The record, 12 juin 2012, mardi 12 juin 2012

Tom Cavanagh Page 6 ¦mmmnmimmi THE RECORD The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 - ¦— ¦¦¦mi .11 Wm.Townships’ on show in Toronto Page 4 75 CENTS + TAXES PM#0040007682 Tuesday, June 12,2012 A permanent fire station in Lennoxville by 2017?By Evan LePage The borough of Lennoxville will have a permanent fire station by 2017 if the Sherbrooke Fire Prevention Service (SPC1S) has its way.Gaétan Drouin, the director of the SPCIS, said that the organization’s development plan would see a permanent fire station established in the borough at some point in the next five years.The change is one of the many elements brought up following the Sherbrooke Committee on Municipal Activities regarding the city’s risk coverage plan.It was revealed last month, when the report was presented to the city council, that a permanent fire station would not be constructed in Brompton.The borough will instead be served by the station on Prospect Street in the Plateau Saint-Joseph.The decision will contribute to substantial financial savings, but could delay the arrival of the first fire truck to the scene of a fire in the borough by between one and two minutes.Still, the SPCIS is maintaining that there will be some benefits for the borough, notably the ability for firefighters from the Prospect Street station to act as first responders in medical situations.“On the level of medical emergencies, I think it is a situation that will be very beneficial and I’m anxious to extend this service to the entire territory of Sherbrooke,” Drouin stated.“Only the sector of Brompton and the sector of Lennoxville are left, the latter which will be realized in 2017.” In total, changes to the SPCIS risk coverage plan are expected to bring $1.7 million in recurring salary savings by 2017.Good citizenship key to reducing outdoor fireplace complaints EVAN LEPAGE PEW The director of the Sherbrooke Fire Prevention Service Gaétan Drouin (left) and division chief Dany Robitaille spoke of how difficult it is for firefighters to respond to complaints about “bothersome” outdoor fires, because there is no standard and they are thus forced to make a judgement call By Evan LePage Every year, the Sherbrooke Fire Prevention Service (SPCIS) receives approximately 175 complaints regarding outdoor fireplaces and fires.In an effort to trim that number, the City of Sherbrooke has created a pamphlet to remind citizens about the safety rules for outdoor fireplaces and encourage neighbourly behaviour when making use of them.“Good citizenship is the main aim of this campaign; it’s so that citizens think about whether they will be bothering anyone before lighting a fire,” explained Dany Robitaille, the division chief of fire prevention services with the SPCIS.“We are trying to change people’s habits a little bit but it takes sensitization and cooperation on the part of the citizens of Sherbrooke to say ‘Can 1 light a fire?Yes I can, but I can’t bother my neighbours.’” According to Robitaille.of the 175 complaint calls the service receives annually, around 80 per cent are from residents who are bothered by or annoyed with the smoke or smell coming from the fire or fireplace of a neighbour.It is for this reason that the city is emphasizing the role of citizens in not CONT’n ON PAGE 3 O Richmond Legion is 85 | Kyi pages Page 2 Tuesday, June 12, 2012 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Richmond St.Pat’s Society launches book The St.Patrick’s Society of Richmond & Vicinity is celebrating its 135 anniversary with the release of a book on local Irish history.The book, Irish Settlement and National Identity in the Lower St.Francis Valley is written by Peter Southam, a retired history professor from the University of Sherbrooke and published by the Richmond St.Patrick’s Society.The book describes two hundrec years of Irish presence in the Lower St Francis Valley, a section of Quebec's Eastern Townships that surrounds the Town of Richmond.Much of the source of information for the book was provided by local families.Part I deals with Irish rural settlements and then part II focuses on the Richmond’s St-Patrick’s Society.The book is available through the society’s web site www.richmondst-pats.org at Townships Expressions at 819-566-5717 and Papeterie 2000 in Richmond.For those who would like the book by mail please send a cheque of 40$ (25$ for the Book and 15$ shipping and handling) payable to Richmond St Pat’s care of Richmond St Patrick's Society 220 Principale N.Richmond, Qc.JOB 2H0.The St.Pat’s Society and the Town of Richmond are sponsoring an official book launch on June 21 at the Richmond City Hall at 7 p.m.Peter Southam will be present to say a few words and sign books.For more information or to confirm your presence please contact Mark or Julie O'Donnell 819-826-2535 or email richmondstpat@hotmail.com.Weather Jh J / .j TODAY: A FEW SHOWERS HIGH OF 27 LOW OF 16 WEDNESDAY: PERIODS OF RAIN HIGH OF 20 LOW OF 15 THURSDAY: SUNNY HIGH OF 24 LOW OF 12 FRIDAY: MIX OF SUN AND CLOUD HIGH OF 26 LOW OF 12 SATURDAY: SUNNY HIGH OF 26 LOW OF 11 //t\ Antique Engine Show at the Old Stone House Museum Brownington, VT The Old