The 32nd Annual Cajun Harley Owners’ Group ‘Ride for Life’ took place yesterday at Cajun Harley-Davidson in Scott, complete with poker run and jambalaya cook-off.

The event drew 9 cook-off teams, each with their own take on the traditional Cajun dish of Jambalaya (some chicken, some seafood, some more traditional – ALL GOOD!!), and hundreds of people, all interested in helping to raise money for the MDA.

Randy Hopper, Cajun HOG member and the man behind the event, said that the event is a labor of love, and appreciates those who get involved.

Without sponsors like Cajun (Harley-Davidson), Smokey Hebert (Snap-On Tools), Lafayette Coca-Cola and many others who donate, this event wouldn’t be possible.  Especially those who donate their time and talents to make it happen; we couldn’t do it without them…

The winners in the Jambalaya Cook-Off were Vern’s BBQ (1st and 3rd place) and Team Inferno (2nd place).  I can tell you that the judging wasn’t easy (the eating was, but to have to decide which was better than the next?  Not so easy, they were ALL SO GOOD!).

The “Hooters’ Girls” were on hand for a ‘Bikini Bike Wash’, and this Jeep owner couldn’t resist (it’s for a great cause, right??)!!

The ‘ride’ this year was a poker run, taking the bikes on an 80+ mile journey around Acadiana, with stops at Sonic restaurants in different cities.  One participant commented on why she liked taking part in these events:

I don’t call them “bikers”, I call them “motorcycle owners” – they come from all walks of life:  welders and school teachers, policemen and oil field workers; we have one lady that bakes for a living, and she has her own Harley.  It’s a great group of people who share a love for the road and for giving back to the community.  We look forward to this ride every year.

Cajun HOG also teamed up with Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel again this year to secure a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to be raffled of to benefit MDA; tickets are still available for $20 each (call any HOG member or Cajun Harley-Davidson at (337) 326-5998).

Thanks to Kevin Ste Marie (and to the FB Acadiana Facebook page) for the great photographs, and for his talents as one of the judges for the jambalaya cook-off!

(Via Facebook)

The Ride of Silence, a national ride that pays respects to victims of bicycle accidents and raises awareness of the “Share the Road” initiative, took to the streets of America last night.   Amy Thibodeaux Wright was on the Lafayette ride, and she was nice enough to share with us some of the photographs she took at the event.

The ride started at Mickey Shunick’s “Ghost Bike” Memorial, near Blackham Coliseum, at 7pm, after a few words by Jon Langlinais.

About 125 cyclists headed towards Johnston Street and then hopped onto the bike path, following a 9.5-mile route to Parc Sans Souci.

Except for safety concerns, silence was maintained during the ride, in honor of the victims.

Most of the information I was able to gather about the event was pulled from Facebook and the Bike Lafayette website, along with first-hand reporting of the ride from Amy.

Bicycling is a great sport:  it provides exercise, can be a family event, promotes community, and draws people together for a common cause, but it can also be dangerous.

Local bike clubs encourage safety courses and making sure that people know the rules of the road – cyclists and motorists, alike.

If you are a cyclist, know the rules and always be safety-conscious; if you are a motorist, know the rules and always be safety-conscious:  lives depend upon it.

(Via Bike Lafayette and Ride of Silence)

Despite some recent bad press, turns out John Mayer is actually a stand-up guy. The singer made a surprise visit to Shreveport Wednesday on his way to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to help build a home for a local Army veteran.

Shreveport’s The Fuller Center is spearheading the noble home-building project, which is taking place in Shreveport’s Stoner Hill neighborhood. Crews are building four houses right now, but the area will eventually boast 10 homes for veterans.

Cliff Malone, an Army veteran, is the proud new owner of the house Mayer helped put the finishing touches on. You can hear the Grammy Award-winning singer chatting with the grateful vet in the video.

“You know I’m gonna tell people I know you now,” joked Malone. Laughing, Mayer replied: “That’s what you need to do.”

Check Out Pictures of John Mayer Painting the House

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A HUGE thanks to Misti and John from LOL Photeaux for all the photos and be sure to check out the rest of the Secretary’s Banquet Photeaux’s on their facebook page, tag, comment and share!

And of course the Banquet would have been impossible without our friends at Moss Motors, Lofton Staffing Services and LaHaye Total Eye Care.

