Bob came to Acadiana as an outsider — a redneck from Winnfield who fell in love with the place. He stayed for the rest of his life. He narrated its tours, documented its history, celebrated its institutions, and profiled its people. Nobody knew Acadiana better or loved it more.
Tours of Acadiana
Bob behind the wheel, showing visitors around Cajun Country. Every restaurant, every street, every story.
The Lafayette Tour
On your left you will see the Old Ice House Restaurant. For much of the history of Lafayette, the building was actually an ice house...the source of refrigeration for the community. It has now been converted into a full menu restaurant, and is one of three restaurants offering gourmet cajun foods that we will be passing in the next few minutes. On your left, we are approaching Chez Pastor, and a few blocks further, on your right, Cafe Vermilionville. Cafe Vermilionville has a rich history, also. It was originally a hotel, serving the traders on Bayou Vermilion in the 1800's.
Turn left at the first traffic light and you will enter one of our older prestige subdivisions. This is Bendel Gardens. It was intended as the estate of an early resident, Henri Bendel....and the first house you see on your right was to be the overseer's home. Imagine as you will as you travel down Marguerite Boulevard that you are on the lane approaching Mr. Bendel's home, which was to be built at the point where this thoroughfare reaches the Vermilion River. Workers planted Magnolia trees along the lane to the mansion. Many of the trees still stand, but the mansion was never built. You may turn right at the last intersection, where the mansion would have stood, and the street will take you in a circle back to the entrance to the subdvision. The homes on your left are situated on the Vermilion River. Some of the finer residential construction in our community is found here in Bendel Gardens. When you arrive back at the overseer's house, turn left to exit the subdivision at the traffic light. You will turn left again at the next traffic signal, on South College Road.
For your next turn, when you leave South College Road, you will need to be in the left-hand lane. You will immediately pass the Heymann Center for the Performing Arts on your right...featuring a 3500 seat auditorium, exhibit area and banquet facilities.
Continue now in the left hand lane of South College, and as the roadway widens to accomodate two left turn lanes, move into the first one. You are turning left on West Bayou Parkway, into Greenbriar Estates, one of our more modern and more prestigious subdivisions. Please turn left when you reach King's Row and follow King's Row to Stonehenge, where you will turn right. Many of the homes you will see on our brief tour were built during the heyday of the oil industry here. Lafayette was a boom town in the late seventies and early eighties as oil prices soared astronomically. Exaggerated accounts in the national media during the boom would have lead you to believe that we were a city of millionaires who flew to Houston for dinner in our private planes, and that we all returned to homes like these in Greenbriar. It was a boom time, and millionaires were made overnight, but the national media greatly exaggerated the oil-supported opulance of the city. Still boom times are exciting times. You should now be approaching Canterbury, where you will turn right again, and travel back to West Bayou Parkway. Please turn left on West Bayou Parkway and then left again when you reach Shannon Circle. Shannon will take you through another area of Greenbriar and bring you back to West Bayou Parkway, where you will again turn left. You are now traveling back toward South College Road, and will turn right at the traffic signal. Please travel in the left hand lane, for a left turn on to Girard Park Drive. You will turn at the first left turn lane you reach.
As you turn onto Girard Park Drive, the Maurice Heyman Memorial is on your right. This is a tribute to the man referred to as "Mr. Lafayette," because of his enormous contributions to the growth and progress of Lafayette.
On your left will be Girard Park...one of the city's major recreational areas...one highly utilized by the people of our community.
If you would like to visit our Natural History Museum and Planetarium, we invite you to turn left on Auditorium Place, which you are approaching now. Signs will direct you to a visitor parking area. The Natural History Museum and Planetarium, which is also a center for environmental studies, features changing exhibits and programs on astronomy, natural history and local culture. The programs and exhibits are free to the public, and the museum and planetarium is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on weekends. The planetarium presentations are held on Tuesday evenings.
The large colonial plantation style building you will see on your right at the intersecton of West St. Mary Boulevard is the Art Center for Southwest Louisiana. The facility exhibits a permanent collection of paintings by regional and international artists of the past and present, as well as temporary exhibits featuring various themes. Guided tours are available on request. Hours are 9:30 until 4:30 Monday through Friday and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Please turn left at the next intersection, West St. Mary Boulevard and Girard Park Drive. Immediately on your left, the Heymann Home, still occupied by members of the Maurice Heymann family, sits in the midst of a carefully tended garden which decorates an entire block.
As you pass the Heymann Home, you are entering the campus of the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Founded in 1900 as an industrial institute serving local students who had completed at least the sixth grade of public school, USL is now a research university which attracts students from almost every state and over 70 foreign countries. Please observe pedestrian crossings, and please turn right on Hebrard Boulevard. On your right, you will see picturesque Lake, where students relax under moss- covered oak trees. If you would like to walk on this friendly campus, signs will direct you to visitor parking.
The Acadian Village and Gardens is a restoration of life as it was in 18th century Acadiana. It features restored Acadian- style homes, replicas of a chapel and country store typical of the time, and other reminders of the early Cajun settlements. On the ten acres surrounding it are magnificent botanical gardens. The Village is open to the public year-round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a nominal charge. The Acadian Village and Gardens is a facility with a dual mission. Besides authentically re-creating an important part of our history, it provides financial support for the Lafayette Association for Retarded Citizens.
On your right is what is now the Lafayette Museum, but what
was once the town home of Jean Mouton, an early settler of
Southwest Louisiana, father of the first Acadian governor,
Alexandre Mouton, grandfather of General Alfred Mouton, a hero of
the confederacy during the War Between the States, and progenitor
of most of the _____________Moutons listed in the Lafayette phone
book, their families, and their relatives throughout Acadiana.
The home itself is rich in history, and on display inside are
some of the treasures of our culture and heritage. There is a
minimal fee for touring the museum. If you would like to stop
now and step back in time for a while, please turn off the tape
recorder now.
Cajun Country Tour
"Bon jour, Cher. You're in Cajun Country now and we glad you're here." — Bob as tour guide.
Bon jour, Cher. You're in Cajun Country now and we glad you're here, 'cause Cajuns love company. I guess you like to know how to recognize a Cajun if you see one while we're making this tour. Well, if you see somebody walking down the street like he owns the town...that's not a Cajun. But if you see somebody walking down the street like he don't give a doggone who owns this town...that's probably a Cajun. We're a little different. We still do a lot of things the way our French ancestors did. We got the best food in the world. My friend Elpheage says other parts of Louisiana got as good food as they deserve, 'cause they gonna put catsup all over it anyhow. It might take a while to get use to our coffee. We like it black as night, hot like the devil and sweet as love. Other children are made from snips and snails and puppy dog tails if they're boy children, and from sugar and spice and everything nice if they're little girl chil dren. Little cajun boys and girls are made from gumbo, boudin and sauce piquante, crawfish stew and oreilles de cochon. You got to taste all that while you here. But ask for crawfish, now. Don't say crayfish, because I think that's against the law in Lafayette. A good place to start this tour of Lafayette is at Gateway. That's right in the middle of the highway--what they call the median--on Interstate 167 south of I-10.
Take a look at what we got here, first. The Visitors and Conven tion Bureau is right here to greet guests, answer questions and do what they can to make this a good visit for you. While you're here, pick up a free copy of Le Guide, Acadiana's tourist maga zine. It'll tell you about all the events taking place in the area and all about the restaurants where you can get that good Cajun Cooking.
Take a look around while you're at Gateway. We tried to make this a special way to welcome people to Acadiana. We planted Azaleas, cypress trees, live oaks and camellias...and lots of native Louisiana wildflowers. And we want to showcase things our farm ers grow--like sugar cane and peppers. There's some native wildlife here, too. The pond got turtles...and a Cocodrie...that's how you say a alligator. I don't think you ought to feed him. My friend Tee Paul was cutting the grass and he got over there by that pond. He look at me and say, Hey--Robert, you think that alligator's safe. I say Tee Paul, I think he's a whole lot safer than you are right now.
You can turn off the tape recorder while you looking at Gateway, and while you're traveling, I'm gonna depreciate it if you turn it off when you see the pace ain't just right because you have to stop for a lot of red lights or you get tied up in traffic or something. You could help me by of adjusting things yourself, 'cause I can't see what you're doing and how you're driving. Now, we would like it if you stop the tape recorder and visit a while at Gateway.
Okay. How you like that Gateway? We proud of that, yeah. o73
The first stop after Gateway gonna be Vermilionville. I'm gonna give you good directions, but if you need it, there's a map of the tour on the inside flap of the box this tape came in. Lot of the turns you gonna make are at traffic signals, so that'll help you look for street signs.
We gonna travel south on Evangeline Thruway--that's the same as Interstate 49--for 2 1/2 miles...then we gonna turn on to Surrey Street. That's Surrey--just like you're grampa used to ride in when he come courtin' your gramma. Surrey is where you turn to the Lafayette Regional Airport, so look for the airport sign and turn left where it tell you to.
While we driving to Vermilionville, I'm gonna tell you a little bit about us Cajuns. We come here from Acadie in Nova Scotia--that's why we called Acadians. It was a French settle ment in a beautiful spot on the Bay of Fundy. But when the British took it over, they finally ran our ancestors out of there in 1755 because we didn't want to fight the Indians--they were our good friends. And we were raised Catholic, and didn't want to change to the Church of England. And besides that, we had the best real estate in Canada, and the British wanted that.
Mr. Longfellow told about how hard it was on us in his poem "Evangeline." Sometimes this is called Evangeline Country be cause of that. Anyhow, 4000 Cajuns came to Louisiana between 1755 and 1765. And we raised big families, yeah. Today, we are the largest French-speaking minority in the United States.
Cajuns today are like other Americans. Doctors, lawyers, teach ers, architects, engineers, merchants, farmers--same like every where. But somethings didn't change over the year. We try to keep the French language alive. And we didn't give up our forefa ther's joie de vivre...the joy of life. We work hard, but when the day's work is over, laissez les bontempts rouller. Let the good times roll. We like to sing and dance and celebrate. I hope you can come to festival. Cher, we got festivals to cele brate the crawfish season, the harvest season for sweet potatoes, sugar cane, rice, cotton. We celebrate Cajun food like boudin, jambalaya, gumbo. Just about every acadiana town is the world capitol of something--crawfish capitol, frog capitol, yam capi tol, rice capitol, shrimp capitol.
