I am a liaison between Maine and Beauce. My mission is to develop linkages between the two areas in cultural, academic, and business affairs. As a result, there is now a section of Franco-American literature at the public library in Saint-Georges, and young Beauce students and their teachers have access to summer jobs in Maine, where Franco-American culture is within reach of them. This access to French culture in Maine takes several forms. The Beauce area benefits from the Franco-American journal of the University of Maine, « Le Forum ». Various public engagements also take place, as when the Franco-American theater troupe « La Troupe du Monde d'à Côté » performed in Beauce, with Cajun musician Zachary Richard, in November 1999. Such reunions of Franco-Americans are unique ! Being aware of the fact that as many as one million French Canadians move to the United States, mostly in the last half of the nineteenth century, and that at least one-third of the population in Maine is of Quebec and Acadian heritage (among which as much as 85 % of the Franco-descendents in the Kennebec Valley come from a Beauce heritage), one can say : « Franco-Americans are the memory of the French Canadians, while we are their roots ». The Corridor Kennebec-Chaudière is a historical cross-roads for people of the same origins and our Beauce-Maine organization feels privileged to participate to that rendez-vous !
If you would like to join our efforts, please contact us.
Lucie Thibodeau, LL.L. Agente de liaison Beauce-Maine, Territoire d'Héritage commun 2270, 130e rue, apt 7 St-Georges, Beauce Québec G5Y 7G9 Canada (418)-228-8675 beauceme@globetrotter.net |  | |
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