|
L. A. F. F.
Email:
laffadupre@yahoo.com
Website: laffnet.org
A
Publication of the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals
Al Dupré, Jr., Editor
November 2007
PRESIDENT’s
MESSAGE:
Greetings LAFF
Friends
Mark your
calendars for next year’s convention – February 21st -
24th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Select in Baton Rouge. Jim
and his committees are working hard to make this convention a
success. If you would like to help with anything, just call Jim or
let your District Director know. I feel certain you will enjoy this
convention more and we certainly welcome your time and talent.
Convention
packets and pageant information have been mailed out. If you did not
receive your packets, inform your District Directors.
The board and I
are working on a “LAFF Assistance Network” program. Mr. John Leblanc
brought this need to our attention at the September 29th
meeting in Gueydan. The system will be used to coordinate volunteers
from the membership to aid an event that has experienced a disaster.
This system will be finalized and presented at convention. The Board
is always working to enhance our organization and support of the
membership. Comments on how this can be achieved will be
appreciated.
Remember to
support your neighbors and your fellow LAFF members. If you need
help with anything, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am proud
to serving this year as your L.A.F.F. President.
I hope to see you
soon.
In the spirit of
LAFF, sincerely
s/ Paul Magee
VICE-PRESIDENT’s MESSAGE:
It is already time for another newsletter. The months are really going by very fast.
My time is mostly being spent planning for the
convention. I still have a lot to see about before it gets
here.
I want to let
everyone know about a few things that we do at the convention.
We strive to
get the young adults interested in the fairs and festivals. For the
convention we have an essay contest. The person to contact for this
contest will be David Bourdier. The theme for this year will be
The 1960’s A Time of Change”. Let’s see if we can get some of our
school kids involved with the essay contest. The grades for
this contest are 6 thru 12.
There will also be a
poster contest. The person to contact for this will be Kay Ladner.
The subject will be “My Fair/Festival”. The school
grades for this are 1 thru 12.
There are cash prizes for different
categories in both the poster and essay
contest. All the rules and categories and cash prizes can
be seen on the LAFF website. The website is
www.laffnet.org.
Once you get the website click
on one of the newsletter and scroll down until you
see the rules. These are a few things that our
kids can do for the convention. Now here are some things everyone
else can do for their festival/ fair.
There are the
marketing awards. The categories are the same as last year. The person to contact for this will be Ronnie Lougon. There are awards for fairs and festivals. The
rules can be seen on the website also. Go to
the Convention Forms then marketing awards. All these people are eagerly awaiting your entries to be judged for the
convention. There is also a Hall of Fame.
The person to contact for this will be Warren Deemer. This can also
be seen on our website.
I have been
trying to tell everyone to contact Amber at the hotel to check for
any rooms that may have been canceled. Her number at the hotel
is 225-930-0174. Her E-mail address is
www.adore@executivecenter.com . You need to keep calling to see
if any rooms have become available.
Until next
month. LOVE
PEACE
LAFF
s/ Jim Meaux
SECRETARY’s MESSAGE:
If you are looking for something to do
Saturday, November 10th, may I recommend a trip to
Thibodaux for the annual Thibodeauxville Fall Festival. Great food,
entertainment and plenty arts & crafts.
From the inquiries I am receiving it is obvious
that we have had a great deal of problems sending convention
information by “bulk” mail. If your event has not received your
packet (packets were sent to listed contact person of events, not
pageant chairs or anyone else), please contact me by email or phone
so we can send out another packet (this time 1st class).
Also, it seems that Jim Meaux, our Webmaster and myself are all
experiencing internet problems (I am changing provider) I ask your
understanding as several of us are experiencing challenges of
systems “going down” and other “challenges”.
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
I recently had the opportunity to spend the
weekend with our good friends at Crowley Rice Festival. I would
like to thank Gene and the gang for the hospitality shown to us the
entire weekend. The streets were filled to the max and all was good
at Rice this year. These guys know how to put on a BIG
party. We also had a chance to meet representatives of the Texas
Rice Festival attending the celebration. I cannot say enough about
Rice, they have a great group.
