Country Roads Magazine "Myths & Legends Issue" October 2022

Features

SPOOKS & SPICE

Corn mazes, haunted houses, and fall festivals to season your calendar.

Who’re Your People? by James Fox-Smith 4536

THE AXEMAN OF NEW ORLEANS

Parsing the facts and the fiction of the Crescent City’s most notorious serial killer. by Alexandra Kennon

EVANGELINE’S ONLY HANGING

6 REFLECTIONSThe strange character of Euzebe Vidrine, from his memoir to his execution. by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

52JUSTICE FOR CLEMENTINE

A sensational confession in the era of the axe murderer, and the questions that linger. by Chris Turner-Neal

On the Cover

Cover image by Megan Buccere

Darkness has a draw, it’s true. For artist Megan Buccere, this tendency towards the surreptitious takes the form of mystical tableaux, especially around this time of year. On the cover of this year’s Myths and Legends issue, her oil and gold leaf painting “Noctourne” encapsulates such fascinations, exploring the way nature blooms even in the darkest night. Since moving to Louisiana as a teenager, the interactions between folklore and flora, nostalgia and nature have played an integral part in her evolution as an artist. “This piece was inspired by the theme of a midnight garden at the turn of the autumnal season,” says Buccere. “I wanted this piece to reflect the darker, more moody side of the season.”

In this season and in this issue, we invite you to indulge in your more morbid curiosities. Step into a bunker filled with the unseeing eyes of 7 million preserved fish specimens (page 64). Wander through a sibylline sculpture garden in Chauvin—where angels and Christs look upon you as mysteriously as their artist (74). Drive the coast, haunted by its riveting ephemerality (78). And turn back time to meet three of our region’s most noto rious murderers—one uncaught (36), one a memoirist (45), one with a fantastical, horribly unbelievable story we’re still asking questions about (52).

Publisher James Fox-Smith

Associate Publisher Ashley Fox-Smith

Managing Editor Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

Arts & Entertainment Editor Alexandra Kennon

Creative Director Kourtney Zimmerman

Contributors: Kristy Christiansen, Paul Christiansen, Ben Depp, Samantha Eroche, Austin Krieger, Ruth Laney, Lucie Monk Carter, Sophie Nau, Chris Turner-Neal,WolfePoet

Cover Artist Megan Buccere Advertising

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CONJUREQUEENLY

A tea ceremony with LaReina by Sophie Nau

PECANSHARPER’S

A peakentrepreneurseven-year-oldattheofpecanseason by Samantha Eroche

61

PEAT & PEARLS

Oysters are the crown jewel at an upcoming dining event in Acadiana.

by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

FISH IN THE FOREST

Cuisine56 Culture Escapes

The world’s largest collection of preserved fish is in Belle Chasse. by Kristy Christiansen

OF LOVE & DUST

Life and love in Cherie Quarters by Ruth Laney

MYTHS & METEORITES

A not-so-secret of Audubon Park by Poet Wolfe

TRUE CLOSECRIMETOHOME

5 local recommendationspodcast

by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

WONDERS ON THE BAYOU

Kenny Hill’s Chauvin Sculpture Garden by Samantha Eroche

A GHOST PILGRIMAGESWAMP

A requiem for the skeletal remains of our disappearing coast by Ben Depp

PERSPECTIVES

Painter Megan Buccere’s forays into folklore by Alexandra Kennon

EDITORIAL@COUNTRYROADSMAG.COMWWW.COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM

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Copyrighted. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Country Roads magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein. Country Roads magazine retains the right to refuse any advertisement. Country Roads cannot be responsible for delays in subscription deliveries due to U.S. Post Office handling of third-class mail.

“NOCTOURNE” (2018)

Reflections

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Back when I first moved to this part of the world, sometimes when in Wood ville I would be cornered and lectured on the finer points of my ad opted family’s illustrious history by Mrs. Lallie Owens. A lifelong Woodvillian, amateur local historian, and somehow a relative (more on that later), Mrs. Lallie was a walking genealogical encyclopedia, whose command of the tangled thicket of Wilkinson County kinships was leg endary. In a rural town like Woodville where people didn’t move around much, you can see why a talent like Mrs. Lallie’s would have been a vital resource, since before marrying the good-looking farm er’s son or daughter from down the road it would have been good to know how closely related he or she might be. Not that there was much risk of interbreeding in my wife’s case, since she had chosen to marry someone from nine thousand miles away (I sometimes wonder wheth er I was imported to diversify the Woods family gene pool). But still, I was a for eigner with an unknowable background who had married in without the faintest idea who was related to whom, and Mrs.

Lallie clearly felt it her duty to educate me. By the buffet at someone’s wedding or in the produce aisle at Treppendahl’s, she would sidle up and, in the conspirato rial manner of one imparting crucial state secrets, begin enumerating in impenetra ble detail the ways in which the Wood ses were related to just about everyone, from Lee Harvey Oswald to the Queen. I would nod thoughtfully, but as some one who struggles to remember names, let alone the difference between a second cousin and a first cousin once-removed, few of the details stuck. The Lee Harvey Oswald thing did, though. According to Mrs. Lallie the connection was relatively easy to make. While counting an infa mous figure at the center of multiple con spiracy theories as family might sound ec centric, it’s also very Woodvillian. I guess every family has stories it tells about itself.

In my family there wasn’t much curi osity about genealogy. I put this down to having come of age in Australia—a for mer British colony explicitly established for the purpose of sending anyone poor, annoying, or even slightly inclined to wards criminality, as far away as possible.

As a result, for white Australians at least, research into one’s ancestry was likely to reveal nothing more auspicious than the fact that you are descended from failed English cattle thieves. Although I grew up in Australia I was born in Britain; my

ly) in the early seventies. So, despite not being obviously related to English cattle rustlers, we adopted the Australian sus picion towards genealogical research as a form of self-preservation. Being a skinny kid with an English accent in an Aus tralian public school was hard enough anyway. Why stir the pot by asking ques tions about your classmates’ criminal forebears?Anaversion to genealogy doesn’t rob a family of stories to tell about itself. My own family’s set piece was that Great Aunt Addie burned down the Crystal Palace. My grandfather’s mother’s sister, Aunt Addie was one of twelve children, seven of them girls. She was a spinster— one of the multitude of English girls

born around the turn of last century left with no-one to marry after their gen eration’s men left for World War I and didn’t come back. Aunt Addie worked at Crystal Palace, a massive steel and glass structure built for the Great Expo sition of 1851 and one of London’s most famous tourist attractions. She was a chain-smoker notorious for absent-mind edly leaving burning cigarettes lying around. On the night of the Crystal Pal ace fire, November 29, 1936, Aunt Addie was said to be the last person to leave the building. The rest, as they say, is history. Is this true? I have no idea. In the end it really doesn’t matter, because the sto ry that we’re related to an eccentric, chain-smoking, pyromaniac, Jazz Age flapper is just kind of cool. The point is that every family has stories it tells about itself. Whether those are stories that ex plain, obscure, justify, celebrate, or sim ply entertain, they are the glue that holds families together, marks them as distinct, and helps us identify ourselves within so ciety. Told enough times, a story gains a life of its own that doesn’t need a genea logical record to resonate. Shared belief is enough for that. And wouldn’t life be boring without them?

—James Fox-Smith, james@countryroadsmag.compublisher

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Science, Not Shame

Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Work Dispels Myths about Obesity

It’s easy to park the blame for obesity with the person suffering from it, but scientists at the world-renowned Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge say not so fast. Their pioneering work reveals obesity’s complex risk factors, including neuroscience, prenatal health, and socioeconomic conditions—findings that are helping the world fight obesity with science, not shame.

“It’s a misunderstanding that it’s just an issue of willpower,” said Dr. Chris Morrison, Associate Executive Director of Basic Science. “Our work clearly shows that many of our food choices are not necessarily under conscious control, but are instead regulated by internal physiological systems that we are largely unaware of.”

Morrison is one of several researchers at the Baton Rouge-based research facility working to unravel the complex knot of obesity, a disease gripping Louisiana and the nation alike. One in three adults and children in Louisiana has obesity, a condition linked to several other diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and many forms of cancer.

Morrison’s research looks at how the brain controls food intake. Specifically, he and his team study how the fibroblast growth factor 21 hormone, known as FGF21, helps the body regulate protein intake and adjust metabolism. Understanding how FGF21 works could lead to harnessing its therapeutic potential for patients with obesity.“Wehope we can use FGF21 and this mechanism we’ve discovered to unlock how the brain makes choices related to food, and then use that information to help people better control their food intake,” Morrison said.

Elsewhere at Pennington Biomedical, Dr. Leanne M. Redman, Associate Executive Director for Scientific Education, is examining how a person’s predisposition for obesity, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes stems not only from their time in the womb, but their mother’s time in her mother’s womb, too. Redman leads a research program in maternal and infant nutrition and health and has pinpointed one of obesity’s early origins.

“It goes all the way back to conception and to fetal development,” Redman said. “And it goes back two generations.”

Redman and her team look at the various triggers during conception and throughout pregnancy and early life that can impact someone’s future risk for certain chronic diseases. Pennington Biomedical is one of a select number of global research centers that utilize a powerful tool called a whole room calorimeter, also known as a metabolic chamber. A metabolic chamber is an extremely accurate measurement device that can not only reveal how many calories a person’s body burns, but also what kind of calories are being burned, and whether they come from fat, protein, or carbohydrates. Pennington Biomedical houses four adult metabolic chambers, plus the world’s only functioning infant metabolic chamber. Using findings derived from the chambers, researchers work with registered dietitians in the center’s metabolic kitchen to develop precise nutrition programs measured to the nearest tenth of a gram.“We

are working on how to ‘lock arms’ with moms to teach them about nutrition and health at this most vulnerable time in their baby’s life,” Redman said.

A multitude of socio-economic factors also impact rates of obesity, said Associate Professor Stephanie Broyles, who studies health and the built

environment.“Wherewe

live either creates a lot of opportunities for healthy behaviors or creates barriers,” Broyles said.

Access to safe parks encourages families to stay active, for example, while factors like long commutes or high crime rates have the opposite effect.

By utilizing cutting-edge technologies, researchers at Pennington Biomedical are studying the many ways that factors like brain chemistry, maternal nutrition, and complex socio-economic factors interact to impact Louisiana citizens’ quality of life. The center enlists community volunteers to enroll in health research studies, some of which include a stay in a metabolic chamber. If you’re interested, take a look at the many research studies Pennington Biomedical offers. You can screen yourself online or call (225) 763-3000 to talk with someone to find a study that is right for you.

At Pennington Biomedical, Dr. Leanne Redman (above) leads research that has traced obesity’s origins to a person’s time in the womb. The center houses the world’s only infant metabolic chamber, which measures not only calories burned, but also whether those calories come from fat, protein, or carbohydrates.

Noteworthy

Meet Me by the Old Mounds

LSU CAMPUS IS HOME TO THE OLDEST KNOWN MANMADE STRUCTURE IN NORTH AMERICA

Over the course of our phone hcall, I congratulate Dr. Brooks Ellwood on his recent discovery. “I mean, the oldest manmade structure in North America!”

“Oldest known,” he corrected me.

These conversational speed bumps are not uncommon between geophysicists and English majors. I want to dream of the people who shaped the LSU mounds, eleven thousand years ago, we’re learn ing—and he needs to remind me that my imagination would be nowhere with out thirty-one expensive carbon dates, high-powered microscopes, and a rever ence for teeny-tiny relics.

Ellwood did not use the phrase “tee ny-tiny” or even “eensy-weensy” but spoke of phytoliths, highly durable mi croscopic particles found between plant cells, and osteons, the building blocks of mammals. It was a thick layer of ash seen in Mound A, the northern mound, that ignited this current investigation. The ash came from a fire so hot that it burned

off the plants from which the phytoliths came. “You would never cook with reed and cane plants because the fire would be too hot and would destroy the meat you were interested in eating,” said Ellwood.

Ellwood’s wife, Sue, a member of his research team, found the osteons in the mound. The team, which also includ ed an astronomer and a palynologist (a scientist who studies pollen and spores) among other researchers, was able to use carbon-14 dating to trace the phytoliths and osteons back to 11,000 BP (before present). Human presence in North America dates back at least twice as long, to 22,000 BP, and it’s accepted that people made their way to Louisiana by 12,000 BP. (One must surmise they were stuck in gameday traffic.)

There are more than 800 mounds in Louisiana, including the Poverty Point complex and the Watson Brake mounds, located south of Monroe. Mounds had unique purposes to their builders: they could be used to improve a hunter’s line

of sight, to bury the dead, to feast, to pray, or even just to live above the water. Here, the scathing fires and mammal bones point to a ceremony or a cremation.

The people who built the LSU mounds lived on the banks of what was then the Mississippi River Valley Estuary. The mounds were atop a terrace above the shore, and each mound is made from dif ferent materials and was built in phases, with some thousand years in between during which people may have vacated the area entirely during a climate event. Mound A contains much more wa ter in its core and has shifted over time, helped along by less ancient rituals. “LSU students used to stand on the mounds during the game and jump up and down when the Tigers scored,” Ellwood noted. Mound B is more similar to the loess ter race on which it was built. A depression in the earth near Hill Memorial Library seems a likely source for the material.

The LSU Campus Mounds have been on the National Register of His

toric Places since 1999, and Ellwood’s study—published in the American Jour nal of Science in August 2022—has done even more to spur their protection. “LSU now recognizes the significance of these mounds,” said Ellwood. “They’re work ing hard to protect them, looking for ways to put on ground cover that won’t damage the mounds.”

In the study, astronomer Geoffrey Clayton noted the alignment of the mounds would have provided prime viewing of the bright star Arcturus. Let’s thank that star and others for the inter ventions of Ellwood and his team. In 1967, our state saw fit to build a highway and demolish the Monte Sano mounds, fourteen miles north of the LSU mounds and once thought the oldest manmade structures themselves. “All these are ar chaeological sites,” says Ellwood. “We’re working to preserve them.”

—Lucie Monk Carter

The Helis Foundation John Scott Center

A NEW COMMUNITY ART CENTER IN NEW ORLEANS CONTINUES THE MULTIMEDIA ARTIST AND EDUCATOR’S LEGACY.

How does one possibly cap ture something as fluid and dynamic as a pioneer ing artist’s legacy in some thing as concrete and literal as a physical space? That is exactly what the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the Helis Foundation have accomplished with their latest gift to the city of New Orleans, The John Scott Center.

John Tarrell Scott, the larger-than-life yet famously down-to-earth man who inspired the center, is known for his col orful kinetic metal sculptures, wood block prints, collages, and other types of artwork that frequently draw from tra ditional African art and are inspired by important moments in African American history, like the Middle Passage or the 1962 16th Street Baptist Church bomb ing in Birmingham. While living and at the height of his career in 1992, Scott received the high honor of being named a MacArthur Fellow. He also taught at

Xavier University for forty-two years, and according to the new center’s Director Asante Salaam, who was at one point one of his students, Scott had a knack for con necting with anyone and making them feel important, regardless of his own accolades or who the individual he was speaking with might be.

Upon first learning the John Scott Center was in the works, Salaam knew she wanted to be involved, especially be cause it was conceived to honor a mentor who so inspired her personally. “I was in spired, and really excited about the possi bility of translating into experience what I knew of him personally, and what I witnessed in others’ experience of him— whether it was his art, or how down to earth he was in talking to just a neighbor wandering around, or somebody on the Xavier campus, to somebody in a board room, or on Julia Street at one of his gal leries. You know, he just really made so many people feel like they were the most

important person to be talking to in the moment.” Salaam expressed of Scott. “So the opportunity to translate some one who was such a unique person and a unique character, with a unique voice and legacy into an experience in a space is re ally, really exciting to me.”

The center, which is housed on the first floor of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ historic Turner Hall in the Central Business District, fea tures fifty-one of Scott’s diverse works of art, as well as a new mural on the side of the building by Scott’s son Ayo Scott. The center is comprised on one side of a sleek, white-walled gallery space high lighting a wide range of Scott’s works, from chainsaw-carved wood block prints to the kinetic sculptures for which he is best known. Each work is illuminated by thoughtful and well-researched informa tion, explaining not only Scott’s artistic process but also the important historical events and concepts that inspired him.

On the other side of the center is ample space for community engagement and collaboration—like various seating areas, a public meeting room, and more dis plays about the life, work, and inspiration of John Scott.

“I want visitors to experience the cen ter’s environment, exhibits, programs and staff members as manifestations of John Scott’s art, life, and legacy, in ways that help inspire each person’s greatness and helps enhance each person expand ing and realizing their human potential,” Salaam said. “Even if it’s one little, small sight, sound, activity, lesson, idea, insight at a time that resonates in each person’s being, and in each person’s doing. All to help make a better, brighter, more beau tiful, more wonderful world for us each and all.”

—Alexandra Kennon

To learn more about the John Scott Cen ter or find information on upcoming pro

NEWS,

Bonjour, Louisiane

Thirty years ago, Ashlee Michot barely knew any French at all. But every morn ing on the way to school in Ville Platte, her father would tune into the French news on KVPI. The voices of hosts Mark Layne, Jim Soileau, and Charlie Manuel would pour forth—for eign, but all too familiar.

“I didn’t have grandparents that spoke French to me,” explained Michot. “So, I had to get my French from every corner, and in the air... And the radio, especially.”

Decades later, having acquired a mas tery over the language via immersion at the Université Sainte-Anne in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, she began listening to those broadcasts again. Her new ears devoured

the once-indecipherable conversations held on KVPI, as listeners called in and told funny stories, discussed old tradi tions and current events, and engaged in linguistic wordplay—all in the distinct vernacular of Louisiana French.

“A lot of the information was really special, and it was just over the airwaves and gone,” she said. “And something else that really woke me up was the turnover of the contributors and callers—like you’d be listening to them one week and just drinking in everything they were saying, and they were making language jokes and just being so joyful. And then, you’d hear their obituary. And it was a very tangible way to see how our lan guage is disappearing. It was extremely painful, and that really motivated me, and made it time-sensitive in a way.”

At that time, Michot began a meticu lous journaling practice, which included transcribing the information delivered through KVPI’s French radio programs almost every single morning. This work has formed the foundation of her life long dedication to the task of language and folklore preservation in Louisi ana—which has taken the form of her blog Prairie des Femmes; the publication of Ô Malheureuse, a collection of mod

ern Louisiana French writings by wom en; stints as the youngest female host of KVPI’s French broadcasts; and over a de cade spent teaching French in the public school system.

This fall, Michot made the difficult de cision to resign from her post as French teacher at Beau Chene High School. The very day that she quit, she learned of a job opening at the Lafayette radio sta tion KRVS: they were looking for a per manent replacement for Joseph “Pete” Bergeron, who has hosted the morning French program Bonjour, Louisiane for over forty years.

“Mr. Pete started the show in 1981, which is ironically the year I was born,” said Michot. “All of the things I’ve done up until now, I really feel that they were preparing me for this.”

The show, which airs from 5 am–7 am five days a week, will continue to feature local French music as it always has. But Michot plans to incorporate some of her trove of other knowledge as well. “So, there will also be a component of metadata, cyclical information, sea sonal and plant information, language information, and musician information that comes up within the context of the songs that I just know some things about, and I enjoy sharing them. So, as they come up, I am able to talk a bit more free ly.”When I spoke to Michot, it was mere minutes after her third day as the host of Bonjour, Louisiane. She told me that she is still getting used to the new sched

ule—she has to now wake up at 3 am to get to work—but that “It’s really fun.” And that she has never in her life felt so aligned with her own sense of purpose.

Michot shared that on the day her new post was publicly announced, she also got word that longtime host of KVPI’s French programming, Charlie Manu el, had died. It immediately brought her back to the days of her transcriptions, mourning the losses of the French-speak ing callers as they passed one by one, and realizing of the hosts: “One day it’s going to be them, and this resource will be gone.” “It’s just really ironic and heart-rending that he passed that day, right as I am starting this new job,” she said. “I can now take all that energy and put it forward. I can focus it. Because I’ve always been doing this for them.”

Carrying the torch of Louisiana French radio—and all the knowledge and community it holds—Michot is doing this for the future, too. Recalling those childhood drives with her dad, and the way Charlie Manuel’s French “Bon Matins” piqued her curiosity, she said: “It is not lost on me that I may be that voice for a child,” starting their mornings hear ing Michot’s cheerful, “Bonjour, Loui siane!”

—Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

Listen in to Bonjour, Louisiane on weekdays from 5 am–7 am. Not an ear ly riser? Each episode is recorded and can be found at krvs.org.

ASHLEE MICHOT ACCEPTS HER NEWEST ROLE

Ashlee Michot, photographed by Paul Kieu.

Explore Acadia Parish, the Heart of Louisiana’s Cajun Harvest Country

Acadia Parish draws visitors year-round with its colorful brand of south Louisiana culture, but here in the heart of the Cajun Harvest Country, things really come to life in the fall. Mild, sunny days and balmy evenings inspire locals and guests to gather outside for events that keep toes tapping and lips smacking. It’s here you’ll find one of Louisiana’s oldest and largest food festivals, the International Rice Festival in charming downtown Crowley—the Rice Capital of the World. Many other seasonal events, bountiful road food, shopping in Crowley’s vibrant historic downtown, and lots more all conspire to make Acadia Parish a truly distinctive destination in the Bayou State.

The Colors—and Cultures—of Cajun Harvest Country

The many rice fields and crawfish ponds you’ll spot throughout the parish are a reminder that this is historic rice country, rooted in the ingenuity of German immigrants who settled in the Roberts Cove area in the late 19th century. These innovative farmers left a fascinating legacy, celebrated during the annual Roberts Cove Germanfest the first weekend each

at Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church. Historic downtown Crowley’s resplendent Grand Opera House is something to behold—an ornate two-story theater originally built in 1901, and later, meticulously restored. Experience its majesty when you see Louisiana’s own Amanda Shaw hit the stage on October 15. The ever-energetic and nationally renowned fiddler plays the Opera House in a performance guaranteed to have you out of your seat and on your feet.

From gumbo to boudin, and from jambalaya to étouffée, sauce piquant and red beans, nearly every regional dish in Louisiana’s culinary tableau is buttressed by rice. Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find an ingredient more essential to Cajun and Creole cooking. The 85th Annual International

even play the fiddle for you). Over in Rayne, Nonc Kev’s Specialty Meats offers a treasure chest of Cajun delicacies: fresh and smoked boudin and Cajun sausage, specialty cuts of pork and beef, cracklins, crawfish pies and fried boudin balls are all here. Don’t leave without trying the Steen’s Syrup boudin rollups! Don’t forget the crawfish, either. Around here, fresher means better, and Acadia is home to multiple seafood restaurants offering “pond-to-plate” service, including Hawk’s Crawfish Restaurant (Rayne), Mo’ Crawfish (between Crowley & Eunice), D.I.’s Cajun Restaurant (Basile), and Cajun Claws Seafood Boilers (Duson).

The seat of Acadia Parish, Crowley has more than two hundred buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its downtown is known as one of the Gulf South’s best preserved. Stroll along bricklined N. Parkerson Avenue and surrounding streets to find eclectic shops, restaurants and cafes, historic sites, art galleries, and fashion-forward boutiques. Soak in the charm on your own, or join the History Alive! Guided Walking Tour (October 14-15), which explores historic hot spots while providing compelling stories of Crowley’s rich past.

