Louisiana Life March-April 2015

SPECIAL: Exploring the Kisatchie Journeys Through Louisiana’s Forest p. 32

5 Festivals Worth A Trip

Plus a statewide list, p.38

MAKING MOVIES

“Reel News” column debut, p. 10

contents in every issue 5

From the Editor

The Presidency Louisiana Made

8 Rural Life

Filtered Life on Social Media

Accentuating the positives

10 Reel News

Introducing Our Film Column

Edgy indie filmmakers on the rise

12 Biz Bits

16

A Diverse Economy

Broader choices await Louisiana job hunters.

14 Health

A retired geologist in Baton Rouge, artist Charles G. Smith paints nature.

32 Traveler

Springtime in Kisatchie

Exploring Louisiana’s forest

66 Around Louisiana

Highlights and Events

72 mississippi travel

Traveling the Delta

Studying Cancer in Acadiana

76 Lifetimes

Results indicate colorectal cancer rates are disproportionately high in the region.

James Clesi

Clesi’s Crawfish and Catering in New Orleans

Stopping in Broussard and Arabi

Crickets and Old Arabi Eats

20 Kitchen Gourmet

The Versatile Crawfish

4 recipes to try this spring

24 Home

A Touch of the Irish

Beth James and Dave Malone’s Prairieville home lends itself to creativity and peacefulness.

features 38 louisiana festivals

5 highlights and a statewide list

by Lauren LaBorde and Bernard

C. Frugé III / Listings compiled by staff

49 food feature

A Fresh Take on Nostalgic Recipes

By Stanley Dry

on the cover

2 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Evening Clouds and Streaks of Sunlight

18 Roadside Dining

44

16 Great Louisiana Chef

38

28 art

Brittney and Roddy share a homemade milkshake, pg. 49. Photo by Eugenia Uhl

Statewide Calendar

78 quirky places

John Schneider Studios

“Dukes of Hazzard” star brings showbiz to Holden.

80 A Louisiana Life

Dr. Quincy Hilliard

University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s composer in residence

MARCH/April 2015 Volume 35 Number 4 Editor Errol Laborde MANAGING EDITOR Sarah Ravits Art Director Sarah George Associate Editor Melanie Warner Spencer web editor Kelly Massicot Contributing Editor Paul F. Stahls Jr. Food Editor Stanley Dry Home Editor Bonnie Warren

sales manager Kathryn Beck Sanderson kathryn@louisianalife.com

traffic manager Erin Duhe Production/Web Manager Staci McCarty Production designerS Monique DiPietro, Ali Sullivan Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne President Alan Campell Executive Vice President/ Editor-in-chief Errol Laborde VIce President of sales Colleen Monaghan Director of marketing & Events Cheryl Lemoine administrative assistant Denise Dean distribution manager John Holzer subscriptions/receptionist Sara Kelemencky (504) 828-1380

Gold Award Winner for Companion Website 2012 Tiffani Reding Amedeo, Silver Award Winner for Overall Art Direction 2011

Renaissance Publishing 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 Louisiana Life (ISSN 1042-9980) is published bimonthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: One year $10; Mexico and Canada $48. Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Louisiana Life, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2015 Louisiana Life. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Louisiana Life is registered. Louisiana Life is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.

The opinions expressed in Louisiana Life are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner.

LouisianaLife.com | 3

4 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

from the editor

The Presidency Louisiana Made

By Errol Laborde

Two hundred years ago this month Andrew Jackson could have been king of New Orleans if the fledgling United States allowed monarchs. Instead, he was the conquering hero, which had better long-run political benefits than a crown would ever have.

Two months earlier, Jackson had led the upset defeat of the British down the river from New Orleans in the battle that would be named after the city. Sure, we are often reminded that a month earlier the treaty to end the “War of 1812” had been signed, but word from Ghent, Belgium, was slow. So, the battle was fought. It terms of long-range geopolitics it was a battle worth fighting, forever establishing the independence of the burgeoning nation west of the Atlantic. It would also end wars between the United States and Great Britain. A strong bond developed

between the two nations that to this day is a major force in stabilizing the world.

Victory in New Orleans made Jackson, whose home was Tennessee, a major celebrity and political leader. After the win he, in effect, ran the city for a while, even, at one point, having to declare martial law. After New Orleans he still had some generaling to do, primarily chasing after Seminoles in Florida.

Jackson would have higher ambitions. New Orleans was to his career what Normandy would be the Dwight Eisenhower, only it took Jackson longer to get to Washington. In 1824 he was defeated for the presidency by John Quincy Adams in a contentious election so close it had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Four years later Jackson ran again, was elected and served two terms.

His presidency was an important one. It represented the emergence of the frontier as a force apart from the old east coast elite.

He was the first Populist president. Jackson’s term usually gets high marks for fighting the moneyed elite and low marks for the displacement of Native American tribes, though the latter is fairly complex considering the times. Jackson, who probably knew the native culture better than anyone who had occupied the white house, had compassion for those who were removed.

Among presidents, Zachary Taylor had spent time living in Louisiana; Thomas Jefferson made the gutsy call to purchase the Louisiana territory, but it was Jackson who, in a sense, was made by Louisiana. He is well-honored. There is a Jackson Parish (parish seat, Jonesboro); the town of Jackson (in East Feliciana Parish) and the National Guard headquarters in New Orleans is named the Jackson Barracks. Most visible, though, there is the statue of Jackson, mounted on his horse, that stands in a square in New Orleans with three historic buildings; the Cabildo, the St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbytere, overlooking it. The square was once named the Place D’Armes. Its name was changed to Jackson Square, an act that more than anything symbolized the passing of Louisiana from a European outpost to an American state.

Two hundred years after his greatest victory, Andrew Jackson still watches over the city. And if there is an enemy wearing red coats around, they might just be wandering University of Alabama fans. n LouisianaLife.com | 5

on the web

LouisianaLife.com Louisiana Life Photo entry Are you an amateur, professional or “just for fun” photographer with some Louisiana photos to share? We want to hear from you! We want to see some great Louisiana photos, whether they’re of people, landscapes, food, culture or even animals. Don’t miss your chance to have your photo featured in the pages of our magazine for all of our readers to see. Send in your photos by going to myneworleans.com/ Louisiana-Life/Louisiana-Life-Photo-Contest.

Please note that the URL is case-sensitive.

Our readers’ photographs

january Bayou Black Flight: Patterson resident Cherie Aucoin snapped this image as a bald eagle took flight from a cypress tree in Bayou Black near Amelia in St. Mary Parish.

February Louisiana Dragon Boat Race Competitors: Jeff Stephens of Dry Prong caught this dynamic image on the Red River in Alexandria in 2013.

6 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

LouisianaLife.com | 7

rural life

Filtered Life on Social Media Accentuating the positives

By Melissa Bienvenu

Some of my friends on social media seem to think my life is perfect.

“Is your life as peaceful as it looks?” they inquire.

“I want my friend Melissa’s life!” they enthuse.

“I hope your boys realize they live in a paradise,” they sigh.

I can’t imagine how they’ve come to this conclusion simply by reading my (obsessively edited) 8 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Facebook posts or admiring my (heavily Photoshopped) photos depicting (carefully cropped) farm scenes of my devoted (too tired to cheat) farmer/husband or my (occasionally) happy sons frolicking (playing Xbox) in sunlit meadows (their undershorts).

It’s weird.

I have to admit, however, that it gives me a measure of satisfaction (swollen

head) knowing that so many people (the sister of a guy I knew in junior high school) apparently believe my life is far superior to theirs.

Yet, these expressions of envy and admiration also make me feel (a tiny bit) guilty. Is it possible that I have accidentally (shamelessly) accentuated the positives of farm life a little (way, way) too much?

At these moments, it occurs to me that perhaps I have not been as forthcoming as I might have been regarding the lesswonderful aspects of life in the country. Or, as they say in social media terminology, #countryproblems The truth is, it ain’t all one big Shangri-la. Take, just for example, country water.

Our house is supplied with water from a 80-foot hole in the backyard. The good news is that well water is sort of free (you still have to pay for electricity to pump it out of the ground and into our house) and pretty much unlimited. The bad news is that this sort-of free, unlimited water is also untreated, unfiltered and loaded with minerals that wreak havoc on every surface it touches.

Thanks to hard water buildup, for example, I already need to replace the new “oil-rubbed bronze” faucet that looks so adorable in my rustic farmhouse-themed bathroom.

The finish is corroding, and the only fix appears to be throwing the whole thing away. In other words, I’m prohibited from having an adorable farmhouse-themed faucet because....I live in a farmhouse.

Fun with well water doesn’t end there. Rust and mineral deposits make it extra-difficult to get sinks, tubs and toilets looking clean, and the only reason I know our towels are supposed to be white is because I remember how they looked at the store.

Never mind what hard water does to human hair.

No amount of product will force my baby-fine strands to stand up to the weight of all those minerals. I haven’t had a good hair day since I arrived on the farm in 1992.

And I try not to think about what our family might be ingesting in our drinking water. To be honest, our tap water looks and tastes pretty good (far better than the nasty-looking brown stuff that flows out of faucets in town), but I sometimes I worry. More than once, our water has suddenly taken on a foul odor we traced back to a decomposing mouse or frog which somehow got into the well and drowned. As far as I’m concerned, well water has one thing and one thing only going for it: sort-of free.

That reminds me of yet another aspect of country living that literally stinks. I can honestly say I spent the first 30 years of my life blissfully unaware of what happens to the contents of the toilet after it is flushed. Then I moved to a place beyond public sewer lines. A septic tank, I now know, is like a delicate flower that has to be handled with care and finesse. Woe unto the houseguest who unknowingly exceeds the jane sanders illustration

maximum sheets-per-flush.

All I can say is It’s a good thing I’m married to a farmer who grew up around a bunch of cows. No other husband would have the stomach to handle our plumbing repairs.

Forget roses. There is nothing sexier than a man who comes bearing his own toilet snake.

Being in the hay business also comes with its own special bummers. Yes, the emeraldgreen Bermuda grass fields are lovely, the rows of round bales glow like gold in the setting sun and the scent of fresh hay wafts through our windows. I will admit, it is a pretty poetic way to make a living. I will also admit that we have teeny-tiny bits of hay every freaking where. All the time. In our vehicles. In our carpet. In our clothes. In our washing machine. Even in my intimate apparel. A small price to pay, but it does get old. Just the other day, I found myself wondering how many other mothers have to fuss at their child for wearing new fuzzy house slippers into the hay barn?

Housekeeping challenges aren’t the only drawbacks to this life. Limited access to basic goods and services is also a never-ending drag.

Need a place to house an overflow of out-of-town company for the holidays, for instance? No worries! Just book them a room at the only accommodations in town – the no-tell motel. As long as your guests bring a gun and their own sheets, they might even get a little rest.

Or maybe it’s late at night and you’ve just realized you’re out of coffee. Unfortunately, the grocery store closed at 9 p.m., and the 24-hour supercenter/drugstore/ anything is 30 miles away.

That leaves you with the scary gas station, the town’s lone after-hours merchant. It may or may not have any coffee, but if you’re in the market for rolling papers, incense or shady-looking new friends, you’ve hit the jackpot.

Then there is clothing, shoes, electronics, specialty foods, and a thousand other everyday items you can rarely find locally. When you live in the country, you can’t just pop into the mall on your way home from work. You have to travel to where the stores are. The simplest purchase can require Normandy-level planning and strategizing. I try to make each trip worthwhile, so it’s nearly impossible to spend less than half a day shopping, and a whole day is not unusual. Tell me. Who has time for that? As far as I’m concerned, Amazon is right up there with the combustion engine when it comes to inventions that have revolutionized life on the farm.

So that is the ugly truth about life on the farm. Not everything is blue skies and apple pies. Our world may not be as quite as perfect as certain farmer’s wives may (um, inadvertently) make it appear on Facebook, but I will still click the “like” button any day. n

LouisianaLife.com | 9

reel news

Empire chair

Introducing Our Film Column Edgy indie filmmakers on the rise

By Lisa LeBlanc-Berry

First-time Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris carried off the 87th annual Academy Awards with his trademark comic style, while diverting the outrage surrounding a lack of diversity in this year’s all-white Oscar nominations for best actor. It was only the second time since 2000 that no black actors were nominated in any acting categories, a situation that set off a firestorm of social media trending, a Saturday Night Live skit and President Obama inviting the entire cast of Selma to the White House after the offensive January announcement.

10 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

The lack of Oscar love for Hollywood South was in stark contrast to last year, when Louisiana-shot films received Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Industry analysts predict a comeback. Several big Louisiana-produced movies are hitting theatres in 2015, including Universal’s Jurassic World in June. Indie writerdirector Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) got a huge break when he was tapped by producer Steven Spielberg to direct the $150 million sequel shot in Hawaii

and New Orleans (mostly inside the NASA complex; sets were amazing).

On the bright side, independent filmmakers and viewers were invigorated by the exceptional rush of indie films with real chops (including the highest grossing indie of 2014, Grand Budapest Hotel, with nine nominations). In fact, only two films out of the eight that were nominated for best picture this year were backed by big studios, American Sniper (Warner Bros.) and Selma (Paramount).

As viewers are opting for more art house films and edgier bio flicks, Louisiana filmmakers such as awardwinning writer-director David Dubos have projects that are destined for that big indie wave. One of Hollywood South’s most dynamic mavericks, Dubos delves into the darker side of life and brings his passion and originality to the screen.

The New Orleans native (whose brother, Clancy, co-owns the New Orleans Gambit) is currently in production for a feature film debut, Bayou Tales, which is set during a raging hurricane.

It includes psychological horror scenes based on true Katrina events with supernatural elements.

Much more promising than Bayou Tales, in my opinion, is Butterfly in the Typewriter, a gripping screenplay by Dubos that I managed to get my hands on. He is orchestrating a feature-length film (his most expensive indie to date) based on the eponymous book by Cory MacClaughlin.

It chronicles the life of John Kennedy Toole, the posthumous Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Confederacy of Dunces, published with the help of Walker Percy seven years after his suicide.

Dubos is in early talks with big name actors for the film.

One actor he named (off the record) is considering the role of Walker Percy. Hint: He is an electrifying four-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe recipient starring in major studio films being released this year and next.

“My passion for this film has now become an obsession,” Dubos explains.

“It’s the greatest David and Goliath story of the publishing world. The parts just jump out of Cory’s book,” he continues. romero & romero photograph

“If you look at what’s going on with the Oscars, the movies that the academy gravitates to are bio-scripts, like Imitation Game, Big Eyes and Selma,” Dubos continues.

“Butterfly is that kind of film.”

Dubos directs a documentary premiering at the 39th annual Isleños Fiesta held March 7-8 in St. Bernard Village; it’s destined for history channels and PBS (which aired his prior George Rodrigue documentary starring Whoopi Goldberg as the voice of Tiffany). The Isleños Trappers War documentary portrays the St. Bernard residents’ bitter battle with political boss/segregationist Leander Perez over their lands and livelihood in the 1920s.

“Perez hired mercenaries to run the Isleños off their land, but it backfired, and he ended up pleading for his life,” recounts Dubos.

“It was the only true defeat Perez ever suffered. It’s an important yet little-known part of Louisiana’s history.”

It’s a long road to Academy Award glory from documentaries and indie films, but there’s always the unexpected. Take the indie film Whiplash nominated for best picture; it was made for $3 million in 20 days.

“You always have to have three or four balls going in this industry, because you never know when something’s going to hit,” Dubos explains. As Oscar host Harris quipped, “Anything can happen … anything.” n

LouisianaLife.com | 11

biz bits

Gameloft and a location in Baton Rouge by videogame giant Electronic Arts.

Sugar cane bagasse

A Diverse Economy Broader choices await Louisiana job hunters

By Kathy Finn

It wasn’t so long ago that Louisiana’s economy seemed something of a onetrick pony. The state’s life blood was oil, and drillers, producers and service companies long dominated the ranks of Louisiana’s employers, with other industries playing a secondary role. But efforts to diversify the economy are gradually paying off with growth in maritime commerce, health care, tourism and technology, among other fields.

Cane yields sweet returns PLAQUEMINE – New uses for sugar cane waste could result from a proposed $312 million investment by NFR BioEnergy to install biorefineries at more than 10 sugar refining hubs in south Louisiana. The company aims to convert the processing waste product called bagasse into hardened energy pellets for use as fuel at power plants around the world. The first Louisiana 12 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

biorefinery, under development in White Castle, could become the new headquarters of NFR, which now is based in New York. The company, which is still completing agreements with sugar mills in the state, projects the biorefineries could employ 450 people by 2020.

Buzzed for games NEW ORLEANS – The Crescent City has become home to the first “branch” studio of Chicago-based game developer High Voltage Software Inc. HVS NOLA opened its doors on St. Charles Avenue in December and immediately began hiring to fill about 80 jobs.

The 21-year-old developer, whose capabilities include motion-capture animation, full audio production and game design for digital, console and mobile platforms, has a portfolio of nearly 100 games.

The opening follows by a few years the opening of a local studio by global developer

Gearing up BATON ROUGE – A new local company expects to grow on the need or protective gear for health care workers who care for people with contagious diseases such as Ebola. Convergence Equity partnered with medical materials company TillaMed to provide level three-certified, Ebola-resistant gear to U.S. government agencies and health providers around the world. Convergence, which contracted to deliver 350,000 protective suits and additional gear as needed, is a spinoff from a previous company that handled protective suits for workers after the BP oil spill in 2010.

Home-grown firms expand PONCHATOULA – The growth of New Orleans-based packaging supplies maker J&M Industries is spinning benefits to Ponchatoula, where the company will expand its tarp manufacturing plant via a $4.5 million investment.

Thirty new jobs will result, on top of the 100 positions already at the site. The local area also will get a boost from a $40 million expansion of the Elmer Chocolate facility, which is adding 70,000 square feet to its operation.

Chemicals fuel growth LULING – Manufacturing expansion along the lower Mississippi River corridor continues with an announcement by Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. that it will build a new production facility in Luling and upgrade an existing plant in Geismar. The company

says its $60 million investment will boost production of formaldehyde that other nearby plants will use in the making of various products.

The expanded Geismar plant should begin operating late this year, and the Luling facility may start up in early 2016.

