LaFleur to debut seasoning at Creole Families’ Bastille Day Heritage Festival

John LaFleur is Creole and proud of it.
LaFleur, Creole Families’ Bastille Day Heritage Festival organizer, said, “I hope the Creole Families’ Bastille Day Heritage Festival and attendance will serve to spread the pride of the first families that founded Louisiana’s diverse culture. I hope people will learn the truth and have pride. I want people to know who we really are and what our history is as opposed to the common myth. I want to see people have pride in who we really are.”
LaFleur, a local author, scholar and chef, is a strident supporter of educating people about the difference between the Creole and Cajun cultures.
“The Creoles were here first (of those who immigrated to the area),” LaFleur said. “Everyone who was born and cultured here in Louisiana is Creole. It is not a color reference. Creole is a generic word used in the colonial courthouse records here in Opelousas. It has nothing to do with race. The first Creoles were a cultural fusion between the French and Native Americans.”
“The ultimate goal of this event is to educate people about what the genuine cultural heritage of the Creoles from the Native Americans, French, Spanish, African, Germans, Irish and Italians.”
LaFleur highlighted the influences of these cultures on both food and language in the state.
“Without Germans, there would be no beer, potatoes and potato salad for our gumbo or accordions for our music,” he said.
This year’s festival will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Northside Civic Center in Ville Platte. The first event of the day will be a commemorative Mass at that time, and there will be a Benediction of the Ancestors with family members present. The Rev. Jason Vidrine of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church will lead the benediction.
LaFleur said the festival turnout the last few years has been between 200 to 300 people, and he expects about 500 or more attendants this year. No liquor will be allowed at the event.
“There is so much buzz about it this year,” LaFleur said. “Earlier this year, I was wondering if we should continue the event, but the wind began to blow into the sails. It is a family and culturally-oriented event.”
LaFleur credited the Ville Platte Rotary Club with helping to get the word out about the event at one of its weekly programs.
The event will mark the debut of C’est Bon! Old Creole Spice, LaFleur’s own blend of spices. LaFleur has worked with BIC Corporation of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to bring the seasoning mix to the masses.
“I am a Creole gourmet cook with 20 years of cooking experience,” he said. “I have traveled to Europe to learn about the culture in France. I compared and contrasted that with what I saw in Louisiana.”
The label of the seasoning blend features a Native American mother-goddess positioned in the lower part of an image of the state. Images of a cypress tree and a brown pelican are to her right, and images of three babies are at her feet — a black baby, a red baby and white baby representing the different nationalities of early Louisiana.
“There will be more products in the future,” LaFleur said. “This is the beginning of a renaissance in the celebration of the Creole heritage.”
Following the Mass there will be a welcome and introduction by Creole Families Education Association President Gene Buller and special guest Dr. Olivier Chatelain de Pronville of France, former president of Southwest Community College of Lafayette.
There will also be a Bastille Day champagne toast with Dr. Charles Fontenot and Eugene Fontenot. During the toast, 40 people from around the region will be recognized for their regional work to help maintain the Creole culture and traditions through mediums including art and literature.
Other events during the festival include: a public lecture by Lafleur titled, “Our Rich Louisiana Creole and French Heritage La France Nous Parle-Toujours!”; a talk by Donna Demourelle Johnson of the Evangeline Genealogical and Historical Society titled, “The First Families of Ville Platte.” Musique et Danse contest winners and Ladies Summer Chapeaux contest winners will also be announced. The event will feature a lunch/dejeuner a la Creole by LaFleur, and the meal will include Bremes a la Sauce béarnaise, crudites fraiche, lemonmade, pain au burre and dessert.
The festival will end at 2:30 p.m.
LaFleur is optimistic about what the festival can accomplish.
LaFleur said, “I hope the festival restores pride and informs people of their cultural origins.”