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In the summer of 1983, three English
teachers had the idea
to start an "English
Club"
for francophones who simply wished to speak their second language in the
company of anglophones. We figured we’d just rent a hall, find some
members of Québec City’s anglophone community who were looking for a night
out, tell our students, then sit back and relax.
After the first session, meeting every
Thursday at the Château Frontenac, at 5 $ per person per evening (oh ! the
good old days…), we moved to Le Petit Séminaire. After that, we were at
the Ramada Inn in Sainte-Foy, before moving to a centre d’accueil on
Saint-Jean. After a couple of years, we were politely told we couldn’t
have the room anymore, as we were too noisy for the other groups in the
building. Too many parties, too much fun !!!
A.P.P.E.A.L. then found a home on the
second floor of a quaint old house on Saint-Jean, from which we were not
so politely asked to leave by the Québec Fire Department (something or
other about zoning…). Luckily, the Québec Montessori School opened its
doors to us, and we stayed for a few years, until we outgrew
accommodations there, and moved to our present local on Joli Bois
St.
In the fall of 1985, our membership was
twelve francophones, and about five monitors (an excellent ratio). After
an article appeared in Le Soleil in November of that year, we were up to
100 francophones. We received over 700 phone calls after the newspaper
article.
From the relatively simple idea of bringing
the two linguistic communities together for language practice, the
present-day structure of A.P.P.E.A.L. evolved. The evenings became more
organized, an Activity Calendar was put out, a Board of Directors came
into being an Activities committee was set up, Partners for Practice
was added, and on and on.
Today,
A.P.P.E.A.L. is unique in Québec City and perhaps in the world, who knows?
Even though, we have been through some hard times and were not always sure
we would survive, so many people have put so much into A.P.P.E.A.L. for so
long that our membership is currently over 230 and we continue to grow and
evolve according to the needs of the members it serves. Due to their
success, activities such as our regular Happy Hours and Brunches have
become traditions with members who turn out for these events in high
numbers. With the creation of our web site and the new symbol which
captures the essence of our organization, A.P.P.E.A.L. is increasing
its profile in the community. This year we are celebrating our 24th
anniversary: we are aiming for the silver one! |
