{"id":186002,"date":"2023-10-12T10:22:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T14:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=186002"},"modified":"2023-10-12T10:22:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T14:22:42","slug":"local-magazine-townships-sun-marks-50-years-with-a-bright-future-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/local-magazine-townships-sun-marks-50-years-with-a-bright-future-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Local magazine Townships Sun marks 50 years with a bright future ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Townships Sun<\/a> is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and looking towards a bigger and brighter future in celebration of its milestone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Townships Sun is an English-language community magazine that was founded in 1973 by the Eastern Townships Social Action Group. A group of volunteers now publishes nine issues of the Townships Sun each year, exploring the history, culture, and lives of the English-speaking communities in the Eastern Townships.<\/p>\n

As the Townships Sun gets set to roll out some of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Marie Moliner, assistant editor of the Township Sun and head of the 50th Anniversary Committee, said that the magazine\u2019s board of directors want to \"re-make\" the Townships Sun in a certain way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read the Townships Sun, it was usually because my mom would pass it to me and she would say \u2018oh here is an interesting article by so and so\u2019 and I\u2019d say \u2018that\u2019s such a grandma magazine.\u2019 I think we have made significant strides, particularly through some of our new board members and younger contributors, to really expand the reach of the Townships Sun (\u2026) and also to bring new voices to the table,\u201d Moliner said. \u201cThe Townships Sun is aiming to be really relevant to all Townshippers and to cross a full range of arts, culture, and historical activities that are taking place now, that did take place, and that will hopefully be going on for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen this incredible transformation of the Sun. Again, like Marie, I didn\u2019t really pay much attention to it, but now it\u2019s like 'whoah these are really interesting articles and they are relevant to now'. It\u2019s really exciting to be a part of the Townships Sun at this time and hopefully we can expand it more to all of the areas of the Eastern Townships,\u201d added Angela Leuck<\/span>, board member of the publication.<\/p>\n

As one of the only English-language magazines published in Quebec and in the Eastern Townships on any subject, the Townships Sun is serving as a \u201ccommunity connector\u201d during a critical time for the English language, according to Moliner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually acts as a community connector in a really important way. Whether it\u2019s stories about what\u2019s happening on farms, in schools, or culturally, it really acts as a bridge in a time in Quebec where the English-language is, again, having a moment of crisis,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Having grown up in the Sherbrooke area in the 1970s, Moliner said that the English-language was seen as \u201cdominant and relevant to the institutional fabric of the Eastern Townships.\u201d She added that things have changed considerably with the language laws in Quebec, such as Bill 96, which is why board members want to ensure that the Townships Sun is here to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the Townships Sun acts as a voice for the Townships. Historically, it came through young people deciding that there were issues, including asbestos, that needed to be flagged for the population of the Eastern Townships. It didn\u2019t come through originally, I think, as a magazine that focused on English versus French or the dynamic of bilingualism,\u201d explained Moliner. \u201cBut I think now we are in a position where we have so many opportunities to be bilingual, but at the same time the English-language has less of a priority and is feeling more vulnerable. (\u2026) The two solitudes seem be reoccurring in a way that cannot be helped, but I think we can at least help bridge that divide.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the goal of building a sense of community through the Townships Sun, the 50th Anniversary Committee has coordinated a number of efforts and activities in celebration of the magazine. These include the launch of this year\u2019s Townships Young Voices Project, the Townships Sun archives project, special editions of the Townships Sun, a gala event, and a monthly Books and Brunch Series coordinated by Leuck<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Highlighting the Books and Brunch series in more detail, Leuck said that it is one activity that she hopes will bring people together from \u201call corners of the Eastern Townships\u201d and that will allow the Townships Sun to act as the bridge that it wants to be for the English-speaking communities of the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leuck described Books and Brunch as an opportunity for Townshippers to brunch together while discovering local authors from the region and elsewhere in Quebec. The first Books and Brunch is on Oct.15 with authors Mark Abley and Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people will come and talk to other people. I think the goal is to meet two or three new people, to just go up and say hello. Because the English-language community is kinda of shrinking we get the sense of 'oh no, there aren\u2019t many of us left'. It\u2019s a chance to discover other people in the English-language community, make connections, and do things together,\u201d said Leuck.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking towards the future, Townships Sun board members are already thinking about the next 50 years and it needs volunteers to make it it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hopeful for you to come forward and be a part of this. What we really want to do is make this magazine a part of the community.\u00a0 I think people, and even I\u2019ve been thinking recently, in 50 years will there be an English-language community left in Quebec? I think, with the Townships Sun, it\u2019s ensuring that there always will be something here. Its quite an amazing and dynamic community in terms of what it has given to Quebec society. So the Townships Sun will be here just as the English-language community will be here in whatever form it takes,\u201d said Leuck.<\/p>\n

CIDI will be expanding further on some of the Townships Sun's activities and initiatives for its 50th anniversary at a later date.<\/p>\n

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

The Townships Sun is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and looking towards a bigger and brighter future in celebration of its milestone.\u00a0 The Townships Sun is an English-language community magazine that was founded in 1973 by the Eastern Townships Social Action Group. A group of volunteers now publishes nine issues of the Townships Sun…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":186013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,219],"tags":[26799,31289,710,28840,24784,7614,6632],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186002"}],"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=186002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186146,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186002\/revisions\/186146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186002"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=186002"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=186002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}