LEWISTON, Maine (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD) - - When Cecile Thornton moved back to Lewiston last year, she wanted to connect with her roots. She grew up in the city and spoke French at home, but when she moved away, her language skills faded.
Her first attempts to reconnect with the language were discouraging. Thornton started with the monthly Le Rencontre luncheon at the Franco Center for Heritage and the Performing Arts, thinking it was an obvious place to meet fluent French speakers. To her dismay, everyone at the gathering was speaking English.
