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DKG Practice/Program

workshop, fall conferences, and state conventions. Eight New Brunswick women attended Maine State
Organization’s 75th Anniversary Celebration at their spring convention in 2018. The two groups have
exchanged newsletters. In recent years, members from both organizations have attended each other’s
virtual presentations on educational topics. Friendships have been renewed at international conferences
and conventions. Some members stay in contact with their cross-border friends through emails, Facebook,
and occasional phone calls. Maine’s Elaine Hendrickson shared:
...I became acquainted with Marjorie Sinclair, Dianne Caron, and Roberte Melanson, NB President
[in Austin.] ... Marjorie has remained a friend via email and Facebook. Majorie came to an event I
hosted, a tour of the Katahdin Woods and Waters Monument, to show it off to others. She brought
her brother George with her. I will occasionally get a note from her.
Dianne Caron, current state organization president of New Brunswick, remembers a special friend:
I have fond memories of Mabel Desmond, who taught school in Aroostook County, Maine. Mabel
was also an adjunct professor at the University of Maine in Presque Isle, was later appointed to the
Maine State Board of Education, and served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives. After
retiring, Mabel moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick. She remained a member of DKG Maine, but
she attended some of our meetings and our cross-border conferences.
The idea of a reimagination of the cross-border meetings on a broader scale came into fruition after
discussions among members at the 2018 International Convention in Austin, Texas. “We spent a lot of
time in communication that year leading up to the 2019 cross-border event,” declared Hendrickson. Thus,
the cross-border meeting concept morphed from an annual, single-afternoon meeting between one Maine
chapter and the New Brunswick members into a biennial, overnight weekend event. This new model
involved Maine chapters across the state getting together with New Brunswick chapters. A Cornetet
Award from DKGIEF—received and appreciated by Caron of New Brunswick—helped finance the 2019
gathering.

DKG New Brunswick Cross-Border Conference: October 5–6, 2019
In October 2019, on a bright day displaying a natural tapestry of brilliant hues of red, yellow, and
orange, 40 DKG members, half from New Brunswick and half from Maine, embarked on their “Stepping
Back in Time: Reliving History” weekend. After a lunch meeting, the attendees and Betty Rose, who
is from the province of Alberta and
was then the Area Representative
Canada, headed to Kings Landing, a
captivating, interactive, living-history
village outside Fredericton, the capital
city of New Brunswick, which is
located 60 miles east of the Maine and
New Brunswick border. Participants
relived New Brunswick history
through stories from their guides
and friendly citizens performing
enactments of various chores of times
past throughout the village.
History indeed came alive! A one-
room schoolhouse with a strict teacher
and students reciting their lessons in
unison, a working farm with livestock, A bit of nostalgia: Members enjoyed seeing this re-created
a sawmill, a furnished cabin, and a schoolroom at the School Days Museum in Fredericton.

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