Ms Mary King’s Miramicihi Valley High School English 111 students recently stepped back into the past and visited commemorative sites established in the Miramichi East community, but the tour was not just one of visiting a place.  Students brought the spirits of writers, poets and historians to life by reading their words in the places they were buried, the places they spoke, and the places they frequented.  Poets Michael Whalen and E. Pauline Johnson, writers R. M. Hickey and Valerie Sherrard, and  historical information about Joseph Cunard and his brothers may be separated in the curriculum by grade and subject area, but were united in two hours of reflection, song, performance and choral readings.  Students toured St. Michael’s church and graveyard, Elm Park in Chatham and visited Waterford Green, where there is a statue in honour of Francis Peabody. It was a great learning experience for all! For photos visit MVHS Walking Tour . Details of the tour: a)     Students did a participatory reading of “The Dungarvan Whooper” by Michael Whelan beside his graveside.  Whelan, “the Poet of Renous” died in ignominy in the Chatham Poor House and was buried in an unmarked grave in the St. Michael’s graveyard. His life and work was later honoured by the NB  Irish Cultural Association  with a tombstone.  MV students came to further honour Whelan’s contribution to poetry. b)    After touring the St. Michael’s Museum, the first hospital in Chatham, students toured St. Michael’s Church.  In front of the stained glass window dedicated by Rev. Hickey (chaplain for NSR)  in honour of the North Shore Regiment, students read excerpts from Hickey’s book, The Scarlet Dawn. c)     In Elm Park, on the 100th anniversary of her death in 1913, student’s did an enthusiastic reading of “The Song My Paddle Sings” by Mohawk poet E. Pauline Johnson. Pauline Johnson performed at the Masonic Hall in Chatham, an event billed as “one hour of bright and sparkling comedy given in evening dress; one hour of Indian stories and legends given in Indian costume. d)    Beside the ships’ masts in Elm Park, which were constructed under the inspiration of Frank McKenna, students re-enacted the arrival of the Cunard brothers to the Miramichi in 1820 and followed their success until 1848, when Joe Cunard’s  businesses went bankrupt.  A mob accosted Joe Cunard, and cries were heard of “Shoot Cunard” – Cunard left town in the middle of the night. e)     By the Francis Peabody sculpture on Waterford Green, students read historical information about the reliefs efforts done for the victims of the Miramichi Fire of 1825.  Aid came from all over: Quebec, Fredericton, Halifax, Boston and many other communities.  Peabody was instrumental in the distribution to the relief, and, in Valerie Sherrard’s words (author of A Million Acres of Flame), turned the story of the Great Miramichi  into a story of triumph.