Archive for the ‘May’ Category

May 31st

1885 – Father Henri Theriault of House Harbour was first ordained priest on the islands. He was the fourth islands-born priest.

1947 – Father Raymond Cyr of Grand Entry was ordained by Father Albini Leblanc. He was the first priest of this parish.

1973 – The islands shopping center, Place des Iles was opened for business for the first time.

May 30th

1793 - A delegation of Acadian Islanders were sent to Cape Breton to ask for authorized permission to remain on the Magdalen Islands.

1935 – Doctor Octave Chiasson of Pointe-Basse died at the age of 28 years. He was the adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex T. Arseneau.

1939 – Father O’Sullivan visited the islands where he proceeded to confirm 119 children.

May 29th

1859 - The Cleopatra, a bark of 508 tonnage, registered at Fleetwood, England, left Miramichi, New Brunswick into the Gulf. She encountered a heavy fog and ran aground at west point of the islands of Amherst. The ship, after having lost her deck load of 2,000 planks overboard, was aided by the passing ship, La Canadienne which was commanded by Pierre Fortin, who was monitoring the fisheries in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

May 28th

1944 – An ardent promoter in the Islands Cooperative movement, Ovide Hubert, helped set up the launching of the Magdalen Islands Transportation Company  (Compagnie de Transport des Iles de la Madeleine). The first ship that was bought by the company was the Maid of Clare, constructed in Metegan, Nova Scotia. She started her operations between the islands and Halifax, NS., in June, 1945.

May 27th

1990 – The musical group Suroît launched their newest compact disk (CD) with the title “Si l’Amour Prenait Racine“.  The group arrived at the Mantes Festival at La Joie, France, where the represented original music of Quebec. The four musicians and singers were Alcide Painchaud, Michel Leblanc, Henri-Paul Bénard and Bertrand Déraspe.