A big thank you to the interpreters who helped make our 3rd SCT Hike a huge success – as well as the weather! Our hike started at the Protestant cemetery where André Renaud described the foundation of Chelsea and the lives of early pioneers such as Thomas Wright and Asa Meech. A short hike from Paden along a new SCT connector trail brought us to St Stephens where Suzanne Gibeault and André Michaud told stories of the early Catholic residents and veterans. Barb Hendricks brought her family’s pioneering stories to life: long work days followed by hauling logs and stone for the church’s construction, community barn buildings and family life. At the Pioneer cemetery, Marc Cockburn described the pioneering families of Maxwell and Church families, of the heydays of the Gilmour Mills and the story of Private Richard Thompson of the Royal Canadian Regiment, a medic in the Boer War and recipient of one of four scarves made by the Queen Victoria. Cockburn explained the importance of this award, the significance of the Cenotaph, and invited everyone to return for Remembrance Day.

Thank you to the municipality for supporting this event. Thank you to Gregoire Crevier for his wonderful photos and, of course, thank you to our participants.

Don’t miss the final hike of the series on October 18, where geologist Rob Rainbird will help decode the stories written in the earth around the Musie Ponds. 9:45am to noon.

Documents:

Protestant, Eng: https://docs.google.com/.../1U0LSXX6dpnfUpDHLEgfIrDj.../edit

Protestant, fr: https://docs.google.com/.../1upAgE8sM9N9uKbRku6oPGhp.../edit

Pionnier/Pioneer, Eng & fr: https://docs.google.com/.../1ni1RBddJmJcPpTIzbTK3lS3.../edit

A very successful launch to our first hike in the series today. About a dozen people showed up, including Mayor Pierre, and all were very engaged and interested. And fun! The hike was in Chelsea Park, along the wetland from Terrace du Dumoine. We all agreed it was splendid and beautiful in there!