Waynesboro, PA

On my yearly trip to go see Jody down in south eastern PA, I have to pass through a little town called Waynesboro.. I have made this trip for a number of years now, but I guess this was the first time I had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of this roof-top decor on the Waynesboro Historical Society. Voilà, la fleur-de-lis.

Click on the picture to the right to see a larger verions of this cool, 3-D fleur-de-lis.

The Waynesboro Historical Society is headquartered in the historic Oller House, 138 W. Main St., Waynesboro. This house was built in 1892 and is very much a part of the rich history in Waynesboro.

The society offers a wealth of information for research through its library and archives including a computer database and microfilm library.

The society works for the preservation of landmarks and structures in the Waynesboro area.

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Stained glass

Over the Summer I had taken several pictures for this on-going project, Finding France. It was about the last day or so of my Upward Bound when the tutor mentor came to have the students give me evaluations. As I was sitting outside class waiting for the process to be over, I noticed some lovely stained glass that I had not noticed before.

This particular building, Founders Hall, had undergone major renovations from when I was originally a student there, and I don't think I had noticed it before. But, I did that day and took a picture. I think the glass may have been "a keeper" from the renovations and it was reincorporated into the new architecture. It's at the top of the main stair-well when you enter the building from the front.

Distinctly in the middle of the piece is a fleur-de-lis.



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DuBois

A friend of mine is a member of the Local Historical society. I asked permission to copy and and paste some of the website material and use of the pictures.

When I was in Highschool, we had a class in Local history. At that time I didn't really know what a Hugenot or Protestant was, nor did I have a great interest in history. But as my French education continued, what I had learned mad more sense in later years.

My hometown of DuBois /DOO-boys/ (and people who say it any other way are weirdos) and its founder.

1626-1809, THE FIRST DUBOIS’

The name DuBois has a long and honored history before it was bestowed on the community now celebrating its 125th anniversary.

The DuBois family can be traced back in Europe as far back as the 9th Century. At that time it was considered a relatively old family; in fact, the house of DuBois is the oldest nobility in the French Empire with a DuBois accompanying William the First in England in his quest to conquer England.

The name DuBois means ‘the woods’’ and it is an appropriate name for later generations settled in the New York area as well as the Pennsylvania frontiers and backwoods. The family of DuBois in the U. S., starts with Louie DuBois, a Huguenot born in northern France in 1626. Due to religious persecution, he brought his family, which included two sons, to the New World in 1660.

They settled around the Hudson River Valley in New York where DuBois and his wife had eight more children. Two generations later John DuBois also had 10 children, the second oldest, John Jr., born in Oswego, N.Y., in 1809 become one of the founders DuBois.

You can read more about my hometown here at the Historical Society link. You can also read about DuBois at Wikipedia. OR check out the godubois.com website. Careful, it's a mess.

Like so many places in this country, if it hadn't been for France and the French, we wouldn't be who we are today.

A picture of the founding family.

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On a lamp

When I originally thought of this project, I intended for it to only be about fleur-de-lis, but I expanded it into other areas like language, people, places etc... because initially I was having trouble finding them.

I've come to realize that there in fact are fleur-de-lis everywhere. I found this exterior lamp on the outside of Hart Chapel at Clarion University. It is covered in fleur-de-lis. I guess it goes to show it never hurts stop smelling the roses and look up for the fleur-de-lis. Maybe I'll find it in the cloud shapes someday! Wouldn't that be freaky!?


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Tattoo

A man came into the shop where I work the other week. Although I couldn't help him with his questions much, he was very friendly. He had an awesome tattoo. I told him about this on-going project of mine, and I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I took a picture of his tat. He gladly agreed saying that he had actually stole the tat from Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The tat is of a tribal Fleur-de-lis and is located on the right arm of a guy named John from Brockway, Pennsylvania.


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Rue Renard

One of the very first words I ever learned in French was the word "fox". I learned it from an episode of Doctor Who, ::insert reader's lament and add "Here we go again. Will he ever shut up about Doctor Who?"::.

The Mind Robber, in short, trapped in the Land of Fiction, Jaime and Zoe get shut into a giant book, a French book, and they are turned into fiction. The text on the giant page is in French, presumably from some sort of French grammar school reader. The title of the chapter is "Un Renard". There is other text, and I should watch it to see if I can find out what it is and then see about purchasing the full book. That's one of my very first French words, possibly THE first... brought to me by PBS and the BBC.

Every time I see this sign along side this rural, central PA road Route 322 during my many journeys to and from my home-away-from-home, I am instantly reminded of that particular story and my earliest exposure to French.

"Rue Renard" is French for "Fox Street".

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Fleur-de-lis

My first of what I hope to be many entries is of a steeple on a church at my home-away-from-home. I rediscovered it the other day on my way to work and thought this would be a perfect picture to start this project on.

The Fleur-de-lis (Lily Flower), while prominent in many cultures long before it became a symbol of France, I believe in the modern era, its proliferation and symbolism around the world is credited mainly to French culture and exploration. This picture was taken in Clarion, Pennsylvania at the First United Methodist Church.


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À trouver la France/Finding France

Project: "Finding France"

One of my students had inadvertently inspired me and I came up with an idea this Summer while teaching. I was going to make it an out-of-class assignment, but there was no time. So, it occurred to me that this would make an interesting new project for myself... possibly others....

I'm calling it, À trouver la France/Finding France. It's a photographic project where in my short range journeys, I gather photographic evidence of the impact the French have had in my little neck of the woods.

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