Wednesday, March 31, 2010

April Happenings

Easter Weekend

Several local restaurants will be open for Easter Sunday brunch or dinner for those of us who enjoy when someone else does the cooking!

Eight Sisters – open 11 am until 5:30 pm.  225-635-4000

Oxbow Restaurant – open 11 am until 2 pm.  Reservations encouraged.  225-635-6276

The Bluffs Restaurant – open 11 am until 1:30 pm.  Easter Brunch Buffet.  Reservations required.  225-634-3000

 

Attractions that will be closed on Easter Sunday are the Cottage Plantation and Greenwood Plantation.

 

The Shanty Too will be open on Easter Sunday.

 

Music at The Mag

Friday, April 2 – Late Evening; Saturday, April 3 – Scott Ainslie; Friday, April 9 – Full Service Station; Friday, April 16 – Trouvere; Friday, April 23 – Rock-It Sound Company; Friday, April 30 – Delta Drifters.  Also, on Sunday, April 25, Dave Alvin & Guilty Women will perform.  There is a $20 cover for that one concert.

 

Blues Supper

The BirdMan Coffee & Books will host Dylan Sneed for their monthly Blues Supper on Monday, April 5.  Music starts at 6 pm, and supper will be served.  Dylan has been touring and working on a new LP, Texodus.

 

Nature Saturday

On Saturday, April 10, Audubon State Historic Site presents Nature Saturday.  At 10 am and again at noon, visitors can participate in an Animal Discovery program which introduces them to a few of the site’s resident creatures.  At 1:30 pm and again at 2:30 pm, visitors will have the opportunity to go on a guided nature walk around the park led by one of the site’s park rangers.  There, they will discover the different plant and habitats within the park.  For more information, phone 225-635-3739.

 

Old West Florida

Audubon State Historic Site presents its monthly Old West Florida program entitled, Clothing in West Florida.  On Sunday, April 11, at noon and at 2pm, there will be a talk on the clothing in Spanish Louisiana in the museum theatre.  At 1 pm and 3 pm, there will be a costume discussion and demonstration in the museum theatre.  For more information, phone 225-635-3779.

 

Matzoh Ball Gumbo*

The Julius Freyhan Foundation presents this Symposium on Jewish Life in the Lower Mississippi River Valley on Friday, April 16 at 9 am at the West Feliciana Parish Courthouse.  Speakers include Dr. Stuart Rockoff, ISJL; Dr. Charles Isbell, LSU; Anne Butler, Author of Three Generous Generations; and Catherine Kahn, Author and Activist.  Lunch is included and will be prepared with recipes from Matzoh Ball Gumbo*.  For more information, visit www.freyhanfoundation.org.

 

Community Market Day

This new event sponsored by the St. Francisville Merchants Association will be held on Saturday, April 17, from 9 am until 1 pm at Parker Park.  Featured will be handmade items by regional artists, music and baked goods.  For more information, call 225-635-3873.

 

Spring Horticultural Seminar

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site kicks off the Spring and Summer gardening seasons with a Horticultural Seminar held on the plantation grounds.  On Saturday, April 17, Site Manager Patricia Aleshire will present a seminar on “Antique Roses.”  The lecture session will present a slide introduction and discussion of the historical background of numerous varieties of heirloom roses, as well as the care needed for these beautiful plants to thrive in a southern garden.  Following the lecture, Aleshire will lead a walking tour through selected areas of Rosedown’s historic gardens to view various antique rose varieties on site.  The program will begin at 10 am in the Rosedown Conference Room.  For more information, call 225-635-3110.

 

Lost Arts

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site continues its series of Living History Demonstrations with the next in their series of monthly programs, “Lost Arts of the Nineteenth Century.”  On Saturday, April 17, visitors are invited to learn about nineteenth-century arts and activities.  Presented by Rosedown Interpretive Ranger Sasha Trana, this month’s “lost art” is the shaving horse.  During the program, Trana will explain to visitors the origins, history and use of the shaving horse in shaping wood pieces into tool handles, rounded chair pieces, canes, staffs and more.  Also discussed will be how the craft has evolved over time.  Trana will be presenting demonstrations, held between 11 am and 2 pm, of the shaving horse on the back porch of the Main House.  For more information, call 225-635-3110.