Stone House Museum will host the annual Antique Engine Show on Friday, June 15 from 1 to 4 p.m.and on Saturday, June 16, from 8 a.m.to 4 p,m.Members of the Vermont Gas and Steam Engine Association will gather on the museum grounds and crank up their cherished antique engines.Visitors can wander around and admire these beautiful examples of human ingenuity, and talk with the interesting folks who proudly maintain them.There will also be working models of antique steam engines, miscellaneous collections of antiques, and a few unique items for sale.There is no charge to see the engine show.Saturday is the big day of the show, when there will also be a vintage postcard show, pie and ice cream will be served on the stone terrace of the Samuel Read Hall House overlooking the museum grounds, and blacksmith demonstrations in the museum’s teaching blacksmith shop beside the Alexander Twilight House.Come see the beautiful timber frame that was raised on June 9 for the new barn beside the Old Stone House.Soon the massive interlocking posts and beams will be covered by roof and siding, but now structure stands open against the background of green hay-field and blue sky.The new barn, which will be a replica of the original barn that stood in that spot from around 1836 to 1924, will house an exhibit on farming history.The Old Stone House Museum is open for tours Wednesdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m.to 5 p.m.Guided tours cost $8, or $7 for residents of Orleans County, and $5 for students.The special exhibit in the museum is “Home Made: Textile Manufacturing in the Home 1820 to 1870.” The exhibit includes fine examples of textiles from that period produced in Orleans County, including quilts, hooked and braided rugs, clothing displaying fine needlework and embroidery, and a massive working barn loom, as well as tools for producing flax and wool fiber from the Old Stone House Museum.This summer, let’s make a difference, one can at a time Consignéco is proud to partner with the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq) to offer a new way to make a difference for the environment.As part of a summer campaign in the Mont-Orford national park, starting June 15, the park will raise Quebecers’ awareness on the value of de-posit-return while supporting nature conservation.In addition to reiterating the value for the environment of returning empties, the pilot project will showcase the social potential of the refundable containers: the value of the empties returned to Consignéco collection facilities during the summer season will be matched and turned over to the Parcs Québec Fund.“For Consignéco, it is a matter of encouraging the return of more refundable cans by promoting their philanthropic potential as well as their ecological value.Each year, the deposit return system is responsible for the recovery of 325,000 tons of material.We can do even more and perform even better.This summer, we can all give our empties for a good cause,” explained Consignéco spokeswoman Ms.Pascale Demers.Throughout the summer season, distinctive recycling bins will be installed on site so that users can dispose of their precious refundable containers.This way, they will be contributing to the Parcs Québec Fund - an initiative that allows citizens to play a more direct role in maintaining the ecological integrity of our national parks.Distinctive recycling bins will thus be installed on site so that users can easily return their precious empties throughout the summer season while helping the Parcs Québec Fund, whose mission is dear to all Quebecers.“Sustainable development and protecting the environment represent the fundamental values guiding our activities.We visit our national parks to find nature in a pristine state and for the unexpected treasures it may reveal.’ We go there to admire the beauty of the landscapes.The pilot project will not only help us recover and benefit from recyclable products, but also to take part in protecting, preserving and maintaining the long term beauty and health of our national parks,” said Sépaq CEO Mr.Raymond Desjardins.Further, as part of the awareness campaign, which will run in the national park, a special team will visit the Mont-Orford national park on Saturday July 21 and Saturday August 11.This team will educate visitors on conserving the environment and on how important deposit-return is in achieving this.“Deposit-return is one of the most widespread eco-friendly gestures in Québec.Quebecers adopted this good habit many years ago.Nowadays, the salutary habit of returning empty cans and bottles has become second nature.This project shows that the benefits of deposit-return go beyond mere economics.Once again, we have an example of a simple, concrete action that can result in significant social and environmental benefits,” declared Mr.Pierre Arcand, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and Parks.Every year, 390 million refundable empties, worth nearly 21 million dollars, go un-redeemed.We could use these millions to help people in need and organizations.Consignéco provides a philanthropic kit to support groups that opt for deposit-return as a financing resource to better structure their charitable efforts.The kit is available at www.votrecollecte.ca/en.htm.Established in 2011, Consignéco is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the economic, ecological and social value of deposit-return in order to encourage people to return their redeemable beer containers to retailers.This association, the result of an agreement between Québec’s brewers and RECYC-QUÉBEC, brings together members of Québec’s brewing industry, the Coalition of Québec Beer Distributors and the Québec Microbrewery Association.www.consigneco.org cwtgetme WR9N6TST1U, PREFIER THE UDK 4NP FEEL Of A GOOPOPmilOT 0?