Welcome to MaineFolqueCo-op.com! As you can see, we've been busy the past couple of months, but this is just a mere foreshadowing of things to come, so please check back often as we continue to grow, blossom, and bear fruit. Now, retrospective look at our first big crop of goodies...

French Canadian multi-instrumentalist/singer/stepdancer Benoit Bourque and his accordionist/singer son Antoine are joined by fiddlers Greg & Jessie Boardman and others in an old-time “Franco Kitchen Party” show. 3 p.m. at Schaeffer Theatre, Bates College

French Sing-Along on Deck at Schooner Estates on Friday Schooner Estates will host a sing-along of favorite Franco-American songs from 3 to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 15, to which the public is invited free of charge.

Contra Dance: 8-11 p.m. in the air-conditioned comfort of Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library (200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Park Street in downtown Lewiston); caller Maggie Robinson leads an evening of traditional New England contra dancing to the dynamic young band Groove Train, featuring siblings Lilly Pearlman on fiddle and Neil Pearlman on piano and Julia Plumb on fiddle and viola. Admission: $5, $3 for students.

French and Scottish music will share the spotlight at a double-header contra dance taking place this Friday, Aug. 10, at Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library. Providing the music for an hour-long family dance, starting at 7 p.m., will be vintage Canadian-born fiddler Maurice Pelletier backed up by his wife Marie on spoons and Don Cunningham on guitar. Joining them will be caller Cindy Larock, who will lead attendees in a selection of fun and easy contras and other “jigs and reels” dances which have their roots in the old-time kitchen parties of Quebec.

Family Barn Dance: 7-8 p.m. in the air-conditioned comfort of Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library (200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Park Street in downtownLewiston); fun & easy contras, squares & more led by caller Cindy Larock to music performed byThe Golden Schleppers, starring 89-yr-old Franco fiddler Maurice Pelletier