October. (October 1—2). Go and you’ll see festival goers wearing traditional German dress, hear lively German folk music, watch folklore demonstrations, dine on Old World cuisine, and sip German beers on tap. The people of Roberts Cove extend you a hearty, “willkommen!”Then,getto know Acadia Parish’s French roots at the annual Le Grand Reveil Acadien (October 1—9), an immersive French festival in the town of Church Point at several local sites, all within walking distance of each other. Pick up crafts at an artisan’s market, dance to live Cajun music, sample homemade delicacies in the Cajun cookoff, and hear youth musicians strumming roots music. The festival offers a unique opportunity to hear and speak French throughout the day, culminating with a French Mass

Rice Festival (October 20) in downtown Crowley celebrates the heritage of this vital local crop, first cultivated here in the 19th century. Every year, tens of thousands come out for the festival which is built around live bands, cooking contests, local foods, kids’ activities, and mountains of fluffy rice cooked to Inperfection.CajunHarvest Country, no food conversation is complete without mentioning Acadia’s specialty meat markets. Halfway between Crowley & Eunice at the Mowata Store, proprietor Bubba Frey has been feeding the faithful house-made boudin, smoked breakfast sausage, and delectable pork cracklins, as well as harder-to-find seasonal specialties like tasso, ponce, rabbit, guinea, pork tongue, beef tongue, duck, and quail, for decades (if you’re lucky he might

From authentic Cajun food and music, to friendly people and high energy festivals, Acadia Parish is a bucket list destination rich in memory-making adventures.

A Special Advertising Feature from Acadia Parish Tourism

UNTIL DEC 31st HISTORY EXHIBITS RUM TO GLASS

New Roads, Louisiana

On tour from Alma Plantation in Lakeland, the Poydras Museum's latest exhibition follows the path sugarcane takes from the field to the cocktail glass. Find the Julien Poydras Center on Facebook for more information. k

OCT 1 st - OCT 2 nd

GOOD EATS

FRIED CHICKEN FESTIVAL

New Orleans, Louisiana

Come to the New Orleans Lakefront at Franklin Avenue this weekend to celebrate the almighty fried bird with this outdoor festival. Favorite local restaurants like Bonafried, Heard Dat Kitchen, Southern's, and countless more will be in attendance. Plus, this year there will be a car showcase, vendor marketplace, and "Kids Coop" to entertain the whole family. Doors

open at 11 am both days. $12.80; $46.75 VIP. friedchickenfestival.com. k

OCT 1st - OCT 9th

CULTURAL HERITAGE GRAND RÉVEIL ACADIEN

Various, Louisiana

Parishes across Louisiana who boast Cajun heritage celebrate the "Great Acadian Awakening" with nine days of french tables, cook-offs, Catholic masses, jam sessions, fais do-dos, and more—events take place in Abbeville, New Iberia, Broussard, Lafayette, Port Allen, and beyond. louisianeacadie.com. k

OCT 1 st - OCT 9 th

FALL FESTIVALS

RED RIVER REVEL Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport's Red River Revel will be featuring some heavy hitting headliners this year during the newest iteration of the largest outdoor festival in North Louisiana. Look forward to

live music from Big Freedia, Karma & The Killjoys, Mannie Fresh, J & The Causeways, and more. There will be plenty of activities for adults and kids alike, including artists representing virtually every media. Crockett Street. Monday–Wednesday 11 am–9 pm; Thursday–Saturday 11 am–10 pm; Sunday 11 am–7 pm. Admission is $5 on weekends and weekdays after 5:30 pm. Free Monday through Friday until 5:30 pm. redriverrevel.com. k

OCT 2 nd

FALL FESTIVALS

SUGARFEST

Port Allen, Louisiana

The West Baton Rouge Museum returns with its annual sweet celebration of the sugar cane harvest. This is a full day of family-oriented activities, live music, and hordes of kids in the throes of a sugar rush. This old-fashioned good time sports attractions like a mule-driven cane events both and beginning on

PUT INTO THE

Each October the Rougarou Festival in downtown Houma channels the swamp beast of Cajun lore and revels in frightful family fun like a parade, a scavenger hunt, a costume contest, carnival rides, and of course live music and tasty food. See listing on page 28. Image courtesy of the Houma Rougarou Fest.

Events

grinder in action, praline making, blacksmithing, woodworking, and other historic craft demonstrations; Louisiana musicians perform Dixieland jazz, spirituals, folk, Cajun/zydeco, and blues; there are hands-on activities for the kiddos, sugar-related exhibits inside the museum, wagon rides, and fresh sugar cane to gnaw on. Ever wanted to enter grandma's cake recipe in a good, old-fashioned sweets contest? Here's your chance. Oh, and a rum tasting. 11 am–4 pm at the museum. Free. westbatonrougemuseum.com. k

OCT 2nd

CULTURAL HERITAGE CARMELITES' MASS OF ROSES

Covington, Louisiana

To honor and celebrate the young nun St. Therese of Lisieux, who as she lay dying in 1897 proclaimed "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses," Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Covington and The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Covington present their annual tradition. After mass, homemade items like baked goods, dolls, gift cards, and more will be sold. The Carmelites take a vow of poverty,

and this is their primary fundraising event for the year. 9 am. covingtoncarmel.org. k

OCT 2nd - OCT 23rd

LIVE MUSIC SUNDAY IN THE PARK

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge's outdoor music program returns: October 2: Bonerama

October 9: Alabaster Stag

October 16: Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble October 23: That '70s Band

2 pm–5 pm at the Shaw Center Plaza. Free. artsbr.org. k

OCT 4th

FALL FESTIVALS

LA FÊTE DES VIEUX TEMPS

Raceland, Louisiana

Lafourche Parish's "Festival of the Old Times" brings back the festivities of old, featuring demonstrations of traditional boat building, an old fashioned boucherie, a sugarcane syrup mill, educational lectures on Cajun culture, and much more. Local artists and crafters will be on site, along with

live music and local cuisine, including a sauce piquante cook-off on Saturday. 4484 Highway 1, under the facebook.com/lafetedesvieuxtemps.overpass. k

OCT 5th - OCT 14th

SILVER SCREEN FILMS AT THE MANSHIP

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Here's what's in store this month:

October 2: Cat Video Fest to support Cat Haven.

October 5: The Laughing Man

October 13–14: Moonage Daydream

October 26: The Last Champion.

October 28: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Times and prices at manshiptheatre.org. k

OCT 5th - DEC 4th

ART EXHIBITIONS ASSOCIATED WOMEN IN THE ARTS EXHIBITION

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

These talented women are hosting their annual member exhibition, curated this year by renowned pastel artist Marcia Holmes at the Louisiana State Archives Gallery. An opening reception featuring live music by Bill Avery and Pat Wattam, commentary from the artists, wine, and light refreshments will be from 6 pm–8 pm. Free. associatedwomeninthearts.com. k

OCT 6th - OCT 9th

PADDLE OUT TOUR DU TECHE

Port Barre, Louisiana

The Tour du Teche is a three day canoe/ kayak/pirogue/SUP adventure race that passes through the parishes of St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia, and St. Mary. It's a total of 135 miles, the entire length of the Teche. There are two classes: "Pro Race," and "Voyageur Race," or recreational. $125 to register. tourduteche.com. k

OCT 6 th - OCT 9 th

GOOD EATS

ZWOLLE TAMALE FIESTA Zwolle, Louisiana

The Zwolle Tamale Fiesta celebrates the Spanish and Native American heritage of the town's residents with arts & crafts, dancing, a car show, children's activities, parades, and tamales. zwolletamalefiesta.com k

OCT 7 th

BOOKISH BARGAINS

BIG BOOK SALE

Kenner, Louisiana

The Friends of the Jefferson Public Library's semi-annual book sale fills the Pontchartrain Center with over 65,000 used books. 10 am–7 pm Friday–Saturday; noon–5 pm Sunday.

BeginningEventsOctober

4545 Williams Boulevard. friendsofjeffersonlibrary.org.Free.k

OCT 7th CHEERS

BREW AT THE ZOO Baton Rouge, Louisiana

6th - October 13th

Richardson, and Bonneville. Besides the stellar lineup of music, the weekend will provide attendees the opportunity to engage and connect with each other about culture, entertainment, food, football (yes, the game will be on), and more, in Bluff Park. $40—$300. 5 pm both days. visitnatchez.org. k

11 pm Friday; 11 am–11 pm Saturday; 11 am–8 pm Sunday. $20 per day; $45 for a weekend pass. gretnafest.com. k

OCT 8 th

GOOD EATS

LA FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL Slidell, Louisiana

Brew at the Zoo promises a wild time, featuring tastings from dozens of craft breweries, dishes from local restaurants, music, and wild scenery. Safari chic/ casual attire welcome. 7 pm–10 pm. $50 General Admission; $100 VIP; $20 Designated Drivers. Ages twenty-one and older only. brzoobrew.org. k

OCT 7 th - OCT 8 th

CONCERTS

BLUES & SOUL SUPER BOWL Natchez, Mississippi

The weekend will feature Friday performances from two-time Grammy winners Kool & The Gang, Southern Avenue, and Jarekus Singleton; and Saturday performances from Grammy award-winning artists Patti LaBelle and CeeLo Green, Dorothy Moore, Jamal

OCT 7 th - OCT 9 th

FALL FESTIVALS

GRETNA HERITAGE FESTIVAL Gretna, Louisiana

Gretna has deigned to celebrate its history not simply with dusty photographers and half-remembered tales, but also with an impressive line-up of internationally famous artists. This year's headliners include The Revivalists, John Fogerty, the Beach Boys, and more. Along with tunes, the festival, encompassing twenty-five city blocks, offers a massive food court featuring dozens of vendors, arts & crafts, rides, and games. Highlights include the Italian, Asian, and Margarita Villages, a Craft Beer tent and German Beer Garden, and a Kids' Corner. 4 pm–

Round up your friends and your chairs and head to the Harbor Center to be overwhelmed with tasty options on wheels, plus live music, vendors, and more. 11 am–3 pm. Free. harborcenter.org. k

OCT 8th FALL FESTIVALS

LOUISIANA ART AND FOLK FESTIVAL Columbia, Louisiana

The longest-running art festival in the state brings art, folklife demonstrations, live music, food, and more on Columbia's Main Street. 10 am–4 pm. Details at the Louisiana Art and Folk Festival Facebook Page. k

OCT 8th FALL FESTIVALS BLUESBERRY FESTIVAL Covington, Louisiana

This full-day celebration of blues music and the arts at Bogue Falaya Park will feature

both national and regional musical talent on the Westaff Music Stage, an arts tent, an Abita Beer Garden with a variety of locally crafted brews, a food truck roundup, a children's village, and more. The lineup includes The Band of Heathens, Jonathan "Boogie" Long, Jake Gunter, and more. 9 am–6 pm. $30, $40 at the gate; free for children ages ten and younger. $80 VIP. thebluesberryfest.com. k

OCT 8 th FALL FESTIVALS

OLD ARABI SUGAR FESTIVAL Arabi, Louisiana

Sweet-tooths from miles around converge on the grounds of the historic neighborhood of Old Arabi in the land of sugar giant Domino, for the annual Old Arabi Sugar Fest. Competition will focus on the sugary delights of cakes, cookies and pies. Crafts, activities for the kiddos, a donut eating contest, and more confections than you can shake a cotton candy stick at make this a pretty sweet event. The musical lineup includes: Christian Serpas & Ghost Town, The Soul Project, Funky Uncle All Stars with Christian Duque, Cameron Dupuy & the Cajun Troubadours, the Irene Sage Band. 1 pm–9 pm at the Aycock Barn. oldarabi.org/sugarfest. k

GOOD EATS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

GUMBO COOK-OFF

New Iberia, Louisiana

Can anyone's gumbo be better than ya mama's? A few upstarts in Iberia Parish may think so at this thirty-second annual World Championship Gumbo Cookoff, held in Bouligny Plaza. The Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce will host the festivities, which will feature music, family fun, and plenty of food; marking the return of the "Wizard of Roux". Saturday will be the 5K Roux Run, followed by the Creole Food Fest (where everything except gumbo will be served), and the Meanest Beans Cookoff. Sunday is the big day of the "Battle of the Rouxs", where over seventy-five teams will compete for the honor of World's Best Gumbo. iberiachamber.org. k

OCT 9th

CULTURAL HERITAGE

LA FETE DE SAINT LUC Arnaudville, Louisiana

Join the festive francophiles of the Saint-Luc French Immersion School as they celebrate the patron Saint-Luc feast day. Allons, Parler, danser, chanter, et manger, en Français. Also take in demonstrations on historic crafts, performances of traditional songs and dances, and treats from local food trucks and

MUSIC AT THE MANSHIP Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Concerts at the Manship this October:

October 9: Red Dragon Series: Rodney Crowell Band. 7:30 pm. $69.95–$99.95.

October 11: River City Jazz Masters: Regina Carter. 7:30 pm. $25–$45.

October 16: Doktor Kaboom. 2 pm. $20.

OCT 11th - NOV 26th

ART EXHIBITIONS

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER Lafayette, Louisiana

Watercolors, pen and ink, sculptures, and beyond will be on display for the Lafayette Art Association's annual open competition and awards. The awards ceremony will

take place October 29 from 5 pm–7 pm. lafayetteart.org. k

OCT 13th - OCT 16th

FALL FESTIVALS

FARM TO FOREST PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL Alexandria, Louisiana

For the Farm to Forest Plein Air Festival, hosted by the Alexandria Museum of Art, painters from all over the country are invited to participate in a series of artsfocused events interspersed with the most valuable gift of all: time and space to paint. Additional events include gallery tours at the AMoA, a paint challenge and farm-to-table dinner at Inglewood Farms, a workshop with artist juror Suzie Baker, ArtWalk, and more. All juried artists' work from the week will be displayed at the Palette Party event on Sunday at 4 pm, when the winners will also be announced. $55 for Artist Registration; non-juried artists and the public are also invited to participate in certain events. farmtoforestpleinair.com. k

OCT 13th - MAR 26th

SCULPTURE EXHIBITS SOME BOYS, A FEW BUNNIES, AND ONE LOUSY UNICORN Baton Rouge, Louisiana

New Orleans-based sculptor Alex

Childhood comes and goes in a blink. We’re here through the stages of your life, with the strength of the cross, the protection of the shield. The Right Card. The Right Care.

REHEARSAL SNEAK-PEAK

In the Heights

Sitting in the audience during the Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s (JPAS) run-through for their upcoming production of In the Heights, I watched as the fluorescent-lit Elmwood rehearsal studio was transformed into a bustling, sticky-hot street of Washington Heights, Manhattan. Even without the sets, costumes, or props doing work to set the scene, the cast of actors—equipped with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s complex score and a talented lone pianist (music director Richard Cordova, in town from Manhattan) accompanying them—were so grounded in the realities of their characters’ lives that my imagination easily filled in the sights, sounds, and smells of the bodega.

JPAS’s production will mark the first time the Tony- and Grammy Awardwinning musical that rocketed Miranda to acclaim (in 2008, long before Hamilton’s opening) is performed in the Gulf South, and they’ve made efforts to do it

about this whole show, because I have family from Nicaragua, and I’m originally from New Orleans,” said Director Michelle Pietri, “and so much of this show is about finding what home is—whether home is a place, or if it’s really a feeling of family. Family is not always blood—family is who you love, and who accepts you for who you are, and how you are. And of course, if you have any Hispanic background, it’s so nice to see Hispanic people represented in a loving, positive, and uplifting way.”

The cast, from New Orleans and Houston, collectively possesses connections to Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Their personal connections to the script and the struggles and victories of their characters, in combination with the extensive character development Pietri has guided them in (like creating social media profiles and playlists from their characters’ perspectives), render emotionally authentic, captivating performances. And as the ensemble dances and belts their way through their characters’ day-to-day lives— gossiping, graffitiing, and all the rest—they each contribute to creating a rich depiction of the Hispanic Upper Manhattan neighborhood.

Within only three musical numbers that shifted seamlessly from English to Spanish, singing to rapping, speaking to dancing, I was entirely emotionally invested in the Washington Heights community that had sprung up before me. I can only imagine that when the show opens this month, fully-realized and in all its glory, that audiences will be completely enthralled with the heartfelt, captivating, musical story of familia , too. h

In the Heights will run at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center from October 7–16, with performances at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. $23–$78 at jpas.org.

“Lights up, in Washington Heights, up at the break of day…”

“I’mright.excited

JEFFERSON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY BRINGS HEART TO LIN MANUEL MIRANDA’S MUSICAL ABOUT “FAMILIA” Story and photo by Alexandra Kennon

At Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute, treating cancer goes beyond just treating cancer. It also means treating everything that comes with cancer, including the complications and side effects. Cancer takes everything. We’ll stop at nothing to care for you. Which is why we’ve been the region’s leading cancer treatment destination for decades. And we won’t stop there. YOUR TUMOR ALONG WITH YOUR

Events

Beginning October 14th - October 15th

Podesta has a lifelong fascination with bunnies. A look at Podesta's work in this exhibition at the LSU Museum of Art first reveals a playful whimsy, that develops into darker themes of isolation and the loss of youth. A meet-the-artist event will take place at 6 pm October 14. lsumoa.org. k

OCT 14th

FUN FUNDRAISERS

BYRDE'S SCHOLARSHIPDANCERSLUNCHEON

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Of Moving Colors is consistently devoted to ensuring aspiring dancers of all backgrounds are given the opportunity to pursue the art of dance. With the goal of providing scholarships to as many dancers as possible, OMC is hosting the Byrde's Dancers Scholarship Luncheon at Juban's Restaurant. Noon. $25; $500 for a table. ofmovingcolors.org/byrdes. k

OCT 14th

FALL FESTIVALS

BREWS ARTS FESTIVAL

Hammond, Louisiana

Attendees at Hammond Regional Arts

Center's annual fall festival will enjoy a thirty-strong selection that includes plenty of locally-crafted beers paired with cuisine prepared by area chefs. Plus, live music alongside artwork by regional artists. It all happens in Morrison Alley parking lot off North Cypress Street (behind the Hammond Regional Arts Center). 5 pm–8 pm. $25 in advance; $40 at the door. hammondarts.org. k

OCT 14 th - OCT 15 th

FALL FESTIVALS

OXTOBER BEER FEST

Covington, Louisiana

In a town known for its history of community gatherings on every block, it's only fitting that a festival of beer should bear the name of Covington's public squares (ox lots). Get started with a restaurant and bar crawl on Friday (6 pm–9 pm. $75). Then come back on Saturday for the traditional all-out fest, featuring live music, food trucks, and over fifty local and national beer samples. 3 pm–6 pm. $35. $100 for a weekend pass. oxtoberfest.org. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

FALL FESTIVALS ANDOUILLE FESTIVAL Laplace, Louisiana

Louisiana's beloved sausage is the star of the show at this festival, which features andouille cooking contests, plus an Andouille Run, an Andouille Eating Contest, a second line parade, a Gospel tent, and a Kids' Art Tent. Live music performances by Faith Becnel and the Music Krewe, Parish County Line, The Topcats, Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, the CheeWeez, and more. All at Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park in LaPlace. 6:30 pm–8:30 pm Friday; 12:30 pm–11 pm Saturday; noon–8 pm Sunday. $3 adults; $1 children 3–12 years old. andouillefestival.com. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

FALL FESTIVALS CRESCENT CITY BLUES & BBQ FESTIVAL New Orleans, Louisiana

Powered by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival celebrates Southern soul with legendary local and international blues and R&B talent, plus the greatest assemblage of home-style barbecue to be found within the city limits. Come for performances by Jon Cleary, Robert Finley, Mia Borders, Walter Wolfman Washington,

Little Freddie King, and many more. At Lafayette Square Park. 5:30 pm–8:30 pm Friday; 11 am–8:30 pm Saturday and Sunday. Free. jazzandheritage.org. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

FUN FUNDRAISERS

CAMPING FOR A CURE Patterson, Louisiana

Enjoy a weekend camping in beautiful Kemper Williams Park complete with a craft show, car show, chili cook-off, kid's zone, live music, kid and adult costume contests, a best campsite contest, and more—all to benefit the good cause of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Find the event on Facebook or email campingforacure@gmail.com for more information. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

GOOD EATS

BRIDGE CITY GUMBO FESTIVAL Bridge City, Louisiana

Word is that the gumbo in Bridge City is "world famous"—a confident claim in this land of roux. There's only one way to find out if it's true: head to the festival grounds for over two thousand gallons of both seafood and chicken/sausage gumbo. Also: amusement rides, games, activities, pageants, and live music. 6 pm–11 pm Friday; 10 am–11 pm Saturday; 10 am–9 pm Sunday. $5. bridgecitygumbofestival.org . k

FALL FAIRS

VIDALIA CARNIVAL AND FLEA MARKET

Vidalia, Louisiana

The Vidalia Landing Riverfront on the Mississippi River makes a picturesque spot to admire the offerings of this huge annual fall flea market. More than one hundred vendors from as far away as Rhode Island and Oklahoma swarm in to be part of one of the biggest open air markets in the region. It's nicely timed to coincide with the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, happening high above the Natchez bluffs that rise above the opposite bank. Food vendors offer regional treats, and carnival rides entertain as well. Gates open on Friday at noon, at 8 am Saturday, and 9 am on Sunday. Free. Visit the Vidalia River Front Flea Market and Carnival Facebook Event for details. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

HOT AIR

NATCHEZ BALLOON FESTIVAL

Natchez, Mississippi

Natchez makes a picturesque historic backdrop for balloonatics from all around the country during the annual hot-air balloon competition. The Balloon Glow and fireworks show are always well-received, as is a lineup of bands that this year includes The Molly Ringwalds, Tank and the Bangas, YZ Ealey, Nik Parr and the Selfless Lovers, Chapel Hart, and more. The image of hot air balloons suspended above the Mississippi River, when viewed from the two-hundredfoot river bluffs, is one not soon forgotten. The festival also includes a Sports Tent showing all the weekend's big games on big-screen televisions. Children's activities, carnival rides, and a variety of regional foods are always around, so it's up, up, and away you go to Natchez this weekend. After morning balloon flights (7:30 am) each day, the Festival kicks off at 4 pm Friday, 11 am start on Saturday—all on the grounds of Rosalie Mansion. $35 weekend pass for adults ($40 at the gate), or $15 on Friday, $30 Saturday if purchased in advance, $35 day-of. Children ages twelve and younger are free. natchezballoonfestival.com. k

OCT 14th - OCT 16th

FALL FESTIVALS ACADIENSFESTIVALS ET CRÉOLES

Lafayette, Louisiana

The largest Cajun and Creole culture festival is coming back for the second time this year with the theme “Ensemble Encour. Ensemble Toujours. (Together again, Together always). Non-stop cultural immersion includes the Bayou Food Festival, Louisiana Crafts Fair, workshops, cooking demonstrations, the Tour des Atakapas 5k, 10k, or duathlon, and a French Mass. There

will also be multiple stages of live music, featuring beloved Louisiana musicians including: Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, and many more. 5 pm–8:30 pm Friday, 10:30 am–8 pm Saturday, 10:30 am–7:30 pm Sunday. Free. festivalsacadiens.com. k

OCT 14 th - OCT 16 th

FALL FESTIVALS

FALSE RIVER HARVEST FEST

New Roads, Louisiana

The annual False River Harvest Festival has all the trimmings required

to make a fun fall weekend overlooking scenic False River in downtown New Roads—fantastic food, arts and crafts, live music, and for the first time this year a Friday evening parade to kick off the festivities and Saturday rodeo. Friday 5 pm–10 pm; Saturday noon–10 pm; Sunday noon–8 pm. 211 West Main Street. Free admission Friday; rodeo admission $10; $12 Saturday rodeo and festival package; $5 Sunday admission; $5 for children twelve and younger Saturday and Sunday; $50 VIP full access. Tickets available at harvestfestivalnewroads.com.bontempstix.com. k

OCT 15th

CONCERTS

ABITA SPRINGS OPRY

Abita Springs, Louisiana

The lineup for October includes performances by the Three Rivers Cooperative, Big Daddy O, Christian Serpas and Ghost Town, and Shake Em Up Jazz Band. 7 pm–9 pm. $20. abitaopry.org. k

OCT 15th

PATRIOTIC PARADES

VETERANS ON PARADE

Port Allen, Louisiana

Port Allen's annual parade honoring those

Enjoy an oasis in the heart of the city. Stroll through the beautiful gardens and walk the many trails of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens and Windrush Gardens. Step back in time to 19th century rural Louisiana at the open-air LSU Rural Life Museum.

