New Year Traditions

We have a tradition of going over to Vic & Bebe McElroy's home for New Year's Eve, along with a couple of other families. We enjoy eating finger foods, playing games, having lively conversation, and watching the countdown in TV up to the New Year. Their son, Joe Fox, usually has a fireworks show immediately after midnight, but not this year. It seems that just about everyone has cut back on their fireworks budget. Vic & Bebe make their income conducting safety training classes for offshore oilfield personnel. They have a camp in Cocodrie that they go to regularly. They enjoy Cajun dancing on weekends, and are active in the community.

The following day, we have the tradition (10-years running) of going over to the Ron & Stacy Mangels home, where we have New Year's dinner with them and their family, consisting of black eyed peas, cabbage, and roast pork. A New Year's tradition in the South has it that if black eyed peas, cabbage, and ham/pork are consumed on the 1st day of the year, they bring good luck and prosperity. According to some, this practice dates back to the Civil War period. Ron also works in an oil-related industry, and has more recently spent time on offshore oil platforms. Ron & Stacy have a son, Jon, who is the only missionary serving from our ward at the moment. He is serving in Chili, and has a little over 8 months left on his mission.

Both of these families have gone out of their way to make us feel at home down here in Cajun Country, and we greatly appreciate it. Now it's time to start loosing the weight I picked up over the holidays!

Boat trip with Ron Mangels

Ron Mangels, a close friend who I know through our church, invited me to take a boat ride with him in the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge area that I described in an earlier blog (24 Jan 2009). We had talked about doing this together sometime, so I was excited when Ron called me up early this afternoon inviting me to go with him.

I included a Google Earth map of where we went by boat (the red lines). The map also shows where we live (red arrow) to provide orientation. The area we went through was truly breathtaking and otherworldly. It's hard to imagine that we are within one or two miles of areas like this when we are driving on the highways down here.

I don't even begin to remember all the different bird species Ron pointed out to me, but they included herons, egrets, coots, wild ducks, owls, woodpeckers, and so on. The close up I have in the collection of pictures was of two yellow crowned night herons in a tree. We saw a good number of alligators. I got a nice picture of a young alligator on a log basking in the sun. We saw some wonderful cypress groves. The pictures don't really do them justice.

I was also impressed by the large outcroppings of cattails. This country is almost tailor made for cattails. We took a side trip (where the red line splits) to see if I could access the area by kayak without having to go to the Intercoastal Canal, and proved that it could easily be done. If I didn't put the lines in the right place, Ron can straighten me out.

At any rate, it was a very nice activity for a Saturday afternoon, and I am very appreciative of Ron's offer to go on this boat trip with him.

Annual Thibodaux Ward Crawfish Boil

This year's crawfish boil was successful as expected, but rather anticlimatic compared to last year's (key in 'crawfish boil' at "search" above to go to it). Last year, we invited the BYU Idaho 50-member Symphony Band group who were performing in the Southeastern U.S., plus a live Cajun Band at our annual crawfish boil. It was a blast and a memorable event for the band members. This year, it was just us, and a below-average turnout at that.

Howard Worthy, who teaches ROTC at Morgan City High School, was able to get an Army tent for the event. It took a good number of people to lift it in place, but it was easily the best and biggest tent we have ever had for our crawfish boil.

I invited an older inactive gentleman that I know from working out at the YMCA, the day before the crawfish boil. He promised to come out and enjoy the event with us, and was good on his word. He is the first person on our ward list with the name Kenneth Abramson, but this is the first time I remember seeing him at our Church. A few of the long time members recognized him. I took some food home for Judy, who had to work at Sylvan Learning Center until past noon. I wasn't sure she would make it, and I failed to recognize that she was pulling in to the Church as I was leaving. This morning, I took Judy to the airport so the meal I took home to her ended up being mine after Church today. Judy will be with Julie & Matt, and their family in Indiana for the next two weeks, while Megan goes through her next phase of reconstruction surgery, this time on her palate, as I understand. I'm sure Julie will keep us posted on Megan's progress at the Indiana Bertasso's blog site. Keep Megan in your prayers.

Kevin and Emily Voisin, friends at Church, were excited to announce over the weekend, that their family's business, Motivatit Seafoods, and it's star product, Gold Band Oysters, will be featured on the primetime Food Network program, "Will Work For Food."

If interested, tune in on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 7:30 PM-CST to see television personality Adam Gertler try his hand at oyster harvesting in South Louisiana. Click here to find out more about Adam and his many adventures in the name of food. According to FoodNetwork.com, Adam gets a tough and messy lesson in oyster harvesting from the back-breaking haul to the cleaning, shucking, and banding of this amazing delicacy.

Whoever hasn't been to the oyster processing plant in Houma before, this will be a great opportunity to see the operation in full swing!

Kevin Voisin wins seat on Terrebonne Parish Council

Kevin Voisin, a decided underdog in a post-November election runoff between the top two candidates for City Councilman in Terrebonne Parish District 6, actually pulled off a win yesterday with the narrowest of margins, 862 vs. 846 votes. In the District 6 primary held Nov. 4, Steve Robichaux tallied more than 41 percent of the vote, compared to 32 percent for Voisin. A third candidate, Democrat Al Badeaux, finished with 26 percent. Steve blamed voter apathy for the loss, and the probable assumption by his friends that he "had it in the bag."

