Author name: Tempo Publications

Leah Curley, LJI Reporter

Some people are fortunate enough to earn their living doing what they love. Cam and Helen Brown did one better, building their passions into a successful business, now in the hands of the next generation.
“We bought the building at the top of England Hill on August 15, 1983, and opened two weeks later,” says Cam Brown, an avid antique dealer. “We couldn’t afford to have it just sit there.” Helen decided the new store should also reflect her love for Christmas treasures. With baubles, candles, tableware – not to mention the famous (infamous?) fudge counter – it was the holidays year-round at Camlen, making it a must-see destination in Knowlton. And it still is. Because Camlen has been evolving and refreshing its offering ever since.
Evolution starts early. Cam and Helen had done a brisk antique business in Montreal, selling old Quebec pine and pieces shipped over from England. But not long after the Knowlton opening, the supply of Quebec product began to dry up. Cam searched farther afield and soon containers were arriving from Latvia, Russia and China.
Meanwhile, the Browns began crafting reclaimed wood into items like armoires deep enough to house the chunky TVs of the day, and sturdy bookshelves.
Where’s the fudge? But it was the Browns’ son Greg who really instigated the move into furniture making. Daughter Amy began managing production. And in 2003 the family opened the Camlen factory on Victoria. Soon Camlen was a full-service wood furnishings enterprise. Solid wood furniture, cabinetry and more, was beautifully styled and quality crafted, every piece customizable. “We keep stock ready to complete, according to the customer’s preference, like colour and finish,” Greg explains.
Christmas ornaments disappeared. Sadly, so did the fudge. But the store still carried a wide array of giftware and décor items. And more was to come. Because Greg was carefully building partnerships with other quality makers, expanding Camlen’s offering to include customizable upholstered furniture, bench-made in Ontario, and mattresses made locally. Now, with new partners and suppliers, there are beautiful bed linens, floor and window coverings, lighting accessories, quartz countertops… and an in-house designer to help you sort through it all.
It’s more than the store. Today’s Camlen is one of the region’s premier home décor resources. And it’s not just for homeowners. Camlen has been involved in commercial work since they began making furniture. They also sell retail throughout Canada and in the USA. “Our retailers have been very loyal,” Greg says. In fact, the vast majority of Camlen’s clients have been long term, something that speaks to the quality of the product, the service and the relationship.
“Proudly built for you to proudly own.” Greg is now president of Camlen and sister Amy is chief of operations, having bought their parents out of the business two years ago. Sister Jessica, a local real estate agent, also contributes by referring clients. The larger Camlen “family” includes 20 employees, four of them carpenters, as well as four subcontractors.
“We have been fortunate to work on many great projects, some large, some small,” Greg continues. But they take pride in them all, as they do in every piece that comes out of Camlen.

John Griffin, LJI Reporter

IGA Knowlton is getting a major makeover. A new generation of longtime Gazaille family owners and outside investors, a major $1-million-plus cash injection, four sleek new self-service check-out units, improved shelving, rejuvenated entry flooring and expanded staffing – all together bringing a fresh attitude and feel.
Think of the old IGA as a glorified depanneur, says the incoming generation. The new IGA is a supermarket!
Sabrina Royea is the branch’s service manager and, for many, the pleasant public face of the place. She says that after many years, a renovation is good for business. “It’s been business as usual. Opinion has been split 50/50 between those who love it and think the changes are a good thing and those who hate it and want everything to stay the same.”
Management’s long view is to improve the shopping experience, encourage more people to shop at IGA, and streamline the entire process to get bulging shopping bags out the door faster.
Subjectively, this regular costumer agrees with Royea. The surface area of the space has not changed. Fruit, vegetables and the meat area are where they have always been. Dry goods have shuffled rows but hardly enough to cause bafflement.
The fact you now have to steam to the far end to pick up a bottle of wine is probably a healthy thing and the colorful new wall of beer is a work of some artistic beauty. The overall impression is that owners care enough about the place and the people in it to improve the shopping experience. For them, progress at Knowlton IGA is a positive thing.

