Did you know that maple syrup is the oldest agricultural product in Quebec? It all began with the Indigenous peoples who called it “Sweet Water.” When spring returned and the maple sap was running the Indigenous peoples offered the boiled thickened syrup as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit. “Sugaring off” was largely a woman’s function in Iroquois communities. The men cut notches into tree trunks and small wooden troughs were stuck into the bark.
The young boy was standing in front of a small wooden table on which laid a birthday cake with four lit candles. You could see the gleam in the little guy’s face, and his underlying smile of knowing that this was his day to be celebrated, and his day alone. Dressed in a clean white shirt, dark slacks, and a clip-on bow tie, we could sense what he was thinking as he continued his bright-eyed stare into the candles. We could almost feel his wonder at what other miracles life would bring, and that this birthday was certainly one of them.
My Gaspesian roots come from my great grandmother Melvina Chedore Maskrey. She was born in 1865 at L'Anse Au Gascon to Alexander Chedore and Maria Flowers. I had never known anything about my Gaspesian roots until 1985 and I didn’t even know where the Gaspe was in Canada. I started doing genealogy twenty-seven years ago before the birth of my own child. Even though I never met my great grandmother I am proud to say that she had a connection to the Gaspe and I have met many wonderful people and I was able to visit that region of Canada.
In Canada, heritage sites may be designated nationally, provincially and municipally. The level of designation depends on the level of significance of the site. National Historic Sites must be judged to be of national significance; provincial, of provincial significance, and so on.
Les Publications du Québec has just released a new book, titled Les ponts couverts du Québec. Produced in association with Quebec’s Ministry of Transport, the book is the first comprehensive study of the covered bridge phenomenon in the province.
