Violette Family Association

 
  Dick and Alice Violette cut the cake celebrating their 70th Anniversary  

Remember back at the 2005 Reunion, when Alderic (#100) and Alice (#101) Violette were honored as the longest-married couple at the Reunion? Well they are back at it, having just celebrated their 70th Anniversary on June 10th. And, Alderic (Dick) was the oldest member attending? Well Dick is 92 now, and Alice 91. [Read more →]

This monument was erected by the Violette Family Association in 1981 near Violette Brook and in the lot Francois was granted in 1787.

My wife and I have been traveling the last few days with my father and mother, Alderic O. “Dick” and Alice Violette, in the upper St John River Valley - in the areas where our ancestor Francois Violette settled and raised his family. The Violette Family Association is made up of descendents of Francois; he is my great-great-great-great-grandfather. Dad was raised in Van Buren ME, which is now where Francois had some of his lands. [Read more →]

Susan Violette in front of one her company’s equipment

Bill and Gerri Violette (#642 and #643) of Somerset MA report that their daughter, Susan Violette (#1790), has been promoted to VP in charge of sales world wide of heavy equipment for Doosan International. Her new position will require visits to Korea, where her department heads and much of her staff live and work. She and her husband, Joe Foutz, live in Mooresville NC. [Read more →]

Jeanette Girard views a photo of her mother

Jeanette Girard, daughter of Isidore Boucher and Marie Alice Violette Boucher, was born in Drummond, Victoria County, New Brunswick on May 21, 1918. Part of her family gathered recently in Southfield, Michigan, to help her celebrate her 90th year. [Read more →]

In the third of a series of articles in the Maine Coast Now newspaper, John Hale describes the efforts in Augusta, Lewiston, Waterville, and Biddeford to foster appreciation of the Franco-American culture. These cities were the destination of many French-Canadian families as they left the farms of Canada in search of a better living in the early part of the 1900s. Drawn by the employment prospects in the mills in Maine, they settled in those cities and raised their families, most of whom still live in Maine. [Read more →]

You’ve seen Rod Violette’s paper on “The Life and Times of Francois Violet” here at our web site (see “A Story about Francois Violet” and click to download the story) . The story has also been recently published at www.Acadian.org, an excellent web site with resources about Acadian and French-Canadian genealogy and history. A link to that site has been added here (see the Other Blogs and Webs section at the right).

We always welcome news of children being born to our members and their families. Please send the info to Roc Violette, Association Secretary, so he can share it with the rest of our cousins. [Read more →]

We are always sad to hear of the passing of one of our members, but it is important to us to stay in touch with our families. Please notify the Association Secretary, Rod Violette, of any that you know of. [Read more →]

Mail Forwarding

If this copy of the newsletter was forwarded to you by the Postal Service it is important that you notify the Secretary of the Association of your new address. The Post Office will forward for one year after which time you will be dropped from our mailing list. So please notify us right away before you forget to do so. [Read more →]

In the second of a series of articles about the evolution of the Franco-American community in Augusta, the Maine Coast Now newspaper describes how the language patterns in Augusta have changed over the generations. Most Augustans in today’s generation do not speak French at all, while their parents might speak French some. The generation before that spoke both French and English, but the one before that spoke only French, typcically. [Read more →]