Panneau d’interprétation de la carte éconautique de la baie Missisquoi au quai de Philipsburg (Photo : Jean-Pierre Fourez)
Last year in one of my articles, I described our town in the 50’s. Now I would like to talk about it at the present time.
A lot of new families have arrived to settle here in the burg. They have bought a lot of homes left by the older generation, some of whom have gone into residences. I believe our main attractions are the Lake Champlain and our park which has been redone with new games, slides and swings. The parents bring their children there and it is a chance to gather and socialize.
Our little town is very quaint with the lake and the surrounding greenery, it makes for a perfect picture postcard. We now have a wonderful restaurant (with a cafe-terrasse) in full operation on the shores of the lake. The food is excellent and it brings in a lot of people from the surrounding cities and towns. We also have a nice « Dépanneur » on Montgomery street owned by a very nice young couple. They have a good supply of staples, newspapers and movie rentals. It just seems like the Summer brings a whole lot of people from out-of-town that come to fish, a picnic or just to sit by the lake and enjoy the view and the cool breezes. There was a big garage sale recently on the lakeshore and that brought a lot of people to the town.
There is one incident I would like to mention. I recently lost my dog and this little three year old girl came up to me to ask me where he was. I told her my dog has gone to ‘doggie heaven’. She immediately came over and hugged me and said “I’m sorry”. What a thoughtful thing to do It shows you that some of the new generation growing up have been taught thoughtfulness and friendliness. I think this is so touching coming from such a young child.
This little town where I was born is not booming like it was in the 50’s, but still has a lot of charm. Nice people reside here and it is really a great place to live.