Meeting: 3 November 2002
November 3, 2002 Meeting
On 3 November 2002 Les Guidry d'Asteur had a meeting at the CODOFIL office in Lafayette, LA to continue our planning for the 2004 Guedry-Labine Reunion in Clare (August 5th) and Lunenburg (August 7th). Plans are progressing very nicely for the Reunion. It should be a grand time for all of us to renew acquaintances, meet new cousins and learn about the history of our family.
Charlene Lacombe, our Membership Chairperson, reported that she continues to receive new memberships in Les Guidry d'Asteur. The Membership Committee and officers of Les Guidry d'Asteur are developing ways to recognize and thank our members. Besides membership cards, we are considering a Guedry-Labine family lapel pin and a newsletter that will be distributed to Les Guidry d'Asteur members. You should hear more about our efforts in early 2003 during January and February. By becoming a member of Les Guidry d'Asteur, you provide resources to our association for both planning the 2004 Reunion and continuing the work of our group in discerning the genealogy and history of the Guedry-Labine family. You can join Les Guidry d'Asteur by clicking on the link below, completing the membership form, printing it out and mailing it to the address shown with your dues.
Membership
Our Publicity Committee under Elaine Clement has been getting the word out on Les Guidry d'Asteur and our 2004 Reunion. We recently sent a news article on the Guedry-Labine family to newspapers throughout the United States and Canada. Did you see it in your local paper? We've received copies of the article from members in several states and even Canada. If you see an article about our family in your local periodical, why not clip a copy and send it to me at: 6139 North Shore Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70817. We will add it to our Family History Log. It'll also help us know how effective our advertising efforts are.
Our Sales Committee is gearing up with many Guedry-Labine items that we'll have for sale soon. We're planning a separate page on our website where you'll be able to purchase your Guedry-Labine family items and have them shipped to you before the Reunion. (As an aside, after the 1999 Guedry-Labine Family Reunion in Houma, LA we had a number of family T-shirts left which we put into storage. When Hurricane Lilie hit the Houma and lower Terrebonne Parish area hard in October, 2002 many folks lost all of their belongings. The officers of Les Guidry d'Asteur donated the T-shirts from the 1999 Reunion to the recovery efforts. Folks in Terrebonne Parish were grateful to receive these and thanked your association for its kindness and thoughtfulness. Thanks to Chuck Guidry and Wayne Simoneaux for heading up this effort.)
The Genealogy Committee under Daryl LaBine continues to respond to queries about the Guedry-Labine family. The Query Forums have not had much activity lately. If you have hit a roadblock or just a minor bump in researching the family, why not leave a query on one of the Query Forums? Our Genealogy Committee members or one of our other family members may be able to answer your query and have you back researching the family in a short time. Folks should visit the Query Forums periodically to see if they can help other family members in their quest to learn more about our family genealogy. To access one of the Query Forums, just click on the link below and then click on the Query Forum of your choice.
Genealogical Queries
The Les Guidry d'Asteur Book Project will be donating books on the Guedry-Labine family to at least five selected genealogical libraries this week. Your generous donations as well as funds of our Treasury have supported this very worthwhile project which will help family researchers. Libraries receiving the books are located in Beaumont, TX; Baton Rouge, LA; St. Martinville, LA; Moncton, New Brunswick and Clare, Nova Scotia. After the donations are completed, I'll send a memo to everyone detailing what books were donated to which libraries. If you would like to provide a donation so that we can expand our donations to other libraries, please send it to me at the address below my signature. Why not make a memorial donation to remember a close family member or one of your Guedry or Labine ancestors. An appropriate bookplate memorializing the person will be attached to donated book(s).
And don't forget about the Guedry-Labine Cookbook that Jack Guidry is editing. He's received some interesting recipes, but wants many more for the book. Visit the website below and then send Jack 2 or 3 of your favorite family recipes. Remember - we're not seeing who's the best cook among us (everyone knows that all Guidrys are superb in the kitchen). Since we are a very large family distributed throughout the United States and Canada (and even overseas), we want to discover how our family recipes differ by locality and give everyone a chance to taste the recipes from other regions.
