Praxède Lévesque proudly shows off the lapel pin.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom initiated a system to recognize deserving people from across Canada, a member of the Commonwealth. Thus, across this country, 30,000 people are receiving his Pin, in a veritable operation of seduction to make the new monarch known. It is by this royal symbol that he transmits his message of recognition to the recipients of this honour, through the Canadian government and federal deputies, in effect making them his liaison officers.
In the Haut-Saint-François (HSF), no fewer than 12 people received the King Charles III Canadian Emblem for their social involvement in their community. Your newspaper presents three people who received this honour last Friday, August 25, at the Uplands Cultural and Heritage Center in Sherbrooke, from the hands of Canada’s Minister of National Revenue and Member of Parliament for Compton-Stanstead Marie-Claude Bibeau. The latter had only 25 pins to give in the name of the British king, for all the territory of her riding.
Praxède Lévesque-Lapointe, of Bury
This deserving woman has a very impressive track record. Volunteer president of the Bury Historical and Heritage Society, she is a successful businesswoman who founded, with her late agronomist husband, Daniel Lapointe, the company Karité Delapointe and the Agri-gestion Delapointe Farm. She received the title of Farmer of the Year in 2011 from the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec.
Over time, she received other recognitions, such as an award from the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) for her intensive collaboration with women in Burkina Faso for the supply of fair trade shea butter, one of several organic certifications that she managed to obtain for her farm. She also raised a family of five children, while studying visual arts at Laval University, then operating a sugar bush with more than 10,000 taps and installing a cheese diary and producing raw-milk cheese…. Unfortunately, we have to stop for lack of space!
“The most beautiful legacy left me by my husband is to teach me never to give up, to always go for it,” she said. She has managed to demonstrate this at all times, thanks to her great dynamism.
Michel Morin, of La Patrie
Forever a great collector at heart, Michel Morin owns countless military, Canadian and American objects and artefacts, including a great variety of 150 antique weapons, nearly a hundred uniforms from different armies, including many with medals and decorations, ecclesiastical vestments and uniforms from rescue organizations, of officers in several police forces, from several eras. He keeps these and many other valuable articles in a very impressive personal museum. His artefacts are about 75% military, he said. An avid volunteer for his community, he received the King Charles III pin with enormous pride and emotion, quite legitimate in his case.
“I appreciated that Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, in a short introduction, explained to us what the King’s pin was, with a short speech which presented each of the recipients and their story. I expressed my thanks in a little speech…. I am preparing for the 150th anniversary of La Patrie, which will be celebrated in 2025. I will surely present an exhibition of my most beautiful objects on that occasion!” he said.
Gilles Denis, of Cookshire-Eaton
Gilles Denis doesn’t really need an introduction in Cookshire-Eaton. The businessman has been working for quite a few years to publicize, promote and defend the interests of local artists and the arts in general. He did not hesitate to invest in acquiring premises for two exhibition halls where he has presented notable cultural activities. He has promoted the arts with the help of his daughter, Myriam Genest-Denis, a skilled musician, and several volunteer collaborators in the community.
“Regarding the King Charles pin, I had no idea that I was going to receive it… I appreciate that it is to recognize the importance of culture in our lives. We realize this when we cut resources in schools; instead, we should push for cultural development, cultural outreach… It’s a big challenge. We must not give up. This pin is an incentive…. I only went there for that reason, because it was to recognize the work of volunteers,” said Mr. Denis.
Note the other nine recipients of the royal pin in the HSF: Renée Arsenault-Delisle, Joel Barter, Donna Coates, Rachel Garber, Richard Gray, Roch Lapointe, John Mackley, Edward Pedersen and David Woodward.