Eastern Townships Toboggan Clubs

By Jazmine Aldrich

As winter finally releases its cold, snowy grip on the Eastern Townships, it seems fitting to share a piece of wintry history: toboggan clubs!

A toboggan is a long sled, curved up at one end, that usually has handrails or handholds along the sides (Merriam-Webster). The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us that toboggans were historically used by Subarctic Indigenous peoples for hauling small loads or people over snow. Over time, toboggans have grown popular for their recreational use in sledding. By the 1880s, there were toboggan clubs in Sherbrooke, Lennoxville, Magog, and two toboggan slides in Stanstead. (Author’s note: I have my own fond memories of tobogganing with my sister and cousins at my grandparents’ home in Way’s Mills – though, not in the 1880s).

It seems that the early days of tobogganing as a sport were accompanied by a great deal of fanfare. In January of 1886, the Paton Mills Toboggan Club invited the Sherbrooke Snow Shoe Club, the Tuque Rouge Snow Shoe Club, and the Lennoxville Toboggan Club to participate in a torchlight procession. The clubs proceeded through downtown Sherbrooke with Roman candles and blue lights on their way to the Paton Mills toboggan slide. The Weekly Examiner – predecessor newspaper to the Sherbrooke Record – reported that “the flaming flambeaux and shooting lights produced a very pretty effect” for the gathering of more than five hundred people.

A riveting excerpt from The Weekly Examiner tells us of “the grand opening of the Tobogganing Slide on London Street […]” which “was a gay, picturesque and brilliant affair.” It was Tuesday, January 4, 1887 – no doubt, a cold one – yet the article reports that between two and three hundred tobogganers and spectators attended, just to get a glimpse of the new slide “brilliantly illuminated with torches and rendered festive by a profusion of Chinese lanterns.” Among those who took part in the opening were the Sherbrooke Toboggan Club, Paton Mill Toboggan Club, the Lennoxville Toboggan Club, the Sherbrooke Snow Shoe Club, and the Tuque Rouge Snow Shoe Club.

Research in local newspapers suggests that tobogganing as a sport had a revival in the 1910s. The Lennoxville Toboggan and Snowshoe Club was formed once more in 1911, with plans to erect “a first-class slide.” The Cookshire Toboggan Club also made its way onto the scene around the same time.

On March 1, 1912, the Sherbrooke Daily Record includes a report from the Lennoxville Toboggan Club. The Club reports that its slide “was well patronized last evening, a large number of Lennoxville and Sherbrooke people being out to enjoy the sport.” They continue, poetically, to report that “the moon outvied the electric lights and torches, and as the laden toboggans rushed at lightning speed down the long, steep track, the gay scene was typical of the Canadian winter.” The evening ended in the club room with sandwiches, coffee, sugar on snow, song and dance.

As the above report attests, the Lennoxville Toboggan Club encouraged socializing as much as it did the sport. As of 1912, the Club held a weekly social from 8pm to 11pm which included music, dancing, and refreshments in the club room, and tobogganing on its renowned slide. The Club also engaged in charitable activities, including the donation of funds to cover the shipment of parcels overseas to local soldiers during the First World War.

As we bid adieu to winter in favour of the warmer summer months, we tip our tuques to our ancestors for finding ways to make winter fun! If you are interested in learning more about the history of the Eastern Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives.