[Video] Interview with Huguette Lemaire
[Scene showing the interior of the Club de Golf de Drummondville chalet with the title The Drummond Historical Society presents Interview with Huguette Lemaire.]
[Transparent black scene with a woman talking. The following information appears on screen: A retired nurse, player at the Drummondville Golf Club for more than 50 years, winner of several golf tournaments, the first of which was the Drummondville Championship in 1967, captain of the women’s section of the Club de Golf de Drummondville during the 1960s and president during the 1970s, as well as the subject of our special interview, Huguette Lemaire]
[Black and white photograph of the Club de Golf de Drummondville clubhouse with the following question: Were the golfers aware of the Club’s history? Then, a woman answers.]
We didn’t talk about it. The cemetery was there, the tombstone was there.
[Black and white photograph of a golfer surrounded by a crowd.]
When we played and our ball went into the cemetery, we would remove it without a penalty.
[Black and white photograph of a golf hole green.]
No one knew who Mr. Newton was. Some said he was a soldier, others said he was a former member who died on the course.
[Black and white photograph of a group of young people posing on a golf course with the following question: How many golfers were there in the 1960s? Then a woman answers the question.]
I don’t remember exactly, but I’d say we were about 30 female members who played golf at the time, plus the social members, plus the business girls.
[Black and white photograph of a group of women at a table. Then, black and white photograph of a golfer in action in front of a crowd.]
Later, in the ’80s and ’90s, there were almost 500 members.
[The woman returns to the screen where the following question appears: How were the tournaments organized?]
We had tournaments, which we called Field Days; we invited clubs from outside our section to compete.
[Black and white photograph showing the winners of a tournament with a man.]
This included people from Cowansville, Sherbrooke, occasionally some from Sorel, Saint-Hyacinthe, but many from Drummondville.
[A woman speaks into the camera to answer the question.]
It was recognized as a beautiful course so we had to limit the number of clubs.
[Black and white photograph of a golf hole.]
You know, we’d say, “no more than 25” from Saint-Hyacinthe because we already had 125 people, which was a lot of organization.
[Black and white photograph of seven women who make up the women’s section of the Match Committee. Then a question pops up: Were club meetings held in French? The woman speaks to the camera again before switching back to a black and white photograph of five women holding trophies.]
In those days it was in English until 1959, when Mr. André Biron asked the administration office to speak French. Then in 1960, Mr. Laurent Jutras made the request and it was accepted.
[The woman speaks to the camera. Then, a black and white photograph of nine women who make up the executive of the women’s section appears.]
So from 1960, the meetings were held in French.
[Black and white photograph of four women chatting with the following question: What were your relationships like with the English-speaking women?]
Oh, we got along well, they were very nice.
[The woman speaks to the camera.]
Their names were Lomax, Hogan, Gauthier, who was an English speaker. There were the Wurtele twins.
[Black and white photograph of tournament winners.]
They organized an afternoon tea once a month after our golf games.
[Black and white photograph of four female golfers.]
The ladies would arrive with their white gloves and set up the table in front of the bar, then they would bring out their good China and we would have high tea.
[Aerial view of the golf course with the following sentence: Tell us how the club has changed!]
Everything has changed. There have been renovations, then expansions, and ongoing improvements.
[Black and white photograph of two men talking with two tractors at work in the background. Then the woman speaks to the camera again.]
For a while, the first hole was here, near the clubhouse…
[Black and white photographs of a road under construction.]
Then it was set up on the other side. Then we didn’t play near the river.
[The woman speaks to the camera.]
Even at the very beginning, we played on the other side of the road. You had to cross the road to play five holes; later, it was four holes … because they brought one back to this side… In any case, there have always been changes.
[Black and white photograph of three women, one holding a trophy with the question: What do you remember from this period? The woman speaks to the camera again.]
We had a strong sense of belonging to the Golf Club. We made friends here that we kept for the years, for 50 years; that’s what I remember most.
[A text of thanks on a black background appears with the following text: Thank you to Hugette Lemaire and to the Club de Golf Drummondville as well as to our partners Soprema, MRC de Drummond and Ville de Drummondville. The logo of the Drummond Historical Society appears, then the names of the people credited, namely the guest, Huguette Lemaire, the people in charge of preparation and animation, Gabriel Cormier and Chantal Proulx and the person in charge of video design, Kevin Lampron-Drolet.]