St. J Student Hosted French Festival

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Created on Monday, 03 December 2012 22:39
Written by Jason Zheng

french festivalST. JOHNSBURY - French II students from St. Johnsbury Academy hosted their “French Festival” at Catamount Arts last Friday and greeted visitors with a warm welcome.

 

Sounds of the French language and smells of traditional cooking filled Catamount Arts. It was decorated as if it was a different country. 

There was also a large French-Canadian presence in the celebration. Fiddler Jean Theroux who now lives in Canaan joined the students and played some traditional songs on his fiddle.

“I told my Dad for Christmas, please, and my Mom buy me a fiddle. I still have that fiddle. I love that because at 13 years old it was a big gift for me,” Said Theroux.

 

Other Vermonters of French-Canadian descent were featured, including some of their heritage. Jacob Houde, a French student, said they eat Tourtiere, a meat pie on Christmas Eve. Every family has a different recipe and they still do that today.

 

One student focused on how they can improve their tourism efforts and accommodate French speakers. “They come down here but nobody has anything in French really. But if you go up there in Quebec they have so many English things. They have menus, roads signs…everything is in English as well as French. So I think we need to start integrating their language into our culture as well,” said Kaitlynn Lakus, another French student.

 

The event was filled with thoughtful conversation alongside with some beautiful sites. French teachers from the Academy credited Catamount Arts for giving them the space to bring people together.