Destination Knowlton >

DestinationKnowlton.com Website Retires

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:09:00 +0000

The DestinationKnowlton.com website will be retiring on May 1st 2010.

I started the website in 2006 as a personal project to highlight the events, people and services of the community but I will be leaving The Eastern Townships to relocate outside of the province and will cease updates to the DestinationKnowlton.com website permanently as of May 1st.

My background was journalism and marketing and when I came to Knowlton in 2004 I sensed that there was the need for a lively website that featured opinions, photographs and news and so in my spare time I began building the website as a personal challenge: to create an online presentation of the town that was beyond what existed on the net at the time.

It started as a hobby project really, I would go to local events and take pictures and write my impressions of things that went on in the Knowlton area. I didn't tell anyone or publicize what I was doing because at first I didn't know how the website would develop and evolve.

As I added my articles and my pictures that documented the life and times of Knowlton I expanded the website to include a history page, a hotels and accomodations page, a restaurant page, a business directory, a monthly calendar of events and a photo gallery.

Slowly I started to see more visitors to the website, at first most of the visitors were from outside of Knowlton. Looking at the traffic statistics I saw people from all over the world coming to the website looking for information on the events, people and things to do in Knowlton. Eventually people from the area found the website and I began getting letters from local residents and started to meet more and more people on the streets of Knowlton who said they had found my website and enjoyed it.

The traffic continued to grow with more and more people from around the world came to view Knowlton through the small online window I had created. Soon local people and businesses were contacting me wishing to advertise on the website. I thought I had created something that presented Knowlton in a unique way and was answering emails from around the world from people who were coming to visit and looking for things to do and from people who had lived here years ago and were curious as to what happened to a certain person they had known long ago. Whenever I could help I took the time to communicate with people who wrote to the website, often requiring some research, but everyone I wrote back to appreciated the fact that someone answered their question.

I came to realize that DestinationKnowlton.com was moving beyond being merely a personal project and I realized that having such a website that promoted a town was something that required resources and constant upkeep. I worked on the website in my spare time and answered emails when I could and added press releases from local groups when I could. If I ever calculated the hundreds of hours I put into the writing the website articles, taking pictures, updating press releases and listings and compared it to how much I made in advertising revenues I probably earned an average of 2 cents per hour but it was worth it to see the reach of the Knowlton website spread!

I had pictures from DestinationKnowlton.com published in print and on other websites, I did interviews with CBC national radio, I had my articles republished in the Montreal Gazette and on websites and met many interesting people in the last 4 years of working on the website; that made it all worthwhile!

I hope that I was able to help local businesses by giving them some free publicity, I hope I was able to give exposure to events and the community groups and volunteers that work hard for Knowlton, I hope that in some small way I was able to add a positive momentum to the future of Knowlton.

I am moving out of The Eastern Townships and the province of Quebec soon and will be unable to continue working on the website. I will leave the articles and pictures and information on the website on the Internet as a my personal historical document, a brief time capsule and diary of my time in Knowlton.

If anyone or any group in Knowlton believes that the "Destination Knowlton" brand could help promote the town and would like to take over the DestinationKnowlton.com domain then please email me.

Sincere thanks to everyone who gave encouragement over the years! It was a memorable experience and I am proud of all that was done with your help and support!

Sincerely,

David Milligan
DestinationKnowlton.com

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Some interesting facts on this website:

Unique visitors to DestinationKnowlton.com per month average:
12,073

Top 20 countries where visitors to DestinationKnowlton.com came from:
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Australia
Indonesia
Netherlands
Brazil
Mexico
Philippines
Sweden
Ireland
Poland
Romania
Switzerland
Turkey
Italy
Belgium

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Best of luck, prosperity and health to all in Knowlton!!

Welcome to Knowlton, Lac Brome, Quebec

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Knowlton, Quebec (Lac Brome) is one of the most beautiful villages in Quebec. Situated in southern region of a region known as The Eastern Townships, this quiet Victorian town is an oasis of natural beauty and cultural diversity known for its diverse festivals, historical charm and laid back atmosphere. A rural setting with just enough cosmopolitan flair, Knowlton is close to all major attractions yet has somehow managed to remain un-spoiled by the development of the surrounding Townships.

Monthly Calendar of Events in Knowlton
Knowlton Business Directory Restaurants,Food and Dining Hotels & Accomodations Photos & Pictures Maps & Directions to Knowlton

Knowlton, Lac Brome, Quebec, os situated on the shores of Brome Lake, the Knowlton area of the town of Brome Lake (Knowlton, West Brome, Foster, Fulford, Iron Hill, Bondville and East Hill),has a combined population of just over 5000.

Within a leisurely drive from Montreal, Knowlton is also close to Vermont and New York State making it a popular spot for the many tourists and visitors who find Knowlton to be a veritable jewel of the region with friendly residents and the right mixture of attractions, restaurants and recreational activities.

Knowlton's strength is the natural beauty and architecture of the town which dates back to Victorian times. The center of the village has a large green space bordering an old Mill Pond with a flowing waterfall and glorious churches standing magnificently on the banks of the pond. Walking trails lead to the public beach on the shores of Brome Lake where swimmers share the sandy beach with the famous Brome Lake Ducks who have become quite tolerant of people and enjoy getting their picture taken!

Knowlton prides itself in remaining more of a quaint village with art galleries, incredible restaurants, antique stores and variety stores that cater to the eccentric side and are beyond the big stores we see in most towns these days. Small shops and boutiques line the streets and huge green trees create a cathedral overhead for the wide variety of birds, from finches to jays, to sing from.

A marina sits on the shores of Brome Lake and several world-class golf courses are within ten minutes of the village making summer a busy time for lovers of the outdoors. Provincial Parks like Mount Orford, Mount Megantic and Yamaska Park are all a short hop from Knowlton and Mount Sutton, Bromont and Mount Glen are ideal places for recreation from hiking and cycling to picnics and canoeing. With so many natural wonders being so close to Knowlton it is becoming a choice travel destination for all visitors to Quebec.

The town museum boasts a large collection of historical artifacts from the region and tracing the heritage of the Eastern Townships wouldn't be possible without considering the importance of Knowlton. The old fashioned corner store is alive and well in Knowlton and a visit to Flannagans general store is like taking a step back in time about 100 years.

With the Big Brome Fair held in the Fall, the Duck Festival, The Festival of lights in the winter and the popular Tour Des Arts it is almost impossible to keep up with the wide range of events in the area.

Beyond the special occasions, Knowlton is a town with a forward thinking and vibrant future. The recently completed Community Center is a testament to the spirit of the residents of the region and the number of active clubs and community groups in Knowlton, from sports to music to visual arts and seniors organizations, is an example of the close-knit spirit the town shares. Life in Knowlton is akin to an era where our grandparents could leave their doors unlocked, knew everyone in the town by name, and said hello to anyone they passed in the streets.

Monthly Calendar of Events in Knowlton
Knowlton Business Directory Restaurants,Food and Dining Hotels & Accomodations Photos & Pictures Maps & Directions to Knowlton

POPULAR EVENTS

The Big Brome Fair 2010
Well...you missed the Brome Fair 2009 but don't worry we have a full recap of past fairs! A full collection
of photos and videos from the Big Brome Fair plus we want you to come back for next
year! See more about the Brome Fair Check out our photo collection from the Brome Fair or look back at the Brome Fair.

Brome Lake Duck Festival
Every Autumn, as the leaves turn there crimson mix of orange delights the duck festival again showcases the world famous ducks that have made Brome Lake famous. There are sidewalk boutiques and culinary demonstrations and competitions by world-class chefs who converge on Knowlton for this prestigious event. Always a crowd-pleaser the Duck Festival is one of the most popular events in the tourist season. See you in 2010!

This website contains stories and articles that are not necessarily current or up to date.
Opinions, names, schedules and events may have changed since the opinions and event articles were written. This website should be considered a time-capsule of one residents time spent living in Knowlton not a current events website. The DestinationKnowlton.com website will be updated on a monthly basis as of November 2009.For the latest events in Knowlton and Brome Lake visit the Chamber of Commerce of Brome Lake Website.

To find out what the author of this website is doing now visit his online travel blog TripSister.com

The Brome Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:20:00 +0000

The Big Brome Fair is being celebrated this long labour day weekend in Brome and it is going to be one of the biggest and best fair's ever! This year marks the 152nd year that the Brome Fair has taken place and the crowds are expected to be bigger than last year especially after the soaking wet summer we've had here in Quebec have left us all needing a break. There can be no better place to relax than at one of the oldest and respected agricultural fair in Eastern North America.

This years entertainment features David Usher and Jaydee Bixby...well this ain't exactly Willie Nelson it's nice to have some different musical acts and the Brome Fair tries to make every year a bit different on the musical shows. Of course there is also home-grown talent and entertainers playing throughout the day on the smaller stage near the main entrance so even if you've never heard of Moist or Jaydee you can still here some great music that varies from traditional Quebecois folk to good ole' rock 'n roll!

Since the inception of the Brome Fair in the 1840's there have bee many changes of government, wars, depressions and countless changes in the way people live...but some things have remained constant; the people of the region and their connection to the land they live on.

Farmers and craftspeople have been gathering together over the years in an annual celebration of all that they do; maintaining their crops and tending to their flocks, eeking out an existance that is not always easy but is always fullfilling and based on the good values of family and hard work.

Of course there is more to life in the Townships than hard work so to counter balance the wholesome family values there will be beer gardens, bingo tents and a pari-sportif horse racing event. Throw in a little monster truck tractor pullers belching columns of black diesel smoke into the air mixing with the smells of fresh Wapiti Burgers and Funnel Cakes and Fried Onions and you have the perfect Brome Fair experience that should not be missed!

Of course the Brome Fair is about family fun, with fun midway rides, music, clowns, magicians, petting zoos, games, food and bingo on site but it is also a serious agricultural show with events and judging taking place in many categories through the week-end.

Main headliners for this year's fair David Usher, formerly of the group called Moist, who brings a modern pop sound that mixes alternative stylings with techno assertiveness to create a swirling and upbeat mood that is more infectious than The West Nile Virus! David plays the popular Saturday night concert when gusest let themselves loos and have a great time. If you remember seeing Wayne Rodstad from CBC a few years back you might want to get prepared for something quite different. This show could bring a whole new group of young folks to the fair as he is very popular with the Much-Music set!

Unless you have a phobia of seeing Mulroney Jr. on TV like some people, then you likey know that Jaydee Bixby was one of the Canadian Idol finalists and even if you've never heard of him you likely know what the Canadian Idol sensibility is and can assume that you will be in for a strong set of popular music staying fairly close to the middle of the road. Jaydee kicks off Mondau September 1st at noon.

Sunday Night is the ever popular Truck Pull. Now...many people are thinking "They're loud, stinky, powerful and quite an attraction to anyone who has "the knuckle dragger" gene still residing in their DNA columns!" Well...that's the kind of judgemental statement that the Brome Fair crushes! Those Truck shows are always packed and the grandstands are always packed with cheery lovers of Diesel Horse Power! Hey...we need more in Brome Lake than classical music on Tibbits Hill...what about the loud and raucus minority who love to whoop-it-up with dust and Budweiser! Bring it on!

Another popular attraction will be Little Ray�s Reptile Zoo. Paul �Little Ray� Goulet, owner and head curator of Little Ray�s Reptile Zoo, located in Ottawa, Ontario, and has been caring for reptiles and amphibians since he was a child. In 1995 he and his wife Sheri, began performing educational, live animal presentations to schools, birthday parties, corporate events, malls and fairs. In the fall of 2000, they opened their zoo and have watched it grow to have the most diverse collection of reptiles and amphibians in Canada. The zoo now has the largest outreach program in the country, performing over 2500 presentations a year in Eastern Ontario & Western Quebec. The kids just love to pet the reptiles and get their picture taken holding a real crocodile!

On Monday the horse racing Pari-Betting allows the equestrian gamblers a chance to make a few bets and maybe pick up some cash. The betting area always looks a little seedy with strange characters coming our from the shadows of the grandstand with their crumpled betting programs and chain smoking like the ladies at the VLT's...another angle of the Brome Fair that makes it such fun! This ain't no DisneyWorld!!

Other fun stuff is the Mickey Farkas Show for the Kids on Friday and the incredible Gastoni Attractions feature tricks, tumbling, circus displays and of course the popular "Globe of Death"...what's that...yes...it's "The Globe of Death" where caged motorcyclists spin at high speed in a large steel globe while on-lookers watch in disbelief!

The full schedule is available at the Brome Fair Website

Get to the grounds early as there is always long traffic lines heading to the fair grounds. The Brome Fair takes place at 345 Stagecoach Road. If you are in the Knowlton area and can't figure out how to get to the fair just ask anyone you see...The Brome Fair is all we've been talking about for the last month!

Check out our photos from previous Brome Fair or look back at the Brome Fair in our article from 06.

I admit it...I go to the Big Brome Fair to do a total over-indulgence in the hedonistic pleasures of hydrogenated cuisine! Oh my...the sheer blood-sugar high of freshly deep-fried batter mixed with a diet coke is nothing short of Nirvana! Every day can be a veritable "Greatest Race" through a pleasurable maze of fresh-donuts, pizza, maple candy, wapiti burgers, pizza, deep fried onions and smoked meats and sausages and when you have finally completed the circuit and are sitting in the Grandstand watching the action a Detroit Diesel hauling 16 tons of cement over a dusty dirt patch you really know that you've found a most special place!

DESTINATION KNOWLTON BEST BETS FOR THE BROME FAIR
This year...this is what we'll go to see if we can find a parking space. If you want to go beyond our recomendations then visit the schedule at the Brome Fair Website

This website contains stories and articles that are not necessarily current or up to date.
Opinions, names, schedules and events may have changed since the opinions and event articles were written. This website should be considered a time-capsule of one residents time spent living in Knowlton not a current events website. The DestinationKnowlton.com website will be updated on a monthly basis as of August 2009.For the latest events in Knowlton and Brome Lake visit the Chamber of Commerce of Brome Lake Website.

To find out what the author of this website is doing now visit his online travel blog TripSister.com

Meeting of Contemporary Arts - 2010 Knowlton

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Meeting of Contemporary Arts 1st edition (company registered nonprofit
profit) is therefore the day after it was conceived as early as 2005 by the creators of Agur
Gallery.

Galerie Agur, single conceptual place in the Cantons-de-Townships is established
Knowlton, whose unique location and quality of life have attracted a
people come from different backgrounds, including a large art community. The
gallery has gained many artists, guests and visitors since its inception in 2001. In
Over the nine years of its existence, many exhibitions, seminars and parties
themes were organized in this art gallery event that such
product in 2003 of theater, music and dance at the Th��tre Lac Brome.
Having developed a culinary component, thematic and events - "In the
Table of Impressionists "- the gallery was built in 2005 on a permanent basis
restaurant whose reputation is growing.

