WCR Letters to the Editor

The real origins of Bentley's Our Lady of Victory Camp

Andre Guillemaud and Father Rooney had discussed setting up a camp on the lakeshore for a number of years before any land was purchased. On May 27, 1949 my father-in-law, Andre Guillemaud, purchased eight acres of land adjacent to his farm as grazing land - in order to keep the price low. Andre Guillemaud gave those eight acres of land to Fathers Murphy and Rooney in March 1950 for Our Lady of Victory Camp.

The inheritance Father Rooney received was from his brother in Montana - this included a 1950 black Oldsmobile. He did not purchase the land for the camp. A cheque for $100 was given to Andre Guillemaud which was promptly torn into many pieces, much to the disgust of his son Joe Guillemaud - as they were a very poor family.

In addition to the land donation Andre Guillemaud and his sons (one is my husband Joe) worked many months on the original construction of the camp buildings - some of which are still standing.

A Mr. Wilde, owner of the lumberyard in Rimbey, either donated most of the lumber or sold it at cost to enable construction. Mr. Wilde also "donated" the labour of carpenters - his employees - to assist. Father Murphy's parish included Rimbey and thus was able to arrange the involvement of Mr. Wilde.

Charlie Norvila (his farm borders the camp to the south) and his son Paul were also involved in the original construction of OLVC. I understand Paul Norvila assists today with the camp.

Father Rooney's parish included the towns of Bentley and Lacombe. When in Bentley my husband was an altar boy for Father Rooney.

Father Rooney constructed the grotto at the Catholic church in Lacombe from rocks gathered along the lakeshore adjacent to OLVC, the Guillemaud and Norvila farms. Father Rooney would travel along the lake in a very decrepit old boat, which he kept at the Guillemaud farm.

For the first two years of operation of OLVC, there was no road built into the camp. The only access was through the Guillemaud farmstead and by way of a trail cut through the bush on the east side of the Guillemaud property. The trail was dirt and when it rained, the "road" was impassable.

The Guillemaud's old tractor stood ready day and night to tow the vehicles from the camp a distance of about two miles.

Although Andre Guillemaud was a very poor man, he donated much of the foodstuffs for the first years, such as potatoes, meat, poultry and eggs. In addition many articles for the kitchen and main hall were also donated.

For the first two years of operation there was no electrical power to the camp, as power was received on the Guillemaud farm in 1949, all of the gas lamps, iceboxes, windup record players and manual pumping equipment for the water well were given by Andre Guillemaud.

In addition Annie Guillemaud supplied all the linen for the nuns' and priests' cabins. They gave much but asked for nothing in return.

However, their lasting legacy should be honoured and respected by all that attend, work, counsel or are involved in anyway with OLVC.

The Guillemaud family would appreciate it if you would print the real history and once and for all lay to rest all the myths that keep appearing in your publication relating to the founding of OLVC.

Pat Guillemaud
Calgary

Local Carmelites need support

We are very blessed to have a Carmelite monastery right in our midst located in the Devon-Spruce Grove area. Many Catholics do not realize this.

I feel it is important for Catholics especially the WCR readers to know about the life in Carmel at the Carmelite Monastery in Devon and to make that connection with St. Th‚rŠse.

The Carmelite nuns make crafts all year round to help them to be self-supporting. There are many everyday expenses to be met at the monastery and therefore they seek the support of individuals and organizations to sell the crafts at the parish level.

Sophie Motoska
Edmonton

Homeschoolers unite

Basically, we foresee a larger group who would meet for, socialization, retreats and outings. As Catholic homeschooling in Canada is in its relative infancy we look to having a united front or voice for concerns common to Catholic homeschoolers, that is, recognition by the Canadian Catholic Church as equally worthy of their support as school boards are.

We are primarily interested in members from Ontario who would be able to meet more frequently, but we would also be interested in hearing from homeschoolers in other provinces especially for speaking as a united voice.

Interested Catholic homeschoolers may contact us by mail, phone or fax.

Angela Gordon
Canadian Catholic Homeschooled Youth
RR#2
Marmora ON KOK 2MO
ph/fax 613-472-2478

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