Even with the looming threat of showers, the crowds came out to witness the St. Charles Parish Bicentennial celebration at the courthouse in Hahnville.
Residents, officials and well-wishers in general were treated to a brief history of the parish as many donned costumes and assumed the roles of important characters of St. Charles storied history. The costumes reflected the time periods of some of the more important people in the history of the parish, going all the way back to LaSalle, portrayed by Gary Smith, the first explorer recorded to ever step foot in St. Charles.
Before a packed house on the first floor of the courthouse, the actors, many who are well-known citizens and officials in St. Charles, presented their character in full costume, and gave brief descriptions of who they were and what sort of footprint they left through the timeline.
The mood was light, and even Sheriff Greg Champagne got a few laughs from the crowd when he presented his character of Judge St. Martin, the town’s first sheriff, county judge, clerk coroner and treasurer. After going through the long list of titles his character held, Champagne, dressed in an outfit that looked right out of an old western said simply, “I was a real bad dude,” to the amusement of the onlookers.
Outside, festival goers were treated to the sounds of local singer Blanch Newsome, who had a couple of songs he wrote and performed simply for the parish and the celebration.
Local boy scouts handed out free water and sodas while children played and were able to have their faces painted, get free balloons, and there were plenty of bicentennial shirts, cups and other souvenirs for the treasure-hunting parishioner.
With music, a beautiful cake and treats for all, everything went off without a hitch, even if the rains followed shortly after. It’s funny how those things seem to work themselves out.
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