201d Lewis remembers when she was six and her great-aunt passed away, it was Peggy who came to her room to comfort her through her sobs.Then in the \u201980s, when she drove home from Montreal after her dad passed, Peggy was seated at the kitchen table when she got home.\u201cShe was just a constant in my life,\u201d Lewis says.\u201cThis is a huge loss for me, but I\u2019m just one of thousands.\u201d Peggy was born in Bury, QC in 1919, but her family moved to Lennoxville while she was still young.Her father had a lumberyard, but died when Peggy was still young.She grew up in the house on Belvedere (now College) Street, which she and her husband later lived in.She married Harold Munkittrick in 1940, a few years after he had purchased the bike shop that would operate under his name for 30 years.Their house was always open and their truck was constantly ferrying children to Sunday school or supplies to this camp or that home on need.They maintained a vast network of relationships, and somehow knew who needed what, when, and how to offer material support in a way that people felt buoyed and treasured, not patronized.\u201cThe thing I loved about my grandmother is she was a master of combining empathy and humour,\u201d recounts grandson Dan Munkittrick.\u201cMy grandparents weren\u2019t wealthy people, per se, because they didn\u2019t believe in keeping their money.They believed in using it.\u201d \u201cShe had this internal drive.She was a woman of tenacity.She had a desire to do something important for people.She was totally \u2018others-centric.\u2019 Her whole outlook was how can she serve others in the littlest way,or in largest ways,\u201d Dan says.\u201cI can\u2019t even begin to tell the stories.Poople will tell you stories I\u2019ve never heard, because they were humble in that way.They didn\u2019t broadcast what they did for others.They just did what they knew was the right thing.\u201d Although everyone remembers Peggy making jokes and ?icking her hand to shoo away compliments and credits, the Munkittricks nonetheless played a foundational role in building several local institutions.Cynthia Drew describes Peggy as \u201cwelfare before we had welfare,\u201d and indeed Peggy volunteered for Sherbrooke Welfare for many years.Ruth Lewis remembers Peggy doing paperwork and legwork to arrange adoptions, and Peggy was at the centre of creating the Maplemount children\u2019s home in Cookshire.The Munkittricks had a cottage at Lake Wallace near the Quebec-Vermont border which, of course, was the same lake as the Frontier Lodge Christian Youth Camp.So, kids could come over to the Wallaces for boat rides and waterskiing.Harald drove supplies and children out from Sherbrooke in his army truck, and Peggy spent 25 years making meals and baking desserts from scratch in the kitchen.After caring for an elderly aunt in their home, Peggy received an inheritance.That inheritance was invested to start up the Grace Christian Home, now known as Grace Village.Again and again, Peggy and Harald found their way to the centre of what was needed, when it was needed, and there sprouted another community of service.Dan Munkittrick recalls his grandparents perspective on life, \u201cIt\u2019s not about personal accumulation.It\u2019s about relational engagement.That\u2019s what she and my grandfather did exceptionally well.It wasn\u2019t just a friendly word.It was more like, You don\u2019t have, so we\u2019re going to ?gure out how to help you out with that.\u201d Dan says Peggy\u2019s Christian faith was the central driver in everything she did.She strove to walk that faith in her every day and deed.Dan says a circle of like-spirited friends within the Grace Chapel community, including the families of Dr.William Klinck and Dr.Arthur Hill, were instrumental in the community building his grandparents are known for.Sandra Klinck, director of care at Grave Village, describes them as \u201csocial workers without a formal title\u2026 Real pioneers.\u201d Klinck thinks the two doctors were able to identify community needs through their medical practices, and together the small network of doers and givers just got down to the business of ?nding concrete ways to address those needs.Dan says Peggy was a bright light in every room she entered.She continued to drive her own car and volunteer into her eighties.As an example of her undying zest for life, he remembers driving her up to Ottawa to spend Christmas 2002 with his family.He bought an air hockey table for his kids that year.Her great-children were still young and Peggy spent a whole day playing just as hard as any of them and beating them, too.\u201cThe next day, she couldn\u2019t even lift her arm.She had to eat with her left hand.It was so classic.Another little example of her hunger to participate.And the whole time, just so much laughter going on.\u201d At Grace Village, Peggy was a ?xture in her wheelchair outside her room, giving away candies and pinches and laughs.Even at 102, chasing down a 103rd birthday next January, Dan says Peggy was still her vibrant self until very recent days, always in the thick of things.When they came and Peggy was in her room, not in the hallway, they knew something had changed.Klinck says it was a great privilege to care for Peggy in those ?nal days.She recalls singing cherished hymns in her room on her ?nal evening, last Friday, \u201cWhen we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing it will be\u201d and \u201cIt is well with my soul.\u201d Drew want people to remember, \u201cPeggy had a servant\u2019s heart.\u201d Klinck adds a nuance, \u201cShe was a leader.But she was a servant-leader.\u201d Peggy and her late husband Harald Munkittrick had one son, the late Dale Edward Munkittrick.She was sister to the late Lester Campbell MacLeod.She is survived by her daughters- in-law Annabelle Dryden and Leah Munkittrick, her grandchildren Debbie Beck (Patrick), Dan Munkittrick (Kathy) and great-grandchildren Evan, Brigitta, Bryson Beck and Sarah McGinnis (Andrew), Matthew Munkittrick (Abby), Ben Munkittirck (Bethany).Her ?rst great-great-grandchild, Jedidiah, arrived seven months before her passing.The family has scheduled a memorial after the holiday season, 2 p.m., Jan.8 at Grace Village.Dan Munkittrick suggests contacting dankathy@rogers.com closer to that date to con?rm, as public health measures may yet necessitate a change of venue or time.PHOTOS COURTESY OF CYNTHIA DREW Peggy and her husband, Harold Munkittrick Peggy Munkittrick at 88 years old with her great granddaughter Sarah Munkittrick, baking a few of the thousands of cookies Peggy baked in the Frontier Lodge kitchen over 25 summers.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 6 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record EDITORIAL A CEO who speaks English in a francophone setting signals that it is acceptable to do so and not to speak French.6 Mallory, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1M 2E2 FAX: 819-821-3179 E-MAIL: newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com WEBSITE: www.sherbrookerecord.com SHARON MCCULLY PUBLISHER (819) 569-9511 MATTHEW MCCULLY MANAGING EDITOR (819) 569-6345 GORDON LAMBIE ASSOCIATE EDITOR (819) 569-6345 SERGE GAGNON CHIEF PRESSMAN (819) 569-4856 JESSE BRYANT ADVERTISING MANAGER (450) 242-1188 DEPARTMENTS ACCOUNTING (819) 569-9511 ADVERTISING (819) 569-9525 CIRCULATION (819) 569-9528 NEWSROOM (819) 569-6345 KNOWLTON OFFICE 5B VICTORIA STREET, KNOWLTON, QUEBEC, J0E 1V0 TEL: (450) 242-1188 FAX: (450) 243-5155 PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS For print subscription rates, please call 819-569-9528 or email us at billing@sherbrookerecord.com ON-LINE SUBSCRIPTIONS QUEBEC: 1 YEAR 108.72 5.44 10.85 $ 1 2 5 .0 0 1 MONTH 9.78 0.49 0.98 $ 1 1 .2 5 Rates for out of Quebec and for other services available on request.The Record is published daily Monday to Friday.Back copies of The Record are available.The Record was founded on February 9, 1897, and acquired the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879) in 1905 and the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) in 1908.The Record is published by Alta Newspaper Group Limited Partnership.PM#0040007682 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Record, 6 Mallory Street, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 2E2 Member ABC, CARD, CNA, QCNA RECORD THE The Record welcomes your letters to the editor.Please limit your letters to 300 words.We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, legality and taste.Please ensure there is a phone number or email where you can be reached, to con?rm authorship and current town/city of residence.Names will not be withheld but the address and phone number of the writer are not published, except by request.Please email your letters to newsroom@ sherbrookerecord.com.Preference is given to writers from the Eastern Townships.Corporate leadership: By Claudine Mangen RBC Professor in Responsible Organizations and Associate Professor, Concordia University In November, Air Canada made headlines when its CEO gave a talk at the Chamber of Commerce in Montréal and admitted he doesn\u2019t speak French.Michael Rousseau has lived for more than a decade in Montréal, where Air Canada is headquartered.He has since apologized and committed to learning French.However, the fallout from his talk continues.More recently, the CEO of SNC-Lavalin postponed a speech he was scheduled to give in Montréal, committing to ?rst brushing up on his French.The media attention focused on Air Canada and SNC-Lavalin illustrates the importance of CEO conduct.Indeed, what CEOs say and how they say it are essential \u2014 it sets the tone at the top of the ?rm and can have far-reaching repercussions.Tone at the top \u2014 what it is, what it does Tone at the top refers, broadly, to what a company\u2019s leadership talks about, how they talk, what they do and how they do it.Tone at the top is internal when leaders talk to employees and act inside the organization.It\u2019s external when leaders address broader audiences, like Rousseau\u2019s speech in Montréal, and their actions take place outside the organization.Tone at the top can be delivered different ways: it can be in-person or remote (delivered via newspapers, news releases, reports, social media, videos).Tone at the top reveals the moral reasoning of organizational leaders, revealing what they believe is right or wrong and what matters or does not matter.When CEOs give talks in a francophone region yet only speak in English, doing so reveals their beliefs about whether language matters \u2014 and what language they believe is most important.The moral reasoning revealed by tone at the top has consequences.CEOs have authority because of their position at the top of the corporate hierarchy.What they say and do trickles down the hierarchy to all employees, legitimizing particular behaviours along the way.A CEO who speaks English in a francophone setting signals that it is acceptable to do so and not to speak French.Tone at the top \u2014 the bad and the good Tone at the top therefore has moral weight.It can promote a particular culture within an organization, encouraging employees to behave in more or less moral ways.Tone at the top can contribute to a culture permissive of harassment.Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, for example, resigned in 2017 after an internal probe documented widespread sexual harassment under his watch.Corporate culture can create a climate where harassment, including sexual harassment, ?ourishes if leaders are passive, avoid making decisions and fail to intervene when faced with inappropriate behaviour until serious problems arise.\u201cLaissez-faire\u201d tone signals that inappropriate behaviour is tolerated, legitimate and will not be punished or corrected.Perpetrators are encouraged, victims silenced; bystanders know about the behaviour but don\u2019t stop it.Further exacerbating this problem is hostile leadership characterized by aggressive behaviour that creates a climate of fear and silence.Problematic behaviours promoted by tone at the top are manifold and include insider trading, misreporting and earnings management.On the other hand, tone at the top can promote a healthy culture when leaders model moral behaviour.The women leaders in corporate Canada who I\u2019ve interviewed often emphasize the importance of care and empathy in leadership.One leader spoke about what people value, pointing out that they are \u201cnot going to get behind something that\u2019s illegal or whatever.So the trust and integrity peace pivots into successes.\u201d She explained that trust requires \u201cintegrative thinking,\u201d which \u201ccomes from listening and being open.