Iota, Louisiana
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
"Fat Tuesday", Mardi Gras Day, Courir de Mardi Gras
PART 2
Music is the thread that keeps Cajun tradition alive. At 11 AM, under a small tent at one end of the street party, a handful of teenage guitar, fiddle, and accordion players line up to play Cajun two steps and waltzes. A “house band” of grown men with guitars, fiddles, and percussion ask the kids what they want to play and back them up. None of the men has to consult a chart. They know every song these kids have learned. Some of the kids are shy. They’re all good.

Concessions from the Egan-Iota Lions Club, the Catholic Daughters 1519 of Eunice, St. Francis School, Boy Scout Troop 64, Sister’s Gourmet Nuts, and a handful of other local social groups are selling boudin, gumbo, jambalaya, cracklins, crawfish etoufee, po boys, homemade bread and sandwiches, fried alligator, cookies, syrup pies, glazed pecans and a host of other goodies. The Iota Rule: all of it has to be home made. My eyes glaze over as I contemplate how to taste some of everything.


Old time Cajun music drifts out the doors of The American Legion Hall at the other end of the street. Alex Caswell from Orange, Texas, and a bunch of his friends and relatives from Port Arthur to Vinton, Louisiana, play a steady stream of Cajun two steps and waltzes. The little bar in the rear is doing a good business, as is the food table with crawfish etoufee and rice and beans. Entire families sit around the dance floor in folding chairs. They, too, know the songs by heart.

Brother/sister Liz and Eric Kelly of Port Meche, TX play with musicians led by Alex Caswell of Port Arthur, TX.
A raised dance area with a sturdy plywood floor is set up in the middle of town. Les Bassettes, Corey “L’ll Pop” Ledet, then Scotty Pousson and the Pointe Aux Loups Playboys play from 11 AM to closing time at 5 PM. It isn't an official party unless there's music.

The list of today's Tee-Mamou Mardi Gras sponsors includes local pharmacies, banks, liquor distributors, restaurants, truck stops, roofing companies, hair salons, and a host of local officials. Buy a string of tickets at $1.00 apiece and you can eat like country royalty. Otherwise, the whole shebang is free.
Across the street from the food concessions is a string of Louisiana Folk Crafts Booths. Mardi Gras masks and capouchons, handmade wooden toys, carvings of egrets, fish and birds, jewelry, art work, clothing, hand made cutting boards, crocheted baby blankets, ceramics, and candles are tempting items behind the booths.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Vignettes from Duson Avenue
Richard “Joe” Miller (R) finds the young guests and emcee Howard Noel, Jr. handles introductions plays drums and sings. They have a set lineup of youngsters who will play and invite anyone who’s come with their instrument to join the veteran musicians under the little tent to play. This is a tutorial and opportunity for kids to experience playing for a friendly crowd that absolutely wants them to keep the tradition alive well into the 21st century. these kids may have iPods and spend time on Facebook but they’re hardwired to their culture as well and they’ll use social media to deepen their connection with Acadiana.

Around noon I head down to the American Legion Hall. Hot damn, there’s Farland Henry and his wife Carole, two friendly people sitting in just about the same seats where I met them here last year.
“You remembered my name from last year?” he says “It’s an unusual name Far Land,” he says. I ask him where he’s from “West Orange, Texas,” he says, and gives me their address and telephone number.
“We’ve been married 64 years,” Farland says.
“I knew I wanted to marry him two weeks after we met,” Carole says with a big smile..
“Call us anytime you come down our way,” he says. And he means it. “My mother was born in Indian Bayou,Louisiana.
"Somewhere in the 1930s she met my dad and they moved to Texas. I worked for Dupont for 27 Years."
That was a time when tens of thousands of men worked in American factories and never thought it would ever be any different in the future.

Tourists and locals mix with ease. You're not in Iota unless you love the music and respect the traditions and the people who carry them on. Louisiana natives appreciate that.


Down to the Catholic Daughters 1519 concession for coffee au lait and a sweet dough syrup turnover. "We boil down cane sugar till it's the right thick consistency and wrap home made dough around it." At 5 PM, his melt-in-my-mouth treasure washed down with coffee au lait is a divine restorative.

Boy Scout Troop 64 sells po-boys; the kid's slide is popular all day long.

The program for the 25th Anniversary Tee Mamou Mardi Gras Folklife Festival, downtown Iota, Tuesday, February 21, 2012


Next year i'll get photos of the crafts booths! Just about every business in Iota sponsors the Tee Mamou Mardi Gras Day.
Mardi Gras organizer Larry G. Miller, retired master builder of accordions, makes all kinds of announcements between bands. "Robert Lejeune is writing a history of Iota, it's never been done, if you have any information about your family you’d like to pass on to him he’ll be grateful,” he says to the crowd.
"Money was tight this year. We're doing everything we can to keep the day free of charge, and we accept donations at the concession ticket booths," Miller says to the people listening to the music.

“That fiddle player, Heather Cole-Mullen, with Les Bassettes is from the Boston area," Miller tells me when he finds out I'm from Boston. "She’s a prodigy, When she was 13, she convinced her parents to send her to Ireland to compete. She didn’t win but did well. She’s the girlfriend of my grandson.”
Wine and Smoothies
Upon reading reviews of award-winning wines from a well-known Massachusetts vineyard
“Pale golden yellow color. Bright aromas of lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaf, lychee nut, and apricot yogurt with a silky dry-yet-fruity medium body and some pleasant maturing mineral and smoky notes backing the pure tart citrus fruit finish. Very Alsatian-like and a great choice for the table.”
Did the judges uncork a bottle of Pinot Gris or pour themselves a smoothie? I must be the taste equivalent of tone deaf. When I take my first sip of a glass of wine, I think, “Hmmm, it tastes pretty good,” or, “Geez, I don’t think this was a good choice.”
“Deep old gold color. Toasty brioche, baked fruit, and caramel aromas with a crisp, frothy medium body and a long grilled citrus, praline, and apple driven finish. Rich and satisfying; serve with grilled seafood.”
I’ve never tasted a wine that reminded me of toasty brioche, or toasty anything for that matter. I taste something vaguely grape-y, maybe dry, or sweet, or heavy, but "a long grilled citrus, apple driven finish?" Do they serve peyote mushrooms during these tasting events?
When I first started reading descriptions of wine, I actually thought the vintners dropped a few peaches or lemons or apricots into the vat while pressing the grapes. No, I was told, these were virtual flavors imagined by the judges and reviewers. Imagine what your wine would really taste like if Mr. Beringer threw his half eaten breakfast brioche into his fermenting Blanc de Blanc.
This is why I’m all in favor of the idea of selling wine in bottles with twist off caps or in plastic coated cartons, the kind you get your Hood homogenized 2% milk in. Even if it's a pretty good year for the wine, I dare one of those judges to start carrying on about “spicy caramelized apple and pineapple and coconut flan aromas” when they pour their wine from one of those babies.
February 29, 2012 in Commentaries | Permalink | Comments (9)