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T-shirts still available
Creole Heritage Day Cooks!
See Pictures Here
The Ninth Annual Creole Heritage Day was held on
January 18 and 19, 2002. Weather dampened attendance numbers which
were off from record numbers in 2001, but for those who braved the
elements, spirits were high, and all had a good time.
"Creole Cooks"
was this year's festival theme. For the first time the opening
ceremony for Creole Heritage Day took place on Friday at Northwestern
State University with Preservation Recognition Awards presented to 15
groups and individuals from Louisiana and Texas.
Saturday's festivities at
St. Augustine's Catholic Church commenced with an early morning
foot-stomping musical wake-up call from Jeremy and the Zydeco Hot Boyz.
This lit the fire on the pots, grills and fryers of the food
vendors. Everyone was sure to find his or her favorite Creole dish.
With Music in full force
with the Zydeco Force under the tent, the church all bingo, cultural
exhibits, crafts, book sales and cooking demonstrations of pecan candy and
Cane River meat pies, Creole Heritage Day was cooking!
Presenters from
Hawkinsville, GA introduced their seafood salad to Isle Brevelle, demonstrations
concluded with storytelling by Ms. Rosa Metoyer of Alexandria. A
genealogy exhibit and workshop was also held throughout the day.
Rev. Mark Noel celebrated
Holy Mass under the tent, a brief intermission to the conclusion of days
event led by Al and the Gators and concluding with the main dance by
Horace Trahan and the New Ossun Express.
Creole Heritage Day 2003
plans are underway with it's highly anticipated theme highlighting Creole
music and musicians.
HERITAGE DAY
T-SHIRTS
T-shirts are still
available from this year's celebration. The shirts are black and
have the "Creole Cooks" logo in color imprinted on the
front. Sizes range from Medium to XXLarge in short sleeve; long
sleeves come in sizes Large and XLarge. All shirts are $15
each. Payments should be made out to S.A.H.S. and orders can be placed via
e-mail here or via phone to
318/357-6685 and 318/357-0602.
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POST CREOLE
HERITAGE FESTIVAL EVENT
2002 Skeet Shoot - See photos here
A VERY good time was had by all at the first
ever Skeet Shoot organized and originated by Mark Delphin of Lake
Charles and F.J. Delphin of Cane River. The event was held at the
Delphin place on Cane River and attracted a crowd of about 20. This
post Creole Heritage happening was governed by a set of rules established
by the originators which was based upon a 5-shot turn, with the win going
to the best of 5.
A shoot-out was held between Mark Delphin and F.J.
Delphin after their achieving a perfect score of 5 out of 5. The
shoot-out was won by Mark. Runners up included Sam Christophe, Jr;
Jessie Sylvie (Uncle Tiny) and Phil Delphin. Prize money won was
donated to the St. Augustine Historical Society.
(NOTE: The following are excerpts taken from a
newspaper article printed Sunday, January 20, 2002)
CREOLE HERITAGE FESTIVAL
"You can see the unity"
By Eugene Sutherland - The Town Talk
(An Alexandria, Louisiana based newspaper)
MELROSE - About 400 Creoles and assorted others got
together and passed a good time here on Saturday.
For Creoles, there usually needn't be a good
reason to do so. But one was provided at the big tent assembled next
to historic St. Augustine Church.
The 9th annual Creole Heritage Festival turned
out to be a spirited family reunion for Creoles from as far as New Orleans
and Lake Charles.
"This is a celebration of our culture and of
our state," said Terrel Delphin, president of the St. Augustine
Historical Society and Chairman of the Creole Heritage Center in
Natchitoches.
"This is family getting together.
There's so many Creole communities in the state, this gives us a chance to
unite , to network and just pass a good time."
And a unique family it is.
Creoles are a mixture of Africans, French,
Spanish and Native Americans. The mixture in heritage is embraced by
Creoles. That was evidenced in the sights and sounds.
There were classic Creole dishes like pork
boudoin, garfish and Creole gumbo.
There were Creole-themed literature and
crafts. The aroma of history and culture hit visitors as much as the
thick roux filling the air.
The fun was so irresistible that even a Cajun
from Covington had to join in - for the second straight year. Ray
Coffman met Natchitoches native and Creole Carolyn Bynog now of New
Orleans, at last year's Creole Festival. We've been all over,
Lafayette, Lake Charles, on the Bayou in St. John and St. James Parish,
but this is the best kept secret in the sate," Coffman said.
"This is one great festival!
Those doubting the festival's role as a family reunion
would do well to consult Joseph Phillip Delphin. Delphin was reunion
with friend and former co-worker Arthur Thomas of Lake Charles for the
first time in 15 years. Thomas had not heard about the festival
until Friday night at a funeral. "This is unbelievable.
There's always a person you can run into, old friends you haven't seen in
years" Phillip Delphin said. "This is something special, all
right."
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