\u201d Tone at the top \u2014 what to do about it Ideally, leaders are attentive to their communities, behave responsibly and model good behaviour.They are aware of how their words and deeds carry particular moral weight.Getting there starts early.Leaders are a product of their societal cultures.Education is vital to ensure we\u2019re all aware of what we say and do, how this resonates with others and what impact our words and behaviour have on them.Closer to executive of?ces, boards of directors are responsible for monitoring corporate leaders; they need to act proactively before a crisis occurs.Doing so involves de?ning what they see as proper behaviour and what crosses a boundary by asking questions about expectations, priorities and how leaders act and talk.They need to lay out what happens when boundaries are crossed.Board members need to leverage this information during the recruitment process to identify leaders who are a good match for the ?rm and, after that, to accompany and evaluate leaders comprehensively and regularly.The Canadian Press Some Quebec government websites taken down Sunday due to a massive software vulnerability are back online.The websites of power utility Hydro- Quebec and the Health Department were restored today, while the education ministry and some university services remain unavailable.The Université du Quebec a Chicoutimi reported the temporary shutdown of its websites, leaving thousands of students unable to access online class notes and documents only days ahead of exams.Quebec announced Sunday it had taken almost 4,000 government websites off-line as a preventive measure after the discovery Friday of a vulnerability in a software library widely used in public and private sector websites.The software ?aw allows an unauthorized user to easily gain access to a vulnerable system over the internet.Cybersecurity experts praised Quebec\u2019s decision to take the websites down, however, they warned that getting all government systems back online could take weeks or months.Quebec restores some government websites taken down due to software vulnerability Why the tone at the top has moral consequences PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW The Record newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 7 Local Sports Canada clinches gold medal, World Cup title in women\u2019s Team Pursuit on home ice in Calgary Speed skaters Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais skated to a new Canadian record in the women\u2019s Team Pursuit on Saturday, helping them claim their third consecutive gold and ?nish the season atop the World Cup rankings.The Canadians time of 2:52.067 eclipsed their previous national mark of 2:52.412, which was set at last weekend\u2019s World Cup in Salt Lake City.The hometown crowd roared as they crossed the ?nish line with the fastest time of the day, which helped them defeating their rivals from Japan (2:52.892), as well as the third-place Chinese (2:58.428).\u201cWe\u2019re really excited! It was a clean race today.We wanted to go out and skate really smooth and make sure that we stayed together, and we accomplished that mission.I think we were a little less nervous than last weekend and really fueled by the crowd here in Calgary.Everybody\u2019s family was here to watch us, which made this even more exciting,\u201d Isabelle Weidemann said in a press release.After a third overall ?nish to start the Olympic quadrennial in 2018-2019, Canada\u2019s team of Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais have earned three straight World Cup titles in the women\u2019s team pursuit and should be a medal favourite at Beijing 2022.It was also a memorable weekend for Canmore\u2019s Connor Howe, who reached the World Cup podium for the ?rst time in an individual distance on Saturday, skating to a silver medal in the men\u2019s 1,500m.\u201cThe Olympic quali?cation is always in the back of our heads, but we try to just skate each race the best we can, and I think it worked out.I think my consistency has improved a lot this season, so even if I\u2019m not always feeling 100%, I can usually skate close to my potential.This weekend, I executed a bit better than in Salt Lake City \u2013 and some of the top guys weren\u2019t there \u2013 so that may have raised me a few places in the standings.I knew I was on pace for a good time after I saw the lap board from my coach, but Joey [Mantia] ?nished really strong, so I was pretty sure I wouldn\u2019t catch him,\u201d Howe commented.The 21-year-old posted a personal- best time of 1:42.425 on home ice, putting him behind American Joey Mantia (1:41.860) and ahead of bronze medalist Allan Dahl Johansson of Norway (1:43.275).The podium performance propelled him to third overall in the World Cup rankings, pre- qualifying him for Beijing 2022 in that distance.Canada also earned a pair of top-10 results in the men\u2019s Mass Start, with Jordan Belchos (7:47.580) ?nishing eighth and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (7:46.740) ninth.The ISU World Cup in Calgary continued through Sunday with the men\u2019s 500m(2), 1,000m and Team Pursuit, as well as the women\u2019s 1,500m and Mass Start.Submitted by Speed Skating Canada DAVE HOLLAND, SPEED SKATING CANADA Connor Howe wins ?rst career World Cup medal with silver in men\u2019s 1500m PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 8 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record BIRTH NOTICES, CARDS OF THANKS, IN MEMORIAMS, BRIEFLETS: Text only: 40¢ per word.Minimum charge $10.00 ($11.50 taxes included) Discounts: 2 insertions or more: 15% off With photo: additional $18.50.DEADLINE: 11 a.m., day before publication.BIRTHDAY, ANNIVERSARY & GET-WELL WISHES, ENGAGEMENT NOTICES: Text only: $16.00 (includes taxes) With photo: $26.00 ($29.90 taxes included) DEADLINE: 3 days before publication.WEDDING WRITE-UPS: $26.00 ($29.90 taxes included) WITH PHOTO: $36.00 ($41.40 taxes included) Please Note: All of the aforementioned (except death notices) must be submitted typewritten or neatly printed, and must include the signature and daytime telephone number of the contact person.Can be e-mailed to: classad@sherbrookerecord.com - They will not be taken by phone.DEADLINES FOR DEATH NOTICES: For Monday\u2019s paper, email production@sherbrookerecord.com or call 819-569-4856 between 1 p.m.and 5 p.m.Sunday.For Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday\u2019s edition, email production@sherbrookerecord.com, call 819-569-4856 or fax 819-569-1187 (please call to con?rm transmission) between 9 a.m.and 5 p.m.the day prior to the day of publication.The Record cannot guarantee publication if another Record number is called.Rates: Please call for costs.RATES and DEADLINES: ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 Today is the 348th day of 2021 and the 84th day of autumn.TODAY\u2019S HISTORY: In 1799, George Washington died at Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia.In 1819, Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S.state.In 1911, explorer Roald Amundsen and his party became the ?rst humans to reach the South Pole.In 2001, after Hurricane Michelle devastated Cuba, a commercial shipment of food left the United States for the island nation for the ?rst time since 1962.In 2012, a 20-year-old gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, before taking his own life.TODAY\u2019S BIRTHDAYS: James Doolittle (1896-1993), military aviator; Margaret Chase Smith (1897- 1995), politician; Shirley Jackson (1916-1965), author; Don Hewitt (1922-2009), TV producer; Lee Remick (1935-1991), actress; Patty Duke (1946-2016), actress; Bill Buckner (1949-2019), baseball player; Michael Moloney (1963- ), interior designer; Vanessa Hudgens (1988- ), actress.TODAY\u2019S FACT: Historians have estimated that physicians drained 5 to 7 pints of blood from President George Washington in the day prior to his death, in an attempt to cure him.TODAY\u2019S SPORTS: In 1988, after losing the ?rst 17 games of the season, the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88 for the franchise\u2019s ?rst win.TODAY\u2019S QUOTE: \u201cAs an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.\u201d - Margaret Chase Smith, \u201cDeclaration of Conscience\u201d TODAY\u2019S NUMBER: 3 - points known as the South Pole: the ceremonial pole, the geographical pole and the magnetic pole.TODAY\u2019S MOON: Between ?rst quarter moon (Dec.10) and full moon (Dec.18).Date Book By Danny Seo According to the National Sanitation Foundation, your coffeemaker is the ?fth-dirtiest appliance in your home.That\u2019s high, considering you don\u2019t bake, fry, microwave or cook with it; but the coffee maker is constantly moist inside, making it a breeding ground for mold and yeast.To clean it, create a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water.Run the mixture through the coffee maker to disinfect and loosen minerals and grime inside.Then run a full pot of water through to rinse out any residual traces of vinegar.Do Just One Thing KITCHEN SCOOP by Alicia Ross Salt is sodium, but not all sodium is salt.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: \u201cMost of the sodium Americans eat comes from packaged, processed, store- bought and restaurant foods.Only a small amount comes from salt added during cooking or at the table.In fact, most Americans already get more daily sodium than recommended before they ever pick up a salt shaker.\u201d Furthermore, according to the Food and Drug Administration, in general, Americans should not consume more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day; for others, who are \u201cmore sensitive to the effects of salt,\u201d they should limit their intake to 1,500 mg.Thank goodness there are more and more low-sodium ingredients available, so I\u2019m not compromising convenience for health when I\u2019m cooking.Even though I\u2019m not on a doctor-ordered low-sodium diet, I appreciate the health bene?ts.Like many of us, I am genetically predisposed to high blood pressure and other cardiac complications.So watching what I eat is crucial to heart health.How do we reduce our sodium intake?Limit the use of highly processed foods.Cook more often at home, and use as many low-sodium and reduced- sodium ingredients as possible.Add salt at the table to individual portions only after tasting.Careful, though - you can easily over-salt your dish if you go wild with the shaker.Stop, taste, and salt incrementally, pouring it into your hand, then sprinkling with your ?ngers.Your heart will thank you.Suggested menu: Simmered Chicken Meatballs Rice or pasta of your choice small green salad Simmered Chicken Meatballs Start to ?nish: 40 minutes Yield: 12 servings Ingredients: 1 jar (26-ounce) low-sodium marinara sauce 32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth 2 slices hearty whole-grain sandwich bread, cut in small cubes 1/2 cup low-fat milk 1 large egg 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning 1 pound premium ground chicken (see Cook\u2019s Note) 1/4 cup ?our, for dusting Salt and pepper to taste In a large skillet, pour the marinara sauce and chicken broth together and stir to mix.Cover and heat on medium- high to bring to a boil.Meanwhile, in a medium-to-large bowl, combine the bread, milk, egg, parmesan, Dijon mustard and Italian seasoning, mixing well.Crumble the ground chicken over the mixture and then stir well.Divide the mixture into balls slightly larger than a golf ball.Pour the ?our into a small bowl and shake to distribute.Drop each ball ?rst into the ?our, gently tossing to coat, and then into the boiling sauce mixture.Repeat until all the balls are formed, ?oured and placed into the sauce.Cook, covered, for 10 minutes, and then uncover and cook for another 10 minutes.Nudge meatballs so they will freely turn in the boiling sauce.Stir occasionally.Serve as desired.(Cook\u2019s Note: Ground chicken can be one of those hidden sodium sources.Check to make sure your ground chicken has not had a sodium solution injected into it before packaging.Often those labeled \u201cpremium\u201d do not.But check the nutritional content to be sure, and ask your grocery store manager to stock sodium-free and reduced-sodium products.) Approximate values per serving: 145 calories, 4 g fat (1 saturated), 51 mg cholesterol, 14 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary ?ber, 190 mg sodium.Go easy on the salt to give your heart a break PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW The Record newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 9 TOWNSHIPS\u2019 CRIER TOWNSHIPS If you want to drink, that\u2019s your business.If you want to stop, we can help.Call Alcoholics Anonymous 1-888- 424-2975, www.aa.org ONLINE WORKSHOPS Mental Health Estrie invites you to a free virtual workshop in English: \u201cFinding Hope for the Ag Community\u201d presented by Lauren Van Ewyk (MScMHC, RSW, sheep farmer).Whether you are part of the ag community, work with its members, or know friends and family who do, this workshop could help you develop strategies to boost the mental health of those involved in agriculture while gaining a better understanding of the challenges faced in this profession.Open to all, 2 p.m.to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, December 16.For more information, or to register, please visit our Facebook or Instagram pages, email outreach@mentalhealthestrie.com, or call 819-565-2388.RICHMOND The Daniel Ménard RCM Library will be closed for the Christmas holidays from December 19, 2021 to January 4, 2022 inclusively.We return on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.LENNOXVILLE The Tradition Continues! For almost a decade Hope Community Church has been serving a hot Christmas meal for people who are alone or in ?nancial dif?culty at Christmas time.Over that time well over 1000 people, particularly seniors and students have joined us at HCC for Christmas dinner.We look forward again this year, to serving Christmas dinner to the folks in our community who really need some company at this time! COVID-19 won\u2019t stop us, but we do have a special plan in place that will ensure the health and well being of our guests and volunteers.Changes for 2021: We\u203all be offering a fun a festive Christmas program before sending you home with your meal.The program starts at 11:00 on Christmas morning in our main auditorium! (No vaccination passport needed, but masks and physical distancing will be required.) Takeaway Meals: Unfortunately, we can\u203at serve meals at our church building this year but we\u203are still going to give you Christmas dinner.We\u203all be preparing takeaway meals for everyone who is registered.