"Gazette Beausoleil"

              Volume V II                                                                                                                                     Winter  2005

Beausoleil Awards

Surprises were the order of the day on November 5^th, as “Famille Beausoleil” honored Beatrice Broussard Frederick and Joseph Harvey Broussard as their selectees for 2005.

Don Louis Broussard, Chairman of Awards Committee, subbed for Warren Perrin, Award Winner of 2004, in presenting of award to Joseph Harvey, and reflected on Harvey’s long and tireless service to the organization. Harvey was one of the original members, and was appointed as genealogist of organization by founding member Brent Broussard. Most recently Harvey has assisted with the newsletter, and handled membership lists, and enrollment into organization.

Beatrice Broussard Frederick, another original member, was introduced as La dame Beausoleil Award recipient, and was honored for her long and tireless efforts within the organization. Beatrice received her award from Kim Viator Broussard, who subbed for Pat Resweber, winner of award for 2004.

Among the duties handled by Beatrice were Treasurer, decoration committee chairwoman, and volunteer for anything task that came along needing assistance.

Our congratulations to both.  

President’s corner
This year has been a year of contrasts, unlike any that I have witnessed in a long time. While our organization has grown, and accomplished much, the good times are over shadowed by the tragedies of hurricanes that have devastated much of Louisiana. Towns like Henry, Erath, Delcambre, Cameron, Johnson Bayou, Kaplan, Gueydan, and the list goes on by those cities and people of those areas so devastated.

I can not help but wonder of similar times for those ancestors who pioneered this area.

I am proud of all our members for their help and assistance to the survivors of these storms.

While many shake their heads and wonder what will be next, I would bow my head and give thanks for the blessings that we share. Too often we tend to overlook our blessings as we recall our tough times.

I recall how bad Audrey was, and how many wondered if we would be able to overcome that storm; yes, we were able to overcome, and we will do so again.

Like our ancestors, we are survivors, and of tough stock. God Bless.  

Special thanks

To all of you who found the time, energy, and with for all to assist those driven from their homes and cities by the hurricanes. Many volunteered to assist those in shelters, and some joined together to cook meals for them.

Many others found a spare room or bedroom, and housed the homeless.

Our thanks to all.

This a good time to do your shopping:

Remember, it is never too early or too late to give gifts for Christmas; we still have a sufficient inventory for those of you who could not think of anything to give your loved ones. What better to give, than something bearing a remembrance of our past, our history and heritage. If our inventory doesn’t possess what you are looking to give, how about a membership for your recipient? Remember, the family that gets together, stays together!

Remember also, that our website is listed under www.cafa.org under index of Acadian Families.

DUES FOR 2006
Dues are now being collected for 2006. Your address label on this newsletter indicates the status of your membership. It will help our handling of your payment if you will make your check payable to “Famille Beausoleil” Association and mail it to 214 Highland Drive, Lafayette, LA 70506.   All who wish to join for the first time, please go to the membership form and fill it out and mail it to Kim Broussard at:  214 Highland Drive, Lafayette, La. 70506

Acadian Museum of Erath 

The floodwaters have receded.  We are continuing to dehumidify the museum building, the old Bank of Erath, which has mainly hollow walls, but some walls had insulation which makes the process more difficult.  Hopefully we will not need to tear down walls to rid the building of mold.  Professionals are assisting us with this effort.  Tests will be made next week.  We were able to remove and are continuing to restore about 100 fragile items.  Many of the original maps and photographs sustained humidity damage but they are continuing to be dried and restored.  We lost approximately 2,000 objects, including files, photos, family histories, genealogies, and various structural items which were used to house, store and display museum artifacts.  The museum will reopen.  In an attempt to document the effect of the flood on the Acadian community, we have sought a grant from the History Channel and the American Association of State and Local Histories, whereby we will seek to have the students of Erath document their experiences in dealing with the flood and its aftermath.  We view this effort as a continuing struggle of the 250-year effort of the Acadians to re-establish a community in Louisiana - now known as the Cajuns.  Unfortunately, when the Louisiana Acadians arrived in 1755, they failed to erect a levee system as their ancestors had so successfully done in Acadie.  We now know that efforts will be made to obtain funds from the federal government to construct an adequate levee system and hopefully prevent future floods.

We have gone through the full gamut of emotions from despair to hope to anxiety and now guarded optimism.  The museum staff and supporters, all volunteers, have had many of their homes flooded so it has been difficult to get much physical support, but the emotional support has been strong.  In fact, we are still housing evacuees who had relocated to Lafayette from New Orleans as a result of "Katrina."  We hope to eventually prepare an exhibition that will be permanent and display the linkage between Acadian history and this effort to survive the devastation from hurricane "Rita."  I hope that the enclosed has been informative.  We are accepting donations and they may be sent to:

    Acadian Museum
    P. O. Box 53597
    Lafayette, LA 70508

We are a non-profit organization and all contributions are fully tax deductible.  The funds are being used to continue operations, pay off the additional expense of clean up and extraordinarily high utility bills due to the fact that we have had to run dehumidifiers and fans continuously since the storm.  Further, experts will monitor the recovery effort to ensure that the mold situation is not a problem in the future.  Funds will also be utilized to help purchase items to display the exhibits and make repairs to the facility damaged by water which came in both from the roof and from flooding. Finally, because our normal volunteers are unable to work at the museum due to their own flooding problems (90% of the homes in Erath flooded), we will use these funds to pay individuals with expertise who can assist us in re-constructing the exhibits and managing the museum during this transitional period.  For this work, we will seek individuals who are presently jobless because of the  devastation of hurricanes "Rita" and "Katrina."

Future Meeting Dates being scheduled

The Board of Governors, at recent meeting, decided to pre-schedule meetings for 2006, and have scheduled March 4, 2006 and November 4, 2006 as dates of next two meetings. This information will be furnished to news outlets prior to meetings, so keep eyes and ears open.

Please remember and give to those in need.

Once again Louisiana has suffered greatly from natural disasters, and while some have been able to return to their homes, many more have discovered that their homes are unlivable and they will have to start all over at building or finding a home. Many survivors will never be able to return to the lives or homes they knew before, and while this is as tough as it gets, their children experience and even harder time in coping with new location, new schools, and new friends.

I would like to urge all of those who are able to do so, to donate whatever they can to the Salvation Army, the Toys for Tots programs, and the American Red Cross. Let us share our blessings with our neighbors in need.

Remember, no donation is too small.

Who among you has the purest Broussard bloodline?

Warren Perrn suggested to me that we should attempt to identify the Broussard with the purest Broussard bloodline, and that sounded like an excellent idea; further, it may awaken some of those who have been remiss in providing their genealogy to our database.

To make it worthwhile I will donate a Broussard CD to the winner. I will award the cd after I verify the data provided, so do your homework, and do it correctly, no fudging! The genealogy can be mailed to me at: Mitch Conover

300 Strasbourg Drive, Lafayette, La 70506, e-mailed to whiskey6@cox.net, or hand carried to our next meeting on March 4, 2006 at Woodmen of World Hall in Maurice. The presentation will be (hopefully) at the March 4^th meeting.

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