www.racettefamilyassociation.org

Association des Familles Rasset

The Rasset Families Association

offers you their best Easter wishes

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday October 18, 2020 at 1:30 p.m., we held a virtual meeting on Skype where all the executive were present. The meeting went well dspite the secretary treasurer losing the other participants each time a new participant joined. The difficulty was to find back those who were already part of the meeting. Despite everything, we managed to hold our assembly general and get through our agenda. One of the difficulties encountered was not to speak at the same time. Here is the President's report that he prepared for the meeting.

President Report 2020

It is with pleasure that I present to you the result of the last year of the Association of Rasset Families.

Before going any further, I would like to thank may colleagues on the board for their worked and support during the year.

Board of Director meeting

During the past year, the board of directors has met 4 times:

December 14, 2019 in Laval at Claude Racette

February 21, 2020 in Montreal at Colette Racette

May 1, 2020 via Skype

September 3, 2020 published at the end of March

Newsletters / publication dates

As for the newsletter, it has been published 3 times since the last AGM, namely:

February and March 2020 published at the end of March

April and May 2020 published at the end of May

September and October 2020 to be published at the end of October

Thanks to Claude Racette , as well as Sherry and Nicole Sénécal Racette, for their work in preparing and sending the newsletter to members.

Website / Facebook

In 2019-2020, Claude Racette regularly updated our website while Nicole Sénécal Racette and Louise Racette were responsible for posting relevant information on our Facebook page.

AGM / Gathering

The members of the board of directors had decided to hold the next major gathering in the Outaouais region in the fall of 2020. Unfortunately the pandemic decided otherwise. As soon as conditions allow, we will notify you of the next meeting.

Park bench

The project of the bench in the Parc des Cultures in Saint-Jacques-de-Montcalm which started last year was completed on September 12, 2020, when the board of directors went on site to officially inaugurate the bench in the name of the Rasset family. This park is dedicated precisely to the various pioneer families of Saint-Jacques. In fact you will be able to read the report on this subject in the next Association newsletter.

Sugar shack

As every year, the Association organizes a sugar shack for the members, their families and theirs friends. Once again this year this activity was a great success. More than 20 members and families attended. The activity took place at the La Petite Coulée St-Esprit hut in the Lanaudière region.

Membership

Now, I would like to talk to you about the membership of the Association. Like many other organizations, we are facing a significant drop in our membership. This situation is of great concern to the members of the Board of Directors and the Board is still trying to find a solution to this problem. To date, the Association has 60 members in good standing compared to 76 members at the same time last year.

Death of Mario Racette

All members of the Board of Directors attended the funeral of Mario Racette on September 12 in Saint-Roch de l'Achigan. Mario Racette passed away suddenly at his home in Saint-Roch-Ouest las spring. He has been very active for many years with the Association, holding several positions on the Board of Directors. Mario was our president for the term 2015-2016. Previously he had been administrator from 2009 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2019. Mario also held the position of mayor of Saint-Roch-Ouest from 2017 to 2020 until his death. The Association thus looses in a short time another very active member within the Association after the death of Sylvain Racette barely 2 years ago.

That is essentially my report.

Thank you for your attention. I am ready to answer your questions whether by phone or email.

Michel Racette

President

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INAUGURATION OF THE BENCH OF THE RASSETS

AT THE CULTURE PARK IN ST-JACQUES

Since the executive was already in the region on September 12, 2020, everyone of the executive went to St-Jacques at the Parc des Cultures to see the bech sponsored by the Association des Familles Rasset. In this beautiful summer afternoon, it was a most pleasant moment. The park commemorates the pioneer families of the city of Saint-Jacques, which includes many Acadian families who had fled the British deportation of Acadia or had returned to settle in this hospitable land following the return from deportation.

We recognize, from left to right, Louise Racette-Lecocq, Nicole Sénécal Racette, Sherry Simard-Racette, Michel Racette, Claude Racette, François Racette & Colette Racette.

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE RASSET

The Rasset Family Association was planning a gathering at the Diefenbunker Cold War Museum in Carp, in Ontario on September 26, 2020. At the moment, everything is on hold due to the Covid-19 Pandemic including meeting and other activities until further notice.


However, we would like to take this opportunity to express our concerns for your health and safety. We recommend that you follow public health rules until a vaccine is available or as directed by government. We want you to use this free time to do everything you never had time to do.

Visit our "Time line" page to see photos of our participants.