Upcoming Events

Harvest Days & Corn Maze* October 1 and 2 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.

LSU Rural Life Museum and LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Advance tickets required and available at bit.ly/HDXCM22

StoryTime in the Garden October 1 and November 12 9 a.m.-noon Free LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens (Pavilion) Birding at Burden* October 22 and November 19 7-9 a.m.

LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Tickets available at Eventbrite.com

Corn Maze Saturdays* October 8, 15, 22 and 29 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Tickets available at https://bit.ly/CornMaze22

Night Maze & Bonfire* October 29 6-9 p.m. LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Tickets available at https://bit.ly/CornMaze22

Haints, Haunts and Halloween* October 30 2-4:30 p.m. LSU Rural Life Museum Learn more at https://www.lsu.edu/rurallife

Wine & Roses Rambler*

November 13 Noon-2 p.m. LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Learn more at https://bit.ly/WineRoses2022

Botanic Gardens

Red Rooster Bash* November 17 6:30 p.m. LSU Rural Life Museum Learn more at https://www.lsu.edu/rurallife details about these and other events, visit our website or call 225-763-3990. Admission may be charged for some events. Burden Museum & Gardens . 4560 Essen Lane . 225-763-3990 . DiscoverBurden.com . Baton Rouge . Open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily

Events

Beginning October 15th

who've served and all military who are currently serving, will be rolling once again this year at 1:30 pm. The West Baton Rouge Museum will also host an exhibition honoring local veterans Coley Hill, Henry Edison, and Calvin McClinton with a historic display of their personal artifacts and stories through November 20. Free. westbatonrougemuseum.com. k

OCT 15th

LITERARY FESTS

LIVINGSTON BOOK FESTIVAL Livingston, Louisiana

Look forward to lots of literature-themed activities, games, and refreshments at the main branch of the Livingston Parish Library. New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander will be hosting a talk and book signing. Plus book giveaways, virtual reality experiences, kids' activities, and crafts. 11 am. Free. mylpl.info. k

OCT 15th COMMUNITY CREATIONS MAKER FAIRE Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library is inviting high and low tech “makers” to its ninth annual Maker Faire. The theme is sustainability, which tech, art, and crafts all touch in unexpected ways. Enjoy special performances, a cosplay competition, eco-friendly and eclectic demonstrations, and more. Also check out the website for related programming the week prior. 10 am–5 pm at the Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard. ebrpl.com. k

OCT 15 th

ART MARKETS TRUNK SHOW AND SALE Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The members of the Art Guild of Loui siana are hosting a trunk show, giving locals the opportunity to purchase original pieces of art at reduced prices. Independence Park Theatre. 10 am–2 pm. Free. artguildlouisiana.org. k

OCT 15 th ART EVENTS FALL FOR ART Covington, Louisiana

Each autumn for over twenty years, the St. Tammany Arts Association spills creative goodness through Covington's historic downtown district for an annual arts and culture extravaganza. There's live music, hundreds of booths featuring original work, art receptions, sidewalk art, family-friendly activities, and more.

6 pm–9 pm. Free. (985) 892-8650 or sttammanyartassociation.org. k

OCT 15 th

GREEN THUMBS PLANTFEST! Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Hilltop Arboretum's PlantFest! returns with another veritable botanical bonanza, running the gamut from native and traditional to eclectic and electric. PlantFest! experts from landscape architects to Master Gardeners will be present to help you pick the perfect plant. 9 am–4 pm. The plant list will be available a week prior to the sale at lsu.edu/hilltop. k

OCT 15 th - OCT 16 th

FALL FESTIVALS

WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL Madisonville, Louisiana

As the major fundraiser for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, this festival attracts thousands of attendees, in addition to upwards of one hundred boats—from pirogues to seventy-five-foot cruisers and trawlers. The fest also features a main stage with live bands throughout Saturday and Sunday, and of course, the return of the Quick 'n Dirty Boat Building Contest and Race. Gates open at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday, with entertainment till dusk, all along the banks of the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville. $10 adults; $5 seniors; free for children twelve and younger. lpbmm.org. k

OCT 15 th - OCT 16 th

FALL FESTIVALS

MELROSE FALL FESTIVAL Natchitoches, Louisiana

Hundreds of vendors from across Louisiana will bring their goods out to the grounds of Melrose. Gifts such as baked goods, home décor, jams, artwork, and more will be available.

9 am–5 pm Saturday, 10 pm–3 pm Sunday. $5 adults, $2 children. melroseplantation.org. k

OCT 15 th - OCT 17 th

ART FESTIVALS

BRTISTIC FESTIVAL Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Two days of live music, live painters, local food, and creative spirits will gather 'round in the not-so-hiddengem of Beauvoir Park. Musical artists include Baby in the '90s, Berkshire

Events

Sound's Rhinoceros, Slomile Swift, Green Gasoline, and Kinky Vanilla. 1:30 pm on Saturday; 12:30 pm Sunday. $30 for single day pass; $55 for weekend pass at bontempstix.com. k

OCT 18th - SEP 16th

HISTORY & CULTURE CARNIVAL IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Back in 1944, Louisianans living in Washington D.C. during Carnival season decided to seize the opportunity to introduce our nation's capital to the traditions of Mardi Gras, which culminated in a grand formal ball presented by the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians. An exhibition celebrating this unique extension of Mardi Gras fills the gallery of Capitol Park Museum. louisianastatemuseum.org. k

OCT 20th - OCT 23rd

RAINBOW REVELRY Y'ALL MEANS ALL'S "THE WEEKEND" Natchez, Mississippi

Y'all Means All Natchez is a nonprofit

organization benefitting local mental health organizations, and has a mission to provide safe spaces and community support for rainbow youth in the Natchez community. "The Weekend" includes highlights like Drag Bingo, lip-sync battles, a Wine & Cheese Meet & Greet, a lively Tour of Homes, Drag Brunch, and the Battle of the Belles & Beaus contest (wherein straight men and women try their hand at drag to vie for the crown), this time with Ms. Kasha Davis of RuPaul's Drag Race and Josalyn Royale performing and hosting. Find the full schedule and prices at yallmeansallnatchez.org. k

OCT 20th - JAN 23rd

HISTORY EXHIBITS SPANISH NEW ORLEANS AND THE CARIBBEAN New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans' Spanish Colonial period marked a new era in architecture, design, culture, language, and so much more. The Historic New Orleans Collection presents a bilingual exhibition in English and Spanish about the Spanish influence on a city most often associated with its French heritage. hnoc.org. k

OCT 21st - OCT 23rd

GOOD EATS

LOUISIANA GUMBO FESTIVAL Chackbay, Louisiana

The small Cajun community of Chackbay continues to earn its title (proclaimed by Edwin Edwards himself) as "Gumbo Capital of Louisiana" while celebrating its annual festival, which cooks up over five hundred gallons of gumbo over the course of a weekend. Organizers promise the best in Cajun food, music, and dancing along with a carnival mid-way, live auction, parade, and raffle. 6:30 pm–midnight Friday; noon–midnight Saturday; 12:30 pm–6 pm Sunday. Free. lagumbofest.com. k

OCT 22nd

FALL FESTIVALS

GULF BREW 2022 Lafayette, Louisiana

Gulf Brew is back with over two hundred Louisiana breweries and brewpubs to showcase their newest craft beers, along with live music stages, craft booths, and more coming together for the outdoor festival along Jefferson Street. Organized by the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Gulf Brew is a fundraiser for the exhibitions, performances, and art education initiatives. 1 pm–5 pm Saturday. General admission $40; Brewmeister $100; Designated Driver $10. acadianacenterforthearts.org. k

FALL FESTIVALS

SHAKE YOUR TRAIL FEATHER

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

The TECHE Project is excited to host the eleventh-annual celebration of the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail. The day will include a Paddle Parade down Bayou Teche, as well as a Party in the Parc with live musical entertainment and food. Starting at 11:30 am. techeproject.org. k

OCT 22nd

FALL FESTIVALS

OCTOBER FÊTE AVOYELLES

Marksville, Louisiana

A day of live music, local brews, traditional German fare, and fitness. Events kick off at 8:10 am with foot and bike races, followed by a morning of kids activities, live music, demonstrations, a German meal, and a costume contest. Proceeds benefit local nonprofits. 8 am–2 pm at 144 South Main Street. octoberfeteavoyelles.com. k

OCT 22nd - OCT 23rd

STEPPIN’ OUT KYIV CITY BALLET

New Orleans & Lafayette

The Kyiv City Ballet left one of the final flights out of Kyiv to Paris before Ukraine was invaded in February.

After being sheltered in France and then touring Europe, the company— unable to return home—will be continuing the tour in the United States, performing in Louisiana for the following two shows at 7:30 pm in New Orleans and Lafayette (see websites for tickets):

October 22: Mahalia Jackson Theatre, New Orleans. nobadance.com. October 23: Heymann Performing Arts Center, Lafayette. pasaonline.org. k

OCT 22nd - OCT 23rd

FALL FESTIVALS

LONGLEAF FALL FESTIVAL Longleaf, Louisiana

Explore one of the country's oldest remaining sawmill towns, and enjoy train rides, displays of model steam engines, museum tours, gospel music, pony rides, vendors, food trucks, and a "classic Cajun cookout" to top it off. $10 entry per car. 10 am–10 pm Saturday, 10 am–2 pm Sunday. forestheritagemuseum.org. k

OCT 23rd

FALL FESTIVALS BENEATH THE BALCONIES New Iberia, Louisiana

Visitors can experience drama, comedy, and music while strolling down Main

Street from Shadows-on-the-Teche to the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion. Food, drinks, and music will be featured at the Shadows-on-the-Teche starting at lunchtime. The procession from one balcony to the next begins at the Shadows Front Gallery at 2 pm. Free. Noon–5 pm. See New Iberia Beneath the Balconies Facebook Page for updated details. k

OCT 25th - OCT 27th

GOOD EATS FRENCH FOOD FESTIVAL Larose, Louisiana

The Lafourcheais, or people of Lafourche, will stuff Larose Regional Park with food booths to tempt of festival-goers with specialties such as white oyster soup and shrimp boulettes. Plus live music, exhibits, an art show, a petting zoo, and carnival rides. 6 pm–11 pm Friday; noon–11 pm Saturday; 11:30 pm–6 pm Sunday. Free admission; $20 for ride bracelets; $50 for the whole weekend. bayoucivicclub.org. k

OCT 27th - NOV 6th

FALL FESTIVALS

THE GREATER BATON ROUGE STATE FAIR Gonzales, Louisiana

The Baton Rouge State Fair pulls out all the stops each year with rides galore in the carnival midway and live music

almost every night. Plus there's mutton bustin', lawn-tractor pulls, pig races, a lego extravaganza, and an exotic animal petting zoo. Junior beef, dairy, and goat shows also add to the agricultural theme. At the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. 5 pm–10 pm Mondays–Fridays; noon–10 pm Saturdays & Sundays. $5 and up. gbrsf.com. k

OCT 28th

FUN FUNDRAISERS

LANE GOLF TOURNAMENT Zachary, Louisiana

Show off your drive to support a great cause—the Lane RMC Foundation is bringing its golf tournament to scenic Beaver Creek Golf Course in Zachary. $500 per team or $125 per individual. All proceeds benefit Lane’s Healthcare Heroes. lanermcfoundation.com. k

OCT 28 th - OCT 29 th

FALL FESTIVALS

BLACKPOT FESTIVAL Lafayette, Louisiana

A weekend full of music, dancing, and food at Vermilionville. It's a cooperative of South Louisiana musicians, artists, and roots enthusiasts who'll be joined by groups from other parts of the country, too. On Friday night and Saturday, live performances include Los Texmaniacs, Pine Leaf Boys,

EventsBeginningOctober

28th - October 29th

The Revelers, Daiquiri Queens, Cedric Watson, and many more. An accordion contest and square dancing add to the music fever, and, then of course there's the cook-off. 6 pm–midnight Friday ($30); noon–midnight Saturday ($40). Weekend rate, which includes camping, is $60. blackpotfestival.com for full details. Also: learn more about the extent of this annual celebration by checking out the Black Pot Camp at Lakeview Park & Beach the week before at blackpotcamp.com. k

OCT 28th - OCT 30th

CULTURAL HERITAGE ACADIANINTERNATIONALFESTIVAL

Plaquemine, Louisiana

To honor its Acadian roots, Iberville Parish holds a re-enactment of Longfellow’s poem—including the Indian princesses and Evangeline arriving to greet the crowd at the Waterfront Park by fire-lit pirogues. Plus rides, games, music, Cajun food, arts & crafts, a cooking contest, fireworks, and the International Acadian Festival Parade at 10:30 am on Sunday. Starts on Friday at 5 pm. acadianfestival.org. k

OCT 29th

FALL FESTIVALS

LOUISIANA BOOK FESTIVAL Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana's annual literary festival is bringing hundreds of authors, literary-minded organizations, and bibliophiles together again over the grounds of the Louisiana State Capitol, the State Library of Louisiana, Capitol Park Museum, and Capitol Park Event Center. Expect book talks, workshops, signings, and plenty more literary loveliness. 9 am–4 pm. Free. Full schedule at Thelouisianabookfestival.org.Festivalwillalsohost a series of "Wordshops" on October 28. Full details and tickets at bontempstix.com. k

OCT 29th

GOOD EATS

SWEET DOUGH PIE FESTIVAL Grand Coteau, Louisiana Head to the grounds of Grand Coteau Town Park for the annual celebration of the traditional pastry beloved by locals (and anyone else who takes a bite). Browse more than seventy vendors while enjoying food and live music. And of course, a pie competition plus pie to buy, too. Guests will also get to immerse themselves in the scenic town of Grand Coteau with self-guided tours. Proceeds to benefit the Grand Coteau

Cultural Foundation. 9 am–3 pm at 231 Burleigh Lane, behind Town Hall. For more information visit the Town of Grand Coteau Facebook Page. k

OCT 29th

FALL FESTIVALS

LONGWOOD MUSIC FEST Natchez, Mississippi

Architectural treasure Longwood hosts its annual all-day music festival, featuring live performances from Deana Carter, NRhythm, Hana Hart & Friends, Elanore Swede, and Easily Distracted. Look forward to plenty of family-friendly activities, arts and crafts vendors, beer, and more. 11 am–8 pm. $15. Kids younger than ten are free. longwoodafternoon.com. k

OCT 29th

FALL FESTIVALS

HARVEST MOON FESTIVAL Franklin, Louisiana

Franklin's street festival celebrates the season and the spirit of the sugar cane harvest. Head to Main Street in Franklin's historic district for highlights including the Mutt Strutt doggie costume contest, Bayou Bakeoff, classic car show, children's activities, and live music. 8 am–4 pm. cajuncoast.com. k

OCT 29th - OCT 30th

FALL FESTIVALS

YELLOW LEAF ARTS FESTIVAL St. Francisville, Louisiana

Upwards of forty artists and creatives come to Parker Park to show and view paintings, pottery, metalwork, handmade boats, fabric art, and music by favorites like The Fugitive Poets and Day Trip. The featured artist this year is songwriter Lee Barber. 10 am–5:30 pm. Free. stfrancisvillefestivals.com. k

To peruse our entire calendar of events, including those that wouldn't fit in print, point your phone camera here.

events....Halloween

OCT 2nd - OCT 30th

FIFOLET FESTIVAL Baton Rouge, Louisiana

10/31 Consortium brings back its beloved slate of hilarious and haunting events. Highlights include a Zombie Pub Crawl; a costumed Ghostly Gala; a Pumpkin Pi 3.14 Mile Race; Horror Movie Trivia Night; and the Saturday afternoon Halloween Parade that started it all. Get all the details, and information about all access passes ($375) at 1031consortium.com. k

OCT 8th - OCT 29th

LSU AGCENTER CORN MAZE Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden invites parents to let the kids try to find their way through the traditional fall corn maze (don't worry, the scarecrows have an eye out for 'em). On Corn Maze Saturdays, besides navigating the maze, you can romp around a haystack mountain, paint a pumpkin, visit the petting zoo, or join the hayride around the property. Sessions from 9 am–11 am, noon–2 pm, and 2:30 pm–4:30 pm. The Night Maze & Bonfire is on October 29, with games, and a live concert. Costumes encouraged. $15; free for children two and under. lsuagcenter.com. k

OCT 13th

THE WITCHES RIDE Saint Francisville, Louisiana

Witches will pour through the streets of historic downtown St. Francisville on this evening, but fear not: it’s just for this fun, seasonal, charity bike ride event. Proceeds will benefit FINA (Families in Need of Assistance in West Feliciana Parish), as well as the West Feliciana chapter of Girls on the Run. Ride begins at 5:30 pm at Parker Park. bontempstix.com. k

OCT 21st - OCT 23rd

BOO AT THE AUDUBON ZOO New Orleans, Louisiana

Bring your tiny ghosts and goblins to the land of beasts for the Audubon Nature Institute’s annual Boo at the Zoo event. Plenty of thrills and treats to be had for the fright-finders and weenies—cough, I mean the more sensitive attendees— alike. Trick-or-treating, a ghost train, a monster maze, scary and non-scary walks through the Mummy Manor, inflatables, live music, and—of course, zoo animals! 10 am–5 pm. $30. events. audubonnatureinstitute.org . k

OCT 21st - OCT 23rd

ROUGAROU FEST

Houma, Louisiana

There is no better way to defeat your demons (like the fabled Rougarou) than to confront them, and what better way than by attending this creepier take on a festival— which still involves food and music; but organizers have upped the ante with a costume contest, a spirited parade, a scary scavenger hunt, and carnival rides. Main Street and Church Street. Free.  rougaroufest.org for more info.. k

OCT 22nd

KREWE OF BOO PARADE

New Orleans, Louisiana

The official Halloween parade of New Orleans is back to creep the night away this year. Krewe of Boo rolls at 6:30 pm, creaking its way through the Boo Carré along North Peters, Canal, and Tchoupitoulas, before ending at Mardi Gras World. kreweofboo.com. k

OCT 22nd

A MERRY NOT SCARY HALLOWEEN

Port Allen, Louisiana

This Halloween-inspired evening at the West Baton Rouge Museum is quite merry, and not so scary, so the whole family can enjoy. Seasonal activities, a costume contest, crafts and treats, and a magic show. Bring blankets and lawn chairs. 6 pm–8 pm. Free. westbatonrougemuseum.org. k

OCT 22nd

NEW ORLEANS ZOMBIE RUN

New Orleans, Louisiana

There are two ways to approach the zombie apocalypse: stave them off, or join them. So don your bio-hazard suit and gas mask, or succumb to zombification. Starting at 9 am, two miles along the Warehouse District will be infested with rotting corpses, the deadliest of which are the Big Easy Rollergirl Zombie Killers. Pre-registration is $25; $90 for VIP; Day of is $35; $100 VIP. neworleanszombierun.com. k

OCT 22nd

MONSTER MASH FUN FALL FAMILY FESTIVAL

Covington, Louisiana

An annual fundraiser for the St. Tammany Hospital Parenting Center features a Trick-or-Treat Village, arts & crafts, carnival rides, and food and beverages for purchase. Enhance your trick-or-treating experience as a VIP at the Pumpkins and

more events....Halloween

Potions Pavilion, featuring a photo booth, full-face painting, and a special gift. Costumes highly recommended. 10 am–2 pm in Bogue Falaya Park. sthfoundation.org. k

OCT 27 th

SPIRITS OF LOUISIANA Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The halls of the Old State Capitol host Louisiana distilleries for this annual event, presented by Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, Friends of the Old State Capitol, and The Old State Capitol Foundation. Guests will sample various liquors made at in-state distilleries and craft cocktails, with food provided by Drake’s Catering, and live music. Dress is cocktail with a witchy flair. All proceeds from Spirits of Louisiana go directly to support the museum’s mission. Twenty-one and older only. 6:30 pm–9:30 pm. $85. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org. k

OCT 28 th

OLDE TOWNE SLIDELL ZOMBIE CRAWL Slidell, Louisiana

Olde Towne goes Halloweentown for this festive fall fête—featuring trickor-treating, a costume contest, and over seventy five local artists and crafters all in downtown Slidell. Also music acts, as well as games and crafts for children. 5 pm–10 pm. Free. Visit the Olde Towne Slidell Facebook page for details. k

OCT 28 th - OCT 30 th

HALLOWEEN NEW ORLEANS New Orleans, Louisiana

Originally founded as a fundraising initiative to support Project Lazarus, Halloween New Orleans has grown to a full-fledged ever-inclusive Halloween Festival. With this year’s theme of Wonderland, find the details at halloweenneworleans.com. k

OCT 29 th NIGHTMARE ON COLUMBIA Covington, Louisiana

If you dare, head down Columbia Street for the Covington Business Association’s annual stroll, costume contest, and Concert. The evening will conclude with a free public concert at the Trailhead featuring Deja Vu Band. 5 pm–9:30 pm. Stroll cups are $30, and serve as the ticket to the event, including an entry to the costume contest and access to cocktail samples. Patrons must be twentyone or older. gocovington.org. k

OCT 29th BOO FEST

Covington, Louisiana

ACCESS (Adapting and Changing Children’s Environments with Successful Solutions), a locally founded non-profit fund of the Northshore Community Foundation, will hold Boo Fest on the grounds of Lakeview Regional Medical Center. The popular Northshore event benefits children with disabilities and their families, but is open to children of all abilities. The day is packed with fall-themed activities, including pumpkin decorating at the pumpkin patch, face painting, all-abilities games, a complimentary photo booth, music and dancing, and much, much more. 10 am3 pm. $2. accesslouisiana.org/boofest . k

OCT 29th

HALLOWEEN ART AND NATURE FESTIVAL

Arnaudville, Louisiana

This family-friendly free event invites all to celebrate Halloween and Louisiana’s natural surroundings through art, music, food, and science—all on Brandon Ballengée’s twentyfive-acre nature reserve and eco-educational campus. This year’s theme is “Space” (to be interpreted as you please), featuring special guests like a NASA astronaut, an origami engineer, and a children’s book illustrator. Workshops include spacesuit art, rocket building, invasive species cooking demos, and celestial pumpkin decorating. Onsite will be creatures ranging from live snakes to preserved “alien specimens”. Plus, storytimes, exhibitions, and trick or treating. Live music performances curated by Laura Huval of Sweet Cecilia and food provided by Chef Colt Patin. Free, but registration is required. 10 am–4 pm. Details on the Atelier de la Nature Facebook Page. k

OCT 29th

AUTUMN IN THE OAKS

Lafayette, Louisiana

Trick-or-treating, fall photo opps, food booths, hayrides, and music will fill Moncus Park. 5 pm–8 pm. Free. moncuspark.org. k

OCT 30th

BOO & BREW

New Roads, Louisiana

New Roads' first-annual Boo & Brew will fill downtown with craft beer, local food, live music, and activities for the kids galore. Local businesses will host a "trunk or treat," alongside face painting, balloon animals, pumpkin and costume contests, and more. 3 pm–7 pm. $10 adults, $5 kids, food and drinks sold separately. bontempstix.com. k

Four Reasons to be Goin’ to Jackson this Fall

New businesses, activities, and streetside attractions coming soon to Jackson, Louisiana.

Drivealong Charter Street and you can feel it in the air: the East Feliciana parish town of Jackson, Louisiana, has gotten some serious momentum. With historic buildings being renovated, new businesses opening, and brandnew, railroad-themed destination restaurant The Ironhorse Restaurant and Pub opening October 10 at 1427 Charter Street, the historic town (it served as the parish seat before Feliciana Parish was divided into East and West in 1824) is experiencing a bold, new lease of life that you’ll want to be a part of. This fall, the Town of Jackson and the Jackson Tourism Enhancement Committee are collaborating to present a series of themed open-house events on College and Charter streets to help you do exactly that. During each, local merchants get into the spirit, hosting popup events, sidewalk sales, and offering live music and refreshments streetside. Here’s what’s on the schedule during the months to come.

