Ci et Ca Avec Belle

HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS.....
Yes, it is that time of the year when March comes in or goes out like a lion or a lamb. Regardless of how it does, March marks the beginning of Spring! Which is our favorite time of the year! Can’t wait to see the green grass, the new green leaves on the trees and the colorful and beautiful flowers. What a great time for us all.
Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 8th. Whether you like it or not, it will be here and one of our favorite things about it is the longer afternoons which gives everyone an opportunity to be out at a later time with sunlight so that fun activities can be enjoyed. On the downside, is that it creates problems for still dark mornings for school children. However, summer vacation is not far away and so early morning school is not a consideration.
Get your green hats and outfits ready for Tuesday, March 17th, when everyone becomes Irish. It is a fun day with lots of activities happening and good food with the favorite, corned beef and cabbage as one of the staples of the day. Of course, that is the Irish favorite and our great Cajun food can be substituted for those who do not feel entirely Irish that day.
Then, the day that we all have been waiting for...the First Day of Spring will be on Friday, March 20th. A time when we hope that we can put away all of the winter clothes, shoes, blankets, etc., for awhile until we face cold again in the Fall and Winter. Our air conditioning will replace the heaters and many can open their windows to the wonderful spring breezes. It is such a great time of the year!
On March 29th, Palm Sunday will be observed in the churches. This is the joyous day before the sad observances to come on Good Friday and concluded with the joyous celebration of Easter, the Holy Resurrection of our precious Jesus. Palm Sunday marks the happy entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem with the waving of palm leaves by the citizens of the city as He passed by.

GET GLOVES, HATS READY........
The month of March is here and we need to get outside and get our yards, shrubs and flowers ready. The Cleanest City Contest will be here before we know it. We need to start our outside cleaning and gardening to be ready for this important competition! We’ve done it before, and we can do it again! Let’s get another state title win proving that our city is the most beautiful and cleanest in the state. We know it for a fact. Now we just want the entire state to know it too!

A VOICE FROM THE PAST........
It was a wonderful surprise! A phone call from a long-time friend from Rayne who we had not seen or heard from in too long a time. Merlin Hoffpauir and his dear wife, Paola, brought us up to date on their life these days. And what a great life with many achievements that we were happy to learn.
Merlin and Paola are enjoying living their retirement in Sicily. They both retired after 47 and 48 years of overseas civil service in Catania, Sicily on the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. They are enjoying the climate and weather, similar to California weather in temperature and vegetation. They are both multilingual and reside near the U. S. military base with thousands of uniformed military assigned there.
Another interesting attraction is only about 10 miles away and is Mount Etna, an ever active volcano at 11,000 feet. It is a great tourist attraction and many visitors from many countries make the trek up to see the volcano closer.
Merlin reports that there is lots of things to see and do in the area and that Catania is a busy and popular tourist stop with lots of shops and great places to eat and wine to try. It sound as though they have found a super place to enjoy their retirement.
We so enjoyed talking to Merlin and getting an e-mail with lots of good news and messages. We loved hearing about his and Paola’s wedding in Rome at the St. Peter’s Basilica. It had to have been an impressive ceremony with the holiest of holy churches.
Merlin reports that he reads the Tribune each week and keeps up with all the family and friends and that he loves Rayne and always will. We thank you Merlin for your kind words regarding our Avec writings and for introducing two new readers giving them subscriptions to the paper. We enjoyed our visit both on the phone and on the email and am so very happy to be in touch with you.
Merlin also expressed the wish that we give his best greetings to his 1954 St. Joseph classmates. He is like most of us who ever left our great little city. …. “You can take us out of Rayne, but you can NEVER take Rayne out of us!”.

SUCCESSFUL EVENT........
Thanks to the Rayne High Sponsors and members of the girls volleyball and softball teams for again sponsoring the 5th Annual Mattress Sale Fundraiser event. There were many folks that attended, including us, to have the opportunity to try out many various names and styles of the mattresses being displayed on the gym floor. We were there early, but there were many people not only trying them out, but purchasing one that met their needs, including us.
We can’t speak about the attendance all day, but judging by the cars near the gym, there were many who took this opportunity to select a mattress. The people assisting the buyers were very knowledgeable and helpful. They took lots of patience with all trying the mattresses to find the one that best suited our needs.
We also were impressed with the young ladies, members of the two teams, that stood all day at the busy corners in town with signs promoting the Sale and were great representatives to notify and interest the people passing by of the sale. Good job ladies and we hope that you all were able to raise lots of funds for your sports teams. You have achieved much in your sports last year, and we hope to see even more amazing results this year. Good luck to you.

LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT......
We were very excited to see Rayne’s own, Jo-El Sonnier be awarded a Grammy at the recent ceremony in California for the “Best Regional Roots” Category. He had been nominated in previous years, but this marked the first win for this wonderful musician. To make it even more interesting was that Breaux Bridge’s award winner, Hunter Hayes, got to make the presentation to Jo-El. Hunter was excited since he said he was inspired through the years by Jo-El who was a role model to him as he grew his talent to the national stage. We are very proud of you Jo-El and all of us knew what a wonderful musician you are and are happy that others throughout the music world now recognize your talents.
It was interesting as they always are to read Sidney Stutes latest article on one of our towns most talented citizens with his photography. Leonard Laperous was truly a self-made professional artist with his camera. His Photo Shop was widely recognized for the quality of his work and was in demand by those in Rayne as well as the area.
We were fortunate to have some of our family preserved in his outstanding photographs. He asked that our daughter, Laura, pose for him for some pictures that he was taking to submit to a state photography competition. She was just entering high school and in the picture, she was looking out to the “future” and strumming a yukelae. It was a great picture and to him it captured a girl between young girlhood and womanhood. It was very impressive and he was awarded first place in one of the big state competitions. He was kind enough to give us a copy of the picture and he had the other. However, when our house burned we lost that picture and was heart broken. But, he and the family were wonderful to give us a copy which Laura has in Shreveport. It is a treasure and a great memory of that time and his skill.
He also made a great portrait of our mom, Myrta Fair Craig, which was a treasure for us. Laperous had printed the picture on a large piece of white material which he had mounted on the wall in his shop. Of course, we lost her picture in the fire also, but could not get a copy since it and many of Laperous’ wonderful treasures were stored and could not be located.
Rayne can well be proud of this talented artist with a camera and the innovative techniques which he originated. If anyone has a copy of a picture taken years ago by Laperous, then enjoy and appreciate it since you own a treasure.
What a wonderful surprise recently. Laura and Ed had taken us to Chef Roy’s for lunch and as we were finishing our delicious meal, a young lady leaned over to say hello. Our heart skipped a beat since it looked as though we were visiting with our dear friend, Gail Andrus Fontenot, and yet we knew that we had lost her years ago. It wasn’t Gail, but it was her daughter, Cassie, who looked so much like her mom. We really enjoyed the visit with her and her dear husband, Bill McMann (Hope we got his last name correct.. we didn’t have a pen to write notes, and our memory is not too sharp, so we pray that he will forgive us if we are wrong.) It was a wonderful visit with them who still reside in Gueydan. It was also a fun time as we, our son-in-law, Ed Milligan and Laura, remembered things about her grandmother and the neighborhood. Ed grew up just a few houses down from the Andrus home and he reminded us all of the wonderful people on that block with the Andrus family, and the Sonnier family. We also talked about the Andrus store on the corner of their lot next to the Andrus home and of Teddie, Gail’s brother. We talked about her mom, Gail, and our memories of her with her best friend and our first cousin, Barbara Smith Moceri. They were both beauties and so popular with the younger crowd. It was a great time and everything in the restaurant was being cleared for closing or else we would have probably stayed there much longer. Cassie said that they get the Tribune and loves it in that she can keep up with things going on and with friends and loved family. We both commented that we hated to see Eula Andrus Cobena’s house on the market. It was one that we remembered well since Mr. Andrus had a great grocery store on the corner of the block where the church is located and the family, one of Rayne’s early families had lived there for many years including the younger generation of Cobena family calling it home also.
Cassie and Bill, we hope that you remember that you promised us a visit when you can so that we can continue our memories of the past loved ones and events. We loved the visit at the restaurant, but look forward to a visit at the house.
There was news recently of another great find of a two carat diamond at the state park field in Arkansas. The Crater of Diamonds is a great place to visit and to bring the kids as they work in the field looking for those priceless treasures. A great family memory maker for all.
We have enjoyed going many times and we have taken the grandkids on our mini-vacations there. It is not far away and there is only a small fee to enter. There are park rangers there to answer questions and help in any way. On our last trip there, the kids found a vein of Arkansas diamonds. They are beautiful quartz stones, however, they were certain that they were finding real diamonds. They would not stop to eat, to drink or anything since they were afraid some of the other people would come and take over the diamonds. It was a hot day and they would not stop digging and were so excited. They stayed there until it was time for the park to close. They gathered up their diamonds and went into the shop to leave. The park rangers were there and the children, very excited, had them look at their stones only to hear that they were not real diamonds but were beautiful Arkansas diamonds. They were disappointed, however the rangers showed them some of the Arkansas diamonds in the shop that were cut and polished and looked like real diamonds. So we all left happy vowing to go back some day, especially after a rain which we were told washes some of the diamonds out of the ground.
If you have an opportunity, go to the Crater of Diamonds. Please do so this spring/summer. We made screens to sift the dirt and see the stones, and it is a wonderful family time for everyone. The latest find there was a two carat stone, but last year a 4 plus diamond was found and valued at over $4,000. It will get into your blood and the family will love the challenge. The country in that area is beautiful and there are motels near by or a state run campground.
We received sad news recently about the passing of H.A. “Happy” Schomaker in Metairie, La. He was the loved husband of one of our dear classmates, Julia Bull Schomaker. This sweet couple would have celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on that day.
Julia and her twin brother, Julian, were leaders in the Rayne High School Class of 1948. Their family was one of the early pioneer families in Rayne, and have many friends here and in the area.
Their home in Metairie was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, and they returned to Rayne while working on their property to repair the damage done by Katrina. It was wonderful having them back here and to renew old friendships and to get to know Hap better. He was a talented man and provided a beautiful yard and home until the storm. However, he and Julia worked to restore the Metairie property so that they could return to their home.
Julia, we regret that we could not be there with you and the family for the wake and services, but know that you understand that we are there with our thoughts and prayers. We send the condolences from us, all of your classmates and your friends during this difficult time.

