Destination Knowlton >: May 2006

David Suzuki Visits Knowlton
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Canada's foremost environmentalist, teacher and filmmaker David Suzuki was in Knowlton as part of his cross-country book signing and speaking tour. Brome Lake Books (264 Knowlton Road) with it's charming wooden decks overllooking the Mill Pond Dam and park was the perfect venue for welcoming Mr. Suzuki in warm Townshippers fashion and Saturday was a warm and sunny day and the cozy atmosphere of the bookstore was highlighted by a calm breeze and the buzzing of bees in the afternoon.

The book signing had an air of relaxed excitement as people began arriving early to have books signed and chat with David who sat a simple wooden desk at the rear of the store. David posed for pictures and spent time with everyone to chat and really made an effort to connect on some sort of personal level with everyone who was there.

One resident had actually seen David Suzuki speak 25 years before when he was in 9th grade at Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife, North-West Territories and as he had his book signed thanked David for being such an inspiration to him throughout the past quarter-century. David said lightly that there was quite a difference between Yellowknife and Knowlton! He's right about that but the encounter demonstrated how people like David Suzuki can really make an impact on people and actually change things for the better one person at a time.

Get books by David Suzuki

The evening event at Arts Knowlton was sold-out well in advance and while none of us from Destination Knowlton could get tickets it goes without saying that Mr. Suzuki will have certainly touched more people at his evening speaking engagement. Surely his message of world connection and concern with the environment will be passed on again to a new generation just as he did to one resident of Yellowknife 25 years ago who now lives in Knowlton.

David Suzuki is a scientist who has spent his life educating and fighting for the environment and the health of the planet. His CBC series "The Nature of Things" is an internationally renowned series that has brought environmental issues via documentary film into the hearts of minds of Canadians for decades. He continues his push for sustainabilty and protection of the planet and on his website offers ideas and solutions for a small planet.

Currently he invites us to join the "Nature Challenge"

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%

2. Choose an energy-efficient home and appliances

3. Don't use pesticides

4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week

5. Buy locally grown and produced food

6. Choose a fuel efficient vehicle

7. Walk, bike carpool or take transit

8. Choose a home close to work or school

9. Support alternative transportation

10. Learn more and share with others

Visit the official website of this true Canadian pioneer at DavidSuzuki.org - Official Website

Buy the David Suzuki autobiography

Rain Swells Cold Brook
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Brrrrr and humphh!

The rain caused the rivers and streams around Knowlton to reach record high levels as the rain, often heavy at times, continued into the long weekend. The Cold Brook was high on her banks flooding low yards and burying trees and trails with rushing streams.

It's starting to feel like we're living on the West Coast with the constant cloudy wet weather. The long weekend is usually a time for the official gardening season to begin but it looks more like it will be the Sump Pump festival as the waters of rivers burst banks and cause flooding.

After 10 days straight of rain in Knowlton the Coldbrook was at extremely high levels and was roaring over the Mill Pond Dam at a furious rate providing quite a spectacle. Over 45 mm of rain fell last Thursday alone and it is turning out to be one of the wettest months of May on record. While homes in the Lac Brome area saw some flooding and waterlogged lawns it was nothing like they had down the road in Cowansville and Bromont where homes were severly flooded and many families had to be evacuated.

Weekend events like the Chocolate Festival and the Antique Show at the Knowlton Academy will likely see fewer visitors as people decided to stay home during these cold days, as temperatures have been consistantly below normal this month. The usually busy streets in Knowlton were quiet as tourists huddled under umbrellas and shuffled about rather glumly.

Downtown Knowlton was unusually quiet this weekend with the most noise coming from the Mill Pond Dam and the rushing waters tumbling down the rocky riverbeds. Some trees were knocked over as the roots became unstable with the high rushing waters. The golf courses were flooded and only the bravest, or craziest, of duffers could be seen out hitting a few balls under the pounding rain. While there was some hours without rain it is still cold and wet enough to make everyone here in the Eastern Townships feel a bit blue.

There were some residents who did not seem to mind the sloppy cold conditions and that was the local duck population! Ducks were seen playing in huge puddles on the fields that are usually dry and dusty so not everyones feathers were ruffled the wrong way.

Hopefully by next week things will warm up and dry out so we can get into the gardens and get to work on preparing for summer!

Fessenden: Knowlton's Unsung Hero
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DJ Fess in his Old School DJ Booth circa 1911

The Brome County Historical Society museum, located at 130 Lakeside in Knowlton, has set up a new display booth marking the 100th anniversary of the world's first radio broadcast. If you don't know why there would be such an honoring of this milestone it is because that in a small house across the street from the museum in the year 1866 Reginald Fessenden was born.

