CARIBOU, Maine — Two Van Buren students recently visited the spring meeting of the Constance Hopkins Colony of the Maine Mayflower Society, held in Caribou.
Evan Smith, who will enter seventh grade, and Rudy Sebastian Quinonez, who will become a high school freshman this fall, earned top honors in the society’s earlier essay contest, through which several area schoolchildren submitted pieces for judging. Judges considered two essays outstanding: Smith’s for the grades 5-6 level and Quinonez’ for the grades 7-8 division.
Accompanied to the meeting by their parents, the students read their essays for those attending the meeting.
Smith, the son of Amy and Peter Gervais, read “The Life of a Pilgrim.” Quinonez, the son of Melissa Yvette Mendivil-Reimer, shared his piece, “What the Pilgrims Mean to Me.” Each received a rousing response, as well as a certificate and a check for $50.
Mendivil-Reimer thanked the colony for their efforts in making the contest available to local schoolchildren.
The Constance Hopkins Colony includes members from throughout Aroostook County and around the state. The group meets twice per year, with a fall meeting usually held in southern Aroostook and the spring session held in northern Maine.
The colony meeting are open to anyone who believes they have lineage to the original 102 passengers who came to America in 1620. According to the Maine Mayflower Society Colony Corner website, the County group’s projects have included placing Mayflower Silver Books at Presque Isle’s Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library, inventorying Mayflower genealogy books in local libraries and visiting area schools to share information about the Mayflower journey and settlement.
Those wishing to trace their genealogy to a Mayflower Pilgrim should contact a colony member or visit the Mayflower Society website, www.themayflowersociety.org.
