Jacques Pigeon

Protecting our Lakes against Exotic Invasive Plants, Especially Eurasian Watermillfoil.

It is found in places such as the Ottawa River, the Rivière-des-Prairies, in the St. Lawrence and in more than 50 lakes in the Laurentians and in more than 200 lakes in the province of Québec. Thank God, none in…

Jacques Pigeon2025-06-032025-06-03 Environment 8 Comments

Dunany Knitters and Crocheters Craft Squares for Courage Project for Battered and Abused Women.

Earlier this month, Dunany Knitters and Crocheters participated in the Crafted for Courage Project held earlier in Montreal. This Project will aid battered and abused women. The Funds raised will be distributed to three Montreal shelters for Women. Over the…

Jacques Pigeon2025-05-152025-05-15 Association 5 Comments

2025 Summer Activities in Dunany and Surrounding Areas.

Looking forward to another great summer in Dunany? Here are some of the activities available in the area with still more details in the Activities section on this web site. The Dunany Studio Artists Group New members are welcome to…

Jacques Pigeon2025-05-132025-05-14 Association 1 Comment

Our Four Lakes are Very Healthy. All classified as Oligotrophic *. Let us Continue to Protect Them.

For several years, I have had the impression of rambling by writing to you once again that our lakes are in very good health. But, this is case. We have almost 20 years of data and the latest numbers as…

Jacques Pigeon2025-04-082025-04-09 Environment 7 Comments

How to Make Sure you are Alerted by your Municipality when an Urgent Situation Arises.

By Johanne Vallée DCA Board Member If you attended our last Annual General Meeting you heard about the automated callsystems for municipalities, which allows them to quickly reach their citizens in the event of anemergency situation. If you missed it,…

Jacques Pigeon2025-02-262025-02-26 Association 5 Comments

Our Community is Actively Involved in Reducing Climate Change Related Risks.

By Johanne Vallée, Member of the DCA Board Last May, the Québec government adopted a law providing for the involvement ofmunicipalities in the identification of climate risks and mitigation measures.In Wentworth, members of our community got involved with the municipality…

Jacques Pigeon2025-01-232025-01-23 Association 4 Comments

We Wish you a Merry Christmas and, in these Uncertain Times, a Serene Year 2025.

It is certainly difficult to be optimistic when we are bombarded daily with stories of wars, tyrants, cruelty and famine. For the holiday season, I suggest we sit down and remind ourselves how lucky we are to live here in…

Jacques Pigeon2024-12-162024-12-16 St-Paul 3 Comments

Is Climate Change Reducing the Duration of the Ice Cover on our Lakes?

The answer is a definite yes. Over the past 25 years, according to climate scientists, the ice cover of the Laurentian lakes has decreased by approximately 15% to 20% in terms of total duration, with ice melting beginning on average…

Jacques Pigeon2024-12-072024-12-07 Environnement 7 Comments

A Beautiful Fall Day for Fish Stocking at Curran and Black Lakes.

A beautiful fall Sunday it was! A bit cold, but the vibrant fall colours made it disappear! First stop as at Robert and Laurie’s dock at Curran Lake for the delivery of 350 rainbow and 250 speckled trout as in…

Jacques Pigeon2024-10-142024-10-14 Association 3 Comments

St.Paul’s 11th Pray and Play was a roaring success. Have a look at these pictures!

This year’s 11th Pray and Play was a roaring success! Church was full. Service was lively with Rev Nick Brotherwood, Jim Finch and Robert Percy animating the service. The weather was absolutely divine for a day of golf, camaraderie and…

Jacques Pigeon2024-09-252024-09-25 St-Paul 5 Comments

Eastern Purple Bladderwort is an Indigenous Carnivorous Plant that Thrives in Black Lake. Why is this?

No environmental topic brings France and I more questions that aquatic plants. There is a reason for that. There are all kinds of plants in our lakes and they move constantly. They show up one year, disappear the next and…

Jacques Pigeon2024-08-292024-08-30 Environment 4 Comments

Yes, we have found Chinese Mystery Snails in our lakes. But their Presence does not Pose Serious Problems Now. Here’s why.

Before answering the question, some context is necessary. In early July, we were informed of the presence of snails at Black Lake, most likely Chinese Mystery Snails. To find out for sure, we called on a biologist from the MRC…

Jacques Pigeon2024-07-312024-07-31 Association 8 Comments

Celebrating Eleanor Hammond’s 100th Birthday and her Legacy: A History of Dunany.

Eleanor Hammond, a longtime summer resident of Dunany, celebrates her 100th birthday this month. When her daughter Judy contacted me about this wonderful event, I asked her to write a short bio of her illustrious mother and to describe how…

Jacques Pigeon2024-06-052024-06-05 Association 11 Comments

2024 Summer Activities in the Dunany Area.

Jacques Pigeon2024-05-052024-05-06 Association 6 Comments

Our lakes are healthy. One of them, more fragile, under surveillance.

