USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College

Singers and toe-tappers alike are invited to participate in a French song session taking place from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Pianist Jeannette Gregoire will join accordionist Irene Coady in providing musical accompaniment as attendees sing a selection of local Franco favorites which have been compiled into song books. Contributions of other songs or stories by those in attendance are also enthusiastically encouraged.

Sponsored by USM LAC’s Franco-American Collection, the event will take place in Room 170, which is located just down the hall from the archives’ reading room. Admission is free to all.

In the event of inclement weather on March 16, the sing-along will be rescheduled to the following Wednesday, March 23. More information is available by calling James Myall, coordinator of the Franco-American Collection, at 753-6545.

Pianist Jeannette Gregoire will join accordionist Irene Coady in providing musical accompaniment for the French sing-along planned for March 16 at USM LAC.

Community members are invited to participate in a French sing-along session from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Aliette Couturier, longtime president of the local Franco cultural organization “La Survivance Francaise,” will act as informal song leader for the event, accompanied on accordion by Irene Coady. While song books will be provided, attendees are invited to bring favorite songs of their own choosing to share with the group.

This will be the second installment in a new monthly series of Franco song sessions, according to James Myall, coordinator of the Franco-American Collection at USM LAC, which is sponsoring the event. “There appears to be a lot of enthusiasm for this type of activity,” he said; “In fact, last month’s sing-along drew over two dozen singers despite our having to reschedule it at the last minute due to a storm.”

The song session will take place in Room 170, which is located just down the hall from the Collection’s reading room. Admission is free to all.

In the event of inclement weather on Feb. 16, the sing-along will be rescheduled to the following Wednesday, Feb. 23. More information is available by calling Myall at 753-6545.

Accordionist Irene Coady will accompany Aliette Couturier in leading a French sing-along planned for Feb. 16 at USM LAC

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26 at 1:15 p.m. IN ROOM 170

Local music lovers are invited to raise their voices in song at a lively French sing-along session planned for Wednesday, January 26, at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Sponsored by USM LAC’s Franco-American Collection, the event will take place from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. in Room 170, which is located just down the hall from the Collection’s reading room. Admission is free to all.

Song books will be provided, from which participants will be encouraged to choose from an assortment of classic Franco-American favorites such as “Dans tous les cantons,” “Ma mère chantait” and “Vive la companie.” Facilitating will be Aliette Couturier, longtime president of the local Franco cultural organization “La Survivance Francaise,” joined by noted Auburn accordionist Irene Coady.

The song session is intended to kick off an ongoing series of French sing-alongs at USM LAC on the third Wednesday of each month, with occasional forays to other local venues planned for the future. More information is available by calling James Myall, coordinator of the Franco-American Collection, at 753-6545.

Nostalgia will be the order of the day at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College on Saturday, Dec. 11, when the USM LAC Franco-American Collection invites local folks of all ages to celebrate the season at “Joyeux Noël.”

The free family event kicks off at 1 p.m. with a variety of participatory activities, including a workshop in which attendees will learn how to make an assortment of simple but charming paper-crafted tree ornaments. Student volunteers from LAC’s Student Government Association will be demonstrating folding techniques, with parents and grandparents encouraged to learn alongside their youngsters.

Mainely Kids Photography will also set up a Holiday Portrait Studio on site for the occasion to provide heirloom-quality family portraits. Each family will receive one free 5×7 keepsake photo to take home for the family album.

In addition, guests will be invited to visit the Franco-American Collection Reading Room, which will feature window displays of vintage photographs and other artifacts representing local Franco Christmas observances from over the years. FAC archivist James Myall has invited area residents to contribute to the displays by looking through their attics or scrapbooks for old French Christmas cards, decorations or other Yuletide memorabilia. “We very much welcome such donations,” said Myall, “either on a temporary basis for this event, or as a permanent addition to the Collection.”

