{"id":157210,"date":"2023-06-01T12:14:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T16:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=157210"},"modified":"2023-06-01T12:30:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T16:30:02","slug":"inauguration-of-pauline-paul-softball-field-highlights-the-importance-of-volunteerism-to-sutton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/inauguration-of-pauline-paul-softball-field-highlights-the-importance-of-volunteerism-to-sutton\/","title":{"rendered":"Inauguration of “Pauline Paul Softball Field” highlights the importance of volunteerism to Sutton"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of Monday, Sutton\u2019s softball field at Goyette-Hill Park will forever be known as the \u201cPauline Paul Softball Field,\u201d named after Sutton resident and long-time volunteer Pauline Paul. During a time where volunteerism is declining, the Town of Sutton deemed the recognition as an important step in encouraging and inspiring others to get involved in their communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of discussion at the municipal level, Mayor Robert Beno\u00eet said that it was finally time to name Sutton\u2019s softball field in her honour as it\u2019s people like Paul that help keep the village alive and better meet the needs of citizens, particularly youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was not for volunteer work, this town wouldn\u2019t be as productive as we are right now I don\u2019t think,\u201d said Beno\u00eet in an interview with CIDI at Monday\u2019s inauguration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last year, Beno\u00eet highlighted the town\u2019s strategy to better meet the needs of youth in Sutton on numerous occasions, whom have expressed to the municipality that there is not enough activities offered to young adolescents, according to Beno\u00eet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the recognition of not only her voluntary work, but her dedication to the village. When you look at the situation right now with young kids and teenagers, we need to have those kinds of dedications from people, volunteering, to manage. We don\u2019t have the budget, we don\u2019t have the manpower to do it, we rely a lot on voluntarily work. She\u2019s a model for it,\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>highlighted Beno\u00eet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul is credited by many with having developed and popularized softball in Sutton. Paul volunteered her time to organize softball activities for youth in the village for 30 years, from around 1976 to 2006. She coached hundreds of players, managed up to 18 softball teams, and remains an influential figure in the lives of the youth that she coached over those three decades. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked why it was important for people to try and get involved in their communities, Paul responded: \u00a0<\/span>\u201cIf you don\u2019t, who will? You start something and then maybe other people will follow what you are doing. I think that it\u2019s very important that we give some time of ourselves,\u201d she emphasized.<\/p>\n

Seeing some of the youth she coached take over and continue to organize softball in Sutton is a reflection of the passion that can be instilled in youth for volunteerism, highlighted Paul. \u00a0<\/span>\u201cI saw some kids that I taught taking this over. It\u2019s very nice of those kids that have taken over. The kids have grown up, but they\u2019re doing it just the same,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sutton fire chief, Donald Mirault, was one of many youth coached by Paul. As someone that grew up alongside Paul, he was the best friend of her son, he said that she was there for the youth from beginning to end. \u201cIf it was cold, rainy, hot, right to the end she was always there. She was very important to all of us. For all of the young people growing up in Sutton, baseball was a big part of our lives here. (\u2026) She\u2019s just an amazing person,\u201d mentioned Mirault.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Echoing the statements of Beno\u00eet and Paul, Mirault emphasized that during a time where volunteerism is declining in Quebec, recognizing the contributions of others is of upmost importance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think in small towns we have to encourage that because volunteerism is down throughout the province, probably throughout the country. People like Pauline, who spent so much time in her life, we have to recognize that, it\u2019s so important,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt would be nice to see more and more people get involved for the young soccer players, baseball players, and just be a part of the community.\"<\/p>\n

Isabelle Charest, MNA for Brome-Missisquoi and Minister of Sports, Recreation, and the Outdoors, also made an appearance at Monday\u2019s inauguration. As a former Olympian and an athlete, Charest emphasized that seeing a woman, and someone who isn\u2019t necessarily a former softball player, be recognized for their contributions to the development of a sport is sincerely touching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrave to the town, bravo to all of those implicated in this honour that is being give to, first of all, a woman that was involved in the sporting world for many years, we don\u2019t see a ton of this. To have the name of a woman on a baseball field warms my heart, but also to honour a volunteer,\u201d Charest expressed to Paul at the inauguration. \u201cOn the fields, the names that we see are of former players. The implication of volunteers is extremely important. If it gives other people the feeling to get involved and to invest, hats off to you. (..) We know how sports can bring together a community and you have been that link.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Paul hopes that she can inspire others to give back to their community, in whatever way that may be, and to follow their passion. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope that other people, other women, will follow that example,\u201d said Paul.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of Monday, Sutton\u2019s softball field at Goyette-Hill Park will forever be known as the \u201cPauline Paul Softball Field,\u201d named after Sutton resident and long-time volunteer Pauline Paul. During a time where volunteerism is declining, the Town of Sutton deemed the recognition as an important step in encouraging and inspiring others to get involved in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":157247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,204],"tags":[758,26589,26587,20402,14621,26588,5458,20241,487],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157210"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157461,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157210\/revisions\/157461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157210"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=157210"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=157210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}