Catégorie : Tribune-Express (Hawkesbury)

A company based in Québec is trying to find a municipality in Prescott-Russell willing to become partners in a proposed high-tech project for waste disposal and energy production.

Jean-Claude Corbeil, president and main spokesman for DigestComp Inc., met with East Hawkesbury Township council August 14 to present a proposal for setting up his company’s PyroTech P50 project in the municipality.

Corbeil’s presentation followed on a similar one he made to Hawkesbury town council earlier this year and also to the United Counties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR), seeking interest from either Hawkesbury or any one of the other municipalities within Prescott-Russell in serving as the host site for the project.

Corbeil described his company’s pyroliser system as « a very ecological system » for disposing of plastic, wood, and other refuse while also generating electricity for either community use or for sale to the provincial power grid. A pyroliser uses high-intensity heat to break down the chemical bonds of materials and reduce items to a clean ash.

During his presentation to East Hawkesbury council, Corbeil described the project as a regional venture that could see the pyroliser system itself set up in the township with a subsidiary biosolid collection depot in Alfred-Plantagenet Township to collect farm waste like manure for use as fuel for the pyroliser. When questioned by some council members, Corbeil said the biosolid collection site was still at the proposal stage and did not exist.

Corbeil’s company is looking for a private-public partnership arrangement for its pyroliser project. He told East Hawkesbury council that what his company wants right now is a letter of understanding from the township that would indicate a show of support for the project. Corbeil’s company could then use that letter of understanding to help with leveraging senior government funding aid for the project.

Corbeil also indicated that the pyroliser project could helpt the township with cleaning up a piece of property in St-Eugene that was an illegal dump site for a proposed private-sector recycling operation that never had official provincial government approval. The township took over ownership of the land for non-payment of taxes and has been looking into ways to dispose of all the refuse there.

East Hawkesbury council thanked Corbeil for his presentation but made no promise about the letter of understanding request. During a later phone interview, Mayor Robert Kirby indicated the proposal seemed interesting but he wonders about how the company plans to finance the project.

« It seems like it would cost a bit to get it going, » Mayor Kirby said.

The mayor also emphasized that if the township did provide any support for the project, it would not involve investing money.

« Not financial, » Mayor Kirby said. « There’ll be no financial support from the township.»

Hawkesbury council also indicated interest in Corbeil’s project but made no commitments. Several council members noted that the company would need to provide a positive feasibility study on its proposed project along with some indication of senior government financial support and approval.

Crystal Beshara has always known that she was destined to be a professional artist.

“I grew up on a little hobby farm, between Fournier and St-Isidore,” said Beshara, who now lives in L’Orignal. “Both of my parents were artistic. It was very normal, for me, to be exposed to creativity in general. In Kindergarten I knew that’s what I wanted to do, to be a professional artist.”

At home, her parents encouraged her ambition and the best part of her years as a student at Plantagenet Elementary School was when she had a chance to draw and paint.

“I drew and painted with vigour during all my elementary school years,” she said, then chuckled as she recalled seeing one of her early works, as a 10-year-old, that one of her teachers had saved.

In high school and, later on at university, Beshara noted, she “dabbled a bit” with sculpture and other three-dimensional forms of art. But for her painting was her primary mode of expressing what she felt when she observed the countryside around her. And she didn’t see things in terms of impressions or the abstract.

“Realism was very important to me,” she said.

More than two decades ago she took the leap to become a full-time professional artist. Since then her works have appeared in shows all across Canada and in the United States and other countries. One Ottawa gallery displays her pieces on a regular basis.

Beshara alternates working in watercolour and oil, depending on her subject matter, her own mood at the time, and the amount of detail she wants to put into the scene she envisages. Oil, she finds, is best visual impressions of landscapes or country scenes, while watercolour works best for her on broad stroke views of the countryside.