(Up to 160 meals available.) These will be distributed following the Christmas program.One meal per attendee.You need to register to let us know how many people to expect.Giving your names and an email or phone number will allow us to make sure that we can reach you in case of any last minute changes and help us to be certain that we have enough food! Family friendly Christmas Program: December 25, 11 a.m.until noon, Hope Community Church, 102 Queen St.Sherbrooke, QC J1G 1J6.Registration required: online at https://hcclennoxville.ca/christmas- for-you or by phone at 819-822-2627.Cost: Free of charge! It\u2019s our gift to you.Changing diet changes relationship Dear Annie TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 Dear Annie: Last weekend, I got a text from my dad that said: \u201cI\u2019m going vegan LOL.\u201d (Yes, he says \u201cLOL.\u201d He\u2019s hip like that.) I laughed and brushed it aside, but during dinner last night, he and my stepmom told me they are serious about it.It de?nitely took me by surprise, but I was supportive and excited about the idea, so much so that I even went with him to Barnes & Noble to pick out an awesome vegan cookbook.But since then, I\u2019ve been having a strangely emotional reaction to his decision.We love to eat.That\u2019s our \u201cthing.\u201d We go out to dinner, try new, unusual cuisines and eat our way through new cities when traveling.He even seriously considered taking a leave from work to audition for a Food Network show.Some of my best memories involve meals we\u2019ve shared.And now what?I\u2019ll order sashimi, and he\u2019ll have .seaweed?I have no issue with the decision itself; I\u2019ve done every juice cleanse and 30-day challenge under the sun - and I love me some seaweed.I actually ?nd the choice quite admirable.What I realized is that the child in me is afraid that a piece of our relationship will be lost.Through my parents\u2019 (nasty) divorce, no matter how things were between them or between us - no matter when new people came into the picture and old people left - whenever we sat down at the table, all of the yuckiness melted away.This feels like one more thread of consistency and connection being cut.Are there any actions you suggest I take to move forward?- Herbivore Dilemma Dear Herbivore Dilemma: You are clearly a thoughtful person to have such insight into your emotions and their roots.Perhaps this is the opportunity you\u2019ve needed to express some long-held feelings.Talking through these concerns will bring you closer than ever.And with time, you\u2019ll ?nd out that it was never about the food; it was about sitting down together.Dear Annie: I have a weird question for you.I live in a Midwestern community that has expensive water and sewer costs.I also exercise every day, and as a result, I drink a lot of water - and I mean a lot of water.So when my wife is not home, I urinate in the bathroom sink.Then I wash my hands, which rinses the sink basin at the same time.This uses a fraction of the water that ?ushing the toilet would use.Multiply that by dozens of times a day and the savings are signi?cant.Urine is sterile; the sink gets washed out afterward; and my hands are clean.What are your thoughts on my actions?- Sink Secret Dear Sink Secret: I think you ought to knock it off.For one, urine isn\u2019t sterile; that\u2019s just a myth.For another, if you\u2019re really bent on saving water, there are plenty of ways to do so - such as installing a low- ?ush toilet - that don\u2019t require lying to your wife.\u201cAsk Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie\u201d is out now! Annie Lane\u2019s debut book - featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette - is available as a paperback and e-book.Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information.Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.Every day, over 10 million Canadian adults read a newspaper.Getting your message out to millions of Canadians doesn\u2019t have to be a stroke of luck.NEWSPAPERS.THE MOST TRUSTED MEDIUM.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 10 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Go grocery sho pping with diet itians.When you choo se products with the Health Chec k symbol, it's like shopping with t he Heart and Str oke Foundation\u2019s die titians, who eval uate every partic ipating product b ased on Canada 's Food Guide.www.healthche ck.org REALITY CHECK HERMAN ALLEY OOP ARLO & JANIS THE BORN LOSER FRANK AND ERNEST GRIZZWELLS THATABABY PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW The Record newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 11 Call Sherbrooke: (819) 569-9525 between 8:30 a.m.and 4:30 p.m.E-mail: classad@sherbrookerecord.com or Knowlton: (450) 242-1188 between 9:00 a.m.and noon CLASSIFIED Deadline: 12:30 p.m.one day prior to publication Or mail your prepaid classi?ed ads to The Record, 6 Mallory, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1M 2E2 290 Articles for Sale Make your classi- iED stAnD out, add a photo for $10.per day.Deadline: 2 days before publication.Drop by our of- ice in Sherbrooke or Knowlton.819-569- 9525.ClAssAD@ sHErBrookErECorD.com 275 Antiques WE BUY from the past for the future, one item or a household, attic or basement, shed or garage.We like it all, give us a call.819- 837-2680.APPLE AUTUMN CHILLY CINNAMON CLOVES COLOR FALL FALLING FIREPLACE FOLIAGE JACKET LEAVES NOVEMBER ORANGE PUMPKIN PURPLE RAKING RED SPICE THANKFUL TURKEY WIND WINTERIZE YELLOW AUTUMN WORD SEARCH PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 12 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Your Birthday TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 A liberated attitude will help you prepare for unexpected changes this year.Rise to all occasions and display your ability to adjust.Use your resources to overcome any obstacle and turn it into an opportunity.Rely on your intuition, not on what someone tells you.Honesty is the quickest path to peace of mind.SAGITTARIUS (Nov.23-Dec.21) - Keep your personal and professional lives separate.Indulgent behavior will make you look bad.Don\u2019t share too much information with your peers, relatives or loved ones.CAPRICORN (Dec.22-Jan.19) - Embrace change and make it work for you.Invest time and effort into improving your domestic situation.An open discussion will lead to positive change.Honesty is the best policy.AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb.19) - Be observant, but don\u2019t interfere.Pushing your beliefs or thoughts on others will back?re.Do what you can without ultimatums.Put your energy into professional gains.PISCES (Feb.20-March 20) - Don\u2019t get angry; get moving.Take the initiative and make things happen.A change in how you approach your livelihood will affect the way others treat you.Be smart and use your skills wisely.ARIES (March 21-April 19) - Don\u2019t give in or give up.Anger will make you look bad.Pour your energy into something worthwhile.Focus on what you want to do and how you can turn it into a lucrative concern.TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - Inconsistency will rear its ugly head if you are gullible or lack initiative.Think matters through, budget wisely and don\u2019t let outsiders interfere with your plans.GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - Be careful what you say and do.Someone in a position of power can make or break your plans.Choose your words carefully and execute your plans with precision.CANCER (June 21-July 22) - Set a goal and relay your message with precision.You stand to gain mentally, physically and ?nancially if you are direct and take control.Romance is favored.LEO (July 23-Aug.22) - Emotions will stand between you and what you want.If you overreact, take on too much or let someone steal your thunder, you will lose ground.Put your feelings aside and be practical.VIRGO (Aug.23-Sept.22) - It\u2019s up to you to make things happen.Don\u2019t wait for someone to make the ?rst move.Wasted time will lead to disappointment, regret and anger.There is nothing you can\u2019t achieve! LIBRA (Sept.23-Oct.23) - Pay attention to personal matters instead of getting involved in what\u2019s happening to others.A steady pace will lead to the perks you want and the chance to meet people heading down a similar path.SCORPIO (Oct.24-Nov.22) - You can take control of any situation if you speak from the heart.An energetic approach will help you build a better life.Let go of the past and ?nish what you start.TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 In Bridge terms, what is LOL?By Phillip Alder What do the letters LOL mean to you?No doubt \u201claughing out loud,\u201d but now we have a bridge usage.A new book entitled \u201cLOL\u201d has been written by James Marsh Sternberg and Danny Kleinman (AuthorHouse).The letters stand for \u201closer on loser.\u201d This is when declarer contrives to dump two losers on one trick.It is a play that was easy to overlook until this worthwhile book containing 132 loser-on-loser deals appeared.In this example, how should South play in three spades after West leads the diamond ace and shifts to the club two?(A good idea is to lead the king from ace-king when you are thinking of switching to a singleton at trick two.) Did West wonder about overcalling with three no-trump?Maybe, but here that would have been unlucky because the diamond suit would not have generated six winners.This deal arose during a team-of-four match.At the ?rst table, South took the club shift in his hand and tried a sneaky low spade to dummy\u2019s nine.However, West, knowing his partner was void of spades, stepped in with his king, then led the heart nine (top of nothing).East won with his ace and returned a club for his partner to ruff: down one.North muttered under his breath, \u201cEven the parking attendant knew that club was a singleton.\u201d At the other table, South realized it.He won trick two with dummy\u2019s club ace and led the diamond queen.Then, when East played low, declarer did not ruff - instead, he made a loser-on-loser play, discarding his heart queen.Now East could never get on lead to deliver the lethal club ruff.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCounty News Tuesday, December 14, 2021 77 chemin de Fulford, Lac-Brome, QC.J0E 1R0 www.superpuppyeducation.com 450-242-1134 Short and long term boarding Doggie daycare Agility classes Group, private or specialized training M.A.P.A.Q.permit Standby generator Brome Lake residents struggle with power outages Culinary students bring practice to the table at l\u2019Entre- Deux By Taylor McClure Special to Brome County News Every school year, Campus de Brome-Missisquoi, the region\u2019s adult education and vocational centre, opens its dining area, l\u2019Entre- Deux, to the public on Thursday and Friday afternoons to provide students in the school\u2019s culinary and restaurant service program with practice to help them prepare to go out into the ?eld.While reservations for the month of December are full, the restaurant will open again on Jan.13 and diners are welcomed with open in arms to support student learning.\u201cIt\u2019s for practice.We have another department, Service de Restauration, which is another DEP.The students in front serve the customers and the students in the kitchen prepare the plates.At the end of the course, they go to work in restaurants so it\u2019s important to practice,\u201d explained Éric Bolant, culinary teacher and head of the culinary program on campus.\u201cThere are many kinds of services during the year; we have the table d\u2019hôte, breakfast, and lunch,\u201d explained Bolant.Bolant said students have been serving the public through the school\u2019s very own dining area.For over a decade.\u201cBefore it was in Massey-Vanier, but they built a new kitchen with a new dining area.It\u2019s been around 15 years that the program has been with this reception area.\u201d By Michael Boriero A mass power outage that swept through Quebec on Saturday evening continues to leave a mark in the Eastern Townships, as pockets of residents push 48 hours without electricity.Hydro Quebec said that at the height of the storm on Sunday morning, nearly 400,000 customers were without power in the province.And there were still over 30,000 homes without power as of late Monday morning, according to the public utility company.The Town of Brome Lake is one of several municipalities still dealing with the aftermath of 100 km/hr winds over the weekend.A massive white pine tree was blown over in the chaos, crashing down on Victoria Street, and taking several power lines and a utility pole with it.Brome Lake Mayor Richard Bur- combe told The Record that he hopes to see the power back up and running throughout the territory by the end of day on Monday, or early Tuesday morning.He asked that every resident show patience during this time, though.