October Meeting

The October meeting will be held on Monday night, October 20, at 7:00 p.m. in Central School. Ron Yule, the winner of this organization’s Dr. Donald J. Millet Memorial Writing Award, will present a program on SLWA musician Iry Lejeune. The focus of the talk will be on the history of the highly musical Lejeune family as well as the recordings of Iry Lejeune and their impact on the renaissance of traditional Cajun music in post-World War II Louisiana. On hand as musical guests will be members of the Lejeune family and several local musicians who are disciples of the Iry Lejeune style of music.

Iry LeJeune was born in 1928, in Pointe Noir, Louisiana. Nearly blind from birth, LeJeune began playing the accordion at an early age. LeJeune lived near the Vanicor family. Milton Vanicor and other family members formed the Lacassine Playboys. LeJeune played with them occasionally. LeJeune began recording music with Eddie Shuler in 1949, releasing "LaCassine Special" and "Calcasieu Waltz." These recordings spawned Goldband Records with Shuler and LeJeune recording songs in LeJeune's kitchen. At the time, string bands were more popular in Cajun music. LeJeune reintroduced traditional accordions into the genre after World War II. He is considered one of the most important musicians in the history of Cajun music. LeJeune was a brilliant accordionist, singer, and songwriter. Iry LeJeune died tragically in a highway accident at the peak of his career in 1955. He was 26 years old and had recorded 26 songs. On May 5, 1990, the Cajun French Music Association honored Iry LeJeune as a Hall of Fame member. (Taken from the McNeese Archives SWLA Musicians Encyclopedia - http://library.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/SWLAMusicians/encyclo.htm)

Ron Yule won the Millet award for his book, Iry Lejeune Wailin’ the Blues Cajun Style. He is also the author of When the Fiddle Was King, My Fiddlin’ Grounds/Northern and Western Louisiana Fiddlers, and Cajun French Music Association Hall of Fame: Lake Charles Chapter. Ron was born in 1943 in Missouri and began playing the fiddle in 1968 while a student at the University of Texas, where he received a B.S. in microbiology. He received his M.S. in microbiology from McNeese State University in 1974 and worked as a health inspector for the State of Louisiana, retiring in 1999. In 1973, Ron began producing fiddle contests and promoting bluegrass shows throughout Louisiana and southeast Texas. He and his wife Georgia produced the first bluegrass/fiddle club and newsletter in the state of Louisiana, the Southwest Louisiana Fiddler and Bluegrass Club, from 1974 to 1976. Ron continues promoting several bluegrass shows each year, including the Beauregard Parish Fair Fiddle Contest, an event that has been viable since 1925. After retiring, Ron began amassing all the data and pictures he had collected over the previous 30 years and started a written documentation of fiddling, bluegrass, Cajun, and country music in Louisiana with a focus on southwest Louisiana. Also, Ron's large collection of home tapes is the focus of a future project -- making these fiddlers come alive on audio. Ron continues to do what he loves best, "... play music with bluegrass, country, and Cajun friends at jam sessions, festivals, nursing homes and anywhere they'll allow the noise!”

Birth name	Iry LeJeune
Born	October 28, 1928(1928-10-28)
Origin	Pointe Noire, Louisiana, United States
Died	October 8, 1955 (aged 26)
Genre	Cajun music
Occupation	Accordion player

Recent Additions to the McNeese Archives Website

Several titles have recently been added to the section of full text books on the McNeese Archives website. The link to these is: http://library.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/FTBooks/index.htm. On this site, you can read the text of the entire book or you can search the text by keyword to find information. The titles included are non-published works, mostly theses, concerning some aspect of the history of Southwest Louisiana. Those included so far are:

