When the term Miramichi
is used, it is a multi-leveled concept. The Miramichi is a river, a city, a community, a region and a state of mind. It is
unique and special in its own way. When local hockey broadcaster Hoppy Dunn began his radio telecasts, it was with "Hello,
hockey fans from the headwaters of the Miramichi to the farewell buoy." Dunn captures in spirit what the term Miramichi means.
Located on the northeast coast
of New Brunswick, the Miramichi encompasses virtually all of Northumberland County, an area of 4, 720 square miles. Its main
artery is the Miramichi River itself which is the second longest in the province.
The Miramichi River begins in Miramichi Bay some 25 miles across at
Escuminac about 30 miles below the former Town of Newcastle, and journeys inland making its first branch at Beaubears Island
about three miles above Newcastle, breaking into the Main Southwest which continues through Renous, Blackville, Doaktown and
well above Boiestown to its source near the village of Juniper, a distance of close to 75 miles.
The other branch, The Northwest Miramichi heads up into Red
bank and Sunny Corner where it branches into the Little Southwest and the Northwest Miramichi, which continues beyond what,
was Heath Steele Mines.
So much a part of the identity
of a Miramichier is the river that one could find himself on the North Branch of the Little Southwest Branch of the Northwest
Branch of the Main Miramichi and know exactly where he was.
For a small community, Miramichi has left its mark on the world, and will continue to do
so. As local historian Manford Wasson has so aptly said:
"The Miramichi is a microcosm of the country. We encompass most of the founding ethnic groups of Canada. We have a
strong traditional and cultural base from the Native community, The French, the English, the Scottish and the Irish."
Miramichi has had its boom times and times of hardship, but
it has always managed to rise above adversity, and continue to grow. Its best resource has always been its people and the
spirit they have shown.
Perhaps it is this optimism and
sense of enthusiasm, which shows naturally when any Miramichier greets another. The conversation will go something like this:
"How she goin ?"
The answer is always "The very best."
