Michelle St-Onge waved enthusiastically at the crowd from the stage of the North Bay Capitol Centre Sunday afternoon, after it was revealed that she was this year’s Bonhomme Carnaval.
“I am so privileged to be the 57th Bonhomme.”
St-Onge has been holding onto the secret since July.
“It was pretty hard. They only kind of suspected it toward the very, very end because of some of the dance movements I would do. My grandson thought it might be me, but my daughter from Ottawa didn’t know, and my grandchildren from Ottawa didn’t know,” laughed St-Onge.
“My husband knew from the beginning because he was asked at the same time as me if I would take it on because it is a big job and you have to be available a lot.”
St-Onge says she made 10 to 12 visits a day greeting people at various locations across the community as part of Le Carnaval des Campagnons.
Everywhere she went, people wanted to hug Bonhomme.
“We went to nursing homes and we went to schools, and wherever we went, Bonhomme was greeted so well, and with so much love. You just could see it in their eyes. We even met people in the hall going into the hotel where we were staying and these girls hadn’t seen Bonhomme since they were kids. These were young women attending a convention, and they just had to hug Bonhomme, and they just had to take pictures with Bonhomme,” beamed St-Onge.
“Some people said ‘I remember Bonhomme when you came to my school and now I’m this old.’ Or,’You came to the nursing home to see my mom and you made her feel so good.’”
Some interactions were extra special.
“Oh, there was a little baby. She was just so tiny. I was doing the hiding the eyes thing and her eyes opened up and she started to giggle, and she grabbed my nose. There is actually a photo of that,” laughed St-Onge.
“The other was a little lady in one of the nursing homes and she was blind, but she wanted to touch me, and she felt my face and head and she just started to cry. There were tears coming down her face. I was just filled with emotion with that. Definitely.”
There are some challenges to being Bonhomme. Getting in and out of a vehicle dressed in costume was tricky.
St-Onge said she had to plan for the 4-5 hours a day she was in costume.
“You have to prepare yourself mentally for being in it. There is a lot of physicality going on. And you have one coffee in the morning and that is it.“
Chair of Les Compagnons Michel Page says St-Onge was chosen because of her commitment to the Francophone community.
“Michelle has been involved in the Francophone community for a number of years. She has been involved in theatre over the years. She has been on the board of administration of Les Compagnons. She does it all,” said Page.
“She is a great volunteer for the community. She is always helping us out with the Carnaval every year. So, we felt it was really important to honour and recognize all the work that she has done over the years.”
Being selected as Bonhomme is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I really didn’t expect this. There are so many other people who I really thought would have been asked first. When I was approached in July I thought ‘Wow. I’ve got to keep this secret until now?’ But I did because you think of Bonhomme as an entity of himself. When I am in the Bonhomme costume, I am Bonhomme,” St-Onge smiled.
“It is the biggest and the best job that a Francophone could ever have. You don’t ever think you could do this, or that it will be given to you. The gift that you get is all of the love that you feel as Bonhomme. Bonhomme is loved by everybody.”
