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More than 450 people who donated their time over the past year as volunteers to the Borough of Villeray/St-Michel/Park Extension spent last Saturday — the first day of spring — at an authentic Québécoise "cabane à sucre" in the lower Laurentians just north of Montreal.
Sunshine and open air
It was the borough's way of thanking the residents for their efforts, while providing them — inner city-dwellers all — with a taste of the countryside, and an invigorating open-air experience with lots of sunshine that most would remember for some time.
While the borough normally holds a volunteer appreciation evening each year in November, it was decided to do it this way in the spring, because of the municipal elections taking place next Nov. 1. This was the second time that the borough organized a sugaring off outing in March. However, it was certainly not the first time that Shirley Laberge, who has been a Park Exer for 40 years, had been to a sugar shack.
'Wonderful here' – Josefa Jamroz
"With the golden age group we usually go every year," she told Nouvelles Parc Extension News. Bloomfield Ave. resident Josefa Jamroz had previously lived the sugar shack experience, although she'd never been to one as large or as well-equipped as the Chalet des érables in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines. "I find it wonderful here," said Jamroz. "It's all so well organized," she added, joking that it was almost worth a Guide Michelin rating of "three stars."
A Québécois meal
The Chalet's facilities included not only a large restaurant pavilion, where hundreds of guests were treated to a sumptuous and traditional Québécois meal, that included pea soup, eggs cooked in maple syrup, crusty bread, baked beans and dessert. Outside there was also a small amusement park with a miniature train, a mechanical bucking bronco for those who dared, and a number of other fun concessions for the children as well as the young at heart.
Guests were issued tickets to be used at the concessions. "The people who are coming here today, a lot of them never go out of Montreal," said Borough Mayor Anie Samson. "For them, this is the first time they are able to discover the cabane à sucre. It's a traditional culture that we have here in Quebec, so it's very important to share with them the traditional culture we have."
A 'big happy family' – Deros
Park Extension city councillor Mary Deros said, "Most of these seniors who give so much of themselves, they're the majority of our volunteers in the area, and you also see we also have some young people with us today. Usually they're cooped up indoors all winter. This is giving us all the chance to enjoy the first days of spring as one big happy family."
According to the borough's director general, Stéphane Chénier, it had been three years since Villeray/St-Michel/Park Extension last organized a sugar bush outing for its volunteers, so they could have a typically Québécoise experience. "It is an occasion for many of our population to enjoy themselves," he said, noting that some came in buses provided by the borough, while others found their own transportation. "This is our way of thanking everyone for everything they do to provide services to the population."