When we think of Acadians in Nova Scotia, places like Grand Pré, Clare, Pubnico, Cheticamp, Pomquet, Cheticamp or Isle Madame, among others, come to mind. How many would associate Acadians with Larry's River and how many even know where it is?
Well! Larry's River is a small fishing village on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia between Sherbrooke and Canso and its hundred or so residents want you to know of their Acadian heritage.
To do this they developed a park in the middle of the community and filled it with rocks - - well, not rocks exactly, but large, smooth-faced granite boulders. Then they had a couple of local girls with artistic skills paint the face of each rock with a different phase of Acadian history and settlement in the community.
There's more to the story, but I'll let my photos tell it. Have a look.
Since I've never met an Acadian named Larry, I had to ask one of the residents, before I left, how the village got its name. He explained that when the first Acadians arrived, they called it La Riviere.. When the English arrived, they never could wrap their heads around the fact the community was simply called The River, he said, so the French words La Riviere eventually became Larry or Larry's River. At least, that's what he told me.
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