Les Nouvelles de la Famille Doucet Newsletter of Les Doucet Du Monde September 2014 INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS Message from the President Carol James Doucet, President By Carol James Doucet 103 South Ridgeway Drive, Lafayette, LA 70503, USA Phone (337) 984-6879 E-Mail [email protected] Dear Cousins, Patricia Doucette Hayes, Secretary During the 2014 Congrès Mondial Acadien/World Acadian Con- 1 Lougheed Court, Aurora, Ontario L4G 5K8 Canada gress, Les Doucet du Monde co-sponsored the speaker at the Phone (905) 727-8600 E-Mail [email protected] Doucet/Doucette reunion in Grand Isle, Maine. Lucie LeBlanc Consentino did a great PowerPoint presentation on Acadian histo- Jacqueline Auclair, Treasurer ry and the pioneer Doucet/Doucette settlers of that area. LDDM 20130 Cherry Lane, Saratoga, CA 95070, USA board members expressed the gratitude of the board to Lucie: Phone (408) 255-6319 E-Mail [email protected] Norman Doucette in English, and Jeannine Caissie in French. Again LDDM members helped Doucet cousins with genealo- INTERNATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS gy. Lou Doucet, Norman Doucette, and Eleonora Turnage brought Jeannine Doucett Caissie their computers and were busy assisting with genealogical search- 17771 Peppard Drive, Ft. Myers Beach, FL 33931 USA es. Phone (941) 454-5110 E-Mail [email protected] The video of the dedication ceremony of the plaque honoring Ger- main Doucet, Sieur de La Verdure was viewed by reunion Gail Doucette Christensen attendees. Thanks to Lou Doucet for making this possible – for 11512 Black Horse Run, Raleigh, NC 27613, USA Phone (919) 848-3463 filming the dedication ceremony and for providing the video to be viewed at the reunion. Lucien (Lou) Doucet 5 Acorn Lane, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA A merci beaucoup to the LDDM board members mentioned above Phone (207) 312-5889 for their great help at the reunion. E-Mail [email protected] We wish to express our gratitude to the reunion organizing com- Norman E. Doucette, Jr. mittee and all the helpers for stepping up and providing the op- 9 Governor’s Ave., Apt. No. 1, Winchester, MA 01890, USA portunity for over 200 Doucet/Doucette cousins to meet: Vernon Phone (781) 729-9133 Doucette – president; Eunice Tardiff – vice president; Judy E-Mail [email protected] Doucette – secretary; and Richard Doucette – treasurer. There Pauline Doucette Parker was a moment of silence to remember Eunice Tardiff, who passed 6790 SE State Road 121, Morriston, FL 32668, USA away a short time before the reunion. Phone (352) 465-3844 E-Mail [email protected] A merci beaucoup to Judy Doucette, the committee secretary, who was in touch with the LDDM board concerning preparations for Eleonora Doucette Turnage the reunion, and to Lou Doucet for being our LDDM liaison person 304 S. Vista Drive, Sandia, TX 78383 USA Phone (361) 947-0711 with the committee. E-Mail [email protected] Tuesday evening, when my daughter and I arrived at the reunion NEWSLETTER EDITORS site, it was great to see our LDDM group chatting under a tent. After we had talked to that special group, we met the organ- Carol James Doucet and Gail Doucette Christensen izers of the reunion. WEBSITE On Wednesday afternoon, a Cajun band arrived to provide a taste of the music of south Louisiana. Lucien (Lou) Doucet, Webmaster http://www.doucetfamily.org In the evening my daughter and I joined Norman and Linda Doucette for a quiet and very enjoyable meal in Frenchville, a FACEBOOK great ending to our Doucet/Doucette reunion experience. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LDoucetDM/ Carol Doucet September 2014 Les Novelles de la Famille Doucet Page 1 RETRACING OUR STEPS ON TRACE NOS PAS by Carol Doucet par Carol Doucet My daughter and I took a trip to see again the old city of Que- Ma fille et moi, on a fait un voyage pour revoir la vieille ville de bec, which she had seen when she was four years old. She Québec qu’elle avait vu quand elle avait quatre ans. Elle se remembered very little from that month of July. souvenait de très peu. First of all, we visited the upper city. We went to Mass at the D’abord, on a visité la haute ville. On a assisté à la Messe à la cathedral of Notre Dame. Then we just had to see again the cathédrale de Notre-Dame. Ensuite il fallait revoir l’immense gigantic hotel Chateau Frontenac, the Dufferin Terrace, and hôtel Château Frontenac, la Terrasse Dufferin, et la Prome- the Promenade of Governors. nade des Gouverneurs. Not far from there was Saint Ursule Street, where we saw the Pas loin se trouvait la rue Sainte-Ursule où on a vu l’hôtel dans hotel in which was the apartment