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+Dr. Alvan H. Lafargue was born in
Marksville, La., on October 14, 1883, the son of Judge Adolphe J.
Lafargue and his wife, Annie Irion, daughter of former Congressman
Alfred B. Irion. He attended Louisiana State University in the "Ole
War Skull", Tulane Medical School and graduated from the Memphis
Hospital Medical School in 1910 which is now the University of
Tennessee Medical School. He began practicing medicine in Baldwin,
Louisiana and later moved to Sulphur, Louisiana where he maintained a
medical practice that continued for fifty years. '
He founded the Calcasieu Cameron Fair in f922 and was it's President
until his death in 1963, a period of 41 years. Along with other
pioneers of the State in the field of Fairs and Festivals, he was a
Charter Member of the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals
and served as its first State President and remained an active
member until his death.
One story reported in the newspapers recalls the early days of the
Cal-Cam Fair when a Cameron Parish lady came up to Doc and asked him
if it would be all right if she entered a little tin bucket in which
she had carried her lunch to school from the first grade through
high school. "Why sure, honey." Doc said. "We don't have a division
that it will fit into exactly, but we'll make a new division." Doc
did exactly that and proceeded to present the young lady with a blue
ribbon for her unique exhibit.
Dr. Lafargue died just prior to the LAFF Convention in February of
1963 and themembers of that organization formally dedicated the 1963
Convention in Baton Rouge to his memory. The plaque commemorating
this event, the first time a convention had been so dedicated, reads
as follows:
"The 1963 Convention of the Louisiana Association of Fairs and
Festivals is dedicated to Dr. Alvan H. Lafargue for his his most
outstanding humanitarian service to mankind as a most Beloved
Physician and Great Fair Leader."
Roy Theriot, who at that time was Louisiana's State Comptroller,
told the convention that Dr. Lafargue exemplified the true meaning
of useful citizenship and that his dedication to the cause of
humanity has become not only a great inspiration, but a challenge to
the thousands that have come to know him. .
Because of his untiring service to the Calcasieu Cameron Fair and
the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals as a pioneer and
leader in the State, he is now inducted into the LAFF Hall of Fame.
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