 

Wildest Show in the South

The Angola Prison Spring Rodeo & Craft Show is set for April 17 and 18.  Billed as The Wildest Show in the South, gates open at 9 am, while the show starts at 2 pm.  Tickets are $10 and are available by calling 225-655-2030 or visiting www.angolarodeo.com.

 

A Day of Love

At Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site, love is in the air, and two historic plantation houses and families are united on this day – Saturday, April 24 – as costumed re-enactors present the April 9, 1857 wedding of Sarah Turnbull of Rosedown to James Pirrie Bowman of Oakley.  The wedding re-enactment will be held at 1 pm with the reception to follow.  For more information, phone 225-635-3332.

 

Pops at Hemingbough

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra invites you, your family and friends to an evening under the stars on the beautiful grounds of Heminbough on Saturday, May 1.  The music of The Beatles comes to life as the stars of Classical Mystery Tour join the Symphony to present timeless favorites such as Penny Lane, Yesterday, Hey Jude and many more.  Table seating is available as well as lawn seating, perfect for those who choose a more casual picnic setting.  Feel free to pack you favorite culinary delights or enjoy the sumptuous fare offered at Hemingbough.  Reserve and purchase your table for this memorable event by calling the Symphony Box Office at 225-383-0500, ext. 100.  If you prefer lawn seating, please purchase online at www.brso.org.  This concert is part of the West Florida Republic Bicentennial, and part of the proceeds go to building Republic Park commemorating the 200th anniversary of the 1810 Rebellion.

Friday, March 12, 2010

March 19 - 21 Weekend Happenings

39th Annual Audubon Pilgrimage

Since 1972 the West Feliciana Historical Society has given visitors an intimate glimpse of Audubon’s Happy Land and its historic homes and gardens.  Each year the centerpiece of the Pilgrimage is the Oakley House at Audubon State Historic Site where John James Audubon tutored Eliza Pirrie in 1821.  The house is open all three days of the Pilgrimage along with Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site and Afton Villa Gardens.  This year the private homes open for tours include Cabildo on Royal Street; Laurel Hill and St. John’s Church in Laurel Hill; Barrow House on Royal Street; and Butler Greenwood on Highway 61.

 

The three churches located in St. Francisville’s Historic District are also open to visitors and are Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church; United Methodist Church of St. Francisville; and Grace Episcopal Church.  The Rural Homestead located on the corner of Highway 61 and 66 will showcase those almost forgotten skills used by the plain folk of the nineteenth century South.  Local volunteers will demonstrate open hearth and wood stove cookery, basket weaving, quilting, cotton carding and spinning, while the grist mill grinds out cornmeal.  Shingles are rived and ground is broken by mule and plow, all to the beat of the blacksmith’s hammer on iron.

 

Costumes worn by Pilgrimage workers reflect the authentic dress of the 1820s and have won national recognition from the American Association of State and Local History.  For more information or to purchase your tickets -- $30 good for all three days of the Pilgrimage – call the West Feliciana Historical Society office at 225-635-6330.

 

Friday, March 19

9:00 am                       Tickets go on sale at the Ticket Office behind the Historical Society Museum

9:30 am – 5 pm          Tours at Pilgrimage Sites; Antique Show & Sale in Historic District

6:15 pm                      West Florida Republic Re-enactment at Grace Church

6:30 pm – 9 pm         Graveyard Tour at Grace Church

                                    Robust Hymn Singing, Methodist Church

                                    Wine & Cheese Reception, Historical Society Museum

                                    Royal Street by Candlelight

Saturday, March 20

9:00 am                       Tickets go on sale at the Ticket Office behind the Historical Society Museum

9:30 am – 5 pm          Tours at Pilgrimage Sites; Antique Show & Sale in Historic District

7 pm                           Light Up the Night, Saturday Soiree at Parker Park

Sunday, March 21

9:30 am – 5 pm          Tours open at Oakley House, Rosedown Plantation, and Afton Villa Gardens

12 noon – 5 pm         Private Homes open for tours

 

Book Signings

Bevil Knapp will be signing her just released book, St. Francisville: Louisiana’s Historic River Bluff Country on Friday, Marcy 19 from 9 am until 1 pm at Sage Hill Gifts & Antiques; on Friday, March 19 from 1:30 pm until 4:30 pm at Hillcrest Gardens & Interiors; and on Saturday, March 20 from 9 am until 3:30 pm at Grandmother’s Buttons.

