Explore Sherbrooke in the company of a “greeter”

This text is part of the special book Plaisirs

Sherbrooke is the first city in Quebec to have set up a team of ” greeters », citizens who guide visitors through the intricacies of local history and their personal memories. Discovery of Sherbrooke in the company of a greeterto look at the city differently.

“Very early on, thanks to the Frontenac power station, factories settled here, such as the Ingersoll metallurgy plant, which became one of the biggest employers in the city in the 1910s,” explains Diane Mercier, greeter of his condition, as we walk together in the area of ​​rue Belvédère Sud, in downtown Sherbrooke. She continues her story by pointing to old textile factories paved with red tiles, witnesses of the industrial vocation of the village that is Sherbrooke from the 1850s. “And then many French Canadians arrived thanks to the railway, and industrialization grew,” she says.

A greeter, he is a volunteer citizen who “tells” his own version of his city to a passing visitor. During a two-hour walking getaway, I hear Diane Mercier, a bubbly young retiree, talk about anecdotes and memories that intertwine the small and the great history of Sherbrooke. Millennia from the (very respectable) tourist guides, the experience is akin to an intimate dialogue between two curious people who feed on the collective memory.

” Be greeter, it gives meaning to a curiosity I already had about my city, explains Diane Mercier. Each time, it creates situations filled with interesting discussions and it gives a strong sense of belonging. »

History on the trail

“In the 1950s, there were up to thirteen hotels in Sherbrooke,” continues Diane Mercier. People leaving from Boston or Portland stopped here before continuing towards Quebec or Montreal. There was so much traffic congestion that we had to completely rethink the layout of the city. As we wander along the “Côte King”, as Sherbrooke residents say, his memories come flooding back, as in front of the Bell building: “During the October crisis, in the 1970s, I remember ‘having seen the military here to monitor communications,’ she continues.

At the corner of rue Camirand, the façade of the former Cinéma de Paris, one of the city’s many murals, invites us to pause: “There were a lot of cinemas very early in Sherbrooke , says Diane Mercier. In 1902, the Lumière brothers came to present their little films at the Clément theatre”. The mural also testifies to this vitality of the seventh art; we recognize the actors Guy Jodoin, Bernard Fortin, and the director Anh Minh Truong, all from Sherbrooke.

There greeter continues the evocation of his memories, as we approach the first Canadian National station in the region. The imposing building, topped with a gabled roof, is today the headquarters of the local Siboire brewery. A few years ago, the company bought the 1890 heritage building, then abandoned and destined to decay. Today, the Estrie microbrewery produces 10,000 hectoliters a year of lager, IPA and other famous stouts, and serves impeccable “pub food”. Siboire, which shines in Montreal and wins awards around the world, reflects the brewing dynamism of the region — and promises a refreshing stop to end this guided tour.

These walks are free and are done in groups of four people maximum. Three sectors of the city are proposed for these circuits of discovery in the company of one of the ten greeters of the team: downtown, Lennoxville and Bromptonville.

This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.

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