The verdict from a selection of
Canadian visitors at the opening
ceremony of Congrès Mondial
Acadien on Sunday afternoon
was unanimous - the people of
south Louisiana are friendly and
the weather is hot.
Despite a thunderstorm that
drew much of the crowd indoors
at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic
Center for almost two hours,
Canadian visitors said they
were enjoying their time in
Louisiana.
"I noticed that people would come
to us if they saw we were visitors," said Lucille St. Denis, of Ottawa,
Ontario. "We feel welcomed."
St. Denis and Carmel Roy of Ottawa
and Lise Langevin and Lionel Roy from Three River, Quebec, arrived in Houma
on Saturday in their two motor homes. |
French and American flags are raised proudly by those
attended the opening ceremonies of the Congrès Mondial Acadien '99.
From left, Lindsey Porshe, Carroll Dugas, Irene Pitre, Ruby Dugas and Leland
Crochet celebrate the start of the two-week-long event honoring south Louisiana's
Acadian roots.
Photo by BRETT POWERS/THE COURIER. |
"We're a caravan of two," Carmel Roy said.
With their first full day in Houma, they said they liked the area but,
like many of the Canadian visitors, they had one qualifier.
"It's warm," Carmel Roy said while sitting in some shade provided
by the Civic Center building.
The group is traveling to Lafayette for the Roy family reunion
celebration this Saturday and Sunday.
Lightning and ominous clouds loom over opening day as
a crowd stays behind outside the Civic Center waiting for the storm to
pass.
Photo by CINDY SKOP/THE COURIER. |
The opening celebration
included music by several
bands from Louisiana and
Canada and a ceremonial
blessing by the United Houma
Nation and the Mi'kmaq Grand
Council delegates. The
performance by the Canadian
Armed Forces "Sky Hawks"
Acrobatic Parachute Team was
canceled because of mechanical
problems. |
Live music started at 6:30 p.m., but by 7:30 p.m. ominous
thunderclouds started rolling in from the southeast.
Although one optimistic event organizer told the crowd that the rain
never lasted long in south Louisiana, the festivities were brought
indoors for almost two hours.
Some people headed directly for their cars, lawn chairs and all,
while others went inside the Civic Center during the downpour and
thunderstorm. The peak crowd of about 2,500 people slowly
dwindled to about 1,000. Three visitors from southeast New
Brunswick, Canada, spent some of the indoor time talking with
people they'd met the day before at the Bourgeois family reunion in
Vacherie.
Carmella Bourgeois, Marguerite Bourgeois Gagnon, Florence
Bourgeois and about 30 other people were making their Cajun trek
with a tour company.
"We wanted to be at the family reunion and learn about the people
and your culture," Gagnon said.
In addition to Houma, they'll be visiting Baton Rouge, Lafayette and
New Orleans during their time in Louisiana.
| "All the nice places to visit,"
Gagnon said. Although there are many Canadians who have made
the trip to be a part of the Congrès Mondial Acadien, many more
canceled their plans for several reasons, Carmella Bourgeois said. People
were not only scared off by the heat, but the exchange rate between Canadian
and U.S. currency made the trip an expensive one.
She said the exchange rate now is
about 52 cents on the dollar, meaning to get $100 in U.S. currency, Canadians
have to pay $152.
"So we saved for a long time, put
some money in the piggy banks and Mother's Day presents and birthday presents,"
she said. |
A group from the Canadian Armed Forces Acrobatic Parachute
Team takes the plunge into the sky over Houma on Saturday evening during
a trial jump. The group was suppose to jump during the opening ceremonies
at the Civic Center
on Sunday, but because of mechanical problems, the show
was canceled.
Photo by CINDY SKOP/THE COURIER. |
None of the women seemed fazed about the turn in the weather and
tongue-in-cheek assured that they had seen rain before in New
Brunswick. Locally, a group from the Savoie family reunion
organization from Lafayette also came to check out the opening
evening festivities.
"We just wanted to come to see the opening ceremony," Sylvia
Savoie Hanks, secretary for the Savoie family reunion this Saturday
in Lafayette.
By 8:15 p.m., the bad weather seemed to have passed through
Houma and people started to head outside for the schedule of band
concerts to resume. The local and Canadian bands began playing
again about 9 p.m.
As everyone started back out into the now, much cooler evening,
Thomas Gallant of New Brunswick, Canada, said he was still having
a good time.
"There's no word to express it, the friendliness of these people,"
Gallant said. Gallant came to Houma with a tour group and
attended the Achee/Hache/Gallant family reunion in Thibodaux on
Saturday.
|
"We knew it was going to be a good
time. We just knew it," Gallant said.
Amy Wold is a staff writer at The Courier. She can be reached at 850-1148
or by e-mail at hdcnews@nytimes.com.
<= Claudia Dumestre of New Orleans and her partner
of about fifteen years, Daniel Breaux of Houma, swing each other around
the pavement outside the Civic Center to the sounds of Couche-Couche on
Sunday evening as the Congrès Mondial Acadian opening ceremonies
get under way.
Photo by CINDY SKOP/THE COURIER. |
|
CMA Newspaper Articles - August 2
Articles
