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On Sunday October first, all the Besners were convened to the boundaries of Coteau-du-Lac and St-Clet in Quebec, to a grand rally enhanced by a spit roast, concocted by Marc Besner, who is unparalleled in this art, and whose sugar camp is situated on the road that goes by the name of "Rang du Ruisseau". In a relaxed mood and with great pride, 180 persons from diverse Besner lineages were assembled. Of course there were those who live in the Greater Montreal area, but some hailed from Rimouski, Maniwaki, the Eastern Townships and from Eastern Ontario, there was even one from Toronto whose name has been spelled Bisnaire for the last four generations.
Registration got underway at 10 a.m.: the younger children (there were about 15, one was 2 months old) were under the supervision of a few volunteer baby-sitters who kept them busy with all sorts of facial paintings and games. The grown-ups were directed to the tables where genealogical displays awaited them, allowing everyone to find his own branch of Besners and to discover by which link they were related. During the six hours of this meet, findings and communications abounded and were very cordial.
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The Association's new giant logo, conspicuously adorned the main wall in the room. If you want to know more about each symbol, read about their meaning by clicking on the appropriate link. Hanging on the wall was Reverend Dugas' genealogical chart dating back to 1898, maps from France and more charts realized by a Pascal descendant and the late Berthe Besner (Potaboire), Eugene Besner's spouse, the grand parents of our host Marc Besner.
This gathering was the first general assembly of our Association of the Besner Families Inc. founded last March in Vaudreuil and which has received its letters patent on the following sixteenth of June.
The goal set by the Association, of genealogical, historical and social nature, has been attained and it is now endowed with all the legal and banking formalities. During this general assembly, we adopted our rules and regulations, and elected a seven member administrative council.
The six members, who were elected in March in Vaudreuil, have all agreed to withhold their seats in the New Administration Council.
During those six months and seven meetings, they have accomplished an excellent task, which led to the success of this First on October 1st 2000. They are Elliott Besner and Jovette Besner (both Benjamin), Thérèse Besner and Hector Besner (both Potaboire ), Carole Farmer-Besner (wife of a Pascal), and Eric Besner (a Michel from Valleyfield). As we were missing a representative from the Paulais, René Bisnaire from Toronto, who is a worthy descendant of this progeny, agreed to join the team in order to face the challenge of uniting the anglophone Besners from Ontario and the United States.
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The highlight of the gathering was the introduction of a French cousin, Marie-Renée Bézanère, who, accompanied by her husband, André Colin, made a special trip from France to Quebec on this occasion. There is only a handful of individuals, 20 at the most, who bear this name in the Old Gascogne Country, whereas in America we have tallied close to 3000 of them which are all Jean Bézanaire descendants, who landed here in 1752 as a soldier of the "Compagnies franches de la Marine", then settled as a land-clearer/colonist in Vaudreuil (Petite Côte). Our French 'cousins' met plenty of Besners here, visited the region and even made plans for the pilgrimage-trip to the motherland set for the summer of 2002. The Besners are expected there and many reservations are already in progress. We'll come back to this later.
Afew days before the first of October, there were 61 family members in our Association. We now total 121. Jump on the bandwagon.
OurFamilies Association is member number 239 of Fédération des Familles Souches Québécoises among 158 other members.
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