St. Eustache

The History of St. Eustache started at Baie St. Paul. It goes back to 1835 with Abbé George-Antoine Belcourt">

St. Eustache The History of St. Eustache started at Baie St. Paul. It goes back to 1835 with Abbé George-Antoine Belcourt, a missionary from Quebec who established a mission on the south of the Assiniboine River. No one had been afraid of the floods that occurred in 1826, 1852, 1861. But in 1881-1882, it was a different matter. One part of the cemetery slid in the river. Many of the small houses were destroyed. The parish priest, Cyrille Saint-Pierre was very discouraged. He decided to look for safer place and moved to North Dakota with some of his parishioners. Then Bishop Taché, who had been named Archbishop of St. Boniface, sent missionary Thomas Quevillion to Baie St. Paul to try and find a new place for the church. The place where he settled was definitively called St. Eustache only on January 2, 1898. The name of St. Eustache was chosen because most of the parishioners were hunters and Saint Eustache is the Patron saint of hunters. In 1903, Bishop Langevin arrived by train in Elie for the blessing of the cornerstone of the new St. Eustache Church . In 1915 St. Eustache became a part of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, when Bishop Sinnott came to St. Eustache to bless the four bells that where bought in France in 1924. In 1990 the bells were removed from its steeple and where placed in a Carillon which is the biggest in western Canada. In March 1948 a new school was build and in 1979 the school became French Immersion and a brand new gymnasium was completed in 1984. We are happy to say that as of today the French Immersion is still going strong. The Community Club purchased land from the parish, then began raising funds from federal, Provincial and Municipal Grants for the Arena and attached curling rink. A committee checked into other grants to put artificial ice in the arena and the winter of 2002-2003 it was successfully in with the help of N H L P A, Municipality Grant, Manitoba Community Council, and most of all the businesses and personal donations. In 1986 the curling rink was transformed to a hall. The Community Club is busy with its many activities, Bingo, cribbage tournaments, socials, weddings, meetings, and with our hard working volunteers these activities would have a hard time going. We have a lot to be proud for in our little village, of the past and the future.