Students, DAR Present America’s Journey
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Two and a half centuries of United States history was capsulized in portrayals by St. Landry Parish students in less than two hours on Saturday night, as the Opelousas chapter of The Daughters of The American Revolution presented a tribute to America.
The program at the Delta Grand Theatre attracted a crowd of about 300 and featured parish students from The Magnetic Academy Of The Cultural Arts, Port Barre High and elementary and others who are being home school-educated, according to organizers of the program.
Students representing major American historical characters from 11 major eras of U.S. history were dressed in authentic period costumes, as they read scripted on-stage presentations.
Their soliloquies were coordinated with large background photographs and paintings that depicted major events that began with the American Revolution and ended with those from the 21st century.
The choreographed tribute began in January, said Opelousas DAR member Carolyn Jarrell.
Bertha Reed, a DAR member who helped organize the stage presentations and provided much of the historical documentation, said it took four rehearsals before the final presentation was ready for the audience on Saturday night.
DAR member Debbie Roy told the audience that the program proposed to take them “on a journey through time and honor the past sacrifices and achievements of those who came before us.”
Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor said he hoped the presentations enabled the audience to learn from the past 250 years.
“We must continue educating ourselves about those who came behind us and pass on that knowledge to those who follow us. You must do that together and not by yourself,” Alsandor said.
The audience was also encouraged to sing along to “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic,” “America The Beautiful,” “You’re A Grand Old Flag,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
Historical figures such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Sacajawea, Underground Railroad members, Abraham Lincoln, 19th century industrialists, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, World War II paratroopers, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and astronaut Neil Armstrong were portrayed.