\u201cWe\u2019ve had the cooperation of Hydro Quebec, I mean, we\u2019ve been in contact with them, and of course, everybody wants their power on at the same time but they go by priority.They know how to do it and we just have to live with it,\u201d said Burcombe.The Record spoke to members of the crew working on removing the fallen tree.They expected to be on-site until about 11 p.m.on Monday, as Hydro Quebec comes in to ?x damaged power lines, as well as replace a utility pole split in half by the white pine during the storm.Burcombe said he was fortunate to recover his electricity on Sunday evening.However, there are residents in CONT\u2019D ON PAGE 5 Midnight Madness unplugged due to strong winds CONT\u2019D ON PAGE 3 MICHAEL BORIERO PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 2 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 BromeCountyNews Brome County Community Bulletin Board December 15 The next food bank pick up at Trinity Anglican Church.409 South Street Cowansville.December 15 from 1- 3 p.m.Please wear a mask and provide proof of vaccination.December 16 Album Launch & Concert.Give It Some Time by Patricia St-Onge.An intimate evening of music, friends and laughter with special guests.Thursday, December 16 at 7:30 p.m.at the Lakeview Inn (50 Rue Victoria, Lac Brome).Tickets are $20.Call or text (450) 204-0203.Or leave Patricia St- Onge a message on Facebook.Seating will be limited as Covid rules will apply.December 19 A \u201cService of Carols & Lessons\u201d All Saints Anglican Church, Dunham, Sunday, December 19 at 2 p.m.Freewill offering or non -perishable foods will be collected.These proceeds will go to \u201cHelping Hands Food Bank\u201d at the Trinity Anglican Church, Cowansville.For more information, please call the parish at 450 295-2045.Everyone Welcome! December 19 Royal Canadian Legion, Shefford Branch #77, Breakfast, Sunday, December 19 from 8:30 a.m.to 12:30 p.mat 77 Lewis Street, Waterloo.Adults $15, children 6-12 $10.Breakfast is served, passport and mask required.We will also be accepting monetary donations only for our Christmas Basket Fund.December 20- 23 Meet the Artisans! Marché Noël Artisanal is open every week, Thursday to Sunday during November and December, plus the week leading up to Christmas we will be open Dec 20, 21,22, & 23.Shop leisurely and safely without the crowds! Facebook for updates @ marchedesartisanatsdunham or contact michilynnd@gmail.com.CHURCH BULLETINS ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CHURCH \u2013 DUNHAM Please Note: The weekly 10 a.m.church service will be cancelled on December 19th.Christmas Services - Christmas Eve Friday December 24 at 9:30 pm.No church service on Christmas day Saturday December 25.Worship service will resume on 1st Sunday after Christmas December 26 at 10 a.m.For more information, please contact the Rev.Sinpoh Han at 450 295- 2045 ANGLICAN PARISH OF BROME Sunday services cancelled until further notice.See the announcement for Grace Anglican Church to join the on line meeting on Sunday mornings.Information: Rev Tim Smart 450-538- 8108.BEDFORD PASTORAL CHARGE OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Advent Four \u2013 Love.We light the Candle of Love as we continue our Advent journey.Worship service 9:30 a.m.at Stanbridge East United led in rotation by our worship team leaders following pandemic protocols.Our Candlelight Communion celebration is on December 23 at 7 p.m.A special Christmas Eve Barn service will be at 7 p.m.in the barn across from 144 ch.de la Rivière, Pike River.Worship Leader: Frances Jones.Church of?ce: 450-248- 3044; email: bedford.pastoral@yahoo.ca CREEK/WATERLOO PASTORAL CHARGE Creek United, West Bolton, and St.Paul\u2019s United, Waterloo, are now meeting weekly in-person, respecting physical distancing, registration of attendance, hand sanitising, and the wearing of masks.The Creek service starts at 09h00.The Waterloo service starts at 10h30.Communion is normally the ?rst Sunday of the month.Other special services must be arranged through the minister.Church of?ce is 450-539-2129 Rev.Dave Lambie @ 450- 531-3149 EMMANUEL UNITED CHURCH Advent Four \u2013 LOVE.We light the Candle of Love as we continue our Advent journey.Sunday\u2019s hybrid worship service is at 11 a.m.following COVID-19 protocols.Our Christmas Eve service is at 4 p.m.Given the limited number Christmas Eve that respect the metre distance between households and wearing of a mask, we ask that you reserve your place so we can maximize seating.If you reserve but ?nd your self unable to attend, please let us know to allow others to be part of this light- ?lled celebration.Call Gail at 450-263- 1450 or Susan at 450-266-4727.Please request the Zoom link that is published in the weekly Friday newsletter.Please join us.Minister: Rev.David Lefneski, 450-955-1574.Church of?ce: 450-263- 0204; email: capcchurchof?ce@bellnet.ca ÉGLISE CATHOLIQUE ST.ÉDOUARD CATHOLIC CHURCH Our 10:30 a.m.Sunday Mass has resumed as we adhere to the strict protocols established by the Quebec Public Health Department.Thank you for your understanding.Our mass schedule during the Christmas period will be as follows: Christmas Eve December 24 at 7 p.m., Sunday December 26 and January 2 at 10:30 a.m.Masks and/or facial coverings are obligatory.There will not be a mass celebrated on Christmas Day.May the Lord bestow his many blessings upon you and your family.For more information, call: 450-263-1616 or visit the website http://unitedesvignes.org GRACE ANGLICAN CHURCH We are now open for in-person worship at our 10:30 am Sunday services at Grace Anglican Church, Sutton.Everyone is welcome, bring your voice to be accompanied by our wonderful new organ (singing with masks for now).Alternatively, you can attend online.For an invitation to join, please email the Rev.Tim Smart, revtimsmart@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page \u201cGrace Church, Sutton\u201d for the Sunday link.KNOWLTON-MOUNTAIN VALLEY PASTORAL CHARGE Join us for 11 a.m.in person worship at Knowlton United Church, 234 Knowlton Road.Worship services are held the 1st three Sundays of each month unless otherwise indicated.Also join on the Facebook Church Group \u2018Knowlton-Mountain Valley Pastoral Charge\u2019 for our services.For further information please contact Rev.Steve Lawson at 450-242-1993.Members will be asked to follow COVID-19 protocols as outlined by the Quebec Public Health Department.ST.PAUL\u2019S ANGLICAN CHURCH St.Paul\u2019s has re-opened for Sunday in person worship at 8 and 10 am.We continue to livestream our Sunday morning worship at 8 and 10 a.m.at St.Paul\u2019s Knowlton on Facebook.All services are also available for replay.At 24 St.Paul\u2019s Road in Knowlton, St.Paul\u2019s is a dynamic diverse community pursuing and serving Jesus in the Eastern Townships.Our mission is to grow in members and spiritual maturity so that we can reach as many people as possible with the love of Jesus.Everyone welcome! Telephone: 450-242-2885 email: stpaulsknowlton@ gmail.com TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH We welcome you to join us for our 10:30 a.m.Sunday morning church services in the church.We adhere to the protocols established by the Quebec Public Health Department and the Anglican Diocese of Montreal.To leave a message, please contact the church of?ce 450-955-3303.Farnham students make connections with Kenya By Ruby Irene Pratka Local Journalism Initiative A surprise LinkedIn message from thousands of miles away created an unexpected connection between Farnham Elementary School principal Cathy Canzani and colleagues in Kenya.More than ?ve years and a pandemic later, students and teachers at the school are pitching in to make sure Kenyan students keep learning.Stephen Mwara, a teacher at Sokoro Primary School in Molo, Nakuru County, Kenya, messaged Canzani out of the blue on the social media platform \u201c?ve or six years ago,\u201d Canzani remembers.\u201cHe just said he wanted to learn more about Canadian schools.\u201d The two teachers struck up a friendship, and last year, when Canzani was teaching grades 3 and 4, she and her students, who were around the same age as the children in Mwara\u2019s class, raised money to allow Mwara to buy school supplies and sports equipment; in return, they received a joyous unboxing video.The children also started exchanging videos and letters, sent as photos and email attachments.\u201cOur student population is almost entirely white, and at the beginning, our students felt like there was a big difference between themselves and the Kenyan kids,\u201d says Canzani.\u201cOnce we started swapping videos, it was like that barrier melted away.\u201d The fundraiser gave rise to a multidisciplinary project.\u201cOur motto at Farnham Elementary is \u2018Work hard, be kind, develop your mind,\u2019 and we worked on every aspect of that,\u201d Canzani says.\u201cWe did a huge math problem when we were trying to ?nd out shipping costs and currency conversions and what to buy.\u201d (Plans to buy sports equipment in Canada and ship it to Kenya were dropped when the class realized mailing a box of supplies to a small town in central Kenya would cost as much as the supplies themselves.) \u201cThe students worked on their writing skills with the letters, and we learned a lot about Kenya.\u201d They also discovered the pleasure of giving, of \u201cbeing part of something bigger than you and learning to care for others,\u201d says Canzani.\u201cThe joy on the faces of the Kenyan students as they opened the gifts was amazing, and so was the joy for our students who did the giving.\u201d Keeping children in school This year, nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, as the season of giving shifts into high gear, Canzani and her students are taking their fundraiser a step further, in collaboration with Mwara and Keziah Njuguna, the head teacher of Sokoro Primary School.\u201cIn Kenya, going to school is a privilege,\u201d Canzani explains.\u201cBecause of COVID, a lot of parents have lost their jobs and a lot of kids have had to drop out of school.A year\u2019s tuition costs between $200 and $230.We decided to try to raise enough to send ten kids back to school.\u201d Canzani decided to expand the fundraiser and make it a school-wide event.\u201cCOVID is wearing on all of us, you could just feel that the energy was low around the school, and I ?gured we could ?nd a way to give back,\u201d she says.The staff and students of Farnham Elementary have been keen to pitch in.Canzani began accepting donations in late November and plans to continue until Valentine\u2019s Day.The school\u2019s grade 2 class raised $520 through a single Christmas card sale in early December.Parents and community members who wish to contribute to the project can mail cheques to Farnham Elementary School (425 Rue Saint- Joseph, Farnham, J2N 1P4), buy products from a class fundraiser or drop off cash or cheques at the school.Tax receipts for donations can be issued.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCountyNews Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 3 Frelighsburg urban plan restricts development on mountain By Ruby Irene Pratka Local Journalism Initiative Conservation activists in Frelighsburg are breathing a sigh of relief after the town council declined to implement changes to urban planning bylaws that would have made future residential construction in the Mont Pinacle area easier.Any future major construction on the mountain will have to be approved by the town council and by residents of the area in a referendum, Mayor Lucie Dagenais explained.The regulations were approved at a Dec.9 town council meeting along with the rest of the town\u2019s urban plan.\u201cIn fact, no new regulations [to do with the mountain] have been passed,\u201d Frelighsburg mayor Lucie Dagenais clari?ed.\u201cWe are taking away certain proposed changes and [implementing] the same regulations that were in place in 1994.We wanted to introduce the concept of integrated development projects [in the area] and encode future developments in a way that would allow us to avoid referendums\u2026but that seemed to cause division, so we decided to retract it.It wasn\u2019t worth it to divide the town further.\u201d Under the current regulations, Dagenais says, developers or property owners can propose construction projects, but they stand little chance of approval: \u201cAny project would have to be approved by the urban planning consultative committee, then by town council and then by people living in the area and in contiguous zones through a referendum, so there\u2019s not much chance of new projects being carried through.\u201d The preservation of Mont Pinacle has been a subject of debate in and around Frelighsburg since at least the 1980s.In 1988, the developer Désourdy acquired part of the mountain to develop a ski resort, a golf course and a housing development.The project ran into delays, and in 1993, a slate of candidates opposed to the project was elected to the town council.\u201cIt was quite a saga,\u201d recalls Danielle Dansereau, chairperson of the board of the Mont Pinacle Trust, which owns much of the mountain today.