Travel magazine features Acadians

MADAWASKA – Acadians have been a down-to-earth kind of people, keeping to themselves for centuries, but that has changed in recent decades. They have sought to come to the forefront, making an effort to have others understand them. In the St. John Valley especially, efforts have been coordinated and the fruits of those labors seem to be showing themselves.

In the last week, Acadian heritage was celebrated in a five-part series in the Bangor Daily News. The full-page articles were aimed at students participating in Newspapers In Education, but adults have read the series with pride and fascination as well.

Acadians in general, from the Acadian Peninsula of northern New Brunswick to the fertile fields of the St. John Valley, also are featured in a four-page spread of the May-June edition of “Northern New England Journey,” a magazine of AAA Northern New England that came out this weekend.

“It’s wonderful, fabulous,” Jason Parent, chairman of the Maine Acadian Heritage Council, said Monday. “The series in the newspaper was great, and I am happy that the magazine article has come out.

“The newspaper series was ideal for schoolchildren, in story form, and it was played in such a way that someone who didn’t know Acadians got a good feel [for] Acadians,” he said. “The series did not talk down to us, and we are happy to be featured in such a way.”

It was a year ago that Parent and several others in the St. John Valley hosted Hilary M. Nangle and her husband photographer Tom Nangle for the magazine piece.

The New Brunswick part of the article describes New Brunswick’s Acadian Coastal Drive from Moncton, New Brunswick, and around the Acadian Peninsula on the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. It includes some historical information on Acadians from “The Deportation” from Nova Scotia at the hands of the British in 1755 to present day.

The one-page article on the St. John Valley has information on the arrival of Acadians in the valley in 1785. It also describes historical landmarks such as the Acadian Cross on the shore of the St. John River, the Acadian Festival, Van Buren’s Acadian Village and local Acadian foods, including ployes, a thin buckwheat pancake.

The couple were in the St. John Valley for the 2000 Acadian Festival and also visited the Acadian Village at Van Buren.

“We courted them, gave them the grand tour of the St. John Valley, on both sides of the St. John River,” Parent said. “We are always trying to get people to come here to write about us, to promote tourism, a crucial part of our economy.”

The Maine Acadian Heritage Council emphasizes tourism and specifically cultural tourism. Council members are attempting to get the St. John Valley designated a distinct tourism region.

“This would give us more control of our own destiny,” Parent said. “With the designation, we could apply for funding and emphasize cultural tourism.

“It’s an ongoing effort,” he said. “Everything we have done thus far is without much funding, using our own funds in the grassroots effort.”

Organizations such as the Maine Arts Commission have been helpful over the years. Now, Parent explained, the effort needs to have some might, and for that they need funding.

Part of the effort is to get a state visitors bureau for the St. John Valley. The closest one is at Houlton, 100 miles to the south. Parent’s group wants a bureau at a St. John Valley border entry.