Tuesday Talks start July 4 at Acadian Museum

The 13th edition of Tuesday Talks at the Acadian Museum begins on July 4.

Three of the presentations will be given in French and three in English.

The opening talk in French on July 4 will be an occasion to remember Dr. Raymond Reid and his wife, nurse Bernice Reid, from Wellington, who contributed to their community for 40 years.

Their daughters, Claudette Arsenault and Cheryl Doucette, as well as their nephew Jean-Paul Arsenault will share their memories of health-minded couple.

The talk in English on July 11 will bring together Julia Albert, Armand DesRoches, and Cliff Poirier for a presentation entitled “Remembering Miscouche of Bygone Days”. The parish of Miscouche is celebrating this year its bicentennial.

A special exhibit is curently featured at the Acadian Museum marking this important anniversary.

Georges Arsenault will be the guest speaker on July 18. His presentation, given in French, will focus on the 1899-1906 diary of Céline (à Ben Frank) Arsenault from Urbainville in which she documents the comings and goings on the family farm and in the community. The talk will be illustrated with vintage photos from the family collection.

“The DesRoches: An Acadian Pioneer Family on the Island” is the title of the July 25 talk in English by historian Georges Arsenault. The ancestors of the DesRoches were two brothers from Normandy (France) who came to the Island as fishermen in the early 1730s and who married into the Arsenault family settled on the western shore of Malpeque Bay.

On Aug. 1, historian Sally Ross, from Tantallon, N.S. will give an illustrated talk in French on Acadian cemeteries. She will discuss the religious, cultural and historical heritage of these resting places in the Maritimes.

To mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the lecture series will come to a close on Aug. 8 with the lecture, “Potholes, Roadblocks and Dangerous Curves: Prince Edward Island and the Road to Confederation”. It will be given in English by Island historian, Ed MacDonald.

The talks start at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. Refreshments will be served.

The museum is located in Miscouche on Route 2, 10 km west of Summerside.