\u201cIt was hard on the social fabric, because it created division between people who thought [the resort] would bring economic development and jobs, and people who were in favour of conservation.\u201d In August 1994, the town council modi?ed zoning regulations in order to ban alpine skiing and require that houses in the sector be constructed along public streets, among other changes; the promoter dropped the project and sued the municipality.The case reached the Supreme Court of Canada; in 2004, the court ruled that the council had acted within its rights.In the interim, the land earmarked for the resort was divided and sold.The trust owns 285 hectares of land on and around the mountain and has developed a network of educational trails there; the peak was acquired by the Daniel Langlois Foundation, which monitors wildlife in the area.In April 2021, the proposed regulatory changes and the rest of the town\u2019s urban plan were the subject of contentious public consultations, in which the trust participated.\u201cAs a resident, [the current regulations] were what I wanted,\u201d says Dansereau, a founding member of the trust who has been involved with the trust in various capacities for the last 30 years.\u201cThese regulations don\u2019t freeze development, but if an ambitious project is proposed, it must be under a management plan and be approved by the people living in the area.\u201d Dansereau says she was pleasantly surprised to see Dagenais and the councillors walk back the proposed changes: \u201cIt shows a lot of openness on their part.\u201d Jade Langevin of the citizens\u2019 group Les Voix Citoyennes, which also advocated against the changes, says her group was \u201camazed\u201d by the councillors\u2019 decision, made at a Dec.9 council meeting: \u201cIt shows that when people are involved in participatory democracy, we can have an impact.\u201d She adds that the \u201cbattle\u201d against excessive residential development in the region \u201cneeds to keep being fought.\u201d \u201cThe mountain is an area with a lot of biodiversity, a lot of plant and animal habitat, and a lot of symbolic value for Frelighsburg,\u201d says Dansereau.\u201cIt also has a lot of symbolic value, and people are very attached to it.What we want is for people to disrupt it as little as possible, to not restrict the habitat of other living things.Humans don\u2019t need to be everywhere.\u201d \u201cNobody wants there to be heavy-du- ty development on Mont Pinacle,\u201d says Dagenais, the mayor.\u201cConservationists have a strong presence in the town, and we\u2019re all more and more conscious of environmental issues.Everyone wants the mountain to stay in good condition.\u201d the Springhill and Mount Echo area still dealing with power outages.The stretch from West Brome to Knowlton has nearly fully recovered electricity.He added that he is looking into addressing the rolling power outages that have affected the area in recent years.The problem often stems from fallen white pine trees, he explained, sharing that the tree that fell on Victoria was over 100 years old with a rotten core.\u201cThere\u2019s something that has to be done there and I mean you watch people that plant their trees right next to the power line 50 years ago, well, this is what we\u2019re getting in return, you know what I mean,\u201d said Burcombe, adding white pines line Lakeside and Foster Road.While many people remain in the dark, the Centre Lac-Brome opened its doors to residents who needed a place to eat, warm up, and take a hot shower.The centre offered coffee to residents on Sunday and Monday, and the amenities will remain open during the week.The Auberge Knowlton also welcomed residents without electricity to come in and grab a free hot coffee on Monday.Ariane Jodoin-Aubertin, who runs the restaurant side of the auberge, said they regained power on Sunday, and felt it was necessary to help residents in need.\u201cI posted a message on our Facebook page for anyone that was impacted by the outage to come over, have a coffee, we\u2019ll get them free coffee and warm up a little bit because you know a few hours is ?ne, but when it comes to 24, 36 hours, it gets cold in the house,\u201d she said.But Jodoin-Aubertin noted that the power outage did impact the town\u2019s annual Midnight Madness event, when restaurants and businesses in Knowlton stay open until midnight.And the auberge had to cancel its second annual Christmas Market.\u201cUnfortunately, we had to sort of pull the plug on it, let\u2019s put it that way, ironically, because of the fact that we had no electricity and no clear indication as to when it was going to come back so I\u2019d say that\u2019s the major impact on us,\u201d said Jo- doin-Aubertin.Midnight Madness is a staple in Knowlton, and the weekend\u2019s storm upended what started as a perfectly ?ne evening, according to the event\u2019s organizer, and owner of Brome Lake Books, Lucy Hoblyn.She knew a storm was on its way, but she didn\u2019t expect anything like that.\u201cBefore 8:45 p.m.it was just absolutely fabulous, you know, and warm and there were people everywhere, we have this incredible lighting display and they were just all over the streets and everywhere was packed,\u201d said Hoblyn.She eventually lost power like the rest of the town.But Hoblyn\u2019s bookstore had its power restored the next day around 4 p.m., the only problem is they are still without internet or cable services.She considers herself lucky, though, as the businesses just across the bridge that cuts through the downtown are without power.\u201cOur electricity came back on again.We\u2019re so lucky we\u2019re on this side of the Cold- brook River, the other side is another electric grid.They\u2019re still out.On the other side, literally the next building across the river, they have no electricity,\u201d said Hoblyn.She is trying to ?nd a way to postpone some of the Midnight Madness events to next weekend.And she wants to bring back many of the local artisans who were supposed to be selling their products on Saturday.However, Hob- lyn needs to work that out with the town ?rst.power outages \u201cThe unfortunate thing is we had two of our Christmas markets there and so we had about 25 market people who were selling and they were in two buildings and they went pitch black and everybody had to leave,\u201d she said, adding they had record numbers before the storm.CONT\u2019D FROM PAGE 1 PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 4 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 BromeCountyNews Learn More.Achieve More.To improve reading, writing or math skills, look under LEARN in the Yellow Pages™ or visit www.LookUnderLearn.ca 5-b VICTORIA ST., KNOWLTON, QUEBEC, J0E 1V0 TEL: (450) 242-1188 FAX: (450) 243-5155 Published weekly by 6 Mallory, Sherbrooke, QUEBEC, J1M 2E2 E-MAIL: newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com website: www.sherbrookerecord.com SHARON MCCULLY PUBLISHER .(819) 569-6345 MATTHEW MCCULLY ASSOCIATE EDITOR .(819) 569-6345 NICOLE MARSH SECRETARY .(450) 242-1188 JESSE BRYANT ADVERTISING .(450) 242-1188 PRINT SUBSCRIPTION TO THE BROME COUNTY NEWS: 1 year print subscription to The Brome County News and The Record (Tuesday only) mailed to your home - $58.00 (including taxes) Call our subscription department at 819-569-9528.CIRCULATION Distributed to all Record subscribers every Tuesday as an insert, and to households and businesses in Abercorn, Bedford, Brigham, Brome, Bromont, Cowansville, East Farn- ham, Foster, Fulford, Knowlton (Brome Lake), Sutton, Bolton Centre, West Brome.The Record was founded on February 7, 1897, and acquired the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879) in 1905 and the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) in 1908.The Record is published by Alta Newspaper Group Limited Partnership.Canadian Publications Mail Service Product Agreement No.0479675.Member ABC, CARD, CNA, QCNA Established May 1991 RECORD THE OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 A.M.TO NOON bcnnews@qc.aibn.com BCN RATES & DEADLINES COMMUNITY CALENDAR Brome County News Community Calendar is reserved for non-profit organizations only.Deadline is noon on Fridays.Must be pre-paid.Up to 40 words: $8, 41-70 words: $12, 71-100 words: $15, all prices include taxes.Special rates: $2 off for 2 insertions, 1 BCN and 1 in the Friday Record \u201cWhat\u2019s On\u201d section.Please forward notices to 5-b Victoria St., Knowlton, QC J0E 1V0, email: bcnnews@qc.aibn.com, or fax: (450) 243-5155.Visa and Mastercard accepted.Power woes By Louise Smith Compared to the destruction experienced in the States, what we went through Saturday night into Sunday was more of an inconvenience than life-threatening.However the winds did cause damage and wide spread power outages.At one point over 230,000 households across Quebec were without power.Many households across the Townships went dark.Power came back on in spurts throughout Sunday and not everyone was reconnected.Walking around on streets without electricity, the hum of generators was heard from quite a few houses.After the ice storm of 1998 and several other outages, some lasting for days, more and more people are looking for back-up systems.If a power outage occurs over a wide region it does mean that a drive quite far a?eld will be necessary to get gas.Gas pumps will not work without electricity.Now for some pondering.The minister at Emmanuel United Church owns an electric car and it was parked inside a garage that opened with an electric system.He needed a lift to get to his two services on Sunday.As of 2035 all new cars in Quebec will have to be electric.If we experience an extended outage, that will cause a problem not just for regular drivers but for emergency vehicles as well.I wonder if Hydro Electric repair trucks going to power failure regions will be electric or if they will stay gasoline operated.Just think, as electric cars proliferate, gas stations will reduce in number.Generators run on gasoline.Perhaps the ideal solution is hybrid vehicles to be best prepared for any situation.Power failures are quite common in our province.The Quebec government is also phasing out all heating systems other than electric.In many municipalities ?replaces and wood stoves are already banned.That is not the case in most municipalities in our region.As the power failure continued, those with ?replaces or wood stoves got a ?re going, and neighbours without heat visited with those owners to get warm.Will generators be the only way that households will be heated during a power failure in the future?It is good to go green but until our hydro electric system has more failsafe guards in place, eliminating alternate sources of heat and power might not be such a good idea.Pet of the week: Lola Lola is superb six-year-old kitty with super-soft white & tabby fur and big greenish-gold eyes full of intelligence.She is in very good health.LOLA is a real little princess who loves to be pampered and fussed over.Lola is affectionate and enjoys the company of people.This cutie pie loves to rub against your legs, will jump on your lap, will purr loudly and will insist on being pet.However, if you caress her for too long or if you try to rub her tummy, beware of love-bites! Lola needs a lot of love and tranquility.She will be happiest in a home with calm people who have experience with somewhat capricious felines.We recommend an environment without young children, dogs and without other cats as Lola is very sensitive and the presence of other animals impacts her wellbeing.Lola is a very special cat! She will make for a charming companion.sometimes she\u2019s a total lovebug.other times she\u2019s a grumpy girl but Lola is always so very engaging.This beauty truly deserves to know happiness again.If you are interested in adopting Lola (#8665) and giving her a loving forever home, consult his complete pro?le on Pet?nder or write to us at : adoptionspcamonteregie@gmail.com.Female, adult, sterilized, dewormed & vaccinated Dunham\u2019s Women\u2019s Institute:2021 in Review As with all organizations, the Women\u2019s Institute group (W.I.) had a challenging year for meetings due to Covid restrictions, but as the year progressed restrictions improved and all was not lost.A few Zoom meetings were held in the early part of the year.With the arrival of summer, we were able to meet in person, either outside at a member\u2019s home or at Dun- ham Park.We sponsored member Shirley Vaughan again this year for her walk for the Yamaska Valley Optimist Club\u2019s cancer walk.Our annual fundraising yard sale was held in August, outside at the West Brome Anglican Church.We attended the spring and the fall Missis- quoi County Women\u2019s Institute meeting at Dunham Park.Nov.11 was our annual Remembrance Day service at the W.I.Cairn in Dunham.With the onset of cold weather, our November meeting was held indoors in a space kindly offered by the Dunham Public Library.We made a number of donations again this year, including to Heroes Memorial Elementary for end of year prizes, Butler Elementary for school supplies, apples from a member\u2019s orchard to Heroes, as well as a donation to the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund.Our December meeting was our annual Christmas potluck lunch, this year at the home of president Judy Page Jones.As our Christmas donation, we gathered toiletries for seniors at Residence Dunham.We join all of you in the hope that 2022 will be a more normal year.On behalf of the Dunham Women\u2019s Institute, we wish you all a merry Christmas and a healthy and happy 2022! Submitted by Candy Coates Publicity and Awareness Chair COURTESY PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCountyNews Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 5 Bedford bets on gardens for water conservation By Ruby Irene Pratka Local Journalism Initiative After two unusually dry years, every drop of water has taken on additional importance in Brome-Missisquoi.The town of Bedford is hosting experimental water conservation and erosion prevention projects as part of a provincial program, in collaboration with the MRC Brome-Missisquoi and the Organisme de bassin versant (OBV) de la baie Missisquoi.Nathalie Grimard is the director of land management services at the MRC.She explains that the MRC received $750,000 in funding through Phase 2 of the Programme Climat municipalités, overseen by the Quebec Ministry of Environment and the Fight against Climate Change.That funding has been invested in a three-part program; supporting urban water conservation efforts in Bedford, controlling of runoff in the Lac Davignon basin and modifying agricultural practices to reduce erosion.The speci?cs of the agricultural and Lac Davignon watershed programs will be explored in future editions of Brome County News.