The Collection will also have available for purchase boxed sets of seasonally-themed note cards featuring selected photos from the Franco-American Collection, including a 1926 image of one of Lewiston’s famed Winter Carnival ice palaces and another picturing a bevy of young snow fairies from a turn-of-the-century parochial school Christmas pageant.

At 2:30, attendees will proceed to Room 170 to enjoy an hour-long concert of traditional French songs performed by Vermont folk trio Va-et-Vient. This will be followed by a break for refreshments during which such old-time favorites as tartre-au-sucre (sugar pie), molasses cookies and gingerbread men will be served. The celebration will wrap up with a sing-along session of French Christmas carols, “with lyric sheets provided so that all can join in regardless of their level of French fluency,” says Myall.

Admission is free to all of the “Joyeux Noël” activities. More information is available by contacting the USM LAC Franco-American Collection office at 753-6545 or franco@usm.maine.edu or by consulting the website at  www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco. USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College is located at 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston.

This image, titled “Christmas Pageant, St. Peter’s School, early 1900s,” is among the festive seasonal memorabilia to be displayed by the Franco-American Collection at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College as part of the “Joyeux Noël” family celebration on Dec. 11.

On November 6th, USM’s Franco American Collection will be hosting a free program entitled “Discovering the Power of Franco Photos”, focusing on the power of everyday photographs and films to make a contribution to a shared cultural history. The event will feature a book signing by Dyke Hendrickson, author of Franco-Americans of Maine, and a ‘how-to’ introduction on converting videotapes and 8mm films to DVD by videographer Francis Gagnon of Via-Vision in Lewiston.

Dyke Hendrickson is a journalist who has been a writer and editor for newspapers in Biddeford, Portland, Waterville, and Bangor. He won a feature-writing award for his series in the Maine Sunday Telegram entitled “The Franco-Americans” and later wrote the book Quiet Presence: Stories of Franco-Americans in New England, which has been excerpted at the Museum of National Heritage at Ellis Island, New York. His latest book focuses on the successful transition that Franco-Americans have made over the decades, from the earliest immigrants to the 21st century. It is designed to produce visual evidence of the happiness and prosperity that many families were able to achieve, and includes photographs covering all aspects of Franco-American life, from work to sports, religious life to the arts. The work spans many communities across the State of Maine, and contains dozens of photographs from USM’s Franco-American Collection.

Francis Gagnon is a videographer with Via-Vision Film and Production in Lewiston, and was recently named Business Person of the Year by the Young Professionals of the Lewiston Auburn Area. A specialist in helping people to preserve old memories by upgrading their 8mm films and videotapes to DVD, Gagnon will give a ‘how to’ introduction on resurrecting your favorite memories back to life for everyone to enjoy again. Those who have 8mm films sitting in a box without a working projector or many videotapes that need conversion will find this presentation very helpful.

The event will take place in Room 170 at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston, starting at 1 p.m. The Collection will be open prior to the event starting at noon, so that visitors may bring their own photographs and films to share with the Collection. The Franco-American Collection is offering to make digital copies for those who wish to share their photos in order to make them available for viewing in the Collection. The Collection is particularly interested in receiving photos and films that show local institutions (e.g. businesses, social clubs, churches, schools, mills) and special events such as parades, theatrical productions and church functions, especially those with a Franco flavor.

In addition to signed copies of Hendrickson’s book, other Franco-American titles and boxes of holiday cards featuring photos from the Franco-American Collection will available for purchase.

For more information about the event or donating photos, please contact the Collection via telephone, 753-6545 or email franco@usm.maine.edu. The event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be provided.

Divers Norman Goulet and Raymond Côté at Barker Mill Dam in Auburn in 1948 is just one of dozens of photos featured in Dyke Hendrickson’s book Franco-Americans of Maine. The photo, taken by Raymond Philbrick (1928-2004), is on loan to USM’s Franco-American Collection courtesy of his family. Hendrickson will discuss his selections of photographs for his book during the Collection’s “Discovering the Power of Photographs” event on Saturday, November 6 at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus, 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston starting at 1 pm.