Gravel Hill, New Brunswick

Gravel Hill, located in the eastern section of Restigouche County, is a small rural community in New Brunswick, Canada of less than 100 people which is part of the Chaleur Local Service District.

History

Founded in the late 19th century, it borders the Lorne Local Service District. The population located there is a mix of Acadian, Acadian Metis, and Celtic ancestry. In 1975, the community made national headlines after local citizens blocked the village's gravel road in efforts to get the roadway paved. This eventually led to the roadway being upgraded a year later.

Annual Celebrations

Its annual festival, Gravel Hill Days, was launched in 2007 and returned for its second edition in August 2008. At the second annual celebrations, more than 400 attended at the community's un-official outdoor venue, the Delphis Lapointe Sr. Memorial Field.

Affiliations

It is affiliated with St. Joseph's Parish in Nash Creek. Gravel Hill's community church, which was part of the parish, folded in the 1980s. Communities which border Gravel Hill include Nash Creek, Doyleville, Murchie Settlement, Lapointe Settlement, Hickey Settlement, Hayes Road, and Lorne.

Gravel Hill in history

Former residents of Gravel Hill moved to the Belledune region nearly a century ago and many of those ancestors serve the supervillage in numerous capacities.

Former Gravel Hill resident Jeffrey Bento-Carrier is the sports editor of the Bugle-Observer in Woodstock and is the former sports editor for the now-defunct Dalhousie News, which served the region from the 1920s to the mid-1990s. He was also a reporter for the Campbellton Tribune from 1994-2008.

Carrier's staff and freelance credits include works which have been published in more than 30 newspapers in the Atlantic region and Maine, as well as presented on radio and television stations in eastern Canada and the eastern United States. His photos and text have also appeared in seven books, including the Bob Harquail-penned History Of Hockey In Dalhousie.

The Bugle-Observer placed first overall for its sports coverage in its division's Atlantic Canadian Newspaper Awards for 2008. It also won a CCNA award for the best newspaper in its category for 2009, as well as the ACNA prize for best newspaper in its category on the year for the Atlantic region.

In 2011, Bento-Carrier received a pair of Best Sports Photo nominations for the ACNAs and CCNAs for his pic taken at a regional games for youth held in Florenceville-Bristol during the summer of 2010.