J.D. POTIÉ
Fort Coulonge Jan. 31, 2020
Over 180 people from the Ottawa Valley packed the Spruceholme Inn Conference Room in Fort Coulonge, last Friday, as the hotel hosted . . .
it’s seventh annual Lumberjack Dinner.
Titled “A Night of Memories”, MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller explained that the event was an opportunity for residents to celebrate the region’s rich heritage in the forestry industry while also bringing optimism for the future.
“You have to know where you come from to know where you’re going,” she said. “We should never forget the significant contribution of forestry because it built the Pontiac.”
Among the attendees, many were former lumberjacks and bushwhackers as well as local municipal council members.
Toller opened the event with a word of welcome by thanking everyone who attended for showing up.
She explained that she started the event alongside her best friend Wilma Bertrand – a former cook in a lumber camp – after moving to Fort Coulonge from Toronto several years ago.
She said that when she first arrived in the region, she sensed a lot of anger among locals regarding the losses of forestry jobs and resources.
“I said to myself, ‘Forestry is not dead and we will return to forestry,’” she said. “So, we need to celebrate the past because the Pontiac was the richest and largest county in Canada in 1857.”
At the end of her speech, Toller held up a photograph of her and Bertrand and said that she was grateful to have had the opportunity to befriend her before she passed away.
“Some of her recipes tonight were Wilma’s,” he said.
She explained that organizers also held a silent auction, which raised around $2,500 for the Pontiac Aqua gym project.
She added that the pool would most likely be named after Bertrand.
“I said Wilma ‘I’ve been working very hard on your pool and if everything works out, the pool will be called Wilma’s Pool,’” she said.
Toller followed up with a prayer and a moment of silence to commemorate the fallen lumber camp workers from years past.
The evening proceeded with a series of old films provided by Clayton Denault, which involved a lot of previously unseen footage of people working in lumber camps with the help of horses.
The event also included a pre-recorded testimony from a former wood worker who spoke about his experiences working on the Fort Coulonge Drive in 1974 and expressing hope for the local forestry industry.
For dinner, attendees were fed like authentic lumber camp labourers with all sorts of classic goodies, including homemade meat loaf, sliced ham, and fresh loaves of bread served family-style.
“Try to imagine that you’re back in a lumber camp,” she said.
After dinner, Louis Schryer and a slow of local musicians stepped on stage and delivered a long list of classic tunes that everyone in the house could sway and sing along to.
“The entertainment was absolutely over the top,” she said. “People were so full of emotions afterwards. They hardly took a break all night.”
