This my first experience at blogging so we will see how this works out for me! I received my inspiration from the place I spent many summers and a gentleman who has a blog dedicated to clear Wilbert Coffin's name (http://stoddardsviews.blogspot.com). For those not familiar with the case, Wilbert Coffin was hanged February 9th, 1956 for allegedly murdering three Americans in the woods of Gaspe, Quebec. This hits close to home as my roots are in the Gaspe Peninsula. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, I spent every summer there in my younger years. The moment school gave out in the summer, I would make my way down to Pabos Mills and tour the coast visiting friends and family till the end of August.

Wilbert Coffin was a name I heard many times and was always followed by "they hung an innocent man". It was not until I was older that I started asking older family members questions. The internet is also a wonderful thing when you have questions. According to my mother, her father worked in the Murdochville Mines at the same time as Wilbert Coffin and knew him briefly as my grandfather was an explosives expert and Mr. Coffin was a prospector. Grandpa never talked about him unless he had been drinking. When he did talk all he would say was that Mr. Coffin was innocent and everyone knew it. He was a scapegoat for the quebec government at the time.

Upon a visit to family in the Coast this summer, I was told my great aunt dated Wilbert Coffin for a brief time in her younger years. For some reason the older generation down there are more tight lipped than people from my generation. I urge anyone who reads this to visit Lew Stoddard's website and inform yourselves of the injustice that this man experienced. Not only in memory of him but for the surviving members of his family who are desperately fighting to clear his name.

The Gaspe Coast is a very tight knit community where a stranger is made to feel at home. It is not uncommon to be on the train from Montreal to one of the small towns and meet up with distant relatives and friends. Everyone cares and looks out for one another and this is the case with the Coffin family's plight. I go onto www.gogaspe.com once in a while and there is always some event posted to raise money for the Coffin's families legal efforts. That is a true testament of a community getting together to help one in need! I have lived in many places growing up (Montreal, Peterborough, Alexandria, Ottawa and Chesterville) and no community has shown as much support for one another as the small seaside villages in the Peninsula. That is the very reason it is so near and dear to my heart regardless how far I may live away. You can take the girl out of Gaspe but you cannot take Gaspe out of the girl!