 

Avondale Antiques

This antique shop will be open the third weekend – March 19 – 21 – along with Craig Roth’s Pottery Studio.  Avondale Antiques is located on Commerce Street.

 

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Happenings

Silent Auction

Grace Episcopal Church is holding a silent auction which began February 21 and runs through March 28.  Everyone in the community is invited to come and placed bids on the items which are on display from 9 am until 5 pm everyday of the week in Jackson Hall.  Offerings range from gourmet dinners in private homes, crawfish boils, hunting & fishing trips, paintings, overnights, jewelry, pottery and much more.  The winners will be announced at coffee hour on Sunday, March 28.  All proceeds will be used to build a church in El Carmen, Honduras.

 

Live Music at The Mag

Bands start playing around 7 o’clock on the screened in porch at The Magnolia Café.  Friday, March 12 – Will Westley; Friday, March 19 – Flatbed Honeymoon; Friday, March 26 – Delta Drifters

 

Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday, March 13, area children and their parents are invited to spend a day at Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site celebrating spring with a Nineteenth-Century Easter Egg Hunt on the grounds of the plantation.  Interpretive Ranger Sasha Traña will greet participants and lead the Easter Egg Hunt, which will begin promptly at 1 pm, with participants meeting in the carriage court in front of the plantation Main House.  Prizes will be awarded to the children finding the special “Rosedown” Easter Eggs.  Following the Hunt, nineteenth-century games will be featured.  Participating children are encouraged to bring their own Easter baskets.   For more information, call 225-635-3110.

 

Nature Saturday at Audubon

Get outside and enjoy a beautiful weekend when Audubon State Historic Site presents Nature Saturday on March 13.  At 10 am and again at noon, visitors can participate in an Animal Discovery program which introduces them to a few of the site’s resident creatures.  At 1:30 pm and again at 2:30 pm, visitors will have the opportunity to go on a guided nature walk around the park led by one of the site’s park rangers.  There, they will discover the different plants and habitats found within the park.  For more information, call 225-635-3739.

 

Colonial St. Francisville

Old West Florida “Colonial St. Francisville” will be the featured program on Sunday, March 14, at Audubon State Historic Site.  At noon and 2 p.m., there will be a talk on the towns of St. Francisville and Bayou Sara during the years leading up to the West Florida Rebellion.  These talks by a park ranger will introduce the visitor to one of the states oldest and most colorful cities.  This is part of a series of programs celebrating the Bicentennial of the West Florida Republic.  For more information call, 225-635-3739.

 

Tuesday Concert at The Mag

A special concert will be held at The Magnolia Café on Tuesday, March 16, featuring Chuck Prophet.  Tickets are $20.

 

Lost Louisiana: Places Of Worship

Grace Episcopal Church is one of the five churches featured in the new special Lost Louisiana Places of Worship premiering Wednesday, March 17 at 7PM on the six-channel LPB network. The special also airs Thursday, March 18 at 9PM.  Produced by Louisiana: The State We’re In producer and managing editor Charlie Whinham, the Lost Louisiana team traveled around the state to find historic and unusual churches. The other churches featured in the special include the Madonna Chapel in Bayou Goula, the St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux, Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport and Touro Synagogue in New Orleans.

 

St. Paddy’s Day Party & Fundraiser

Everyone can be Irish, and usually are, are Wednesday, March 17, as The Blue Room celebrates St. Patrick’s Day.  Live entertainment by The Circuit Breakers is set for 7 pm until 10 pm.  There is a $5 cover at the door, and all proceeds from green beer sales and the cover charge to the Elm Park Youth Rodeo Club.  There will also be a silent auction!  For more information, contact Meg Daniel at 241-1402 or call The Blue Room at 635-4998.