Sarah Eaman, LJI Reporter

The lack of snowfall during November and December of last year meant a less than ideal starting point for ski resorts. Nevertheless, Sutton, Owl’s Head, Orford and Bromont all opened December 1 with the usual enthusiasm and excitement for the upcoming winter.
The trend of warmer temperatures and lack of snow cover has become more and more of a reality with each ski season. This lack of natural snow has been especially apparent so far in 2024. Undeniably, what has defined this ski season is the necessity for man-made snow.
We are fortunate that many of the ski hills in the Eastern Townships have invested heavily in their snowmaking capabilities and grooming equipment; this investment has indeed been put to the test this season. The warmer temperatures and rain that we saw in January and February have continued to degrade the snow conditions and be frustrating for all winter sport devotees. This winter seems more like an eternal spring with only a few days of snow and little accumulation.
Nevertheless the slopes are open and are reporting that conditions are ‘generally good’ with a combination of natural and man-made snow with granular, bumpy and variable surface conditions. The longevity of this season will depend a lot on the temperature and on the groomers‘ ability to manage and push the snow around.

Tony Rotherham, LJI Reporter

All members of council were present; 16 residents were in the audience by Zoom or at the town hall.
Questions during the meeting covered the following points:
A public consultation and information meeting on the Town Hall Project will be held on Saturday, April 6. The time and location of the meeting will be announced in March.
Discussion of the new assessment roll continued. Several property owners noted big (up to 200%) increases in the assessed value of their properties. To help understand your new evaluation, go to the MRC website and look up the value of similar properties in your neighbourhood. An MRC technician will provide information on the increase in evaluation without a fee. A formal protest can be made with a fee of $88 for properties under $500,000. The fee is higher if the property is more valuable.
https://www.mrcbm.qc.ca/en/property-assessment-roll
Town planning: Two permits for the construction of agricultural buildings were issued in January. A minor variance was approved to permit construction of small additions to a house on Paige Rd.
Roads and infrastructure: An agreement has been made with
St. Etienne to share the maintenance costs on Summit Rd.
Environment: The provincial government plan to re-organize the collection and management of recycling materials will take a bit longer than expected. This will require the extension of contracts with local recycling collection services. The government will subsidize any additional costs.
Next Meeting: Monday, March 18, 2024

Robert Paterson, LJI Reporter

Brome County has a long and rich history. Although Quebec counties are an extinct entity – replaced by the municipalité régionale de comté, ours being MRC Brome-Missisquoi – the memory of Brome County lives on through the Brome County Historical Society. While the organization has a new public face as the Musée Lac-Brome Museum – a tourism-friendly label and facilitating highway signage – BCHS remains its legal name.
The 126-year-old institution is best known for its permanent display of a century-old school classroom, 19th-century household artifacts, and a First World War Fokker biplane, as well as temporary exhibitions such as the current Through the eyes of children: Finding Home in Brome County (the story of the British home children). But behind the scenes is a rich trove of documents, photographs, diaries and multimedia that comprise the BCHS archives.
Headed by Archivist Anne-Marie Charuest and located in the Old Courthouse on St. Paul’s Road, the archives are focused on the history of the area’s pioneer families and their personal and professional activities. The relationship between the archives and museum exhibits is closely linked, says Charuest. “A museum exhibition cannot exist without objects and artifacts, but if there is no information relating to the ‘why, where, what and do’ of the objects and artifacts, the exhibition is incomplete. That’s where the archives come in.”
Charuest was named BCHS Archivist in 2020. She holds a master’s degree in archival science from Université Laval and has more than 20 years’ experience as a professional archivist. She was joined on the team a year ago by Assistant Archivist Marc-Andre Lussier, who holds a BA in history and a certificate in archives sciences. A part-time member of the team is Tristan Caron, archivist with the Ville de Bromont,.
The archives include original pioneer papers from before Confederation, microfilms of census and church records, county records, family group charts, genealogy files and cemetery inscriptions. A highlight is thousands of glass-plate photo negatives of individuals, families, buildings and properties. Although not classified as official archives, the archivist team is also responsible for a large collection of books and newspapers. In addition, some of the Town of Brome Lake’s historical documents are also stored, under contract, on BCHS premises.
An important milestone for the archives was reached in 2018, when the BCHS archives were accredited by the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ). This is a demanding test as it sets a high bar for quality and authenticity of the materials kept, complying with professional archival standards for the origin and quality of items, as well as storage requirements and staff qualifications.
The Courthouse has had a fireproof vault for nearly 140 years, thus meeting a key storage baseline. A major project has been underway for the past five years to examine, record and store archival materials, which are carefully wrapped and stored in thoroughly waterproof protective boxes. The task at hand is mammoth, and may take 10 or more years to complete, given the more than two centuries’ worth of material to process, Charuest said.
Once items are recorded under the new system, the related information becomes public and is posted to the Archives webpage (https://www.townshipsarchives.ca/brome-county-history-society?sf_culture=en). There currently now are more than 200 entries on the website. The public is invited to search the online database and place a request for information, as outlined on the archive website. However, due to resource constraints, priority is given to the museum’s needs and to professional research projects. For example, Charuest’s team currently is preparing material for an upcoming Lac-Brome Museum exhibit on the families behind the names of various roads in the area.
While archives are shelves of seemingly dormant paper documents and photo plates, they provide an invaluable window on our forefathers’ lives, Charuest says. “Knowing who lived before us not only gives a brighter perspective on who we are now, but also offers answers to how they managed their destiny and what they did with the natural resources,” she says. “Looking through the archives, we realize our ancestors probably experienced the same positive and negative situations as us but had other ways to deal with them. It gives us a sense of humility and respect.”

