May 5, 1960
• Ville Platte’s city government expressed surprise and disappointment at a revision in the proposals of Central Louisiana Electric Company relative to furnishing natural gas to the Ville Platte System. To accede to the CLECO proposals, the mayor and aldermen said, would be to jeopardize the town’s gas system and perhaps lose it to CLECO as the town lost its power and light system many years ago.
• Paul C. Tate, local attorney and folklore authority, and Capitaine of the Mamou Mardi Gras Association released plans and names of Mardi Gras riders who were to attend the International Folk Festival to be held in Washington D.C., June 1-3.
• Fifth Ward property taxpayers placed their stamp of approval on a $275,000 bond issue for the improvement of Bayou Chicot High School and the construction of a new elementary school nearby.
• Louisiana officialdom, and the City of New Orleans in particular, turned itself wrong side out paying tribute to France’s president and World War II hero, General Charles de Gaulle, who wound up his eight day state visit to the United States in this traditionally French part of the country.
Attending the reception for General de Gaulle from Evangeline Parish were Calvin Landreneau, Assistant District Attorney Paul C. Tate of Mamou, Dr. Harvey Poret, Oscar Sylvester, Jr., and Clerk of Court Walter Lee of Ville Platte.
May 12, 1960
• With the assembling of the Legislature and the inauguration of Jimmie Davis as governor, Louisiana’s political face underwent a transformation ranging from great to slight depending on who was re-elected or lost in the various contests for ward, parish and senatorial district offices. The great change, of course, is at the top with the moderate viewed Davis replacing the old Albatross whose weird goings on––especially in the last year––have been astonishing indeed.
• The approval work order for the hard surfacing of 5.1 miles of streets in Mamou, was received from Louisiana Department of Highways according to Mamou Mayor Ozema A. Fontenot.
• Premiums and discounts to be used by the Commodity Credit Corporation in making purchases of eligible qualities of choice A upland cotton and in making loans on eligible qualities of choice B upland cotton under the 1960 cotton price support program, were announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to Al Fuselier, country office manager, Evangeline Parish ASC Office. The Department also announced the minimum loan rates for eligible qualities of extra long staple cotton.
May 19, 1960
• Big Mamou Mardi Gras held a gumbo meeting to make final plans for their trip to the National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. Paul Tate, Capitaine, announced that arrangements had been made for a charter bus to leave Mamou at midnight on May 30, to arrive in Washington at noon on June 1.
• Evangeline Parish, Local Board No. 22, Ville Platte, has ordered 12 registrants to report for Armed Forces physical examination on May 23, 1960. Registrants are Ulysse Lee McDaniel, M.C. Guillory, Winston Deville, Donald Johnson, Griffith Williams, Joseph Roy Fontenot, Lawrence Simon, Herman Louis, Wilson Alfred, John Robert Marcantel, J.C. Bertrand and Gilbert Richardson.
May 26, 1960
• An overflowing crowd jammed the courtroom of the parish courthouse building as well wishers and political friends gathered to see A. Bruce Soileau sworn in as sheriff of Evangeline Parish. The oath of office was administered by Judge J. Cleveland Fruge a few minutes after 10:00 a.m.
• Carole Ann McCauley and Norma Dell Deshotels, valedictorians of the Mamou High School graduating class, each received four awards during commencement exercises for thirty-nine seniors. Miss McCauley is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley A McCauley, and Miss Deshotels is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Millard Deshotels, Sr.
• Ville Platte’s beautiful big swimming pool, once a possibility as remote as the moon and now taken for granted, will open for the summer business at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, according to a decision reached by the City Council.