I was unable to attend Cattle but word is that
there were record crowds for the parade and the rest of the festival
was a complete success. These guys work extra hard to put on a good
festival.
If any of District 3 members did not receive
your package by now, we need to know about it. Please remember the
registration deadlines and marketing award deadlines. Give me a
call before you send anything and maybe we can meet somewhere to
pick it up.
If I can be of assistance to anyone, please do
not hesitate to call me.
Ronnie Lougon
District 3 ROCKS!
rwlougon@apgwireless.com
337-536-7858 office
337-658-7858 cell
DISTRICT 6 DIRECTOR
Happy fall from District 6! I have been
enjoying our wonderful weather. I got a chance to do some raking
and outside cleaning at my home and didn't nearly die from heat
exhaustion, which was really nice. I got out all my fall
decorations and am ready for the holidays!
On October 5th, I visited the
Robeline Heritage Festival. They were passing free hot dogs and
drinks to all the kids. There was live music and a hayride. Their
Miss Queen, Mollie Jordan, escorted us around and showed us their
new festival t-shirts and new festival attractions. Thank you Mollie
for being a wonderful hostess. On October 6th, I went
back to the Robeline Heritage Festival and watched the parade. I
visited all the vendor booths and talked with the carnival owners.
Midwest Carnival provided the rides for the festival. Highway 101
was the headliner for the festival. They performed Saturday night.
They were very good and interacted with the audience. Robeline had
a great crowd and was a huge success. Congratulations to the
Robeline Heritage Festival Committee on a job well done.
On October 7th, I traveled to
Lecompte to visit the Lecompte Pie Festival. Miss Ashland Spring
Festival; Katelyn Yates and Jr Teen Miss Battle of Pleasant Hill;
Courtney Yelverton accompanied me on my travels. We ate lunch at
the much-talked-about "Lea's Lunchroom". Our lunch was delicious.
We then visited the festival. We talked with the festival
directors. They were so pleased we came. They gave us a piece of
Lea's pie, a festival poster & cup. The girls got to pick up a duck
and paint a ceramic butterfly for free. There was live
entertainment and probably around 30 food and arts-n-crafts vendors.
Lea's chocolate meringue pie was absolutely wonderful! Katelyn and
Courtney sampled the apple and pecan which was according to them
was, "To die for!” Everyone there was so nice and inviting. I
enjoyed their festival tremendously.
On the morning of October 13th,
I attended the open ceremonies for the Zwolle Tamale Fiesta. They
announced the festival chairmen's, committee members, dignitaries
and queens. The Fiesta had a huge crowd that started on Thursday
night with their annual kick-off supper. Friday was school day.
Numerous school classes visited the festival grounds were told about
the history of Zwolle and of the annual Fiesta. Saturday they had
over 100 entries for the parade. The Tamale Fiesta had another
successful year. Congratulations to all the people who worked so
hard this year.
On October 13th, I headed on
over Dry Prong to help choose the 39th Miss Louisiana
Pecan Festival Queen. They had nine beautiful and intelligent young
ladies vying for the title, which made our job a whole lot harder.
Congratulations to Miss Savannah Wallace for being crowned their new
queen. Thanks to Wanda and all the Pecan Festival Committee for
their hospitality.
Shreveport was the destination of my next
trip. I visited the State Fair of Louisiana. We enjoyed the music
of recording artist, Trent Tomlinson. He was a great entertainer.
We also enjoyed the talents of a street performer. He used fire and
other effects in his show. We went in and viewed some of the
exhibits. There seemed to be so many things going on and so many
things to do. We bought a fair t-shirt, ate a chicken-on-the-stick
and bought a home-style root beer. There was a great crowd there
for a Sunday night or for any night for that matter. I was
impressed with everything and extremely jealous!! Congratulations
to Chris and his employees on a great fair.
The first weekend of November will be the
39th annual LA Pecan Festival in Colfax. Friday night
they will have their festival ball. Saturday will be the parade and
live entertainment. Sunday will be more live entertainment, along
with demonstrations. Also the same weekend is the Sabine Free State
Festival in Florien. Their activities will begin on Friday and
continue until Saturday. They will have a parade, shootout and many
food and arts-n-crafts vendors. I wish both events the best of luck
with their festivals.
