April Meeting

The April dinner meeting will be held on Monday night, April 20, at Ryan’s Family Restaurant on Ryan Street in Lake Charles. We have a meeting room reserved. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m., but come early to eat and visit.

This is the meeting at which we award the prizes for the Dr. Donald J. Millet Memorial Award for Historical Writing. The winner of the award for 2008 is Michael E. Saucier. Michael won the award for My Sweet Secret: A Narrative Poem about life in Lake Charles in 1955. He will read the poem at the meeting. Please come and enjoy this look back into another time and place.

Also on the agenda is a discussion of the plans of the City of Lake Charles and the Downtown Development Authority to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Fire of 1910. The year 2010 will see many events scheduled to remember this historic event in our city’s history. The Historical Association is involved in the planning of these events.

Gingham Ladies Report

The Gingham Ladies will have their annual spring picnic at the Power Squadron building at LeFleur Beach on May 30. Please see Nancy Hurlbut or one of the other ladies if you have a question about this occasion or any of the other Gingham Ladies activities. The other activities they are involved in include helping with ticket sales at the Little Theatre, the Symphony, and the Palm Sunday Tour of Homes.

CONTRABAND DAYS FESTIVAL
Established in 1958
Louisiana’s Premier Pirate Festival

WHAT IS CONTRABAND DAYS?

Contraband Days is one of the largest festivals in Louisiana, and one of the oldest festivals in the City of Lake Charles. 2009 marks the 52^nd year of Contraband Days in Lake Charles. This “pirate-themed” festival hosts nearly 100 events during its 12-day celebration. Contraband Days takes place annually the first two weeks of May on Lake Charles Civic Center grounds with some events taking place throughout the City. Over 100,000 people attend the Contraband Days Festival on land and on the water.

HISTORIC LEGEND OF CONTRABAND DAYS

Almost three centuries ago, a notorious and ruthless pirate named “Jean Lafitte” and his band of buccaneers were fleeing enemy ships and heading west to Galveston. Legend has it that Lafitte and his men would hide out along the waterways in Lake Charles. Supposedly, his favorite hideout was Contraband Bayou on whose banks Lafitte and his men are said to have buried the silver and gold treasure they had stolen. This is why the bayou was named Contraband Bayou.

HOW CONTRABAND DAYS BEGAN

In 1957, a group of local businessmen from the Downtown Division of the Lake Charles Association of Commerce (later known as the Chamber of Commerce) formed Lake Charles Contraband Days, Inc. (later known as Contraband Days, Inc.) for the sole purpose of developing a program to utilize the area’s recreational and cultural activities and to attract tourists. The group opted for a pirate theme with the “Legend of Lafitte’s Buried Treasure” along Contraband Bayou. The first annual Contraband Days was held in June 1958 as a one-day event with a boat parade, water ski show and boat races. A few years later, this group of men formed another organization called the Buccaneers of Lake Charles, Inc. and added entertainment to the festival by dressing in pirate attire. A “Jean Lafitte” would be selected to lead the buccaneers to “capture the Mayor and take over the city.” Part of the buccaneer group would also dress in “City Militia” attire, and armed with real cannons, try to keep Lafitte and his buccaneers from landing. The buccaneers begin and end the festivities and promote the festival year round. Contraband Days, Inc. is the organization that plans, organizes, and budgets for the festival’s events. Forty-eight years later Contraband Days has grown from a one-day to a twelve-day festival with approximately 100 events.

WHO BENEFITS FROM CONTRABAND DAYS?
Contraband Days is not only a festival to promote tourism and to provide entertainment, it also helps many charitable organizations raise funds for their causes. There are at least 20 local charitable organizations that benefit by having an event during Contraband Days each year. Charitable organizations, schools, and churches host events, contests, booths, etc. during Contraband Days and some have been involved for many years.

ECONOMIC IMPACT IN THE COMMUNITY

In 1998 and 1999 Contraband Days enlisted McNeese State University to collect festival attendee data. The results of that data revealed an average individual spends $16-21 per day on the grounds. A total of 1.7 million dollars was spent directly on the festival grounds – this figure does not include the costs spent off the grounds for food, lodging, shopping, etc.

CONTRABAND DAYS – RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

Contraband Days receives many awards and recognitions each year both nationally and locally.

It was featured on the All-American Festivals segment of the Television Food Network and included in an article in Hot Boat Magazine. Contraband Days was recognized in the American Bus Association’s Top 100 Events in North America in their Destinations Magazine. It is also featured nationally in many other top festival websites, magazines, and publications each year. Contraband Days has been selected “Festival of the Year” by the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals and has received numerous marketing awards by the Association. It has been featured in Louisiana Life, Southern Living, Acadiana Profile, and many other regional tourism guides and magazines as a “must see” festival destination. Locally, it has been named Tourism Partner of the Year by the SWLA Convention and Visitors Bureau and received the “Best Festival” award given by the Times of SWLA.

CONTRABAND DAYS EVENTS
Contraband Days provides entertainment for all ages, heritage, and religion. Contraband Days features “Family Night,” an alcohol-free night for families including family entertainment. Concerts ranging from Christian and Gospel, to Country and Cajun, to Zydeco, Urban, Rhythm and Blues, Oldies, and Classic Rock are a big part of the festival entertainment. Entertainers known nationally as well as those known regionally and locally have performed at the festival. While Contraband Days, Inc. provides big attractions and events, smaller events are also put on by local and charitable organizations and the media.

Jean Lafitte (Laffite) Bibliography

Click here for a bibliography of Jean Lafitte materials.

Archives and Special Collections

The Archives and Special Collections Department of the McNeese State University Library serves the citizens of Southwest Louisiana by collecting, preserving, and making available historical materials about the area. Books, letters, photographs, organization and business records, church histories, oral history tapes, and pamphlets are just a few of the many types of documents collected by the Archives. Among our collections are the Rosa Hart Collection of theater materials, the Lake Charles High School Collection, and the Dunn and Quinn Collection of architectural records.

Items of historical interest donated to the Archives are cleaned, arranged, and described by the Archives staff. To prevent unnecessary deterioration, fragile items are placed in containers that minimize the ill effects of temperature, light, and moisture. The goal of the department is to provide for the permanent protection of historically valuable Southwest Louisiana documents and to ensure their accessibility to future researchers.

The Archives and Special Collections Department depends almost entirely on the support of Southwest Louisianans who donate important materials to our collections. We urge citizens to be alert to the potential importance of records and to contact us before disposing of any documents. Sometimes useful documents are destroyed unintentionally; what you discard may contain vital information for researchers.

Webmaster: pthreatt@mcneese.edu