1: Saturday, October 1, 8 am–3 pm: Garage Sale & Street Market

Did somebody say “Giant Garage Sale?!” Up and down Charter Street, anything goes, with booths set up and residents offering attic finds and pre-owned treasures, with live music and good food promised all day long. Vendor spaces are available for $25/per. Text Ginger at (225) 933-4911 for details.

2: Saturday, October 29, 6 pm–8 pm: Halloween Spooktacular

Get into costume and the spirit of All Hallows Eve,

by gathering near the corner of College and Charter streets for ghost stories, haunted house visits, trick-ortreating along College Street, and other Halloween surprises.

3: Saturday, November 12, 8 am–2 pm: Harvest Fest & Art Show

Along Charter Street, booths will be set up to showcase handmade arts and crafts items from the studios of East Feliciana’s most creative residents. Expect to find locally-made jewelry, canned and baked goods, antiques, custom furniture, candles, and lots more. Bring the kids: there’ll be live music, food for purchase, and face-painting, too.

4: Saturday, December 10: Christmas Fest. 5 pm ‘til …

During the holiday season, if you haven’t driven along Charter Street after dark then you’re missing out on one of small-town Louisiana’s prettiest Christmas lighting displays. Although the lights stay on all season, this year the best time to go will be Saturday, December 10, when Charter Street merchants host open houses, shopping specials, visits with Santa, and seasonal music and refreshments from 5 pm.

All events are jointly presented by the Jackson Tourism Enhancement Committee & the Town of Jackson. Blue Frog Antiques is ground zero for event information. To learn more about any event, text Ginger at (225) 9334911 or email ging130@yahoo.com

With architectural flourishes, photos and memorabilia, The Iron Horse Restaurant & Pub celebrates the Felicianas' early railroad history. Opening October 10.

VisitJackson,HistoricLA

RECALLING THE ERA OF THE SERIAL KILLER IN SOUTH LOUISIANA

From 1910–1924, at least three of the nation’s most notorious serial killers roamed the streets and swamps of Louisiana, committing unimaginable acts of brutality, seemingly at random. In our 2022 Myths & Legends issue, we’ve taken a closer look at these historic serial killers and their lingering legacies, preserved so sensationally in news articles, investigative research, songs, and the killers’ own confessions.Oneremains

nameless.

One sold his tell-all memoir at his own hanging. And one, despite her remarkable confession, may not actually have killed anyone at all.

All three wrought absolute havoc upon communities across this region, revealing shades of evil we’d prefer to imagine incompatible with the human person. And all three of them linger— in generational trauma, in the folklore passed down through the ages, in the way blood stains history, refusing to be scrubbed out.

The Axeman of New Orleans

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE CRESCENT CITY’S UNSOLVED AXE MURDERS

By Alexandra Kennon

Late into the night of March 18, 1919 and early the morning after, jazz floated into the damp, dark air from homes and bars across New Orleans and its hsuburbs. Normally such an outpouring of music is, and was, a product of celebration—but on this particular spring night, the sound signaled something much more sin ister. New Orleanians were playing jazz music out of fear of their very lives.

This collective anxiety was the result of a string of brutal

attacks by a mysterious killer, whose spree of terror had esca lated considerably in the previous few months. The attacker had established a pattern of sneaking into his victims’ bed rooms, under the cover of darkness, and bludgeoning them in the head with a hatchet or axe (usually found on their own property, or stolen from somewhere nearby) as they slept. A real-life boogeyman, or something worse, lurked in New Orleans—and its citizens were desperate to do anything in their limited power to protect their families.

A Letter from Hell

In particular, the nervously-raucous night of music was the result of a letter published by The Times-Picayune on Sunday, March 16, 1919, around a week after a particularly horrific attack on the Cortimiglia family, which resulted in the death of their twoyear old daughter Mary. The letter read:

Hell, March 13, 1919

Editor of The Times-Picayune, New EsteemedOrleans:Mortal:

They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a fell demon from hottest hell. I am what you Orleani ans and your foolish police call the axman. When I see fit, I shall come again and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody ax, besmeared with the blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me

Ifcompany.youwish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a rea sonable spirit. I take no offense at the way in which they have conducted their investi gations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid so as to amuse not only me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they never were born than for them to incur the wrath of the axman. I don’t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure that your police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm.

Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished to I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thou sands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.

Now, to be exact, at 12:15 o’clock (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposi tion to the people. Here it is: I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the dev ils in the nether regions, that every person shall be spared in whose house a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just men tioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, well then, so much the better for the people. One thing is certain and that is some of those persons who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the ax.Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and as it is about time that I have left your homely earth, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee. I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or the realm of fancy.

—The Axman

The cover of Joseph John Davilla's sheet music for "The Axman's Jazz (Don't Scare Me Papa)," inspired by the deadly attacks and released in 1919. Image courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection, Acc. No. 2008.0052.

Despite its chilling effect, those who have studied the letter carefully—histo rians as well as criminal profilers—think the likelihood of the actual Axeman hav ing written it exceptionally slim.

Historian Miriam Davis, who wrote The Axeman of New Orleans: The True Story (Chicago Review Press, 2017) largely to debunk much of the “realm of fancy” surrounding the Axeman, asserts that the writer and the perpetrator don’t possess the same profile: “When you read the letter, this is a person who’s an edu cated person—he has a classical allusion to Tartarus (a place of torment in Greek mythology). It reads like it was written by a fraternity or something. And the person who is the Axeman, from the description we’ve got of him, he’s a work ing man, he’s working class. And I just don’t think a working class person at that time would have been educated enough to write that letter.”

This raises the obvious question: if the Axeman himself didn’t submit this letter to The Times-Picayune, who else had a motive? Davis’s theory taps Joseph John Davilla as the most likely culprit. Davilla, a New Orleans jazz musician in those early days of the genre, composed the song “The Axman’s Jazz (Don’t Scare Me Papa)”, purportedly in the early hours of March 19, 1919. “He admits that he fin ished the composition at about 2 a.m. Wednesday, after he was sure the axman had no designs on him personally,” The Times-Picayune reported on March 20. The cover of the sheet music featured a cartoon The Times-Picayune had printed on March 19, which depicted a fam ily frantically playing jazz music while watching out the door, terrified.

When Davis spoke with a modern

night of jazz headlined “Jazz Bands Blare For Axman Who Stays Away From City: Threat of Mysterious Writers of Note, Who Claimed to Be Murderer, Gives Splendid Excuse for Merry-Making.” It reported:“Thetinkle of jazz music coming from dozens of New Orleans homes at 12:15 o’clock Wednesday morning demon strated that many Orleanians took the axman letter, printed in The Times-Pica yune Sunday, seriously, and that scores of others, who didn’t take it seriously, found in it inspiration for house parties with jazz music having a prominent place on theAcrossprogram.”the

river, the Algiers newspa per of the time, The West Bank Herald, shared Davis’s suspicion that the actual killer could not possibly have written the letter, and condemned The Times-Pic ayune for irresponsibly inducing fear in its readers in an editorial published on March 20:

“It is very evident that the man who wrote this letter is one with more than ordinary intelligence and it can readily be seen that it is written more as a joke than anything else. In fact, it looks to us that someone put one over on The Times-Pic ayune. Undoubtedly, the letter made good Sunday reading for those who like to read articles of a sensational char acter, but we must stop to think of the great amount of harm it has done to the ignorant classes who are superstitiously inclined and believed to a certain extent that this ax-man would visit certain fam ilies who did not have a jazz band … If the T.-P. would have devoted the same amount of space in an effort to capture the man who is causing these murders, it would have served the public to a much

isfyingly, the mystery remains unsolved, though theories abound with varying degrees of plausibility.

To understand the possible suspects,

The Italian Grocers

While some sources assert that the Axeman attacked a few individuals who were not Italian, any researcher will gen erally agree that the majority of victims in cases attributed to the Axeman were Italian or Sicilian, and primarily grocery store owners.

one must first better understand the Axeman’s crimes, and the poor, unsus pecting individuals who were his victims.

homicide detective, as well as a Georgia Bureau of Investigations criminal pro filer, about the letter, both experts told her, “No, no, the actual serial killer didn’t write that.” When she mentioned to them the way Davilla had built up antic ipation for the release of “The Axman’s Jazz” with newspaper advertisements playing on the letter, the criminal profiler posited, “I bet he did it.”

Regardless of who actually wrote the letter, the people of New Orleans clearly took a “better safe than sorry” approach to its warning. The Times-Picayune ran a story the day following the nightmarish

greater advantage than the publishing of this joke-letter, which caused a great deal of uneasiness and worry among the ignorant classes. So satisfied was the T.-P. with this ‘scoop’ that it gloated over it Wednesday morning by publishing a car toon showing one of the many families in a state of fright, the mother piteously trying to sooth the children by playing jazz music in compliance with the order of the ‘Ax-man’. We fail to see the joke.”

Still to this day, beneath all this edi torial banter about who wrote the now-infamous letter, remains the larger question: Who was the Axeman? Unsat

In writing The Axeman of New Orle ans, Davis set out on extensive research to rule out any attacks that previously had been attributed to the Axeman but did not line up with his established pattern. It became clear to Davis that the Axeman preyed practically exclu sively upon Italian and Sicilian grocers. Even the victims who did not initially appear to be Italian grocers, Davis found upon further examination, in some sense were. One example is the barber Joseph Romano, whose nieces ran a small grocery out of their front room. In her book, Davis also devotes exten

The Cleaver

Such efforts at vivid humanization, cut ting through the fog of time and myth, render Davis’s book a riveting, if devas tating,Whileread.many

claim that the Axeman’s crimes did not begin until spring of 1918, Davis believes that attacks from as early as 1910—at that time attributed to a killer called “The Cleaver”—were most likely early outings by the same criminal

sive page space to providing context for what life was like for Italians and Sicil ians in New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century, and how within only a generation or two of settling in Loui siana, many were able to establish mod est-yet-successful corner grocery stores and other businesses. “I really wanted to explain to people who they were, why they were there, that they were a rising class, why there might have been some resentment of them,” Davis said. She continued with a reminder that in the early 1900s, in lieu of large supermar kets or refrigeration, small corner grocery stores filled an important niche in cities like New Orleans. “I wanted to present them as real human beings as much as I could, given what I could find out.”

who would gain the “Axeman” moniker years later.

By Davis’s estimation, the Axeman’s bloody legacy began with Harriet and August Crutti, who had hardly owned their small grocery store for a month when Harriet awoke the night of August 13, 1910 to the silhouette of a man stand ing over her bed, wielding a meat cleaver,

“THE TINKLE OF JAZZ MUSIC COMING FROM DOZENS OF NEW ORLEANS HOMES AT 12:15 O’CLOCK WEDNESDAY MORNING DEMONSTRATED THAT MANY ORLEANIANS TOOK THE AXMAN LETTER, PRINTED IN THE TIMES-PICAYUNE SUNDAY, SERIOUSLY AND THAT SCORES OF OTHERS, WHO DIDN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, FOUND INSPIRATION FOR HOUSE PARTIES WITH JAZZ MUSIC HAVING A PROMINENT PLACE ON THE PROGRAM.”

—THE TIMES PICAYUNE, MARCH 19, 1919

An illustrated map published by the Times-Picayune in March of 1919 marking where the string of axe attacks and burglaries had taken place. Courtesy of Miriam Davis.

threatening to chop her as he had her husband if she did not give him all their money. After stealing eight dollars—a considerable amount of money by the stan dards of the time—and the couple’s pet mockingbird, the attacker fled back into the Bywater neighborhood.

Police later determined that he had carefully removed a pane of glass from the door in the kitchen, likely hoping to reach the dead bolt inside, before resorting to prying the door open with a railroad pin.

The deep lacerations in August’s head and chest were less severe than the profusive blood initially implied; he was taken to Charity Hospital, where he made a full recovery.

A little over a month later, in what is today the Sev enth Ward, on September 20, 1910, Conchetta and Joseph Rissetto were awakened in a similarly alarm ing manner: a man with a stolen meat axe had snuck into their bedroom, striking first Conchetta multiple

times, then Joseph. The pair survived, though she was permanently disfigured and he blinded in one eye. This time, the attacker had climbed through an unlatched kitchen window, and stole noth ing—even leaving $23 in the grocery’s cash regis ter untouched. It seems it was blood he was after.

It was the summer of 1911 that “the Cleaver,” as papers would come to call him, would finally take his first life. Newlyweds twenty-six year old Joseph Davi and his sixteen-year-old, very preg nant wife Mary slept soundly after a long day run ning their shop in the St. Roch neighborhood, when Mary awoke to a strange man standing in the room. She tried to rouse her husband, who had already been brutally hacked with a weapon that was never found, but from the wounds appeared to be something bladed akin to a butcher’s cleaver. The stranger demanded Mary hand over her money, and—when shock prevented her respond ing—knocked her unconscious with a large mug. Despite this demand and the killer’s rummaging through the couple’s belongings, neither cash nor jewelry was stolen.

“The Cleaver,” who Davis and other experts would later identify as the killer who would become known as the Axeman, had snuck in through a window and narrowly avoided the makeshift alarm Joseph had constructed with selt zer cans in their bedroom doorway, which he had hoped would rouse him in the event of an intru sion. Joseph’s loaded revolver, which he kept at the ready beside their bed, remained untouched—he never had the opportunity to defend himself. Just over a day after the attack, much longer than the doctors at Charity Hospital anticipated it would take him to die, Joseph succumbed to his extensive wounds.

The Davi family's grocery and home where the couple was attacked. Image courtesy of Miriam Davis.

The Mafia Theories

John Dantonio, an Italian detective working on the three “Cleaver” cases with the New Orleans Police Department at the time, thought that the theft of the Crutti’s eight dollars was merely a red herring, and that the attacks could only be the work of a “fiend” lustful for blood.But, as local newspapers started pointing out the com monalities between all three sets of victims—all Italian and of the tradesmen class—the public began to form their own theories. The most prominent was that the Mafia, or more specifically the Sicilian “Black Hand Society”, was responsible for the attacks. Many still maintain this theory today, despite Mary Davi and other witnesses attesting that the man who killed her husband was unequivocally a white man who spoke English with out any indication of an Italian accent.

This theory also prevails despite the fact that the “Black Hand Society” was not so much an actual orga

“The Cleaver” Becomes “The Axeman”

nization in New Orleans as it was an extortion tac tic—defined by the use of threatening letters signed by an ominous black hand. The Black Hand often received credit for shootings and stabbings, occasionally bombings, but axe attacks were not known to be in the “group’s” repertoire.

In fact, a year prior to his murder, Joseph Davi had received such blackmail letters that aligned with the Black Hand’s usual formula: An oddly polite opening (“Dear friend,”) followed by a demand for $200, then a vague-yet-alarming threat should he not comply. Joseph had ignored the first letter, then another a week later. After he was killed, his brother Peter found a third, which had also been ignored, in a trunk.

The police questioned truck farmer Sam Pitzo, who had been in the Davi store arguing animatedly with Joseph only a week prior to the murder and was known to occasionally extort Italian grocers. When Pitzo’s

Just before three o’clock in the morning on December 22, 1917, Sicilian grocer Epifanio Andollina’s wife Anna awoke to a shadowy figure standing over her husband’s bedside, wielding a hatchet. After telling the woman to shut up and pointing a revolver at her, the man proceeded to bring the hatchet down on Epifanio in several strong blows. On his way out, as Anna screamed, the intruder passed through the room of the couple’s two young sons, where he hit one in the head with the hatchet and knocked the other in the arm with the butt of his gun. This time, the assailant had carved a panel out of the back wooden door to enter, and he stole nothing. The family had never received threatening messages from the Black Hand, despite the police’s inquiries. Epiphanio died ten months later in the Spanish influenza epidemic, his health no doubt weakened from the attack, his assailant still at large.Central to the failure of the New Orleans Police Department to connect the Cleaver to this new attack was the 1917 murder of Superintendent Reynolds, the main investigator on the Cleaver cases. Without his perspective, the similarities between the cases went unnoticed and unpursued. According to Davis, continuing frustration with NOPD’s incompetence led to Frank Mooney, formerly the Illinois Railroad Company’s superintendent of terminals, being selected to fill Reynold’s position. It would be nearly a century before Davis would raise the the ory, supported by research and evaluations by experts, that the Cleaver and the Axeman were very likely the same person. Though, she wasn’t the first.

neighbor, a grocer in the Carrollton neighborhood, came to the police station declaring that Pitzo had threatened to “beat his brains in” if he did not supply him with ten dollars, the detectives thought they surely had their man. But, when asked to identify her attacker, Mary maintained her statement that the man who hit her with the mug and killed her husband was white and clean-shaven, while Pitzo was Italian with a mustache.

“The Cleaver,” whoever he was, remained at large, and so Italian grocers sustained a high guard for months, until gradually, as no further attacks occurred, they began to return to some sense of normalcy. In her book, Davis theorizes the perpetrator might have been in prison for some pettier crime, such as burglary, since he was clearly so deft at home invasions. Six relatively quiet years went by in New Orleans—until 1917, when the city received an early, bloody Christmas gift.

The Rise (or Return?) of the Axeman

The era of violence most famously associated with The Axeman began on May 23, 1918. Joseph Maggio, orig inally from Sicily, and his wife Catherine, were hacked to death as they slept in the room they shared behind their small Uptown grocery. As in previous cases, a panel had been chiseled from a kitchen door. The couple’s own axe had been taken from their backyard and left in their bathtub, covered in their blood. A girl working next door found a straight razor crusted with dried blood on the neighboring lawn the following day, another weapon from the murders. The home had been ransacked and fifty dollars were taken, but other cash and valuable jew elry was left untouched.

Joseph’s youngest brother, Andrew, who had heard Joseph’s dying moans and ran to find his older brother Jake before entering the bedroom and discovering the

bloody scene, was taken as a primary suspect. Only after missing his relatives’ funer als, and breaking down in sobs, asking “How could you think I could kill my own brother?” was Andrew finally released.

Theories of Espionage

Around a month later, an attack deviating from the pattern occurred, again in today’s Seventh Ward, but this time upon a Polish grocery store owner and his common law wife (or housekeeper, or mistress, depending on the source). Louis Besumer and Har riet Lowe—though she much worse than he—had been attacked with a short-han dled axe that had broken during the assault and was discovered laying in two parts.

Lacking other possible suspects, and upon hearing Lowe’s pain- and pain medi cine- induced ramble about how Besumer is actually a German but claims otherwise,

Mooney turned to him as a suspect. An eccentric man who claimed to speak thirteen languages and was already the subject of abounding rumors during a very anti-German period in American history, Besumer roused suspicion among investigators. Mooney believed he might well be a spy, motivated to kill Lowe because she found secret documents.

Upon Besumer’s release from the hospital, Mooney questioned him exten sively, learning little information beyond the fact that Besumer was an odd and pretentious old man. Two days later, Besumer was questioned by the Department of Justice, at the time the equivalent of today’s FBI, also with no concrete findings. Besumer was released.

In her drug-addled state, Lowe had also made claims that a mulatto had attacked her over a dispute about tobacco, resulting in a light-skinned indi vidual’s arrest and subsequent questioning. All of it led to naught, and they were released, too.

Lowe would be discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home, where she stayed for five weeks, until clarity returned to her and she remem bered it was, in fact, Besumer who attacked her. Around this time, she was already on the verge of a breakdown and her head wound was not healing as expected. She was readmitted to Charity Hospital, where on her deathbed she confessed to Mooney that Besumer was her attacker. Whether he was moti vated by trying to keep her from divulging secret information about him or by a mere lovers’ quarrel related to jealousy or finances—the thing that seems certain is that Lowe’s murder was not committed by the Axeman.

Another Red Herring

On August 4, 1918, another attack occurred that was widely attributed to the Axeman. Mary Schneider, a twenty-eight-year-old mother of three who was immi nently expecting her fourth child was struck violently as she slept. This time, how ever, the weapon wasn’t an axe—it was a lamp from Schneider’s bedside table, a hap penstantial weapon. The home had been thoroughly ransacked and burgled, with over a hundred dollars being stolen. While reporters were quick to assume it was the Axeman’s handiwork, especially because an axe was stolen from the property, Davis points out that this case did not match the all-important pattern. Thus, she does not believe it was the same perpetrator.

Ultimately, Schneider did survive and successfully delivered a healthy baby girl, named Clara, amidst all the chaos and clamor.

The Maggios, and their grocery where their murder took place. Image courtesy of Miriam Davis.

A Barber Among Grocers

Not even a full week had passed since Mary Schneider’s attack when the “real” Axeman (by Davis’s well-researched measure) descended again. On August 10, off of Gravier Street, blocks from where the Superdome sits today, barber Joe Romano was robbed of his pocketbook and fatally beaten in the head with an axe, which was found bloodied beside his bed. Though he was not technically a grocer, his family operated a quite small grocery at the front of the house, where Romano lived. In his hunt for Italian grocers, the Axeman could have plausibly made incorrect assump tions, Davis pointed out.

Two neighbors later told police that in the weeks prior, attempted intruders had been chased away from their homes in the night—both times dropping an axe as they ran. Several other sightings of men attempting to break in near previous Axeman crime scenes came forward. In the weeks after Romano’s death, three other Italians—all grocers—were robbed, though not attacked, in a manner in-line with the Axeman’s methods.

At this point, with burglaries in the style of the Axeman continuing and even ramping up in frequency, to say the people of New Orleans were on-edge would be an understatement. On August 17 of 1918, The Times-Picayune published a story headlined “Still Searching For The Axman: Police Think He Is Lurking In The Vicinity of Romano Murder,” which stated:

“The axman is still at large. Efforts of the police to capture the elusive slayer and bring an end to the terror he instituted several months ago have been without result … Squads of policemen, detectives, and armed citizens scoured the neighborhood, but found no trace of the man …”

Then-retired Italian detective Dantonio theorized to a reporter that these 1918 attacks were likely by the same perpetrator as “The Cleaver” of years past, who he thought was a “Jack the Ripper”-type living a double life of normalcy and bloodlust. “I am convinced the man is of a dual personality … and it is very probable he is the man we tried so hard to get ten years ago, when a series of ax and butcher-knife mur ders was committed within a few months … My opinion is based on experience and a study of criminology …”

But witnesses had claimed “The Cleaver” was a white man. And at the New Orle ans Police Department, Detective Mooney was committed to the perpetrator being a Black man. The Times-Picayune, continually indicating a different era in taste and acceptability, published a joke about the police floundering—with a self-deprecat ing reference to the press’s penchant for the mafia theories—on August 16: “If this axeman proves to be a negro, I guess the head writers will call it an ebony Mafia.”

Actually catching the Axeman was appearing less likely than perhaps ever.

Images that ran in the Times-Picayune following the attack on the Cortimiglia family in 1919. Courtesy of Miriam Davis

Death on the Westbank

Several months went by, until late into the night of March 8, 1919, when the Axeman committed one of his most atrocious attacks of all. Grocery owner Charlie Cortimi glia and his wife Rosie were bludgeoned badly with an axe, found the next morning bloody and unconscious, their dead two-year-old daughter Mary laying between them on the bed. As in other cases, the home was ransacked, but nothing was stolen. Two axes were discovered on the property, one marred by blood and hair. Rosie, badly injured, survived, but Charlie did not.

The Cortimiglias were not the only family to suffer misfortune as a result of this case. Seventeen-year-old Frank Jordano and his elderly father Iorlando, who had moved from Convent to Gretna around 1910 to open a grocery store, were the Cor timiglias’ neighbors. The families got along well—teenaged Frank was known to enjoy playing with little Mary; they treated each other almost as family.

