From the first episode Jesse has been saying there’s been a renaissance happening in the Franco-American scene in the Manchester area. Next week’s guest is one of the people responsible for that. John Tousignant is the Executive Director of the Franco-American Centre in Manchester, NH and works day in and day out helping to promote the Franco culture. They’ll talk about everything from how John grew up in Concord, NH in a non-French speaking household and you’ll find out about all of the important non-profits he’s worked with in the past. You can also follow the Franco-American Centre on Facebook.

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This week’s episode is our first round table film discussion. We have Tonya and Ray Shevenell on to talk about the documentary The Home Road. Tonya directed the film and Ray is the “Star”. The film is about how Ray retraced his Great Great Grandfather’s trip from Compton, Quebec to Biddeford, Maine. The Film is an exploration of family, history and family and how a journey into the unexpected inevitably leads to home. Tonya also talks about her upcoming projects, including an exclusive announcement of an upcoming book. Since we have two guest this week, Jesse welcomes Mike to the co-host chair. We hope you enjoy the discussion about this important documentary.

Tonya has made The Home Road available to watch for free online. Click here to watch it.

Listen to the show on Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play Music,Castbox and Apple Podcasts. Once you subscribe or follow us on any of those services each new episode will be added to your library.

Next week’s episode is going to be a fun one for a couple of reasons. It’ll be the first time we’ll have two guests and so it’d only make sense to have two hosts. Jesse will share hosting duties with Mike and they’ll welcome Tonya and Ray Shevenell to the show. Tonya is the director of the documentary The Home Road and Ray, her father, is the self-described “Star”. The short description of The Home Road is, A 74-year-old Maine man retraces the journey of his pioneering, 19-year-old great-great-grandfather, who left his home in Canada in 1845. Join us next week as we talked to Tonya and Ray all about this amazing film and how the story still resonates today.

Tonya has recently made The Home Road free to watch online. Click here to watch it online or you can order the DVD here.

This week’s guest is Paul Marion. He’s a poet and community leader from Lowell Massachusetts, who was heavily involved in the formation of the Lowell National Historical Park which he will discuss with Jesse. They also talk about Paul’s childhood in Lowell and what the French-Canadian culture is like there today. Jesse also talks to Paul about his book Union River, which is a collection of poems about his life as a French-Canadian. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Listen to the show on Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play Music, Castbox and Apple Podcasts. Once you subscribe or follow us on any of those services each new episode will be added to your library.

Paul Marion is a Poet and Community Leader from Lowell, Massachusetts who was nice enough to sit down with us and talk about his life and career. He grew up in Lowell and was instrumental to helping create the Lowell Historical National Park. Tune in next week to hear Jesse and Paul talk about all things Lowell and also about Paul’s book Union River.

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We were lucky to meet this week’s guest at the Rassemblement in Orono and knew we had to have her on the show. Dr. Chelsea Ray is an Associate Professor of French Language and Literature at Umaine-Augusta. Every year she helps put together a French Immersion Weekend where students and people of any age can spend a weekend at Blueberry Cove Camp in Tenants Harbor, Maine and participate in various activities all while speaking only French. Jesse also asks Dr. Ray about growing up in California and how she ended up in Maine, what it’s like taking 20 college students to France for two weeks and how some of her classes might relate to our show.

Listen to us on Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play Music,Castbox and Apple Podcasts. Once you subscribe or follow us on any of those services each new episode will be added to your library.

Dr. Chelsea Ray is an Associate Professor of French Language and Literature at UMaine Augusta. Dr. Ray will be our guest next week to talk about a very interesting project she helps put together each year. We met her at the Rassemblement in Orono, Maine in April and wanted to have her on the show to talk about the French Immersion Weekend at Blueberry Cove Camp in Tenants Harbor, Maine. This year’s event takes place September 27^th through the 29^th.  Join us next week for the full interview to learn more about this fantastic weekend to experience the French language and much more.

Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play Music,Castbox and Apple Podcasts. Once you subscribe or follow us on any of those services each new episode will be added to your library.