The design of an art event bringing together all forms of expressions,
corresponds to the vision and mission which are ours since the inception of the gallery:
promote contemporary artists, artists from Quebec, Canada, emerging or
Internationally acclaimed perpetuate a place of encounters and exchanges, sharing and
become a vital crossroads arts and culture involving all the senses --
visual, musical taste - in order to reach the greatest number.
A big thank you to all of you, through your financial support, as well as your
presence with us in this adventure! Hoping that the success of
the 1st Meeting of Contemporary Arts is only the beginning of a long series.

339, chemin Knowlton, Ville de Lac-Brome, Qu�bec
rac2010@bell.net /450-243-0145 / www.agurgalerie.com

Rencontre des Arts Contemporains - Knowlton 2010

Rencontre des Arts Contemporains 1re �dition (compagnie enregistr�e � but non
lucratif) voit donc le jour apr�s avoir �t� imagin�e d�s 2005 par les cr�ateurs de Agur
Galerie.

Agur Galerie, lieu conceptuel unique dans les Cantons-de-l�Est est �tablie �
Knowlton, dont la situation exceptionnelle et la qualit� de vie ont su attirer une
population venue d�horizons diff�rents, dont une importante communaut� artistique. La
galerie a conquis de nombreux artistes, clients et visiteurs depuis sa cr�ation en 2001. Au
cours des neuf ann�es de son existence, de nombreuses expositions, s�minaires et soir�es
th�matiques ont �t� organis�s dans cette galerie d�art �v�nementielle qui a notamment
produit en 2003 des spectacles de th��tre, de musique et de danse au Th��tre Lac Brome.
Apr�s avoir d�velopp� un volet culinaire, th�matique et �v�nementiel � � � la
table des Impressionnistes � � la galerie a int�gr� en 2005 de mani�re permanente le
restaurant dont la r�putation va grandissante.

La conception d�un �v�nement artistique r�unissant toutes formes d�expressions,
correspond � la vision, et � la mission qui sont n�tres depuis la cr�ation de la galerie :
promouvoir des artistes en art contemporain, artistes qu�b�cois, canadiens, �mergents ou
de renomm�e internationale, perp�tuer un lieu de rencontres, d��changes, de partage et
devenir un carrefour artistique incontournable et culturel faisant appel � tous les sens �
visuel, musical, gustatif � dans le but de rejoindre le plus grand nombre.
Un grand merci � vous tous qui, par votre soutien financier, ainsi que par votre
pr�sence, nous accompagnez dans cette belle aventure! En souhaitant que le succ�s de
cette 1re Rencontre des Arts Contemporains ne soit que le d�but d�une longue s�rie.
Maddia Esquerre
Conceptrice et directrice de l��v�nement

Programme
Mercredi, 23 juin 2010 - 18h00
AGUR Galerie - restaurant
Lancement de l��v�nement :
Vernissage : Winston Mc Quade
Jeudi, 24 juin 2010 - 20h
Grand chapiteau � l�arri�re / AGUR Galerie - restaurant
Histoires de Visages : Horta Van Hoye
Vendredi, 25 juin 2010 - 20h
Grand chapiteau � l�arri�re / AGUR Galerie � restaurant
Les Lumi�res de la danse : ezdanza - Olivier Wecxsteen
Samedi, 26 juin 2010 - 10h � 16h
Grand chapiteau � l�arri�re et tentes individuelles / AGUR Galerie � restaurant
Le Mus�e �ph�m�re
Exposition : Artistes en arts visuels
Soir�e � 19h30
Souper b�n�fice : avec le groupe Gadji-Gadjo
Dimanche, 27 juin 2010 - 10h � 17h
Grand chapiteau � l�arri�re et tentes individuelles / AGUR Galerie � restaurant
Le Mus�e �ph�m�re
Exposition : Artistes en arts visuels

Ventes tickets Histoire de Visages.............................................................. 28 $
Les Lumi�res de la Danse .................................................. 35 $
Histoires de Visages et Les Lumi�res de la Danse ......... 55 $
Souper b�n�fice ................................................................. 175 $
25 $/ par ticket d�ductibles d�imp�ts
au b�n�fice du Club des Lions (un re�u sera remis)

Rencontre des Arts Contemporains
Claire L�ger
Marraine de l��v�nement
Winston McQuade
Porte-parole de l��v�nement
*
Maddia Esquerre
Conceptrice et directrice de l��v�nement
Jean-Yves Esquerre
Consultant pour la danse
Brigitte de Souza
Consultante pour le th��tre
*
Louise R�nald
Coordonnatrice artistique
Sylvie Chartrand
Relations publiques
Daniel Ranger
Directeur technique

339, chemin Knowlton, Ville de Lac-Brome, Qu�bec
rac2010@bell.net /450-243-0145 / www.agurgalerie.com

Easter Bunny Refuses To Visit Brome Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:08:00 +0000

The Easter Bunny has said she has cancelled all future visits to Brome Lake. No more Easter Egg hunts for kiddies, it's over! The announcement came after Brome Lake Ducks said they will begin slaughtering �bunny wabbits� to increase the work-week for employees and this has forced the lovable Easter Bunny to announce that she will "permanently cease all future visits to Brome Lake forever".

The announcement was made today by The Easter Bunny who said she was saddened by the news and tearfully added that she looked forward to a day when people would eat more carrots and vegetables and less cute fluffy creatures.

"Killing the symbol of Easter is wrong!" said the Easter Bunny as she nibbled a carrot stick, "What's next, the tooth fairy, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Mickey Mouse? They already have Donald and Daffy being turned into boil in the bag delicacies at Brome Lake Ducks....is nothing sacred for the kids? We're talking more than just the Eastern Bunny folks, we're talking Bugs Bunny! Bugs Bunny? What's Up Doc???"

So we'll have to now explain to our Brome Lake children that they will be no longer serviced by the Easter Bunny because it was was announced that Brome Lake Ducks would soon begin slaughtering thousands of little bunny rabbits every week! The Easter Bunny expressed shock and disappointment that Brome Lake would be home to such acts against rabbits and said she had no choice but to boycott ever coming to the area for Easter ever again. Sad news for children who love the fluffy white cuddly creatures with their wiggly noses and beady little eyes and friendly dispositions; they will no longer be visited at Easter by that most famous of rabbits who delivers chocolate treats and daffodils every Spring.

The Brome Lake Duck Farm had to go beyond their duck farm activities because there just wasn�t enough work at the factory farm to give all employees a full 5 day work week. To add an extra day�s work for the employees 6,000 bunnies will be killed and transformed into human food.

In today�s economy employers are looking for ways to keep employees employed a full 5 days per week as having people work only 4 days out of seven doesn�t seem too productive, naturally, rabbits, being stupid beasts, do not understand this logic. It�s not sure what would be involved if they wanted to ramp up to a seven day work week but no doubt someone will be looking at a way to keep the rendering plant a rendering!

Children in Brome Lake will have to adjust to not seeing their Easter Bunny anymore and will have to find solace in the fact that they may be still able to see thousands of rabbits every week �not happily hopping along with baskets of chocolate eggs but crammed into as factory trucks that grind through town; trucks filled with cages of little bouncing baby bunnies on their way to slaughter�add the flying fur to the flying duck feathers that blow through town from behind the trucks every day and it sounds like Brome Lake could be the setting for the newest Tim Burton film!

"I'll certainly miss coming to Brome Lake to visit the children and hide eggs every year" said the Easter Bunny from her winter retreat in British Columbia, "but they kids will just have to find some other cuddly representative of Easter that isn't a food for hungry carnivorous humans...maybe they could try The Easter Cockroach?"

OUCH! Someone, pass me a carrot!

Started in 1912 on the western shore of Brome Lake, the Brome Lake Duck farm is the oldest duck-breeding farm in all of Canada. The native New Yorker who started the farm just before World War 1 chose to breed Peking duck; a large-bodied white duck with a distinct yellow bill and feet, as well as delicious meat which had been first imported from China to the United States in 1873.

Family later moved the farm and its buildings to the other side of the lake and the farm was set up in an area where the ducks could swim freely in the lake during times of summer heat. Now one of the largest employers in the area the farm has annual production that is close to 3,000,000 ducks which are imported to food service industries around the globe including Asia, South America and Europe. Now, with the addition of 250,000 rabbits per year being slaughtered, Brome Lake will have another badge on her colorful uniform.

Also interesting: The Brome Lake Duck Festival

Brome Lake Ducks : Truly the nec plus ultra in ducks!

Earth Hour Celebrated in Knowlton and Brome Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:27:00 +0000

Earth Hour at Town of Brome Lake
The Community Joins Forces Against Climate Changes

Come on Everybody!

Turn out the lights!!

This year, the Town of Brome Lake has joined Renaissance Lac Brome and a group of citizens to underline Earth Hour, a planetary manifestation against climate change and greenhouse gases. This event will take place around the world on March 27th, 2010from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

To highlight the event, municipal authorities will turn off every light in municipal buildings:

Town Hall, Centre Lac-Brome, Municipal garage and Fire Hall.

Council members invite citizens to take part in this planetary movement on March 27th,2010. Our participation in the Earth Hour means much more than just turning off lights once a year for 60 minutes. This event allows people to voice their opinion on the future of the planet and to send a message to world leaders to take appropriate action to redress the climate change situation.

Gather in Coldbrook Park at 8:30 p.m. with a candle and celebrate Brome Lake�s first Earth Hour with your friends!

The Town of Brome Lake, in cooperation with its partners such as Renaissance Lac Brome,already has several projects aiming to fight against greenhouse gases, such as:

-The consolidation of its urban plan and by-laws to integrate sustainable development as an objective which highlights urban standards in regards to the environment. This consolidation will also be the opportunity to rethink the problem of light pollution and measures to adopt to resolve this situation;

- The establishment of a new waste management schedule by the Town to reduce traveling of trucks. This new schedule pursues this objective to encourage recycling
and composting;

- The implementation of a renewal strategy for less energy-consuming municipal vehicles and equipment;

- The adherence to the �Programme Climat Municipalit�s�, which proposes an inventory
of the sources of greenhouse gases that includes an action plan;

- The improvement of infrastructures in parks and public recreation areas respectful of the environment.

Gather in Coldbrook Park at 8:30 p.m. with a candle and celebrate Brome Lake�s first Earth Hour with your friends!

L�HEURE POUR LA TERRE � VILLE DE LAC-BROME
LA COMMUNAUT� SE MOBILISE CONTRE LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES
Lac-Brome, le 4 mars 2010. La Ville de Lac-Brome s�associe cette ann�e avec Renaissance Lac Brome et un groupe de citoyens afin de souligner l�Heure pour la Terre, une manifestation plan�taire de lutte contre les changements climatiques et les gaz � effet de serre. L��v�nement se tient le 27 mars 2010, de 20h30 � 21h30 et ce, partout dans le monde.Pour souligner l��v�nement, les autorit�s municipales �teindront toutes les lumi�res utilis�es dans les b�timents municipaux : H�tel de Ville, Centre Lac-Brome, Garage municipal et Caserne d�incendie.

Yamaska Valley Optimist Club "Women of Success"

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:42:00 +0000

The Yamaska Valley Optimist Club will once again be celebrating four "Women of Success" at their fourth annual International Women's Day Dinner. To be held Saturday, March 13th at the Lakeview Inn.

The evening starts at 6:00 pm, supper to be served at 7:00 pm Every year the club chooses a different theme and this year they have chosen Successful Women Entrepreneurs. We are so very fortunate to have such talented women amongst us in our community and that we have this special occasion to celebrate their success.

This year's honourees are Patti Larose-Mason and Annette Blanco from the Panier Champ�tre; Lucy Hoblyn from Brome Lake Books and Janet Fraser of Caf� Floral. These four remarkable women, working in the town of Knowlton, have made us very proud and are an inspiration to many in these difficult economic times.

Keynote speaker is Lori Graham of CTV Montreal.
Born and raised on the West Island of Montreal, Lori has always had a passion for performing and public speaking. All through elementary school and high school, Lori participated in numerous public speaking contests and performed in countless theatrical productions. Lori was even elected to give the valedictory address to her graduating class at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School.

While public speaking was always of great interest, academically Lori pursued both pure and applied science. Eventually she would find a way to combine her love of both sciences and languages by becoming CTV Montreal's weather presenter.

Lori got her break in Montreal media while in her second year of broadcast journalism at Concordia University. She was the recipient of CJAD's Al Cauley Award, and within weeks began working for CJAD and Mix 96 as a traffic reporter, news reporter and newscaster while completing her final year of university. She went on to graduate from Concordia with the highest aggregate marks in her program.

Two years later, Lori joined the CTV family as a weather presenter during the infamous 1998 ice storm. She refers to her television debut as her "baptism by ice." She has hosted a number of shows for CTV including "Good Morning Canada" - the network's national weekend morning show.

Lori is also involved in a number of local charities. She hosts CTV's "Telethon of Stars" and supports the Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone, the Children's Wish Foundation, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

There are a limited number of tickets, so hurry to reserve your place!! Tickets are available by calling Lois Hardacker or Marilyn Hunter at (450) 242-2000, Donna Coates at (450)-242-2548 (evening) or Susan Burbank at (450) 243-0530(evening).

Tickets cost $50.00 with all the profits going to the youth projects that the club sponsors in the area.

Art show by Fran�oise Belu and Suzanne Blouin

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:37:00 +0000

Arts Sutton is happy to announce that it will be presenting Les Unes et les autres, an exhibit of art works by Fran�oise Belu and Suzanne Blouin, from March 6 to April 11. This image is courtesy of Suzanne Blouin (Suzanne Blouin, La petite Suzanne en automne (d�tail), mixed media, 26 X 40 cm)

Les Unes et les autres is produced through a collaboration between two Montr�al artists who share a vision of contemporary art, bound to their profound explorations of the pain of childhood.

�Les unes� shows us the same photograph of Suzanne as a child, repeated many times over on a table of four reversible panels strewn with three-dimensional objects, such as bridal veils and seashells. We see her abandoned against the backgrounds of an American desert, the edge of the Saint Lawrence River, lost in the fields, the snow and elsewhere . . .

Art show by Fran�oise Belu and Suzanne Blouin
Entitled Les unes et les autres
at Arts Sutton Gallery

From March 6 to April 11, 2010
Show opening: Saturday, March 6 at 2 :00 pm
Guided tour by the artists: Saturday, March 20 at 2 :00pm

�Les autres� presents us with a set of twenty-odd black boxes that display photographs of close friends and family of Fran�oise as children. The backgrounds to the pictures were created using a variety of techniques and are paired with symbolic found objects, as well as scenes in which there is always the silhouette of an anonymous child.

