CALEB NICKERSON
CHAPEAU April 8, 2021
The Chapeau Agricultural Society will be upgrading their community garden this summer, thanks to a grant of $5,000 from the federal New Horizons for Seniors program. The announcement was . . .
made via Zoom, with Pontiac MP Will Amos joining several members of the community.
The money will go towards the construction of an outdoor tent, the creation of a greenhouse and also the addition of new senior-friendly garden beds.
Gene O’Brien, who helped coordinate the project, said that the idea came to her after a discussion last summer with Jérôme Sallafranque, a former president of the Chapeau Agricultural Society and community pillar. Sallafranque passed away in February.
“It was last summer that I was on one of my walks and stopped in with him, to visit him. He had been working in his garden, and we sat down on his porch and we started discussing gardening,” she said.
“From the long discussion with him about the past and the present and where we should go in the future, basically that was the seed.”
The idea of adding to the community garden is that it will allow local seniors to meet with youth and people from the community and pass on their knowledge of plants and soil.
Amos said that he was impressed with how far a relatively small grant would be going.
Jérôme’s daughter, Mariette Sallafranque, who sits on municipal council, said that this was a fitting legacy for her father.
“I’m very proud that my dad was part of this,” she said. “My dad was very involved in the community so he would be very happy to see this happening.”
