Oral History Interview with Bert Dutil December 12Th 2010 Kathleen

Oral History interview with Bert Dutil December 12th 2010 Kathleen Mundell, Cindy Larock, interviewers. Cindy: Do you have any memories of celebrating Christmas in the Franco American Community year and years ago but also other things? You are also one of the movers and shakers with the Franco American Veterans – he’s very active in all sorts of things – and also this Drum and bugle Corps that performed in Quebec. You can talk about what you want whatever you want. Patty is going to do a little balance check to the sound of your voice. Bert: Sure. Kathleen: So can you just introduce yourself for me, please. Bert: My name is Bert Dutil. Cindy: Okay, can you spell your last name? Bert: D-U-T-I-L Cindy: Perfect: Kathleen: You grew up in Lewiston? Bert: Yes I did. K: And how long ago was that? B: 1932. K: And what was Lewiston Like then? B: It was simple; we had nice – and where we lived, of course, there were mostly Franco People. Cindy: Where did you live? B: On the corner of Maple and Lisbon St. and we had that Dumont store , Denette and Gauvreau, and the other one across the street… I’m trying to think of the name, Diette market right across the street . But if you go further up two streets further up Knox street, that’s when you start having the Irish and the English people. We normally did get along very well , you know. We learned English that way because we never spoke English at home when I was born and so on, everything was strictly French. K: Did you go to different Churches? B: No, just St. Peter’s was my church. You had to walk there, you didn’t take a bus like in school. It was a little ways you know, but we always went to St. Peters and I used to sing in the Petit Chanteurs, so that’s how I learnt a little bit about singing. K: What is that? Is it a chorus at the church? B: It’s a choir. It’s a boy’s choir while you are in school. After school you are out. K: So do you still sing? B: I sang for nine years with the Magic Pop[s] Chorus. Every time we gave a show there were always 3 to 5 songs in the show that were in French. There were a lot of Franco people coming in to see the show. I left them and a year after some of the group left there started the “Just Us Entertainers”; we just had two shows at the Franco Center this past weekend. I’m no longer involved. It is getting too much for me. K: Francos group really like to sing! B: Yes, normally we do. K: Why is that? B: We talked about Christmas…we usually start on Christmas day. Everybody went to Mémère, - grandma – all the time and Pépère, you know, and that is when we opened most of our gifts, although each family had their one or two gifts that’s it – the rest had to be at Mémère and Pépère[‘s] all the time. Of course, we spent the whole Christmas day there, normally, because then we had a big meal and then, of course, we sang a little and so on. There wasn’t too many people playing music though in our family. Most of the families had musicians but we didn’t. But we sang. I remember every Saturday night normally my grandparents had three other couples with them and they went to one apartment or the other in town and so on and had a glass of beer. That’s all they did all night long - sat and sang French songs. I used to love it when they babysat me. They sang all the songs and so on. K: What were the names of some of your favorite songs? B: Oh my God, there were quite a few. I remember most of the Christmas songs and of course by being in one of the groups that sings, one of my things is that I had to sing French songs for Christmas or during the different shows. Because there was only 5 or 6 that was able to just pick up and sing the songs while other s had a hard time or they did not speak French too much. You see I just lost my mother last year and every time I went to see her it was strictly in French. She understood English, she could speak English a little but that was it. Most of the family has been like that except now the grown up kids they might know some of the words in the song buy can’t hardly make them speak French and that’s too bad for us. K: Would you sing a French song for us? B: (Laughs) K: Would you mind? B: My problem is that I don’t remember words most of the time. I can sing almost every song you can imagine if I have the words and so on. You got a French one or an English one? (Laughs) C: Ces sont en français - <Il est né, le divin enfant>, <en cette étable>, <ça bergers>, <mon beau sapin> B : Ah, oui! C : You want to sing that one? Give it a try. B: If I remember the whole thing. (sings) That is good enough C: You haven’t lost it! B: I sing with groups but long longer on stage. K: When you sing in groups, does it remind you of your grandparents? B: Oh, a lot of them do. Some of the songs I don’t even remember, I could never find the words they used to sing. But then you forget them, we went in the military and you forget these songs. I used to sing a few around Christmas time in the military in French that I remembered and I made sure I had the words with me because you forget the words when you don’t say them often enough so it’s not hard to forget. They used to love it to hear French. But also, I worked for awhile with the United Nations in Korea, before they signed the armistice and we had three generals that spoke French so all of a sudden I get a call from my superior. He says, “you know we need you here a minute.” I go over there and the club that they have. “We need to have you sing and couple of Frenc h songs.” I did and they were so enthused with an American, who knows how to Speak French. They don’t believe that some times! C: How long were you in the military? I was two years in regular and 14 years in the armor reserve for which every two weeks we used to go to Fort Dix New Jersey and train recruits. C: You never went to France in the military? B: No, no, I wish I would have. I know one of the guys when we left together had the chance; they wanted him to go to France and he didn’t. I said, “it should have been me!” K: Now, when you spoke to the French generals, did they think you were speaking French in a different way? B: Oh yes, they did. But I didn’t speak to them very much. They would come to me if there was a word or two or didn’t understand or a phrase, a letter they received in English, or something like that. So I didn’t do too too much for them so it was a surprise because they knew enough English, but it was just to make sure. At that time I was in the front line. I loved that and then when my commander told me, he opened my records and says “it says here that “you talk French, you read French, and you write French?” I said, “Yes sir.” He says “Pack your things you are going to a regiment” and from the regiment I went to division. From Division you went to command post. They look at that, it’s a laugh in a way, this lieutenant comes over and opens a French book and says, “Would you read this?” I would bet a hundred dollars that he did not know a word I was saying. I just said it in French and he says, “Ok, you’re it; you’re going to around Panmunjon,” where they were signing the armistice; that’s where all around the generals met – we had a Belgian, a French and some place, I don’t know – they had colored people - but I can’t remember the country and they spoke French when they got together they all the time. So they asked me one in awhile to come over once in awhile and read the letter to them or translate part of the letter to them. Otherwise, that is the French I had. So, it helped me get out from the war. C: But you were born in Lewiston? B: Oh Yes. C: Your parents? B: My mother in Canada, my father and my [paternal] grandfather in the States. They all spoke French. K: Have you passed on French to your own family? B: (whispers) I don’t have a family. K: Oh you don’t? B: No, I got married and it did not work out.

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