The 2nd Annual Public Works Week Open House was held Tuesday, at the RM of Montcalm shop in St. Jean Baptiste.

In the afternoon, Aurele Sabourin was presented with the Public Works Employee of the Year Award.

Sabourin is the grader operator for the RM of Montcalm Public Works Department and has held the position for 38 years.

"I started May of 1980, it has modernized quite a bit. We used to work with older machines, not great equipment," said Sabourin about how the position has changed over the years. "We never used to have foremen or things like that, now everything is more organized."

He added working for the public is rewarding but has its challenges. "You might make one person happy and two mad... but you will get compliments if you keep going at it and get a bit fussy with your work, you've got to care," said Sabourin.

The day also entailed a free BBQ lunch, as well as displays and demonstrations.

"We put it on so we can basically inform all the ratepayers and the people what our plans are for the year, we have displays of projects we'd like to see get done," said RM of Montcalm Reeve Derek Sabourin.

New this year was the HEART Team from Oak Bluff Colony equipment on display and a presentation by EPIC Smile who provides recycling services in the area. RCMP also gave a presentation regarding bike safety awareness.

Demonstrations included a grader demo, excavator demo, and fire extinguisher demo by the St. Jean Fire Hall. Fire Safety Awareness was also discussed by Letellier Fire Hall members.