To facilitate without being facile

Simple gestures such as holding the door for someone, waiting patiently behind a car attempting to park on the street, replying to an information inquiry, or granting a right of way for access to nature are so many ways of facilitating daily life around us. Of course there are unlimited other examples, and this paper is one of them.

Le Tour was published for the first time in 1983 by the Bureau du tourisme et des congrès de Sutton (BTCS). That organisation was comprised of a handful of volunteer members who wanted to work together toward the development of Sutton. Its structure was almost identical to that of the current Corporation de développement économique et touristique de Sutton. At that time the word “tourist” had, more so than today, a negative connotation for many citizens, even those who received indirect economic benefits from vacationers.

Communication problems were identified. Firstly, visitors, not to say tourists or vacationers, had difficulty obtaining the least information about existing activities and available services in or around Sutton. Secondly, citizens interpreted in their own way the needs of visitors and responded randomly to their demands. So the directors of the BTCS pondered the problem and adopted strategies to improve the situation. Le Tour was conceived to facilitate exchanges of information.

To fulfill its mandate, Le Tour published articles that concerned both groups, citizens and tourists. For example, the first issue (September 1983) had twelve pages and offered the following articles:

• Plus qu’hier, moins que demain. L’amour d’un pays . Article historique, par Diane Poulin;
• Changing with the times. From farmhouse to ski lodge. Article sur le Crittenden’s lodge, par Hilary Farrington;
• Un calendrier d’activités ;
• The Sutton Museum, par Betsy Johnston;
• Fall tour of Sutton , par la Chambre de commerce
• Le temps d’une paix. Une belle randonnée , par Daniel Paquette;
• Elmer and Willie , une bande dessinée, par Jonathan Sommer;
• Information publique , un répertoire téléphonique des services publics;
• Un éditorial bilingue;
• Hunting and fishing when you care, par Richard Sommer et Sherman Young;
• Sutton: un milieu naturel rare, par Madeleine Dumais;
• Réal Boulanger…hommage , par Lucile Champagne;
• Enfin, le C.I.N (centre d’interprétation de la nature) des monts Sutton;
• L’architecture à l’ancienne , par Alan Bellavance.

The issue was financed solely by commercial advertisements (43) purchased by businesses that wanted to support better communication and to inform the public of their services or products. This is still the case today.

To facilitate communication without being facile remains this paper’s vocation in a region that includes Dunham and Frelighsburg since 1998.

Happy reading!