Thursday, April 2, was the last day of the Lewiston Middle School Homework Help Program. To close for the year, the program brought in a special guest to tell the students involved a story. The surprise guest was Michael Parent. Mr. Parent came into the LMS library and did his act in front of the LMS Civil Rights Team, Homework Help members, and LMS’s ELL students.

Mr. Parent started his act by playing the guitar. The song was in both French and English. From there the students seated in the library knew that they were in for a show.

Then he started telling the students about his Franco-American background. (A Franco-American is an American of French or French-Canadian descent.)

He started out by saying that when people first immigrated into Lewiston, and the rest of the U.S., there wasn’t a lot of money so people had to make do with what they had. One of the areas they had to make do with was entertainment. People back when immigration was still very booming couldn’t just go out and buy a guitar so they used instrument that aren’t very common today. Mr. Parent told us about a few of them and demonstrated how they were used. The instruments included a jaw harp, spoons, and a comb in waxed paper.

Mr. Parent also told of how his parents came to Lewiston. They had planned on only staying till they had enough money to support themselves back in Canada but they ended up staying forever. He also told us about some of his other relatives, like cousin Arty who was a bad driver and his uncle France who came up with a smart way to make enough money to come to Lewiston and help bring his family over from Canada.

Along with the story of his heritage Mr. Parent told many stories that were just plain funny and entertaining. He told a story about how Joe, who works in a button factory and has six kids, got smarter. He also told about Little John and the monster. Then he told everyone a story that was sad, tragic, funny, and only consisted of five words. The story was: An ogre farted than died. The End.

Along with talking and playing instruments, Mr. Parent also did a juggling routine that went with his Little John story. The crowd loved the juggling sticks, balls, and ring routine Mr. Parent performed.

Throughout his entire act, Mr. Parent had the audience laughing. He used comedy in every aspect of his act and if anyone came in they would also realize how much the crowd loved him.

Thank you to Mr. Parent for coming in and bringing all your comedy and telling the students about your Franco-American heritage.

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