Claude Belanger—A Man For All Summerlea Seasons

Claude grew up in Lachine. In 1955, he was a teenage high school student and took a summer job at Summerlea Golf Club in Lachine, working a 100-hour week for 50 cents an hour. The next year he began full time employment, which led to his long, productive career with the club.

At the beginning Claude worked outside on the courses. He took care of the greens by hand as the thinking of the day was that any weight from heavy machinery would compact the grass. He used “walk behind” gas mowers to cut the grass and did all watering by hand. Top dressing was made with a mixture of grass cuttings, old leaves and sand—all spread by the workers who also shoveled snow off the greens in the spring.

Between 1960 and 1963 when the club was moving to its new location, Claude worked at both Summerleas. The work day was long and hard—outside in the mornings at the old club in Lachine and the rest of the day at the new location. There he did a variety of jobs—waiter, bartender, maintenance and locker room work. And after the new watering system was installed he had to turn the sprinklers on and off by hand. The greens were all hand watered from 8:30 p.m. to midnight every day it did not rain. The club did provide a Jeep to get around to all the sprinklers. Sometimes, for a short while after relocation, Claude would pick up some members who took the train to Dorion in the club’s station wagon.

As the club settled into its new life, Claude stopped working outside and became maintenance manager inside. No problem, big or small was too much to ask of him. At the Lachine location, through the relocation and in all the years after, he was a loyal employee performing all his duties with a high degree of excellence.

Not one to keep the doctors busy, in 48 years  Claude never missed a day’s work due to illness. Perhaps his excellent health was due to his favourite hobby—cooking.

Through all the long years Claude served Summerlea, he was an invaluable asset loved by all. 

Marion Dunn