Gambling on gas LAKE CHARLES – The potential for growth in natural gas exporting continues to spark activity in southwestern Louisiana, where Venture Global LNG is building a $4.25 billion plant to convert gas into a form that can be easily exported. About 100 permanent jobs will result from the project. Local workers will find plenty of entertainment nearby as a new $700 million Golden Nugget casino recently opened.

In addition to gaming space, restaurants and a 740-room hotel, the resort will include a beach, an 18-hole golf course and a marina that will accommodate vessels up to 200 feet long. The casino is a neighbor of L’Auberge Casino Resort and a boardwalk between the two eventually will make for an easy stroll from one establishment to the other.

Shoppers get new destination BOSSIER CITY – New retail offerings are on tap for shoppers as the new Kroger Marketplace takes shape on Airline Drive.

The 120,000-square-foot store will be the first of its kind in Louisiana and will include not only food, but small appliances, apparel, linens, jewelry and fresh flowers.

The store will stand among other new additions that will include Hobby Lobby, Panera Bread and Panda Express.

Kroger Marketplace is slated to open later this year. n

health

Studying Cancer in Acadiana Results indicates colorectal cancer rates are disproportionately high in the region.

By Fritz Esker

A research study by the LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health indicated that white men in Louisiana parishes where French is commonly spoken have disproportionately high rates of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Jordan Karlitz, assistant clinical professor at Tulane School of Medicine and an adjunct at LSU School of Public Health, said the team of researchers

14 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

conducted the study after hearing anecdotal stories from physicians who believed that colorectal cancers were more common in Acadiana than elsewhere.

Acadiana has a strong Cajun population. The Cajuns migrated in the 1700s from France to Canada, then to Louisiana’s Acadian parishes.

This makes Louisiana Cajuns a “founder population.” A founder population is a small

group that breaks off from a larger one, as the Cajuns did when they came to Louisiana.

When this happens, there is less genetic variation, which leads to an increased risk of certain types of cancers. Colon cancer, like breast cancer, is a disease that has been proven to sometimes have a genetic or hereditary component.

In the study, published in Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology in July 2014, nine parishes with high concentrations of French speakers (Acadia, Assumption, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis, Lafourche, St. Landry, St. Martin, and Vermillion) saw an incidence of 56.1 colorectal cancer cases per 100,000 white residents.

This rate is 13 percent higher than Louisiana’s rates and 23 percent higher than rates across the United States. In white men, the incidence in increased to 72.6 per 100,000 – 19 percent higher than Louisiana and 37 percent higher than the US rates.

Dr. Karlitz emphasized that this data is not reason for people in Acadiana to panic.

The study was populationbased and did not interview individuals in detail about their ethnic heritage. Further studies are needed to interview individual cancer patients and study tumors

for genetic components.

“This is going to be the first of hopefully multiple studies,” Karlitz said.

For his next study, Karlitz is currently seeking funding to genetically analyze tumors to search for hereditary links in the disease.

The doctor added that while colorectal cancer rates in blacks in Acadiana are not as disproportionately high as the numbers for whites, their rates are still high and blacks should still exercise caution.

Colorectal cancers are not one-size-fits-all. What applies to one person may not apply to another. Dr. Kartliz said this is why patients need to overcome any embarrassment about discussing colorectal issues and speak to their physicians sooner rather than later to formulate an individualized prevention plan.

“Each patient is different and has different risk factors and needs to discuss with their physician when they should be screened,” Karlitz said.

Early warning signs include (but are not limited to) blood in the stool, changes in bowel habits, and anemia. However, many patients are asymptomatic, which is why it’s important to be screened via a colonoscopy. The general recommended age for people without symptoms or any family history or other risk factors is 50. n

LouisianaLife.com | 15

great louisiana chef

James Clesi Clesi’s Crawfish and Catering, New Orleans

By Sarah Ravits James Clesi was raised by a family who loved to cook “too much food” and share with others, so it’s unsurprising that he began his career in the culinary business at age 16, studied at Nicholls State and then worked for several years in disaster relief catering, a job that took him across the country to share traditional New Orleans food with people who often had never tried it before.

“Some of them had never heard of etouffee before, and 16 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

once they tried it, they’d be coming back for second and third helpings,” he explains.

Last year he began to operate what he calls a “renegade guerilla” catering operation: He would drive over to busy bars and establishments that didn’t serve food, unload supplies from his SUV and set up a pop-up crawfish boil; finally, in January, he was able to rent a spot on Banks Street in New Orleans, which is now fully operating six days a week. He also goes on-site for catering gigs.

At the new spot, Clesi serves seafood dishes and other signature comfort food items that are products of both his own creativity and his family’s secret recipes – think jambalaya cheese fries, fried cheese ravioli, catfish and fries, fried boudin and shrimp and tasso pasta. The down-to-earth atmosphere matches Clesi’s warm, sociable personality, as the restaurant is attached to Banks Street Bar, which hosts live music nightly and has plentiful outdoor seating for a lively, hungry crowd. n Information: 4413 Banks St., New Orleans, (504) 909-0108

Crawfish Boil: 1 sack (35 pounds of crawfish) 5 pounds of seasoning, reader’s choice 8-10 lemons, sliced in half Bring water to a boil; drop crawfish in. When water returns to a boil, turn heat off and cool down until crawfish sink below water line. Squeeze lemons In and let soak for about 15-20 minutes; remove from water and serve.

Serves about 7-10.

Note: Clesi prefers to cook vegetables that traditionally accompany a crawfish boil in a separate pot. romero & romero PHOTOGRAPH

LouisianaLife.com | 17

roadside dining

Stopping in Broussard & Arabi Cricket’s and Old Arabi Eats

By Bernard C. Frugé III

When outsiders think of Cajun Country food traditions, they tend to think of the usual suspects such as gumbo, crawfish and boudin. While these are all legitimate Cajun food traditions, one of the best every day food institutions in the Lafayette area is the plate lunch. The search for the best plate lunch will take you to mainstays, but a newcomer is generating a lot of buzz with the locals.

The stretch of Highway 90 that runs south from Lafayette through Broussard and into New Iberia is dotted with oil services companies, oil consulting companies, every oil industry-related type of

18 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

business is accounted for. Last spring, Jonathan “Squints” Vannoy opened the doors of Cricket’s just off the highway in the midst of the swarms of oil field workers who demand early breakfasts and ribsticking plate lunches. Cricket’s opens early at 6 a.m., serving quick breakfasts that include their increasingly popular boudin kolaches. For the uninitiated, kolaches are Czech stuffed pastries, and boudin is a sausage casing stuffed with rice, meat and spices. Cricket’s boudin kolaches are links of boudin that are wrapped with cheese, rolled in pastry dough and fried. The crispiness of the outer pastry shell

provides a textural balance for the gooey melted cheese and the core of piping hot rice and meat. If you want more crispiness than a kolache, you can try the same thing but in egg roll form, which is also pretty amazing (but a bit heavier and more deep-fried).

Squints brought me back into the kitchen for a tour of his roux-based bulk food

preparation. There were three giant bubbling cauldrons of that day’s offerings: pork stew, meatball stew and chicken and sausage gumbo. He was busy loading meatball stew into a giant funnel to be placed in thick, two-gallon bags for orders. Apparently, the secret is out. I got to test all of the entrees and sides, but the best were his roux-based specialties. The roux of the stews is a Cajun dark brown (not the tomato-heavy red Creole roux one sees east of here) and is thick enough to coat the rice underneath, but thin enough to be more gravylike than stewlike. Cricket’s is some of the best gravy over rice I’ve ever had. The menu rotates daily; get there early because it gets packed quickly until it closes after lunch service. And if you’re wondering where the name comes from, Cricket is Squints’ favorite hunting dog.

Information, 1069 Freman Road, Broussard, (337) 364-7300. n

Old Arabi Eats If you drive down St. Claude Avenue past all of the hip bars in Marigny/St. Roch and the growing crop of restaurant offerings in the Bywater, go over the bridge and through the Lower Ninth Ward, you come to the sleepy little town of Arabi. Given the small-town feel, it is hard to believe that it is only a few minutes outside of New Orleans. Arabi is also home to one of the best hidden gems in the New Orleans area, Old Arabi Eats. It’s like a country café with a bohemian undercurrent, with park benches for booths and quaint bistro tables. Since opening its doors in fall of 2013, it has become known for its small menu. For dinner there are three of each of apps, entrees, and sandwiches – including the highly touted burger. One of the hallmark menu items here is the chili. In a region known for its soups, few people understand how do make proper chili, but OAE does a great job. It was smoky and spicy and delicious, featuring poblanos, serranos, beef and pork. The mussels and salad were also great, but the stars of the show were the chili and fantastic burger. The burger was straightforward and excellently prepared (medium-rare). The next time you are in New Orleans or just passing through, it is well worth the trip to OAE for some refined, eclectic cuisine. Information, 7005 St. Claude Ave., Arabi, (504) 563-0131. romero & romero photograph

LouisianaLife.com | 19

kitchen gourmet

The Versatile Crawfish 4 recipes to try this spring

By Stanley Dry

King crawfish is an agreeable fellow, as far as cooking goes. His fearsome appearance suggests otherwise, but he is actually extremely adaptable and compliant, and he gets along well with a variety of ingredients. I suppose you could say that he is well-socialized, but only after he has been boiled. In most crawfish preparations, of course, the crawfish are first boiled and then the tail meat and fat are combined with other ingredients to create the final dish. Essentially, the crawfish are twice-cooked, though that’s not a common characterization.

In Louisiana, the most famous crawfish preparations are boiled crawfish, etouffée, bisque and crawfish pies, though bisque is probably more talked about than prepared, due to the time and labor required. It is definitely a special occasion dish. Boiled crawfish are a rite of spring and a Lenten mainstay. Due to the availability of frozen crawfish tail meat, etouffée is prepared throughout the year, as are a plethora of other crawfish dishes. Crawfish pie is a delicious dish, but it really owes its celebrity to the Hank Williams song “Jambalaya (On the Bayou).”

There may be a limit to how many different crawfish preparations are possible, but if there is, I’m not aware of it. Crawfish egg rolls, crawfish fried rice, crawfish

boudin, crawfish stuffing for poultry, crawfish crepes, crawfish stew – those dishes only scratch the surface of crawfish cookery.

The crawfish has become a signature emblem of Louisiana that is recognized around the world, but it was not always that way. It took a long time for crawfish to gain its current standing in Louisiana gastronomy. It’s true that crawfish have a long and storied history in French cuisine, and French settlers in Louisiana brought their taste for the crustacean with them.

Crawfish bisque, in particular, became a prominent feature of the Creole cuisine that evolved in New Orleans. But it was a harder sell for the Acadian refugees who settled in south Louisiana. They had no tradition of eating crawfish. Indeed, in rural South Louisiana, crawfish developed a stigma as “poverty food.”

According to Stir the Pot: The History of Cajun Cuisine, by Marcelle Bienvenu, Carl A. Brasseaux and Ryan A. Brasseaux, crawfish did not play a significant role in the Cajun diet until the mid-20th century. But once eating crawfish became popular in Cajun Louisiana, there was no stopping it. Now crawfish are closely identified with Acadiana, where crawfish ponds supply much of the state’s supply and crawfish are used in an infinite variety of preparations. n

Stir-fried crawfish with tasso and bok choy eugenia uhl photograph

LouisianaLife.com | 21

recipes

Stir-Fried Crawfish With Tasso & Bok Choy

Savory Crawfish & Vegetable Pancakes

This dish, which requires little prep and cooks quickly, is ideal for a busy weeknight.

Thanks to the demand for gluten-free products, many specialty flours are now readily available in supermarkets. The garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour used in this recipe is high in protein and extremely flavorful. Carrots and bell peppers can be shredded with a box grater or vegetable peeler

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced ginger root ½ cup cubed tasso 1 cup crawfish tails, peeled and deveined 4 cups chopped bok choy ½ cup chicken broth Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste Heart wok or large skillet over high heat. Add oil and heat. Add garlic and ginger root and stir quickly until fragrant. Add tasso and stir briefly. Add crawfish and stir. Add bok choy and stir. Add chicken broth and cook, while stirring and tossing, until bok choy softens. Season with Cajun/ Creole seasoning. Serve with steamed rice.

Makes 4 servings.

1 cup all-purpose flour ½ cup garbanzo bean flour ½ teaspoon salt 1¹⁄8 cup water 1 egg, lightly beaten ½ cup shredded carrots ½ cup shredded bell pepper 1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced ¼ cup chopped green onion tops 1 cup chopped crawfish Vegetable oil for frying Soy sauce for serving Hot sauce for serving In a large mixing bowl, combine the two flours and salt. Slowly add water, while stirring, until smooth.

Add egg and stir to combine. Add carrots, bell pepper, jalapeño, onion tops and crawfish and stir to combine.

Add a film of oil to a nonstick frying pan and heat over medium heat. Using a large spoon, add about ¼ cup of the mixture to the pan. Use the back of the spoon to press down and smooth the crawfish and vegetables. Cook until nicely browned, about 1 minute. Using a spatula, turn pancake and cook for another minute until browned. Repeat with remaining batter. If batter becomes too thick, thin with a little water. Keep pancakes warm in a low oven. Serve with soy sauce and hot sauce.

Makes about 12 pancakes.

22 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Crawfish Balls

Crawfish Cornbread

These can be served as an hors d’oeuvre or appetizer.

Leftover cornbread can be split, toasted and buttered.

1 cup crawfish tails, peeled and deveined ½ cup breadcrumbs ¼ cup melted butter 2 teaspoons chopped parsley 2 eggs 1 teaspoon lemon juice Hot sauce to taste Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste Flour for dredging Butter for frying Vegetable oil for frying Cocktail or remoulade sauce Place crawfish in food processor fitted with metal blade and pulse several times to grind. Add breadcrumbs, butter, parsley and eggs, and pulse until well combined. Season with lemon juice, hot sauce and Cajun/Creole seasoning and pulse to combine.

Form mixture into balls about the size of a walnut.

1 cup crawfish tails, peeled and deveined Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste 1½ cups cornmeal, preferably stone ground ½ cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1½ cups milk 4 tablespoons butter, melted ½ cup grated cheddar cheese 1 large jalapeño, seeded and chopped 1 small bell pepper, seeded and chopped Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Season crawfish generously with Cajun/Creole seasoning and set aside.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, add butter and oil to a depth of about ½ inch. Dredge balls in flour and cook in batches, without overcrowding, turning them to brown all over.

Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining balls, adding additional butter and oil as needed. Serve with cocktail or remoulade sauce.

Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl and whisk to combine. In another bowl, beat eggs, add milk and stir into dry ingredients. Add melted butter and cheddar, and stir to combine.

Add jalapeño, bell pepper and crawfish. Stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 24 crawfish balls.

Makes 9 servings.

LouisianaLife.com | 23

home

A Touch of the Irish Beth James and Dave Malone’s Prairieville home lends itself to creativity and peacefulness.

By Bonnie Warren / Photographed by Craig Macaluso

24 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Beth James and Dave Malone live on a picturesque 100 acres known as Broussard Grove that had been in Beth’s family for five generations before they acquired the property in 2006. Their two-story rock house appears to have been lifted out of the Irish countryside and transported to the rich Louisiana farmland.

Dave’s mother, Gertrude Songy, grew up at Evergreen

Plantation on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in Edgard, and after she married his father, they purchased an adjacent house. “I am happy to be living in the country again,” he says. “I loved growing up in a small town where everybody was friendly. We appreciate the kindness of the people in our community, and I feel connected to a special freedom I felt as

a child and young man living in the country.”

The 3,800-square-foot home was designed by Brian Bockman and Jack Forbes of the New Orleans design and architectural firm of Bockman + Forbes.

Both Brian and Jack are architects and designers.

“They are masters of elegant design,” Beth says. “We went to them after Hurricane Katrina when we were living

in Uptown New Orleans, and told them we wanted something less formal than our present residence, but we did not want a typical casual home either.”

“Brian and Jack have extraordinary resources, impeccable taste and kept the entire project of building our home on schedule,” Dave says. The result was a unique two-story floor plan sitting well back from the winding country road. “The construction was completed in 2008 and we think the design of the house is very special.”

The frontman, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the much-loved Radiators, a band that reached national acclaim during its more-thanthree decades of existence, Dave says that his favorite space is the music studio that is joined to the rest of the house by an open breezeway.

Here, he continues his music passion writing songs and working with the Raw Oyster Cult, his band that features three of the five original members of the Radiators.

Beth, who is on the management staff at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens on the Historic Mississippi River Road in Darrow about 17 miles

from their country home, explains that the interior was designed specifically to separate the different living spaces. “We initially wanted a replica of the historic Pitot house in New Orleans,” she says. “We changed our minds when we decided to build a stone house similar to those we had admired when we visited Ireland.”

Built of Eldorado stone, the walls of the house are very thick. “The energy savings and noise reduction of our stone home is amazing,” Beth says. “Another benefit

is that the house is fairly maintenance-free.

“Our good luck during the construction was finding two skilled Russian finish carpenters, who knew exactly how to build the three-story staircase, which included bending the railing using the old process of soaking the wood for the railing in water and slowly bending it to fit the radius. It is a true work of art.” The carpenters also created all of the trim work on the site. “We detailed the house using cypress and recycled wood, which came

LEFT: Maximum storage is provided in the kitchen with a wall of cabinets behind the center island. RIGHT: The railing on the three-level stairway was built by Russian finish carpenters using the old process of soaking the wood for the rail in water and slowly bending it to fit the radius.

LEFT: The spacious living room occupies the entire front of the house. TOP: Light floods the dining room from the tall glass windows and doors. A Saarinen pedestal table and JANUS et Cie chairs provide comfortable seating. RIGHT: The second-floor master bedroom opens onto a Juliet balcony and roof deck.

from an original building on the property that had been torn down,” she adds.

The rear of the JamesMalone house evokes a feeling of being on vacation with a large swimming pool and expansive patio for relaxing. A handsome pergola joins the all-glass side porch, creating a picturesque setting for al fresco dining. “It’s 26 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

an ideal setting for entertaining,” Beth says. “And our five grandchildren – from 2 to 9 years of age – love to visit and play in the pool.”

