November 6, 1958
•The 49 Evangeline Parish farmers who applied to place their lands in the 1959 Conservation Reserve Program have been notified that their applications have been rejected because of lack of funds, according to A.V. Guillory, parish ASC chairman.
•Though Ville Platte’s Fire Department has been answering more calls than usual the last two weeks, Chief Hampton Reed says that fortunately none of these were major fires.
Involved were a couple of wrecks which caught fire, a tractor and combine which began to blaze when fuel was carelessly poured into their tanks, a small fire cause by a gas leak in a bedroom.
•Rapidly overcoming the “bugs” which hamper the start of new industrial undertakings, the Ville Platte Canning Factory this week hit full “one shift” operation employing a working force of 80 people. Addition of a second shift is predicted within the next couple of weeks, according to factory president Vories Morein, who said that when the plant reaches full capacity it will be turning out 3,000 cases of canned sweet potatoes per day- 24 big cans to the case, made possible through the efforts of local business people and optimistic investors.
•Tuna was .35, apple sauce was .19, and cut beans were .22.
November 13, 1958
•The most colorful of the Mamou Veteran’s Day Celebration Tuesday was the children’s beauty contest held at 7:00 p.m. in the Mamou High School Auditorium, to select the child “king and queen” of Veteran’s Day.
King and Queen of the 1958 Armistice Day celebration were Rickey Dupris, 5 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Jake Dupris and Machelle Dupris, 4 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Linus Dupris, all of Mamou. Second place honors in the boy’s division went to Dwayne Landreneau, 4 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Landreneau, and in the girl’s division, Margarette Tate, 5 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Tate.
November 20, 1958
•Chief among the problems confronting the police jury at its last meeting was the question of financing the parish health unit which has already curtailed its services drastically and perhaps may be closed altogether next year for the lack of sufficient operating funds.
The health unit has petitioned both the police jury and the school board for additional funds with which to operate.
The jurors approved the operations budget for the next fiscal year in the amount of $131,000.00. This consists of $76,000.00 and valorem tax; $10,000 in licenses; $2,000 in beer tax and $43,000 in severance taxes.
November 7, 1968
•The State of Illinois came through with nine electoral votes Wednesday morning to give Richard M. Nixon the presidency of the United States. In projected vote tabulations, California and Ohio also went for Nixon, giving him 17 more electoral votes than the 270 required.
Former Alabama Governor George Wallace won Louisiana’s ten electoral votes and carried Evangeline Parish almost two-to-one over Hubert H. Humphrey and Nixon. Louisiana, a traditionally democratic state, has given its vote to the democratic party nominee only twice in the past five presidential elections, and, in 1964, Goldwater carried the state.
Incumbent Congressman Edwin Edwards of Crowley won an easy victory over his republican opponent Vance Plauche of Lake Charles. In the parish with complete but unofficial returns, Edwards totaled a 6,680 votes to Plauche’s 1,356.
Throughout the district Edwards had 25,844 votes and Plauche had 5,016 votes as 141 of 277 precincts in the Seventh Congressional District reported. Edwards carried all of Evangeline’s 32 voting precincts.
In Evangeline Parish, Humphrey ran second to Wallace and Nixon, third. Wallace totaled 7,636 votes, Humphrey 2,659 and Nixon 1,547. The three candidates also ran in that order in the state.
Wallace gave up three precincts in the parish to Humphrey. These were Precincts 11 and 12 in Ward One and Precinct 6 in Ward Three.
•A special Memorial Mass has been scheduled at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Sunday at 11 a.m. in conjunction with Veteran’s Day, Monday, November 11.
A special liturgy in commemoration of the war dead of World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam will be said. Representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary, under leadership of Bernie Daigle and Mrs. Iris Latour, will present colors, and the Sacred Heart Choir will sing.
•At A&P, hens were .39 a pound and roast was .45 a pound.
November 27, 1968
Mrs. Carolyn Ware of Ville Platte was sentenced to 45 days in the parish jail Thursday after being found guilty of conspiring to assist her husband to escape from jail, according to Chief Deputy Aaron Fuselier.
The woman’s husband Calvin Ware, 28, is being held in the parish jail on a charge of aggravated rape involving two juvenile girls from the Allen Parish area on October 20.
November 2, 1978
•Fire Chief Reinel Smith again issued an appeal to farmers and other citizens to stop burning trash and fields as fires in the area over the past week swept across several hundred acres of fields, pastures, and woodland.
Firemen Saturday responded to a call at about 4 p.m. in the L’Anse aux Pailles area where a grass fire was already in progress. It took about three hours for 13 firemen to control the fire which had raced across about 350 acres. Five fire units were also used to battle the blaze.
November 9, 1978
•Senator Ramson K. Vidrine told The Gazette over the weekend that he did not think there are enough favorable votes in either the House of Representative or the Senate to pass the McKeithen administration tax proposals present in the current legislative special session.
Senator Vidrine said that he might support some of the smaller tax increases such as those on car licenses, cigarettes and wine and liquor. However, he said he had reservations about the one cent sales tax increase.
•Ville Platte Lower Elementary School will host the first Parent Teacher Conference Night Wednesday, December 4, from 7 to 8 p.m., it was announced today by Principal E.D. Thomas.
The purpose of the special program is to encourage closer relations between teachers and parents, the principal said.
The program will include a review of daily schedule of students, inspection of individual student’s work by parents, interview with teachers on any other matter parents would like to discuss, a visit to the school library and parents will be given student’s report card.
All parents and teachers are cordially invited and urged to attend.
•At A&P Hens were .39 a pound and Roast was .45 a pound.