Articles published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.106, April 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

In order to facilitate the intervention of the council services in times of snow, extreme hold, or heatwave, and to prevent fraudulent approaches, the Council has set up a register of old people or persons at risk.

Establishing it depends on voluntary requests from the people concerned.

If you would like to be listed in the context of this action plan, please complete the attached form and return it to the secretariat of the Mairie. (Translator’s Note : See page 7 of Mirepoix Infos April edition for the form).

If you are not directly concerned yourself, but you know of persons at risk in your area, please inform the Mairie secretariat via the reception office.

Please contact us for any additional information.

Articles published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.106, April 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

Since Ghis Boutique is now closed down, the collection point for dry cleaning has been moved to the La Couturière Net, 8 cours Colonel Petitpied, Mirepoix (Tel. 05.61.68.92.16) Opening hours : Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

The Cardamone has officially opened for business, under the couverts near the Atmosphère Café, on the 5th March, selling speciality products for the organic/vegetarian market. We offer them a warm welcome and wish them well for the project.

The Saint Maurice bar has reopened for business at the start of March. Major restoration works are currently under way following the fire which damaged their premises. We admire the courage of Simone Rabaud and her family, and want to say that we are all behind her.

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.106, April 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

Despite the winter and its adverse weather conditions, various municipal works are ongoing :

- Municipal stadium : replacing perimeter walls and the last of the fencing panels.

- Former Railway Stadium : improvements to the car-park of the Paul Dardier Hall, with kerb stones reducing the parking area

- Erection of a metal fence continuing along from that in front of the municipal workshops, in the interests of safety and appearance

- Paul Dardier Hall : the first phase of the renovation of the cloakroom area (half the toilets) has been completed, and the second phase has started.

- Premises of the Pétanque Club : with the collaboration of the members, a clubhouse is being created – building work, painting and wallpapering, electricity. When finished it will give the club a place to meet and pursue their activities which is in line with the club’s image and the needs of its members.

- Jean Jaurès School : the installation of the wood burning furnace will be completed mid-April. The work to renovate the playground will be carried out in 2 phases, in May/June and during the summer holidays.

- Béal Canal : at the point known as Robinson, downstream from the fish ladder and the water flow regulation valves, it had been noticed that the retaining walls were deteriorating to the point of risking collapse. The council work force carried out a major programme of tree-felling, root treatment and structural repairs.

- Electricity Company works : moving cables underground in the eastern part of the town, and the construction of a new supply grid around the school premises, have already been discussed in these columns. This work was started in autumn, but then held up during the winter. It is now in its final stages, with the final power cut planned for the 16th April. The last stage will be to remove the old poles to a collection point, from which they will go for recycling.

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.105, March 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

“Pile & Face” – Toys, Games and Articles in wood.

On Monday 2nd April a shop selling games and toys and decorative articles in wood will open its doors under the Mirepoix couverts, on the site of the former Ghis Boutique. Because we all learn through play, at Pile & Face you will find a wide range of wooden toys (rattles, toys to pull or push, music boxes, jigsaws, construction toys, scooters etc) but also soft toys and baby accessories (bottle-holders, mobiles etc.). Rose and Dominique will also use their welcoming and colourful premises to display a wide range of games for all ages, ranging from simple puzzles to early learning tools, teaching aids, or board games for playing alone or with the family or friends. From first experiences to later childhood, from adolescence to adulthood, come and discover the magic world of wooden games and toys.

Pile & Face, 3 place du Maréchal Leclerc, 09500 Mirepoix 06.46.38.05.09 or 06.50.68.69.54

Instrument maker in Mirepoix

A new year is the right time for new projects and new businesses. Ludovic Fouet has taken the big step of creating Fouet Guitar House, his own instrument making business. Himself a professional guitarist for the last 20 years, after training at the Conservatoire National de Toulouse, M. Fouet is accustomed to adjust and repair and even convert and improve musical instruments. Since 2001 he has been teaching at the EMA school of music – guitar, bass guitar, drums, other stringed instruments.

“Having given only the school pupils the benefit of the expertise which I have acquired over the years, it seemed to me that it was time to offer it to the guitarists and bassists in our area, whether amateurs or professionals”.

In addition, M. Fouet offers for sale his own uniquely customised instruments, with air-sprayed graphic decoration and cellulose varnish. He also tunes the electric aspects of an instrument to improve its performance “to give the most pleasure to both eyes and ears”.

He also lets his customer use a showroom so that they can test instruments under real conditions : “it is important to me that my customers are able to try their instrument on the spot, under real professional conditions.”

For any information, contact Ludovic Fouet on 05.61.68.64.16

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.105, March 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

(Translation of part of the article)

We are just 6 months away from the 24th running of the MIMA festival. You can already get out your diaries and set aside your days and evenings from the 2nd to the 5th August 2012.

