For some it’s back to school, for others it’s back to work, and anyway it’s hopefully back to normal.

For the Comité Tricolore it’s back to creating a convivial environment where the French-American community gathers to support and sustain each other!

As a perfect illustration of our mission and our goals, we are again preparing our famous Solidarity Dinners, and we are introducing the first Victor Obadia Humanitarian Trophy.

Save the Date and keep posted!

Back together for the September Festive Dinner: these dinners have been so successful that the Comité Tricolore is going to continue organizing them on a regular basis.

They provide a place to meet, to enjoy a special menu, to get to know each other, and to support the Comité Tricolore’s on-going charitable work.

Our next dinner is September 28th at La Chaumière

Participation in the dinners is a great way to get to better acquainted with the DC area restaurant scene and its great Chefs.

The price of the ticket includes the price of the meal specially created for us, plus a donation to the CT which goes entirely to one of our beneficiaries and is tax deductible.

Each month we have witnessed how these dinners allow Friends of the CT to come together and share common interests while meeting each other and personalities of the French-American diplomatic and social scene.

The Victor Obadia Humanitarian Trophy

We are now taking nominations for the Victor Obadia Humanitarian Trophy and have extended the deadline for submission to September 10th.

The trophy will be presented to an outstanding individual chosen by you to honor their achievements, benevolent actions and principles of generosity and compassion, in memory of the values to which Victor dedicated his life.

It will be presented by the President of the Comité Tricolore to the selected laureate at an Award Ceremony at the French Embassy in Washington, DC in October.

The laureate will also be recognized in an official announcement that will appear in the Comité Tricolore’s newsletter.

In addition to recognizing this outstanding individual, the Comité Tricolore hopes this award will encourage others to serve their community.

Many of you had the chance to meet Victor Obadia, the Comité Tricolore’s first president, who for more than forty years worked tirelessly to strengthen the ties that bind together the Washington area French-American community. This is one way the Comite Tricolore intends to honor Victor’s legacy.

Eligibility Requirements and Nomination documents are available on our website and you can complete the application from our website’s Victor Obadia Humanitarian Trophy page

The difference between May 1st and Labor Day

Labor Day was created at the end of the nineteenth century to celebrate the achievements of the American Workers and their contribution to the prosperity and the well being of the country.

It is celebrated on the first Monday of September to commemorate an event that was held in New York City on September 5, 1882 when 10,000 workers took the day off to march from City Hall to Union Square in the first workers’ parade.

It became a Federal Holiday in 1894 and has been celebrated ever since then, becoming at the same time a symbol of “Back to Business” after the summer’s break. It corresponds to the generic French term of “LA RENTREE” with a festive and well-deserved respite before getting back to more serious affairs.

May 1st is broader than Labor Day as it is also known as International Worker’s Day.* It is a national holiday in many countries across the world. It commemorates the workers who lost their lives at the Haymarket massacre in Chicago for protesting on May 1st 1866 for higher wages and an 8 hour work day.

Check our website for more exciting things to do!

Our members are increasingly active and we are updating our Agenda almost daily so that you don’t miss any opportunity to connect and have fun!

For more information go to our Agenda