Printer-friendly versionHOMETOWN HERITAGE ESSAY CONTEST
The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network is always on the lookout for hometown history. We offer students in primary levels 4, 5 and 6 cash prizes for the best true tales about remarkable people, events and traditions from Quebec’s past.
Your Mission:
Write a brief story in English about one of the following topics:
--a real woman or man from history who was important to your community. This person might be an early pioneer or inventor, a scientist, a scholar or an artist, a teacher, an accomplished athlete or even a local hero ― the choice is up to you. Tell about your subject’s life and his or her most memorable achievements.
--a significant historical event that took place in your neighbourhood, town, village or region. Tell what happened, when it happened, and how it affected the people living in your community. Stories should mention at least one real-life person from history who took part in the event.
--a special custom, festival, dance or other tradition that takes place in your community each year. What are its origins? When does it take place? Why is it an important part of your hometown heritage?
Tips on creating your Hometown Heritage story
Step 1: Brainstorm
Start with a classroom talk about local history and geography. Share stories of the past that you’ve learned from your parents and grandparents. The names of local waterways, hills or mountains, parks and other landmarks often signify important events or persons from local history. Why not arrange to visit a museum or have someone from a local heritage group speak to your class? Begin a list of possible Hometown Heritage subjects.
Step 2: Research
Pick a subject and gather information. Knowledge about local history is available through historical societies and local museums, as well as libraries and some Internet websites. Local municipal offices can also help answer questions. Write down dates, names and important facts about your chosen subject in a journal or exercise book.
Step 3: Write
Now that you’ve learned about your Hometown Heritage subject, use your own words to tell the story. List the parts of the story you think are most important and use it to organize your sentences and paragraphs. Be sure to show the first draft to your teacher. Your finished story should be a pleasure to read, so make sure to correct all grammar and spelling mistakes.
Send your entries to:
Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network
400-257 Queen Street
Sherbrooke (Lennoxville), Quebec
J1M 1K7
Contest Rules
Prizes
First-place prize is $150. Second-place prize is $100. Third-place prize is $50. The winning stories will appear in Quebec Heritage News magazine and on QAHN’s website.
Criteria
Each entry will be judged according to content, organization, originality, grammar and overall clarity of writing.
Format and Length
All submissions must be neatly handwritten in ink or typed, and contain between 200 and 250 words.
Entry deadline
The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2012.
Contact information
Each entry must contain the name and grade level of the student, the name of the school and the class teacher, as well as the school telephone number and mailing address.
2011 HOMETOWN HERITAGE ESSAY CONTEST RESULTS:
We were just delighted here at QAHN to receive 153 entries from across the province for our annual heritage writing contest. This is the most, by far, of samples of students' writing that we have ever had submitted for this competition.
Our first prize winner is Carley Grinfeld, Grade 6, Royal Vale Academy in Montreal for “Sugaring Off.” Second place goes to Mathilde Bernard, Grade 6, Riverside Regional Elementary, Jonquière, for “Little White House.” Third is James Logan Young,
Grade 6, St. Vincent School, Ste-Foy, for “La Bolduc.” These three fine examples of student writing on heritage themes are reproduced here in this issue.
However, as we had so many good entries from which to choose, we'd like to make two Honorable Mentions: Karl Szabo, Grade 6, St.Vincent Elementary, Ste Foy, for “The Quebec Bridge,” and Guillaume Mercier-Lacombe, Grade 4, Cedar Street School, Beloeil, for “Camping Laliberté.” We would like to thank all the teachers who encouraged their students to participate in this contest.
We appreciate the kind letters that they enclosed with the class submissions. It is always very rewarding for us here at QAHN to know that there is so much interest in our projects.
The following are the winners of the 2011 QAHN Hometown Heritage Essay Contest:
1st Prize:
"Sugaring Off: A Quebec Tradition," by Carley Grinfeld**
Did you know that maple syrup is the oldest agricultural product in Quebec? It all began with the native Indians who called it “Sweet Water.” When spring returned and the maple sap was running the Indians offered the boiled thickened syrup as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit. “Sugaring off” was largely a woman’s function in Iroquois communities. The men cut notches into tree trunks and small wooden troughs were stuck into the bark. In the early stages of European colonization the natives showed the arriving colonists how to tap the trunks of maple trees during the early spring. By 1680, European settlers were involved in harvesting maple products. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, processed maple sap was a major source of sweetener. Maple “sugaring off” parties began to operate near sugar bushes and houses. In 1800 it was still widely used. The produce of maple syrup had an added benefit of getting extra income.
The vast majority of maple syrup comes from Quebec. The province is the world’s largest producer with about 75% of the world production totaling 24,660,000 litres. Production in Quebec is controlled by the government. Nowadays the production is very different form the days of gathering the sap on a horse-drawn sleigh and boiling the sap in pans over a wood fire. “Sugaring-off” time is that brief space between winter and spring when the snow starts to melt and sap begins to flow in the maple groves. Despite the technological advances in farming techniques production of the maple syrup remains largely a “family operation” essentially unchanged from its traditional past.
