St. John Valley Acadians tell their story
MADAWASKA LAKE, Maine — An hour-long documentary, “Acadians of the St John Valley,” will be broadcast for the first time on Maine Public Television Feb 4 and 6, 2016 to all of Maine and the Maritimes.
Crown Of Maine Productions, based at Madawaska Lake, filmed from one end of The Valley to the other, interviewing dozens of local residents — from farmers to academics and from teachers to mill workers to discover their roots. Many of the interviews were conducted by Valley native, Dr. Francoise Paradis, who grew up in Frenchville.
This story took the film crew, Brenda and Alan Jepson, along with Acadian scholar, Don Cyr, to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to capture the beginning of the saga.
It also involved the acting debut of Patricia Theriault Ezzy, of Van Buren, who donned period clothing to play the role of Marguerite Blanche Thibodeau, “Tante Blanche”, a heroine who helped to save The Valley during the winter famine of 1797.
Shot after a late snowstorm, Ezzy pulled a heavy sled through 14 inches of fresh snow. Then, just weeks after appearing in this scene, Ezzy discovered that she is an actual relative of the real life heroine.
“It almost brought tears to my eyes to think what she had gone through,” said Ezzy.
“And I thought of the courage she had and of her desire to help and give herself to others and that made me feel like – what a role model she had been for the Acadians.”
Their arrival was made more difficult because the Acadians were refugees, fleeing from New Brunswick, and traveling on foot or by canoe with large families.
“It was a miracle of survival,” says Roger Paradis, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Maine at Fort Kent. Today, Acadians are spread out throughout Maine and beyond.
Sponsors for the show include Madawaska Pharmacy, Caribou Marathon, Bouchard Family Farms, Paradis Shop ‘N Save, Fort Kent Outdoor Center and the Acadian Festival.
Copies of the DVD are available in County stores and at crownofmaineproductions.com
A scene of Ezzy pulling the sled plus interview with her https://vimeo.com/119631819
