The Southeast Advocate 09-18-2024

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Coteau Grove playsit

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Herman Fuselier

Coteau Grove is aband that never accepts money for agig. In fact, the band gives money back to the folks who booked them. Bass player Keith Myers pays the musicians and sound crew to play and rehearse. Myers provides catered meals for rehearsal in aSt. Landry Parish cottage-turned-studio knownby members as the “Band Cave.” The musicians aren’tnewcomers. They are members of the legendary variety band Atchafalaya, along withpowerhouse vocalist Sharona Thomas. But Myers and Coteau Grove aren’tsome cheapskate bar owner’s dream. Theband only plays for charities. All proceeds go to the sponsoring organization Myersdoesn’tmind picking up everyone’stab. LHCGroup, the home health care company he co-founded in 1994, was acquiredlast year by UnitedHealth for $5.4 billion. Music is his way of giving back.

“My wife Ginger and Ihave been blessed beyond imagination. When we showup, nobody pays foranything. The musicians get paid for rehearsals and live performances.We have all of our ownPAequipment,” Myers said. “We’re so thankful to be in aposition where we can do that. Iwas raised on afarm in Palmetto. My parentshad no money.My dad would make a$50,000 crop loan every year and just hoped he could pay off Washington State Bank at the end.” Myers’ rags-to-bass-strings story goes back to his St. Landry Parish roots, where nuns taught him piano at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lebeau. At 16, Myers paid $800 for aFender Precision bass at Jake’sMusic Store in Opelousas.Hestill plays the instrument today After becoming an avid follower of Atchafalaya, Myers watched every move of the band’slate bass player Cal Arnold. Fast forward to recent years when Myers and Atchafalaya alum David Varisco connected over the notion of putting aband together Former Atchafalaya members Chris Foreman, Larry Menard and Charlie Rees came on board.

“Wewere blessed with the means to support that band rather than play nightclubs, said Myers. “My idea was to play for charities —atnocost —tohelp them.

“Those guys were at apoint in life where that was meaningful for them. They didn’twant to tour and do all that. That’s

ä See GROVE, page 3G

WORLD GOOD

BY JANRISHER and LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writers

Atlastcount, the 2024 Postcard Project received 272 mailed postcards—from all 50 states Washington, D.C.,Puerto Rico and 34 other countries. Additionally,readerssent in hundreds of vintagepostcards going backasfar as 1910. Families hadsaved those postcards all those years —and someone wanted them to be somewhere theywould be valued, an elementofthe PostcardProject that is in progress.

Many postcardsare from people whose uncle, mother cousin or friend sharedthe details of the projectbecause the project stillneeded apostcard from Vermont or South Dakota or Oklahoma.

Oklahoma,inparticular Oklahoma was thesecond to last state to arrive by postcard. (Delaware was the last.)Alot of somebodies urged people in Oklahoma to send last-minute postcards —and send them, they did. Katie Goff, in Oklahoma City, received word about theproject from her uncle in Baton Rouge.

Thegreat outdoors

BY JA’KORI MADISON

survivalists, and Ihave loved outdoors since I was kid. Iama true country boy.Sothis is my element.” Malbrough says he’salwaysbeenanadrenaline junkie. “If it isn’talittle scary, then Idon’t find anyinterest,” he said. With more than 15,000 followers on TikTok,Malbrough showcases his adventures

“I am an Oklahoma Citynative and don’twanttoliveanywhereelse, even though it’sbeen 100+ degrees all week! Ibought this cardatthe historic First National Building,” Goff wrote. By last count, we got 11 nick-of-time Oklahoma postcards. Sevenofthem were overnighted to us from Aliza TomlinsoninCollinsville, Oklahoma, arriving on the Friday before Labor Day. State pride is real, and people can be amazing.

Becausesomeone asked Like Goff and Tomlinson, manyothers decided to participate because

Malbrough

STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

PROVIDED IMAGE BY MICHAELD.WYNNE

Alithograph poster for the M.L.Clark and Son’sCircus, which was based in Alexandria

catching any slithering, crawling or swimming animals, whichcaughtthe attention of casting agentsfor an opportunity to be on “Outlast.”

