Robert Paterson

Robert Paterson, LJI

Eastern Townships Roots is a collection of images relating to the communities that make up the Eastern Townships. It runs on Facebook and has 31,000 members. Photos of scenes and documents in the past are categorized. There are 723 images for trains; 625 for Knowlton alone and many of just about every town in the region. Images also include documents such as ads for long-gone hotels and restaurants and even school yearbooks.
Founded in 2020 by Joel Barter, the group is not political. Personal promotion and politics are banned. If you would like to know more about the history of the community, Eastern Township Roots is a great starting place.

Robert Paterson, LJI

The man who signed the document that ended the Second World War lived in Knowlton. Colonel Cosgrave represented Canada on the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri where the document was signed. Inadvertently, Cosgrave signed below the line set for Canada and so forced all the other nations to follow suit. Fortunately, the Japanese accepted the document. He signed the Allied copy correctly. He had been blinded in one eye in World War I and had trouble finding his way in the document.

Cosgrave was the Canadian signatory because, as the Canadian Military Attache to Australia, he was the most senior Canadian serviceman in Asia. He had been a Canadian diplomat in the Trade and Commerce Department between the wars. In this role, he served for a decade in Shanghai, where he became friends with a Japanese diplomat, Mamoru Shigemitsu. On this momentous day in 1945, Shigemitsu was the Japanese Foreign Minister and would sign for Japan. As Shigemitsu walked on deck, the two old friends allowed themselves a quick nod of recognition before returning to their roles. Shigemitsu had worked relentlessly in the months before Pearl Harbour to avoid war. Ironically, in 1945, he was imprisoned as a war criminal. In happier circumstances, he and Cosgrave would meet again in London in 1953 at the coronation of the Queen.

Cosgrave’s career as a diplomat was founded on his distinguished service in World War I. A graduate of the Royal Military College and McGill, Cosgrave was one of the few professional soldiers in the Canadian Army. He went to England in September 1914 as a member of the First Division. As a gunner, he was close friends with the man who later commanded all the Canadian Artillery, then Lt. Colonel “Dinky” Edward Morrison, and an experienced Gunner who had served in the Boer War with Morrison, Captain Dr. John McCrae. They shared, first of all, a tent and then lodgings on Salisbury Plain.

On May 2, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, Helmer, while walking behind their positions behind the Ypres Canal with a friend from Montreal, Owen Hague, was blown literally to pieces by a German shell. McCrae put the remains of his friend into a sack and held a committal service, from memory, for his friend. On May 3, according to Cosgrave, McCrae, shaken by this experience, wrote a poem on a scrap of paper using Cosgrave’s back as a lectern. The poem was In Flanders Fields, perhaps the best-known war poem.

Cosgrave courage was recognized all through the war and ended as a Lt. Colonel. He retired from the army in 1946 and continued his diplomatic career. On July 28, 1971, Cosgrave died at his home in Knowlton.

Robert Paterson, LJI

Present: The mayor and councillors Gagnon, Laplante, Ouvrard and Patterson. Twenty nine citizens in attendance

Of some note – Twelve sculptures were donated to the town by a resident of Brome Lake. Three more sculptures will be installed in town. This set includes Sally Kininmonth’s Horse Sculpture on the trail opposite “Tara Hill” facing the lake.

The purchase of two more generators to be placed at pumping stations was approved at a cost of $100,900.

Work was approved for maintaining sewer pipes that are more than 50 years old.

An item related to increasing the charge for the 911 service. In this case approving an increase of 52 cents in the 911 rates. Council has no say in such items but has to comply.

Two hires were approved – Marc-Antoine Groulx-Boivin to the position of sewer and aqueduct operator with start date of October 16, 2023.

Pierre Gamache for the position of mechanic/road operator with start date of October 30, 2023.

The following community grants were approved

• Action communautaire Lac-Brome: support for local

worker project: $20,000

• Brome Lake Nautical Club (My First Games Event): $600

• Gnome fairy trail: $4,500

• Lantern garden: $5,000

• Halloween at the Fairy Trail – the Witches’ Ball: $1,000

• Lac-Brome Firefighters Association (Old Betsy pump): $2,000

Questions – Recordings of questions and replies can be found on the town website: https://lacbrome.ca/en/municip…. Some concerned the old Excelsoins building on Knowlton Road. Has the town considered purchasing the land for use as low-cost housing? Has the council considered adding this property to the list of properties subject to a right of pre-emption?

Reply – The council has not discussed this case, since the owner is a private company that still maintains that they will be returning to the building at some point. The council will consider measures to buy the building, including the possible use of the right of pre-emption.

Next meeting: November 6, 2023, 7 p.m. at CLB