When Iorlando aged beyond being able to run his grocery, and Frank declined tak ing over the business, the Jordanos leased their grocery to the Cortimiglias. In Decem ber of 1918, however, the Jordanos took the business back, to the Cortimiglias’ dis dain. The Cortimiglias reluctantly relinquished the store, but not their intent to run a grocery on that block. Charlie eventually built his own store on the lot next door to the Jordanos’—so when little Mary turned up murdered, and her parents violently slashed, the police had an easy suspect and assumed motive for Frank and Iorlando Jordano.Atfirst, Rosie denied having seen her attacker at all, but when she was well enough to leave Charity Hospital, she was taken to the Jefferson Parish Jail instead of home. There, she was told she must confess who attacked her, and was put in a cell to sleep overnight.Thefollowing day, she signed a document stating that the Jordanos were the ones who brutalized her, her husband, and little Mary—not even twenty-four hours after she said she could not at all recall who had done it. Iorlando and Frank were jailed, Iorlando eventually sentenced to life in prison and Frank to death by hanging. They would remain wrongly-incarcerated for over a year, until February of 1920, when Rosie, wracked with guilt, would walk into The Times-Picayune office and confess that she had wrongfully accused the two men:

“A little more than a week ago Mrs. Cortimiglia came to the offices of The Times-Picayune and in the presence of several members of the staff voluntarily con fessed that she had falsely identified the convicted men at the trial. She declared that she was mentally unbalanced at the time of the trial and wished to withdraw her testi mony against the Jordanos.”

Rosie Cortimiglia (left), with the two men she wrongly accused of attacking her family: Frank Jordano, pictured holding baby Mary (right), and his father Iorlando Jordano (bottom right). Image courtesy of Miriam Davis.

Finally, much of their respective youth and old age wasted on anxiety and impris onment for a horrible crime they never committed, and after a frustratingly long wait for the Louisiana Supreme Court to annul Iorlando’s charge and remand Frank’s back to a district court, the father and son walked free—the Axeman never having been detained at all.

The Other L.A.

There are other alleged victims of the Axeman too numerous to describe in an alreadytoo-lengthy article, as well as other alleged Axemen. One of the favorite theories is that Joseph Mumfre, a known “Black Hander” who had been arrested in 1907 for attempt ing to bomb an Italian grocery, was responsible for the crimes—and considering how dramatically convoluted the Mumfre case became, it is no surprise this suspect in par ticular maintains his spot in the legend.

This theory gained particular traction after New Orleans grocer Mike Pepitone was beaten in his sleep with an iron bar and died shortly thereafter. His young widow, Esther, remarried a man named Angelo—who was in business with Mumfre—and moved to Los Angeles with him in 1919. After her second husband disappeared mys teriously, Esther said Mumfre walked into her home and demanded $500 in cash or else he would “kill her like I did your husband,” as he moved his hand toward a pistol on his hip. Esther went to her bedroom under the pretense of gathering valuables for Mumfre, and instead grabbed a revolver.

In the course of a dramatic back-and-forth, Esther riddled Mumfre’s body with eleven bullets, killing the notorious criminal. While Pepitone and Angelo’s murders— and Esther’s dramatic revenge—certainly make for a fascinating story, not much about it at all points with any certainty toward Mumfre’s being the Axeman.

“It was funny how that story got twisted in the retelling from the L.A. Police, to the New Orleans Police, to the New Orleans reporters, again, like a game of telephone,” Davis mused. “And it led to [Mumfre being assumed by many to be the Axeman]. And it’s easy to see how it happened.”

The Bloody Legacy

It makes perfect sense that the Axeman of New Orleans, whoever he was, maintains a substantial role in the vast canon of dark New Orleans history that blurs into lore. More than a hundred years later, he remains a fixture of ghost and true crime tours, a marketing gimmick used to sell tickets to Halloween-themed jazz concerts, and even a character on the popular television show American Horror Story. But, like much

history, the true stories of the Axeman—and more importantly and often forgotten, the true stories of his victims—have been too-frequently replaced by a simplified nar rative of a jazz-obsessed, likely-mafioso.

Dedicated writers like Davis have taken great pains to provide some belated justice to victims and history by riddling out the truth from a murky sea of myth—yet even she understands and acknowledges how in many ways, the Axeman’s legacy has grown beyond the reaches of absolute truth.

“I can speculate—I hate to say, there’s a certain glamor to associating jazz with a killer. I mean, evil is kind of sexy, if you’re not the victim and at kind of a distance. And it’s like, the reason people take ghost tours, and crime tours. It’s a way of sort of being scared and thrilled in a pretty safe manner. But people don’t think in too much detail about the victims, because they don’t know that much about them,” Davis posited. “And people like stories, they like narratives. And often, the narrative might reflect some sort of deeper truth, even if it’s not literally true. I’m not sure what deeper truth a killer who likes jazz reflects … But you know, it’s just the kind of thing people remem ber. And there is that music. I mean, I’m not a musician, but I’ve got a copy of that music, ‘The Mysterious Axman’s Jazz.’ I mean, when you play that at a party, that gives it a little sort of frisson.”

And with jazz and murder being two of New Orleans’ top claims to fame, it makes sense that the terrible legacy of the Axeman, whoever he was; and his jazz, even if it wasn’t his at all, continue to prowl in the minds of New Orleanians and visitors. h

Miriam Davis’ book The Axeman of New Orleans: The True Story provides by far one of the most factual and interesting accounts of the historic cases that this former ghost and true crime tour guide has come upon. Based on primary documents and written as narrative nonfiction by Davis, who has a PhD in history and sometimes writes for The Smithsonian, I highly recommend the read for those morbidly curious interested in knowing more about the The Axeman.

“EVIL IS KIND OF SEXY, IF YOU’RE NOT THE VICTIM AND AT KIND OF A DISTANCE. AND IT’S LIKE, THE REASON PEOPLE TAKE GHOST TOURS, AND CRIME TOURS. IT’S A WAY OF SORT OF BEING SCARED AND THRILLED IN A PRETTY SAFE MANNER. BUT PEOPLE DON’T THINK IN TOO MUCH DETAIL ABOUT THE VICTIMS, BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT THEM.” —MIRIAM DAVIS

Illustration of Euzebe’s hanging, and the speech he gave on the gallows, published in 1924 in the WeeklyAmerican

killings in the area at that time. Today, we use the words “sociopath” and “serial killer” to describe such men.

In 1924, the only word they had for someone like Vidrine was pure, unadulterated evil.

A Story as Old as Cain and Abel Vidrine’s trial began on Thursday, May 24, presented before Judge B.H. Pavy in the 16 District Court. The state was represented by District Attorney Lee Garland and attor ney Austin Fontenot; Vidrine’s defense team was made up of public defenders J. Hugo Dore and Cleveland Frugé. The Gazette Vidrine arrived in court clean-shaven and welldressed, but that “sleepless nights, torture of mind, fear of the rope, left him a semi-cringing human wreck.”

Testimony concluded on Saturday, at which point Vidrine asked for permission to speak to the court. On the stand, in broken English, he delivered a rambling, desper ate speech—much of it spent decrying the evils of whiskey, and placing much of the blame for his actions on his own drunkenness. “The two or three first drinks you take you will swear that whiskey is the best friend in the world, but my friends, take my advice, whiskey will make you do things you do not want to do, that is the kind of friend whiskey is. I hope to God that Mr. Charles Pucheu will never fail to put every man he will find with whiskey under arrest.” He told the court that, because he had confessed, he had no crime remaining on his conscience, and that because of this—he should be granted mercy. And he argued that he would be of better economic use to the state doing hard labor at the penitentiary than by undergoing an expensive exe cution. “I wish I could speak plain English,” he said. “I would make every heart beat with sadness in this courthouse.”

Alas, Vidrine’s appeal failed to rouse sympathy in the eyes of the jury, as well as the rest of its audience. Victor L. Dupuis from The Times Picayune summarized the speech as “Inarticulate,follows:

a ‘mute, inglorious Milton,’ but with a story in his heart as old as the story of Cain and Abel, he prayed, probably before he took the stand, for the gift of speech. But he had ‘neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech to stir the hearts of men.’ So, he must die on a gallows.”

It took the jury all of ten minutes to return a unanimous guilty verdict.

The Life of Euzebe Vidrine

On June 4, when Vidrine officially received his death sentence, he was described in all reports as remarkably unfettered, especially in comparison to his appearance at trial. At the hearing, he requested that his brothers be allowed to take his body afterwards, and that he be granted the time and assistance to write his life’s story—which would include a complete telling of all of his crimes. The judge, seeing no need to rush the execution, allowed it, and sent the killer back to his cell with writing materials.

The resulting memoir, The Life of Euzebe Vidrine, would be one of the first in a long tradition of America’s serial killer autobiographies—David Berkowitz’s Son of Hope, Donald Henry “Pee Wee” Gaskins Jr.’s Final Truth, and Danny Rolling’s The Making of a Serial Killer among them. For the doomed man (and it is usually a man), such a confessional offers an opportunity to take ownership of his own horrendous deeds, perhaps to express regret, perhaps to indulge in narcissistic aspirations for fame, per haps to contemplate how he got to be the way he is at all. Vidrine’s memoir—which he was assisted in writing by his lawyer Dore and two other members of the com munity, Aurelis Mayeaux and V.L. Dupuis—seems to reveal a little of each of these sentiments.Attheoutset of the book, Vidrine sets out his intentions: first, to “give a vivid description of causes, activities, and results of my actions so that the reader will be forewarned not to follow my path”; second, to take full and singular ownership of each of his crimes; third, to reveal every crime he has committed in full so as to halt any lingering rumors; and finally, to alleviate as much shame on his family as possible, “as my book will be an authentic proof that I committed nothing but printed herein.”

Photos of Euzebe Vidrine’s memoir by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot.

Vidrine goes on to describe an average upbringing on the outskirts of Evange line Parish. He was born on July 12, 1898 to Arcille Vidrine and Aureline Fontenot in Ville Platte, one of ten children—five boys and five girls; a farming family. He recalls that they had a little dog named Soto, that his brother René and he would often fight, that his sister Aza taught him how to dance “back of the kitchen, bare footed, dust about a half-inch thick; but I finally got to be a good dancer.” He grew up Catholic but was not personally very religious, and quit school to work on the farm after the fourth grade. He remem bers the first “crooked” thing he ever did, which was stealing his father’s whiskey and money, nearly every day.

At age fifteen, he writes that he “began worrying. I don’t know about what.” He would frequently find himself incon solable, crying over nothing in particu lar. He started seeking out general mis chief—stealing horses, cutting down fences and driving cattle out of their fields, taking things from one house and planting them at the neighbors’ to initiate a dispute. “I had more fun in doing this then to go to a dance (sic). The greatest of my pleasures was doing meanness to peo ple. I have been that way ever since I was a little boy.”

In great detail he describes his courtship with his wife-to-be, Lillian Andrus—whom he was seeing along side another poor girl, Estelle Ortego. He promised both girls he would marry

them, but after leading Estelle on for years he finally admitted his infidelity.

At this stage in his memoir, the mur derer offers the reader romantic advice: “I advise everybody not to undermind (sic) anybody especially in love with a sweet innocent girl. Love is great as death, on some occasions. Love will drive you to your grave. I know it by experience.” He married Andrus on August 20, 1918. He was twenty years old; she was fourteen. On one of their first nights together, he woke her in the middle of the night sob bing, and could not explain why.

Their marriage would be character ized by financial hardship, Vidrine shift ing from farming to taking jobs out of town to pay the bills, with frequent stints staying at one of their parents’ houses in between. With the help of his father-inlaw, he purchased some land in Turkey Creek, but struggled to pay the note. To assist him, his father-in-law gave him a mule. The mule was wild, and wouldn’t let Vidrine touch him. On one afternoon, he became so infuriated that he took out the shotgun and killed the animal him self, then lied to his wife about it.

On top of all of these strains, Vidrine’s neighbor, Pierre Vidrine (unrelated) had started spreading rumors about him— saying he was a pig stealer.

“My wife and I grieved about what was going on,” he writes. “Our reputation was ruined; we wouldn’t enjoy visiting our neighbors; there were no hopes of pay ing the place out; we couldn’t face our

like a baby; I would get angry at times and then disgusted, disappointed with life.”On April 25, 1921, Vidrine writes of how he saddled his horse, loaded his gun with buckshot, and rode over to Pierre’s farm. He sat on a log and wondered whether or not he should kill the man causing him so much trouble. “The birds were singing all around me,” he writes. “Nature seemed in all its glory and happi ness. I wept and asked God to forgive me for what I was going to do.”

Three days after he killed Pierre Vid rine, officers came to his door with a war rant, and brought him to jail. A grand jury found a true bill against him, but in June a petit jury pronounced him “Not

By October, Vidrine was once again in financial strife, and he and his wife agreed to separate to find work. He went to work in Meridian, Louisiana until November—when he received a letter from his wife that she was in New Iberia. She told him that if he could find a job there, then they could live together again. After spending two days searching for work, without any luck, he cried for half a day. He sat, wondering if he should kill himself. “But instead I made up my mind that I was going to kill people on the road for a living.” This was December 2, 1921. From there, Vidrine took the train to Eunice, and sought out a driver to bring him to Kaplan. “I went to a colored man,” he writes, “as I preferred to kill a

negro than a white man.” The Black man refused to drive him where he wanted to go, as it was muddy and he was wor ried about getting bogged. So, Vidrine approached an Italian man, Charles Garbo—who would be the first victim in a killing spree that would last two weeks. He shot Garbo in the head after he had pulled over to put chains on his tires, and took four dollars from his pockets. Then he proceeded to walk the rest of the way to Lafayette, “so happy as I had satisfied myThedesire”.next day, he boarded a train in Lafayette to Crowley, then at the depot

asked a Mexican driver named John Roy if he could take him to Eunice. With Roy, Vidrine enjoyed two pints of whis key—both getting drunk together as they made their way to town. About a mile outside of Eunice, Vidrine asked Roy to pull over, and then shot him in the head. All the victim had on him was a cheap watch and a pocket book full of sand, gravel, with a single nickel inside. “A hoodoo,” according to Vidrine. From there, he decided to go home.

About five days later, after spending some time with his in-laws—though his wife was still out working somewhere,

presumably New Iberia—Vidrine set out for Orange, Texas to find work again. But he was not done with killing. On the evening of December 13, he asked a ser vice car man, this one named Lee Duke, to take him up to Beaumont. Along the drive, Vidrine writes, he was “itching to kill him.” He asked Duke to pull over, so that they could smoke a cigarette. “I have never forgotten the odor of that cigarette,” writes Vidrine. Duke himself pulled out a pipe, lit it, and then keeled over as Vidrine had shot him in the head. From him, Vidrine gathered seventy-five cents, a gun, and a nice watch. Then he walked the rest of the way to Orange, and ordered ham and eggs at a café.

That night, Vidrine started walking back towards Louisiana, following the railroad tracks. “I crossed a big river, and a swamp, and heard all the wild ani mals scream,” he writes. “My conscience ached. I could see Duke’s pipe sticking up in his mouth. I could see poor old Pierre Vidrine; I could see Garbo. They haunted men (sic). I prayed God to lead me away from temptation.”

He arrived home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family, which was interrupted by a visit from the Lafayette Parish Sheriff, who had come to inter view him about Roy’s killing. “There’s nothing I enjoyed more than to be arrested and questioned,” he writes. “It gave me great pleasure, and I could answer them without the least hesita tion.” Without any hard evidence, the officers were forced to release him. Shortly afterwards, his wife returned home, and they moved in with her fam ily, and started farming. Still with very little money, his wife became restless and desired to move to the city for better work. “I wept and wept over the matter,” writes Vidrine, who attributed his wife’s unhappiness to boredom. “Oh, if we only had a child of our own, I would never have gotten to where I am.”

Over the course of the next few years, Vidrine went from job to job—some times alongside his wife but often not. He was arrested more than once for misdemeanors or suspicions, though the charges never stuck. He doesn’t claim

to have killed anyone from the time of December 1921 to May 1924.

That spring, he had just moved back into his mother’s house. His wife had moved home, too, but declined to live with him. One day, she left to go to New Orleans, and he never saw her again. Vidrine continued caring for his mother, farming on her land.

“What was life to me?” he writes of this time. “I had committed such crimes; I had no children to work forward for; my wife didn’t stay with me; I couldn’t love any other woman; I wasn’t happy with anybody else. Other people looked so happy and I was so miserable, an awful past, a broken heart, and an aching soul, no future; distrusted by so many people and worried lest I was under suspicion. I would go nowhere unless I was under the influence of whiskey.”

The day he killed Wiggins, May 19, 1924, Vidrine writes that he had stolen a gallon of whiskey and kept himself drunk for three days straight. On his way to his sister’s house, he laid down in the woods and slept. When he awoke, he became

tormented with the temptation to kill again. “It seems like there was a guid ing angel saying “take the right path, be good” and there was a driving devil, say ing “Go ahead. What does it matter? It’s the only relief for you.” A car started driv ing towards him. “The devil had won,” he writes.Vidrine’s memoir ends with an account of his trial, the transcript of his speech included. Of his final days in that prison cell, he writes: “I am getting fat while in jail; I have a good appetite, sleep very well, never worry, do not dread execu tion.”After he deemed the story complete, he sent word to the judge, asking that he “now speedily be executed.”

A Doomed Man

The curiosity of a doomed man who had killed so many, and was ready to reveal all, captivated not only the imagination of Evangeline Parish, but of the nation. Leading up to his execution, publications from coast to coast were giving space to the strange character of Euzebe Vidrine.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch devoted an entire page to the story, a rendering of Vidrine’s face smirking right in the cen ter of it all. Murder investigations for the other men Vidrine claimed to have killed were re-opened, then closed with finality. Frank A. Smith, serving a fifteen-year sentence in the Texas State Penitentiary for the murder of Lee Duke, was par doned by the governor. And advertise ments for pre-orders of Vidrine’s book were found in newspapers across Loui siana, at a rate of $1 per copy. There’s no publicity like a public execution: the day Vidrine was to die was the same as his official publication date, August 8, 1924. Not everyone was so enthusiastic about the implications of a murderer’s mem oir, though. One editorial in The Gazette posed the question of the morality of dis tributing such a story among the public:

“The broadcasting of ‘crime’ can in no wise serve to suppress crime. Rather: it tells of crime, the escape from crime, abets those criminally inclined.” The writer suggested that if the aim of the book’s publication was moral welfare,

then its profiters should circulate it for free—“not commercialize it for filthy lucre.” Another article, written by the Reverend Henry S. Gill of the Herman Baptist Church in Turkey Creek, warned that parents who purchased a copy might later find their children involved in such atrocities as Vidrine, answering the ques tion “why?” with “Papa, Mamma, you had a book into which I seen and taking as my example the things upon which my eyes fell, and I tried it too.”

Against the publicity of Vidrine’s con fessionals and impending hanging was also the last ditch efforts of his lawyers and family members to save him, by way of an insanity plea. On August 1, a signed statement by alienist Dr. C.F. Holbrook claimed that, after examina tion, he determined that Vidrine was definitely “insane, or at least of a diseased mind, involving some psychosis or form of insanity, and was not therefore respon sible for his actions,” as reported by The Daily Advertiser. Dr. Holbrook’s report went on to say, “This condition has, in my opinion, been developing for a num

The Legacy

The mythos of Euzebe Vidrine—his dastardly legacy and gruesome end—has lingered in Evangeline Parish now for almost a century. Almost as though cursed, members of the Vidrine family themselves followed Euzebe to the grave in their own tragic ways. Barely six months after the momentous hanging, Euzebe’s brother Elgee was found beaten to death within a mile of where Wiggins had been found, on the very same highway where their older brother René had also been killed all those years ago. Elgee’s murder would not be solved for almost twenty years.

Then, in February 1937, Aureline Vidrine—Euzebe, René, and Elgee’s poor mother—was struck from behind by an automobile while driving her horse and buggy. She flew from her seat, and was killed instantly.

That same year, Euzebe’s second cousin Melvin Vidrine would commit the most deplorable crime since Euzebe’s—luring his common-law wife into the woods, using her eighteen-month-old child, and then shooting her. When interrogating him, Sheriff Pucheu said “It was just as though Euzebe Vidrine had been the accused. He looked like him, talked like him, and even has those clear, glittering, pale-blue eyes like Euze be’s.” They locked him in the very same cell his cousin had occupied a decade before, and when it came time for his trial, the parish saw the biggest mob of specta tors since Euzebe’s execution. Melvin would be ulti mately sentenced to life imprisonment in Angola State Penitentiary.Mostmajor crimes that would occur over the next generation in Evangeline would be automatically put in the context of Euzebe’s—though never again did the parish come across a criminal quite so sensational. There never was another hanging in Evangeline, though in 1947, two Black men accused of murder—Hillery Ledet and Henry Scott—were executed by electrocution.

Still today, in Evangeline Parish, people recall being told as children to look out for the murderous boogie man Euzebe Vidrine, who killed without regret and drank the blood of his victims.

If Euzebe still haunts the prairies, the eternal sentence would have come as a surprise to him. On one of the last pages of his memoir, he wrote: “I have made peace with God. I am praying fervently and earnestly. I expect to go to heaven.” h

Illustration (above) and phtograph (below) of Euzebe’s hanging, and the speech he gave on the gallows, published in 1924 in the American Weekly.

Oh My Darling, Clementine

By Chris Turner-Neal

From 1910 to 1912, a strange statistical anomaly popped up in American death records: suddenly, there were axe mur ders all over the place. Colorado Springs. Paola, Kansas. Villisca, Iowa. In these towns—and in Rayne, Crowley, Lafayette, and Lake Charles— concerned relatives and neighbors peeked through a window or jimmied open a door to find scenes of unimaginable carnage, entire families wiped out in a burst of malicious rage. Many of these murders are credited to “The Man From the Train,” a theoretical rail-riding slayer reaching the apogee of his bloodlust; a cluster in New Orleans is blamed on another killer, an axe man if not the Axe Man. And the murders of five or so Black southwest Louisiana families, depend ing on which are counted as part of a pattern, are often laid at the feet of an African-American teenager named Clementine Barnabet.

The story is deeply confusing—the records are iffy, incomplete, overwrought, racist, and credu lous to varying degrees. Names are absent for several victims. A woman named Opelousas is murdered in Rayne, and the Broussard family dies in Lake Charles—but one of the main suspects has an alibi in Broussard. Reputable published accounts con flate murders in Beaumont and San Antonio—a four-hour drive on modern roads. Clementine her

self, who claimed he’d gone to Broussard the night of the Andrus murders—he was found guilty. Sub sequently, the court almost immediately granted Raymond a new trial, partly on the grounds that he’d been drunk during the first one. (No one tell the Sen ate that’s all it takes.)

Fortunately only for Raymond, another family was murdered while he awaited his new trial—the Randalls, also in Lafayette, the night of November 26. Clementine worked as a domestic nearby, close enough to have heard the screams when the bod ies were discovered. This proximity made authori ties suspicious of Clementine, and they searched her room, where they found a gore-soaked apron, dress, and undergarment. They arrested her, along with other suspects. She firmly denied the charges.

Then, on January 19, 1912, while Barnabet was still in jail, the corpses of Marie Warner and her three children were found in Crowley—murdered, of course, with an axe. Despite his alibi, police arrested Zepherin Barnabet, assuming he was carrying out his father and/or sister’s wishes.

That very same night, Felix Broussard, his three children, and his wife Matilda (described as pretty) were killed with an axe in Lake Charles. Someone had written on the wall in pencil, “HUMAN FIVE” and a verse from the ninth psalm as misquoted in Uncle Tom’s Cabin: “When he maketh inquisition for blood, he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” (King James has “When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.”)

Photo by Florion Olivo

self changed her story more than once, which is not surprising for a young Black girl who may have been mentally ill and found herself caught up in the white justice system. The whole morass of murder and myth has yet to find an obsessive, detail-oriented champion to write a definitive text. Add wild claims of “Voodoo,” rumors of a blood-and-thunder-cult, the very real community trauma of several unsolved mass murders, and the morbid fascination a horrible, gory story inspires in the human mind—all we can do is our best.

