Minutes: 13 Dec 2008

Minutes - Les Guidry d'Asteur Meeting - 13 December 2008

December 13, 2008

Bonjour Cousins,


THE BASICS

The Guedry-Labine & Petitpas Reunion will be Sunday, August 16, 2009 at the Conference Center of Danny's Inn between Bereford and Bathurst, New Brunswick. Danny's Inn is on Highway 134 just south of Beresford.

The Reunion will open at 8:30 am and the closing ceremony will conclude at approximately 5:00 pm.

The fee to attend the Reunion is $40 for a family or $20 for an individual which includes all costs except the optional Dinner Buffet at noon. The Reunion fee includes your 2009 Membership in Les Guidry d'Asteur.

A Registration Form for the Reunion is attached. if you wish to attend our Reunion, please complete the Registration Form, attach your payment and mail it to the address indicated on the form.

At noon we will have a Dinner Buffet that includes roast beef smothered in peppercorn gravy, sweet & sour meat balls, lasagna, chicken wings, potato casserole, coleslaw, tossed green salad, carrot salad, rolls, carrot cake, cherry cheesecake, fresh fruit salad, coffee and tea. The buffet will cost approximately $23 U.S. per person.

The Dinner Buffet is optional and you can go to a local restaurant for lunch if you prefer, but please consider enjoying the buffet lunch with all of us. On the Registration Form indicate your preference for the buffet lunch, but do not send any money for the buffet at this time. We will collect the cost of the buffet lunch at the beginning of the Reunion on August 16, 2009. Your preference now is not binding and can be changed until shortly before the Reunion. We just need an indication of the number of buffet lunches at this time.

Bathurst has a rich Acadian history with most of the local population being bilingual. Plan on spending some time exploring the history and beauty of this unique town.

THE CONGRÈS MONDIAL ACADIEN

The Congrès Mondial Acadien (CMA) for 2009 will be held on the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick from 7 August - 23 August 2009. CMA activities will be centered around Caraquet, New Brunswick.

The Guedry-Labine & Petitpas Reunion is part of the Congrès Mondial Acadien - a major congress held every five years to bring together Acadian families from throughout the world. Besides the many family reunions planned, there will be a host of other activities during this 18-day world congress.

Click on the CMA Website link below to keep up with the events planned for the 2009 CMA.

http://www.cma2009.ca/

For your preferred language click the red 'Francais' or 'English' tab at the upper right corner of the webpage. Not all pages are available in English at this time.

The Guedry-Labine & Petitpas Family is listed on the CMA website. To view information about the various family reunions, click on "Families" near the top and scroll down the alphabetical list. 

Major events planned during the 2009 CMA include:

* August 7 - Opening Ceremony - Acadian March (Lameque, Shippagan & Miscou)
* August 15 - Acadian Natinal Holiday - Grand Tintamarre (Caraquet)
* August 16-20 - Space 2009 - Acadie Invents (Pokemouche)
* August 23 - Closing Ceremony - Acadie Gathers (Tracadie-Sheila-Neguac Area
* Conferences including the Great Youth Gathering, Women's Summit, Business Event and Acadie Welcomes
* Artistic and Cultural Treasure Series including Invincible Roots, Maritime Short Plays, Sound and Light, Acadian Popular Theater, Grand Peninsula Concert, Voir L'Acadie, Weaving the Acadian Thread and much more
* Family Reunions throughout the festival period

A complete listing with a detailed description of each activity is on the CMA website (see weblink above) - just click on "The Program" icon.

THE AGENDA FOR THE GUEDRY-LABINE & PETITPAS REUNION

Although plans for our Reunion are being developed at this time, we will have an all-day Reunion beginning at 8:30 am and lasting until 5:00 pm with an excellent full buffet dinner at Danny's Inn about noon.

We are still developing our agenda for the Reunion, but do have some activities tentatively booked. Tentative activities include:

* 8:30 am - Opening Service (Mass) at Holy Family Catholic Church
[Entrance March honoring our founding ancestors, French Rosary, etc.]

