Everyone is invited to attend La Rencontre, although reservations are required no later than 5 p.m. Monday, June 3. To attend, call the Franco Center at 207-783-1585 during regular business hours or send an email to boxoffice@francocenter.org. The cost to attend is $7, which includes the meal and the entertainment.

Advance registration helps the Franco Center prepare an accurate number of meals and protects against occasional overcrowding during months when the menu or the entertainment, or both, are particularly popular with the regular patrons.

At last month’s event, Franco Center Executive Director Louis Morin also informed the audience of about 250 that beginning in September, La Rencontre would be moving to a different day of the week. Instead of the first Friday, it will take place on the first Wednesday of each month.

The reason for the change, Morin said, is that the Franco Center hosts live performances on Friday nights to a much greater extent than in the early years after La Rencontre migrated to the Franco Center after initially being held at local restaurants.

Patrons are encouraged to speak in French during the meal in Heritage Hall, which is accessed on the Oxford Street side of the building. In the spirit of fun, and as a way to remind patrons of the overt discrimination that French speakers once faced in Maine, persons overheard speaking English may be fined a quarter or they may “buy” the right to openly speak in English for one dollar.


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