The Alliance Française “Cocktail de Rentrée” was celebrated on Friday evening, September 22nd at the lovely home of John Lamb and Lawrence Tuchman. Appetizers, prepared by the Board Members, and drinks concocted by John were enjoyed by all.
Remembering Brian as a teacher, poet, artist and former Board member of AFNWCT.
HEAVEN
I think of floating up to heaven as the flight . . .
from nature’s touch into the vastness of space,
from breath into celestial wind,
from the earthly rhythms into ethereal color,
from all the senses
into boundless imagination.
There bodiless, soaring without limit,
seeing the invisible, believing the impossible,
knowing fully, loving all.
There, beyond all darkness,
beyond all fear,
I am reborn
as one infinite, eternal, simple soul.
Brian Lindsay Denyer, 2015
Presenter of art and poetry
By request of Marcy Jackson
The 2nd AFNWCT Ligue de Pétanque ran this year from May through September 2017 with 19 members participating. Whereas last year the group played on 2 courts: one in Southbury and one in Bethlehem, two of our participants this year built two new courts which offered more opportunities to play throughout the season and different challenges, each court completely different in size, shape and terrain contours.
Congratulations to the 8 semi-finalists: Anne, Gail, Jean-Marie, Jim, Marcel, Marda and Noelle for having reached that level and for the concentration and passion demonstrated. Fabulous games. Fabulous! Best ever! Magnificent! Games no-one had seen before!
The finalists were, with ladies first and then men in order of age, Anne, Ulrich, Jim, and JM.
The final tournament was held in Bethlehem under a very hot sun, several spectators watching and with very warm interactions amongst the players.
Results:
1st place: Jim , Gold
2nd place: Anne, Silver
3rd place: Jean-Marie, Bronze
4th place: Ulrich
Thanking our hosts Gail and Marcel
Many thanks to Anne/Mark, Marda/Jean-Marie, Marcel/Gail and Fran/Jodie for offering their courts
for this seasons’ games and to Gail and Marcel for hosting the finale and closing celebration dinner. It was much appreciated by our AF members and the players.
Click the link below to check out the photos from the preliminary games, finale and dinner.
Samedi, le 19 août, à la dernière réunion du Conseil de cette année fiscale, on a accepté la résignation de Jean Marie et Marda Gutierrez du Conseil. Comme ils avaient chacun encore une année pour terminer leur mandat, on a présenté les remplaçants et de nouveaux membres. On a voté à l’unanimité en faveur du nouveau Conseil:
Présidente: Nancy Marie Odile Callahan
Vice-Présidente: Evelyne Purdy
Trésorier: Gurmit Batra (photo à gauche)
Secrétaire: Micheline Baker
Programmes: Gail Gros
Directrice de l’Ecole: Joanne Hutchings
Conseiller Juridique: John Lamb
Adhérents: Laurent Vernouillet
Webmestre: Ingrid Klein
Félicitations au nouveau Conseil!
The new Board introduced themselves to each other since there are several new members
Pictured in the large photo are:
1st row left to right: Gurmit Batra, John Lamb, Laurent Vernillet
2nd row left to right: Ingrid Klein, Nancy Callahan, Micheline Baker, Gail Gros, Joanne Hutchings, Evelyne Purdy
Venez à la “Cocktail de Rentrée” vendredi, 22 septembre où vous allez pouvoir rencontrer les membres du Conseil.
Nancy Callahan and her family were present this spring to witness the bestowing of the honor of “Chevalier” (Knight) of the National Order of Légion D’Honneur for the French Government on their father, Donald Lytle. 
He was honored by the Consul General of France in San Francisco and the honor was bestowed by Gabrielle Applequist, the Honorary Consul of Idaho and former President of the Alliance Française in Boise, Idaho. She bestowed the Medal of Honor after her remarks from the President of the Republic of France in appreciation for Mr. Lytle’s efforts in the liberation of France during World War II. 
Many members of the Alliance Française of Boise, Idaho were present as well as friends, family and fellow veterans.
“It was a great honor for our family as my father also received the Purple Heart for his injury and efforts in the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas Eve 1944,” explained Callahan. “He was then stationed with the Ordinance Corps in Paris and Versailles where he ultimately met my mother. They were married on August 12, 1946 and celebrated their 71st anniversary this month,” she continued.
Thus, Nancy Marie-Odile Lytle (Callahan) was born in America and raised in a French and American household. Nancy Callahan is the current President of the AFNWCT.
Merci Beaucoup to Fran and Jodie Hellman for hosting our Quartorze Juillet celebration. We had lots of fun playing pétanque and ate delicious food brought by all, especially the BBQ chicken and pulled pork, prepared by Chef Fran. Even though it was still daylight when we sang “La Marseillaise”, we still lit sparklers to mark the occasion.