On November 13, 1909, the Opelousas family was murdered in Rayne: a mother named Edna or Edmee and three children. A little over a year later, on Janu ary 24, 1911, the Byers family in Crowley was slain, followed in short order by the Andruses in Lafayette the night of February 24. All had been attacked with axes; in each case the whole household was killed, adults and children.

A Black man who lived near the Andrus family, Raymond Barnabet, was indicted and convicted—in part because his teenage children, Clementine and Zepherin, testified that he’d come home that night covered in blood and brains. Despite the contradic tory testimony of the elder Barnabet’s common-law wife, Dina Porter; the Stevens family who shared the home with the Barnabets; and Raymond him

In April, though, on the day that her grand jury convened, Clementine either confessed or cracked (or both), announcing that she’d killed the Randalls, the Byerses, and the Andruses—as well as many others. She claimed to lead a sect called the Church of the Sacrifice—an offshoot of a local holiness church, but one she’d fortified through the purchase of Hoodoo charms. She was swiftly indicted for the murders of the Randall family.

Zepherin was released. Clementine, possibly con fused about the timeline, confessed to the Broussard murders, despite having the peerless alibi of hav ing been in jail. Newspapers across the Anglophone world reported on the murders with a casual disre gard for the facts; the El Paso Herald reported on a murdered Wexford family that does not seem to have existed, and many reports commented on a pattern of five families of five, which no accounting of the victims makes possible. Black communities in south western Louisiana pulled back from their previous cooperation with authorities, justifiably unreassured by the investigations so far. As Clementine awaited her October trial date, 1912 marched on. Serious floods hit the Deep South. Axe murders continued to take place in Texas and Mississippi, never to be solved. But the crimes in Louisiana ceased.

Before a judge and jury in October, Clementine told her wild story: she and some friends had bought “Hoodoo charms” in New Iberia, which would let them get away with whatever they wanted. To test them, they killed a family in Rayne. And they got away with it. So, they went on ahead killing. “With whom” and “why” are fluid—Clementine inconsis

NINETEEN MURDERS, A DEATH CULT, AND A WILD CONFESSION

tently names her co-conspirators, who successfully alibi themselves; she cites “Voodoo” rites as well as sexual per version as motives. She confessed to seventeen murders, all told. Despite her attorney’s argument that the confes sions were unreliable, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. She stayed in prison (excepting one shortlived escape attempt) until 1923, when she was released.

So … did Clementine kill them? Throughout her trial, she insistently maintained her guilt, prophesying more deaths and stating: “I am the woman of the sacrifice sect. I killed them all, men, women, and babies, and I hugged the dead bodies to my heart.”

It sounds damning to those of us with limited involvement in the justice system, but the fact is : false confessions happen all the time. All we know about Clementine’s personality and character comes from this strange and frighten ing period of her life—we don’t know if she was anxious or fragile or a pre cocious drinker or anything else that might have predisposed her to crack under strain, but you don’t need to break easily to break under the tension of becoming, as a teenager, a central suspect in a series of brutal murders.

Her attorney attempted to explain the bloody clothing by alleging that the policemen gath ering evidence had thrown every thing together, allowing blood to be transferred to her clothing from items from the crime scene. In the absence of clearer details, the blood might also be explained by men struation; slightly built and living in an age when puberty arrived later, Clementine may not have fully understood her own cycle yet.

Bill and Rachel McCarthy James, authors of The Man from the Train, posit that if the author ities really thought she was guilty, they wouldn’t have let her go after a mere decade—in her late twen ties, Clementine would still have been young enough to commit many more crimes, if she wished.

An additional argument for her innocence is that no Black serial axe murderess born in about 1895 ever turned up anywhere else in the country after her release. If she is guilty, she must also have died young, suddenly become unusually adept at covering her tracks, or have gotten it out of her system. We all go through phases

Newspaper coverage of the Clementine Barnabet case and associated murders was charateristically sensationalized nationwide. This article, published in the El Paso Herald, was one of the most extreme and prejudiced, proliferating many misunderstandings about Voodooism—which Barnabet claimed in her confusing confession was part of her murderous motives.

As mass shooters “inspire” one another and as suicides will sometimes clus ter among acquaintances, the sudden appearance of the terrible possibility of solving a grievance through violence, with a tool everyone had, may have inspired copycats—with people run ning around yelling about a “Voodoo cult,” a commonplace motive like a bad debt or a stolen love could fly comfort ably under the radar. It’s an unsatisfy ing answer, like all the answers in this case, but the other options are “human sacrifice cult,” “serial killer passes through and changes M.O.,” and “string of terrible coincidences.” You pays your money and you takes your choice. For what it’s worth, I usually

have opinions about old crimes I read about—Lizzie Borden, guilty; William Herbert Wallace, not guilty. But I can’t make anything useful of these facts as I understand them.

No one knows what happened to Clementine Barnabet. Like a good leg end, she vanishes from the record after her release from prison; like anyone with any sense would have, she cer tainly changed her name, an easy feat in those pre-Social Security number days. If she was indeed innocent, one hopes she led a happy life, perhaps win ning an occasional argument by saying quietly, calmly, “now, don’t push me— you know what they said I did.” h

Clippings from various newspapers across the country—including the Muskogee Times-Democrat, Austin-American Statesman, the Atlanta Consti tution, the Shreveport Times, the Long Beach Telegram, New Jersey’s Daily Record, the Belvidere Daily Republican, The Crowley Post-Signal, and The Times-Democrat—covering the many murders of African American families, which were associated with Barnabet, as well as her own legal proceedings, during the timeframe of 1910-1912.

Queenly Conjure

A TEA CEREMONY UNITING ROOTWORK WITH INDIGENOUS TRADITION

Story by Sophie Nau • Photos by Alexandra Kennon

Recently, I found myself seated across from Queenly Conjure’s LaReina at End less Night Tattoo shop, sage permeating around the room. Before us sat a hand made bowl and small porcelain cups, patiently wait ing to be filled. Until she finds a more permanent space, this is where LaReina has been hosting her

tea ceremonies—part of her practice of Hoodoo, or Rootwork, here in New Orleans.

Hoodoo in the Americas originated from a diverse set of spiritual beliefs preserved by the West Africans who were forced into the slave trade—all of which collectively placed a high value on the generation al wisdom of ancestors. Over the years its traditions

incorporated the herbal remedies from Africa with those of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

As part of this lineage, LaReina learned Rootwork from her parents. Her mother passed down the in formation that was given to her, and her father, who could knock out a cold overnight with his bitter tea blend, taught LaReina how to work with herbs.

LaReina, a California native with family roots in Louisiana, ini tially moved to New Orleans just three months before the pandemic of 2020 to pursue her burlesque dancing career. When everything shut down, she felt a call from her ancestors to fully embrace her role as a Rootwork practitioner.

Though teas, or tisanes, are a part of Hoodoo tradition, LaReina’s tea ceremonies are more inspired by the traditional Chinese tea cer emony, or Gongfu Cha, which emphasizes precision in tea to water ratio and savoring the quality of the tea itself. Guided by her fami ly’s heritage, as well as mentorship from Sen Elias of Crescent City Conjure, LaReina has developed a practice that syncretizes her Hoo doo roots with the art of tea. The result? A unique blend of her own magic.Asthe

ceremony proceeded, LaReina’s voice rang soft and pur poseful, her presence inviting, her smile open. She explained that there is a spirit associated with each herb used in her teas, from lemon (a refresher), to mint (sharp, powerful, good when working towards prosperity), to lavender (maternal and nurturing). By pay ing close attention to the herbs—from where they’re sourced (local shops like Rosalie Botanical and organic farms around the country) to the spirit they embody—we can connect our own spirit to the natural world. “There’s a song we sing that goes, ‘Isn’t it great for brothers and sisters to work together?’” She went on, “I like to say, the water in me connects to the water in the herbs.”

LaReina poured the tea blend she had selected for us, Elements of Water—a combination of lavender, damiana, mugwort, honeysuck le, and butterfly pea blossom. As the water hit the tea, the pea blos som transformed it to a bright, playful blue. She walked us through the three-sip process, and told us where we might taste each element of the tea—the lavender at the tip of our tongues, the mugwort in the back of our throats.

In Rootwork, “the herbs are considered asleep when they are no longer attached to water, like when they’re growing,” La Reina explained. She gestured out the window. “That is an awakened tree. It’s open, it’s present, it’s ready. When it’s cut off from that connection to earth, to wa ter, it goes to sleep.” Activating the herb with hot water for tea is a way to “breathe life into Acrossit.”cultures, tea has drawn peo ple together as an occasion for gathering and listening. For LaReina, the joy of her work comes from connecting with those who come for a ceremony, using tea as the foundation “to have those moments when you can actually talk about things and reveal truths about yourself that maybe you didn’t even know about. That soul-to-soul connection.” As a result, the friends and family that come in for cere monies often leave more open with each other.“Ifsomeone wants a tea ceremony,” she explained, “I don’t necessarily ask ‘What kind of tea do you want?’ but I say, ‘What is it that you feel that you are missing and that you want to draw into yourself?’”

Lighting the sage again, LaReina ush ered in the closing of our ceremony, in structing us to take three deep breaths, guiding them to different parts of our body. We thanked our ancestors, we felt the presence of the earth beneath us. It occurred to me that engaging with tea this way is a type of meditation, a prac tice of presence.

“When we think about time and our lives, a lot of herbs and plants move slow er than us,” said LaReina, steadying her voice. “But we also grow slow, too. We live our lives so quickly, we rush things. [It’s important to recognize] that pat tern of life puts us in difference to the tides. Learning how to live how nature lives, that all comes from Indigenous practices.”Whererushing from one thing to the next is status quo, our minds active tor nadoes of shoulds, coulds, and musts, slowing down can feel like a radical act.

LaReina said she knows how difficult

that can be. Her previous shop on Oak Street was a great trial run in having a physical presence in the community, (during Hurricane Ida, LaReina used the shop as a base camp to serve food to the neighborhood), but now she is looking for a bigger and more permanent space for Queenly Conjure. In the meantime, she is conducting private ceremonies and participating in pop-up events in New Orleans, Mississippi and Atlanta.

Amongst all of this change, there is always tea to come back to. “Knowing where things come from helps you to know where you’re going, or where you

can go,” said LaReina.

After we closed the ceremony, I headed out to check the next to-do off my ever growing list. But my conversation with LaReina resonated throughout the day. I think back to the little tea cup in my hands: the creative blend of tradition it held, and the invitation it offered to con nect with ourselves more deeply. h

Keep up with Queenly Conjure on @queenlyconjureInstagramandfind her teas for purchase on etsy.com.

CRACKER JACK

Harper’s Pecans

FROM A HISTORIC ORCHARD IN POINTE COUPÉE, SEVEN-YEAR-OLD ENTREPRENEUR HARPER MILLER IS GETTING READY FOR PECAN SEASON

Story and photo by Samantha Eroche

Harper Miller is your average seven-year-old: she is ex citable and talks in a hur ried way about subjects she cares about, she makes silly faces into the camera during the zoom interview, she creates her own poses for this article’s photoshoot. A perfect day is one that is sunny, with a little wind, spent playing with her younger twin siblings and her friends—even better if she’s meeting new people and selling pecans by the bucketful.Since2020, Harper and her parents–with the help of some of her other family members–have operated a full-on pecan business from their home in New Orle ans, selling packaged pecans, apparel, and accessories. Her parents, LaCour and Aubry Miller, entrepreneurs them selves, came up with the idea for Harp er’s Pecans the day Harper was born. “Every year [we want to show her] the benefits of hard work” and about mon ey, explained her dad, LaCour.

In 2020, Harper turned five years old, and her parents felt that she could start learning and taking on responsibilities in the endeavor. “When we started this company, I was so excited,” said Harp er. “My mom taught me when I was five, and she always taught me because I want to have a business like her. I want to be a worker, a business worker!” Half of Harper’s earnings go toward her col lege fund, and half go toward savings. Whenever Harper wants something, her parents try to frame it in terms of pecans sold: if she wants a new toy, they have her think about how many bags of pe cans she would have to sell to be able to buy it, for example.

“Every year the intent is [that] she does a little more, until she’s eighteen when it’s completely run by her,” ex plained Harper’s mom, Aubry. “Every year it gets a little more in-depth, which she handles. It’s just been a really cute teaching tool. Right now Harper helps with picking, sorting, the cracking a little bit, and of course the selling. This year, we’re talking about having some friends help, but she has to pay her friends, [so she’s] learning about com

pensating people who work for you.” Harper loves bringing in her friends to assist; Aubrey says they are some of her biggest supporters. “All her friends

slaved people, whose forced labor main tained the agricultural functions of the property.LaCour’s ancestors purchased Old

During their first year, Harper and her family spent hours picking pecans by hand like people did in times past, but now hire a local business to bring a machine that not only shakes the pecans off of the tree, but also gathers them up off the ground. After that, the family runs the pecans through a cracking ma chine. In their first year using this meth od, they enlisted the assistance of local pecan entrepreneur Evelyn Gaspard, who welcomed and acquainted them with the ins and outs of pecan prepping.

The greatest labor of love and most time-consuming step comes next: sort ing and separating the pecans by hand. No machine can accomplish this as well as careful fingers. Harper explained the process: “We crack them, and we put the bad ones in a bowl, and we put the good ones in another bowl.” During the fall months leading up to Harper’s pecan sales, her whole family pitches in. All of the grandparents last year would get sacks of cracked pecans and they would take them when they were watch ing television and help separate and go through them,” Aubry laughed. “It’s Christmastime, there’s a lot going on, so every spare moment we’re all sorting

Aubry” operates the two PJ’s Coffee shops on Magazine Street, so once the pecans are ready she advertises when Harper will be at the stores. She sells pecans and merchandise, such as hats, shirts, water bottles, tote bags, head bands, and soon, lip gloss. “The funnest part about my business is selling,” Harp er said. LaCour laughed. “She’s a talker, she loves talking to people.” h

leans under Andrew Jackson, for whom the plantation was named. Up until the Civil War, the plantation was also home to as many as seventy-seven en

ly restored the house, which is now used as the family camp and summer home. He is also the one who planted the pe can orchard at Old Hickory, ushering in a new era of history on the property.

You can learn more about when Harper will be at PJ’s selling her wares by following the two PJ’s Coffee Magazine Street Facebook pages, or you can order online at harperspecans.com.

The Rougarou Returns

The Rougarou Returns

Brushoff your witch’s hat and zombie mask and head for Houma October 21—23 for one of the wildest costume parties in the country. After a two-year absence, the elusive rougarou re-emerges from the Terrebonne parish swamps to kick off its namesake festival, which USA Today named one of the Top Ten Costume Parties in the United States in 2014. A free, family-friendly event dedicated to the iconic Cajun werewolf, the 2022 Rougarou Fest celebrates the region’s recovery from Hurricane Ida with live music, Cajun food, cultural activities, and the Krewe Ga Rou Parade.

The three-day festival moves to a new home this year, relocating to the grounds of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness about the plight of Louisiana’s wetlands, so that this vital resource may be preserved for future generations. All proceeds from the festival benefit creation of the Wetlands Discovery Center, which recently completed Phase I of its campus development—a live wetlands nature exhibit complete with an outdoor amphitheater ideal for hosting events such as the Rougarou Fest.

Since its inception in 2011, Rougarou Fest has proven not only a showcase for the rich folklore emanating from Southeast Louisiana’s bayou communities, but also a resilient—and resourceful— force for good. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, organizers adapted quickly, transforming the festival to a drive-through format to enable attendees to enjoy traditional festival foods. In 2021, when Hurricane Ida dealt the Houma community a heavy blow, festival staff mobilized to form Rougarou Relief, repurposing sponsorship funds to assist those in need. For 2022, Rougarou Fest returns to its traditional format at last.

“We’re excited to have a fresh start, to celebrate the recovery from Hurricane Ida,” said Jonathan Foret, Rougarou Fest Founder and Organizer and Executive Director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center. “This year, we’re having a wonderful festival to celebrate the resilience of our people as they rebuild our community.”

Rougarou goes alien during its Friday opening, screening ET in honor of the movie’s 40th anniversary. On Saturday, Beignet the nutria will be pardoned, and allowed to keep his tail another year for his contributions to raising awareness of the

area’s invasive species. The afternoon revolves around the festival’s much-loved costume contest at 5 pm. Rougarou witches, zombies, and giant puppets emerge for the Krewe Ga Rou parade at 7 pm, with a pumpkin lighting to follow around 9 pm. On Sunday, the festival will honor two standard bearers of traditional Louisiana culture. Terry Lapeyrouse is a fourth-generation resident of Chauvin who perpetuates the traditional craft of drying shrimp.

For decades, Nelson Harris is widely known around Terrebonne Parish for playing bongo and conga drums in both traditional and African styles. Now 72, Harris has turned his passion for drumming into a way to give back to his community, playing at charitable events and leading educational workshops for

Allchildren.weekend,

festivalgoers will get to browse arts and crafts booths, sample Cajun delicacies (don’t miss the Pop Rouge ice cream!), and turn the kids loose in the children’s activities area. From Woodside Energy’s Gris Gris Music Stage, an all-star lineup for live bands will include ReauxShambo, The Wolfe Johns Blues Band, Cajun Music Preservation Society, Back Roots, Sista Slick and the Brothas, The 45s, Nonc Nu and the Wild Matous, Bang Bang, and Ben Labat. Meanwhile on the Atchafalaya Narrative Stage, a roster of culturally relevant panel discussions will explore the region’s traditions and

folklore.Newthis

year is convenient RV parking, with power and water hookups, at the Houma Civic Center. The site is within walking distance of the Atchafalaya Narrative Stage and offers a front row seat for the parade.

Rougarou Fest, presented by Peoples Drug Store, will run October 21—23, 2022. Festival hours are 5 pm–10 pm Friday, 10 am–10 pm Saturday, and 10 am–5 pm Sunday. 132 Library Drive in Houma. rougaroufest.org

Peat & Pearls

Back around 2017, T.S. Strickland was a food writer working along the coast in Pensacola, Florida—and like all good journalists, he started drawing connections: connections between food and Southern culture, between identity and industry. He saw the gaps, too—the disconnects between farmers and chefs, chefs and consumers. And he saw the

explored: the dinner table.

“I kind of think we’re at our best as a species, and as Southerners we are at our best, when we’re around the dinner ta ble,” he said. “As a society today, we’re sort of more disconnected than ever be fore, in a lot of ways. I think that there are few things that can bring people to gether and sort of promote solidarity, just in the human experience, as much as

At the time, Strickland had a particu lar interest in the Gulf Coast oyster in dustry and decided to host an event de signed to elevate the regional oyster. “For the last couple of generations, folks grow ing up in the South have been raised to treat Gulf oysters like chicken wings, not like a glass of fine wine,” he explained. “For the industry to grow, that had to change.”Thuswas born Peat & Pearls, a con cept that started in 2017 as a four-day oyster and whiskey festival in Pensaco la—drawing together farmers, chefs, and aficionados all into the same space to share food stories in their purest form.

By 2019, Strickland and his team came to realize the hunger such an event revealed—“We started to realize that there was a demand for these kinds of experiences beyond just oysters,” he said. That year, they started to transition Peat & Pearls from its festival format into a supper club model—hosting events with chefs all across the Southern region.

Now, in 2022, the concept has had two years of pandemic-induced antici pation and planning before launching its first official season—which includes two

In its current form, the Peat & Pearls supper club series will travel to eight cit ies across the South over the course of a ninety-day season (starting this fall in late September and ending in early No vember), placing its focus on a particular regional food narrative, which will be in terpreted by local chefs tapped to curate these intimate dining experiences. At the end of each season, a larger tasting event will be held to bring together all of the chefs, farmers, and diners involved to gether to celebrate their contributions to Southern foodways.

This fall, Strickland is going back to Peat & Pearls’ roots with a focus on the oyster. Local chefs Jeremy Conner and Kelsey Leger (with the assistance of local chef Matthew Pettus) have each brought their unique takes on the Southern cu linary jewel to the vibrant collection of Peat & Pearls menus.

Conner, Executive Chef and Partner at Lafayette’s Spoonbill Watering Hole & Restaurant, who considers himself a champion of the Southern oyster, will be right in his element. “I really try to preach the gospel of Southern oysters,” he said. “When you eat a raw oyster you’re tasting the exact place where that oyster came

THE PENSACOLA SUPPER CLUB CONCEPT IS COMING TO ACADIANA By Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

Image courtesy of Peat & Pearls.

from, tasting what the water and the weather and the

tions on people’s minds as they eat a dinner.”

For his October 13 dinner, Conner’s menu will fea ture Grand Isle’s Barataria Beauties “as God intend ed them: ice cold and naked on the half-shell” and served with champagne; paired with strawberry mi gnonette, agua chile, and carrot-ginger curry; stewed with finesse and a serving of caviar; and fried atop of braised beef with oyster XO butter.

Conner said that he is eager to take part in a special dining experience like this because of the intention

ality coming from both the kitchen and the diners themselves. “When people come to a special event dinner like this,” he explained, “they’re there to have that food, and they’re really excited about it.”

Just a few weeks later, on November 17, Chefs Leger and Pettus will present their interpretations of a Southern oyster dinner in Grand Coteau. Chef Leger—who has been involved in several of Acadi ana’s most highly-esteemed food concepts, includ ing the Saint Street Inn and Scratch Kitchen—is now setting her energies on a concept in Grand Co teau called the Honeycomb Café, set to open in early 2023. Pettus himself has worked with the Brennan family and at Maison Madeline’s Secret Suppers.

Leger, who created the menu, said she is actually not all that well-versed in working with oysters—but approached the challenge with the fierce strategy of experimentation.“Ithoughtitwas an opportunity for me to learn at the same time as incorporating a lot of different food modalities,” she said. “Definitely vegetables and dif ferent ways of cooking oysters, which includes fer menting, and not just necessarily serving them raw on the half shell—give people something that they wouldn’t expect.”

Over the past few weeks, she’s been developing a sourdough starter for an olive tapenade sourdough baked with oysters—which she’ll then slather with truffle butter. She’s going to also be frying oysters, then smoking them, in a boudin blanc. Then, she’s piling them atop sweet potato chips as a Yuzu cevi che. And those are just the appetizers.

The first course is an oyster kimchi small plate, and the second—beurre blanc poached oysters with roasted chicken over Mafalde pasta and Maitake mushrooms. Water buffalo mozzarella cheesecake makes for an indulgent finish.

With Integrative Medicine, Become the Healthiest Version of Yourself

“You know, I’m constantly … I try not to think about food, but even when I’m laying down or going to sleep, I just get ideas that I need to write down,” she said.When it comes to chef recruitment, Strickland ex plained, “we try to focus on chefs who have kind of a narrative sensibility already. And really care about strengthening local food systems, as opposed to just creating great experiences for guests—also having that sort of sensibility of really wanting to champion pro ducers and educate people as well.”

Strickland said that as he and his team traipse the different tables of the South, they hope to not only cel ebrate the diversity of how cuisine is explored in each city, but also to highlight the things that bind us all together.“It’snot just ‘Hey let’s come together and have a fancy meal, an extravagant experience,’” emphasized Strickland. “It’s not even just like ‘Hey let’s come to gether and learn more about where our food comes from.’ But also like ‘Hey, let’s come together and have a meal together and just be reminded of the fact that to be human is to be hungry.’ We’re all united in that.” h

A $75 Peat & Pearls Acadiana chapter membership gets you early access to tickets, twenty-percent off ticket prices, and VIP status at quarterly socials. Chef Conner’s dinner will be held on October 13 at 6:30 pm; $150. Chef Pettus and Leger’s dinner will be held on November 17 at 6:30 pm; $175. Tickets will be available to nonmembers two weeks before the dinner. Find all of the details at peatandpearls.com.

At Lane Family Practice, Dr. Kimberly Meiners helps patients become more in tune with their own bodies. Trained and experienced in the field of Integrative Medicine, Dr. Meiners works with her patients to establish specific action plans using biological, behavioral, environmental, and psychological factors.

Integrative Medicine addresses health issues through a holistic approach which is less invasive and offers many natural treatment options.

