An Opportunity to Snowshoe
Members of the Sherbrooke Snow Shoe Club welcomed the opportunity to actually snowshoe on Wednesday, November 21st, on the occasion of their second official meeting of the season. Their first gathering the previous week had found them unprepared, their snowshoes still stored away in basements or garages and the like. It has been years since club members had the chance to tramp so early in the season and they were eager to take advantage of the past Friday’s notable snowstorm.
Following the wintery excursion the snowshoers and fellow snow-walkers congregated back at the clubhouse with their less active companions for some pre-meeting socializing.
At the appointed hour, President Steve Moore called for order and expressed his misgivings for not thanking member Karl Hunting for plowing the parking lot the week before, and for not expressing his gratitude to the White Knights for their contribution in serving the meal the same night.
There being a shortage of Knights this particular meeting, he asked for a volunteer and Past President Malcolm Juby rose to the occasion.
After welcoming everyone, the membership sang the national anthem and Past President/1st Vice Harry Brown asked the blessing.
The White Knights then proceeded to distribute the evening meal, starting off with bowls of vegetable soup, followed up with entrees of Beef Bourguignon. Servings of carrot cake and ice cream topped off the meal.
As the dining wound down, the membership thanked Chef Carole and her crew for the meal and the president expressed his gratitude to the Knights for there work in distributing it. Drawings were subsequently held for the evening’s door prizes. The first went to Past President Hugh Bowen, the second to Honorary Treasurer Jack Noble.
Past President and club jokester Dave Moore offered up some anecdotes for the amusement of everyone. One dealt with a Rabbi and the question of long life, another concerning the Greek philosopher Socrates and various filters to human activity.
At this juncture, President Steve described the program for the next meeting and called for a break before the introduction of the guest speaker. Despite his previous role as a club president whereby he should have known better, the presiding officer in charge had completely forgotten about the traditional sing-along. Not allowing the president to get away with this obvious error in proceedings, the membership was quick to bring him to task for his forgetfulness, compounding his earlier lapses in memory. To be sure, advancing age affects everyone, including club officials.
Accordingly, Honorary Chorister Phil Kerwin proceeded to conduct the singalong, assisted by a number of fellow club members in the absence of his usual confreres. Janis Graham accompanied them on the piano.
Following the break, Past President Don Loughheed introduced the evening’s guest speaker, Josée Parent, the founder and general manager of ‘Mon Shack’, the only organization in the Eastern Townships offering housing and supervision for young Anglophones dealing with mental health issues. Ms. Parent explained the aims and objectives of Mon Shack and outlined the services offered for young individuals dealing with mental health.
After responding to numerous questions, President Steve thanked Ms. Parent on behalf of the membership and presented her with a small token of appreciation.
The evening’s scheduled proceedings concluded, the club members socialized, played volleyball, or prepared for the trip home.
Submitted by Steve Moore, SSSC Secretary