The French community of Plamondon are celebrating the Alberta Francophone month to the fullest with a variety of events throughout March.
On Sunday, March 10, Association Canadienne-Française de L'Alberta (L'ACFA) Regionale Plamondon-Lac La Biche celebrated La Cabane à Sucre at the Philip Menard Cultural Centre in Plamondon. Cabane á Sucre —or the sugar shack in English — is a Canadian French tradition that originated from Quebec.
To celebrate their Francophone cultural heritage, more than 100 community members gathered at the centre's hall.
Paulina Kuznetsov singing in front of a room full of audience at the Cabane a Sucre in Plamondon
The guests were welcomed by the organizers with a Sunday brunch followed by some music, dancing and singing from different members of the community.
Natasha Contant-Plamondon is the Director General of L'ACFA Regionale Plamondon-Lac La Biche and one of the main organizers of the one-day kick-off event for the specially designated Francophone month. She was very happy with the community's support and an unexpected turn out. The feedback from all the guests was amazing, she says.
"I don't think we have seen this many people in I don't know how many years. It was amazing turnout. We almost ran out of food. It was so many people so it was great. Lots of positive feedback, lots of people happy to see it come back to life," said Contant-Plamondon.
Lena Plamondon who is about to turn 92 still plays the fiddle while her son Jeremy is on the guitar
She also mentioned how impressed she was with the performances and the talent that the area has — considering Plamondon being such a small community. The area is filled with great musicians, performers and singers, says Contant-Plamondon.
"I love it, there is so much variety and so much talent in the area. It's great that we can showcase it. Even if we see some of the performances over and over again, it never gets old," she said.
Elisha Chevigny with her solo performance while in the picture below three sisters Chantal Gauthier Vaillancourt, Danielle Gauthier and Desiree Gauthier perform
After a fun-filled afternoon in the centre's hall, all the guests headed towards La Cabane á Sucre beside Plamondon's Chapel. While Annette Lemay was busy in the sugar shack heating the maple syrup, her husband Leonard Lemay poured the hot syrup over lanes of icy snow for visitors to make maple syrup toffee. It was not only popular among the children, but adults and seniors took part as well.
Another Plamondon family — Melanie, Dominic and their dad Eduard Plamondon with their performances of different instruments
While speaking with the POST towards the end of the event, Contant-Plamondon expressed how grateful she was for the support she received from the sponsors and to see all the community members enjoying the event. She hopes to see the community come together for such events again and again, and looksforward to see everyone join her for this weekend's next Franco-Plamondon event — Hockey En Fete.
The hockey event sees Francophone-based teams from across Alberta hit the Plamondon ice for a two-day tournament. The weekend features not just the hockey action, but also nightly socials with more song and dance.
Ecole Beauseajour's grade 1 and 2 students get ready for their performance of singing and dancing
"I want to send a huge thanks to all of our sponsors, we had so many sponsors. All the people who came to support us, who haven't given up hope on us. It's because of people who come to our events is what makes everything happen and we can continue to put them on," said Contant-Plamondon.