“One day Ijust started uploading videos and began using my social media like a scrapbook,”hesaid. “I was always my authentic self and from that Ireceived a bunch of attraction. Netflix casting agents found me through my TikTok and mes-

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saged me about the show. I knew then, more thanever, hard workpays off.” On the show,competitors areput on teams in order to win. Playersmust strategize with each other on thebest approach to thegamewith only the use of basictools and their surroundings.

“Mybiggest thing was adjustingtoworking with ateam,” Malbrough said. “Getting along with15 other strangers becameeasier than Ithought.You think becauseyou’reinavulnerable place and (have) never been there,you’llfinddifficulty in surviving. But whenyou

perplexed author Bill Sumrall when he happened upon an old newspaper advertisement foran Alexandria-based circus while researching asubject that had nothing to do with the travelingshow

But that’swhat usuallyhappens during research —one rabbit hole leads to another.And Sumrall knew he had to find outmore about the M.L. Clark and Son’s Circus, which was based in his hometown.

“Was there reallyacircus in Alexandria?” he asked.

Alexandria historian andauthor MichaelD.Wynne accidentally discovered the circus while researching an unrelated historical topic. He didn’thesitate jumping into that rabbit hole, where he quickly learned that therewas indeed, such ashow

In fact, he learned more than that.

“I came across thislittle reference in an old edition of The Alexandria Daily Town Talk,and it said there was acircus thatwas headquartered in Alexandria,” Wynne said. “The more digging, the more Iunearthed. This was acircus known not only around North America but alsoin Europe. It was nicknamed the‘Biggest Little Circus in America’.” Still, to learn the full story of this show,Wynnehad to backtrack to its origins east central Texas, where the circus’ founder,Mack Loren ‘M.L.’ Clark, was living and running ashow that was more

depend on your teammates for their knowledge to get to thenext day,itgets easier.”

Competitors are dropped off in Little Duncan Bay Alaska, anatural harbor surroundedbyforest land

Freezing temperatures, constant wetness, limited sunlight and few freshwater sources are someofthe challenges that players face throughout thecompetition.

After spending nearly a month in Alaska, Malbrough said the climate wasn’t the biggest challenge he faced.

“Being away from everything —mydad, my mom and my kids —something

aligned with scoundrels thanrings beneath abig top.

“It all started withM.L. Clark’s older brother,Wiley C. ‘W.C.’ Clark,” Wynne said. “W.C. was a scoundrel. He started his show in the 1880s, and hisshow included aminstrel show and ahairy woman,both of which were ridiculous. They had ashow with all kinds of magictricks, and they added some animals alongthe way ” Back then,there were two types of circuses. P.T. Barnum’s would havebeen called atrain circus, because he transported his performers and animals by train. The second kindwas much cheaper to operate.

“Theother kind of circus was known as was amud circus, becauseeverything was transported by wagons alongmuddy roads,” Wynne said.“Andthe circus hired these roustabouts,who were almost allcriminals. They were peopleon therun. Oneroustabout robbed the mail train between performances.”

The Clark BrothersCircus dissolved in 1892 with the departure of the elder Clarkbrother,who purchased ahotel in the Indian Territory of Akota, which eventually became thestate of Oklahoma.

After afew reiterations, M.L. Clark restructured theshow, renamingitM.L. Clark and Son’s Circus. The“son” in the title was for his son, Lee. The show traveled the width andlength of the United States and evenventured into Canada.

Fast forward to 1899, when Clark purchased alot opposite the Union Depot in west Alexandria

Inever did before was the hardest thing forme,” he said. “So the disconnect from my familywas something Istruggled with,but I use that time to get closer to God.”

Malbrough describesexperience as being “surreal.” He’s looking forward to watching the show himself. Buteven moreso, he’slooking forwardtohis children having the series to see their dad in action.

