By: TONY MARKS
Associate Editor
The Creole heritage of the area will again be celebrated during the 2017 Creole Families’ Bastille Day Heritage Festival and Commemorative Mass. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Northside Civic Center Pavilion in Ville Platte.
According to organizer John LaFleur, the schedule of events is as follows: 9:00 a.m.- Opening Ceremony with National Anthem, Invocation with Fr. Jason Vidrine and Native American Chief John Mayeux, President Gene Buller and special representation by French Consul General’s Office at New Orleans; 9:10 a.m.- Public Address with John LaFleur, Chairman’s Address: Louisiana’s French Creole Culinary Traditions Reflect Our Ethnic Diversity and Cultural History! Without American Democratic Republican Values,There Would Be No France!; 9:25 a.m.- Ms. Donna Demourelle Johnson, Genealogist EPGH Society Address; 9:35 a.m.- Holy Mass in French with Fr. Jason Vidrine including Native American Benediction with Chief John Mayeux; 10:00 a.m.- Bastille Day Champagne Toast to Honorary Guests with Dr. Charles Fontenot and Mr. Eugene Fontenot.
There will also be music by Todd Knighten and the Knight Train Express with a dance contest along with hors d’oeuvres by Creole-Cajun Gourmet John LaFleur.
According to organizer John LaFleur, “Free Vendor spaces are still available. Contact John LaFleur at 337-363-1506. You must be present by 8:00 a.m. for set up. Come and celebrate our American, French and Louisiana Creole-Cajun Cultural Heritage!”