• Families meet in Addis on discovery mission 
• Four families reunite, trace heritage from Canada to Louisiana 
• Acadia CD-ROM can take Cajuns on armchair trip 
      to ancestral home 
• Music sets Cajuns apart
• Acadian clans close local Congrès '99 
• Duhons have their day 
• Breauxs together again
• Hébert Reunion Omelet
• Doucet family revels in reunion
• Savoie-Savoy forge ties at reunion
• State park interprets history of Acadians, 'Evangeline'

          So far, 82 families - some of whom hail from various parts of Canada - have
          made it out for the two-day Doucet family reunion taking place in Opelousas
          this weekend.

          About 400 people are expected to attend the Doucet family reunion at the
          Yambilee Building in Opelousas, as family members kicked off the series of
          festivities and site-seeing Saturday.

          The event is being touted as the "Les Doucet du Monde" or the Doucets of the
          world and had about one-third of the people attending from out of state and
          nearly 15 people from Canada.

          Carroll James Doucet said some of the families came from as far away as
          Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

          "I was interested in genealogy before because I went to Canada and Nova
          Scotia," Shirley Doucet Poche from Catahoula said.

          "I wanted to learn more about my family and meet more of our relatives - and
          it's about time!" Barbara Doucet, also of Catahoula, said.

          Doucets roamed about the Yambilee Building looking at displays of
          genealogical charts of family trees trying to trace the lineage of their particular
          relatives.

          Anne Marie Doucet from Montreal, Canada, said the reunion brought her down
          out of the interest in finally seeing this area.

          "They made me feel at home right after I got here," Doucet said of at least two
          women, Gail Doucet Brunet and Mary Ann Doucet Miller, who were flanking
          her.

           They're like cousins to me," Anne Doucet said.

          Anne Doucet said she plans to stay in the area for 10 days and expects "to
          have a whole lot of good times." 
 

Her new friends had already volunteered to show her around to some of the sites and take her to eat at Prejean's, she said.      Though the average age of attendees ranged from the elderly to toddlers, Lucius Doucet pointed out that the oldest person in at the reunion was his 95-year-old mother Belle Doucet.      On Sunday, in addition to the booths and bands - Le Bande Brulee with Jean Murphy and the Cajun Jammers - Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco is scheduled to make an appearance at 2:30 p.m.      A Mass for the family is scheduled at St. Landry Catholic Church at 10 a.m. Sunday.