By Jacob Bielanski
Amidst a flurry of giant cookers, foam containers and plastic wrap, a woman’s voice rings out. “I just want to give a heads up, everyone, Mass just let out, so get ready for the rush.”
Before those words can finish echoing off the wall of the Fred Roth Memorial Center, the first hungry visitors are placing their requests. One woman ordered four jamabalaya dinners, but wants the accompanying coleslaw for each placed in a single, separate container.
“You’re gonna have to tell them we’re not Burger King.”
The Pastalaya/Jambalaya Benefit Dinner held on Sunday was only the latest of the efforts from the St. Charles-based Oldies But Goodies social club. Next month, the group will celebrate its 100th month of existence. In that time, the group has raised more than $200,000 for area causes, such as the case of Kaydence Lusk.
Two-year-old Kaydence was diagnosed shortly after birth with an extremely rare lung condition. As she attended to her daughter’s initial five-week hospital internment, mother Tammy Faucheux lost her sales job. Though Medicaid today covers the vast majority of Kaydence’s medical costs, it does not cover the extra expenses that come with taking a child to highly-specialized doctors in Houston, New Orleans, Boston and Denver. It also does not cover the compound medications needed.
According to Faucheux, medication only addresses the symptoms of Kaydence’s condition—the toddler’s doctors have told her Kaydence will need a lung transplant before the age of 10.
“I am so grateful to the Oldies But Goodies,” Faucheux said.
Nearly eight years ago, the Oldies But Goodies did not have such high philanthropic aspirations. As a widow, Treasurer Patricia St. Amant said her initial conversations with founder and President Erick St. Amant about the group’s now regular Sunday dances only meant to address a social need.
“It’s so lonely when you’re alone on a Sunday, so Erick said, ‘why don’t we have [a dance] on a Sunday—give us seniors something to look forward to,” Patricia said.
The functions feature a large catalog of music from the 50’s and 60’s, cultivated through Erick’s cousin’s long-time fascination with music of the era.
“When people ask [Erick’s cousin] to play a certain song, he has to ask ‘by which artist?’” Erick laughs. Patricia estimates the song database at more than 30,000.
However, it wasn’t until Patricia’s great-grandson was diagnosed with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin condition resulting in blisters and scarring, that fundraising entered the group’s modus operandi. Erick and Pat arranged a benefit through the now three-year-old social club, after little Randal “Tripp” Roth’s parents were told by doctors that they’d need to raise money above and beyond what insurance covered.
At that time, Erick said, he expected the event to raise as much as a thousand dollars. Ultimately, “thousands and thousands and thousands” of dollars were raised, according to Erick.
“I went to the board after that and said, ‘if we can do that for little Tripp, we can do that for anybody,’” said Erick.
In addition to the monthly dances, which carry a $10 entry fee that goes toward various causes, the Oldies But Goodies have been active running additional money-raising events.
Along with dinners, the group also takes its vast music collection on the road, playing as many as 25 gigs per month outside of their own functions, Erick said.
In attendance at Sunday’s event was St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre. He characterized the event as typical of St. Charles Parish.
“When somebody needs help, [the community] step forward to help them,” he said. “It’s very rewarding to live in a parish where people want to help people.”
At the event, Patricia said, they hoped to sell roughly 500 dinners. By the end, the Oldies But Goodies’ Jambalaya/Pastalaya event had added $5,096 to the pool of money raised for Kaydence, which figures to roughly 600 dinners. Combined with proceeds from an earlier dance, more than $21,000 has been raised to help Kaydence and her family make trips to Houston and Boston for upcoming treatments.
The family typically has to drive to these appointments, as Kaydence’s requisite oxygen tanks cannot fly. Otherwise, a rare and expensive oxygen concentrator must be rented.
“God’s been good to every one of us,” Erick said, “and we just paying it back.”
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