The data collected last summer in our lakes show that three of them are clasified as oligotrophic, that is to say in very good condition. They are Black, Clear and Curran. However, the data from Boyd Lake raises some concerns…

Jacques Pigeon2024-04-022024-04-03 Environment 10 Comments

In 1868, the Tragic Death of Mary Boyd, a Young Women from Gore Creates a Scandal. Listen to this fascinating Podcast!

This is a really sad story. Mary Boyd lived in Gore in the 1850’s, not far from the lake that bears her surname. She moved to Toronto to be employed as maid for a wealthy family, that of Dr Duncan…

Jacques Pigeon2024-03-112024-03-12 General 2 Comments

A Short Story about the Dunany School. Where was it located? When did it Close?

I am writing this article comfortably seated in my home which was built in 1940 by Leonard Gain, the then local contractor. He inhabited it till his death with his wife wife Minnie – née Clifford – who he married…

Jacques Pigeon2024-02-182024-02-19 Culture 9 Comments

Dunany under the Ice: Memories of the Big Ice Storm of January 1998.

It is January of the year of Our Lord 1998. Between January 5 and 10, 100mm of freezing rain fell on southern Quebec. In Dunany, it’s a carnage! Brian Gauley, the contractor who looked after our house in our absence,…

Jacques Pigeon2024-01-102024-02-22 Association 5 Comments

Our Best Wishes for 2024 and a Christmas Gift for Each and Everyone of you!

What a decade! It started with the great COVID pandemic. Then we saw Trump’s MAGA insurrectionists storm the Capitol. The following year, Putin invaded Ukraine for no reason and sent there his most cruel and murderous mercenaries. As if that…

Jacques Pigeon2023-12-172023-12-17 St-Paul 8 Comments

Who were the First Inhabitants of our Area, and to which Nation did they Belong?

We have been calling them Algonquins but they now prefer to be known as the Anishinaabe nation. They occupied most of the Ottawa (Adawe in the Algonquin langage) River watershed which was, in effect, their heartland. Historically, their language –…

Jacques Pigeon2023-11-032023-11-03 General 11 Comments

Celebrating St.Paul’s 10th Pray and Play with enthusiasm and good news for our Church.

Our Community is built on three pillars: Church, Country Club and Association. Last Sunday, September 17, both the Golf Club and the Association were there to support St.Paul’s Pray and Play 10th Golf Tournament which generates essential revenue for the…

Jacques Pigeon2023-09-192023-12-20 St-Paul 7 Comments

How to Reduce the Risks Associated with Climate Change in Dunany.

Last year, during the derecho on May 21st, a cottage at Clear Lake was completely demolished by the fall of a large tree, swept away by violent winds. The two people inside were only slightly injured. Fortunately. But they had…

Jacques Pigeon2023-08-022023-09-01 Environment 8 Comments

The Key Issues Facing Quebec’s Lakes: Invasive Exotic Plants, Navigation, Governance, and Climate Change.

France and I participated in the Forum national sur les lacs on June 7th and 8th, held at Mont-Tremblant. In the following lines, I will share with you the main challenges and initiatives undertaken during this summit to better protect…

Jacques Pigeon2023-06-152023-06-15 Environment 5 Comments

SPANK is back! Details of this summer’s program are here. And there are more activities for you. Lots more!

Welcome back to SPANK! The Dunany paddling tradition rides again in 2023, with a back-to-basics four-event schedule, one on each of our lakes: Black, Boyd, Clear, Curran. This picture was taken at the first ever SPANK on July 10, 2010.…

Jacques Pigeon2023-05-062023-07-27 Association 3 Comments

Our lakes are very healthy. Curious as to how we come to this conclusion? Read on!

Our planet was born 4.55 billion years ago. The Laurentians appeared about 1,2 billion * years ago . Our lakes, about 10,000 years ago. Our association celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. And our lakes are all still very healthy.…

Jacques Pigeon2023-03-132023-03-13 Environment 10 Comments

I asked ChatGPT what are the best ways to improve the quality of the water in our lakes. Read what the hot Open AI robot gave me.

Most of you have probably heard about artificial intelligence AI. The most talked about product these days is called ChatGPT. It is a large language model that can generate human-like text, trained on a massive dataset of written works from…

Jacques Pigeon2023-02-082023-02-08 Environment 22 Comments

The DCA Wishes you Great Holidays and Suggests Help for Brave Ukrainians without Heat and Electricity.

Traditional Ukrainian Christmas festivities start on Christmas Eve, which is celebrated on January 6, as reckoned by the Julian calendar. The Christmas celebrations end on January 19, the date of the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus, known in Ukraine…

Jacques Pigeon2022-12-162022-12-16 General 5 Comments

About our Lakes, Loons, Mussels and Beavers.

