SPECIAL NOTICE!!

CAFA SPRING MEETING SATURDAY MARCH 21. 2009

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: Rav Trahan -President: The next CAFA meeting will be held March 21, 2009 at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Louisiana. It starts at 9:00 am and will be held upstairs. It is being held in conjunction with the Annual Acadian Memorial Spring Festival. All family organizations are encouraged to attend and take part in the arrival and landing of four additional families at the Evangeline Oak. We encourage all to come in costume to enjoy the food, music, and companionship.

Some of the important business and topics to be discussed and covered at this meeting includes: Drawing a name for the St. Ann Scholarship being offered by CAFA, discussing the upcoming CMA 2009 bus trip sponsored by CAFA and Acadian Memorial,

discussing Louisiana's bid proposal by Louisiane-Acadie for CMA 2014, and recognize the families that will participate in the "Arrival of the Acadians" on the Bayou Teche. For further information call Ray Trahan at 337-856-1620.

CMA 2014 APPLICATION: On February 4, 2009 at the Lite Center in Lafayette, Louisiane-Acadie, unveiled its application for Louisiana to host CMA 2014 via their worldwide website www.cma2014.com. Louisiane-Acadie is an umbrella organization that represents Acadians and Cajuns in Louisisna working towards hosting the 2014 gathering. It is made up of organizations such as CAFA, Acadian Memorial, CODOFIL, Elected officials, and others interested in promoting a united voice to accomplish the task of hosting CMA 2014. Ray Trahan, who is serving as president of that organization, is requesting the following: 1. Visit the website  www.cma2014.com  and sign up to support the application submitted. 2. Each CAFA family organization is asked to write a letter of support signed by the president of each organization. This will go a long way to show that this application has broad support from family organizations. Please do this immediately and mail to Ray Trahan at 230 Gumbo Road, Lafayette, LA 70508. The announcement of what area gets to host CMA 2014 will be made on August 9, 2009.           

ACADIAN MEMORIAL SPRING FESTIVAL: As stated above the spring festival is scheduled for Saturday March 21 sl in St. Martinville. This is a family oriented event with food, music, and emphasis on the Acadian families that arrived in St. Martinville during the early days. The reenactment of their arrival is scheduled for 1:00 pm and it will involve four families this year. They are: Comeaux, Dugas, Richard, and Thibodeaux families. We encourage these families to come in Acadian costume and to take part in the reenactment. Acadian families that previously took part in the reenactment will be there to welcome them. They are Bourque, Broussard, Hebert, Lan4ry, Le Blanc, and Trahan. Lets all show up for this important event. The general schedule for the festival is as follows: It officially kicks off at 10:00 am with welcome, blessing, introductions, and Music Theatre Troupe. There will be various speakers, demonstrations, children's programs, and slide shows from 10:30 am to the 4:00 pm closing time. At 11:30 am there will be a Putt-Putt wooden boat parade along the Bayou Teche. There will be Acadian genealogy by special guest Yvon Cyr from Ontario, Canada from 12:00 to 2:30 pm. So make plans now to come and pass a good time in St. Martinville!!

CMA 2009 BUS TOUR: This bus tour which is being sponsored by the Acadian Memorial and CAF A as a joint venture is designed to give our local families a chance to attend as many CMA functions and family reunions as possible. Although the final plans for day to day activities is not yet complete, lodging has been secured and dates are final. The tour operator is History Break Tours from Carencro and is operated by Cord and Tonia Stuart. The tour will leave on the 6^th of August and return here on the 28^th of August for a total of 23 days. Although the opening Ceremonies will be missed, the tour will be there for most of the Congres. For those planning to take part in the tour, please contact Cord or Tonia Stuart at 896-5119 or 412-6698. A $50.00 dollar deposit will reserve your seats. For those that want more information there is a meeting scheduled with Cord and Tonia on Monday March 16^th, at 6:00 pm at the Acadian Memorial upstairs meeting room. We urge CAF A family organization members and Acadian Memorial members to take advantage of this opportunity. Visit the website www.cma2009.ca for the latest information on housing, major CMA events, and family reunions. Some of the family reunions that we may be interested in are: Arceneaut, Babineau et Granger, Belliveau et Gaudat, Blanchard, Broussard et Thibodeau, Boudreau, Bourgeois, Breau, Caissie et Roger, Chiasson, Comeau, Cormier, David, Doiron, Dugas, Gautreau, Girouard, Guedry, Landry, Leger et Trahan, Martin, Richard, Robichaud, Saulnier, Savoie, Theriault, Daigle, Hebert et Babin, and Noel. For dates, locations, and other information refer to website. Also information may be obtained from Rachelle Dugas at 337-291-5489 or e-mail rachelle@louisiane-acadie.com . She has an office in Lafayette and is representing CMA 2009. For those that will be traveling on their own, New Brunswick has a travel guide book which can be obtained for free by calling 1-800­561-0123 or visit on line at www.TourismNewBrunswick.ca