Suzanne Blouin holds a Master�s in Fine Arts from l�Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al (UQAM). Her work is included in various public collections such as those of the Mus�e du Qu�bec and the Museum of Fine Arts in Montr�al. Since she discovered collage in 1997, she has been using it as an integral part of her works, including those we will be seeing at La Galerie Arts Sutton. Each work begins with an image of herself, triggered by her earliest childhood memories. Little Suzanne, in these autobiographical fictions, reinvents herself through survival strategies of wild gestures, repeated almost ad infinitum�each set in the fullness of nature and the seasons.

Francoise Belu holds a certificate of Aesthetics and the History of Modern Art from the University of Paris 1. She has participated in numerous shows and performances in Qu�bec and France. She is inspired by ancient myths, in particular that of Oedipus, and the revelations of the unconscious as explored by Freud and the psychoanalytic tradition. Her works depict the unsayable words, drawn from a consciousness that seeks a wordless expression of self. To this day, she still cannot use images drawn from her own childhood because the pain is too intense. Instead Francoise describes the childhood �des autres.�

The public is invited to open to the subtle awareness of these two artists as shown in their works on display at Arts Sutton.

The Gallery is located at 7 rue Academy in Sutton. It is open Thursdays to Sunday, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Une exposition de Fran�oise Belu et Suzanne Blouin
intitul�e Les unes et les autres � la Galerie Arts Sutton

Du 6 mars au 11 avril 2010
Vernissage: samedi 6 mars � 14h
Visite comment�e avec les artistes: samedi 20 mars � 14h

La Galerie Arts Sutton est heureuse de pr�senter, du 6 mars au 11 avril prochain, l'exposition Les unes et les autres de Fran�oise Belu et Suzanne Blouin.

L'installation Les unes et les autres est le fruit d'une collaboration entre deux artistes montr�alaises qui ont une conception identique de l'art actuel et une th�matique semblable, celle des blessures de l'enfance.

� Les unes � ou la m�me photographie de Suzanne enfant, qu�on trouve r�p�t�e plusieurs fois et int�gr�e � un tableau, � une table, errant sur 4 paravents r�versibles agr�ment�s de diff�rents objets tridimensionnels - voile de mari�e, coquillages� On la voit abandonn�e dans le d�sert am�ricain, au bord du Saint-Laurent, dans les champs, dans la neige, ailleurs...

� Les autres � ou une vingtaine de � bo�tes noires � qui mettent en sc�ne les proches de Fran�oise, sur des photos qui les repr�sentent enfants, dans un d�cor en techniques mixtes accompagn� de quelques objets trouv�s symboliques, ainsi que des tableaux dans lesquels figure toujours une silhouette enfantine anonyme.

Suzanne Blouin d�tient une ma�trise en Arts plastiques de l'UQAM. Ses �uvres font partie de collections publiques notamment celle du Mus�e du Qu�bec et du Mus�e des beaux-arts de Montr�al. Elle d�couvre le collage en 1997, qu'elle utilisera dans de nombreuses �uvres, jusqu'� l'exposition actuelle Les unes et les autres. Elle travaille � partir de sa propre image qu'elle d�cline presque � l'infini et qui repr�sente son tout premier souvenir d'enfance. La petite Suzanne, dans cette fiction autobiographique, s�invente des strat�gies de survie par la r�p�tition du m�me geste d�abandon, dans des mises en sc�ne o� la nature et les saisons sont aussi mises en valeur.

Fran�oise Belu est titulaire d�un certificat d�Esth�tique et d�Histoire de l�art moderne de l'Universit� Paris I. Elle poss�de � son actif de nombreuses expositions et performances au Qu�bec et en France. Sa d�marche s'articule autour de diff�rents mythes, et en particulier autour du complexe d�Oedipe, du refoul� de l'inconscient r�v�l� par Freud et la psychanalyse. Ses �uvres mettent en images cette parole qui refuse de se dire, o� la conscience cherche � s'exprimer par del� les mots. Incapable, tant la blessure est encore douloureuse, d�utiliser des images de sa propre enfance, Fran�oise met en sc�ne l�enfance des autres.

Le public est invit� � se laisser toucher par la sensibilit� r�v�l�e par ces deux artistes lors de leur exposition � la Galerie Arts Sutton.

La Galerie est situ�e au 7 rue Academy � Sutton. Elle est ouverte du jeudi au dimanche, de 11h00 � 17h00.

Source : Galerie Arts Sutton
Pour information : Christine Joly, adjointe aux communications
(450) 538-2563 info @artssutton.com www.artssutton.com

BromeLakeBlog Forced to Remove Unauthorized Content

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:49:00 +0000

You can't walk stroll into Flannigans and steal a bag of Bagels. You can't walk in the front door of Bousada and walk out the back door with a sofa you haven't paid for. And now one local blogger has learned that you can't just take someone elses creative property just because you know how to cut and paste.

Luckily the laws of the land, laws that brave Canadians have fought for over several great Wars, have evolved to protect us in the age of computers and while stealing content, pictures, words, stories and ideas from websites might be as easy as a Control-C that doesn't make it right. It is, actually, against the law just as any theft of intellectual property or material goods is.

Now the BromeLakeBlog has learned that posting content from another website without permission is pretty much considered theft and their web hosting company has had the offending material stripped from their servers in accordance with the laws. Bravo!

Just because we're a small little town doesn't make this the wild west! Laws are laws and no-one can walk into your house and walk off with the TV set can they...but maybe some people think that if those bagels at Flannigans are a little stale then putting them in their pocket and walking out without paying is ok?

Trademarks and copyrights exist to prevent ideas from being stolen, now, BromeLakeBlog.com has come face to face with the reality of blogging on the internet by having material from their blog removed by their hosting company because of the DMCA legal notice of copyright infringement filed by us.

Yep, the judge has rendered a fair and sound judgement and BLB has been PWNED! This is all thanks to the digital laws that protect the Internet. DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act and basically what it does is allow content creators an efficient means of ensuring that their original content is not used re-produced or diseminated without permission.

In this case BromeLakeBlog.com posted a 697 word article that had been written for and by DestinationKnowlton.com without consent. When our website asked for the article to be removed we were told that it wouldn't be removed. It wasn't until we went through the effort of filing legal papers with the web host that article was removed from their blog. Incredible that in a such a small town their could be such disrespect...and right in public for all to see! We felt as if it was like having to call the police on the neighbour who "borrowed" the lawn mower and then refuses to give it back!

The offending web site literally laughed in our face at our requests for a return of the stolen goods! The nerve! The laughing quickly turned to indignation as the hosting company followed up on the DMCA investigation we initiated and forced the removal of our content. The blog owner, Morris Croghan, called us communists comparing us to China and acting bewildered that we could claim copyright because of a minor speeling mistake! Denial...not a river in Egypt folks!!

Another victory for intellectual property owners! Just like any sort of property theft, online theft of content is illegal, but some people seem to think that just because it's on the Internet you can just take it. Thankfully the DMCA has proven a useful law to protect us from robbery by these sorts of people who would steal the bread off our family's plates!

"It wasn't the fact that they borrowed our article" said "Darling Dave", head creative writer at Destination Knowlton, "It was the fact that they weaseled around our polite requests at removal! They didn't leave a proper attribution and instead of using a summary and a link back to our article which may have rendered their usage "fair use" they chose a juvenile rebuttle of name-calling colored with ignorance and a self-righteous mocking of the rules. Rules that keep our society from entering chaos!"

"We've had our pictures and some of our articles re-printed, summarized and used in print and online as well as done interviews with CBC discussing items that have appeared on our blog. To have it stolen by a local noob blogger who has done nothing but smear our website along with other townsfolk really hurt, we're a small community and to see such viceral disregard and personal attacks is troubling. Property theft was the last straw. But now, seeing we've won our claim against this activity, we feel redeemed!"

Luckily for creative people in the townships, you are protected from digital thieves, you just need to stand up for your rights! Use the DMCA if you need to. Good always triumphs over evil, well, according to Batman at least!

But now...as the legal dust settles...let's hope now that thsee two parties who have agreed to disagree will continue to work on their blogs, serving their different audiences as best they can, with at least a spoonfull of respect and and not have things turn into something that the entire Eastern Townships is ashamed of...let's face it: isn't the future of our town, our province and our country bigger than any blog or the ego of any one person?

Hydro-Quebec & Windmill Promotors Will Destroy Townships With Their Sleaze

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:54:00 +0000

While Loto Quebec is trying to enslave the masses of impoverished and desperate citizens of Quebec by promoting addictive Internet Gambling and Poker in order to feed the Quebec governments insatiable need for tax money to pay for their lavish extravagances, Hydro-Quebec is trying to promote similarly dastardly evil by hoping to erect a huge wind farm in the Eastern Townships. The publicly owned power corporation, in the name of money, is willing to rape the provinces patrimony and destroy precious natural beauty for nothing more than stuffing a few pockets.

Think these windmills are a green project? Wake up and smell the herbal tea Martha; these are nothing but promoters who are riding on David Suzukis message and spinning it for their own personal profit! This is not about helping the people of the region or the people of Quebec, this is just about fulfilling some engineering wet-dream and moving money into foreign pockets.

The ad-men are in a full-tilt-boogie trying to paint wind farms in a positve light before we have a chance to realize this is a huge corporate sham designed to enrich the few inglorious basterds who shamelessly abuse the planet and hoarde their wealth!

ATTENTION!!!!
Please come to a PUBLIC MEETING and PRESENTATION to discuss the proposed WIND TURBINE project for the area of STANBRIDGE STATION, CANTON de BEDFORD and PIKE RIVER.

Date: Wednesday, 24 February, 2010
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: George Perron Community Center
14 Rue Philippe C�te, Bedford, Qc
(Near the railway tracks)

This is an issue that would affect not only the immediate communities but those in the surrounding areas of the Eastern Townships, even as far as Dunham and Frelighsburg or further. This proposed project is part of Hydro-Qu�bec Distribution's call for community based projects with a maximum of 25 MW wind energy production. The deadline for registered bidders to submit their projects is May 19, 2010.
Hope to see you there. Bring a neighbor and a friend. We would like to fill the hall to capacity with concerned citizens!!

For additional information go to http://www.forummissisquoi.com/ and http://www.windinvasion.com/

Corporate greed has infested the government and they are using their own taxpayers as human shields, throwing them in harms way just to ensure their survival! Cue the theme song from Donald Trumps The Apprentice..."Money, money money, money....MONEY!" They are blowing smoke up our asses trying to make us believe this is a good project...yep...it's good for them! Cough cough...excuse me while I clear your clouded corporate logic from my colon...

Windmill Projects : Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air

Looks like the MRC of Brome-Missisquoi are entertaining the idea of setting up a mammoth windfarm in Bedford in the Monteregie. These gargantuous monstrosities of Engineering self-glorification would all but annihilate the beauty of Bedfrod Canton, Stanbridge Station and Pike River. What sort of lunatic fringe would consider that building mammoth structures can be considered a Green technology? The only green involved is the obscene transfer of wealth from enginerring firms, politicians and off-shore interests�this ain�t about conservation this is about money!

Wind farms around the world are causing health issues, killing birds, bursting into flames, destroying the landscape all the while dressing up the political agenda of the government officials who funnel massive amounts of tax dollars to their mega-project bum-buddies pockets!!

These people do not have our interests at heart. They are bribing local municipalities with a little carrot on a stick payout of $60,000! Ohh boy! That is probably what one engineer from Teknika charged to cut and paste an engineering report that says windmills are going to be , in the words of tony the Tiger, �grrrrrreat!� for the economy and will help save the planet because it�s cheap free power!

Ummm, hello? Do these people take us for complete mental defectives?

Just listen to this marketing jargon from the Kruger Energy website, one of the "companies" involved in creating massive and irreversible enviromental destruction in our province:

"Kruger Energy is set to become a major player in the wind energy sector in Quebec and Canada.

In addition to having developed, built and commissioned a 101.2-MW wind farm in the municipality of Chatham-Kent (Port Alma), Ontario in 2008, Kruger Energy is currently developing of a 100-MW wind farm in Qu�bec�s Mont�r�gie region. Kruger Energy was also selected again by the Ontario government to build another 101.2-MW wind farm to be commissioned in 2011 in the Chatham-Kent area..

Wind energy is one of the cleanest energy sources available in North America. Unlike some conventional energy sources, wind energy is fully renewable and produces no emissions or hazardous waste.

This source of energy has the added benefit of creating direct and indirect jobs. In the long term, the development of wind farms will create an industry in the community, producing both jobs and income for the local economy.

Wind energy is safe and reliable, as well as economically, environmentally and socially viable."

The Kruger webpage on wind farms shows a child flying a kite in a field of wheat...there are no towers in site just an innocent child frolicking in a golden field! But let's get real "Freddy" Kruger! Your renewable vision will bring you the loot while the Monteregie gets pummeled with an eye-sore...it will be a little fart on your company timeline but will be a permanent pile of fecal matter festering in our backyard!

Their advertising demons have pictures of rusty-haired children blowing bubbles in to the sunshine of a summer lullaby like happy cherubs floating through heaven! Lord Jesus give us strength to fight against such offensive attacks on reason! This is a windfarm not a playpen full of cherubs! A noisy, stinking, dangerous, in-efficient pile of materials is what it is not a field full of kites and bubbles!
Hmmm...Kruger is the same wind pushing gang that had one of their projects shut down last year:

KRUGER ENERGY MUST TERMINATE THE BAS-SAINT-LAURENT WIND FARM PROJECT
Montr�al, Qu�bec, March 16, 2009
Kruger Energy today informed municipal authoritiesin Sainte-Luce, Sainte-Flavie and the La Mitis RCM of its decision to terminate the projectto establish the Bas-Saint-Laurent Wind Farm, which had been awarded by Hydro-Qu�bec Distribution on May 5, 2008.

The termination of the project had become inevitable due to a decision by the Municipality of Sainte-Luce, stipulated in draft By-law No. R-2008-10, to prohibit the installation of wind turbines on most of its territory, effectively blocking the installation of all twenty-seven (27)planned wind turbines.

Furthermore, the ongoing process to implement By-law No. R-2008-102 has made it
impossible for Kruger Energy to pursue negotiations with equipment suppliers.
For these reasons, Kruger Energy Bas-Saint-Laurent, Limited Partnership has terminated the development of the project and informed Hydro-Qu�bec of this decision.
-30-
INFORMATION:
Jean Majeau
Senior Vice President
Corporate Affairs and Communications
Kruger Inc.