Convention packets have already gone
out. If there is anyone in District 6 that has not received theirs
please let me know. I will do my best to see that you get yours as
soon as possible. If anyone has a question, problem or concern
about LAFF, LAFF Convention or about their festival or pageant
please let me know. If I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to
find out for you.
Peace, Love & LAFF!
s/Alisa Yelverton
DISTRICT 7 DIRECTOR
Well another month has gone by and we have
been lucky to have rain but no Hurricanes. As we continue to the
end of our LAFF year things are coming together well for the 2008
Convention. Jim Meaux, our Vice-President is working feverishly to
make this convention a great success and I want to commend him on
his work on our behalf.
I also want to remind all Fairs and Festivals
that we are taking recommendations for the LAFF Hall of Fame. The
criteria for that award are listed on the website along with all the
information for the Marketing Awards, Poster and Essay Contest.
Please do your best to meet the dates of submission so that the
Chairmen of these committees can get their work done in a timely
manner.
This past month has been busy in District 7.
The first weekend was the Gretna Heritage Festival and the St. John
Andouille festival, both were a great success, the second weekend
was the Bridge City Gumbo Festival and the St. Hubert’s Rosary
Bazaar, that weekend was phenomenal and quite successful, The
Destrehan Plantation Fall Festival was the last weekend of October,
the weather has finally turned cool and the Plantation Festival was
very well attended and successful. Congrats to these festivals for
the hard work and dedication to their individual causes and to the
many fine volunteers who made the events possible. November will be
quite busy as the River Parishes Fall Festival will take place on
Nov. 2nd , 3rd and 4th, Westwego
Cypress Swamp Festival the 9th , 10th and 11th,
and the Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival Nov. 30th
, 31st , and Dec. 1st and 2nd.
I do hope everyone takes advantage of the cool
weather to visit neighboring Fairs and Festivals to show your
support for our LAFF members.
Please remember to get your registration in for
the 2008 convention as soon as possible, and if you haven’t already
done so, make plans to attend. This convention is YOUR convention
and the Board needs your input to continue the successful workshops
that you recommend.
s/ Warren Deemer
QUEEN of QUEEN’S
October marks the
peak of festival season! I had the opportunity to travel to many
fairs and festivals this month all across our state.
On October 5th
I visited the Louisiana Cattle Festival in Abbeville. I was
welcomed with open arms by the Cattle Festival Association and heard
great Cajun music. My mom and I enjoyed visiting with the festival
royalty and having beef for dinner.
October 6th
was a very busy day. I attended the Lecompte Pie Festival and had a
taste of Lea's apple pie! I visited with the friendly people and
enjoyed entertainment by the local high school band. My next stop
was in Shreveport for the Red River Revel. I saw hundreds of arts
and crafts booths and watched children enjoy the many activities
that were available for them. On the way home, I visited the
Robeline Heritage Festival and spent time with their queen, Mollie
Jordan. I enjoyed experiencing the different types of festivals in
Louisiana all in one day!
The Louisiana
Cotton Festival was held October 13th and 14th.
I picked cotton at a local farm, enjoyed a bowl of gumbo and was
entertained by the Cotton Pickers all day. Saturday night I watched
as Amy Johnson was crowned Queen Cotton LIV. The visiting queens
attended mass Sunday morning and rode in the Cotton parade. Sunday
afternoon I witnessed the running of the Tournoi and watched the
riders defeat the seven evils of cotton.
I traveled to the
Larose Civic Center for the French Food Festival Pageant on October
20th. The queens decorated an umbrella and paraded
around the civic center throwing beads to the audience. Megi
Callais crowned the 2007 French Food Festival Queen, Courtney
Soudelier.
The last weekend in
October was spent in Opelousas at the Yambilee Festival. The queens
attended a luncheon at the Yam building and watched the 2007 Queen
of Yambilee crowned that night. Following the pageant, the queens
attended the Yambilee Festival grounds at Evangeline Downs, and
enjoyed great Cajun music by Geno Delafosse.
This was a very
exciting month for me! I visited so many exciting festivals and
learned a lot about Louisiana's culture! I can't wait to see what
November has in store for me!
