April 2007
Edition updated
PRESIDENT’s MESSAGE:
Greetings LAFF Friends
I hope everyone is doing well. I plan to start
visiting your events beginning in April. If I can be of assistance
to your event, please let me know.
We had our 1st quarter meeting March
31st in Patterson. We had a very productive meeting and I
want to thank the members of the Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival
for their hospitality.
I hope to see you soon.
In
the spirit of LAFF, sincerely
s/ Paul Magee
VICE-PRESIDENT’s MESSAGE:
Well another month has come and gone. I
need the help of all the Festival and Fair Queen’s directors. There
are rooms for the Queens that are blocked at the hotel. The hotel
has the names of all the festival and fairs that were at convention
last year that had a Queen. What we need from the directors of the
Queens is this--- As soon as your new Queen is selected, you need to
call the hotel and give them the name of the Festival, the new
Queens name and a credit card to hold the room. If your festival is
not paying for the room you must tell the parent or the person that
will be paying for the room to call the hotel and give them the
information. They will only keep the rooms for a certain amount of
time so we need all this info as soon as it becomes available. Your
help will be deeply appreciated. If we can get all this info before
convention then when the time comes to check-in, it will be a lot
easier. If someone else is paying for the room it may not be a bad
idea for the director to call the hotel and check to see that they
have the information and it is correct.
On March 10th we went to the
Iowa Rabbit Festival. Faye & Donald Vest did another wonderful job
with the pageant. On March 24 we went to the Cajun Hot Sauce
Festival Pageant. Miss Monica Suire also invited us to the queen’s
luncheon. Monica did a wonderful job representing the Cajun Hot
Sauce Festival as there Queen.
We are in full swing with the convention
planning. All the committees are in place now so everyone can start
their own plans. A convention is not put on by only one person. It
takes a lot of help. If you are interested in helping for the
convention then call your district director and volunteer your help.
We can always use the extra help.
If you have any questions give me a call
or send me an email. Go to the website at
www.laffnet.org for my info or call your district director. We
are here to help everyone.
So in closing I will say
LOVE - PEACE - LAFF
s/ Jim Meaux
TREASURER’s MESSAGE:
Happy Spring to Everyone! I'm really enjoying
the nice weather, but think the pollen, etc. is finally getting to
my sinuses.
On March 10, Neal and I judged the Ashland
Spring Festival Pageants, from babies through Miss. We were treated
royally by Alisa Yelverton and her committee! Thanks, Alisa! It
also gave us an "excuse" to sleep at our hunting camp, which is only
a few miles down the road from Ashland.
On March 24, Linda Comeaux and I attended the
Cajun Hot Sauce Festival Queen's Reception in New Iberia at
Clementine's Restaurant. Monica Suire has been a great queen for
several festivals, including my own, La. Cattle Festival. So -- it
was very sad to bid her farewell (this was her last Miss title)!
Thanks to Hedi Frederick and her committee for a job well done!
On a personal note: I am asking everyone to
keep my family in their
thoughts and prayers. My oldest son was shot
on March 1 and had to have
1 foot of his small intestine removed. He
definitely had God on his
side that night! He is recuperating slowly,
but surely.
Should anyone need any help with their
festival/fair, please give me a
call at 337-893-6328 or email me at
bnhoraist@cox.net.
s/ Barbara
Horaist
SECRETARY’s MESSAGE:
Thanks from Mona & I to the Patterson Cypress
Sawmill Festival members for their hospitality hosting our 1st
quarter meeting.
Please make the information in the newsletter
available to your fair/festival members. If you wish anyone else in
your event to receive the newsletter via email, please either type
or print very clearly these email addresses and send to
laffadupre@yahoo.com. Also, check the website (www.laffnet.org)
for the newsletter, updates and other member information.
If you need any help with your fair or
festival, especially in judging a pageant or other type of contest
or just needing any assistance in general, please send an e-mail to:
GOTOBUTTON BM_1_ laffadupre@yahoo.com or call me at: 985-447-4658
or write: 2402 Elizabeth Street, Thibodaux, LA 70301
DISTRICT 3 DIRECTOR
Vice-President Jim
Meaux reports Ronnie Lougon had surgery Thursday and it went very
well.
DISTRICT 6 DIRECTOR
Happy Spring to everyone! We are having such beautiful
weather. It really makes it enjoyable to travel to all the
festivals. I really enjoyed our annual Convention this year. In my
opinion, the attitude of the Holiday Inn Select staff had a lot to
do with the success of the convention. My thanks to them for
working with us so closely this year. I think Paul did a wonderful
job as Vice President and I am sure he will continue to lead us in
the right direction as our President this year. Congratulations to
Jim Meaux, District 3 Director, for being elected as the Vice
President. I know he will have a busy year ahead of him.