Focused on each patient’s overall wellness, even those with chronic conditions, Dr. Meiners strives to help her patients become the healthiest version of themselves.

To schedule an appointment, please call 225.654.3607.

“By focusing on the whole person, we can improve overall health.”

Fish in a Bunker

HOW BELLE CHASSE CAME TO BE HOME TO THE LARGEST PRESERVED FISH COLLECTION IN THE WORLD

Story by Kristy Christiansen • Photos by Paul Christiansen

On a tract of bottomland hardwood forest in Belle Chasse lies a little-known complex of three warehouses and twenty-seven World War II bunkers, half buried into man-made hills jutting out beside roads named for armadillos, alligators, and wild boars. During World War II, the bunkers held artillery for the Navy, and the property itself later served as a CIA training facility during the ColdSinceWar.then, they’ve housed a willed body facility and the Tulane Universi ty Museum of Natural History. Today, though, most of the bunkers sit empty, except for three. These bunkers in the middle of the forest in Belle Chasse hold Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute’s (TUBRI) Royal D. Suttkus fish collection, the largest collection of post-larval fishes in the world.

On a recent afternoon in June, Dr.

Brandon Ballengée, artist and biologist, led an eclectic group of art hobbyists, fish enthusiasts, and even a bee farmer on a tour of the collection. “Come visit the dead aquarium,” he joked, entering a room where millions of fish stare glassyeyed back at the ogling group of us. The collection’s 7.4 million fish are divided into more than 200,000 lots—or groups of specimens collected at a particular place at a particular point in time. Rows upon rows of containers filled with sev enty percent ethanol are stacked on nearly floor-to-ceiling shelving with just enough room in between to walk.

At first, we all kept our arms tightly crossed across our bodies to avoid a di sastrous, film-worthy domino effect. After some encouragement, though, we tentatively reached out to lift the jars from their shelves, examining the ar chival-ink labels placed inside, naming pufferfish, skilletfish, and notropis. The

specimens range from the common to the extinct, varying in size from finger length to eight feet long—the largest of which are preserved in enormous tanks containing fifty percent isopropanol.

“Biologists used to collect millions of everything in the past. There could be ten thousand fish taken per day,” explained Ballengée. “In the 1950s through the 1980s, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration) would send out massive trawls to find species. That was the golden pe riod of fish research. In the 1980s, the funding was cut. We can still work with NOAA, but not on the same scale.” The consequences of this, Ballengée said, are that less science can be done, and we as a population have less of an understand ing of what is happening in the world around us.

The history of the museum coincides with NOAA’s contributions. Following

World War II, Tulane University hired four biologists: a herpetologist, a bota nist, an invertebrate zoologist, and an ichthyologist (a fish scientist) named Royal D. Suttkus. Each compiled their own collection according to their line of work. Suttkus, who was hired in 1950, started with two mounted fish. By 1968, he had acquired over two million spec imens. Soon, Tulane’s Uptown campus was overflowing with fish, birds, mam mals, and vertebrate fossils. The solution was to transfer Suttkus’s collection to the bunkers in Belle Chasse.

When Suttkus retired in 1990, Dr. Henry Bart, Jr. was brought on board to replace him as Curator of Fishes. Be cause of Bart’s work computerizing the data, the collection has evolved into a significant resource for researchers. Pre served fish are mailed to scientists world wide, and many visit the Belle Chasse bunkers to dissect specimens and learn

about fish morphology and the effects of microplastics, oil spills, or global warming.“What we know about the biolo gy of fish is known by studying speci mens in collections such as this,” said Bart. “There are countless things we can learn—what they eat, how they re produce, about their diversity, and even about new species.”

As a biologist, Ballengée studies

species missing in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and as an artist, he paints with the crude oil from the spill.

“We’ve lost about ninety-eight percent of wet collections like this in the world in the last fifty years. There is a loss of interest and funding to maintain them,” said Ballengée. In fact, the University of Louisiana in Monroe (ULM) recently cleared out its entire collection to make

room for a track expansion. Bart orga nized a group to rescue the ULM fish and is adding about a million of the specimens to the Suttkus collection.

While the fish collection thrived, TUBRI’s other collections suffered without active curators. The vertebrates were largely donated to the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, and many of the invertebrates were given to the Mississippi Museum of

Natural Science.

“It’s irresponsible to keep a collec tion without an active curator,” Bart acknowledged. “My hope is that before I retire, I can guarantee that someone is hired to replace me, and we can keep this [fish] collection indefinitely.”

The Suttkus collection has thrived impressively under Bart. As the group followed Ballengée through the aisles, he pointed out interesting specimens.

There are the primitive fish, such as the slimy hagfish—which has poor ly developed eyes, no fins, and no backbone. They’ve been around for at least 320 million years and are ancient cousins to all vertebrates.

The lamprey eel, a jawless fish with keratinized teeth, has been drinking the blood of other fish for about four hundred millionBallengéeyears.passed around a four-foot-long snout of a nineteenth century large tooth sawfish. Long and flat and edged with teeth, the saw, or rostra, was at one time attached to a body twice as long. Now on the endangered species list, none of the sawfish grow as large today.

Each shelf is a curiosity cabinet of oddities. The pancake batfish devel oped feet so it could walk around the bottom of the ocean floor. Then there is the bioluminescent female angler fish: when a male arrives, he bites the female and fuses their bodies together, thus living out the rest of his life de pendent on the female for nutrients. There is the squat, grumpy-looking oyster toadfish and the brightly col ored triggerfish, known for its bad temper.Ballengée led us to a small, pro tected room set apart from the main area. We took turns popping inside the Type Room, the keeper of the paratypes (among the first spec imens found of a new species) and holotypes (the name bearing specimen of a new ly-described species). These are the representatives of their species, including the American Pocket Shark,

Alex Podesta, Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Scientist), 2011. Mixed media. Courtesy of Alex Podesta.

the only known specimen of its species. The harelip sucker went extinct due to poor water quality. Tulane’s specimen is from 1893, the last year the species was seen alive. The oldest fish here is an 1838 minnow from Italy.

As the tour wound down, Ballengée seated us around tables and passed out alcohol-infused specimens for a draw ing workshop. While we stared through magnifying glasses and sketched the in tricacies of the individual fish, Ballengée

impressed upon us their importance.

“We live on a water planet, but we know more about the surface of the moon than we know about our oceans,” he said, detailing that there are more than thirty-five thousand known species

of fish, and more are being found every day. “Fish are the most successful verte brates that ever lived on our planet.”

He highlighted their phenomenal ability to adapt and their resilience to change—mosquito fish can clone them selves, alligator gars can gulp air when oxygen levels are too low in the water, and several species of fish are document ed as being able to talk. In the northern Gulf, fish have adapted to metabolize limited amounts of oil. When the Atlan tic cod were overfished, it adapted and started breeding earlier at a smaller size.

Today, the world is getting warmer, and fish are changing their bodies and adapting. “They are finding ways to per sist,” said Ballengée. “It’s encouraging for fish. Here, in Plaquemines Parish, we’re losing land at the most rapid pace of anywhere in the world. What can we learn from fish about adaptation?”

It’s an important question, and sci entists like Ballengée hope some of the answers can be found hiding in the bunkers at the Royal D. Suttkus fish collection. h

Brandon Ballengée’s tour and drawing class is part of his Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf project, which is part of his artist residency at A Studio in the Woods. Learn more, and sign up for a class, at astudiointhewoods.org.

Of Love and Dust: Daily Life in Cherie Quarters

AN EXCERPT FROM RUTH LANEY'S DEBUT BOOK ON THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE WHO INSPIRED ERNEST GAINES

By Ruth Laney

This month, LSU Press will release Ruth Laney’s debut book, Cherie Quar ters: The Place and the People That Inspired Ernest J. Gaines, a proj ect Laney—a longtime contributor of Country Roads —has been work ing on for years. The book tells the story of the plantation community where renowned writer Ernest Gaines (1933-2019) grew up, a place that is also the fre quent setting for his fiction. In anticipation of Cherie Quarters’ October 19 pub lication, Laney has kindly shared an excerpt just for Country Roads readers— detailing what daily life was like in the place that inspired one of our nation’s greatest literary voices.

In the 1930s and 1940s, most of the people of Cherie Quarters worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. Ben Biben, who was born there in 1934, recalled that River Lake Plantation functioned somewhat dif ferently from other nearby plantations. Workers “were more like managers. You didn’t have to buy your supplies from the plantation store. You could go any where you wanted for them.”

Early rising was common, but “You could get up at different times. Most farmers had their own mules. They got up early but were not obligat ed to.” After working in the fields, men and women went home for the noon meal, called “dinner,” and a rest. Around 2:30 or 3:00 they returned to the fields and worked until dark. “The lady would leave out the field about four o’clock and come home and cook supper.” Men, when they knocked off work, would “get home and feed the mules.”Biben recalled a schedule ruled by the seasons. In January, the workers plant ed Irish potatoes and onions. In midto-late February, they dug sugar cane stubble. In March, they planted corn and prepared the land to plant cotton. In April, they were cultivating, hoe ing, and thinning out corn and cotton plants; in May, they fertilized corn and cotton. “We called June ‘lay by,’ pulling the dirt up around the cotton, cutting the grass and weeds, hoeing it out.” July and early August was “sit-back time; I guess nothing special was going on. It was so hot.” By the middle to the end of August, they would “pull corn, cut weeds, clean the ditch bank.”

In September, workers got ready for cotton picking by making their own sacks. “We were poor, so you couldn’t buy the sacks,” Biben said. “You’d take a feed sack or a croker sack and make a cotton sack from it. You’d make a strap from another sack cut into pieces and tie it to the sack. You’d make a loop to put your hand in. Everybody made their own sack, and you had to tailor

it to fit you. Some people bought those long white sacks, but we’d make ’em from [brown] feed sacks.” In October, the workers picked cotton, dragging the long sacks on their shoulders. October 1 was also the traditional date for plant ing sugar cane for the following season.

In October, November, and Decem ber—a season known as “grinding”— they harvested cane—cut it with cane knives, loaded it into mule-drawn wag ons, and took it to the mill. After Riv er Lake’s sugarhouse was torn down in the 1950s, the cane was sent to a mill at nearby Alma Plantation. “Oh, boy, that sugar cane,” said Biben, nearly fif ty years after leaving Cherie Quarters. “Cutting it, loading it by hand, packing it on that wagon.”

Biben teamed up with his uncle George Williams. “George and me used to load together. I’d load the front of the wagon and he’d load the back.” George’s two mules, Red and Bird, pulled the wooden wagon. It was twelve feet long by five feet wide, with shallow sides eighteen inches high. They used stakes to hold the cane in and chains to tie it down. Williams had proba bly bought the wagon in nearby New Roads, and he customized it for various purposes. “The wagon was made some where else, but the bed was homemade. The wheels, the frame, the tongue all come in one piece. The bed, the thing you sit in, you had to make yourself. It was made of cypress. George made that, or Mr. Revel Domino or Mr. Isa iah [Izel Gaines, Ernest Gaines’s grand father], people who were carpenters.”

When it was time to pull corn, “You’d build a higher side on it. You would add to the side, make it higher so you could carry much more.”

The work was undeniably hard, but Biben said, “You didn’t know it was bad. You had fun. We’d sing, laugh, joke, talk about each other. Sometimes they would sneak into the sugar cane patch for some hanky-panky. A lot of people would sing church songs: ‘Sa tan, Your Wall Must Come Down’ or

‘Working on the Building.’” He sang a few lines from the hymn: “I’m work ing on the building/It’s a true founda tion/I’m holding up the bloodstained/ Banner for my lord/Well, I never get tired, tired, tired of working on the building/I’m going up to heaven to get myOnereward.”song included the words “Oh, Lord have mercy, late in the evening sun going down.” It was “the same thing like slaves used to sing. I found out later it was about getting away from the slave Childrenowner.”also worked at Cherie Quarters. Ernest Gaines became a wage earner at eight, earning fifty cents a day picking cotton, pulling corn, digging potatoes, chopping or hauling sugar cane, and cutting trees for firewood. Ben Biben picked cotton as a child. Bill

Robillard recalled “loading cane when I was nine years old, and I was on the puny side. We had to survive. I start ed working for forty cents a day. Forty cents a Forrestday.”Zeno went to work at twelve.

“A child got forty cents a day for twelve hours’ work. Ladies got sixty cents a day for hoeing sugar cane. Mens got eighty cents a day for hoeing cane. Men who plowed with the mules got a dol lar a day—that was twelve hours a day. We started at six am, when day break.”

Freddie Kemp started at fourteen. “Farm work, hoeing, plowing. We kept hogs, chickens, mules, horses, cows. That was my job, milking cows. Cow done kicked me many times.”

In addition to sharecropping or tenant farming, most Cherie Quarters residents found ways to make extra in

come. George Williams gave haircuts on the porch of the house he shared with his wife, Mamie, and their two children. Using a truck borrowed from his brother-in-law Freddie Kemp, he hauled cotton to gins for other farmers. He also broke and bred horses, renting out his stallion Tony as a stud. “George was the only one who had a breeding stallion back then,” said Ben Biben. “They’d go back in the graveyard to keep people from seeing it [the horses mating]. The graveyard was surrounded by trees then. Nobody could hardly see it unless you were looking for it. Some times Lionel Gaines and Alcide Cage would sneak back there and get behind the bushes and watch.”

Ernest Gaines’s maternal grand mother Julia McVay, who cooked for the white owners during the week, put her pots and pans to use on weekends, too. “She would give suppers every Sat urday night,” said Biben, who often ate at McVay’s house with his grandparents. “She’d charge ’em fifty cents a plate for chicken and gravy, snap beans, peas, potato salad, rice, stewed chicken, fried fish.” McVay also made Mardi Gras cos tumes and took on other sewing proj ects.Many residents of Cherie Quarters worked at the Triple Arch restaurant on False River, where Black people were allowed only as cooks and wait ers. The restaurant was popular on weekends, especially when LSU was

playing football in Baton Rouge. “Triple Arch, you almost had to have a membership to go there,” said Joe Williams. “Wealthy white folks went there.” “A whole bunch of us worked there,” said Ernest Brooks, who was in his first year of high school when he started at the restaurant about 1950. He worked from nine in the morn ing until two the following morn ing for three dollars a day. He chopped onions, celery, and bell peppers; made hush puppies; and washed dishes. His seventeen-hour shift had few breaks. “We’d have a chance to eat, but our break wouldn’t be that long.” Brooks ob jected to the behavior of the white owner, Claude Melancon. “He al ways talked down to people, and I didn’t like that. But I couldn’t do nothing about it, being a kid.

“There were no Blacks going in there. Anybody Black . . . had to be working.” Black people were not allowed inside even to buy food to take out. “They had a little delivery side. You had to go to the side door if you wanted to buy something. You just had to knock on the door and order what you wanted and they’d bring it out.”

Biben remembered an endless cycle of labor, both paid and unpaid. “I used to watch people work so hard. People like Ovide Simon—we called him Tee Moon. He’d go into the field at day

light. His stepson would bring him breakfast and dinner in the field. He’d work until dark, feed his mules, then go home for supper. He’d sit and talk with us on the porch for a while, then he’d get his gun and go kill a possum. That’s the next day’s meal. They’d lay it out until the next morning, get up and skin him out, gut him and dress him, and eat him the next day. We’d sit there talking and laughing, and he’d say, “Well, let me go see can I find some thing.” He’d get a single-barrel shot gun and go out and hunt until he killed

something. Get up in the morning and you’d see him out there with his wagon and his mule.” h

Ruth Laney will appear at the Louisiana Book Festival at the State Capitol on October 29.

To order a copy of Cherie Quarters: The People and the Place that Inspired Ernest J. Gaines, visit lsupress.org.

In January 1957, this group gathered in front of the Cherie Quarters cabin, where Ernest Gaines had lived as a child. From left, front row: Charles Kemp, Louise Kemp, and Lionel Rowan. From left, standing: Sam Bibbens, Gabriel Brooks, Lionel Green, Rose Bibbens, Jerry Brooks, Lubertha Brooks, Mathilda Harrison, and Mamie Kemp. Photo by David Biben. Courtesy of Deidra Biben-Glynn.

When a Meteorite Landed in New Orleans

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS HOAXES IN LOUISIANA JOURNALISM Story and photo by Poet Wolfe

New Orleans is a city of legends. The histories of battles and beauties and brutalities abound. Carlos Marcello. Marie Laveau. Jean Lafitte. But there is one such myth that goes rel atively untold in the history books, the tours, the plaques. Mostly living on the whispers of a select few locals, the sub ject of the 131-year-old story lives on just about as conspicuously as it possibly can: sitting on the golf course of New Orleans’ Audubon Park.

While on my search for the ancient landmark, I asked one of the golf ers if he knew where I could find it, to which he explained he was from outof-town and had no idea what I was talking about. Mid-conversation, over his shoulder, I suddenly saw it, just a few feet away. The meteorite. The grand rock stuck out so prominently in the field of golf carts, trees, and lakes, I wondered how it had possibly taken me this long to find it.

Up close, the strokes of maroon and brown blend together to create the bronze shade painting the meteorite. Light green lichens fill the small and large vesicles scattered on the weathered surface. Overgrown weeds, daisies, and

puddles from the afternoon rain adorn the bottom, but the boulder’s depth in the ground remains evident. It’s possible that spending over a century battling floods and seasonal hurricanes in New Orleans has aged the meteorite more than its falling from the sky.

My father is the one who first told me about the Audubon Park meteorite, years ago, strolling not very far from this very spot. Some other elder had told him the story as a child, how the giant rock had fallen from the sky and land ed right here on the park grounds. Like most other locals who have been told the story as a sort of fable, he had no idea where it had originated. After some digging, I found the answers in the ar chives of the New Orleans Roosevelt Re view, a publication published exclusively for guests of The Roosevelt Hotel. But first, we have to go back further, to an other article, in another publication.

In April of 1891, The Daily Picayune reported that the meteorite crashed into the city before daylight. The writer de scribed the landing as loud enough to awake sleepers as far away as Biloxi and Atlanta. According to the article, the boulder’s grand arrival shook houses and broke window panes from as far as

a mile away, but left no one hurt. The rush of firemen and police to the scene added to the chaos that had already bro ken out in the city. Eight hours later, at exactly noon, the boulder’s fires still had yet to die down. Officials were collect ing fragments as far as two hundred yards away from the main rock.

The reporter described the extraordi nary chemical composition of the me teorite “as the most wonderful phenom enon of the kind which has ever visited our earth,” specifically since “meteorites are of several different types, but in the great New Orleans wonder, all of these types are apparently combined.” Out side of the unique composition—which he described as “almost pure iron” with “holosiderite, etched with crystalline figures; cellular iron imbedded with sil icates or siderolite; and the stony mass of silicates, with a little iron or sporade siderite, and of masses without iron, or osiderite”—the meteorite was measured to be eight feet in height and twen ty-one feet in circumference.

Most readers believed every word re ported in the paper. After all, New Or leans has long been a place of mystical happenings. Some readers, though, took note of the publication’s date: April 1st.

Over half a century later, in April of 1945, The Roosevelt Review settled the debate, coining The Daily Picayune’s ar ticle as “one of the most famous hoaxes in New Orleans journalism.” A mag nificent cluster of iron-nickel and crys tallines had not, in fact, fallen from the sky and landed in the soil of New Orleans.

The Roosevelt Review article revealed that the meteorite is actually an iron ore from the hills of Alabama. The Daily Picayune told locals that the meteorite appeared in 1891, but the boulder in Audubon Park had already been there for years, since its original display as an exhibit in the World Cotton Centennial of 1884-1885. Because of the boulder’s extreme size and weight, it was never re moved from the park grounds, and still remains there to this day.

An April Fool’s joke typically only lasts for the day, but The Daily Picayune’s gag has managed to stay alive for 131 years, proving the power of a fantasti cal story well-told and the imagination of New Orleans. Surviving floods and dozens of devastating hurricanes, the lasting historical display from the World Cotton Centennial can still be found on the golf course of Audubon Park. h

GONE GOLFIN'

LISTEN IN

Casting True Crime

5 LOCALLY-FOCUSED PODCASTS TO TUNE INTO THIS SPOOKY SEASON

By Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

The human lure toward the macabre is nothing new (read on page 45 about the thousands of people who gathered in the town square for Euzebe Vidrine’s 1924 execution, if you don’t believe us). But over the last decade of the twenty-first century, it’s found a modern and prolif ic home in the podcast. If you aren’t a true crime podcast buff, you likely know one. Here, we’ve tracked down five Louisiana-focused and/or -made podcasts utilizing the mysterious intrigue of oral storytelling to explore some of the worst things that have happened here, and often to find answers to the questions behind the blood trail.

Missing Magnolias

Hosted by two redheads, the Missing Magnolias podcast was founded the way so many great podcasts are these days: on shared obsessions. In weekly episodes, La fayette-based writer Scarlett Davis and University of Louisiana Lafayette Professor and criminologist Dr. Michelle Jeanis dig into local crime stories ranging from in terviews with investigative journalists Tom Aswell and Jason Berry, to recaps of his toric Louisiana crimes such as the 1891 Italian Massacre, to awareness campaigns for unsolved cases. Davis and Jeanis—through their dynamic, conversational for mat—aim to center their own true crime obsession, and their listeners’, with the too-often untold stories of victims. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and at missingmagnolias.com.

Gone South

A C13 Originals documentary podcast, hosted by Emmy- and Peabody-Award nomi nated writer and producer, and former Times Picayune investigative journalist Jed Lip inski—in eight episodes, Gone South’s first season takes on the mysterious case of Mar garet Coon, a sex crimes prosecutor murdered in St. Tammany Parish in 1987. With an investigator’s fervor, a journalist’s professionalism, and a storyteller’s instinct—Lip inski digs out long-forgotten leads, long-ago-whispered conspiracies, and once-dis missed suspects in a story that continues to perplex investigators with its twists and turns and unanswered questions. Listen on Audacy, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at shows.cadence13.com/podcast/gone-south.

Bayou Chronicles

Hosted by Louisiana-native Krystle Smith and Florida-native Bethany Brooks, Bayou Chronicles is for the podcast listener who wants to feel as though they’re in someone’s living room—sipping wine or coffee and solving the world’s problems long into the night. Casual and unfiltered, Smith and Brooks’ dynamic is of best friends catching up after work—except that all of their conversations inevitably turn to the paranor mal, the mysterious, or the violent. Covering everything from Southern folklore to missing person’s cases to conspiracy theories—Bayou Chronicles unfolds as entertain ing, and often educational, musings well worth the listen. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, and Twitch.

Real Life Real Crime

With a thick Southern accent and a sense of storytelling that reveals his Louisiana roots, former detective and polygraphist Woody Overton offers a content warning as an intro to each episode of his podcast Real Life Real Crime: “Heed my warning peo ple, I do not get the facts for this podcast off of the internet or from some television show. The facts I’m telling you were presented to me by the victims of the crimes or the perpetrators of the crimes against the victims. My descriptions of the crime scenes, what I saw with my own two eyes. If you gonna get offended, please turn this podcast off now. Thank you.” Published weekly, Overton’s award-winning podcast reveals upclose-and-personal accounts of local Louisiana crime—and occasionally even results in a solved case and convictions, with help from Overton’s loyal followers. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or on the App store. Learn more and become a paying listener at realliferealcrime.com.

The Crimes-Picayune

Produced by host Peyton Britt, The Crimes-Picayune tells straightforward tales of more recent Louisiana crimes—particularly those that remain unsolved or involve missing persons. In measured, meticulous detail, Britt’s research extends to the cracks within so many of these cases—asking questions others might not be, and encouraging her listeners to engage in the conversation of unresolved violence in our region. This ex tends to the Crimes-Picayune Facebook Group, where Britt continues the discussion and offers resources for listeners to support victims. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. h

Dispelling Myths About Palliative Care

Thewords “palliative care” can strike fear in patients facing serious illnesses, but there’s a lot more to this field of medicine than you might think, says Andre Bonnecaze, MD, director of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s recently opened Supportive and Palliative Care Clinic.

