I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter weekend. I had a memorable one celebrating with family.
On Saturday evening, we honoured my uncle Laurie MacKechnie on the occasion of his 90th birthday. A group of family members gathered at Café 349 in Shawville to toast Laurie, share memories, and celebrate him. We enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner and of course Aunt Mona brought out the kazoo for the special occasion. It was a wonderful evening in honour of a wonderful man.
Easter morning was certainly one of celebration at Wesley United Church in Beechgrove. We not only shared in the joy of Easter but we also had four young people officially confirmed in to our church family by minister Éric Hébert-Daly. Congratulations to Madyson Belland, Brodee Campbell, Liam Dowe and Caden Provost for taking this step and becoming members of the congregation. We are so proud of all of you.
Unfortunately, the weekend was also marked by heavy rains and flooding in our area. On Friday, a state of emergency was declared in our municipality and on Saturday we learned the tragic news that a washout on Bronson-Bryant Road claimed the life of a local woman. Our prayers are with the family and friends of Louise Séguin Lortie. The community is thinking of them at this devastating time.
Municipal employees and volunteers spent the weekend helping with sandbags and building a sand berm on Ferry Road. The measures being taken are reminiscent of 2017 which was the worst year of flooding in my memory. Thank you to all who have been working hard to protect our community from the rising waters. We can only hope it won’t reach the same level of destruction that it did two years ago.
Happy 98th birthday to Mary Brouse as she celebrates on April 28. Mary has been in our thoughts as she has been in hospital and suffering some health issues in recent months. We hope she is back on her feet soon. Birthday wishes are also going out to Jennifer McBane-Barr on April 29.
There will be a soup and sandwich lunch at Quyon United Church today. Looking forward to seeing everyone out for a delicious lunch.
