Burn ban in effect across south La.
July 1, 2009
Brenda Guidry Dantin
July 6, 2009
Terrebonne Parish residents can again celebrate their country and its freedoms this summer with a community event offering the traditional hot dogs, music and fireworks.
Last year’s Fourth of July came and went with no public display in Terrebonne, sparking a Houma eye doctor to team with local veterans to revive the parish’s Independence Day festivities.
The first Patriots’ Parade and Fireworks Display is scheduled for July 4 in Houma, beginning with a wreath-laying ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on La. Highway 311 and ending with fireworks at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, 346 Civic Center Blvd.
“There (are) a lot of people in this parish interested in honoring our veterans,” said Robin LeJeune, office manager at Specialty Eyecare/SEECA, the eye clinic organizing and helping pay for the Fourth of July event. “We really needed to have an event like this.”
A.J. “Dr. D” dela Houssaye, the clinic’s medical director and a staunch veterans’ supporter, said he and his staff began organizing the Houma event last July after a local veteran expressed anger with the lack of local festivities honoring the holiday.
“We’re doing it in honor of our country’s freedom,” dela Houssaye said, adding that the event aims to let veterans and active military members know the community appreciates them. “We’re trying to give them the respect and admiration they deserve.”
The Regional Military Museum, based in Houma, joined forces with dela Houssaye earlier this year to help in the array of tasks required to organize the event.
“They’ve really opened some doors for us,” dela Houssaye said of the museum staff.
“We wanted to make sure it got done,” added C.J. Christ, the museum’s president and CEO and a Korean War veteran.
All parts of the Fourth of July event are free and open to the public.
The celebration kicks off at 5 p.m. July 4 with a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on La. Highway 311 between Polk and St. Charles streets. The ceremony includes remarks by Maj. Gen. Hunt Downer of Houma, a 21-gun salute and a wreath-laying to honor fallen veterans.
The Patriots’ Parade begins at Veterans Park immediately following the ceremony.
The parade will honor the Army National Guard’s Charlie and Delta companies, based in Houma and Thibodaux, and feature active military members and veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and both Gulf Wars marching and riding in military vehicles, dela Houssaye said.
The parade will include five military vehicles provided by the Regional Military Museum, including Jeeps from the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War eras as well as two track-laying vehicles, one designed to carry personnel and the other for towing.
The parade also will include artillery pieces and other equipment from the museum as well as vehicles from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and Houma Police Department, Christ said.
“It’s not going to be a typical parade,” dela Houssaye said. “They’re going to rumble down the street. They’re not going to roll.”
Organizers have invited event sponsors to add floats decorated in patriotic themes to the parade, so floats could form part of the procession, Christ said.
From the park, the parade will head west on La. Highway 311 and turn left onto St. Charles Street. The parade then turns left onto Valhi Boulevard, right onto Civic Center Boulevard and left onto Barrow Street before ending in the Civic Center’s parking lot.
Following the parade, crowds can enjoy free food, live music and fireworks in the Civic Center parking lot.
The Houma-Terrebonne Community Band and Louisiana’s Rockin’ Fiddler, Waylon Thibodeaux, are scheduled to perform.
Martin Folse, founder and owner of Houma-based television station HTV-10, is scheduled to serve as master of ceremonies. HTV forms the title sponsor of the Fourth of July event, dela Houssaye said.
The event will include free hot dogs, soft drinks and dishes prepared by a local restaurant, but dela Houssaye encourages crowds to bring ice chests packed with food and drinks in case the refreshments run out. Organizers are unsure of the amount of food to provide because they have no estimate for the number of people who might attend the first-time event, he said.
Fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
“If you’re anywhere around the civic center, you’ll be able to see them,” dela Houssaye said.
Staging a brand-new parade and public celebration has proven time-consuming work, even with a welcoming response from the community, he said.
“It’s more a labor of love,” said LeJeune, who has served as the main contact person for the project since its beginning last July.
Through organizing the event, LeJeune said she is encouraged by the number of locals who have voiced a strong sense of patriotism.
“It’s almost a comfort to see that degree of support” for those who help keep the country’s freedoms intact, she said.
The upcoming Fourth of July celebration should remind locals of the sacrifices made for the freedoms enjoyed every day, she said. “We forget there (are) people who worked to make this happen,” LeJeune said.
dela Houssaye said he hopes to continue this event, paid for entirely through private donations, with community support.
“There are a lot of patriots in this community,” dela Houssaye said, but the economy has made it tough for some to contribute to events such as the Fourth of July celebration. “Fundraising has been a challenge.”
He is urging locals to support military members and events showing appreciation for them, such as this one.
dela Houssaye, who was 1-year-old when he lost his father to the Vietnam War, knows personally the toll of military service.
“When your dad doesn’t make it back, it’s a lifetime of sacrifice,” he said.
To donate to Houma’s Fourth of July festivities, call LeJeune at (985) 853-0900 or Christ at (985) 873-8200.
Let Freedom Ring Festival in Thibodaux
Thibodaux residents and friends can return to Peltier Park this year for the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration, the Let Freedom Ring Festival. Admission is free and open to the public.
The park opens at 8 a.m. July 4 with a free breakfast for veterans, law-enforcement officers and emergency responders.
Live music begins with a performance by Way Down South scheduled from noon to 2 p.m.
A patriotic ceremony is scheduled for 2 to 2:30 p.m. Way Down South plays again from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Treater is scheduled to perform from 4 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. The fireworks start at 9 p.m.
Tents, lawn furniture and barbecue pits are welcome.
Rhythm on the River
Back by popular demand, Rhythm on the River kicks off in Morgan City Friday, July 3, with a bang.
Cover band Déjà vu will perform from the Main Street stage from 6 to 9 p.m. And promptly at 9 p.m., fireworks will light the sky over the river.
Café Jo Jo manager Bonnie Knobloch said the free concert and fireworks show is the culmination of work by city officials, the Morgan City Main Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau.
St. Mary residents are invited to bring lawn chairs and enjoy the festivities. (No ice chests are allowed at the event.)
Knobloch said concessions – food and beverages – will be sold.