Furnishing for the home are from great furniture makers such as Knoll (founded in New York City in 1938 by Hans Knoll), Saarinen (designs by Eero Saarinen, a Finnish-

American architect famous for his neofuturist furniture), Grange (manufacturer of fine French furniture since 1904), and JANUS et Cie (leader in modern furniture for 35 years) and French and English antiques. The custom sofa is a replica of an original 1970s by Milo Baughman that was in Beth’s mother’s home. Neil Peyroux, owner of

Peyroux’s Custom Curtains in New Orleans, is responsible for the handsome drapes.

“Here we relax and enjoy the peaceful country setting in a house that has all the modern conveniences,” Beth says. Dave agrees and adds, “Living here is like always being at a resort.” n

art

Evening Clouds and Streaks of Sunlight A retired geologist in Baton Rouge, artist Charles G. Smith paints nature.

By John R. Kemp

After a long career mapping Louisiana’s dark subterranean world of oil and gas reservoirs, retired Baton Rouge geologist Charles G. Smith has turned his attention to painting in the wooded pastures of Southeast Louisiana, the mountains of Colorado and along the

28 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

rocky coasts of California.

His painterly images reveal an imagination freed from the geology of the land to the poetry of light and shadows.

Smith’s studio and home are filled with his small paintings of rural landscapes. They are, in a sense, visual memories of

earlier travels in the United States and Europe or simply impressions of cows grazing in a nearby pasture, or rolls of cut hay warmed by late afternoon sunlight along the River Road.

Like the French Impressionists of an earlier time, Smith enjoys painting

on location, en plein air, in nature. There all of his senses are open to the landscape.

“You notice some sparkling point of interest in the landscape,” he says. “You want to capture a part of that experience. You want to get in a little deeper and make it your own in some limited way. I have sketches of brief moments in my life enjoying both exotic, grand places and also more mundane scenes close to home. Each was exhilarating for the pure natural beauty.

A photograph wouldn’t hold the same meaning for me. It might be a better record of the reality of the moment, but my participation wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t have

that memory that painting imprints on my mind.”

Born in 1943 near a coal mining camp in West Virginia, Smith and his wife, Peggy, grew up in nearby Huntington on the Ohio River where they attended Marshall University.

She studied math and he, geology plus a few art courses that interested him. Smith then went to receive a master’s degree in geology from LSU in 1969. With the Vietnam War then raging, Smith, like many of his generation, joined the Air Force and spent the next four adventurous years on military bases in West Germany. After his discharge in 1973, the Smiths returned to Baton Rouge, now with two young sons, where Charles went to work as a consulting geologist, specializing first on groundwater resources and then on South Louisiana’s oil and gas deposits.

All during those years in college, the military and his working career, Smith continued to follow his quiet passion for drawing and sketching. By the late 1990s, he started showing his watercolors in annual shows sponsored by a local frame shop and art gallery. Then in 2000, as he contemplated retirement, Smith enrolled in plein-air painting workshops with the Italian-born California painter John Budicin and later with Arizona artist Matt Smith at the Fredericksburg Artists’ School in Fredericksburg, Texas. “I had never painted in oils, so I had a lot to learn,” he recalls. “I figured a workshop would be the best way to speed things up. That was the right decision for me.”

Now with a bit more confidence, he began painting alone in the open fields of a former dairy farm near his

home. “They had several large pastures where I could learn to paint without being in the public eye,” he recalls. “Out there, I had quiet, openness and plenty of unsupervised time to paint and screw up without being embarrassed by clumsy results. It was just me, the cows and occasionally a politely curious neighbor.

I still paint out there.”

Though Smith’s painting occasionally takes him to the Rocky Mountains, rural France and coastal California, he works mostly close to home in Louisiana. “In my world,” he explains, “I like to find a great live oak making a big, bold, dark green mass in an open field, ideally with a tree line in the distance so I can introduce atmospheric blues and violets LouisianaLife.com | 29

into the landscape. It’s always nice to have cattle grazing in the field. I often head to my favorite field in the evening to try to capture evening clouds and streaks of low sunlight in the field. Winter is probably my favorite time. We don’t get the fantastic snow possibilities, but we’re never snowed-in, and I can paint in relative comfort year-round.

The lush green leaf masses of summer are gone, and you can 30 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

see further, past the trees, to tree lines that are now grey and pink and even golden. Our streams are bayous that are slow moving. For a change of scenery, I drive about 40 miles north to West Feliciana Parish, where the land has luscious rolling pastures and clear, running sandy streams.”

Afternoon and early evening are his preferred times for working on location. “The evening brings dramatic color

and long shadows and the sun and heat are not so taxing,” he says. “I enjoy evening clouds that progress from cool, faint blues at the base, through the spectrum to warm, golden white tops. I also enjoy the evenings when the rich, warm green flanks of trees face the low, western sun. But time of day doesn’t limit my painting.

Midday, when the sun is high, often presents crystalline light with magnificent skies, and the changes in light are slower so that you have more time for concentrating on a big landscape.”

When he heads out into his favorite pasture, he first scouts out a location. “I try to paint an aspect of the landscape more convincingly than I did before,” he says. “I ask how can I use opaque paint to get the effect of sunlight reflecting off the tops of a patch of tall grass, or render the sometimes heavy Louisiana atmospheric perspective, or capture something close to the tonal nuances

of a burgeoning storm cloud.

Sometimes I don’t succeed or even progress. The next hour or the next day or next week, the scene will change and offer new possibilities. I’ll spread around more paint, make more sketches and slowly, over time, the results improve. It’s kind of like golf with no green fees.”

Smith completes most paintings within a few hours and rarely takes them back to the same location. “I find the scene never looks the same twice,” he says. “It’s more productive to make it one session, one painting.” Once completed, he returns to the studio to apply final touches. “I always bring the painting back to the studio,” he explains, “to touch up a too-hard sky hole in the trees, or soften an edge or try to make the sunlight more brilliant. It’s vital for me to get back to controlled light of the studio to see the painting out of the glare of the sun, even though I almost always set up and paint in a shaded spot, to make final touches, to put it up on the studio easel where I can look closer and move back to see it in a new surrounding.”

Though his location paintings are completed works, he is increasingly using them as studies for larger studio paintings. Art galleries, he says, like big paintings. Nevertheless, Smith says he will continue to work on location. “I would never advance as a painter if I didn’t go out and face the challenges of the light,” he says.

“Studios are claustrophobic and you don’t get to enjoy the life of a plein-air painter.”

Smith is represented in Baton Rouge by Ann Connelly Fine Art and in New Orleans

by Jean Bragg Gallery. For more information about his work and paintings, visit charlesgsmith.com. n

LouisianaLife.com | 31

traveler

Gum Springs Trail, Winn District

Springtime in Kisatchie Exploring Louisiana's forest Paul F. Stahls Jr.

Welcome to a world of boulders and beaches, ridges and ravines, pine hills and prairies, creeks and bayous, even 20-mile views from mini-mountaintops.

Sky-high pines sing and sway all year in 600,000-acre Kisatchie National Forest, but spring’s special, when the woodlands turn redbud pink and dogwood white, buds and blooms pop out on vines and shrubs, and the homeliest bogs come alive with pitcher plants

32 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

and wild orchids. Whether you come to camp, hike, fish, cycle or canoe, spring’s décor will enhance your adventure.

The best way to learn the “Ranger Districts” is by exploring the trail systems, so take maps, take cameras, take binoculars, take water and take as many trails as you can. The five districts sprawl across Central and North Louisiana, each offering a fair share of the forest’s 50 campsites, 400 miles of trails

and 15 Day-Use Areas, and all easily accessible from I-10 and I-20 via I-49 or scenic old state and U.S. highways, The story of the forest really begins in 1908 when a young teacher from Reidheimer, at the northern tip of Natchitoches Parish, traveled to its southern tip to teach in the village of Kisatchie, spending her free time roaming the region’s longleaf pine forest, studying the plant life and collecting pottery shards of the CaddoKichai. When the timber boom brought clear-cutting to Louisiana, she launched a letter-writing and newspaper campaign urging timber barons to moderate their cutting patterns, but soon the virgin pines were gone and Caroline Dormon – teacher by profession, horticulturist

by avocation and lobbyist by necessity – turned to urging the transformation of those denuded acres into a National Forest where woodlands could be profitably restored.

Her voice was heard in the halls of the U.S. Forest Service, she became the first female employee of any state forestry department, and finally she was asked, appropriately, to pen the enabling act allowing Louisiana to benefit from the new federal policy of acquiring cutover lands for replanting.

When the dust settled, in a gesture of appreciation, not just one district but the entire Kisatchie Forest was named for the old stomping grounds of the schoolteacher-turned-activist.

Stop for maps and information at the Kisatchie District Welcome Center – on La. 117,

photos by jim caldwell

National Scenic Stream, Saline Bayou, Winn District.

Footprints in the sands of Kisatchie Creek

(318) 472-1840 – before entering the forest on the National Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway, which soon enters the district’s Red Dirt National Wildlife Management Preserve.

A turn-off at the hunters’ Check Station leads through Coyote Camp to a stunning bluff-top view of the Kisatchie Hills National Wilderness Area, the most rugged terrain in the state. Accessible only by foot or horseback, its trails include 7 miles of the infamous ridgetop trail known as the Devil’s Backbone.

Farther along 59 look for the head of the Caroline Dormon Trail, which winds 10.5 miles to a day-use area and camp beside the rapids of Kisatchie Creek. Next comes the turnoff to the Longleaf Vista, known for its high mesa-topped hills and hilltop picnic area with its sandstone gazebo, walls and stair steps. “Kisatchie Wold,” the locally familiar term for those buttes and ridges, actually refers to the entire escarpment formation stretching from the Mississippi to the Rio Grande, the whole of it named for the Kichai Indians

who roamed most of its length.

The Catahoula District above Alexandria was one of the first “purchase units” funded when Congress realized the danger of timber famine, and this district played a unique role in the reforestation.

The Ranger Station – (318) 765-3554 – just off U.S. 167 on La. 8 is part of the old complex where the concepts of Richard Stuart, a pioneer of nursery-based forestry, were put into action to produce innumerable seedlings for the cause. His name lives on at Stuart Lake, created to supply water for the seed-pine orchards and experimental plantations, the saplings to be planted by “CCC Boys” in every district. The Civilian Conservation Corps, managed by the Army, arrived in 1933, created like the WPA to boost Depression-era employment but focusing on reforestry.

The seed orchards, now diversified, produce longleaf, shortleaf, slash and loblolly pinecones, while nearby the Gardeners for Wildlife (local

volunteers) maintain the big Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden and the Stuart Lake Nature Trail leads to a Day-Use Area and camp.

La. 122 leads north to Iatt Lake Observation Pier, a hotspot for migrating birds, “locals” like pileated and red-cockaded woodpeckers and furbearers like beaver and otter, and the nearby Catahoula National Wildlife Management Preserve is open for hiking and camping in off-seasons.

Named for the nearby river, the Calcasieu District consists of two units, both managed by the Ranger Station west of Alexandria – 9912 La. 28, (318) 793-9427. That means two vast networks of trails, a double dose of camps and Day-Use Areas, plus endless fishing spots and hunting opportunities – known particularly for its turkey population, now enhanced by controlled burning in collaboration with the National Wild Turkey Federation.

The Vernon Unit borders the Ft. Polk Military Reservation where generations of U.S. infantrymen have trained for service, and a museum at 7881 Mississippi Ave., on base, tells of the pre-World War II maneuvers at “Camp” Polk and the modern-day mission of the fort.

From La. 10 on the Vernon’s south side, La. 399 leads north to Fullerton where a huge, abandoned sawmill remains as a landmark of mill-town days (also accessible from Fullterton Lake Campground via the Fullerton Mill Trail).

The three loops of the Enduro Trail provide 30-plus miles for off-roading, the Ouiska Chitto Trail is reserved for hikers, bicyclers and horsemen, and

LouisianaLife.com | 33

Pitcher Plant bog, Calcasieu District

Biologist Steve Shively banding red-cockaded woodpeckers.

Butterfly Garden, Catahoula District

together they attract many regular visitors from across the state. The Longleaf Scenic Area is convenient to hikers on the Ouiska Chitto and Big Branch Trails, and wildflowers are plentiful everywhere but especially at Drake’s Creek Bog, Cooter’s Bog and Wild Azalea Seep Area.

U.S. 165 below Alexandria skirts the Calcasieu’s Evangeline Unit, and interpretive signs just inside the La. 112 entrance announce the headquarters area of Camp Claiborne, where a half-million troops trained as 34 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

paratroopers in Gen. Omar Bradley’s 82nd and 101st (“Screaming Eagles”) Airborne divisions, or in bridge and highway building, rapid trestle and rail construction and other specialties. Three loops of the Claiborne Trail access the vast and historic acreage of the old camp, providing 77 miles of all-purpose trails through upland pine terrain.

Below La. 112 and off U.S. 165 at Longleaf, the Southern Forest Heritage Museum – a restoration-in-progress mill whose full contingent of machinery and railstock

remains – is now adding a Louisiana CCC Museum in a log CCC lodge moved from nearby Alexander State Forest.

The State Forest (with its camps, trails and beaches at Indian Creek Reservoir) abuts Kisatchie around Woodworth, where the National Wild Azalea Recreation Trail begins its 31-mile trek through hills, flatlands and bottoms to the Valentine Lake Recreation Area.

From La. 28 at the north end of the unit, enjoy the hilly road and lake scenes on a drive to Kincaid and Valentine Lakes, and stay to enjoy some canoeing, skiing and beach time. For a short hike with a big payoff, follow the trail about 10 minutes west from Kincaid’s Day-Use beach to temporary trail signs indicating an eagle’s nest. Hard to find but, as Amy Richardson at Kisatchie Headquarters says, “Look high and look for something the size of a Volkswagen,” and that works!

Caney District, the northernmost lands of Kisatchie, with its ranger station just south of

Homer – 3288 U.S. 79, (318) 927-2061 – consists of three units. The Middle Fork Unit and large sections of the other two are dedicated to hunting, but the Caney Lakes and Corney Lake Units also offer campgrounds and recreation areas. The Sugar Cane National Recreation Trail runs through the hills and bottoms of the Caney, passing scenic overnighting areas like Beaver Dam Campground at Upper Caney Lake, and the Caney Recreation Complex consists of a variety of Day-Use Areas including a beach for swimming, volleyball or just basking.

BEST BETS

Corney Lake Unit features boat launches, fishing piers and Day-Use Areas on its north and south shores, with grilling/picnicking facilities that are popular in the region for family gatherings. The unit is best known, however, for the rare opportunity it offers for duck hunting on public lands.

The Winn District Ranger Station – 8 miles west of Winnfield at 12319 U.S. 84, (318) 628-4664 – stands next door to the Gum Springs Recreation Area with its two horse trails (both wide enough for wagons). Riders see pinehill and hardwood-bottom

terrain on both trails, and both cross sections of the Keiffer Prairie whose blooming season peaks in April. To drive to the prairie, which provides over half of the state’s prairie acreage, head west on 84 and turn right on La. 560, left on 595 and right on 523, which crosses a major expanse of the bluestem grasses.

Above Winnfield, La. 126 heads west from U.S. 165 to Cloud Crossing Recreation Area on the banks of Saline Bayou, a National Wild and Scenic Stream called the most beautiful “blackwater” river in the nation (tea-colored as a result of tannins from vegeta-

tion leaching into slow-moving waters). The bayou provides a 20-mile canoe ride beneath a canopy of hardwoods and old-growth cypress, paralleled for the first 5 miles by the Saline Bayou Hiking Trail.

From Cloud Crossing La. 126 continues west to La. 9 at Reidheimer, and a mile north, Briarwood Gardens marks the birthplace of the preservationist who gave us Kisatchie National Forest. Now dubbed the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve, it encompasses her log home, her “Writer’s Cabin” and her lifetime collection of wildflowers and indigenous trees. n

Kisatchie Quarters: The U.S. Mint’s “America the Beautiful” series of 25-cent pieces honors one national forest, park or monument in each state, five per year, and one of this year’s five depicts a wild turkey flying across a backdrop of bluestem prairie and longleaf pines in Kisatchie National Forest. The little beauty will be issued in mid-April at ceremonies in Alexandria, with good words from dignitaries and free quarters for kids. For the date call Kisatchie at (318) 473-7160.

BEST TRAIL OF ALL In 1963 when Kisatchie headquarters occupied its Forestry Center offices at 2500 Shreveport Hwy. in Pineville, it came into possession of two acres of sacred ground where to this day it preserves the ruins of the first LSU. Built in 1860, the “State Seminary of Leaning” was lost to fire in 1869, but each year hundreds of the faithful visit its masonry remains, now accompanied by historic markers and encircled by a pleasant walking path.

