Six

RECREATION

Le Tournoi, a medieval jousting contest, was introduced to the Evangeline Parish area by early settlers including Marcellin Garand, many of whom had come directly from France. It was popular throughout the 19th century. Shown here is the contest held on April 4, 1887, at the intersection of Reed and Main Streets in Ville Platte. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Ville Platte’s baseball park has hosted many a youth baseball game in its day. The facilities include a baseball diamond, dugouts for the teams, a concession stand, stadium seating for the fans, and a press box. The facility is about to be replaced by a modern park with multiple fields. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Ville Platte teams have had their share of success playing youth baseball. Many of the boys shown here played on the team for nine- and ten-year-olds that won the state championship in 1977, a few years before this photograph was taken. The sign behind them celebrates that feat. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Ville Platte High School Bulldogs of 1931 are, from left to right, (first row) Linton “Bosco” Phillips, Roy Lafleur, Major Lafleur, Lake Lafleur, “T Ed” Fontenot, Eraste Vidrine, and Dallas Deville; (second row) Wallace “Doo” Soileau, Rodney “T Rod” Duos, Curley “Beasley” Ortego, and Isom Foret. Football was a much rougher game back then. Pads were minimal, helmets were optional, and faceguards were unheard of. Broken bones and black eyes were common. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Members of the Bulldog squad of 1933 held a reunion 25 years later. Shown standing are, from left to right, (first row) coach C.A. Soileau, Charles Demourelle, Wilfred Lafleur, Numa Morien, Harold Bordelon, Willie Fontenot, Oscar Sylvester, Dallas Deville, and Eraste Vidrine; (second row) Audley Soileau, Lloyd Fontenot, Drouet Vidrine, Rodney Duos, Lake Lafleur, Clany Soileau, Major Lafleur, and Gilbert Vidrine. The cheerleaders are, from left to right, Verna Ortego, Rose McDaniel, and Mildred Ortego. (Courtesy of Pam McGee.)

The Sacred Heart girls teams are known as the Trojanettes. The 1962 basketball team posed for this photograph. From left to right are (first row) Barbara Rozas, Cheryl Fuselier, Marlyn Manuel, Johnette LaHaye, Diana Coreil, Cindy Fontenot, and Connie Tatman; (second row) Margaret Davenport, Charlotte Miller, Jonetta Fontenot, coach Steve Brachin, Kathleen Deville, Loretta Veillon, and Patty Ruth Fontenot. (Courtesy of Kathleen Deville Godchaux.)

Evangeline Bowling Lanes opened in the Highland Park Shopping Center in Ville Platte in 1960. The first manager was Wilbur Ardoin. The bowling alley had 10 lanes and was open 22 hours a day. (The other two hours were for cleaning.) There were ladies’, men’s, and mixed leagues. Teams had names like the Legal Eagles, the Pin Splitters, and the Esso-Bees. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Louisiana State Arboretum was established in 1961 in Chicot State Park. It was the first state-supported arboretum in the country. Within its 300-plus acres of varying topography is nearly every type of vegetation native to Louisiana except the coastal marsh and prairie. Among the flora are giant beech, magnolia, and oak trees, ferns, and crane fly orchids. Wildlife, too, is abundant. (Courtesy of Jane Vidrine.)

The Caroline Dormon Lodge at the Louisiana State Arboretum houses the visitors’ center, a library, and an herbarium preserving native plants that grow on the site. Dormon was a naturalist, conservationist, and author. Among her many interests was the creation of Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana. It was she who first proposed establishing an arboretum at Chicot State Park. (Courtesy of Jane Vidrine.)

The Swamp Pop Museum in Ville Platte opened in 2010. Swamp pop is a blend of rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional Cajun and Creole music. The style developed in south Louisiana and was especially popular from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. One of the labels that recorded swamp pop was Floyd Soileau’s Jin label. The genre was wildly popular locally, and many songs made it into the top 100 nationally. The Swamp Pop Museum, housed in the old railroad depot, displays photographs, recordings, musical instruments, posters, and other memorabilia from artists who made swamp pop music. (Courtesy of Jane Vidrine.)

The Evangeline Parish Library had only three branches in 1955, in Ville Platte, Mamou, and Basile. This bookmobile served everybody else, or about half of the library system’s 5,000 registered patrons. It made 82 scheduled stops a month. From left to right are Greta B. Fontenot, bookmobile assistant; Leo Smith, driver; and Janet Smith, clerical assistant. (Courtesy of Evangeline Parish Library.)