“Mykids will alwaysbe able to look that up andsay, ‘Hey, my dad wasonTV,’” Malbrough said. “That’smy highlight.”

as aheadquarters for his show and aplace to spend the winters.

“The Barnum and Bailey circuses were always headquartered in Floridainthe winter,because it was warm there, and they had to keep theanimals warm,” Wynne said. “The M.L.Clark Circus headquartered in Alexandria, where they had performed as early as 1884. They just liked it there.”

Amongthe circus’ items that wintered in Alexandria were its two elephants, Mena and Tusko, also known as “Old Ned,” when he was purchased by the Clark Circus in 1902.

Both weresaid to be theworld’s largestelephantsincaptivity.Documentation in 1932 showed Ned standing at 10 feet, 2inches high and weighing 7tons,313 pounds

The circumference of his tusks were17½ inches,and thecircumference of his leg at thebaseofhis foot was 65 inches.

The distance between his eyes measured 2feet, 9inches, and thedistance from his rear to the end of his trunk was 18 feet,11 inches.

By that time, Tusko was living in theWoodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington —after developing areputation for going on mad rampages after being sold to theAlB.Jones Circus. He died in 1937 at age 42.

Mena, whose size was comparable to Tusko’s,was known for her gentle temperament. “Big” Bill Thompson even put her to work on his campaign when he ranfor mayor of Chicago in 1931. Mena was sold to theRoyal Brothers Circus in 1938.

“But the people of Alexandria wanted her back,” Wynne said. “In 1943, they collected nickels and pennies fromthe childrenintown andraised $300 to bring hertothe Alexandria Zoo. She usedtolet children pether,and she wasstill beloved by them. But Mena was getting old by thattime,and she died before theycould bring her back to Alexandria.”

During its Alexandria heyday, M.L. Clark bought up all of the land at the northern part of Alexandria to provide forthe animals in his show.

“They putuppermanent buildings and tents, and the families had to live in tents, including M.L. Clark’sown family,” Wynne said. “One of thegreat stories is how M.L.Clark’swifesaid she was tired having to live in atent while the cows and the horses and everybody else lived in abarn, because Clark took better care of them than he did his own family

So, his wife she ordered the first prefabricated house ever to come to Louisiana.”

That was in 1907. She ordered it out the Sears and Roebuck catalog.

“It was set up on Monroe Street,” Wynne said. “That house existed until the Sunset Street housing complex wascreated. ButClark’ssecond house on Monroe Street, which is much more modern, that the family lived in, is still there.”

Wynne documents all of these storiesinhis 2022 book, “Hurry, Hurry,Hurry,Step Right Up to the GreatestShow on Earth!: The True Story of the ‘Largest Little’ Circus in the United States—The M.L.

Clark and Son’sCircus.”

As indicated in this title, the circus was nicknamed the “Largest Little Circus in the United States.”

Wynne also documents some knownnames whopassed through the circus along the way,including jazz trumpeter Harry James’ grandfather,who served as the circus’ bandleader

“Harry James’ parents worked forthe circus, too,” Wynne said. “His father played trumpet in the band, and his mother wasan acrobat.”

TomMix, wholater went to Hollywood to becomeastar in early westerns, wasananimal caretaker forthe circus.

Clark died in 1926, but as goes the old adage, the show wenton when his son, Lee Clark, stepped in as boss. Lee Clark ran the show until he finally sold the circus in 1930 to E.E. Coleman of Dayton, Ohio, and moved back to Alexandria.

So, the spotlight faded, and the curtain closed on Alexandria’s part in the “Greatest Little Circus in the United States.”

“But it wasanincredible circus,” Wynne said. “Itwas nothing like you would see in the movies, but the newspapers documented everything back then. And from those accounts, it wasagreat show.”

Do you haveaquestionabout something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phonenumber andthe city where you live.

Howdokids heal inside and outwhentheysurvive burns? Camp Catahoula is an outreach programfromBaton Rouge General.Here, kids sharetheir storiesand learncoping skills Thehealingprocess beginswhenyou realizeyou’renot alone Shellisproud to sponsor Camp Catahoula Burns areaninjurythat aremorethan skin deep.

