The second annual Strawberry Social hosted by the Chapeau Regionale Gallerie brought the Chapeau community together to enjoy an afternoon of local music and storytelling.

Attendees were treated to a meal of beans, bread and coleslaw cooked up by Nicole Bertrand, and strawberries and ice cream for dessert.

“This is our strawberry social, our second annual. So hopefully we’ll do it each year and showcase local musicians and feed people and bring the community together,” said Donna Gagnon, a volunteer with the gallery that made the event happen.

She was also one of a handful musicians who took to singing on the porch of the gallery, which was used as a makeshift stage to entertain the crowd as they sat in their camping chairs on the front lawn.

Helen Davis, a gallery committee member, said the event is . . .

an important fundraiser that helps the gallery pay for maintenance to its building, which was constructed in 1894 and used to be the residence for the priest of Chapeau’s landmark St. Alphonsus Church.

The parish does not charge the gallery rent, so the team that runs the community hub is also responsible for its upkeep.

“We have expanded [the building] to include a gift shop and a museum with exhibits donated by the general public here and the community,” Davis said. “Right now we are in a dire need of a new roof. It’s leaking now.”

Gillan Rutz, a local author and musician, participated by sharing stories and songs about the Ottawa Valley and the logging era. “My heritage is deeply rooted in this region, and I love sharing stories and songs that keep our traditions alive,” Rutz said. He emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage.

“I thought when I was growing up that everybody got these songs by default . . . that they came with a birth certificate or something. It wasn’t the case. They actually had to learn those songs,” Rutz explained.

Rutz has been entertaining in the Ottawa Valley and Pontiac for over 50 years and recently published a book, This Valley I Call Home, detailing his family’s history and the region’s logging legacy.

He hopes it will serve as a record of the history from the region to be passed down to future generations.

Gillan Rutz entertained the Chapeau community with a mix of historical songs and stories this Sunday at the Chapeau Regionale Gallerie for the second Strawberry Social event.

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