Léon Tremblay on the first tours of the Moulin Légaré

Léon Tremblay: I remember, when the millers and board members knew someone, they didn’t charge them for the tour. You know, the visitors just had to say they were coming to buy flour. Of course, they were getting the full guided tour. [Laughs] After that, we did some experiments… I’ll tell you a good one! At one point, we said: “We can’t have the mill closed on weekends,” since it was starting to get known when we were celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, for example. People would be out walking on the bridge, and they wanted to come on the weekend because there was an ad on the Laurentians radio station, I don’t remember what it’s called…

Mélanie Séguin: CIME?

Léon Tremblay : CIME. So we hired people… Well, not people, one person every weekend to give the tours, but they didn’t have any training. It was someone we knew – there was no interview. It wasn’t very scientific. So, that person would stand at the door and chat with people before they came in. Sometimes, I would come in on a Sunday, and she would be there looking after everything. She’d be there with her little cash box, but people would be walking right past her, no problem at all. Everybody was chatting. That brought lots of visitors to the mill, no question, but we would never survive that way.

Mélanie Séguin: CIME?

Léon Tremblay : CIME. So we hired people… Well, not people, one person that was coming every weekend for the tours, but without any training. It was someone we knew, we did not conduct any interview; this was not at all scientific. So, that person would stand at the door, chat with people before they came in. Sometimes, I was there on Sunday, but she was the one taking care of everything. She had her petty cash, but people were coming in anyway, and there was no problem with that. Everybody was chatting. One thing’s for sure, this would attract visitors to the mill, but that was not how we would survive.