Robert Paterson, LJI Reporter

On Monday, April 8, we will experience a total eclipse of the sun. The last time we were so fortunate to witness one here was on
July 20, 1963. The next will be in 180 years.
Brome Lake is on a very narrow track on the surface of the earth, where the April 8 total eclipse will be visible. A total solar eclipse is a rare event, occurring somewhere on earth every 18 months on average, yet it recurs at any given location only every couple of hundred years. 
The moon will start covering up the sun at 2:15 pm. The sky will get progressively darker until “Totality” occurs at 3:27 p.m. Totality will only last until 3:30 p.m. Then, the sun will begin to emerge from behind the moon. The eclipse will all be over at
4:37 p.m.. This is what the stages will look like.
Staring at the sun during the time outside of Totality can damage your sight. You must wear suitable eye protection. Use only ISO-certified-safe solar eclipse glasses and viewers, and keep them on while the sun is not yet fully eclipsed. Once the sky suddenly turns dark and the solar corona appears, you can take off your eclipse glasses or viewers to look at the sun’s amazing corona. 
At the time of Totality during a solar eclipse the world goes pitch black. Ancient peoples feared that this presaged terrible events in the future. No wonder learning how to predict such events drove the early science of astronomy. It is not only humans that are affected. If a total eclipse occurs in the summer, flowers close as if at night. Birds settle and may fall asleep when the light returns and nature wakes up again.
This article was produced with help from Paul Luc Girard, whose passion for astronomy resulted from his witnessing the 1963 eclipse as a boy.
Here is an excellent Montreal-based site with much more information about what is happening. It also tells you where to buy solar glasses and how to watch the sun safely.
https://www.eclipsequebec.ca/observer-de-maniere-securitaire

Francine Bastien, LJI Reporter

‘Affordable’ housing dominates the council meeting
Around forty people attended this session chaired by Mayor Richard Burcombe and in the presence of five councillors, the general manager, and the clerk.
Known for a long time and although it was not on the agenda, the issue of so-called ‘affordable’ housing in Brome Lake has attracted attention. It was a question from Benoît Laliberté, the entrepreneur of ‘Jardins de Lac-Brome’ (opposite the IGA) who got the ball rolling. His project called for 10 buildings of 12 housing units each. Bylaws allow eight dwellings per building in this location. He already built one building of 12 units with a permit allowing for eight. He filed a request with the town to make an exception (PPCMOI). The CCU and council refused this request. In total, the project would have included 50% more housing than permitted. Added to this are environmental constraints – wetlands on part of the lot – and lack of parking spaces. The contractor initiated a lawsuit against the town.
The future of the former Knowlton House residence (now Excelsoins) was then raised. To a speaker who claimed that the building was for sale, General Manager Gilbert Arel gave a categorical no and declared that the owners were “working with the town to improve the situation.” Could TBL use its pre-emption right to acquire the building and turn it into ‘affordable’ housing? The building is being renovated, replied the mayor.
At the same time, a citizen proposed to the Town to solicit wealthy residents of Brome Lake, and, in exchange for tax reductions for example, to contribute funds to the town in order to purchase properties, through a non-profit organization and make them available to build ‘affordable’ housing. An idea with which the mayor said he agreed.
Administration – TBL will guarantee a $150,000 loan from the Brome-Missisquoi MRC to the Lac-Brome Theatre. These funds must be used for the technical upgrade of the theatre as planned in its new action plan.
Bylaws – A public consultation will take place in March to discuss changes to zoning by-law 596 on warehouses as well as by-law 134 concerning minor exemptions in flood zones.
Leisure, culture and community life – Grant of $10,000 to the Knowlton Clinic to help maintain its services in 2024.
Next session: Monday March 4, 7 p.m. at CLB.