Awww....so sad...they made all kinds of money in planning, got government money for studies, paid engineers and consultants and then the project gets cancelled because people woke up and smelled the coffee! Oh well...Kruger got their payoff...now they're moving into our little corner of paradise to start another round of shakedown...grants, corporate tax breaks, gifts and promises and a whole little happy gang will have their happy ending even if the project doesn't fly!

Hydro-Quebec puts out a call for tender...yep...just like the calls for tender in the construction world? Nice little arrangement that even Earl Jones would be envious of! How can such bold faced scamming be allowed to continue?

Have you seen these Kruger Energy people? They look like veritable thugs from a Francis Ford Coppola flick! In Ontario, when a family complained of environmental sickness associated with the constant noise of the new windfarm the Kruger folks said the case was closed...buh bye! People living around windfarms are like acceptable losses in a war...the Generals accept that some poor low ranking soldiers will be killed and maimed in battle but the Big G's will sleep well in their flannel snugglies! Kruger and their government friends have a purely mafia-esque scheme going and while some of you will be sick and have your homes lose value and your environment will be destroyed by huge towering steel structures but at least Hydro-Quebec will be selling more power to the USA and the direcors will be choking down vats of champagne with their Kruger chums down in their south Pacific tax-havens laughing how they screwed over the Quebec population!

We must stop the madness!! Look at these creations!! These are images that should strike fear into all of us!! This unfettered quest for size is a threat to the existance of humanity! Our lives are being endangered by the phallic pursuits of corporate pirates!!

These super-structure windmills are built just like engineers like thing to be: BIG! Who wouldn�t be impressed by such a big tall solid shaft? What a joke! Just like warlords like to parade their missiles the new Eco-Peddlers are trying to dwarf us under the concrete so we feel helpless and submissive�accepting that these monolithic are the new ICBM of the millennium where leaders show who has the biggest tower, who has the biggest wee-wee! Look at us! We have BIG ONES in our province!!!

These projects are presented by MARKETERS and not environmentalists. These projects are pushed on us by politicians who are being rewarded with promises of wealth and prestige. Engineers and their self-indulgent ideas of grandiose entitlement feel that if they can build it then it is worthy of being built but the facts are that if they build this wind farm in The Eastern Townships then it will be turning this little corner of paradise into something that will make the Alberta Tar Sands look like a UNESCO certified world heritage nature-park!!!

When these projects are done, the electricity goes to feed the war-state of the USA and the residents of the Bedford region will be left with huge pieces of junk towering over their heads like a guillotine! Have you ever heard one of these turbines in action? They literally scream in the wind with an aggressive screech. Isn�t it bad enough we are subjected to electro-magnetic fields of ever thickening proportions with cellular use satellite noise and other radioactivites now they will be adding a constant growling wail of mourning apocalypse into our ears!

These Hydro-Quebec people are like the Tobacco Industry trying to sell us the idea that a pack a day isn�t too bad for you! They all have hard-ons over the BILLIONS of dollars they can squeeze out of Ontario and the US by exporting power! Hardons I tell you! Even the ladies at Hydro Quebec and Kruger must have 'em! That�s how punch-drunk they are with the thought of bathing naked in money and living their dreams of personal perversion without regard for the lives and creatures of the area they want to destroy!!

People will start getting sick, property values will plummet, and this is only in the first few years. Then once the politicians who made the deal have retired to scuba dive in the south seas and the PROMOTERS and engineers have made their commissions and kick-backs the shit will really hit the fan. The wind farms will start to fall apart, crumbling and collapsing and being left to rot!

But then, rest assured poor idiotic residents of The Eastern Townships Wind Farm Zone, the Engineers will swoop out of their fiscal tax havens from behind their t-squares and come to the rescue. Just like the engineers who designed the Turcott Interchange in Montreal, which is now at risk of falling apart after only 30 years, is going to be redesigned by more engineers to be bigger and better! Great little make work projects these guys have going on!! Can�t we legislate against the breeding of engineers??

Engineers built the Riverview Causeway in New Brunswick back in the day and well, oops, we extincted a bunch of fish species and caused incredible eco-damage but we sure piled a lot of cement and rocks didn�t we mommy? Now the Riverview causeway is being taken down�the lights came on and people realized that the project was a mistake!

This wind farm project in Befford area in Quebec is a mistake�I will buy everyone reading this article lunch on April 20th, 2029 at the Tim Hortons in Knowlton (Lac-Brome) if the wind farm is still standing if it even gets built. These things are like a wedding�lots of money spent on planning and a big fancy dinner and dance and more money on honeymoon and it's all a big party at first but in the end the couple gets divorced after a few years because hubby boy isn�t happy just being a pro-golfer and she gives him a nine-iron to the chops! We're in the wedding planning stage and Hydro and Kruger are like wedding planners with a limitless credit card!

If anyone can say that these wind farms are good for you then they are lying to you and they deserve a spanking from their mama and should sit in the naughty chair for an hour!!

What the Quebec government strap-booted goons should do is allow citizens to use small scale wind turbines on their own property to create our own power and if we have surplus power let us sell it on the grid? Why do they need to control the grid? Who not let Joseph The Potato Farmer from Granby have a small 1.2 KW windmill outside of his fish pond and generate his own power and sell back what he doesn�t use? Ohhhh nooooo�that would mean that these MARKETERS, ENGINEERS and POLITICIANS couldn�t suck more money from taxpayers to make huge mega projects so they can prop up their egos! Dammnit why can�t I make my own power�it SHOULD be that you have to make your own power. We�re so fat and lazy as it is we just plug our appliances into our sockets and watch Olympic Speed Knitting! If Miss Princess Junior High Teenager had to peddle a stationary bike to match Much Music videos of Lady Gaga she would probably soon decide to do something else! This access to easy and cheap power is making us like sloths on a carb binge!

The strain relations between right minded intelligent thinking citizens is a direct polar opposite to the greedy money grubbing promoters of wind farms and the meetings for planning and discussion are sure to be heated as local residents try to avoid being hypnotized3ed by rhetoric and dazzled with trickery by articulate spinners of corporate truth who try to sell us the idea that this Quebec wind farm is going to be good for us.

It won�t be long before the Wiebo Ludwig's and Joe Stack�s of the world start coming to the surface and we see just how ugly things can get! Before it comes to that make yourself heard and tell the people in charge of making the decisions that they had better refuse this wind project or they will be signing the death sentence to the beautiful region of the Eastern Townships and effectively selling out our childrens childrens childrens futures for a few gold coins!

Bring a juicy pound of flesh!

Notable quotes

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The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.

� John 3:8

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It sounds like we have an international airport next door to us. Our health is being threatened. We�re about ready to abandon our property.

� Scott Shillingstad, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma

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If we knew what would happen, never would we have signed a contract that puts our friends and neighbors through this.

� Hal Graham, Cohocton, New York

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My family and my self's lives have been completely devastated and turned upside down by the erection of 27 giant wind monsters in every direction from our home by the Wind Capital Group and Tom Carnahan, as close as 1500 feet from our home. They surround us. They keep us from sleeping at night and drive us crazy by day, as I try to care for our World Class AQHA and APHA horses. They've ruined the equity in our farm that took us 15 hard years to create. They've ruined the marketability of our farm, not that we ever even considered selling, or moving. Now we have no choice. We just bought a house in town, and will be, regrettably, abandoning our precious home.

� Charlie Porter, King City, Missouri

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Wind energy will undoubtedly create noise, which increases stress, which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

� Julia Gohlke, Sharon Hrynkow, and Christopher Portier, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health

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The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls.

� Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1890

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Mike, we are a green energy company, but the green stands for money.

� Jeffrey Skilling, President, Enron

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Looking at the ridge lines, you�re looking at the same thing Ethan Allen and those people looked at. We've worked hard to keep billboards off the side of the roads. You can�t put up a billboard but you can put up a 400-foot tower? It doesn�t make sense.

� Michael Klopchin, Select Board Chairman, Clarendon, Vt.

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We must not crucify Penobscot Bay on a cross of wind.

� Ron Huber, Rockland, Me.

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Wind�s unpredictability means it truly has no generating capacity value, and its construction will not displace building any new coal or natural gas generating capacity. Grid reserve margins require wind-back up, and the inefficiency of quickly firing up a natural gas unit to meet erratic wind generation output means any emissions displacement is minimal. Wind is simply an additional capital cost which proves to be more than twice as expensive for the ratepayer.

� Tom Hewson, "Calculating Wind Power's Environmental Benefits", Power Engineering, July 2009

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When I first saw the so-out-of-place wind turbines and their Vegas-style strobe lights on the once quiet and majestic ridges of my eastern Oregon childhood home, I cried.

� Lynne Stone, Oregon

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Chi vuole la salvezza delle bellezze storico-paesaggistiche della Sicilia e di tutta l'Italia, non pu� che avversare l'eolico. [If you want to save the historic and scenic beauties of Sicily and all of Italy, you must oppose wind energy.]

� Vittorio Sgarbi, mayor of Salemi, Sicily, Sicilia Informazioni, Dec. 9, 2008

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Delle pale eoliche � la piaga finale del paesaggio italiano. [Wind towers are the final plague of the Italian countryside.]

� Oreste Rutigliano, Sicilia Informazioni, Dec. 9, 2008

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Franchement, quand je survole certains pays europ�ens [les �oliennes] ne donne pas envie. [Frankly, when I fly over a number of European countries, the turbines I see do not fill me with envy.]

� Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, Oct. 25, 2007

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European countries are far ahead of the United States in not only wind power, but in its unhappy consequences.

� Ed Hiserodt, "Green Fairy Tales", The New American, June 22, 2009

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Why isn�t as much time and effort spent educating and encouraging people to conserve rather than defacing our landscape? ... Long-term benefits like preserving the character of Vermont and energy conservation are more important than short-term solutions that create more problems than they solve.

� Jane FitzGerald, Milton, Vt., Burlington Free Press, May 15, 2009

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The current anger at the march of turbines and pylons across the hills of Britain is not from nimbys. Government money has lubricated most backyard owners to support wind power. It comes from those who appreciate the beauty of the countryside and who question the industrial spoliation of miles of open landscape for a pitiful net gain to climate change.

� Simon Jenkins, Guardian, July 16, 2009

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Hopelessly uneconomic on any substantial scale, since it requires a conventional power back-up for when the wind stops blowing, forests of wind turbines are rightly regarded in most countries as an environmental monstrosity.

� Nigel Lawson, Time, May 21, 2008

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The development of renewable energy resources will require a significant expansion of the grid, as well as a significant increase in needed operating reserves given the intermittent nature of wind and other resources.

� Terry Boston, president and CEO, PJM Interconnection

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Thirty gigawatts of wind maybe requires 25 GW of backup.

� Rupert Steele, regulation director, Scottish Power (Iberdrola), Reuters, Apr. 22, 2009

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[F]or every wind turbine brought online, a more stable backup power source must be found.

� Michael Milstein, Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Public Broadcasting, June 11, 2009

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They're just a symbol for politicians who want to be seen to be green.

� Ann West, Country Guardian, U.K.

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Green campaigners love wind turbines, but the permanent magnets [in] a 3-megawatt turbine contain some two tons of rare earth.

� Lindsey Hilsum, Independent Television News, PBS News Hour, Dec. 14, 2009

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Building giant wind turbines, however attention-getting or distracting, does not make the other problems go away.

� Rosa Goldman

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Wind salesmen mimic the memes of environmentalism to sell their industry, often in ways so deceptive or contrary as to mock the very movement they claim to promote. Current policy of unlimited consents for wind power stations is tragically flawed, will never be the answer to climate change issues, cannot fulfill the national energy supply requirements expected of it, and inflicts an extensive and unjustifiable environmental cost.

� Fergus Ferguson

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I am skeptical about the current craze for windmills. They produce very little useful energy and are an ungodly abomination on the landscape. How can groups that used to gag at clearing a path for a transmission line now accept adorning mountaintops all over the east coast with 45-story structures? As the Nature Conservancy says, it's "Energy Sprawl".

� William Tucker

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Don't get the idea that I've turned green. My business is making money, and I think this is going to make a lot of money.

� T. Boone Pickens, The Guardian (U.K.), Apr. 14, 2008

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Before declaring itself bankrupt on 15 September, US investment bank Lehman Brothers was one of several major firms that invested in wind projects in exchange for the tax credit, which they used to reduce their federal tax bill."

� Nature, October 1, 2008

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Cumulative impacts are a growing concern with more numerous documentation of wind impacts on birds, bats and their habitats.

� Albert Manville, Senior Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April 3, 2008, e-mail

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The ecological footprint is large relative to the meager environmental benefits.

� R. Dwayne Elmore, Oklahoma Chapter, The Wildlife Society, and others, letter to Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Jan. 3, 2008

Brome Lake Blog Embarrasses Town

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:18:00 +0000

While the Olympics are bringing out the best in Canadians the Brome Lake Blog is continuing to bring out the worst in people, especially the owner, Morris "Don't call me Maurice" Coggles.

Residents of The Town of Brome Lake are wearing paper bags on their heads as Brome Lake Blog continues to be a mysogynistic ranting forum that paints the town on the Internet as a haven for fools and right-wing self-serving, fawning parasites!

The Blog, owned by Morris "Maurice" Croghan, is in no way a representation of the fine folks living in Brome Lake but instead is a nasty collection of worthless posts that are designed to poke at people and inscite responses instead of actually doing anything positive.

Townsfolk�s are at their wits end but unfortunately there is no laws against utter stupidity otherwise Croggles would be doing life for first-degree retardeness!

Morris Croghan, or Maurice as we say here in bon Quebecois, or is it Morris like John Charest is a convenient twist spelling in order to hide his Quebecois heritage? Momo seems to be like many old men who take up blogs late in life after the spark of intelligence and sensibility has long been snuffed out due to cerebral shrinkage: he fails to see that his maniacal posts actually cause people to feel sorry for him!

Sir: You live in Quebec, complain about everything and your name is Maurice....that makes you a 100% pur laine Qu�b�cois!! Like it or not, protest as you do, you are what you most hate, monsieur.

Maurice seems to have a constant axe to grind with the Brome Lake Chamber of Commerce and it's not clear why as Mr Croghan doesn't seem to be any sort of entrepreneur or business owner who pays taxes in Brome Lake or does he, so his constant anger towards the people trying to help Brome Lake doesn't make sense. Does Croggles have any bright ideas for helping local business? Does he have any idea about running a real business that gives back to the community and supports families or is his agenda one of trying to circumvent protocol for self-profit?

His attitude is typical of those whose megalomania creates a delusional belief of self-entitlement.

He bashes the French language and glorifies his English roots but this demonstrates a keen self-loathing as the name Maurice is as French as Poutine and St Jean Babtiste under all his God Save The Queen bravado and crotch mold!