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I am just shy of being a ‘war buff’;  what I mean is, I know a little about several wars, but not a whole lot on any particular war.  Take, for instance, the number of lives lost in the Civil War:  approximately 625,000 (which ranks the ‘highest’ of all the wars in which the US has been involved).  I had no clue that there were so many (okay, they might have told me that in 8th grade, but that was several years ago!!).

The Vicksburg National Military Park is now a scene that is a far cry from what it was back in 1863:  a serene, beautifully landscaped countryside, riddled with monuments, placards and statues.  It’s a very nice drive (the visitor’s center said it would take us around 2 hours; we like to read, walk and talk, so it took us nearly 4 hours!), with a paved road that meanders throughout the park.

It is an eerie feeling knowing that the ground that we were walking on was once the site of a nearly 2-month long battle for control of Vicksburg, with soldiers entrenched in hand-dug fortifications, with little food or supplies, their friends laying near them injured or dead.

The drive to Vicksburg from Lafayette is about 4 hours, but well worth the time:  it’s a great place to teach the kids some American History, and to brush up on what you learned in school!

Don’t forget to stop by Monsour’s for lunch when you are finished touring the Civil War museum!

(Via Wiki, National Park Service, Facebook)

Keiosha Felix has been missing since April 30. On Wednesday, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office held a media briefing, along with members of Keiosha’s family, to talk about the case.

Keiosha’s mother, Kiera Thibodeaux, as well as her aunt Keona Lewis and her grandfather all spoke. Her grandfather talked about how much he appreciated the efforts made by all departments involved to find Keiosha. These departments include the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police, the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the FBI, which still has a $5,000 reward for locating the missing teen who recently turned sixteen on April 8. All of her family members expressed how much they miss her, and how much they want her returned home safely. Captain Kip Judice with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office says their mission has been, since the beginning, to bring Keiosha home. “It has been the goal and the priority of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office to find Keiosha, bring her home and determine what was the cause of her disappearance for this period of time,” says Capt. Judice.

Captain Judice says “there is no forensic evidence that anything bad has happened to her.” He says they have not yet been able to locate Keiosha.  They say they are not ruling out any possibilities, including human trafficking or that she may have run away. “We hope that we are a lot closer,” says Judice. “We have eliminated some things.”

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office assumed the lead role in the case after it was being handled by the Duson PD, which was a source of controversy. There were different leads that popped up in the case, even a “potential witness” that “purchased a device that was later used to communicate with Keiosha, or at least with Keiosha’s phone,” according to Captain Kip Judice. Capt. Judice says the device was bought at the Lafayette AT&T store on Louisiana Avenue. Police say he is not a suspect but may have some helpful information related to this case.

Numerous people have been arrested in the Duson teen’s case, including her cousin Portia Felix, her aunt Patricia Andrus, Andrus’ boyfriend Leon Wilkerson and his brother Ronald Wilkerson. Portia Felix was charged with obstruction of justice while Andrus was charged with accessory to rape and improper supervision. Leon Wilkerson was charged with second-degree kidnapping and simple rape in Keiosha’s case while Ronald’s charges were not released. He was being treated as a fugitive by the Duson Police Department and was arrested in Baton Rouge on a warrant. Capt. Judice says those cases “are no longer active” as they were arrested before the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office took over the case and no official charges have been filed by the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office.

While all this was happening, Captain Judice said tips led deputies to believe Keiosha was still alive and was possibly in the Baton Rouge area. But they have also gotten tips, 27 in all, from numerous states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon and California. Investigators have conducted 72 interviews, issued 20 subpoenas and executed 4 search warrants. Over 2,000 flyers have been distributed and countless electronic missing person flyers have been distributed. Nearly 1500 investigative hours have been dedicated by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office to finding Keiosha. This is in addition to 500 hours being put in by State Police, 400 hours by the Department of Child and Family Services, 200 hours by the FBI and 80 hours by the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office.

Some good news has come out of this investigation. An endangered teen that police say resembled Keiosha was found as police were following up on a tip. The girl had run away from her northeast Texas home and was returned home before Thanksgiving 2012.

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Source: Latest Developments In The Case Of Missing Keiosha Felix

I was first alerted that the festival was coming a few weeks ago, on Facebook.  I “Liked” the Sunday Mass page, just to keep up with the group (the first chance I have had to ride with them was yesterday, a day they decided to do a ‘short’ ride).  Someone in the group mentioned the event, so I looked it up and realized that this is something in which I wanted to take part!