PROVIDED IMAGE FROM NETFLIX Joseph Malbroughcompetes during episode 206 of ‘Outlast.

Campers, counselorsand volunteers at Camp Catahoula 2024

someone asked. Areader named Kenzie, who sent apostcard from Connecticut,wrote that her mother-in-lawinMandeville sent her an article about the project. Kenzie explained that she is apostcard enthusiast, so she wanted to addto the collection.

John Hairston, of New Orleans, was one of the people who encouraged others to send postcards. Hairston emailed that “withall thelousy news about politics,economy,crime and dumb people doing even dumber things,” theproject has been agood distraction

Late into July,when the project still (surprisingly)needed acard from Alabama, Hairstonencouraged one of his company’s interns, Devin, ayoung high school graduate in Alabama, to send an Alabama postcard.

“I don’tknow if his card became THE Alabama entry,but he enjoyed riding aroundMobile County looking for astamp,” Hairston wrote. “He is arecent high school graduate headedto LSU.”

Like Devin, the Postcard Project has highlighted the vast number of people in that young demographic who have never mailed anything physical —not aletter,not abill, not apackage and not apostcard

As withHairston and Devin, the Postcard Project hasprovided an opportunity to flip the dynamic of the standard intergenerational exchange that typically involves youngerpeopleshowing theolder folks how things are done with new technologies.

Apartofsomething bigger

Others sent in postcards via aforum on Postcrossing, aproject that allowspeople to send andreceive postcards from individuals around the world. The project has 804,068 members from 208 countries.

Ellen Danen, who heardabout the newspaper’s Postcard Project on

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thePostcrossing forum,sent acard from theNetherlands.

“I hope you will get many postcards from all states and many countries,” Danen wrote.

Part of magic in receiving postcards is knowing the effort the task requires from the sender.One has to find acard, which is harder andharder to doasmanypostcard senders letusknow —leading one innovative postcardsenderinNew Orleanstomake postcards out of whatever was handy.Hesent one made of theend of aKleenex box, another cut from acereal box and another cut from an election mailer Next, they write something somewhat interestingina small space, thenthey often have to search for the correct postage and find aplace to mail the card. The question is: Why would strangers go to this kind of effort?

“Byour veryhuman nature, we wanttobehelpful,” said RoyPetifils, acounselor based inLafayette. “The psychology behind people going to theeffort of mailing apostcardis that,‘This is one thing Ican do to be helpful.’

Thetask isn’tonerous and can even be fun —kind of like ascavenger hunt.For mostpeople,find-

how we put it all togetherand that’swhat we do.” When Myersisn’tplaying music, he’sat Coteau Grove Farms, the family’s 438-acre

ing, writingand sendinga postcard disrupts the everyday routine of life andharkens back to thepleasantnessand nostalgia associated with an analog life. Maybe the reason lies in an innateurgetobeapart of something bigger —sending “THE Alabama card.”

Maybe it’sabout self-expression like New Orleans mixed-media collage artist, Karen Miller,who sent in an array of the postcards she created.

Sending apostcard dancesthe line between public and private. Maybe sending apostcard to the Postcard Project is aboutbeingheard —as at least oneperson reads each and every postcard received. Regina Bauer,who sent apostcard from Valentine, Nebraska, says that sending postcardsreminds herofthe importance of human connectivity

“Just joining this postcard adventure with Postcrossing helps connect us all and reminds us we’re all human —sending peace and unity one postcard at atime,”Bauer wrote.

By thenumbers

272:The number of stamped and mailed postcards the2024 Post-

thoroughbred horse farm in Sunset He remains asenior adviser withOptum Health. He’salso aboard member with A-GAMESports Drink, ahydration beverage with water,sea salt and honey among itsingredients. Coteau Grove has upcoming gigs stretchingfrom the Turning Points God &Country Festival in Westmoreland, Tennessee, to

card Project received (Toclarify, we didnot count the hundreds of vintageorother postcards mailed in packages in this total number.)

