Organizers of St. Jean Baptiste event host fundraising dinner Thursday at Savini’s

WOONSOCKET – The Woonsocket Pothier Foundation and Heritage Harbor Foundation will kick off planning for their proposed Feast of St. Jean Baptiste this June with a fundraiser at Savini’s Pomodore at 476 Rathbun St. Thursday evening.

The Starlight Celebration at Savini’s will be a casual dinner dance celebrating the city’s children and with the goal of holding a major city homecoming event on Main Street on the afternoon and evening of June 25 – a revision of the initial proposed date – to accommodate outof-town visitors.

Feast of St. Jean Baptiste organizer Albert Beauparlant said Thursday’s fundraiser will help with the costs of offering city children and their families a Main Street cookout on a section of Main Street running from the Stadium Theatre at Monument Square to the parking lot near Chan’s Fine Oriental Dinning.

The event, running from 4 to 9 p.m. on June 25, will include a celebration of the city’s multi-ethnic and cultural diversity with three stages for a variety of music and dance performances, a ceremonial archway similar to those created by local French Canadian residents for St. Jean Baptiste celebrations in the late 1800s, and also an assortment of informational booths and tables offering a wide variety of child care, educational and family economic support information.

The Pothier Foundation, for which Beauparlant is executive director, and the Heritage Harbor Foundation are expected to be joined by other sponsoring agencies as the plans for the Feast move forward. The city council had been expected to take up a permit request for the event on Monday but Council President Daniel Gendron withdrew the item to allow the date change to June 25 to be made. Gendron said on Tuesday that the Council will consider the event request at its April 16 meeting.

Beauparlant said Thursday’s fundraiser at Savini’s will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets for the evening are $10.