Photographer, journalist and author Stéphane Champagne fulfills a certain “duty of memory” with his exhibition of archive photos celebrating the legacy of Pierre-Horace Boivin, presented in the form of a high-resolution slideshow.
After the unveiling at the Paul-O.-Trépanier library as part of Culture Days, An extraordinary mayor is available on the ground floor of Cégep de Granby, near the atrium, until October 20. The 65-inch television will then be installed in the library of the J.-H.-Leclerc secondary school, in the corporate pavilion of the Granby Zoo and then in the premises of the Société d’histoire de la Haute-Yamaska here at the end of the year.
“I was inspired by the double anniversary, and especially the story of a mayor who was really out of the ordinary,” explains Stéphane Champagne, who works in particular as a press photographer for The Voice of the East.
“Some have talked about him in the past, but there had never been an exposure like this. With the itinerant aspect, I wanted it to be accessible to as many people as possible.”
“Born under a lucky star”, as is rightly emphasized in the exhibition, Pierre-Horace Boivin first became known as a soldier and then as a businessman. He found himself at the head of the Granby Elastic Web company after the death of his father, Pierre-Ernest, who himself was mayor of the municipality.
Pierre-Horace Boivin has fun with a primate from the local Zoo, towards the end of the 1950s (Haute-Yamaska Historical Society)
It is certainly no coincidence that Granby experienced a strong demographic and economic boom during Son’s reign, between 1939 and 1964. The population increased from 13,000 to 32,000 people, while the number of streets increased by more than doubled (from 82 to 128).
Omnipresent in his community, Pierre-Horace participated in the founding of local institutions such as the Zoo and La Voix de l’Est.
“The fact that he was mayor for 25 years without receiving a salary, I find that incredible. He took money from his own pockets to travel and make Granby known. He organized parties at home and at his cottage, always on his arm. He was someone extremely devoted to his city,” says Stéphane Champagne.
Boivin’s influence was felt well beyond the limits of the Eastern Townships. Having become a true star, this globetrotter has been the subject of documentaries and articles in publications such as Maclean’s and the Toronto Star. «Granby’s Walking Billboard» (the traveling billboard of Granby), headlined columnist McKenzie Porter.
This reputation allowed Pierre-Horace Boivin to become an official Canadian delegate to the conferences of the International Union of Cities and Local Authorities. He was thus able to forge close ties with counterparts from elsewhere in America, Europe and even Africa.
Pierre-Horace Boivin definitely had a sense of spectacle. Here he is seen leading a stretching session in front of his guests in 1948, before the group boarded his personal boat, the Grand-B. (Taken from the Boivin family collection)
“Three names stand out among the greatest mayors in the history of Granby: SHC Miner, Horace Boivin and Paul-O. Trepanier. If it is difficult to name one of them, we can affirm without hesitation that it was Horace Boivin who most promoted Granby abroad, giving the city a stature out of all proportion to its importance. demographic or economic,” says historian Mario Gendron in one of the slides.
However, that did not prevent Boivin from having a (very) busy family life since his wife, Frances, gave birth to no less than 11 children!
Sisters Élise, Lynne and Marie also provided access to the family archives for this traveling exhibition. Stéphane Champagne also collaborated with the team of the Haute-Yamaska Historical Society, of which he is one of the administrators. Marie-France Létourneau (text revision) and Jonathan Lalonde (graphics and editing) are among the architects of this project financially supported by Desjardins and the City of Granby.
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