Experience Louisiana Festival delivers $3,000 check to LSUE Foundation

The LSUE Foundation received a $3,000 check from the Experience Louisiana Festival held for the first time on the LSUE campus.
The festival was held Oct. 17 and 18 and drew about 5,000 people for music, folk demonstrations, arts and crafts, poetry, a film festival, and food.
The festival was born out of the Eunice Rotary Club and its president, John Pucheu, was on hand for a check-presentation ceremony Thursday on the LSUE campus.
“The Eunice Rotary Club is really happy to be involved in this as a long term project,” Pucheu said. “We view this as something that will grow and become a permanent festival that we will sponsor and will become a fixture among all Louisiana festivals.”
Kimberly Russell, LSUE chancellor, said the campus will once again be the site for the festival this year.
The festival is scheduled to return on Oct. 22 and 23.
Russell said the money will go to LSUE Foundation for scholarships.
Pat Dossman, one of the festival’s leading organizers, said, “It is a great partnership because of what this festival and LSUE bring to the community, to the college. It is a window to the campus.”
The festival gave LSUE alumni an opportunity to visit the campus, she said.
Dwight Jodon, another leading festival organizer, said the check presentation represents a successful first year.
“Early on we had no idea where the finances would end up, but we are super happy to be able to provide money for the Foundation, which was one of our goals,” Jodon said.
“Our planning is cranking off again,” he said. “The partners we have in LSUE and the National Park Service are just once again off to an amazing second year.”
Jodon said the park service administration is pleased that a major cultural event is occurring in conjunction with the Acadian Prairie Cultural Center in Eunice.
Fundraising and attracting talent to the second year may be easier than the first year, Jodon said.
“People now understand it,” he said.