After a two-year hiatus, storyteller Jan Smith will return to the Chautauqua and French- Canadian/Metis Festival. She will be in the big tent on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 28 and 29, at 3:30 p.m. daily in the big tent at Old Crossing and Treaty Park near Huot.
“I intend to talk about midwifery and early medical techniques used by those who settled the area,” she said. Smith has a collection of pharmacy items and has done extensive research on the information and means early settlers used to share with the audience. “As usual for me, I will interact with the audience too,” Smith added. The Clitherall woman is a professional storyteller, lecturer, and author. She has written and published eight books on Red River Valley history.
Smith, a retired English and speech teacher, spends her time public speaking, storytelling, writing, and paper cutting. “I am a paper cutting artist and instruct the Polish and German techniques,” she explained. Festival admission is free, and the public is welcome to all events in the park. The Old Crossing and Treaty Park are on Red Lake Co. Road 3 and seven miles northeast of Gentilly on County Road 11 or 10 miles southwest of Red Lake Falls.
The festival, presented by AFRAN (Association of the French of the North), emphasizes the French heritage and celebrates the multi-cultural heritage of the Red River Valley. For more information on the Chautauqua and French Festival at Huot, MN., visit www.frenchcanadianfran.org or contact Jerry Amiot at 218-289-8889 or Virgil Benoit at 218-253- 2270.
This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from the vote on Nov. 4, 2008.
