|
NEWS
Any Festival wishing to add news to this page please email the webmaster with the info.
Information on the Festival or Fair or
Related Event will be kept posted until
the Festival or Fair has passed.
Information on Queens will be kept posted for
two months after receipt.
Louisiana Festival Queens and The Thank You Foundation to
undergo "Operation Rhinestone" for National Military
Appreciation Month
Ladies to tape video messages for troops to be sent
in care packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by The Thank
You Foundation
| CINCINNATI - April 20th 2008 - On May
10th over 100 Festival Queens will gather in Opelousas,
Louisiana to tape video messages for a special DVD to be
sent to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
young ladies ranging in ages from 7 - 23 years old will
also be including special heartfelt sentiments on Thank
You cards supplied by The Thank You Foundation. The
Foundation will be sending the cards and DVD's
throughout the month of May to help celebrate National
Military Appreciation Month. The project dubbed,
"Operation Rhinestone" was inspired by 7-year-old Morgan
Landry. Morgan grew up in a Military Family and wanted
to do something special for Louisiana Soldiers. Her
parents wanted to help make her dream come true, so
Miranda and Michael Landry Sr., starting searching for
help and found The Thank You Foundation. In 2007 the
Foundation did a similar project with professional
athletes in Cincinnati Ohio, and earlier this year
worked with students and teachers from Pennsylvania
Online Learners to produce and send a special multimedia
presentation to Troops serving overseas. The Foundation
has sent over 25,000 of their Thank You cards signed by
school children from across the country to Troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan and to Veterans in the United
States.
Morgan's director, Robin Abshire, stated "I am so
touched and proud of this young girl. She realizes that
her daddy spent much of her life away and has learned he
did it not only for us to be free and safe but to keep
his baby girls free and safe. What a special little girl
Morgan is. Our soldiers have given so much for total
strangers and as we all know, here in Louisiana, we find
just about anything to celebrate with our festivals and
our soldiers are missing out. This is Morgan's way of
sending our festivals to our soldiers."
John Guinn President and Founder of The Thank You
Foundation stated "We are very excited to be a part of
this project. Morgan is an exceptional young lady and I
know her parents are very proud of her. These girls
spend so much of their own money and time to serve their
communities and now they are going above and beyond to
help say "Thank You" to those who have given so much for
our freedom."
Once they DVD's are produced, volunteers from The
Thank You Foundation will pack care packages with items
such as soap, toothpaste, and food. Each box will have a
DVD and the cards signed by the Festival Queens. |
|
URGENT
News
Due to
unexpected circumstances beyond their control the 2008 Independence Italian
Festival has moved to the Independence Industrial park located at 746 E Railroad
Ave by the Independence Nation Guard Armory and Central Tangi Head Start.
Just
follow the signs to support the success of the festival and enjoy another year
of some family fun with more rides, great food, arts and crafts, live music, and
plenty available parking.
For more
information check out our web page
www.theitalianfest.com
|
Sad
News
Our condolences go out to Prudence Burns, Past President of LAFF, for the the
death of her husband, Burnie Burns. Mr. Burns died on April 3, 2008..
|
New
Queen
The
River Parishes Fall Festival
has sent in a picture of their 2007 Queen of Hearts
Miss Ashley Wilking.
Ashley placed as Second Runner-Up in the 2008 Queen of Queens Pageant.
|
Convention News
Not sure who your
District Director is? Check the LAFF District
Map and click on your parish.
|
Convention News
Congratulations to our
2008 Queen of Queens, Miss Brandi Stout,
proudly representing the Zwolle Tamale
Fiesta. We look forward to seeing Brandi as she travels around the
state representing the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals.
|
Convention News
Congratulations to the
new Board of Directors for the Louisiana Association
of Fairs and Festivals. Newly elected Board members are:
Jim Meaux, President
Equilla Victorian,
Vice President
Curtis Hue, Secretary
Barbara Horaist,
Treasurer
Faron Molaison,
District 1 Director
Brandon Keene,
District 5 Director
Aaron Brasseaux,
Talent Associate Director
|
New
Member
LAFF is proud to
welcome as a new associate member:
Old
School Wrestling Entertainment
Gary Girard
816 Lander St.
Bridge City, LA
70094
504/329-4279
|
New
Member
LAFF is proud to
welcome as a new associate member:
Buffalo Barfield
Gregg & Michelle
Barfield
1521 Bishop Branch
Road
Pendleton, SC
29670
864/846-3231
www.buffalobarfield.com
Offering
Variety Music &
Comedy Shows
|
Members
News
Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals have joined with the
Louisiana Department of Tourism to produce our Fair and Festival Guide.
