A new opportunity to gather this summer!

A new community festival will be held in the village of La Broquerie on July 31 at the HyLife Centre. The festival, which has yet to be named, is an initiative of the La Broquerie Community Development Corporation (CDC) aimed at bringing people together to celebrate, says Richard Turenne, CDC project officer.

He explains. “Every year, La Broquerie organizes an amazing festival in June for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, but there’s nothing after that. We wanted to create another opportunity to gather during the summer. When the weather’s nice, people want to be out and about.”

The idea came from the Young Entrepreneur camp that CDEM has held in La Broquerie for the past six years. “The camp teaches young people marketing skills. After being introduced to the basics of entrepreneurship, they think of a product and make it. Then they sell their creations.”

“It’s been so successful that we created a community market around it, Le Marché La Brise, and brought in a dozen or so other vendors in addition to the youth.” Several hundred people visit the market.

Thanks to the young entrepreneurs and the professional vendors, Le Marché La Brise quickly became a unifying event. Hundreds come to see it. “That’s where the idea of creating a new festival around the market comes from. We want to continue to build the market, adding musicians and other interesting attractions.”

The program details have yet to be confirmed, but one thing is certain: the festival will have a Métis flavour. “We already know that there’ll be an authentic Red River ox cart, a teepee and historical interpretation. This was important to us because we discovered that there are 800 Métis living in La Broquerie,” says Turenne. “I myself am Métis!”

The main objective of the new festival is to “get people out celebrating.” The organizing team wants it to reflect the entire community of La Broquerie.

As for the July 31 launch date, “it’s a strategic choice,” says Turenne. “We had thought of holding it the long weekend in August, but a lot of people head to the cottage that weekend. So by holding the festival a week earlier, we think it’ll draw more people.”

Now the only thing left to do is pick a name for the event, and to do that, the CDC launched a contest. “We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to submit ideas for a logo and name. The contest was open to everyone, regardless of age or place of residence. We’ll choose a logo and a name from the ideas we get.” The contest ended on June 6.

So there you have it: a festival that’s already engaging, unifying and festive, even before it’s actually begun!

Un jardin en hommage aux religieuses et religieux

Le terrain entourant l’archevêché de Saint-Boniface est devenu officiellement le Jardin du patrimoine, avec le dévoilement, le 20 juin, d’un tout nouveau monument rendant hommage aux contributions des religieuses au développement du Manitoba et de l’Ouest canadien.

Madeleine Vrignon, l’artiste qui a conçu le nouveau monument rendant hommage aux religieuses, dans le Jardin du Patrimoine situé sur le terrain de l’archevêché de Saint-Boniface.

Le Jardin du patrimoine a été inauguré le 20 juin. Pour Madeleine Vrignon, la sculptrice qui a conçu le monument commémoratif dévoilé le même jour, il s’agissait d’un « moment très personnel, attendu depuis longtemps ».

« Les premières sœurs grises sont arrivées en 1844. Dès leur arrivée, elles se sont mises au travail. C’est l’Esprit qui les a menées. Ici, chez nous, dans un endroit qu’elles ne connaissaient pas le moindrement. Elles ne savaient pas dans quoi elles s’embarquaient. Pourtant, elles sont venues. Très souvent pour travailler à des projets de longue haleine, en sachant qu’elles ne verraient pas la fin.

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La petite église sur l'autoroute

Sur l'autoroute qui relie les États-Unis à Winnipeg se trouve un étrange mystère : une petite église blanche encadrée par deux voies d'autoroute. Retour sur l'histoire de ce lieu de culte à l'emplacement hors du commun.

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