®
CAFA's
La. Purchase
Celebration
Participating
Families
&
Organizations
In 1803 the most disturbing rumor in the city of New Orleans was that the Americans wanted to buy the city of New Orleans. The the second rumor was that the Americans also wanted to buy the entire Louisiana Territory. The most encouraging rumor was that Napoleon would never sell. In the year 1803, the United States would double in size when it signed the Louisiana Purchase Documents to acquire the Louisiana Territory. This 800,000 plus square miles tract of land would later be broken into part or all of 15 states.
C A F A (Confederation of Associations of Families Acadian) and the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism joined together to celebrate this historical event.
The celebration held at the Rayne, La. Civic Center was a complete success. Huge crowds attended every event, paid attention to all the speakers, and enjoyed enormous amounts of Acadian food, and of course some refreshments and music. Friends and family from most of the surrounding states, as as far away as Florida, California and even Alaska attended the celebration.
The different families that helped host this event are to be congratulated on putting on a fantastic event. The celebration started Friday evening with a banquet fit for a king after many hours of preparation. Many volunteer workers spent all day Friday putting together what had been months of work on crafts to decorate the center. As people would enter, some were heard to utter "WOW."
Saturday's activities were no less outstanding. A color guard from the Lafayette, La. Fire Department were entrusted with the advance of colors. Afterwards the Girl Scouts from East Acadia Parish, La. did a procession of flags from every state encompassed by the Louisiana Purchase. Flags from France, Canada, Acadie, and of course our own Acadiana were also advanced and put in a prominent place on both sides of the main stage.
Various speakers, some very somber, such as Mr. C. E. Richard, gave a
chronology of the of the Louisiana Purchase, how it came about and the final
result-millions of acres for the fantastic price of 4 cents an acre, now
comprising all or part of 15 states. It doubled our country's size.
Some of the speakers, of course, had
humor as their theme, and that was all for the enjoyment of the crowd.
This was the true way of life for Louisiana Acadians - Let the Good Times
Roll.
And so naturally to let the good times roll there had to be music. And music there was. Some of the more prominent "Cajun" bands of the area were there to help the celebrants "Pass a Good Time." One of the bands brought back thoughts of yesteryears with their rendition of the 1950's type of music.
There were hours especially reserved for the friends, and cousins, to visit the different booths, make new friends, rekindle old friendships, and share genealogy. Quite a few booths had computers set up with data bases where a person could track down an ancestor, or give information about their own family to be added to the many names already preserved for posterity.
With the ancestors of those
attending having been forced from their beloved "Acadie" in the Maritime
Provinces of Canada because of wanting to preserve their religious beliefs,
what better way to end the celebration than with a Mass.
So at 10:00 am Sunday, a Mass was celebrated by native priests.
After the mass, most of the attendees did journey to St. Martinville, La. to participate in the dedication of a replica of the Deportation Cross erected years ago in Nova Scotia at the site of the actual deportation. Although good weather had endured for the celebration in Rayne, La. this dedication was not so fortunate. The Louisiana clouds emptied themselves of moisture in a typical South Louisiana frog strangler. Most of the dedication had to be done inside the church, with Bishop Jarrell officiating.
Completed just prior to the erection of the Replica of the Deportation Cross were eight Family Crest Mosaics. These were commissioned by a special grant from an arts foundation and assistance from the families involved. The crests, done in ceramic tile, were viewed for the first time by most of those attending the dedication. They flank the eternal flame in the Memorial Garden between the museum and the cross. They represent the following families: Boudreaux, Blanchard, Broussard, Leger/Lege, Hebert, Comeaux, Richard, Thibodeaux and Trahan. The families were chosen by lottery.
The chronology of these events will be unfolded
with the pictures on the following pages. Please enjoy.