History
President 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 MoreGrandpa and the Buttons
It’s the summer of 1963 and Pat Fournier’s Sturgeon grandparents are down from Dalhousie for a visit. In the next installment of his memoir, the sixteen year old boy recalls his Dad’s retelling of a story about Barry MacKenzie to his visiting family in “Grandpa and the Buttons”. GRANDPA AND THE BUTTONS Written by Pat…
Read MoreMemories of War: Byron & Ella Curtis
In late January, I was approached by the Blackville Womenās Institute and asked to participate in their Heritage Day celebrations.Ā 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 MoreHitchhiking Home
It’s the winter of 1963 and Pat’s father Sylvernus is working at the mill in Newcastle. In the twenty-seventh installment of his memoir, the fifteen-year-old boy recalls a cold January morning when his dad has just hitchhiked a ride home from work. HITCHHIKING HOME Written by Pat Fournier January 1963 ā fifteen years old It…
Read MoreNinety-Nine Bottles
It’s the summer of 1962 and fifteen year old Pat takes a nostalgic trip down memory lane in Ninety-Nine Bottles, the twenty-sixth installment of his memoir Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville. NINETY-NINE BOTTLES Written by Pat Fournier August 1962 ā fifteen years old The swing tree was the focal point in our…
Read MoreIce Time
On a chilly winter evening in 1962, fourteen year old Pat Fournier walks the two mile trek to Morgan’s Rink for a night of skating that doesn’t quite go as planned. Ice Time is the twenty-third installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville. ICE TIME Written by Pat Fournier February…
Read MoreThe Sensitive Moose
It’s the bitter winter of 1962 and Pat, along with his brother Johnny, friend Alton Underhill, and their father Sylvernus, travel the Bartholomew Road to gather firewood. On their way the boys venture upon a not-so-pleasant moose, the focus of the twenty-second installment of Pat Fournier’s memoir Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville.…
Read MoreThe Outhouse
It’s the Spring of 1959 and Pat Fournier’s older brother Johnny has an unfortunate run-in with the family outhouse in the sixteenth installment of Pat’s memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville. THE OUTHOUSE Written by Pat Fournier November 11, 1958 ā eleven years old Our little sister Leslie is born.Ā Now there…
Read MoreSummer’s Gong
It’s the summer of 1958 and the residents of the village of Blackville and outlying communities have gathered for the social event of the year: St. Raphael’s annual church picnic. In this fifteenth installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville, Pat Fournier reflects on the day’s events and recalls some…
Read MoreA Special Birthday Present
It’s the Spring of 1958 and eleven year old Pat Fournier received the only gift he really wanted for his birthday, a Sunday Missal. In this fourteenth installment of his memoir, Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville, Pat reflects on St. Raphael’s church and Father Nowlan’s uncomfortable reading of the Sunday collections. A…
Read MoreBless Me Father
It was the first Friday in May of 1955 and eight year old Pat Fournier was going to confession… but what would he confess to? In this eighth installment of his memoir āMemories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackvilleā, Pat recalls the story of how the misfortune of another child from his neighbourhood lead…
Read MoreSchool Daze
The date is September 8, 1953 and it’s Pat Fournier’s first day of school. In this next installment of “Memories of a Boy Growing Up in Blackville”, join Pat as he walks the mile and a half trek to school, while sharing memories of the people and places along the way. School Daze Written by…
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