Our BetterMost Community > Chez Tremblay

The History of Chez Tremblay

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MaineWriter:
I notice Amanda has been bumping old threads and others have been talking about our collective history. This is a little summary of our history that I wrote for the Ennis and Ellery thread, as that generated an influx of new members a few weeks ago. I share it here for anyone who is interested.

Folks who have been around awhile...share your thoughts, add historical tidbits, whatever.
Newcomers...welcome. We are glad to have you here. Hopefully our history will help you to understand this place. And...please, feel free to ask questions if you want more info. We have a collective memory here that is amazing.

___________________

I just wanted to give a little introduction, who we are and tell you why we are named Chez Tremblay, which I know is not intuitively obvious.

Way back when (like December), people started going to see BBM in the movie theater and as we all know, we have all had varying reactions to the movie--usually a profound, unsettling disquietude that doesn't go away. In an effort to assauge and understand these feelings, I sought out an online community and ended up at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). It was a good discussion but as everyone knows, IMDb is crawling with trolls.

In late January, one of the regulars (Brandon) got the idea to start posting on the Pierre Tremblay board. Pierre was the 1st Assistant Director of the movie. Everyone at IMDb gets a board, but when Brandon discovered it, Pierre had 0 posts. It quickly became "home" for a group of us (I would guess about 200 folks).

We tracked Pierre down (I was the one who found his email address) to let him know what was going on. He actually started posting (a little bit) and his wife, Nicole, became a bit of a regular. One of the coolest things was that we came up with 10 questions about making the movie, and Pierre answered them all. Here's a great tidbit: the tobaggoning scene--that's was Pierre's idea. The original screenplay had Ennis and Alma spinning circles in their truck in a parking lot. But the weather wasn't cold enough for an icy parking lot and the scene wasn't working. Pierre suggested they go up to the mountains and go sledding instead. And I am sure that everyone has heard the story the Michelle twisted her knee, Heath went with her to the hospital, and this is when they started falling in love. Pierre confirmed this little tidbit of gossip to be true. [The ten questions are actually archived on this board somewhere if anyone wants to read them.]

We managed to keep it semi-private for about 6 weeks. At our peak, we had 20,000+ messages.

Then the trolls invaded.

They didn't just post hateful messages, they figured out a way to auto-delete. They started ripping through the board. We lost 10,000 messages in 6 days. By this time, we had truly become a community of people. A group had gotten together from the board and gone to the Aero screening. Another group was planning a brunch in NYC. The thought that these trolls could destroy our community...it was beyond overwhelming. We needed to find a new home.

And that is how we ended up here at Bettermost, bringing our moniker (Chez Tremblay, to honor Pierre's French-Canadian heritage) and our little band of die hard Brokies (also known as Tremblayans, but I am seeing that less and less).

I think, because of what we went through, we are a very friendly and welcoming group. Philip, who runs Bettermost, is also a terrific guy and has provided us with a happy and safe haven. Chez Tremblay...we try to stay on BBM topics but yeah, we get sidetracked. LOL.

I would encourage newcomers to spend some time exploring the board, not just the Ennis and Ellery thread, and not just Chez Tremblay (although I will admit, I don't venture too far--Anything Goes is fun, though). Welcome to ouir community and keep in mind the thing that brought us all together--a story and a movie that has grabbed us and just won't let us go...for whatever reason.

Leslie
MaineWriter (LazyLFarm on LiveJournal)

PS, Feel free to PM me if you have questions, need more info, whatever...

maggiesmommy GayLee:
I don't want this to sound like an "i'm leavng" post, but after reading some opf the posts and the history of CT, i feel a bit like an interloper.  I too came from Imbd, but way way later, i didn't see the movie till April and found the other site like all of you, and got tired of the trolls, like all of you (original tremblayns) and was invited by one of you to come here, not sure if they were original or not, and thats how i found bettermost, BUT it seems this place was meant to be a private posting place for the old guard. maybe i should find another board here that is more generic..if i have barged in amd settled on the couch and eaten all your food and left the bathroom a mess, i'm sorry, i guess i just never understood what this site was about and the origination of the origianl Tremblay family...sorry....(quietly slipping out the back door, red faced)

vkm91941:

--- Quote from: maggiesmommy on July 17, 2006, 08:32:52 am ---I don't want this to sound like an "i'm leavng" post, but after reading some opf the posts and the history of CT, i feel a bit like an interloper.  I too came from Imbd, but way way later, i didn't see the movie till April and found the other site like all of you, and got tired of the trolls, like all of you (original tremblayns) and was invited by one of you to come here, not sure if they were original or not, and thats how i found bettermost, BUT it seems this place was meant to be a private posting place for the old guard. maybe i should find another board here that is more generic..if i have barged in amd settled on the couch and eaten all your food and left the bathroom a mess, i'm sorry, i guess i just never understood what this site was about and the origination of the origianl Tremblay family...sorry....(quietly slipping out the back door, red faced)

--- End quote ---

NO way GayLee.  Chez Tremblay was always an open community and very self selecting.  Even on IMDb All you needed to do was follow a regular, or be invited by one,  be sincere and settle in for some good conversation, coffee and cherry cake (and the occassional shots of Old Rose Whiskey, LOL).  You fit right in, everyone here does.  No restrictions and no worries

WELCOME  :D

MaineWriter:

--- Quote from: maggiesmommy on July 17, 2006, 08:32:52 am ---I don't want this to sound like an "i'm leavng" post, but after reading some opf the posts and the history of CT, i feel a bit like an interloper.  I too came from Imbd, but way way later, i didn't see the movie till April and found the other site like all of you, and got tired of the trolls, like all of you (original tremblayns) and was invited by one of you to come here, not sure if they were original or not, and thats how i found bettermost, BUT it seems this place was meant to be a private posting place for the old guard. maybe i should find another board here that is more generic..if i have barged in amd settled on the couch and eaten all your food and left the bathroom a mess, i'm sorry, i guess i just never understood what this site was about and the origination of the origianl Tremblay family...sorry....(quietly slipping out the back door, red faced)

--- End quote ---

Gaylee

I apologize if giving the history is making you feel like an interloper because that was the LAST thing on my mind! I never intended this to be an old guard, private post thing. We are a growing, vibrant community and I certainly want everyone to feel part of the group.

For me, history is very important. Knowing where I've come from to know where I'm going and all that stuff. I just wanted to share my knowledge.

Please don't leave....I value your contributions!

L

starboardlight:
Yep, as L and Vic said, you're very welcome to join in here. Just because you weren't part of its history doesn't mean you can't be part of its present and future. CT is where we came from, but we continue to grow and evolve. CT has always been a place for us to just let loose and have fun, while sharing our love for the film. Sure, the common history does mean a bond among the old timers, but new bonds are always welcome.

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