Love, Peace and L.A.F.F.
s/ Mallory Spinner
POSTER CONTEST RULES
1. Subject of poster shall be: “My Fair/Festival”.
Name, location and date of event must be on poster.
2. Any public, private, or parochial school student may
participate.
3. Poster will be judged in four categories:
A. Grades 1 - 3
B. Grades 4 - 6
C. Grades 7 - 9
D. Grades 10 - 12
4. Poster must be displayed on 14" X 22" white poster paper. (½
sheet of standard poster
paper).
5. All work must be vertical. Nothing horizontal will be judged.
6. All lettering must be free-hand. Do not use Stencils.
7. Medium used shall be: Crayon; Water Color; Acrylics, Felt-Tip
Pen; or Oil.
No Cut-outs nor Collage.
8. First, Second, and Third place winners in each category are
eligible for state competition.
Limit of Twelve (12) posters per event.
9. Posters will be judged and points awarded as follows:
Originality 35%
Theme 25%
Neatness 25%
Spelling 15%
10. Poster Prizes:
Third Place
$25.00
Second Place
$50.00
First Place
$75.00
One Best Overall
$100.00
11. Information cards (5X7 index cards) should include the
following:
Name
Address
Telephone
Parents
Category
Fair/Festival
This should be placed
on the left top corner of poster in such a way that it can be
flipped
over from front to
back.
12. All posters must be presented by 5:00 PM on Friday of the
annual convention.
Chairman: Kaye
Ladner
LAFF District IV
Director
27280 R. F. Ball Rd.
Franklinton,
Louisiana 707438
985-848-5937
Fax 985-839-9164
Email:
wpfairlady@yahoo.com
ESSAY CONTEST
Theme: “The 1960’s a
time of change”
Rules and Regulations:
1. Essay must contain between 500 and 800 words.
2. Name of contestant MUST NOT be written on the essay but must be
written on a separate sheet and clipped, not stapled to the essay.
3. On a separate sheet, contestant should follow this format:
Name: Address: Grade: Phone: Parents’ Name: School Name:
Fair/Festival Represented:
4. Essay may be handwritten or typed.
5. Spelling, grammar, phraseology, general interest, continuity
and adherence to theme will be determining factors for selecting the
winning essay.
6. The categories: A. Grades 6 - 8; B. Grades 9 - 12.
7. Information used from sources should be acknowledged in a
bibliography.
8. Pictures or diagrams can be included within contest of essay or
in appropriate appendix.
9. Essay must be in the hands of Chairman no later than January
6, 2008.
10. Criteria for judging:
Content (adherence to
theme) ........... 40%
Grammar (punctuation,
capitalization) .. 25%
Continuity
(introduction, body,
sentence structure,
conclusion) .... 20%
Spelling
............................... 15%
11. Essay Prizes (State Level)*
1st. $150 2nd. $100
3rd. $50
*All fairs should use
this theme on the local level for elimination purposes; only the top
three winners should be submitted on state level.
12. All essays become the property of LAFF. The first place
winners will be published in a collection by groups.
Chairman:
DAVID BOURDIER
P. O. Box 762
Patterson, LA 70392
985-395-3720
QUALIFICATIONS FOR
MEMBERSHIP IN L.A.F.F. HALL OF FAME
1. Must be a current member of a fair/festival association which
belongs to and is in good standing with L.A.F.F.
2. Must have contributed to L.A.F.F. in terms of (1) service, (2)
making a tangible donation and/or (3) providing an unselfish act or
deed benefiting L.A.F.F.
3. Must have belonged to a L.A.F.F. member fair/festival
association for a minimum of ten (10) years.
4. Must be nominated by a current member fair/festival of L.A.F.F.
5. Nominee may be living or deceased, but must meet all
aforementioned criteria.
6. Unless superseded by the L.A.F.F. Board of Directors, only one
new member of L.A.F.F. Hall of Fame will be inducted each year.
________________________________________________________________
NOMINATING PROCEDURE FOR L.A.F.F. HALL OF FAME
1. State nominee's name and home address, including zip code.
2. State nominee's fair/festival affiliation (if associate, state
business).