He hates taxes, hates the politicians, hates the Francos, hates The Anglos, hates the business owners, hates the tourists, he hates hates hates...well except for the rose colored stories of when he, as a boy in 1950, used to run naked through the fields of Foster singing English war songs and bashing bird nests with sticks.

It seems like this one-dimensional childish character of base simplicity has grown into an elderly one-dimensional character of base simplicity but the age seems to have worn down any glimmer of reason, wit and intelligence to about a four point font. His remarks and observations stand-out on his blog with the same class and sophistication as a hair-matted, pee-stained la-z-boy in the front yard of a hillbilly trailer park.

Hey Maurice, why don't you try starting a real tax-paying business in Brome Lake instead of bashing others? When people complain about how their tax dollars are being used it is one thing but if they are not even part of the system and just sit on a festering soap box of hatred and ignorance then they just sound foolish. Baiting people with blog posts and name calling and fueling misinformation and hatred is the hallmark of a small and unhealthy mind.

One thing residents of Brome Lake can be thankful for is that the Maurice Croghans of the world are slowly but surely disappearing under the watchful eye of a benevolent lord. It was fitting that when Conan O'Brien did his last Late Night show he spoke emotionally to the audience and said the one thing he despised most is what Morris Croghan represents: cynicism.

Times have changed old man.

Back when the Brome Lake Blog started it appeared that Brome Lake had a new forum for residents and even DestinationKnowlton.com announced the coming Blog with fanfare, but it soon turned to disappointment as the Blog slowly revealed itself to be a inbred forum run by a single dictator who wished to force views down people�s throats: let's look back...

Dateline Brome Lake (2009) :Brome Lake has a new forum for residents. The Brome Lake Blog was started to allow citizens to express feelings on issues and discuss concerns about politics and life in Brome Lake.

Still in it's infancy, the blog isn't organized yet into categories and it's basically a free for all guestbook where people just toss their two cents into the ring...but some visitors are finding that if you don't agree with the agenda of the blog then you are told to just plain shut-up! Brome Lake Blog is available at bromelakeblog.com/

Started by resident Morris Croghan the new blog "is dedicated, but not limited to, relevant comments on the politics, commerce and general happenings in and around the Town of Brome Lake, Quebec, Canada. Comments must be in English and all will be subject to scrutiny before being published. Profanity, slander, sexist, or racist, comments will of course be barred.

We are looking for honestly held opinions ( that�s allowed in a free country ) be they politically correct or not." Hmmm...sounds like a nice concept but once inside people are finding that what that really translates into is something quite different. People are being insulted and there is no sense of humor in sight! If someone posts an idea the post is picked apart like a prairie dog by vultures. While it purports to be a forum for residents it seems that only three residents, the site directors, are posting their agenda which is hard to decipher through the rudeness.

Oh well, it at least shows that most people in Brome Lake have better things to do than waste their time on a local blog that seems to be doing nothing more than uniting the bozos! The blog has been operating for several weeks now and more public interest is growing as the 2009 Brome Lake Election approaches.

There are more and more folks leaving comments and asking questions and surely there are more and more visitors who come to see the latest issues and of perhaps to check out the comments to provide a little comedy relief! So far there has been little interesting political commentary and the appearances by the candidates in the Brome Lake Elections are as rare as a sighting of a groundhog on a wet February!

The blog is not always easy to navigate and there appears to be some name calling and trolling where answers and comments are laced with aggressive intolerance. If a point is made it is usually belittled if it tends to go against the blog owners personal viewpoints...of course since the Brome Lake Blog is a personal creation without any connection to the town it will likely remain a place for people to either beat the same drum or to be told to shut up and stop being stupid!

If a blog solicits honestly held opinions then it should be tolerant to all opinions but there already appears to be some straying from issues solely focused on Brome Lake as Federal Government bill's regarding benefits to new Canadians seems to be a topic of discussion as well

"I don�t like bigots. I don�t like liars. I don�t like agenda driven Anglophobes. I don�t like meaningless political speak. I don�t like dirty tap water. I don�t like what my towns become. I don�t like phony �Baie St Paul� advocates. I don�t like Anglo panderers. I don�t like decrepit, defunct Anglo Foundations." says one post by the blog manager.

Another post: "Wisdom Era Councilors at it Again ! I see ha! ha! that George Bristol ha! ha!, Larry �No show� Fairholm ha! ha! ha! and Alain ha! ha! ha! �the linguist� Gautier are running again ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!Come on fellows, give us taxpayers a break, surely you jest ? The new administration will have plenty of toxic left over Wisdom deadwood to contend with as it is, in Carke, Bourret.

George I�m sure would spend more time in West Brome if he could, but those terrible WB roads, almost impassable ! ( except to Bel Canto events). Larry �no show� Fairholm, seldom attends meetings, but is never absent on payday. Could be he is usually trapped on the other side of the lake while the provincial roads department goes about it�s never ending task of changing all the bridges and diverting all the ditches into Brome Lake.As to Mr Gauthier, Alain once showed some glimmer of commitment to doing the right thing (bilingual resolution 2008-10-355) but in the end folded and morphed into a mouthpiece for the Wisdom, Carke, Bourret team. Went down with the ship Alain ? Time for all to say goodbye. "

And another: "...answer my questions, but remember no spinning and no political speak, just good solid answers. This is a blog, not a polite wine and cheese lying contest."

It's not clear how people will react to such comments and posts but it would be un-likely that any political candidates would show up on the blog with all the name calling and quite probable that the blog could end up being nothing more than a vent for a few malcontents who want to sling mud on anything that moves! Let's face it if someone says "I find your Blog, and in particular, your comments, irrelevant, malicious and uninformed" and then they are called "stupid" then there doesn't appear to much headway made towards constructivity.

Indeed the Blog owner is posting hatred and ignorance and name-calling and finger wagging all the while seeming to say that the problem with Brome Lake is that 50years have passed buy and progress has happened. Progress, good and bad, happens to every town so for the Brome Lake Blog owner to pine for lost youth is rather sad.

Word around the water cooler is that commenting on the blog is pointless and it is all a waste of time and just a platform for hatred and ignorance as well as pointless name calling and mud raking.

Unfortunately the people who have started this project seem unable to create and simply wish to destroy with attacks on people in the Town. Dissing this website is as pathetic as it gets! In the little world where the Brome Lake Blogger leaders dwell there is a population of knuckle draggers who seem to live in some delusional world of malicious self-importance and self-righteousness.

No-one is allowed to have a screen name, posts are deleted if they don't fit the tastes of this one man show. The owner of the blog seems to find the time to insult the Destination Knowlton website for some reason...see what happens when you try and give someone a voice? I guess we learned our lesson on that one!

Visit the BromeLakeBlog and decide for yourself if it is a representation of the real viewpoints of Brome Lake or if it is a vocal minority of trolling bullies exposing their true colors, bigotry with a mix of ignorance, hatred and cranky old fartinessness: www.bromelakeblog

Knowlton, Quebec: December Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:24:00 +0000

Come celebrate with Knowlton the arrival of the Holiday season at the opening ceremony of the Festival of lights to be held this Saturday, November 28, at 6 p.m. at Coldbrook Park.

A special thank you to the volunteers:Marie-Jos� Duchesneau for the many hours "tinkering" with the new Festival of lights website ;Vilnis Epners for coordinating the refection of the nutcrackers;Claude & Janet Boulianne as well as our anonymous artist for the construction and decoration of the magnificent mailbox;Camlen's employee for helping out with the lights installation and the nutcrackers delivery;Jacques Lecours for the use of his garage;
as well as Kevin Barnes, Danielle Bombardier, Francine Brassard and Lynn Matthews for all their time given out freely to help realised this festival.

With the short days of November slowly bringing us towards the snows of December it's a good time to look at all of the events upcoming in December in the Knowlton area. So many visitors come to Knowlton during the holidays for the Festival of Lights, for the skating beside the Mill Pond, for the wonderful shopping in the boutiques of Knowlton and to experience the Victorian Christmas that Knowlton is famous for.

The village is nice in quiet once the snow starts to settle but there are plenty of things to do and see throughout the month of December both before and after Christmas.

December Highlights

Bingo
Every Sunday
Every sunday From 7 pm at Odd Fellows Hall, 476 Knowlton Rd. Information: (450)243-6778

Friday night social club
Fridays from October to May
From 8 pm at Odd Fellows Hall, 476 Knowlton Rd. Darts, cribbage, 500, refreshments ... $2 entrance fee. Welcome everyone! (450)243-6778

Festival of Lights
Until January 1st
Knowlton will sparkle under thousands of twinkling LED lights. Stay a while in the perfect after-ski region and enjoy a wonderful meal while savouring a glass of regional wine in one of our many restaurants. 1-877-242-2870, e-mail
�No�l dans nos campagnes�

Until January 4
Come and find out about activities and festivities offered by the municipalities and the existing animation in our art galleries and artists and artisans� studios.

Skating Rink in Coldbrook Park in Knowlton
Weather permitting
Come rediscover the joy of skating under a winter sky. 1-877-242-2870, e-mail

Santa Claus Parade
December 5
In the streets of Knowlton (Brome Lake) at 1 pm. Meet Santa after the parade. Presented by the Lion's Club. (450) 242-2491

The Brome Lake Santa Clause Parade

Duck don
December 5 & 6
For each country style duck pie sold during this period, $2 will be given to the Knowlton Lions Club for their Christmas baskets. Brome Lake Ducks, 40 Center St., 450 242-3825

December 5th to Jan 4th
Knowlton Gallery Presents "The Art of Giving"
49 Victoria in Knowlton
The Knowlton Gallery offers high quality contemporary art and fine craft by established and emerging artists.
Come and see the remarkable Santas by Judy Mullins.

Pot-pourri choir in concert
December 6
At 3 pm. at Knowlton St-Paul�s Anglican Church. $10 450 263-5068

Club Optimist Christmas Brunch
December 6

From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Salle de la Bonne Humeur, 7 Mill Rd. in Bondville. Santa Claus will come visit and the children will receive a gift. For children 10 years old and younger with and adult, brunch is free. 11 to 16 $5, adults $8. Welcome all! 450 243-0325

Christmas reception and musical presentation
December 7
R�ception Canadian Club of the Yamaska Valley. Auberge West-Brome, 128 route 139. 450243-6524 joann.oberg@sympatico.ca

Midnight Madness
December 12
Come do your Christmas shopping in our stores which stay open until midnight for the occasion. Animation and contest. Details to come. Caroling in the streets from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Horse sleigh from 8 to 11 p.m. Firepits from 7 to 11 p.m. Gift wrapping service from 7 to 10 p.m.

Knowlton Harmony Band concert
December 12
At Knowlton United Church. Details to come.

December Ice When the snow storms have passed and the sun peeks
out from over The Glen we can sometimes be treated to icicles forming on the fragile
fingers of the naked hedges along the fences and fields of Lac Brome. Delicate
patterns are created turning the frozen branches into what appears to be glistening
angel wings draped over the trees.

More Photos & Pictures

Christmas carol service
December 12
Seasoned with readings, choir, chorals and singing at 3 p.m. at the Creek United Church. 450 243-6746

Bake sale
December 12
From 10 a.m. at the B.C.H.S. 130 Lakeside Rd. 450 243-6782

The world�s most beautiful voices
December 18

The Music Lovers' Club presents opera on the giant screen at the Centre Lac-Brome. Enjoy the opera in surround sound, and deepen your appreciation of the art through stories and commentary. All welcome! Starts at 6:30 pm. 3$ (450) 242-2020

Snow Ball
December 19

At 7 p.m. Kick up your heels and dine and dance at the beautiful "Snow Ball". Delicious dinner catered by Virgo, music by the popular band "Jab Jab". Tickets $ 150 per person (tax receipt for $80.) Proceeds to Theatre Lac Brome. At Centre Lac-Brome, 270 Victoria St. 450-242-1395.

Holiday dinner-dance
December 19

Enjoy the stylish renderings of pianist Yaakov Ludmer while dining, then dance the night away with a D.J. playing the best in music to keep your feet flying. From 6 p.m. Restaurant Le Relais, 286 Knowlton Rd. Reservations: 450-242-2232.

Polar Express / Bor�al Express
December 23
French movie at 10 a.m. and English movie at 2 p.m. At Centre Lac-Brome, 270 Victoria. Only $2 per person! Popcorn or juice $1. 450242-2020

Christmas lunch
December 23
At 11:30 a.m. Menu: glass of wine, soup, meat pie, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, beets, homemade ketchup, dessert and tea or coffee. $20 taxes and service included. Door prizes and cozy ambiance! Tickets on sale at the restaurant. Welcome all! Resto O'sunrize, 1076 Knowlton Rd. in West-Brome, 450 263-5063

Christmas dinner
December 24
At 5 p.m. Menu: glass of wine, soup, meat pie, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, beets, homemade ketchup, dessert and tea or coffee. $20 taxes and service included. Door prizes and cozy ambiance! Tickets on sale at the restaurant. Welcome all! Resto O'sunrize, 1076 Knowlton Rd. in West-Brome, 450 263-5063

Festival of lights fireworks display
December 29
The winter sky over our snow covered village will explode with a spectacular fireworks display in Coldbrook Park at 6 pm. Come to Knowlton and experience the magic! In case of inclement weather, the event will be postponed to the following day. 1-877-242-2870, e-mail

As part of the month long Festival of Lights the village is planning their second annual winter fireworks display. The show is simply spectacular as the fireworks light up the village sky and sparkle over the ColdBrook Park. Last year's fireworks were a huge success and the streets were full of people who braved the chilly temperatures to see the show. It is rare to see fireworks so close to the village and it is really a fantastic show as the fireworks are set to music. Bring a chair and a thermos of eggnog!See Previous Winter Fireworks

Call For Submissions Arts 2011 Program

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:43:00 +0000

Ok you talented folk...time to come out the closet and show the world your creative side! Anyone who has visited a museum of modern art has probably said to themselves: "Heck I could do better than that!" well, now is your chance to prove it by releasing your inner Artist and showing your works at the pre-eminent gallery in Sutton, Quebec.

The painting at left is an acrylic on canvas entitled: "Beyond The Aztek Bubbles" by local amatuer artist Davil Mulligan. "The starburst twilight swirls through the peyote prayers of Twyla Arness and her co-pilot Glatia Von Wronn. Is this a daring escape or simply a reckless adventure that could lead to wealth, scarring and infamy? I chose bright twisting colors to challenge the mundane explanations that exist in a covertible with the top down and low cut dresses taking no prisoners! Indeed a metaphor for the rebels who abhor the sedentary population that would have them wait in traffic tie ups to commute to the office...Twyla and Glatia have chosen to live life like fingernails down a spinal blackboard!" Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 42 inches UN-FRAMED $1400 CAD

Well said Davil! You have potential to be a professionally funded artist with talk like that but the Sutton Gallery is looking for something a bit more substantial for their upcoming season!! The Sutton Gallery has a renowned reputation as one of the premier galleries in the area for new and established artists to show cutting edge art. They are now looking for artists for the new year of expositions and shows.

