Mount Orford to host family day for local residents
The residents of the Memphremagog Regional County Municipality (MRC) are invited to a special family day at Mount Orford on August 12 that is aimed at helping the people of the area get to know the mountain better. “We need to give people the chance to discover our mountain,” said Jacques Demers, Prefect of the MRC and President of the Corporation Ski & Golf du Mont Orford, calling Orford an asset of the entire MRC that deserves to be honoured and appreciated. “Over the last few years we have talked a lot about communal investment at the MRC Level, and the first place we have talked about doing this is at Mount Orford (…) While we are working to convince elected officials to invest, we need to also show why it is important to our citizens.”
In order to show off the local asset, the mountain has arranged a simple program of live music, games for kids, barbeque, and the opportunity for people of all ages to access the summit of
the mountain for free via the gondola lift.
“It’s nothing complicated, “said Pascal Mongeau, General Manager of Mount Orford. “We just want people to be able, regardless of physical ability, to benefit from the summit of the mountain.”
Mongeau explained that the day follows on the heels of a similar event that was planned in the winter, and to which some 2000 locals came.
“The idea is really to have people take advantage of this day and of this mountain,” he said.
The Mount Orford site is open to all on a daily basis for free, but the manager explained that the special access for local residents is to the lift. Anyone who wishes to is welcome to come and enjoy the Mountain on the 12th, he said, but only those who can prove they live within the Memphremagog MRC can ride to the top of the mountain without first purchasing a ticket.
The MRC Prefect pointed to this activity as one of several different initiatives currently in place to help diversify the activities offered at the mountain year round. He said that the overall goal of the corporation is to prioritize the links between the mountain, the provincial park, and the surrounding communities on a year-round basis. To that end he noted that 16 of the municipalities within the MRC have committed a combined $2.5 million to infrastructure developments on the mountain over the next five years.
“This is our mountain,” Demers said. “We want to work with people in the region to make the most of this amazing resource.”
The festivities of August 12 will take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. residents of the communities within the Memphremagog MRC who wish to take advantage of their free access must bring a piece of photo I.D. as well as a proof that they live at an address in one of the municipalities of the region.