I have just received the results of the water sampling in our lakes that we, the gang of 7: Bonnie, André, François, Lois and Jim, France and I, collected last summer. The data is that of healthy lakes. The most…

Jacques Pigeon2022-11-232022-11-23 General 4 Comments

A Special Pray and Play in 2022 and a Tribute to St. Paul’s Beloved Warden Wendy Crooks.

Robert Percy, Grand Master of the St. Paul’s Omnium, otherwise known as Pray and Play, had a particularly challenging year. He had first planned the event for Sunday May 22, but an intense storm called a derecho hit Dunany really…

Jacques Pigeon2022-09-212022-09-21 Association, St-Paul 3 Comments

Dunany Studio Artists: another successful Exhibition in 2022, a great illustration of our exceptional community spirit.

The annual Exhibition of our Artists which was held in person this year is a perfect illustration of the community spirit that reigns supreme in Dunany. Why? Because the organisation of events such as this one, and the Music Fest…

Jacques Pigeon2022-09-012022-09-01 Culture 5 Comments

DCA celebrates Country Club centennial and Robert Percy for his great contribution to the Dunany Community.

The day was July 24, 2022. More than 50 Dunany residents were at the Country Club to attend the Annual General Meeting of their association. But that was not all. There were two noteworthy events to follow. The first one…

Jacques Pigeon2022-07-262022-07-26 Association 2 Comments

What you should all know about Eurasian Watermilfoil and, especially, how to prevent its arrival in Dunany Lakes.

As the guy in charge of lake management in Dunany I was asked the other day: is there anything that keeps you awake at night? I said yes. Definitely. Its Eurasian Watermilfoil. Why is that? Simply because once a lake…

Jacques Pigeon2022-07-052022-07-05 Environment 6 Comments

St-Paul’s 2022 Newsletter. A new Association, Pray and Play, and a Memorial Hymn and Song Book.

Dunany, during the last two difficult years, has remained resilient and steadfast in the face of the covid pandemic. The world news challenges us every day to remain mindful of the privilege we have in our Dunany Community. We will…

Jacques Pigeon2022-04-242022-04-24 St-Paul 1 Comment

Our Lakes are in Good Health. Five Steps we Must All Take to Keep Them that Way.

The results for 2021 are in. Have a look at the charts! Boyd – Black – Clear – Curran. All four are classified oligotrophic, that is lakes that have ” low nutrient content and are considered geologically young, or little…

Jacques Pigeon2022-03-052023-09-01 Environment, Environnement 3 Comments

2021 was a Pretty Good Year in Dunany until Omicron showed up. Best Wishes from St-Paul’s and the DCA for a serene 2022.

It was a pretty good year indeed. It was the year Fibre Argenteuil finally arrived in Dunany. It was a year when our Artist held one of their best expositions ever. It was a year when our water samplings showed…

Jacques Pigeon2021-12-222021-12-22 Association 7 Comments

Support Dunany Artists! View samples of their Exposition in Lachute last November.

Have a look at these paintings! They are a small sample of the works that our Artists are exhibiting in Lachute beginning November 5, 2021. The Exhibition, entitled “Laurentian Seasons”, is held at at the permanent Route des Arts Gallery.…

Jacques Pigeon2021-10-172022-05-06 General 3 Comments

Fibre Argenteuil is now wiring Dunany. Subscribe now to enjoy real High Speed Internet this fall.

You have probably seen trucks from Fibre Argenteuil and Telecon on Dunany roads in recent days. There has been a lot of activity: Deployment of the main fibre cable by subcontractor Telecon on Dunany road and branches. Wednesday, they were…

Jacques Pigeon2021-10-012021-10-03 General 11 Comments

“All’s well that ends well”. Our fragile lake environment is now much better protected.

The title of this play from Shakespeare (circa 1623) summarizes well the conclusion of the zoning by-law debates around the huge Recreational Development Project ( WITRI) announced at a municipal meeting in Wentworth on February 24, 2019. Earlier this year,…

Jacques Pigeon2021-09-072022-03-18 Environment 3 Comments

Fibre connection accessible to most Dunany Homes before the end of this Summer.

Today, I am the bearer of good news! During a conversation on June 23 with Denis Huberdeau, CEO of Fibre Argenteuil, I learned that all key obstacles to the deployment of a fibre network in Argenteuil have now been lifted…

Jacques Pigeon2021-06-242021-06-24 General, Général 11 Comments

Fourteen years of tender loving care and four beautiful lakes in great shape.

As you know, there was no water sampling program on account of the pandemic. But your group of lake volunteers were still collecting transparency data so that we now have charts of our four lakes with 14 years of data…

Jacques Pigeon2021-04-152021-04-15 Environment 10 Comments

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