In the winter of 1797, after two years of flooding, early frosts, and harsh winters had driven many settlers away, an eight day storm struck while the remaining men were away hunting. Tante Blanche, Marguerite-Blanche Thibodeau, strapped on snowshoes, loaded a sled with spare provisions gathered from neighbors, including her brothers Firmin and Olivier, and went door to door caring for the sick and distributing food and warm clothes. Her actions helped save the settlement from la misère noire, or black famine, and her story came to embody an Acadian community that was close-knit and generous in times of need. Married to Joseph Cyr, one of the first settlers, she was related to so many neighbors that she was called Tante Blanche, and her renown was such that she was buried inside the parish church in Saint-Basile, an honor usually reserved for clergy. In 1981, a Cyr family reunion drew about 4,000 relatives from around the world.