There was food (delicious jambalaya!), beverages (hic), music, and lots and lots of bicycles!

Several organizations and businesses were represented, all trying to raise bicycle and bicycle safety awareness, and sharing the joys of cycling!

Check out the rest of the pictures below:

Share your photos at the Patty in the Parc Facebook page! And, please take a minute to fill out a short survey so we can provide an even bigger and better show in 2014.

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This will mark the third Patty in the Parc event and features local favorites such as the Molly Ringwalds, Grammy winner Wayne Toups along with The Steve Adams Network.  Gates will open at 5:00pm.

Advance tickets will be made available for purchase for $10.00 at Schlotzsky’s on Johnston or Pinhook in Lafayette and Lucky Deuces Casino in Duson. Tickets at the Gate are $15.00.  Children 12 years old and younger are free.  Tickets will be on sale Monday, February 25th.

Keep up with all things Irish facebook.com/PattyInTheParc.

Patty in the Parc is produced by the Theatre League of Louisiana.

Check out some photos from last year

I didn’t get to watch the entire broadcast of the Academy Awards last night, but I sure enjoyed looking at all the photos this morning. I selected a few of my favorite shots from behind the scenes and one of the adorable child actress (from Houma, LA) Quvenzhané Wallis and her precious puppy purse. By the way, her next project will be starring as ‘Annie’ in Will Smith’s new film of the classic tale.

We drove from Albuquerque to Colorado, with no particular plans, stopping along the way when we saw something interesting.  Green chile stew, snow skiing, cliff dwellings, wolves, mountains, missiles and movie motels:  all part of this trip!

(Now I am one of those guys who can go to a friend/relative’s house to watch their vacation picture slideshow/videos and not get bored; I am also one of those guys who knows that not everyone can sit through that type of torture.  With that being said, I’ll include the gallery of pictures that we took and let you decide if you would like to go through them!)

We started in the “Old Town” section of Albuquerque, having a late lunch at Monroe’s on Lomas Boulevard, with green-chile-smothered enchiladas and Miguel Stew, then we headed north toward Colorado, taking backroads along the way.  We ended up in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and settled in for the night at the High Country Lodge (which was really great!).

Most of the next day was spent on the slopes at Wolf Creek Ski Area, and then we headed into Pagosa Springs to soak in the hot springs there.  The springs smelled worse than a ice hockey locker room, but a constant 100 degrees (when it was 30 degrees out) was nice.

The next day we hit the road again, and we came across this sight:

It’s a motel with two drive-in movie screens, viewable from your room!  How cool is that?!? They only show movies in the spring/summer months, but a great concept, none-the-less.

We made it to Colorado Springs that night, had a great dinner at a German restaurant, then stayed at a Bed and Breakfast, owned by a really nice couple (Tom and Sheri) (and the ‘breakfast’ part consisted of blue corn blueberry pancakes with fresh fruit, hash browns, and chicken and smoked red pepper breakfast sausages… yum!).

The next day, we took our time and rolled back towards Albuquerque, stopping near Santa Fe for the night (we stayed at a casino, and I actually did pretty good at the blackjack table!).

A trip to the top of Sandia Mountain (with a visit to the Sandia Cave and to the National Musaum of Nuclear Science and History) made our trip complete, and after a dinner of sushi and a visit to Barnes and Noble, we were ready to turn in for the night, anticipating an early morning, heavy-hearted flight back home.

Vacations are great, until you have to come back home, right?

Very soon, you will begin to see some new things happening at what was, until this morning, called the Mall of Acadiana.  The mall was selected by it’s parent company, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc, for a remodel and name change.

With the changing of the name, General Manager Bryan LeBlanc said they were trying to honor the heritage of the mall.  LeBlanc said,

We wanted to keep some of the history and the name Acadiana Mall was such a part of it from ’79 to 2004.  We felt that bringing it back was just something to keep those ties.  A lot of people still call it Acadiana Mall.

But the name is not the only thing that is changing.  LeBlanc mentioned that some big changes are coming that customers will definitely notice.  One of the big ones is happening in the center court area where LeBlanc says they are taking out the raised platform.  LeBlanc said,

It’s going to be more of a place where you can congregate and walk through it.  It’s going to be a lot easier to access, one for the two tenants there and two for the customers.  It will still have a seating area but it’s going to be a very dramatic change.  That’s going to be one of the bigger changes.