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LouisianaLife.com | 37

A N A I S I U LOestivals F hts g li h ig

5h

&a

ide w e t a st

list

FEST by month • January • Southern Boat Show, Houma Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival, Cameron Battle of New Orleans Commemoration, Chalmette Martin Luther King, Jr. Festival, Lake Charles • March • Crawfish Etouffee Cookoff, Eunice Jazz on the Bayou presented by Ronnie Kole Foundation, Slidell Abita Springs Earth Fest, Abita Springs Louisiana Redbud Festival, Vivian Bloomin’ on the Bricks, Natchitoches Hammond Smokin’ Blues & BBQ Challenge, Hammond The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans Louisiana Crawfish Festival, Chalmette Irish, Italian, Isleños Fiesta, Chalmette New Orleans Sacred Music Festival, New Orleans

Jane Austen Literary Festival, Mandeville FoodFest (America’s Hometown Eats), New Orleans Sulphur Mines Festival, Sulphur Merryville Heritage Festival, Merryville Terrytown Spring Festival, Terrytown Soul Fest, New Orleans Louisiana Nursery Festival, Forest Hill Congo Square Rhythms Festival, New Orleans Black Heritage Festival, Lake Charles Flea Fest: Flea Market, Lake Charles Live at the Lakefront, Lake Charles Iowa Rabbit Festival, Iowa NOLA Pyrate Week, New Orleans Zfest, Zachary Independence Sicilian Heritage Festival, Independence Laotian New Year, Broussard Audubon Pilgrimage, St. Francisville

Hogs for the Cause, New Orleans Week New Orleans, New Orleans Wednesday at the Square, New Orleans New Orleans International Beer Festival, New Orleans Amite Oyster Festival, Amite Swamp Stomp Festival, Thibodaux Zapp’s International Beer Festival, Baton Rouge • April • Catfish Festival, Washington Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show, Franklin Bayou Jam Concerts, Slidell Chauvin Folk Art Festival, Houma Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival, New Iberia French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Family Fun Fest, Larose Fête Française, New Orleans Southdown Marketplace Spring Arts & Crafts Festival, Houma

zwolle tamale festival October 9-11, 2015 1100. S Main St., Zwolle

Cultural Crossroads Spring Arts Festival, Minden Boggy Bayou Festival, Pine Prairie Cajun Hot Sauce Festival, New Iberia Grand Isle Migratory Bird Festival, Grand Isle Cajun Woodstock for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Church Point Bayou Teche Black Bear and Birding Festival, Franklin Franklin Parish Catfish Festival, Winnsboro Covington Antiques Festival, Covington Scottish Tartan Festival, Minden Jazz in the Park, New Orleans Italian Festival, Tickfaw Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival, Natchitoches New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans Italian Heritage Festival (Festa Italiana), Kenner Old Algiers RiverFest, New Orleans (Algiers) Louisiana Forest Festival, Winnfield

photos courtesy sabine parish tourist commission

Across Louisiana you can find many permutations of the tamale. There’s the thick, doughy, Mexicanstyle tamales that became more ubiquitous in New Orleans and its suburbs following Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana always had the Mississippi Delta style tamales, which you can get by the meat counter at small grocery stores, from street vendors, or sold alongside sno-balls and nachos out of the windows of tiny stands. Those tiny tamales usually come tightly packed in Styrofoam containers, drowning in a spicy red sauce that stains the white containers.

Or, sometimes you’ll find something that’s a mash-up of many culinary cultures; the tamale is a

blank slate for foodways to intersect. You can see that cultural intersection at the Zwolle Tamale Festival, held annually in October in Zwolle.

Zwolle is a small town in Sabine Parish that was originally a Native American village and was later settled by the descendants of French and Spanish adventurers.

The town’s first Englishspeaking settlers were from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas. This resulted in a unique culinary heritage, and specifically a tamale

that’s a combination of that Mississippi Delta style but is also influenced by Native American and Spanish culinary traditions – and it’s spicy. The tamale festival started in 1975 as a quaint event mostly limited to the town’s main street, but has since grown to be a more sprawling affair with typical Louisiana festival fixtures.

Celebrating its 40th year this year, the festival includes rides, entertainment, arts and crafts, dancing, a tamale making contest,

Holiday in Dixie, Shreveport Plaquemine Pow-Wow, Plaquemine Angola Prison Spring Rodeo, Angola Louisiana Railroad Days Festival, DeQuincy FestForAll, Baton Rouge Denham Springs Antique District Spring Festival, Denham Springs Great Louisiana BirdFest, Mandeville Original Lake Charles Crawfish Festival, Lake Charles Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival, Ponchatoula Festival International de Louisiane, Lafayette DeltaFest, Monroe Baton Rouge Blues Festival, Baton Rouge North Louisiana Spring Bluegrass Festival, Oak Grove Freret Street Festival, New Orleans Etoufee Festival, Arnaudville Houmapalooza Spring Music Festival, Houma

a “mud bog” (monster truck) parade, and of course the crowning of the Tamale Fiesta Queen and her court.

You can also pick up some of the town’s signature tamales while you’re there, individually or by the dozen. The festival is also releasing an updated tamale cookbook this year so you can get the secrets of what is likely to be a kind of tamale you can only eat in Louisiana.

– Lauren LaBorde

Le Festival du Bon Temps a’ Broussard, Broussard Rhythms on the River, Morgan City Scott Boudin Festival, Scott Melrose Arts Festival, Melrose Mandeville Live Concertsl, Mandeville Battle of Pleasant Hill Annual Reenactment and Festival, Pleasant Hill Louisiana Earth Day, Baton Rouge Cypress Sawmill Festival, Patterson Kite Fest Louisiane, Port Allen • May • Greater New Orleans International Dragon Boat Festival, Madisonville Bunk Johnson Jazz Festival, New Iberia Sunset Herb and Garden Festival, Sunset Mayfest, Leesville Poke Salad Festival, Blanchard

washington parish free fair photo courtesy washington parish free fair

October 21-24, 2015 115 Main St., Franklinton

Is the Washington Parish Free Fair really the “largest free county fair” in North America? It’s not certain, though the fair does tout that claim frequently. But it doesn’t really matter because in the town’s eyes, it is the biggest thing in America.

This is a sprawling affair that takes over the town of Franklinton, so it probably does feel like the only thing happening when the town is gearing up for this annual event: kids get off from school, it’s hard to get anywhere else in town, and talk of the fair is on every local’s lips. There is a wholesome, old-timey feel to this huge four-day festival that is – as you might be able to infer – free to enter. Activity

centers around the festival’s Midway, but there are attractions to explore, things to eat and livestock to pet all throughout the festival grounds. Crowned by pine trees, costumed hosts take you on a trip back to the 1800s at the Mile Branch Settlement, an authentic pioneer village in the middle of the fairgrounds, where it’s popular to sit on the porches of the old cabins and take in the surroundings. Here you can observe some of the activities and see some of the original dwellings of the town’s original inhabitants, Appalachian Scotch-Irish pioneers.

Thibodaux Firemen’s Fair, Thibodaux Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, New Orleans Zydeco Extravaganza, Opelousas Bayou Country Superfest, Baton Rouge Oilman's Fishing Invitational, Houma Zwolle Loggers and Forestry Festival, Zwolle Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival, Belle Chasse Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, Breaux Bridge Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo, New Orleans New Orleans Wine & Food Experience, New Orleans Heflin Sawmill Festival, Heflin Contraband Days-Louisiana Pirate Festival, Lake Charles Starks Mayhaw Festival, Starks Tomato Festival, Chalmette Cochon de Lait Festival, Mansura Mudbug Maddness, Shreveport Greek Festival New Orleans, New Orleans

There are plenty of free kids activities, including the Old McDonald’s Farm petting zoo. There’s also a rodeo, a country market, a 5K race, horticultural and livestock exhibits, rides, fair food and the crowning of the fair queen. The jam-packed live music schedule usually includes country and rock groups.

There is also the annual Better Baby Contest – a baby beauty pageant.

The fair is probably one of the most dynamic and filled with things to do and see.

– Lauren LaBorde

rayne frog fesitval May 6-9, 2015 Frog Festival Drive, Rayne

If you haven’t spent time in Rayne, you may have stopped at its gas station during a road trip. Don’t remember?

It’s the one that says FROG CITY on it and a giant statue of a frog wearing a top hat out front. This fancy frog is welcoming you to a town of less than

Jambalaya Festival, Gonzales Marion Mayhaw Festival, Marion Riverboat Festival, Columbia Herb and Garden Festival, Sunset Jeff Fish Fest & Rodeo, River Ridge • June • Lake Arthur Regatta, Lake Arthur FestiGals, New Orleans Krewe of Terreanians Fishing Rodeo, Houma St. Tammany Crab Festival, Lacombe Bon Mangé Festival, Gheens Church Point Buggy Festival, Church Point Louisiana Bicycle Festival, Abita Springs Back to the Beach Festival, Kenner Bluesberry Festival, Lafayette Uplifting the Coast Festival, Baton Rouge Louisiana Catfish Festival, Des Allemands

8,000 people, telling you that while this town may be small, it sure is hopping.

What’s with the frogs?

The so-called Frog Capital of the Road, or Frog City, became known as such after a Rayne chef began selling bullfrogs to New Orleans restaurants in the 1880s. Word got around about this new trend of frog delicacies, and this caught the attention of local businessman Jacques Weil and his brothers, who turned it into a lucrative industry. They soon sold Louisiana frogs to restaurants in New York and France, and now frog legs are a fixture on most French bistro menus and even casual eateries.

Today, Rayne no longer exports frogs, but the amphibian maintains its iconic status in the town, and the beautiful frog murals around town and the annual festival – which this year is moving to the spring – are testament of that. Now in its 34rd festival features both human- and frog-centered entertainment, including live

Wednesdays on the Point, New Orleans (Algiers) New Orleans Oyster Festival, New Orleans Louisiana Peach Festival, Ruston French Market’s Creole Tomato Festival, New Orleans Garden Fest, Baton Rouge Beauregard Watermelon Festival, DeRidder The Day the War Stopped, St. Francisville Louisiana Corn Festival, Bunkie Let the Good Times Roll Festival, Shreveport Smoked Meat Festival, Ville Platte Southern Fried Swamp Fest, New Orleans Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival, New Orleans Lake Arthur Freedom Fest, Lake Arthur Juneteenth Folklife Celebration, Opelousas Juneteenth Heritage Festival, Grambling

rides, parades, food (including fried frog legs), arts and crafts and other state fair activities. This year’s festival includes new events: a dance contest, a Cajun jam session and a a poker run. Now that the festival is in May, there’s nicer weather to look forward to, as well as boiled crawfish.

If you want to visit a Louisiana festival that embodies the strangeness and intense pride of small-town America, this is the one.

– Lauren LaBorde

photo by ron berard

music and frog racing and jumping contests, respectively. The frog competitions are taking very seriously, with “best dressed frog” competitions in which “jockeys” outfit their frogs in bespoke costumes.

The fair also includes several pageants for contestants of all ages, most notably the Miss Queen who is expected to work hard for Rayne during her tenure, often giving up several of her weekends to act as an ambassador at other festivals. There also are

• July • Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans Independence Day Parade, Houma Cajun Music & Food Festival, Lake Charles Running of the Bulls, New Orleans Bucktown Bash, Metairie Mandeville City Seafood Fest, Mandeville Cake and Ice Cream Festival, Abbeville Bayou BBQ Bash – “Morgan City Under the Bridge,” Morgan City Celebration on the Cane, Natchitoches Marshland Festival, Lake Charles Erath Fourth of July Celebration, Erath Swamp Pop Music Festival, Gonzales Let Freedom Ring Festival, Thibodaux Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration, St. Francisville Lebeau Zydeco Festival, Lebeau

shrimp & petroleum festival Labor Day Weekend, Lawrence Park, Morgan City

The phrase “shrimp and petroleum” succinctly sums up Louisiana’s two most lucrative exports.

And yes, that blunt juxtaposition might seem unsettling in our post-BP oil spill

existence – and even before that event, the St. Mary’s Parish festival was honored with a “Most Unusual Name” award – but that’s fact of life down here that those are the things that keep many Louisiana residents fed. This festival celebrates those industries, and people who work in them and often risk their lives, framing the celebration around the “harvest” of the sea and the oil industry. The annual festival originated when the first boatload of jumbo shrimp arrived at a Morgan City port, prompting celebration and parading. In 1937, the first Blessing of the Fleet was held to bestow some spiritual guidance onto the shrimpers and their boats, and this is a tradition that remains in Louisiana – the current iteration of the festival features a massive blessing and water parade, which includes a bow-to-bow “kiss” between the king and queen’s vessels. By the late 60s, the petroleum industry boomed in Louisiana, and this

Louisiana Watermelon Festival, Farmerville Natchitoches/NSU Folk Festival, Natchitoches Essence Festival, New Orleans Golden Meadow-Fourchon International Tarpon Rodeo, Golden Meadow-Port Fourchon Slidell Heritage Festival, Slidell Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo, Grand Isle • August • Dirty Linen Night, New Orleans Delcambre Shrimp Festival, Delcambre French Film Fest, New Orleans Whitney White Linen Night, New Orleans Satchmo SummerFest, New Orleans Polos & Pearls, St. Francisville Red Dress Run, New Orleans Gueydan Duck Festival, Gueydan Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival,

was the first time the festival’s present-day named was used; the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival is the oldest state chartered festival in Louisiana. One of the biggest draws of the four-day free festival is the diversity of music featured, including zydeco, Cajun, country, pop and rhythm and blues acts. Food, of course, features shrimp “cooked every way imaginable … it would make Forrest Gump proud,” alligator on a stick, plus traditional home-style Cajun cooking. The Children’s Village includes activities for little ones, and the Saturday of the festival is the designated “Children’s Day” with special events and a mini parade. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Louisiana festival without the crowning of the festival royalty.

This festival celebrates the things that make this town thrive, even if it’s a strange marriage.

–Lauren LaBorde

Opelousas (Plaisance) MOLA Music Fest, Monroe Arts & Crabs Fest, Lake Charles Le Cajun Music Awards and Festival, Lafayette • September • Southern Decadence, New Orleans Oldies Fest, Port Allen Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival, Natchitoches Best of the Bayou, Houma Germantown Bluegrass Festival, Minden Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, Morgan City Calca-Chew Food Festival, Lake Charles Bogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival, Bogalusa Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival, New Iberia Sugar Festival, Arabi St. Theresa Bon Ton Festival, Carlyss New Orleans Burlesque Festival, New Orleans

new orleans comic con January 8-10, 2016 Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

Rougarou Festival, Houma Bayou Lafourche Antique Show, Thibodaux Alligator Festival, Luling St. Martinville Kiwanis Pepper Festival, St. Martinville Jim Bowie Festival & BBQ Throwdown, Vidalia Downriver Festival at the French Market, New Orleans Louisiana Chicken Festival, Dubach Community Day and Outhouse Race Festival, Choudrant Oldies But Goodies Fest & BBQ Cook-Off, Port Allen Louisiana Hot Air Balloon Championship Festival, Gonzales • October • Tour de Teche, Bayou Teche French Market's Boo Carré, Ragley Heritage & Timber Festival, Ragley Sugar Fest, Port Allen Cal-Cam Fair, Sulphur State Fair of Louisiana, Shreveport Andouille Festival, LaPlace Opelousas Spice and Music Festival, Opelousas Voice of the Wetlands, Houma Taste of Louisiana, Houma Louisiana Cattle Festival, Abbeville Harvest Festival on False River, New Roads Oktoberfest, Kenner Louisiana Gumbo Festival of Chackbay, Chackbay/ Thibodaux Bridge City Gumbo Festival, Bridge City International Heritage Celebration, Baton Rouge Black Pot Festival and Cook-Off, Lafayette Louisiana Seafood Festival, New Orleans Ponderosa Stomp Festival, New Orleans North Louisiana Fall Bluegrass Festival, Oak Grove Springhill Lumberjack Festival, Springhill Red River Revel, Shreveport Oak Alley Plantation Fall Arts and Crafts Festival, Vacherie

the local events do not boast the starstudded rosters of the San Diego and New York Cons, fans are able to attend panels hosted by stars of their favorite shows and films, and can also stand in line for autographs at appointed times.

The third and most important element of the Con experience is the costumed fans, or “cosplayers.” Con folks tend to take cosplay pretty seriously, and the effort that goes into some of the costumes is remarkable. The highlight of every Con weekend is definitely the costume contest, and it is well-worth attending to see the locals showing off their artisanship.

–Bernard C. Frugé III

Yellow Leaf Arts Festival, St. Francisville Denham Springs Antique District Fall Festival, Denham Springs International Rice Festival, Crowley Old Farmers Day Festival, Loranger Greater Baton Rouge State Fair, Baton Rouge Angola Prison Fall Rodeo, Angola New Orleans Film Festival, New Orleans Sweet Dough Pie Festival, Grand Coteau French Food Festival, Larose Louisiana Yambilee Festival, Opelousas Blues in da Parish Festival, Violet Gretna Heritage Festival, Gretna Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, New Orleans Roberts Cove Germanfest, Rayne (Roberts Cove) Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival, Madisonville Book Sale Friends of the Jefferson Public Library, Metairie Louisiana Cotton Festival, Ville Patte Cajun Heritage Festival, Larose Fesitvals Acadiens et Créoles, Lafayette Louisiana Art and Folk Festival, Columbia Violet Oyster Festival, Violet October Fete, Kaplan Louisiana Tournoi, Ville Platte Franklin Harvest Moon Festival, Franklin Rapides Parish Fair, Alexandria West Louisiana Forestry Festival & Fair, Leesville St. Tammany Parish Fair, Covington Voodoo Music + Art Experience, New Orleans • November • Louisiana Indian Heritage Association Powwow, Gonzales Thibodeauxville Fall Festival, Thibodaux Louisiana Pecan Festival, Colfax Three Rivers Art Festival, Covington Destrehan Plantation Fall Harvest Festival, Destrehan

top pohot courtesy kyle hankinson; bottom photo courtesy frank zero

Since the first comic book convention started in San Diego in 1970, the comic con industry has exploded. While the San Diego and New York comic cons remain the largest gatherings in the states, publicly traded company Wizard World likely brings the “Con” experience to a region near you.

In addition to New Orleans, Wizard World throws a con in 25 other cities, and the experience is definitely

worth checking out.

But what does the “experience” entail?