I think you figured it out now. We like to eat--and our food is so good we got to celebrate it. And we like to celebrate with music and dancing. Our music is different, too. You might have to get use to it like our coffee. But once you visit a Cajun restaurant, taste that Cajun food, and then swing your partner to a Cajun two-step...you gonna understand the spirit of Acadiana, and you gonna want to come back to see us.
'Course, we don't just dance and eat all the time for fun, no. We got fine golf courses and tennis courts. If you a golfer, you heard of the Hebert Brothers, Jay and Lionel that was leaders on o73 the PGA tour. That's two Cajun boys from Lafayette.
And, of course, we got the best hunting and fishing anywhere, yeah. Louisiana is the Sportsman's Paradise, and right now, you are right at the gates to paradise.
Me, I like to fish about four mile up six mile bayou in my pi rogue...that's the kind of boat my granpere and his granpere and his granpere used in the bayous and lakes. I got a secret spot on six mile bayou where I fish. When I first found it, eight or six years ago, I marked it on the side of my pirogue. If somebody steal my pirogue, I probably never find it again.
You can stop this tape now until you turn left on Surrey Street at the airport sign.
Okay, cher. We almost to Vermilionville. As you turn on Surrey, you gonna see the operational headquarters of Petroleum Helicop ters on your right. PHI is the biggest commercial helicopter operator in the world. Ain't but two others that's bigger: the U.S. of A. military and the Soviets of Russia military.
As you travel on Surrey Street, past our regional airport, the entry to Vermilionville is a very short drive and its gonna be on your left.
As you turn into Vermilionville, the site for the Interpretive Center for the National Park Service Cajun Cultural Center is on your right. When the projectg is completed it will be operated by the National Park Service and will be an important stop for visitors.
Vermilionville, here on the Vermilion River, is a recreation of the lifestyle of this area we call Acadiana--as it was from the time the Cajuns arrived here from Nova Scotia in 1765 until about 1890, when the Cajun culture began to open to progress and change.
Vermilionville is a 22 acre entertainment and living history attraction, featuring original Cajun and Creole structures, such as the homes, shops, schools and churches of that period when my ancestors lived basically in isolation from the rest of the world, speaking little if any English--earning their living from the rich soil and the waterways of this area, and enjoying life in a fun-loving, care-free way that still typifies the lifestyle today. Here at Vermilionville, costumed guides will help you experience the living history of the Cajun Country. You'll find a variety of entertainment, including strolling musicians per forming the music of our area, story tellers, dancers and humor ists. Whenever you visit, you'll enjoy one of our special cele brations or festivals. In the folklife center, you can go back in time and see weaving, blacksmithing, pirogue building and other things done the way us Cajuns did them over a hundred years ago.
Stories of Lafayette & Acadiana
Remembering Mr. Rodey
Curtis "Crip" Rodemacher — 24 years as Trustee of Public Property, unopposed for re-election seven times.
March First was the anniversary of one of Lafayette's great
losses. On that day, 20 years ago, death ended one of the most
remarkable careers in public service in the history of Acadiana.
Curtis (Crip) Rodemacher died March 1, 1968, the day before he
would have been returned to the office of Trustee of Public
Property for an unprecedented seventh term. After 24 years, he
was unopposed for re-election.
Until recent times, Lafayette operated under the commission-
management form of government, in which only three elected
officials guided the city's destiny. As trustee of public
property, Rodemacher had full responsibility for seeing that the
energy needs of a growing city were met, that the water supply
was safe and adequate, and that the sewer and drainage system
kept pace with the increasing demands of progress.
Among those public officials who held similar
responsibilities in Louisiana, Rodemacher was looked upon as a
giant. His accomplishments were gargantuan in nature. Yet
Curtis A. Rodemacher stood only 5'3" tall, and it was the
obstacles he overcame that were gigantic.
"Mr. Rodey," as he was affectionately known to his
employees, was slighted by nature and further handicapped by
chance, yet his accomplishments were inspirational to all--
especially those with physical limitations.
Son of a German immigrant railroad worker, he was born in a
camp car, and was slightly lame at birth. He grew up with a
limp, and never reached a height that could be considered average
even in a time and place where tall people were not the norm.
Yet he grew up tough as a boot, and with an enthusiasm and zest
for life that made his slight stature and physical affliction
inconsequential.
As a youth, he herded cattle with the best of the cowboys on
the plains of Southwest Louisiana. He also delivered newspapers
on horseback, and it was while riding his route that his horse
was struck by an automobile operated by a driver under the
influence of alcohol. He was injured, but was soon back in the
saddle again. Then, while competing in a race, his horse bolted
into the path of a car.
The slight lameness at birth, aggravated by two serious
accidents, left Rodey permanently crippled. But his dynamic
spirit was unaffected by the misfortune.
He roared into high school with boundless energy and fierce
competitiveness. He pitched for the baseball team, played
forward for the basketball squad, and ran track with his crippled
leg. With one leg considerably shorter than the other, he ran
the 100-yard dash in 11 flat.
At 5' 3" tall, he could high jump 5' 7".
In 1925, Rodey became manager and star forward of an
independent basketball team called "The Lafayette Gents." He
took The Gents all over Louisiana, in '25 and '26,
leading them to 34 victories in 36 games. The Gents once
defeated 19 teams in a single tournament.
The top team from Mexico fell to the Gents, and at one time,
the Boston Celtics explored the possibility of taking Rodey's
team on.
The people of Lafayette came to love and admire this small
man with the gigantic spirit, and elected him to the crucial post
of trustee of public property in 1944. In that job, he faced the
toughest challenge yet. The war years, with their demands on
material and manpower, had left the utility system in deplorable
shape. Repairs and maintenance had been minimal. The electric
generating plant was in disrepair and incapable of maintaining
steady service. The water department was manned by employees who
had no formal training, and the water supply was inadequate for
consumption or fire protection. The sewer system was practically
inoperative.
Two years after he took office, the colossal mess Rodey had
inherited had been whipped into a paying
proposition, providing the city's general fund with $80,000 for a
desperately needed street resurfacing program. Overall
improvements in utilities operations were phenomenal.
Rodey was easily re-elected in 1948. By then, the sleepy
little bayou town was beginning to awaken to its destiny. A city
on the move needed more and better facilities. Rodey took to the
campaign trail again, using his great energy and popularity to
promote passage of Louisiana's first revenue bond issue.
Improvements financed by the $7-million bond issue allowed
Lafayette to continue its momentum.
Rodey won again in 1952. The people also supported another
bond issue which he proposed to build a 13,555 KVA generating
unit at the steam power plant--doubling the capacity of the
electric system--and to increase the capacity of the water system
another three million gallons a day. In the midst of all this,
Rodey found time to spearhead the drive to build the Jefferson
Street underpass, eliminating a major bottleneck on the city's
main artery.
Rodey won again in 1956, and this term saw the electric
capacity of the city system doubled again, and a new sewerage
disposal plant built. Confidence in "Crip" Rodemacher was the key
factor in the people's approval of an $8-million bond issue to
keep Lafayette's utility system at a level capable of sustaining
the constant growth.
By 1960, Rodey had won such a place in the hearts of the
people that his election to a sixth term of office was by the
largest margin in his political career. That period, from 1960--
through another re-election in 1964--until his death in 1968, was
probably the most demanding in Lafayette's history. This was a
time of astounding growth, and the progressive team of
Rodemacher, Mayor J. Rayburn Bertrand, and Trustee of Finance Dan
Boudreaux kept the city on track, providing the infrastructure
for development of a great city.
Curtis Rodemacher's death on the eve of his unchallenged
election to a seventh term was untimely. Yet he had lived to see
the city he loved move forward over huge obstacles from a quaint
Cajun village to a thriving metropolis. Just as this small,
crippled man had overcome every obstacle to win his place in the
sun, and in the hearts of all who knew him.
Lafayette and the Oil & Gas Industry
"The City of Lafayette was a sleepy bayou town before the oil & gas industry jump-started its growth."
LAFAYETTE AND THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY The City of Lafayette, now a bustling pace-setter for other municipalities in Louisiana, was a sleepy bayou town before the oil & gas industry jump-started its growth. From the early fifties to the present, progress has been linked to petroleum. Entering the Twentieth Century, the town of Lafayette boasted a population of over 3,000, and proudly announced that commercial establishments existed in sufficient number and variety to serve the needs of the townspeople. For the next fifty years, the major factors influencing growth were the railroad, the state university created in 1900, and establishment of the community as the retail hub of a eight-parish (county) trade area. All this was supported by the agrarian activities of surrounding parishes and those conducted in Lafayette Parish itself. By the 50s, Lafayette had a population of 33,000 which gave it the status of city rather than town. Many business and civic leaders felt that progress had begun to slow. Great strides had been made, but there was a feeling of loss of momentum. A new catalyst for growth was needed. The petroleum industry was that catalyst. In the infancy of the petroleum industry in Louisiana, Lafayette stood watching with little opportunity to participate. Then, the need arose for more executive and administrative personnel. In the early 50s, it was concluded that the interests of the industry as a whole would be served by the establishment of a center which would encompass the offices that were scattered haphazardly between Lafayette and Lake Charles. A Lafayette entrepreneur, the late Maurice Heymann, recognized the potential and decided to establish that center. While oil was the basis for the explosive growth that was to come in Lafayette, the Heymann Oil Center was the catalyst. The oil companies quickly began to open offices there, and the immigration of oil people accelerated immensely. In his book, A History of the Development of Lafayette, Louisiana, J. Phillip Dismukes wrote, In addition to the large numbers, the Oil Center brought a particular type of person to Lafayette. Largely exploration and production supervisory personnel, they were professional people, and they brought with them the middle class values which found ready acceptance in the community. Within a few years, it became apparent that the oil patch people had brought with them things of value--like an eagerness to participate in community affairs...the ability and desire to help with projects that would make Lafayette a better place in which to live...and, as the industry grew, so did jobs that offered opportunity and reward. By the fifties oil people were sharing leadership roles in the community with native residents, working harmoniously to help the city keep pace with the growth which their own industry was inspiring. With the impetus of the oil industry, there was remarkable progress, and Lafayette awakened in the fifties to find that it was no longer a sleepy bayou town but a growing metropolitan area. The industry was creating prosperity, and the people of the industry were sharing the civic and social responsibilities of the new era The continuing influx of new residents resulted in unprecedented urban development. Meeting the needs of the increased population prompted creation of new services. There was sudden growth in real estate development and construction, transportation, public education, and commerce in general. Lafayette was transformed. It could claim the undisputed role of urban center for Southwest Louisiana. Lafayette was positioned as an administrative center for the industry when it began moving offshore. The growing offshore activity, combined with substantial development onshore, generated or enhanced a plethora of oil-related companies in such fields as transportation, specialty manufacturing, catering, fabrication and others. The growth, of course, continued to have a positive effect on housing, retail sales, air traffic, entertainment, and the economy in general. The rest is history. No single influence accounts for Lafayettes present prosperity, but without the jump-start by the oil industry almost a half-century ago, it is doubtful the city would be traveling its dynamic, upward path.
