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Newly renovated Place Rosanne-Cohen hits a high note with seniors

Pictured is René Daigle, husband of the late councillor Rosanne Cohen, Johanne Gauvin, director of the constituency office of the MNA for Brome-Missisquoi, Isabelle Charest, and Lynda Graham, substitute mayor and councillor for district 5, celebrating the inauguration of the newly renovated Place Rosanne-Cohen. The are each holding a specially made pétanque ball.
René Daigle, husband of the late councillor Rosanne Cohen, Johanne Gauvin, director of the constituency office of the MNA for Brome-Missisquoi, Isabelle Charest, and Lynda Graham, substitute mayor and councillor for district 5, celebrating the inauguration of the newly renovated Place Rosanne-Cohen. Photo courtesy of the Town of Sutton.
Taylor McClure - CIDI - Knowlton • QC | 22-06-2022
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The Town of Sutton inaugurated the newly renovated Place Rosanne-Cohen on Monday. Place Rosanne Cohen, named after late councilor Rosanne Cohen, provides citizens with the opportunity to take part in a game of pétanque; a sport particularly enjoyed by senior residents due to its accessibility.

Originally built around ten years ago, citizens approached the municipal council to ask if they could upgrade the court to better suit their needs. Financially supported by the Municipalités amies des aînés, Place Rosanne- Cohen now has two upgraded courts, a space to socialize, and extended game time. 

“Two years ago, we were approached by the players there saying, ‘you know what town, this pétanque court needs a bit of love, it’s really starting to deteriorate a bit.’ Following that, we had a conversation internally and realized it was really worth updating and renovating our pétanque court,” said Lynda Graham, councilor and substitute mayor for the Town of Sutton. 

Graham noted that Place Rosanne-Cohen is one of the only facilities in Sutton that is particularly geared towards seniors with pétanque being a sport accessible to all ages. 

“You have a tiny little ball. You’re in teams of let’s say three people, you play against another team, you throw the ball maybe 10,15,20 feet along the court, and then each member takes it in turn to throw their much heavier metal ball with the objective of getting it as close to the little ball as possible,” explained Graham. “Essentially, the team that wins is the team that has their ball closest to it.”

The town submitted a grant application to Municipalités amies des aînés to receive financial support for the project with much success. 

“This is a program across the whole of Quebec which encourages municipalities to really look at its community through the eyes of its senior citizens. So, as a senior citizen, do you have special needs in terms of being able to walk around, to be active, and, for example, activities that you can take part in?,” mentioned Graham. 

Graham described the previous Place Rosanne-Cohen as being “pretty basic” with only one gravel made pétanque court. 

“Basically, we went back to scratch and what we have now are two courts, which means that more people are able to play. (…) We added nice benches around the courts and some nice, very low key, non-intrusive lights along the edge of the court. All of which makes it a really, really, agreeable experience,” noted Graham. 

Graham hopes that with the newly updated Place Rosanne-Cohen that more people will discover the game of pétanque. 

“This project was undertaken within the framework of Municipalités amies des aînés and at the very heart of that is the whole notion of people staying healthy as they grow older. To stay healthy as you grow older, everything indicates that a key element of that is staying active and social. (…) Anything that any municipality can do to help its seniors both now, and in the future, has to be a good thing,” emphasized Graham. 

Listen to the full interview below:

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