• Acadian exile, Kosovo compared 
• Duhon reunion continues today
• Cool spell enlarges parade crowd in Montegut 
• Hébert Reunion
• Daigle family grand reunion set for August 14

Les Petits Chanteurs thrilled a packed crowd of Hebert reunion attendents in Abbeville on Friday evening
with songs in French from France, Canada and Louisiana.

EDITOR'S NOTE: There have been 37 scheduled reunions involving 80 Acadian families for the Congrès
Mondial Acadien Louisiane 1999. This is just one of them -- the Hebert family reunion -- and as part of his week-long series, Chris Segura captures the flavor of these gatherings.
 
 

ABBEVILLE -- Judge Byron Hebert of the 15th Judicial court -- mild-mannered and polite even presiding
on the bench -- was frustrated.

In all of the family reunion organization for ''La Famille Hebert'' in conjunction with the ongoing Congrès
Mondial Acadien Louisiane -- 1999, one whisper circulated with trepidation.

It will be in August, the cautious Heberts worried. There will be foreign visitors from cooler climates. How
will they take it? they worried

The judge is the only male volunteer tour guide in Abbeville. When he walks visitors around the historic
district of this most Cajun town in Louisiana -- verified by the 1990 U.S. census, he wears a red beret and
sash as part of his uniform.

This very important day he was running into two stumbling blocks to his regular tour.

First, most of the Canadians, Frenchmen, Belgians and other descendants of Acadian refugees expelled
from what is now the Maritime Provinces of Canada in the mid-18th century felt it was too hot to take a
stroll.

Secondly, those who did attempt the tour kept running into long-lost Acadian cousins and just had to stop to chat about what had happened during the 245 years intervening in familial affiliations.

''I don't think we're going to make it to the graveyard,'' the judge said with a sad smile.

Walking through the doors to family reunion headquarters of Magdalene Place, however, took the sadness out of all the smiles.

Greeting the visitors were Les Petits Chanteurs, a singing group of children dressed in period costumes --
except for two pairs of blue jeans -- handing out family literature.

Later, during opening ceremonies in the air-conditioned convention center, their medley of songs in French from Canada, France and Louisiana simply thrilled the crowd that responded with applause, happy smiles and joyous tears.

There was standing room only in the large meeting room. Most of the visitors wore T-shirts with either the Hebert family crest or simply the words, Je m'appelle Hebert, literally, ''I call myself Hebert.''

One of the singers was not yet 6 years old. The group's French was perfect. It was the best example yet
of the ''Cajun renaissance'' which began with the founding of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana in 1968.

CODOFIL President Warren Perrin was guest speaker. He kept his remarks brief. There was much more
to come for the evening.

There was a monument to the Heberts to dedicate beneath the oaks of adjacent Magdalene Square while
the huge meeting room was cleared of chairs for a dance.

The thrust of Perrin's message was for Cajuns to get ready to party in Nova Scotia in 2004 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Acadia.

La Famille Hebert President Russell Gaspard -- who was praised throughout the day for his efforts for
almost three years in preparation for this reunion -- took the microphone. He begged the throng's
indulgence in leaving the building so chairs could be removed for the dancing.

''I know you're all very cool and comfortable here,'' he said. ''But there's no way we can dance with all
these chairs.''

The crowd walked out into what the French call ''l'heure bleu,'' the blue hour of evening, for the plaque
dedication.

The real test will come this morning. That's when the Giant Omelet Celebration will be re-created.

The fete is usually held in November, when it is cooler in southern Louisiana.

More than 5,000 eggs will be cooked in a single cast-iron skillet over a wood fire on Concord Street in the
center of the historic district.