No Irishmen? Faith Now...
March 17, 1964 — Bob blending Irish and Cajun folklore on St. Patrick's Day.
When the Loup Garou howls about the bayous tonight, it may be that one of the wee folk is sittin' astride his hairy back, digging his pointy little boots into his hide and matchin' the blood-curdlin' cry of the craythur with a bellowin' 'Erin Go Bragh.'
'Tis St. Patrick's Day and there's a little bit of Ireland in the clean Cajun air. The Will-O-The-Wisp and Loup Garou must yield to the night folk of the Emerald Isle; to the Leprechaun's liltin' laugh and the Barnshee's unholy wail.
Daft, ye' say? Nothin' here but Boudreauxs and Theriots, Thibodeauxs and Marionneauxs? Will ye' have the courtesy to observe the listings in the telephone book? There's O'Brien and O'Connell and Mr. O'Donnell; we've O'Flaherty and O'Fleurity, too. Do ye' ken the O'Keefe, and — 'most past belief — there's O'Tooles and a Sullivan crew?
There's Kincannon and Kincaid and O'Quin; Fleurity, Flarity, Flanagan and Flynn...
So don't be surprised if the little people are out tonight. This is their day, and they wouldn't miss a celebration. And if you hear the pipes a-skirlin' in the distance, don't be too quick to say it's just the wind in the Spanish moss. It could be that some Irish ghost has found himself a set of bagpipes and is celebratin' St. Patrick's Day in true Irish style.
Looking at Lafayette
"Nowhere in the United States is there a city of this moderate size that offers as many varied attractions coupled with such a warmhearted, friendly, and fun-filled environment."
Welcome to Lafayette--a city whose fortunes have long been linked to those of the oil industry. Like the industry, Lafayette has survived the hard times and is once again moving forward with strength and vitality. A recent study conducted by Paine Webber showed that Lafayette achieved full recovery by the end of the Eighties, and is once again among the fastest growing American cities, and is "one of the most dynamic urban communities in the U.S." Our excellent economic health is indicative of the strong rebound of the oil industry. With oil still our major industry, Lafayette has achieved substantial diversification in recent years. Chief among them is the city's rising popularity as a leading tourist attraction. Over two million travelers from around the world visit Lafayette each year, and the booming tourist industry has created an estimated 2,000 jobs in the parish. Lafayette offers something for everyone with the best places to fish, horse racing, quaint Acadian homes, festivals, Cajun food, dancing and Cajun and Zydeco music. The list of attractions is lengthy enough to keep a person on the tourist trail for weeks.
The city of Lafayette is the "Gateway to Louisiana's Cajun/Creole Country," a lush bayou land with a culture unlike any other, It is an area that has captured the interest of the United States and much of the world. To enhance its position as an intriguing destination for travelers, Lafayette launched and completed one of the state's most ambitious landscaping projects. As a result of the Gateway project, a variety of Louisiana plant life is located at the main arteries leading into the city, offering a breathtaking visual welcome to visitors. Lafayette is also a center for education, conventions, and the cultural arts. The University of Southwestern Louisiana offers one of the nations' outstanding computer degree programs as well as many innovative approaches to manufacturing technology. And since completion of the Cajundome, and renovation of the Heymann Center for the Performing Arts, Lafayette has "arrived" as a major contender for regional, state, and national conventions and cultural events.
Gala festivals, with food, music and dancing, can be enjoyed almost every weekend throughout the year in Lafayette and the surrounding area. The uniqueness of Lafayette is represented in these festivals which promote the local community and its people, products and natural resources.
Lafayette is a prime example of why Louisiana has been called a "Sportsman's Paradise." Freshwater and saltwater fishing areas are plentiful in and around Lafayette, from the Atcha falaya Basin, the world's largest riverbottom swamp, to the Gulf of Mexico, just a short drive to the south.
The city and area offer something for everyone. The many museums and galleries support a variety of arts organizations, and Evangeline Downs provides entertainment and excitement for the horse racing fan.
Nowhere in the United States is there a city of this moderate size that offers as many varied attractions coupled with such a warmhearted, friendly, and fun-filled environment. Over the past 35 years, the growth of Lafayette, LAGCOE, and the oil industry have been synonymous. The oil industry is strong and vigorous again. Lafayette is economically robust and growing. LAGCOE '91 is a landmark show. We welcome you to a dynamic city and a great oil exposition.
Lafayette's Cajun Heritage & Music Festival
Beausoleil, Wayne Toups, Aldus Roger, Zydeco Force — the festival of festivals at Acadian Village.
LAFAYETTE'S CAJUN HERITAGE & MUSIC FESTIVAL SCHEDULED OCTOBER 11-13 AT ACADIAN VILLAGE
LAFAYETTE--(Special to the Advocate Fun Section)--This year's Cajun Heritage & Music Festival at Lafayette's Acadian Village has been chosen as one of the top 20 events in the Southeastern United States for the month of October. The Southeast Tourism Society, a non-profit group organized by the private sector tourism industry, selects and publicizes the leading tourist events in the nine Southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The group ranked the Lafayette event number twelve in the top twenty selection, which includes such events as the South Carolina State Fair, the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention, the Georgia National Fair and the Natchez Fall Pilgrimage. The festival, proceeds of which go to benefit the Alleman Center, a facility for persons with developmental disabilities, is promoted as the only South Louisiana festival depicting the total Cajun heritage and culture. Held on the grounds of Acadian Village, a recreation of an 18th century Acadian community, it features the music, food, folklore, arts & crafts, humor, dances, recreational and occupational activities of the early Cajuns of Southwest Louisiana. A festive "Concert on the Bayou" will launch the musical activities for the event. Three of Louisiana's nationally-recognized bands will perform for the concert which begins at 7 p.m. Friday, October 11 at the Village. Appearing will be Beausoleil, featuring Michael Doucet; Wayne Toups, ZydeCajun, and Mamou. "These groups have won popularity nationwide and abroad," said Festival Director Richard Doolin, "and have contributed immeasurably to the popularity of South Louisiana's Cajun and Creole music." The music will resume on Saturday morning and continue throughout the festival. The schedule for Saturday includes: 10 a.m. Aldus Roger & the Lafayette Playboys 12:30 Bobby Scott & Louisiana Vintage 3 p.m. Gene Savoie and the Bayou Ramblers 4 p.m. Zydeco Force, featuring Robbie Robinson 8 p.m. Jimmy Thibodeaux & Cajun Friends 10:30 p.m. Ann Goodly & the Zydeco Brothers Continuous music on Sunday will feature the following bands: 11:30 a.m. Joe Douglas 2 p.m. Shakerz, featuring Bob Kubelka 4:15 Rockin' Dopsie In addition to the traditional Cajun and Creole music, the festival will present gospel music on Sunday morning, including a performance by the Sons of Thunder of Abbeville at , and the Queen of Peace "A Train" Choirs at 11 a.m. The Festival will offer an exciting array of foods prepared in the unique style of South Louisiana's Cajuns and Creoles. Doc Lanier, food chairman for the event, said the eagerness of various organizations to prepare special dishes for the festival "is extremely gratifying." "In the midst of all the activities," Lanier said, "we sometimes tend to lose sight of the fact that, besides offering visitors a look at the total Cajun experience, we are also raising funds for the essential services provided by the Alleman Center. The groups participating in the food booths at the festival provide a great boost to the Alleman program, and delicious food to the festival visitors." Following is a list of organizations who will have booths at the festival, and the special dishes they will offer: St. Leo's Knights of Columbus Council: Red beans & rice and pralines Fatima Knights of Columbus Council: Shrimp Etouffe Broussard Knights of Columbus Council: Jambalaya, boudin and cracklins St. Edmonds Knights of Columbus Council: Fried Turkey Lafayette Firefighters Association: Alligator boullettes St. Basil Knights of Columbus Council: Hamburgers & hot dogs Lafayette Trail Riders: Fried Catfish Ladies' Civitan Club: Crawfish etouffe Acadiana Apartment Association: Shrimp stew Pius X Knights of Columbus Council: Chicken nuggets Hub City Kiwanis Club: Ice Cream LARC Mothers' Club: Sweets The Cajun Cuisine area will be open from Saturday morning, October 12, through Sunday evening. Among the other features of the festival will be: TRAPPERS & TRADERS: An encampment on the village grounds where trappers and traders barter goods with local townspeople. The Buckskinners, dressed in 1840s costumes demonstrate throwing the tomahawk and Bowie knife and the use of black powder rifles. WAGON TRAIN: The Acadian Trail Riders offer festival goers rides in authentic covered wagons. ARTISANS: Against the unique background of the authentic Cajun homes in the Village, visitors will see fiddle and accordion makers, broom makers, moss and mattress makers, boat builders, spinners and weavers, shingle makers, quilters, cowhide chair makers, furniture makers, soap makers and saddle makers. NATIVE AMERICANS: The closeness of Cajuns and Native Americans dating back to Nova Scotia prior to their dispersal in 1755 will be emphasized by activities including construction of palmetto house by members of the Houmas Tribe, presentations on customs and folklore by Attakapas Larry Richard, performances by the Coushatta Dance Troupe and Drums of Many Nations. Visitors will also tour the Missionary Museum of the Lower Mississippi Valley on the Village grounds. TOURNOI DE VILLE PLATTE: Visitors will be given a preview of the running of the Tournoi by riders from the Ville Platte Cotton Festival, as Knights in shining armor attempt to spear the gold ring while their horses race the tournoi course. Additionally, there will be presentations on the history of the Cajuns, readings by Clovis Crawfish Author Mary Alice Fontenot, humor by Cajun humorists Ed Roy and Ralph Begnaud, and alligator skinning. "The Cajun Heritage & Music Festival is unlike any other festival in Louisiana," according to Doolin, who is also executive director of the Alleman Center. "It is about the real Cajuns who migrated to the swamps, prairies and bayous of South Louisiana almost 300 years ago and who, until fairly recent times, were hidden away from the rest of the nation by geography. Unfolding in a rustic hamlet which is recognized as the architectural repository of the Cajun culture, it tells the story of these unique people from almost every angle, including their remarkable zest for living."
