Sophie T., David H. & Jayden

I met Sophie, Jacob and their son Jayden on Fleury Street East during the Promenade Fleury sidewalk sale. It was Jayden who first caught my attention that Sunday. He seemed to be enthralled by the musical performance of the guitar-voice duo formed by Clement Courtois and Julie Perron. As they were standing quietly, all three together, showing no sign of hurry at all, I approached them to ask for a few minutes of their time and the permission to take a photo.

Jacob is a native of Shawinigan, Sophie of St-Hyacinthe. They have been living in the Sault-au-Récollet district for two years. For Sophie, Fleury Street was the route of frequent walks during the period of her maternity leave. She appreciates the street for its activity.

Although they like the neighborhood, they will soon leave. The arrival of their child has prompted them to move to St-Hyacinthe to be closer to family members and become homeowners at an affordable cost.

Jacob and Sophie are creative young entrepreneurs. They are the founders of Productions 540, a company that describes itself as "the specialists of video, events and social media." You can learn more about them on their site: productions540.ca.

Jayden seems ready to follow the footsteps of his parents on the road of technology. After the little family had posed for me, he showed a great interest for my camera. I handed it to him, pointing it at my face so that he could take his first picture.

But no, I will not show that one!

Sophie, David and Jayden on Fleury street east on a sidewalk sale Sunday

David F. & Adrian R.

Although he is native and resident of Montréal-Nord, I met David in Ahuntsic Park with his friend Adrian, who lives in Pierrefonds. The two friends got to know each other through a cousin of David.

David told me about a project that came to his mind in January of this year. He is the initiator of a group which prepares the launch of a Web portal called NUWLA for September 21. A corporation was registered for this purpose and small investors of African descent from various cities in North America are financing it. Adrian, a graphic designer and Webmaster graduated from Vanier College, is part of this group.

In the words of David, NUWLA is aimed to the « black conscious community ». From what I understand, NUWLA is intended to be a place where the active members will post blogs on a variety of subjects such as health, education and business, but with an emphasis on promoting purchases and investments within in the black community around the world.

This portal should also be used to host individual web pages. For now, it has only a Web page with a countdown to the launch date and a presence in social media. Simply type NUWLA on your favorite search engine. This is a project that seems ambitious.

As agreed with the young men, I give you the addresses of their websites. You may get an idea of he success of their efforts this fall at: 

http://www.nuwla.com/

http://aredcreative.com/

Good luck to David and Adrian!

David and Adrian in Ahuntsic Park