CARIBOU — Echoes magazine has released a special Acadian keepsake edition to honor the August World Acadian Congress hosted by Maine and Canadian communities in the St. John Valley.
“We wanted to celebrate the international event with an issue that represents the presence of Acadian culture on the pages of Echoes since Issue No. 1 in 1988,” said Kathryn Olmstead, editor. “I think this issue achieves that goal, even though it contains only a fraction of the more than 90 Acadian stories that have appeared over the years.”
Echoes 105 presents a collection of articles about Acadian culture reprinted and excerpted from past issues of the magazine, along with several features published for the first time. The first part of a new series by historian Don Cyr of Lille traces the evolution of the stunning Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel church into a cultural museum. Another first-time feature was generated by Sen. Susan Collins who shared her interview notes from a project she did as a college student on Franco-American folklore.
Denise Larson, a new writer to Echoes, has traced her northern Maine roots and shares some of her discoveries in “A Tale of Two Pierres.”
The current issue contains excerpts from previously published articles about Mattie Pinette of Fort Kent, who served General Dwight D. Eisenhower as a secretary during World War II, and Leo Cyr, who was Ambassador to Kigali under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Other excerpts feature the revival of spoken French in the Valley, the 1989 Grande Riviere Festival in Van Buren and St. Leonard, N.B., the 150th anniversary of Evangeline, and the deportation of Acadians from Grand Pre, Nova Scotia.
Reprinted in full are stories about the unique history of Acadians, the first hospital in Van Buren, the convent in St. Agathe and an old hand pump remaining on the site of a school in Madawaska. Reprints also feature Rhea Cote Robbins’ artwork based on her mother’s French sayings and Noelle Dubay’s essay on the significance of a French accent.
Writers include Jacques LaPointe, Beurmond Banville, Lisa Ornstein, Joel Morneault, Harold and Candide Sedlik, and Edward F. Holden.
“We had to set aside so many good articles about Acadians, we may have to create a special section in future issues to continue the retrospective,” Olmstead said, adding that Echoes 105 also contains non-Acadian stories: a feature on the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative by Sandy Gauvin and columns by Glenna Johnson Smith and John Dombek
Echoes, published in Caribou and printed by Print Works in Presque Isle, has made back issues available at locations in Van Buren, Madawaska and Fort Kent for the summer, as well as by mail-order. For more information, visit www.echoesofmaine.com or call 498-8564.