Well, actually you will need to be a professional artist to be considered (that counts you out Davil) so if you are not yet a professional artist you should think of visiting a few art galleries to get some pointers on what is hot in the art world...maybe listen to the CBC more often where you will likely learn alot from other professional artists including ways to get on board the Canada Council train of grants and bursaries and the best methods at making people believe that a mural of grey guache and greasy wax paper is a thing of subtle beauty and meaning!!

_____________________________________________________

Arts Sutton is calling for artist submissions for the 2010 season!
They invite artists and curators to submit proposals!

Founded in 1980, Arts Sutton is an arts organization dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary visual art. To that end, Arts Sutton hosts a regular program of exhibitions and organizes educational and cultural mediation activities to help familiarize the community with contemporary art.

Arts Sutton shows work by professional artists who are actively engaged in their practice, no matter which techniques they work with. The artists are committed to a making art and defend aesthetic approaches that are both challenging and innovative. Projects are selected by an independent committee of five (5) people from the visual arts.

SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MARCH 1, 2010

The submission must include:

1.A project description (max. 250 words)

2.An artist�s statement (max. 500 words)

3.A current r�sum� (max. 3 pages)

4.15 to 20 digital JPEG images in RGB colour mode on a CD and/or videos (DVD) and/or USB key representative of recent work. All documents must be clearly identified and accompanied by a descriptive list (title, medium, dimensions and creation date). Please only submit formats that are compatible with IBM PCs. Slides, other media or other media formats are not accepted.

5.Press kit, if any (max. 3 articles)

6.$20 administration fee*

7.If you wish your submission to be returned to you, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage. Submissions that have not been selected or claimed will be destroyed at the end of June 2010.

Submissions that are incomplete or are received after the deadline will not be considered.

The Gallery does not accept submissions made by fax or email.

Note that pages over the specified number will be excluded from the submission. Arts Sutton will notify the artists selected of the committee�s decision by letter in June 2010.

Submissions should be sent to:

Arts Sutton Gallery
7 Academy
Sutton QC
J0E 2K0

____________________________________

Another Painting by Davil Mulligan. When it's over it's really got to be over! You can beg forgiveness and crawl on your hands and knees regretting every gruesome detail of the sham you call a life but when you bring this Green Eyed Girl into the equation you had better learn how to subtract...as in subtract your head from your shoulders! I wanted to emphasize the film noire essence of this scene by creating a yellowing orange psycho gyroscope effect as our tight pyjamad heroine says goodbye to the person who dared do her wrong!"

Acrylic On Canvas 40 x 46 inches
FRAMED $2850 CAD

Davil Mulligan on the artistic process: "I'm not into painting because it provides me an outlet for the twisted blossom filled dreams dancing to the angelic harp music in my head...no way!...I dig painting cuz' it allows me sit in my third floor studio watching re-runs of The Twilight Zone while I load my nervous sytem with voodoo beverages and splash wild colors all over a canvas, the floor, and my clothes... and I have a valid excuse for not answering the phone!

Plus...I can stroll about with ripped, torn, stinky, filth-encrusted, paint stained clothing with complete immunity (even if I haven't touched a brush in months) because people assume that I'm one of those pretentious a**holes who like to walk about making sure everyone knows that they are painters! I don't actually like painting....my shrink makes me do it!"

Stay tuned for an upcoming interview and exposition of paintings by Townships Artist A Go-Go Davil Mulligan. Glad to see the arts community is thriving in the Eastern Townships!

Woolrich Clothing : Brome Lake Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:56:00 +0000

Woolrich Knowlton is world renowned for presenting sales on discounted Woolrich clothing. Woolrich clothing is for the active, outdoor lifestyle, arctic parkas, jackets, shirts, shorts, vests at a discount. Residents of Brome Lake have always been excited about the big sales happening in the Oddfellows Hall across from the Depanneur Rouge.

This is your chance to grab some plaid and to buy the Woolrich brand at a discount price! Get yourself looking good this year!

Come visit our Knowlton Store for great gift ideas to keep you and yours warm and cozy ths season: blankets, fleece, p.j.s, our famous flannel shirts, wonderful woolen sweaters, and stylish coats, and accessories to add to the mix. We are open everyday from 10 am - 6 pm.

Do you have something special you would like Santa Woolrich to bring you? Sign up for our "Santa's Hint List", and help your loved ones out with their gift list.

Join us for Knowlton's Midnight Madness Saturday, December 12th from 5 pm to 12 pm: Storewide specials, Wonderful surprises, Music, Munchies and more! Come sing along with Mrs. Claus!

Venez nous voir au magasin � Knowlton, nous avons plein d'id�es cadeaux pour vous tenir au chaud cet hiver...couvertures, pyjamas, polars, chemises en flanelles, chandails en laine, manteaux styl�s et accessoires, etc Nous sommes ouverts � tous les jours de 10 hrs � 18 hrs.

Avez-vous fait votre liste de souhaits Woolrich? Incrivez les articles que vous aimeriez recevoir sur la liste du P�re No�l.

Joignez-vous � nous le samedi 12 d�cembre pour La Folie de Minuit de 17hrs � miniut. Nous aurons des sp�ciaux partout dans le magasin, des surprises, de la musique et des g�teries. Allez, venez chanter avec la M�re No�l!

Artist Farruggello Exhibit in Knowlton

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Sunday December 9th you'll have the chance to see new paintings by Farruggello in the recently opened Bed and Breakfast on Victoria Street, "Gite du jour au Lendemain". Take a moment to introduce yourself to the artist as well as the home that has been part of Knowlton's history since the 1800's.

About the Artist : Farruggello
Originally from Nice, France, Farruggello initially entered the art world by working in several framing studios. In his early twenties he opened his own gallery, which he ran for 3 years. In addition, for several years he continued to organize expositions for various studios and galleries in Nice.

However, it is in Quebec, in 1989, that he began his work as an artist. There, he participated in several live-model workshops and carried out his initial studies of perspective inspired by architectural structures and urban environments which he enjoyed deconstructing. His present work still draws from those early experiences.

His first acrylic paintings were composed with masses of color, to which he progressively added more perspective.

In 1994, he began a collage series, cheerfully blending paint with urban d�cor elements that he photographed. Staircases, facades, doors, fire escapes, railways, lampposts, rope lines, etc., are part of the many cultural references that he fused together.

In 1995, he presents Fa�ade, his first exposition in Montreal. This initiated a long series of urban compositions where he mixed abstraction with realistic elements, a distinguishing feature of his style even today.

The colors are vibrant, the paintings are juxtaposed, and the dynamic suggestions are indeed audacious signifying an accrued mastery of a medium and a more radical aesthetic. Read more on the official website : http://www.farruggello.com/farruggello_e.html

About The Knowlton Bed & Breakfast : "Gite du jour au Lendemain" Originally known to many in the early 1900's as The Foster Farm, the house on Victoria Street is well known in Knowlton. It is said to have been the house with the first inground swimming pool of the region! The lovely Victorian Home and surrounding barn have always been a charming decoration on the street. The home was occupied by the McKeen family for several decades, Mrs. Francis McKeen has a street named after her in Knowlton and they McKeens had always kept the property and buildings looking sharp and tidy with fresh white paint!

I actually have a soft spot for this house because I lived in the home for the last 5 years of the McKeen ownership, renting the small house attached to the main home that used to be the farm managers house. The home and property have always represented the Victorian spirit and it is great to see the new owners of the home have turned it into a bed and breakfast to share this unique part of Knowlton's history!

There are three bedrooms available. The house is at a walking distance from the marina (15 minutes), from the village (20 minutes) and from the beach (30 minutes). There is an inground pool and the Bike Path is right off the main driveway. Lovely old trees tower overhead and flowers bloom in the lush greenery on the large 1.37 acre property.

Visit the official website : http://www.gitedujouraulendemain.com/

Richard Wisdom still in Power? "Yes" says Town Website!

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:11:00 +0000

According to the Offcial Website of The Town that is...even three weeks after the municipal elections the Brome Lake Website still shows the old councillors and mayor listed as being in power. Not only is the website out of date and being neglected but it makes us wonder if anyone in Brome Lake even gives a hoot!

Unbelievable! The Town of Brome Lake hired some bozos years ago to do an official website and it has turned into a real joke...while Bromont is calling itself "Une Ville Branch�" Knowlton should be calling itself the "Ville debranch�".

The Official Town website still lists all the old council members and the old mayor on the website! Yep...according to the Offical Town of Brome Lake website the Mayor is none other than Richard Wisdom! Does anyone at city hall know how to change the website or is the webdesigner some cyberbozo who overcharged for some complicated software that is undecipherable. Heck if Morris Croghan can start a blog then someone at City Hall should be able to figure out their own website!

This shows that the taxpayers got royally screwed by the website design team that somehow got the contract from the Town. They walked away with a cool 25 thousand dollars and left the taxpayers holding the bag! Aren�t there plenty of local webdesigners who could have done a better job...oy heay...the council never went to Tender on the website...just rubber stamped their buddy's application!

The website is downright nasty with overlapping text, poor design, blank pages! On top of that it was designed by some firm not even in Brome Lake! Why oh why does The Town hand out these juicy contracts to outsiders when Brome Lake has a multitude of talented and capable people who would be happy to keep an up to date website operating for the residents of Brome Lake. Heck even this website is more up to date!!

As it is the ramshackle TBL website is a poor reflection on the town as it seems to show only stagnation...in 2010 there is no excuse to have such a shoddy website! Especially since it cost over $25,000!!!

To see the website visit http://ville.lac-brome.qc.ca/home.php?WS=1 but be warned...it is hard to look at!

ELAN Residency Project

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:59:00 +0000

The English-Language Arts Network is pleased to announce a two-phase residency project designed to build links between artistic communities in the Eastern Townships and Montreal.
The first phase of the ELAN Residency Project is currently under way: Montreal-based artist, Katie Jung, is busy working in her studio in Knowlton. She is making connections with local artists, and invites the public to drop by and visit her in her studio at 8 rue Maple, loft #10.For the residency, Katie is creating weavings on a bead-loom that she built herself. Katie�s work is a contemporary take on traditional practices.

Her weavings integrate other aspects of her practice including photography, drawing, collage and craft. She began by weaving photographs using a digital Jaquard loom, and is now integrating photographs into her weavings using an inventive, low-tech approach. The imagery is playful, but also more complex than it may first appear. Katie states �Weaving is a medium loaded with connotation. For centuries it has been inextricably associated with gender politics. I use textile & craft based media in a 3rd wave feminist context as I seek to sabotage transgressive norms by using visual representation and the momentum of the craft movement as tools of social and political resistance."

An Artists� Talk by Katie Jung will be held at Bishops University Knowlton Campus (99 Knowlton Road) at 12:00 on Friday November 20th. Contact Louise Jamet for more information at ljamet@ubishops.ca

A one-day exhibition of Katie Jung�s work will be held at Galerie Knowlton (49 Victoria Knowlton, Lac-Brome) from 3-5pm on Saturday, November 21st . Contact Francoise Desjardins for more information at (450) 242-1666 or francoise@galerieknowlton.com

Call for submissions for Phase Two:
ELAN is currently accepting applications for the second phase of the project, which will bring an artist from the Townships to Montreal. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts, ELAN will provide an artist from the Eastern Townships with accommodation, working space, and a stipend for living expenses during a four-week residency in Montreal. The resident artist will be invited to give either a workshop or a public talk about his/her artistic practice. The residency will conclude with an exhibition or open studio.

The deadline for submissions is January 29th, 2010. The jury will announce the artist-in-residence by February 15th, 2010. The residency will begin on April 1st, 2010. Applications are open to ELAN members based in the Townships and working in any visual arts media. Those who are not members but are interested in this project are encouraged to join this vibrant network.

Visit http://www.quebec-elan.org/ for more information and to download an application form, or email admin@quebec-elan.org

About ELAN: The English-Language Arts Network is a non-profit organization devoted to helping Quebec's English-language artists make connections with one another, with their francophone colleagues and with their audiences in Quebec, Canada and internationally.

Canadian Children's Book Week in Knowlton

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +0000

TD Canadian Children's Book Week is the single most important national event celebrating Canadian children's books and the importance of reading. Every November, close to 35,000 children, teens and adults participate in activities held in every province and territory across the country. Hundreds of schools, public libraries, bookstores and community centres host events as part of this major literary festival.

On November 20 as part of TD Canadian Children's Book Week, author Charis Cotter will present "A World full of Ghosts" an animated adventure through ghostly traditions from around the world. And we can't tell ghost stories without serving s'mores. Hosted by Brome Lake Books 264 E Knowlton Road in Knowlton. The fun begins at 6 p.m. For information please call 450-242-2242. This is a free event and everyone is welcome!

Event: Childrens author event
Date: Friday November 20th at 6 p.m.
Location: Brome Lake Books 264 E Knowlton Road
Cost: Free
Contact: Danny McAuley 450-242-2242

Meet Charis Cotter
Biography:
When Charis was a child growing up in downtown Toronto, she wanted to work in a library because she thought that would be a job where she could sit around reading books all day. The Parliament Street library was her favourite place, not only because of all the wonderful books, but because the librarian organized plays for the local children to act in. Charis loved acting almost as much as reading, and soon was writing her own plays and producing them at camp and at school.

After university, where she studied English (and read a lot more books), Charis trained as an actor in Toronto and England. Her favourite role was playing a murderer on a transcontinental mystery train with Dick Francis. To earn a living in between acting jobs, Charis worked in a variety of places including a bookstore, a film company, a vegetarian restaurant, a flea market and a kindergarten. In her most ladylike job she wrote invitations by hand for the Ontario Lieutenant Governor�s office.

When Charis had her daughter, Zoe, she changed careers and started doing freelance editing and writing. This gave her the opportunity to read lots more books on fascinating subjects: astronomy, canoes, gardening, cooking, human evolution and Toronto�s history. She soon found herself writing about history and she got hooked on the past. She wrote a book about Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s, illustrated with photographs from that time. Toronto Between the Wars: Life in the City 1919�1939 won the Heritage Toronto Award of Excellence in 2005.

Charis and Zoe both love reading about kings and queens, and that�s how Charis came up with the idea for Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs. It tells the stories of five young kings and queens by blending history, biography and fiction. She followed that with another book about exceptional children: Wonder Kids: The Remarkable Lives of Nine Child Prodigies, which was published in 2008. It includes the stories of child prodigies through history, from Phillis Wheatley, poet and slave (1753-1784) to Terry Tao, (1975- ), who started taking university math when he was nine.

