Much to discover in Gabrielle’s house

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This article was published 11/03/2016 (3784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

She may have been born more than a century ago, but Gabrielle Roy’s legacy lives on in the house that now bears her name.

La Maison Gabrielle-Roy is located at 375 Rue Deschambault in St. Boniface in the childhood home of the celebrated Franco-Manitoban writer.

Among Roy’s most noted works is Bonheur d’occasion, which was published in 1945 and garnered the Prix Fémina from France and the Governor General’s Award for the English translation, The Tin Flute; and she won a second Governor General’s Award for the English translation of Rue Deschambault — called Street of Riches — which was published in 1955.

Stakeholders at the museum are currently preparing for one of its annual flagship events — the Gabrielle Roy Brunch. This year’s event will be held on Sun., March 20 from noon to 2:30 p.m. at St. Boniface Golf Club (100 Youville St.) and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of l’Association d’éducation des Canadiens français du Manitoba (AECFM).

Robert Nicolas, the museum’s executive director, said the bilingual brunch will feature a variety of activities, including a student performance of a short play illustrating the 1916 official prohibition of schooling of French in Manitoba, the same year the AECFM was created. Roy won the association’s annual French contest several times before she became a teacher.

To get in the spirit of things, event volunteers will be dressed in period attire from 100 years ago and guests are invited to do the same, if they desire.

 
Roy was born in St. Boniface on March 22, 1909 and died in Quebec on July 13, 1983. The event is traditionally held on or around Roy’s birthday. Roy was the youngest of 11 children of Léon and Mélina Roy.

Nicolas was speaking to The Lance as he reflected on his first six months in the role of executive director. He said the museum is tangible testament to Roy’s life, while her writing path blazed a spiritual and emotional trail for Franco-Manitobans during the last century.  

 
“The house is an important part of the community, as it was the home of someone who has become important in Canadian history,” Nicolas said.

“Gabrielle came from St. Boniface and spoke French, so she’s an important ambassador when it comes to writing and the arts. The museum is both a place to visit and a place that is developing workshops, so it plays dual roles in the community and provides tools for individuals to pursue the act of writing.”

“Creative writing has traditionally been very much an English thing, but now the French are getting there. At the museum, there are more and more writing and educational opportunities and pleased and proud to be part of that. I’m very, very interested in creativity and fostering it,” he added, noting he has a master’s degree in creative writing and also had a book called Nouvelles orphelines, which was published in October through Les Éditions du Blé, a French publishing house located at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, located at 340 Provencher Blvd.

Museum volunteer and expert tour guide, Mireille Blanchette, has been involved with the museum since it opened its doors to the public in June 2003. She said the Maison Gabrielle-Roy Corporation, the purpose of which was to transform the house into a museum, bought the house in 1997 for $155,000 and has since spent around $650,000 restoring it. In contrast, Léon Roy bought a parcel of land for around $600. He divided the lot into five, sold four and kept one upon which he had the house built.

Among the numerous historical period items on display are reminders that life more than a century was not, in many ways, the same as it is today.

“This is homemade soap,” Blanchette said, picking up a bar by the sink in the kitchen.

“Mothers would keep all the fat left off the meat in a pan and put it in a jar with some chemicals to make soap, but you wouldn’t use it to wash your face.”

“And to make anything on the stove, you had to think ahead. If you wanted a nice cup of tea, the stove had to be pre-heated and the recipes weren’t like today, as they instructed you to cook with light or heavy fire. It was a science in itself, as you had to monitor the heat by touch. The women had to know how to do everything in those days, whether it was darning socks or knitting mitts,” she added.

Some of the items are on loan as part of a partnership with the St. Boniface Museum, while others have been loaned or donated by individuals or families. 

 
Tickets for the brunch are $50 and can be purchased by calling the museum at 204-231-3853 or 204-233-ALLO (2556), or by visiting the museum. The deadline for buying tickets is Thurs., March 17.

Go online at maisongabrielleroy.mb.ca to learn more about the museum.  

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com

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