2015 Reunion
Saturday, 10 October 2015 at Henderson, Louisiana
Read the 7th Guédry and Petitpas Reunion recap
SAVE THE DATE
Saturday, 10 October 2015 (9:00 am until 5:00 pm)
Henry Guidry Memorial Park (130 Park Drive)
Henderson, Louisiana
Our upcoming Guédry & Petitpas Reunion will be under the large, covered pavilion at Henry Guidry Memorial Park in Henderson, Louisiana on Saturday, 10 October 2015.
This is in the heart of Guédry country in southwest Louisiana. Of course, the spellings you'll encounter in the area are Guidry, Guedry and Gaidry so be prepared to meet your many cousins. You may even find a local Petitpas cousin or two although they are not as numerous in south Louisiana.
We are still planning the Reunion at this time and will continue to update everyone via email and "Generations" as we complete arrangements. At this time we have reserved the large, covered pavilion and associated buildings at the Park and have a Cajun band scheduled to play some two-steps and waltzes.
This Reunion will be a bit different than some of our recent reunions. It will be outdoors along the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp. It will be a more relaxed setting with lots of time to mingle, meet everyone, exchange family history and stories and enjoy the area. We will not have a formal agenda as in the past with only one or two short activities planned. We will have a local Cajun band from our family play a little music during the day and will set aside time to induct some special folks into the Les Guédry et Petitpas d'Asteur Circle of Distinction. We are planning to have local family chefs prepare a series of Cajun dishes for our noon dinner. The Reunion will be free to all although we may need to charge a small amount for the optional meal.
October is a wonderful time in Louisiana with cooling temperatures, mild weather patterns and the least rain of any month.
Two other major events in mid-October 2015 in South Louisiana
* Grand Réveil Acadien (Great Acadian Awakening)
- 3-12 October 2015
- Events throughout South Louisiana
(Lake Charles, Lafayette, Carencro, Loreauville, Rayne, Houma, New Orleans)
- For more information & program of events, visit their website & Facebook page:
http://www.louisiane-acadie.com
https://www.facebook.com/GrandReveilAcadien
- Key dates are: 9 October (Genealogical conference), 10 October (Reunions)
and 11 October (French mass, Cajun music and food)
* Festivals Acadiens et Créoles
- 9-11 October 2015
- Girard Park in Lafayette, LA
- Large music, food and crafts festival
- For more information & program of events, visit their website & Facebook page:
http://www.festivalsacadiens.com
https://www.facebook.com/festivalacadiens
- October 11th will be a key date to visit this festival and also each evening
A Few Acadian Historic Sites in Lafayette, LA Area
* Acadian Village
* Vermilionville Folk Life Park
* Jean Lafitte National Historical Park's Acadian Cultural Center
* Alexander Mouton Home Museum
* St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cathedral & historic cemetery and live oak tree
* Acadian Memorial in St. Martinsville, LA (17 miles southeast of Lafayette)
* Town of Abbeville, LA (20 miles south of Lafayette)
* Town of Opelousas, LA (20 miles north of Lafayette) 
Henderson, LA Travel Information
Henderson, Louisiana is located about 12 miles east of Lafayette, Louisiana and is at the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp. It is just off Interstate Highway I-10 at Exit 115. Henderson is approximately 9 miles southeast of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
Three commercial airports serve the Henderson, LA area:
* Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- 116 miles from Henry Guidry Park on Interstate Highway I-10
- Serviced by most major airlines including Air Canada, Delta, United,
US Airways, American Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest
- Rental Cars (Most companies including National, Avis, Alamo, Dollar, Thrifty, Budget, Hertz, Payless, Enterprise)
* Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport
- 53 miles from Henry Guidry Park on Interstate Highway I-10
- Serviced by Delta, United, American, US Airways
- Connects to Dallas (American), Charlotte (US Airways), Houston (United), Atlanta (Delta, United), New Orleans (United)
- Rental Cars (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National)
* Lafayette Regional Airport
- 13 miles from Henry Guidry Park via Interstate Highway I-10
- Serviced by Delta, American, United
- Connects to Dallas (American), Atlanta (Delta), Houston (United), Denver (United)
- Rental Cars (Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, National, Enterprise)
To reach Henry Guidry Memorial Park from any of the airports via I-10, proceed to Exit 115 (in Louisiana I-10 exits are numbered by miles heading east from the Texas-Louisiana border with the LA-TX border being 0). Exit south onto LA 347 from I-10 at Exit 115 and proceed to the stop light (0.2 miles). Turn left (east) at the stop light onto LA 352. Proceed about 2.4 miles on LA 352 and watch for Henry Guidry Memorial Park sign on your right. Turn right at the sign onto Park Drive and proceed to the pavilion (ca. 0.5 miles).
Lodging in the Vicinity of Henderson
Lafayette is a relatively large city of 125,000 people. There are many motels, hotels and bed & breakfast inns in the immediate area. The Lafayette Convention and Tourism Website has a nice listing of available lodging as well as restaurants, attractions, events and festivals in the local area. View its website at:
http://www.lafayettetravel.com
Breaux Bridge is a small community of 9,000 folks about 9 miles from Henderson. The Tourism in Breaux Bridge Website provides lodging, cultural, dining, music, attractions and other information. View its website at: http://tourism.breauxbridgelive.com
Henderson is a very small community of 2,000 folks. It has excellent dining facilities and cultural activities. You can learn a bit about these at the website: http://www.louisiana-destinations.com/henderson.htm
A Little History
Shortly after the Great Flood of 1927 Henry Guidry and his family left their home at Atchafalaya, Louisiana and resettled near the railroad stop at Lenora, Louisiana. Here he opened a restaurant. Shortly afterwards, he moved his restaurant and family a little closer to the river and founded the settlement later to be called Henderson, Louisiana. At Guidry's Place (the name of his combined restaurant, bar and dance hall), Henry Guidry began serving crawfish dishes and the public loved it. He developed and prepared many of the tasty dishes. Henry brought crawfish to the world stage - prior to this they had been eaten by the Acadians in Louisiana, but only at homes. Guidry's Place eventually evolved into Pat's Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant, which is still serving crawfish today. Henry's brother, Edwin 'Mulate' Guidry, was a crawfish marketer, catching the tasty crustaceans in the Atchafalaya Swamp. Mulate later opened the Rendevouz Club near Henderson and then moved his Club to Breaux Bridge. Here he renamed it Mulate's and began a restaurant famous for its crawfish dishes and live Cajun dance music. Today Mulate's Restaurant in Breaux Bridge is known as Pont Breaux's (aka Breaux's Bridge).
Registration Form
Attached to this newsletter is a Reunion Registration Form. There is no charge to attend the Reunion. We may have to charge a small fee for the optional Cajun meal that we plan to cook at the Reunion.
We will need to know approximately how many folks will attend the Reunion so we can cook enough food and also to have adequate seating.
If you are considering or you know that you will attend, please complete the attached Reunion Registration Form. This is not a commitment to attend - just to assist in planning the Reunion.
So set aside the first half of October to be in south Louisiana for the Grand Réveil Acadien, the Festival Acadiens et Creoles and the Guédry et Petitpas Reunion. We'll all have a great time enjoying our culture and being with our cousins from throughout North America.