The Teen-Age Center opened in the 1950s in Ville Platte’s City Park. Civic clubs got together to erect the building, which had a wooden dance floor and space for tables along the wall. The center offered food and recreation as well as dances. It also served as a meeting place for civic organizations. After the Teen-Age Center burned down, it was replaced by the Civic Center. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

In the 1930s, Cajun entrepreneur Dudley J. LeBlanc spearheaded an Acadian revival in Louisiana. He organized pilgrimages to Acadia in 1930 and 1936, stopping at the White House along the way. The young women in the group wore “Evangeline” costumes, with sashes designating their hometowns. Shown here is part of the 1936 group, with two girls from Ville Platte in the front row on the left. (Courtesy of Pam McGee.)

Here, family and friends gather on a porch in Point Blue. Women in the small, close-knit communities of Evangeline Parish enjoyed visiting friends in the afternoon, sharing coffee, and chatting. Standing are, from left to right, Delta Manuel, Edna Vidrine, Eta Aguillard, Mrs. August Manuel, two Manuel girls, and Emily V. Brunet. The man in front is Celestin Fontenot. (Courtesy of J.D. Soileau.)

In the years immediately following World War II, the Veterans of Foreign Wars organized a Fourth of July parade each year to honor returning troops. About the same time, local residents revived the tournoi, a medieval jousting competition that was popular in the area in the 1800s, but which had died out before the turn of the 20th century. The tournoi became part of the Fourth of July celebration as well. The parade was held annually for almost a decade until the Cotton Festival was organized in 1954 and absorbed many of the events that had been part of the Fourth of July celebration. In this photograph, the Ville Platte High School marching band leads a group of veterans down Main Street in one of the first parades. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

A Cajun Mardi Gras as celebrated in Evangeline Parish has been described as ritualized chaos. A group of costumed and masked men ride through the countryside, collecting ingredients for gumbo to be served to the community that evening. The begging ritual traces back to medieval times. Note that three of the riders are standing on their saddles; such exhibitions of horsemanship are much admired. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Courir de Mardi Gras is under the command of the captain, who usually wears a cowboy hat and brightly colored cape, but not a mask. He leads the riders through the countryside and formally asks permission of each household before the riders enter their property. He also ensures that the rules of the celebration are obeyed. His word is law. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Mardi Gras run begins early in the morning, with riders bundled up against the cold. All are in costume, with their faces covered. It is important that riders be thoroughly disguised so even family members cannot recognize them. Men often trade horses so they cannot be identified by their mounts. The tall conical dunce’s hat is common, parodying medieval noblewomen’s headpieces. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

In addition to the riders, participants without horses follow on wagons to take part in the revelry. This wagon carries a Cajun band, which provides musical accompaniment to the festivities. Beer is dispensed in large quantities to the riders from another wagon. This photograph was taken in Ville Platte, before the Courir was suspended there when the city banned alcohol. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Once permission is granted to come onto the property, riders charge the house as if taking it by assault. They might threaten the residents or pretend to kidnap children. They also perform stunts and generally act up. Once the food gift is acquired, the captain signals that it is time to depart, and the group moves on to the next household. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Those who agree to contribute ingredients for the gumbo may donate rice, flour, onions, or oil. But the most highly prized item is a live chicken. The bird is tossed high into the air, and the revelers must chase it down and catch it. As can be seen here, the chase is chaotic and often hilarious. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

In the evening, the community gathers to share the gumbo that the men have worked so hard to acquire, riders eating first. The evening ends with a dance, many of the participants in costume and even the youngest taking part. All celebrating ends at the stroke of midnight, for the Carnival season is over and Lent has begun. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week has been held every spring since 1990 at Chicot State Park in Evangeline Parish. First organized by Balfa’s daughter Christine, the program features concerts and dances each night, and classes and jam sessions during the day for musicians of all ages and skill levels. Here, Dirk Powell (fifth from left) leads a band workshop in 2004. (Courtesy of David Simpson.)

The Mamou Cajun Music Festival was founded in the early 1970s as a way to renew the community’s interest in its traditional culture, which seemed to be fading under pressure from modern ways. The festival began as a one-day event featuring local musicians and was sponsored by the Mamou Area Jaycees. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Mamou Cajun Music Festival soon grew into a two-day annual event. Besides traditional Cajun musicians, the festival features dancing, food, and contests for local citizens and fans from all over the world. Since the early 1980s, the festival has been sponsored by its own organization, which gained nonprofit status in 1985. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Sacred Heart Chapel in Belaire Cove has hosted a Crawfish Cook-Off on the first Sunday after Easter each year since 1990 to raise funds for the church. The featured event is a crawfish étouffée cook-off. The festival includes live music, children’s games, a washerboard tournament, concessions, and a live auction. Pictured here is Felton Lejeune and the Cajun Cowboys, who performed at the festival for many years. (Courtesy of Runnie F. Matte.)