 

More Pilgrimage News

One of the properties on the Audubon Pilgrimage tour was unintentionally left off in earlier postings.  St. John’s Episcopal Church in Laurel Hill will be open for visiting during the weekend of March 19 through the 20th.  Other sites include Oakley House at Audubon State Historic Site; Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site; Afton Villa Gardens; Butler Greenwood; Cabildo; Laurel Hill; Barrow House; and the three churches in the St. Francisville Historic District – Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church; United Methodist Church; and Grace Episcopal Church.  The Rural Homestead on the corner of Highways 66 and 61 will also be open with volunteers demonstrating skills they learned growing up in rural West Feliciana Parish.  For more information or to purchase tickets - $30 good for all three days of the Pilgrimage – call 635-6330.

 

Friday Night Activities

As an added event during the Audubon Pilgrimage, there will be night time activities on Friday, March 19.  A 6:15 pm there will be a reenactment of the West Florida flag ceremony.  David Norwood will be the narrator, as Governor Claiborne, West Florida Statesmen, and troops lower the lone star flag and raise the American flag.   The ceremony will take place at Grace Church before the start of the cemetery tour which begins at 6:30 pm.  There will also be a wine & cheese reception at the West Feliciana Historical Society Museum, hymn singing at the United Methodist Church, and Royal and Ferdinand Streets will be lined with luminarias.  Tickets to all Friday night entertainment are $15.

 

Light Up the Night

Food, drinks and dancing under the stars at Parker Park will be the way to go on Saturday, March 20.  This annual addition to Pilgrimage weekend has grown in popularity and is a definite don’t miss.  Tickets are $40 and include an open beer/wine bar, fabulous buffet dinner, and live music!  For more information or to make your reservation, call 635-6330.

 

2010 Lewis Symposium

On Saturday, March 27th, the Reverend Daniel Smith Lewis, Rector of Grace Church from 1839-1869, will be remembered with a seminar.  At 5:00 pm there will be a Wine, Cheese and Hors D'oeuvres Reception in Bishop Jackson Hall, followed by guest lecture at 6:00 pm in the church.   Guest speaker will be The Very Reverend Doctor Justyn Terry, Dean and President of Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA.  Dr. Terry is a well-published author, Professor of Systematic Theology, and Seminary Dean.   Please make arrangements to attend this great event.  RSVP by 3/20/2010:  Secretary@gracechurchwfp.org. 225-635-4065.

 

Chamber Music Series

Following the Lewis Seminar , the last in the St. Francisville Symphony Association’s 2009-2010 Chamber Music Series will take place on Saturday, March 27 at 8 pm at Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville.  This concert will feature the musicians of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.  Tickets are $20, and children under 18 accompanied by a paying adult will receive free admission.  Tickets are available at the Bank of St. Francisville or by calling BRSO at 2255-383-0500.

 

Dinnertainment

The Carriage House Restaurant is hosting an American Cancer Society Benefit on Monday, March 29, featuring GingerSnapp, The Queen of St. Francisville.  This night of dinner and entertainment will also feature a silent auction.  Tickets are $50 per person or $75 per couple.  There will be a cash bar from 6 pm until dinner is served at 6:30 pm.  For ticket information, call Matthew Green at 721-3668 or Beth Pace at 635-6278.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Happenings

Live Music at The Mag

Bands start playing around 7 o’clock on the screened in porch at The Magnolia Café each Friday.  Here’s the lineup for March:

Friday, March 5 – Joe Hall & LA Canecutters; Friday, March 12 – Will Westley; Friday, March 19 – Flatbed Honeymoon; Friday, March 26 – Delta Drifters

A special concert will be held on Tuesday, March 16, featuring Chuck Prophet.  Tickets are $20.

 

Bike Race this Weekend

The annual Rouge Roubaix is back in town this weekend.  This 100 mile road race starts in St. Francisville and travels north and west through the back roads of West Feliciana and Wilkinson County.   The race is set for Sunday, March 7, with the first wave beginning at 7 am from the Quality Inn on Highway 61.  The race will travel north to Highway 66, then up to Sligo Road, to Ouida Irondale Road, back to Highway 66 and up into Pinkneyville.  It will loop back to Highway 66 and travel the Old Tunica Road, Highland Road, the Metz/Jacko Creek Road, the Solitude/Mahoney/ Tunica Street route back into St. Francisville where it looks like it ends around Parker Park.  This race may affect your travel on Sunday morning so please be aware of the cyclists and leave early!  For more information, visit www.rougeroubaix.com.