Robert Paterson, LJI Reporter

Quebec has the lowest residential electricity rates in North America. There are ways you can cut those prices even further. Hydro-Quebec offers two plans. The first, called Winter Credit, asks the householder to reduce demand on specific days during peak times. The second, for those who are more comfortable with electronics, is a Smart Home system, Hydro-Quebec calls Hilo, that enables a fine control of not only heating but of all power use in the home.
First the Winter Credit, which can save you several hundred dollars a winter season. Hydro-Quebec will send you a notice the day before a peak event asking you to reduce your demand between
6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and/or 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. In practice, this means reducing your heat temperature and not cooking or doing laundry during these periods.
The details for joining Winter Credit are found on the billing section of your Hydro-Quebec online account.
More complex to set up, but easier to maintain, is the Hilo program. Hilo is a computer-controlled service that helps to reduce demand during peak periods of the day by lowering the thermostats that control baseboard heaters. Here you install an electronic switch that can connect to many devices and also electronic thermostats. These are connected to a phone app that enables you to control heating at any time from any place.  Once you sign up and chose your package, Hydro-Quebec will send a technician with all the equipment to set you up. In many cases there is a subsidy for this installation.
With Hilo you have direct and precise control of your electricity use. With this control, you can reduce your consumption without reducing your comfort. Hilo also offers “Challenge Days” to reduce peak load. These offer direct savings of about $140 a year like Winter Credit.
You can explore this further and sign up here:
https://www.hiloenergie.com/en-ca/our-service/

Tempo Publications

Patricia Lavoie, LJI Reporter

ArtLab 341. February 1st, 5 p.m. More than one hundred and thirty people were drawn to a casual bilingual meet and greet hosted by a township newcomer.
Jennifer Peters was looking for friendship and connection here and she discovered a community. After she posted an invitation to ‘Nice to meet you – Enchanté’ on Knowlton.com, one hundred and two people RSVP’d. Several more just showed up. A tremendous response. Not just newcomers but longer term residents as well, looking for new social connections. The food and drink ‘potlucked’ by the attendees was so overwhelming the buffet table had to be doubled in size. More than twenty local businesses donated door prizes! Several people mentioned to her that “this is what we need.” The event obviously struck a chord.
Ms. Peters grew up in Yorkton Saskatchewan and worked in Alberta and B.C. before settling in Montreal. Travelling is in her DNA. Her various itineraries have included China, India, Mexico, the U.K., Morocco, Portugal, Germany and Spain to name a few. She has been an event planner, winery manager and owner of a furniture store where she lived out her creative design passions. She is also writing a series of children’s books.
When planning ‘Nice to Meet You – Enchanté’ her objective was to encourage people to step away from their screens, to leave their isolated bubbles and get to know their neighbours. No particular demographic was targeted. And every age group showed up.
In order to promote conversation and allow attendees to find people of similar interests, each person was asked to choose a lapel tag, as an icebreaker. Ten different icons e.g. leaves (nature, ecology), books, animals, musical notes, sports etc. replaced names. In fact a few sub-groups revolving around these various pursuits and pastimes may evolve from this first event.
It has been well-documented that in-person socializing has been in decline for several years. Video-conferencing reigns supreme from business meetings to book clubs. The challenging confinement of the COVID pandemic was a great contributor to remote digital socializing. And the trend has persisted. Is it time for a change? Ms. Peters is a strong proponent of same.
Ms. Peters saw an opportunity to bring new connections to members of our community. ‘Nice to Meet You – Enchanté’ may be the spark that inspires interest in other communities as well.
Friendship. Opportunity. Community. Connection. By any measure the event was a great success.
For more information: thejenniferpeters.com