Bonjour, and we extend our warmest of greetings to our visitors from Saint-Avold, France.
Our hope is that you are enjoying our community.
Laetitia Allard, Nathalie Arnold, Barbara Debret, Sandra Doringer, Sandrine Gauer, Vernonique Gimay, Pauline Mertes, Priscilla Starck, Isabelle Willig, students Olivier Starck, Lily Gauer and Adele Gimay, and liaison youth chaperone Emily LaClair are visiting as part of the Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance educational exchange program between the sister cities.
“They are delightful,” says Kris Johnson, 59, president of the host alliance.
The Saint-Avold contingent has been in Fayetteville since Oct. 18, and they’ll be here until Wednesday.
Apparently, the alliance’s hospitality has been grand.
“They took a walking tour of Fayetteville led by Bruce Daws,” Johnson says about Oct. 19, when the retired city historian was the guide. “The tour ended at the FILI (Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry) building, where they got to see Gen. Marquis de Lafayette’s carriage from his 1825 visit to Fayetteville.”
They later were welcomed at a reception with alliance board members, Johnson says, where our guests were treated to Southern foods including sausage-cheese balls, pimento cheese, ham biscuits and deviled eggs.
They attended mass at St. Michael Archangel Catholic Church on Hamont Hill the following day, Johnson says, and then took a tour of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, visiting nearby St. Avold Ave. that was dedicated on Sept. 27, 2023, and later N.C. Veterans Park.
“They visited Methodist University and got to see the Lafayette collection presented by Arleen Fields, president of the Lafayette Society, followed by a tour of the campus,” Johnson says about Monday’s itinerary.
Burgers at Bubba’s
The Greater Fayetteville Chamber later treated our French visitors to dinner at Bubba’s 33 in Westwood Shopping Center.
Hard to beat a burger at Bubba’s.
“Bubba’s?” Sandra Doringer says. “That was quite interesting, because of all the [TV] screens everywhere. People not really paying attention to what’s on the screens, but sometimes just looking up, you know, just trying to see how their team was doing. The food was delicious, and we can say that the portions are way bigger” than in Saint-Avold.
An experience, Laetitia Allard says, to remember.
“The experience was really fantastic,” Allard said. “We had typically American food and the atmosphere there was what was really amazing with all the different screens and the lights and the music … So, everything was really cool.
“It was really good food,” Allard says. “I had a hamburger, and it was absolutely delicious. Everything was delicious. Everything was perfect.”
Tuesday was another day for learning more about Fayetteville.
“They heard a presentation on the American form of government by Adam Lindsay,” Johnson says. “After that, they got to meet Mayor Mitch Colvin in the Fayetteville City Council chambers at City Hall, followed by a tour of the old Cumberland County Courthouse with Chief Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons and later a tour of the Fayetteville Technical Community College campus hosted by Sandy Ammons. For dinner, they were guests at a progressive dinner party hosted by Beth Keeney and her neighbors.”
Thanksgiving with all the fixin’s
Our Saint-Avold visitors spent Wednesday with French language teacher Courtney Powers before being treated to Melinda Dillion’s traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at the Sanford House at Heritage Square.
“That was a very nice experience,” Doringer says. “I really enjoyed it. Everything was really delicious. The turkey was my favorite, with the cranberry sauce. And the chicken pie was delicious.”
Allard loved the history of Heritage Square, home of the Fayetteville Woman’s Club (circa 1906) and the Sanford House (circa 1941).
“It was a real honor to get to experience Thanksgiving dinner at the heritage place,” she says. “I felt so honored to be there, to be able to see everything and to be shown around the grounds. This is a part of history.”
And, oh, that sweet potato casserole.
“The food was excellent,” Allard says. “I had never tasted those different types of food. So, it was really something new, and the combinations of sweet potatoes and marshmallows, that was surprising.”
Monsieur Choffart, oysters and zombies
Early to bed and early to rise in anticipation of a trip to Duke University, Johnson says about Thursday, where the group was greeted by Monsieur Germain Choffart, a lecturing fellow at the university in Durham.
“Monsieur Choffart came to Fayetteville years ago on a student trip arranged by Martha Duell,” Johnson says about Duell, a native of France and the late founder of the alliance here 30 years ago. “ He liked North Carolina so much that he came back and now teaches at Duke. We met him in Saint-Avold in May, when he was home visiting his mother.”
Then it was back to Fayetteville, where our French guests mingled with folks at Segra Stadium for The Greater Carolina Rock & Boil Oyster Roast hosted by the Greater Fayetteville Chamber.
Friday was a day spent with Karen Canady, a French language teacher at Cape Fear High School across the Cape Fear River. Canady is an alliance board member. Later, our guests headed downtown for Fourth Friday and the Cool Spring District Zombie Walk.
Saturday was for getting some sand between your toes, as our French visitors headed to Cherry Grove for an overnight stay in North Myrtle Beach, where we only can hope they got a taste of the Carolina shag dance steps and some of the best beach music ever created.
Fort Liberty, state Capital and Harry Potter
“Monday, they will visit Fort Liberty and tour the 82nd Airborne Division Museum and be given a tour by Brig. Gen. (Ret.) John Aarsen,” Johnson says about Aarsen, who is a member of the FSAFA. “Lunch will be at the Special Forces School mess hall. In the afternoon, they will be hosted to a concert being arranged by Gail Morfesis, then a walk to City Hall to be presented to the Fayetteville City Council, where they will receive a proclamation from Mayor Colvin.”
Tuesday is a visit to Raleigh for a tour of the state capitol and a visit to the North Carolina Museum of History and Science.
“That evening, they are being treated to a viewing of Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s dress rehearsal of Harry Potter,” Johnson says about the playhouse on Hamont Hill. “Sadly, on Wednesday, they will head home to France.”
Epilogue
You can’t say our Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance doesn’t know how to extend Fayetteville hospitality to the teachers and students from Saint-Avold.
Our city guests will tell you, too.
“Everyone has welcomed us like we were dignitaries,” Sandra Doringer says. “Everyone has been so nice with us showing us everything.”
No argument from Laetitia Allard.
“The whole trip has been an experience … amazing,” Allard says. “Totally awesome. We’ve been shown things I wouldn’t have dreamt of visiting. Just incredible. Everything is wonderful.”
Au revoir, until we see you again.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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