The group would like to base its cultural center on one that was opened in Maine.
Edna M. Proulx, center, looks at a picture of her mother, with her daughters, Jeanne P. Hebert, left and Marie P. Meder, all of Chicopee, In front of Assumption Church in Chicopee. The church closing inspired the sisters to begin a group to preserve the French heritage. CHICOPEE – A small group recently formed to create more awareness and about the French Culture and heritage in the Pioneer Valley.
The French Heritage Center Committee is eventually hoping to open a French cultural center. Ideally it would like to locate it near the Irish and Polish centers which are near Elms College in Chicopee, said Marie Proulx Meder, who is one of the founders of the group.
“In the Springfield area there is a Puerto Rican cultural center, a Greek cultural center, an Italian cultural center, a Jewish cultural center and a Polish cultural center,” she said. “The next move will be to have a French heritage center.”
The group formed less than a year ago and has about eight members but is hoping to expand. While it is based in Chicopee, members are from all of Western Massachusetts, said Jeanne Proulx Hebert, Meder’s sister and one of the founding members.
“The whole thing got started with the closing of a number of French churches,” Meder said. “It was a wake-up call for us.”
About a year ago the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield closed 19 parishes in Western Massachusetts. Among those were three churches in Chicopee with French roots, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. George and St. Mary of Assumption, which was Meder and Hebert’s church.
A lot of the French heritage was celebrated through the churchs. For example Assumption School always taught French language classes and Nativity Church held an annual French night, Hebert said.
French immigrants made their mark in the area and their contributions are worth remembering. About 800,000 people of French heritage live in Massachusetts and in Chicopee, 40 percent of the city’s population French in 1920, Meder said.
But the group in not focused on Chicopee. One of their first members was Richard J. DesLauriers, a dentist from Longmeadow, had been appointed by Gov. W. Mitt Romney to the American and Canadian French Cultural Exchange Commission. Members were heartbroken when he died in November, Meder said.
“He was such a passionate man about his French heritage. He belonged to a number of French organizations and he was a tremendous help to us,” Meder said.
One of the group’s missions has been to do research and recently several members traveled to Lewiston, Maine to see the Franco American Heritage Center, which was opened in a former church.
Along with a museum, the center also has an auditorium and brings in many performances. Meder said the committee would like to model their cultural center on that.
Now the committee is planning a kick-off event to be held 2 p.m., June 12, at the Holyoke Country Club off Route 5. Called Reveil, or to wake up in French, the event will include French Canadian fiddle music, refreshments and there will be a French cultural display.
The group can be contacted by email at frenchconnection104@gmail.com.