Since the early seventies, Mary and her husband John have been involved in the performing arts in Milwaukee. Mary served as President of the Skylight Opera Theatre and the Friends of the Conservatory of Music, as well as on the Board of Trustees of the Conservatory. A fifty year volunteer for United Performing Arts Fund, she was Campaign Co-Chair in 1988 and in 1995 received the prestigious Stiemke Award for service to the Performing Arts. She served as Co-Chair of the Silver Renaissance Campaign in 1994 to renovate the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Her various volunteer activities with University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee led her to receive the Honorary Alumni Award in 2014.

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Her love of the French language led her serve for many years as president of the Alliance Française de Milwaukee. To recognize the organization’s growth under her leadership, the French Government named her a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Mary served for 6 years on the Board of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA as Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of The Federation Forum and Le Magazine. She is a founding board member of the American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay. In 2011 she received the Médaille d’Or du Mérite Francophone from La Renaissance Française.

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Various other volunteer activities have included presidency of the Fox Point Foundation, Woman’s Club of Wisconsin, and Friends of the UWM Golda Meir Library, and board member of Malaika Early Learning Center and UWM Foundation.

George Sape is the President of The American Friends of the Cite du Vin (AFCV).

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He was the Managing Partner of the national law firm, Epstein Becker & Green in New York. Prior to that, he held a number of government positions in Washington, DC. After working for the U.S. Department of State and the Federal Communications Commission, he served on the White House staff under President Nixon.

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Sape is a graduate of University of Colorado at Boulder where he also earned his JD. George is active on many French-American organizations in the US including: French Heritage Society, American Friends of Blérancourt, and the American Society of the French Order of Merit. He was also elected as a Membre d'Honneur to the prestigious l’Academie du Vin du Bordeaux.

 

He is a recipient of both the Ordre du Merite and Legion d’Honneur from the French Government.

Elaine Uzan Leary has over 45 years professional experiences in promoting French language and culture in Boston including the creation of the school of the Alliance Francaise in Boston, the French American Chamber of Commerce in Boston, the French Theatre in Boston, a founding trustee in the Boston Strasbourg Sister City Association, plus twelve years in foreign language publishing with Heinle and Heinle and later Houghton Mifflin Company. Prior to joining the American Friends of Blérancourt in July of 2008 in New York City, Elaine’s previous position was Executive Director of the French Library Alliance Francaise of Boston, considered New England’s most important French library, cultural center, and French language school. She was part of the New England Committee for the 400th Anniversary of Quebec, and launched the semaine de la Francophonie in Boston bringing together various francophone associations.

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For the Franco-American Museum, Chateau de Blerancourt, she created and has managed the traveling exhibition “American Women Rebuilding France 1917-1924” since 2010 in 17 cities in the U.S.  Raised bilingually in Auburn, Maine (nee L’Heureux of French Canadian ancestry) she graduated from Edward Little high School in 1965, and was educated in France, in Strasbourg and in Paris, a graduate of Stetson University in Deland, FL, plus a Master Degree in French from Middlebury College in Vermont, and a Masters in Communication from Emmerson College. Elaine Uzan Leary has received three French government awards:  Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,  Chavalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite, and Chevalier de la Renaissance Francaise.

A native of Manchester, New Hampshire, Adèle Boufford Baker, is a second generation Franco-American and proud of her heritage. She attended Rivier University and the University of New Hampshire. Raised in a bi-lingual family, her love for the French language continued at the Berlitz School of Languages in Boston where she would later become the Director of The Translation Service.

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Returning to Manchester, she substituted in French and Spanish in local High Schools and taught English as a Foreign Language to newly arrived French Canadians.

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She was a partner in Baker, Pappas & Dastin, Marketing and Public Relations. As Director of Development at Notre Dame College, she coordinated all fundraising and planned giving activities. From 1994 to 2004, Adèle served as Executive Director of The Centre Franco-Américain, a French cultural and heritage organization. In 1997 she was named Franco American of the Year. She is also a member of PI DELTA PHI, the French National Honor Society and the recipient of La Medaille d’Or du Richelieu.

 

In 2001 she became Honorary Consul of France and has been proud to represent the French government in New Hampshire to this day.

 

In 2004 the Alliance Française of Manchester was reinstated, after being inactive for 40 years. Bringing back the AF to her city was a tribute to her mother, who had been a member for many years. Adèle also collaborated on the Quebec 400 (1604-2004), the founding of Quebec, and served on The Champlain Committee to erect a commemorative plaque on the banks of the St. Lawrence River depicting the cities and towns in New England where the French Canadians settled at the turn of the 20th Century.

 

She volunteers in her city serving on the Boards of Directors of Catholic Medical Center, The Manchester Community Music School, The Gilbert French Language Foundation, The Holy Cross Family Learning Center, The Palace Theatre Advisory Board and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

 

In 2008 President Sarkozy named her Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.