By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
During the week, the grounds of Sutton School ring with the shouts and laughter of elementary school children. On May 11, the municipality is hoping to draw a more varied crowd.
The Sutton-Abercorn Community Development Table is organizing the second post-pandemic edition of the Fête des Générations (Generations Party) on the school grounds that day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Many families with young children know other families with young children, and many people over 60 know other people over 60, but this is an invitation to go and mingle,” said Sutton resident and organizing committee member Chantal Renaud, 39.
The event will feature a free cold buffet, board games, storytelling, arts workshops, slacklining, pickleball, skateboarding, pump track activities, activities for babies, concerts by local artists including performers from the Sutton International Fiddle Festival, kiosks with information about community services and an intergenerational barter market. In case of rain, the event will be moved inside the school; only the activities that require specific outdoor facilities, like the pumptrack, will be cancelled. The event will be free and people will be able to drop by for a few minutes or stay the whole day. Although there is no charge for the buffet, there will be a $2 charge for compostable dishes – participants are encouraged to bring dishes from home. Organizers are planning for a crowd of several hundred.
“We’re trying various things to get people talking and mixing, things that are appealing to all age groups,” said Renaud, who attended the event last year with her family and was won over by the concept. “You might be sharing a table with people you don’t know at lunch, or trading an unopened toothbrush for a puzzle, or something like that, at the barter market. The sky’s the limit!”
“If your kids are in school or daycare, you run into your kids’ [classmates] and their parents all the time, but you don’t necessarily run into other people in the village. A lot of my neighbours are seniors, and we see them regularly, but we wouldn’t necessarily invite them to our house because our house is messy with three kids and they might not feel comfortable. That’s why it’s important to have activities where different generations can meet up, like the Grace Church supper and like this event.”
Renaud said she believes it’s important for children and young parents to get the opportunity to interact with seniors, and vice versa. “So many seniors suffered from the absence of children in their lives during the pandemic. For kids, it’s important to see people older than your parents, to get the whole picture of what life is – it broadens your horizons. For my children, their grandparents don’t live close by so it’s important for them to have that contact with elders. We’ve learned a lot about Sutton [by getting to know seniors], and sometimes a lot of just general life and parenting wisdom.”
The volunteer organizing committee, CAB Sutton, Sutton School, Sutton School Parent Participation Organization, Club FADOQ Les Deux Monts, Racine Pop, Maison des jeunes Le Spot, Parc d’environnement naturel de Sutton, Jardin d’enfants de Sutton, Coop Gym Santé Sutton, CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS and the Town of Sutton have collaborated to organize the community party, which gets funding from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS (“Éclaireurs” project) and the Réseau de développement Brome-Missisquoi funded by the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon. Anyone who would like to volunteer during the event can write to fetedesgenerations.sutton@gmail.com.