Golden China Restaurant
"There are three groups of you out there that I need to talk to..." — Bob selling Lafayette one restaurant at a time.
GOLDEN CHINA RESTAURANT 60 SECONDS "Trying It"
There are three groups of you out there that I need to talk to: First, those of you who have never tried Chinese food, and don't know whether you like it or not. Second, those of you who like Chinese food but haven't tried the very best at Golden China on Congress St. in Lafayette. And third, those of you who have tried Golden China...know its the best in Acadiana but, because of some change in your daily routine, haven't enjoyed it for a long time. If you haven't tried Chinese food, you need to. You'll like it. If you like it but haven't tried Golden China...do it. You're missing something special. If you know Golden China has the best Chinese food in Acadiana but just haven't managed to enjoy it lately...come on back. Be good to yourself. You deserve it. Bob & Linda Mashburn add a touch of the culinary style of Acadiana to the traditional Chinese recipes--and the result is too good for me to try to describe. Golden China...delicious food...pleasant atmosphere...a wide choice--in food and prices. Golden China...a delightful place to dine...on Congress two miles west of the Cajun Dome. BROADCAST COPY Bob Hamm 205 Laurence Lafayette, LA 70503 (318) 233-5744
The Restaurants of Acadiana
"Acadiana is a Mecca for gourmets. There is just no food quite like Cajun food."
Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe on the Evangeline Thruway at Carencro has twice been voted the best Cajun restaurant outside of New Orleans. We think its the best Cajun restaurant anywhere. The magic begins with unique recipes, special seasonings and perfect cooking. Add to that a wonderful atmosphere in a beautiful old home built in the 1800s -- and top it off with perfect service by members of Enola Prudhommes Family. The result is a diners delight, unmatched anywhere. Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe is convenient, too: on N.E. Evangeline Thruway (I-49) in Carencro, just seven miles north of I-10 and three miles north of Evangeline Downs. Enola also offers low calorie Cajun meals. Whatever youre hungry for, youll find it at Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe. Its award winning Cajun cooking, served by in a family tradition that is famous world-wide. For the very best Cajun Cooking served anywhere, head for Enola Prudhommes Cajun cafe, and a dining experience youll never forget.
Prudhommes Cafe 60 seconds Diners Delight
Acadiana is a Mecca for gourmets. There is just no food quite like Cajun food. And of all the fine Cajun restaurants around, one stands out above the rest. Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe on I-49 in Carencro is the choice of people who really want the total Cajun experience. Everything is Cajun style from the wonderful Enola Prudhomme recipes to the warm, friendly service by members of her family. The food is Cajun cooking at its best, and the happy, neighborly atmosphere is typical Cajun also. The menu is a full one. Whatever youre hungry for, you can find it at Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe. Theres a delicious daily lunch for only $6.95...and the regular menu, with many of Enolas award-winning dishes, ranges from $9.95 to $17.95. Its the best Cajun food, at truly reasonable prices. Also, Enola pioneered low calorie Cajun cooking, and you can enjoy it every day in her wonderful restaurant. Try it soon. Enola Prudhommes Cajun Cafe on N.E. Evangeline Thruway (I-49) just seven miles north of Lafayette and three miles north of the race track.
Dillards 60 Seconds Calphalon
Nothing in the world is quite is good as home-style Cajun cooking, Whatever Cajun delight youre planning for your family, Dillards has the perfect pot for you from the Calphalon selection. Youll prepare fine meals with this great cookware for many years to come, because Calphalon cookware is designed to last for a lifetime. You can purchase just the pieces you need...with each piece individually priced from $20 to $145. Each piece features Calphalons Professional Nonstick -- the most advanced nonstick surface available in cookware. Each pan goes through a special process that makes it 30 percent harder than stainless steel. The Calphalon line is designed for superior cooking performance, easy cleaning and maintenance, and a lifetime of service. In fact, you get a lifetime warranty. Choose the Calphalon pots and pans you need from the housewares department on the second floor of Dillards Acadiana in Acadiana Mall -- where good cooking begins.
Dillards 60 seconds Housewares
For the perfect Cajun meal, combine your recipes and cooking skill with Dillards fine housewares. The Calphalon selection of pots and pans have the most advanced non-stick surface made, theyre stronger than steel, and theyre designed to last a lifetime. Each piece is individually priced at Dillards from $20 to $145, with a lifetime warranty. While youre at Dillards pick up the other houseware items you need for perfect dining at your home. Youll find things like porcelain soup bowls priced at just $10 each. The unique bowls carry recipes for turtle soup, alligator gumbo, creole gumbo, and crawfish bisque. Get the entire set. Theyre stackable for easy storage. The housewares department on the second floor of Dillards Acadiana is the only place you need to shop for quality kitchen utensils. Be sure to see the Calphalon line of pots and pans and all the other wonderful items at Dillards Acadiana -- the starting place for fine Cajun cooking, located in Acadiana Mall. Lourdes 60 Seconds Mission
With all the advances made during its years of service to the people of Acadiana, the mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical center remains the same. In 1949, the hospital was established by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The quality of Lourdes services and the caring nature of Lourdes people reflect the continued dedication to that sacred mission. While fulfilling that mission, Lourdes continues to improve its abilities to meet the medical needs of Acadiana. A recent growth period at the hospital ushered in an era in health care delivery geared to increased efficiency, and greater convenience for the patient. It will also address another major goal of Lourdes: to continually develop new ways to make health care more economical. Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center offers the most advanced medical skills and technology available, delivered in a way that is more convenient and economical for the patient. Lourdes is a unique hospital, with a sacred mission.
Lourdes 60 Seconds Service
Today, with patients concerned about getting the best quality treatment in as short a time span as possible, Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center focuses on an environment where every component has meaning in the treatment process, and services are centralized and progressive. This means a patient doesnt go to one part of the building to be admitted, then move through a variety of different areas for different kinds of diagnostic work, and go to still another area for surgery or other procedures. Lourdes has streamlined the total hospital experience, and that means quicker access to services, shorter stays for patients, and more cost- effective care. With these and all its other advances, the mission of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical center remains the same. In 1949, the hospital was established by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The quality of Lourdes services and the caring nature of Lourdes people reflect the continued dedication to that sacred mission.
Noel Acadien Au Village
A Cajun Christmas at Acadian Village — Festival of Lights, animated scenes, and the true meaning of Christmas.
NOEL ACADIEN AU VILLAGE (A Cajun Christmas at the Village) November 28-December 13 Acadian Village 303 New Hope Road Lafayette, LA Noel Acadien Au Village, the annual Christmas celebration at Acadiana Village November 28-December 13, is unique in many ways, not the least of which is its colorful setting. Acadian Village is considered to be the architectural repository of the Acadian heritage. With it's charm and authenticity, it offers a special attraction for visitors at any season. At Christmas time, however, the Noel Acadien Au Village celebration transforms the facility into a Yule Tide wonderland. Underlying the presentation of the Christmas entertainment and other attractions is a special cause which is in keeping with the spirit of the season. Proceeds from Noel Acadien Au Village go to support the Lafayette Association for Retarded Citizens in its operation of the Alleman Center. Among the highlights of this year's celebration will be a Festival of Lights, animated Christmas scenes, Christmas music and dance, and the presence of Santa Claus throughout the celebration. Herbert Abdalla, honorary chairman, says the focus of the observance will be on the true meaning of Christmas, and that the many activities will highlight the story of the Holy Birth. One of the featured performances will be a presentation of "The Gift," a Christmas musical by the Opelousas Community Choir under the direction of Mrs. Judith Tidwell. Performed by amateur and professional musicians from Opelousas and the surrounding area, the presentation offers beautiful Christmas music as well as drama, according to Abdalla. Among other performances scheduled are Lisa's School of Dance, the June Montgomery School of Dance, Vocalist Nancy Marcantel, and musicians Bobby Scott and Gordon Wiltz. The elaborate lighting displays," Abdalla said, "will depict Santa in a reindeer-powered buggy, a snowman on a ski slope, angels, toy soldiers, reindeer, Doves of Peace, a moving carousel. and other scenes of the season. People who have visited Natchitoches for the Festival of Lights have seen the beauty that can be created. Our designers will achieve this same artistry." Another major attraction, Abdalla said, is a series of life-sized, animated Christmas scenes, such as the Nativity Scene and Santa's Workshop. "These moving displays represent much of the beauty and color of the wonderful Christmas pageant which was presented for so many years through the concern and generosity of the Junior League of Lafayette", he said. "After deciding that they could no longer sustain both the Christmas observance and the many other community projects which they sponsor, the League made the animated scenes and other features of their celebration available to the Lafayette Association for Retarded Citizens for incorporation into Noel Acadien Au Village. This joining of the exciting features of the two observances promises to be the most appealing Christmas celebration Lafayette has ever known." Abdalla will preside over the opening of Noel Acadien Au Village on November 28, after which the program will run through December 13, from 6-8 p.m. weekdays and 5:30-8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. "It will be a wonderful occasion for the family, at possibly the most unique setting in the country for a celebration of the Christmas Season," Abdalla said. Further information may be obtained by writing Noel Acadien Au Village, 303 New Hope Road, Lafayette, LA 70506, or by calling (318) 984-6110.
