Shop local this holiday season
There are so many reasons to shop local and Townships merchants have a lot to offer. If you are looking for a gift that celebrates the Townships or the region’s English-language culture, Townships Expressions has you covered with more than 100 books, music, videos, cards, calendars and more. The best part about shopping from the Expressions shop, offered by Townshippers’ Association, is that your purchase directly supports writers, musicians, artists and organizations in the region.
Here’s a few gift ideas featuring some of the boutique latest additions from mysteries to histories and more.
by Maurice Crossfield follows a budding small-town reporter who finds himself covering real news and, in the process, raising the ire of the local crime boss, the mother of a cattle thief, and an English rights vigilante group. Not to mention the mysterious characters who seem to be watching his every move, or the father he barely remembers who haunts his dreams.
Jim Napier’s is a richly detailed and multi-layered mystery set in London as police detective Colin Mcdermott investigates the mysterious death of a young woman who fell in front of a bus in a crowded public intersection. Mcdermott suspects it isn’t an accident and is soon facing a complicated web of possible motives and suspects, including one that reaches into his own past.
The Granby Liar Legacy Richmond Now and Then, an anecdotal history
by Nick Fonda {$25} is a 236page paperback that includes maps and photos with a portrait of the Richmond area that is both uncompromisingly realistic and sympathetically insightful, and then goes on to encapsulate almost 220 years of settlement through a series of portraits and stories that offer a detailed and nuanced social history of a part of Canada that is unusually rich in history.
In Memphrémagog: An illustrated History
{vol.1, vol.2, $79 each} Louise Abbott produces the first ever landscape history of the region looking at its transformation from a wilderness to a “working landscape” of farms, sawmills, factories, mines, and quarries, then to the development of tourism and it’s current “recreational landscape.” Abbott’s lively and insightful text is accompanied by reproductions of over 250 fascinating photos, paintings, and maps, including many never-before-published contemporary and historical images.
Rebecca Taylor’s
{$15} explores the tension, passion and scepticism that arises when characters from towns in the 19th century and 21st century meet and fight about what they want most out of life, and the ultimate price of happiness and freedom. The characters weave a spinning tale as their lives intertwine with each other's causing drama, tears and some joy.
Explore local characters and a landmark in
The Moderna Way Dew Drop Inn – Lasting memories of a Cookshire landmark
by Winston Fraser {$17}. Ann Mitchell’s Memories Are Made of This {$35} is an 80-page book containing a collection of paintings by this Townships artist, complemented by stories of each work and Ann’s deep connection with her subject matter. The Wales Home Foundation also reminiscences in Memories Everlasting {$20, proceeds to benefit the Foundation} with stories, poems and photos, and memories of times past, and events captured.
Last, you can never go wrong with giving 12 months of stunning Eastern Township landscapes photographed by David Chapman in the {$15}.
Shop online today at www.townshippers.org/shop, order by phone at 819-5665717 (toll-free: 1-866-566-5717) or visit the shop in Townshippers’ Sherbrooke and Lac-brome offices during business hours.
2018 calendar Last Colour Café of 2017!
Need to unwind from all that holiday shopping? Cozy up with a warm beverage and some pencil crayons at the last Colour Café of the year, from 6-8 pm, on Wednesday, December 13 at the Maison de la Culture John Henry Pope (25 rue Principale west, Cookshire-eaton). This is a colourfully fun and relaxing evening for grown-ups to let their creative juices flow or have a chat while they colour. It’s free and we’d love to see you.
Details at www.townshippers.org/colourcafe, or call 819-566-5717. Colour café is hosted by Townshippers’, La Relève du Haut-saintfrançois, the Eaton Valley Community Learning Centre and the Centre d’action bénévole (CAB) du Haut-saint-françois.
Mingle while you jingle!
It’s the festive season which meant the community organizations at the Marguerite Knapp building are hosting their annual open house on Wednesday, December 20 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The public is warmly welcome to drop on by to get to know more about the community organization serving the English-speaking community and discover many activities, events, and projects to get involved in.
Meet and mingle with Townshippers’ Association, Townshippers’ Foundation, The Townships Sun, Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network, Lennoxville & District Women’s Centre and Mental Health Estrie. Details posted at www.townshippers.org/dec20openhouse.
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: 1-866-566-5717, or Lac-brome at 3-584 Knowlton Rd, 450-242-4421, toll-free: 1-877-2424421.