Photo: Shirley Nadeau

After a months-long pause due to the pandemic, the Opéra de Québec (OdQ) is restarting its activities with a virtual gala concert on Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. to mark World Opera Day, artistic director Jean-François Lapointe announced.

Photo: Shirley Nadeau

This street is named in honour of Dr. James Douglas (1800-1886). Born in Scotland, he studied surgery in Edinburgh and London. After practising in India and Honduras, in 1824 he settled in Utica, N.Y., where he taught medicine.

At the risk of turning this space into a periodic American Politics for Dummies, after recently exploring the aberration called the Electoral College, let us turn our attention to yet another curious quirk of our neighbour’s chosen system of government – the presidential transition.

Photo: Patrick LaMontagne

On Oct. 15, Premier François Legault, Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dubé and Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda announced that little monsters across the province will be able to celebrate Halloween, although the holiday will be a bit different this year due to restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Sometimes you just want to shake someone and shout, “Wake up!”

Take, for example, the people who grumble about every COVID-19 aid package announced by the federal or provincial government. Yes, debt is being incurred that will take years, if not decades, to repay. Yes, there will be important infrastructure projects and worthwhile social programs that will not be funded because of it.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

On Oct. 20, 1870, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake, centred near Baie-Saint-Paul, was felt throughout eastern Canada and in the United States. The impact was felt as far west as Iowa and as far south as Virginia, over an area of more than a million square miles.

The Morning Chronicle provided extensive reports in the days that followed.

After the cancellation of national championships for fall sports, U Sports, the national university sports organization that oversees the four regional associations, decided on Oct. 15 to also cancel the national championships for winter sports, due to COVID-19 restrictions in place across the country.

Photo: Dominique Lavigueur

A boundary marker dating from the 1770s, known as the B.O. stone for the two letters carved on it, is missing from the Chalmers-Wesley United Church grounds.

Barbara Alice Davey MacMILLAN
1929-2020

Barbara Alice Davey MacMillan, beloved wife of the late Cameron James MacMillan, died at Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins (BMP) Hospital in Cowansville, Quebec, on Oct. 4, 2020, at the age of 91. Loved dearly by her mother Alice and father Wilfred, she was predeceased by her brother John and her sister Katherine.

Photo: Jonathan Letellier-Black

One of the more scenic hillside traverses in Quebec City now has a spectacular lookout.

City officials recently inaugurated the Belvédère de la Côte de Sillery, a project first announced two years ago. Perched on the curve of the steep road and sidewalk, the glass-fenced lookout offers what is described in a city press release as a view from “a hitherto untapped natural promontory.”

Photo: Joanie Hicks Lévesque

CONTEST ENDED on Oct. 23. See the Oct. 28 edition for the list of winners! 

Stephen Burke has decided to postpone his planned retirement as chair of the Central Québec School Board (CQSB). The change of plan is a direct result of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which compelled the Quebec government to postpone school board elections.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

October 15, 1895 – The Quebec Morning Chronicle
Excursion

The Quebec Art Company (QAC) held its annual general meeting (AGM) via Zoom on Oct. 4. The AGM is normally held in person in the spring; COVID-19 forced the postponement and the decision to hold the meeting online. Twenty members attended, including a few from distant locations such as Ottawa and Métis.

Photo: Ruby Pratka

On the Rue du Domaine in Rivière-du-Loup, perched on a steep hillside, sits a timeworn blue-grey church, inside a peeling wrought-iron fence, surrounded by gravestones bearing English names. Closer to the bottom of the hill sits a stately brick home with a wraparound veranda.