Running the Tour Du Lac Brome

The weather was sunny and warm for the Sunday running of the Tour du Lac Brome, the Knowlton road race, which enjoyed a great turn-out for the 2006 edition of the 20km, 10km, 5 km and 1.6 km races around Brome Lake and the town of Knowlton.

In previous years the number of runners has been around 250 and the perfect conditions brought out large crowds from all over the Eastern Townships to take part in this very popular local marathon. The parking lot at the Brome Duck Farm was filled to capacity and crowds gathered early to get the best place ti pitch a few lawn chairs and hide a cooler in the shade of the trees to enjoy the race.

The Lions Park is the traditional start and finish line of the race. The 20 km race started first with runners taking off at around 10:45 for a loop around Brome Lake and through Knowlton. The elite group of racers usually finish the 20 km loop in just over an hour and the heat and strong beaming sun this year may have had some effect on the results.

Crowds along Victoria street taking part in garage sales cheered as the first runners began heading for the finish line giving the extra moral support for the sweating joggers who were brave enough to run 20km on a Sunday after a Saint Jean night of celebration. The cheering was inturrupted a couple of times by the sirens of the First Responders heading out to an accident that occured on the course. Details were not released but the later races were delayed because of the incident during the one leg of the race.

After the race a the runners had a picnic in the Lions Park, relaxing with a souvlaki and mixture of salads or enjoying a frosty beer to help ease the cramp leg muscles and sore calves. The park was full of family and friends of runners and just supporters of this ever popular race. The park was full of new faces as many of the participants come to Knowlton from all over Quebec to participate in this well known event. No doubt the runners enjoy visiting Knowlton and after the race the downtown area was filled with tourists enjoying the shopping in Knowlton and sitting on the terrases of the local restaurants enjoying the sounds and smells of a beautiful summer day.

Of course, as far as racing 20km goes, or even running a 1.6 km race I must say that I would really only be inclined to do so if there was a large slobbering, hungry wildact chasing me! But judging by the tattoo on this runners leg that isn't a sentiment shared by everyone. This serious runner had a tattoo of himself crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon as well as the times and years of his performances in Montreal Marathon and other 26 km events. The Tour du Lac Brome brings out all calibre of runners from those just trying to test their limits to others who are obsessive about running and living the lifestyle of ultimate health and movement.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

The Winners of the 2006 Tour du Lac Brome:

20 KM
Men - Louis-Philippe Garneir 1h 10m 6.08s
Women - Myriam Grenon 1h 21m 4.50s

10 KM
Men - Francois Chaput 37m 17.49s
Women - Annie Thiffeault 40m 9.14s

5 KM
Men - Pierre Fleury 18m 37.32s
Women -Stephanie Dufresne 21m 58.45s

1.6 KM
Men - Cornoyer Samuel 6m 45.98s
Women -Catherine Meek 07m 01.70s

To see more photos and the results of the race of this year and previous years visit the official Tour du Lac Brome website.

Public Market Opens In Knowlton

The new and much anticipated public market in lac brome opened Saturday kicking off a wonderful sunny St. Jean week-end in Knowlton. The town had been preparintg the site, located at 48 Maple Street (down from Flannigans store), for several weeks and while they still are working on setting up the finishing touches on the market it didn't seem to deter the crowds who filled the market area early and filled that normally quiet area with cheerful people of all ages.

Vendors sold flowers, cheeses, fish and other goods in the new market and the response from the residents was incredible as many of the merchants involved had completely sold all their produce by noon!

The atmosphere was relaxed and families gathered in the square under the shade of the lovely market kiosks. The town will be setting up a better parking area soon and will also have a sitting area where people can relax with a coffee and catch up with their neighbours. Ineed the smiling faces showed that such a community market in Knowlton is a welcome addition.

The committee and Knowlton chamber of commerce who are helping organize the summer market are also evaluating options to bring entertainment to the Saturday market as a way of making it more than just about buying and selling but also about mainting the strong sense of community so important to Knowlton. Bringing in Jazz music and other forms of musical entertainment are some ideas being tossed about. With the success of the June 24th openi9ng day it seems that Knowlton will indeed welcome the addition of a public market and during our short summer season it will be fantastic to have a place to sit down and just watch the people come and go and maybe chat with a neighbour.

There was some concern among residents that if the market turned into a "flea market" it would turn the area into a glorified garage sales full of peddlers but the powers that be seem to be determined to maintain a market that respects the existing flavour, style and dignity of Knowlton.

Some local businesses expressed concern that the market would actually hurt downtown area small business. Suzanna Daigle, resident and owner of a cheese shop in Knowlton, expressed her concern in an open letter to the Mayor of Brome Lake that a Granby cheese maker and importer would be involved in the local market:

"It seems quite unbelievable" she wrote, "that our municipal administration would endorse a project which allows a retail business from out of town to come to our local market to sell its goods and attract a new customer base especially in a domain already well served by the established businesses in Knowlton"

"If merchants are invited, not only should they be local but they should also be restricted to selling products made by them, period"

The chamber of commerce is sensitive to the concerns of local businesses and is planning to actually provide a booth that is staffed by Chamber staff members to sell local merchant produce even if those merchants don't have a full kiosk at the market.

Judging by the crowds at the opening day of the market it seems that people and visitors love the idea of an open air public market and it will inevitiably be good for all of Knowlton if the town can create such stylish and family oriented and environmentally friendly areas where people can gather.

Happy St. Jean!! We'll see you next Saturday at the market!

New IGA for Knowlton

Residents of Knowlton will no longer have to drive to Cowansville to get the best selection of fresh foods anymore as the brand new and improved IGA opened it's doors this week in Knowlton across the street from it's old location.

The grand opening was weld on Wednesday evening and by all indications it is a welcome addition to Knowlton as the parking lot was jam packed for the ribbon cutting cermony. Crowds filled the store and visited the new produce section and were stunned by the vast selection that is a huge improivement over the older store which was indeed becoming rundown and lacked a variety of foods.

The grand opening had Knowlton's Mayor and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce on hand to assist in the grand opening. The Gazaille family proudly invited all residents to enjoy their new store and with a cut of the ribbon they started what is surely to be a new era for Knowlton. Many new jobs have been created and Knowlton will surely benefit from having a large and complete food store in town.

The evening ceremony saw hundreds of residents visiting the new store and meeting the staff of the new IGA and sampling some tasty finger foods and some lovely wines courtesy of the Gazaille family. It was a great event and surely marked good things to come for the town of Knowlton.

Right from the first day in operation the parking lot has been quite full indicating that many people had been forced to drive the 25 minutes to Cowansville to get their grocery shopping done. Now we won't be forced to drive on those crummy roads to Cowansville! If only there was a Timmy Hortons in town we'd probably never have to leave...

The grand opening speech by the mayor, Richard Wisdom, was actually quite funny as he said that now the IGA was in direct competition with the Town of Lac Brome because now the Gazaille IGA had more smooth asphalt than the entire town and more fresh fish than Lake Brome! Indeed!