Comic Con is only partly about comic books, and is more aptly described as a multigenre entertainment convention, as it folds in video games, anime, fantasy/ scifi books, films and television shows – and even professional wrestling. First, there is the main floor that is filled with various merchandise booths where artists, craftsman and enterprising merchants of nerd swag sell their various wares. This is the core of the experience and serves as the primary exchange of information (and collectibles) between fanboys and fangirls. Second, there are celebrities. While

Sugar Day Festival, Alexandria Words & Music Festival: A Literary Feast in New Orleans, New Orleans Houmapalooza Fall Music Festival, Houma Atchafalaya Basin Festival, Henderson Louisiana Swine Festival, Basile Giant Omelette Celebration, Abbeville Southdown Marketplace Fall Arts & Crafts Festival, Houma Veterans on Parade, Port Allen Louisiana Renaissance Festival, Hammond Mirliton Festival, New Orleans Sabine Freestate Festival, Florien Treme Creole Gumbo Festival, New Orleans Louisiana Book Festival, Baton Rouge Hell Yes Fest Comedy Festival, New Orleans Westwego Cypress Swamp Festival, Westwego Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, New Orleans Port Barre Cracklin Festival, Port Barre • December • Christmas on the Cajun Coast, Morgan City, Patterson and Franklin Christmas Under the Oaks, Sulphur Bonfest, Port Allen Reflections of the Season, Port Allen Festival of the Bonfires, Lutcher Fall Harvest Festival, Grant Christmas on the River, Monroe-West Monroe Fire and Water Rural Arts Celebration (Le Feu et L’Eau), Arnaudville Noel Acadien au Village, Lafayette Celebration in the Oaks, New Orleans Delcambre Christmas Boat Parade, Delcambre Christmas Festival of Lights, Natchitoches Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival, Buras

from fringe to faux/real November 2015 Various venues, New Orleans

Over the last few years, the New Orleans Fringe Festival has taken more of the shape of a “chain of events” rather than a straightforward theater festival. Taking cue from the worldwide tradition of Fringe Festivals (the concept originated in Scotland in 1947), Kristen Evans began New Orleans’ version in 2008. At this point, the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans had become a breeding ground for nontraditional theater, a far cry from the days when the city’s theater scene was known mostly for staid musicals and locals-humor comedies. Fringe was an appropriate symbol of New Orleans’ new status as a mecca for alternative theater. With every year the festival became exponentially bigger. During the festival’s one, improbable week, the Marigny/Bywater area – and more recently, the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard corridor in the city’s Central City area – became the site of performances presented in a wild array of genres in equally varying spaces. Avant-garde puppet shows, aerial perfor-

mances, slam poetry, immersive theater, comedy and even boundary-pushing children’s programming are just some of the types of performances held in traditional theater spaces, art galleries, abandoned houses and backyards.

Festival performers came from New Orleans, around the country and world. With all shows running less than an hour, the festival provided a low-stakes atmosphere to take in the kind of theater to which you may not be accustomed. Fringe was weird, wonderful and lending itself to exploration of unfamiliar territory – it was therefore quintessentially New Orleans. So it’s fitting that in the 2015 iteration, the festival will be repackaged as “faux/real [a chain of events],” a name befitting of its experimental nature. The festival, which this year will expand to three weeks, will still include theater, but now will also feature literature and culinary offerings embodying the same sense of artistic freedom. Former executive director Kristen Evans will stay on as an adviser, while B.E. Mintz, publisher of the online news and culture outlet NOLA Defender, was named the festivals’ producer. With this newish festival infusing the “fringe” spirit in food and literature, faux/real is sure to be a strange ride for the senses.

– Lauren LaBorde

It’s difficult to imagine such a thing, but we may be witnessing a revival of the 1950s. Anyone who lived through those years will wonder how or why this is possible, but those who are too young to have been there may have “50s envy.” We saw it play out with the ‘70s and the ‘60s, and now it seems that the wayback machine continues its relentless march into the past.

There are signs everywhere of the decade: eyeglasses with oversized frames; high-top basketball shoes; fashionistas who turn up the bottoms of their jeans; big, clunky shoes. In the ‘50s we had the Korean War; today we have North Korean cyberattacks. Havana was big back then; today, everyone wants to visit Cuba and ogle those big American cars from the era.

Food in the ‘50s was, to put it politely, not memorable. It was a decade of highly processed food, casseroles made with unidentifiable ingredients, TV dinners, pink cakes and pink drinks.

Still, the decade gave us some dishes that have survived frequently under the label comfort food. And comfort isn’t all bad when modern sensibilities are applied. If you’re feeling nostalgic, here are six springtime recipes that evoke the decade without succumbing to its worst excesses and are still party-worthy.

n O e k a T h s e r AF

c i g l a t s o N

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Blueberry Pie Homemade pies were a welcome antidote to the super-processed foods that dominated the '50s, perhaps on the assumption that a good ending washes away previous sins.

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons cold butter 3 tablespoons cold lard About 7-8 tablespoons ice-cold water In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and salt to combine.

Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl. Add lard and toss to coat both fats with flour. Using a pastry

cutter, cut butter and lard into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal studded with tiny peas.

Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork, until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disc. Divide dough into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other, form each into a disc, and wrap each in wax paper.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place a heavy baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Filling:

4 cups blueberries ½ cup sugar ¼ cup all-purpose flour Pinch of salt Finely grated zest of one lemon Place blueberries in large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest to combine. Add to blueberries and toss to coat.

Roll out the larger disc of dough to a circle about 10 inches in diameter and transfer to a 9-inch pie pan.

Add blueberry mixture, then roll out the other disc of dough to fit pan. Pinch top and bottom crusts together and shape as desired.

Glaze:

1 egg 1 tablespoon water Beat egg with water, then apply to crust with pastry brush.

Cut several slits in top crust.

Place pie on baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until filling is bubbling and crust is browned, about 30-40 minutes. Cool pie on a rack. Makes 8 servings.

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e t a l o c o Ch e k a h s k Mil The world can be divided into people who like their chocolate milkshakes (or malts) made with chocolate ice cream and those who want theirs made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I’m in the latter camp. This recipe is elevated by the use of a delectable chocolate sauce in place of the usual commercial syrup.

1 cup milk Âź cup chocolate sauce 2 cups vanilla ice cream In a blender, combine milk and chocolate sauce and blend. Add ice cream and pulse until desired texture is achieved. Makes 2 milkshakes.

48 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Chocolate Sauce

This version is adapted slightly from French chef Michel Guérard’s recipe. ¾ cup sugar ¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa Pinch of salt 1 cup water 2 tablespoons butter 2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate Add sugar, cocoa and salt to saucepan. Whisk to combine.

Add water, whisk, and cook on medium-low heat, while whisking, until mixture boils.

Add butter, whisk to combine.

Remove from heat, add chocolate, and whisk until chocolate melts. Makes about 2 cups.

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Onion Rings Onion rings made from scratch bear no resemblance at all to those that have been battered, partially cooked and frozen.

Fried Catfish Strips

Fish sticks were ubiquitous in the ‘50s, part of a legion of bland, highly-processed foods designed to taste like something other than what they were made of. These catfish strips are the antithesis of that.

2 cups milk 2 teaspoons hot sauce 2 cups cornflour or unseasoned Fish-Fri 1 teaspoon coarse salt

50 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

½ teaspoon freshlyground black pepper 2 pounds catfish filets Vegetable oil for frying Lemon wedges

Combine milk and hot sauce in a large bowl or container. Combine cornflour, salt, and pepper in a rectangular pan or container.

Cut catfish into strips about 1-inch wide and add to milk mixture.

Heat oil in fryer or deep pot to 375 degrees.

When oil is at proper temperature, remove a catfish strip from milk, dredge in cornflour, and drop in the fryer. Repeat with additional strips of catfish, being careful not to overcrowd fryer. With tongs, remove cooked catfish from fryer and drain on paper towels.

Repeat until all the fish is cooked. Serve with lemon wedges.

Makes 4 servings.

Vegetable oil for frying 4 large onions 4 egg yolks 1 cup club soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup low-gluten, self-rising flour, such as White Lily Heat oil in fryer or deep pot to 375 degrees.

Cut off ends of onions, peel and slice onions ¼-inch thick, and separate rings. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with a fork, add club soda, and mix. Add salt and flour and mix lightly with a fork. Do not over beat.

Mixture will be lumpy, which is okay.

When oil is at proper temperature, lift an onion ring with fork, dip in batter to coat, and drop into hot oil. Repeat with additional onion rings, but do not overcrowd fryer.

When onion rings are browned on one side, flip to cook the other side. When browned remove from oil with tongs and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all onion rings are cooked. Makes 4 servings.

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Pork & Pineapple Shish Kebabs Pineapple showed up everywhere in the 1950s, from pineapple and cottage cheese salad (with a maraschino cherry, no less) to pineapple and fish sticks to pineapple upside-down cake (made with cake mix and canned pineapple studded with maraschino cherries). In this recipe, fresh pineapple that caramelizes during cooking is a welcome contrast to the spicy pork.

2 pounds lean pork 1 tablespoon olive oil Cajun/Creole seasoning 1 pineapple Preheat broiler or grill. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes and season generously with Cajun/ Creole seasoning. Prepare pineapple by removing outer rind. Slice about 1-inch thick and remove core. Cut into cubes the same size as pork. Alternate pork and pineapple on skewers. Cook under broiler or on grill, turning occasionally until pork is browned and cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on broiler or grill. Makes 4 servings.

Deviled Eggs There are an untold number of ways to make deviled eggs; these have a Louisiana accent.

6 large eggs Âź cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon Creole mustard Cajun/Creole

seasoning to taste Paprika for garnish In a saucepan, cover eggs with water and bring to a boil.

Cover pan, turn off heat, and leave eggs in pan for 15 minutes. Drain eggs, then shell them. Cut

eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Mash yolks and combine with mayonnaise and Creole mustard.

Season with Cajun/ Creole seasoning.

Fill boiled egg whites with mixture and garnish with paprika.

Makes 12 deviled eggs.

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FACE OF

Insurance Christian D. Lapeyre, RHU ASLR Insurance Services | 1217 Museum Dr. Houma, LA 70360 | www.aslrllc.com ASLR is a full-service consulting and insurance firm providing small businesses, large corporations, nonprofit organizations, and governments with custom employee benefit packages that meet their needs and budgets. Since 1996, the communitydriven company has offered its expertise to entities across Louisiana and nationally in Human Resources Consulting Services, Group Medical Insurance, Group Disability Insurance, Group Life Insurance, Dental Insurance, Retirement Plans, and Commercial Insurance. ASLR meets with clients’ employees at least once a year, either individually or in groups, to educate them on their benefits package.

“Seek a firm with experience,” says Chris Lapeyre, RHU & Partner. “What we do is specialized and complex, and not all brokers are created equal.”

Houma/Thibodaux

56 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Houma/Thibodaux

FACE OF

Offshore Drilling Blake International Rigs, LLC

Blake International Rigs, LLC. | 410 South Van Avenue Houma, LA 70363 | www.blakeinternationalrigs.com

Throughout 30 years of successful operations in the Louisiana Oil and Gas Industry, Blake International companies have created thousands of jobs for Louisiana citizens. Blake International takes pride in growing and empowering its employees. Their main goal is to become the premier platform rig drilling company while staying centered around core values of safety, growth, and excellence. To that end, Blake International owns

and operates a fleet of ten offshore platform drilling and workover rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and was recently recognized for its superior safety standards with The American Equity Underwriters (AEU) Safety Award.

Displaying technological prowess, Blake’s advanced DART™ stabilizing kit enables their rigs to work on floating structures and access more dynamic locations.

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ADVERTISING SECTION

Cities, Parishes, & Towns Surrounded by the waters of Bayou Teche, Atchafalaya River and the Atchafalaya Swamp Basin, the Cajun Coast in St. Mary Parish is known for its natural splendor and “road less traveled” atmosphere. There’s no better way to spend a fall day than exploring the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area or winding along the Bayou Teche Scenic Byway. Cajun Jack’s Swamp Tours take visitors through the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest overf low swamp in the U.S., or you can experience the wilderness by paddling through the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge. Golfers won’t want to miss a chance to hit the Atchafalaya at Idlewild, which was rated the No. 1 golf course in Louisiana

by Golfweek Magazine in 2008 and 2009.

This spring, St. Mary Parish is alive with festivals and events including the Cypress Sawmill Festival (April 4-6), the Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival (April 11-13), and the Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show (April 11-13). For more information, visit cajuncoast.com.

Honey Island Swamp

Louisiana Destinations Activities and events are in full bloom this spring across the state of Louisiana. From northern Lincoln Parish down to the bayou region of Lafourche, there are festivals galore, annual celebrations, historic tours and endless dining opportunities welcoming the state’s residents and visitors to partake in the fun. Whether you’re looking for a family day trip, a weekend of relaxation or a week-long vacation, there’s plenty to do all over Louisiana—scenic drives and swamp tours for explorers, food and music festivals for fun-seekers, relaxing B&Bs for romantics, and eclectic museums for the curious. Find the fun that suits you among the following Louisiana destinations for food, arts, history and more.

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St. Tammany Parish, aka “Louisiana’s Northshore,” is a great getaway spot known for scenic beauty and charming towns. On the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish is within an hour’s drive of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Experience eclectic shopping and art galleries, the primeval beauty of the Honey Island Swamp and a vibrant, diverse culinary scene. Stay at Fontainebleau or FairviewRiverside State Park or relax in luxury at a B&B or the new boutique Southern Hotel.

Check out the GO VISIT playlist on the youtube.com/louisiananorthshore channel.

Crafted from the Emmy© award-winning GoCoast episode on St. Tammany parish, the playlist invites everyone to GO WILD, GO JAZZ, GO FISH, GO BAYOU and more on their trip to the Northshore.

Plan on visiting this Spring or Summer and experience events like A Taste of Covington, the Jazz’n the Vines or Bayou Jam outdoor concert series, the Louisiana Bicycle Festival, the Slidell Heritage Festival, the Lacombe Crab Festival and the Mandeville City Seafood Festival.

For more vacation ideas, visit LouisianaNorthshore.com/la_life.

Just off I-10 and west of Lafayette lies the “Cajun Prairie,” Acadia Parish, an area known for its unique attractions, numerous year-round festivals and rich history

ADVERTISING SECTION

Festival International de Louisiane

museums, there’s enough action to keep you coming back again and again.

Plan your trip today and experience upcoming events like the vastly celebrated Bayou Country Superfest in May, which features some of country music’s biggest stars.

Keep the festivities alive after the big event by exploring the many new and exciting dining and nightlife options here in the “Red Stick.”

Set your sights on the Capital City and experience the colorful history, vibrant music and exquisite cuisine for yourself. For more information and insider recommendations, call 800-LA-ROUGE or go online to VisitBatonRouge.com. #GoBR.

and folklore. In Crowley, home of the International Rice Festival, tour the Rice Interpretive Center, the Historic Crowley Ford Motor Company, built in 1920, as well as the J.D. Miller Recording Studio. Travel the Zydeco Cajun Prairie Byway and visit Kelly’s Landing Agricultural Museum to take an informative walk through the past while viewing the farming equipment of yesteryear and learning the importance of crawfish and rice to the region.

See why Rayne, LA, home of the annual Frog Festival, is both “The Frog Capital of the World” and the “Louisiana City of Murals.” Similarly, check out the Buggy Festival at “The Buggy Capital of the World,” also known as Church Point, LA, and visit the Le Vieux Presbytere Museum with bousillage, mud walls. Roberts Cove, LA, is home to the German Heritage Museum and the popular Germanfest. For more information, events, destinations and festival dates check out AcadiaTourism.org or call 877-783-2109.

Whether it is football you crave, high-speed drag racing, historic plantation homes, scenic views of the Mighty Mississippi or a fun festival, West Baton Rouge Parish has it all.

Travelers across South Louisiana this spring will not want to pass up West Baton Rouge Parish, known as the “Kite Capital of Louisiana.” The parish is also the home of “MOBEY,” a 13-foot, 760-lb. alligator located at the West Baton Rouge Tourist Center. Take I-10 Exit #151, and see him for yourself.

Visit West Baton Rouge Parish April 11-12 and enjoy the award winning Kite Fest Louisiane. See kites of all sizes and shapes— two- and four-line kites dance in the skies to music. Fest attendees can also make a kite, design a kite, enjoy BOL racing, candy

drops, indoor kite f lying, and plenty of Louisiana food. The festival is free and open to the public.

For more information, or to view a short video of this event, destinations and even day-trip itineraries, visit WestBatonRouge.net.

For a serene escape into a place of beauty, visit Iberville Parish, an historical Louisiana gem tucked between the quiet swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin and the bustling capital of Baton Rouge. Step through time and elegance at one of the many magnificent antebellum homes like Nottoway Plantation, the South’s largest remaining antebellum mansion located in White Castle. Other historical attractions include The Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, The Hansen’s Disease Museum in Carville, The Iberville Museum and the majestic St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the purest example of Italian Romanesque architecture in the South.

With so many beautiful diverse waterways, fishing and bird watching opportunities are endless, making it a premier outdoor getaway in the heart of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. Enjoy a relaxing golf outing at one of Louisiana’s most popular courses, The Island, located in Plaquemine. End your day by dining along the mighty Mississippi and enjoying fresh seafood with a Louisiana sunset at Roberto’s River Road Restaurant located in Sunshine. For more destinations and events, go to VisitIberville.com.

The action is warming up in Baton Rouge — time to dive into one of the South’s brightest hot spots! The city’s history is as cool as its charm is warm. With dynamic cuisine, upscale shopping, great live music and eclectic

What makes werewolves a lot less scary and a whole lot cuter? Painting them blue. George Rodrigue’s famous series, the “Blue Dog,” is inspired by the French legend of the loup-garou (werewolf ), and you can view works of the world-famous artist until April 15 at New Iberia’s Bayou Teche Museum in the exhibit titled George Rodrigue Comes Home: Under Iberia’s Live Oaks with George Rodrigue and his Blue Dog. The museum partnered with the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts to bring never-before-seen Rodrigue art back to its roots with every painting having at least one of Iberia Parish’s iconic oak trees.

While in Iberia, you can also travel back in time at the Jeanerette Museum’s newest exhibit, The World Will Move: Civil Rights & Public Transportation in Louisiana 1860s1950s. The exhibit from the Louisiana State Museum uses artifacts to tell the story of African Americans who challenged discrimination on transportation.

For more information, visit IberiaTravel.com.

Lafayette is at the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun Country, an area known for letting the good times roll, or as they say it, laissez les bons temps rouler, and people are starting to notice. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com recently named Lafayette as the “Happiest City in America” and it’s no mystery why. With their distinctive blend of food, music and culture, it’s no wonder people from all over are heading down south with a smile on their face.

One annual event bringing together all the elements that make Lafayette so unique is Festival International de Louisiane. The largest free outdoor Francophone event in the U.S., Festival International highlights the connections between Acadiana and the Francophone world. Held each year in April throughout Lafayette’s Downtown, Festival International hosts 500 performing and visual artists from 15 countries including Europe, LouisianaLife.com | 59

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Africa, Canada, the Caribbean and the Americas to share their talents across six stages with Lafayette’s artists, residents and visitors.

Visit LafayetteTravel.com/FestivalInternational for performance schedule, lodging and travel information.