\u201cThe MRC adopted a water and erosion control action plan several years ago, and the provincial subsidy represented a great opportunity to try new things,\u201d Grimard says, referring to Bedford as a \u201ctrial laboratory\u201d for water conservation.\u201cWe are trying new projects to see if they work, and we plan to have other municipalities reproduce the projects that work.\u201d In Bedford, the pilot projects involve the distribution of rain capture barrels and the promotion of rain gardens.A demonstration rain garden was put in place on the grounds of the community centre earlier this year.The city has also replaced some asphalted surfaces with grass, according to Grimard.\u201cA rain garden is basically a ?ower bed, with plants that are especially good at absorbing water,\u201d explains Anthoni Barbe, communication and project manager at OBV.A rain garden can also brighten up a gardener\u2019s front yard \u2013 plants that are good ?ts for rain gardens include popular ?owering varieties of irises and daylilies, according to Barbe.\u201cThe idea is that the water from the gutters can be redirected into the soil instead of ?owing into the wastewater network.Next spring, we\u2019ll follow up [with residents] and offer to set up rain gardens, so we can measure the impact on our water networks.We\u2019ve already approached residents to get their buy- in.\u201d The OBV hopes to install six to eight rain gardens in residents\u2019 yards next spring; the cost to residents is yet to be determined.Rainwater capture barrels will also be distributed for free next spring to about a dozen residents living in areas where rainwater ?ows downhill.\u201cRain barrels are useful because when people capture water, they reduce the amount of water that goes into the wastewater network.The barrels are connected to hoses, so people can use them to water their gardens,\u201d says Barbe.\u201cRainwater doesn\u2019t need to go into the wastewater network; we can divert it into the soil to reinforce the water table,\u201d says Barbe.He says that in addition to participating in the pilot projects, residents can protect the water table by making a few small changes to what they buy and how they manage water on their property.\u201cThere are all kinds of action you can take\u2026make sure the water from your gutters doesn\u2019t ?ow directly into the street, reduce your pesticide use, recycle, compost and buy fewer throwaways.We know what we can do to have a positive impact on water quality.\u201d Bedford director general Richard Joyal was not available to comment at press time.Culinary students They decided to name the restaurant l\u2019Entre-Deux to demonstrate the relationship between the service and cuisine, and between the school and the job With various menus making up the food industry, the practice is key to supporting students\u2019 \u2018 development.\u201cAt the end of the year, they can practice all the different services and menus we ?nd in the food industry.Students can go to work in a buffet restaurant or a breakfast restaurant.In March, we have buffet time and we prepare everything in front with a long table, but in another month it\u2019s menu a la carte and the customer chooses from the menu At the end, students ?nish the course with a stage and they can work in a hotel or any kind of restaurants.Many go to the Fairmont Hotel in Quebec.\u201d It also helps students ?gure out why they want to be cooking.Some students enter the program not sure they want to do cooking but at the end of the program, they have found their domain.\u201cSome don\u2019t know what to do, they don\u2019t have many ideas, and cooking is accessible and becomes something they enjoy.It appeals to students who like action - it\u2019s busy, and there is a lot of socializing.We are always busy in the kitchen and we get to eat well, students love that.\u201d Apart from serving the public through its dining hall, students in the culinary program also prepare food for Campus de Brome-Missisquoi\u2019s store, Le Comptoire des Apprentis.\u201cWe have a store behind the kitchen where we sell mini recipes to the public and we have the butcher\u2019s department as well on the campus.The store is open three days a week and people can buy what the students make.We have quiche, mini soups, duck con?t.We use ingredients to serve the public in the dining room and to prepare products for the store too.\u201d Bolant said that over the years the public has been extremely supportive.\u201cPeople know the students and they appreciate what students.Many people come for lunch and they love it.After ?nishing lunch, they can shop at the store.We made 500 meat tourtière last week with the students and within two days, we sold out.It\u2019s incredible.\u201d To make reservations for the dining hall for January, call 450-263-7901 ext.71405.l\u2019Entre-Deux is open Thursday and Friday afternoons and Le Comptoire des Apprentis is open Wednesday from 7:15 am to 3 pm and Thursday and Friday from 7:15 am to 4:30 pm.CONT\u2019D FROM PAGE 1 COURTESY OF ÉRIC BOLANT PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 6 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 BromeCountyNews NOW OPEN.Call for a visit! New agricultural pilot project supports small-scale chicken producers By Taylor McClure Special to Brome County News Meagan Patch, a ?fth- generation farmer on Patch Farm in Brome, is taking part in a ?ve-year pilot project titled Production de poulets pour les marchés de proximité coordinated by Eleveurs De Volailles Quebec.The project will allow Patch to expand the farm\u2019s operations to raise, produce and sell pastured chicken, a market that is slowly emerging in the province, directly from the farm to the local community.Patch was one of very few farmers selected from hundreds of applicants to take part in the project and she believes it\u2019s an important step to help farmers meet the demand for this particular market, to be more viable, and to create a more localized food system.\u201cHere, we run a diversi?ed operation.We\u2019ve been raising chickens for a number of years now, but because of the quota system we are only allowed to raise a certain amount,\u201d explained Patch.\u201cFor a long time, we were allowed 99, but it was recently put up to 300 per address per year, but because we want to expand our activities here it wasn\u2019t enough.We need to do more for it to be worthwhile economically so hopefully this is a step in the direction in making that stream and that activity more viable on our farm.\u201d It is dif?cult for small-scale farmers to get quotas to raise chickens.The EVQ only provides enough quota, usually to large-scale producers, to just meet demand every year to avoid ?ooding the market.The pilot project will help bridge that gap by allowing participants to raise up to 2,000 chickens.\u201cWe barley touch the market at all at this rate - we are 1% of the market I believe.The quota system is meant to supply the grocery chains and larger essentializes system.This is just to enable us to produce enough for people looking for something more local and more ecological.\u201d Patch pastures her chickens, a more recent and sustainable alternative to raising chickens, in support of her animal\u2019s welfare.\u201cPeople locally raise backyard chickens, but they tend to be yarded, eat grain, and feed families and friends.The model that I\u2019m using has existed for a while, but has come to Quebec more slowly.It\u2019s a model of really getting them out on the land and moving them every day.They are integrated in a complex system to boost the health of the land and improve their well-being.It\u2019s cleaner, they are moved often so they aren\u2019t sitting in their excrement, and we use GMO grains.\u201d She described pastured chicken as \u201ca little niche market\u201d outside of the conventional chicken that is normally produced that isn\u2019t being served enough in the province.\u201cThe system hasn\u2019t converted, it\u2019s a thing in and of itself.It\u2019s really different from the conventional system.This program is supporting a different approach to supplying chicken to the local market.\u201d The local market is a key aspect of the project.\u201cOne criteria is that you can\u2019t sell through a third party, we have to sell directly from the farm.We can\u2019t put my chicken in a little épicerie or any of my caterer clients or restaurant clients.It\u2019s direct to customer.\u201d Many small farmers felt limites to the quota were unfair, making it dif?cult to move their operations forward, and that a diversi?ed market for chicken was needed.\u201cThe market is meant to serve the centralized food system, the grocery chains, Olymel, and other institutions to meet the demands of those markets.This is increasingly just getting on the radar and there was pressure from organizations that said it\u2019s not fair that Quebecers can only have this one type of chicken.They need to allow people to produce more using our model, so this is them (EVQ) responding to that need.\u201d The pandemic provided a good example of why such a project is important for the agricultural sector and food security.\u201cEverything is coming from large scale producers and going to large chains and large food processors, but then there was the pandemic and there was little food going to these chains.Small- scale local farmers were able to pivot and deliver door-to-door.We worked together to make sure we could supply people with food.That\u2019s what we need for stability in our food system and security really.\u201d Brome\u2019s Patch Farm selected as participant and will develop niche market PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCountyNews Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 7 Knowlton all lit up! Ben in Focus Recognizing Brome-Missisquoi volunteers BCN Staff During the week of Dec.5, which marked International Volunteer Day, 18 volunteers from Brome-Missisquoi were recognized by MNA Isabelle Charest for their contributions to their communities.The selected volunteers will be received at the MNA\u2019s of?ce in January 2022 and as a thank you for their involvement they will be presented with a gift set containing local products from the Brome- Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska MRCs.The recipients are: \u2022 Stephen Sullivan - Chevaliers de Colomb de Waterloo \u2014 Conseil 2077 \u2022 Sylvain St-Onge - Cadets de Waterloo \u2014 291 CCMRC \u2022 Renée La?amme - Centre Alpha Haute-Yamaska \u2022 Marc-André Messier - Comité loisirs et sports de Saint-Armand \u2022 Céline Duval - AFEAS de Granby \u2022 Bertrand Huiban - Dynamique des Handicapés de Granby et Région \u2022 Lynda Hoyt Gocher - Jardin d\u2019enfants de Sutton \u2022 Marguerite Choquette - FADOQ Bedford et région \u2022 Max Gagnon - Centre d\u2019action bénévole de Sutton \u2022 Christiane Bourque - FADOQ des Deux-Monts \u2022 Frances Champigny - Association des Personnes Handicapées Physiques de Brome- Missisquoi \u2022 Nicole Morin - Regroupement Soutien aux Aidants de Brome- Missisquoi \u2022 Stephen Jones - Yamaska Literacy Council \u2022 Jean Trudeau - Café Sans Frontières de Saint-Armand \u2022 Hamish Campbell - Camp Garagona \u2022 Jean-Rémi Brault - Association de la Culture et du Patrimoine d\u2019Abercorn \u2022 Robert Fontaine & Robert Trusdell Diabète Brome-Missisquoi et Haut-Richelieu \u201cThe pandemic has reminded us how important volunteers are in our community.They make a real difference by giving the most precious thing of all: time,\u201d stated Charest in a press release.PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 8 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 BromeCountyNews Three generations and counting Local Journalism Initiative In the farthest southwest corner of the historical Eastern Townships, the Ver- haegen farmhouse in Clarenceville was bustling with life Saturday morning, as the wind howled outside and 425 head of cattle hunkered down in the barns against the coming storm.Four generations milled about Réal Verhaegen and Lucie Bonneau\u2019s home, preparing a baby shower as this reporter stepped brie?y into their lives.Jeanne greeted me at the door, with her 1 - and 3-year-old daughters at hand; her husband Jonathan would be with me in a minute, she said.Jonathan\u2019s mother, Lucie, and sister, Christiane, were in the kitchen\u2014built a few steps above the dining room\u2014preparing food for the big day.Grandmother Evelyne would join them shortly.Lucie\u2019s husband, Réal, greeted me next, then Jonathan came in from the barn, leaving his brother Danny there with the cows.Jonathan was to be spokesman for this interview.My choice.He and his father sat me down at the dining-room table, next to the Christmas tree, and told their farm\u2019s story.Belgian immigrants Réal\u2019s father, Jean, came with his wife Elisa Vestricht to the Eastern Townships from Zoersel in Flemish Belgium in 1954 seeking affordable land and a better life than what war-torn Europe could offer.Their original Verhaegen farm comprised about 80 acres and 15 to 20 dairy cows.The family now farms 3400 acres for 200 lactating Holsteins and cash crops.