This book will be produced and printed at the expense of the State. All
we have to do is furnish the information. If your event is between
March 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, please send me the following
information.
A short story of your event in 100 words or less
stating the items included in the event.
Date of event.
Contact person
Email address
Web site
Year events started
Items included in your
event such a music, crafts, carnival, foods, pageant, and etc should be
included in the your copy.
I would need this
information prior to
January 15, 2008,
so we can produce this book prior to March 1st.
This will be color
information piece that will be beautiful.
Please mail your
information to
Curtis J. Hue
601 Oak Lane
Thibodaux, LA 70301
|
Sad
News
The LAFF Family has lost one of it's former leaders. Mr. C. Ed Nelson was
active in LAFF in the formative and developing years of the organization. He
headed up the State Fair of Louisiana. He served LAFF for years, most notably
as President (and of course Past President). He was also active in the
IAFE for many years and rose to serve as their President, as he represented
Louisiana. The LAFF
Family will miss him dearly.
|
Sad
News
The LAFF Family lost a loving and important member this week. Kenny Guidry who
served on the Board of Directors for the Cal Cam Fair for over 30 years, as
Sergeant at Arms for countless LAFF Conventions and was honored as the 1999 LAFF
Hall of Fame Inductee passed away on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 from lung cancer.
Survivors
include his wife of 17 years, Silvie Guidry of Sulphur; two daughters, Tammy
Carpenter and husband Mike of Prospect, Kentucky, Jodi Stone and husband Blake
of Cypress, Texas; step-daughter, Rita Huff of Olive Branch, Mississippi;
step-son, Ray Huff and wife Susan of Hernando, Mississippi; daughter-in-law,
Paige Williams and husband Kevin of Sulphur; two sisters, Phyllis Grimes and
husband Jim of Woodville, Texas, Margie Brown and husband Steve of Peoria,
Illinois and eight grandchildren.
We will miss him greatly.
|
L.D.W.F. ADDS BIG EXOTIC CATS TO DANGEROUS LIST
The Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries added big exotic cats to the list of Potentially
Dangerous Quadrupeds and Non-Human Primates on June 20, 2007
This inclusion to the list
makes it illegal to import, possess, purchase or sell a big exotic cat within
the state of Louisiana. The rule does not allow temporary exhibitors for any
purpose. Big cats covered under this rule include tigers, lions, leopards,
jaguars, cheetahs, cougars or mountain lions and all subspecies and hybrids of
the cats listed.
“We (LDWF) included big
exotic cats to the list as mandated by the State Legislature,” said Maria
Davidson, LDWF large carnivore program manager. “Public safety and the animals
welfare were our main priorities in developing the rules that will govern all
big exotic cat ownership in Louisiana.”
To
Read the entire Press Release from the LDWF click here.
To
read the Statute click here. |
New
Member
LAFF is proud to
welcome as a new associate member:
Premier Production and Sound Services, L.L.C. (PSS)
3348 Drusilla Ln, Suite 5-C
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
225-923-0228
Offering full fair and festival entertainment production: sound, staging,
lights, stage management, backline, full production, recording of the acts,
video, A/V needs etc...
|
Sad News
Sam Giordano, former LAFF
President and General Manager of the Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport passed
away Saturday following a lengthy battle with heart disease. All of us in
the LAFF family will miss Sam's experience and insight.
|
|
Sad News
Algia Johnson, the
director of the Cal-Cam Festival Association, passed away on April 10,
2006. Mr. Johnson was a 1994 Inductee in the
LAFF Hall of Fame
and dedicated most of his life to helping mentally handicapped children
and adults in Louisiana. His passing is mourned by all of us in
the LAFF family.
|
|
