By Roxanne Moore Saucier, Of the NEWS Staff
Last updated: Monday, May 13, 2002
Acadian Festival, family reunion coincide
If you haven’t been to the Acadian
Festival in Madawaska, surely the 25th anniversary
of the event would be a good time to start.
Pencil in the weekend of June 27-30, and make plans to visit the St. John Valley,
a
very special part of this state.
Each year, a different family holds a gigantic reunion in conjunction with
the
festival, and this year’s gathering will include the Martin family reunion.
Last year’s festival honored the Picard-Destroismaisons family —
descendants of Antoine
Destroismaisons, born about 1560 in Trois-maisons, Picardie, France; and wife
Jeanne
(Lacherer). They had seven children.
On your trip north, do visit the Tante Blanche Museum on the road from Madawaska
to Van
Buren. The museum opens usually the second week of June until the second week
of
September.
Hours are 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and
1:30-3:30
p.m. Sunday. The complex includes the marble Acadian Cross on the riverfront
in back of
the museum, with monuments to each of the families who have held reunions
over the years.
An Acadian Mass will be held June 23 at St. David Church next door.
Verna-Cyr Morin does a nice newsletter for the Madawaska Historical Society,
and dues
are just $10 a year. Lifetime memberships are $50 for an individual, $75 for
a couple,
sent to MHS in care of Warrena Morin, 111 Legion St., Madawaska, ME 04756.
The society has many items for sale, with the current listing available in
the
newsletter.
I was so pleased to know that the “Papiers du Prudent Mercure,” edited
by Roger
Paradis, is still available for $50 in U.S. funds, plus $5 postage, sent to
Madawaska
Historical Society, Library Building, 393 Main St., Madawaska, ME 04756.
This is a wonderful resource, with many records on the St. John Valley that
you won’t
find anywhere else.
You also may obtain copies of family genealogy and other materials compiled
for some of
the past reunions. Among them are the Ouellette books, three volumes for $30
plus $5
postage; the Levesque books, two volumes for $50 plus $5 postage; the Nadeau
genealogy, $35 plus $3 postage; a two-volume Nadeau genealogy and pictorial,
$50 plus
$4 postage; “History of Madawaska,” $15 plus $3 postage, sent to MHS
at the library
building.