Charis has written one more book about unusual children which will be released in fall 2009: Born to Write: The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors. This book explores the childhoods of favourite children�s authors like C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery and Philip Pullman, showing how their early experiences influenced their writing.

A World Full of Ghosts, with zany illustrations by Quebec artist Marc Mongeau, appeared in bookstores in spring, 2009. This spooky romp takes the reader on an international ghost tour, recounting the stories of 25 multicultural phantoms, interspersed with �true ghost stories� collected by the author.

With Kids Who Rule, Charis began a series of lively, entertaining school presentations based on her books. Using her acting background, she has created a character complete with costume and accent to introduce each book: Queen Elizabeth II for Kids Who Rule, 300-year-old child prodigy Maria Agnesi for Wonder Kids, the Silky ghost for A World Full of Ghosts. She involves the kids in games and interactive activities. Her presentations are so unusual and engaging that she has become a hot ticket in schools and libraries from Newfoundland to Ontario. The Forest of Reading featured her as Queen Elizabeth II in a documentary made at Harbourfront during the 2008 Festival of the Trees.

Charis divides her time between Toronto and a small cottage in Newfoundland.

Books by Charis Cotter

For more information on Charis Cotter and TD Canadian Children's Book Week check out: http://www.bookweek.ca/authors/charis-cotter or chariscotter.com

Remembrance Day in Brome Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:13:00 +0000

At 11 o'clock on November 11th we will stop to remember the brave Canadian soldiers of the past and say prayers for the present-day and future soldiers who sacrifice so much so that we may enjoy freedom. Please show your support by attending the Knowlton Remembrance Day Ceremony in Lac Brome in front of the Knowlton Academy on Victoria Street.

Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace. We honour those who fought for Canada in the First World War (1914-1918), the Second World War (1939-1945), and the Korean War (1950-1953), as well as those who have served since then. More than 1,500,000 Canadians have served our country in this way, and more than 100,000 have died. They gave their lives and their futures so that we may live in peace.

Looking back at the ceremony held in Knowlton, we can can appreciate the respect that is shown by our community towards the courageous men and women who have help shape this great country. These pictures and thoughts are from 2007:

The Knowlton band played, prayers were read as heads were bowed, and tears welled in our eyes as the lone trumpet's piercing notes helped pay tribute to the brave men and women of Brome County who have given so much in the service of their country.

It was a lovely ceremony and we were fortunate that the weather co-operated as a huge crowd converged on the greens of Knowlton Academy around 10 am. Poppies were pinned to every lapel and the atmosphere was austere.

The Mayor of Knowlton was on hand as were many local family members and representatives from various organizations came forward to lay wreaths of respect. Everyone sang hymns and prayed together and it seemed that these turbulent times made such a ceremony even more vital. Seeing the casualties in current struggles around the world makes more of realize the sacrifices that were made by other generations.

Police closed off Victoria Street near Knowlton Academy as hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects and lay wreaths for those who can never be forgotten. Every year at Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Canada there are fewer and fewer Veterans of the great wars of the world but the crowds who gather seem to be getting larger all the time.

Living in Quebec, it was surprising to see such a crowd gather in Lac Brome and it surely made everyone there proud in their solidarity in showing their thanks. Most newspapers of major cities across Canada featured reports and historical coverage of Canadians at war yet in Quebec many newspapers almost go out of their way to ignore the remembrance of our heroes! It may not be surprising but it still is disrespectful and so it was especially nice to see the hundreds who came out to bow their heads.

With more Canadians in harms way in Afghanistan it is good to see more young people coming to such memorials. World War 1 and 2 do not register in the consciousness of many young people so the sight of Girl Guides leaving white paper swans at the cenotaph was a poignant reminder of how war continues to affect us.

The Veterans of Brome County proudly displayed their medals and stood at attention as the music lifted into the bare trees and a moment of silence left us all in our thoughts� thoughts for the hope for peace and thanks to all of the men and women of the Canadian Forces who continue to do the dangerous job most of us would be afraid to even contemplate.

Throughout the years many people from the Brome County area have enlisted into the Canadian Armed Forces to fulfill their dreams and meet their destiny. Seeing the stoic faces and close families at the Remembrance Day ceremony made us proud to be a part of such a group. Not all of us are originally from the area but all of us have someone in our family who has known the war in one way or another. This makes us all brothers and sisters in arms and even though many people in the crowd didn't know the person standing next to them...then, as the prayers were read and a chorus of voices whispered "Amen" together it showed that we are all part of a family bigger than we can imagine.

Around noon the crowd slowly dissipated and amongst the handshakes, hugs and back-patting there was the feeling of appreciation for the road we have all traveled up until now and the hope for the chance to see one another again�may God allow.

On Sunday, the day after the memorial, the Legion held a brunch at the Knowlton Academy. The basement was full for the event as people came to sit with a hot breakfast cooked up by the local Scouting movement. The hall where we ate in Knowlton Academy was decorated with large red paper poppies made by the children of the school and many drawings and bright paintings expressing their desire for peace, love and understanding.

Being surrounded by the arts and crafts of the kids taped to the walls while having Veterans of the wars gather to share a meal and drink a cup of tea among friends was quite moving.

The rain from the night before left pools of water like a shallow moat around the stone monuments where just the day before we had gathered en masse to bear witness to the courage of our brave heroes. As we left the basement after our brunch and walked towards the cenotaph to bow our heads one last time in remembrance we noticed that one of the small paper birds that had been placed during the ceremony by the girl guides had fallen off its fragile home-made cross and was now floating in the rain water...

Our Canadian Forces continue to do battle in combat situations around the world. While we remember the sacrifices of the past we should also be aware of the young men and women who are currently serving our country and helping to protect each and every one of us.

Please leave your comments or messages at the official Canadian Forces message board for our brave soldiers.

Brome County News Misses Brome Lake Election

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Sooo...what happened in Brome this week? Well, according to the local paper not a heck of a lot was worth reporting on...

Residents of Brome Lake were quite surprised to pick up the latest edition of the Brome County News and see an issue that didn't even have any teensey-bit of coverage of the Municipal Election in Brome Lake that were held Monday...not even a list of results!

This was one of the wildest Municipal Elections in memory and when the dust had cleared there was nothing in the local paper...no chest thumping from the victorious, no wailing lamentations from the losers...just the sound of crickets emenating from the pages of the local paper...the silence was deafening!

The front page of the local paper actually had a huge color photo and story of the election in Sutton! Has Sutton suddenly become part of Brome County? With the emotional campaign that raged in Knowlton and Brome Lake we would have expected at least minimal coverage...perhaps the right people didn't win?

With all the anticipation for the election here in Brome Lake one would have thought that there would have been some coverage of the election that had one of the highest turnout rates in Brome Lake history? Nope...not one mention of the results, the drama, the dissapointment...nothing. No feedback from townsfolk...no editorial...no analysis...nothing! Surely it wouldn't be too hard to at least put the results in the paper?

Isn't this what a local newspaper is about? A small town newspaper should be filled with the personal stories from community groups and volunteers. It should talk about card games and club outings and happy news and sad news from the locals. Recipes, thoughts, jokes....it should reflect who we are...but when an election takes place once every four years you'd have thought that there would have been at least an ounce of coverage...not even!

They seem to have support from advertisers but when there is zero coverage about major local issues then it seems likely that this issue will be lining puppy cages before Friday...how will advertisers feel about that?

Once again this week the best part of the Brome County Snooze was the "Pet of The Week" and they should have put Tommy the Brown Dog on the front page instead of a picture of the Mayor of Sutton! Woof Woof!

For the election results visit our 2009 Municipal Election Page.

Note: These results were published on this website on the same day as the election...once again hinting that newspapers might not be able to compete against online publications. Advertisers may soon start to see more of a return advertising on websites like DestinationKnowlton.com instead of spending hundreds of dollars on printed advertising locally, especially if the reporting doesn't touch on the important issues of the Town.
For advertising rates please visit this page.

Decelles Wins Brome Lake Elections 2009 Lac-Brome Results

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:47:00 +0000

Gilles Decelles is the new Mayor of Brome Lake!
Posted by Brome Lake Election Watcher, 10:32 pm, November 1st 2009

Votor Participation: 50.3% (2499 out of 4966 eligible)

Gilles Decelles - 52.8% (1309 votes)
Pierre Marchand - 34.9% (865 votes)
Stanley E. Neil - 10% (247)
Michel Ayotte - 2.3% (57)

Councillor 1 - Donald Gagne - Incumbant elected without opposition
Coucillor 2- Marta Gomes - 46.4% (192 votes)
Councillor 3 - Jacques Lecours - Incumbant elected without opposition
Councillor 4 - June Call - 57.9% (234 votes)
Councillor 5 - Thomas McGovern - 39% (170 votes)
Councillor 6 - Patrick Ouvrard - 66% (269 votes)

Congratulations everyone! Good luck in the next four years!!

Elections are upcoming in Brome-Lake. Time for all citizens to get out and make a choice as to the leaders they want at the head of the future direction of the Town. It's time to forget about any gaffes, taxpayer waste, political favoritism, stupid decisions and blatent mismanagement that may have been blamed on the last Mayor and Town Council and look towards a new future for Brome Lake.

Probably the most high-profile position in the election is for the position of Mayor. The voters are being asked to make a choice now for chnage. What is needed for any Town is leadership that is respected and on November 1st TBL will have a chance to achieve this! Voters will be able to elect a new Council and Mayor who they believe will act with respect and vision within a philosphy of sobriety and historical understanding of the English and French residents of the area.

A new Mayor and Council that encourages and listens to the views of residents. Some monthly meetings of Council have been downright embarassing as long-term residents were belittled and poo-pooed as being sticklers and trouble-makers who dared question a decision. There was often criticism of poor communications between residents and the Town. Criticism that the council was acting without consulting the public. Criticism that the Mayor and Council were acting as if some Silent Majority were pulling the strings!

It's time for the Mayor and Council to be accountable. Wouldn't it be great if a poorly perfoming municipal politician could be turfed out on their ear if they had a vote of non-cofidence like they do in Ottawa? That won't likely happen so the voters will have to choose wisely and ensure that the qualities in the candidate are those that match their own philosphies and values.

Is the candidate in your election someone with a family and raising children in the town? Does the candidate have a profession that is something you could respect...a lawyer or an engineer or a real estate agent or a writer are not often cut from the same moral fiber. What are the issues your candidate holds as a priority? What has the old leadership done wrong that should be done differently? What has your candidate done in the past...a briefcase full of degrees or real world experience. Do they have a political affiliation? Are they Nationalists, Separatists, Anarchists, Naturalists, Buddhists?

We will hear the promises and rhetoric but won't see how the level of spirit and enthusiasm will be integrated in the end until after the vote when it's too late if it doesn't work out! It's a bit like having a pre-arranged mariage...the bride and groom often don't see each other until their wedding night. Let's hope the courting during this election will match the honeymoon and future anniversaries better than in the past!

Brome Lake - Lac Brome Election Candidates

Mayor -Mairie

Gilles Decelles
Stanley E. Neil
Michel Ayotte
Pierre Marchand

Councilor - Poste de Conseiller (1)
Donald T. Gagn� (Incumbant -Candidat sortant) Elected without opposition - �lu sans opposition

Councilor - Poste de Conseiller (2)
Georges Bristol (Incumbant - Candidat sortant)
Colleen Davis
Marta Gubert Gomes

Councilor - Poste de Conseiller (3)
Jacques Lecours - Elected without opposition - �lu sans opposition

Councilor - Poste de Conseiller (4)
June Call
Alan R. Gauthier (Incumbant - Candidat sortant)

Councilor - Poste de Conseiller (5)
Stewart Bacon
Donald J. Davison
Thomas McGovern
Shelley Lee Mizener

Councilor -Poste de Conseiller (6)
Donald Wing
Lawrence Fairholm (Incumbant - Candidat sortant)
Patrick Ouvrard

In a recent episode of the La Voix de l'Est, Michel Lalibert� spoke with Brome Lake's Mayor. It was made official that Mayor Wisdom would not seek re-election on November 1st 2009. As translated by DK with apologies to the French Language!:

Michel Lalibert�
La Voix de l'Est

(Lac Brome) Richard Wisdom will not return to City Hall Lac-Brome. The colorful mayor retires from politics. He left, but takes care to identify candidates that would like to see him succeed or Pierre Marchand.

Mr. Wisdom, 69, says he wants to take more time for him and his family. A great lover of scuba diving, he wants to devote himself more in the coming years, especially in Costa Rica where he and his wife have bought a house. It has also consume a lot of books, something he could do as much as it wished in recent years. "I'm healthy and I enjoy it," he said in an interview yesterday morning in La Voix de l'Est.

If Mr. Wisdom has taken so long to announce his decision was that he was not very impressed by the candidates pledged to deprive him of his position. Two former mayors are in the running, and Gilles Decelles Neil Stanley, and Michael Ayotte. Mayor Wisdom would not extend time on them, except by saying that none of the three can not "grow" the city.

Quite the contrary for Pierre Marchand, believes Mr. Wisdom. "It can really help the city continue on a good road."

From the businessman of 42 years, Mr. Wisdom said that a candidate is honest, intelligent, someone who "will not try to reinvent the wheel".

Mr. Marchand is very little known, however, it remarks. At that, the mayor replied bluntly: "I was not well known either in 2003 when I introduced myself. But people trusted me and I won. "

Mr. Wisdom will work alongside her foal in the coming days to raise awareness in the community.

Richard Wisdom gives a positive assessment of his six years at City Hall. He listed several projects and issues where the City has played a crucial role sometimes, now support: building the community center, creation of the Festival of Knowlton, developing a plan against blue-green algae, establishment of a tower cell phone, opening a public market (vegetable products).

His biggest disappointment: the services of the S�ret� du Qu�bec. Lac-Brome, said again and again the mayor, pays too much for services received. "Yes, we are very disappointed. But we will not give up, "said he insisted. He has great hopes on the arrival of the Bromont MRC Brome-Missisquoi. "We'll have an alternative."

Mr. Wisdom thanked the council members for allowing him to live "an extraordinary experience." "I'm sure it'll miss," he said.

While none of us here at DestinationKnowlton.com can understand how the "foal" fits into the election picture some pundits have postulated that Wisdom made a wise move by not running in November since he likely understood that he had the proverbial snowballs chance in Hell of getting re-elected.

If the exiting Mayor now throws his support behind one of the candidates it could be asked if this is the kind of endorsement that would actually do more damage than good? I guess the "foal" will find out soon enough!