1. Agriculture in Southwest Louisiana by Henry G. Chalkley, Jr.
2. A Brief History of Calcasieu Parish by Allie Ellender
3. The Development of Public Education in Beauregard Parish by Jennings B. Pugh
4. Early Annals of Beauregard Parish by Mrs. Lether Edward Frazar
5. Early Calcasieu Doctors 1850-1912 by Maude Reid
6. The Economic and Social Development of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, 1840-1912 by Grace Ulmer
7. The Economic Development of Southwest Louisiana, 1865-1900 by Dr. Donald J. Millet
8. The Economic History of the Long-Bell Lumber Company by Helene King
9. The Growth and Development of the Lake Charles School System, 1920-1940 by W. O. Boston
10. An Historical Study of the Negro Schools of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, 1888-1938 by Ralph Clifton Reynaud
11. A History of the Rice Industry of Southwestern Louisiana by Lawson P. Babineaux, Jr.
12. The History of Cantonment Atkinson compiled by Helen Wentz
13. The History of Education in Calcasieu Parish by Irman D. Bayne
14. The History of Education in Lake Charles from 1907-1937 by Inez Agnes Schindler
15. The History of Education in Lake Charles Prior to 1907 by Leila Aline Scarlett
16. The History of Jennings, Louisiana by Henry LeRoy Riser
17. The History of Lake Charles by Stewart Alfred Ferguson
18. The Industrial Development of Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1920-1950 by Bernard H. Lane
19. Lake Charles Centennial Celebration 1867-1967 edited by Donald J. Millet
20. The Life and Services to Public Education of John McNeese by Theodore John Ratliff
21. Louisiana for the Settler: Southwest Louisiana, Its Agricultural and Industrial Developments and its Potential Wealth Along Southern Pacific Lines
22. Lumbering in Southwest Louisiana by George A. Stokes
23. A Narrative History of the Lake Charles Little Theatre Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1927-1982 by Nancy Martin Key
24. Niblett's Bluff in the War Between the States by Michael Dan Jones
25. Niblett's Bluff Wartime Timeline by Michael Dan Jones
26. The Political Development of the City of Lake Charles, 1890-1930 by Robert Brantley Cagle, Jr.
27. The Public Career of Arsene P. Pujo, Louisiana Congressman, 1903-1913 by James Carroll Beam
28. Southwest Louisiana Biographical and Historical (Calcasieu Parish and Cameron Parish) by William Henry Perrin
29. Southwest Louisiana Up To Date: Omaha Edition, 1899 (Southwestern Louisiana on the Line of the Southern Pacific), S. L. Cary
30. Three Decades of Public Education in Jefferson Davis Parish from 1913-1940 by Luke Harry Richard

Kinder

Kinder (rhymes with fender) is located in the southern part of Allen Parish. It is a farming and industrial community, having an estimated population of 2,500. Rice and hay are the two most important crops. Oil, gas, sand, gravel, and forestry products in abundance are the bases for industrial activity.

The first settler of the town and the one for whom the town was named was Jim Kinder, a native of Mississippi. Mr. Kinder arrived about 1885 and opened a small store to satisfy the few wants of the scattered families in the vicinity. The store subsequently came to be called Kinder’s. As more settlers migrated here, the name of the town developed through constant usage.

The early settlers of Kinder and the surrounding vicinity were for the most part homesteaders from the North and East. As one newspaper of the time expressed it - the Cajuns did not know the value of the land so the industrious Yankees came down and settled it. The earliest industries were lumbering and turpentine, this entire section being crowded with virgin timber. The staple crop of the community later came to be rice, but not much attention was given to it until practically all of the virgin timber was cleared.

The earliest family in the town was M. B. McRill in 1890, with the families of P. E. Moore, the Doucets, and Henry Marcentel following in close succession. There are no definite records as to exactly when these last families came, but the consensus of opinion points to 1891 as the approximate date. There were quite a number of people already in the region at that date, but the town of Kinder seems to have come into being with the few families who decided to cast their fortunes together at that time. Of the original settlers, none is still living today. Mr. M. B. McRill will long be remembered as one of the outstanding men connected with the development of this community.

Taken from Louisiana Places: a Collection of the Columns from the Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate, 1960-1974 by Clare D’Artois Leeper.

Dues

If you are not a "Lifetime" member, please send a check for $10 ($15 Family) to George Ann Benoit, 4201 Alma Lane, Lake Charles, LA 70605 for your 2008 dues. If you are a new member or your address has changed, please use this form to help us keep our records up-to-date. Thank you!!

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