Belgian Heritage Foundation Hosts Traditional Lunch and Historical Presentation

The Namur Belgian Heritage Foundation will host an open house on Sunday, May 15 from noon – 5 pm at the former St. Mary’s church building in Namur. The event will begin with a traditional, homemade Belgian lunch featuring chicken booyah, bread, and dessert including Belgian Pie for $7 per person. Proceeds will go towards preserving and reusing the church.

At 2 pm the foundation will provide a brief report on the status of its reuse planning. The report will be followed by a presentation by keynote speaker Freddy Joris, CEO of the Walloon Heritage Institute in Belgium. His audio visual presentation is entitled, “Wallonia: Above and Beyond the Battle of the Bulge.” He will speak about the rich history of the Wallonia area in Belgium as well as the work of the Institute. Joris will also bring a taste of Belgium with free samples of Belgium beverages and chocolates.

The foundation was founded in August 2010 for the purpose of saving the former St. Mary’s building and to consider reusing the building for the proposed Wisconsin Belgian Heritage Center. The foundation was recently awarded a small planning grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to assist with a feasibility study for the new use.

For more information contact Bill Chaudoir at 920.55.3113 or via email at [email protected].