&XK.Ben by Daniel Shelton .But The CONVENIENCE OF THESE E BOSKS ISH4RPT0BEÆP- ¦7 , IEOO ON, (3RDW5E THE LIBRARY'S LISTAHP CLICK' The book rnps ITS WAY INTO Tl E PALM Of MY e HANPS.' anp you know what THE BEST PAKT IS?NO CRANKY LIBRARIANS^ i he Record 'riewsroôfTï@shérbr'ookèi‘écord.cbhi Tuesday.June 12, 2012 Page 3 .Local N EWS In the last year, the organization has had to let go two full-time workers to try and make-up on some of the money it has been pouring into the repairs and renovations.Estrie Aide working to meet safety standards By Jesse Feith An organization that is built around a business model centred on helping others, charitable foundation Estrie Aide, is now the one that may be in need of some help itself.For the last six years, the Sherbrooke organization has been working on updating its building to bring it up to the safety standards set by the Fire Prevention Services.In the last year however, the safety agency has been coming down hard on the foundation, pressuring them into modernizing its more than 100-year-old building, in which they hold and resell all of the communities dropped off goods to those in need, as quickly as possible.“They told me very clearly that if there was to be a fire here for some reason, the firemen would run in, save the people inside and then just let the building burn down.They say it wouldn’t be worth the risk for them,” the organization’s General Director, Normand Groleau, told The Record.As of today, the company has already changed all of their fire sprinklers and emergency lights.The overall costs of the process are what are hurting the company the most.“We have to use money we would usually allocate to redistributing food to those in need on our repairs instead,” said Groleau.As of Monday, Estrie Aide has already taken ¦ out a loan of $100,000 to put towards the repairs.The biggest problem the Fire Prevention Services have with the building is the amount of matter that would be blocking the possible exits if a fire was to occur.The building itself is currently packed to capacity with all sorts of donated goods from the public.Tables, chairs, lamps, kitchen items and clothes fill its 26 000 square foot capacity from end to end.The problem, according to Groleau, is that people are simply donating too much, too quickly.“It is all done out of generosity, but at one point we simply just can’t move the stuff fast enough.We don’t have the staff to be able to do so, and we don’t have the space to just leave it lying around." On Sunday night, after many of the garage sales in the area were coming to an end, the Estrie Aide team worked until the late hours of the night, trying to rearrange all of the donations that were dropped off during the day.Due to a lack of space, many of it had to simply be stacked on top of already existing items, adding to the overall clutter that could present a problem if a tire broke out.“We have up to 200 people in here during the day, if something were to happen, I understand there could be security issues,” said Groleau.In the last year, the organization has had to let go two full-time workers to try and make-up on some of the money it has been pouring into the repairs and renovations.They’ve also cut the price drastically on a number of products.“We put things on sale simply to get them out the door, but you can imagine how that doesn’t help our money situation,’ said Groleau.JESSE FEITIl Sherbrooke's Fstrie Aide is being pressured to update its building in order to firing it up to safety standards, a process which is taking money away from its usual charity initiatives.In 2010-2011, the amount of donations went up while sales dropped by three per cent.On an average day, the building sees at least 30 cars drive to its front doors looking to give away their items, many of which Estrie Aide couldn’t possibly resell.“Every item we get, we first send back to the warehouse part of the building to be evaluated and see if we can resell it.A large part of them eventually just have to end up being brought to the dump by us, which we try to avoid because a lot of these materials could be recycled, but we don’t have the choice.The whole process is an enormous loss of energy for us, all for nothing." To raise money to put towards the re-pairs-money they would usually put towards helping others—the foundation will be putting on a fundraising golf tournament at Club de golf Longchamp this Thursday, where donations will be asked for by participating players.