HOLIDAY in New Brunswick TODAY!!!

Today is a beautiful sunny & warm provincial holiday in New Brunswick, it’s New Brunswick Day!  It’s celebrated every year on the 1^st Monday of August, since 1976.  Each year, the province picks a city for the official provincial ceremonies.  This year the NB celebrations are in the Town of Richibucto.  

Many new residents are coming in from various parts of the world and immigrating into New Brunswick for a new life.

People here today, will be going to live entertainment with music, family activities, face painting, listening to storytellers and eating & drinking with their friends & neighbors.

First Nations communities originally occupied the land for over 6,000 years.  In the 1600’s & 1700’s the area was colonized by the French and than later the British.  In 1867, New Brunswick was one of the 4 provinces, which formed the Canadian Confederation. 

New Brunswick Day awards were introduced in 1991.

The New Brunswick flag  has 2 parts, with has some interesting symbols that, as an American living in Canada, I wasn’t aware of until today.

1)   The gold lion on the red upper part, represents the province’s links with Braunschweig (Brunswick) region in central Germany and the monarch of the British. 

2)   The blue & yellow parts of the flag, has a Spanish galley and represents shipbuilding, which was an important industry in the province.

Some of the symbols that you can see on New Brunswick Day are:  a purple violet, black-capped chickadee, a balsam fir, the New Brunswick tartan and finally the coat of arms, which contains elements to the New Brunswick flag above.

Some provincial symbols that may be seen on New Brunswick Day include:

• The coat of arms, which contains similar elements to the New Brunswick flag.
• The purple violet (a flower).
• The black-capped chickadee (a small bird).
• The balsam fir (a tree).
• The New Brunswick tartan.

The New Brunswick flag is raised in some communities on the day. This flag is rectangular and consists of two parts. The top third of the flag is a gold lion on a red field, which represents the province's links with the Braunschweig (Brunswick) region in central Germany and the monarch of the United Kingdom. The lower part of the flag consists of a Spanish galley and represents shipbuilding, which was an important industry in the province.

Finally, New Brunswick has a list of very famous people who originated from this area.  Here’s a link of famous New Brunswickers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_New_Brunswick

My Realtor colleague in Moncton, Larry Estabrooks just posted the link to what's going on in Richibucto: 

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1774745/new-brunswick-day-2010-in-richibucto

P.S. Still working on my Canadian history for becoming a Citizen of Canada! 

New Brunswickers enjoy the day!!!

                 ;>))