Sperling church: a family story

In memory of Max Bilodeau, who died at the age of 4 following cancer, the Bilodeau family has revived the old Catholic church in Sperling, closed since 1972. Paul and Arthur Bilodeau bought the building in 2023, with the project to make it tourist accommodation.

For a year and a half, Paul Bilodeau, father of the little max, has devoted himself with passion to the renovation of the historic church of Sperling, now renamed Maxwell’s Golden Corner.

Thus, carried by the love and mourning of a father, the building has found a new soul.

It was necessary to continue working on the church after the death of Max. As if I had to finish what we had started together.

But the bilodeau family’s ties with this church go back much further. In 1939, Alice Delaloye and Émile Bilodeau were the first to get married there. Their son, Arthur Bilodeau, perpetuates this family history today by contributing to the restoration of the place.

A family story

For more than a century, the building today known as Maxwell’s Golden Corner has occupied an important place in the history of Sperling.

It testifies to a Catholic presence within a prebyterious community.

Built in 1898 in the rural municipality of Morris, the building was originally intended to accommodate the Waddell rank school. Subsequently, it was moved to agricultural land before closing its doors in 1910 permanently.

Consequently, the structure is installed at the intersection of the Robert and Main streets, in Sperling. With the construction of a larger school, the building is transformed into a private residence, a function it will occupy for more than 25 years.

In 1935, a new stage begins: Catholic parishioners acquired the building and converted it into church, to the delight of the four French -speaking families and the few Irish people present in the village. Arthur learned catechism there, when the gray sisters were in summer.

This conversion to church marks a key moment in the history of the place, symbolized by the marriage of the first couple, Alice Delaloye and Émile Bilodeau.

For almost 40 years, the Catholic church welcomed the community, until its closure in 1972. That same year, Alice Bilodeau bought the building before offering it, in 1978, to the Golden Age club in Sperling, thus offering a new gathering place to the village. The Golden Corner officially opened its doors in 1981.

In 1998, the building celebrated its hundredth anniversary.

In 2023, Arthur Bilodeau and his son Paul became their owners in turn, allowing the church to return to the family fold. While Max is sick, he accompanied his father during the repair.

Max was very involved in the process. Always proud to give me all the blocks and hammers. He was with me when I painted the second layer of paint on the cross. All this is therefore very linked to him.

Today, a new chapter is written with the opening, in 2025, of Maxwell’s Golden Corner: a place that celebrates more than 125 years of local history and becomes a symbol of hope, in memory of little Max Bilodeau.

An opening evening took place last June, a warm moment when the Bilodeau family now likes to meet.

The sisters of Max, Ella and Maya, held a lemonade kiosk during the event. Fresh fries, made on site, were also for sale.

Many donations have arrived even before we sold a single drop of lemonade. It was already an amount of almost $ 3,000.

Thanks to the sales and generosity of the inhabitants of Sperling, the Bilodeau family raised more than $ 5,000 in favor of Cancercare Manitoba. This organization which supported the Bilodeau family in Max’s disease.

The Sperling community is really unique. All the help we received, even during the construction of the church, was incredible.

Once the finishing work is completed, the church will serve as tourist accommodation and can be rented.

All the repair work was carried out by Paul Bilodeau, with the support of his family and the neighbors of Sperling.

Another fundraising event for Cancercare will be planned soon.

French -speaking Swiss emigration to Manitoba

At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, French -speaking Swiss immigrated to Manitoba within the framework of French -speaking colonization plans set up by the religious authorities.

These efforts come as French speakers have become a minority, due to strong non -French -speaking immigration and the Métis exodus to Alberta and Saskatchewan.

According to the Historical Society of Saint-Boniface,Recruitment targeted French -speaking families from Europe to strengthen the use of the French language, assert Catholicism and develop agriculture in the province .

This work entitled Canada : the guide to the French, Belgian and Swiss colonist: with illustrationswas published in 1894 in Ottawa by the Department of the Interior of Canada, an entity now disappeared. He was then reissued by Perriaux editions in Paris.

It is in this migratory context that Joseph and Valentine Delaloye arrived in Manitoba around 1905. Like many Belgians, French and Swiss French, the couple cleared the earth and founded a family.

When Arthur Bilodeau was a child, three French -speaking families of Swiss origin lived in Sperling, including his. His mother, Alice Delaloye, then married Émile Bilodeau in 1939.

Originally from Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, in Quebec, Émile had settled in Sainte-Agathe, a neighboring community of Sperling, before joining the Bilodeau family.

Today, the church’s journey testifies to the various transformations of the Sperling community and its inhabitants, from education to spirituality, then to community life.