“Allons aux Avoyelles”, the Egg Knocking Capital of Louisiana, to “pacque some eggs.”

Festivities in Avoyelles begin on Easter Saturday, April 4, in Cottonport. Knocking on the Bayou activities begin with a 5k run and 1-mile walk with registration at 7 a.m. A full day of contests concludes with the “Egg Pacquing” competition beginning at 2 p.m. with different age groups knocking chicken or guinea eggs.

Easter on the Red River Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary at Ben Routh Recreational Park on Saturday, April 4th beginning at 11 a.m. with registrations for all contests: egg decorating, Easter bonnets or caps for men, cake walk, egg hunt and egg knocking (Children at 12:30 p.m., Adults at 3 p.m.). BRING YOUR OWN HARD BOILED EGGS FOR COMPETITION. Vendors craft, plants, jewelry, bow, etc. and food booths open at 11 a.m. Call 318-2530064 for more information.

The knocking continues on Easter Sunday morning in Marksville. Knocking on the Historic Courthouse Square begins with

Ruston Peach Festival

registration at 9 a.m. and competition follows with different age groups and categories of hard-boiled chicken or guinea eggs (bring your own). Call 318-253-9500 for additional information on the Marksville competition.

From the blooming of the wild azaleas to the beautiful spring colors in Kisatchie National Forest, the Alexandria/Pineville area is a natural treasure in the spring months.

The town of Forest Hill celebrates the colors of spring the third weekend in March annually with the Louisiana Nursery Festival. The festival, celebrating its 30th Anniversary, will feature area nurseries and vendors, a carnival, community entertainment and a parade. In addition to the festival, the area nurseries open their doors for the public to purchase flowers, shrubs and trees.

The Alexandria Garden District is bursting with the colors of blooming flowers amongst some of the oldest homes in the area. The Alexandria Garden Club is sponsoring “A Tour of Gardens” in April. The first-time event will feature a progressive tour of beautiful home gardens and a reception. The tour will benefit the local Good Food Project, operated through The Food Bank of Central Louisiana, which establishes and supports community organic gardens across an 11-parish region.

Pineville’s Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site features a garden on the property

cared for by the local Rotary Club. The garden produces seasonal vegetables, which the SHS uses for their black pot cooking demonstrations.

Alexandria’s Kent Plantation House also has a garden on the property producing seasonal vegetables and herbs used in their open-hearth kitchen. The herbs are also sold during the spring and fall Herb Day Festivals.

Through humane, dignified and environmentally sustainable farming practices, Inglewood Farm’s 3,500 acres of the Red River Delta’s finest soil produces an array of other fresh, seasonal and healthy products, such as their famous, melt-in-your-mouth and certified organic Inglewood Pecans.

Visit AlexandriaPinevilleLA.com to learn more about things to see and do in Central Louisiana.

Experience one of USA Today’s most charming small towns in the South: Ruston & Lincoln Parish, home to the Louisiana Peach Festival. Mark your calendars now for June 26-27, 2015! The weekend will be jam-packed with music and entertainment on two stages downtown! The lineup features a mix of country, rock and blues artists. Saturday performances include American Idol’s Ricky Hendricks and the renowned 80’s cover band the Molly Ringwalds!

All your festival favorites will be showcased, as well as activities like the Peach Parade, antique car show, arts and craft booths, tumbling and skate boarding demos and so much more. Rumor has it, this year’s festival will go down in the books—The Guinness Book that is—for the world’s largest peach cobbler.

For more information about the 65th Annual Louisiana Peach Festival and other upcoming events, visit experienceruston.com.

Houma offers an experience blended with rich history, breathtaking and sometimes stunning scenery and a thriving culture that contributes to the distinct fabric of Louisiana.

From world-class fishing, birding and hunting, to swamp tours and museums and festivals that demonstrate how our culture adapted to the water, Houma promises every visitor will experience the f lavor, the spirit and wild nature that inhabit Louisiana’s Bayou Country.

Get outdoors and enjoy the weather at one of Houma’s spring festivals. Southdown Marketplace is set for March 28 at Southdown Plantation, 1208 Museum Drive. Sponsored by the Terrebonne Historical & Cultural Society, the one-day arts and crafts festival featuring handmade gifts, keepsakes, décor and much more. Cajun foods served.

Admission is $5.00 for adults; children under 12 years of age admitted free. Additional fees apply for food and museum tours. For more information, call 985-851-1054.

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Annual French Market Creole Tomato Festival in New Orleans

Arts & Entertainment The French Market District is comprised of a scenic six-block stretch along the Mississippi River in the New Orleans French Quarter from Café du Monde to the Farmers and Flea Markets, and includes The Shops on the Colonnade on Decatur Street and The Shops at the Upper Pontalba on Jackson Square.

Experience historic architecture, sidewalk dining, live music, boutique shopping and plenty of affordable souvenirs, from locally made pralines and spices to artwork and cookbooks. Riverside parking, streetcar stops and nearby horse-drawn carriages and pedicab stations make this a relaxing and manageable daytime destination.

The French Market District is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., (with some restaurants open later). Every Wednesday, the Crescent City Farmers Market produces a fresh farmers market from 2-6 p.m. The annual French Market Creole Tomato Festival has been happening for nearly 30 years every June and will be held June 13 & 14. View the full calendar of events including daily walking tours, concerts and classes at frenchmarket.org.

River Oaks Arts Center is located in the heart of Alexandria’s historic downtown and is one of the state’s and the South’s most unique arts centers. River Oaks features more than 24 exhibits and more than 100 artists annually.

The center offers renowned visual arts classes for youth and adults and with more than 40 local artists in studio residency.

April 7 through May 23, River Oaks will host the Inaugural Dirty South Mug Competition and Show, featuring 89 mugs from 22 States. The show features functional and non-functional mugs created by regionally and nationally known ceramicists and potters. Tom Coleman, Guest Juror for the Mug Competition, is also on hand to conduct a two-day workshop from April 22-23. An opening reception will be held on Friday, April 24, from 5-7 p.m., sponsored by GAEDA. For more information on River Oaks Square Arts Center, visit their Web site, riveroaksartscenter.com, and “like” them on Facebook. To enroll, call 318-473-2670.

Lodging & Accommodations Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located in the heart of the French Quarter on world-famous Bourbon Street. Four Points offers 186 comfortable guestrooms with 4,500 square feet of meeting facilities, an outdoor pool, tropical courtyard, 24-hour fitness center and more. Cafe Opera, the Four Points full-service restaurant, features a classic New Orleans menu of Creole and continental cuisine. Guests can also enjoy a wide selection of specialty drinks at the Puccini Bar. Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located on the site of the French Opera House (1859-1919), a legendary New Orleans cultural venue. Their performance series, “Opera Returns to Bourbon Street” features local operatic talent from the New Orleans Opera Association and local classical vocalist group Bon Operatit!

Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located at 541 Bourbon St. in New Orleans.

For reservations and more, call 504-5247611 or visit FourPointsFrenchQuarter.com.

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Mississippi Welcome, intrepid shoppers, seekers of the stylish, and explorers of great living! You’ve arrived at the right place—Ridgeland, Miss.— for an exciting retail getaway experience that delights and satisfies. The Ridgeland Retail Trail is paved with locally owned, unique treasures and more. It takes a delicate touch to create culinary masterpieces, patience to weave a perfect basket and vision to transform a lump of clay into a piece of graceful pottery. These talents have helped Ridgeland grow from a small artist colony to a premier shopping destination with more than 140 restaurants and quality accommodations. On April 18-19, the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival will feature fine art, fine wine and the new One Behind the Other Tandem Bike Rally.

Ridgeland is also home to a variety of attractions including the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444-mile All-American Road and National Scenic Byway, with 157 types of birds, state parks, riding trails, historic interpretations, American-Indian artifacts and cultural opportunities; the Mississippi Craft Center, Mississippi’s attraction of the year, showcasing traditional and contemporary crafts; and the 33,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir for parks and outdoor activities.

Explore VisitRidgeland.com for more info.

TX: Antique Roses

MS: Vicksburg National Military Park

AK: Hot Springs

Regional Travel Festivals, history and shopping are big in Louisiana’s spring season, and things are no different just across its borders in the neighboring states of Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas. Take your spring celebration on the road this month and check out the abundant offerings that exist just a short drive away. Explore sceneries of rolling hills, piney woods, flowing rivers and mountainous terrain. Dine at a food fest, dance your way to a music fest and discover the historical significance of a place new to you. With events and destinations perfect for the whole family, the following regional travel ideas will help you plan your next spring vacation. Experience a little southern hospitality as delivered by the states closest to home.

Texas Travel the gently rolling terrain of the Brenham-Washington County, Texas, area and feel echoes of a time long past. At Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site, Stephen F. Austin’s revolutionaries drafted the declaration of independence from Mexico, and 2015 marks its 179th anniversary. While there, explore a replica of Independence Hall, a working 1850s farm, Star of the Republic Museum and a superb Visitor Center.

The villages of Independence and Chappell Hill provide terrific small town excursions, including museums and walking trails. In Burton, history is alive at the Texas Cotton Gin

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Museum, the “Official Cotton Gin Museum of Texas.”

Brenham’s restored historic downtown includes a state-of-the-art Visitor Center in the 1925 Simon Theatre building. Shopping and dining options are the focus as visitors stroll down the streets or enjoy watching the world go by from a comfortable park bench. The home of Blue Bell Creameries, Brenham is where the “best ice cream in the country” is made.

Washington County boasts four wineries and the stunning Antique Rose Emporium, known internationally for its “found” antique roses.

Spring is festival season in Tupelo, Miss., so there is no better time to plan the perfect weekend getaway. From craft beer and barbecue to the arts, anything is possible when you plan your trip around one of these one-ofa-kind special events. Festival season culminates with a celebration of all things Elvis, the first full weekend in June, with the Tupelo Elvis Festival, a musical commemoration of the King of Rock ‘N Roll’s influence on popular culture.

Tupelo’s culinary culture takes the power of possibility to another level with something to satisfy every craving. After a day of festival fun, treat yourself to farm-fresh creations, hautecuisine, food truck fare and more at one of Tupelo’s many eateries.

Before heading back to reality, make a visit to Elvis Presley’s Birthplace to see the humble home where the King of Rock ‘N Roll was born. No matter what you’re looking for, in Tupelo, anything is possible.

For more information, call 800-533-0611 or visit Tupelo.net.

Whether attending a signature event or touring historic homes while azaleas are in bloom, Vicksburg, Miss., is a great place to take your family to make your own history. Visit

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Arkansas the Vicksburg National Military Park and check out educational museums to immerse yourself in American history. Watch riverboats cruise down the mighty Mississippi River from one of many scenic overlooks or book a guided tour of the city for a truly unique experience.

Enjoy Vicksburg’s biggest festival—the RiverFest Music and Arts Festival—April 17-18 for live music concerts and free daytime activities. Other activities include the DiamondJacks Rhythm Run, the Old Court House Flea Market, and Alcorn State University’s Jazz Fest. Spring is the perfect time to take part in traditional Vicksburg events like attending the Guinness Book of World Records’ longest running melodrama Gold in the Hills or kayaking the mighty Mississippi at the Bluz Cruz Canoe and Kayak Race.

Mark your calendars for an indulgent night out at the 7th Annual A Chocolate Affair at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center, featuring chocolate and live music.

Find out more at visitvicksburg.com or by calling 1-800-221-3536.

Cross into the hilly landscape of Jackson, Miss., this spring and keep the party going!

On March 21, Jackson hosts the 32nd annual world-famous Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade, also known as Jackson’s “green Mardi Gras.”

Attracting more than 60,000 visitors from around the world, Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade celebrates the rebirth of Mississippi’s capital city with a parade, music, street dance, children’s activities, a run, pet parade and so much more.

Fun follows March 27-28th with the Zippity Doo Dah Parade in Fondren, the historic arts district in the heart of Jackson. Inspired by the works of Jill Conner Browne’s Sweet Potato Queens novels, Zippity Doo Dah is a humorinfused celebration of freedom.

From March through July, the literary world comes to Jackson to celebrate the centennial of Margaret Walker Alexander and the biennial of Eudora Welty with fine arts and lecture series.

For more events and information, go to visitjackson.com.

Enjoy handcrafted hospitality (and beer) in the southern part of The Natural State. Spend an evening in Hot Springs National Park at Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery, a brewery making history as the first and only craft microbrewery to set up shop inside a national park.

But for the first part of the day, explore some of the other attractions that make southern Arkansas the perfect, undiscovered vacation paradise. In the southwest part of the state, explore Bathhouse Row’s turn-of-the-century spas, one of the EPA’s “Cleanest Lakes in America” and a Smithsonian-affiliate science museum.

Arkansas’s southeast Lower Delta has activities and experiences for the whole family.

See the first European settlement in the Lower Mississippi Valley; discover some great tamales or fish for bass on the largest oxbow lake on the continent.

“There’s lots more, so come see us.” Order your free vacation planning kit at Arkansas.com or call 1-800-Natural.

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Aging Parents Spring is a busy time of year, and it can be easy to overlook one’s changing needs amidst the hustle and bustle that a full calendar can bring. But for aging adults and their families, these changing needs often need to be front and center to prevent a health or living crisis. Resources across Louisiana are available to help with these changes whether in health or in living environment. For adults looking to maintain independence while simultaneously reducing the responsibilities of maintaining a house, or for people in need of a specialist to oversee a current health condition, Louisiana businesses and organizations offer assistance and expertise. From cardiovascular care to treating osteoarthritis or resolving insurance concerns, the following health care providers and organizations may be helpful for your family.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women. Particularly in Louisiana, the prevalence of obesity and diabetes means that these communities are at a greater risk of heart disease.

Although cardiovascular disease greatly affects this area, many people have misconceptions about the disease. One common misconception is that heart disease only affects the elderly. But nearly 150,000 Americans who die from cardiovascular disease each year are under the age

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of 65, according to the American Heart Association. In fact, one out of every 20 people under the age of 40 has heart disease.

Here’s how you can reduce your risk: • Quit smoking.

• Eat a heart-healthy diet.

• Control high blood pressure and diabetes.

• Get active.

• Maintain a healthy weight.

• Manage stress.

• Get regular health screenings.

With 14 locations throughout South Louisiana, Cardiovascular Institute of the

South has an international reputation for providing state-of-the-art cardiovascular care and is known as a world-leader in preventing and treating both cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease. To learn more, call CIS at 1-800-425-2565 or visit cardio.com.

The Oaks of Louisiana (ages 55+) active adult community in southeast Shreveport is designed with its residents’ needs in mind.

Whether they still get to work by 9 or retirement is their new “career,” residents enjoy maintenance-free living with luxurious amenities and daily activities designed to accommodate their schedules and for them to enjoy as they choose.

The 312-acre gated campus, which features beautiful vistas of plants, wildlife and two lakes, is more than a community. It is a lifestyle—gathering with friends after a long day at work in Grumpy’s pub; getting a good workout at the Spa & Wellness Center before joining friends for an afternoon book review; or hosting a dinner party for a night of fine dining in one of the private dining venues.

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With apartments starting at $1,563, The Oaks lifestyle is surprisingly affordable and full of options. From independent living to assisted living to total care and short-term rehabilitation, residents are assured a continuum of care as their needs change.

Learn more at oaksofla.com.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana

has been providing health insurance to the residents of Louisiana since 1934. As the state’s oldest and largest health insurer, Blue Cross is committed to improving the health and lives of Louisianians.

The company and its subsidiaries offer a full line of health insurance plans for people of every age—from birth through retirement, including supplemental coverage such as dental and senior plans, at affordable rates. The Blue Cross provider networks are the broadest in the state, offering the peace of mind that comes with being covered by the Cross and Shield. The company also has more than 150 nurses, doctors and clinical personnel on staff to help protect the health and lives of members.

BCBSLA is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and headquartered in Baton Rouge. To better serve customers, Blue Cross operates regional offices in Alexandria, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport.

Louisiana-owned and operated, BCBSLA is a private, fully taxed mutual company owned by policyholders—not shareholders. To learn more, call a Blue Cross agent or visit bcbsla.com.

(BCBSLA)

Dr. Kevin Darr of Covington Orthopedic is a board certified and fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon who has earned a reputation for offering innovative surgical and non-surgical treatment options.

“In addition to traditional orthopedic treatments and surgery, I also offer minimally invasive alternatives utilizing state-of-theart technology and integrative orthobiologic therapies and treatments to qualified patients,” says Dr. Darr. He is currently conducting IRB-approved research studies measuring the safety and effectiveness of advanced cell therapy to treat joint osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries, such as rotator cuff tears, knee tendon and ligament injuries, and avascular necrosis of the bone. Dr. Darr is also now enrolling patients in a multi-site clinical

trial utilizing adipose derived regenerative cells to treat knee osteoarthritis.

For more information on these studies and on Covington Orthopedics’ physicians and services, visit CovingtonOrtho.com or call 985-273-5888.

Access Health offers cost savings worksite solutions for Louisiana businesses and their employees. By providing an on-site or near-site medical clinic, Access Health allows employers to provide their employees easy access to quality primary health care. Located all over Louisiana, Access Health’s Medical Clinics perform many of the federally mandated preventative functions of the Affordable Care Act—services that are invaluable tools for creating a healthy workforce.

Employees who visit Access Health are able to take advantage of preventative and primary care at a lower cost per occurrence. The aforementioned savings occurs without paying a co-pay, co-insurance or deductible, therefore reducing employer premiums and/or claims.

Numerous benefits to employees include quality care with no appointment, continuity of care with the employee’s existing Primary Care Physician (if desired), and referrals to higher levels of care when physicians or specialists are needed. Benefits for the employer include a reduction in medical claims costs or insurance premiums, improvement in employee morale and productivity, and a reduction in absenteeism and employee turnover.

For more information on Access Health, including available locations, visit AccessHealthOnline.com or call 1-800-797-9503.

and Sports Medicine Institute

When it comes to treating aging adults in their community, St. Martin Hospital, a member of Lafayette General Health, is going above and beyond. Located in St. Martin Parish and serving rural communities around Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Hospital is committed to ensuring seniors have quality, individualized care close to home.