Today a Quebec tradition is for families or groups to go to a “sugar shack” or more commonly known as a “Cabanes à Sucre” where you can taste the delicious syrup on clean snow. It is a wonderful and traditional activity. There are numerous sugar shacks located all over Quebec.
**Carley Grinfeld is a Grade 4 student at Royal Vale Elementary School in Montreal.
2nd Prize:
"The Little White House," by Mathilde Bernard**
The city of Saguenay, district of Chicoutimi and more particularly the Bassin neighbourhood, was heavily hit by a series of flash floods on July 19 and 20, 1996. In the end, 488 homes were destroyed and 1,230 damaged. But one stands firm in the midst of Chicoutimi River’s furious flow: “The Little White House.”
The Little White House, located at 441 Gédèon Street, was built in 1890 by Elzéard Gagnon in one of the first neighbourhoods of Chicoutimi. The house was built with big wooded beams and it is two stories high.
The house had several owners but when the 1996 flood happened it was owned by Jeanne d’Arc Lavoie Genest, who was living there since 1938. In 1949, the house was flooded for the first time and was heavily damaged. Miss Genest’s husband decided to solidify the foundation of his house by raising the building on higher concrete foundation. When the second flood happened in 1996, this small centennial home was able to resist the force of the water. Images of The Little White House standing in the furious waters were showed around the world by the media.
This home became a symbol of resistance, courage and determination for Saguenay’s population. Sometime after the flood, the city laid out a park in the Bassin neighbourhood with the house standing in its centre. In 2005, The Little White House became a museum telling its story and the catastrophe that has happened in Saguenay. Over the years, it has become a major tourist attraction in Saguenay and thousands of people come here to see this symbol of strength. The Little White House is here to stay.
**Mathilde Bernard is a Grade 6 student at Riverside Regional Elementary School, Jonquière.
3rd Prize:
"La Bolduc," by James Logan**
One rainy day, a young boy named Derrick and his grandma were listening to old records. After many slow country songs, he asked his grandma if she had anything more lively. She dug out an old dusty record and told him that she was her favourite singer years ago, and that his grandma knew all about La Bolduc’s life story. She then went on to tell him about
her.
Though everyone knew her as La Bolduc, her real name wasMary RoseAnna Travers. She was born on June 4th, 1894 in Newport, near Gaspé, in Quebec. She came from a very poor family but her Irish father taught her to play fiddle, accordion, harmonica, spoons and the Jew’s harp. She learned jigs and folks songs by memory.
She moved to Montreal at the age of thirteen. Then, she got married to Édouard Bolduc in 1914. In 1927, her career took off when one of her friends asked her to replace a singer in a show. The audience loved her and she was soon known as La Bolduc. She composed her own style of songs which were humorous and lively. Her songs brought hope to the people in the years of the Depression. Her career only lasted eleven years but she recorded about one hundred songs. Some of her records were big hits. Many people called her “The Queen of Canadian Folksingers.” Sadly, she died at the age of forty-six.
Now, Derrick really wanted to hear La Bolduc sing.
**James Logan is a Grade 6 student at St. Vincent School, Ste-Foy.
*****
NEW IN 2012!!
1ST ANNUAL HERITAGE PHOTO CONTEST!
Open to High School Students across Quebec!
QAHN is pleased to announce that it is launching a Heritage Photo Contest. This contest is open to all students enrolled in English-language high schools in the province of Quebec.
CONTEST RULES:
1. Photos should fall under one of the following broad categories: built heritage; cultural heritage; natural heritage; or family heritage;
2. Photos must be submitted in digital format, in colour or black and white, and must have a minimum size of 5 X 7 and a minimum resolution of 300 dpi or better;
3. Each photo must be accompanied by the following:
• the name of the student;
• the grade of the student;
• the name of the teacher;
• the name, address and telephone number of the high school;
• the title of the photo;
• the date the photo was taken;
• the category of heritage being represented;
• and a 100 to 150 word description of the subject matter and why it constitutes “heritage.”
4. Participants may submit up to a maximum of three (3) photos each;
5. Submissions may be submitted by email to: home@qahn.org. The date on which the email was sent will be considered the date of submission. Submissions (on CD) may also be sent by regular mail to: QAHN, 400-257 Queen, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1K7. For entries received by regular mail, the postmark will be considered the date of submission.
6. All submissions will be judged according to content, composition, originality, and technical merit (for the photography), and content, grammar and quality of writing (for the photo description).
PRIZES:
1st Prize: $150; 2nd Prize: $100; 3rd Prize: $50.
The three winning entries will also be published in Quebec Heritage News, the quarterly magazine of the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network, as well as on www.QAHN.org.
DEADLINE:
The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on the last business day in April. For more information, contact QAHN at: home@qahn.org, or at: (819) 564-9595 or toll free at: 1 (877) 964-0409.