The dedicated clinic was established in 2022 to help patients live better through cancer treatment by addressing the pain and discomfort associated with treatment, and supporting patients’ emotional, physical and spiritual needs as they undergo the cancer journey.

“Palliative medicine is a specialty of medicine that focuses on improving quality of life in patients who are dealing with cancer or other forms of serious illness,” Bonnecaze said. “We really aim to alleviate the symptoms and burdens of the disease, whether it’s cancer-related pain, nausea, loss of appetite, anxiety or other issues that can result from cancer or cancer treatment.”

Bonnecaze and his team deploy a multitude of strategies to support a patient’s needs, including pain management, counseling, nutrition support and management of the various side effects that can result from treatment

Theprotocols.biggest

misconception about palliative care is that it’s synonymous with end-of-life or hospice care. While end-of-life patients benefit from palliative care, so do patients with early diagnoses.

“We are just as likely to work with a Stage 1 breast cancer patient who is about to go through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, as we are with a late-stage cancer patient,” Bonnecaze said. “That first round of chemotherapy can be a real struggle, and we are there to help that patient aggressively manage those symptoms and side effects. Treatment can be a long road, but we can lessen the burden with palliative care.”

Studies have shown that palliative care given in tandem with traditional cancer treatment improves quality of life and can shorten hospital stays. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital reported in a 2016 study that patients undergoing bone marrow transplants who had access to palliative care experienced better quality of life and mental outlook during and after treatment than patients who did not.

Palliative care and curative care usually happen in parallel. Bonnecaze works closely with Mary Bird Perkins’ team of oncologists as he and his team make decisions on the best way to help patients manage symptoms.

“I can literally stick my head out of the office and have a conversation with an oncologist about a patient’s care, and how they might be doing with chemo or after surgery,” Bonnecaze said. “The lines of communication are open because now we’re basically under one roof.”

Fortunately, cancer patients are living longer today than in years past, but that also means they’re more likely to live with the long-term side effects of treatment. Palliative care plays a role in survivorship, giving patients a better shot at living well after cancer.

“Ensuring people can have the best outcomes possible is fundamental to palliative care,” Bonnecaze said. “And it fits in squarely with Mary Bird Perkins’ mission, which is to increase survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer through expert treatment, compassionate care, early detection, research and education.”

The Supportive and Palliative Care Clinic is housed at Mary Bird Perkins’ Essen Lane location in Baton Rouge. Patients of any cancer center facility can access its services with a referral from their oncologist. A second Supportive and Palliative Care Clinic location will open soon at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Covington.

“If we do a really good job of treating symptoms, a patient’s quality of life and outlook is going to be a better,” Bonnecaze said. “And that can help improve outcomes.”

Escapes

KENNY HILL'S VISION OF ALIVE IN CHAUVIN

Driving into Chauvin, Loui siana, stilted houses dot the banks of Bayou Petit Caillou and Bayou Terrebonne—the two bodies of water crawling up the land, nearly kissing the road, cradling the icon ic shrimp boats for which the community is known.Alesser-known feature of this quiet community, nestled in an unexpected twist along the narrow road that is Bay ouside Drive, is the Chauvin Sculpture Garden, a wonderland of Louisiana folk art. Recently, my fiancé Austin and I joined Dr. Gary LaFleur for an exclusive tour of the installation. In addition to La Fleur’s posts as Professor in the Depart ment of Biological Sciences and Director of the Center for Bayou Studies at Nich olls State University—which owns the Chauvin Sculpture Garden—he is also the garden’s coordinator and is the Presi dent of the Friends of the Chauvin Sculp ture Garden, which functions as a non profit advisory board. A longtime family friend, LaFleur has been taking me and his daughters, some of my best friends, on adventures like this one since I was up to his Whenelbow.we

arrived, the Petit Caillou was still, the occasional boat softly glid ing by. The garden itself is quiet and strange, the dozens of brightly-painted sculptures exhibiting sentiments of both hope and loneliness. A colorful tile near the entrance reads “HEARTOFFACT,” suggesting that this was probably the intended title of the installation, creat ed by the mysterious artist Kenny Allen Hill. The sculptures inside depict men, women, children—of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Angels—some with eyes, some without, some wearing shrimp boots. There’s Christ, exhibited often in modern day plainman’s clothing, in various stages of his life. Cowboys, soldiers, musicians, horses. Major events from Ameri can history. Thousands of flowers and tiny water-dwelling creatures.

Archways and a colorful winding walking path gently led us to the garden’s grand centerpiece: a for ty-five-foot-tall lighthouse com prising seven thousand bricks and adorned with sculptural figures climbing and clinging to its sides. Cables hanging inside the structure suggest that it was designed toWhileilluminate.thegarden and its inhabitants have evoked wonder for their otherworld liness and their artistic merit, so too does

Story photos by Samantha Eroche

Photo by Austin Krieger.

their elusive creator Kenny Allen Hill, a man whose history and whereabouts are—for the most part—a mystery.

What we do know is that in the 1980s, Hill was in his thirties, spending half the year working as a bricklayer in Branson, Missouri, and the other half of the year in a little house on the Petit Caillou, just feet away from where the lighthouse now stands. “He had this little cycle of a whole lot of work, and then some rest,” said LaFleur. The house has since been demolished due to disrepair, but one can still see the old bricks where the founda tion once stood. When Hill began build ing the sculpture garden, he did not have permission from his landlord. He enlist ed the help of welder Jacob Neil, his next door neighbor’s son, who placed the rebar upon which the sculptures are mounted.

As to Hill’s motivation for building the garden, the theories abound. In one of his few statements on the matter, Hill was referenced as calling the site a “sto ry of salvation” for the community. The religious iconography is apparent, with angels touching agonized persons and lifting a self-portrait of Hill up the light house, his face painted half black, half white: perhaps a metaphor for the good and bad in all of us. We know that he wanted it to be experienced and enjoyed, evidenced by his allowing people to walk through his yard to view the sculptures when he was still living on the proper ty. Some have argued that Hill’s garden reflects a broken heart, or an effort to

wards human connection for someone who struggled to find it. A few observers even use the garden to point to some sort of mental illness in Hill, though LaFleur said that most of his closest neighbors de scribe him as a gentle, private man who simply expressed himself better through his art than through spoken words.

LaFleur shared a handful of stories gathered from neighbors, such as when Hill indulged his next door neighbor whose wife was offended by the naked fe male sculptures (he added some bathing suits). People remember how he would peek through his curtains to see who had happened upon the garden and then promptly close them so the viewer could experience and interpret it independently. “The community [members], when they would do their own houses and they had leftover paint, they would just come drop it off, or if they had a little pile of bricks they would go give that to Kenny,” La Fleur said. “We say that the community kind of supported what he was doing, even if they didn’t understand it . . . I think it’s a point of pride now. We hear from a lot of locals. Almost every week end somebody comes and says, ‘I used to watch Kenny making this and I never stopped and looked at it.’”

Hill’s distinct presence in the com munity met its end sometime in the late nineties, when he started to neglect the grass on the property. “He wasn’t com municating with the landlord, so he got evicted,” said LaFleur. “When he got

evicted, still he didn’t talk to them, he just got mad and walked away, like real ly walked away. People saw him that day, said, ‘Kenny, you need a ride?’, ‘No, going see my brother,’ and he hitchhiked all the way to Missouri,” where his brother lived. That was in 2000. Hill hasn’t been back since.Atthe time, the fate of the sculptures was uncertain. Some stakeholders posed the idea of selling the pieces separately to folk art collectors, but Dennis Sipior ski, the Chair of the Art Department at Nicholls State University realized the ar tistic value of the unique site, and made

efforts to rescue it in its entirety, as Hill had left it. He partnered with the Kohler Foundation, a Wisconsin organization that has dedicated itself to the preserva tion of folk art since the 1970s. Officials from the Kohler Foundation traveled to Chauvin, inspected the site, and agreed to purchase the property, build an art studio, make necessary repairs, and enlist an art conservator to appraise, clean, and catalog every sculpture. Then, the foun dation gifted the site to Nicholls State University, which now owns the proper ty, and integrates the garden into several of its curricular programs.

“We’re trying to keep it in the spirit of Kenny by never charging admission and thinking of it as a gift to the community,” LaFleur said. He also spoke to the chal lenges of maintaining the site. “Chauvin [is] a place that’s threatened by coastal land loss,” he explained. “Every day wa ter is encroaching. That means that if the community is threatened, then this whole garden is threatened. We worry aboutHillthat.”isinhis seventies now. As far as his current whereabouts, his family reports that he is alive and well but protects his privacy by declining to disclose where he now lives.  According to LaFleur, they seem to appreciate what is being done to preserve his art. We know that he was once married, has children, and grand children who sometimes visit the garden. Some family members have even attend ed the Chauvin Folk Art Festival, a com munity celebration of the arts held at the garden every year.

The festival is held each spring along side Chauvin’s Blessing of the Fleet, a longstanding custom during which a Catholic priest blesses the shrimp boats prior to the start of shrimp season. Boats are decorated to parade through the water as the community cheers on the shrimpers. “It’s a beautiful time to see the garden itself and to see this traditional ritual,” LaFleur said. “Before [the garden] was here, there was always a Blessing of the Fleet, but there was no place to real ly watch it unless you lived here. I think

Chauvin kinda appreciates that. We’re all clapping for the shrimpers, so they feel some support.” As for the Folk Art Fes tival, one can expect to enjoy live music, food, dancing, and live artist demonstra tions, all culminating in the boat bless ing at the end of the day. According to those who knew Hill, these gatherings in the garden fulfill his purpose in creating it at all. In a 1993 article by Vivien Kay Daniel from The Courier, Hill is quoted saying: “This [place] is a gift to the people (who live) on the bayou, but it’s a double back gift to me.” “It’s just a beautiful kin da working-man way to say ‘My reward is when people look at the garden,’” said LaFleur.Aswe explored the garden and the ad jacent Contemporary Garden, two do cents swept the walking path. An import ant support for the garden, docents help to clean and maintain the space through repainting the sculptures, making small repairs, and leading weekend tours for interested patrons. Docent support was especially critical after Hurricane Ida, whose destruction damaged some of the sculptures. Raegan Boudreaux, Senior Docent, recalled her first time experienc ing the garden: “I was probably fourteen. I was riding bikes with my friends, and we decided to stop and look around… I was just amazed. The sculptures were so captivating and beautiful.” Now, as a tour guide of the garden, “I love when people talk with me and tell me what they think everything means,” she said. Docents are

currently working closely with the gar den’s board to locate an art conservator who can repair and restore the damaged pieces, though this takes time.

Across the street from the garden, which is open daily for self-guided tours, one can explore the Nicholls State Uni versity Art Studio on weekends from 11 am to 4 pm, during which times do cents keep the small baby blue building open for the public and offer tours. The studio houses a small gift shop (I recom mend the book Heart of Fact: The Vision ary Environment of Kenny Hill by Kar in Eberhardt) and displays relics from Hill’s lost home: tools used to create the garden, dime store models that inspired several sculptures, his own paintings, photographs of early sculptures in the garden and Hill with his family, hand written notes (one of which came from his ex-wife), and newspaper articles. The Nicholls Studio Gallery lives in the back portion of the building and hosts a num ber of local artists throughout the year, often featuring art exhibits by students and faculty of the Nicholls Art Program.

During our visit, the work of Nicholls BFA graduate Lydia Sayes was on exhi bition, titled A World Without. Drawing on influences such as John James Audu bon, Ernst Haeckel, and Walton Ford, Sayes’s paintings elevate lesser-known endangered species—such as brown pel icans, African wild dogs, aye-aye lemurs, and yellow-eyed penguins—who are of ten overlooked in favor of flashier species

like the Siberian tiger or the giant panda.

“Because some of the creatures I’m showing in my show are fantastic and strange, some people think that they ar en’t alive, that they’re relics of our past,” Sayes explained. “I really want people to understand that these extremely unique animals are, in fact, still a part of the eco systems on Earth today and that there’s still time to save them.” Sayes expressed gratitude that she could show her work in the Chauvin gallery, largely due to the connection of preservation between the garden and her exhibit. “We need to find these really beautiful spaces and keep

them for other generations to see. Even if the artist isn’t there, the objects are still there, and I feel that way about my art,” she said. Since the artist can’t always be present to explain the work, Sayes posit ed, she hopes that her art will speak her message for her, much like Hill and his sculpture garden.

There are a number of ways people can help to support the garden. “Maybe the first thing to do is to visit the gar den and see for yourself,” LaFleur said. “When people are here, it can be the first stop on a trip to kind of observe how coastal communities of Louisiana

are dealing with coastal land loss.” Bou dreaux agreed and added that posting about the garden on social media also helps others to learn about it. Addition ally, donating money and time is ben eficial, especially as the garden holds work days leading up to the Folk Art Festival in the spring. This preparation usually starts in January, and interest ed volunteers can email LaFleur at gary. lafleur@nicholls.edu. For more infor mation, visit nicholls.edu/folkartcenter and follow the garden on Facebook at @ChauvinSculptureGarden. h

Photo by Austin Krieger.

Louisiana's Ghost Swamps

A DRIVE TO THE COAST. AND A REQUIEM Words by James Fox-Smith • Photos by Ben Depp

August afternoon. Driving to Pointe Aux Chênes, a hardscrabble fishing community strung out along a fortified chénier where Highway 665 runs out of dry land in Terrebonne Parish.

Heading southeast out of Bourg, the road follows a snaky little watercourse known either as the Saint Louis Canal or Bayou Pointe Aux Chênes depending on where you are, that uncoils in lazy loops before us while blue-black thunderclouds boil cinematically up out of the invisible Gulf beyond.

“Pointe aux Chênes," translates to “point with the oaks,” and as road and waterway roll on, the eponymous live oaks meander into the distance across the tussocky plain. Or their corpses do.

Leeville, Louisiana, June 18, 2021. A cemetery in Leeville, Louisiana now floods regularly when a south wind or storm brings higher water. Photo by Ben Depp.

“It’s like watching snow melt,” says my teenaged son, meditatively. The late-summer fishing trip is our first return to this spot in several (but not that many) years, and the transformation between the land scape of memory (raggedy but fecund, thrumming with activity), and these skeletal remains, is shocking.

Cameron Parish, Louisiana. August 25, 2021. An oak tree torn out of the ground by Hurricane Laura lays in the marsh north of the town of Cameron. Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Photo by Ben Depp.

Somehow, it’s still beautiful. Beyond the vanishing and the tumbled wreckage, these stark vistas of land and water, ruin and renewal, painted in the colors of that vast, late summer sky, feel at once desperate and elegiac. Here we are, driving down a road not two hours south of Baton Rouge and it feels like we’re tiptoeing along a tightrope anchored to the last remnant of a vanishing onecivilization:thatwas blessed and doomed in equal measure.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. February 11, 2015. Venice, nicknamed "The End of the World", is the southernmost town on the Mississippi river accessible by road. The town used to have miles of wetlands acting as a protective barrier for storms. These wetlands are almost all gone and Venice was almost completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Photo by Ben Depp.

To see more of Ben Depp's photography, visit Claire Elizabeth Gallery in New Orleans, bendepp.com or follow @deppphoto on Instagram. Learn more about saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion, as well as efforts being done to restore the coast, at mississippiriverdelta.org.

It won’t be there much longer. Go and see, before it slips away for good.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Wetlands near Bohemia Louisiana. Photo by Ben Depp

Directory of Merchants

Abita Springs, LA

Abita Fall Fest 67

Albany, LA Livingston Parish CVB 10, 11

Alexandria, L A AreaAlexandria/PinevilleCVB 23

Baton Rouge, LA

Allwood Furniture 16 Artistry of Light 76 Associated Women in the Arts 83

Becky Parrish

Advance Skincare 82 Blue Cross Blue Shield 17 Drusilla Imports 65 East Baton Rouge Parish Librar y 88 Elizabethan Gallery 79 Louisiana Book Festival 24 Louisiana Art & Science Museum 29 Louisiana BroadcastingPublic 80

LSU Foundation Burden Museum and Gardens 21

LSU Museum of Art 66 LSU Rural Life Museum 71 Manship Theatre 22 Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center 73

Mid-City Artisans 83 Opera Louisiane 72 Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center 19 Pennington Biomedical Research Center 7

Pinetta’s European Restaurant 83 Stafford Tile & Stone 18 The 121 6 Wilson & Wilson Attorneys, LLC 79

Window World of Baton Rouge 49 Woman’s Hospital Cancer Pavilion 3 WRKF 89.3 FM 82

Brookhaven, MS Brookhaven Tourism Council 53

Cleveland, MS

Visit Cleveland 69

Covington, LA

Three Rivers Art Festival 27

Crowley, LA

Acadia Parish Tourism Commission 12

Destrehan, LA

Destrehan Plantation 9 Ferriday, LA Brakenridge Furniture 43

Folsom, LA

Giddy Up / Far Horizons Art Gallery / The Stables at Giddy Up Folsom 61

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Jackson, LA

The Banten House Tea Room 33 Blue Frog Antiques 33

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Jackson, MS

Visit Mississippi 5 Lafayette, LA

Allwood Furniture 16 Big Easel 28

Festivals Acadiens de Creoles 2

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Mansura, LA Avoyelles CommissionTourism 26

Morgan City, L A Cajun Coast CVB 81

Natchez, MS Brakenridge Furniture 43 Cedar Grove Plantation 47 Crye-Leike Stedman Realtors 40 Live @ Five / Natchez - Adams Community Alliance 46 Live Oak Construction 42 Monmouth Historic Inn 38 Murray Land & Homes Realty 13 Natchez City Sightseeing 39 Natchez Convention Promotion Commission 41 Natchez Olive Market 83 Natchez Pilgrimage Tours 43 United Mississippi Bank 41

Natchitoches, LA Natchitoches Area CVB 51

New Iberia, LA Iberia Parish CVB 63 Shadows on the Teche 63

New Orleans, LA New Orleans Opera Association 71 The Historic New Orleans Collection 15 Stafford Tile & Stone 18

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City of New Roads 25, 31

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Oberlin, LA Allen Parish CommissionTourist 44

Opelousas, LA St. Landr y Parish Tourist Commission 80

Plaquemine, LA

Iber ville Parish Tourism Department 48

Port Allen, LA West Baton Rouge CVB 58 West Baton Rouge Museum 81

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Artistry of Light 76 Yellow Leaf Arts Festival 14 Grandmother’s Buttons 77

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Zachary, L A

Signature Southern Accents 75 Lane MedicalRegionalCenter 62

Since she was a little girl, Zachary-based artist Megan Buccere has been intrigued by darkness.

“I have a little weird side, I like darker things. Like, Halloween is my favorite time of year, since I was tiny.” So, the Tennessee native has always a particular connection to her adopted home of Louisi ana, a place that so poignantly balances its natural beauty with the intrigue of lore and mystery.

“In Louisiana, there’s sort of this undercurrent of mys ticism…and I always just found that fascinating,” Buc cere explained. “I’ve loved New Orleans since before we even moved to Louisiana. And when we moved here, I was sort of like, ‘Oh, this is where I need to be. This is

it.’”Looking through her portfolio, it’s evident that both the wildlife and landscapes of the Bayou State, as well as its its darker undercurrents, have worked their way into Buccere’s psyche, and in turn into her art. There’s a sig nature style to her work, which she explains has been a journey to develop.

Though Buccere had started painting in kindergar ten and spent most of her youth in art classes, she had mostly put down the paintbrush by the time she start ed at Parkview Baptist High School. It was only at the encouragement of an inspiring teacher, Donna Soniat, that she returned to the canvas. “She was just this sort of spark that I needed to get back into it, and that's what I did,” Buccere said. At the time, she explained, her artis tic style was much more in the vein of of pop art, with bold colors and strong lines.

Buccere also credited Soniat’s influence with her de cision to become an arts educator herself. “She sort of is the reason why I wanted to become an art teacher,” she said. After studying art education at LSU (a major that no longer exists there), Buccere began teaching at Zachary High School in 2000, and has been there ever since—overseeing everything from talented art to ce ramics, in addition to being the visual and performing arts department head.

On her own time, Buccere has managed to build and maintain her own studio art practice—creating every thing from oil and acrylic paintings, to sculptural ce ramic works like ornate frames, to a deck of tarot cards featuring her original gouache paintings on black illus

Megan Buccere LOUISIANA FLORA AND FOLKLORE

By Alexandra Kennon

tration board—all from the Zachary home she shares with her husband, a math teacher at Zachary High, their son who just started his freshman year there, and more recently, Buccere’s mother.

At one point she would have described her work as an outlet through which to explore the inner turmoils that comes with anxiety and depression.

In one of her earlier portraits, a rockabilly-styled pin up girl poses suggestively, her fingers entangled in thread from a ball of string floating just behind her. Beetles crawling on her chest weave the thread around pushpins stuck into her skin. “And a lot of that had to do with anxiety and you know, the strings that I used in those paintings that suggest a sort of tangled up feeling.” But in more recent years, she is discovering a shift in inspira tion. “I think my work is sort of moving away from that, that sort of tangled mess of a feeling,” she said.

Instead, Buccerre’s paintings now depict more nar rative images, drawing from the folklore and flora that made her first fall in love with Louisiana. Many of her paintings, particularly those hanging at Ann Connel ly Fine Art Gallery in Baton Rouge, depict Louisiana native birds like spoonbills or cranes juxtaposed with symbols such as gemstones or birdcages; vibrant colors contrasting starkly with jet black or swampy silhouetted backgrounds. Her art has also garnered an audience be yond Louisiana, having been shown in galleries in New York, San Francisco, Colorado, and the Pacific North

west.In recent works, birds, bats, and butterflies take on a strange, mythic reverence—a sort of swampland cler gy overseeing a ritual. In a painting titled “A Prayer of Flight” a bat clutching a glowing blue gemstone in its curling tongue hangs upside-down over Venus flytraps, their prickly plant mouths agape, accented by a cres cent moon. In another, a white heron and a spoonbill attentively flank a glowing green gem floating above a Venus flytrap as butterflies swarm and another pair of birds look on.

Buccere cites John William Waterhouse as a particular influence on her portraiture, which balances the grace of female beauty with themes darker in tone—the women she paints are of ten bound to Lou isiana’s swamps, and reaching or yearning for something beyond.

“There’s something they're trying to find; there's something there they're trying to chase or catch a sense of in those in those images.”

It feels appropriate that Buccere created a deck of tarot cards—her 2018 Obsidian Oracle Deck, with an expanded “Black Edi tion” released in 2021—since she says the images in her artwork appear in her

head before she paints them into reality, almost like pre monitions.“It'sareally strange place in my head sometimes,” she told me with a wry laugh. “Sometimes I just see an image, sometimes I see a composition. And I'm really compositionally focused when it comes to my work. I'm almost more concerned about the strength of the com position than anything else.”

Since oracle decks need not adhere to any classic tar ot deck format or include any particular cards, the proj ect granted Buccere the creative freedom to paint cards reflecting the very specific images that appeared in her head. While painting tiny renderings of birds and dif ferent subjects in gouache on black illustration board, it occurred to her that the small compositions would make quite a striking tarot deck. “So, I started researching an imals and bugs and different things like that, and what their meanings were, what their totems were.”

And, of course, tarot falls right into the realm of spir itualism that has long captivated Buccere’s imagination. “Again, it goes back to that sort of mysticism, back to the Victorian times, when they were super obsessed with the spirit world,” she mused. “And they’ve come back in popularity lately.”

As fall descends, and Buccere’s favorite holiday ap proaches, the artist is once again embracing the darkness as inspiration, perhaps even a bit more than usual. “Like, right now I'm drawing things that are a little darker,” she told me. “Because you know, it's fall, and I’m getting in a certain mood.” h

Buccere’s work is currently on display at Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge, and can be found on her website, Etsy, and Instagram via meganbuccere.com.