Pierrefonds marking 50th anniversary

Pierrefonds may have ceased to exist as its own city since becoming a borough of Montreal in January 2002, and merging with the former city of Roxboro in 2006, to become, presently, Pierrefonds/Roxboro. But when it comes to its milestone, half a century birthday, Pierrefonds is set to celebrate with its 50th Anniversary Day, though both sectors of the borough are invited to join in on this family-oriented shindig at the borough hall (13665 Pierrefonds Blvd.) on Saturday. The fun commences at 2 p.m., with inflatable structures and games for the kids, and continues later on in the evening with a hot dog and corn roast, plus a show from Pierrefonds’ Way Off Broadway Cabaret.

Yolande Paquette, assistant to the mayor, sees this event as an opportunity to get the people of the community together for a pleasant historical marker, at the end of what has been a mostly rained out summer. “It will be a reminder of what has happened over the last half century,” she said.

“Its part of our heritage, even though we’re a borough, we can’t forget how Pierrefonds has made its mark,” she added.

Pierrefonds, originally just a name attached on to a sector of Ste. Genevieve when the town split into two villages in 1904 creating Ste. Genevieve, and Ste.Genevieve de Pierrefonds, disappeared when the villages reunited as one again in 1935. In the midst of the controversy of Ste. Genevieve’s splits was the notary Joseph Adolphe Chauret’s whose thatched household he built for himself 1902, dubbed Château Pierrefonds. On Dec. 18, 1958 Pierrefonds was made into a city.