Most of the time she works at her studio, using photographs of various locations as reference guides for a painting. She’s been tempted sometimes to try setting up an easel on-site but finds it better to keep to keep to the studio for her projects, which focus on the barns and farms and other scenery of Prescott-Russell, for the most part.

“My career has been dedicated to rural art,” she said. Her latest series, Tales from the County, on display at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill, includes more than two dozen pieces, some recent and others from her earlier years as an artist, portraying various aspects of Prescott-Russell’s agricultural landscape, ranging from pastoral images to scenes from Vankleek Hill’s own annual country fair.

Some of the older pieces have acquired a heritage documentary status now, as they depict old barns that no longer exist now, due to the savage windstorm that blew across Eastern Ontario last year or else because time has taken its toll at last on the worn and weathered wooden structures.

“This exhibit, I think, reflects our heritage,” she said, adding that it dovetails well with an online project with which she has become involved.

Beshara is one of 175 members of The Heritage Barn Project on Facebook. The group page, which is open to public view, displays photos of barns, new, old, or unusual, found all over. Where possible, posters have included the location of the barn, and noted whether or not the owner of the property has given permission for artists to use it in their paintings and drawings. Beshara encourages everyone to visit the group page and share in the appreciation for this architectural feature of the rural lifestyle.

There was a Vankleek Hill face on one of the teams at the Ninth Edition CrossFit Summer Palooza competition over the summer at the Universtié du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

The two-day event took place July 8 and 9 at the Center for Physical and Sports Activity (CAPS) of the Universtié du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), in which four teams from the Lachute crossfit club participated : Apex Fit, Buns and Guns, Generation XYZ, and Smurf Fit. The Buns and Guns team featured veteran competitor Annabelle Legault of Vankleek Hill, who assists with coaching crossfit athletes at the Lachute club.

“The competition took us out of our comfort zone, which was good,” added Legault, regarding the action over the two days.

The Summer Palooza 2023 saw more than 400 athletes gather at the university sportsplex, along with a large number of supporters. competitors formed more than 100 teams from Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes.

“This was the only event of this scale to take place in La Belle Province this year,” said Raphael Gauthier-Marchand, owner of Syn3rgy Performance, which organized the competition.

CrossFit involves high-intensity interval training in both cardiovascular and strength exercises. CrossFit competition takes those interval training exercises as the basis for timed competitions among participants.

This year, the competition consisted of mixed teams of four competitors: two women and two men each. The weekend included six events for all teams which were ranked in three categories: RX Standards, Intermediate Standards and Scaled Standards. Each team had to participate in six events spread over the two days. Participating in the category Scaled, team Generation XYZ was missing a team member and did not make the cut. In the category Intermediate, Smurf Fit finished a close second. Apex Fit sweated their way up to ninth place, and Buns and Guns placed 17th overall in a large field of competitors.

A portion of the registration fee was donated to the Quebec Cancer Foundation with $2500 raised by the end of the competion.

The weather was a bit uncertain this past weekend but in the end it could not stop people from having fun at the Vankleek Hill Fair.

This year’s « punny » theme for the fair was « The Place to Bee in Vankleek Hill » to both highlight the importance of bees to agriculture due to their pollination of plants and also the sweet honey they create for home and hive. The weekend parade last Friday evening saw the « bee » theme well-displayed as part of either the decorations for several floats or the costume ideas for many participants in the parade.

Heavy rain on Friday softened the fair grounds to the point that a couple events were cancelled, delayed, or modified to deal with the soft ground conditions. The rest of the weekend saw the weather alternate between cool and cloudy on Saturday to bright and sunny on Sunday as fairgoers enjoyed viewing the agricultural and crafts exhibition, watching demonstrations of sheep shearing and other activities, cheering on the riders in the western and English riding competitions, enjoying the live music, and screaming with delight on the midway rides.

See this week’s Tribune Express for VKH Fair photo page.

