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All my Heroes are from Bunkie |
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By |
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Jerry
LaFleur |
I left Bunkie in the
mid-1950's under the shadow of the “Owl'sNest” and having made it all the way to
the 10th grade after four years at Bunkie High. I have not been back
among my many Bunkie classmates until this reunion. Returning to Bunkie with my
wife, Silvia, for the 50's Decade Reunion was an event that we looked forward to
with mixed feelings: Silvia knew absolutely nothing about this particular period
of my life and I envisioned a welcome return to a life I had left far behind.
The
next night, in the music room at the Bailey in Bunkie, he discarded his Mayor's
hat and became citizen Gerard Moreau. Dancing with Silvia, I noticed a
movement on three of the glass framed windows of the door leading to the outside
patio - it was Gerard with his face pressed on the middle window holding two
giant bullfrogs against the two immediate windows next to his face and motioning
for me to tell Silvia to turn around. “My God,” I said to Silvia, “look at
the door!” She took an extra step and jumped backwards - never before
seeing such a sight decorating a window! Gerard, with a big grin, invited
us to the patio outside the room, and explained to Silvia the culinary pleasures
of bullfrogs and how to catch them. It was indeed a remarkable way to
close out our first day in Bunkie. 
The
Bailey Hotel, like a diminishing dream, is one of the few remaining icons of
Bunkie. In the unique Southern tradition of fine hospitality, the Bailey
surpassed even that well-known Southern reputation. Upon our arrival, Pat
Barone warmly welcomed us and took care of every request we had. However, the
one thing that she could not control was the trains and their loud horns that
kept us awaken most of the night. The last time I remember the train horns of
Bunkie was during Conrad Goette's English classes on the third floor of Bunkie
High in the 1950's. 
After
that, I took care of the reason for being at the Haas Auditorium - obtaining the
Decade Reunion welcome kit - which I received from Paul and Anne Plaisance who
were sitting together at the first table upon entering the room. Anne asked if
I wanted to keep the CD that was enclosed in the welcome package that Bobby
Richardson had recorded for all the participants for the Decade Reunion. “Only
if some of the songs of Hank Williams are included,” I replied. When she found
that his songs were there, I readily accepted the CD. Thanks, Bobby - on our
two-day drive home, we listened to your CD regularly. It contains wonderful and
very well programmed music from the 1950's. 
Glenda
reminded me of something that I had completely forgotten - the time that I put a
dead bird behind a picture in Mr. Kirby Tyrone's English literature class.
However, there is more to the story: Arriving in the classroom a couple of
minutes before the beginning of class I was standing by one of the open windows
and spotted a dead bird near the sidewalk. As Bootsie Davis was nearby, I got
his attention and asked that he throw the bird up to me on the second floor. As
he was in the process of throwing it to me, Mr. Hatley, looking out of the
window of the Music Room in the Haas Auditorium, noticed Bootsie throwing the
dead bird into Mr. Tyrone’s classroom. He quickly walked over to report this to
Mr. Massey, the Principal, and en-route to his office called out to Bootsie and
demanded that he come with him to the office. Shortly thereafter, the three of
them, Mr. Massey, Mr. Hatley and Bootsie, arrived at the door of Mr. Kirby
Tyrone’s classroom. That’s the reason that the bird was behind the picture on
the wall – I put it there when I noticed Mr. Hatley hastily walking towards the
school with Bootsie in tow. To Mr. Hatley’s utmost consternation, neither he,
Mr. Massey or Mr. Tyrone could find the dead bird. This was in 1952.
talking. We helped ourselves to a huge serving and
sat next to Bill Hunt and Eddie Grimshaw and his wife, Tina. I had forgotten
how to eat crayfish - can you believe this? Bill Hunt, thankfully, demonstrated
the procedure to Silvia and me. Eddie Grimshaw had a look of genuine surprise
when he realized that I really did not know how to extract the meat from the
tail of the crayfish! Our only comment was two words: “Unbelievably
delicious!”
Upon
finishing, I approached Don Fletcher and Anita because I wanted to tell them how
happy we were to attend such a well-organized event that everyone was enjoying.
I mentioned to them their efforts were appreciated by all in attendance. He
surely was enjoying himself as was his gorgeous wife, Anita. Thank you, Don and
Anita for this remarkable event! 
Standing
tall in front of us was the always-remarkable Boo Devillier - the same Boo that
I began the first grade with at St. Anthony's in the very early 1940's. He put
his two large hands on my shoulders and looking me directly in my eyes, said:
“Jerry, you're my hero!!” And when he was introduced to Silvia, he said
something quite different: “How did you manage to stay out of jail?” Then I
asked him why he had jumped out of the window when we were in the 4th
grade? Boo replied that he "was asked to sing!” Thinking about this, I guess I
would have done the same thing. Silvia told me that she thought Boo was the
best looking man there. I can't comment on that! We spoke with Boo's wife,
Jo-Ann who is still beautiful to this day. She said she remembered Silvia's
photo in the Bunkie Record when we were married. Jo-Ann, you have a
remarkable memory - that was 32 years ago! I asked Jo-Ann if Sally Reynolds was
present and then Sally joined us. They are two striking ladies.
Melvin
Sharpe stopped by and wanted to know why my hair wasn’t black anymore, and that
it was more the color of his – pure white. My comment to Mr. Sharpe was that he
was the teacher that I most remembered at Bunkie High, and he wanted to know how
did he obtain that distinction? My response was that on the first day of the
first class that I had with him which was typing, he instructed us on how to
dispose of a sheet of paper. His instructions were not to “crumble” the sheet
of paper, but to insert the paper into the wastebasket without bending, folding
or crumbling it. This way, according to him, you could put a thousand sheets of
paper in a wastebasket instead of a limited few sheets. Mr. Sharpe remembered
this, and replied that he made sure that everyone followed his instructions on
how to dispose of a sheet of paper. That’s what I remember about Mr. Sharpe.
This was in 1950. 
I
mentioned to Jackie that I remembered how beautiful a bride she was when they
were married in Marksville in 1957. Silvia recalled the magnificent Mardi Gras
parties in Washington the last few years and how much we enjoyed being with them
for the celebration. Jackie and Don gave us a tour of their well decorated home
both inside and outside. It was a most relaxing evening. We soon departed for
the Haas Auditorium. 
Dale
- This old photo was given to me by my Mother, Addelene Kelley LaFleur in 1975.
She noted that it was taken at the "Old Eola Schoolhouse". I came across it
recently and thought that I would forward it to you for entry in