We were excited for Kevin and his family. We know Kevin through our church, and wish him the very best in his new role. If there is any one extended family that epitomizes the LDS Church in Houma, it would have to be the Voisin family. I served as a bishopric counselor with Kevin's father, Mike Voisin, a former Bishop of Thibodaux Ward and convert to the church. Kevin was an LDS missionary in France. He was a history major at BYU, and opted to become part of the family business by returning to Houma with his wife, Emily, following college. They now have three children. The Voisin family has been in the oyster business for seven generations. Kevin and Emily played a key role in organizing the Mormon Helping Hands volunteer event that brought over 1,400 volunteers into Terrebonne Parish to assist in the cleanup following Hurricane Gustav.

SPEBSQSA changed to BHS

The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America has now become the Barbershop Harmony Society, while retaining the old title on their books for legal and sentimental reasons. This is the official organization for barbershop choruses and quartets in the U. S. The organization is actually international with a fairly sizeable number of chapters in Canada, the U. K., and elsewhere.

I was fortunate enough to have been part of a very successful barbershop chorus (Skyline Chorus) in Utah Valley while living in Provo. I miss the comradery that was felt, being part of this wonderful organization, and dearly wish we had a chorus close to home here in the Houma-Thibodaux area. There are barbershop choruses in Baton Rouge (Showboat Chorus) and New Orleans (Mardi Gras Chorus). Choruses are able to perform throughout the year in a wide range of venues. They usually put on an annual show, inviting world class quartets (often very humorous) to be part of their show. They also compete with each other at a regional level, and if good enough, at an international level. The Society just had their most recent international competition (early July) in Nashville. Choruses also have breakout quartets that perform on the side in their own venues.

To get a flavor of what a barbershop chorus is like, and a sense of why I miss being part of one as much as I do, I found this video made by The Southern Gateway Chorus based in Cincinnati. Go to their website and click on "Irish Blessing." This brief song, and how it is harmonized, will give you a sense why participants often describe barbershop singing as a spiritual experience. Some of the patriotic songs we sang brought tears to my eyes every time I sang them. And of course, barbershop wouldn't be barbershop without havin' a fun time while singing some hilarious songs, and doing some pretty silly antics on stage while singing them. Check out the Chordiac Arrest Quartet...they're one of the best, when it comes to keeping the audiences entertained!

Finally, getting back to that original acronym, SPEBSQSA. Back in Utah, how we remembered it was, "Stake Presidents & Bishops should quit singing altogether!" (only LDS members may appreciate this)

Friends from Provo staying in Houma

We got a surprise call, and learned that Lynn & Laurel Odgen and some BYU students were in Houma, staying at the home of Mike & Sarah Voisin. They were in our church ward in Provo, so we knew them quite well. They were attending a food convention/conference in New Orleans, and had the opportunity afterward to visit the oyster processing plant in Houma that Mike and his family run. The Voisins have developed a unique method of processing oysters that give them a distinctive competitive edge, so Lynn apparently wanted his students to see this. Lynn is a professor in the Food Science Department at BYU. His claim to fame is that he developed and perfected carbonated yogurt. His product used to sell off the shelves at the BYU Creamery on Campus. Through much effort on his part, and with support from BYU, his product was picked up by Yoplait, and today sells as "Fizzix." Lynn said the 3rd quarter information is coming in from Yoplait, so they will have a decent feel as to how well the product is selling after that. We told them we have become hooked on Fizzix. I only wish it could be packaged more similar to the product we used to buy at the BYU Creamery. Lynn and Laurel came over and filled us in on happenings in our old ward and on where their kids are at. I forgot that they had so many children. I remember their daughter Lena & her husband being in our ward, before we left. Their kids are scattered, just like ours are. It was fun to see the Ogdens, and we're glad they called us so we could connect.

Crawfish boil with BYU-Idaho group

Great food. Great music. Great time together.

Katie Bodily, a ward member who is moving back to Utah soon, had a video camera at the event and took some footage that she posted at her blogsite. It isn't high quality, but it's ok. She posted the stills and videos the day of the Thibodaux Ward Crawfish Boil, on April 19, 2008. We had about 50 students from BYU-Idaho. They had a blast. I'm posting some of the better pics I took. Mine were either too light or too dark, because I didn't know what I was doing. Judy did her best to make them respectable, afterward.

Passing of a couple of giants

A prominant member of our Church died, who was widely respected in the community. He was a self-made man, in his heyday, had a streak of flamboyancy about him that was referred to during his funeral service. He died from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer of the lungs associated with exposure to asbestos at the workplace. His great qualities, particularly relating to his employment in the oil industry, included absolute loyalty and integrity, strong sense of fairness, encouraging those starting out in the companies he worked for, and not speaking ill of anyone. It made me stop and think what people might say of me, and whether any of these labels would fit me very well. He will be greatly missed.

Another giant, far better known, who passed on was Al Copeland, founder of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits restaurants, Copeland's restaurants, and other ventures. He too was self-made, and had a flamboyant lifestyle, with a his bevy of speedboats, race cars, flashy motorcycles, and a home in the New Orleans area that at Christmas, was lit up with more than a million lights. He too, died from a rare form of cancer, tumor of the salivary glands. One can only speculate as to whether his cancer was associated with his restaurant business. His compelling story can be found at Wikipedia, among other places.