ST. LEONARD, New Brunswick – A Van Buren mother and her son were lauded Friday night for their work in advocating for the French language, raising aspirations, and enhancing relations between the province of New Brunswick and the state of Maine.

Marcella Belanger Violette and Paul Violette, executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, were feted at the opening ceremonies of the second Maine-New Brunswick Summit Conference held in the St. John Valley.

Paul Violette was a state senator from Van Buren in 1985 when he and Percy Mockler, a member of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly from St. Leonard, organized the first such conference.

Legislators from both sides of the border, along with Canadian ministers, Maine state agency chiefs, business leaders, local government officials and area residents attended Friday’s opening ceremonies at the St. Leonard Elementary School.

“We had something in common, to make our regions a better place to live, work, and raise a family,” Mockler said referring to his and Paul Violette’s establishment of the first conference. “We wanted to make this a better place to live and reach out to those most vulnerable.

“It was just an idea 20 years ago and it began a wonderful friendship,” he said before presenting Paul Violette with a flag of Grande Riviere, the original name of the Van Buren-St. Leonard area. “He was concerned that there were not enough interrelationships with our two areas.”

Marcella Belanger Violette, Paul’s mother and the wife of the late Maine Supreme Court Justice Elmer Violette, was lauded Friday as a pioneer in advocating for family, the French language, and the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

“Marcella considered her role as wife and mother her first priority,” said Judy Paradis, a former state senator from Frenchville. “She left no stone unturned to make this Valley healthy and wholesome for all the children.

“Dr. Violette advocated for continued international unity, seeing the St. John River as a physical boundary that shouldn’t interrupt the flow of interaction between the United States and Canada,” Paradis continued. “She has been recognized for many contributions including her continuous fight to keep the University of Maine at Fort Kent open and viable.

“Opponents wilted in the face of her strong bilingual presentations,” she told the audience of nearly 200 people.

Belanger Violette was remembered as being the first woman of her day in the area to garner a doctoral degree from the University of Moncton. Her thesis was “Le fait Francais au Madawaska,” or “The French achievements in the Madawaska territory.”