3. State nominee's length of membership in L.A.F.F.
4. List nominee's accomplishments in L.A.F.F.
5. List nominee's accomplishments with local fair/festival
association.
6. State, in 25 words or less, why nominee is a candidate for Hall
of Fame honors.
7. State your name and address (including zip code) and telephone
number (including area code).
8. If possible, include a photograph of the nominee and some
newspaper clippings of any events featuring the nominee in a
fair/festival-related setting.
9. Send nominations to L.A.F.F. Secretary.
10. Entry Deadline: December 30th.
Convention 2008
“Love, Peace &
L.A.F.F.”
Holiday Inn Select
Baton Rouge
February
21st – 24th, 2008
EVENTS TO ATTEND
With the recent storms, information has been
updated as available, always call before going!
November 2007 Events
District #
Abbeville’s
Giant Omelette Celebration (3)
Abbeville, LA
70511 Event
Dates 3rd & 4th
Arlene White
337-893-0013
Website:
www.giantomelette.org
Breaux Bridge Bayou Parade (3)
Breaux Bridge, LA 70517
Event Dates 3rd
& 4th
Mike Huval 337-332-2137
Caribbean
Carnival /Friends of Culture (7)
New Orleans, LA.
70130 Event Dates 9th
thru 11th
Marilyn LaForce
504-341-5939
Fax:
504-341-0993
Destrehan
Plantation Fall Festival (7)
Destrehan, LA
70047 Event Dates
10th & 11th
Nancy Roberts
985-764-9315
Email:
DestPlan@aol.com
Louisiana
Pecan Festival (6)
Colfax, LA
71417 Event Dates
2nd thru & 4th
Micoh Walker
318‑419‑7050
Email: GOTOBUTTON BM_‡_
pecanfest@aol.com
Louisiana
Renaissance Festival (4)
Robert, LA.
70455 Event-Every Wkend
11-3 to 12-9
Rick Hight
985-429-9992
Website:
www.larf.org
Louisiana
Swine Festival (2)
Basile, LA
70515 Event
Dates 2nd thru 4th
Catherine
Fontenot 337-432-5251
Email:
laswinefestival@yahoo.com
Lake Charles,
LA 70612 Event Dates 15th
thru 17th
Plaquemines
Parish Fair & Orange Festival (7)
Bell Chase, LA
70037 Event Dates 11/30
thru 12/2
Paula Cappiello
985-656-7599
Email:
PPOrangeFairFest@aol.com
River
Parishes Fall Festival (7)
Narco, LA.
70079 Event
Dates 2nd thru 4th
Doreen Landry
985-764-1466
Email:
doreenblandry@cox.net
Sabine
Freestate Festival (6)
Florien, LA
71429 Event
Dates 3rd & 4th
Margaret Nixon
318-586-3521
Email:
florienfreestate@cebridge.net
Thibodeauxville Fall Festival (1)
Thibodaux, LA
70302 Event
Dates 10th
Rhonda Dempster
985-446-1187
Email:
rhonda@thibodauxchamber.com
Westwego
Cypress Swamp Festival (7)
Westwego, LA.
70096 Event Dates 9th
thru 11th
Lonnie Taylor
504-341-1003
Email:
westwegofest@yahoo.com
December 2007 Events
A Bayou
Christmas (1)
Cut Off, LA
70345
Event Date 1st
Jasmine Sauder
985-693-7355
Email:
bayoucivicclub@mobiletel.com
Cottonport Christmas
Festival (6)
Cottonport, LA.
71327 Event Dates 8th
& 9th
Sharon Tassin
318-876-2298
Fax
:318-876-3356
Many
Christmas Parade (6)
Many, LA
70601
Event Dates 8th
Tamara Jones 337-479-2556
Ozone
Camellia Festival (4)
Slidell, LA
70458
Event Date 1st
Rodney Lowe
985-641-0730
January 2008 Events
District #
LA Fur and
Wildlife Festival (2)
Cameron, LA
70631 Event Dates
11th & 12th
John LeBlanc
337-263-1594
Email:
jleblanc@camtel.net |
