Happenings

Music at The Mag

This Friday, February 27, The Delta Drifters will perform at 7 pm.  The March lineup looks like this: Friday, March 6 – Late Evening; Friday, March 13 – Emily Branton; Saturday, March 14 – Mike Stinson at 9:30 pm with a cover charge; Friday, March 20 – Smugglin’ Plums; Saturday, March 21 – Eilen Jewel with Kim Smith at 9:30 with a cover charge; Friday, March 27 – The Delta Drifters.

 

Events at The BirdMan

Remember that each Monday from 5:30 until 7:30 pm, The BirdMan has music and supper.  The music for Monday, March 2 is Blue Monday, and for March 9, it’s Kevin Johnson.  On Saturday, March 14, Dylan Sneed will play live at 7 pm.  There is an $8 cover charge, $5 for students.  From March 19 through April 23, there will be an exhibit of new paintings by Donna Kilbourne and Linda Broderick.  On March 28 at 7 pm, there will be a reading by author Ed Cullen.

 

Friends of the Library Symposium

This Saturday, February 28 is the 3^rd Annual Celebration of Readers and Writers Symposium to be held at The OxBow Restaurant.  This event recognizes outstanding regional authors and provides a forum for discussion of their works.  Lunch is included, and books will be available for purchase and signing by the authors.  Tickets are $35 per person and must be purchased in advance.  For more information and a list of the authors, call the West Feliciana Parish Library at 635-3364.

 

Natural Dye and Candle Making Demonstrations

The interpretive staff at Audubon State Historic Site will demonstrate these home crafts that would have been found on a plantation.  It happens on Saturday, February 28 with the natural dye program presented from 10 am until 2 pm, and candle making from 2 pm until 4 pm. These aspects of plantation life allow the visitors to see the processes that were used to provide a home such as Oakley with the materials needed for it to run properly.  For more information call 635-3739.

 

Felicianas Native American PowWow

Our neighbors in East Feliciana are hosting the first ever Felicianas Native American PowWow thisSaturday, February 28 from 10 am until 6 pm at the Republic of West Florida Historical Association Pavilion in Jackson.  Dr. Susan Dardard has organized this event that promises to be an outstanding cultural experience.  There is a small admission fee of $5 for adults and $3 for children, and while the features of this day of festivities are too numerous to mention here, they include Native American dancing, crafts and foods, storytelling and demonstrations.

 

Flint Knapping

After you’ve experience the Native American culture in Jackson on Saturday, you can venture over to Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site on Sunday, March 1 where there will be a living history demonstration on flint knapping.  The Native Americans who lived on the land that eventually became Rosedown made their own tools from stone using an art known as flint knapping.  The demonstration by Interpretive Ranger James Smith will be presented between 11 am and 3 pm outside Nina’s Wing behind the Rosedown Mai House.  For more information, call 635-3110.

 

Afton Villa Gardens Opens

This Sunday, March 1, marks the opening of the magnificent Afton Villa Gardens.  Self-guided tours are available from 9 am until 5 pm for a charge of $5 per car.  8,000 tulips, 100,000 daffodils, pansies, camellias, geraniums, azaleas, foxgloves, wisteria, and so many more blooming plants will welcome you with boundless colors and scents.  For more information on the gardens, visit their website at www.aftonvillagardens.com or call 635-6773.

 

Wash Day and Soaps

When I was a little girl, wash day was Monday.  It’s also the reason why red beans and rice are a traditional Monday meal in South Louisiana because it was something Mom could put on the stove and not have to worry about it as it cooked all day.  But that’s not what they have planned at Audubon State Historic Site for Saturday, March 7.  This program will demonstrate the different processes involved in washing at the plantation that includes boiling clothes, bluing and the different types of soap and tools used.  This will be followed by a demonstration and talks about the typical ingredients used in making soaps and why soaps were scented.  For more information on this, call 635-3739.

 

Thirty Eight Years!

The Audubon Pilgrimage will celebrate 38 years of annual home and garden tours on the third weekend in March – March 20, 21 and 22.  Through the years, there have been added events such as the cemetery tales at Grace Churchyard, the demonstrations at the Rural Homestead, the antique show and sale, and the Saturday Soiree, Light Up the Night.  One thing that never changes is the quality of the event, and the cooperation of many of the civic and governmental agencies to produce this major undertaking.  Oakley House at Audubon State Historic Site is the centerpiece of the pilgrimage, and three private homes open their doors to welcome visitors during this weekend only.  This year those private homes include Rosebank, Wyoming and Fairview Townhouse.  Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site is also included in the tour ticket as well as Afton Villa Gardens.  This year the Cabildo, a circa 1809 structure which was the first West Feliciana Parish Courthouse, will be open to exhibit the paintings of our present day Audubon, Murrell Butler.   For a brochure on the Pilgrimage and more information, visit the West Feliciana Historical Society Museum on Ferdinand Street or the website at www.audubonpilgrimage.info.