GATHERING OF SATURDAY, JUNE 9^TH. 2018

       Saint-Elie-de-Caxton, land of the Elves where candies grow in a tree, is a unique municipality.  Imagine locals who completely embrace the fanciful world of our national storyteller Fred Pellerin, and who decide to play along and to give life to the tales. Very friendly people greeted us this Saturday, June 9.              

       New members: Raymond Demers and his wife Christine from St-Jean sur Richelieu were welcomed.  Also present: Dennis Doiron of Gardiner, ME, who published a blog about his ancestor’s visit to Quebec at the end of the 19th century.  Suzanne summarized Dennis’ blog and this was published in our last publication.  Dennis was accompanied by his cousin Patrick Demers of Acton, ME.  Patrick is a life member from the very beginnings of the Association who also sat on the Board.  It was a great pleasure to see him again after a very long absence.

       That sunny day began with a cart ride as we discovered the legends of St- Élie with the sound of Fred Pellerin’s voice to guide us and make us laugh.  We saw the Elves crossing, who incidentally are everywhere in the village, the candy tree near the Church, the Garage of Culture with its exhibit of very impressive puppets, the botanical trail with a rose garden, a fountain and a wood ark.  The magnificent village Church, was built in 1922 with the stones taken from the Calvary.  Some brave people were able to “climb” the famous Calvary to enjoy a wonderful view of the village?  Others, such as I, used a car to get up there.

       After the ballad, we had enough free time to choose a lunch according to our taste, explore the Souvenir Shop of the Pilgrims, walk around the village and take the time to interact with characters from Fred’s tales.  This was followed by our General Assembly and an excellent dinner prepared by the Buffet Frigon from Louiseville.  Alexandre told us about the passage of his ancestor Joseph Demers at the end of the 19^th. century in the nearby village of St-Mathieu and his great-grandmother Lumina Deschênes whose family lived nearby.          

       I tried to explain the basics of DNA as genetics raise a lot of interest at the moment. Later, I had the great pleasure to present the book I published “MA LIGNÉE DEMERS DE 1555 À NOS JOURS” telling my personal family story.  

       This wonderful day was once again, a unique opportunity to see our friends, socialize and exchange.

                                                   Suzanne Demers