St. John River Flood
One French-Canadian lunch favorite offered in local family-style restaurants is Shepherd’s Pie, a casserole of mashed potatoes, ground meat, and corn. Chicken stew is another favorite meal among Maine Acadians. Small, rolled dumplings are added to the boiling stock. The use of dumplings is a regular part of traditional maritime Acadian cuisine. Herbs and spices typically grown in home gardens are used to season chicken stew and other dishes, and are important elements of local cuisine. Cyr (1977) describes the use of parsley, chives, thyme, peppermint, and rosemary for cooking and medicinal purposes. Summer savory is another common ingredient; American Folklife Center fieldworkers (1992) observed bunches of the fresh herb hanging from the kitchen wall at Doris Cafe in Fort Kent Mills.
Log Drive Yard
During the past few years there has been a growing concern for the future of the river and the surrounding environment. There are proposals to develop riverfront parks and to increase public access to the water. A local land trust was formed in Fort Kent in 1991 and another in Van Buren in 1993. Local schools have implemented a river awareness program focused on the natural history and environmental quality of the St. John River. In describing why she likes living in the Upper St. John River Valley, Shelley Chasse (a student at Dr. Levesque Elementary School in Frenchville, Maine) expressed the connections to and concern about the natural environment shared by many Valley residents (Schaner 1993: 18): I like living in the St. John Valley now because there is a lot of fish. We can go ice fishing in the winter. My family can go for a boat ride. We can go camping. It is also pretty here. We can tell the seasons—winter, fall, spring, and summer… . In the year 2000 I don’t think it will be as pretty as now. There would be much more pollution. The rivers would be dirty and the fish would die. I would hope that the Valley will remain clean with its natural resources such as trees and flowers; and clean of pesticides; and that there would be more jobs for our community; and that people would be happy in their jobs and in what they do.”
