Bourque, Mervine Kahn film at Maison Daboval in Rayne Dec. 6

On Saturday, Dec. 6, the Rayne Historic District Association will host a special event to celebrate the arts in the prairie at Maison Daboval in Rayne.

The special guest will be Darrell Bourque, two-time Louisiana Poet Laureate and recipient of the 2014 Louisiana Writer Award. Beginning at 1 p.m., Bourque will read selections from his newest poetry work, which celebrates the lives of Amede Ardoin, Cleoma Falcon and Iry Lejeune.

Cleoma and Joe Falcon accompanied Ardoin on his 1934 recordings for Decca Records in New York City, and Lejeune learned nearly everything he knew about the accordion by listening to recordings of Amede’s music. Each one met a tragic and sad end, and yet their contributions to Cajun and Creole culture are indelible.

In addition to the poetry reading, the documentary “The Mervine Kahn Legacy” will be shown at 3 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. “The Mervine Kahn Legacy” began as an oral history project with interviews of former Mervine Kahn Company employees completed with the help of students from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Over 30 hours of interviews have been collected so far, as well as photos and artifacts from the store.

The Mervine Kahn store had a unique place in the development of local Cajun music since it was where a lot of the early musicians bought their accordions. A new documentary titled “Histoire des Cajun et Creole Accordions” relating this story is now in development.

In the morning, there will be sweet dough pie making, and a pork rib jambalaya will be served for lunch. Coffee and dessert will be served in the afternoon during the film showings. 

Maison Daboval is located at 305 E. Louisiana Ave. in Rayne. There is no admission cost and the public is invited.