By Matthew McCully – Life can take some interesting twists and turns. On May 3, life took 15-year-old Waterville resident Joshua Picard to the Bell Centre. It put him up on the stage and shone the spotlight on him in front of 18,000 people. He was one of four special guests invited to address the Bell Centre crowd leading up to the arrival of Michelle Obama.
Here’s how it happened.
Picard’s great aunt Helen Fortin is the Executive Director of the organization MINIBIBLIOplus powered by the Fraser Hickson, Montreal’s oldest library. The organization supports literacy programs, ensuring that books end up in the hands of children. Given the nature of Fortin’s work, First Book Canada, a collaborator of MINIBIBLIOplus and the office of Michelle Obama extended an invitation to Fortin and her staff to attend the May 3 appearance.
“We were so happy to be chosen,” Fortin said. See full story in the Tuesday, June 18 edition of The Record.
