French revival in Twin Cities

Lewiston’s three-day Festival FrancoFun, which begins Friday, has attracted more than 100 volunteers.
Attendance at the monthly meetings of “La Rencontre” (the gathering) – where all conversation has to be in French – has grown from 65 to 300.
L-A College’s Franco-American collection of documents, photographs and artifacts is the largest of its kind in Maine, and it continues to grow.
For the past three years beginning introductory French classes at Lewiston Adult Education have been mostly full.
The Franco-American Heritage Center has completed its second immersion exchange program. Local students in grades 6-8 live with French-speaking families in Quebec for a week and local families host students from Quebec in exchange.
Most of the players for Lewiston’s Quebec Major-Junior Hockey League team, the Maineiacs, are French-speaking, giving the ice arena a French-Canadian atmosphere.
The Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s offers French reacquisition classes for people who grew up with French-speaking parents and grandparents.