The Louisiana Cotton Festival in Ville Platte opens on Tuesday night with the Contredanse, a French square dance, performed by older members of the community accompanied by a French band. The first contredanse was held in 1962 at the Teen-Age Center. Since 1975, two residents of La Maison de Sante Nursing Home have been crowned Le Roi and La Reine, and they reign over the dance. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Cotton Festival royalty include Miss Cotton Blossom and King Cotton Boll for pre-teens, sponsored by the Lions’ Club Auxiliary. In this photograph, the 1975 Queen Cotton Blossom, Jessica Ann Bordelon, and King Cotton Boll, James Harrington, are being crowned by their predecessors from 1974, Monique Fontenot and Robert Harvey. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

The Cotton Pickers are the official entertainers at the Cotton Festival. A new group is chosen each year. Shown here is the group from 1965, the 200th anniversary of the Acadian migration to Louisiana, when the Cotton Festival took an Acadian theme. The members are, from left to right, Susan Johnson, Darlene Zimmer, Sheila Attales, Cindy Buller, Camille Lafleur, Evelyn Guillory, Johnette LaHaye, and Gerry Curole. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce.)

Grand Marshal Jules Ashlock leads the Cotton Festival parade down Ville Platte’s Main Street in 1962. Cotton King that year was Dr. Hosea Phillips, a native of Ville Platte and professor of French at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Queen was Rose Mary Hudspeth, and Colonel Cotton was Henry J. Vidrine, whose grandfather Eloi operated the first horse-drawn gin in Evangeline Parish. The theme for this festival was Camelot. (Courtesy of Ville Platte City Hall.)

The tournoi was revived after World War II and has been part of the Cotton Festival since 1952. Riders compete on a quarter-mile track, trying to spear seven rings with their lances. The rings represent the traditional enemies of cotton: drought, flood, boll weevil, bollworm, silk, rayon, and nylon. Knights are scored on their speed and accuracy over three heats. Pictured here is 1983 champion Dwayne Fontenot. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

In the early years of the Cotton Festival, the tournoi drew huge crowds. The event was held at the Ville Platte High School stadium, where the bleachers provided plenty of seating. To add to the excitement, Ville Platte’s new radio station, KVPI, broadcast the action live from the stadium. Shown here from left to right are John Pitre, Jim Soileau, and Chris Duplechain. (Courtesy of KVPI Radio.)

The 1975 Tournoi Queen, Jennifer Fontenot, poses with the tournoi winners. They are, from left to right, John Wayne Johnson of Pine Prairie, sportsmanship; Danny Doucet of Grand Prairie, fastest time; Don Morein of Ville Platte, fourth place; Ollie DeVille of Ville Platte, third place; Bergis Smith of Ville Platte, second place; and Berkman Veillon of Eunice, Tournoi Champion. (Courtesy of Ville Platte Gazette.)

Pine Prairie has hosted the Boggy Bayou Festival each spring since 1986. Events include concerts, a queen’s pageant, competitions in nail-driving, joke-telling, and boudin-eating, carnival rides, arts and crafts exhibits, and a Sunday morning Catholic Mass. Father Leslie Prescott, pastor of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, helped found the Boggy Bayou Festival and Prairie Manor nursing home, and served as president of the nursing home board. (Courtesy of Bernice Ardoin.)

Proceeds from the Boggy Bayou Festival benefit Prairie Manor, the local nursing home. Here, festival board members pose in the early 1990s, when the festival moved to its present location south of town off Heritage Road. From left to right are Rayford West, Rachel Guillory, Billy Campbell, Sandra Book, Father Leslie Prescott, Queen Casey Landreneau, Ray Foreman, Bernice Ardoin, and Hazel Veillon. (Courtesy of Bernice Ardoin.)

The Vietnam Veterans of America Evangeline Chapter No. 632 began organizing in February 1992 and received its charter that August. Since 1993, the chapter has sponsored Le Festival de la Viande Boucanée, or Smoked Meat Festival, in Ville Platte to raise funds to support needy families and individuals and for other civic projects. (Courtesy of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 632.)

Held over a three-day weekend in June, the Smoked Meat Festival features live music, the World Championship Smoked Meat Cook-Off (with amateur and professional divisions), cooking demonstrations, exhibits of traditional arts and crafts, a working smokehouse, military performances and exhibits, and a beauty pageant. In its 20-year history, the festival has come to rival the Cotton Festival in popularity. (Courtesy of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 632.)