Community Wednesdays blow out 10 candles

The heart was at the party on December 4 at St. Willibrord School in Chateauguay. Close to 400 people there celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Community Wednesdays. The 60th Community Wednesday was held at St. Willibrord, because it was at that school where it all began in 2009. Chuck Halladay, then in charge of the New Frontiers School Board’s Community school concepts, and Bertrand Loiselle from the Youth Concertation Table in the Chateauguay region, had the idea of creating an event in the schools where the citizens and various groups could rub shoulders and have exchanges. “The idea is to create a link of belonging to the community,” explains Manon Desnoyers, who is on the organizing committee of the community Wednesdays. The project multiplied since its beginnings. First, the Grandes-Seigneuries French School Board decided to join the initiative in 2012. The Community Wednesdays are now presented in alternating in the English and French schools of the region. “This is being done in collaboration with the host schools,” Desnoyers explains. “We want to show the colours of the school which plays host to us.” The regions of Napierville, Haut St. Laurent, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and St. Jean-sur-Richelieu were inspired by the Chateauguay model to create such initiatives as well. A work of art as a souvenir To mark the 10th anniversary of this event, a work in the form of a mosaic by local artist Roger Thiffault was produced with the participation of pupils from St. Willibrord School. Each small piece of the mosaic symbolizes the contribution of all of the partners. “That shows that it’s because we are all together that this exists. It’s because of all the partners that this is possible,” Desnoyers illustrates. The people present have all underlined their will that the community Wednesdays continue for a long time to come. The next rendez-vous is scheduled for Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at the Trois-Sources school in Chateauguay. [caption id="attachment_74148" align="alignnone" width="444"] Marie-Louise Kerneïs, de la Commission scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries. Dominic Pilon du CISSS Montérégie Ouest, David D’Aoust de la Commission scolaire New Frontiers, Bertrand Loiselle (fondateur) de l’Office municipal d’habitation de Châteauguay, Anthony Spadaccino de la Commission scolaire New Frontiers, Pierre-Paul Routhier, maire de Châteauguay , Roger Thiffault artiste, Manon Desnoyers, organisatrice communautaire et Jennifer-Ann Dooling de la Re-Source. (Photo Andrew Clark)[/caption] Translation Dan Rosenburg