\u201cIt was hard in those early days,\u201d Réal said of his parents\u2019 life.\u201cYou don\u2019t know the language; you don\u2019t know the people.\u201d His father started farming with a horse but had never driven a horse before.In 1971, when milk supply management came into effect, Jean received quota for his farm\u2019s existing production.In 1983, son Réal and wife Lucie took over.The farm was up to 350 acres at that point, the family approach being that a farm needs to grow and keep up to date.In 2006, when Jonathan was just 19, his parents bought 1000 acres for $4 million, securing a farming future for both their sons who are taking over today.The Verhaegen Farm now consists of three corporations owned by Réal and Lucie and sons Jonathan and Danny.The bene?ts \u201cI\u2019m really proud that every day I see my mum and dad,\u201d Jonathan said.\u201cI ?nd that I\u2019m kind of lucky.Farming is not easy, but there\u2019s a few advantages.\u201d Jonathan runs the cash-crop farms, one of which is organic, with three ?elds that are each 300 acres in size\u2014about three times the size of many original Townships\u2019 farms.He produces corn, beans, rye, wheat, alfalfa, timothy, and clover, as well as peas as a cover crop.Jonathan and Jeanne live 15 minutes from his parents and from Danny, and Jeanne helps with farm bookkeeping while raising their two daughters.Lucie and Réal also work full time at the farm, as does Danny, who runs the dairy operation, with help from his girlfriend Cynthia Lord.Jonathan and Danny have two sisters, neither of whom is directly involved in farming today.Early start As kids, the four of them had chores as young as ?ve years old, Jonathan said: feeding the cows, cleaning out stalls, bringing cows in and tying them, then milking.\u201cFor us, we had no choice,\u201d Jonathan said.\u201cBut I\u2019m proud to say we were raised the hard way.\u201d Jonathan ?nished high school, did one year of farm school in cash cropping (his brother the same but in dairy), then a six- week internship in Honduras, came back to the farm, and started an early career.\u201cAt 16, I didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do\u2026 It was really at 24-25 that I knew,\u201d he said.He brought home new ideas\u2014minimal tilling, cover crops\u2014sometimes in opposition to his father and to neighbours from whom they bought land.\u201cYou have to give them the chance to try things,\u201d Réal said.\u201cMy father and my brother gave me the space to try it,\u201d Jonathan said.The organic farm is a \u201crush,\u201d Jonathan added.He has to ensure the organic ?elds are worked every ?ve days to keep the weeds down without chemicals.It\u2019s a lot of labour\u2014weekends and nights.They employ four Guatemalan foreign workers 60 hours per week, year-round, Jonathan said.\u201cAnd my father and brother work 80 to 100 hours per week.\u201d His dream for the farm is that it \u201ccontinue in harmony with another generation\u2014after all the sacri?ces.To have another generation and that they farm as well as we did.\u201cThe important thing isn\u2019t money\u2014it\u2019s the dirt,\u201d Jonathan added\u2014the soil.Wall of awards After more story than space here permits, our interview moved out to the barn, with Lucie and Danny joining for photographs.I was pointed to all the dairy awards\u2014almost as many as the Holstein head count.Softspoken pride is clearly the polish on this family\u2019s hard work.The barn was quiet and calm compared to the storm building outside\u2014harmony in the home and barn, braced against the howling winds already hitting the ?rst undulations of the Eastern Townships\u2019 original Missisquoi County.Scott Stevenson farms and writes at his home in Newport, Quebec.He reports on individual Townships\u2019 farmers biweekly for Brome County News and reviews the farm news biweekly for the Record.Verhaegen family thrives with constant growth and knowledge Scott Stevenson Townships\u2019 Farmers Lucie Bonneau and Réal Verhaegen, centre, and sons Jonathan, left, and Danny, right: Their Holsteins live an average of eight years compared to ive on farms across Canada.SCOTT STEVENSON The BCN office will be closed for the holidays from December 27, 2021 to January 3, 2022.During that time, you can contact 819-569-9525 or classad@sherbrookerecord.com for any informtion.We would like to take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! The B.C.N.staff 5-B Victoria St.Knowlton, QC J0E 1V0 450-242-1188 PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCountyNews Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 9 It\u2019s been a rough year for artists and performers, with public gatherings banned, venues shuttered, craft shows cancelled and theatre performances put on hold.Brome County News wants to help kickstart the arts sector that contributes so much to the vitality and richness of Brome-Missisquoi.Each week the newspaper will feature a local artist, musician, writer or performer.Brome County News will also publish a comprehensive Artists Directory for Brome-Missisquoi to allow residents and visitors to ?nd musicians for live performances, pianists for weddings or special occasions, potters to create the perfect gift, to commission a painting by a Townships artist or to buy books written by Townships\u2019 authors.Calling If you are an artist, writer, musician, actor or artisan, or otherwise involved in the arts, send us an email and someone will contact you about your FREE listing in the directory.all Artists, Artisans, Musicians, Writers and Performers Check out the Brome County News website: www.bromecountynews.com bcn@sherbrookerecord.com This project has been made possible by the Community Media Strategic Fund o?ered jointly by the O?cial Language Minority Community Media Consortium and the Government of Canada By Hannah Polinski From Australian Dragon\u2019s Blood to Canadian Labradorite, jeweler Lucy Pietraszkiewicz chooses her stones with care.Her handmade collection of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings is composed of semi-precious stones and pearls sourced from across the globe, bringing their energy right to her studio in Bolton-Ouest.\u201cI choose gemstones for their organic beauty rather than being perfect,\u201d Pietraszkiewicz says.\u201cI like embracing the imperfections of natural objects.\u201d While no two stones may be cut symmetrically, it\u2019s hard to call her creations any less than perfect.Pietraszkiewicz describes her style as a very casual luxury, embracing a free- spirited bohemian ?avour that is suited for functional everyday wear.Each piece is made to maximize the beauty of their unique natural stones, pairing nicely with either a plain t-shirt and jeans or a black cocktail dress.\u201cIt gets loved, and doesn\u2019t stay in a cupboard,\u201d she says of her individual pieces.\u201cIt becomes part of the person who wears it.\u201d There\u2019s an inherent power in creating art from materials that are one-of-a-kind.No two stones are the same, allowing her to create something new each time she sits down with her tools, based on the stone\u2019s layering and colouring.Pietraszkiewicz is interested in their natural aspect, always working with small collections and quantities.No two pieces in her studio are identical, each possessing their own unique energy that is transmitted to their wearer.While she has a background in nursing, Pietraszkiewicz has always made jewelry for herself, which expanded into a business when others began to express interest in her creations.Growing up surrounded by her mother\u2019s threads and buttons from sewing projects, she learned to play with colour and texture from an early age.Now as an artist, she ?nds beauty in the raw colour of each natural stone, and is inspired by vibrant tones found in nature.Living in the Eastern Townships, Pietraszkiewicz has no shortage of scenic landscapes to draw inspiration from.\u201c[Making jewelry] is my happy place,\u201d she says.\u201cIt\u2019s not always easy, because it has to be functional and have wearability.But I put on music and can spend hours there.\u201d To see a full range of her newest creations and some of her classic pieces, Pietraszkiewicz\u2019s studio is accessible year-round by appointment, located at 3 Chemin de Glen, Bolton-Ouest.Her website is www.shoplucypietraszkiewicz.com.Lucy Pietraszkiewicz What\u2019s behind the creative mind Celebrating the arts in Brome-Missisquoi This project has been made possible by the Community Media Strategic Support Fund offered jointly by the Of?cial Language Minority Community Media Consortium and the Government of Canada.COURTESY COURTESY PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 10 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 BromeCountyNews About Townshippers By Michelle Lepitre Picture this: it\u2019s a Saturday afternoon and the snow swirls gently outside your window.You settle into a comfortable chair with a big, ?uffy blanket on your lap and a hot cup of tea in your hand.On a small table next to you is a book.A cat purrs gently near you as it sleeps away the afternoon.A ?re in the ?replace crackles and pops.After taking a sip of your tea and picking up your book, you take a deep, relaxing breath and sink into the cozy moment, letting your worries and cares fall away as you settle in to read at home on a winter afternoon.If, like me, this scene makes you wish for a snowy afternoon and a good book, I hope you\u2019ll give yourself permission to curl up in a chair with some reading material this holiday season and get lost in a story or two.You might not be able to re-create the scene above (and maybe you don\u2019t want your own reading moment to look exactly like that), but I encourage you to take the time to create the perfect moment for you.If you\u2019re looking for ideas of books you might enjoy, I invite you to check out the options below from our Townships Expressions collection or visit our online shop to ?nd a book that\u2019s right for you.The Stories that Grandfather Told, Maude Gage Pellerin Maude Gage Pellerin died in 1958, leaving behind a ?nished, but unpublished manuscript called \u201cThe Stories that Grandfather Told.\u201d This book was ?nally published in the spring of 2021 \u2013 nearly 63 years after the author\u2019s death and more than 70 years after the book was written.\u201cThe Stories that Grandfather Told\u201d is a collection of stories in the oral tradition of Stanstead County.These stories were intended to help young people understand the challenges and hardships of the ?rst settlers of this part of the Eastern Townships.If you have an interest in history, we think you\u2019ll enjoy this book.The Bell You Hardly Hear, Marjorie Bruhmuller If your interest lies more in poetry, you might like to pick up Marjorie Bruhmuller\u2019s \u201cThe Bell You Hardly Hear,\u201d an unconventional and candid collection of poetry that conveys exceptional observations.The poems in Bruhmuller\u2019s collection highlight the humour, simple beauty, and curiosities that this world has to offer us \u2013 things that often go unnoticed in the noise of our busy, daily lives.A Wind of Memories, Aukje Huitema A Wind of Memories is a story about exciting things that happened in the author\u2019s childhood and how the memories of those events guided her in her learning and questioning of life growing up on her family farm: \u201cTwo little girls are listening to the wind in their cozy bedroom.Their mother pauses between the pages of her story.Listening and remembering and smiling.The heart strings are remembering her own childhood.