Franco Fridays: A Lewiston snowshoe convention, 1930s

Arsene Cailler, left, and two other snowshoers pose at a snowshoe convention in Lewiston in the 1930s. Courtesy of the Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine libraries

The International Snowgoers Convention debuted in Lewiston in 1925, a year after its host, Le Montagnard club, was formed. It was the nation’s first snowshoe social club and was to be the largest of 17 such clubs in Lewiston. Ninety years later, Le Montagnard and several other Lewiston snowshoe clubs have disappeared, making the 2015 International Snowshoe Convention the last of its kind.