All nurses and ancillary staff at St. Martin Hospital are specially trained yearly to care for aging adults, from increasing attention and sensitivity to patient needs to slowing down the pace of visits and health conversations.

As part of St. Martin’s hospitalist program, a physician meets each patient daily, something often unachieved in larger hospitals.

Physicians are able to coordinate care with a

patient’s primary care physician when needed to provide comprehensive care.

Clinicians and staff at St. Martin take the time to listen to older patients in all areas of care: emergency, inpatient and outpatient.

Community health need assessments call for care closer to home, and to that end, the hospital has invested in more outpatient services such as cardiovascular diagnostics, lab work, x-rays, mammograms, CT, MRI and more.

For more information, visit StMartinHospital.org.

The Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux located in Lafourche Parish, offers a comprehensive balance program designed to resolve, reduce or prevent impairments in individuals while developing effective, specific treatment programs for each individual.

“A great deal of research has been conducted that supports the effectiveness of balance training in the geriatric and neurologically impaired populations,” says Lauren Vedros, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Thibodaux Regional’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Center. “Many people go through their days feeling unsteady and afraid of falling, but think that it is a normal part of the aging process. Others have suffered a stroke or illness that has left them unsteady, and they feel that they just have to live with it,” adds Vedros.

At the Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux Regional, therapists design individualized programs utilizing the newest technology to effectively treat balance issues. The technology is helping aging patients with balance problems such as dizziness, unsteadiness and falls.

To learn more about the Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux Regional, visit thibodaux.com.

Regional,

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around louisiana Events and Highlights / By Jeanne Frois

North

MEN IN KILTS IN MINDEN There’s a rich Scottish heritage in North Louisiana, a region that’s home to descendants of Caledonia whose forebears left that high, cool Northland to brave settling in steamy Louisiana While the names Tassin, Broussard and Boudreaux might be common in southeast and central Louisiana, you won’t be surprised to find many families with the surnames Montgomery, Cameron, Kyle or Cochrane residing in the northern tier of the state. And, with the true heartiness of a highlander, Lousiana Scots proudly showcase and celebrate their rich heritage by staging the Annual Scottish Tartan Festival. Sponsored by the Scottish Society of the Louisiana Hielands, a nonprofit group intent on fostering awareness of the beautiful Scottish culture in the Ark-La-Tex region, the festival is fittingly held at

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Scotland Farms in Minden.

Dr. Alan Cameron and his wife Sharon own this rolling farmland that proudly breeds herds of longhaired and longhorn Highland Cattle.

The festival first undergoes a “kirking” at the Minden Presbyterian Church. Then it’s on to Scotland Farms for a day of Highland celebration filled with bagpipes and drums, clan tents and Highland beef burgers. The festival is a spectacular sight to behold – men in kilts; ladies in laced bodices and plaid gowns; puffy shirts; tam o’ shanters; balmoral headwear; and kilt hose from which might peak a semi-concealed Sgian Dubh (Sgin Dhu), the traditional Scottish knife. The wearing of the plaids is a dazzling color fest of scarlet, yellow, blue, green and black in rich jeweled tones of ruby, topaz, sapphire, emerald and jet.

Men are encouraged to participate in the Bonniest

Knee Contest, judged by a blindfolded lady with discriminating hands. The Highland Games are represented with two of its events – the Caber toss (a long, tapered pole) and the Sheath Tossing (a burlap sack filled with 16 pounds of straw). Living history demonstrations are given along with stellar performances of cattle herding rendered by black and white Border Collies springing through the fragrant grass. A dog show competition, hayride with storytelling for the children and traditional Scottish sword and Irish dancing makes the celebration complete. The Scottish Tartan Festival should not be missed, if for any other reason, it’s a hoot, man!

GLADIATOR GAMES IN SHREVEPORT Garnering a huge thumbs-up of approval from the imperial North Louisiana publico, the Northwest Louisiana Battle of the Gumbo Gladiators Cook-Off will hold its third annual celebration this year. The Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport, temporarily transformed into a coliseum-like corridor where the sound of clanging spoons echoes throughout the tents (accompanied by the savory scent of simmering gumbo assailing the nasus), will be the site of the noble clash.

This Battle of the Gumbo Gladiators was the brainchild of the Volunteers for Youth Justice group (VYJ), a nonprofit organization that needed an innovative fundraiser for their organiza-

tion. The purpose of the VYJ involves training volunteers to facilitate advocacy and intervention for youths in possible danger of neglect and abuse. Not forgotten are the youngsters who wind up in the juvenile justice system.

Founded by members of the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport in 1981, the VJY also strives to rehabilitate first time offenders.

It’s a team effort. Cooks, tailgaters, chefs and caterers form gastronomic alliances to create the gumbo that would render one of the teams the title of: Ultimate Seafood Gumbo Gladiator; Ultimate Nonseafood Gumbo Gladiator, or Gumbo Gladiator of the People. Five celebrity judges are given the daunting task to crown the winners, tasting savory gumbos made of okra and tomato; okra and no tomato; shrimp and crab; shrimp and no crab; chicken and seafood; chicken, no seafood; chicken and andouille (but never just andouille). And there’s plenty of rice. Past winning teams were The Spicy Crabs, Roux the Day and Gumbooyah.

In addition to the bubbling cauldrons filled with this intoxicating Louisiana one-pot wonder, the Gumbo Gladiators Battle is kid-friendly, also offering an arts and crafts village for shopping. n Information, Scottish Tartan Festival, March 28, Scotland Farms, Minden, Hwy. 79 & LA 518. Gumbo Gladiators Cook-Off, March 21, Festival Plaza, 101 Crockett St., Shreveport

around louisiana

Central

12 YEARS – THE TRAIL My memories of springtime visits to Central Louisiana, specifically Avoyelles and Rapides Parishes, are rich with reminiscences of a sunlight filled landscape vivid with almost Mardi Gras-like colors – verdant green fields, wild goldenrod and purple wisteria entwined on trees. And, always, history – whether it was a family story or a retelling of a Civil War battle before the kitchen fireplace on a cool spring night, there was the enchantment of somehow being able to step back in time.

The sense of history in this region of Louisiana is palpable.

Now that the beauty of a Louisiana spring has us in thrall, you might want to drink in the landscape and travel an odyssey back in time yourself. Follow the Solomon Northup Trail that winds its way through parts of Central Louisiana. Northup, a free black photo by wikipedia user z28scrambler

kidnapped in New York and sold into slavery in Washington D.C. to New Orleans slave traders, published the book, Twelve Years a Slave in 1853. In 1968, a version edited by Drs. Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon was published by LSU Press and included a vivid picture of his time in Louisiana. A movie version of the book was the winner of last year’s Academy Award for Best Picture, and the book has likewise been published by Pelican Publishing Company in more recent years.

The trail that chronicles Northup’s life here begins at the railroad tracks that run before LSU Alexandria – here, Baptist minister William Prince Ford loaded his human cargo aboard a train bound for his home in Cheneyville.

The Northup trail, validated by his own text and substantially researched by Eakin, takes you through the Lamourie Locks and Smith’s Bridge that

spans Bayou Bouef in Rapides Parish. Included are Ford’s Sawmill on Indian Creek; various plantations in Bunkie where he labored, all leading to the Marksville Courthouse where he was once again declared a free man. In total, there are 15 sites on the Northup Trail waiting to be explored in depth. The remarkable history of this man and the times he lived in can be vividly experienced in Central Louisiana by this painstakingly researched trail.

MAKE MERRY IN MERRYVILLE Each spring the Merryville Historical Society and Museum holds a two-day-long Heritage Festival. This rustic little museum is a treasure trove of memorabilia commemorating the history of the area, with a special section dedicated to Veterans of all races who hailed from their neck of the woods, dating back as far as World War I, complete with photographs and newspaper clippings. The musem’s location is a mini mecca of sorts that welcomes campers, cyclists and any visitor in need of a hot shower or rest stop.

It’s also a stop on the Southern Tier Bicycle Route, a cycling trail that reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, allowing bikers to peddle their

way through the Spanish and Mexican cultures of California; the archaic byways of the indigenous pueblo cultures in New Mexico and Arizona; skirt along the footprints of the Conquistadors in Texas, become acquainted with French Louisiana, antebellum Mississippi and Alabama, and coming to rest in a town in Florida that’s over 400 years old. That’s a bike ride rife with heritage.

Fittingly, this tiny hospitable enclave that offers the weary heritage seeker rest on the way, celebrates history with a festival. Complete with an exotic petting zoo and inflatables that invite children of all ages to cut loose with abandon via all day-passes, live music is performed non-stop; delicious food is offered while a parade passes on the second day and the pageant queen is announced amid the celebrations. n

Information, Northup Trail to download a copy of the map, visit twelveyearsaslave.org/ wp-content/themes/slave/ downloads/map-combo.pdf.

Merryville Historical Society and Museum, 628 North Railroad Ave., Merryville; (337) 825-0101.

LouisianaLife.com | 67

around louisiana

Cajun Country

Boudin Fais-do-do in Scott Just three Aprils ago, the Louisiana Legislative House designated the tiny town of Scott, west of Lafayette, as the “Boudin Capital of the World.”

The town was thusly viewed as usurpers to the throne by the former designated boudin capital, Broussard.

Not to be outdone, Broussard then declared their town the “Intergalactic Boudin Capital of Positive Infinity,” while the town of Jennings called itself the “Boudin Capital of the Universe.”

No matter – compare the facts and you can see the House got it right. Scott, a town 8,500 strong in population, boasts five businesses that produce 1.3 million pounds of boudin annually and lies on the hallowed 68 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

Boudin Trail that runs through southeastern Louisiana. (The group, “Boudin for Peace,” travels this trail annually.)

Making boudin is an art form that expresses itself in several interpretations: Red or white (bloodless), the casings are filled with a delicious diversity of different ingredients. With seafood or pork as its base, the savory blend of the filling is a velvety composition of rice, green peppers, onions, herbs and spices that melt on your tongue after that first subtle crunch of the breaking casing. A year after being designated the Boudin Capital of the World, Scott, also calling itself as the spot where the “West begins,” held its very first Boudin Festival. Although it was a new gem added to the rich heritage of festivals in

Louisiana, thousands immediately flocked to attend.

This year the three-day food fest features arts and craft booth, carnival rides, Cajun two-step dancing and zydeco bands. The Diaper Derby will have infants crawling to the finish line.

Savory Boudin in all its flavorful and varied glory will be cooked and offered for mouth-watering eating enjoyment in the form of smoked or poached links to deep-fried Boudin balls. Try to save some room for the Boudin Eating Contest. Participants must pig out faster than their competition and consume the most Boudin in five minutes. Boudin, babies, dancing and zydeco – a perfect way to spend a spring weekend in the Bayou State.

Cajun Woodstock in Church Point The Cajun Woodstock held in Church Point each year is a wonderfully philanthropic event geared for family enjoyment. But it was also conceived and put into practice with the solitary goal of gifting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis with a hefty monetary donation from the proceeds it makes. Since its inception 10 years ago, the Cajun Woodstock has earned over $200,000 to benefit the hospital. The band, J.C. Carriere and Hotstep, wanting to offer family fun and a chance to give back for all the

blessings they received, created the event. The Church Point community quickly shared their enthusiastic esprit d’corp and joined in to fight for children with illnesses.

Held the last weekend of April each year, festivalgoers are treated to carnival rides, live music, good food and drinks. In addition to the festivities and entertainment, there is a Poker Run and Round Steak Rice and Gravy Cook-Off. If you haven’t been fortunate enough to grow up in a household with a matriarch who prepared this dish, let me explain: Round steak is slowly simmered and smothered with onions in a brown seasoned gravy to forkcutting tenderness; then the gravy, redolent of black pepper, onions and meat flavor is served over gravy along with the succulent round steak.

The onions may caramelize a bit to delicious limpness; it’s a dish not to be missed.

In addition to helping St. Jude’s, the Cajun Woodstock organizers annually visit the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, cook gumbo for the residents and bring donated pantry items and toys that they collected back home in Louisiana. n Information, Boudin Festival, laboudinfestival.com; Cajun Woodstock, cajunwoodstock.com

around louisiana

Baton Rouge

COWBOYS AND CONVICTS IN ANGOLA In 1965, a group of inmates and prison personnel joined forces to build a small arena to hold a rodeo, staged primarily just for the fun of the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) denizens. Two years later the rodeo opened to the public; visitors observed all the bull riding, bareback riding and roping sans stands, using apple crates and the hoods of their cars for seating. It was a huge success, and by 1969 it was necessary to build an arena that could seat 4,500. Three years later, Angola adopted the official Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rules and has since remained the longestrunning rodeo in the nation.

Each April the air is filled with the sounds of bulls, cattle, horses and cowboy whoops as the crowds thrill to the western stunts. The Grand Entry is photograph by Jessica Parsons

a breathtaking spectacle as the Angola Rough Riders storm the arena riding hell for leather with colors streaming almost looking like something out of a John Ford movie. The events are nonstop, proceeding along with a full gallop of thrills as hooves thunder and dust flies.

The Bust Out area consists of six chutes filled with bulls a-snortin’ and a stompin,’ with six brave inmate cowpokes astride their backs – the bulls burst through the opened chutes and the last man riding wins the event. The Wild Horse Race is a competition where six wild horses are released simultaneously, dragging short ropes. The objective is for the teams of three men to grab the rope and hold the horse long enough for one of them to mount and cross the finish line. Barrel racing, bareback riding and bull-riding are a few of the events that never

fail to please the crowd. Four inmate cowboys participate in Cowboy Poker wherein they are seated at the table in the center of the arena for a leisurely game of cards until a wild bull is released with the express intent to unseat them; the last man seated wins the day. All proceeds go to improving rehabilitation at the prison, and other worthy causes.

LOUISIANA EARTH DAY IN BATON ROUGE Back in 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated nationwide to stage events that supported environmental awareness and protection.

Each year, Baton Rouge is the site of the Louisiana Earth Day celebration, held at various sites in the North Boulevard enclave that houses the crenellated towers of the Old State Capitol near Galvez Plaza, the Municipal Building and the Old

Governor’s Mansion. Replete with a Vegan Village and food court to keep you fueled, with live music for entertainment and arts and crafts for esthetic enjoyment, over 400 dedicated volunteers whose goal is to protect the environment of Mother Earth man the celebration. The volunteers come from government; nonprofit groups; educators and entrepreneurs. Also to be enjoyed is the Mayor’s Family Bike Ride; a recycling fair; earth walk; wetlands tent; Earth Day Plant Nursery and astronomical demonstrations by the Baton Rouge Astronomical Society. Seminars on recycling and water pollution provide more ecologically enlightened education.

It isn’t always necessary to travel to a forest or national park, savoring and learning about the beauty of wildlife can involve just simply strolling through your neighborhood or sitting on your porch. Visit Nature in Your Neighborhood: Louisiana Wildlife Federation on the fair grounds. Get a little personal with the little critters – you might even learn how to make a pinecone bird feeder. n Information, Angola Rodeo, April 18-19, 2015, angolarodeo.com; Louisiana Earth Day, laearthday.org LouisianaLife.com | 69

around louisiana

New Orleans

Celebrating Sicily IN INDEPENDENCE Lying to the North of New Orleans in Tangipahoa Parish, the town of Independence is a thriving community rich with Sicilian culture and flavor.

Back in the 1880s, migrating Sicilians traveled the Great Northern Railroad, a stretch of tracks that reached from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, searching for the ideal spot to settle. The route skirted the south and western shores of Lake Pontchartrain and then headed due north toward Jackson. When they reached Tangipahoa Parish, the bounty of the farm fields, bursting with unending rows of bright red, juicy strawberry plants, the Sicilian people knew they had found home. The now predominant Sicilian settlers rechristened the town where they settled originally named “Sam,” Independence a few years later. Eventually, the hardworking people were able to buy 70 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

their own strawberry farms by 1890 and keep their heritage intact; by 1905, Independence was Louisiana’s primary exporter of strawberries.

Expanding their enterprises, they invested in factories and even an electrical power plant, and established aid societies to welcome new Sicilians.

Joining forces with the local Indian tribes, they formed a strawberry farmer’s association, an act that propelled Louisiana to become the leading strawberry producing state in the nation by the 1920s.

The rich Sicilian culture prevails to this day in Independence and each year it is fittingly celebrated with the Annual Independence Sicilian Heritage Festival. The festival will start Friday, March 13, 2015 with a spaghetti cook-off; the following day, after Mayor Michael Ragusa welcomes everyone to the festivities, attendees will be treated to a

tableau of Italian flag throwers, dance performances; spaghetti eating contest; meatball throwing contests all accompanied by live performances by Bag of Donuts, Trigger Proof, Na Na Sha, and the Hometown Boys.

The food items in past festas, provided by nonprofit groups only, are of a definite spectrum beyond a beer and a dog. Frozen lemonade; fried Oreo cookies; fried eggplant with Seafood Volcano; lasagna, muffaletta; stuffed artichokes and Chicken Alfredo are some of the mouth-watering choices. Arts and craft booths feature fine handiwork of local artisans.

ST. JOSEPH’S DAY IN NEW ORLEANS I once had a coworker who had been trying for several months to sell her home, to no avail. One day she complained to me about this and I told there was a simple solution to her problem: bury a statue of St. Joseph upside in her front yard.

“But,” she protested, “I’m Jewish!”

“So was St. Joseph,” I replied.

She buried the statue. Her house sold the same week.

On March 19, residents of the Big Easy follow the tradition of Sicilians, who prayed to St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, and dreamer extraordinaire, to end a famine hundreds of years ago. They thanked him for his saving

intercession by erecting altars laden with food. With statues, flowers, candles and food, each year the altars fill New Orleans churches and private homes as beauteous things to behold.

The altars have three tiers that represent the Holy Trinity.

Cakes in the shape of beautiful little lambs, symbolizing that Christ is the Lamb of God, are a requisite. Also required is a bowl of raw fava beans that you must take to ensure your cupboard will never be empty.