Four days to celebrate the rich and diverse range of the art of the marionette, its modern appeal, its creativity and its ability to reinvent itself.

The 2012 programme is centred on the idea of opening out to other artistic formats such as modern dance, plastic art and cinema. It will also be broadened in the international sense, with for example companies from Germany, China, Spain and Holland.

Special attention is being paid to the evenings, with ambitious projects open to the general public, free of charge, with dancing and partying – under the Market Hall, naturally!

For full information on the activities of MIMA and its festival, go to their website www.mima-festival.com or call 05.61.68.20.72

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.105, March 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

The municipal school of music and the Association “Noire et Blanche” invite you to their 2012 Spring Concert in the Paul Dardier Hall at 9 p.m. on Friday 23rd March. You would hear the choirs of the music school, the orchestral class, and the Mirepoix/Laroque Wind Band with their new programme. Come and help Mirepoix School of Music celebrate the arrival of spring. Free entry.

You are also welcome to look at their web site by folowing the link http://www.ecoledemusiquemirepoix.tk

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.105, March 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

The Mirepoix Festival of Swing 2012 will pay tribute to the Blues.

Here we are on the eve of our 17th festival. A whole year of has gone into the preparation of a programme which will offer you swing and New Orleans jazz, with the blues specially highlighted.

For this year’s festival, the entertainment for the first afternoon will consist of the band of the Harmonie Mirepoix-Laroque opening the fringe, followed by the Rural Jazz Band of Saint-Gaudens. In the evening, after the success of the 2011 programme, we are keeping to the same pattern with a free concert by the quintet Kimbe Jazz followed by a jam session for jazz lovers. An area will be set aside for dancing. On Sunday, the parade through the streets and arcades will feature the Steam Boat Jazz Band and the Sunny Brass Band, and in the fringe festival, the Yukon Band and the quartet Awak. In the first part of the evening, Doodlin’ presents their “Sextet Jazz, Swing vocal and instrumental”; in the second half, we pay tribute to Fats Domino with – all the way from London – the star performer Mike Sanchez accompanied by the Drew Davies quintet.

On Monday the same parade line-up will provide the background music to the serving of the giant omelette. On the fringe, the B.B. Calypso Live Orchestra, the Spitfires, and the group Contreband will keep the day moving.

An exhibition on the theme of jazz will be staged in the Espace des Métiers d’Arts (in Mirepoix Mairie).

(Translator’s Note – Edition 105 of Mirepoix Infos has three full pages of detailed profiles of all the bands and performers – much too detailed to translate in full. Let me know if anyone has a particular vocabulary problem.)

Article published in “Mirepoix Infos” No.105, March 2012

This translation by Arthur Groves

The Town Council is keen to make a special effort aimed at brightening up the town, since they are aware of how important appearance is for any town, such as ours, which wants to combine quality of life with attractiveness to visitors.

Improving public and private areas by means of floral displays is nothing new for us. Our predecessors entered Mirepoix in the Towns and Villages in Bloom competition with some success, but later the operation was abandoned. We now think that it would be a good moment to restart it, as a means of improving our environment, and to put our combined efforts behind it from 2012.

The citizens of Mirepoix are proud of the beauty of their town, of their heritage and of their protected environment. Sustainable development – in the sense of reconciling policies for employment, for the economy and for the environment – is one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and the visual attraction of our urban areas is one of the principal elements.

Of course, the participation of the residents is absolutely necessary for any improvement operation, since privately owned land is much more extensive than public areas. This is why we are calling upon the people of Mirepoix  to make their individual contribution to the floral decoration of the town, thus complementing the council’s efforts in the publicly owned spaces.

So how does it work, Villes et Villages Fleuris (Towns and Villages in Bloom) ? The Mairie will make the necessary applications at the right moment at departmental level. All interested individuals will then submit their application in the relevant category – balconies and facades, gardens visible from the street, etc. A departmental jury will judge their efforts and award prizes. This competition, which was inaugurated in 1959, was aimed at improving the appeal to tourist visitors. These days, it also has a positive effect in improving quality of life – and a combined effort will allow residents to be proud of beautifying and publicising their home ground. If private and public initiatives can be coordinated, they will complement each other and help towards the success of the operation. The Commune is currently working out how to improve and extend their floral plantings. The council has set up a working party, which will devise a plan covering several years and compatible with financial constraints. The various honours which have been awarded to our town over recent years bring with them rights but also responibilities, and among these responsibilities is the improvement of public open spaces.

We are counting on the involvement of everybody, we are confident that the council and the residents can work together, and we are sure that the Villes et Villages Fleuris competition will be a success in Mirepoix from 2012 onwards. The challenge for our town is a big one.