Looking back on 2019

By Gordon Lambie

A lot happens in a year. In these early days of the new year, when everyone is struggling to remember the date ends with 20 now instead of 19 and , it can be an interesting exercise to look back and remember the events and stories that made an impact both on the personal and community level.

January
Although she technically passed in the last days of 2018, The Record began 2019 by speaking to members of the Lennoxville community about their memories of Muriel Brand. Brand, a former town councillor, was remembered as a dedicated volunteer and the instigator of the community’s annual Friendship Day celebrations.
“She was totally devoted to the town,” said former Lennoxville Mayor David Price, calling Brand a “driving force” on the council who was committed to getting things done.
The big event of the month of January in Sherbrooke was the Federal Cabinet Retreat, which saw the ministers of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, as well as the Prime Minister himself, descend upon the Eastern Townships for a week long series of meetings and announcements.

February
The second month of 2019 began with the complete destruction of the John Deere dealership in Lennoxville in an early morning fire, leaving an almost unrecognizable pile of ice-encrusted charred machinery behind.
February was also a month of stories about new local approaches to important services. In Richmond, a group of churches came together to fund a new “Pastoral Support Minister,” Reverend Wayne Beamer, to work specifically with local seniors. In Sherbrooke, recently elected MNA Christine Labrie opened up her discretionary budget to a public consultation, letting members of the community decide which local causes were most deserving of additional support. In Lennoxville, representatives of the Psychology Department at Bishop’s University started a conversation with the community about how the expertise on hand at the school could be used to help offer more mental health resources to the local community.

 

See full story in the Monday, Jan. 6 edition of The Record.

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