My local Francophone association, the Association des francophones des Kootenays Ouest (AFKO), just celebrated its 35th anniversary (hooray!)<\/p>\n
The 1980s<\/b><\/p>\n
AFKO<\/span><\/a> started in Rossland, B.C. in 1985 when several friends met at the home of Paul Picard. It soon became clear that a regional Francophone association was needed, so AFKO incorporated as a non profit society in 1986.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 1990s<\/b><\/p>\n In the 1990s, AFKO created a \u201cbookmobile\u201d to bring French books and materials to communities all over the West Kootenay region. The group also opened an office in Nelson, and Jeanne Huet became AFKO\u2019s first employee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When a group of about 20 volunteers met in Nelson to start a community radio station in 1998, AFKO was there. Manon Cyr, who also drove the bookmobile, was the first host of a program, which was then called <\/span>Franco parlant<\/span><\/i>. In 2000, the show\u2019s name was changed to <\/span>M\u00e9li-M\u00e9lo<\/span><\/a> and it has been on the air ever since. The show is also podcast and shared on <\/span>Radio Victoria 107.9 FM<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The 2000s and beyond<\/b><\/p>\n Prudence-Elise Breton directed AFKO from 2009 until Lyne Chartier took the wheel in 2013. AFKO offers local Francophones and Francophiles many services and activities; here are just a few: They have an extensive lending library with thousands of books and films. They host a summer camp, a cabane \u00e0 sucre, la Franco-F\u00eate, and a holiday party. They also run a school book exchange, activities for kids, and a social club for people 50+. They\u2019ve recently installed a podcast studio and are developing a community sewing corner, with a silk-screening workshop planned for 2022.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Recent projects include the <\/span>Travelling Tree<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Portraits of the Kootenays<\/span><\/a>. The Travelling Tree project offered local Francophones a chance to share their reflections about their attachment to the Francophonie and Portraits of the Kootenays features short profiles of local Francophone artists and entrepreneurs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n