REMINDER OF THINGS AHEAD....
There are many activities ahead for us all. In fact there are too many to list, so please go to the Tribune and see the activities to come and put them on your calendar then plan to attend.
….......The Mire Volunteer Fire Department will hold their Annual Fundraiser for 2015 on March 15 at 10:00 am. The event will be held at the Outer Limits and great food and other things will be available for those attending. I hope that the community in the area will attend and support these important “heroes”. They give so much to keep the residents safe and are always willing to do what ever is needed to ensure that to everyone. The Fire Department needs funds to keep this vital program continuing and this is one way that everyone can give back to them. The loss of this service would be a great one for each and every person and home in the area. They will appreciate your support greatly.
….......Saturday, March 14th will be a time for joining others in meeting and hearing some great music. Shelly Waters, formerly Shelly Pellerin, will be coming home and presenting a wonderful “CD Release Show” which will introduce and highlight her newest C.D. It is great that she will be coming home to share this excitement with her many, many friends. The fun time will be held at the American Legion Home and will begin at 8 pm. This event will give us the opportunity to recognize her for her talent as well as the wonderful music. The admission is $10.00.
….......Registration for the 2015 baseball/softball summer leagues of the Rayne Recreation Department will be held until March 13. Be sure to get the registration forms completed and returned to the Rayne Recreation Department or City Hall by that date.

Community Honorees.....
There are many of our Rayne residents, both young and old, who have received wonderful honors recently. Again, we can’t list them all, but did want to acknowledge those young people that were honored as Students of the Year by the Acadia Parish School District. Our 5th grade Jai Rubin, South Rayne Elementary, Karson Rougeau, Richard Elementary,Asiah Dupont, Mire Elementary; 8th grade honorees were Taylen Daigle, Armstrong Middle, Alexis Hayes, Branch Elementary, Taylor Meche, Mire Elementary; and 12th honorees, Whitney Fontenot, Rayne High School. Very proud of these young students and congratulate their parents also for this achievement.
Also receiving a wonderful honor is the fact that Rayne is two of only three Louisiana schools to be named Lighthouse schools. One is Martin Petitjean Elementary and the newest is Rayne Catholic Elementary. Congratulations to both of these schools which are designated for the “Leader in Me” program.
….......We appreciate the thoughts and prayers of our dear friends and family during our recent visit to the Acadia General Hospital in Crowley for a minor procedure. Everything went well with Dr. Mark Petitjean as our talented and professional doctor. And we thank him for his medical expertise, his compassionate care and for all that he did for us. The staff at the hospital was super! From dear Tara in Admissions who was so kind to us, to the nurses that helped us prior to and after the procedure, and to the staff in the operating room, all were wonderful in taking care of us and tending to our every want and need during that time. We thank each of these highly professional caregivers. We thank them all and feel fortunate to have such a wonderful facility in our neighborhood. There are great hospitals in Lafayette and the area, but it is a blessing to have the Acadia General hospital here so close to home that provides the care needed by most in the area.

In Closing.......
As we observe this holy season of Lent, we pray that we all will devote our thoughts and prayers to the reason for this time of the year and attempt to make it a very special time for ourselves and our loved ones. As we prepare ourselves to observe the Holiest of days and the glorious Easter time, we pray each of our loved ones and our dear friends will be surrounded by the love, caring and support given by our Father. We also pray that our country will be prepared to continue to protect us all to ensure that America will always be the home of the brave and the free! May God bless our country and each of our loved friends and family.

And until next time...............Adios,
Au Revoir and Auf Wiedersehen