where we had spent the lequel se trouvait l’appartement où on avait passé le mois de month of July in 1977. We went into the hotel, then we took juillet en 1977. On est entré dans l’hôtel. Puis on a photogra- pictures of the front of “our appartment". phié le devant de “notre appartement”. On Monday, after a very pleasant walk (no steps, no challeng- Lundi, après une démarche bien agréable (pas d’escaliers, pas ing slopes), we saw the ceremony of the changing of the guard de pentes), on a assisté à la cérémonie de la la relève de la at the Citadel. Then it was time to go down to the lower city garde à la Citadelle. Puis c’était l’heure de descendre à la via the funicular. The Place Royale and the church of Notre- Basse-Ville via le funiculaire. La Place Royale et l’Eglise de Dame-des-Victoires in the center were two must-see Notre-Dame-des-Victoires au centre étaient des lieux à ne pas items. We made a short visit to the Maison Chevalier. My manquer. Nous avons fait un petit tour à la Maison Cheva- daughter wanted to go back up to the upper city by way of the lier. Ma fille voulait remonter à la haute ville par l’escalier Casse-Cou (break neck) steps. I went back up on the funicular. Casse-Cou. Moi, je suis remonté en haut via le funiculaire. Many little parks with shade presented an invitation to re- Beaucoup de petits parcs à l’ombre présentaient une invita- lax. And definitely, we had a taste of Quebec cuisine. tion où on pouvait se détendre. Et bien sûr il fallait savourer de la cuisine québécoise. Beautiful vistas from so many places in Quebec City added to our enjoyment of this wonderful old city. Depuis tant de lieux à Québec on pouvait jouir de perspectives The Basilica of Sainte Anne of Beaupre, the Montmorency wa- étonnantes de cette merveilleuse vieille ville. terfall, and the village of Saint Jean Port Joli completed our La Basilique de Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré et le village de Saint- itinerary in Quebec province. Jean-Port-Joli ont complété notre itinéraire au Québec. This was a magnificent trip, a bit tiring, but one that will pro- Ce fut un voyage magnifique, un peu fatigant, mais un voyage vide us with many beautiful memories. qui nous apportera beaucoup de beaux souvenirs. LDDM Board Members: Lou Doucet, Carol Doucet, Eleonora Turnage, Jeannine Caissie and Norm Doucette September 2014 Les Novelles de la Famille Doucet Page 2 -Therese Poirier and this couple became the ancestors of all A TRIP TO THE ACADIAN WORLD the Quessy/Caissies in the Maritimes and the U. S. Marie’s CONGRESS – AUGUST, 2014 family who settled in Australia maintained the original by Jeannine P. Doucett Caissie spelling, Quessy. Needless to say, she’s been “star of the day” at both reunions of the Caissies. I asked her if she had plans to On August 8, my husband Paul and I left our summer home in attend the 2019 Congress in Dieppe, and her reply was that Sedgwick, Maine, to attend our 5th Acadian World Congress she probably wouldn’t, because she would then be 92! I hope (that’s right – we’ve been to every one of them, starting with to have the endurance and courage to attend that one myself Memramcook, NB, in 1994). We were really looking forward as I’ll be 86! to re-connecting with our friends and relatives we’d met at the On August 12, we headed down to Grand Isle, Maine, for the previous ones, and seeing how this one would measure Doucet/Doucette family reunion. We arrived there around up. This was the first Congress that would encompass New 5:30, where we met with some of our friends from other reun- Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and Maine in the U. S. ions. We wandered outside, where there were large white We attended the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Acadian tents, tables and chairs and a stage set up. We were wel- World Congress in Edmundston. It was a beautiful day, so we comed by the Organizing Committee and chatted with several brought our folding chairs and awaited the start of the day’s “cousins”, some new and some old. As we chatted with old festivities. The president of the Congress welcomed everyone friends Norman and Linda Doucette, Lou and Doris and several other dignitaries spoke, including the Prime Minis- Doucet, and Ellie Doucette Turnage, our LDDM president Car- ter of Canada, Stephen Harper, who welcomed everyone in ol Doucet and his daughter Michelle arrived from Quebec City. excellent French, and he was followed by Mr. Alward, the August 13 promised to be a beautiful warm sunny day. When Prime Minister of New Brunswick, who also spoke French, but we arrived at the Hall where the Doucet Reunion was being less well than Mr.