AUBURN — The Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society will hold its semi-annual meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at its library at the Great Falls School, corner of High and Academy streets.

Preceding the speaker will be the election of officers for the next year. The speaker will be David S. Sargent, a native of Auburn. Raised on the farm built by his great-grandfather after the Civil War, he has pursued a life-long interest in writing and history built upon the Maine-flavored poetry and journalism of his father and an aunt.

Sargent was a general assignment reporter for the Lewiston Daily Sun in the 1960s. He worked for a public relations company in Portland and operated his own public relations firm. He was communications manager for a Maine paper industry trade association, and in recent years he founded, edited and published “Business Focus,” a monthly newspaper.

He lives with his wife, Judy, on the historic family farm. They have two daughters and six grandchildren.

His columns, “River Views,” have appeared twice-monthly in the Sun Journal since 2005. He has recently authored “Remembering L-A,” a book based on those columns.

Sargent’s talk will outline how he chooses the stories and prepares his columns. He will share some thoughts on Franco-American immigration to the area, the reasons the area was chosen and why it remains the hometown of choice for so many. There will be a question and answer period following the talk.