CUTLINES WITH NOEL ACADIAN AU VILLAGE STORY
Among the performers scheduled to appear at Acadian Village November 28-December 13 during Noel Acadien Au Village are Lisa's School of Dance Crawfish Strutters. They will perform a ballet dance to "Happy Christmas," tap dances to "Boogie Woogie Christmas" and "Rocking Winter Wonderland," a Christmas jazz dance to "Jingle Bell Rock," and a baton twirling dance to "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree." The group also promises a "Christmas surprise."
The People Who Made Acadiana
Bob's profiles of the characters, politicians, colleagues, and personalities who shaped the region he loved.
"Bud's zest for the joy of life commended laughter for all who knew him."
If you've spent any time on this site, you've already met Bud Fletcher — or at least his alter ego, Cyprienne Robespierre, the happy Cajun fellow from the lovely bayou land who went to Washington to straighten out the nation. Bob wrote the scripts. Bud brought them to life. Between them, they made South Louisiana laugh for a quarter century.
Hewitt Berwyn Fletcher was born in Iota, a small town in Acadia Parish where the rice fields run flat to the horizon and everybody knows your mama's maiden name. As a teenager he lived in Bakersfield, California, where he excelled in athletics. But he came back. They always come back. He settled in Lafayette and spent 26 years working in the oilfield — and discovering that the people of his heritage, the Acadians, were the richest material a humorist could ask for.
It was in the oilfield that Bud found his voice. The rigs and crew boats and company halls of South Louisiana were full of storytellers, and Bud was the best of them. He could walk into a room of roughnecks or a ballroom of oil executives and have them all helpless inside five minutes. He didn't tell jokes about Cajuns — he told jokes as a Cajun, from the inside, with the love and the laughter and the accent all woven together until you couldn't separate them.
Bob saw what Bud could do and started writing for him. The partnership was natural: Bob had the writer's ear for language, the journalist's eye for absurdity, and the Cajun's instinct for a good time. Bud had the voice, the timing, and the fearlessness to stand up in front of any crowd and become Cyprienne Robespierre — the Cajun Everyman who could talk to presidents and governors with the same cheerful confusion he brought to everything north of the Atchafalaya.
Together they recorded ten albums on La Louisianne Records, the Lafayette label owned by Carol Rachou at 2823 Johnston Street. Tall Tales of Cyprienne Robespierre (LL-101), More of Bud Fletcher (LL-102), At the Outhouse (LL-104), Goes to Washington (LL-105), Returns to the Outhouse (LL-106), Politics and Politicians (LL-120), Best of At the Outhouse (LL-131) — each one locally financed, pressed in small runs, and sold through radio stations, dance halls, and word of mouth. In 1968, Bud received a gold album honoring his gift of laughter. The records were a phenomenon in Cajun country — the kind of thing you'd find in every camp on every bayou, played until the grooves wore smooth.
What Bob and Bud created together couldn't have come from anywhere else. No Nashville studio, no New York comedy club, no television network could have produced it. This was comedy that grew out of a specific place — the rice fields and oil rigs and fais-do-dos of South Louisiana — performed by a man who'd lived that life and written by a man who understood it down to the bone. It wasn't regional humor. It was a region's humor. There's a difference, and it matters.
Bud performed for conventions, oil companies, civic groups, and anyone else who needed a room full of people to laugh until they cried. He pursued the work with the same energy he brought to everything — his family, his friends, his beloved Lafayette. His obituary said it plainly: "Bud's zest for the joy of life commended laughter for all who knew him."
H.B. "Bud" Fletcher died on June 5, 1987, at the age of 71, at Lafayette General Hospital. He left behind his wife Mildred, three daughters, a son, ten grandchildren, and every Cyprienne Robespierre story ever pressed into vinyl. He is survived in the laughter of everyone who ever heard a Cajun try to explain the Bill of "Rats" to Barry Coldwater, or ask the President of the United States about the ear on his face, or calculate exactly how much the government should pay him for not raising four thousand hogs.
The Pope of Butte La Rose
A trapper named Paul Doremus Pope put up a sign. Word spread: "Come see, cher. Paul, de Pope, living in Butte La Rose, him."
There was no pomp. No ceremony. No College of Cardinals. The people of St. Martin Parish simply looked at the sign and said, "Well, I'll be damned. We got ourselves a Pope."
Paul Doremus Pope was a trapper and fisherman who lived in a camp on the Atchafalaya River at Butte La Rose. When the state built a new highway through the area, they put up road signs for everything — Breaux Bridge, Henderson, Cecilia. But Paul thought his little settlement deserved recognition too, so he painted his own sign and nailed it to a cypress tree where the shell road met the blacktop.
"Butte La Rose," it read. "Paul Pope, Mayor."
That might have been the end of it, except for Paul's last name. Word got around. "You heard about Paul Pope, him?" "Non, what about?" "Him, he's de Pope of Butte La Rose now." "De Pope?" "Mais yeah, him got a sign and everything."
Within a month, people were driving from all over Acadiana to see the Pope. Paul didn't mind the attention. He started wearing a white cap, blessing fishing boats, and holding court on his front porch. Tour buses began making regular stops. The joke grew into something bigger than a joke.
Paul played his role with dignity and humor. He married couples, settled disputes, and gave his papal blessing to anyone who asked for it. He charged no fees and claimed no special powers, but he brought a kind of joy to the whole business that made everybody feel a little holier for the experience.
The official Vatican never recognized the Pope of Butte La Rose, but the people of South Louisiana did. They brought him their problems, their celebrations, and their grandchildren. They came for the laughs and stayed for something harder to name — the satisfaction of meeting a man who had appointed himself to make other people happy and then went ahead and did it.
Paul Pope died in 1974, still wearing his white cap. They buried him in the Butte La Rose cemetery with full papal honors — which is to say, with love, laughter, and enough beer to float a pirogue. His sign stayed on the tree until a hurricane finally took it down. But by then, everybody already knew where to find him.
The Politicians
J. Rayburn Bertrand: Mayor of Lafayette
"Perhaps his greatest monument is the simple contract he engineered between the city and its future — a one percent sales tax to fund the expansion of the city's infrastructure."
J. Rayburn Bertrand served as mayor of Lafayette for 12 years (1960-72), leaving behind him much tangible evidence of his superb leadership and unyielding dedication. But perhaps his greatest monument is the simple contract he engineered between the city and its future, which--30 years ago--opened the way to progress and growth, and will benefit generations of Lafayette residents yet to come. It is in simple form: a one percent sales tax to fund the expansion of the city's infrastructure as popula tion growth creates new demands. Because of this simple measure, which Ray and his administration took to the voters shortly after he was elected to his first term, Lafayette will not be caught in the dilemma it faced immediately prior 1960.
When Ray took office, the city was dangerously swollen at the seams. Due largely to the influx of petroleum industry offices to the Heymann Oil Center, the once sleepy little bayou town had begun to grow at a remarkable pace. A population explo sion was underway...and Lafayette was not equipped to meet the heavy new demands for municipal services.
Ray and his fellow officials, Trustee of Finance Dan Bou dreaux and Trustee of Public Property Curtis Rodemacher, had a plan before the public almost before the ink was dry on their official commissions. Voters were asked to consider proposals constituting the administration's "Big Step Program," which asked approval of the one percent sales tax, a million dollar ad valo o13 rem bond issue, and a $10-per-front-foot assessment on proper ties along major arteries, for improvements to those arteries. Along with the bond and tax measures went a $500 homestead exemp tion.
The key feature of the proposal was a safeguard against siphoning off the sales tax revenue in future years for other uses, thus putting the city at risk of another period of growth without a funding mechanism to cope with it. Ray had the fore sight to ask the voters to approve dedication of 90 percent of the revenues to capital improvements. It is not subject to political whims. "Long after I'm gone," he says, "Lafayette will be financially geared for growth--because the sales tax revenues will be there, increasing as the population increases, and providing the funding to keep pace with progress."
Thus the Ray Bertrand Years began with a plea to people to dig into their pockets and dig the city out of its dilemma. The vote of approval for "The Big Step Program" was one of the strongest votes of confidence ever given a political leader on a tax issue. The sales tax passed by a vote of 3-2 and the bond issue by 3-1, with one of the largest voter turnouts ever. The Big Step carried every precinct but one.
With the program in place and generating revenue, Lafayette began to take giant steps. In low income neighborhoods, resi dents had choked for generations on the dust from shell and o13 gravel (mostly shell) streets, their only respite the temporary one provided by the old watering trucks--an expensive and inef fective effort on the city's part.
The very early Bertrand Years saw the resurfacing--not patching--of 60 miles of streets, and families along those thor oughfares began to breathe normally again on hot, dusty days.
The next problem was at the opposite end of the spectrum; when the rain was heavy enough to settle the dust, chances were very good that it would be heavy enough to cause flooding at numerous points in the city. The problem was bad before the population growth that began in the fifties. As today, drainage was through coulees, in which bushes and trees grew, and erosion created mounds that impeded the flow. With the population growth, large open areas that had accepted rainfall into the ground were quickly covered with concrete. With ground absorp tion blocked by cement, the water needed to flow...and the coulee flow was sluggish at best.
A heavy rain could virtually shut down the city. The Jef ferson Street Underpass would flood. Areas north of the railroad tracks in the area through which the Evangeline Thruway now runs were inundated. The police headquarters in the basement of the old city hall had watermarks nearly to the ceiling after a flood. There were few areas of the city safe from a really heavy down pour.
The Bertrand Years saw the reworking of the drainage system. o13 Where plant growth and silt had slowed the flow until the water often sought a new route (over the banks), the city cleared and concreted the coulees.
The growth spurt had threatened the safety of the city from fire, also. There was not enough manpower or equipment. The improvements to the fire department in the Bertrand Years were so effective that the rating bureau moved the city from a Class 9 to a Class 2. Everyone was safer, and paying much less in fire insurance premiums.
The same inadequacies--manpower and equipment--lessened the ability of the police department to protect the city. The admin istration launched a series of improvements which culminated in a well-staffed, well trained, well-equipped force operating from a modern police and city court facility.
The recreation and parks system was drastically affected by the population growth. There were far too many citizens for the facilities. The Bertrand Administration increased the acreage for parks and recreation use 10-fold.
