Holy-Blandine (Quebec)

The parish of Holy-Blandine de Rimouski is a municipality of the high-country of Neigette which amalgamated with the town of Rimouski in 2002.

History of Co.-Blandine (1881-1981)

About 1854-55, three young men of the 3rd rank of Rimouski leave to go to settle with the “mountain”, old name of Co.-Blandine. It was to exploit the forest, particularly beautiful at this place. In 1870, other families settled there to clear batches and to cultivate the ground: they are Proulx, Brisson and Soucy. In October 1881, the parish was set up canonically and received the name of Co.-Blandine.

History

The popular case

When there are people who reside at a place and which works, they have economies. Until 1938, there was no banking institution or the equivalent with Co.-Blandine.

In the history of Quebec, one knows that Mr. Alphonse Desjardins revolutionized the banking world by creating a financial co-operative: the popular cases Desjardins. It is on May 11th, 1938 that Co.-Blandine had her own co-operative.

In the beginnings, the case counted only 32 members and was located in the basement of the church.

During the fire of the church, the services of the case were given in the convent. After the rebuilding, the case had its offices in the church until 1980 or she moved at the current place.

Stations

Since there are the human ones on the ground, people seek to communicate. The system of the stations was precisely invented to make it possible to people of the whole world to be able to communicate within reasonable delays.

In the beginnings of Co.-Blandine, the stations were transported of Rimouski by the parishioners. Mr. Georges Martin and Mr. Antoine Martin dealt in turn with this drudgery. The mail was sorted by serving mission and gave to the parishioners Sunday afternoon after the mass. In 1897, one forsook this manner of distributing the mail to make place at the post office.

After, the post office often changed place. The reason of its frequent removal was that it was held in a deprived house at the beginning and sometimes while changing of postmaster, one changed house.

In the beginnings of the year 1990, the post office became a simple room of post-office boxes for people of the village, it is not now more possible of poster of the parcels starting from the office. There remain always the various break-down mechanics where a P.0. box is outside and where it is possible to buy stamps inside. However, for the largest requests, it is necessary to go down in Rimouski.

Communications

The post office could not all allow. Very often, it sometimes happened to people to learn a news from first importance too late. There was, in this century, much of new means of communicating more quickly.

The first means which led to a revolutionary surface in the world of the communications, it is the telephone. According to what one tells, the first model of telephone would have been installed between the house of the sexton and Mr. the priest. It was not as the current telephone since it was impossible to call at another place.

According to Mr. Clément Thibault, it is Mr. Hubert Fillion who would have had the first Co.-Blandine telephone in the Twenties. Little by little, people started to have telephones. However, considering the enormous costs, it often happened that the public services are the only ones which had some.

In the same years, the radio operator fact his appearance in the Québécois hearths. Co.-Blandine does not make exception in this field there. People met all at the family which had a station and listened to the radio programs.

When in 1945, television enters the hearths, it occurred the same phenomenon. The more the years passed, the more television took gigantic proportions in our lifestyle.

Today, it is with the turn of the computers, Internet, the cell phones and full with others, to make their appearance in the population blandinoise and world.

The church hall

October 13rd, 1938 was one day memorable with Co.-Blandine. It was the day of the sacerdotal silver wedding of Mr. the abbot Charles Michaud. The parishioners of Co.-Blandine gave a gift of size to him: a church hall.

April 10th, 1938, the factory yields the ground behind the presbytery for the construction of the church hall. It is understood that the room will belong to the factory.

The parishioners decided that construction was going to be done by drudgery and the materials were going to be as much as possible offerings. It is at the time of the festival of October 13rd that it was bénite by Mgr Courchesne. There be a great festival with the brass band of Rimouski like guest and a play finished the evening.

During years, this room will be useful for the meetings of all kinds. In 1948, at the time of the fire of the church, it will be used as vault while waiting for the rebuilding of this church. The more the years passed, the less people used the room. For this reason in 1978, on July 17th, one began the demolition of the building.

Economy and its structures

In all the good villages, there is a reason which makes turn the economy. Here, with Co.-Blandine, the reason departure was agriculture.

Primary :

The first colonists who came to clear the grounds first of all made an agriculture of subsistence. The ground being very broken, they had difficulty in produce. Moreover, the ground of the area of village was not very fertile. However, of people are assembled a little higher, on the double row, and the ground, although very rocky, was more fertile. The agriculture of subsistence started to become more profitable when the butter factory opened in 1898. Moreover, the advent of an agricultural cooperative in 1939 has to help with profitability.

The other means that people had to live was the building site, during the winter. The farmers went on the building sites of the area of Rimouski and could thus make a little more money by selling their agricultural productions and while working on the building site.

Secondary :

The primary economy was not the only reason to live with Co.-Blandine. One is not able to make the exact enumeration of all the building sites which were born with Co.-Blandine and the Mount-Lebel. There even was a mill with flour.

The advent which changed the village is without any doubt the butter factory. Indeed, a small butter factory at summer built in 1898, but it did not remain a long time. About the Thirties, Mr. Jerome Lebel opened of them one which was of a greater scale. People went down from Mount-Lebel to come to the butter factory from Co.-Blandine. She closed her doors when she was associated with Pasteur in 1956.

Tertiary :

The tertiary economy is the economy of the services. It is difficult to be delayed on all the economic services that the municipality with known during all these years. One saw: store general, house of pension, shoe-maker, tinman, forging mill, garage, taxi, jeweller, potter, photographer, slag, store of linen, cream-coloured soft, restaurant, bar…

Random links: