#randy boyte

[theleavesarehappening]

We the People

[nsula]

40th Folk Festival spotlights rich, diverse culture of Louisiana

By Dr. Shane Rasmussen

Photos by Chris Reich, NSU Photo Services

 NATCHITOCHES – The audience at the 40th annual Natchitoches-Northwestern State University Folk Festival held on July 26-27 was entertained and educated about the rich and diverse cultural offerings of the state. The Festival featured traditional Louisiana foods, Kidfest activities, music, traditional crafts, narrative sessions, musical informances, and cultural exhibits. This year’s Festival theme “Vive la Louisiane!” was a great success, with a very happy audience.

 The Festival opened with a rousing dance, beginning with Cajun dance lessons, followed by Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, and the night closed out with Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band. Side stage performances included Natchitoches gospel group Joyful Sounds, 50 Man Machine, which includes NSU faculty Paul Forsyth, Collier Hyams, and Oliver Molina, and an open jam with Max & Marcy, Ed Huey, and Cane Mutiny.

 Saturday’s events included performances in Prather Coliseum by 50 Man Machine, Creole la la with Goldman Thibodeaux and the Lawtell Playboys, the Louisiane Vintage Dancers, Brandy Roberts, the Rayo Brothers, Tab Benoit, Jamie Berzas & the Cajun Tradition Band, the Stewart Family and Friends Bluegrass Band, line dance lessons by the Cajun French Music Association Dance Troupe, the Canneci N’de Band of Lipan Apache, zydeco dance lessons by Avila Kahey, Wayne & Same Ol’ 2 Step, Hardrick Rivers and the Rivers Revue Band, Celtic Music with the Kitchen Session of Baton Rouge and a jam session with Max and Marcy.

 In addition to stage performances there were narrative sessions and music informances, including conversations about American songwriting, culture & costumes of 19th century Louisiana, Tab Benoit’s The Voice of the Wetlands Fondoution, and the musical journey of Vanessa Niemann (aka Gal Holiday). Also featured was a music informance by Tab Benoit. Outdoor activities included demonstrations by the Central Louisiana Dutch Oven Cookers, the Red River Smiths, the Southern Stock Dog Association, and Wash Day, presented by the West Baton Rouge Museum. This year the Festival continued a series of free workshops for Festival attendees. Festival goers attended a Cajun accordion workshop by Jamie Berzas and Bruce Daigrepont.

 The annual Louisiana State Fiddle Championship was also held on Saturday in the Magale Recital Hall as part of the Festival. Fiddle Championship judges included Steve Birdwell, Steve Harper, Henry Hemple, and Clancey Stewart. The new Louisiana Grand Champion is Ron Yule of DeRidder. Second place winner was Joe Suchanek of Merryville, with Owen Meche of Arnauldville placing third. Meche also took first place in the 21 and under championship division.

Suchanek took first in the 60 and up championship division, with Yule coming in second, Birgit Murphy of Opelousas in third, Mark Young of Balise in fourth, Wilfred Luttrell of DeRidder in fifth, and Ron Pace of Alexandria in sixth. Luttrell and Yule also took first place in the twin fiddles competition.

 As the new Louisiana State Fiddle champion, Yule also performed on the main stage in Prather Coliseum. Dr. Lisa Abney managed the fiddle championship. Dr. Susan Roach from Louisiana Tech University emceed the championship.

 Four musicians and a renowned filé maker were inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists. Inductees included Louisiana Music Hall of Famer Tab Benoit, who also served as honorary Festival Chair, Cajun musicians Jamie Berzas and Bruce Daigrepont, filé maker John Oswald Colson, and country singer Vanessa Niemann.

Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center, led the induction ceremony, assisted by State Representative Kenny Cox and Dustin Fuqua, Chief of Resource Management at Cane River Creole National Historical Park. In addition, the honorary award of Folklife Angel was given to long-time Festival crew chief James Christopher Callahan, an NSU alumnus.

In addition to 4 book signings and 8 exhibits by such groups as state parks and archives, over 70 craftspeople displayed their traditional work on Saturday. These craftspeople demonstrated and discussed their work with the Festival patrons. Craftspeople displayed accordion making, beadwork, baskets, Czech Pysanky eggs, filé making, flintknapping, folk art, knives, music instruments, quilting, pottery, spinning & weaving, tatting, walking sticks, whittling and needlework, wood carving, and more. 8 food vendors provided a cornucopia of traditional Louisiana foods to the Festival audience.

 Support for the Louisiana State Fiddle Championship and the Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival was provided by grants from the Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., the Louisiana Division of the Arts Decentralized Arts Fund Program, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the Shreveport Regional Arts Council.

Much needed support also came from generous sponsorships from Acme Refrigeration of Baton Rouge, C&H Precision Machining, Chili’s, City Bank & Trust, the City of Natchitoches, Cleco, John Clifton Conine, Atty; CP-Tel, Domino’s Pizza, the Donut Hole, El Patron, Family Medical Clinic, Grayson’s Barbecue, Hardee’s, the Harrington Law Firm, D. Michael Hayes, Atty; JB & M Enterprises, Jeanne’s Country Garden, La Capitol Federal Credit Union, McCain Auto Supply, Jason O. Methvin, Atty; Morning Star Donuts, the Natchitoches Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Natchitoches Regional Medical Center, NSU Men’s Basketball, the Pioneer Pub, Pizza Hut, Raising Cane’s, Ronnie’s Auto Glass, Save A Lot, Sonny’s Donuts, Southern Classic Chicken, Natchitoches Super 1 Foods 604 and 613, TOTO, Inc; Trailboss, UniFirst, Walmart, Waste Connections, and Weaver Brothers Land & Timber. In addition, numerous newspapers, online venues, and radio and TV stations assisted the Festival by generously printing articles, airing interviews, free promotional PSAs, and/or participating in on-air ticket giveaways.

 The success of the Festival was made possible due to the many volunteers from NSU’s faculty and staff, who gave generously of their time and talents. The Louisiana Folklife Center is grateful to Phyllis Allison, David Antilley, Kay Cavanaugh, Corieana Ceasar, Jason Church, Sherrie Davis, Matt DeFord, Christine Dorribo, Michael Doty, Bruce Dyjack, Alexis Finnie, Ashlee Grayson, Charlotte Grayson, Dr. Hiram F. “Pete” Gregory, Dr. Greg Handel, Wesley Harrell, Jackie Hawkins, Diana Hill, Kristie Hilton, Carla Howell, Leah Jackson, Dr. J. Ereck Jarvis, Melissa Kelly, Suzanne Kucera, Dr. Chris Maggio, Barbara Marr, Terri Marshall, Coach Mike McConathy, Byron McKinney, Valerie Meadows, Gwendolyn Meshell, Dr. Jim Mischler, Melinda Parnell, Julie Powell, Kathy Pylant, Charles Rachal, Chris Reich, Stephanie Stanton, Bethany Straub, Anna Vaughn, Randi Washington, Mary Linn Wernet, David West, Taylor Whitehead, Emily Windham, Dale Wohletz, and Sharon Wolff. NSU students included Francisco Ballestas-Sayas, Caleb Callender, Makayla Fisher, Valentina Herazo-Alvarez, and Ina Sthapit. NSU alumni included Michael Cain, Michael Taylor Dick, Hammond Lake, Greg Lloid, De’Andrea Sanders, and Daniel Thiels. Many thanks are due to the Louisiana Folklife Center staff, including administrative coordinator Shelia Thompson, student workers Macey Boyd, Jalima Diaz, Heather Jones, Caitlin Martin, and Taylor Nichols, and graduate assistants James Harrison and Erica McGeisey.

 Thanks also go out to Andy Adkins, Myranda Adkins, Alexandria Arens, Robert D. Bennett, Jennae Biddiscombe, Rebecca Blankenbaker, Derek Boyt, Erin Boyt, Melanie Braquet, Sherry Byers, the Central Louisiana Dutch Oven Cookers, Don Choate, Jr., Catherine Cooper, Hailie Coutee, Helen Dalme, Cameron Davis, Eli Dyjack, Sheila Dyle, Adam Edwards, Justin French, Jennifer Gallien, Reagan Guillory, Grace Hardy, Dr. Don Hatley, Sue Hatley, Lani Hilton, Ed Huey, Peter Jones, Leonard King, Michael King, Abagael Kinney, Dan Martin, Deron McDaniel, Ivan McDaniel, Charity McKinney, Sheila Ogle, Sara Parnell, Kimberly Perry, Audrey Rasmussen, Gidget Rasmussen, Susan Rasmussen, Wyatt Rasmussen, the Red River Sanitors, Sukrit San, Rick Seale, Lorie Speer, Lori Tate, Margaret Thompson, Sara Vaughn, Emily Ware, Briton Welch, Justice Welch, Shirley Winslow, and the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center trustees and officers Derek Booker and Larry Willis.

 Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau staff members included Arlene Gould, Kelli West, NSU students Anne Cummins and Megan Palmer, and NSU alumna Heather Dougan.

Special thanks go to Craig Routh for his generous permission to use his painting, Dixieland Jazz Fleur-de-Lis, for the Festival t-shirt.

[bigyack-com]

Meat Shortages Start to Hit Grocery Stores and Restaurants

Hundreds of Wendy’s restaurants have run out of hamburgers. Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, is limiting the amount of ground beef and pork that customers can buy at some stores. And Costco, where shoppers typically buy in bulk, has placed a three-product cap on purchases of fresh beef, poultry and pork.On Monday, nearly one-fifth of Wendy’s restaurants — a total of 1,043 locations — were completely sold out of beef products, including burgers, according to analysis by the financial firm Stephens, which examined the online menu at every Wendy’s in the United States.“It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges,” a Wendy’s spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday. “Some of our menu items may be temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment.”Over the last few days, a series of grocery stores have announced limits on meat purchases. In addition to Costco and Kroger, Hy-Vee said on Tuesday that it would restrict customers to four packages of fresh beef, ground beef, pork and chicken.Stores are also anticipating that certain products may become more difficult to find. A Wegmans spokeswoman, Laura Camera, said on Tuesday that the chain “may not have every product cut or variety available for the next few weeks.”The impact on the fast-food industry has been more uneven. McDonald’s said on Tuesday that it had not experienced any beef shortages. But Shake Shack executives warned this week that the price of beef had “significantly increased.”“We do not, today, expect a supply issue,” the company’s chief executive, Randy Garutti, said during an earnings call on Monday. “However, costs have really jumped.”Wendy’s reliance on fresh beef — a major selling point for the brand — may make it more vulnerable to shortages than some rivals.“It impacts them more quickly, as opposed to some restaurants that have a little bit more frozen options on the menu,” said James Rutherford, an analyst at Stephens who wrote the report on Wendy’s.The report also found geographic differences in how significantly Wendy’s was affected by the shortages. In some states, including New York, Connecticut, Ohio and Michigan, 30 percent or more of the chain’s restaurants were out of beef, whereas other states like Nevada and Arizona did not have any shortages.Food industry executives have warned of looming supply issues since April, when outbreaks at some of the country’s largest meatpacking plants brought production to a halt.After a Smithfield pork plant closed in Sioux Falls, S.D., the company’s chief executive, Kenneth M. Sullivan, said the country was “perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply.” And last week, the chairman of Tyson Foods took out full-page ads in The New York Times and The Washington Post warning that “the supply chain is breaking.”In a call with investors on Monday, Tyson executives said that more meatpacking plants were likely to shut down for cleaning as the virus continues to spread.Tyson did not quantify how much meat production has declined. But the union that represents plant workers estimates that pork production has fallen by as much as 25 percent, with beef down 10 percent.Still, grocery executives say the shortages are only temporary and that most meat remains available, even if certain products have become more scarce. In recent weeks, some meatpacking facilities have reopened, including the Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls.When he arrived at a Wendy’s outside Minneapolis on Monday, Taylor Boyte, 30, noticed that several items on the menu were crossed out in marker. Then he ordered a burger.“They were out of beef,” Mr. Boyte said. “I just kind of chuckled. Being in the middle of the pandemic, it’s pretty understandable. People aren’t prepared for what’s going on.”But there was other food to eat. Mr. Boyte got lunch at Taco Bell instead. Read the full article

[votersincharge]

VOTERS IN CHARGE ANNOUNCES CENTRAL FLORIDA LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

CONTACT

Mike Thomas

Mike@VotersinCharge.org

  VOTERS IN CHARGE ANNOUNCES CENTRAL FLORIDA LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

  ORLANDO, FL—Voters in Charge, the political committee sponsoring the statewide Yes on 3 campaign, today continued unveiling its local leadership committees. Members of local leadership committees include community, business, law enforcement and religious leaders throughout the state who are committed to ensuring that Florida voters are put in charge of casino gambling decisions in Florida.  Today the campaign proudly announces its local leadership in the Central Florida region. The list consists of a diverse group of prominent community leaders, business owners, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle.

  Central Florida Chairs:

City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

Representative Scott Plakon

Representative Bob Cortes

  Central Florida Committee Members:

Senator Victor Torres

Senator Dennis Baxley

Representative Stan McClain

Representative Jennifer Sullivan

Representative Robert “Bobby O” Olszewski

Representative Rene “Coach P” Plasencia

Representative Amy Mercado

18th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Blaise Trettis

Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks

Marion County Commissioner David Moore

Orange County Commissioner Pete Clarke

Apopka City Commissioner Doug Bankson

Seminole Sheriff Dennis Lemma

Osceola Sheriff Russell Gibson

Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood

Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker

Candidate for Florida House Anthony Sabatini

Anna Taylor, President, Orange County Young Republicans

Former Longwood Mayor Joe Durso

Former Sanford Mayor Brady Lessard

Betty Hensinger, Immediate Past President, Golden Triangle Federated Republican Women’s Club

Beverlye Colson Neal, Florida Director, National Congress of Black Women

Randy Osborne, Director, Florida Government Watch

Dana Boyte, Boyte Consulting

Rachel Saunders, Commercial Real Estate Agent; Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board

Matthew McMillan, Tax Armory

Justin York, Seminole County Soil and Water Conservation District

Mark Buckles, Buckles Law Firm

Kelly Cohen, Southern Strategy Group

Dr. James Moore

Cheryl Lankes

Jesse Phillips

  Amendment 3 ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling in the State of Florida. Recent polling shows that more than 70 percent of Florida voters support this amendment. Amendment 3 enjoys bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida League of Women Voters, and the Florida Conference of the NAACP, among others.

“We are thrilled to have the support of so many pillars of the community for this important amendment,” said Voters in Charge Chairman John Sowinski. “For most of our lifetimes, decisions about casino gambling were left up to the voters. It is past time to return that right to Floridians and take it away from politicians and special interest groups in Tallahassee.”

  For more information about the Yes on 3 campaign, including a local contact and regional office, please visit https://votersincharge.org/regional-offices/

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