The weekend after convention, I directed the Mardi Gras of
Northwest LA Pageant. Racquel Ravare of Marksville was crowned the
2007 Miss Queen. I also attended the Mardi Gras festivities in
Natchitoches. There were approximately 5,000 people in attendance
for the parade and celebration. It seems to be getting bigger each
year.
I verified festival information for the new brochure. I got
a chance to talk and visit with many of the festival representatives
to go over their festival information and dates. For those whom I
was unable to reach, I apologize if your information is incorrect in
the brochure. The brochures are ready to be disbursed. When I visit
your festival or pageant I will make sure to bring some. If there
should be any discrepancies with the District 6 festivals, please
let me know and I'll get it corrected for future brochures. Thanks
to Rob Piraro for all his hard work with organizing the brochure. He
found a way to condense it and save our organization money, while
still providing the information needed for each festival.
On March 10th, I directed the Ashland Spring Festival
Pageant. Special thanks to Allison Sampson, Barbara Horaist and
Neal Horaist for coming to Ashland to judge. They did a wonderful
job. Our new Queen is Katelyn Yates of Pleasant Hill. The Ashland
Spring Festival is March 30th and 31st. I am sorry I will not be
able to attend our quarterly meeting in Patterson. I have to
decorate the Queen's float and am in charge of the Cake Bake-Off
Contest. So, I will be in Ashland helping out with the festival.
On March 17th, I traveled to Forest Hill for their annual
Nursery Festival. I drove a vehicle in the parade for Miss
Natchitoches Meat Pie, Autumn Burkett, and Mardi Gras of NWLA,
Racquel Ravare. I got a chance to meet their Nursery Festival Queen
and visit with their festival people. Their festival is really
nice. They had about double the vendors they had last year. There
was more of a variety for the shoppers to choose from. They had
plenty of plants and flowers to choose from, as well as lots of
booths for shopping, lots of food booths and a carnival. After
leaving the Nursery Festival, we traveled out of District 6 to
attend the Washington Catfish Festival and Queen's Social. We
shopped at the Antique Mall and vested the festival. After sampling
the catfish and listening to some great music, we traveled on to
Mansura for the Cochon de Lait Beauty Pageant. I got a chance to
visit a few minutes with Rob & Janet Piraro and Pam Courmier, who
were three of the judges for the night. I also got a chance to
visit with Phyllis O'Quinn from the LA Corn Festival. I gave her
some of the new brochures to put out in Bunkie. She said her
pageant will be held at the end of April. The Cochon de Lait
pageant had an awesome turn out in all of their groups.
Congratulations to Nikki Dupont for winning their Miss Division!
The Battle of Pleasant Hill Pageant was held on March 24th.
It was a tear jerking night. Katelyn Yates, 2006 Miss Battle of
Pleasant Hill, gave a speech about her pageant director, Mrs. Sandra
Frankel, who recently passed away. I don't think there was a dry
eye in the building. She was loved by so many and I know she will
be missed. Their new Miss Queen is Heather Mitchell of Negreet. My
daughter, Courtney, was crowned their new Jr. Teen Miss Queen. The
Battle of Pleasant Hill Ball and court presentation will be held on
March 31st. The battle reenactment will be held April 14th and
15th.
A festival in District 6, which has recently applied for
membership with LAFF, The Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival will hold
its' first pageant on April 7th. Their festival seems very
interested in attending the convention and in their queen
participating in the Queen of Queen's pageant. Their festival is
held in Natchitoches April 20th - 22nd. I also got a postcard in
the mail inviting me to attend the LPJA Pageant Extravaganza. It
will be held on Sunday, May 6 from noon to 5:00pm at the Rayne Civic
Center. There will be vendors, guest speakers and plenty of
workshops. It sounds like it will be very informative.
Well, as you can tell this is looking like it's going to be
a busy Spring! If I can be of assistance to anyone in my district
or out, please let me know. My contact information can be found on
the LAFF website.
s/Alisa Yelverton
DISTRICT 7 DIRECTOR
Please accept our wishes for a very joyous and
happy Easter season. Tootsie and I will be enjoying Easter Sunday
with the family and we hope you will enjoy your day as well.
The Fair and Festivals of our state are up
and running, with so much to do you don’t know where to start. I do
hope that you will make every effort to visit and support the events
in your area. We will be traveling a lot and hope to see many of
you along the way.
I would like to offer a challenge to each
Board Member and Director as well as to each Fair and Festival group
to help recruit new members for our organization. My effort will be
to recruit 5 new events and suppliers before the next convention.