Cookbook
Have you been planning your Family Square for the Guedry-Labine Family Quilt? The holidays are a great time to gather the family together and put together your family's square. Cindy Guidry Herdt will quilt all of our squares together into the Guedry-Labine Family Quilt for the 2004 Reunion. We'll all enjoy seeing the quilt and learning the stories behind each of the squares. And it'll become a Guedry-Labine family heirloom that'll be displayed at future reunions. Visit the website below, complete your family square and send it to Cindy before the February 5, 2003 deadline.
Family Quilt
Jeanette Leger and Wayne Simoneaux discussed their recent trips to Nova Scotia this past summer. Both Jeanette and Wayne visited the Lunenburg area and the Clare region. They report that the folks up north are very friendly, the country is beautiful and everyone is waiting for us to arrive for the family reunion. Jeanette and Wayne both scouted researched and returned with a lot of information and brochures on the areas. They thanks Yvonne Moseley and Felice Belliveau for meeting with them and showing them the sites and area. Their information and insight will be very helpful as we finalize plans for the reunion in Clare and Lunenburg.
The town of Lunenburg will be celebrating its 250th Anniversary in 2003 and are planning a very festive occasion. They are constructing a ³250th Anniversary Park² along the harbor shore which will include interpretative panels. One of the panels will provide information on the Acadian settlement of Merligueche (the former name of Lunenburg) from the late 1600's through the mid-1700's and will have information on our ancestor Claude Guedry. Les Guidry d'Asteur is assisting Ms. Bea Renton, the Lunenburg town manager, with developing the interpretative panel and researching information for the panel. We also plan to make a modest donation to help defray the cost of the project. The Park with the panels is scheduled form completion in June, 2003. Our cousins in Clare under the leadership of Felice Belliveau are very busy planning our Clare Reunion. They have had two meetings thus far with excellent attendance and have made tremendous progress. Be sure to show up with an empty stomach as initial plans indicate that we'll have ample opportunity to try the local Acadian specialities of the Clare region during the reunion on August 5, 2004. Many of the plans are being firmed up at this time. Once the agenda is finalized, I'll let everyone know. But be assured, this will be a reunion to remember with our Acadian cousins of the Clare region.
Further south Yvonne Moseley is working with your officers in planning the Lunenburg reunion on August 7, 2004. This reunion will have a different flavor from the Clare Reunion, but will be just as exciting. We'll have different activities and a different environment. Currently, we're selecting a location for the Reunion in Lunenburg and beginning to plan the activities that we want to have. So plan to attend both Reunions and make the initial ties with your newly-found cousins lasting.
Because of our Acadian and Guedry family history in both the Clare and Lunenburg regions of Nova Scotia, we are exploring ways of adding an historical tour to each Reunion. Our initial thoughts are to have a tour of each area the day after each Reunion. The tour will focus on sites significant to the Guedry family and Acadians, but will include other landmarks of the area. More on this later as we finalize the plans.
Remember it is not too early to secure lodging at least for the nights of August 4-7, 2004. Some folks have expressed interest in staying in Lunenburg during this period and traveling to Clare (about 2.5 hours) for the Clare Reunion. We are working to obtain a bus that will leave Lunenburg early on the morning of August 5th for Clare and return to Lunenburg after the Clare Reunion concludes. If your family would be interested in using the bus, please let me know so we have an idea of the number of folks that may wish to do this. There would be a small charge to cover the cost of the bus. We are not asking for a commitment at this time - only an interest. Visit the website below to learn about the Clare and Lunenburg areas and their lodging accommodations:
2004 Reunion
Finally, Les Guidry d'Asteur has registered to participate in the Confederation of Acadian Families Association (CAFA) Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial celebration in Rayne, LA on June 13-15, 2003. We've reserved a booth at the celebration and will be discussing the Guedry-Labine family with folks that attend the celebration. If you'd like to help out - either in planning our displays or manning the booth, please let me know.
Our next meeting of Les Guidry d'Asteur will be in mid-January. I'll announce the time and place later this month.
Hope the Christmas season is a joyous time for all and a time that draws our individual families closer together,
Marty