Alexia Grousson
The Richelieu dinner on October 18 took place at Collège Boréal. The evening was divided into three parts: the annual general meeting of La Résidence Richelieu, dinner and a presentation of the 2024 Richelieu Volunteer of the Year Award.
The General Assembly of La Résidence Richelieu allowed members to receive the tenants’ activity reports and that of President Carole Papineau, as well as the financial statements.
Ms. Papineau highlighted several new features. “Since our last meeting, the elevators at La Résidence have been replaced. This work took several months. However, for this major project, we were fortunate to receive the support and expertise of John Cooper.
“Pauline and Michel Morais are working on the project of establishing our organization and the scale of the work is great. There will probably be a special general meeting in the spring to approve it,” specifies the president.
Carole Papineau also mentioned a problem encountered recently following the construction of housing buildings around La Résidence. It happens that parking spaces are occupied by people who do not live at La Résidence. Michel Jacques-Gosselin contacted the neighborhood municipal councilor to meet with him to discuss and find a way to remedy this situation.
Before concluding, the president thanked her board of directors: “Together, we form a great team. Together, we continue to take good care of our Residence, because it is close to our hearts! »
Richelieu Prize
The 2024 Richelieu Volunteer of the Year Award was awarded to Donald Lassaline by the previous recipient in 2023, Raymond Clavette, a close friend of the Lassaline family. Mr. Lassaline is the ninth Richelieu member to receive this award since its establishment in 2015.
Born in Saint-Joachim and working in agriculture, Donald’s parents taught him the importance of a job well done and a good education. He attended St-Ambroise elementary school in St-Joachim, Belle River High school before completing his studies at the University of Ottawa, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in commerce. Then, he began his professional career with an accounting firm in Montreal.
Bored with rural life, he returned to Windsor with his wife Lisette to work at the firm Cox Hyatt & Co. He became a partner in 1989 and, in 1997, he took over the management of the firm which was renamed Hyatt Lassaline LLP. The latter is experiencing extraordinary growth with around 35 professionals, a dozen of whom are bilingual.
By making services in French possible, Hyatt Lassaline LLP has established a significant French-speaking clientele in the region. The company merged in 2018 with Grant Thornton LLP. After 44 years of professional life, Donald Lassaline retires in December 2021.
Within the French-speaking community, Mr. Lassaline is involved in the Festival francophone du Sud-Ouest, Place Concorde, the Bilingual Legal Clinic, the Ontario Economic Chamber, the Caisse populaire du Sud-Ouest, La Résidence Richelieu and the Club Richelieu Windsor (CRW), of which he became a member in 1991. He sat on the board of directors in 2001, then from 2003 to 2006, he accepted the role of president of the Club.
During his tenure, the CRW grew from around 20 members to around 100, with a waiting list of potential members. The CRW was the Richelieu Club with the largest number of members of all the Richelieu clubs on the planet. He was therefore congratulated and received the international president’s trophy in terms of recruitment, for the years 2004 to 2006. This is unheard of in the history of Richelieu International. For two years, Mr. Lassaline has been the treasurer of the Club.
“For fun and frustration, Donald plays golf. He also loves good wine, good food and is always up for trying something new. His favorite pastime is traveling and discovering new places, especially in Canada and the United States, but also elsewhere in the world. He is the proud father of two children and proud grandfather of three grandchildren. His involvement as Richelieu is enormous, but Donald is very grateful, saying “I received much more than I gave”.
Photo (Tom Sobocan) : From left to right: Donald Lassaline, CRW president Alphonse Ngolo and Raymond Clavette
