MADAWASKA, Maine — On Sunday, June 25 close to 150 people attended a special French Mass and re-enactment ceremony for Maine Acadian Day and is held in honor of the Acadians landing and settling in Madawaska. The event was sponsored by the Madawaska and Grand Isle Historical Societies with help from the Acadian Festival Committee and the Maine Acadian Heritage Council.
The ceremony marks Maine Acadian Day and is held in honor of the Acadians landing and settling in Madawaska. The mass was held at the St. David Catholic Church. Following Mass, the ceremony moved to the Madawaska Historical Society grounds where the organizers had the “Ruby Red’s Cuisine” food truck owned by Ruby Picard Theriault make local traditional dish chicken stew and ployes available to the visitors of the event. Entertainment during the meal was by local favorites Les Chanteurs Acadien. Wolastoqiyik elder Allan Tremblay spoke in the tradition of the Wolostoq people welcoming the French settlers to the area.
The main attraction of the ceremony was the re-enactment of the Acadians arrival on the south shore of the river to establish themselves in a new settlement in the Upper St. John River Valley. When the canoeists arrived on site, they planted a white birch cross on the site as was done in 1785.
The societies had been unable to hold the event for the last four years due to COVID. The hope is that it can now be re-established as an annual event.