“We expect to raise about $15.000 with the tournament, and it’s hard to precisely evaluate, but that would still leave about $85.000 that we will need to make back up after putting it towards our safety improvements,” explained Groleau.When asked if he would consider simply moving buildings instead, Groleau said it was out of the question.What he would hope for is a project he first presented ten years ago only to be shut down: Adding an extra affiliated warehouse somewhere where the surplus goods could be held.“When I first proposed the idea I was looked at weirdly, no one thought we would reach this amount of stock, but it’s the problem we face today.” Estrie Aide has remained completely functional and open to the public so far throughout their repairs.The foundation is currently contemplating different ways of raising money for their safety improvements, which would allow them to once again concentrate on helping out Eastern Townships people in need.Good citizenship Cont’d from page 1 only ensuring that their fire is being lit and put out safely, but that they consider the impact of their fire on people around them.Part of this good citizenship also involves the decision to not use painted, varnished or treated wood or accelerants like gas, plastic or garbage, which when burned release contaminants into the atmosphere and could also smell.“We greatly recommend that neighbours talk to each other.From the moment that you have the intention of buying an outdoor fireplace I think it is important to talk about it, to mention how and how often you expect to use it,” said the director of the SPCIS, Gaétan Drouin, adding that too often people light fires just for the sake of lighting fires.“If someone has an outdoor fire every night during the entire summer season, this is excessive.But if you really do it as a family activity, an occasional event, this has more of a place.” Drouin also mentioned that it is very difficult for firefighters responding to a complaint about an outdoor fireplace to judge whether it is really very bothersome or whether perhaps a conflict exists between neighbours, another reason they really count on the collaboration of the public.“A good example for comparison is noise complaints.noise pollution.It’s very hard to judge whether it is bothersome; it takes machines and the skill to operate them,” he said, noting that firefighters are really put in a situation of making judgement calls.If the fire department asks a resident to extinguish a fire and they do not cooperate, the police can be called and a $225 ticket can be given to the guilty party however, though that recourse has not been used to date.Beyond being a good neighbour, the new pamphlet contains a lot of information on the city regulations for outdoor fireplaces.While citizens do not require permits to use these fireplaces, there are still guidelines which restrict their size and structure.Outdoor fireplaces must have closed sides with a non-combustible material or spark barriers and also need to have a chimney equipped with a spark barrier.The entire structure cannot exceed 75 square centimetres and must be placed six metres from any building, six metres from any reservoir or bottle with flammable liquids or gasses, and three metres from any property line.Among the other regulations restricting outdoor fires are that the fire must be under constant surveillance and that fires should never be lit in very windy conditions or in smoggy conditions.“In terms of safety, we re talking about having an adult, someone older than 18 always on site and ensuring that when the party or event is finished that the fire is well put out before going to bed.Even if there was no danger during the night, it's necessary because if during the night the wind picks up we don’t want any risks,” Robitaille said adding that “With popular festivals, like Saint Jean Baptiste Day which is fast approaching, organizers need to get a permit at the fire prevention services for the site.In all cases where a permit is emitted they need to respect a very strict regulation in terms of smog, in terms of wind, in terms of a number of things." The pamphlet will be made available, in both languages, in borough offices and can also be found online at sher-brooke.ca/feux.When firefighters do their 7,800 residential visits the pamphlets will also be made available to those seeking information.And of course, the hand-outs will be distributed to any resident that is the subject of, or any resident that makes, multiple complaints to the SPQS regarding outdoor fires.Citizens with concerns or complaints regarding any outdoor fire in their neighbourhood can phone the SPCIS at 819-821-5511 in non-emergency situations.Travel Vaccination Service • Hepatitis A and B • Typhoid • Update your immunization schedule Thursdays 2 p.m.to 6 p.m.Rachel Lajeunesse Sylvie Lussier Marie-Claude foi pointe Jean Cou tu Santé lifautt 147 Queen Street lamnoxville On appointment only.Other services: Blood tests Monday mornings.For more information, the team from the laboratory will he glad to help you.819-569-3601 Page'4 Tuesday-, June 12,- 2012- - newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record Townships' businesses showcased in Toronto EVAN LEPAGE "ffîsxKjm est ici