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.

Also, do visit the library in Madawaska, and the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Here’s an interesting opportunity. The Washington County Genealogical Society will hold its next meeting at 1 p.m. (American time) May 18 at the St. Croix Library in Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. Saint Stephen is just over the border from Calais.

The meeting is open to the public. Those interested are invited to come and see the connections they might have to families who lived on both sides of the border.

Membership to WCGS is $10 a year, including subscription to the quarterly newsletter, Weirs and Woods.

For information, contact Frances Raye at 853-6630, or Valdine Atwood at 255-4432.

The Italian Heritage Club will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. May 20 at the Bangor Armory, 647 Main St., Bangor. For information, call 947-5867, or check the Web site, www.italianheritageclub.com.

The Mid-Coast Genealogy Group will meet at 7 p.m. May 22, at the LDS Church on Old County Road, Rockport.

The meeting will have a roundtable format with participants discussing errors they have found in published genealogies or town vital records. Another topic will be the importance of listening to people who may be knowledgeable about the family one is researching. They may know more personal information about the individuals than can be found in published records.

The public is welcome. For information, contact Marlene A. Groves at 594-4293.

3185. ROSS-DORITY-FRIEL. Melvina Ross b. Feb. 13, 1895, New Sharon. Living in Hodgdon when she md. March 24, 1929, Archie Friel of Hodgdon. She d. Sept. 15, 1972. She was sister of my husband’s grandfather, Wilbur Gray Ross. Trying to find more info on Melvina’s parents and her children. Annie Cilley, 466 West Bay Road, Islesboro, ME 04848; or e-mail cillisle@acadia.net.

Send queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net.