ST. PAUL - A small celebration took place on Wednesday evening at the ACFA Régionale de Saint-Paul office in honour of an inter-generational banner project that took place over the past year.
In March of 2023, banners created by several francophone families were hanging along St. Paul's main street in honour of Francophonie month. Since then, a video was created by Virginie and Roger Dallaire to acknowledge and document the work that was done.
The 15-minute video was shown to guests on Wednesday evening.
The banner project saw families come together to create unique artwork, inspired by a specific verb or action word. Different generations worked together to create the finished products, under the direction and guidance of local artist Herman Poulin.
A brochure to memorialize the project was also created and handed out on Wednesday night, featuring the families who took part in the project, and describing why each family chose their specific verb and how they chose to portray the word.
Words such as "jouer" [playing], "honorer" [honour], and cultiver [cultivate], were chosen by families, and colourful banners were created.
Ernest Piquette, a former president of ACFA Régionale de Saint-Paul, commended Poulin for bringing out the talents in peopleof all ages. He acknowledged Poulin for also sharing his own talents with the community, so freely.
And while the banner project is now officially wrapped up, work to acknowledge the impact that the francophone community has had on the St. Paul and surroundings areas is not done yet.
In June 2023, Poulin helped guide students on a tour of St. Paul, visiting several monuments that have been created to honour past residents and the various cultures that have called the region home. As one of the tours wrapped up, Poulin recalled how a young boy approached him and asked him if there was a monument to honour francophone people.
This question sparked an idea, and since then, work has been taking place to create a large monument that will pay tribute to the countless French-Canadians who have lived in St. Paul - and surrounding communities such as St. Vincent, Mallaig, St. Lina, and more.
A design has now been firmed up on how the monument will look, but it will take the community to come together to make it happen. Poulin noted that a location for the monument has also not yet been chosen, and those involved plan to approach the Town of St. Paul soon to discuss the specifics - and officially unveil the design of the monument.
Ideally, organizers would like the monument, which is called "Laissons nos traces," [Leave our tracks] to be located where the whole community can see it and learn from it.
