T-Day Arts Gala and Taproot IV Launch

Celebration is in the air! Festivities to mark the Association’s 30th anniversary will kick off T-Day with an Arts Gala and the Launch of Taproot IV: Poetry, Prose, and Images from the Eastern Townships on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m.

The original Taproot anthology was printed 10 years ago as part of Townshippers’ Association’s 20th anniversary celebrations. We are truly fortunate to have a regional association which recognizes the vital contribution artists and writers bring to a culture, and how essential they are to a vibrant society. Townshippers’ Association has stood solidly behind the Taproot initiative by acting as publisher for all four volumes, actively promoting the creative arts within our community, so it is with great joy that we launch our newest anthology as part of the Association’s 30th anniversary celebrations.

Taproot IV: Poetry, Prose, and Images from the Eastern Townships has been a labour of love for its editors Brenda Hartwell, Carolyn Rowell and Ann Scowcroft. After sifting through a towering pile of potential material, they have compiled an eclectic and exciting mix of poetry, stories and photographs. The work contained in this volume is not bound together by a common thread or design; it is a sampling of masterful work created by people who live at least part of their lives in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. It is a celebration of form, theme, setting, style, and language. Taproot IV contains pieces that will touch your heart with their beauty, diversions to tickle your funny bone, and works that will surprise you with apt metaphors and unique insights. And thanks to the generosity of Townshippers Research & Cultural Foundation, Literacy in Action, and our private patrons, we are able to offer up this unique collection of local works at an affordable price!

This summer may have been one of the wettest in memory, but it has not dampened our collective creative spirit. In fact, we will gather to rejoice and celebrate our vibrant culture on Friday September 18 at 7 p.m. in the Old Union Church Hall in Massawippi (On Route 208, near Route 143).

The program will feature both words and music. Several Taproot contributors will read samples of their work and local singer/songwriters will provide musical interludes. Visual artists whose work has been selected for past and present Taproot covers (Barbara Verity, Denis Palmer, Bernice Sorge, and Dade Dudgeon) will provide a rich visual backdrop to the evening by hanging a few of their pieces upon the walls. Following the program, guests are invited to meet the writers, artists and musicians and schmooze over refreshments. Taproot IV will be on sale for the very first time that evening and all the following day at the Townships Expressions booth on the T-Day site.

Forget the rain and put on your glad rags! It’s time to fete the creative soul of our community. Works from this region merit a showcase and a celebration, soooo let’s party!

If you are unable to attend the launch or T-Day, Taproot IV will be on sale at local bookstores in early October. For your shopping convenience, we also accept mail orders. For more information, please contact Cathy Turner at 819-566-5717 (toll free 1-866-566-5717) or email ct@townshippers.qc.ca. Order several copies—they make wonderful, affordable Christmas gifts!