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As stated in the Recap of the Celebration, many flags from different states and nations were advanced for prominent placement.  The state flags were presented by the Girl Scouts of the USA Service Unit 618, East Acadia Parish, Louisiana.  Each state flag was presented in the order that the individual state was admitted into the union. The French Flag was presented first followed by the Louisiana Flag.

Everyone was asked to remain standing as the French Tri-Colors were
posted by Miss Laura Stagg from Rayne, La.

Naturally our own Louisiana Flag is brought forward.
The Louisiana Flag is presented by Miss Karris Johnson, Rayne, La.
Louisiana was admitted in 1812 as the 18th state of the union.

Our own "Acadian" Flag, designed by Dr. Thomas Arceneaux in 1965 and made the official flag of the Acadian area in 1974, is presented by Miss Kelsi Wicker.

Flags of all States carved from lands of the Louisiana Purchase.

Invocation by Msgr. Douglas Courville, Pastor of St. Jules Parish, in
Lafayette, La.

Rayne, La. Mayor Jim Petitjean welcomes the crowd.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco addresses the crowd in French,
reciting her Acadian Roots

Naturally the Lt. Governor likes humor also.

Mr. C. E. Richard, author, narrates the events leading to and the result of the
Louisiana Purchase.

CAFA President and Program Chairman Eddie Richard thanking all
who are attending and thanking all the volunteers who did such a great job.

Dr. John Doucet, Nicholls State Univ. and LSU School for Genetic Studies
explains their mission in solving genetic defects in Acadian Descendants.

Mr. Louis LeBlanc, New Brunswick, explains the preparations for
CMA 2004 in Nova Scotia. He also emphasized the importance of sister organizations such as CAFA here in Louisiana and FAFA in Canada keeping the individual families organized.

Dave Petitjean keeps the crowd in an uproar with his Cajun Humor.  Dave has published a book on Cajun Humor and has appeared in several movies.

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