Photo: Annie Tshiamala

As I write this, I’m sitting in the café of the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal. A light snow is falling outside. When the library closes, I’ll go back to the small apartment in the Plateau Mont-Royal that I’ve called home for several years. It’s a bit weird how little has changed.

Terence J. KERWIN
1956-2020

The well-respected and beloved Terence J. Kerwin passed away at the age of 63 at the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie (Hôpital Laval), Quebec City, on January 25, 2020. He was the son of the late John Larkin Kerwin and the late Maria Guadalupe Turcot of Quebec City.

Thursday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. – Handbuilding Pottery Workshop: During this four-week course, participants will learn to build a form from a slab of clay, add details and a glaze. The classes are held in the ceramics studio at Quebec High School, 945 Avenue Belvédère. To register contact Catherine Baboudjian at 418-683-2366, ext. 224 or [email protected].

Photo: SLC Athletics Facebook page

The CEGEP Champlain–St. Lawrence Lady Lions basketball team were victorious in their first game of 2020 when they squeezed a 67-64 win over the Dynamiques of the Cégep de Sainte-Foy, in front of their fans on Jan. 31.

The Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) will host two teams from the Maritimes this upcoming weekend at the Videotron Centre.

Say, for instance, a prime minister of Canada dispatched his (or her) personal lawyer to meet with top officials of a foreign government and threatened to withhold vital aid money unless that government made a public commitment to investigate alleged wrong-doing by the prime minister’s main political opponent.

Photo: Screenshot from Google maps

This street is named in honour of Françoise Aubut (1922-1984), an organist and music teacher who was born in Saint-Jérôme. She was the great-granddaughter of Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891), who is best known for composing the music for “O Canada,” which officially became Canada’s national anthem in 1980.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. A new killer virus has health officials around the world quaking in their boots.

Every now and then, someone comes out with a list of possible end-of-the-world, or at least end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it scenarios. The list always includes a deadly mutant virus.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons - Public Domain

Groundhog Day – Feb. 2 – hints at spring. It’s not here yet, but it soon will be. The days are getting noticeably longer, and there’s something in the air.

In Europe, it was thought to be the day when hibernating creatures began to emerge from their dens – something worth celebrating at a time of year when food was scarce and a chubby groundhog might become a nourishing stew.

Photo: CBC Radio

Irish Heritage Quebec has lost a faithful member and friend in Terry Kerwin who passed away on January 25. Terry Kerwin served as president of the Défilé de la Saint-Patrick de Québec. He also served on the Board of Trustees of St. Patrick’s Parish. He recently chaired the Board of Governors of Champlain Regional College which includes the Lennoxville Campus, the St.

Photo: Ruby Pratka

If you ever go to Dublin, extricate yourself from touristy Temple Bar. Cross one of the many bridges over the River Liffey, turn right and pass the Customs House. You should see them by then – half a dozen sculptures of a family, in tattered clothes, as thin- and weak-looking as dead trees, confronting the viewer with a haunting, hunted gaze.

Photo: Photo of book cover by Shirley Nadeau

Winston Fraser has done it again! His latest book about his family’s history of settlement in the village of Cookshire in the Eastern Townships, launched in early December 2019, is a tale of determination and continuity that dates back to thousands of years before his ancestors settled on the land, then inhabited by First Nations people.

Photo: Jonathan Letellier-Black

Winter fun activities are in full swing along the St. Charles River in Quebec City. The Société de la Rivière Saint-Charles, a non-profit organization, manages a wide-ranging program of recreational pursuits for all four seasons.

Photo: Hotel Clarendon

The Clarendon Hotel is open again, after being closed for the past 12 months. Co-owners Michel Côté and Marc-Olivier Côté were delighted to welcome their first guests, just in time for the 150th anniversary of Canada’s oldest hotel.

Photo: SLC Lions

The CEGEP Champlain–St. Lawrence Lions basketball team got back on the court on Jan. 24, when they played the Jeannois from Collège d’Alma in their first game since the holidays.

However, the match-up the Lions are anxiously awaiting is the game on Jan. 31, when they host the Dynamiques from Cégep de Sainte-Foy. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. at the Lions’ Den.