Six sheep return for grazing stint at Edgewater Park
City organizes complementary programs with guest speakers, events for families
After a two-week hiatus, the sheep are back for their final two weeks at Edgewater Park. The six sheep, along with their modern-day shepherd Simon Vaillancourt, have become a familiar sight to local residents and the many visitors to the park on the eastern edge of Pointe-Claire Village.
Initiated last year by the city of Pointe-Claire as a public works and educational project, the sheep provide a sustainable alternative to cutting the grass in the popular park.
“The six sheep eat 1,280 square feet of grass per day,” said Vaillancourt.
“And citizens love it,” said Pointe-Claire Mayor John Belvedere. “Parents come down with their kids — even the grandparents come.”
Vaillancourt, who grew up on the farm of his maternal grandparents who raised horses, hails from Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
“The sheep and I have to adapt to being in town, and I always do my best for the well-being of my sheep,” the urban shepherd said. “I love them like my own children. Each one has their own personality, like humans.”
This year Vaillancourt has noticed many more people coming to share in the experience of watching the sheep graze in their suburban setting.
“As people talk about the sheep, a wider conversation about community and sustainable living begins to occur,” Belvedere said.
This month, the city has organized complementary programming in the park. On Wednesdays Aug. 7 and 14, there will be a reading tent, with a facilitator offering books for children up to 12 years old, to be read with a parent, or for the older kids to read to themselves, or to each other. Two presentations emphasizing the ecological and sustainability themes central to the eco-grazing project will be happening as well.
On Thursday, Natachat Danis from Éco Gaïa will speak about alternative food processing practices, including lacto-fermenting vegetables, and salting and drying herbs. On Aug. 15, personnel from Herbivart will talk about unusual plants. All programs are accompanied by the presence of the local flock quietly mowing the lawn.
There will be cardio toning on Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. Bring your mat and you can reap the health benefits of a morning by the lake, and the Pointe-Claire Seniors Centre will be leading a knitting group on Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. Bring your own needles and wool.
And true to the spirit of sustainability and community, Vaillancourt said, “I give the fleece from our sheep to a beekeeper nearby.” The fleece is then used as insulation material for the beehives during the winter.
In collaboration with this summer’s Lumina programming, on Aug. 12 there will be an art workshop for children, and on the evening of Friday, Aug. 16, a play in French, for children aged three and up, called Le trésor du buttereau will be performed in the park. For this final event, people are invited to bring the whole family and enjoy a picnic dinner down by the lake.
When asked about what he likes most about being a part of the daily lives of the people in Pointe-Claire Village, Vaillancourt responded, “I like to share my passion for animals and to offer an authentic contact between the animals and the residents.”
One can almost imagine the early days of this seigneurial village on the shores of Lake St. Louis, with generations of family members gathered for a picnic meal together, and with Charbon, Flocon, Ficele, Patch, Caramel and Mout-mout, the six village sheep grazing nearby.
Vaillancourt and the sheep are at Edgewater Park weekdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., until Aug. 18.