Half-Century Put On Display
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
(Freddie Herpin photos)
A lifestyle glimpse of how Opelousas appeared 50 years ago was available for display on Saturday as visitors took the opportunity to examine items that were relevant during a decade in which socialization was performed personally rather than online .
The half-decade reveal may not have been as dramatic as originally planned in 1976 when the stainless steel canister containing contemporary items was buried ceremoniously in front of the city library on July 4.
Originally, current city officials planned to unearth the capsule concealed inside an exterior plastic container earlier this year, but ongoing library reconstruction canceled that plan.
There were however, a number of remarketably-preserved items on display as those who attended the lodge-hosted coffee and doughnuts social were able to peer into a pre-digital age..
A Bi-Centennial Commission formed in 1976 collected and prepared the items packaged snuggly that were spread on tables and prepared for Saturday’s viewing.
inside the container were newspaper articles, current events, historical narratives of St. Landry Parish and Opelousas, along with nationally-printed magazines such as Newsweek and Reader’s Digest.
Culinary items included a Tony Chachere’s cookbook and for those who were interested, a recipe and instructions for making yam punch.
Two table-size architectural drawings of St. Landry Catholic Church property and the Opelousas Farmer’s Market area that were done in pencil by Winona Guedry, provided an intriguing artistic contribution.
Kathleen Walker Ladewig, one of the chairpersons for the 1976 project, said she is still impressed by the detail and representation of the drawings that were made by Guedry.
“It was pretty much a labor of love for her,” said Ladewig, as she glanced down at the project, which showed the shrubs and trees planted on the church parking lot 50 years ago.
There was also a St. Landry church bulletin from a Feb.29, 1976 commemoration mass that helped launch the 1976 event.
Attending the event on Saturday were Butch Dupre of Lafayette, who was a member of the Opelousas Board of Aldermen and his wife, Carolyn Cox Dupre.
Angela Cutrera, who also attended the 1976 event as a youth, was also at the Lodge on Saturday.
Lodge member Buddy Helton said Budge Cutrera, father of Angela Cutrera, contributed to the capsule contents, which included a couple of reel-to-reel tapes of his musical compositions.
“What we did to preserve the music was to have it digitalized. It is playing now in the (lodge) hall. “We also save a number of interviews that were made by Johnny Wright, who was the station manager of KSLO,” said Helton.
The condition of the items, said Helton, was a testimony to the metal work of Nolton Lavergne, who manufactured the capsule at his tin shop in Opelousas.
Helton said he hoped to ask the Opelousas museum to assist with preserving some of the items, while others Helton said, might be offered to the archives at the UL-Lafayette.
There are also plans for another 50-year capsule, said Helton, but plans for that occasion are still being devised.