Fessenden's name is not widely known he definately should be recognized as a pioneer in communications. He literally became the world's very first DJ when, on Christmas Eve, 1906 he played a recording of Handel's "Largo", then read some passages from the Good Book, then played his violin before wishing a Merry Christmas to sailors who were listening on United Fruit Company ships.

He had transmitted the first voice message in 1900 and after studying electrical engineering and working with Thomas Edison as a chemist he went on to patent more than 500 ideas and devices!

Knowlton is proud to be the birthplace of the father of AM radio and it's good to know that the whole DJ Culture that is so popular with kids these days was actually started right here by one of our own...the original DJ Fess!!

Fessenden is also credited, among other things, for the creation of the first sonar, the early technology for beepers and pagers, the incredibly usefull garage door openers and even the tracer bullet! He was inducted into the Canadian Telecommunications Hall of Fame in 2005.

Get the book on the life and times of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden

Visit the website of the Museum of the Brome County Historical Society

Shawn Phillips Visits Knowlton
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Knowlton was treated to a rare treat when Shawn Phillips, a major icon of underground acoustic/folk/rock/experimental music, with over 18 albums released played an intimate concert at Frosty's Pub in downtown Knowlton last Saturday night.

With only 100 tickets sold in the small club by the Mill Pond it was a perfect venue for such a singer-songwriter. Everyone had a great seat to witness Shawn go through alot of new material and some of his awesome back catalog. Many of the local Knowlton locals seemed oblivious to the magical music that Shawn emitted from his guitar and didn't seem to appreciate the fact that one of the great underground musicians of the world was in front of them in such a small town...A few of these local drunken knowlton trash cretins laughed and talked loudly over Shawns music, which was accompanied by a cellist, the real fans of Shawn's music tried to appreciate the once in a lifetime moment.

Knowlton seems to have no shortage of rather sorry looking "ladies" who seem to spend their weekends drinking too much and listening to their own wisecracks...while this is behaviour we mostly thought had gone away with high school there seems to be a side of Knowlton that is still "workin' for the weekend"!

Shawn, however, was the highlight and shared his new songs and some classics. At 63 he is a bundle of energy and used a classical guitar, a steel string and then ripped intoi some meandering songs on a double necked electric turning this Knowlton night into something incredible. He joked between songs and shared stories of his past and current projects making us feel like we were somehow witnessing deep into a wild underground archive of musical talent.
Some of his songs were meandering and progressive in nature and his vocal abilities have ripened and smoothed with age...there were tears in many eyes as he shared his more well known songs.

See & Buy the Shawn Phillips Collection of over 18 Albums

Thank-you Shawn for a unforgettable evening of acoustic music by the river!

The Sounds Of Spring in Knowlton
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Noisy Bikers stir up dust and blood pressure in pub parking lot

Now that spring is here we can open our windows and let the sweet smells of renewal and growth drift in from the hills! Ahhh...nothing like the sounds of the finches and robins coming back to delight us with their songs. We can finally take down the storm windows and let the warm breezes drift into our homes...well maybe not!

Once again the sounds of excessively loud and inconsiderate motorcyclists casts a dark shadow on Knowlton.

While the warm weather makes us think of our backyard bar-b-ques and dips in the pool and curling up with a nice book in the back yard we also have to deal with one of the worst aspects of living in Knowlton during the summer: loud motorcycles.

Any sunny Saturday and Sunday in Knowlton you can see these leather clad weekend rebels on incredibly loud motorcycles kicking up an awefull racket in Knowlton. People are wincing and plugging their ears as they try and walk near the Mill Pond because these "wannabes" think that dressing up with a Harley Davidson bandana and having a loud motorbike is somehow the latest trend. The streets of Knowlton become less like a quaint hometown and more like a raceway as the bikers roar through town as if they were the reincarnation of Fonzie himself!

The SQ and city hall in Knowlton seem to do nothing about these groups of incredibly noisy machines! Go to the corner of Lakeside and Knowlton Road and you will be unable to have a conversation or even hear yourself think because of these morons on their bikes. The Knowlton Pub parking lot fills up with bikers who stop in for a beer and to pose with the other rebels without a cause.

These noisey hasbeens are a real blight on Knowlton and the fact that Knowlton on the weekend is becoming less and less family oriented is a shame.

If you come to Knowlton be sure to pack your earplugs because the sounds of summer in Knowlton consist of a whole lot of noise! Quebec seems to be the only place where having loud motorcycles and posing in biker clothes is still fashionable! Instead of addressing the problem the police department & Knowlton officials seem content to just let the town be taken over by these clowns. You'd think that with all the strict rules regarding emmissions and noise bylaws that these bikes would be outlawed but instead they pollute our town every weekend so even if we are down at the beach we get to hear them!

Yep...that's the sounds of summer in Knowlton.

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