\u201d If you\u2019d rather spend your afternoon listening to music, or watching a DVD than reading, you might also ?nd something in our Expressions shop to help you relax and unwind this winter.We have a wide variety of local music available, as well as DVDs that feature music shows, photos, and documentaries.To view our Townships Expressions catalogue, visit https:// shop.townshippers.org.You can place your order online or contact Cathy Turner (ct@townshippers.org).but hurry! If you want to get something before the holidays, you only have three days left to order! Happy Holidays from the Townshippers\u2019 Team Our team will be off for some rest and relaxation during the holiday season, beginning on Friday, December 17.We\u2019ll be back at work on Monday, January 3 with lots of new ideas and projects to share.In the meantime, we wish you a relaxing holiday season full of cozy moments of peace and relaxation.We look forward to catching up with you again in 2022! This monthly column keeps you in touch with Townshippers\u2019 Association\u2019s activities and news.Other ways to keep in touch: Online www.townshippers.org Facebook.com/Townshippers Twitter @Townshippers In person 3355 College St., Sherbrooke 3-584 Knowlton Rd., Lac-Brome By phone 819-566-5717 450-242-4421 Reading at home on a winter afternoon JOSH APPLEGATE ON UNSPLASH.COM As we head into the winter season, we hope that you will ?nd some time this winter to sit down, relax and enjoy your favourite pastime.If you are looking for a new book to read, or local music to enjoy, be sure to stop by our Townships Expressions shop on our website and check out the options we have for you! Waterloo is the place to be for the holidays with interactive walking trail By Taylor McClure Special to Brome County News The Town of Waterloo cancelled its annual Christmas parade this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that didn\u2019t stop it from organizing some festive fun.In collaboration with Parcours Ludique, a Quebec based company that creates interactive and fun walking trails, six different stations are set up starting in parc Denise-Lauzière, located at 5669 rue Foster, that will continue along the town\u2019s walking path.Le Maître des saisons will offer different activities for families, designed for children ?ve years and older, that will remain in the village Jan.4th.\u201cEach year we organize a parade in Waterloo and it was always a success with a family celebration, but we weren\u2019t allowed to have the parade like we used to,\u201d said Jessica Lamarche of Loisirs Waterloo.\u201cWe wanted people to have an activity.There are fewer activities during the holidays and people don\u2019t always know don\u2019t know where to go.We have many activities here in Waterloo, but this an extra activity during the holidays, and a new one.The trail will be here throughout the month of December until Jan.4, when school starts.\u201d To access the activities, a smart- phone is needed to participate.\u201cWhen people enter the Parc Denise-Lauzière, situated just behind the CIBC, there is a large poster with a QR code.You place your phone in front of the code and it will open up a webpage.You need to download the QR code for the activities.It\u2019s like when you place your phone in front of the menu at a restaurant.There is a pop-up and it gives exactly what needs to be done.\u201d Parcours Ludique offers various theme choices for activities and the town decided to go with Le Maître des saisons.\u201cEveryone knows Santa\u2019s elves, but it\u2019s the gnomes of the south pole that are in charge of the seasons.The challenge is to help the gnomes ?nd their machine so that they can have all four seasons.It\u2019s a nice story and it\u2019s cute.They had other choices of trails with Santa Clause, but it becomes less meaningful after Christmas.There are already gnomes on the trail so it goes with the story.\u201d One of the activities includes a word puzzle where different letters will be visualized on a tree and family and friends have to work together to ?gure out what word those letters make and there is a game of gnome basketball where participants have to keep count of how many balls they are able to get in the gnome\u2019s hat.\u201cThere are various challenges that can be played on the phone.\u201d While the activities are designed for families and children ?ve years and over to get outside, move, and have fun, Lamarche said it is something everyone can enjoy.\u201cThe parents may be playing more if the children are younger, but it\u2019s a really nice walk with all of the surrounding decorations.It\u2019s really for the whole family, I brought my little girl and we had a lot of fun.\u201d With its partner Parcours Ludique, the town launched Le Maître des saisons on Dec.4 with much success and various generations coming together as a family.\u201cWe had 414 people come between 4 p.m.to 6:30 p.m.It was special; we had Santa Clause and his friends, snacks, and the children were given glow sticks.It was really nice with everything lit up.\u201d For those who want to experience Le Maître des saisons, the activities are free and the trail is open until 9 p.m every day.\u201cThe six stations are lit up by blue lights in the evening.During the day, we see them really well and they do the tour of the river and we come back by the tennis courts.We put arrows and everything on the path so it is really simple.\u201d COURTESY PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BromeCountyNews Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Page 11 Jesse Bryant Sales Manager Let our readers know about your products & services Tel.: 450-242-1188 Fax: 450-243-5155 email: jbryant@sherbrookerecord.com Northern Hawk Owl I was messaged a week ago from a local birder asking me if I had come across any Northern Hawk Owls this year.The answer was no.While living in Knowlton two years ago I came across one on Bondville directly on the now closed Iverness golf course.It had been perched on a hydro line which ran adjacent to the property.Before that, the only other I had found in the Townships was in Bolton Center.Northern Hawk Owls are really few and far between.They are not as easily spotted as Eastern Screech or Barred Owls for whatever reason.I always found this perplexing as the area around Lac Brome is the perfect habitat for this bird.They actually prefer the Boreal forests of the North, but during disruptive years they will appear south of their normal range.Years ago, I was living in Saint-Lazare, west of Montreal when a fellow birder posted on a popular site of a Northern Hawk Owl sighting in Pincourt.Merely 15 minutes from my home I decided to drive over that Sunday afternoon to check it out.Upon arrival at the supposed site, there were probably a dozen other photographers huddled by the side of the road looking up in a conifer.I ?gured I found it and was right.This was my ?rst Northern Hawk Owl and it left a lasting impression.It\u2019s a medium sized, hawklike owl which hunts primarily during the daylight hours.It\u2019s a low ?ier and ?ies at warp speed.That instant I took about a dozen photographs, then was a little dismayed when he ?ew across an open parking lot into the neighboring forest.This is the problem when too many birders/ photographers don\u2019t respect an owl\u2019s space.They eventually get spooked or simply fed up and leave.It was a fruitful ten minutes as I got some pretty decent shots.The following day was a Monday and I had some vacation days left in the bank so I decided to return hoping to ?nd him again with perhaps less people around.I arrived around 10 a.m.the next morning and moved to a spot across the forest where he disappeared the day before.After scanning the tree line running parallel to the forest, there he was perched on a branch surveying the ?eld.What an opportunity, alone with this owl much like my experience with the Great Gray Owl in Hudson the year before.I set up my tripod mid ?eld and attached my 400 telephoto lens.I snapped a multitude of shots and slowly moved closer in making sure not to spook him.I got as close as 15 yards and took many more pics as it hunted the ?eld for mice.Most owls hunt in the same manner.They position themselves on the forest\u2019s border in a spot where they can survey a certain area.If the bounty is plentiful, they will stay and then consistently return to the same spot over a period of time.I was fortunate that particular day to observe this bird without the interference of other birders or photographers.There\u2019s a ?eld etiquette most of us observe, unfortunately many do not.I truly believe this is the reason many don\u2019t share their information anymore.I really does take one idiot to ruin it for everybody! Like the Great Gray Owl, the Northern Hawk owl seems to arrive in what\u2019s been termed \u201cInvasion Years\u201d.Four years ago there were over 15 Great Gray Owls that touched down in Ile Bizard (West of Montreal).The marvelous thing about Great Grays is they have virtually no fear of humans during these periods.I got so close to one years ago I could have reached out and petted it.Once they deem you as not a threat, they become your best photo subjects by far.Just a reminder now that winter is here to continue ?lling your bird feeders.This is the time of year when they are most vulnerable and need the nutrition to get them through the harsh winter ahead.Last year we were fortunate to have Cardinals, Cedar Waxwings, Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Red and White Breasted Nuthatches, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, Dark Eyed Juncos, Chickadees and Robins as regular visitors.They seem to prefer the black oiled sun?ower seeds the best.Home Hardware in Knowlton sells these seeds for a reasonable price.Also don\u2019t forget the winter bird count.If you can volunteer to take count please do.Even counting birds that visit your feeders is encouraged.A very Happy Holidays to all and a Prosperous new Year! Darren Murphy Behind The Lens DARREN MURPHY CLD thinks green with tourism strategy By Ruby Irene Pratka Local Journalism Initiative Peak tourist season may be a few months away, but the CLD Brome-Missisquoi, Tourisme Cantons de l\u2019Est and area tourist attractions are already looking ahead.The CLD Brome-Missisquoi released its Strategic tourism plan 2022-2025 on Dec.7.The plan emphasizes eco-friendly tourism, the outdoors and local food and wine attractions.The concise ?ve-page plan emphasizes nine actions: emphasis on the region as a leader in wine tourism, promoting local culinary know- how and the quality of local food products and food tourism experiences; offering a diverse range of outdoor tourism and agro-tourism activities year round; promoting the \u201crichness of our cultural, natural and built heritage; raising awareness of environmentally responsible outdoor tourism practices; promoting best practices in terms of sustainable development within the tourist industry; encouraging businesses in the tourist industry to share information and develop partnerships; and collaborate with other industry partners in order to promote the region.As tourists and locals become more conscious of the fragility of nature, the tourist industry is increasingly emphasizing sustainability.\u201cThe addition of the concept of sustainability to the strategic plan came about naturally,\u201d said Guylaine Beaudoin, tourism development advisor at the CLD Brome-Missisquoi.\u201cIt also re?ects the fact that businesses in the region intend to propose a high-quality range of activities while minimizing their impact on the environment.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re an outdoor region and an agrotourism region, and we\u2019re aware of the impacts of climate change, so we don\u2019t want to miss the train with sustainable tourism,\u201d says Rémi Jacques, tourism development advisor at the CLD Brome-Missisquoi.He points to the Château Bromont, the Fromagerie Bromont and the Parc d\u2019environnement naturel de Sutton as sites which model best practices.Staff at the Parc d\u2019environnement naturel \u201climit the number of tickets in order to limit the number of people on the trails, to conserve the trails and prevent erosion\u201d while encouraging hikers to take less frequented trails.\u201cThose are the kind of practices we risk to see more of,\u201d says Jacques, adding that the CLD is looking at launching a communication campaign to promote low-impact tourism.Jacques says encouraging different tourist industry stakeholders to work together will help the industry navigate the challenges caused by supply chain interruptions and the ongoing labour shortage.In a normal year, according to Jacques, the tourist industry employs about 4,000 people in the region.The strategy was in?uenced by pandemic-fueled trends in outdoor tourism and in regional tourism, Jacques notes.He emphasizes that the Eastern Townships have not been faced with an \u201covertourism\u201d problem on the same scale as that in the Gaspé region, where town authorities had to intervene in summer 2020 to stop tourists from camping on fragile beaches and in people\u2019s backyards.\u201cWe don\u2019t have those issues here, but we do need to think about some things for the future; we want to improve the experience not only for visitors, but for people who live in the communities visitors frequent, and we also want to encourage a mixed clientele \u2013 both local tourists and visitors from outside the region.These are things we would have done anyway, but they make even more sense in the current context.\u201d PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW Page 12 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 bcn@sherbrookerecord.com Brome County News * PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY .ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW "]