Local history book set to hit shelves
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Posted 2 months ago
ST. CLAUDE — A new history book, entitled "The Past at a Glance" is poised to make its debut in time for this year's Christmas season. The locally published endeavour is a collection of events and anecdotes that have shaped the community of St. Claude, from its inception in 1892, to the year 2000. A companion to it, published in French, "Un Coup d'oeil sur le passé," will be launched simultaneously.
The official launch of "The Past at a Glance" will take place on Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the St. Claude Library, at a cost of $18.92.
The publication is organized year by year, and within that is organized into six main subjects: Colonization, Education, Parish and Community Life, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture and Health. Each of these categories notes important happenings in the village at that time, and important provincial, national and international events of the year. The main collection of facts in the two publications is identical, except for some anecdotes, and reproductions of a few articles published solely in English or French.
One of the contributing authors, Mgsr. Roger Bazin, relays the importance of this book for local citizens.
"We hope that these books will become a 'must' for every family in the area, past and present," Bazin states. He continues that these books are a comprehensive collection of facts from many, many sources.
Bazin notes the idea for such a compilation came to him as he was working on his first publication, "Les petits cahiers du Pere Joseph", a non-fiction book published in French, detailing the diaries of the parish's longest-serving priest, Father Joseph Radaz. The research done for that publication led to extra details about the village's history.
"The town's Community Development Corporation's Tourism and Marketing Committee was looking for a way to raise some funds, and this new history project seemed like a natural fit," notes John Quayle, another contributor to the project.
This publication is the third such historical publication of the village, with the first being "Anecdotes," penned by Lucille Bazin, for the town's centennial in 1992.
