CBC airs St. Croix festivity broadcast 400th anniversary of island in focus

ST. STEPHEN, New Brunswick – The 400th anniversary of St. Croix Island’s settlement went national Wednesday night.

Canadian national.

Peter Mansbridge, chief correspondent and anchor for CBC’s flagship nightly news program, “The National,” was on hand to broadcast live from this community across the St. Croix River from Calais, Maine.

Mansbridge’s program airs across Canada, from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, to Wadhams, British Columbia.

A few months ago, CBC producers decided to take “The National” on the road and asked viewers to offer some story ideas. “The whole idea … is to get the stories that the viewers want told about their region,” Mansbridge said Wednesday night on air.

One suggestion that caught the producers’ eye: the June celebration of the settlement of St. Croix Island.

Four hundred years ago, French explorers landed at St. Croix Island, three years before the English landed in Jamestown, Va. The settlement, though short-lived, was the first European colony in the United States north of Florida. Community leaders are planning extensive events this summer to commemorate the anniversary.

“‘The National’ is our flagship show, and our flagship anchor, Peter Mansbridge, is just like any other anchor like Tom Brokaw [NBC] or any of those people on the air,” said Bob Mersereau, senior producer, said before the start of the broadcast.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, “Canada Now,” a New Brunswick news program, broadcast live from the Ferry Point Bridge connecting St. Stephen and Calais. On-air host Anita Sharma interviewed St. Stephen Mayor Bob Brown, who talked about the relations between his community and Calais.

Brown and Sharma were inside a hastily erected building on the bridge, located between the two downtowns. Inside were a camera, teleprompter and a tiny heater, as temperatures were chilly Wednesday night.

At 9 p.m. the camera’s red light blinked and Mansbridge began his live, national broadcast. “And good evening from the very edge of the country,” he said. “Behind me a very busy Canada customs post even at this hour. The U.S. border is, well, we are pretty well standing right on it. The St. Croix River, which runs below the bridge here, is the dividing line.”

Now that Mansbridge has been in St. Stephen, residents in Calais would like some national attention from U.S. networks.

“Anything that we can do to give exposure of what we have to offer in this area would certainly help us economically and otherwise,” Mayor Judy Alexander said Thursday. “Plus it will give people an idea of the beauty of the area.”