For several years, around thirty volunteers have been working to beautify the town of Quintenas. Numerous restoration and decoration projects are at work.
Some Tuesday mornings, when weather conditions permit, the village resembles an anthill. From the early hours of the day, they meet at Paulette’s, a 92-year-old resident, who offers them coffee in what they now call their headquarters, where they organize their mornings of work.
Around thirty volunteers
They are around thirty volunteers, most of them retired, and are all keen to participate, with a certain pride and real satisfaction, in the beautification of the town and to make their village a place of conviviality and ‘welcome. While some take charge of reopening paths invaded by vegetation, others rebuild old local walls, which have collapsed, to restore them to their former character and usefulness.
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In a few years, they opened hiking trails, restored crosses, wells, walls, the communal water trough, built and installed a footbridge, made and installed a bus shelter, renovated public benches and created signposts. trails. Magnificent walking and discovery paths, often unknown, are thus made visible.
A joyful emulation
“Originally, around ten years ago, there were three of us. We wanted to rehabilitate a service road. Today, we are a whole team,” confides Marcel, a former professional mason. Everyone comes according to their availability.
We are all different, but we work well together. One is a specialist in wood, the other in iron, and the other in stone. We complement each other and we work in a very good atmosphere. We often laugh. » Indeed, everyone can come and join the worksite groups, whatever their skills.
What matters is the desire and the pleasure of participating in a collective project. A wonderful way of integration. Catherine, a new resident, says: “I moved to Quintenas two years ago. I feel like I’ve been from the village for 20 years. This allowed me to integrate very easily and very quickly.”
Thematic teams
The volunteers were divided into groups. Some maintain the public spaces, the green brigade prunes, plants, weeds, weeds, while others, particularly women, have taken over a community hall to create decorative pieces.
Last year, these volunteers made Christmas decorations with recycled pallets, thus decorating the streets and facades of businesses, to the delight of residents. Their current project is panels that will decorate the village hall.
With the help of the team of carpenters, who have previously prepared the supports and frames for them, they make dry plant compositions based on pine cones, slices of tree trunks and strings that others will hang When the time comes.
Safeguarding vernacular heritage
But among all the projects carried out by volunteers, there is a remarkable one, which helps safeguard the local vernacular heritage. After a complete census, Francis and his team launched the restoration of several dry stone huts, called bories.
In the past, they were used by winegrowers to store their equipment, shelter in bad weather or rest in the event of a heatwave. Week after week, they cleared the buried stones and brought new ones in order to rebuild a watertight cover for these capitelles, respecting the initial construction and without any cement.
Ultimately, they would like to develop, with the owners and the municipality, tourist and educational trails to discover local heritage.
Guarantee their safety
To protect the commitment of these volunteers, an exceptional and unique approach in Vivarais, the municipality wanted to secure them. If it cannot pay them, it wants to give them good conditions of intervention.
Also, the municipal council has adopted the principle of agreement with each and every volunteer to cover them in terms of insurance and take care of the materials, tools and all the equipment they may need.
A way of involving residents in a collective project serving their natural and cultural environment.