Also prevalent are cakes baked in the form of bibles and saws, ladders, hammer, all carpentry tools to represent the trade of this most revered saint. Stuffed artichokes, eggplant dishes, pasta with a meatless sauces representative of sawdust, fish, wine and the absolutely delicious fig, sesame seed, and anise Italian cookies lie interspersed among the food. Uneaten portions are then donated to the poor. Note: It has been said if a single woman steals a lemon from an altar she will soon catch a husband. n

Information, Sicilian Heritage Festival, March 13-15, 2015, Independence, indysicilianfest.com.

LouisianaLife.com | 71

mississippi travel Tallahatchie Flats

Traveling the Mississippi Delta A land of myths and legends

By Cheré Coen

Driving through the country roads of the Mississippi Delta one is stuck by the dichotomy of the region.

On one hand, the Deep South landscape offers a cuisine tasting of family and history, the outdoors teem with wildlife and an indigenous music that spawned much of modern music today attracts visitors worldwide. On the flip side, those vast rural acres of cotton remind us why the Delta folks sang the blues.

To truly absorb the Mississippi Delta, one has to embrace and understand both.

In Greenwood, for instance, visitors may enjoy the four-

72 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

diamond historic Alluvian Hotel with its luxurious rooms and suites, learn how to fry chicken properly at the Viking Cooking School nearby and dine at the tony Delta Bistro, named one of Southern Living’s Top 100 Restaurants in the South. Greenwood was used extensively in the film The Help so visitors can pick up a free map from the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau to find the 16 locations used in the movie, including narrator Skeeter Phelan’s home.

For a more rustic experience, spend the night in a sharecropper

shack outside of town at the Tallahatchie Flats.

The property consists of a collection of authentic sharecropper homes located on the river where Billie Jo McAllister threw something overboard in Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 song, “Ode to Billy Jo.” These old-time tenant houses that can be rented by the night, week or month offer authentic décor, from the license plate covering the hole in the floor to the old record player sporting 45s. The line of shacks exist a short drive from town but at night visitors will feel like they’re deep in the Delta countryside. During hunting season, a cache of ducks can sometimes be found lying on the front porches with mornings deserted as hunters head out.

A short walk down the road from Tallahatchie Flats lies one of Robert Johnson’s graves – and yes, there are three. Johnson blazed the

blues trail in the early part of the 20th century, leaving us with some of the genre’s most important recordings during his short lifetime, many of which influenced later musicians. Eric Clapton once said, “I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson.”

Legend has it that Johnson’s ambition drove him to meet the devil near the Delta’s Dockery Plantation, where the devil tuned his guitar and endowed him with great talent in exchange for his soul. Today, visitors can easily find this “Crossroads” in Clarksdale, marked by a giant sign at the confluence of Highways 61 and 49.

Johnson died at age 27 in 1938 outside Greenwood.

Because no one knows for sure where he’s buried, there are three gravesites attached to each story. In Morgan City, an obelisk headstone includes Johnson’s discography, biography and photo at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. It’s believed Johnson was buried here in an unmarked grave with the marker later placed at the site

by Columbia Records. Over in Quito, a small headstone for Johnson has been placed beside the Payne Chapel Memorial Baptist Church.

The marker at the Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery near Tallahatchie Flats holds the most credence and around his grave are routinely placed items in reverence by fans, including a few empty whiskey bottles.

Blues lovers must include Indianola on their tour, home to B.B. King’s museum that spotlights both the famous bluesman’s career and the origin of blues. The museum photos by cheré coen

is located in an old cotton gin and offers a fabulous overview of the blues, exhibits on how Delta musicians left the cotton fields to make their way to Memphis and better times and hands-on stations where visitors can perform the blues like B.B. King.

Clarksdale remains another great example of the Delta’s dual personality. Considered by some as the birthplace of the blues, Clarksdale is home to the Delta Blues Museum, great blues juke joints and actor Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club.

Visitors can also experience country life as well as live music at the Shack Up Inn, where several sharecropper “shacks” were moved to the property from neighboring plantations. “The ritz we ain’t” is what owners proclaim on their web site, which sums it up well. Shacks range from the Electric Blue shack with two separate bedrooms and a shared kitchenette and private bath to the small ecofriendly “Tinth” shack that sleeps two. Live performances happen inside the Cotton Gin, which operates more like a

TOP: Robert Johnson’s gravesite at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

BOTTOM: The crossroads where legend has it blues guitarist Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil.

photo by Joe Mazzola

hotel, and the Shack Up offers special events throughout the year, such as music workshops and blues jams.

Clarksdale also offers historic bed and breakfasts such as the 1859 Clark House and more high-end accommodations such as The Lofts at the Five and Dime, modern condos in the former Woodworth building. For something unique, the circa-1917 Delta Bohemian Guest House combines art and color with a slice of funk by owners Billy and Madge Marley Howell, native Mississippi Deltans and publishers of The Delta Bohemian online literary magazine.

There are several great restaurants in Clarksdale that range from barbecue and soul cooking to fine dining, plus hots spots in between such as Stone Pony Pizza. Blues lovers will adore Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, listed as “one of the 17 coolest record stores in America” by Paste magazine.

Cat Head is more than a record store, however. They sell folk art and just about anything Mississippi related, not to mention sponsor blues festival and events. To round out your visit, stop by the Delta Blues Museum which includes Muddy Waters’ cabin, complete and recreated from Stovall Farms, among so much more.

Located throughout Mississippi are dozens of blues markers detailing this uniquely American history, part of the Mississippi Blues Trail. To find out markers in each region of the Delta, which in turns offers information on the blues musicians who lived there, visit msbluestrail.org.

For more information on the varied things to do in the Mississippi Delta, go to visitthedelta.com. n LouisianaLife.com | 73

PROMOTIONAL SECTION

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PROMOTIONAL SECTION

LouisianaLife.com | 75

lifetimes

Statewide Calendar March and April events, festivals and more.

Compiled by Judi Russell

NORTH March 7. Jonquil Jubilee.

1246 Third St., Gibsland. (318) 843-6228.

March 13-15. Black Heritage Festival of Louisiana. Lake Charles Civic Center. (337) 304-0620.

March 15. Krewe of Highland Parade XIX. Highland Area, Shreveport. (318) 673-7817.

March 21. Battle of the Gumbo Gladiators. Festival Plaza, Shreveport. (318) 425-4413.

March 24. Louisiana Redbud Festival. Vivian Town Square, Vivian. (318) 375-3893.

76 | Louisiana Life March/April 2015

March 28. Annual Scottish Tartan Festival. Scotland Farms, Minden.

(318) 294-7351.

April 9-12. Louisiana Samboree.

State Fair of Louisiana, Shreveport.

(318) 655-0414.

March 28. Cork – A Red River Revel Wine Event. Festival Plaza, Shreveport. (318) 673-5100.

April 10-19. Holiday in Dixie.

Festival Plaza, Shreveport. (318) 865-5555.

March 28. Home & Garden & Old House Fair. Minden Civic Center.

(318) 377-4240.

April 17-18. Burn Run. Lake Bistineau State Park, Doyline. (318) 218-3762.

March 28. ASEANA Spring Festival. ASEANA Foundation, Shreveport. (318) 401-8078.

April 18. Art on 80 “Zenobia’s Dream.” The Farm, Minden. (318) 593-5991.

April 4. Albanie Fallita & Thrift Set. Dixie Center for the Arts, Ruston. (318) 255-1450.

April 25. Artini. Horseshoe Riverdome, Bossier City. (318) 741-8310.

CENTRAL March 5-8. Red River Campaign Commemoration. Fts. Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site, Pineville.

(318) 484-2390.

March 14. Red River Run 10K. Downtown Alexandria. (318) 446-4814.

March 27-29. Merryville Heritage Festival. Merryville Museum & Rising Warrior Stage. (337) 396-3467.

April 17-18. Natchitoches Jazz/ Rhythm & Blues Festival.

Downtown Riberbank Stage, Natchitoches. (318) 332-1059.

photo courtesy Wizard World new orleans comic con

April 18-19. Melrose Arts & Crafts Festival. Melrose Plantation, Melrose. (318) 379-0055.

April 20-26. Louisiana Mudbud Festival. Colfax. (318) 729-3237.

CAJUN COUNTRY March 1-April 30. Azalea Trail of New Iberia. Driving/Walking tour, New Iberia. (337) 365-1540.

March 1. 29th Annual Here’s the Beef Cookoff. Agricultural Arena on the Yambilee Fair Grounds, Opelousas. (337)684-6751.

March 7. Cajun Comic Relief.

Heymann Performing Arts Center, Lafayette. (337) 291-5555.

March 7. Shadows Arts & Crafts Show. Shadows-on-the-Teche, New Iberia. (337) 369-6446.

March 14. 2nd Saturday Artwalk.

Downtown, Lafayette. (337) 291-5566.

March 20-21. Iowa Rabbit Festival. Lawrence Toups Jr. Memorial Park, Iowa. (337) 433-8475.

March 20, 27. Downtown Alive!

Parc Internatioinal or Parc Sans Souci, Downtown, Lafayette. (337) 291-5566.

March 21. Acadian Memorial Festival & Wooden Boat Congres.

Downtown, St. Martinville. (337) 394-2258.

March 21. Festival of Live Oaks.

New Iberia City Park, New Iberia.

(337) 369-2337.

March 28. Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival. Bouligny Plaza, New Iberia. (337) 352-2180.

March 29. Annual World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cookoff. Northwest Community Center Pavilion, Eunice. (337) 457-7389.

April 3, 10, 17. Downtown Alive!

Parc International or Parc Sans Souci, Lafayette. (337) 291-5566.

April 3-5. Laotian New Year Celebration. What Thammarattanaram Temple, Coteau. (337) 364-3403.

April 3-5. Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival. Kemper Williams Park, Patterson. (800) 256-2931.

April 10-12. 3rd Annual Scott Boudin Festival. 125 Lions Club St., Scott. (337) 233-1130.

April 10-12. Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival. Downtown Main Street, Franklin. (800) 256-2931.

April 10-12. Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show. Downtown Franklin. (337) 828-3706.

April 10-12. Cajun Hot Sauce Festival. 713 NW Bypass (Hwy. 3213), New Iberia. (337) 365-7539.

April 11-16. Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week.

Vermilionville, Lafayette. (337) 234-8360.

April 11. 2nd Saturday ArtWalk.

Downtown Lafayette. (337) 291-5566.

April 16-19. 15th Annual Washington Catfish Festival.

143 Veterans Memorial Hwy., Washington. (337) 828-3627.

GREATER NEW ORLEANS March 7. Arts Evening. Old Towne Slidell. (985) 646-4375.

March 7-8. Los Ilenos Fiesta.

Los Ilenos Museum & Village, St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans. (504) 554-8412.

March 20-22. Amite Oyster Festival. Downtown Amite. (800) 617-5401.

March 21-22. Mandeville Spring Crafts Show. Mandeville Lions Hall.

(985) 373-2307.

March 26-29. Louisiana Crawfish Festival. Torres Park, Chalmette. www.louisianacrawfishfestival.com April 9-12. French Quarter Festival. Various sites, French Quarter, New Orleans. (504) 522-5730.

April 9-12. A Taste of Covington Wine & Food Festival. Covington Trailhead, Historic Downtown Covington & participating restaurants, Covington. (504) 439-2543.

April 10-12. Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival. Memorial Park, Ponchatoula. (800) 917-7045.

April 10-12. Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. NOLA Motorsports Park, Avondale. (504) 302-4875.

April 18. St. Charles Parish Crawfish Cook-Off. Jerusalem Shrine Center in Ormond Estates, Destrahan. (504) 782-5275.

April 18-19. Covington Heritage Antiques Festival. 2015 Historic Downtown Covington. (985) 892-1873.

BATON ROUGE March 12-15. Louisiana Sportsman Show. Lamar Dixon Expo Center, Gonzales. (504) 415-8047.

March 14. Wearin’ of the Green St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Hundred Oaks Area, Baton Rouge. (866) 920-4668.

March 27-29. 50th Jackson Assembly Antiques & Art Show.

Historic Downtown Jackson. (225) 634-5619.

March 28-29. The Siege of Pt. Hudson Reenactment. Port Hudson State Park, Jackson. (225) 654-3775.

April 11-12. Kite Festival Louisiana. West Baton Rouge Soccer Complex, Port Allen. (225) 344-2920.

April 25. LUMCON Open House.

DeFelice Marine Center, 8124 Hwy. 56, Cocodrie. (985) 851-2800.

April 22-26. Festival International de Louisiane.

Downtown, Lafayette. (337) 232-8086.

April 24-26. 30th Annual Etouffee Festival. St. John Francis Regis Church grounds, Arnaudville. (337) 754-5912.

April 25. Grillin in the Park. New Iberia City Park. (337) 365-5651.

April 25-26. 13th Cajun Woodstock (Benefit for St. Jude Hospital.) City Park, Church Point.

(337) 280-8710.

Help Us Promote Your Event!

Go online to provide information for our calendar section and webpage.

Remember, the sooner we get the information, the better able we are to help you. To submit a festival, show or special event go to: MyNewOrleans. com/Louisiana-Life/Submit-an-Event. To submit a parade for carnival season go to: MyNewOrleans.com/Louisiana-Life/Submit-a-Parade-toLouisiana-Life

LouisianaLife.com | 77

quirky places

John Schneider Studios “Dukes of Hazzard” star brings showbiz to Holden.

By Megan Hill

When actor John Schneider was scouting locations for a horror-comedy film he wrote and directed, he chanced upon a former campground along the Tickfaw River that would forever change the way he makes movies.

“In the location scouting for Smothered, after I was sure I found exactly what I needed, someone called me no less than six times to look at this property that I was not remotely interested in,” says the actor, best known for his role in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard, which ran from 1979 to 1985. “In order to really quiet him down and have him stop calling, I agreed to go look at it on the way to the airport.

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Yeah, it’s funny how dreams never come true on the road you think they’re on.”

Schneider says the minute he drove onto the 53-acres in Holden that was once Camp Singing Waters, he fell in love.

“I not only saw all of Smothered there, but I saw all of, or much of, several other scripts that I had written and immediately felt embraced by this whole place,” he recalls. Shortly after, the land became John Schneider Studios, complete with river access, a swamp, large open fields, a lake, a baseball field, a five-acre forest of giant bamboo and what Schneider describes as “a cool old house.”

Schneider has long felt at home in Louisiana.

“The first time I had fallen in love with boudin and crawfish boils and the crazy people in Louisiana, the folks that work so hard and play so hard, was back in the ’80s when I was doing country music,” he says.

“I was actually engaged to a girl from Alexandria way, way back when, and I realized that the Louisiana folks were truly different from any other state. They have no desire to blend in, and I admire that.”

Schneider has transformed his Livingston Parish property to include production space, a full cafeteria, edit bay and sound stage, with post-production sound facilities in the works. To date, the space has provided the backdrop for four films and nine commercials, with a Pierce Brosnanproduced movie gearing up.

While working, crews live on-site in a 1910 home built by the property’s original owner, James McCarroll.

Schneider aims for an artist’s retreat setting, where “you can

bring your dog and you film your movie in the backyard.

You can work in your socks.

There’s not a corporate vibe at all,” he says. With no distractions, actors and producers can immerse themselves in their surroundings, live and work as a team, and in theory make a better product in the process.

“Case in point, the last film that shot there was called Exit 13, and the actors and the director and the producer all had rental cars because they figured they were out in the middle of the sticks and they were going to need to go somewhere,” Schneider says.

“Well, the rental cars stayed there the whole time. Once they got there, they got up in the morning and jogged the bamboo trail and then they went to the gym and worked out, and then they did 10 to 12 hours’ worth of work that day and then cuddled up by the fireplace with the dog.”

This is especially helpful for crews producing a place-based film; the surroundings at the studio become a significant supporting actor – as the state’s scenery so often does for movies shot here.

“If we’re going to make a movie that’s about being out in the middle of the swamp, then I’d rather camp out in the middle of the swamp,” Schneider says. “You see things, you hear things. You have an experience that you can then transfer to film that you wouldn’t have from a Holiday Inn in Hammond.”

Or, for that matter, at a Hollywood studio. n romero & romero photograph

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a louisiana life

Dr. Quincy Hilliard University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s composer in residence

By Megan Hill

Though Dr. Quincy Hilliard claims he is an “average musician,” he has earned impressive chops as a composer and conductor.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you I was an outstanding musician and all that kind of stuff. I was just an average musician,” says Hilliard, the Composer in Residence and the Heymann Endowed Professor

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of Music at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He earned a long tenure at ULL, having worked there since the fall of 1986. His works have earned him numerous awards, and his music has been performed around the world.

The Starkville, Mississippi, native grew up playing the trumpet but quickly turned his attention to teaching. He

pursued an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in music education. He became interested in composing during graduate school.

“I wasn’t some child prodigy,” Hilliard says. “I wasn’t like some little kid running around writing tunes at 3 and 4 years old, all that kind of stuff.” Hilliard says he benefited from mentors that helped him along the way, leading to earning his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of Florida.

Hilliard has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments as a composer for wind band. He was commissioned to write works for the 1996 Olympic Games and the score for the documentary The Texas Rangers. In 1998, the Library of Congress tapped him to compose a work for the bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

Hilliard has received several awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and is a scholar of Aaron Copland’s music and life. He’s also written several books for school band instructors.

In June, Hilliard was honored with an award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for his composition “Kojiki,” a dramatic telling of a Japanese goddess’s journey

through the underworld.

“That was a very prestigious award, because it was an outside reviewer who chose my piece over several others. It was a composer recognizable at a different level, who is well-respected, well-known. That was very gratifying to me,” he says.

Hilliard keeps busy with commissions too; right now, he has four in the works. He’s written extensively about music education, which has helped to set him apart in the field. His books include Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks; Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands; and Theory Concepts. Hilliard has also published articles in Opera Journal; The Instrumentalist; School Musician; Bandworld; American Music Teacher; Florida Music Director; and Tennessee Musician.

And of course, he’s busy teaching music theory and composition at ULL. Hilliard also runs a consulting firm called Hilliard Music Enterprises, Inc. The humble composer gives credit to the university for supporting him over the years.

“The administration has been a big part of my success.

They’ve made me feel at home,” he says. “And because of that, I have not left this university. I’ve had other offers. But I haven’t gone because they’ve been loyal to me. They’ve developed me.” n

romero & romero photograph