Memramcook, New Brunswick

Memramcook
—  Village  —
Community of St. Joseph in Memramcook with Saint-Thomas de Memramcook Church
Seal
Motto: "Berceau de l'Acadie"  (French) "Cradle of Acadia"
Memramcook Location of Memramcook in New Brunswick
Coordinates: 46°00′15″N 64°33′10″W / 46.00418°N 64.55275°W / 46.00418; -64.55275
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
County	Westmorland
Settled	1700s
Incorporated	1966
Government
– Type	Town Council
– Mayor	Donald LeBlanc
– Councillors	List of Members Raoul Boudreau Georges Gaudet Claude Gautreau Adrice LeBlanc Don LeBlanc Yolande LeBlanc
– MLA	Bernard LeBlanc (L)
– MP	Dominic LeBlanc (L)
Area
– Land	185.71 km2 (71.7 sq mi)
Elevation	0 - 160 m (-525 ft)
Time zone	AST (UTC−4)
– Summer (DST)	ADT (UTC−3)
Canadian postal code	E4K
Area code(s)	506
Telephone Exchanges	334, 758
NTS Map
GNBC Code	1307013
Website	www.memramcook.com

Memramcook (2006 population: 4,638) is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac derivative of the French language.

The village comprises several adjacent communities including St-Joseph, College Bridge, Boudreau village, Belliveau Village, Beaumont, Fort Folly, Pré-d'en-Haut, Gautreau Village, Dover, La Montain, McGinley, Gayton, Cormiers Cove, Old Shediac Road, Memramcook-Est (Lourdes), Le Lac, Anderson Mills (Haut-du-Ruisseau), Hêtrière and Breau Creek.

History

Memramcook is called the "Berceau de l'Acadie", which translates to "cradle of Acadia". Long been inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the site saw the arrival of Acadians in 1700.^[1]

Name

The village name is originally Micmac and means "crooked river," referring to the many intricacies of the Memramcook River . The first mention of the area used the spelling Mémérancouque. The missionaries turned it intpo Memerancook , Memerancooque (1757), Memeramcook (1803), Memramkook (1812), Mamramcook (1812) and finally Memramcook . There have been several recent controversies about the name, such as people who offer the spelling Memramcouk or Memramkouke.

Deportation

In August of 1755, English soldiers were sent to Beaubassin, Petitcodiac, Chipoudy, and Memramcook to take the Acadiens prisoners. However, through guidance by the local missionary, Father LeGuerne, the Acadians hide in the woods. Then, on August 26, Lieutenant Boishébert of Miramichi and 125 soldiers and a group of Micmacs, surprised 200 Englishmen, under the command of Major Frye^{[disambiguation needed ]}. The English had set fire to the church of Chipoudy and 181 homes, as well as 250 houses in Petitcodiac. Boishébert gave the order to attack at the moment that the English were setting fire to the church of Petitcodiac. After three hours of fierce fighting, the English retreated, leaving behind 50 dead, and around 60 wounded. It was thus that 200 families were able to escape the deportation.^[1]

Growth

It saw its major growth, both culturally and politically, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The preservation and renaissance of the Acadian culture in Maritime Canada began in this picturesque village, largely as a result of the intervention of the seminary/collegiate at College St-Joseph - one of the founding colleges of the Université de Moncton. College St-Joseph, the first Francophone university in the Maritimes, opened its doors in the village in 1864.

It was also here in 1881 that the First Acadian National Convention was held, and where the feast of the Assumption (August 15) was adopted as the national feast day of the Acadians.

Districts

The village of Memramcook includes several hamlets, villages and neighborhoods.

On the banks of the river at the foot of Big Buttes, are, from upstream to downstream, the Pre-of-Surette (or Dover), Gautreau Village , the Pre d'en Haut , the Village des Belliveau (or to Pierre Michel) and Beaumont . These neighborhoods are more residential and rural, except Pre d'en Haut, with some services. At the top of Big Buttes are Little Dover , The Montain and The Hêtrière . St. Joseph is the main area. It is located on the eastern slope of Big Buttes, on the Mound Firecracker at the top of a meandering river.

North of St. Joseph in the valley itself are, from upstream to downstream Gaytons , Chemin-de-Shediac , Lourdes 2 and McGinley Corner . After the bridge, east of St. Joseph, is College Bridge . The Cormier Cove is located south of St. Joseph.

East of College Bridge extend Lake , located near Lake Memramcook and Memramcook East , located in a clearing beyond the highway.

Ruisseau des Breau is located in a valley of the eponymous creek , south-east of College Bridge.

Economy

Among people aged over 15 years, the participation rate is 68.0%, the employment rate is 63.9% and the unemployment rate is 5.9%, sharply down from the rate of 10.1% in 2001. By way of comparison, in the province are respectively 63.7%, 57.3% and 10.0%, meaning that the economy of Memramcook is generally healthier than the provincial average 28 .

