Dundee is grateful

Open letter - Saturday, July 7th, 2018 will go down in history for the Municipality of Dundee. At around 8 :00 p.m., a young Dundee citizen named Ryland (aged 2), slipped away from his parents, as young children often do. Immediately, the entire community came together, with exceptional speed and efficiency, to lend a hand for the search of the lost child. Citizens from Dundee, other municipalities in the Haut-Saint-Laurent as well as from Outaouais, Saint-Hubert, Saint-Lazare and Ontario stayed throughout the night to help search the woods and fields. In total, 10 fire departments from both the Haut-Saint-Laurent and the United States responded with their teams and equipment. Night vision material and thermal cameras were made available for the search. A mobile command post was on the scene to help coordinate the large team of fire fighters. It’s during times like these that we realize the importance of our sense of community. The implication of all citizens and professionals is the reason that we can all rejoice in the safe return of Ryland. The collective effort was immediate, united and heartwarming. This event was the embodiment of the mutual aid and goodwill that exists in small communities like ours, and of the love that we have for the people around us. Here are the people that deserve our deepest gratitude: Our Dundee emergency measures coordinator : Daibhid Fraser The Fort Covington firefighters and emergency medical services : Tim Webb and his team; The Saint-Anicet Fire Department: Serge Dancause and his team; The Dundee municipal employees who searched relentlessly; The American Fire Departments: Bombay, Westville, Hogansburg (Akwesasne) and Bangor; The Québec Fire Departments: Huntingdon, Godmanchester, Hinchinbrooke et Ste-Barbe; The police officers and Sûreté du Québec : Sergeants Castonguay, Lamontagne, Daoust, officer Colbec-Lalonde and their teams; The officers of the Royal Mounted Canadian Police and their teams; The helicopter, drone and plane pilots; The search dog trainers as well as the dogs; The emergency measures personnel of different organisations; The team of volunteers from the Zion Church who opened their doors and provided comforting food and beverages to the search teams: Ken Fraser, Stuart Burrows and their volunteers; The Dundee municipal councillors who participated in the search, provided food and supported their community; The Dundee citizens who responded in full force for the searches and other support; The citizens from neighboring communities and from afar; The media who spread the news respectfully and compassionately; Above all, Ryland’s family who were patient and cooperative with the collective search party. We’ve experienced a stressful event together that, thankfully, had a happy ending. We can be proud of ourselves, our values and our tight-knit community. See you at the Dundee Neighbor’s celebration on September 2nd, 2018. Linda Gagnon, Mayor of Dundee