 

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

On Saturday, March 13, area children and their parents are invited to spend a day at Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site celebrating spring with a Nineteenth-Century Easter Egg Hunt on the grounds of the plantation.  Interpretive Ranger Sasha Traña will greet participants and lead the Easter Egg Hunt, which will begin promptly at 1 pm, with participants meeting in the carriage court in front of the plantation Main House.  Prizes will be awarded to the children finding the special “Rosedown” Easter Eggs.  Following the Hunt, nineteenth-century games will be featured.  Participating children are encouraged to bring their own Easter baskets.   For more information, call 225-635-3110.

 

Nature Saturday at Audubon

What a great way to enjoy a beautiful weekend when Audubon State Historic Site presents Nature Saturday on March 13.  At 10 am and again at noon, visitors can participate in an Animal Discovery program which introduces them to a few of the site’s resident creatures.  At 1:30 pm and again at 2:30 pm, visitors will have the opportunity to go on a guided nature walk around the park led by one of the site’s park rangers.  There, they will discover the different plants and habitats found within the park.  For more information, call 225-635-3739.

 

Colonial St. Francisville

Old West Florida “Colonial St. Francisville” will be the featured program on Sunday, March 14, at Audubon State Historic Site.  At noon and 2 p.m., there will be a talk on the towns of St. Francisville and Bayou Sara during the years leading up to the West Florida Rebellion.  These talks by a park ranger will introduce the visitor to one of the states oldest and most colorful cities.  This is part of a series of programs celebrating the Bicentennial of the West Florida Republic.  For more information call, 225-635-3739.

 

Outstanding Art

There are two awesome art exhibits in St. Francisville ongoing through March.   Donna Kilbourne’s “Landscape Notes” is being highlighted at the BirdMan Coffee and Books on Commerce Street.  “Songs and Stories” by Lynn Wood is on view at The Backwoods Gallery across from Town Hall.  Lynn’s show runs through April.  Great art by great artists . . . don’t miss it!

 

Light Up the Night

Food, drinks and dancing under the stars at Parker Park will be the way to go on Saturday, March 20.  This annual addition to Pilgrimage weekend has grown in popularity and is a definite don’t miss.  Tickets are $40 and include an open beer/wine bar, fabulous buffet dinner, and live music!  For more information or to make your reservation, call 635-6330.

 

1820’s Time Capsule

The 39th Annual Audubon Pilgrimage runs from Friday, March 19 through Sunday, March 21, and showcases Oakley House at Audubon State Historic Site; Rosedown Plantation State Historic Sites and its lovely gardens; Afton Villa Gardens; the three churches in the Historic District of St. Francisville – Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, United Methodist Church of St. Francisville, and Grace Episcopal Church; and the always popular Rural Homestead where visitors can experience the lifestyle of rural Southerners.  An Antique Show & Sale will be held in three historic buildings during the Pilgrimage.  Also featured this year are:  Butler Greenwood, established in the late 1700s and occupied by descendents of the original owner; Cabildo, built in 1809 with a varied and colorful past; Laurel Hill , purchased in the 1830s by the founder of the standard-gauge West Felorida Railroad; and Barrow House, a simple 1810 saltbox on Royal Street.  Tickets for the daytime tours are $30 each and are good for all three days of the Pilgrimage.  They can be purchased at the Historical Society Museum on Ferdinand Street.  For more information, call 635-6330 or visit www.audubonpilgrimage.info.

 

Chamber Music Series

The last in the St. Francisville Symphony Association’s 2009-2010 Chamber Music Series will take place on Saturday, March 27 at 8 pm at Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville.  This concert will feature the musicians of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.  Tickets are $20, and children under 18 accompanied by a paying adult will receive free admission.  Tickets are available at the Bank of St. Francisville or by calling BRSO at 2255-383-0500.

 

Dinnertainment

The Carriage House Restaurant is hosting an American Cancer Society Benefit on Monday, March 29, featuring GingerSnapp, The Queen of St. Francisville.  This night of dinner and entertainment will also feature a silent auction.  Tickets are $50 per person or $75 per couple.  There will be a cash bar from 6 pm until dinner is served at 6:30 pm.  For ticket information, call Matthew Green at 721-3668 or Beth Pace at 635-6678.