There were other major improvements, too numerous to men tion. In short, Ray Bertrand became mayor at a time when the city had completely outgrown its infrastructure. With bold, practical moves, he brought us abreast of the growth and gave us the munic ipal services and facilities needed by a city on the move. Just as importantly--perhaps more so--his foresight in dedicating the o13 one percent sales tax to meeting capital needs has insulated us from a return to those traumatic days when the needs of the people exceeded the capabilities of the municipality.
The vast improvements to municipal facilities and service during the Bertrand Years were obvious. We saw the crews at work and the projects taking shape. But another major contribution by Mayor J. Rayburn Bertrand was done so quietly that few people know the story. It was during his administration that racially segregated public facilities were abolished in Louisiana, with turmoil and bloodshed in certain areas of the state. In Lafay ette, however, the new day dawned without incident, largely through the never-publicized diplomacy of the mayor.
"The change was here," Bertrand said. "The time for inte gration had come, and our priority was seeing that it did not bring with it situations which would cause harm to our citizens--black or white." Without fanfare, Bertrand launched a campaign to make the social transition a peaceful one. He met with owners of restaurants and other commercial establishments who would be affected first by the demise of segregation and argued logically and persuasively for acceptance and tolerance.
Working with the outstanding citizens of the Biracial Coun cil, he arranged things like the quiet integration of the munici pal golf course. "We didn't want a demonstration-type incident," he says. "Through the council, we picked a black foursome and asked them to be the first ever to tee off at Muny. We told them o13 there might be harassment, but that they were doing something good for black people and white people in breaking the barrier as quietly as possible. They played 18 holes without incident, and a new era began in Lafayette."
The symbolic sit-ins at local lunch counters also were without incident. "We had no intention of telling them they couldn't sit at the lunch counters, and we had no intention of telling the owners whether or not they had to serve the sit-in group. Our intention was to keep anyone from getting hurt, and we were prepared for that. But there was no trouble."
Bertrand downplays his vital role in the peaceful integra tion. "Basically, it was the nature of our people," he says. "Even those who didn't want to accept integration never made the slightest move toward violent resistance. The people who operat ed businesses--and had understandable concerns about the effect on their livelihoods--were wonderfully cooperative. Lafayette has truly good people."
Ray Bertrand springs from a line of doers and shakers. His grandfather wore many hats: grocer, bar owner, postmaster and railroad agent. He was also a peacemaker, and died of a gunshot wound received when he attempted to break up a fight between two customers. His son, J.C., (Ray's father) was nine-years-old at the time. He finished the ninth grade, then went to work full time. Despite his limited education, he progressed rapidly in o13 the utility field, and in 1926, organized his own electric compa ny in Lockport, Louisiana, eventually providing power for an area from Thibodeaux to Golden Meadow. When he sold his company to what was to become Louisiana Power and Light, the Bertrand family moved to Lafayette--to a farm on what is now Bertrand Drive. There, the Bertrands raised cattle, cotton and corn, and J.C. Bertrand pursued his great love, buying and selling real estate--a love which he passed on to Ray, the youngest of his five children.
The Bertrand property was way out in the country then. Ray remembers riding his horse to the old Lafayette High on Universi ty, through mostly open countryside. He graduated from that institution, then attended LSU and USL. Shortly after receiving his degree in accounting and economics from USL in 1941, he was called to military service. America was at war.
Since the time of Lindbergh's fabled flight, Ray had dreamed of being a military pilot. He was a good one. At the stick of the P-47 Thunderbolt, he flew 88 combat missions in the European Theater in World War II, bringing home two Distinguished Flying Crosses and seven Air Medals.
After the war, Ray approached his business career and civic responsibilities with vigor. Following in his father's footsteps, he entered the real estate field--which eventually lead him to seek the office of mayor. It was as a realtor--studying various properties--that he saw more than most people what the pressing o13 needs of the city were. Serving on the Planning and Zoning Com mission, he participated in a comprehensive study of municipal problems and needs. From these experiences, he developed the basis of a program he believed would provide for Lafayette's growth and progress.
The voters liked his program. He was elected mayor in 1960 and re-elected in '64 and '68. "I never intended to be a career politician," he says. "After 12 years, I felt like my goals had been accomplished and it was time to return to the private sec tor."
From the end of his third term until his retirement, Ray served as executive vice president and member of the board of directors of Guaranty Bank and Trust Company.
In and out of the mayor's office, Ray Bertrand has been unceasingly involved in making Lafayette a better city in which to live. His interests in the ecology were evident long before environmental issues became a national obsession. In 1965, he won the "Project Earth" award from the Louisiana Architects Association for programs to improve the environment.
He has served as president of the United Givers Fund, the USL Foundation, the Lafayette Board of Realtors and the Louisiana Municipal Association. Other organizations to which he has given his time and energy include the Louisiana State Bank Affairs Commission, the Louisiana State Bankers Association Legislative o1o- Committee, the Lafayette Airport Commission, the Lafayette Plan ning Commission, the Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association, the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition, the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the Lafayette Junior League Advisory Board and the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.
He is a recipient of the coveted YMBC Civic Cup Award, possibly the highest tribute paid in Lafayette for community service.
In retirement, Ray enjoys golfing, snow skiing, hunting, boating, and-of course--flying.
In 1960, the City of Lafayette was floundering under the weight of its own population explosion and desperately in need of true excellence in leadership. Ray offered that leadership, the people accepted and trusted him, and he guided us to a new era. The Bertrand Years were twelve in number, an impressive political term, but a relatively short span of time in the annals of Lafay ette history. In those years, Ray Bertrand left a mark on this city that the years will not erase.
Kathleen Blanco
"In the offices she has held thus far, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has served us with incredible ability, but has never lost that innate dignity."
The Colleagues
Bob Angers: Newspaper Man
"The editor of a country newspaper walks among his readers daily and answers to them face to face."
--ONE OF A SPECIAL BREED
Newspapering in a small town is tough duty. The editor of a country newspaper walks among his readers daily and answers to them face to face for the content and viewpoint of his publication. Unlike Rather, Brokaw and Jennings, when he sits in the living room of those he serves, he is flesh and blood, not an electronically-produced image which can be seen and heard, but never touched. His reader can put the newspaper down, walk over to the newsroom, and respond personally to what he has read.
Acadiana had its golden era in small town journalism, guided by a unique breed of editors and/or publishers, who also gathered news, wrote editorials, shot photos, sold ads, did the layout, and were usually perfectly competent to sit down at the linotype and turn hot lead into letters and words and sentences...and compelling thoughts.
The most unique quality, however, of such people as Matt Vernon of the Eunice news, Red Mitchell of the Crowley Signal, John Thistlethwaite of the Opelousas Daily world, Red Wolcott of the Daily Iberian and Blackie Bienvenu of the Abbeville Meridional, was their ability to provide through their newspapers a focus for community spirit and pride, and a forum in which community viewpoints could be tested, opinions molded and courses charted.
Most of the bylines of that remarkable group of newspaper people have disappeared from print, but as it was in the 1940's, the phrase, "By Bob Angers," is still a staple of Acadiana journalism.
However, Angers has given more to this area than journalistic ability and integrity. He has been a relentless champion of patriotism and conservative ideals. Along with a mile-long list of professional awards for excellence in the newspaper field, he holds the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge and the American Security Council Americanism Award.
A native and lifelong resident of Southwest Louisiana, Angers recieved his journalism degree from LSU. His initial battle for Americanism was not in the newsroom, but in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where he was a decorated soldier, rising to the rank of major.
His journalism career has been amazingly active, but with it he has blended a separate career developed around his conviction that Acadiana possesses the necessary resources to become a force in international trade. While winning over 150 awards for journalistic excellence as city editor of the Lafayette Progress, Managing Editor of the Daily Iberian and owner-publisher of the Franklin Banner-Tribune, the Jeanerette Weekly Journal, the Southwest Capitalist and Acadiana Profile Magazine, Angers has provided leadership for some of Acadiana's most notable industrial development endeavors.
He was charter president of The International Relations Association of Acadiana (TIRAA), charter secretary of the Louisiana Intracoastal Seaway Association, and driving force behind the establishment of a French-Spanish Trade Mart in Lafayette. He helped organize the International Good Neighbor Council in Louisiana, and chaired its first convention.
When he was presented the TIRRA Outstanding Citizen of Acadiana Award in 1979, his colleagues said of him, "He has spread more international goodwill and understanding between Acadiana and the Spanish-and-French-speaking countries of the world than any government agency has ever done; because of his efforts, these countries have a closer tie with Acadiana."
The late Matt Vernon, also a legend in Acadiana journalism, said when Angers was presented the Louisiana Press Association's highest award, "Bob has been involved in more projects, programs, ideas, promotions and publications than anyone since Thomas Jefferson."
During his career, newspapers have gone from hot lead and hand type to high speed presses and high tech composition. The old manual typewriter has given way to the computer keyboard and terminal. But the Bob Angers byline is still there, a symbol of unabashed patriotism and dedication to the capitalistic system, presented with the grace and style of a master journalist.
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Larry Lunsford: From TV Screen to Canvas
Bob's KATC colleague — broadcaster, journalist, and painter.
Larry Lunsford's adult life has been spent in capturing in small pieces, and preserving in various media, the poignancy, humor, drama and beauty of life. He is best known as a broadcaster--a television and radio journalist. But to his colleagues in the world of broadcasting, he is recognized as more than a reporter.
He possesses the ability to conceive and produce news stories and features of extraordinary dimensions--exciting creations blending photographic excellence, music, natural sound and thoughtful, professional narration. His television features are like beautiful paintings in which the subject matter is often secondary to the skill with which it is portrayed.
His best features, those which have won awards and been shown on national networks, have been totally his own. He conceived them, shot and edited the film, blended the sound, wrote them and narrated them. In recent years, this ability to package the beauty and drama of life for the enjoyment of others has been carried over to the world of brush and palette. It is a rekindled talent which was almost lost.
A gnawing interest in the fine arts caused Larry to purchase paints and brushes in the summer of his eighteenth year, and to follow that by enrolling in USL as an art student. But by his own harsh judgment, he did not have the talent to produce what his soul demanded. So he left school with the belief that he had left his desire to paint behind, and joined the air force. Military experience in photography and broadcasting led him into electronic journalism, and the television screen became his canvas.
