Our Stories: ebook for Canada’s 150 nearly ready to be unveiled!
After nearly nine months of community collaboration, writing workshops, and countless hours reviewing, selecting and editing entries, the digital anthology commemorating the 150th anniversary of Canada is nearly ready to be unveiled!
Launched last September by Townshippers’ Association as a way to celebrate our community’s part in Canada’s sesquicentennial story, submissions of photographs and written and visual work were accepted to highlight our regions historical roots, share the experience of settlers, and recognize our community’s role, or that of individuals, in shaping the province and/or the nation.
Under the working name Our Stories: The Eastern Townships Chapter in Canada’s 150-Year Story – now the chosen title of the book– the project evolved with the addition of a writing workshop series. Held across the region, the workshops helped both new and experienced writers, young and old, hone their writing skills in a myriad of genres including memoir, poetry, short fiction. Several workshop participants also contributed their work to the ebook.
Many ebook contributions that were received that interpreted the themes in original and imaginative ways. The result is a multi-voiced collection of writing, photographs, and artwork—and even fusions of all three—that tells a distinct and eclectic version of Townships history.
On June 9, following Townshippers’ Annual General Meeting, at the Estrimont Suites and Spa, which starts at 5:30 p.m., Our Stories will officially be launched with many of the contributors’ present. In the days following the launch, the ebook will be available for download from Townshippers.org. Watch this space for details!
The Our Stories project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada and the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities. Find your motivation to move! Summer is just around the corner, and so is the final Health Link session before the holidays!
Taking place on Wednesday, June 7 at the Armoury Community Centre, 563 Main Street in Bury, this event will feature an interactive presentation in English on how to exercise safely and find your motivation to move. The presenter, Lucie Laflamme (a kinesiologist from the CIUSSS de l’estrie – CHUS), will also talk about the importance of exercise in helping us deal with chronic illness. Ms. Laflamme’s presentation will begin at 1 p.m.
A free lunch will be offered to all before the presentation, starting at 11:30 a.m. Registration is not required for lunch, but would be appreciated so that we have enough food for everyone. To confirm your place for lunch, please call Kim Fessenden at 819-872-3771, ext. 2.
This Health Link event will also include a special treat: Grade 3 students from Pope Memorial Elementary School will come over and help make smoothies for all using the MRC du Haut-saintfrançois’s “Smoothie Bike”! (Are you scratching your head right now wondering what a smoothie bike is? Then come and join us to see what it’s all about!)
Health Link is a series of English-language health information sessions for residents of the Haut-saint-françois region. This project is a collaboration between the Eaton Valley Community Learning Centre, the CIUSSS de l’estrie – CHUS’S Haut-saint-françois RLS, the Centre d’action Bénévole du Haut-saintfrançois, and Townshippers’ Association. It is a CHSSN initiative funded by Health Canada through the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities.
Health Link sessions will return in Bury in the fall, so we encourage you to watch this space for information on new dates and topics. To learn more, contact Kim at the Eaton Valley Community Learning Centre: fessendenk@etsb.qc.ca, 819-872-3771, ext.2.
For more on Townshippers’ Association and our activities, keep reading this weekly column in The Record and visit our website www.townshippers.org. You can also follow us on Twitter @Townshippers and Facebook.com/townshippers. Connect with Townshippers’ offices in Sherbrooke at 100 – 257 Queen, 819-566-5717, toll-free: 1-866-5665717, or Lac-brome at 3-584 Knowlton Rd, 450-242-4421, toll-free: 1-877-242-4421.