Welcome to the Rasset Family Association website

In 1664, the French carpenter Jean Rasset landed in America. He is one of the 5,000 bold and tenacious pioneers who, through their work and perseverance, have enabled the settlement of a French-speaking nation on the continent. Three and a half centuries later, thousands of Quebecers, Canadians and Americans proudly stand among his descendants and continue to spread his surname in its various forms.

We also invite you to take a few minutes to visit our new website. You will discover a wealth of information about the first generation of Racettes and our family association active since 1992. In our new PUBLICATIONS section, you will find a brief summary of all articles published in our newsletter for the past 20 years. Do not hesitate to order the issues you want. And come back regularly. We will add content throughout the year.

We hope to see you at our next meeting.

THE ASSOCIATION HAS JOINED
THE FÉDÉRATION HISTOIRE QUÉBEC

On January 14, 2017, the members of the Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution to join the Fédération Histoire Québec. Founded in 1965, formerly known as the Federation of Quebec History Societies, it has more than 266 associations representing more than forty thousand people.
    Since its founding, the Rasset Family Association was a member of the Federation of Quebec Family Associations (FFSQ), which later became the Federation of Family Associations of Quebec (FAFQ). The Federation provided member associations with a range of services ranging from affordable liability insurance to web hosting, printing and storage services.
    In recent years, the Government of Quebec, the Federation's principal donor, has considerably reduced the amount it has paid. The situation has become so critical that the FAFQ has dismissed its four employees and terminated several of its services a few months ago.
    In a letter sent to member associations on November 30, 2016, the president of the Federation, Claude Trudel, said that it was necessary to "redefine the role of the FAFQ". "The vision for the future" he proposes, is to make the Federation "a privileged interlocutor with the governmental bodies and other organizations or companies interested in the family heritage and its enhancement". In addition, it will no longer directly support member associations as it did before, but simply direct them to resource persons. In short, the FAFQ becomes a voice rather than an actor.
    It is for these reasons that members of the council of the Association des familles Rasset have decided to join the Fédération Histoire Québec.

The Board of Directors 2017-2018 of the Rasset Family Association

Born in Brébeuf in 1942 (eldest of a family of five), elementary school from 1948
to 1957  in Brébeuf, high school from 1958 to 1961 at the Écoles des métiers in
Mont-Laurier, holder of a diploma in automobile mechanics from the Montreal Institute
of Thechnology, work for UPA from 1962 to 1974, founder of Autoparts Deslaurier & 
Racette inc. under the banner Uniselect from 1974 to 1998, construction project 
manager from 1998 to 2018, president of the Optimist Club of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts.

Born in Montreal, he studied at Notre-Dame College where he obtained a Baccalaureat Es Art. Then he completed his studies at Université of Montréal in Dental Medecine which he practised in Montreal. Now his hobbies are genealogy, the Rasset Association and travelling.

The daughter of Philippe Racette and Yvette Mélançon, she was born in Ville-Marie, Témiscamingue to a family of 14 children. Married for 16 years to Sylvain Racette, who died September 13, 2018, she has a daughter, Joanie. She worked for thirty years in a grocery store and is now retired. Her hobbies are reading, walking, traveling and gardening during the summer with her flowers.

Married for 44 years to Michel Racette, current president of the Racette families, Nicole is retired from the public sector, Health field for eleven years. Mother of Julie and Jean-François, she is happy to be grandmother of three wonderfull little girls : Julianne, Laurence and Béatrice. Her main hobbies are crosswords, sudoku, knitting, reading, sailing and cross-country skiing.



Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she moved around the world with her family whose father was an officer in the Canadian Army. Then her family moved to Montreal where she studied and make carreer. She meet her husband, Claude Racette, and is happy with her new family and her grand son, Louis-Maxime. She continues to travel.


Louise Racette Lecocq, born and from Montreal, daughter of Paul-Émile Racette and Marguerite Chayer of Montreal, mother of Valérie. Her father was a police officer for the city of Montreal. Her grandfather was originally from Montreal. Her husband, Daniel Lecocq, is from Vire in Normandy. Retired after forty years at National Bank and Desjardins.



To reach, click on the name

President :                       Michel J.P. Racette
Vice-President :                François A. Racette
Secretary-treasurer :         Claude M. Racette
Administrator :                  Nicole Sénécal Racette
Administrator :                  Sherry Simard
Administrator :                  Colette J. Racette
Administrator :                  Louise E. Y. Racette

Journal

Editor :                            Claude M. Racette

up-date 2021/03/31