The Evangeline Project:
Evangeline’s Trail in Evangeline Parish by 2011
The Evangeline Tourism Association has embraced this project for the following reasons: 1) Our Parish is approaching its centennial, 2) Our Parish is uniquely connected to an international literary icon, Evangeline; 3) Tourists have traveled here looking for “Evangeline” or Evangeline products; 4) the Evangeline who represented Louisiana in the Acadian Bicentennial celebration in 1955 lives in Mamou, and 5) We must never forget the men who fought the fight to carve this parish out of Old Imperial St. Landry. For these reasons we are compelled to set our sights high for this historical celebration in 2011. We invite you to…….
Buy your Commemorative Brick today and
be included in the “Centennial Book of Names”
THE BRICKS. Generating funds for public historical projects is challenging. In exploring a variety of fundraising methods to celebrate our Centennial in a fashion that would be both moving and memorable, we determined that Commemorative Bricks assign value to a purchaser, value to a project, and value to an event and, as such, would be the most effective method to raise the necessary funds for a project of this magnitude and historical significance. Additionally, Commemorative Bricks are an efficient means of connecting large numbers of people to a celebration. Considering that we are attempting to commemorate the first hundred years of the creation of Evangeline Parish in 1911, it is important that residents and businesses of Basile, Chataignier, Mamou, Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, Ville Platte, and all the little communities in between feel connected to this significant celebration and to our unique connection to the international literary icon, Evangeline.
We invite you to make a donation of $100 for a 4” x 8” commemorative brick (3 lines with 15 character spaces per line) and / or a donation of $300 for an 8” x 8” commemorative paver (5 lines with 18 character spaces per line). Thank you notes and Proof Letters will follow each brick order.
The number of bricks sold will determine the ultimate design of the Courtyard which will be constructed on the left front lawn of the parish Courthouse and determine the commissioning of Jerry Gorum to sculpt a life-size bronze statue of our Evangeline. In the event that we do not raise enough funds to support the sculpting of the statue in time for the celebration, the commemorative brick Courtyard will still become a reality and the project will continue until the necessary funds for the statue are raised.
For more information contact the Evangeline Tourism Association office by phone@ 337-363-1878 or email Suzy Lemoine @ slemoine@yahoo.com.