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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Michelle Pichon (pichonm@nsula.edu)
Creole Heritage Center
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6685
9/08/2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES- The annual Creole Heritage Day celebration will be held Oct. 7-8 in conjunction with the annual Natchitoches Tour of Homes and the St. Augustine Catholic Church Fair. Events will be held at the Friedman Student Union on the NSU campus.
A reception and exhibits will begin activities at 3:30 p.m. A viewing of the film, "A Common Pot," will be held at 4:30 p.m. This video presentation represents a jointly sponsored program by the Cane River National Heritage Area and the NSU Creole Heritage Center. Although the main attraction of the film shows the making of many Creole dishes, it serves a greater purpose by noting the history of these traditional foods.
Friday's events consist of several discussion panels and informative sessions. "Creoles and Medical History" will begin at 9 a.m., a discussion of the book "Isle of Canes," along with a signing and reading by the author Elizabeth Shown Mills will begin at 10:30 a.m. and "Creole Veterans" will begin at 1:30 p.m. All these events are free of charge.
On Friday evening at 7 p.m. there will be a Benefit/Awards Banquet and Dance where awards will be presented to 10 people from throughout the country to recognize their accomplishments in furthering awareness of Creole heritage. Admission to the banquet and dance is $35.The dance will feature music from Amédee "The Creole Man" of New Orleans with accompaniment by Cane River local "Big Al and the Gators." A supervised children's activity room will be available during the banquet and dance for $5 per child with refreshments provided. Souvenir photos will be taken, various exhibits will be on display and commemorative items, such as various Creole T-shirts, caps and bags, as well as Creole Center publications, will be for sale during these two days.
The staff from the Creole Center's Genealogy department will be at the St. Augustine Catholic Church Fair to provide access to the National Creole Family History Database. Hours for Genealogy services are Saturday, Oct. 9 from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 10 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. All interested individuals are invited and urged to bring copies of their family history information for submission to the Database.
The St. Augustine Catholic Church is the first Catholic church
in America founded, independently financed, and built by people
of color. The main purpose of the annual church fair is to help
support the church and its mission. For more than 100 years, the
parishioners of St.
Augustine Catholic Church have prepared and participated in the
annual October church fair. An added attraction to the fair has
been due to the public notoriety gained when St. Augustine was
chosen as the location of the wedding scene in the movie "Steel
Magnolias."
The fair features traditional Creole food including meat pies, gumbo, tamales, pecan candy, and homemade cakes and cookies. There will also be games, raffles, turkey shoots, a motorcycle run and the Natchitoches Central High School Jr. ROTC drill march. Musical performances will also go on throughout both days and Saturday night will feature a dance with the Zydeco sounds of Willis Prudhomme along with "The Creole Man."
Also during the St. Augustine Church Fair, the St. Augustine Historical Society will provide a driving tour of the historic Cane River area billed as THE Creole Tour. This tour will last about an hour and will journey around the Cane River by van where a guide will point out various landmarks and notable homes and give a history of the area in general. The van will hold approximately 12 passengers and will board at St. Augustine Catholic Church on Saturday at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. On Sunday tour times are 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. and the cost is $10 per person. For further information, contact the Creole Heritage Center at (318) 357-6685, or email colsonj@nsula.edu.
The annual Natchitoches Tour of Homes is also part of this entertaining weekend. Four separate elements comprise this annual event. Included will be a Garden Forum, Town Tour, Cane River Country Tour and a Candlelight Tour. Featured will be eleven structures with the oldest dating back to the 1790s.
This event is sponsored by the Association for Preservation of Historical Natchitoches (APHN). The tour headquarters is the Lemee House located in the heart of Natchitoches at 310 Rue Jefferson and will be open during the tour from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The tour, garden luncheon and forum will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The Home Tours are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday with the Candlelight tour (Saturday only) to be held at 7 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Individual and package tour prices are available, as well as advance reservations, seniors and student pricing. Advance tickets sales end Oct. r 7 at 4:30 p.m. Contact the Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission at (800) 259-1714 or (318) 352-6398 for further information.