And a Little Extra...
Members Paul and Sally Hooper circulated this e-mail recently, so we thought we would share it with those of you who may not be in the Cyber-loop.
They played Cajun music on the Cajun Connection stage a couple of years ago at Fiesta Day in Ybor City. The dancers loved them. They are really good and, most of all, fun! We would like to let all the club members know that this is a band they can dance to for only five bucks on an evening that will follow a day that most of us will have off from work.
We promise you everyone will pass a good time. Plus we need something to tide us over until BooZoo.
Sounds like a great way to start a holiday weekend! We'll be there - hope to see many of our Cajun Connection dancers there as well!!
Our good friends from Los Angeles, the Doo Wah Riders (sucko name, great band) are going to be playing at Skipper's on July 3rd. Although they're billed as a country band, they're heart is in Louisiana music.
Members to Remember
Here's some news about a couple of members that are doing great things.
Teresa Lynch started taking dance lessons this year and has been a member for several months now. She is an attorney with the law firm of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal, and Banker, the same place where veteran member Dede Peck works. Teresa was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Services Foundation. We're sure she will do the Cajun Connection proud, but we hope the Foundation gives her time off for her planned trip to Festivals Acadiens this summer!
Davida Johns is well known in our club. She has been an active member for years, as well as one of our better dancers. Many people also know that Davida is an award-winning photographer. She recently received a $1,500 grant from the Pinellas County Arts Council, the highest possible amount an applicant may be awarded. The grant is being used to sponsor a photography adventure in Nicaragua. Davida is working with a group known as ProNica, a Quaker sponsored organization whose mission is to establish operations in Nicaraguan villages that teach life and work skills to the inhabitants. She is documenting their work and her photos will be used to demonstrate ProNica's work to potential supporters and recruits in the United States.
Our members are very interesting people. Our leisure time lifestyle alone sets us apart from the crowd - so it is no surprise when we find out that the activities we participate in away from the Cajun Connection are special too. Let us know if you or another member are doing something fun, significant, silly, or all of the above so we can continue to publish news like this. We are sure the rest of the members will enjoy reading about it.
White Springs Review
Lynn and I recently made our annual trip up to the Florida Folk Festival. This festival is held on Memorial Day weekend at the Steven Foster State Park, located in the town of White Springs, just off the interstate north of Lake City.
I had heard that they were going to feature some Zydeco by the Ardoin Family at a dance that was to last for several hours on Saturday night. To our pleasure, we were able to follow the Ardoins all afternoon and witness three performances.
The first was a zydeco clinic where the band leader for the afternoon, Morris Ardoin, spoke to a small audience about Zydeco and his experience with the music. He revealed that he was the son of long time Creole musician Clarence "Bois Sec" Ardoin who was also scheduled to be in White Springs, but had to decline because he had received an invitation to play accordion in Great Britain! Bois Sec's instructions to Morris were "Don't mess up."
He didn't. Morris, along with his son on accordion and the band's guitar player, played several acoustic zydeco songs between interesting anecdotes spoken in a heavy French Creole accent. It was an unbelievable experience for this zydeholic, and worth the trip all by itself.
But there was more. The Ardoins gave a brief concert at "The Marble Stage," an area obviously designed for performing and not dancing. It was also hot - so, despite the great music, there were only a few dancers. I got a chance to speak to Morris after the performance. He and the band were a little disappointed that there were so few dancers, but I assured them that there would be more at the pavilion.
And there were. After the dancers took part in a half-hour zydeco lesson, the Ardoins took the stage and played for the better part of three hours. The dance floor was full the entire time, and there were many Cajun Connection members among the crowd, including Dave and Cindy LaRouge, Carol and Mike Handley, Andrea Posner, Sam Mahfoud, Don Beyer, Kacy Curry, Connie Caldwell, Tammy Vrana, Jan Ledman, and Rocky.
We really enjoyed ourselves, as much for the music as for the company of our great Cajun Connection friends. Dave and Cindy, for instance, were in White Springs because Cindy performs with a hula dance group. We blew a chance to see her because she told us she wasn't performing and then she had to fill in unexpectedly at the last minute. We'll definitely make an effort to see her in the future. Maybe she'll do the hula at the next fais do do.
The next time you are trying to come up with a plan for Memorial Day, consider the Folk Festival. It doesn't always have this much Cajun or Zydeco, but it always has something cool. Ask your fellow members if they agree.
