​​L 'Association des Français du Nord

Mission Statement

AFRAN's mission is to create understanding of the world's French heritage through the arts and humanities.  The purpose of our programming is to present a historical and multicultural approach to arts and humanities, while interpreting the role French presence has played in the Middle West, particularly in the northwestern Minnesota. 

About the Board

Board of Directors for 2021

• President: Virgil Benoit
  
• Vice President: Jane Vigness
  
• Secretary: Vacant
  
• Treasurer: Jerry Amiot
• Director: Tim Brosseau
• Director: Don Desrosier
• Director: LeRoy Pazdernik

All board members and spouses volunteer an extraordinary amount of time, resources and physical effort to plan and host these activities. We meet monthly usually on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 at the Polk County Museum Auditorium.

Days before the festival, each board member begins to list necessities and schedule the hours. When the day comes, all load their vehicles with respective supplies until there’s hardly room for the driver. Deliver. Unload. Lend a hand.

With everything in the proper place, a festival unfolds. Like a pop-up story, each part fits, one accents another. Everyone’s task is unique. All of the senses are engaged, wood smoke curls from the bread oven, music mixes with the river and trees, tourtière in tender crust disappears from plates, colors wave in fabric and flowers, beads of sweat glisten on horses as they quench thirst with Red Lake River. At the close of the weekend, the book slowly closes. Every step of set up goes in reverse until all things are back as they were, leaving a quiet Old Crossing and Treaty Park.

Un très grand merci! Thank you for your contribution to AFRAN.