After a long week’s work, Saturday nights were special in the small towns in South Louisiana and the dancehall was — and still is in some places — where good fun could be had.
The Backyard Series, free and open to the public, presents a look back at the history of dancehalls Tuesday at Vermilionville.
The Patin family of Breaux Bridge will talk about their family-owned dancehall, La Poussière; and Eugene Manuel will share stories of the several bars in Mamou (French Casino, the Holiday Lounge, Manuel’s Bar and others) established by his father.
The public is encouraged to bring their own stories, pictures and other memorabilia of dancehalls.
Food and drinks are available for purchase. The Backyard Series is sponsored by CCET, with support from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Acadiana Center for the Arts and the Vermilionville Foundation. For more information click here or call (337) 482-1320.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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