• Carencro, sister city swap more than culture
• Church Point celebrates Acadian heritage
• Congrès volunteer Broussard, 51, dies in airplane crash in Nevada 

          CHURCH POINT - Church Point's Wednesday showcase day was a great
          success, said town Chamber of Commerce Director Carol Guidry.

          "Though we planned it for many more people ... I feel we prepared something
          that allowed them to get to know who we are," she said. "Possibly the greatest
          compliment I heard all day, was, 'Now I know what Church Point is all about.'"

          Guidry said visitors from Canada and throughout the United States began
          arriving at 8 a.m. The showcase day was held as a Congrès Mondial
          Acadien-Louisiane event, and was intended as a means for the community to
          meet with those attending family reunions and other Congrès related activities.

          The local Congrès began Aug. 1 and concluded Sunday. It is modeled on a first
          Congrès celebrated in 1994 in Canada. It just so happened that the 2nd
          Congrès, or reunion of Acadian descendants, coincided with the state
          Department of Tourism FrancoFête. The FrancoFête is the year long
          recognition of the 300th anniversary of the rediscovery of the Mississippi River
          by Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, and thus, the influence of the French
          culture in Louisiana.

          The Church Point day featured Courir du Mardi Gras riders, buggy rides, a
          twinning ceremony with the town's Nova Scotia partner, La Pointe de l'Eglise,
          and a living cemetery, featuring 18 first-person narrations.

          Adrienne Middlebrooks, the niece of Charlene Richard, "The Little Cajun
          Saint," portrayed the aunt she never met.

          "My name is Charlene Marie Richard," the teenager began. "I grew up in
          Church Point, and was like any other kid my age ... In the Spring of 1959, I was
          playing in my yard and saw a tall lady dressed in black. She scared me ... A
          few week later I was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia. Each day I
          offered my suffering for someone special. I died 13 days after being
          diagnosed."

          Angela Middlebrooks, the young orator's mother, said she never knew her sister
          as Charlene died before she was born. Charlene was the second of 10 children.
          Angela was the last.

          Following two performances of living cemetery narratives, Acadia Parish
          Police Juror Charles Labbe stood defrocking himself from his robe he wore to
          portray his uncle, Monsignor Emery Joseph Labbe.

          Labbe said the experience broadened his knowledge of his uncle. "He was a
          deeply spiritual man. A visionary Catholic educator (and) someone who fought
          for social justice," Labbe said.

          Standing near Labbe, were Alderman Errol "Slu" Comeaux and Church Point
          Mayor Roger Boudreaux, who were both enjoying the shade of the church park
          while sipping a cold drink.

          "He was so realistic," Boudreaux said, "people are still walking by asking for his
          blessing."

          In Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, one of 10 churches in the town of 4,600,
          various performances provided an opportunity to escape the heat.

          The Rev. Maurice LeBlanc, conductor of La Chorale Acadienne du Sud-Ouest
          de la Nouvelle Ecosse, said since arriving in Louisiana on Saturday, they have
          been greeted warmly and enthusiastically.

          Each of the 55 choir members paid their own way, $500 round-trip air fare, and
          together they raised $2,000 for expenses before leaving Canada.

          "We have been rehearsing since April in preparation for the performances,"
          LeBlanc said.

          The priest said since the Canadian dollar is worth less than the American dollar
          (about 40 cents less), they have been accepting collections following each
          performance and that money is being used to help with bus cost while here.

          Church Point resident Louise Briscoe said, "The day has been beautiful, I have
          really enjoyed it - but hot."

          As one of the 17 crafts persons featured during the day, Briscoe said she had
          the opportunity to speak with many of the visitors. "I make rosary beads, and
          though I didn't sell much, I got to meet the people," she said.

          The chamber director said about 1,000 visitors came to the Church Point event.
          Most of the visitors were from the United States, rather than from Canada, as
          previously expected.

          She said the overall cost to the town for the event was about $2,000, much less
          than originally planned.

          Pre-Congrès planning encouraged towns to expect thousands of visitors, but as 
          the numbers did not materialize, Church Point scaled down its expectations. 
 

Guidry said overall, "We did very well."      As the afternoon wore on, zydeco music was heard coming from a far end of the Sacred Heat church grounds.       A small boy sat across the railing of a walkway while Richard and Cathy Arsenault of Hartford, Conn., danced to "Don't Mess with My Toot-Toot."       Completing their dance, Richard Arsenault said, "Sensational. Lots of fun. Lots of good food. Lots of good people. Almost too much. Almost like an overload."