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WELCOME TO NIAGARA'S HOUSE OF FRENCH CULTURE

LA MAISON DE LA CULTURE FRANCOPHONE DU NIAGARA PROGRAMS KEEP PEOPLE ENGAGED

RICHARD HUTTON rhutton@niagarathis week.com

Jocelyne Holmes never thought she'd have an opportunity to sing with others in her native French.

But that was before Holmes discovered La Maison de la Culture Francophone du Niagara (The House of Francophone Culture in Niagara), an organization based in Welland that is dedicated to offering opportunities to Frenchspeaking Niagarans who want to converse, sing, socialize and learn in a French-speaking environment.

In Holmes' case, she has joined the organization's choir program.

"I used to be part of a choir before, part of the church choir," Holmes said. "But when they said that the House of Culture would like to start a choir, I would be happy to be part of it just for the experience."

But it's not just about singing for her. Holmes sees the importance of keeping French Canadian culture relevant. Part of that can be achieved through music.

"We're trying to just bring back the souvenirs (memories) of beautiful French songs that we've heard for years in the past."

The choir is open to all ages and abilities, including the level of proficiency in French. Choir director Suzanne Leclerc said having a multi-generational component to the choir was important to her.

"I want the three or four generations. I want the

kids, the father, mother, the grandfather and the grandmother," she said. "And the more. If you have more."

She said Holmes illustrates why people have joined the choir.

"People want to sing and don't have the occasion to sing," Leclerc said.

And while she aims to keep the French songs alive, Leclerc said she just wants people to get involved and have fun while doing it.

"if you're a person who speaks more English, but is able to sing a bit in French, come if you want to," she said. "We just do this to try to have a fun and sing together."

The choir is one program under the Maison umbrella. It also operates a summer robotics camp for youth ages 9 to 13. This year's camp takes place from July 10 to 13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at Auberge Richelieu, 565 River Rd. in Welland.

Maison president Beatrice Groux said Maison's goal is to work with other French-speaking associations or francophone associations to increase the visibility of the French community.

It is also meant to provide opportunities where people can take part in activities

where French is spoken. The robotics camp, for example, is an important initiative in terms of keeping French language and culture relevant to youth.

"That's the biggest challenge, I would say, is to make sure that the youth is willing to continue to be proud of their French culture," she said. "I know that we can see in the schools that they will often want to speak English between themselves and any activity offered for the youth outside the schools is usually in English."

A youth survey conducted recently found that students

wanted activities in French outside of school.

"We decided that we have to offer a program. We offered something in the spring, which was more about writing songs and music, but the program is finished now."

More programming will come in the future, she said.

Groulx described robotics as "a fun activity to do in French," one which has proven to be popular.

"This camp, it's actually a series of eight workshops altogether, it was very successful."

She estimated that through Maison's programs, and through partnerships with schools, 100 families have benefitted from French programming.

More information on La Maison de la Culture Francophone du Niagara can be found online at mcfniagara.com.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When Niagara this Week heard about a group working to preserve the French language and culture through various programs and arts endeavours, we wanted to see how their efforts are impacting the local French community.

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2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

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