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Knowlton Pub Changes Hands
Well-known local businessman Gerry Wood has sold the Knowlton Pub, which he built 26 years ago and developed into Knowlton’s favourite watering hole. “After so many years, giving up the Pub was a very emotional decision, but I felt it was time to turn it over to people with the energy and enthusiasm to keep the place hopping,” said Wood. The new owners — all four of them — are determined to do just that when they officially take over on October 1.
“Things are going so well that we don’t plan to make any major changes, just improve on what’s here,” explained Randy Wolak, one of the new owners, who recently sold his PetroCanada station in Toronto for a less hectic life in Knowlton. He is joined in this new venture by his sister-in-law Evelyne Rivard, who is moving to Knowlton with her husband as soon as their Pointe Claire home is sold; Linda Bremner, a friend and Pub patron who retired to Knowlton with her husband 10 years ago “but had a change of plans”; and Christine Mather, who has worked at the Pub since inception in different capacities, most recently as its office administrator. In addition to Mather, all of the owners have hospitality experience: Bremner and her husband once owned a poolroom and bar in Ville Lasalle, Rivard has worked in the food industry, and Wolak ran a food concession with his service station. All four will be working partners, so patrons will find at least one of them in the Pub at all times.
Everyone is invited to the farewell bash for Gerry Wood on
Saturday, Septe
Gerry Wood may have sold his beloved Pub but he certainly is
not retiring. He retains ownership of the adjoining Knowlton Theatre and the
strip mall facing the Pub, as well as his interest in Virgo Catering. He also
plans to become more involved in Woodward Enterprises (the London-based company
owned by his daughter Deborah and son-in-law David Ward), which owns the
The Knowlton Pub is
at
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Coffee aficionados can now indulge their craving for an
upscale brew at Virgo Catering, which just began offering a wide selection of
specialty beans and ground coffee from
“We chose Café Napoléon because of the high quality of their coffee, which they roast on their premises,” said Virgo Romano, co-owner of Virgo Catering, whose brightly coloured shop offers a feast of locally produced delicacies like duck, wild boar, venison and maple products.
All the coffee is attractively displayed in a large wall rack equipped with coffee grinder. Shoppers can choose from nine different blends and roasts of beans ($9.50/lb.), each bearing an historically inspired name: Café Bonaparte for a medium roast, Café Guisseppe Garibaldi for an Italian espresso, and Café Charles II for a moka-java, regular-roast blend, and so on.
The Café Mozart line ($4.50/half-pound bag) offers
pre-ground blends of flavoured coffee —
chocolate/raspberry, vanilla/hazelnut — plus a breakfast, medium-body and Colu
Virgo Catering is at
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Five years of hard work have paid off for the historic Lakeview Inn in Knowlton. The Canadian and American Automobile Associations (CAA-AAA) have just awarded the Inn’s elegant 56-seat Sheffield’s dining room a coveted four diamonds, propelling it into the ranks of a very select group representing just 4% of the 12,400 restaurants rated each year.
A Four Diamond Award® attests to superior personal service,
first-class amenities and impressive surroundings. This rating, which will
appear in the Lakeview’s restaurant listing in the 2002 Quebec TourBook guide, is extremely important for business, since
an establishment’s diamond rating is often the deciding factor when CAA-AAA me
This new dining designation is yet another feather in the cap of owner Ronald Blair, who bought the derelict hotel in 1986, spent millions restoring it to its former Victorian glory, and has succeeded in turning it into one of the province’s top inns. Last year, during its 125th anniversary, the Lakeview won the prestigious Quebec Tourism Grand Prix Award for lodging, in the six-to-49 room category. This year and last, the Lakeview won a Four Star rating for lodging from Hébergement Québec, and was the cover story in the July 2001 issue of North American Country Inns.
The Auberge Lakeview
Inn is at 50 Victoria in Knowlton. Telephone (450) 243-6183 or 1-800-661-6183. www.quebecweb.com/lakeview
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Anyone who has seen inventor Winston MacKelvie whizzing around Brome County in his silver BMW Z3 Roadster might rightly conclude that he has hit the big time.
MacKelvie, well known around Knowlton for his participation in theatre, darts and Karaoke at Cedric’s Pub, has just struck the kind of deal that all struggling inventors dream about. A Canadian industrialist has just made MacKelvie a generous offer to purchase three of his patents, for a specific application.
The patents cover three related technologies invented by MacKelvie – a process, a tool and a method of making the tool. Together, they enable almost any surface to be roughened for vastly improved bonding.
“Think of it as a way of ‘Velcro™’izing’
a surface, leaving it with a forest of small hooks to which an adhesive or
other moldable materials will firmly attach. This allows for a much stronger
asse
This deal is a stroke of good fortune for MacKelvie, who has been developing inventions full time in his pyramidal workshop in Knowlton for over 15 years. He has more than 20 inventions, many with issued patents for both Canada and the U.S. “Your first patent is really what defines you as an inventor,” says Winston, 60, who has been inventing things since launching rockets as a teenager.
Buoyed by his recent success, MacKelvie is actively seeking lucrative deals for his other inventions.
For a look at
MacKelvie’s inventions, check out his web site at www.inventure.ca
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