Canada/150th of Saint-Magloire: a lot of action and a participation beyond expectations

After Saint-Léon recently, it was Saint-Magloire's turn to celebrate its 150th anniversary this past weekend. An impressive program was offered to the public during this intensive weekend which, according to the president of the organizing committee, Mélanye Gendreau, attracted large crowds.

"This is beyond our expectations. We are very happy with the turnout," said Mrs. Gendreau the day after the festivities.

The festivities got underway on Thursday, July 28, when 110 people took part in the bingo, which was held in the parish hall, and another 100 attended the drive-in movie night, which had to be moved to the gymnasium. which had to be moved to the school gymnasium due to the rain and high winds at the time.

Friday was a very busy day as after the reunion luncheon which drew close to 150 people to the parish hall, as many as the parish hall, just as many people took the departure of the tourist circuit which allowed people to rediscover their original locality. An animated hike to Mont-Bonnet was also organized.

"The historical tour was very successful. We were supposed to have one bus, but we filled three," said the president, who added that activities were offered to teenagers on the recreation field in the afternoon.

All this set the table for the evening's activities, which included a show featuring singer Gab Boutin and the group Hommage à Bob Bissonnette, which brought together 350 festival-goers.

Village Square

Saturday morning, the organizing committee of the festival took the opportunity to unveil a special work paying tribute to the mayors who succeeded each other at the head of the municipality during these 150 years. This work takes the form of a large book in which the names of the mayors in question are engraved and to which other names may be added in the future.

This work completes what is now called the "village square", a space located between the parish hall and the town hall (former credit union) where the centennial plaque can be found.The centennial plaque was recently moved to this location, as well as the Espace de bienveillance which was inaugurated last June.

Saturday was also marked by a demonstration of strong men, in tribute to the popular Baillargeon brothers, who were the only ones to have been ableres -Baillargeon, which attracted 270 people, as well as the launch of the book Ça s'passait de même by Yvette -Boutin-Caron, at the Heritage House.

A méchoui dinner attracted 450 people and in the evening, more than 400 people gathered under the tent for the musical evening featuring singer Jeffrey Turcotte and the group Spinnin'Pistols.

4,000 people at the parade

The president of the celebrations, Mélanye Gendreau, mentioned that throughout the weekend, various parallel activities were offered to visitors, which were very successful. These included an exhibition of objects and artifacts on the religious history of St. Magloire at the church, an exhibition on chainsaws and antique objects at theand antique objects at the elementary school, or the public market under the tent with, nearby, the presence of artists-painters who shared their know-how.

After lunch and mass on Sunday morning, the highlight of the 150th anniversary is certainly the parade presented in the afternoon in the streets of the town. Gino Tanguay, who was in charge of the activity, pointed out that it brought together 55 units and estimated that 4,000 people attended.

This intensive weekend concluded with a show by the duo Charles and Diane in the afternoon and a spaghetti dinner under the tent, followed by a show by Phil Lauzon and fireworks at 9:30 pm. It is important to note that 400 people attended this closing evening, which will be followed by other activities over the next few weeks and which will extend until the end of the year 2022.

In the meantime, the popular St-Mag Fest will be presented on Labour Day weekend.

Source: www.lavoixdusud.com