Amis depuis toujours, partageant aventures, espoirs et rêves, Guillaume Larivière-Durocher et Yanick Brunette vont désormais travailler ensemble pour une cause qui leur tient à cœur. Contribuer à la lutte contre la pauvreté.

Guillaume et Yanick s’apprêtent à mettre à l’épreuve leur endurance physique et leur force mentale en effectuant un périple à vélo, de Québec à Hawkesbury, à compter du 19 août. Le défi physique est qu’ils ont l’intention de faire le voyage en quatre jours, avec de forts vents de face qui les poussent à chaque kilomètre.

Le défi mental est qu’ils n’emprunteront pas l’autoroute, mais les routes secondaires entre Québec et leur destination finale, y compris un tronçon qui les verra presque isolés pendant une journée entière, sans pauses dans leur voyage et sans autres provisions que celles qu’ils transportent avec eux. Le fait de ne pouvoir compter que sur eux-mêmes et sur aucune autre ressource pendant quatre jours leur donne un avant-goût de ce que vivent quotidiennement les personnes en situation de pauvreté.

«Ce voyage est, en quelque sorte, notre façon d’illustrer certains obstacles que la pauvreté peut apporter à un parcours de vie», a déclaré Guillaume, qui voit comment la pauvreté et d’autres problèmes sociaux peuvent affecter les gens, dans le cadre de son travail de psychothérapeute à Rockland.

«La métaphore est que nous ne voyons pas l’obstacle, mais nous le sentons (le vent de face), l’instabilité de l’environnement qui exige une adaptation constante (les changements d’élévation de la route), le fait de devoir vivre dans l’isolement social (la journée sans points de ravitaillement), et les difficultés que nous vivons sans que d’autres aient à les vivre et que nous devons résoudre (les problèmes imprévus).»

Copains de vélo

Les deux amis sont devenus des compagnons de vélo grâce à la passion de Yanick pour le triathlon Iron Man. Le cyclisme fait partie du défi du triathlon et, par conséquent, il a passé les dix dernières années à développer ses capacités d’endurance à vélo.

«L’année dernière, nous avons commencé à faire du vélo ensemble, a dit Guillaume, dans l’arrière-pays.»

Leur première grande aventure à vélo a été une randonnée de 200 kilomètres aller-retour, le long du sentier Prescott-Russell et de ses connexions, de Hawkesbury à Ottawa et retour. En une journée.

«Nous l’avons fait pour le plaisir», a précisé Guillaume en souriant, tout en admettant que pour lui, continuer à pédaler s’est avéré un véritable défi physique vers la fin. Yanick a noté que Guillaume a peut-être souffert dans les derniers kilomètres, mais qu’il a refusé d’abandonner.

Après cette journée d’ultra-marathon, les deux hommes ont commencé à réfléchir à leur prochaine aventure à vélo. C’est ainsi qu’ils ont décidé de faire un voyage de quatre jours de Québec à Hawkesbury. Guillaume a suggéré de combiner cette aventure avec un projet de sensibilisation à la pauvreté dans la communauté.

«J’ai trouvé l’idée géniale, a déclaré Yanick, qui travaille en sciences de la nutrition et étudie les causes sociales qui peuvent affecter la santé publique. Je savais que je voulais faire quelque chose qui aurait un impact au niveau local.»

C’est ainsi qu’est né le projet Vent de Face/Headwind. Le duo a pris contact avec le Groupe Action, un organisme régional à but non lucratif, qui offre des programmes de soutien et d’aide aux enfants et aux familles dans le besoin.

Maintenant, dans le cadre de leur périple de 550 kilomètres, les deux hommes fourniront des comptes rendus de leurs aventures sur les sites de médias sociaux Instagram et Facebook et feront connaître leur campagne GoFundMe, afin de recueillir des fonds pour le Groupe Action. La boulangerie Le Petit Pain, située sur la rue Main au centre-ville de Hawkesbury, dispose également d’un pot à pourboires pour tous ceux qui ne sont pas en mesure de faire un don par l’intermédiaire de la page GoFundMe.

