Mrs. Côté, 73, shared the memories of her life in Orleans from her youth up until the present time with a room full of curious on lookers.
«I saw Orléans in the beginning » recalls Côté.
«Before the 1940’s (Orléans) was a very small village with very few people and without any street lights. No services were available, people would burn their garbage in something like an old drum.»
Born on a dirt poor farm in Mer Bleue, the granddaughter of the first group of French Canadian pioneers to settle themselves in Orleans in 1870, Colette Côté is fascinated by the history of pioneer families.
Mrs. Côté began her presentation with the first settlers, mostly English-speaking, who came to Orléans.
They worked for years in the forest industry that would supply the timber used in the construction of British ships.
Other than the quantity and the quality of the trees found in the Orléans area, the rich pastures, stones, watercourses and the proximity to Bytown enticed missionaries and families from Saint-Jérôme and Sainte-Adèle, to make Orléans their home. Côté's ancestors were part of that group.
Not long after the arrival of these pioneers, Orléans would boast two stores, three blacksmiths, one hotel, one cheese factory, a dairyman and a baker.
The first public lighting system was also installed, made up of three lanterns placed at both ends and in the centre of the village.
And that's just a taste of Côté's experiences as a young girl living in Orleans in the pre WW2 era.
The next presentation will be by Gilles Séguin of the new Rockland Museum and the subject will be the pioneer families of Clarence-Rockland. This event will be held at 7 p.m. September 20th 2010, at the Museopark in Vanier.