Among these jobs, there were 3.5% in agriculture (6.9% provincially), 11.2% in construction (6.7% provincially), 9.9% in manufacturing (10, 8% provincial), 3.4% in wholesale trade (3.6% provincially), 9.7% in retail trade (11.9% provincially), 7.5% in finance and real estate (4.2% provincially), 10.1% in health and social services (11.4% provincially), 6.5% in education (6.5% provincially), 13 , 6% in services trade (16.9% provincially) and 23.6% in other services (21.1% provincially) 28 .

Among the employed population, 4.5% work at home, 12.4% have no fixed place of work and 82.8% have a fixed place of work. Among workers with a fixed place of work, 20.0% work in the village, 74.5% work elsewhere in the county, 2.9% work elsewhere in the province and 2.6% work in another province 29 .

The orchards are a major employer. In the territory including the DSL Dorchester Parish , Dorchester , Fort Folly 1 and Memramcook, there were 55 farmers in 2001 , averaging 53.7 years and a total of 45 farms. An area of 283 km 2 , 5263 ha were used 30 .

There are two branches of the Caisse populaire Dieppe-Memramcook, based in Dieppe and member of Credit Unions Acadian 31 .

Infrastructure and services

The École Abbey-Landry welcomes students from kindergarten to grade 8. Students then go to the École Mathieu-Martin in Dieppe to finish their high school.

The nearby village of Dorchester has an English school.

The library service lies in the town hall. It has nearly 14,500 books, including a small collection in English. There are also magazines, music, movies, and two computers available to the public. Located in the same building, the Community Access Centre Memramcook has 9 computers and offers training.

In the field of health , Memramcook has the Foyer Saint-Thomas de Memramcook Valley Inc.. an organization non-profit providing housing and care to elderly or disabled. The 5 residences have 100 apartments and 2 clinical extended care with 58 beds. The organization has 33 volunteers. The 2 closest hospitals are "Memorial Hospital" in Sackville which is English at a distance of about twenty kilometers, and a French speaking "Hospital George L. Dumont" which is French and located in Moncton, a distance of 30 kilometers.

The Fire Department has 48 Memramcook Fire volunteers, Raymond G. Leblanc is the Chief since 2000 while also being vice-president of the Firefighters Association of New Brunswick. The fire department was born from the merger in 2006 of services Pre d'en Haut and Memramcook. It has a central fire station in St. Joseph and a barracks secondary Pre d'en Haut, all with 5 fire trucks. The village has no post of Ambulance New Brunswick and the reaction time is considered too long. For this reason, firefighters also have two trucks and emergency are trained to handle the situation in case of accident or medical emergency, pending the arrival of ambulances 33 , 34 .

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police serves as Police municipal detachment Memramcook including a corporal and four constables. It is part of District 4 RCMP, whose headquarters is located in Shediac .

The planning is the responsibility of the Planning Commission Beaubassin whose main office is located in Shediac, but an agent is available at City Hall.

There are three post offices in Memramcook.

Notable residents and people from Memramcook

Pierre-Amand Landry

• Thomas-Jean Bourque, physician & politician
• Cormier wrestling family, professional wrestlers
• Amand Landry, Legislative Assembly NB
• David-Vital Landry, doctor, farmer, politician
• Pierre-Amand Landry, lawyer, judge, CHC
• Bernard LeBlanc, Legislative Assembly NB
• Olivier J. Leblanc, Legislative Assembly NB
• Roméo LeBlanc, Governor General of Canada
• Camille Lefebvre, priest, professor, curate
• Antoine Joseph Léger, lawyer, author, senator
• Édouard S. Léger, Legislative Assembly NB
• Greg O'Donnell, Legislative Assembly NB
• Clovis-Thomas Richard, lawyer, LANB, CBC

Climate

Climate of Memramcook
Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec		Average
Record Maximum (°C)	16	15	19	28	34	34	36	37	33	26	23	18
Daily High (°C)	−4	−3	2	8	16	21	24	24	19	12	6	−1		10.4
Daily Mean (°C)	−9	−8	−3	3	10	15	19	18	13	7	1	−6		5.1
Daily Low (°C)	−14	−13	−8	−2	4	9	13	12	7	2	−3	−10		−0.3
Record Minimum (°C)	−32	−32	−27	−16	−6	−2	1	1	−3	−1	−17	−29
Precipitation and Sunshine Hours
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec		Total
Total mm	109	81	103	90	99	94	100	76	92	100	97	106		1144
Rain (mm)	42	28	42	58	93	94	100	76	92	96	77	52		849
Snowfall (cm)	67	53	61	32	5	0	0	0	0	4	20	54		295
Sunshine Hours	115	124	139	158	205	229	248	244	167	142	103	95		1971
Information from Moncton International Airport 10 kilometers northwest of Memramcook, from Environnement Canada. Data taken between 1971 to 2000.

External links

• Village Web site
• Monument Lefebvre National Historic Site featuring the exhibit "Odyssey of the Acadian People"

References

1. ^ ^{a b} ARSENAULT, Bona, Histoire des Acadiens, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. 1978. Lemaéac p 79.

Coordinates: 46°00′N 64°33′W / 46°N 64.55°W / 46; -64.55 (Memramcook)