The Sugar Shack we went to was about an hour north of Quebec City. The weather cooperated to make it feel like a real Québec experience--snow on the ground, cold, and windy. It was a brilliantly clear night sky with a bright crescent moon and multitudes of stars. After we arrived in the bus, we went into the "Cabane" where we were greeted by a true gentihomme Québeçois in a fox-skin hat and wearing a red and black lumberjack jacket. He explained to us the history and intricacies of making maple syrup. Did you know that 80 percent of the maple syrup consumed in the world comes from Québec?
After the 15 minute lecture, we went into another rustic building where we toasted our amis Québeçois, bestowed our gifts on the Welcome Families, and took pictures for our scrapbooks (and blogs ! ). The generosity of spirit displayed by the Welcome Families this week has been nothing short of spectaculaire!
I had the opportunity to talk with Michel, our Welcome Family Capain earlier in the day, and I asked him how he got involved with the Tournoi. He mentioned that he moved to Québec from the city of Trois-Rivières (3 Rivers) about four years ago. He and his wife do not have any children, but they wanted to get involved with the community. Shortly after moving here, he was attending a local car show and there was a display booth there with representatives from the Tournoi. He went to the booth, and said that he and his wife wanted to host Pee-Wees for next year's Tournoi. They took his name and eventually got back to him. He became not just a host, but a Welcome Family Captain. He takes off all week from his job (he owns an insurance company) and even host 3 of our players. He participates in all the communal team events. It's an unbelievable commitment, and this is his fourth year doing it. His first year, he hosted the Pee Wee New Jersey Devils Youth (is there any other kind?) and since then, the Little Caps. The stories of our other Welcome Families are similar; most have been welcoming players for years. Michel confirmed that the Tournoi is a total community experience for Quebec City, and everyone views it as an opportunity to welcome the world to Québec for 10 days and invite them into their culture.
After the gift-giving and photo session, we all went into another traditional building that housed une grande salle à manger, that seated over a hundred people. The room was paneled in pine and on the walls were snow shoes, pelts, etc. We weren't the only visiting hockey team, as about five other teams and their Welcome Families were there. There was a fiddle player who played traditional Québec folk tunes. Here is a link to a short film I took of the fiddler and several of our Little Caps he asked to join him on stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkFldX7-3eU
The répas traditionel consisted of a real Québeçois "lunch" (déjeuner): vegetable soup, scrambled eggs, sausage, cold ham, beans, meat pie, pork rinds, fried potatoes, crepes with maple syrup, and coffee. Imagine a German beer hall with fiddle music and maple syrup instead of beer and sauerkraut, and you get the idea. It was loud, delicious, and a heck of a lot of fun!
After the dinner and some line dancing (all the Little Caps participated!), we went outside to watch them roll maple syrup lollipops in the snow - a delicacy toute à fait Québeçoise. After that, it was time to say au revoir to our kids who went home with their Familles d'Acceuil. We parents arrived back to the Château around 10pm, knowing that our children were in very good hands.
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