Archive for 2014
Blackville Fire Hall Grand Opening
The grand opening of the new Blackville Fire Hall took place this past Saturday, December 13 at its new location at 54 Main Street. Mayor Andy Hawkes welcomed the group of about one hundred, and acted as the master of ceremonies. Christopher Sturgeon recited the firefighter’s prayer, and Jake Stewart, MLA for Southwest Miramichi /…
Read MoreThe Memories Endure
The story began sixty-four years ago with three-year-old Pat Fournier sharing his earliest memories of the quaint little village he called home. For the past thirty seven weeks, we followed Pat’s story as he progressed from a five-year-old boy wearing a cartoon mask from the back of a corn flakes box, to an eighteen-year-old graduate…
Read MoreBlackville Remembers
Nearly two hundred people attended the Remembrance Day ceremony held at Blackville School this morning. The crowd erupted in applause as soldiers from the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering at CFB Gagetown in Oromocto entered the school gymnasium. The ceremony began with Royal Canadian Legion Branch #49 President Boyd Underhill welcoming the crowd, followed…
Read MoreMemories of War Video Series Now Available on DVD
In late January, I was approached by the Blackville Women’s Institute and asked to participate in their Heritage Day celebrations. Heritage Week is celebrated in communities throughout New Brunswick each year. This years theme was New Brunswick Remembers: 1914-2014, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and the…
Read MoreGraduating Class of 1965
It’s June 30, 1965 and it’s Pat Fournier’s last day of school. With prom and graduation over, eighteen-year-old Pat is left to reflect on his past and contemplate his future in “Graduating Class of 1965”, the thirty-sixth installment of his memoir, “Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville”. GRADUATING CLASS OF 1965 Written by…
Read MoreFire at Blackville School
A small fire broke out at Blackville School yesterday, Wednesday, November 5, resulting in students being sent home early. Teacher Matthew Sturgeon, who is also Deputy Mayor of Blackville, said the fire was started in one of the school’s common areas. The Blackville Fire Department responded and the fire was quickly extinguished. Students were sent…
Read MoreWhat’s My Size?!
While preparing for his upcoming senior prom, eighteen-year-old Pat Fournier has an uncomfortable run-in with the town pharmacist, Cecil Dunne, in this story set in June of 1965. “What’s My Size?!” is the thirty-fifth installment of Pat’s memoir, “Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville”. The following story may contain mature subject matter. Reader…
Read MoreAnother Boy in a Casket
On a late November night in 1964, the Fournier family is awakened with news of a tragic accident: their cousin Pat McLaughlin had been killed in a fatal car crash less than a mile from home. Another Boy in a Casket is the thirty-fourth installment of Pat Fournier’s memoir, “Memories of a Boy Growing Up…
Read MoreThe Pasties
It’s the summer of 1964 and the circus has come to town. Seventeen year old Pat Fournier joins his older brother Johnny for a night he won’t soon forget in The Pasties, the thirty-third installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville. The following story contains mature subject matter. Reader discretion…
Read MoreCar Thief
It’s the Spring of 1964 and seventeen-year-old Pat Fournier is anxious to get his driver’s license. In the thirty-second installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville, Pat ‘borrows’ the family car with unexpected consequences. CAR THIEF Written by Pat Fournier May, 1964 – seventeen years old The second-hand blue Vauxhall…
Read MorePresident Assassinated
On a late autumn day in 1963, the world stood still after learning that the president of the United States had been shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. In the thirty-first installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville, sixteen year old Pat Fournier recalls the day John F. Kennedy was…
Read MoreBlackville Ball Park Upgrades Underway
Upgrades to the Blackville Ball Park are currently underway. The project, made possible by funding from the provincial government along with the village of Blackville, began late this summer. Last month, New Brunswick Premier David Alward made the announcement for the $80,000 investment, that will also provide improvements to the community park. “Our investment in…
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