Many years later, after successfully pursuing a journalism career in Lafayette and New Orleans, he returned to USL to complete a degree in mass communications, and decided to enroll in a few art courses, "to round out his electives."
Two instructors had a profound effect on him. Fred Daspit, art historian, rekindled his appreciation for the work of history's masters, and Elmore Morgan proved to him that he could put pencil to paper and create the image he sought. "I surprised myself," Lunsford says. "Fred Daspit had given me back the desire, and Elmore Morgan gave me confidence."
A student of unusual ability was enrolled in the same courses, but in different sections, so Larry did not meet James L. Kendrick, III of New Orleans while they were at the university. However, Kendrick's talent was legendary even as a student--"awesome," Larry calls it--and they did meet a few years later, when Kendrick was the subject of a television feature story produced by Larry. The artist who had so impressed the journalist was greatly impressed in turn by the skill with which the feature was produced. Kendrick and Lunsford became close friends, and the former has greatly influenced the latter.
These three, Daspit, Morgan and Kendrick, are basically responsible for Larry Lunsford the newsman becoming an artist of growing renown. He follows the representational style of Kendrick, seeking realistic portrayals which seem to exist beyond the canvas. "I try to create a scene into which the viewer can enter, or at least feel that it is continuing outside the frame. I want the viewer to speculate on what is happening beyond the lake or around the bend...or over the hill.
"I suppose I would be classified as a romantic. Working in the medium of electronic journalism, I always tried to produce pieces that were "pretty"...that were--besides their journalistic content--aesthetically appealing. I wanted them to be pleasing to the eye while they conveyed a story line."
In the begining, Larry painted romantic European scenes, but later began to realize the beauty and romance of the Acadian Country. "I had lived here most of my life without really seeing the romance and beauty in the old homes, the barns, the great oak trees, the sleepy bayous. I see it now, and I see as much romance as you would find in the Bavarian Alps or medieval English castles. I realize now that I live in a painter's paradise, right here in Acadiana."
Larry Lunsford is an artist whose career should have begun sooner. Because his time at the easel has been relatively brief, he is still a little in awe of what can be done with color, light, shadow, values and angles, and of the illusion of three dimensions arising from a flat piece of canvas. Most refreshingly, he is still quietly amazed that his own hand can capture those scenes which capture his romantic spirit.
--Bob Hamm
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Mike Lacy: The Albania Rescue
Lafayette's own Mike Lacy rescued 300+ forgotten foreign nationals from Albania. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson paid tribute.
John Michael (Mike) Lacy of Lafayette, Houston, and various parts of the world where energy is sought, was honored recently for his role in the rescue of forgotten foreign nationals in Albania. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, paid tribute to Lacy for his “ingenuity and persistence” in bringing the plight of more than 300 refugees to the attention of the U.S. State Department and military officials.
The world in general was unaware that the Americans and other foreign nationals were trapped on a beach at Durres, with gunfire from rampaging young Albanians shattering the night around them. Lacy, the senator said, managed to get a cellular phone working and kept hammering at official Washington with requests for aid until the urgency of the situation finally registered.
“Officially,” Lacy says, “we weren’t there. The Pentagon wasn’t convinced I was calling from Durres. Even the U.S. embassy in Albania thought all Americans had been evacuated. We were forgotten -- sitting ducks for the Albanian rioters, who got more insane as the night went on.”
Lacy, a hydrogen sulfide gas specialist with Secorp of Lafayette, was working on a drilling rig in Peza, Albania when the country began its plunge into anarchy following the collapse of a national pyramid scheme. “We knew early on that things were heating up,” he says, “but when you work the global oil patch, you sort of get used to turmoil. I had to leave Yemen in a hurry once when civil war broke out, and get out of Liberia in the middle of a military coup. Always before, though, there was some measure of protection, and U.S. officials knew where we were. This time, we were simply overlooked.”
Evacuation of American nationals from Albania was ordered March 12 as the country fell into total chaos. “The area I was in was still peaceful,” Lacy says, “and getting out looked easy. I was supposed to travel to Tirana, spend a restful night in a hotel there, then take a plane out of the country. It didn’t turn out that way.”
That night, the chaotic situation accelerated. Gun-toting young Albanians swarmed through the streets of Tirana, shooting wildly and looting with impunity. Lacy and the Croatian oil field crew that had accompanied him from Peza awoke to find themselves surrounded by unchecked lawlessness and violence. “I was feeling good when I got through the mobs and hit open country on the way to the airport. I was on the road without a radio and missed the announcement that the airport had closed because rebel forces were advancing on it. There was nothing to do when I got there but turn around and head back to Tirana.”
There, hopes were raised again. Foreign nationals were told to go to a beach at nearby Durres, where they would be picked up by an Italian ferry and taken safely across the Adriatic to Italy. When they got there, Lacy and the Croatians oil workers who had been at Peza with him found that the ferry had come and gone, picking up only Italian refugees. American officials didn’t get the message. Washington was under the impression that American nationals had been taken out as well. The misconception was strengthened by erroneous news reports of a successful evacuation.
“The Croatians decided to hole up in a Durres hotel, but I felt that if we didn’t get to the beach right away, the crazies in the streets might cut us off from it when a boat arrived to take us out. I finally convinced them, and after they decided to follow my lead I realized that they expected me to provide leadership from then on. There was no time to explain that it would be the blind leading the blind, so I didn’t argue with them.”
Lacy and his band of Croatians made it safely to the beach, where they found more than 300 foreign nationals who had not made it aboard the Italian ferry. “We were completely vulnerable,” he says. “There was the sea in front of us, walls on two sides, and a chain link fence behind us. Beyond that were the roving thieves and the crazy people firing AK-47s they had looted from military arsenals.”
The refugees on the beach were a mixed group: American, British, Croatian, French, Italian and other nationalities. Most of them had only the clothing they wore. They had been robbed of other possessions. “We got through with our stuff,” Lacy says. “Some of the Albanians menaced us a few times on the way in, but then they looked at the Croatians and backed off. Most of the Croations were big as bears and tough as boot leather. The looters apparently didn’t want to tangle with them. I think they showed good judgment.”
There was another group on the beach, Lacy says, that “would cause the looters to stop and think” before tangling with them. They were American missionaries from HeliMission, part of a Southern Baptist mission to Albania called Albania Evangelical Rural Outreach (AERO). “I decided these were God’s tough guys,” Lacy says. “They were accustomed to ministering to people in the midst of famine, disease and civil disorder. They were calm and almost cheerful while they went around comforting and caring for other people. You sensed that they would face whatever happened with that same kind of serenity.”
There were more than 100 British nationals on the beach, but they were separated from the rest. A lone commando sent in to protect them was, at first, adamantly following orders that he was to be responsible for the British and no one else. He kept his charges huddled together, rejecting contact with other refugees.
That changed as night began to fall and there was no sign of a rescue effort, Lacy says. “For one thing, the Croatians were professional refugees. They had been in situations like this before and were prepared. They came with bundles of bread, salami and cheese, and a pretty good supply of vodka and beer. What really broke the ice with the British, though, was that the violence was getting closer, and the Albanians were beginning to look at the women in a disturbing way. Finally, the British officer asked me if I could bring some of ‘my’ Croatians over to stand with him.”
“After that, we were all united. We circled all the available vehicles, like a wagon train in the old west. The Croatians sort of stood guard at the edges of the circle, and the HeliMissionaries were at the center. We did what we could for each other, particularly for the old people and the children. When the anxiety would build to the point that you could feel it in the air, the missionaries would pray, and it would calm us all down again.”
As the night deepened the violence around them increased. “I began to suspect that nobody knew we were there and no one was coming to take us out. Somehow we had to make contact with U.S. officials before the violence got down the beach to us.”
The only communications devices available were a few cellular phones the Croatians had brought in. The other refugees had surrendered theirs to the Albanian looters. Lacy found that the batteries were dead in all of them, and none was equipped to run off an automobile cigarette lighter.
“When my brother Kenny and I lost communications in a storm once while we were sailing a boat from the Bahamas to Virginia Beach, we managed to hook up a cellular phone to a 12-volt battery. There in that Croatian oil field crew we had guys who were good with equipment, even an electrician. We dug up some electrical wire, reworked the phone, connected it to a truck battery, and I guess one of the happiest moments of my life was when I punched a button and it beeped. We had a working telephone.”
The elation was short-lived. Lacy had no phone numbers to call for help. “I didn’t know if it would work, but I tried calling my wife, Colleen, in Houston. She got me a number for Sen. Hutchinson’s local office and they gave me her direct line to Washington. She could hear the gunfire over the phone, and when I told her what our situation was and that there were women and children in the group, she really got her staff to moving. First they contacted the U.S. embassy in Albania and confirmed what I had guesssed: embassy officials thought all Americans had been evacuated.
“Next, the senator’s office put me through to the Pentagon. I think the people there were skeptical. They kept putting me on hold, and every time they did that, I lost contact. Finally, I called Sen. Hutchinson’s staff and told them what was happening. They got on another line and I could hear them talking to the Pentagon. No soldier ever got dressed down like they dressed down those Pentagon officials. When they got through raising hell, I was put straight through to a high-ranking officer in charge of Albanian affairs.”
Meanwhile, Colleen had contacted Lacy’s mother, Leora Hamm, in New Roads, La. She was able to reach the division of the U.S. State Department with responsiblity for Albanian affairs and advise them of the situation. The phone line from New Roads to Washington was active most of the night.
“After I talked to the Pentagon,” Lacy says, “Sen. Hutchinson’s people urged me to get on CNN. They felt that, since the news broadcasts were heard worldwide, rescuers from some nearby country might hear me and send a ship for us. CNN put me on but they wanted to talk about what I had seen in Peza, Tirana and Durres, not what was happening on the beach. I finally shouted that people’s lives were in danger and women and children were at risk, but they told me that part didn’t get on the air. They asked me to call back in an hour. I didn’t. I wasn’t trying to be a reporter, I was begging for help.”
All through the night, Lacy stayed on the phone, one call leading to another. “I was contacting anybody and everybody who might be able to get a rescue mission started,” he said. “If I could have got the president’s phone number, I would have called him.”