Vote in the Brome Lake Municipal Election on

November 1st 2009

Editors note: People have often asked us at DestinationKnowlton.com if one of us would like to run for mayor because we sound like such "know-it-alls"! Listen...we don't just SOUND like "know-it-alls", okay! Politics isn't for us because politics either requires that you break promises that are made during elections or else it requires you hypnotize the population like a Ponzi Scheming Market Fund Manager while squirreling away as much of your ill-gotten gains as possible during your tenure before you fly south to live a life of snorkeling amongst the clear green waters of the tax havens after the "jig is up" or the election is lost!

At least that's how we see most elections and politicians! Comments welcome...it's a free country right!!

Halloween In Knowlton: Spooky Family Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:17:00 +0000

While most of the Town is already being scared, spooked and haunted by the scary prospect of an upcoming municipal election it is really not until October 31st when the real fear-fest begins in Knowlton. Knowlton has always been the center of family fun during the halloween season with and this year, in 2009, there is something new that should be a highlight: there will be a Haunted House at Flanagan's on Victoria street.

Flanagan's is the world famous general store in Knowlton that has everything you could ever want from fresh Montreal Bagels to Curtain Rods, from Paint to Peanut Brittle! There certainly isn't a better spot in Knowlton for a Haunted House, the store is full of history and ghosts from patrons of long ago...sometimes I swear that when I'm waking on the creaky wooden floor I can hear something like bagpipes whispering in the air above me! Flanagans is at 39 Victoria Street.

Knowlton Halloweens are special due to the incredible efforts of the residents, parents and children who join together in creating wonderful decorations and costumes to turn the Eastern Townships Halloween into one of the best family events of the year.

Decorations started appearing after the fall Duck Festival as carved pumpkins began being spotted amongst the storefront decorations signifying that soon the great gathering of goodies would be taking place. The end of October is often a time of un-certain weather in Eastern Quebec so we're all used to expecting something strange for Hallowe'en. This past weekend saw, among other things: storming gusting winds that knocked down trees and actually cut power to many folks in the area, snow drifting and blowing that made us wonder if snow-tires should have been installed in August, and a falling back of the hour making the evenings even darker for us! You'd think that with such hardhsips there would be no time for Halloween?

Lac Brome is well-known for it's ability to turn a holiday into something beyond the ordinary and this Halloween was no exception. While the weekend snow turned to rain for Halloween the streets were still flooded with costumed youngsters and their parents wielding large umbrellas who were determined to maintain the Knowlton tradition of making Halloween something special.

The Brome Fire Department were positioned on Knowlton Road and Victoria to distribute candies to the children and there was a steady stream of kids heading across the rain-speckled streets to the firefighters dressed in their full firefighting gear. The eyes of the kids were wider than a glowing pumpkins as the firefighters bent down from their trucks and dropped a wee sweet into thier bags!

Throughout Lac Brome the flashing lights of the firetrucks invited the kids for candies and their presence was much appreciated. The rain glistening off of their bright rotating lights created the perfect atmosphere and as parents escorted their children around town for the candy pick-up they spotted the local firefighters proudly representing our community! Good for you all!

So many homes and businesses give 100 percent in the preparation and decoration of their homes and stores for this one night of fun, it is a Lac Brome tradition that has gone on for years, and it is always so greatly appreciated especially by the children. Who among us cannot recall coming home after a night of Trick or Treating to count the chocolates, gums, licorices and suckers with a trembling anticipation. The same excitement was visible in the eyes off the disguised children tonight!

Despite the steady rain the fun started early as the shortened daylight gave way to spookiness around 5pm and candy-hunting kids were spotted running from house to house in Lac Brome.

The most popular area for spooky trick-or-treating in Knowlton during Halloween is on Benoit and Landsdowne street off of Victoria. Of course, homes in all regions set up dramatic and intricate displays featuring spiders, ghosts and black cats there is something special about the area heading down to the Knowton Marina on Halloween that turns it into something that looks like a cross between Close Encounters of the Third Kind and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

Every year the residents along this cozy neighbourhood stretch really outdo themselves with creating some of the most memorable and frightening exhibits imaginable. Every year is different along this stretch of road and it is always magical for the kids! There are often haunted houses set up in front yards and scary surprises like headless ghouls popping up from lawn chairs to scare the jeepers out of us!

Folks along this stretch have built pirate ships, cemeteries and entire scenes of grouesome bloodiness that have left children squeeling with delight as they stuff their pillow cases with candies! The Knowlton Marina has always been one of the best loved Halloween stops for the kids...the lights reflecting off of Brome Lake and glorious lighting around the wooden marina are the scene for either flying bats and headles sailors or monstrous characters who climb from the waters of the lake to scare or spray the crowds who gather at the boat launch!

As the pools of dark water danced with the rain drops the kids, disguised as hockey players, vampires, lions and princesses strolled between houses accepting bonbons from the witches, ghouls and magicians who had prepared so long for this one event.

The efforts of so many residents who prepare for so long in advance is abvious and again we had a fantastic night for the kids of Knowlton! There were so many carved pumkins, custom made decorations and displays, creepy entrances and eerie music that even as a grown up it was unbelievable!

Many thanks to everyone around the village who took the time to create another special moment for our children...this was such a fun night!
What a great night we had...thanks to everyone!

Brome Lake Blog: Bozos Unleashed

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Brome Lake has a new forum for residents. The Brome Lake Blog was started to allow citizens to express feelings on issues and discuss concerns about politics and life in Brome Lake.

Still in it's infancy, the blog isn't organized yet into categories and it's basically a free for all guestbook where people just toss their two cents into the ring...but some visitors are finding that if you don't agree with the agenda of the blog then you are told to just plain shut-up! Brome Lake Blog is available at bromelakeblog.com/

Started by resident Morris Croghan the new blog "is dedicated, but not limited to, relevant comments on the politics,commerce and general happenings in and around the Town of Brome Lake, Quebec, Canada. Comments must be in English and all will be subject to scrutiny before being published. Profanity, slander, sexist, or racist, comments will of course be barred.

We are looking for honestly held opinions ( that�s allowed in a free country ) be they politically correct or not." Hmmm...sounds like a nice concept but once inside people are finding that what that really translates into is something quite different. People are being insulted and there is no sense of humour in sight! If someone posts an idea the post is picked apart like a prairie dog by vultures. While it purports to be a forum for residents it seems that only three residents, the site directors, are posting their agenda which is hard to decipher through the rudeness.

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Oh well, it at least shows that most people in Brome Lake have better things to do than waste their time on a local blog that seems to be doing nothing more than uniting the bozos! The blog has been operating for several weeks now and more public interest is growing as the 2009 Brome Lake Election approaches.

There are more and more folks leaving comments and asking questions and surely there are more and more visitors who come to see the latest issues and of perhaps to check out the comments to provide a little comedy relief! So far there has been little interesting political commentary and the appearances by the candidates in the Brome Lake Elections are as rare as a sighting of a groundhog on a wet February!

The blog is not always easy to navigate and there appears to be some name calling and trolling where answers and comments are laced with aggressive intolerance. If a point is made it is usually belittled if it tends to go against the blog owners personal viewpoints...of course since the Brome Lake Blog is a personal creation without any connection to the town it will likely remain a place for people to either beat the same drum or to be told to shut up and stop being stupid!

If a blog solicits honestly held opinions then it should be tolerant to all opinions but there already appears to be some straying from issues solely focused on Brome Lake as Federal Government bill's regarding benefits to new Canadians seems to be a topic of discussion as well

"I don�t like bigots.I don�t like liars.I don�t like agenda driven Anglophobes.I don�t like meaningless political speak.I don�t like dirty tap water.I don�t like what my towns become.I don�t like phony �Baie St Paul� advocates.I don�t like Anglo panderers.I don�t like decrepit, defunct Anglo Foundations." says one post by the blog manager.

Another post: "Wisdom Era Councilors at it Again ! I see ha! ha! that George Bristol ha! ha!, Larry �No show� Fairholm ha! ha! ha! and Alain ha! ha! ha! �the linguist� Gautier are running again ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!Come on fellows, give us taxpayers a break, surely you jest ? The new administration will have plenty of toxic left over Wisdom deadwood to contend with as it is, in Carke, Bourret.

George I�m sure would spend more time in West Brome if he could, but those terrible WB roads, almost impassable ! ( except to Bel Canto events). Larry �no show� Fairholm, seldom attends meetings, but is never absent on payday.Could be he is usually trapped on the other side of the lake while the provincial roads department goes about it�s never ending task of changing all the bridges and diverting all the ditches into Brome Lake.As to Mr Gauthier, Alain once showed some glimmer of commitment to doing the right thing (bilingual resolution 2008-10-355) but in the end folded and morphed into a mouthpiece for the Wisdom, Carke, Bourret team. Went down with the ship Alain ? Time for all to say goodbye. "

And another: "...answer my questions, but remember no spinning and no political speak, just good solid answers. This is a blog, not a polite wine and cheese lying contest."

It's not clear how people will react to such comments and posts but it would be un-likely that any political candidates would show up on the blog with all the name calling and quite probable that the blog could end up being nothing more than a vent for a few malcontents who want to sling mud on anything that moves! Let's face it if someone says "I find your Blog, and in particular, your comments, irrelevant, malicious and uninformed" and then they are called "stupid" then there doesn't appear to much headway made towards constructivity.

Indeed the Blog owner is posting hatred and ignorance and name-calling and finger wagging all the while seeming to say that the problem with Brome Lake is that 50years have passed buy and progress has happened. Progress, good and bad, happens to every town so for the Brome Lake Blog owner to pine for lost youth is rather sad.

Word around the water cooler is that commenting on the blog is pointless and it is all a waste of time and just a platform for hatred and ignorance as well as pointless name calling and mud raking.

Unfortunately the people who have started this project seem unable to create and simply wish to destroy with attacks on people in the Town. Dissing this website is as pathetic as it gets! In the little world where the Brome Lake Blogger leaders dwell there is a population of knuckle draggers who seem to live in some dilusional world of malicious self-importance and self-righteousnous.

No-one is allowed to have a screen name, posts are deleted if they don't fit the tatses of this one man show. The owner of the blog seems to find the time to insult the Destination Knowlton website for some reason...see what happens when you try and give someone a voice? I guess we learned our lesson on that one!

Visit the BromeLakeBlog and decide for yourself if it is a representation of the real viewpoints of Brome Lake or if it is a vocal minority of trolling bullies exposing their true colors, bigotry with a mix of ignorance, hatred and cranky old fartinessness: www.bromelakeblog.com/

Rue Principales in Bloom Brome Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Here are the winners of the �Rues Principales in bloom� contest who were announced at a breakfast meeting held recently. The Rues principales Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that, for more than 25 years now, has been actively working in the socio-economic revitalization and sustainable development of municipalities in Qu�bec and in other provinces.

Drawing on an original global approach, the Rues principales Foundation has acquired an expertise that has enabled it to have a positive impact on the quality of life of the citizens of over 250 municipalities. As a result of the atmosphere of concerted action that the Foundation establishes, it is able to make the sustainable development of each municipality a consensus-generating project and a collective success.

The Winners of the Brome Lake "Rue Principales in Bloom" 2009 Contest

Bondville
1st prize: Hill House B&B
2nd prize: Club de Golf Inverness

Foster
1st prize: Auberge Quilliams
2nd prize: Jardins Foster
3rd prize: Le Cypr�s

Fulford
1st prize: La petite table nippone
2nd prize: Wright General Store

Knowlton
1st prize: Auberge Lakeview Inn
2nd prize: Galerie Knowlton
3rd prize: Galerie Bistro Carpe Diem

West Brome
1st prize: Auberge & Spa West-Brome
2nd prize: Mountainview Services v�t�rinaires
3rd prize: Pur Animal

There are also many honourable mentions, such as: Allard Construction, Auberge du Joli Vent, D�panneur Lakeside, Golf Lac-Brome, Auberge Knowlton, Brocante Casa, Bromewood, Boussada, Camlen, Chic Entrep�t / Rococo, Espace Mosa�c, Fran�oise Martel la Coiffure, Jones New York, Knowlbanks, La Marina, Le Chien Noir, Les Emballages Knowlton, Paddies Boutique, Papa Spiros, The Shack/Dawes Jewellers, Uniprix, Woolrich / Mill Pond, et le Restaurant O�Sunrize.

Pictures available on the Brome Lake Chamber of Commerce website at http://www.cclacbrome.com/

Brome Lake Stuck With SQ Police

noreply@blogger.com (Trip Sister) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:38:00 +0000

The officers of the S�ret� du Qu�bec will continue to patrol the town of Lac-Brome beyond their contract which expires in 2012, said Neil Stanley. Neil Stanley, the candidate for mayor of Lac-Brome cannot not see how Quebec would agree that the municipality is served by another police force.

If this prospect does not please him, Mr. Neil is resigned to accept. "We're stuck with the SQ. We have to make sure it works, "said former mayor before the regional media yesterday morning.

The possibility that Lac-Brome obtain a police coverage of the municipal police Bromont is not a viable option, says Neil, and even if it is a certain logic. The aspiring mayor of 63 years said that the contiguity of the two cities and the fact that Bromont will soon officially part of the MRC Brome-Missisquoi are important arguments weighing in favor of such a service agreement. The only hitch, and it is huge, he argues, is that the Minister of Public Safety oppose the project.

Even if this prospect does not please him, Neil Stanley (oictured here) is resigned to accept that the S�ret� du Qu�bec provides coverage of the town of Lac Brome. "We're stuck with the SQ. We have to ensure that it works," said the former mayor.

In the early 2000s, noted Neil, his administration had studied this scenario with the City of Bromont. The negative signals received from Quebec were quick to convince him not to implement this idea.

Nevertheless, Mr Neil believes that it is possible to obtain better services from the Surete du Quebec. The opportunity is beautiful, in its view, enjoy the raiding of the SQ from other municipalities, to demand better services. "It's time to tighten the screw to the SQ," he said in English (that's the time to put the squeeze on the SQ).

When he said that is what the 20 mayors of the MRC Brome-Missisquoi working for five years, he displays a certain skepticism. "The mayors have perhaps not pushed hard enough," he said.

Tax Rates

If elected on November 1, Neil promised to do everything not to increase taxes on behalf of taxpayers, despite the entry into force of the new assessment roll. It should be up about 25%, according to our information.

If budget does not surprise awaits him - "I want to know exactly how the city has been mismanaged in recent years," says he - Neil reduce the rate of taxation in the same proportion as the increase in property values. It is currently 88 cents per $ 100 valuation.

Based on, and thanks to, the recent article in La Voix De L'est.

Read other stories and comments on the SQ in Knowlton and Brome Lake:

SQ Peeves Local Drivers

SQ Plans More Brome Lake Patrols