09/01/2026
I stopped in Dégelis expecting a quick break and ended up learning why a guy balancing on a log deserved his own sculpture.
This is a draveur, or log driver. In the early 1930s, men worked the Madawaska River moving timber downstream toward New Brunswick. They actually rode and maneuvered the floating logs, using long poles to keep them moving and break up jams.
Dégelis built Parc de l’Acadie around the importance that water and forests played in the region’s economy, with this sculpture and interpretive panels preserving the story of the men who worked the river.
One of my favorite parts of traveling is stumbling across something I know absolutely nothing about, then walking away knowing a little more. 🤟