A reporter for a German publication who stayed close to Lacy, scribbling notes, commented that “I’ve got a Pulitzer Prize story going here.”
As the sun finally rose over the Adriatic, it illuminated a boat making its way to the dock. The Italian ferry had come back. As it reached shore, Lacy and the Croatians formed up as a rear guard while the missionaries herded the refugees onboard. Finally, with everyone else safe, Lacy climbed on the ferry.
At Brandisi, Italy, he dodged American military officers. They were somewhat angrily searching for “the guy with the cellular phone” who had brought the wrath of their superiors down on them for failing to make sure all Americans had been evacuated.
Lacy arrived in Houston exhausted and planning a long sleep, but that didn’t happen until a round of interviews had been completed with print and broadcast reporters who had learned of the long night on the Albanian beach.
“Now that it’s all over,” he says, “the thing that stands out in my memory is the courage and compassion I witnessed that night. I know what writers mean when they talk about the ‘triumph of the human spirit’.
Last week, Lacy got a call from Croatia. The oil field crew had voted unanimously to urge him to come back and work with them again. “You were in all the newspapers here,” the caller said. “You’re very big in Croatia.”
The Doctors & Professionals
Dr. Saloom and Dr. Ramagosa
"Lafayette lost two of its treasures this week — two doctors, two caring and compassionate human beings."
Lafayette lost two of its treasures this week – two doctors – two caring and compassionate human beings. Dr. Richard Saloom and Dr. Jerome Ramagosa departed from us. It is a great loss to the community and a loss that I feel very personally. I admired and respected them. They were good friends.
I did not know Dr. Ramagosa as a patient, but I was an admirer and sometimes reporter on his heartwarming work with Hospice of Acadiana. I had the rich experience of going with him to homes where he brought comfort, reassurance, peace and acceptance to the terminally ill and their families. His gentle nature and immense skill eased physical and emotional pain and gave dignity to the last days and moments of those who sought Hospice’s guidance and help as they prepared for that great journey that all of us must make. He was a man of exceptional brilliance, and he was also a man of deep and abiding compassion. Lafayette is a better place because of the time he spent among us.
Richard Saloom was my doctor, and he was my friend. I spent a lot of time with Richard in his office at the old St. Ann Medical Center on Jefferson St., that he and his brother Clarence established next to their mother’s home. Just visiting Richard was therapeutic. His positive, open outlook on life, wide-ranging interests, immense knowledge of local history and deep community concern lifted my spirits before we even talked about my aches and pains. Richard treated the ills of people from all walks of life…from the very wealthy to the desperately poor…to kids in the detention home who had gone astray. Whoever the patient…from whatever economic or social strata…Richard was impeccably professional and unfailingly kind. Richard was the good family doctor… the general practitioner in an age of specialists. He stayed abreast of every modern development in medicine, but his nature reached back to the past. His family values, community values, religious values and human values were old fashioned, honest and very, very deep.
I am grateful that I had the opportunity to know and enjoy the friendship of these two outstanding men, and I feel a sense of regret that generations from this point on will miss that special opportunity. Dr. Saloom and Dr. Ramagosa brought honor to the healing profession. They brought character, integrity and compassion to everything they did.
To the Ramagosa Family and the Saloom Family, I want to offer a small passage from “The Land in Between,” a never-published book by the late Dr. Ben Kaplan. It describes the passing of Ben’s father, and it was comforting to me when my own father passed away.
Dr. Kaplan wrote: “Suddenly he felt something touch him as though a feather had fallen from above and tipped the scale of his earthly existence. He fell into a deep and final sleep, magnificently certain of everything, for in that instant the Lord blessed him and kept him and made his face to shine upon him and gave him peace. And a human spirit, burdened so long by everyman’s earthly struggle for truth and for awareness and by the search for answers about one’s worth, one’s destiny, one’s God, and by the demands for some sort of harmony between the past and the future -- that spirit now set free, left behind its earthly restraints and went soaring off across the rooftops of the of the world.”
The Astounding Doctor Sas
"I engaged Dr. Alexander Sas Jaworsky in debate. I was schooled in forensic technique...and I was given the intellectual drubbing of my life."
I am deeply, deeply honored that this family that I love so much has asked me to pay this final tribute to this great man. Alexander Sas Jaworski was a great man...and it was a great blessing to me that I knew him for nearly thirty years. The times that I have spent in his home are among my brightest memories. I have chosen not to talk about the wonderful times in that warm and loving home...because I don't think I could share those private memories without tears...and I don't think Sas would want that.
There is little I can tell you about his public life that you don't already know. But I think he would want me to recount a few of his long list of honors...because each honor was a symbol of his dedication to freedom and justice and God and country. Sas belonged to us...but he was an honorary citizen of over 60 cities. The plaques, awards and citations presented to him would cover the walls of this great church. Immigrant of th decade...ukrainian professional society man of the year...lion's international lion of the year...the golden medal of americanism of the daughters of the american revolution...the medallion of the freedom foundation at valley forge...and, of course, a nomination for the nobel peace prize.
These great honors came from his powerful oratory and his dynamic writing as he attempted through the strength of his own conviction and his immense love to in some way guide this nation away from the pitfalls that he recognized so clearly from the experiences of his own remarkable life. To the multitudes whose lives he touched there is a probably a lasting picture of Sas booming forth his beliefs in his proud, aggressive style...a man of immense vigor...whose great voice could shake the room as he urged, pleaded, cajoled, pushed, bullied...used whatever tactic he could to implant in others the love he had for this nation...and the fears he had for the complacency of her people and their seeming unwillingness to walk the hard road of their forebears who gave them the greatest nation on earth. This was Sas as the world knew him...and as I knew him for many years.
But let me tell you of the other side of this great man. I saw it only once...on one quiet night when we sat alone in the privacy of his room and he let me walk with him through his darkest memories. That great, booming voice was subdued, quiet, intense as he let me look--through his eyes--at the brutal conquest of his beloved homeland. He allowed me to see him as a frightened youth...listening to the pounding on the door...watching the quick stepping soldiers march through his family home and drag his father away. He let me walk with him through the prisons the communist troops left behind as they fled before the approaching nazi army...and I saw through the eyes of his tortured memory a murdered and disfigured priest...a woman mutilated and her unborn child ripped from her...I saw the sealed rooms where his countrymen suffocated...and the mass graves where his friends were tossed like rubbish.
On that long night, I listened to a voice I had not heard before. Not the proud, ringing voice that could echo through the greatest hall...but a small, sad voice...filled with pain sorrow...a voice that faltered and broke...as Alexander Sas jaworsky's heart wept for his people. That night, Sas not only let me see through the eyes of his memory, but he also let me touch his soul...and know the depths of his sorrow for the land from which he had fled...and the pain he felt when he could not reach the people of this land he had come to love with his warning that it could happen here, too.
Perhaps he was only a voice crying in the wilderness. I don't think so. I believe that his unyielding, relentless dedication to his mission was not in vain. I think his cry for vigilance and concern...for realization of our blessings as a nation and dedication to their protection...was heard by many. And I believe his words influenced leaders of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
But more than this...I believe that Alexander Sas jaworsky kept faith with the oprressed, brutalized, downtrodden people of the land he loved. I believe that through him, they were given a voice...and they spoke to us. And if we listened to Alexander Sas jaworsky, we heard them.
You couldn't hear the pain and sorrow in his voice when he spoke in large gatherings. I heard it only that night...and perhaps to a lesser degree when he would lift his voice, clear and beautiful as a mountain stream, in the songs of his native ukraine.
But because I heard it...I understood his mission. I knew for whom he spoke. For those long dead at the hands of oppressors...for those yet unborn...that they might never know the brutality of the opressor's hand.
This was his mission...and he pursued it with his brilliant mind, his great heart, and his courageous soul.
He kept the faith. Whatever the obstacles placed before him...he kept the faith.
In this, I believe, Sas achieved greatness. He pursued his mission. He kept the faith.
His words often pounded against a world grown to sophisticated...to hip...for old fashioned patriotism. But he spoke on. And of the thousands who heard or read his words, many were touched...and through them, his ideals and principles will be passed on to generations to come.
The words of Alexander Sas jaworsky helped provide the fuel for the torch of freedom. Without his brand of courage and perseverance--without such willingness to speak out for the old ideals and the old truths--that torch, devoid of nourishment in a world grown callous and materialistic--could flicker and die.
We are grateful to you Sas. Your life had meaning and purpose. It was a reminder to all of us that freedom is a precious gift...and for this we thank you.
There are many accounts of people who, for an instant, have crossed that thin line between the land of the living and the land of the dead...and for reasons we do not understand, have been called back. Virtually everyone of them has told of walking through a tunnel toward a warm, brilliant light, and experiencing an overpowering joy as they came closer to that light. I can envision Sas walking toward that light...free now of the earthly body which age and illness had made weak and frail. Striding with his old, strong,optimistic gait toward that light....toward the warmth and brilliance of God's smile and the waiting arms of his beloved martha. And his voice is strong again. His eyes are bright again...and his soul, now free, can go winging off in search of another great adventure.
And I believe there are thousands of souls there who will speak to him in his native language... Speak to him with love, as they welcome this man who has spoken for them so courageously.
You kept the faith Sas...with God and country and family.
You fought the good fight...for freedom and liberty and justice.
You kept the faith.
You earned our love.
You earned your rest.
Win Hawkins: A Farewell to an Old Friend
"Like a lot of the old wildcatters, Win was suis generis, one of a kind."
Lafayette lost a most remarkable man this week. The amazing, inimitable Win Hawkins finally took his rest after well over 90 years of making this old earth a little brighter for everyone who knew him. Like a lot of the old wildcatters, Win was suis generis, one of a kind. I don't have any hopes of meeting anyone remotely like him in the remainder of my lifetime. I've been to the marshes and hunted with Win at the camp that was a legend when Lafayette was a sleepy little bayou town. And, after you hunted with Win, any other hunting trip was just plain vanilla in comparison. The world will little note nor long remember that I hunted with Win. But of considerable note is the fact that people like Admiral Bull Halsey hunted with win...and a secretary of the navy spent time there in the marshes with Win...a man named Franklin vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