It is an easy task, as all you have to do is explain how LAFF has
assisted or improved your event. Maybe we can have a little
friendly competition for Bragging Rights as to who did the most for
the Association’s recruitment. Remember, as our organization grows,
there are more ideas and more people to network with to improve our
own event and offer advise to new members and upstart events. So
lets work together to make LAFF the biggest and best organization
that we can be.
I have been traveling to many pageants and wish
to commend our Queen of Queen’s Mallory Spinner for representing us
in such a special way. Mallory has been a cheerleader for LAFF
representing us with her charm and beautiful smile. I also wish to
commend all the Fair and Festival Queens for doing such a great job
in representing LAFF, their events and this great state. They are
the shining and beautiful jewels in the crown of tourism for our
state. Ladies, please keep up the great work.
Please use the Fair and Festival guides, if
you’re looking for something to do on the weekend or if you are in
need of suppliers, as they are members of LAFF and they support us.
There are many varied associates that can provide you with just
about anything you may need. Please support our associates of LAFF.
Jim Meaux, our Vice-President and Convention
Chairman is already working hard to present another fantastic
convention for LAFF in 2008. If you feel like you want to get
involved, contact Jim and let him know that you are available. I’m
sure he will accept any help you want to offer.
As we venture throughout the state, please
remember that LAFF is YOUR Organization, if you have the chance to
recruit new members or suppliers, do it, I’m sure your assistance
will be appreciated.
Until next month, have a safe and happy time at
the events you visit. Remember to support all events and suppliers
that work to make LAFF the success that it is.
s/ Warren Deemer
SUPPLIER (ASSOCIATES) DIRECTOR
I would like to again thank everyone who
participated in the trade show at convention, both exhibitors and
convention goers. From the feedback, it was a great success! It is
time to start working on next year's convention and, for me, the
trade show. With your help, we can have
another good show.
Barbara and I had the pleasure of judging the
Ashland Spring Festival Pageants. Alisa and her crew treated us
like royalty and did a great job on the pageant! I plan on going to
their festival this weekend.
If anyone needs help with their festival or
fair, feel free to call on us. If we can, we would love to help.
s/ Neal Horaist
QUEEN of QUEEN’S
Since the original publication of this issue
Mallory’s maternal grand mother, Linda Mary Anglada, passed away.
Her funeral was Wednesday, April 11th in Harvey,
Louisiana.
Convention 2008
“Love, Peace &
L.A.F.F.”
Holiday Inn Select
Baton Rouge
February
21 - 24, 2008
EVENTS TO ATTEND
With the
recent storms, information has been updated as available, always
call before going!
April
2007 Events
District
#
Battle of Pleasant Hill (6)
Pleasant Hill,
LA 71065 Event Dates
21st & 22nd
Truman Durr
318-796-3478
Email:
wclee@cp-tel.net
Bayou Teche
Bear Festival (1)
Franklin,
LA 70538
Event Dates 20th & 21st
Laura Goulas
337-828-9775
Email:
lgoulas@aol.com
Boggy Bayou
Festival (2)
Pine Prairie,
LA 70576
Event Dates 13th thru 15th
Sandra Book –
Bernice Ardoin 337-599-3370
Email:
boggybayou1984@yahoo.com
Cajun Hot
Sauce Festival (3)
New Iberia,
LA 70560
Event Dates 13th thru 15th
Tim Guidry
337-365-7539
Website:
www.sugarena.com
Etouffee
Festival (3)
Arnaudville,
LA 70512
Event Dates 27th thru 29th
Tom & Jo
Goscienski 337-288-4571
Email:
tomanjo@centrurytel.net
Family Fun
Festival (1)
Cut Off, LA
70345 Event Dates
27th thru 29th
Jasmine Sauder
985-693-7355
Email:
bayoucivicclub@mobiletel.com
Festival
International de Louisiane (3)
Lafayette,
LA 70502
Event Dates 25th thru 29th
Emily Trahan
337-232-8086
Email:
info@festivalinternational.com
Franklin
Parish Catfish Festival (5)
Winnsboro, LA.
71295
Event Date 4th
Paul Price, Jr.
318-435-7607
Email:
info@franklinparishcatfishfestival.com
Grant
Dogwood Festival (6)
Pollock,
LA
71467
Event Date
7th
Judy Slelton
318-765-3796
Fax:
318-765-3683
Great
Southern Bluegrass Festival (4)
Angie, LA
70426 Event
Dates 21st thru 23rd
Hoyt L. “Chick”
Boyd 985-986-8411
Email:
tradecenter2005@bellsouth.net
Independence
Italian Festival (4)
Tickfaw,
LA 70466
Event Dates 27th thru 29th
Linda McKinney
985-345-6964
Lockport
Food Festival (1)
Lockport, LA
70374 Event Dates 20th
thru 22nd
Sue Sue
Bollinger 985-532-5063
E-Mail:
sueboll@bellsouth.net
