Mire gives Rotarians first look at ‘Crowley: Past and Present’

Loyal readers of The Crowley Post-Signal have already been made aware of Ann Mire’s love of Crowley’s deep historic lore.
It is no surprise then that Mire’s latest project pulls from those ongoing historic projects and puts moving visuals to Crowley’s historic notes.
The project, “Crowley: Past and Present,” stems fittingly from the past. In 1915 D.E. Lyons commissioned the creation of a movie about Crowley, showcasing the architecture and daily lives of its citizens.
It was filmed over a long weekend during the Acadia Parish Fair.
In the 90s, Mire dreamed about how grand it would be to recreate that video, in the present day for release in 2015 — 100 years later.
In the blink of an eye it seemed, however, the calendar read 2013 and it was time to make the dream a reality.
Thanks in part to generous supporters, that dream came to be and now Mire is helping show off that project. While contributors to the film have already been presented a copy, the Rotary Club of Crowley was fortunate to be the first group to see the film and learn that Mire is already working on giving other groups the chance to see the nearly 22-minute film.
“David Lyons made the first one in 1915 and premiered it at the opera house,” said Mire. “Hopefully at some point, (we can show it there).
“We’ll show the 1915 film first – it’s about 30 minutes and some of you may have seen it – then show this new one. It would be a dream come true, for me, to have it shown at the opera house.”
The film blends scenes from the 1915 film, pictures from years beyond and video from today. It is narrated by Hans Nelson and he helps take the viewer through Crowley’s history.
As part of the filming process, one of the first items filmed, according to Mire, was the Southern University marching band’s performance at the Rice Festival in 2013. It served as the perfect set piece later in the film as Nelson brings the viewer along Crowley’s historic ride to the Rice Festival.
As Nelson explains and Mire has written about in the past, the first Rice Festival featured a performance from LSU’s marching band. Fitting, then, that the video showcases both.
Mire’s creation starts with the 1915 film as piano-based music typical of the era shows Lyons standing in front of the opera house he had built. Then, magically, the viewer is moving down Crowley’s main street.
As the visuals change to clearer and colored images, Nelson shows how many of the old buildings in the 1915 film still stand today, restored in the past decade to their former glory.
The film shows off Crowley’s courthouses, schools and churches as well as old homes, fire stations and the history of rice and crawfishing before moving on to the Crowley Millers and how the Acadia Parish Fairgrounds became Bayou Bend Country Club.
At the close, Nelson calls to the viewers to think what progress is in store for the historically proud Crowley over the next 100 years.
The film drew a rousing round of applause from the Rotarians for Mire and many expressed interest in purchasing the film if it were to become available in the future.
Mire explained that the hope is to not only have the video shown at organizations and at local venues. but for the library to have a few copies as well as have the videos sold — at cost— at a later date.