«Ce que nous voulons vraiment faire, à la fin de tout cela, a confié Guillaume, c’est aider à inspirer les gens à faire quelque chose. Nous sommes nés ici, nous avons été élevés ici, et aujourd’hui, il semble que les mêmes problèmes (sociaux) soient toujours présents. Mais si tout le monde faisait juste un petit quelque chose, cela pourrait s’améliorer. Tout commence par un peu de compassion.»

Suivez les aventures de Guillaume et Yanick sur : https://www.instagram.com/ventdeface550/, ou https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094465470538, et sur www.ventdeface.ca. Le lien GoFundMe se trouve à l’adresse https://www.gofundme.com/f/vent-de-face?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_location=DASHBOARD&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer, ou par l’intermédiaire de Groupe Action à l’adresse https://www.groupeaction.ca/donations.html.

The parks and recreation department for Alfred-Plantagenet Township has several improvement plans it hopes to make good on once funding aid is confirmed.

Manon Besner, township parks and recreation director, explained during an interview August 3 that several proposals are on hold while she waits for confirmation of funding support either from the provincial government or other sources.

Some of the improvement work on the department’s schedule for this year include trail construction at the new bike park developed as part of expansion plans at St-Denis Park in Wendover. About $60,000 is estimated for the budget on this project but the funding depends on the success of the municipality’s partnership plans for recreational improvements at the parks in Wendover and other villages.

Besner noted that expansion of the bicycle park trails in Wendover is the first step in an overall plan for enhancing recreational biking facilities throughout the township. After Wendover, the schedule calls for bicycle trail work at the community parks in Lefaivre, Alfred, and Curran.

The parks and recreation department is also looking at further work on the Elder Park addition to Lefaivre’s community park. Some equipment has already been installed at the park to make it easier for seniors, and those with some mobility problems, to get movement exercise that benefits their cardiovascular system without having to walk long distances to do so.

The department has a projected budget plan for $25,000 to do further work on expanding the Elder Part setup.

L’année prochaine, les habitants et les visiteurs de Lefaivre pourront peut-être profiter de leurs soirées d’été pour écouter de la musique sur une scène en plein air dans leur propre parc communautaire.

Le service des parcs et des loisirs du canton d’Alfred-Plantagenet attend un rapport sur une partie de la conception du projet de scène pour le parc riverain de Lefaivre.

«Nous attendons les plans d’ingénierie pour la base en ciment», a déclaré Manon Besner, directrice des parcs et des loisirs, lors d’un entretien le 3 août.

Le canton a reçu la confirmation d’une subvention d’infrastructure communautaire de 146 000 $ de la Fondation Trillium de l’Ontario, pour le projet d’une scène de spectacle.

Le plan consiste à tirer parti des côtés inclinés en demi-cuvette du parc communautaire et à les utiliser dans le cadre d’une conception d’amphithéâtre naturel pour le projet. La scène en bois de 30 pieds sur 40 pieds sera située au fond de la «zone en cuvette», avec la rivière des Outaouais en arrière-plan. Les spectateurs pourront s’asseoir sur l’herbe de la pente, ou sur leurs propres chaises, pour écouter des concerts ou même assister à des représentations théâtrales.

«Cela signifie que nous aurons plus d’événements en direct à Lefaivre», a déclaré Mme Besner.

Elle est encouragée par le succès du programme estival des Jeudis soirs de musique cette année. La marina de Lefaivre a accueilli en alternance des concerts de musiciens et chanteurs locaux, des karaokés et des soirées musicales animées par des DJ, presque tous les jeudis, si le temps le permet, dans le patio à ciel ouvert de la marina.

«C’est merveilleux, a déclaré Mme Besner. Lefaivre s’anime les jeudis soirs.»