AUBURN — The descendants of Ernest Houle and Lydia Bussiere Houle celebrated their 25th annual Houle Family Reunion this year at cousin Diane Houle and her husband Al Cates’ home in Auburn on July 28.

This tradition began with Diane’s parents, Roland and Therese Houle, who held the first reunion at their home on Stevens Mill Road in the summer of 1989. Roland’s brother Bert Houle and his wife Lucille and their family, and their sister Doris and her husband Bert Dostie and their family attended.

Since then, the next generation of cousins has continued to meet every summer. After a potluck dinner, a photo of the family is taken to document the event. Of course, not everyone can make it but if they could, at last count, there would be 72 in attendance.

The Houle family does not like to be taken too seriously, so over the years they have adopted a frog as their mascot.There is quite the collection that appears at the host family home to be displayed and enjoyed.

One of the cousins, Monique Caron, researched the ancestry and was able to trace the lineage to Canada. She then became a member of Les Descendants de Louis Houde et de Madeleine Boucher Association. They were able to assist her in connecting the rest of the genealogy as far back as 1617 in France. Photos and information were published in the Vol. 19 No. 4 summer of 2011 edition of Le Manousien, which is the association’s newsletter.

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