One of the other big changes that is coming is going to be a complete remodeling of the bathrooms.  LeBlanc mentioned that the restrooms will include some new family restrooms among other things.  Jason Perry, of Henry Douglas Thompson Architects, who is managing the project for the mall said that he felt the restrooms are going to be the biggest

If you are a current shopper now, the restrooms are huge.  It’s an area that customers have wanted to see improved for a while now.  So that’s going to be, functionally, the biggest thing.

Perry also mentioned that they will be building some new entrance towers that will provide a “wow factor.”  Perry said,

That’s going to really look like a new, polished addition to the mall that’s going to say a lot about what you’re going to find inside.

Other things that will see changes include removing some of the decorative columns and freshening up supporting columns in the mall.  A new seating area will be put into the food court that is more of a cafe style.  Also, you will find new seating areas throughout the mall.  Gone will be the hard benches and in will be soft, comfortable furniture that LeBlanc said would be more inviting.  In addition, there will be new signage coming all around the mall to reflect the new name and logo.

As to when the work will start, look for renovations to take place starting in March.  But will this be an inconvenience to customers?  Perry says they want to keep it to a minimum.  Perry said,

Construction will take place primarily overnight.  So, if you come shop during the day you will probably notice signs and some areas will be protected, but there won’t be work going on during the daytime.

The remodel is scheduled to be completed in November and when that happens, LeBlanc says there will be a “Grand Celebration” which will include prizes and fun activities for shoppers.  LeBlanc says that the timing is ideal for them,

Our goal is to wrap up the project just in time for the holiday shopping season.

Among other changes that are taking place effective immediately are a new website, a change to their Facebook page and a new change on Twitter.

In all of the changes, Perry and LeBlanc said they want to keep that link to the area so the mall will retain that local flavor as they freshen it up to make it more convenient for area shoppers.  LeBlanc also said that they hoped to see some more tenants see the changes and want to come be a part of it.

Source: Big Changes Coming For Acadiana Mall

The theme was “Wild, Wild West” (after all, Scott is where the West begins!), so the table decorations and the stage props were straight out of Gunsmoke!  Some of the court members, in their formal attire, wore cowboy AND cowgirl boots!!  It was cool to see the ladies in their evening gowns with the brightly colored boots!

While there, I ran into some old friends (including Derrick Hebert, former manager of Scandal’s!), made new friends, had a great time with some great people, and even met a true-to-life rodeo clown!

To the whole krewe:  Thank you for trusting me with the emcee responsibilities, and thank you for showing me such a good time!!

(Via Facebook)

Cayamo, now in it’s 6th year, is a chartered cruise that features solo artists and bands that fall under the “singer-songwriter” category, with some that could be classified as country, others as blues, some as rock; but we classify all of it as GREAT!

The artists this year included Lyle Lovett, Brandi Carlile, Shawn Mullins, Keb’ Mo, Buddy Miller, Richard Thompson, Dawes, Joan Osborne, Edwin McCain and many more, too many to mention all of them, so here’s the rest of the list.

For the sake of this article, we are going to leave Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars out of the conversation for now; we’ll get to them later.  As for the rest of the artists, Shannon’s favorites this year included Dawes and Delta Rae, and of course Shawn Mullins; my favorite (it’s no surprise) was Edwin McCain, along with Shawn Mullins and Emerson Hart (in no particular order, of course!).

(Via Youtube, Cayamo)

Below are some pictures of our favorite photographs from the past!  Enjoy!

The Polyester Power Hour Party is sponsored by Moss Motors is taking place on Friday, February 8th at Outlaws Saloon and features local favorites Krossfyre, and straight from Las Vegas– MJ the Legend, a Michael Jackson Impersonator.

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Special thanks to Mrjokensons Films for taking the great photos.If you want higher resolution versions of any of these photos, contact Kent Sonnier with Mrjokenson Films, LLC. at 337-308-6042.

Mrjokenson Films, LLC. at 337-308-6042 specializing in Photography, Videography & Graphic Design. Like us on Facebook! the website is mrjokenson.zapd.us.

Faith House of Acadiana is a private, non-profit program for survivors of domestic violence and their children.  If you would like to make a donation to Faith House or get more information about Faith House of Acadiana’s emergency shelter and the other domestic violence help services and programs they provide, please call 337-232-8954 or email info@faithhouseacadiana.com.

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