Claude-Grégoire Park

This neighborhood park, where tennis is played, is named after Claude Grégoire, a man who was involved in organizing sports activities and was part of the organizing committee for the 50th anniversary celebrations of Mont-Rolland in 1968. Additionally, he served as the mayor of Mont-Rolland from 1971 to 1976.

Pierre Grégoire settled in Mont-Rolland around 1910 and joined the service of La Rolland company, a rapidly growing paper mill in the region. In 1935, he married Antoinette, the daughter of Mont-Rolland's former stationmaster, Rosaire Courchesne.

Pierre Grégoire held the position of office manager in production control. They had five children, who in turn joined the paper company, which employed the majority of the village's residents.

Photo: The Grégoire family home, Claude-Grégoire Street, Sainte-Adèle. Christiane Brault, 2020.

Born in 1936 in Mont-Rolland, the eldest of the Grégoire family completed his studies at Collège Notre-Dame in Montreal before joining the La Rolland paper mill in 1953, following in the footsteps of his father, uncles, and as his cousins, brothers, and probably also aunts and cousins would do.

In 1958, he married Lorraine, daughter of Joseph Beauchamp, a blacksmith in the area. Involved in his town, he took care of sports activities.

Photo: Lorraine Dagenais and Claude Grégoire. Collection: Lorraine Beauchamp.

Claude Grégoire was elected as a municipal councilor in 1964 before becoming the mayor of Mont-Rolland from 1971 to 1975. During his tenure, the municipality acquired the former Marist Brothers' school to establish its town hall. A municipal library opened there on February 25, 1973.

In the 1970s, Claude Grégoire became co-owner, with Jean-Paul (Eddy) Fortier, of the Hôtel des Monts, located on Saint-Joseph Street. Additionally, he was part of the organizing committee for the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Mont-Rolland 1918-1968.

Photo: Former Mont-Rolland College, transformed into the town hall and administrative offices of the municipality. Collection of the Marist Brothers of Canada.

The former Mont-Rolland town hall has housed the Zénon-Alary Museum since 1997.

Photo: Christiane Brault, 2014.

Inauguration of the filtration plant, created to reduce pollution in the North River. The CEO of La Rolland, Lucien G. Rolland, and Mayor Claude Grégoire, who has served the company for 22 years, during the first groundbreaking.

Photo: 'Papier Rolland Expands its Laurentides Plant,' Le Devoir, Montreal, May 2, 1975.