* 10:00 am - Resume reunion at Danny's Inn Conference Center

* Louisiana Cajun Band

* Cultural presentation on differences and similarities of Louisiana Cajun Music and the Acadian Music of the Atlantic Provinces

* 12:00 noon - Dinner Buffet

* Petitpas Genealogy - Recent Discovery Using DNA Techniques

* Presentation on the History of the Acadian Peninsula

* Local New Brunswick Band

* 4:30 pm - Closing Ceremony

We plan to have one or two additional program activities. Throughout the day we may have a special magician mingling among us. In addition, we'll have family history displays in the back of the room and a sales booth where you can purchase items related to our family and our reunion. We will have several breaks during the day so that everyone can meet each other and can visit the displays and sales booth.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Unlike Nova Scotia in 2004 where family reunions and CMA activities occurred over the entire province, in 2009 all reunions and CMA activities will occur within the Acadian Peninsula. Bathurst is at the southern end of the Peninsula and Caraquet is near the northern edge. The driving distance between Bathurst and Caraquet is only 41 miles (66 kilometers).

As is true throughout the Acadian Peninsula, accomodations in the Bathurst area are limited. To see the major motels and hotels in the Bathurst area, click on the website link below, go to "Visitors Information" in the left column and click on "Accomodations". This website also has a lot of information on the history of Bathurst as well as interesting sites to explore. 

http://www.bathurst.ca/english/home/index.cfm?id=156

The 2009 CMA website has an excellent page on accomodations within the Acadian Peninsula. Visit it by clicking on this link:

http://www.cma2009.ca/?page=hebergement&start=0

[Remember unlike airline reservations that have signicant cancellation penalties, motels/hotels and rental cars generally allow cancellation up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival with no penalty. So do not hesitate to book your motel/hotel reservation and rental car reservation now even if you are now absolutely sure you will attend.]

For those traveling to New Brunswick by air, here are some airport options:

Bathurst has a commercial airport. It is small with only a couple of flights a day to and from Montreal.

http://www.airbathurst.com/en/# (Bathurst Airport Website)

The nearest large commercial airport is Moncton. The are numerous daily flights to and from this airport. The highway distance from Moncton to Bathurst is 138 miles (about 2.5 to 3 hours by car). Canadian highways generally are very nice.

http://www.gmia.ca/ (Moncton Airport Website)

The Fredericton Airport is a medium-sized commercial airport and is just a bit further from Bathurst at 157 miles. It has 6-8 arriving and departing flights daily.

http://yfcmobile.ca/ (Fredericton Airport Website)

The Halifax, Nova Scotia Airport is a large commercial airport that you may want to consider if you are planning on doing any sightseeing in Nova Scotia during the trip. The Halifax Airport is 218 miles from Bathurst (about 4.5 - 5 hours by car).

[Note: During the drive from Halifax to Bathurst, you will pass within 1/2 mile of the old Acadian Beaubassin Village and within 2 miles of Fort Beausejour from which the first Acadians were exiled on July 28, 1755. They are definitely worth a visit. Beaubassin is located right behind the current Nova Scotia Visitor Center at the Nova Scotia - New Brunswick border and Fort Beausejour is just over the border in New Brunswick. They both have nice displays to view. You'll also pass through Truro which was the area of old Cobequid, Acadia and through Moncton where the Centre d'Etudes Acadiennes (Center for Acadian Studies) is located.]

http://www.hiaa.ca/ (Halifax Airport Website)

The official New Brunswick Tourism Website is at the link below. You can learn about interesting locations, sites and activities at this website. By clicking on the word "Guides" in the left column of the page, you can order a free 2008 Experience New Brunswick Vacation Planner" which is excellent.

http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/en-CA/GeoLanding_US?source=other

As we have additional information on our Guedry-Labine & Petitpas Reunion and on the Congrès Mondial, we will send it to everyone.

Hope to see everyone in Bathurst on August 16th.


Marty


Martin Guidry
6139 North Shore Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70817
225-571-9726
guidryrmartin@gmail.com
Les Guédry et Petitpas d'Asteur, Inc.
https://guedryfamily.guedry.org/
https://guedry.guedry.org/