Mrs. Boggy Bayou Jackie Bergeron:

By: HEATHER BOGARD
Associate Editor

As Mrs. Boggy Bayou, Jackie Bergeron shares, “I was given the opportunity to be the voice of an organization whose sole purpose is to take care of our older generation. I was able to see how hard everyone works in fund raising and event planning so that we can bring state of the art technology to Prairie Manor Nursing Home. The volunteers work very hard and you can truly see how much they care about the residents.”
A resident of Lake Charles, Bergeron is the daughter of daughter of Lowell and the late Fae Bergeron of Lake Charles, granddaughter of the late Nolan and Elrenia Bergeron of Eunice and the late Steve and Janie Bognar of Westlake. She is employed as an Obituary and Legal Advisor for the American Press. She enjoy reading, writing, singing and dancing; Bergeron serves as treasurer for the Cajun Family Chapter of the Cajun French Music Association. She is a member of the Krewe of Illusions, where she serves as pageant director, as well as The Leviathan Chapter 337, Bayou Writer’s Group. Her future goal is to finish writing her fantasy novel.
Bergeron shares, “I have been competing in pageants since I was eight years old and have held numerous titles over the years and what makes this festival so unique is the small town feel with big heart! Last year, we were hot and muddy and we loved it! The board is amazing and truly made sure we enjoyed every minute of our reign.”
Traveling with (her fellow Boggy) bandits was always an adventure, declares Bertrand. “We attended the Spanish Festival Ball, Queen Cotton Coronation and the Running of the Tournoi. We fought with dresses, danced our shoes off, and laughed with all of hearts…..at each other! Faith and Chloe bonded quickly and it made me happy to see them become true sisters. I always came in like the momma making sure they were always at their best. We also enjoyed the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals, where we were able to network with festivals from across the state and we took home several awards. I love all my bandit buddies!” She adds, “My two favorite moments aside from winning the crown, is festival weekend with my sister queens and the Festival Carnival we put on for the residents of the nursing home. These events were filled with memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
To her successor, Bertrand shares the following. “I think the two most important things that make a good queen are knowledge about the festival and community and kindness. Being a queen is about being confident and genuine, but also having patience because when traveling, people are always curious and ask about the festival we represent. It’s important to be kind when answering those questions.” She urges the new Ms. Queen to “Always remember that you represent yourself as well as your organization. Embrace the residents of Prairie Manor Nursing Home and make lots of memories with your sister queens. It will be over too soon.”
Bertrand notes, “I have to thank the staff and residents of Prairie Manor Nursing Home for all the love and support this year, our festival board for embracing us with open arms and my friends and family who helped, loved and supported me the past year. And of course, all my bandit babies, (especially) Chloe and Faith for such an amazing ‘tail raising’ year!”
Through her reign as Mrs. Boggy Bayou, Bertrand concludes, “I learned how much work volunteers put into our festival and how much they love it. I learned that I want to continue to be part of this amazing group of people and want to continue to volunteer. I learned that prayer and hard work can accomplish anything!”