50:Wereceived at least one postcardfrom all50states, Washington,D.C., and Puerto Rico

34:Outsideofthe U.S., we’ve received postcards from 34 countries —including Scotland, France, Zambia, Uganda and Djibouti.

34: We received34postcards from Louisiana, the mostout of all the50states.

12:This is thesecondhighest number of postcards we’ve receivedfrom oneofthe 50 states, Nevada.

9:The numberofpostcards we’vereceivedfromCanada— the most postcards we have from any one country outside of the U.S. In 2023, Canada also won first place in thecountry competition withfive postcards.

9,679:Thisisthe amount of miles it would takefor you to get from Baton Rouge to Australia, which is the farthest postcard location so far.

Tellingstrangers that you’re alive

While some readers sent in postcards that detailed their travels, others simply wanted to wish good luckorfulfill arequest from astate that the project was missing. One reader named Travis, who sent two postcards from the Faroe Islands,wrotea message about his time there, whenmuch of the Danishislands’infrastructure was shut down due to astrike.

“This trip waswild,” he wrote.

“The entire country wasonstrike. No onetold us until we landed, and thecar rental company gave us a car w/ 95 km left and told us ALL gas stations are closed indefinitely No gas. No cabs. No fresh meat or produce. Unions striking forhigher wages. So, we ate allthe local treats: fermented lamb, sea airdried fish, soo much rhubarb and...seagull (aka fulmar,but it is totally aseagull).”

RickCohn sent apostcard from Chicago, where he stayed in The Robey.

“Enjoyed awonderful dinner in

theBoys &Girls Club annual gala in Lafayette. Whenever the band plays, Myers says themission remains the same.

“This has opened doors to play before larger groups of people and larger charitiesthat have abigger impact on our society.Sofor us, it’sjust that.

“Wecan produce morefinancial resources for the charities that help other people.”

the lobby of this beautiful hotel last night with my friend, Jenny, in town from NYC,” Cohn wrote. “The rain heldoff,likely because we were prepared with umbrellas. It wasa warm andbalmy night perfect for acouple of martinis. We wereadvisedthatyesterday wasNationalMartini Day.Google could notconfirmthe accuracy of that assertion. Be well.”

Many people shared simple details abouttheir day-to-daylives, like areader namedMary in eastern Ontario.

“My husband is afarmer who raises Black Angus cattle on pasture farms. Ijust finished planting my vegetable garden. Hope you have awonderful summer,” she wrote.

The 2024 Postcard Project accumulated severalinteresting facts. People are overjoyed to share tidbits of history.Here are afew fun facts we received:

n World Postcard Day is October 1, via Justin Pamplin.

n Iowa is the only state bordered by two navigable rivers, andthe state flower of Iowa is the wild rose, via Holly V.

n Newfoundland, in Canada, is whereover6,500 passengers on U.S. flights were given shelter on 9/11, via areader named Madeleine.

n Grass-fedcowsmake Irish butter extra yellow,via Allison Vaillancourt.

n At the GumWallinSeattle, workers have begun regular cleanings to prevent damage to the brickwork, via Roxanne Rebusit.

PattiKnell, 73, in Covington, wrote that the Postcard Project brings back the magic of her childhood —and maybe that’swhat the Postcard Project is about: magic.

The Postcard Project is about all sorts of people in all sorts of places working togetherfor allsorts of reasons toward acommon goal Physical evidenceofthatkind of effort is heartening, and, as Knell wrote, it has the potential to stir magic not just in Louisiana but around the globe.

Herman Fuselier is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Alongtime journalist covering Louisiana music and culture, he lives in Opelousas.His “Zydeco Stomp” show airs at noon Saturdays on KRVS 88.7 FM.

STAFF PHOTO BY JANRISHER

Apostcardfrom The Butter Museum in Cork, Ireland, sent by Alisha Vaillancourt.

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