Tillotson stele to be inaugurated Aug. 19 on Coaticook’s Pioneer Trail

On August 19, celebrated figure Neil Tillotson will be coming to Coaticook’s Pioneer Trail with the inauguration of a commemorative stele highlighting Tillotson’s remarkable contribution to the development of Coaticook MRC municipalities and his legacy in the form of Mount Hereford.

The stele will be unveiled at 325 Ch. des Côtes in East Hereford at the intersection with Ch. Owen). A light snack will be served within walking distance at the Forêt Hereford office. The entire community is invited to join in the event.

Neil Tillotson was an inventor who developed the use of latex in the 20th century, with facilities in Quebec, New Eng-land and South America. He was also the founder of Tillotson Farms and Forests, which acquired several thousand hectares of forests over the decades in both the United States and Quebec.

Before his death in 2001, he expressed his wishes simply and clearly: to donate his assets to the community. This bequeathal led, in 2013, to the creation of the Forêt Hereford charitable organization, which now manages the forest land he donated. Tillotson’s financial assets are also at work today through a number of philanthropic programs managed by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Without financial support from one of these programs, the Pioneer Trail would never have been created. August 19 will be an occasion to celebrate the generosity of this larger-than-life personality, who will become the 27th figure on the trail, which that has expanded continuously since 2010.